tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7293948912183696992024-03-13T23:38:56.156-07:00Online Photography Courses: The PERFECT PICTURE School Of PhotographyThe Perfect Picture Photography School is world's leading provider of online photography, photoshop courses. Learn how to take a perfect picture from our professional instructors such as Bryan Peterson, Bobbi Lane, Darwin Wiggett, Charlie Borland, Ken Sklute and Bobbi Lane.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-729394891218369699.post-62540400624125788612011-03-01T21:55:00.000-08:002011-03-01T22:09:23.731-08:00<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ustream.tv/channel/chris-and-kevin-show"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fOH0pN4lbws/TW3eaHYM3AI/AAAAAAAAAXk/rrpPhnr9kF4/s400/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-03-01%2Bat%2B10.04.58%2BPM.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579360053620431874" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>PPSOP Instructors Chris Hurtt and Kevin Focht do a free live video webcast answering YOUR questions every week. Check out the live feed <a href="http://www.ustream.tv/channel/chris-and-kevin-show">HERE!</a> When you get to that site keep in mind that this isn't the PPSOP site so you have to create a new login or just view as a guest. <div><br /></div><div>We go live tomorrow at 10am Pacific time! Have a question? Ask on line. If you can't watch live? No worries, we have you covered! <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chris-and-Kevin-Show/190629267635612">Post your questions to our facebook page</a> and we will get to as many as we can. You can watch the episode at your convenience any time after the broadcast.</div><div><br /></div><div>Hope to SEE you tomorrow!</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-729394891218369699.post-46421317883187968152010-11-05T14:42:00.000-07:002010-11-05T14:44:44.762-07:00<div style="text-align: center;">New video tip from PPSOP founder Bryan Peterson!<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://videos.ppsop.com/walltexture.html"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 264px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TNR6fYY6jlI/AAAAAAAAAXU/PWauo3ycOFk/s400/wallt.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536184521486667346" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="www.ppsop.com/">www.PPSOP.com</a><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-729394891218369699.post-33731484881552467862010-11-03T14:06:00.000-07:002010-11-03T14:08:44.019-07:00Video Tip!<br /><br /><a href="http://videos.ppsop.com/pigeons.html"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 235px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TNHPL0dHIQI/AAAAAAAAAXM/-6t_uMqddWo/s400/pige.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535433218981306626" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Shooting Pigeons with Bryan Peterson!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-729394891218369699.post-25103060313104217642010-07-14T07:48:00.001-07:002010-07-14T07:53:42.998-07:00<span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A Different Perspective on Pet Photography by Jill Flynn</span></span><br /><br />If you follow your pets around the house and outside, they will lead you to your next<br />memorable portrait. Always listen to your animals and take what they give you - it beats a posed shot any day. Whether it's natural light portraits, studio style portraits or outdoor portraits, find or create beautiful light and photograph your animals being themselves. Keeping it simple is sometimes the best idea.<br /><br />Photos of animals sleeping make wonderful portraits. I don't know any dog or cat that does not like to take a nap. If they have a favorite chair, couch, blanket, etc., position it in a room that has good light. A nice big window with diffused light at a 45-degree angle will illuminate your pet beautifully. Remember you want a room filled with beautiful light not direct sunlight. Patience is key, so keep your camera on hand and when your pet finally takes a nap, seize the moment. A splash of color can make a portrait pop. If you don't have colorful furniture, you can place a colorful blanket on top. My dog, Gracie, loves her afternoon siesta. I photographed her from a slightly high angle looking down so I could show her face being framed between her two paws and to accentuate the long, elegant lines of her nose and paws.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TD3ObjxBjnI/AAAAAAAAAW0/U2OI-mYW_hw/s1600/dog1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 259px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TD3ObjxBjnI/AAAAAAAAAW0/U2OI-mYW_hw/s400/dog1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493774093314526834" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">My cat, Murphy, likes to hang out in the bathtub. I don't know if it's because it's cooler in the tub or if it's because it's one of the few places Gracie doesn't hassle him ... maybe it's a little bit of both. Either way he loves the tub and looks so cute in there. Cats are always hanging out in unique places. Photograph your cat in their favorite spot. Bathrooms often have great light and a white tub will provide even more light. Many cats like to sit inside sinks. That is another great spot for a portrait. Get your pet to look at the camera, focus on the eyes, make it personal, and capture their personality. Make sure you illuminate the face with diffused light - that will bring out detail, color and give spark/life to the eyes. It will make all the difference in the world. Positioning your main light source at a 45-degree angle is a good start and will give you flattering results.<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TD3OayPLDVI/AAAAAAAAAWs/yH_MSZ-P2ys/s1600/dog2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 259px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TD3OayPLDVI/AAAAAAAAAWs/yH_MSZ-P2ys/s400/dog2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493774080019205458" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">My cat, Mister, is a sun worshiper. He loves to bask in the sun. My kitchen gets bright afternoon sun and Mister is always there. Direct sunlight is not flattering light, but it will give you interesting shadows and contrasts. I love Mister's "three legged shadow" and face shadow. I also love the interplay of light and shadow on the tile. The strong contrast makes a visual impact and the window light provides very cool framing. Underexpose by 1 or 2 stops to make the shadows darker or play around with the exposure until you get the look you want. I stood on a chair and shot down so I could take in the whole scene. My cat "gave me this shot,"- thank goodness I was paying attention! Stand on a chair or ladder for unique perspectives and use the environment and shadows creatively to tell your story.<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TD3OatDkFRI/AAAAAAAAAWk/ezNOCYmhrDU/s1600/dog3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 259px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TD3OatDkFRI/AAAAAAAAAWk/ezNOCYmhrDU/s400/dog3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493774078628336914" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Next time you walk your dog, take your camera and be on the lookout for neat shadows. Shadows are longer late in the day or early in the morning when the sun is low in the sky. I took this picture of my dog, Friday, and me in the middle of the street. The light was behind us and I loved the way it illuminated Friday. Since it was late in the day, the light was warm and the shadows long. It was great. I showed just a portion of Friday's head in the lower portion of the frame to make it personal and add some color and fur. This is one of my favorite and last photos I took of Friday. She loved to go for walks. It will always have special meaning for me because it shows the bond we had and our daily ritual. She passed away a few weeks ago. She was 15 1/2 years old. I miss her dearly and I miss our walks. Try to capture the special relationship between you and your pet. Take pictures EVERY chance you get. They are ALL special. When taking shadow shots like this, underexpose by 1 stop or more to make the shadows darker and more defined. You can also enhance or give your image a boost with Levels and Curves adjustment in<br />PhotoShop. It's all part of the workflow and the creative process. I added a dark vignette around the edges to emphasize the shadows.<br /><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TD3OacYHa7I/AAAAAAAAAWc/VhYfYT15_UA/s1600/dog4.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 314px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TD3OacYHa7I/AAAAAAAAAWc/VhYfYT15_UA/s400/dog4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493774074151136178" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Take cues from your pets and capture those everyday moments. They end up being the most memorable and special portraits ... and always photograph what you love.<br /><br />Jill Flynn<br /><a href="http://www.visualharmonyphotography.com/">www.visualharmonyphotography.com</a><br /><br />Jill teaches the following courses:<br /><a href="http://www.ppsop.net/petp.aspx">Pet Photography</a><br /><a href="http://www.ppsop.net/adve2.aspx">Photography Adventure Course 2</a><br /></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-729394891218369699.post-58961548510688611542010-07-13T23:37:00.000-07:002010-07-14T00:14:59.691-07:00<span style="font-size:180%;">Learning to see…</span><br /><br />Learning to see creatively is very dependent on what your camera and lens can and cannot see. Captains of ships need to become very familiar with their maps as they navigate the world, making certain to keep the ship pointed in the right direction. In much the same way, your lenses are maps that can lead you to new and enchanting lands. With constant practice, <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">which will only come by placing the camera and lens to your eye</span>, you’ll begin to visually memorize the unique vision of each and every lens—both the pluses and the minuses. The more you do this, the less likely you’ll be hearing yourself ask the question, “what lens should I use?” You’ll learn just how vast an area a wide-angle lens can cover, or how a telephoto lens can select a single subject out of an otherwise busy and hectic scene. It won’t be too much longer until you’ll find yourself knowing, without hesitation, what lens to use as you see one picture-taking opportunity after another.<br /><br />Then, you can begin to take this new found vision to even greater heights, challenging yourself to view the forest from a toad’s point of view, or the city streets from a sidewalk point of view, or your backyard from a robin’s-nest point of view. (Ladders are not just for house painting.) Lie on your back at the base of a large fir tree and show me the point of view of the squirrel that raced up it only moments ago. Set your camera on the shoulder of the road, and fire away just as the big semi truck comes into view. A composition like this will, for example, make it dramatically obvious why it is so important that the city council build a small underpass for the ducks that cross that same busy road every spring.<br /><br />Whether or not your compositions are compelling depends not on some magic recipe, but rather on a thorough understanding of lens choice, point of view, elements of design, and final arrangement, or composition. All of these are, as I said, “maps” that require studying, some more then others. Both your fears and preconceived notions will be challenged. How will you ever share with others the robin’s-nest viewpoint if you’re afraid of heights? How will you share the busy sidewalk view if the idea of lying down on the sidewalk is too intimidating? You’ll certainly hit a “reef” now and then, and you may even feel compelled to abandon ship at times.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">What If. . . ?</span><br /><br />Once you begin making discoveries about how your lenses see, don’t be surprised if you find yourself at times consumed by the question “<span style="font-weight: bold;">What if. . </span>. ?” What if you focus close on your toaster that just burnt the toast and, as the blue smoke rises from inside, we see your wife—with the baby in her arms—out of focus in the background, running towards it? What if you focus on a passport lying on the sidewalk and we see an obvious out of focus businessman getting into a taxi in the background? What if you focus on a bottle of sleeping pills with an out of focus woman asleep in her bed in the background? What if from inside the house or garage, you focus close on a broken window-pane with an out of focus solemn-looking little boy, glove and bat in hand, in the yard in the background? What if you focus on just the thumb of a hitchhiker on a busy interstate? What if you focus close on just the used syringe in an alleyway? What if you focused close just on the. . . ?<br /><br />Our desire to see objects up close is innate- a longing for intimate encounters perhaps. And when we combine an up close and personal view of a given subject, we can in turn control the subjects “visual weight” via the proper selection in aperture. It is the aperture in combination with the close focus that determines the overall sharpness in a given scene. And in both of the finished examples shown here, focusing close and the use of a large lens opening, f/5.6, emphasizes the foreground flowers, and in turn the background is rendered into out of focus shapes and tones. It’s as if the flowers have been given a voice, a voice that says quite simply, “Look where I get to bloom!”<br /><br />The very small village of Jarnioux, France is listed as one France’s Most Beautiful Villages and for good reason. I have shot in Jarnioux more then a dozen times, during all seasons and I never ceased to be amazed at making new discoveries here. As we can see in the first example, the village boasts an old church and castle, and along it’s nearby fields and roadside ditches one can often find wildflowers blooming in the spring and summer. After shooting the first image:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TD1eaL2_ugI/AAAAAAAAAWU/05Ez1zndmZw/s1600/%231-BFF0381.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TD1eaL2_ugI/AAAAAAAAAWU/05Ez1zndmZw/s400/%231-BFF0381.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493650924414941698" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.adorama.com/INKD300S.html">Nikon D300S</a>-Nikkor 28-70mm F/5.6 @ a 1/800 second, 200 ISO<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">The thought then occurred to me, “What if I could show the village of Jarnioux from the flowers perspective, as if the flowers wanted everyone to know where they lived?” With the aid of my Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8 lens I was able to move in really close to a single flower stalk and when combined with a large lens opening, I was able to give the flowers a voice.<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TD1eZvm4c0I/AAAAAAAAAWM/iO_gXdTu_m0/s1600/%232-BFF0395.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TD1eZvm4c0I/AAAAAAAAAWM/iO_gXdTu_m0/s400/%232-BFF0395.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493650916831163202" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.adorama.com/INKD300S.html">N</a><a href="http://www.adorama.com/INKD300S.html">ikon D300S</a>-Nikkor 28-70mm F/5.6 @ a 1/800 second, 200 ISO<br /></div><br />As this second photograph shows, it’s as if the flowers are now exclaiming, “Look where I get to bloom!”<br /><br />The Valensole Plain in Provence France is a lavender shooters paradise. Once you drive up on any number of small roads that lead to the top of the plain, you will be greeted with waves of lavender as far as the eye can see. It’s an area that is truly hard to take a bad picture! However, having shot ‘waves of lavender’ many times already, I was once again looking for something new. It was then I spotted these yellow flowers in a large expansive field of lavender.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TD1eZct_yqI/AAAAAAAAAWE/11ToC53mAkk/s1600/%233-BFF0958.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TD1eZct_yqI/AAAAAAAAAWE/11ToC53mAkk/s400/%233-BFF0958.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493650911760730786" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.adorama.com/INKD300S.html">N</a><a href="http://www.adorama.com/INKD300S.html">ikon D300S</a>, Nikkor 70-300mm ED-IF VR, f/5.6 @ 1/1000 second, ISO 200<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">I new I could once again place the visual weight on these flowers and render the waves of lavender as out of focus shapes and tones in the background. Again, I was able to give the flowers a voice.<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TD1eY18ZMLI/AAAAAAAAAV8/AwsUW7vuJJo/s1600/%234-BFF0970.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TD1eY18ZMLI/AAAAAAAAAV8/AwsUW7vuJJo/s400/%234-BFF0970.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493650901352132786" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.adorama.com/INKD300S.html">Nikon D300S</a>, Nikkor 70-300mm ED-IF VR, f/5.6 @ 1/1000 second, ISO 200<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">As the second photograph clearly shows, “Look where we get to bloom!”<br /></div></div><br />Get to know your lenses and their unique visions and instead of asking what lens should I use, you will soon be asking “what if…”Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-729394891218369699.post-2069068052679950142010-07-09T11:14:00.001-07:002010-07-09T23:47:09.639-07:00MAKING A SPLASH<br /><br />A tip from <a href="http://ppsop.com/instructors.aspx#dnightingale">PPSOP instructor David Nightingale</a><br /><br />One of the hardest photographic lessons to learn is that your camera sees things differently to you. For example, when you shoot a backlit portrait and rely on your camera's meter to determine the exposure, you will often find that you end up with a shot where your subject is too dark and the background is too bright. The problem here is that our ability to perceive dynamic range - the ratio between the darkest and lightest areas of a scene, or 'contrast ratio' - far exceeds the sensitivity of our camera's sensor, i.e. it's just not capable of recording detail in both the brightest AND darkest areas simultaneously. In these circumstances then, we have three choices. First, we can wait for better light, or move our subject into the shade. Second, we can artificially lower the contrast ratio between our subject and background by adding some light using fill-flash or a reflector. Both of these methods will reduce the contrast ratio between your subject and the background, allowing you to record detail in both areas of the image. Third, rather than relying on your metered exposure you can take a meter reading from your subject rather than the scene as a whole. This will lighten your subject, but will probably blow out at least some of the details in the background. Whichever of these methods you use, you can guarantee that it will produce a better image than the metered exposure.<br /><br />In the example we're going to discuss in this week's tip though we have the opposite problem, i.e. the contrast ratio between the darkest and lightest areas of the original scene is quite low. If you take a look at the original image (a shot of a waterfall at the Dubai International Financial Centre) you will see what I mean - it's a rather dull, flat shot.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TDdna4EeHJI/AAAAAAAAAV0/qfj8038rt6I/s1600/image1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TDdna4EeHJI/AAAAAAAAAV0/qfj8038rt6I/s400/image1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491971982027005074" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />If we take a look at the histogram we can see why: the majority of the tones are bunched just to the left of the middle. In other words, we have lots of fairly dark mid-tone values but relatively few bright highlights or deep shadow detail.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TDdnaW_OdMI/AAAAAAAAAVs/9hI7-vCU0qM/s1600/image2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 277px; height: 199px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TDdnaW_OdMI/AAAAAAAAAVs/9hI7-vCU0qM/s400/image2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491971973146637506" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />In this case then my perception of the scene - as a bright, dynamic composition - is at odds with the reality that my camera's sensor recorded: the contrast ratio was lower than it appeared. Again, there are a variety of solutions. I could have waited for better light, or added some directional strobe light, but I also knew that this would be really easy to adjust during post-production, i.e. by using a couple of relatively straightforward techniques I would be able to produce a much more striking image.<br /><br />So, let's take a look at the three, relatively straightforward changes that were made to this image during post-production.<br /><br />Before we do though, if you'd like to take a more detailed look at the various adjustments that were made to this image, you can download a copy of the PSD file (1.5MB) here:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.chromasia.com/download/ppsop/ppsop_tip_mas.psd.zip">http://www.chromasia.com/.../ppsop_tip_mas.psd.zip</a><br /><br />CROP AND ROTATION<br />The first change I made, as you can see below, was to flip the image horizontally, rotate it 90 degrees clockwise, and then crop the image to 16x9 aspect ratio. None of these changes were strictly necessary, but I decided that I was going to aim for a fairly abstract image from the outset; one that would really emphasise the interplay between the brightest and darkest areas of the image.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TDdnaCcT_UI/AAAAAAAAAVk/VYrJ_c8TieM/s1600/image3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TDdnaCcT_UI/AAAAAAAAAVk/VYrJ_c8TieM/s400/image3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491971967631490370" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />INCREASING THE CONTRAST<br /><br />If you have already downloaded and opened the PSD file you will have noticed that this image was adjusted using just three curves. The first two - Curves 1 and Curves 2 - were used to add a dramatic increase in contrast.<br /><br />Curves 1<br />As you can see from the image below Curves 1 is a strong S-Curve (a term that is used to describe this shape of curve) that significantly brightens the highlights and deepens the shadows. In other words, it increases the contrast ratio between the brightest and darkest areas.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TDdnZ256rLI/AAAAAAAAAVc/MxyER74UE3o/s1600/image4.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TDdnZ256rLI/AAAAAAAAAVc/MxyER74UE3o/s400/image4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491971964534434994" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Curves 2<br />Curves 2 is also an S-Curve, and again, it brightens the highlights and deepens the shadows.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TDdnPgAkE0I/AAAAAAAAAVU/ANWHFE2w-KM/s1600/image5.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TDdnPgAkE0I/AAAAAAAAAVU/ANWHFE2w-KM/s400/image5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491971786589606722" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />If you've familiar with the Curves Tool in Photoshop you may be wondering why I used two Curves when I could probably have just used a stronger S-Curve from the outset, i.e. one adjustment layer rather than two. The reason, in this instance, is that it's often quite difficult to get exactly the right tonal balance when you've making a very large change in contrast, i.e. moving any of the control points on a single curve can have quite a profound effect on the appearance of the final image. If you use two curves, on the other hand, it's often much easier to fine tune the effect and get exactly the right balance of tones.<br /><br />The net result of these changes, as you can see below, is that the image is now considerably more interesting: the detail within the stream of water is now much more pronounced, and the image as a whole appears to have more depth.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TDdnPcRsm2I/AAAAAAAAAVM/iNt1edFeelE/s1600/image6.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TDdnPcRsm2I/AAAAAAAAAVM/iNt1edFeelE/s400/image6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491971785587727202" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />At this stage, I could have stopped - the image is a big improvement on the original - but I decided to accentuate the almost abstract nature of the image by toning it.<br /><br />TONING THE IMAGE<br /><br />There are a whole variety of tools and techniques you can use to tone an image, but in this instance I used another Curve, as illustrated below.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TDdnOvRCUAI/AAAAAAAAAVE/tu_ejAB2cgc/s1600/image7.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TDdnOvRCUAI/AAAAAAAAAVE/tu_ejAB2cgc/s400/image7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491971773505359874" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />In this instance, rather than altering the RGB composite curve, I altered both the Green and Blue curves (to do this you just need to select one of the individual channels using the drop-down menu towards the top-left of the Curves dialog).<br /><br />The change to the blue curve is probably self-explanatory; by adding a control point to the middle of this curve, and dragging the line to the left, I added some blue to the midtones. By contrast, by adding a control point to the green curve and dragging the line to the right, I removed some green from the midtones. While it's easy to imagine the effect that adding blue will have - the image will be more blue - it's a bit harder to visualize what effect removing a colour will have. What does less green look like? There is an easier way to think about this though, i.e. when you lower the amount of a specific colour within an image you proportionally increase the amount of it's complimentary colour. If you're unfamiliar with this term, take a look at the screen grab below.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TDdnOWXWf6I/AAAAAAAAAU8/KurdPGW20q0/s1600/image8.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TDdnOWXWf6I/AAAAAAAAAU8/KurdPGW20q0/s400/image8.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491971766820962210" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />If you look around the border of the image in a clockwise direction, starting on the right, you will see that red fades into magenta which then fades into blue, then cyan, the green, yellow, and then back to red. So, the primary colours - red, green and blue - are separated by the secondary colours; magenta, cyan, and yellow. To find a complementary colour, just look to the opposite side of the colour wheel. For green then, the complementary colour is magenta, so by using a curve to lower the amount of green in the mid-tones I added magenta. By the same token, had I wanted to add a cyan cast to the image, I could have dragged the red curve to the right.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TDdnOE5MN7I/AAAAAAAAAU0/oQ3MAWpYP4I/s1600/image9.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TDdnOE5MN7I/AAAAAAAAAU0/oQ3MAWpYP4I/s400/image9.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491971762131056562" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />SUMMARY<br />As I hope the above has demonstrated, creating a striking and dynamic image from a rather dull, flat original is relatively straightforward; often requiring no more than two or three simple steps.<br /><br />FURTHER READING<br /><br />If you‚ are interested in exploring any of these techniques in more depth, take a look at my <a href="http://www.chromasia.com/tutorials/online/">online Photoshop tutorials</a>. The two that you'll find especially useful are linked below.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.chromasia.com/tutorials/online/curves/">Tonal Range and the Curves tool</a>: this tutorial provides an in-depth discussion of the Curves tool (this is a free tutorial).<br /><br /><a href="http://www.chromasia.com/tutorials/online/tci_info.php">Toning Color Images</a>: this tutorial discusses a variety of tools and techniques you can employ to tone your colour images; including the Channel Mixer, the Selective Color tool and the Curves tool. (available to our annual subscribers and lifetime members).Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-729394891218369699.post-1537417518766648372010-07-03T06:07:00.000-07:002011-07-28T19:47:36.295-07:00<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;">Back Lighting Foods and Liquids</span><br /><br /></div>Translucent foods and liquids are ideal candidates for backlighting. You can really show off colors and patterns with your light shining directly through your subject. It is critical that your light source be intense enough and your subject translucent enough to make this work. If you are using fruits and vegetables as a subject, be sure to slice them thin enough to let plenty of light through. If you are shooting liquids, pick something that is fairly light in color. It's much more difficult to get light to penetrate red wine than white wine or dark beers like porter and stout than something like pale ale.<br /><br />The setup is pretty simple and just about any <a href="http://www.adorama.com/SearchSite/Default.aspx?searchinfo=flashpoint%20strobe">strobe</a>, hot light, speedlite, or even natural light will work. A <a href="http://www.adorama.com/SearchSite/Default.aspx?searchinfo=flashpoint%20softbox">softbox</a> will make a great light source for backlighting fairly thin foods and light colored liquids as well as providing a nice high key background. A diffusion panel will also work as will a thin piece of white Plexiglas. You can place a very large reflector on your <a href="http://www.adorama.com/SearchSite/Default.aspx?searchinfo=flashpoint%20strobe">strobe</a>, point it straight up and set a piece of Plexiglas on it to make a "light table". You can get thin sheets of Plexi in different colors to make some interesting backgrounds as well. Another alternative is an actual light table or slide viewing box. Colored gels can be placed on these for different background colors.<br /><br />Whenever you are shooting towards your light source, you need to watch out for lens flare so a lens hood is definitely required and you can even use your hand or a small flag to block any additional unwanted light from hitting the front lens element. Additionally, masking off your light source so that you are only allowing light through your subject and not around it will also really help avoid flare and increase contrast. Black foam core works great for this. Here are a couple of very easy to set up backlighting sources that will work for many subjects. The first one is a <a href="http://www.adorama.com/SearchSite/Default.aspx?searchinfo=flashpoint%20softbox">softbox</a> with foam core blocking all but a strip of light and the second is a large window with direct sunlight coming through. Again, foam core is used to block out unwanted light from hitting the front element of the lens.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TC83Ih5G29I/AAAAAAAAAUk/vdZgbH8HRsU/s1600/pg1.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TC83Ih5G29I/AAAAAAAAAUk/vdZgbH8HRsU/s400/pg1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489667090464299986" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TC83BttUGyI/AAAAAAAAAUc/JL2l113t1CM/s1600/pg2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TC83BttUGyI/AAAAAAAAAUc/JL2l113t1CM/s400/pg2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489666973376977698" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Canon 90mm TS-E w/36mm extension tube<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TC83Bc1FVAI/AAAAAAAAAUU/nymz53l7pCk/s1600/pg3.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 287px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TC83Bc1FVAI/AAAAAAAAAUU/nymz53l7pCk/s400/pg3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489666968846160898" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">This setup works equally well as long as you have a large enough window with direct sunlight coming through it. Only a thin strip of light is needed to fully illuminate the subject. You really have to be careful when shooting directly into sunlight this bright. Make sure that you don't let any light past the subject or you could hurt your eyes.<br /></div><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TC83BJjEiYI/AAAAAAAAAUM/EyQNLWj8AhE/s1600/pg4.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TC83BJjEiYI/AAAAAAAAAUM/EyQNLWj8AhE/s400/pg4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489666963670337922" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Canon 180mm macro, f/8, 1/40sec<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">It takes a lot of light to shine through a subject this dense and the direct sunlight works perfectly. Using a macro lens, I was able to completely fill the frame with the subject.<br /><br />Another method that works great if you have the ability to shoot straight down on your subject is to simply place it directly on a backlit surface. You can make your own light table very easily out of a <a href="http://www.adorama.com/SearchSite/Default.aspx?searchinfo=flashpoint%20softbox">softbox</a>, <a href="http://www.adorama.com/SearchSite/Default.aspx?searchinfo=flashpoint%20strobe">strobe</a> w/reflector, or continuous light and piece of Plexiglas if you don't have any other options available. I have used all of the following methods and they all work equally well. You do need to be careful that your working surface is sturdy enough to hold up your subject.<br /></div><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TC83AkSFAPI/AAAAAAAAAUE/Mw5eumMBuTw/s1600/pg5.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TC83AkSFAPI/AAAAAAAAAUE/Mw5eumMBuTw/s400/pg5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489666953666953458" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.adorama.com/SearchSite/Default.aspx?searchinfo=lightbox">Light box</a> used for backlighting.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TC83ATpzLuI/AAAAAAAAAT8/dt3uT9ipOmA/s1600/pg6.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 251px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TC83ATpzLuI/AAAAAAAAAT8/dt3uT9ipOmA/s400/pg6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489666949203046114" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Fluorescent studio light with white plexi used for backlighting.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TC82x0kIXUI/AAAAAAAAAT0/_42juLsfZHQ/s1600/pg7.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TC82x0kIXUI/AAAAAAAAAT0/_42juLsfZHQ/s400/pg7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489666700339600706" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.adorama.com/SearchSite/Default.aspx?searchinfo=flashpoint%20strobe">Strobe</a> w/7" reflector and white plexi for backlighting.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TC82xY7uc9I/AAAAAAAAATs/VrYznWjGxvI/s1600/pg8.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 344px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TC82xY7uc9I/AAAAAAAAATs/VrYznWjGxvI/s400/pg8.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489666692922373074" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.adorama.com/SearchSite/Default.aspx?searchinfo=flashpoint%20strobe">Strobe</a> with <a href="http://www.adorama.com/SearchSite/Default.aspx?searchinfo=flashpoint%20softbox">softbox</a> and white plexi used for backlighting.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">All of these lights/setups are suitable for creating beautiful backlit images. The following are some examples of what can be done. There are hundreds of other subjects that will work equally as well.<br /></div><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TC82wxpGIuI/AAAAAAAAATk/3gmEBBkjv0I/s1600/pg9.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 281px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TC82wxpGIuI/AAAAAAAAATk/3gmEBBkjv0I/s400/pg9.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489666682375250658" border="0" /></a><br />Canon 28-70mm w/20mm extension tube, f/11, 1/2sec<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Orange slice in sparkling water, sitting on a <a href="http://www.adorama.com/SearchSite/Default.aspx?searchinfo=lightbox">light box</a>. The light coming past the orange makes a nice high key background.<br /><br /></div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TC82wjrERpI/AAAAAAAAATc/LkdoBmVptYw/s1600/pg10.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 241px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TC82wjrERpI/AAAAAAAAATc/LkdoBmVptYw/s400/pg10.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489666678625420946" border="0" /></a><br />Canon 28-70mm w/20mm extension tube, f/11, 1/3sec<br /><br />Switched out the orange slice for a lime and placed a green gel under the glass for color.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TC82wI_TVhI/AAAAAAAAATU/8JPU10Q4APs/s1600/pg11.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 396px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OMgtHfRARWg/TC82wI_TVhI/AAAAAAAAATU/8JPU10Q4APs/s400/pg11.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489666671462536722" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Canon 28-70mm w/36mm extension tube, f/5.6, 1/30sec<br /></div><br />Thin slice of Kiwi placed directly on <a href="http://www.adorama.com/SearchSite/Default.aspx?searchinfo=lightbox">light box</a>. The extension tube allowed me to move in close enough to fill the frame.<br /><br />To learn more about this and other food photography techniques, check out the following classes at PPSOP.com<br /><br /><a href="http://ppsop.com/instructors.aspx#rgoldman">Introduction to Food Photography Food Photography 201 - Recipes for Success<br /><br /><br />Ron Goldman<br />PPSOP Instructor</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-729394891218369699.post-28858465222836849892010-06-29T15:10:00.000-07:002010-07-01T21:11:52.852-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCpvzUwigMI/AAAAAAAAALo/WOghb0a-nXk/s1600/tri1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 265px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCpvzUwigMI/AAAAAAAAALo/WOghb0a-nXk/s400/tri1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488322023440679106" border="0" /></a>If you are in the market for a <a href="http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=CustomList&List_Id=Tripods">tripod</a>, I do not know of a better time to buy one then right now! Why? You will find out in a moment, but first when should you use a tripod?<br /><br />You should use a tripod when you are shooting in low-light, when you are looking to record exacting sharpness, when you are shooting with really long lenses, when you are shooting a family portrait, when you are shooting a self-portrait, when you are shooting a waterfall at a 1/4 second, when you are shooting a city scene at night, when you are shooting with Graduated ND filters.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCpvzA4sn7I/AAAAAAAAALg/RROOG5Wlx9Q/s1600/tri2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 265px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCpvzA4sn7I/AAAAAAAAALg/RROOG5Wlx9Q/s400/tri2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488322018106187698" border="0" /></a>When you are doing close-up photography, when you want to keep your horizon lines straight, when you need to lock up your mirror, when you are zooming during long exposures, when you get down low to foreground interest and you want a great depth of field, when you shoot in a meadow of flowers and you are isolating a single flower, when you are shooting with rear-curtain sync and your flash.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCpvyjhhtKI/AAAAAAAAALY/irjB67R21rQ/s1600/tri3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 159px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCpvyjhhtKI/AAAAAAAAALY/irjB67R21rQ/s400/tri3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488322010224374946" border="0" /></a>When you are shooting star trails at night, when you shoot the moon, when you shoot a sunset at the beach, when you want to shoot a panorama.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCpvyKEsilI/AAAAAAAAALQ/NgEP6umpthI/s1600/tri4.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 139px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCpvyKEsilI/AAAAAAAAALQ/NgEP6umpthI/s400/tri4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488322003392563794" border="0" /></a><br />When you...Finally, when shooting any subject with your tripod, make it a point to use either the camera's self timer or a cable release to trip the shutter release.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">So, why is now the best time to buy a tripod? Because the BEST tripod that I personally have been waiting on for the past 12-months has finally come on the market, and at a price that is so darn affordable, you'll be tempted to buy two of them! (But don't! This is a tripod, not a plasma TV!)</span><br /><br />Our great friends at Adorama have in stock ready for shipment, the all new <a href="http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=CustomList&List_Id=Tripods">Flashpoint Carbon Fiber Tripods</a> with the Adorama Flip Lock designed leg release system which uses a patented process for making the plastic from different polymers at an extremely high temperature to create a lock that will not fail. These non-slip flip locks will keep the legs locked into position. Set up and closing time becomes fast and without effort. A victory for sure for those of us who have loathed the "twist/lock legs"!<br /><br />The<a href="http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=CustomList&List_Id=Tripods"> Flashpoint Carbon Fiber</a> material is an all new material and is considered a major break through by combining traditional carbon fiber with latest carbon fiber tube technique-bullet proof fiber complex (patented). The anti-resonance effect is increased by 60% over the old technology. The major benefit to this carbon fiber over all others is greater rigidity, which will prevent tube rupture.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Each leg can be set at multiple angles and the center column can be separated into a low column for ground level use.<br /><br /></span>They all include a bubble level and have a rubber pads on the bottom of the legs with retractable ground spikes for use in rugged terrain. Leg friction can be adjusted to match the needs of the photographer. And in case you didn't know, Carbon fiber is more than 40% lighter than the same item made in aluminum. You will indeed be feeling a "bit light in your loafers" as you walk those mountain trails with one of these tripods! And now check out the specs and of course you can order by clicking <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=CustomList&List_Id=Tripods">HERE!</a><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-729394891218369699.post-27018589378321599342010-06-22T15:29:00.000-07:002010-07-01T21:12:25.062-07:00ITS ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS!Let me ask you, "What is the most important element in a group shot? "<br /><br />Sure you want everyone to look their best, but the essential ingredient is more than<br />smiles, eyes looking at the lens, and natural poses.<br /><br />What makes or breaks the group shot are the relationships portrayed - the subtext, the connections. These nuances require collaboration. The subjects must relax, remove the masks, and be themselves.<br /><br />As a children and family portrait photographer, I often photograph groups and I always do my homework. I know the environment and the lighting beforehand so that I can go ahead and work with the group and not be tinkering with my camera and the settings.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCp0Et58v2I/AAAAAAAAAM4/PQv5sdab33Q/s1600/cl1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCp0Et58v2I/AAAAAAAAAM4/PQv5sdab33Q/s400/cl1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488326720295321442" border="0" /></a>I also work fast. The nine-month-old in this group photo was cooperating, but I knew<br />that would change. To accomplish the photo, I had two assistants standing three feet high on step stools and holding a large diffusing screen (a 42-inch translucent zip disc) to cut down the harsh 5:00 PM (EST) September sun. Indian summer sunlight casts a beatific glow, but it is a challenge to work with.<br /><br />Typically, I shoot on manual exposure mode and select the ISO required to shoot with the aperture/shutter combination I want. For this session, I wanted to shoot with an aperture of f/8 or f/11 (to ensure sharp focus on more than one focal plane) and a shutter of 1/100 since I was handholding my Canon 5D with a 24-105 mm lens (the rule of thumb to avoid camera shake is 1/focal length of the lens). I settled on an ISO of 1000.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCp0EbiwB4I/AAAAAAAAAMw/7K3emPa12j8/s1600/cl2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCp0EbiwB4I/AAAAAAAAAMw/7K3emPa12j8/s400/cl2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488326715366180738" border="0" /></a>To fine tune the exposure, I took an incident reading, placing my handheld under an<br />assistantʼs chin, pointing to the lens (or where it will be) to get an exposure comparison. I then fired off a few test shots (my assistant as a model) and used the cameraʼs histogram to fine tune my exposure. I was looking for good facial values; the majority of pixels to fall in the middle of the histogram.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCp0DwHGuoI/AAAAAAAAAMo/XtgHOsLH8yY/s1600/cl3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 285px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCp0DwHGuoI/AAAAAAAAAMo/XtgHOsLH8yY/s400/cl3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488326703707503234" border="0" /></a>This particular client prefers black and white images, but I will shoot in RAW and convert later using NIK Silver Effex or the Adobe Photoshop b/w adjustment layer. Even though my client wants black and white, I would rather have color files in case she also wants color photos.<br /><br />With group shots, I usually do not use a tripod because I move around so much. I often lie on the grass which is a great way to relax my clients.<br /><br />Depending upon the age of the children, I will bring one or two, or sometimes three<br />assistants. With babies, I know I have a very brief window of opportunity to nail the<br />image. So the more hands the better.<br /><br />I work with fill flash and sometimes reflectors. I use a "Pro -T" flash bracket and a<br />Canon Speedlite 580 EX II, with a Sto-Fen for a diffuser. Indoors I use the Gary Fong Cloud.<br /><br />If the group is stationary, I have more ability to use the reflectors. But my style is to<br />encourage a certain degree of movement, so reflectors are not always practical. Some times diffusers are the rule, as the bright sun needs to be filtered to block the harsh rays.<br /><br />I use a "jill-e" black leather camera bag (some people have told me it looks like a Marc Jacobs bag). In addition to my camera, lens, flash, and bracket, I always carry some anti frizz hair gel, mosquito spray, a brush, and some bubbles. In my car trunk I have a step stool and a tripod.<br /><br />If you are interested in photographing children and families, and are thinking about becoming a child photographer, then join me for a class. Many photographers have begun their careers by photographing their own children. Let me help you learn how to put it all together.<br /><br />I also teach "<a href="http://ppsop.com/instructors.aspx#cdoskind">All About Color</a>" and "<a href="http://ppsop.com/instructors.aspx#cdoskind">Painting Photos</a>". Feel free to send me a note:<br />cheryl@cherylmachatdorskind.com<br /><br /><a href="http://ppsop.com/instructors.aspx#cdoskind">All My Best,<br />Cheryl Machat Dorskind<br />Instructor/PPSOP.com</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-729394891218369699.post-14230118723466056722010-06-19T15:34:00.000-07:002010-07-01T21:12:25.065-07:00IDEA'S ARE LIMITED ONLY BY OUR IMAGINATION!The great folks at Bogen do make a host of fantastic tripods but they also make a host of attachments that allow the photographer to put a camera just about anywhere he/she can imagine. One of my favorite gadgets of theirs is called the <a href="http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=CustomList&List_Id=Wireless">Avenger Pump Suction Cup</a>.<br /><br />With the aid of the <a href="http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=CustomList&List_Id=Wireless">Avenger 'Super' Suction Cup</a>, (and boy do I ever mean 'Super Suction') I was able to mount my camera and fish eye lens on the hood of my friend Phillipe's car intent on firing off a number of exposures as we drove through several long tunnels. And to add a bit of 'horror' to this motion-filled idea, Phillipe and I donned masks, (they were having a Halloween close-out sale at the local variety store). I'm the passenger and Phillipe is driving.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCp1GdlRXPI/AAAAAAAAANI/WEUCB4KWztg/s1600/ma1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCp1GdlRXPI/AAAAAAAAANI/WEUCB4KWztg/s400/ma1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488327849784990962" border="0" /></a>Of course I wanted to record the sense of motion that one experiences when driving through tunnels, which meant I would need a 'slow' shutter speed of at least 1/2 if not a full second. And in order to determine what aperture I would need to use at these speeds I needed to take a meter reading under a lighting condition that would be similar to the light we would find inside the tunnel. Getting that meter reading actually proved rather easy, as I suggested that we first drive through the tunnel, without the camera mounted on the car, but rather with the sunroof open, which then allowed me to shoot down onto the hood of the car and take my meter reading. Once we were inside the tunnel I stood up, and with my 17-55mm lens and camera set to 100 ISO, I simply pointed it at the hood of the car in Aperture Priority and found that when I chose f/8 I had a correct exposure indication of 1/2 second and of course at f/11 the correct exposure was now indicating1 second. <br /><br />After this first trip through the tunnel, we exited and pulled off to the side of the road. With the bright interior dome light on inside the car, I took another reading of Phillpe's face and discovered that also at f/11, I could get a correct exposure at one second. I had the 'numbers' and now we were all set. I chose to leave the camera in Aperture Priority Mode, rather than manual, knowing that if I set the aperture to f/11 the camera would record a correct exposure somewhere in the neighborhood of one second, depending on the varying degrees of brightness as we drove through the tunnel. So, with the camera in Aperture Priority Mode, the fish-eye lens set to f/11 and pointed at 'us', and with my <a href="http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=CustomList&List_Id=Wireless">remote triggering device</a> mounted to the camera, we were ready to begin our journey through several long tunnels, but NOT before donning our ghoulish masks. I wanted this to be a 'ghoulish dream' kind of photo. As we drove through the tunnels, I would simply fire the camera from inside the car with the remote sending unit. After making several trips through the tunnels, we pulled over and I began a quick review of the images and it was clear that I had my shot.<br /><br />I wanted to add that Phillipe's car is actually light blue and once inside the tunnel, it recorded an odd bronze cast that no amount of PhotoShop could repair. But it was also while trying to recover the light blue color in PhotoShop, that I came upon this 'wild' purple color and the more I viewed it the more I liked it so a purple car it is! This color was the result of 'playing' with both the Color Balance and Hue/Satruation controls in PhotoShop.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCp1GBkGN1I/AAAAAAAAANA/p6TwuFxSZAs/s1600/ma2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCp1GBkGN1I/AAAAAAAAANA/p6TwuFxSZAs/s400/ma2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488327842263873362" border="0" /></a>Here is the set-up with the camera and fish-eye lens suction cupped to the hood of Phillipe's car. Honestly, it was my experience that this <a href="http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=CustomList&List_Id=Wireless">Bogen Suction Cup</a> made a bond that was as strong as steel! You will also need a Bogen mounting plate for the camera, which in turn gets attached to the suction cup.<br /><br />All My Best,<br />Bryan F Peterson<br />Founder/PPSOP.comUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-729394891218369699.post-62349324661689119542010-06-12T21:30:00.000-07:002010-07-01T21:12:25.071-07:00Every photograph is a 'lie', yet within that 'lie' is a mountain of truth, a truth that is perhaps best defined as "The Sizzle!"As you may recall, a few days ago, I raised the question of 'integrity' when it comes to the dramatic alteration of one's photograph via Photoshop. In case you missed it, I have uploaded both of the photographs again and the image on top is the original while the image below was altered via Photoshop; namely I replaced the foreground grasses and distant road with another photograph that included a foreground of a sandy beach.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCUCuxnDIuI/AAAAAAAAADw/Xsibgoycxf0/s1600/lie1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 292px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCUCuxnDIuI/AAAAAAAAADw/Xsibgoycxf0/s400/lie1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486794723635176162" border="0" /></a>I received more than 450 emails to my question, "Do we have an obligation to tell the viewer when a photograph has been dramatically altered in Photo-Shop?" and the votes are now in!<br /><br />Before sharing with you the results of this unscientific survey, many of you made it clear that there is only one area in photography that is deserving of the "death penalty" if one is found to have dramatically altered an image and that is the area of Photo-Journalism/Documentary Photography. But, and to my amazement, 41% of you felt that when a photographer dramatically alters an image he or she is NOT obligated to tell anyone, unless asked. And a few of you even stated, that if asked, you would simply say, "That's none of your business!" There were a variety of reasons why most felt they had no obligation to tell anyone if the image was dramatically altered, but suffice it to say, all of the reasons could be easily quantified as "artistic license".<br /><br />Personally, I have NO problem with any image that has been dramatically altered, as long as it is 'believable' OR so obviously altered that it's not even a question e.g. fantasy, dream-like photographs. I don't mind the 'lie' that is created from a dramatically altered image, since I have felt for years that every photograph is a 'lie' anyway, but my problem with the dramatically altered 'lie' is that it can lead one to believe that a given landscape or cityscape really does "look like that" when, as it turns out, there is no such place on earth.<br /><br />Several years ago, I came upon a really beautiful image of a street scene in Paris. It was an image I saw on a photographers website. In the foreground was the street sign, Rue Ravoli. A few weeks later I was in Paris and I tracked down this 'street' and as you might have guessed, the street I vividly recalled in the photograph was nothing like the street I was standing on. There were only two buildings that I recognized and everything else on that street was an obvious composite of other shops and cafes that were probably taken in other parts of Paris. On a strictly personal level, I tipped my hat to the photographer who obviously possessed some terrific Photo-Shop skills. It was clearly one of the best Photo-Shop composites I had ever seen. But, on the other hand, I was disappointed that such a place did not exist, if only because I wanted to see what I might be able to do, photographically, on that same street.<br /><br />If you know me at all, I am 'old school'; I am a big fan of "getting it right in camera". For the longest time I have taken great pride in meeting the personal challenge of creating unique images and since the advent of Photoshop I have at times felt quite smug, knowing that I got 'that' image without the use of Photoshop. I love it when someone asks, "Did you do 'that' in Photoshop?" and with the biggest smile across my face, I say, honestly and often emphatically, "Nope, it was all done in camera!"<br />Since last week however, I now find myself thinking about my "get it done in camera" attitude and I must confess, I have now come under my own suspicion!<br /><br />How many times have I 'dramatically altered' a scene before actually photographing it? In 35 years of shooting that answer would be at least a few dozen times, I am sure! One such scene that I recall vividly stands out more than any other and ironically it also involves a city street, a city street that was dramatically altered, all for the sake of a photograph. I was hired by an advertising agency to photograph a European street scene, complete with a Bakery, Café and a Newsstand. I scouted various locations and hired set-builders, stylists and of course 'European' models and several weeks later the shot of the European street was taken in the early morning hours in downtown Portland, Oregon!<br /><br />The shoot itself lasted about two hours and by that afternoon, all that was left of the European street scene were 11 rolls of 36-exposure slide film. The 'lie' had been successfully recorded and now that 'lie' would continue as the State of Oregon Tourism Dept. began running two-page spread advertisements in many national magazines, promoting Portland as a European city alternative.<br /><br />This is of course my most extreme example of being party to a dramatically altered image. Clearly, most shooters don't think twice about dramatically altering the scene before them, as long as any changes are done before they take the picture. Why is that approach any less 'dishonest' than the dramatically altered images done by others with the aid of Photoshop? As for me, I had been struggling with that question all week.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCUCvVrg6VI/AAAAAAAAAD4/yYyhrjZeYIg/s1600/lie2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 260px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCUCvVrg6VI/AAAAAAAAAD4/yYyhrjZeYIg/s400/lie2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486794733317581138" border="0" /></a>What if I make only minor alterations to a scene before I take the picture? Am I still 'guilty' of altering an image if I ADD or SUBTRACT just a few things? The image above has been altered. How has it been altered? I placed the leaf you see on that rock there, in full view of several of my students. Does it look 'natural', believable? Before answering that there is another part of this story that you need to hear. Within ten minutes of placing that leaf on this rock, several other photographers who were not part of my workshop had arrived in the same area, and myself and several of my students overheard the following remark made by one of the photographers, "Wow, check out the leaf on the rock!" And without hesitation both of these photographers set up their cameras and tripods and fired away. As far as they were concerned, the leaf that on that rock was natural! <br /><br />The debate over 'natural' or 'altered' images is really OLD NEWS! In fact it can be argued that every lens choice, every point of view, every 'creative exposure', every filter, to name a few from the list, are all guilty of 'altering' an image. As far as I am concerned, you can even add the mere act of framing the image in-camera as another example of altering an image! Let's look at several examples and see if you don't agree.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCUCl0Tq9mI/AAAAAAAAADo/wYRTg57lsnE/s1600/lie3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 261px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCUCl0Tq9mI/AAAAAAAAADo/wYRTg57lsnE/s400/lie3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486794569740383842" border="0" /></a>The image you see here has been altered dramatically, yet I will add that it was altered 100% in-camera and without the aid of Photoshop, NOT that that should matter! It was altered 100% by LENS CHOICE, POINT OF VIEW and a LARGE LENS OPENING. We can all agree that the woman you see here is probably of Middle-Eastern descent, but after that, it's anybody's guess what the rest of the story might be.<br /><br />One thing is sure. Without benefit of the photograph below, you would have never guessed that this image was made in a nursery next to a trailer, and with the aid of an assistant who is reflecting some warm light onto her face. In addition, the model did not have the right pins to hold her headscarf in place so she had to use one of her hands to hold the headscarf in place while I took the shot! With the telephoto lens and a large aperture, I was able to render a shallow depth of field AND with the right point of view I was also able to avoid recording any part of the trailer in the background. When we consider the subject and the surroundings, there is no question that I have dramatically altered the scene to get to my end result.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCUClCHtoZI/AAAAAAAAADg/LQWjEHhm59M/s1600/lie4.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 261px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCUClCHtoZI/AAAAAAAAADg/LQWjEHhm59M/s400/lie4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486794556268454290" border="0" /></a>One more example and I will then turn this debate over to you. In the photograph below we see a woman in a red sweater, doing her laundry, along with several other women in the background, walking in the shadows. Once again, it's anybody's guess what the rest of the story might be, but rest assured, the image you are looking at has also been 'dramatically altered'. It is an image that was cropped, in camera, by the use of a long telephoto lens and further 'altered' by manipulating a deliberate in-camera under-exposure so the shadows would go black. And again, not that it matters, but this image was also done in-camera.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCUCk8x8WTI/AAAAAAAAADY/2I9cShoGOHk/s1600/lie5.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCUCk8x8WTI/AAAAAAAAADY/2I9cShoGOHk/s400/lie5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486794554834966834" border="0" /></a>As you now have the benefit of the 'bigger' picture below, it becomes readily apparent that the above image was indeed altered. Again, with my telephoto lens, I was able to cut through the surrounding 'clutter' and arrive at what I determined to be the much cleaner composition in the photograph above. So, again, by the mere act of LENS CHOICE, I have created a compelling composition of a very small part of the larger scene before me. Like it or not, I am once again, guilty of altering an image.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCUCkZPEb1I/AAAAAAAAADQ/IWxzMz0lffU/s1600/lie6.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 263px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCUCkZPEb1I/AAAAAAAAADQ/IWxzMz0lffU/s400/lie6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486794545293455186" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Every photograph is a 'lie', yet within that 'lie' is a mountain of truth, a truth that is perhaps best defined as a "The Sizzle!"</span><br /><br />Years ago, like many photographers who are just starting out, I needed to have a 'real' job to support myself initially. One of those jobs was selling insulation and storm windows to homeowners and I remember the sales manager's advice to all of us in our weekly sales meetings-"Sell the sizzle not the steak!" In other words, appeal to the customer's emotions (the"sizzle") and when you sell the sizzle, most customers will be quick to buy the steak!<br /><br />When I think about memorable photographs, images that truly do leave a lasting impression, it's fair to say they all have a common thread. They are images that "sizzle", they are images that excite or ignite the emotions of the viewer.<br /><br />Your camera's viewfinder, combined with a given lens choice, point of view and an understanding of light, exposure and composition fundamentals, is able to record an image of great emotion, regardless of the overall truth that was surrounding the image.<br /><br />I can think of countless images I have taken that suggested 'peace', 'joy', 'elation', 'sensuality' or 'sorrow'. Yet, if you saw the 'big picture', your reaction might be quite different. Prior to the digital age we now live in, all photographs were made with film and for those of us who shot color slide film exclusively, myself included, a cloud of suspicion rarely hung over us. (Make note of that word 'suspicion'.)<br />Since the digital age, and with greater frequency, the emails I receive from readers raise the question, "Did you do that in Photoshop?" It is a fair question, and for the most part, the answer is no, but the fact remains, a cloud of suspicion is a constant in my photographic life today as it is or many other shooters. However, just this past week, I have concluded, that it has been my attitude towards "dramatically altering an image in Photoshop" that is behind this cloud of suspicion because I, like so many others have been preaching for way too long that it is somehow far more noble and far more an indicator of one's creativity if you can get the shot in camera! Yet, as I have just shared with you, I now realize that I have been altering images, sometimes dramatically, in camera for years, but what is the difference between doing it in camera or in Photoshop? Seriously, what is the difference!? I am not only 'guilty' of altering images for years, but also equally 'guilty' of arrogance!<br /><br />Going forward, I will continue to use the same barometer I have used for years when looking at the work of other photographers; "Does this image make me feel, does it excite or ignite my emotions, does the image sizzle? Whether or not its 'real' or believable is really NOT important, (crime scene photographs, passport and drivers license photographs being the exception!) <br /><br />And if and when I start dramatically altering images with the aid of Photoshop, I will be the first to answer, "Yes I did!" should anyone ask if I did that in Photoshop. I finally understand that for many shooters, Photoshop is their main tool for creating much of their compelling imagery. And if it's Photoshop that accounts for much of your "sizzling" work I'll still gladly be buying your steak!<br /><br />To be clear I am a big believer in getting most if not all of my 'dramatic alterations' done in-camera; moving objects, adding objects, subtracting objects, creating blur, adding sharpness, seeking out appropriate backgrounds, manipulating exposure, or the occasional use of my flash to create sunlight and of course focusing on the final arrangement, (lens choice and point of view), which will result in the most effective composition. My reason is a simple one: doing my dramatic alterations in-camera is simply quicker than the hour or so I might need to do the same thing in Photo-Shop.<br /><br />And finally in closing, I wanted to share with you another example where, truth be told, I have dramatically altered the image. My first dramatic alteration to this scene was adding a seashell, on its side no less, to an otherwise empty oasis of sand. My second dramatic alteration was adding light where NO light ever existed, thanks in large part to a small flashlight. My third and somewhat less dramatic alteration was setting my White Balance to Incandescent/Tungsten. This made the overall scene blue. My fourth and even less of a dramatic alteration was the use of a full frame fish-eye lens. Dramatically altered? You bet, but hey, at least I didn't use Photo-Shop-LOL!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCUCjyd0RpI/AAAAAAAAADI/Y4tABuEQW08/s1600/lie7.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCUCjyd0RpI/AAAAAAAAADI/Y4tABuEQW08/s400/lie7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486794534886327954" border="0" /></a>Yes, let me know your thoughts if you feel compelled to share them in the comments below!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-729394891218369699.post-53037987068422142362010-06-03T21:29:00.000-07:002010-07-01T21:12:25.077-07:00A Photographic ChallengeOn a recent workshop in Cape Cod, my students and I had just parked our cars at a beach wayside parking lot and excitement filled the air! All of us would soon be facing one of several challenges that this weekend workshop presented.<br /><br />When we think of a lighthouse, images of the lone sentinel are often associated with bluffs, cliffs or beach or a rocky out-cropping, often surrounded by pounding ocean surf.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TB_ZEfxE1uI/AAAAAAAAAC8/4ptW41sm6oQ/s1600/bf1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 265px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TB_ZEfxE1uI/AAAAAAAAAC8/4ptW41sm6oQ/s400/bf1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485341542430594786" border="0" /></a>Well, as you can clearly see in the first photograph, this particular lighthouse was nowhere near any beach or pounding surf. In fact, I remember commenting to myself upon seeing this particular lighthouse "Whose idea was it to build a lighthouse in the woods?"<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TB_ZDyFJuNI/AAAAAAAAAC0/fGvkc9yUt9o/s1600/bf2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 265px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TB_ZDyFJuNI/AAAAAAAAAC0/fGvkc9yUt9o/s400/bf2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485341530166769874" border="0" /></a>Most of the students walked ahead of me, proceeding across the street and up the small trail to the lighthouse. I and one other student stayed behind, as I felt the ONLY real shot worth taking here would be from the grassy area, where you can see a lone tea cup rose bush-(note the area that I have boxed).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TB_ZCHRxIsI/AAAAAAAAACs/Cz0sPrWerrI/s1600/bf3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 265px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TB_ZCHRxIsI/AAAAAAAAACs/Cz0sPrWerrI/s400/bf3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485341501497090754" border="0" /></a>Combining my Nikkor 12-24mm lens with the Canon 500D close-up filter, I was able to move in really close to a single rose bloom and frame up the scene you see here.<br /><br />My initial reaction to this particular composition was fairly positive, BUT try as I might, I could not find a point of view that would allow me to 'lose' the roadway that is visible in the background. I did choose to shoot at a wide-open aperture, but even at wide open, (f/4) I was still unable to blur out the "unsightly" road in the background.<br /><br />I did play around a bit with the Clone Tool in PS but that did nothing more than reveal a composition that now looked like I was trying to hide something. What's a photographer to do at a time like this?<br /><br />At that moment I was struck with an idea as I recalled taking a number of beach landscapes the previous afternoon at a different location. You can see one of those beach landscapes here.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TB_ZBj8FdUI/AAAAAAAAACk/TAQcAzWO22Y/s1600/bf4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 265px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TB_ZBj8FdUI/AAAAAAAAACk/TAQcAzWO22Y/s400/bf4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485341492010906946" border="0" /></a>This particular image was also shot with my 12-24mm but at an aperture of f/16 and not surprising, unlike the wide-angle shot of the tea rose above, this image is super sharp, from front to back due to the use of the smaller aperture of f/16.<br /><br />It was then that I got the idea! What if I were to combine the beachscape image with that of the lighthouse and tea rose? I would of course need to 'blur' the beachscape image so it would 'match' the natural blur of the lighthouse/tea rose image and once that was done, (using Gaussian Blur Tool in PhotoShop) I could then combine them and with the aid of a layer mask, "paint" this blurry beachscape into the lighthouse/tea rose scene and voila-that's exactly what I did!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TB_ZBLhQ8II/AAAAAAAAACc/JmRXYHw6zcI/s1600/bf5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 265px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TB_ZBLhQ8II/AAAAAAAAACc/JmRXYHw6zcI/s400/bf5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485341485455962242" border="0" /></a>Here is that image for all to see (If you don't know a thing about LAYERS, get signed up for Jon Canfeld's class-NOW!)<br /><br />Assuming you have the knowledge on how to do a layer mask and assuming this was your shot, do you feel your viewing audience has the right to know that this image is a composite OR do you feel that it's nobody's business and unless someone asks, no one needs to know? If you have time comment here and let's get the discussion going!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-729394891218369699.post-78652019537566486872010-03-27T15:18:00.000-07:002010-07-01T21:12:25.081-07:00Lensbaby<div style="text-align: left;">Spring has arrived! Temperatures here in Maine have been amazingly warm, such a wonderful and unexpected thing, as March is typically a winter month here. More seasonable weather is expected this week (i.e. cold!!), but I managed to shoot some Snow Drops and Crocuses while it was warm last week. Because I didn't get my hands on the <a href="http://www.adorama.com/?List_Id=lensbaby&custom_sku_list_htmlPage=4&custom_sku_list_htmlDir=Asc&Report1Dir=Asc&op=CustomList&admin=T">Lensbaby Soft Focus optic</a> until I beta tested it late last summer, I was anxious to see what it could do with the tiny spring flowers in my garden. The optic provides an all-over softness, but you can still control the Depth of Field by manually changing aperture disks, as you can with all Lensbaby optics and lenses. I was easily able to softly blur the backgrounds, yet keep a focal point where I wanted it on the tiny flowers. I love this optic more all the time!<br /></div><br />All of these images were taken with the <a href="http://www.adorama.com/?List_Id=lensbaby&custom_sku_list_htmlPage=4&custom_sku_list_htmlDir=Asc&Report1Dir=Asc&op=CustomList&admin=T">Lensbaby Muse </a>, which is my favorite Lensbaby model. I always advise photographers who are new to Lensbabies to start with the <a href="http://www.adorama.com/?List_Id=lensbaby&custom_sku_list_htmlPage=4&custom_sku_list_htmlDir=Asc&Report1Dir=Asc&op=CustomList&admin=T">Composer model</a>, . It is the easiest Lensbaby to use, because the ball and socket design allows you to lock the focus. The Muse resembles the original bellows models, it's quick to focus and adjust and works well for what I do. You can use extension tubes with Lensbabies, but for these images I used the <a href="http://www.adorama.com/?List_Id=lensbaby&custom_sku_list_htmlPage=4&custom_sku_list_htmlDir=Asc&Report1Dir=Asc&op=CustomList&admin=T">Lensbaby Macro Kit </a><br /><br />I shot these images with the f/5.6 aperture disk<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCpyjKLtyGI/AAAAAAAAAMg/2PpqkqfLZRs/s1600/kat1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCpyjKLtyGI/AAAAAAAAAMg/2PpqkqfLZRs/s400/kat1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488325044258850914" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCpyiupbZtI/AAAAAAAAAMY/6C1WI71jBe8/s1600/kat2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCpyiupbZtI/AAAAAAAAAMY/6C1WI71jBe8/s400/kat2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488325036867282642" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCpyaEc_8eI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/nnYUy20wzZs/s1600/kat3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCpyaEc_8eI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/nnYUy20wzZs/s400/kat3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488324888101908962" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCpyZ-3BjYI/AAAAAAAAAMI/wZPi6EBfW5w/s1600/kat4.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 270px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCpyZ-3BjYI/AAAAAAAAAMI/wZPi6EBfW5w/s400/kat4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488324886600453506" border="0" /></a>These images were made with the f/2.8 aperture disk, placed on top of one of the special aperture disks that comes with the soft focus optic. The images are softer, with less depth of field, which is a lovely effect when photographing flowers.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCpyZlIIxsI/AAAAAAAAAMA/K2DoT7cR9JY/s1600/kat5.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCpyZlIIxsI/AAAAAAAAAMA/K2DoT7cR9JY/s400/kat5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488324879692908226" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCpyZbQhtoI/AAAAAAAAAL4/Olho91i5qZQ/s1600/kat6.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCpyZbQhtoI/AAAAAAAAAL4/Olho91i5qZQ/s400/kat6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488324877043742338" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCpyY6peM3I/AAAAAAAAALw/RL5m65_TIo4/s1600/kat7.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCpyY6peM3I/AAAAAAAAALw/RL5m65_TIo4/s400/kat7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488324868289999730" border="0" /></a>I hope there are spring flowers blooming where you live, go outside and make some photos! Happy Shooting!<br /><br /><a href="http://ppsop.com/instructors.aspx#kclemons">Kathleen Clemons<br />PPSOP Instructor and PPSOP's Director of Student Happiness</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-729394891218369699.post-91402171499472633722010-03-17T22:36:00.000-07:002010-07-01T21:12:25.086-07:00Profitable Family Portrait SessionsOne of the keys in shooting contemporary family portrait sessions is creating a variety of looks in a limited amount of time. Little kids love to have fun, but they get tired and cranky very easily. When I look for a family portrait location, I want a location where I can create a variety of looks in a short amount of time.<br /><br />Modern clients are looking for a variety of options to show off their family photos. The days of an 8x10 in a frame are coming to an end. Most of our clients are interested in fine art gallery wraps, cool metal collages and custom fine art albums. In order to provide these products we need to give the client a lot of options during the ordering session.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.ppsop.com/fundyv.html">Here is a video of a real family portrait session taken last week. I hope this video gives you some ideas on how to shoot a family session, with the final family order in mind. This particular family ordered a 4 piece fine art gallery collage.</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.ppsop.com/fundyv.html"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmGxm3TrTI/AAAAAAAAALA/EvmIT49PgDE/s400/fun1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488065807731895602" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.ppsop.com/fundyv.html"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmGxGc-r2I/AAAAAAAAAK4/ZF17gAK69ls/s400/fun2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488065799031533410" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://ppsop.com/instructors.aspx#afunderburg">Fundy<br />PPSOP Instructor</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-729394891218369699.post-32128597609917134692010-03-12T22:29:00.000-08:002010-07-01T21:12:25.088-07:00Look for the LIGHT!So, there I was....teaching a workshop in Seoul, Korea. We were walking the streets on the way to shoot City Hall at dusk...it was a dusk photography workshop, after all. As we were arriving something caught my eye.....color and LIGHT! There was a large public square in from of CIty Hall and in it was a fountain. For some reason this evening all the lights were on for the fountain, but there was no water flowing.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmFT2P9T3I/AAAAAAAAAKw/iSBCBJ8s9lQ/s1600/se1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmFT2P9T3I/AAAAAAAAAKw/iSBCBJ8s9lQ/s400/se1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488064196954115954" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmFTm-wU0I/AAAAAAAAAKo/DhxZ9FWe9tQ/s1600/se2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmFTm-wU0I/AAAAAAAAAKo/DhxZ9FWe9tQ/s400/se2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488064192855429954" border="0" /></a>I made a few snaps as we went by and made a mental note....after shooting the skyline this was the place to come back to! We had light and color and we can make something out of that!<br /><br />We shot the skyline as planned.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmFTWm2ypI/AAAAAAAAAKg/OK4RYsF_7Ng/s1600/se3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 163px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmFTWm2ypI/AAAAAAAAAKg/OK4RYsF_7Ng/s400/se3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488064188460223122" border="0" /></a>We walked back to where the fountain was and started playing around. My original idea was to lay down on the ground next to the light. What was I going for there? Well, something a little creepy or unsettling. I wanted something to bring out a little emotion from the viewer...something right at home on the cover of a Stephen King book.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmFSwLN3GI/AAAAAAAAAKY/UIql5iaEUg4/s1600/se4.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmFSwLN3GI/AAAAAAAAAKY/UIql5iaEUg4/s400/se4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488064178143747170" border="0" /></a>This, however, just wasnʼt getting across what I wanted it to. In these, I am using a 4 second shutter speed simply because this is the way it worked out. Then.....as it does OFTEN with photography, a happy accident. I was standing up to set up my self timer again, and someone happened to be exposing as I stood up. What they saw was something they called ʻWindy Chrisʼ. By the end of the evening everyone had a self portrait similar to what you see below.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmFShh_AnI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/nI3Mqy8j-cg/s1600/se5.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmFShh_AnI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/nI3Mqy8j-cg/s400/se5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488064174212711026" border="0" /></a><a href="http://ppsop.com/instructors.aspx#churtt">So, look for the light and then, HAVE FUN!<br /><br />Chris L Hurtt</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-729394891218369699.post-55225336954505261032010-03-04T22:13:00.000-08:002010-07-01T21:12:25.091-07:00A Flash Lesson That Needs To Be Exposed!First, let me share with you still yet another example of personal ignorance, and hopefully, after careful thought on your part, I can save you some money! I am the proud, (or shall I say 'stupid') owner of <a href="http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=CustomList&List_Id=Flash">5 Nikon SB-900 </a>Electronic Flashes. Yes, you read that right-FIVE! And as I have learned, I have on average, 3 too many! I initially bought 5 of these darn things because I had visions of not just lighting a single subject on a darkened street, but rather I wanted to light up entire city blocks! Trouble with lighting up entire city blocks is that they looked exactly like a city block would look like when lit by 5 electronic strobes-ALL LIT UP! Trust me on this: a city block ALL LIT UP by 5 electronic strobes is anything but sexy or moody or ominous. It is nothing more than a city block in daylight, but lit up at night!<br /><br />Furthermore, in the first few months of working with the SB-900's, I soon discovered that MANUAL EXPOSURE MODE was my only option when attaching them to a<a href="http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=CustomList&List_Id=Flash"> Pocket Wizard</a>. I have nothing against MANUAL FLASH EXPOSURE MODE as I often prefer it, but considering the EXORBITANT cost of the SB-900 Electronic Flash, (over $400.00!), one would think that TTL Flash Exposure would be a constant, with or without a Pocket Wizard . It was on this momentous day that I first whispered these words to myself, "What the heck was I thinking? I could have saved a bundle, if I had bought the <a href="http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=CustomList&List_Id=Flash">Vivitar Series 1 285</a>. It's only $89.95!"<br /><br />Over the course of next six months, this would become my refrain and finally, after a great deal of careful thought I have concluded the following, some of which you may already have guessed, but here goes. My total investment in <a href="http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=CustomList&List_Id=Flash">5 Nikon SB-900's</a> came to a little over $2,000.00. Combine that with<a href="http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=CustomList&List_Id=Flash"> 6 Pocket Wizards Plus II's</a> at a cost of $169.00 each for a total cost of $1,014.00 and my portable electronic flash system has now cost over $3,000.00 and we haven't even added in the <a href="http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=CustomList&List_Id=Flash">Flashpoint portable light stands or umbrellas</a>, and small softboxes nor the Justin Clamps, colored gels and grids OR the <a href="http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=CustomList&List_Id=Flash">roller case from Lowepro</a> that carries it all-YIKES!<br /><br />Sure, I look impressive - very professional in fact - but truth be told, 95% of what I do with an electronic flash involves the use of ONE or TWO Electronic Flashes, (the other 5% of the time, has found me using no more than THREE flashes). In addition I am often using the flash(es) with the <a href="http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=CustomList&List_Id=Flash">Pocket Wizards</a> which of course means NOT using TTL! So, let's do the math one more time, only this time let's substitute the <a href="http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=CustomList&List_Id=Flash">SB-900 with a Vivitar Series One 285</a> . Better still, let's just cut to the chase: for the price of ONE Nikon SB-900, (remember it's over $400.00!), you can buy two Vivitar Series 1 285 Electronic Flashes and two Pocket Wizards Plus II and at that point you will be a wee bit over $500.00. And as far as I am concerned you are now fully ready to set the explosive charges to that reservoir of electronic flash creativity that lies inside you! (Someday you will probably realize that having three Pocket Wizard Plus II's is t he ultimate way to go, one for each strobe and one for the camera, but even then you are still well under $1,000.00!)<br /><br />Forgive me for a moment as I am being distracted by the Nikon purists out there who insist that the <a href="http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=CustomList&List_Id=Flash">SB-900</a> offers up wireless remote TTL via Nikon's Commander Mode. Right you are, but for the most part, it only works within a short distance AND on the "line of site" principle, which of course means, you too will resort to the use of Pocket Wizards and at least at this writing, that means you will be operating in Manual Flash Exposure Mode! Yes, I also know, that the <a href="http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=CustomList&List_Id=Flash">Vivitar Series 1 285</a> is a will only operate in Manual Flash Exposure Mode when attached to the Pocket Wizards too, but at least it never purported to be a $400.00+ flash that then acts like a $89.00 flash when attached to a Pocket Wizard!<br /><br />And, finally, I might add, TTL is not in my humble opinion the "end all to be all!" As many of you have learned from reading my book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0817463003?ie=UTF8&tag=theperfpictsc-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0817463003">Understanding Exposure</a>, setting a manual daylight exposure is not only easy, but it affords you a great deal of creative latitude and the same is true of manual flash exposure. Manual flash exposure is not only easy to learn, but incredibly reliable; unlike the few happy 'accidents' that were achieved when I shot in TTL.<br /><br />Here are several examples of One Light Set-Up.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmB7vy-ubI/AAAAAAAAAKA/Tikirn31IuY/s1600/vi01.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 265px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmB7vy-ubI/AAAAAAAAAKA/Tikirn31IuY/s400/vi01.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488060484370217394" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmB7QQ7DFI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/6OeacXHfaV4/s1600/vi02.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 265px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmB7QQ7DFI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/6OeacXHfaV4/s400/vi02.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488060475905870930" border="0" /></a>An overcast day at a park in New Zealand finds me greeting a juggler. Overcast? You bet it was, as the first image clearly shows, but that didn't stop me from shooting him again, with the 'sun' going down beh ind him! Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-300mm at 250mm, Nikon SB-900 and Pocket Wizard on light stand behind him about five feet with Amber gel attached. Flash set to f/5.6, but actual ambient reading of face was used, f/11 @ 1/125 second, resulting in flash exposure being two stops over-exposed. That explains the 'over-exposed' backlit hair-just like the actual sun would do!<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmB0chq1yI/AAAAAAAAAJw/7ADg6nIK-cY/s1600/vi03.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 243px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmB0chq1yI/AAAAAAAAAJw/7ADg6nIK-cY/s400/vi03.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488060358938253090" border="0" /></a>Nikon D300, Nikkor 14mm full frame fish eye, f/8 @ a 1/250 second.<br /></div><br />As far as the Karate Kid seen here, he came flying out of nowhere! Fortunately, on a light stand, off to my right, my Nikon SB-900 and Pocket Wizard were ready for his surprise visit! The all-encompassing forest was shot with the Nikkor 14mm Full Frame DX Fisheye. (actually a special note of thanks to Ann Worthy who provided the talent and the idea!)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmBz7BPzzI/AAAAAAAAAJo/1Z0nAzcBDrA/s1600/vi04.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 289px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmBz7BPzzI/AAAAAAAAAJo/1Z0nAzcBDrA/s400/vi04.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488060349943893810" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmBzXjJZNI/AAAAAAAAAJg/mkjfPSa3P-E/s1600/vi05.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 265px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmBzXjJZNI/AAAAAAAAAJg/mkjfPSa3P-E/s400/vi05.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488060340422403282" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmBzACKhyI/AAAAAAAAAJY/NtkrJanhM34/s1600/vi06.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 265px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmBzACKhyI/AAAAAAAAAJY/NtkrJanhM34/s400/vi06.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488060334110050082" border="0" /></a>So you say you have a leaky faucet? Well heck while you are waiting for the Plumber, get out your flash and Nikkor 200mm Macro lens and start shooting the steady drip, as it leaves the faucet head! But before you do, grab a colorful piece of fabric, (those Hawaiian shirts work well!) and place it in the background-a 6-8 inches behind the drip and voila, you end up with a composition of water that when FLIPPED looks like a work of art that was produced by the Glass Blowers of Murano Italy!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;">Below we have examples of a Two Light setup:<br /><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmC1OuZIZI/AAAAAAAAAKI/zg_xUSHEqnc/s1600/vi07.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 182px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmC1OuZIZI/AAAAAAAAAKI/zg_xUSHEqnc/s400/vi07.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488061471925019026" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmBhZf5cRI/AAAAAAAAAJI/ty6U1X9yz7A/s1600/vi08.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmBhZf5cRI/AAAAAAAAAJI/ty6U1X9yz7A/s400/vi08.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488060031708000530" border="0" /></a>In front of me is a large bowl of cream on the kitchen counter and a large bowl of strawberries sits off to the side. One by one, I drop a single strawberry into the bowl of cream with my left hand, while my right hand is hooked up to Nikon's Electronic Cable release firing, hopefully, at the exact moment the strawberry 'splashes' into the cream. Eighteen shots later, I was successful. As you can see, on each side of this bowl, my Nikon SB-900 's with their attached diffuser's, got creamed-LOL! This is one of the few times I used Nikon's Commander Mode, because the strobes were well within "range". (Pocket Wizards would of course do the same thing). As usual, I am in Manual Flash Exposure. Nikon D300S, Micro-Nikkor 105mm, f/13 @ a 1/250 second.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmBhFWBTII/AAAAAAAAAJA/NOKXUhJQBs0/s1600/vi09.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 265px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmBhFWBTII/AAAAAAAAAJA/NOKXUhJQBs0/s400/vi09.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488060026297863298" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmBggydugI/AAAAAAAAAI4/kdY0abWIJGc/s1600/vi10.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 262px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmBggydugI/AAAAAAAAAI4/kdY0abWIJGc/s400/vi10.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488060016485054978" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmBgfv8UMI/AAAAAAAAAIw/2s8kexenaWw/s1600/vi11.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 265px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmBgfv8UMI/AAAAAAAAAIw/2s8kexenaWw/s400/vi11.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488060016206041282" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmBgOxkn0I/AAAAAAAAAIo/VN4TeSyvVhs/s1600/vi12.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 265px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCmBgOxkn0I/AAAAAAAAAIo/VN4TeSyvVhs/s400/vi12.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488060011649474370" border="0" /></a>Nikon D300S, Nikkor 35-70mm f/2.8 at f/8, ISO 200, 1/125 second.<br /></div><br />For years I would haul out the two large 3X4 foot softboxes, attach the powerful 1600 WS White Lightning Ultra's and place one on the floor facing up and the other on a light stand pointing straight down towards the one on the ground. Atop the one on the ground I would place a large piece of frosted white plexi-glass and over the course of hours if not days, I would place subject matter such as flowers and sliced fruits and vegetables atop the plexi-glass and fire away. The top light and the bottom light were set for the same exposure value, (the same amount of flash output) and I would end up with 'floating' objects', backlit and front lit, thus getting a glowing front lit subject. I don't have to do that anymore. The power of the SB-900, just like the VIvitar 285, is sufficient to achieve the same effect.<br /><br />No need for a softbox either-an ordinary cardboard box lined with white poster board is sufficient and atop the box you place the white frosted plexi-glass. Inside the cardboard box is one strobe and outside the box, pointed down towards the plexi-glass is the other strobe-both at the same distance from the plexi-glass and in this case an aperture of f/8 was indicated for that distance. With a set-up like this you can let your imagination run with the plethora of subject matter that is available.<br /><br />All My Best, <br /><a href="http://ppsop.com/instructors.aspx#bpeterson"><br />Bryan F Peterson<br />Founder/PPSOP.com</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-729394891218369699.post-85641388158109311002010-03-02T21:57:00.000-08:002010-07-01T21:12:25.097-07:00Look Up!Four of PPSOP instructors are all lucky enough to be invited back again to teach at Gulf Photo Plus, in Dubai, UAE. Bobbi Lane, Robin Nichols, David Nightingale, and Chris Hurtt are teaching a selection of workshops that range from post processing, to beginning photography classes, to advanced lighting seminars. We had a free afternoon and were able to go out and do some shooting together. This city is home to the world's tallest building and reminded us all of a great tip we are often passing on to our students. Changing your perspective to something that people don't see every day is a great way to make compelling images. One of the things you find yourself doing over and over in this city is looking straight UP! Keep your eye trained UP and there is a whole world waiting for you up there!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl9v9cKRqI/AAAAAAAAAIg/kv7_NGHSQM4/s1600/Bobbi1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl9v9cKRqI/AAAAAAAAAIg/kv7_NGHSQM4/s400/Bobbi1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488055883827660450" border="0" /></a><a href="http://ppsop.com/instructors.aspx#blane">Bobbi Lane</a><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl9vkOSOfI/AAAAAAAAAIY/EZrOv96iumQ/s1600/Chris7.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl9vkOSOfI/AAAAAAAAAIY/EZrOv96iumQ/s400/Chris7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488055877058574834" border="0" /></a><a href="http://ppsop.com/instructors.aspx#churtt">Chris Hurtt</a><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl9vaQnxtI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/0wdyOy4_XkU/s1600/Nightingale5.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl9vaQnxtI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/0wdyOy4_XkU/s400/Nightingale5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488055874384021202" border="0" /></a><a href="http://ppsop.com/instructors.aspx#dnightingale">David Nightingale</a><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl9pIrvYQI/AAAAAAAAAII/aP3ty4uLA_M/s1600/Robin3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl9pIrvYQI/AAAAAAAAAII/aP3ty4uLA_M/s400/Robin3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488055766586712322" border="0" /></a><a href="http://ppsop.com/instructors.aspx#rnichols">Robin Nichols</a><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl9ouP8KmI/AAAAAAAAAIA/BsFzVj_dVN0/s1600/Bobbi2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl9ouP8KmI/AAAAAAAAAIA/BsFzVj_dVN0/s400/Bobbi2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488055759490787938" border="0" /></a><a href="http://ppsop.com/instructors.aspx#blane">Bobbi Lane</a><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl9oWiVz6I/AAAAAAAAAH4/HcwXjXd0MT0/s1600/Chris8.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 323px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl9oWiVz6I/AAAAAAAAAH4/HcwXjXd0MT0/s400/Chris8.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488055753125515170" border="0" /></a><a href="http://ppsop.com/instructors.aspx#churtt">Chris Hurtt</a><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl9oF3CQYI/AAAAAAAAAHw/d8sj93Mx-L4/s1600/Nightingale6.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl9oF3CQYI/AAAAAAAAAHw/d8sj93Mx-L4/s400/Nightingale6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488055748648911234" border="0" /></a><a href="http://ppsop.com/instructors.aspx#dnightingale">David Nightingale</a><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl9nn-fyLI/AAAAAAAAAHo/fDrvhkP7j4A/s1600/Robin4.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl9nn-fyLI/AAAAAAAAAHo/fDrvhkP7j4A/s400/Robin4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488055740627142834" border="0" /></a><a href="http://ppsop.com/instructors.aspx#rnichols">Robin Nichols</a><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-729394891218369699.post-47581254710175217642010-02-24T21:49:00.000-08:002010-07-01T21:12:25.099-07:00NOTHING WRONG WITH BEING A 'LITTLE FLASHY'! NOTHING WRONG WITH BEING A 'LITTLE FLASHY'!Now if you know anything at all about me, I am not known as the guy who often climbs to the highest rooftop and shouts to the world, "I LOVE MY ELECTRONIC NIKON SB-900 FLASH!" In fact, even if I was world-renowned for my electronic flash expertise, I could not, in good conscious, shout to the world from the highest rooftop that I love my Nikon SB-900 electronic flash, because quite simply I don't believe it is deserving of such a shout. I do own one, or shall I say, with great humility, I own five of the darn things, but let me be quick to say it is not because of some mad love affair but rather it is because of a combination of impatience and not looking before I leaped.<br /><br />About a year ago, I decided it was time; time to put away my fears of an electronic flash and simply "go for it!" Needless to say I went for it alright and proceeded to buy 5 Nikon SB-900 Electronic Flashes since I KNEW I would soon be doing all sorts of "tricky, make you stop and scratch your head, kind of flash images and darned if I would be able to execute any of these ideas with a single flash." Well, despite having five Nikon SB-900 Electronic Flashes, I have had most of my greatest adventures with just one of them. I can't say which one, since all five are in the flash case and I just grab one and "go for it", but one thing I have learned in owning these five electronic flashes and it is this: with just one flash, a world of fun and adventure are yours for the taking. It seems everyday, I am discovering something new and a new idea comes to the surface and well, suffice it to say, that is exactly what happened two days ago in this wonderful wintry city of Chicago.<br /><br />Tom Skilling, weather guru at WGN-TV, was forecasting still yet another "worthy" winter storm and since I missed the last "worthy" winter snowstorm of several weeks ago, (I was in New Zealand, so shed no tears on my behalf!), I was determined to try my hand at being a "little flashy". All I needed was some light snowfall and a willingness to arise before dawn. I had this idea to capture falling snowflakes against the dawn sky that would also include one of my favorite 'naked' trees over at Horner Park, just off Irving Park Blvd.<br /><br />Now you might be asking yourself-"How is it possible to have a dawn sky of any color when it's snowing?" First of all, I wasn't expecting a clear dawn sky, but the typical grey sky that one gets with snowfall, BUT I also know that at this hour, even a grey sky will record a bluish hue and the bonus on this day was that there was a really small sliver of clear sky on the horizon, somewhere over Lake Michigan, cause I also recorded some subtle magenta near the bottom of my composition.<br /><br />Okay, so there I was laying in the snow, with my camera mounted on tripod along with the Nikkor 12-24mm set to the focal length of 20mm. With my aperture set to f/5.6, I focused on the tree, and adjusted my shutter speed until a 1/15 second was indicating a correct exposure. All that remained was to fire up the flash in manual exposure mode, setting the flash to f/5.6 at full power AND then setting the zoom of the flash to 105mm. Now why would I set the zoom of the flash to 105mm when I am shooting with my lens at the 20mm focal length? Because I wanted the flash to travel further into the scene with thus illuminating snowflakes that are further away. This in turn created far more depth then if my flash were set to the 20mm focal length. Well, did it work? Seeing is believing and what was most surprising and NOT expected, was the initial reaction of myself and several of my trusted neighbors-at first glance it looks like one of those star-trail time exposures or even a meteor shower. Just another example of having fun with a single flash!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl72JrjOpI/AAAAAAAAAHg/EDQZ0zQ_Xb0/s1600/flashy.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 258px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl72JrjOpI/AAAAAAAAAHg/EDQZ0zQ_Xb0/s400/flashy.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488053791169395346" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://ppsop.com/instructors.aspx#bpeterson">All my best<br />Bryan F Peterson<br />Founder/PPSOP.com</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-729394891218369699.post-32740670526788547502010-02-22T21:28:00.000-08:002010-07-01T21:12:25.102-07:00Shooting in Bright SunMost photographers, including myself, don't normally shoot under bright sun. The light is harsh and usually not very flattering for your subjects. Ideally, you want to use diffused light from a soft cloudy day or that magical early morning/early evening light. But sometimes you don't have a choice and you have to shoot in bright sun. You may be shooting an event that is outdoors. You don't have control over the time and you don't have control over the weather. So you have to make the best of it. Think outside the box, think perspective and most of all think shadows. Probably the only advantage about shooting under bright sun are the amazing shadows you can capture.<br /><br />I took the following picture during a bright day at an old Western Town in Arizona. There were people walking around dressed in western period clothing posing for tourists. I noticed the shadows being cast on the dirt. They were fantastic. As I was looking down at the shadows, I saw a cowboy wearing knee high black boots pass by. They made an immediate impression on me. I asked the cowboy if he would pose for a couple pictures. He obliged and said yes. I asked him to turn around and told him I wanted to shoot him from behind. I got a few heckles and laughs from other cowboys. It was pretty funny. I sat on the ground, got very close to the cowboy (more laughs) and got out my wide-angle lens. I wanted the boots to be large in the frame with a strong shadow emerging out of the boots. The bright sun gave me exactly that. When shooting in bright sun, look for interesting shadows and show the connection of your subject to the shadow. The results can be striking. I shot this using my Nikon D2X, 12-24mm lens @ f/5, 1/320, 12 mm.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl2jTKempI/AAAAAAAAAFw/zORv5PfHGGw/s1600/j1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 258px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl2jTKempI/AAAAAAAAAFw/zORv5PfHGGw/s400/j1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488047969739381394" border="0" /></a>TIP: Think of the person, animal, object as a supporting actor. Your main character is the shadow.<br /><br />Don't overlook shadows on walls. I took the following picture of my dog, Gracie. She loves to sit in the sun for a few minutes every day. The light is harsh, but the shadow is awesome and this portrait really defines her. I love how she is connected to her shadow and the contemplative look on her face. Don't overlook unguarded moments. They can be some of your most intimate portraits. I took this picture through my kitchen window. Gracie had no idea I was photographing her. Use shadows to tell your story, make it personal and keep it simple. I photographed Gracie using my Nikon D2x, 28-70mm lens @ f/10, 1/100, 48mm.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl2jIDdryI/AAAAAAAAAFo/mjvO5ex2U-s/s1600/j2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 275px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl2jIDdryI/AAAAAAAAAFo/mjvO5ex2U-s/s400/j2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488047966757170978" border="0" /></a>I took the following picture at a Renaissance Fair. It was a bright sunny day, so I had to make the best of it. I was photographing a group of dancers in period clothing. I loved their clothing, especially one of the female dancers. I noticed that every time she hopped, her skirt would fly up and expose these amazing bells attached to her shins. The flare and lift of her skirt looked so cool. The bright sun actually shined through her skirt and helped to illuminate the underside of her skirt. I knew I needed to photograph this from a very low angle to capture that and also shoot fast to freeze the skirt in mid air. I lay on the ground and started taking pictures of all the dancers as they passed by. And sure enough, she finally passed by, hopped and I got the picture. I took lots of pictures before I got the one I wanted, but it was worth the wait. Observe your subjects before photographing them. Look for interesting characteristics and ask yourself what you want to focus on or portray. Then take it one step further and think about perspective. Consider lying on the ground and looking up. It's a great way to photograph your subject. I shot this using my Nikon D2x, 12-24mm lens @ f/11, 1/320, 24 mm.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl2iumUVkI/AAAAAAAAAFg/VglGXMLRiHk/s1600/j3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 259px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl2iumUVkI/AAAAAAAAAFg/VglGXMLRiHk/s400/j3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488047959924037186" border="0" /></a>Neat buildings and architecture are perfect candidates for showcasing great shadows. I took this shot under a patio cover in Tucson, AZ. Bright sunny days in Arizona are a common occurrence all year round. The sky was a brilliant blue with patches of clouds here and there. I looked up and saw an amazing display of lines, light and shadows. The contrast of the bright blue sky against the architecture was beautiful. I thought it would look great to fill the frame with the slats of the patio cover and showcase the geometric pattern and interplay of light and shadows. Interesting shadows are not always on the ground or against a wall. Don't forget to look up. I shot this using my Nikon D2x, 12-24mm lens @ f/13, 1/200, 12mm.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl2iVI_8UI/AAAAAAAAAFY/ikkRMGCzCH0/s1600/j4.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl2iVI_8UI/AAAAAAAAAFY/ikkRMGCzCH0/s400/j4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488047953090179394" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">TIP: Use bright sunny days to find interesting shadows. Look up, down on the ground, against walls .... every where. Bright light is not always bad, even when photographing people. Find an interesting focal point, think about perspective, tell a story, be creative with light and seize the moment!</span><br /><a href="http://ppsop.com/instructors.aspx#jflynn"><br />Jill Flynn<br />PPSOP Instructor</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-729394891218369699.post-7020227037783747522010-02-19T21:46:00.000-08:002010-07-01T21:12:25.106-07:00Video Tips from Kevin Focht<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.ppsop.com/kfochtv.html"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 207px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl68o3xJkI/AAAAAAAAAHY/0QHoA5NGLMU/s400/kfochtv.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488052803109725762" border="0" /></a><a href="http://ppsop.com/instructors.aspx#kfocht">Kevin Focht</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-729394891218369699.post-74573959138986550672010-02-12T21:36:00.000-08:002010-07-01T21:12:25.109-07:00Photographing FlowersOne of my favorite ways to photograph flowers is to move in really close, and fill the frame with a single flower, or sometimes just part of one. When I am making this type of image, I'm thinking more about line and color and shape, and less about capturing fine detail. When choosing your subject, look for flowers with great curves and soft color, such as roses, orchids, tulips and calla lilies. (Choose a pristine subject, when you are photographing this close, any flaw will be magnified and prove distracting). Really look at the flower you have chosen, examine it from every angle, decide what you find most interesting and capture it! This type of photography is interpretive, you want to capture what you are seeing and feeling about the subject in a simple manner.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl5lPdVJyI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/QuCDW8TOfZo/s1600/flo1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl5lPdVJyI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/QuCDW8TOfZo/s400/flo1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488051301639333666" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl5aIra6dI/AAAAAAAAAHI/AWcnK2I52xQ/s1600/flo2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl5aIra6dI/AAAAAAAAAHI/AWcnK2I52xQ/s400/flo2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488051110840822226" border="0" /></a>You'll need <a href="http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=CustomList&List_Id=BFP">equipment that lets you move in really close to fill the frame, use either a macro lens, extension tubes, or a wide angle lens</a> with a reversing ring. Extension tubes are great, you can use them individually with larger flowers, or stack a set of two or three for really moving in close to smaller blooms.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl5Z92vzMI/AAAAAAAAAHA/GK_4H8rJKfM/s1600/flo3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl5Z92vzMI/AAAAAAAAAHA/GK_4H8rJKfM/s400/flo3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488051107935538370" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl5Zja_qBI/AAAAAAAAAG4/XdU0fooiEHU/s1600/flo4.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl5Zja_qBI/AAAAAAAAAG4/XdU0fooiEHU/s400/flo4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488051100839815186" border="0" /></a>Set your aperture to the largest your lens has, these images should be all about romance, soft and sensual, you don't want or need every detail in sharp focus. (If you are using a Lensbaby, use extension tubes or the macro filters and shoot wide open or with the F/2.8 aperture ring). Manually focus on a single petal edge, line or curve, and let the rest of the image go to soft blur. Shooting so close with such limited Depth of Field can create a very romantic image, with soothing lines and curves and relaxing colors. You can do this type of shooting year round, flowers can be purchased everywhere these days! Who couldn't use a little flower therapy in February? If you start practicing now, and you'll be ready when those spring flowers bloom!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl5Zja_qBI/AAAAAAAAAG4/XdU0fooiEHU/s1600/flo4.jpg"><br /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl5ZN8ANSI/AAAAAAAAAGw/7JYBlMQkjJs/s1600/flo5.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl5ZN8ANSI/AAAAAAAAAGw/7JYBlMQkjJs/s400/flo5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488051095072683298" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl5YqzSGLI/AAAAAAAAAGo/oX39qiKOpcw/s1600/flo6.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl5YqzSGLI/AAAAAAAAAGo/oX39qiKOpcw/s400/flo6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488051085640865970" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://ppsop.com/instructors.aspx#kclemons">Kathleen Clemons<br />PPSOP Instructor & Director of Student Happiness</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-729394891218369699.post-61474077982674912372010-02-09T21:31:00.000-08:002010-07-01T21:12:25.114-07:00Shooting Bird's Nest - Make The Best of Any SituationOn a recent trip to China, I got a chance to pay a visit to the National Stadium-"Bird's Nest", where 2008 Olympic Opening ceremony was held.<br />It's a cold week day afternoon in the winter, I arrives at the stadium around 5:00pm, the air is hazy and heavy. To my disappointment, all adjacent areas around the Bird's Nest are closed to public due to a Formula-One car racing event at the stadium that evening. Well, I just lost a great amount of point of views to shoot Bird's Nest as planned. Only one venue is open-the promenade in front of the stadium where tourists gather. I have no choice but going there and make the best of the situation.<br /><br />As I am walking down the promenade, trying to find a good shooting position, the Bird's Nest went alive-the beautiful red and yellow lights lit up the whole stadium. I am filled with joy at the moment! What a roller coast ride-from disappointment to excitement. Usually, Bird's Nest is not fully lit every evening. Thanks to the car racing event, it's fully lit and I am here with my workhorse Canon 5D II, my 24-70mm and 70-200mm lens. Time to shoot.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl3xsG7tOI/AAAAAAAAAGg/F3dqvvU7hm4/s1600/bn1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 262px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl3xsG7tOI/AAAAAAAAAGg/F3dqvvU7hm4/s400/bn1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488049316465194210" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl3tTXW7mI/AAAAAAAAAGY/BLadgI9FkpE/s1600/bn2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl3tTXW7mI/AAAAAAAAAGY/BLadgI9FkpE/s400/bn2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488049241103724130" border="0" /></a>I make a couple of wide angle shots, as shown above. To me, the images are just plain snaps, weak on energy and expression. What really caught my eyes is the lines, the curves and of course, the colorfulness of the stadium against the deep blue evening sky. Wide angle lens is definitely the wrong tool of choice to express these design elements in the photo, wide angle image includes too many distractions in the foreground like people, fences, trees, etc.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl3s6kM6pI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/IBb1atcmX3Y/s1600/bn3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl3s6kM6pI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/IBb1atcmX3Y/s400/bn3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488049234446707346" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl3sjGPIRI/AAAAAAAAAGI/AUxkYmxelmA/s1600/bn4.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 272px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl3sjGPIRI/AAAAAAAAAGI/AUxkYmxelmA/s400/bn4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488049228147007762" border="0" /></a>With the pre-visualized image in mind, I switch to 70-200mm lens and walk as close to the stadium as possible(leaning on the fences). At 200mm, I turn my camera and shoot the above images. You can clearly see the colors, curves, lines and textures. No distraction at all. By twisting the camera, I compose the image in which, the lines and curves run diagonally, making the image more dynamic and energetic. As rule of thumb, never forget to shoot both horizontal and vertical. It's a good habit and practice, particularly if you shoot stock images.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl3sLryAaI/AAAAAAAAAGA/5B6wCiOMbOI/s1600/bn5.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl3sLryAaI/AAAAAAAAAGA/5B6wCiOMbOI/s400/bn5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488049221862031778" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl3r_1yCkI/AAAAAAAAAF4/LQx9-2_IFIM/s1600/bn6.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl3r_1yCkI/AAAAAAAAAF4/LQx9-2_IFIM/s400/bn6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488049218682751554" border="0" /></a>Tip: Although most of our images are shot in color these days, it's a good idea to think about the good old black and white from time to time. Especially, when you shoot a lot of night scenes or high contrast images, these are perfect candidates for black and white conversion. An excellent tool that does black and white conversion easily and gracefully, is Silver Efex Pro from Niksoftware, a plug-in for both photoshop and lightroom. The above images are the result of black white conversion using Silver Efex Pro.<br /><br />Overall, Although I lost chances to shoot from different point of views of the Bird's Nest, I managed to make the best efforts within the limits of the situation, and got some decent images. As photographers, we have to adapt and adjust to whatever the situation are throwing at us, and make the best of it.<br /><br /><br />William Yu<br /><a href="http://www.chinaphotoworkshop.com">www.chinaphotoworkshop.com</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-729394891218369699.post-11757800930913176582010-02-09T14:20:00.001-08:002010-02-09T14:26:36.061-08:00<p><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" >Shooting Bird's Nest - Making The Best of Any Situation</span><br /></p><p>On a recent trip to China, I got a chance to pay a visit to the National Stadium-”Bird’s Nest”, where 2008 Olympic Opening ceremony was held.</p> <p>It’s a cold week day afternoon in the winter, I arrives at the stadium around 5:00pm, the air is hazy and heavy. To my disappointment, all adjacent areas around the Bird’s Nest are closed to public due to a Formula-One car racing event at the stadium that evening. Well, I just lost a great amount of point of views to shoot Bird’s Nest as planned. Only one venue is open-the promenade in front of the stadium where tourists gather. I have no choice but going there and make the best of the situation.</p> <p>As I am walking down the promenade, trying to find a good shooting position, the Bird’s Nest went alive-the beautiful red and yellow lights lit up the whole stadium. I am filled with joy at the moment! What a roller coast ride-from disappointment to excitement. Usually, Bird’s Nest is not fully lit every evening. Thanks to the car racing event, it’s fully lit and I am here with my workhorse Canon 5D II, my 24-70mm and 70-200mm lens. Time to shoot.</p> <p><a href="http://www.chinaphotoworkshop.com"><img class="alignnone" title="birds nest" src="http://www.ppsop.com/emages/bn1.jpg" alt="" height="328" width="500" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.chinaphotoworkshop.com"><img class="alignnone" title="Birds Nest" src="http://www.ppsop.com/emages/bn2.jpg" alt="" height="333" width="500" /></a></p> <p>I make a couple of wide angle shots, as shown above. To me, the images are just plain snaps, weak on energy and expression. What really caught my eyes is the lines, the curves and of course, the colorfulness of the stadium against the deep blue evening sky. Wide angle lens is definitely the wrong tool of choice to express these design elements in the photo, wide angle image includes too many distractions in the foreground like people, fences, trees, etc.</p> <p><a href="http://www.chinaphotoworkshop.com"><img class="alignnone" title="bird nest" src="http://www.ppsop.com/emages/bn3.jpg" alt="" height="333" width="500" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.chinaphotoworkshop.com"><img class="alignnone" title="birdnest" src="http://www.ppsop.com/emages/bn4.jpg" alt="" height="661" width="450" /></a></p> <p>With the pre-visualized image in mind, I switch to 70-200mm lens and walk as close to the stadium as possible(leaning on the fences). At 200mm, I turn my camera and shoot the above images. You can clearly see the colors, curves, lines and textures. No distraction at all. By twisting the camera, I compose the image in which, the lines and curves run diagonally, making the image more dynamic and energetic. As rule of thumb, never forget to shoot both horizontal and vertical. It’s a good habit and practice, particularly if you shoot stock images.</p> <p><a href="http://www.chinaphotoworkshop.com"><img class="alignnone" title="birdnest" src="http://www.ppsop.com/emages/bn5.jpg" alt="" height="333" width="500" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.chinaphotoworkshop.com"><img class="alignnone" title="birdnest" src="http://www.ppsop.com/emages/bn6.jpg" alt="" height="333" width="500" /></a></p> <p>Tip: Although most of our images are shot in color these days, it’s a good idea to think about the good old black and white from time to time. Especially, when you shoot a lot of night scenes or high contrast images, these are perfect candidates for black and white conversion. An excellent tool that does black and white conversion easily and gracefully, is <a href="http://www.niksoftware.com/silverefexpro/usa/entry.php" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.niksoftware.com/silverefexpro/usa/entry.php?referer=');">Silver Efex Pro</a> from Niksoftware, a plug-in for both photoshop and lightroom. The above images are the result of black white conversion using Silver Efex Pro.</p> <p>Overall, Although I lost chances to shoot from different point of views of the Bird’s Nest, I managed to make the best efforts within the limits of the situation, and got some decent images. As photographers, we have to adapt and adjust to whatever the situation are throwing at us, and make the best of it.</p> <p>William Yu</p><p><a href="http://www.chinaphotoworkshop.com/">http://www.chinaphotoworkshop.com</a><br /></p>William Yuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06155535175895016415noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-729394891218369699.post-88589161912895219232010-02-02T21:17:00.000-08:002010-07-01T21:12:25.117-07:00Senior portrait posing doesn't have to be that hardOne thing that I have noticed that other portrait photographers do, is go way overboard with their posing. They set up the subject and then take a shot, move the subject and take another shot and then repeat this over and over. They are working way too hard. Don't over do it with your poses. Work the poses and make your life easier.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl0ZXhVt_I/AAAAAAAAAFM/QTY6ECBCVjs/s1600/focht1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl0ZXhVt_I/AAAAAAAAAFM/QTY6ECBCVjs/s400/focht1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488045600087062514" border="0" /></a>If you look at this first shot, it's a really nice shot, so why go and move the subject again until you get the most out of the pose. You already have her in position, so why not just zoom in and take advantage of the nice pose.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl0RDNdtgI/AAAAAAAAAFE/jZlsyHJzavI/s1600/focht2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl0RDNdtgI/AAAAAAAAAFE/jZlsyHJzavI/s400/focht2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488045457196037634" border="0" /></a>All I did with this shot was zoom in to 200 mm wide open at f2.8 and look at how pretty that same pose is. Without even moving the subject, I have 2 sellable shots, and isn't that what we are after.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl0Q7YkWeI/AAAAAAAAAE8/gquZVB4fejU/s1600/focht3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl0Q7YkWeI/AAAAAAAAAE8/gquZVB4fejU/s400/focht3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488045455095126498" border="0" /></a>When I was shooting her, I noticed a nice red background behind her. All I had to do was get lower and shoot up at her. This did two things, it made the background red and I think this angle worked the best for her face. Shooting slightly up at someone makes them look a little more powerful, as in this shot. So without the subject even moving, I now have 3 shots that would not only sell, but I could group them together and sell them as a grouping! I just made more potential money in less time!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl0QfctMwI/AAAAAAAAAE0/Q4w4l1I-fDk/s1600/focht4.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 293px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl0QfctMwI/AAAAAAAAAE0/Q4w4l1I-fDk/s400/focht4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488045447596290818" border="0" /></a>I do this a lot with my studio. First off, the clients aren't natural posers most of the time, and it is the hardest part of the job. Trying to find a pose that makes the person feel comfortable as well as looks good in the shot. Once you find a good pose, work your angles and your focal lengths and get as many useable shots as possible out of it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl0QLPkRLI/AAAAAAAAAEs/zfkPVohKxmo/s1600/focht6.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 293px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl0QLPkRLI/AAAAAAAAAEs/zfkPVohKxmo/s400/focht6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488045442172470450" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl0Pr_qm0I/AAAAAAAAAEk/wC8L69qoiuI/s1600/focht7.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 293px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TCl0Pr_qm0I/AAAAAAAAAEk/wC8L69qoiuI/s400/focht7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488045433784277826" border="0" /></a>If you look at the shots posted here in groups, they are all similar in the way I shot them. I start out long and then move in for a head shot. After that, I start walking around and let the subject stay put. The less they have to move the better. This technique saves you a ton of time and in the senior portrait business time is money. The more time you save, the more seniors you can shoot!<br /><br />The next time you are ready to re-pose your subject ask yourself if you have worked the shot to it's full potential.<br /><br /><a href="http://ppsop.com/instructors.aspx">Kevin Focht</a><br />PPSOP InstructorUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-729394891218369699.post-69948641836382246342010-01-04T21:08:00.000-08:002010-07-01T21:12:25.120-07:00For Compelling Travel Photos: Think Like a Film-makerWith Christmas and New Year behind us, the summer travel season is only a few short months ahead. It's not too soon to be thinking about the capturing the best travel images of your life. As a photographer, the chance to travel and immerse myself in another culture while working to capture the essence of a place is a challenge I simply cannot turn down. But creating compelling travel pictures is no easy task. I'm sure you have all had the tortuous "pleasure" of sitting through a friend's travel slide show, where each image is accompanied by the phrase, "This is us in front of the [insert name of well known travel icon]".<br /><br />When a professional travel photographer decides to cover a destination, the first thing they do is research the location. Travel books, Travel web-sites, both commercial and those of the government tourist agencies are all good sources of information. Learn about what may be going on at your destination when you arrive. On what day of the week is the local farmer's market? When are the local holidays? If possible, plan your trip to coincide with local festivals: these are excellent opportunities photograph people when they are out and about. Google your destination to death! To see how professionals cover your destination, search the web-sites of the major stock photography sites: Corbis, Getty and Masterfile.<br /><br />Now that you have a good idea about what you will encounter when you arrive at your destination, think about letting your images create a story of what the place is like: what it's like to visit there, perhaps even what it's like to live there.<br /><br />Good Travel Photography and Film Making share many of the same attributes. This makes sense, since both disciplines are essentially story telling mediums. Film Makers think in terms of three basic types of images: Establishing Shots create the overall view of alocation. "This how the location looks": is it set near the mountains, or the sea? Is it an urban or rural environment? Higher points of view can be useful in creating establishing shots... look for balconies, hillsides or observation towers. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TClyQyPspgI/AAAAAAAAAEc/ERmbdgOWJAk/s1600/Establishing.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 327px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TClyQyPspgI/AAAAAAAAAEc/ERmbdgOWJAk/s400/Establishing.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488043253618746882" border="0" /></a>Image 1: Establishing Shots create the overall view of a location<br /></div><br />Medium Shots provide the substance of your story; this is where you get right into the locale: street scenes, architecture and portraits shot with normal lenses or so-called "street zooms" are good examples of this type of image. This is also where you should let your compositional creativity loose: use these as an opportunity to look for patterns and colours to enhance the impact of your images.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TClyQY6swoI/AAAAAAAAAEU/5zxQ9CDO_x4/s1600/Medium.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 269px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TClyQY6swoI/AAAAAAAAAEU/5zxQ9CDO_x4/s400/Medium.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488043246819787394" border="0" /></a>Image 2: Medium shots provide the substance of your travel story<br /></div><br />Detail Shots are in many ways the most important type of travel image: as human beings we are all the same: it's only in the details that we are different from one another. While they need the other two classes of images to provide context, details provide the visual vocabulary needed to define a culture. Without them you're missing the most important part of your story. Used in a slide show, or album of your travels, detail images may not occupy the screen for as long as other images, or they may be smaller and collaged together with other images, but be sure to include at least a few in every show.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TClyQKIWbxI/AAAAAAAAAEM/EWV-v8TWjF0/s1600/Details.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 398px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TClyQKIWbxI/AAAAAAAAAEM/EWV-v8TWjF0/s400/Details.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488043242850512658" border="0" /></a>Image 3: Details are an essential part of your travel story<br /></div><br />With a bit of planning and some thought about what you want to communicate to your viewers, you can tell a story that will convey volumes about your subject; often with almost no need for words. Suppose you wanted to create a story about the life of the small independent lavender farmer in Provence. One of the larger lavender growing regions in this part of France is on the high plateau above Valensole in the Alpes de Haut-Provence. The four images below encompass an establishing shot, (the landscape), medium shots of two brothers in the fields where they work. The details of sun burned faces and weathered hands tell a story of years of labouring under the hot Provencal sun.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TClyP69761I/AAAAAAAAAEE/4GqKZMtoZvY/s1600/LavenderStory.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 298px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oj8jHJM8r84/TClyP69761I/AAAAAAAAAEE/4GqKZMtoZvY/s400/LavenderStory.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488043238780300114" border="0" /></a>Start planning now to make this year's vacation trip the most photographically rewarding one ever, be sure to plan for establishing and medium shots, and keep your eyes open for those telling cultural details.<br /><br />Best wishes for the New Year to each of you!<br /><br />Mark EnglishUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0