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keskiviikko 31. elokuuta 2016
PictureCorrect.com: Flowers: The Perfect Photography Subject
Spring is here, and there is no end to the number of beautiful flowers out there ready to be photographed. And what’s more wonderful is that they will keep blooming all summer and well into the fall. If you’re fortunate enough to live in a warmer climate, you could be photographing flowers outdoors well into the winter months–possibly year-round. Whether it’s a single bud, a single flower, a bouquet, a plant, a bush, or a blossoming tree, flowers are wonderful subjects to photograph. They’re not temperamental, they generally stay where you put them (or where they grow), they’re a great subject to experiment with, and they come in an array of vibrant colors.
“Spring Blooms” captured by PictureSocial member Tommy Cox
Equipment
As with any task, being prepared is important. Gather your camera and accessories and choose the right camera bag for the equipment and the outing. If you plan on going to one location, such as an arboretum or perhaps a rose garden, take along your tripod, lenses, filters, and any other accessories you may need to spend the day making beautiful images. If your camera calls for them, make sure you have back-up batteries and extra memory cards, as well.
Tripod
The tripod really is an essential tool when photographing flowers. As you get closer to a subject, the slightest movement of the camera will greatly affect the outcome of the picture. It’s virtually impossible to hold the camera still enough to take a quality picture without the benefit of a tripod. It will be money well spent. There are small tripods compact enough to fit nicely in the right camera bag.
Focal Point
As with any photography, you need a focal point. A lush, pink rose bud just beginning to open on a graceful thorned stem. Or, maybe you’ve spotted a cheerful plant of daisies with bright yellow centers, but the focal point is the little red ladybug resting on one of the delicate white petals. Look carefully–there’s a lot to see.
“Butterfly set Canon 60D EF 100mm to 400mm at 300mm” captured by PictureSocial member Christopher Okano
Lighting
Lighting can be tricky, at times, depending upon where you’re shooting. It’s almost always preferable to head out with your camera bag in hand in the early morning to shoot your florals, for a number of reasons. The dew is still on the flowers, so you can get some very effective macro shots of droplet covered blossoms. The sun is not yet high in the sky, so your lighting will be more ideal, casting fewer harsh shadows. If you must shoot in midday, pack a diffuser in your camera bag to soften the harsh effects of the glaring sun.
“The Offer….” captured by PictureSocial member Steve Barr
Perspective
Give careful consideration to your point of view. Shooting across the top of a field of yellow daffodils results in a breathtaking picture. Or, laying on the ground and taking a picture from beneath a cherry blossom tree in full bloom results in a picture of a lacy, pink cloud. Look outside the box. Pictures of beautiful bouquets and single stems are still the classics and should never be ignored, but try new, creative pictures. In addition to taking traditional still lifes, try taking a shot of a single bloom close up with just a portion of it in the picture.
“Untitled” captured by PictureSocial member John
Experiment. Have fun with it. Remember, flowers are excellent subjects. All you need is a quality camera bag with the right equipment, some leisure time, and the right season.
About the Author:
Suzanne VanDeGrift has developed this article for m-rock, manufacturer of user-friendly camera bags.
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PictureCorrect.com: Take a Moment and Explore New Zealand with these Incredible Timelapse Sequences
New Zealand is often listed among the most goregeous places in the world, and for good reason. With a population of less than 4.5 million people, the natural wonder of this island nation which stretches from wet and temperate in the south to sub-tropical in the north lays beautifully preserved, barely touched by the machines of heavy industry and the density of modern life. These two timelapse videos display the landscapes and weather patterns of the land of the kiwi fruit:
The first film takes us on an etheral journey through the New Zealand skies, over the rivers and mountains, through the valleys and fields, showcasing the magnificent variety of scenery to be found there. The second draws a heavy focus on changing weather formations – billowing clouds as they roll across the vast hills and plains, the arching sun, the rainbows and the double rainbows which form in the misty air:
Both videos were created by Bevan Percival of Primal Earth Images, using the full-frame Canon 5D Mark II. If you’re unfamiliar, time lapse photography is created by using an intervalometer, a device which will cause the camera to take a picture every x minutes (or hours, or seconds). With the camera on a sturdy tripod, it can sit almost indefinitely, capturing the progression of time as the day comes and goes before the lens.
For Further Training on Time-lapse Photography:
There is an in-depth guide (146 pages) to shooting, processing and rendering time-lapses using a dslr camera. It can be found here: Time-lapse Photography Guide
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PictureCorrect.com: Interesting Photo of the Day: Iceland’s Dragon Rock
The breathtaking Icelandic landscape strikes again! On the eastern shore of the Vatnsnes peninsula lies Hvítserkur, a 15 meter high basalt stack formed by centuries of water and wind erosion. Photographer Brian Rueb visited the stack and captured this incredibly vibrant image of the iconic rock:
“Rock of Ages” by Brian Rueb (Via Imgur. Click to see full size.)
Hvítserkur rests in Northwest Iceland and has become quite the popular subject for landscape photographers. The rock sits alone in a bay, set against mossy rocks and black sand. It is said to look like a dragon drinking, can you see it?
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PictureCorrect.com: How to Photograph Newborn Babies with Props
Photographing newborn babies may seem like a perk in itself. But there’s more to it than just the cuddling and the cuteness. It takes a lot of passion, too. Photographing newborns can quickly become stressful if you’re not sure what you’re doing. As a photographer, you have to plan every single detail meticulously and keep everybody calm during the shoot. Ruth Medjber engages Nicole Le Saout in a one on one conversation in which she reveals some the secrets behind her adorable baby photos:
Although she always to be a photographer, it all started for La Saout when she had her own kids. She admits, however, that she does not have photos of her own kids like this, as she was only learning when they were newborns.
Props for Newborn Photography
La Saout says she has a sort of weird fetish for blankets and scarves and other baby props. She claims to sometimes goes overboard with it, buying stuff when she already has four or five of them already. But on the good side, it gives her an incredible variety to choose from.
Le Saout has a wide variety of blankets to choose from for her shoots.
Even with her props she has her favorites. There are some she uses more than the others, like textured blankets that create beautiful leading lines.
Textured blankets can create leading lines.
Props, especially those with texture, can be a great contrast from the smooth skin of newborn babies. But then again, La Saout also uses soft, smooth blankets just to change the scene and make everything appear soft in the final image.
Props are an integral part of newborn portraits.
Photos where a baby is placed inside a basket are the latest craze. Le Saout says she receives lots of requests like these, which make prop buying a lot easier. A photographer can simply look for unique baskets rather than an array of props that might not be popular with clients.
Later in the vidoe, La Saout shares useful tips on the kind of camera and lenses that she uses, her lighting techniques, and some insights into post-processing.
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tiistai 30. elokuuta 2016
PictureCorrect.com: You Know You’re a Photographer When…
Being a photographer is more than just a hobby or a career choice—it’s life. Something you feel you literally could not live without. Every instant of your waking moment, you feel the dire need to pull your camera out and take a picture of the beauty of your surroundings. Sound familiar? I have compiled a list of eight ways you know when you’re a photographer.
“Happy Photographer” captured by Kicki
1. You get upset when you don’t have your camera on you.
I feel as though every photographer knows this feeling. For instance, maybe you decide to go for a walk down to the beach and accidentally leave your camera sitting on the kitchen bench. When you go to take a picture, your heart drops. And the only reason you don’t know you’re missing your camera until you get to the beach is because you’re so used to it being in your hands; it’s almost second nature. Your body has adapted to your photography addiction, and it doesn’t recognize when something is drastically wrong. Am I right?
2. Lighting > Equipment
At some stage in a photographer’s life, there comes a point when having the best equipment just doesn’t cut it. You begin to realize that there’s more to a good photo than the equipment (although it’s still one of my many pleasures) You realize that the the lighting of the photograph is the important part. Unfortunately, there is (arguably) no tool that can give you perfect lighting other than taking a photo at the right time, at the right angle, and using the lighting of the situation to your advantage.
“Sunset Photographer” captured by Marco Monetti
3. You can make crap look good.
Okay, so this one might be stretching it, if we’re taking the point literally. I mean, maybe you can turn a piece of dog poo into art, but that’s not entirely the point I’m trying to make. Basically, as a photographer, you see potential photographs that most people couldn’t imagine being a photograph. Maybe it’s a picture of a trash can or a brick wall—whatever it is, you begin to think outside the box; you begin to take pictures, and you develop a sense of what makes good photographs, regardless of what other people may think.
4. Your camera battery runs out before any other gadget.
Photographers are known best for having their cameras with them at all times. Regardless of the event, the camera will be glued to the photographer’s hand for that perfect moment to take a quick photo. However, this comes with negative repercussions. The camera batteries do not last a lifetime. Unfortunately, photographers must face the constant annoyance of having their camera battery die before their phone battery. For most “normal” people, this is simply unfathomable. For photographers, this is the harsh reality of being addicted to using a camera.
5. You think the sound of a camera shutter is pleasurable.
There is nothing I love more than the sound of a camera shutter. It’s like music to my ears, and I know many people who can relate. For some, the sound of birds is pleasurable; for others, it’s math equations (is that even a thing?). But for photographers, it’s the sound of the camera shutter—knowing that a high quality photograph will be a result of the shutter. Surely there are more of us out there?!
“Topcon Unirex Open” captured by Christer
6. You get annoyed at people who buy top-of-the-line cameras only to take selfies.
When you take photography seriously, just like any other form of art, nothing is worse than people who purchase the latest and the greatest cameras only to take photos of themselves. Okay, in some cases, it can be a justified purchase. Maybe you’re a model? But if you’re uploading it to Facebook for only your friends and family to see, then maybe you can understand why photographers get irritated. You see, photographers (in most cases) very rarely take photos of themselves. Instead, they’re exploring the beauty of the world around them too much to worry about themselves.
7. You are offended when someone makes a harsh comment about your camera.
“Your camera looks too big,” for example, is just unnecessary criticism. What do you want me to do about the size of my camera? Do you think I didn’t notice? People don’t seem to understand that if you insult the camera, then you might as well insult the camera owner. At least we then have a reason to get offended, right? I mean, how would you feel if someone came up to you and said you had a big nose? Is that more of a justified reason to act offended? If you’re a photographer, then the answer is no.
8. Traveling is more about photography than it is relaxing.
Finally, we have come to my favorite point of all: traveling. For most people, traveling is more about relaxing—building strong memories to last a lifetime. Photographers want much more than that. We want to be reminded of our traveling experiences with physical memories—photographs of our experiences. Why have a slice of cake when you can have the whole thing? That’s not to say that photographers don’t know how to relax, but we would rather capture the surroundings of the location than waste our time sleeping on the beach.
“The Photographer” captured by Mendhak
If you can relate to these, then maybe you’re more of a photographer than you thought! Hats off to you—let’s hope there are more of us out there.
About the Author:
Cole is a writer/photographer who owns his own laboratory… I mean…website at considerphotography dot com which is chock-a-block full of information about photography.
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