composition – Page 4 – CanonBlogger

Did You Know…

March 4, 2011 Jason1 Comment

This last week has been kind of rough – after teaching in Minnesota on Sat., my whole time schedule was thrown off and I never really have been able to get my body clock back in sync. (I don’t know how traveling types do that…) That, combined with a little out-patient surgical procedure on Friday made for a lot of distractions. So, apologies in advance for being a little hit and miss with the blog posting.

Today though, I thought I’d share a little-known (or at least not-often-discussed) tip about the Canon EOS camera line. Did you know that there is a silent shooting mode? To enable this mode of shooting, simply switch your camera to the live shooting mode (where you compose your image using the LCD instead of the viewfinder), and when pressing the shutter, it’s much quieter than when normally pressed! I knew about this, but honestly had not used it in quite a while. It’s one of those “Oh yeah…..!” moments and when reviewing some material, I came across this from the owner’s manual. Here’s the page directly from the 40D guide:

This is a very handy feature to have if you don’t want to interrupt an emotional moment during an event (say a bride and groom kissing, a baby sleeping, or some other such occasion).Got your own unknown or not-often-mentioned feature to share about your own gear? Sound off in the comments! Have a great weekend all and we’ll see you back here next week!

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Black and White Adjustments in Lightroom 3

February 21, 2011 Jason1 Comment

As a regular contributor to the PhotographyBB magazine (which you can download for free simply bu subscribing here), I enjoy putting together articles to both educate and inspire. In this upcoming month’s issue, I am guest-writing a tutorial on Black and White editing with Lightroom 3. As a sneak-peak of sorts to the readership here, I’d like to share the first portion of that article…enjoy!

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The power of Lightroom has been so well documented from various outlets across the internet and magazines, I often find it surprising that such a small amount of space is dedicated to black and white photography. This month, I’d like to take an opportunity to delve more into the creative adjustments you can make in Lightroom to bring out more in an image than just shades of gray!

There are two areas in Lightroom where you can make creative adjustments to the color to make things pop. The first two HSL (for Hue, Saturation, and Luminance) and Color are great resources to use when you want to massage the color palette of your image. The Black and White “tab” though, is where it’s really at. When you click this tab, the image will be converted to an automated black and white adjustment, where the colors are converted to shades of gray – with no color tones at all. This is where I’d like to begin the exploration:

While this can be a powerful way to present an image, the automated method of conversion is not going to work all the time (and for my tastes rarely does the default conversion work). So, you have to dive in and really get comfortable with adjusting color tones. To start off, I am using a pretty basic image – a red flower, and you can see that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the colored version of the image.

It’s got some great black and white potential though, so let’s go ahead and take it into the BW adjustment panel tab. When I do that, the automated adjustments will kick in:

It looks interesting, but let’s see what massaging the colors just in the panel can do. To start, since the flower was red and made up nearly 95% of the composition, I started with the red slider to see what the extremes would do on each end. Here’s the image with the red slider taken up to +100 and then to the opposite extreme of -100…

In both cases, for me it’s an absolutely hideous image. Clearly, there is a balance that must be struck somewhere in the middle – the question is where? Well, now it comes down to subjective tastes. For me, the default adjustment had the red a bit too strong – which kind of hid the morning dew of the flower, so I dialed things back a bit, taking the red slider from +22 to -20. The droplets are now much more visible as they are standing out from the petals!

So, now we are getting somewhere fun! I tested a few more sliders, and ended up with the yellows and oranges slightly higher than the default settings, just to give a bit more contrast. Here’s what it looks like after the black and white adjustments are made:

Of course there is always a bit of sharpening and noise reduction to make in post production, as well as lens correction, and even a little bit of vignette from time to time to help draw the viewer in. Once these are done, the final image definitely has a creative look and feel to it:

It’s clearly not easy to decide both when, to make a black and white conversion, as well as how much to massage or tweak it to your tastes. The ultimate decision is, of course, up to you as an artist and photographer, but you can’t get there by avoiding the Black-and-White panel! Take some time to explore it!

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There’s more to the article than that, and it has been modified somewhat to make for a better blog post, so be sure you subscribe to the PhotographyBB newsletter when you have a minute. It is free, after all, and probably one of the best sources of a diverse set of reading material you can find. Dave Seeram, the editor, has been quite generous with his kindness and patience in my contributions! Please stop over and give him your thanks as well…nothing but learning and knowledge to gain!

As always though, I end up being more curious than informative! What types of black and white adjustments do you make? Do you prefer the neutral grays, or do you like to add a hint of color to your b/w images too? What methods have you found useful versus not so much? Sound off in the comments as I love to hear how others are working through their own images! Happy shooting and we’ll see you next time right here!

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Defining your craft – and yourself!

February 17, 2011 Jason7 Comments

Photography as we know it has changed a lot over the past several years. The advancements of digital are pretty well-known, and have been written about extensively. In addition to the nature of the medium, several other factors have come together in what photographers are calling “the perfect storm”. Included in this picture are the decreased cost of entry, increased interest from a wider and ever-increasing portion of the population, photographers are finding themselves in larger company than ever before…to put it quite simply: there’s more of us!

David Ziser, the quintessential wedding photographer did an excellent write-up in two parts (here and here) as a guest blogger over at Scott Kelby’s blog. Not only is he an incredible photographer, his writing is among the best in the industry too! I would highly recommend reading these two posts because even if you aren’t a fan of “The Kelby Kool-Aid”, (although I must admit, I take a sip of it every now and then…) because these specific writings give insights and directions for all of us moving forward. While the insights and perspective-changing considerations to take into account (including drive, motivation, work ethic, etc.) are definitely helpful, the more serious question that lies at the root of all of it seems to find a cornerstone in one simple question: WHY DO YOU TAKE/MAKE PICTURES?

Without getting into the semantics of taking versus making pictures – my point here is that we all pick up the camera for different reasons. And only in understanding those reasons can you really determine where you want to go and how you want to get there from where ever you are now. We may pick up our camera to capture a moment in time, with dew glistening off the petals of a flower in the morning light:

Does that make us nature photographers? Absolutely! But, by the same token, does that define us? Of course not! We may also enjoy capturing that beaming bride as she smiles and kisses her husband on their special day! Or, we may revel in the laughter of children as we capture those moments in time! By the same token, we may also be pulled on some deep and intangible level by the power of a sunrise or a sunset in some place! Heck, maybe it’s even the place that moves us. As David DuChemin says, “…vision is better!”

There are so many scenes and images that surround us every day, but yet so often we do not trip that shutter, because we likely are not tuned in to a particular vision or perspective. So, the question then becomes: What is your vision? Do you see the beauty inside that awkward teenager who only smiles for family? Or what about the majesty of a skyline timed so perfectly? The fact is, we can find it everywhere, and while we can blog and twitter, and Facebook until the cows come home about our latest project, or to promote and network across so many sectors of the economy (whether it’s improving or on the downturn), what ultimately matters is what motivates you to shoot in the first place?

When push comes to shove, the foundation for creating photographs (I believe) is something that comes from inside. You have to want to be there, capturing that moment in time in order to the vision to really come to life. Whether it’s a sunset, a smile, a skyline or anything, if you’re not true to your own roots, then twittering about it all becomes less than inspirational.

Of course, I could be completely half-cocked, and off base entirely here. What do you think is at the root of photography? Is it for the passion, the fame, or the glory? Or is it something else altogether? What drives those like David Ziser, Joe McNally, Zack Arias, David DuChemin and the rest to such degrees of excellence? Time and again, what makes them and folks like them rise to the top? Share your thoughts, comments, and feedback below!

For the Birds

February 9, 2011 JasonLeave a comment

One of my annual clean-up sprees happened over the weekend and ran a little long into the week…this was not a task for the light of heart because it requires seriously chimping your own work – and even admitting that some you’ve kept just aren’t worth keeping anymore because you’ve never touched them ever since capture. I cleaned quite a bit, and although tedious, the task really is for the birds because you should be doing this all the time, not just annually. Sometimes a diamond in the rough can squeak through though…and here’s two that might be a exception…what do you think?

I wish the birds eyes were more viewable, and the ISO was pretty high so took some serious slider dragging in LR to make presentable here. Not sure the second is close enough to be worth it, but then again there is something to be said for negative space! Consider it a photo critique day – so do thy worst fair readers, critique the author! 🙂

Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again soon!

Book review: Photo Trade Secrets

February 4, 2011 JasonLeave a comment

Zeke Kamm puts together an interesting set of books in Vols 1 and 2 of “Photo Trade Secrets” This is not your typical book though, so I’m not really sure that a normal review is warranted. It’s a pretty simple concept though:

Each book is a series of “hero shots” – just some really cool photography, ranging from studio work, to portrait, landscape, and everything in between. The concept behind the series is that each page can be torn out (they’re perforated) so you can go and try to duplicate the effect in your own images. I tore a few pages out of the books to show you the idea in practice. Keep in mind that it seems my scanner is having some issues, so the image quality here is not very consistent nor is it necessarily accurate – the end result in the book look much better!

You can see the front image (left) shows the end result, and the rear of the page (right) shows the setup with how and where things are positioned. I do wish he would have included the technical data such as aperture, shutter, ISO, light settings (1/4 power, manual, TTL, etc.), but it’s a neat idea regardless.

Here’s the rest of the sample images…

With 25 pages per volume, it’s nothing too meaty that will leave your head swirling with technical minutia and yet it’s got enough creative directions from all the contributing photographers to give you plenty of ideas for inspiration. It’s all a lot like “lighting recipies” with a boiler plate template, from which the author (and contributing photographers) expect you to springboard from. They give you enough to get up and running, but not enough to completely duplicate w/out a little of your own flavor and tastes in to season appropriately…

Depending on where you are and what you are looking for – this could be a two thumbs up or one to skip. For me personally – I love getting creative and inspirational ideas from other photographers, so this medley gets two thumbs up! Cool idea, well implemented, and lots of inspiration going forward!

Garbage leads to Beauty

February 2, 2011 JasonLeave a comment

Tuesday night is trash night in the Anderson household – and whether mild and comfortable, or sub-zero and bone-chilling, it’s my job to gather all the bags and roll things out to the curb on my appointed night. Last night was no exception. However, even in such mundane tasks as “taking out the trash”, one can find beauty and art if you are open to it. Thankfully, I was on this night.

You see, not only is it trash night, but this also is going to be one of the coldest nights I can remember in Colorado – we are on pace to be at 17 below zero by morning! Like I said – bone-chilling! In our house, that translates to fires in the fireplace. A bundle of wood costs around $3 and it heats the entire house to where we almost have to open windows. So, we needed no encouragement to add the warmth of a fire last night.

Also, as an admitted “guy”, there is nothing more fun than poking and stirring a fire, whether it be in a fireplace or in a campsite. So, my face was naturally glued to the fire for most of the evening. Twist twist, poke poke. Then a log here and there…and some old cardboard I tore up to throw out (remember, it was trash night). The smell of the crackling wood and ash is still lingering in my mind too. That, combined with a nice red vino made for probably one of the most relaxing evenings.

It was quite relaxing too…and even Tracy joined me for a few minutes of quiet time just gazing at the embers before finishing things up for the night (a.k.a. the trash). The flames from the fire, still flickering inside my head, were doused by the chill of the air on stepping out to the garage. The frost already on the door was right there, in my face, reminding me of how cold it actually was/is outside. (Bone-chilling, in case you didn’t get that yet.) And right then, it hit me – frozen snowflakes of ice on the window – with the light coming down behind it…just gorgeous!

When thinking about these two images, and how much I liked them, it dawned on me further that these are great examples of how juxtaposing themes can work really well together…and it all came from taking out the trash! The point: keep your eyes open, the next dose of inspiration can come from anywhere, even the most mundane task on the planet! And wit an amazing contest going on now – this is as good a time as ever to keep your artistic eyes open!

What I’m Reading

January 19, 2011 Jason3 Comments

Reading material is a gold mine, not only for inspiration, but for education. The field of photography is one where you can never know everything there is to know, and there will always be people who see things differently that you can learn from and gain insights and inspiration. For that reason, I am always reading something. Here’s a portion of my reading list lately in the hopes that you can find some insights and inspirations too!

Books

Captured – Lessons from Behind the Lens of a Legendary Wildlife Photographer, Moose Peterson

Photo Trade Secrets, Volume 2, Zeke Kamm (forthcoming)

Magazines

National Geographic – December 2010 Issue
Shutterbug – February 2011
Consumer Reports – February 2011
Bits and Pieces
Arizona Highways – January 2011

I guess my nose is always in a book or something! Got any suggested reading items? Share your own reading lists in the comments or with me via email. Happy shooting (and reading)!

Pictures in the Park and other sundry stuff

January 7, 2011 Jason5 Comments

One of the ways in which I make sure to stay active is to volunteer in local photography groups. One such group is organized through Meetup.com and we affectionately call ourselves the Denver Photowalk Group. (Pretty original eh?)

Our fearless leader has taken some pretty impressive initiative to organize several walks over the course of the next 12 months. He’s asked us to also throw out any ideas as we move into 2011, and a few are percolating for me. Here’s what I’ve come up with thus far:

Pictures in the Park

I forget where I saw this before but the idea is kind of fun. Here’s whatcha do:

Step #1: Get a bucket full of cheap candy. Spend maybe $5-$10 at the dollar store and get some variety.

Step #2: Create a poster or something that advertises your outing with a catchy or pithy slogan. Something like “FREE CANDY!” or “CLICKS FOR CANDY!”. You get the idea, and be creative. You want to attract people.

Step #3: Assemble your groupies and start snapping each other. If you want to push things a little, have some strobes around on portable light stands (that catches eyes too!). When people approach, just say something along the lines of “We’re practicing photography, and would love to take your picture! We’re giving away free candy for just a few minutes to practice posing and lighting.” If you want, you can set up a download place on your website (or Flickr if you are working on the cheap) for people to visit afterward and get copies for themselves.

Step #4: Have fun! Learn from one another and share techniques. Collaboration and free exchange of ideas are key. In sharing what you know, you may also learn from others. The end result:

People have fun pics for free
You get to practice posing and lighting
The event may encourage others to join the group and have some fun

Other Sundry Stuff

Frequency

As you may have sensed by now, I have decided to take a step back from blogging every single day this year. The looming deadlines of writing intensely every day for a number of years has taken its toll, and I must admit, the quality is not what I am used to producing. Instead, I will be blogging and writing less often.

Journals

That being said, I do enjoy writing. I really do. And evidence indicates that people enjoy reading what I write when I take my time and produce good quality material. So, I will be putting out one journal article each and every month. The blog version will be an abbreviated version (think Reader’s Digest), and a longer version will be available on a subscription basis. While I’ve not decided exactly how that portion will work, it’s something I’d like to give the dedicated readers, listeners, and supporters on a premium level. So, look for some announcement on that soon

Podcasts

The toughest part of starting something is knowing when to say when and stop. The podcast is a tough call, because while I love putting them together, it takes a huge chunk of time to schedule guests, record a discussion, post production, upload and host. They will likely not disappear entirely because I think everyone enjoys them when they do happen. But at the same time, I don’t want the quality to suffer there either. So, when time permits, yes, these will continue. It always helps here to have reader input – if there’s someone you’d like me to chat with, or a topic you’d like me to address, let me know in the comments or via email! I am always open to suggestions and ideas.

Webinars

This is perhaps the most exciting thing that is forthcoming…a major sponsor and supporter of the blog is Nations Photo Lab and they have given myself and Kerry Garrison of CameraDojo.com an opportunity to publish live webinars once a month for free to share with the community. These webinars will cover a wide range of topics, we’ll likely have guests, and basically be another venue to give back to the community that has been so generous to us. There are several spots left, and we are assembling a waiting list as we can accommodate 100 people in the event. To register, stop over at http://livelearninglab.eventbrite.com to register for the first Live Learning Lab sponsored by Nations Photo Lab and hosted by myself and Kerry Garrison. It’s gonna be fun, you’ll get a great inside scoop on some of the nitty gritty on Lightroom 3, and best of all – it’s free!

Well fellow photogs, bloggers, and readers, that’s about it for today. Let me know your thoughts on the new “agenda” for 2011. What kinds of groups do you participate in? Got any event ideas? What about the podcast and journal topic ideas? Share those as well, as moving forward, a lot of the content will hopefully be encouraged or at least initiated by you! Happy shooting and have a great weekend! With that parting thought, here’s my parting “shot” of the week – a nice assembly of lines and shapes while waiting in Denver Airport:

The Woosh of the Wind!

January 5, 2011 Jason4 Comments

Journal Entry #1 – 2011 – Snowmobiling in Copper Mountain

Date: January 1st, 2011

Location: Copper Mountain Colorado

Temp: -20 Fahrenheit

Wind: 10-20mph

Wind Chill: -41 to -45 F!

What is this a great day for? You guessed it – a snowmobile ride! Seriously, I went on just such an excursion the morning of the 1st! I layered up in my best winter gear:

Layer 1 – Thermals (long underwear)
Layer 2 – Lounge pants
Layer 3 – Blue Jeans
Layer 4 – Snow suit

It worked quite well as I never really got all that cold! I took off from the house in Keystone CO where we gathered for the holidays with family, and drove the 45 minutes from 9900 feet to the 11,000 foot mark. Nearly two miles above sea level now where the air is downright thin!

It was a nice tour, led by the well-regarded folks of Summit Concierge and their services across the Colorado Rockies. The tour guides were friendly, we got some handling time in a track loop to familiarize ourselves with the equipment, then they split us into two groups of six for some pretty exciting scenic views. One group was a family or two, then the other was mostly adults (myself included, although I felt like a kid – adrenaline surging as we whipped around at about 30-45mph on our Polaris snowmobiles!).

As we crossed the mountains, with snow-covered pines, and gorgeous mountain-scapes. Of course once we rode above the timber line, the scenery was just the white snow against the slightly paler misty sky. It wasn’t snowing as at that temp, it’s just too cold. Instead tiny bits of ice dusted the sky with hints of bluer skies behind the flakes of snow and ice.

I did imagine that we would get a bit cold in our extremities, as we whipped along. After all, with a -20 gauge on the thermometer, 20mph winds and us tooling around with another 30mph of wind, it was likely very nearly around 50 below zero! But the handles of the Polaris were heated! As you moved, the heat increased to snuff out the effects of the wind. When we stopped I even took my gloves off to pull out the camera for some photography! No gloves! in 40 below temps!

The camera though, did not have the pleasure of heat, so it didn’t last too long, even inside my external snowsuit to shield it from the bitter cold. I got perhaps 45 minutes of shoot time from the two batteries I packed. The point and shoot fared better as it was inside my own snow jacket pocket, closer to the warmth of my own core heat. But it even capitulated to the cold after being taken out for a mere 20 minutes! I found this out at one of the rally points…

Regardless, it was a great ride, with half pipes, remarkable scenery and even a stop for hot chocolate halfway through (the tour guide started the heaters as we began the trek)! For the adventurous – this is definitely one to consider when you go to book your next adrenaline tour! It was a great way to usher in the New Year! How did you celebrate the start of 2011? Share your thoughts, shots, and feedback in the comments below or via email. Don’t forget to share socially too!

And finally, for those that read all the way through the journal article, here’s a short video I took from my Flip HD Video (Christmas Present):

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Making Resolutions…

January 3, 2011 Jason6 Comments

Do you like New Year’s Resolutions? I don’t. We always make vague references to “become better with portrait work” or to “improve my flash techniques”. There are countless others of course, but you likely get the idea – resolutions are often too vague. Even when it comes to the classic ones of “lose weight” and “eat better”. The problem lies in the inherent nature of such resolve.

While the effort and idea are splendid – they are vague by definition and thus, difficult to define success in achievement. How would you define “better” or “improve”? There is also no accountability when these statements are made. So, when making resolutions from a photographers point of view, it helps to define your resolutions clearly, and to share those resolves with others, so as to make yourself accountable.

My goals? Funny you should ask, because I have the same goal I made last year – to shoot at least one project each and every month. And I did it! Here’s the project I did for each month:

January – All About Brighton, Baby!
February – Meetup Group – Downtown Denver
March –Sun, Wind, and Frost
April –CHDK is Cool
May –Beautiful Bokeh
June –Nothin’ But the Tail Lights
July -Launch of “49 Photo Tips – The Sequel“
August –Raquette Lake Rendezvous
September –Colorado isn’t Just for Sunsets
October –Visiting the Pumpkin Patch
November –Sigma 70-200 f2.8 Review
December –Helicopter Shoot

The goal for the year was to shoot more and write less. While I still plodded away at the blog in an effort to provide continued content for the readers here (and I hope you enjoyed 2010)…more effort went into advancing my own photography library in 2010. The stakes are raised for 2011 though. As you may have noticed, some of the “shoots” weren’t as planned or dedicated photo shoots as others. The Pumpkin Patch outing was definitely a multi-functioned event!

So, for 2011 – my goal is to go on an outing with photography as the primary focus! And, here I am happy to report that the month of January for 2011 has already been covered with a snowmobile outing on January 1st!

It was indeed quite the outing, and I learned quite a bit about shooting in extreme cold weather. More to come on that as I put together the assembly for publication later this week. Another shoot might be forthcoming on the same vein, so more is also pending there as well.

Pretty exciting (although my wallet is nervous!) for 2011. Sort of a photo/travel/expedition blog post will be something to look for each month during the upcoming year! If you have any places in the area (i.e. Colorado/Wyoming/etc.) that you would like to see me capture, say the word so I can take it into consideration sooner rather than later. I’ve got some irons in the fire already scheduled for certain points during the year, but nothing affirmative as of yet.

What about everyone else? Have you made any concrete resolutions? Do share them in the comments or via email – an upcoming podcast will likely take some of your thoughts, comments, and feedback into consideration! Happy New Year all and keep on shooting!