Photography 24/7 » Image Design

At Home: “zigzag”

Thomas — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 11:30:17 +0000

“zigzag”

Today was day two of my project and I definitely found myself in a more relaxed state of mind about the whole thing. Probably because I had a few “go to” subjects I could revisit today after exploring quite a few options yesterday.

Interestingly some of the photos I tried again today didn’t turn out as interesting as yesterday. A couple of them were made with a different lens and another few just didn’t have the same lightning conditions.

I have come across the phenomenon many times before with my nature and landscape photography in particular. In nature it’s next to impossible to shoot the same subject in the same way on two different days. You will always have variations. In my case today this even applied to something as banal as the detail of a washing machine! And I abandoned the washing machine shot, but I still might come back to it.

So what’s the moral of the story? Get the image while you can. You never know what the conditions will be like next time you revisit a location or subject!

I wonder if anyone can guess what the subject is in this image?

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The Top Five Best Books on Composition in Photography

Thomas — Wed, 05 May 2010 08:14:33 +0000

Rarely is a great photograph based on one single key ingredient.

A great picture is often a mixture of several ingredients such as beautiful light, the right moment, a particular expression, subject matter, timing, luck, being in the right place at the right time, mood, a specific combination of colour (or a wide range of tones in between black and white), personal vision AND composition.

Composition is like the foundation for a building. You need a good solid foundation to build your house on.

Good image design and a well-crafted composition, however, will not make for a great photograph in and of itself (just a like a foundation is not much of a house in and of itself) – so you will always need one or several of the other ingredients to make a great photograph.

Learning the skill of how to make an image, how to design your image by teaching yourself composition will lay the foundation for creating great and beautiful images.

Teaching yourself composition to the extent that it becomes second nature will leave you free to concentrate on the other ingredients that need to go into your image to make it great.

I therefore decided to compile a list of the top five books on photography composition on the market today.

The list has been compiled using a very complex and very secret algorithm that takes things like customer reviews, Amazon sales rank, star ratings and personal opinion into account. However I cannot reveal too much about my secret algorithm as otherwise I might have all the other top list makers calling me all the time for some insight.

The top five best books on photography composition are:

Drum roll…

#01: ‘The Photographer’s Eye’ by Michael Freeman

The Photographer's Eye by Michael Freeman

Praise for The Photographer’s Eye:

“The best book I have read on composition. This should be on every photographer’s desk, well-studied, underlined, and highlighted. I can’t recommend this one highly enough.” – David duChemin

Let me start by saying that even though I write photo books for a living (including The Joy of Digital Photography), I don’t know Michael Freeman and have never communicated with him. That said, this is easily the best composition and design book that you’ll find — and that goes for professionals as well as hobbyists. This is the first book, in fact, that I can recall that covers these topics with such depth and clarity of thought. – Jeff Wignall

#02: ‘Learning To See Creatively’ by Bryan Peterson

Learning To See Creatively by Bryan Peterson

Praise for Learnng To See Creatively:

This book is very easy to understand. There are many colorful photos with examples. As an amateur photographer who is looking to create photos this is THE book to have in your library! – Terri Bell

I bought this book to help me take better pictures. Wow… was I surprised. It has given me a whole new way to look at making pictures! – Shawn M. Herne

#03: ‘The Photograph’ by Harald Mante

The Photograph by Harald Mante

Praise for The Photograph:

This may seem to be a mutual back-scratching club, as I’m following a review by Tom Campbell, who also reviewed my own book, The Photographer’s Eye. Nevertheless, I’m compelled to say that this is the welcome return of one of the classics of composition in photography. And excellently updated and revised, too. Mante methodically and sympathetically presents an exhaustive account of the formal elements, from points and lines, through colour, to purely photographic forms such as time sequences. His painter’s training allows a refreshing and rare cross-discipline analysis. An essential read for anyone with an interest in design in photography (and any photographer SHOULD have just such an interest). – Michael Freeman (author of The Photographer’s Eye)

One of the best books I’ve read related to composition… Explained in a clear language, theory is supported by very good photos… – Manuel Vazquez Muñoz

#04: ‘Take Your Photography to the Next Level’ by George Barr

Take Your Photography To The Next Level by George Barr

Praise for Take Your Photography to the Next Level:

Wonderful book! The images and layout are excellent and the text is very readable. But most important, I feel as if the author is talking directly to me – simple, clear, friendly, and using the many images to illustrate the useful tips he is trying to convey. – Laurie

This is the perfect book for those who have technical competence but could use some help with their “eye. George does an excellent job of communicating his thought processes. It is not about camera control. It’s about capturing ones vision. It is a great read and I highly recommend it. – Mark Green

#05: ‘Creative Composition’ by Harold Davis

Creative Composition by Harold Davis

Praise for Creative Composition:

I have read dozens of books that attempt to deal with the very difficult subject of photograph composition. Many of them rely too heavily on the author telling the reader how to “look” at things differently. What this book does throughout is very different – it actually helped me “see” things with a much clearer eye. – Jeff R. Clow

I’m not a professional photographer, and don’t have that natural “eye” for photos, so I am always looking for books to at least help me technicaly get better photos. I really like this book because it is written in plain english and is very clear for those of us who aren’t seasoned professionals. – Barbara K. St John

I own each of the above five books and have found lots of inspiration in all of them. In fact these five books are all books that you’re likely to come back to again and again as your photography develops or when you’re just looking for a litte bit of inspiration. Needless to say the photography in each of these books is breathtakingly beautiful.

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Ten Ways to Improve Your Craft. None of Them Involve Buying Gear

Thomas — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 06:48:30 +0000

Ten Ways To Improve Your Craft Without Buying Gear is a 32 page PDF eBook by photographer David duChemin and it’s all about becoming a better photographer.

While much of the online education about photography is full of fluff TEN has received enthusiastic reception all over the world for being passionate, insightful, and full of real-world wisdom for creating compelling photographs.

David duChemin is an international cultural and humanitarian photographer, and the author of the best-selling Within The Frame and VisionMongers.

David’s popular photography blog, Pixelatedimage.com/blog is a connecting point for photographers all over the world who together celebrate a common mantra: Gear is Good, Vision is Better.

The TEN eBook presents excellent value and is a great source of inspiration for photographers of all levels. David writes in a down-to-earth and very engaging way which makes this book a great and easy read.

It should come as no surprise that the book is organised into 10 inspirational sections all of which are designed to improve your craft without you spending a cent on new gear:

1. Get Pickier
2. Better Contrast Makes Better Stories
3. Change My Perspective By Changing Yours
4. Create Depth
5. Get Balanced
6. Pay Attention to the Moment
7. Look to the Light
8. Use the Best Lens
9. Expose for Aesthetics
10. Put a Great Foreground in Front of a Great Background

In addition to the ten main chapters this fantastic eBook also includes several creative exercises which are sure to get your creative juices flowing (should you need to get them flowing).

Originally meant to be priced at $10, TEN remains priced at just $5 as David never had the heart to raise the price!

Ten is available via the Craft & Vision website along with several other great Ebook titles all of which, in fact, are priced at just $5 per title.

Talk about value for money… $5.00, that’s about the price for a tall latte these days!

Save a latte, get an eBook.

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Photo Critique No. 1 – “Fishing in Paradise”

Thomas — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:50:03 +0000

Welcome to the premiere of the weekly photo critique at Photography 24/7.

Carolyn Fletcher from Eufaula, Oklahoma in the US was quick off the mark submitting this truly beautiful image which she has entitled “Fishing in Paradise”. Thank you very much to Carolyn for offering up her image for the weekly photo critique.

I have been looking at this image on and off for a few days now, and every time I return to it, the first thing that strikes me are the absolutely amazing colours Carolyn has captured here.

It looks like peak fall colour and the only way to get images like this is of course by being there. So good on Carolyn (as they say here in Australia) for getting out there and capturing such a beautiful picture.

Original image by Carolyn Fletcher

The colours are a definite WOW factor in this image. They are so captivating and they are a contributing factor to me wanting to spend more than just the average time looking at this image. I take pleasure in exploring all the different colours and tones in the image.

Eye Movement and Composition

It’s only after a little while (which in reality is probably less than a split second) that I discover the fisherman in his boat. My eyes first go to the beautiful burnt orange colour – and probably more so to the burnt orange colour on the right hand side of the image rather than on the left as this is one of the highest contrast areas in the picture. It’s also in this area that some of the brightest pixel values (highlights) can be found on the bright tree trunks to the right in the picture.

My eyes then continue down to the reflection of this area and then I see the boat and the fishman.

Eye movement

I have tried to illustrate the way my eyes move through image above. As you can see the path almost forms a spiral ending up at one of the main subjects in the image.

In the illustration above part of the path is a dotted line as after viewing the image multiple times, sometimes me eyes start in the area on the left (there is a fairly high contrast area at the bottom of the bright tree trunks on the left where they meet the shoreline) and other times my eyes latch straight on the burnt orange and bright areas in the the right.

In either case Carolyn has succeeded – whether intentional or not – to guide my eyes through the image and down to one of the main subjects and to me this really makes the composition work.

In her comments accompanying the image, Carolyn wrote to me:

“I know this is against the ‘rules’ with the subject being in the center. I just couldn’t bring myself to eliminate anything.”

I say stuff the rules here, because it works!

The way I interpret this image the colour (paradise) is the main subject (which is where my eyes go first) and the other main subject (fishing) is the man in his boat (which is where my eyes go next). Success! It really doesn’t have to me more complicated than that.

I absolutely enjoy how I’m taken for a little discovery ride in this image. To me, in terms of composition, it doesn’t feel static at all which can sometimes be the case with very centered (bulls eye) subjects.

And while we are on the topic of composition more often than not with reflection images like this, it works well to have the horizon line running through the middle of the image as it pretty much does here.

Technical Aspect

Technically this image appears to be well executed overall. However I should add that I have sized down the images shown here from the original submission and I have used Bicubic Sharper when down sizing the image in the Image Size dialogue box in Photoshop CS4.

When I view Carolyn’s original image (you can click the thumbnail at the very top to view the original in full size) it appears as if there is a slight degree of softness to the image overall.

This may very well be intentional on Carolyn’s part in an effort to create the feeling of “Fishing in Paradise”. But it could also be a result of the focus being off just a little bit or perhaps a little bit of camera shake (which can also occur on a tripod). The softness also appears in the colours of trees in the background which gives an almost dreamy look which is really quite nice.

Improvements

When I think about ways I can perhaps improve this image aesthetically, the first thing that comes to my mind is the colour of the boat.

But really I’m in two minds about the colour of the boat. Part of me feels it is too colourful and overpowering, and another part feels that the bold colour of the boat separates it from the landscape as the man-made object it is.

So if this was my image I would consider changing the colour of the boat and see what I would like the best, so this is one of the suggestions I have made in the After example below.

In other suggestions to post-processing improvements a little bit of ‘gardening’ and local contrast adjustments. Here is my short-list of post-processing suggestions which I have applied in the After example below:

1. Remove colour from boat
2. Increase local contrast of the man in the boat
3. Clone out the dark corner in the top right
4. A little bit of ‘gardening’ along the right edge, bottom right corner and left bottom part
5. Clone out high contrast area in the background and reflection
6. Tone down brighter spot in the top middle part of the image

These are all quite minor changes in effort to just ‘tidy up’ the image a little bit (note that all adjustments were made with more attention to speed than quality to illustrate the suggestions). One could probably go a little bit further with the post-processing work depending on personal taste and indeed depending on whether you’re open to changing the contents of the image. Some of the changes mentioned above could also have been accomplished through some minor cropping.

Suggestions to improvements

After post-processing

The overhanging leafless branches in the foreground might be a small distraction and in an ideal world I would probably wish they weren’t there, but on the other hand they don’t bother me too much either. They are very much part of the scene and don’t feel too intruding as they are kind of spread out across the top of the image.

Overall I think Carolyn has come away with a really beautiful image of a lovely subject. Some might argue that this type of image can be a little bit cliche, but as for me, I never tire looking at scenes like this.

Once again a big thank you to Carolyn Fletcher for submitting this image for the premiere of the weekly photo critique.

If you’re interested in submitting one of your images for the critique, you can find out more details on the Photo Critiques page.

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Interview with Tony Sweet

Thomas — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:55:38 +0000

Tony Sweet is one of my all time personal favourite photographers and he has been a huge inspiration for me when it comes to image design. When you view his images you will notice that each one of them are meticulously composed with careful attention to detail.

I have been fortunate enough to be able attend two of Tony’s online photography classes a couple of years ago: Image Design: Revealing Your Personal Vision and Fine Art Flower Photography which he still teaches over at BetterPhoto.com and I can highly recommend both of these two courses. Tony’s teaching style is straight to the point, yet very caring and encouraging all while he shares a wealth of knowledge with his students.

I’m very grateful that Tony was kind enough to take the time for this interview in between conducting on location workshops, teaching online photography classes, writing magazine articles and running his general nature photography business!

So, get yourself a good cup of coffee, sit back and enjoy this in depth interview with Master Photographer Tony Sweet.

After 20 years as a professional jazz artist, Tony Sweet changed careers and directed his creative juices towards nature photography. Tony is a ‘Nikon Legend Behind the Lens’, a member of ‘Team Nik’ (NikSoftware) and a ‘Lensbaby Guru’. His fine art prints are exhibited in private and corporate collections throughout the United States, and he is represented by The Getty Picture Agency. Today, Tony’s work is published on greeting cards, calendars, post cards, posters, annual reports, catalogs and various electronic mediums.

1. Tony, first of all thank you very much for taking the time for this interview! For those who might not know you, could you describe your style of photography and perhaps also briefly touch on the moment when you first realised you would make photography a career path?

It’s very difficult for one to describe ones own style of photography. In general, I look for color and graphic interest in most cases, however I’ve recently began looking for more sparse subjects for black and white renderings. We are all in a constant state of flux in any creative endeavor. Despite how people love to pigeon hole photographers styles, there really is only two kinds of photography: good and bad. Initially, I began photographing musicians in night clubs and portraits in my house in Cincinnati. When my first mentor, Tony Gayhart, showed me a nature slide, I decided immediately to pursue this as a career path. I also immediately swapped all of my fast, low light glass for lenses better suited for nature photography (20mm, 35-70mm, 80-200mm, and 105mm macro).

2. You have referred to Pat O’Hara and Tony Gayhart as your mentors and influence, but if you look back in the history of photography what other photographer’s work do you admire and why?

When getting started, I read all the books by John Shaw, Galen Rowell, Rod Planck, Larry West, John Netherton, Jim Zuckerman, Freeman Patterson, and Pat O’hara. I just read everything that I could get my hands on. The styles that appealed to my innate sense of design and photographic viscera were Freeman’s and Pat’s. After years of learning from reading the aforementioned authors to get a firm foundation, I began gravitating to the more impressionist, non representational photography, exemplified by Freeman, Pat and others.

3. A photographer’s day and week can be long! I know that you are often up extremely early, work through the day and often also shoot again around sunset. How do you manage your shooting time, admin work and personal life and get some rest at the same time?

Fortunately, I love every aspect of this business now. Interestingly, digital photography and software expertise has grown together and have inextricably merged to where some software expertise is essential in modern photography. Time management is more a function of how facile one is on the computer and in various software. The faster one can get through image editing and optimization, the better. I know what and where I like to photograph, so I’m not guessing as much and, therefore more effectively managing my shooting time, especially before and after workshops. I also can get by with little sleep, which has it’s drawbacks, but does enable me to get a lot done. Personal life?? Sure, I try to play music once a week with friends when home. I also try to get in a few poker games a year with old friends. Sue and I work and travel together. [Note: Tony's better half Sue aka Susan Milestone is an equally amazing nature photographer with some incredible work as well].

4. As a teacher and instructor you are known to be ‘positive, enthusiastic, generous, encouraging, approachable and energetic’. What motivates you to teach photography as passionately as you do?

Quite simply, I love sharing information and like working with people. As I think back on my life, I’ve always been a teacher, regardless of profession (musician, magician, photographer).

5. Can you talk a little bit about how you challenge yourself creatively and how you choose your subjects (or do they choose you)?

Without getting too abstract, I don’t really challenge myself, per se, but function in the moment, not unlike playing jazz music. I rely on my subconscious to perceive a subject area. Once that happens, I look a bit closer for specific subjects. My challenge is keeping up on creative software use by practicing as often as I can.

6. A great deal of your work is made on the East Coast of the US and is often somewhat more intimate nature and landscape images. However you have recently also been shooting more grand landscapes in areas like the Badlands and I know you have also recently completed another long road trip. How do you feel about photographing in new locations versus much more familiar locations to you like the Smokies for example? And do you approach the grand landscapes differently than the more intimate landscapes?

It takes a while to get past the snap shot stage at new locations and to be able to move to the more personal and more abstract stage. This is why I love revisiting the same locations year after year, not to get the same shots, but to shoot deeper and deeper, getting images that were unattainable on initial visits. When first visiting a new site, I go to the visitor’s center to look at books and post cards to see what’s there and get to locations at pre dawn and/or late afternoon for the after glow, like everyone else. The more we return to an area, the more and deeper we “see.”

7. You have embraced HDR photography and even produced an instructional DVD on the subject. You tend to lean up against the more ‘super real’ images. What captivates you about HDR and do you see a commercial market for it?

HDR is not new, being around since about 1937, but it’s new to the general photographic world. And the world has been flooded with a lot of HDR images, good and bad. I find that HDR is essential to get some scenes to work and can be another way to interpret a scene in a new, fresh way. Commercial market? Many video games have HDR style backdrops, architectural photographers use HDR (paying careful attention to processing the scene to record it as it is), stock photography (although the super real look is not a favorite, yet), and of course for book and article illustrations.

8. We all get stuck in a creative rut sometimes. What advice can you give to someone who is lacking inspiration and needs to get their creative juices flowing again?

Go to a new place
Use a Lensbaby
Try HDR, even on a single image!
Try camera movement / multiple exposures
Use a fisheye lens

9. I think it’s fair to say you have been successful in the stock photography market. How important is stock photography to your business today and what’s your thoughts on the emerging microstock photography market?

For snap shot life style photography, stock will remain viable for a time, but it’s on the way to a whole new paradigm. The younger generation are populating the stock agencies and with that comes the younger approach. The Getty stock agency is trolling for images and may have purchased at least a part of Flickr! So, anyone who adequately key words their images on Flickr has a chance of being approached for an image sale by Getty. However, I wouldn’t get my hopes up as stock prices have plummeted in recent years to the point of no longer being a substantial part of our income, dwindling more each year.

10. How about fine art prints? I know you have recently purchased an Epson 7900 printer, do you produce a lot of fine art prints? Are fine art prints an important part of your business? Are you represented by any art galleries? Do you work with interior designers?

Our business plan is to enter the print market in the coming year. We have a couple of print agents and interior designers we have worked with and will be taking portfolios around to galleries looking for representation during our winter break, in addition to limited web sales.

11. To me some of your stock photography images could as well be fine art prints. How do you make the distinction between a stock image and a fine art image, or do you also offer fine art prints of your stock images? Is any of your fine art prints offered in limited editions?

I’m not sure what fine art is, but I do a little research for stock and noticed the more abstract, movement / blur images and extreme macros / conceptual images are viable. These types of images can be seen as being “fine art.” In general, I just send in what I like and let the agency pick what they like. But, please remember that for a great many photographers, stock is no longer a viable source of income.

12. Finally, what was the most recent photography book you bought for yourself?

I buy photography books all the time, the most recent being, “Badlands of the High Plains” by Chuck Haney.

—————————————————————————————————————————————

Tony Sweet teaches several online classes at BetterPhoto.com and conducts his “Visual Artistry” photography and digital printing workshops from March through October throughout the continental United States and Canada.

Tony has also produced several really excellent books and DVDs which can be purchased from the store on his website or at Amazon.com.

I’m also very excited to announce here on Photography 24/7 that Tony Sweet has just released a new DVD titled “Visual Artistry: The Art of Pre-Visualizing in Modern Digital Photography” (it’s literally being pressed as this interview goes live).

Shot in the springtime, Tony works in a variety of locations from historic downtown Charleston and Drayton Hall, to the magical landscapes of Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. Visual Artistry is filled with compositional techniques, tips and tricks from Tony s many years as a professional photographer and workshop leader.

You can purchase the new DVD directly from Tony Sweet’s website or at Amazon.com.

I own all of Tony’s DVDs and have watched them several times and find them a good source of photographic inspiration each time, so check them out if they are not already in your DVD library.

You can watch a small video in clip from Tony’s Visual Literacy DVD in this previous post: Tony Sweet Nature Portfolio.

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15 Fine Flickr Examples of Lensbaby Images

Thomas — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 01:10:21 +0000

There is an incredible amount of excellent, creative photography to be viewed on flickr. It’s simply mind boggling to think about all the creative talent that’s out there.

Today I looked through hundreds and hundreds of different Lensbaby shots on flickr with the intention to make another ’15 Fine Flickrs’ compilation. There were many beautiful images so it wasn’t easy just picking 15.

As I looked through the Lensbaby pool of images on flickr, however, there were also quite a few images that lacked zing. These images were plain or even downright boring. They fell short of including any of the three key ingredients that make up a good photograph. It was as if these images were preoccupied with the ‘effect’ of the Lensbaby and forgot all about good photographic craft.

As with any photographic tool (or technique) it’s important not to let oneself be swept away by the tool (or the technique) itself. It’s important to apply good photographic craft regardless of the tool (or technique). To me good photographic craft include one or more of the following three key ingredients for a good photograph:

1. Beautiful light
2. Strong design
3. Action or Mood

Irrespective of your photographic tool (or technique) always try to capture your subject in beautiful light.

Never compromise on strong and powerful image design as this is essential to keep the viewer’s attention regardless of how amazing your ‘effect’ is. In other words follow your usual instinct when it comes to composition and don’t let the ‘effect’ distract your image design. A poorly composed image with a stunning ‘effect’ doesn’t make a great photograph.

Action or mood are elements that can really elevate an image to greatness. If you can create an image where your subject is captured in beautiful light and then arranged within the frame with a strong sense of design and then add action or mood to your image, then you have a keeper for the top drawer.

So without further ado here are 15 fine flickr examples of Lensbaby images that include at least one of the above mentioned key ingredients for a good photograph.

Please enjoy, and if you have time click on any of the images to view more of the individual photographer’s flickr photos.

Photo by sparktography

Photo by rahuldlucca

Photo by daekxus

Photo by mike.wilson

Photo by silicapathways

Photo by schallkoerper (ronald)

Photo by minato

Photo by elenaerda

Photo by Laura Burlton

Photo by john curley

Photo by Kit_Z

Photo by aopho

Photo by thespeak

Photo by Myxi

Photo by Stephen Poff

As you can see you can create some beautiful effects with the Lensbaby (and its accessories) but remember to always apply good photographic craft and not let yourself be overwhelmed by the effect of a photographic tool or technique. The photographers above have all combined good photographic craft with the Lensbaby with stunning results.

Personally I started out with the Muse and then later purchased the Composer when it was released. If I was to purchase my Lensbaby today I would go straight for the Composer because of its ease of use. It’s definitely a fun tool to have in your gear bag.

You can check out all the details on the Lensbaby website.

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The Life of a (Cowboy) Photograph

Thomas — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:37:53 +0000

In this post I wrote about Sam Abell’s great photo book The Life of a Photograph.

In this video Sam Abell talks about his book and the picture that his peer photographers most admire. The picture in question can be found on page 11 in the book. It is an amazingly complex – yet superbly constructed – photograph of the annual branding and castration of cows at the Ken Rosman Ranch in Utica, Montana. There is a lot to learn from this single photograph, even for the very seasoned photographer.

The Life of a Photograph is quickly becoming one of my favourite photography books and I can highly recommend it to anyone interested in photography.

Hop on over to Amazon.com and treat yourself to a gift today! When did you last purchase a photography book?

Oh, and I say, good split-second decision to leave the red bucket in the cowboy photograph! You’ll see what I mean when you watch the video. Enjoy!

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August Snaps 27 August

Thomas — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:29:40 +0000

“Light Magic.”

Photography is about light, right?

This was quite a fun image to make. It was made at my main work place where I have the chance to watch how the light changes in this particular area depending on how high or how low the sun is in the sky. It is most interesting when the sun is high in the sky. This is in fact a ramp leading up to the upstairs warehouses and offices in the business complex our business is located in, but obviously I have made a fairly dark interpretation of the ramp area. Familarity with the location came in handy today.

Since there wasn’t really any colour in the image anyway I converted it to black and white.

I’d be interested to hear what you think about this image?

In total I made 44 pictures today.

There is only a few more days left of my August Snaps Project now, time just flies when you’re having fun! I do look forward to shooting with my new Canon 5D MKII in in the coming months though as well as with my new Polaroid SX-70.

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August Snaps 23 August

Thomas — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 12:03:55 +0000

“Moon Power.”

Allright, allright, not exactly the most inventive title, I admit, but I feel a little unsinspired with regards to titles tonight. Today I’m about 3/4 way through my August Snaps project. It’s been a lot of fun shooting with my compact camera and I would encourage you to consider a serious compact camera if you don’t already have one. My personal recommendation would be the brand new Canon G11 which you can pre-order at: Amazon.com, BH Photo or Adorama.

August Snaps is not all snaps though. It is very rare that I see a scene, frame it up, shoot it and then walk away with a good image. For all of the images in this project I have typically always ‘worked’ the situation to a certain extent (sometimes more than others) which means spending a bit of time trying different angles, different points of view and indeed different compositions.

Today I made 14 different images of the power lines and power pole incorporating the moon in different ways in the various images. It just so happens that this was the last image in the series and the one I happened to like the best (eventhough I had several others with the moon lined up in a similar way as in this one).

‘Working the scene’ or ‘working your subject’ is far from a novel tip, nevertheless it’s a very good one. If you’re new to photography one of the easiest ways to improve your images is to spend more time shooting what you’re shooting. When you think you’re done, push yourself to try a few more different angles, points of view or compositions. Move left, step to the right a little, crouch down or elevate yourself to a higher vantage point if you can. Not only could this extra time spent result in just the right image, but the process of editing your images for subtle differences will also teach you a lot about what works and what doesn’t.

Today I made a total of 22 images and as mentioned 14 of these were of this particular scene.

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August Snaps 20 August

Thomas — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 10:13:29 +0000

“55.”

There is not too much to say about today’s image other than I like the various rectangular shapes (helped along by the half-finished white paint) from a design stand point as well as the yellow against the red and brown tones. I have walked past this particular scene many times and so today I decided to frame it up and make a couple of images this morning.

I used onOne Software’s PhotoFrame 4 Pro Edition plugin to create the frame around the photo. It’s one of my favourite plugins from onOne Software. You can get 20% off PhotoFrame 4 Pro Edition by using the coupon 24SEVEN during the check out process when you purchase plugins over at onOne Software.

I made a total of 25 photos today.

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August Snaps 13 August

Thomas — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 11:15:46 +0000

“Texture and Shapes.”

I left work early today and walked home in the late afternoon, just as the sun got nice and low providing a beautiful warm hue to anything in its path. This house is located on the main road leading up to our office and warehouse and I pass it almost everyday (usually in a car). It has this lovely texture of aged wood and peeling paint. Today I had the opportunity to grab a few snap shots since I was walking and happened to have a compact camera with me!

It’s not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination but it captures some of the texture of the house and I liked warm colours enhanced by the late afternoon sun and as the title indicates I was also seeing some geometrical shapes in this particular composition.

I made only 12 pictures in total today.

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August Snaps 7 August

Thomas — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 11:41:42 +0000

“Crying Little Devil.”

As the title implies it was the poster of the little devil (or what looks like a little baby devil to me anyway) that attracted me to this scene. However as I looked at the scene more closely I also started noticing interesting geometrical shapes and I saw the potential for contrasting warm and cool colours.

Today I made a total of 25 exposures of which 6 were different interpretations of the little devil.

Click on the square image above to view large.

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Infrared Black and White

Thomas — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 09:50:25 +0000

A couple of months ago I sold my beloved Hasselblad XpanII to free up some cash so I could upgrade my Canon 20D to a Canon 5DMKII. However I kept my old 20D (partly as I have a few good EF-S lenses and partly because of the extra reach the 20D’s 1.6 crop factor offers). In fact I logged onto Ebay and bought myself another Canon 20D body for just a few hundred dollars!

My idea with this purchase was to convert the new 20D body to a dedicated infrared camera (keeping the original as a normal back-up camera). So, the day after I received my 20D I sent it over to the good guys at Life Pixel Infrared Conversion Services in Mukilteo, WA. I had a ‘Standard IR’ conversion done to the camera, but you also have the option of ‘Enhanced Color IR’ or ‘Deep BW IR’ conversions.

There are other companies offering infrared conversions, but Lifepixel seemed like the best choice to me. They offer a great turn-around service – I had my camera back within 10 days (and that’s between Australia and the US) and they ship from the US to all over the world.

I have been pleased with the results and have had a lot of fun shooting with the converted infrared camera. One obvious advantage of converting your camera is that your exposure times are not slowed right down as they are when you use a infrared filter in front of the lens. This allows you to shoot hand-held in many situations and opens up creative possibilities. Moreover, when you place an infrared filter in front of your lens you can’t really see to compose and focus, making it a lot more difficult and time consuming to make each shot.

The shot included with this post (click the image above to view the large version) was shot at the very end of day and then converted from the reddish infrared RAW file to a pure, high contrast black and white image.

For this particular image I like the (implied) repetition of the power poles and the strong silhouetted graphic elements juxtaposed against a very soft graduated evening sky.