potd – Page 11 – CanonBlogger

Go soak your gear!

March 5, 2009 Jason5 Comments

It pays to review your web traffic periodically because I just learned a way that your bathtub can be used for photography! Not only is it a good place to mellow out after a stressful shoot, but it also makes a heckuva softbox! I was on a forum that had referenced the blog and a guy had some product that he placed in his tub. I thought it was an interesting idea, and decided to give it a try. As it turns out, the tub is a great place to put your gear! Granted, not to soak it (sorry, but I had to tease the title that way), but to act as a great background and softbox combined in one.

Here’s a few sample shots. For all the tech-types, these are pretty much straight out of camera (or sooc) – all I did was adjust the WB for Flash and adjust the ACR sharpening from 25 to 75. All are resized to 650px wide for the blog. Here’s the setup: I took the Canon kit lens (18-55) on my 40D, threw on the 550EX, and set everything to default values. Shutter at standard sync speed of 250, aperture at f8 and ISO at 100. I powered the 550EX at it’s standard setting, on camera (relax strobists – I can hear you shuddering from here), and started firing a few shots. I pointed the flash to camera right and got this:

ruler1

Yup, that’s a God-awful shot, with a nasty shadow. Perhaps I could ditch the shadow. Since we’re not exactly using conventional wisdom here, let’s try it with the flash pointed straight at the subject:

ruler2

Hey! That’s actually not too bad. It’s not that great, and still definitely a “Meh” kind of shot as it’s still got something of a shadow. So, I spun the flash to fire above me and bounce off the ceiling:

ruler3

Voila! You know what? For being a spur of the moment thing, and without a lot of pre-planning or preparation, that’s not bad at all. And, it was shot in a bathtub! Anyone else out there have a bathtub? Try some shots in it for different items. I used a tape measure, but what about a pen, or a microphone, or a printer, or even a lens? I bet you could get some pretty cool results with very little setup! Anyone else have some odd or unusual ways to get clean backgrounds and even lighting on the cheap? Feel free to share your thoughts, ideas, and feedback in the comments. Feel free to link your own efforts there too! Happy shooting all and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

Facelift Friday

February 27, 2009 Jason7 Comments

With February now in the archives, I figured this may be as good a time as any to get a head start on some Spring Cleaning with the blog. The theme I had been using for the last year or two had been getting a little dated, and the designer has not issued any updates since 2007. Additionally, some portions of the blog just were taking more muscling to conform to the evolving standards of CSS, XHTML, plugins, and even WordPress itself. So, consider this a Facelift Friday!

Those of you on the blog, you can see what I am talking about – this new theme is much more photo friendly – the header image is more standardized, so I can start putting more of my images into the rotation for everyone to enjoy. Plugins also enjoy more support, as does the RSS, calendar, and other sidebar features. For those of you picking this up via the feeds, please take some time to stop over and enjoy the new layout. This is, of course, the “first look”, and I will likely be making some adjustments as things settle in, including widening the body width for the main posting area, and dressing up the edges a little. Any ideas for what to consider? More pics? Perhaps some page links? (I noticed the pages area is now not visible from the main one…) Feel free to chime in now while I am still in “clean-up” mode!

Okay, so the Spring Cleaning is a little premature, but felt it was needed due not only to update some features, but also due to some coding deficiencies were brought to my attention (thanks, and shout outs to Kerry of Camera Dojo!). Anyway, on a happy note, I’ll leave you with a little WTD humor since it’s been a while for a comic post:

Have a great weekend, and don’t forget to share your thoughts on the new theme/layout in the comments – it’s now or never to see your feedback implemented! Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here Monday morning!

Great Green Gobs of Grapes!

February 26, 2009 Jason2 Comments

This week has been a particularly creatively filled one here on the blog:

Monday I shared the HDR image workup from last weekend and published the weekly podcast
Tuesday had another shot showcasing the benefits of looking all around for ideas (including behind you!)
Wednesday was the more detailed explanation of the Lensbaby Composer and selective focus

And now today, another source of inspiration from the kitchen! I was cleaning some grapes for lunches and was struck not only by their size (these things were huge!), but also by the cool way the light in the kitchen was bouncing off each grape in the colander. It helped that the colander is stainless steel and reflected some nice green tones back onto the grapes themselves, making them look even greener. On instinct, I took a few, and here’s the best of it (and although it was taken with a 70mm Macro, this was not taken from macro range – that should tell you the size of these guys):

Not too shabby for a “spur of the moment” capture. Nothing like what you’ll see over at Mike Palmer’s blog (he does a lot of cool shallow dof work with food photography, and is a friend-of-the-blog), but a step in the direction of creativity anyway! Catch an cool colors in your kitchen lately? Share your thoughts, perspectives, links to other images, ideas and feedback in the comments section! Keep on shootin’ and we’ll see you back here for the Friday post!

Look out behind you!

February 24, 2009 Jason4 Comments

We’re always looking forward, upward and downward to find a unique perspective or angle on things – to create something unique and interesting. Well, today, I’ve got an example of how sometimes the interesting shots are behind you! In this particular case, it’s doubly true.

This is also from the photo walk out in El Dorado from last weekend, and what makes it doubly true is because we were out looking to capture the beuaty of the mountains, the trees, and the amazing Colorado skies. At one waypoint between hiking trails, we took a rest stop and used some of the provided *ahem* facilities. On returning to the vehicle, I saw this reflection in the rear window of the Expedition:

So, the view was created from the back window reflection, and I only caught it by turning my eyes away from the mountains, landscapes, and opportunities in front of me! When’s the last time you turned 180 degrees to get a shot? Got any fun stories of when it did? Share them in the comments!

Don’t forget to stop over and pick up the new feed in iTunes for the podcast and share your thoughts about the new show format! Here’s the link: iTunes feed Happy shooting all and we’ll see you back here tomorrow!

HDR, Web links, and a podcast!

February 23, 2009 Jason3 Comments

fissure2

So, this last weekend I went on the photo meetup group outing for the month of February into Eldorado State Park, south of Boulder, and had many an opportunity to capture some landscape and macro work. Some great views were had and I only hope that they all come out as well as this one did. While hiking up a trail of slippery snow and ice (it was cold out Saturday morning), I saw this fissure that was pretty intense looking because it was only partially lit. I thought about it for a second and decided to bracket some exposures to see if it would turn out with some HDR massaging. Not only did it turn out better than I would have thought, I was also very pleased with how Photomatix did with this. I would highly recommend this software to anyone interested in HDR work. Not only is it more intuitive than Photoshop, the results were much more gratifying! You can buy Photomatix for PS, Lightroom and for either Windows or a Mac over at www.HDRsoft.com.

Some other web links I learned about recently also include www.fotoblur.com and www.usefilm.com Both are much more cognizant and respective of photography copyright than other social and photo networking sites like Flickr and Facebook (we all know about the Facebook Terms of Service fiasco, right?). One thing I like about both Fotoblur and Flickr is that you are limited in how many images you can upload daily. This requires you to be more careful about what you publish, and as a result, you are more thoughtful and objective of what work is worth posting and sharing online.

Last but not least, the podcast that I had intended to put out last week was delayed for a few days as I put the finishing touches up on a home improvement project. (We finished out one of the basement rooms – expect to see some photos on that makeover forthcoming!) The good news is that not only is the basement room on the verge of completion, but that the podcast is up for this week. Naturally, the title of the podcast will match the blog post title, as the show notes follow closely to todays content. Stop on over to Personal Life Media for the show, or pick it up in iTunes! (Don’t forget to leave your thoughts in the review section of iTunes too…the more the merrier!)

Until tomorrow, when I’ll have some more HDR shots to share, keep on shooting – hope all your shots are good ones!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Can ordinary be interesting?

February 19, 2009 Jason4 Comments

A while back I took Tracy out for an afternon/evening in Denver. I agreed to leave my camera behind, but in case she wanted to catch a moment for posterity’s sake, I grabbed the P&S one she asked for as a Christmas gift. After her initial interest waned in taking pictures, I ended up with the camera in hand (go figure) and even shared a few here on the blog (remember the bottle caps in the grocery?). Anyway, it got me to thinking about how to take ordinary scenes and make them interesting. I guess that’s part of the role of being a photographer: making the ordinary extraordinary.

We do see the world differently than others, and by capturing our vision, and then sharing it with the world with our particular expression, otherwise ordinary scenes can be seen in a new and different light. With that idea in mind, here’s one I captured recently (with my own camera) that kind of spoke to me in that way:

_mg_8521

What made this unique for me was the ambient light. No gels, no lighting tricks or anything – it was on our weekend getaway, and since not very many places outside of mountain cabins have things like wood stoves, the idea hit me to catch this scene. What makes it (for me) is the fact that the ambient light is very “fireside”. The tungsten light combined with the sun setting behind the trees outside made this a perfect scene. So, up went the tripod, the shutter went long, and I kept the aperture up, and noise down. (5 seconds, f10, and ISO 100 for the techies in the crowd).

I think it worked, but would like to hear from the readers out there. Does this work? Can ordinary scenes be made extraordinary? What about the role a photographer has? Is there really a “symbolic” or larger purpose for people who enjoy taking pictures? What do you enjoy about photography? Feel free to sound off in the comments, as there are no wrong answers here…

In the meantime, happy shooting and we’ll see you back here Friday!

Multimedia Monday

February 9, 2009 Jason1 Comment

With the “New and Improved” podcast starting out at PLM this week, there’s a couple exciting things to announce. First off, the drawing for the Think Tank Photo Streetwalker bag was done live on the podcast this week, and the winner was announced in the lead segment. Congrats go out to the winner (you know who you are!), so do get me your address so I can ship you the bag post haste!

The meat segment (aka middle segment) I talk about some new sources of inspiration – specifically the grocery store and in a restaurant. The next time you are at a restaurant, take your camera because the table makes for a great tripod, and you can get some really cool shots. Case in point, is the new gallery I have set up here at the blog, titled Tabletop Photography. I’m also sharing a few sources of inspiration from the grocery store too (tune in tomorrow for those).

The listener questions were really good ones from Meredith and Jason, where I take a look at the value of carbon fiber and the issue of when and where are we permitted to photograph. Last but not least, the photo tip of the week concerns copyright and registering your work, so make sure you stay tuned for that.

Lots of photo goodness to share, so make sure you tune in for the audio, and stop by the blog to pick up the link for the photo gallery. Photos, podcasts, and questions galore. Enjoy the day and we’ll see you back here tomorrow! Happy Shooting!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The Crop Factor…

February 6, 2009 Jason5 Comments

First off, my apologies for the absenteeism yesterday. After a really fun photo shoot with some friends in downtown Denver (more on that next week), I got home super late (by working standards – my shift is 7-4 and I need to take a bus an hour to get there…so I leave at 6, which means I am up at 5!), and went almost straight to bed! Hopefully the content today will make up for this, because it’s time to talk about (cue fanfare music)…the crop factor!

Now, before anyone gets all uppity because sensor crop factors have been discussed ad infinitum, just relax, because this isn’t about sensors (well, a little, but indirectly). I am talking about cropping your pictures in camera. We all do it, often to improve composition, or to focus in on one area of an image – but what about those undesired crops? What am I talking about? I am talking about images where it looks really great “in camera” but when you go to print it, the native aspect ratio won’t work for the size you want to print to. See, most SLR cameras (non-full frame anyway) have roughly an aspect ratio of 2:3. This means that you can print at this ratio without losing anything in your image. But, if you want to print at a different aspect ratio, then something has to be cropped out.

So, what aspect ratio will work with the 2:3 proportions? Who all remembers their grade school math? All you have to do is multiply each side of the ratio by the same number. So, prints that work are …

2×3″ prints (2:3 x 1:1 = 2×3)
4×6″ prints (2:3 x 2:2 = 4:6)
6×9″ prints (2:3 x 3:3 = 6:9)
8×12″ prints (2:3 x 4:4 = 8:12)

You get the gist…but here’s the thing – the only “standard” print size that really fits our native camera aspect ratio is the 4×6″ print. What if we want an 8×10″ print? Well, cropping is required then. This means losing some of your image. So, this also means that you need to think about this during image composition in camera – if you like it – and want to print it – remember to frame things so that the crop won’t lose key elements of the picture. Here’s a perfect example:

isla_original

I took the above shot on a trip down in Isla Mujeres. I absolutely love this shot. The problem is that my proportions are lost when I crop to print an 8×10. Take a look at the 8×10 crop:

isla_crop

It still looks pretty good, and I love the colors still, but some of the impact has been lost by cropping out the frame on both the left and the right. See how the brown “framing element” has been lost? I could have cropped less on that side and more on the orange side (even though the orange side is still cropped to a degree), but hopefully you’ll see the difference easily enough because it’s really the orange, yellow and blue that I think are the fundamental colors that hold my eye for this shot. Suffice to say, I still loved it enough to print and frame an 8×10…but that’s not the point here.

The point is to try and remember to frame your composition in camera with “the crop factor” in mind. By taking these measures into consideration, you can really have many more printable memories. So, when you go out shooting this weekend, keep the crop factor in mind. Happy shooting, enjoy the weekend, and we’ll see you back here on Monday!

Defining Your Image Composition

January 27, 2009 Jason4 Comments

Composition in photography can have many origins. You can take a pretty concrete subject and place it in an interesting environment. The Rule of Thirds is one that is often used when creating photographic compositions. Other times, the way that lines or curves within a scene are the compelling factor. Architectural images use the idea of linear direction to compell the viewer. Finally, the nature of light can also be a huge factor when composing an image. After all, when looking at the word “photography”, it’s pretty clear how integral light can be to capturing your vision. The Greek root “photos” literally means “light” (while “graphos” means to draw or paint – so photography really could be pretty succinctly defined as “painting with light”.)

So, we have three elements that can contribute to image composition:

Positioning your subject
Directing viewer via leading lines
Compelling the viewer via light

While there are no hard and fast rules in any form of artistic expression, these are three fundamentals that I try to keep in mind when capturing the world around me. Sometimes I’ll find my images successfully utilizes only one of these elements. Naturally, there are also times where two are executed well. Naturally, I am luckiest though, is when all three are effectively brought into an image.

Here’s an example of what I am talking about. Can you identify which elements of image composition are present? Is there a defined subject that is well positioned? What about compelling lines to define the image? Finally, is there anything that draws your eye from the light or shadows? Sound off in the comments, and let me know:

: Brick Circle

Unintended Inspiration

January 26, 2009 Jason2 Comments

Today I thought I’d share a little “inspirational” series with the readership. I had taken a break from reading blogs, magazines, news, twitter, forums, and all the other associated activities related to keeping current and learning about photography to actually put together to make some dinner. Photography had exited my mind – I was taking a break, not even thinking about it. So there I was, slicing and dicing, cutting celery, carrots, and onions for a spaghetti sauce, when BAM! I saw some colors and shapes on the white cutting board and my knee jerk reaction was: “Hey, that looks like one of those stock photos! I wonder if I could make one like that!?”

Well, of course I had no equipment set up, no preparation, no lighting, no glycerine (it makes food shine), and had not given any thought to composition or anything like that. But, having the 40D nearby, I figured what the heck, so began to document the process. First, I had the celery cut:

Then, I cut some carrots:

Then, after some onions, it all went into a pot to brown in a butter sauce:

After adding some ground pork and turkey, a little white wine and milk to steam down:

Then once it had steamed down, the final stage, adding tomatoes:

The shots here are not all that great, but it does give a “back story” of sorts and helps to illustrate that sometimes you can find color and inspiration in the oddest of places – even if you’re not even looking for it. So, if you ever find yourself stuck in a rut, trying to find some inspiration, sometimes it’s best to just stop trying so hard. Forget about it and put your efforts into other things (like cooking). Before you know it – you’l have new visions and challenges laid at your feet, waiting for your vision to bring it all together. I’m sure others have experienced this too, so let’s hear it! What other scenarios have produced unintended inspiration for you? Feel free to share your stories, shots, and anecdotes in the comments! Until tomorrow, Happy Shooting!