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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!

Using On-Camera Flash?

December 30, 2010 Jason7 Comments

As much as we like to promote moving your flash off-camera, there are times when using that little pop-up flash can be really fun! One such time can be when it’s snowing outside! A little wind to help kick things up also helps. Here’s a few shots I took earlier today on an outing to Keystone, CO when the weather conditions were just about perfect for these fun effects!

Now granted, these are nothing that would ever been usable for fine art or stock type work, but it’s always fun to experiment, and this is one such case where on-camera flash works particularly well. There’s other times when using on-camera built-in flash can also be useful though, so don’t be afraid to experiment. Where have you had success with on-camera flash? Share your own thoughts, perspectives and shots in the insight

The 2010 Winter Solstice Eclipse

December 22, 2010February 24, 2017 Jason5 Comments

As you may recall from yesterday’s post, I did not get the entire solstice eclipse from beginning to end due to cloud cover. But, from the halfway point forward, the clouds cleared and I was able to get some adequate coverage. After wrestling both mentally and processor-ily with the amount of images (98) and trying to figure out a good way to present the series, I decided on the spiral approach…

What kinds of shots did you get? How are you presenting them? I debated on a video showing the movement across the sky, but that was very labor intensive, so decided on the above. Thoughts, comments, feedback? Share your shots too!

About Last Night…

December 21, 2010February 24, 2017 Jason5 Comments

The first lunar eclipse to occur on the winter solstice occurred. It’s the first time it’s happened in 600 years…and apparently won’t happen again for another 400 years. I had two strokes of luck with this amazing astronomical event:

#1 – the path of the moon tracked almost directly over my house! Literally! I took maybe ten steps out my front door, and there it was, beautifully tracking across the sky.

#2 – Let me re-phrase that…beautifully tracking across the cloudy sky.

At first it was just a few wisps…I started to capture a few shots at 10. You know, to sort of document the before, during, and after. But, by 10:30 the wisps were sticky patches of cloud cover. By 11, even my naked eye could not discern any detail anymore. It was very disappointing…

So, I put the camera away, began this post and went back out to glance at the sky for a bit before bed. And as the first yawn escaped my tired body, sure enough, the clouds began to peel away. At the halfway point, I finally grumbingly ran inside, bundled up, and grabbed the camera/tripod set which were already in place. I’ve not done much post production on these, but here’s a select few:

I am sure others will get wonderful views, and the folks at NASA, Roswell, SETI, and all the others will document it quite nicely for the rest of us. But…it’s just not the same as viewing it in real time. When all was said and done, I was glad I stayed up to watch it. Not only did I end up getting some nice shots, but I got to see almost the whole thing before heading off to bed.

What about others? Did anyone else stay up to watch it? I’ll bet some pretty cool time lapse productions come out of this! Share your own thoughts and perspectives in the comments. Would love to hear from you! Happy shooting, and I’ll likely have a full set posted tomorrow.

Did You Know…

December 20, 2010 Jason2 Comments

Over the weekend I was down in Tucson, spending some time with the in-laws, and during the getaway, had a chance to catch up on some overdue reading in my monthly magazine stack (it has been growing steadily lately as other stuff has gotten in the way. I emerged from my readings with several “Eureka!’s” and “What a great idea!” so, figured to pass on the new-found or re-kindled knowledge here on the blog. (In the spirit of giving and all that…) So, without further ado, here’s a new feature on the blog:

Did You Know…?

1. Fog is about 1 stop brighter than what cameras detect as 18% gray? To compensate for shots taken in foggy conditions, adjust your exposure settings up by about 1/2 – 1 1/2 stops to compensate, otherwise you’ll get underexposed shots.

2. Cameras are designed for right-handed people…the ergonomics are made to grip and adjust controls with your right hand. Left-handed shooters have it twice as hard as the rest of us so double kudos to you!

3. Pentax was actually the first camera vendor slated to release a full-frame DSLR camera, not Canon or Nikon!

4. As you move light away from your subject, the output drops off by a factor of almost 2 to 1? (It’s actually technically “double the distance, 3/4ths the output…) Which means if you move your subject away, you need twice as much light at double the distance to equal the same output…

5. To shoot a picture of the moon, use the Moony 11 Rule, just like the Sunny 16, but use f/11 and match the ISO to shutter speed

And since I was in Tucson this past weekend, here’s a couple holiday photos to tickle your funny bone…Christmas Tucson-Style:

Got your own DYK tips or photo nuggets? Share ’em here on the blog. I’ll likely start doing this as a monthly feature and would love to hear the ideas, tips and tricks that others have to share as well. In the meantime, keep on shooting, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

6 Tips for Shooting Christmas Lights

December 15, 2010 Jason1 Comment

It’s that time of year again, and many have already covered the tips and tricks that surround shooting Christmas Lights. Here’s just a few tips and sample photos to help you along the way, and give you some ideas for your own creative vision and inspiriation:

Keep your shutter speed around 3-7 seconds. Much longer than 7 seconds and the lights will start getting blown out, losing detail. Much shorter than 3 seconds and your lights won’t have enough detail.
Shoot at twilight (or early morning if the lights are still on). This avoids the problem of needing longer exposures in darker night shots, which can cause #1. Also, the dark blues in twilight can add some real nice depth and appeal that would otherwise be lacking in darker sky photos. If you time it right and get clear enough skies, you can also get stars in your images!
It should go without saying, but use a tripod – these long exposures are impossible without it. To this end though, if you don’t have your tripod wrapped in foam, now is the time to do it. Colder temps can make it downright painful to touch.
Don’t try to capture too much – you have a limited window of twilight, so once that’s gone, just enjoy the rest of the evening – most of your shots after twilight won’t be “keepers”
Try shooting low to get a different angle, or from above looking down – to get a better “aerial” approach.
For the starburst effect without the star filter, drop your aperture down to f16 or smaller – lights will start to exhibit the starburst effect at these smaller apertures.

There’s my 5 tips – but there’s always more where that came from. What about the rest of the audience? What tips, tricks, and advice do you have for shooting the holiday lights? Share ’em in the comments! Here’s my sample (there’s more also up on my Flickr photo stream). Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

Editor Note: These were taken at Chatfield, part of the Denver Botanical Gardens, which are decorated every year. A nice change of pace from shooting the downtown Denver area, and tickets go for $9.50 (adults) and $6.50 (kids). With lots of lights and diversions for kids including hot chocolate, hay rides and more, it’s definitely worth the price of admission. Maps, schedules, and additional information are available here.

Remember…

November 11, 2010 Jason2 Comments

For those of us who have served, and who still serve, today is a special day for us. Thanks to all my comrades – past, present, and future…

For the rest – a rather comical look at my own memories from serving in our Armed Forces:

Happy Shooting!

Teaser Alert

November 11, 2010 Jason9 Comments

A review lens from the folks at Sigma has been getting a good tire kicking here for the last few weeks. I’ve tested it out in a number of environments, including portrait, landscape, and throughout the zoom range. I have been pretty happy with the quality of images that have come out from it. However, a new photo/writing project is in the works that will require me to hang on to the lens for a little while longer, so I asked Sigma if they would be okay with that. Since they did confirm that, I am going to hold off on a review report here on the blog for a little while longer in order to complete project #2 (the first being the lens review). So, instead of delivering a lens review as I had originally anticipated, here’s a teaser alert from the very lens in which a review is forthcoming:

I am quite happy with the sharpness on this lens. (This was hand held…) Any guesses as to which glass did this? And for the pixel peepers out there, don’t peek at the meta or EXIF data!

Does Fall Foliage Make for Good HDR?

October 25, 2010 Jason7 Comments

One of the best tips I’ve ever received is to look all around for photos – even in your own back yard. Over the weekend, while on the daily dog walk, a few scenes happened to catch my eye. Not satisfied with what the camera phone could do, I quickly came back to the house and got the SLR out. A few minutes later, started capturing some of the scenery that remained of the fall foliage that is still present at the lower elevations. The next thing I knew, I was looking up, looking down, looking behind me, and poof – I had a whole new set of images for a “fall foliage” collection! These are the types of images that definitely benefit from some subtle HDR processing both to enhance the colors, as well as bring some light to shadowed areas while allowing for the lighter whites of the clouds. Here’s some of the scenes I captured from just this one outing:

As you can see, the subtle HDR processing really added something to the photos. Is it good? Is it bad? As in most things artistic, there is something of a judgment call involved. Perhaps an important side note here in learning more about composition is to realize that something came out of an otherwise normal exercise (taking the dog for a walk), and in looking all around yourself, images are available everywhere. Where should you look for your next photo? Right there! You just have to know to look for it!

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

Water and Light

September 13, 2010 Jason2 Comments

The idea of writing with light is nothing new to photography, the very word itself means to paint with light (from the Greek photo, meaning light, and graphos meaning write), the most successful photographers through time are ones that have incorporated an effective use of light in their work.

While reading through the Sept. issue of Rangefinder, I found myself re-visiting the subject yet again, and with artists who I’ve seen and admired before, including Clark Little and Eric Curry (you may have seen Eric’s work featured over on David Hobby’s Strobist site periodically…brilliant lighting setups!). The whole idea gave me a moment of pause – how much of my own work has been cognizant of the power of light? (It was a very Joe McNally/National Geographic type of moment if such a moment could be attained by an aspiring one rather than successful ones like those mentioned above.)

Nevertheless, taking cue from their inspiration, I perused my own portfolio for the theme of light. It was actually quite extensive, so much so that another theme had to be incorporated to pare things down further. Since Clark Little’s work has always been a source of inspiration and envy, I decided to go with a water pairing. How have I managed to capture both water and light effectively? The exercise was a good one, and looking at your archives with a new vision or perspective has always been one I encourage. So, without further ado, here’s my take on combining the themes of water and light:

As inspiring as it was for me, take this cue as a source of inspiration for yourselves…pick a theme (or two), and peruse your archives (or go shoot with the theme in mind), and see where your creativity will take you. Got ideas for creativity along these lines? Share ’em in the comments too, as ideas for inspiration are all around us. Check out what everyone says in the comments section below!

Happy shooting all, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!