Fireproof [your marriage] the movie This looks like a great movie!

A walk in Columbus, OH

Recently, I had the opportunity to walk the streets of Columbus, Ohio and 'grab' a few interesting shots of the city.  The city is a mix of beautiful historic architecture mixed with modern 'sky scrapers'.  The city even offers a replica of the Santa Maria.  The first image I took at the 'end' of my walk and all the lights were 'out' in the area.  This beautiful structure did not have any lights displaying its beauty.  I set-up an off camera strobe [SB800] and set the strobe to 28 mm to project a wider light.  If I had a second strobe with me, I would have placed it under the arch and to the back to place light on the teacher and her student. 

The shot was hand held @ f/2.8 and 1/60 second.

 

 The second image is a shot of the replica of the Santa Maria.  The white balance was set to a cooler temperature to create the blue cast.  What caught my attention was the details of the boat and its reflection in the water.  

The third image is from the opposite side of the boat and I lit it with the off camera flash and exposed for the background.  My goal was to ensure the large building was exposed using the ambient light.  

If you are ever in the area of Columbus, I suggest taking the time to walk the city in the evening and at night. 

Have fun capturing the beauty of life!

19 North ~ Victory Family Church

This past weekend I had the privilege of shooting some group photos of the leaders for 19 North.
This is one image where everyone was 'clowning around'. I love group shots that display humor and fun! I took this shot from a set of steps that run along side the cafe at Victory Family Church and had a strobe [Nikon SB800] positioned to the right out of sight on a light stand. I set the power output of the strobe [flash] to +2 to obtain as much power as possible to ensure the outside edges of the image received light.

I used my Nikon D200 and the 'flash' setting was commander mode and the off camera strobe was set to remote. Many newer digital cameras have a 'commander' mode setting which allows the use of an off camera flash. This is very useful in many settings. In this setting, by getting the flash off the camera, it enabled me to get the light closer to the subject. I will cover more about off camera flash and diffusers in future blog postings.

The second image was taken earlier in the night during the worship services of 19 North. This service is 'geared' toward the 20 something crowd. I took this shot from the side of the platform using my trusty 50mm f/1.8. This image was shot wide open at f/1.8 and 1/30 second. ISO was 1250 on my Nikon D200.

19 North is a tremendous ministry for the 20 something 'crowd'.

[I wish this existed when I was in my twenties.] Practical Biblical messages are delivered weekly with a special time devoted to Praise and Worship music. The above image was taken during this part of the service. Notice the beautiful singer on the screen in the upper right [my youngest daughter] and outside the view of the image you will see her husband [my son in law - marine].

Later in the month [September 19, 2008], Victory Family Church and 19 North are hosting the first ever 20 something presentation from The Silver Ring Thing. This should prove to be an exciting event! I attended multiple SRT events geared toward the teens and they are always outstanding! I am positive the debut 20 something message will be just as great! Check out either the 19 North site or The Silver Ring Thing site for more details. Watch this blog for images from this eventful night!

Wow! Check out all the cameras

This will be a short blog post. I wanted to point out a video that was posted on the net. Remote cameras at the Olympics.

It is a short video on the number of remote cameras set-up during one race for the olympics. It is an amazing clip.

While on the site, continue browsing and you will discover an amazing collection of images from the Olympics and tips from the photographer that shot them.

Amazing sites

As I mentioned in a previous post, ‘study the work of others to improve your own work’. I was reading a post on a different site and stumbled on the work of Arthur Morris Photography. His focus is bird photography but as you review his work, you will learn a tremendous insight about photography in general. His bird gallery site is a collection of amazing photos and a newsletter with tips and tricks. He also has links to other amazing photo sites.

I added the site of Pro Photo Talk to my blog list. It contains a tremendous amount of information concerning professional photography. However, even if you are not interested in pursuing photography as a profession, the site is a tremendous resource for photography related tips.

Another site I stumbled on over the weekend is Yanik's Photo School. He is a professional photographer and has some amazing tips and tricks in many areas of photography.

The photo for this blog posting was taken at the Pittsburgh Airshow earlier in the year. ISO 500, f/16, 1/1000 sec, spot metering, 300mm.

Study the work of others to improve your skill.

Many years ago I learned the value of studying the work of others for any task I wanted to learn. I figured if they were successful in the task/skill, one of the best learning tools for me would be to study why they were successful.

For more than 25 years I have studied the work of leaders to learn leadership and management philosophies and what makes a great leader. I read books on the subject by many authors and read many books on some of the all time leaders. Through this study I learned the value of reading and studying for self-development. When I wanted to learn more about marketing I read everything I could on the subject.

When I wanted to learn more about preaching [I had the privilege to work with 'kids' and preach to the incarcerated for many years] I studied the writings and messages by the greatest preachers of all time. I studied what made them successful in reaching others with the Gospel.

So what does any of this have to do with photography? It is the same with photography. Study the work of others. Everywhere I go, I look at pictures. What makes this photo stand out? Why do I like this image? Why don't I like the image? [It doesn't make it wrong since photography is an expression of the artist.] Attempt to reverse engineer an image. Think, how did they make this image and why does it stand out to me? The internet is a great tool. There are many photo sites to study the works of others with the data built into the image. On smugmug.com, oftentimes the data is only a click away.

Go to your local bookstore and peruse the magazine section and review why you like the photo. If you want to see great baby photos, pick-up different baby magazines and study the images. Do you like the image, how did they get the baby to stay still, to reach up to the sky, etc. When you find images you really like, Google the photographer's name. You might find their web site and they might have a how to section on their site or blog.

Another tremendous source is your local library. If you live in a major city, oftentimes all the libraries work together. I rent books from the Pittsburgh library system. I log onto their site and I find the book I want. The book is sent to the library I 'pick' and I get an email when it arrives.

Trade books with your friends. I am finishing "The Art of God" that I borrowed from a friend. Why is this book amazing? [I am glad you asked.] The pictures are great, he gives a scripture verse that the picture reminds him of, and he indicates the design category. e.g. Texture and an amazing image of landscape texture is shown across two pages. Pattern, and a beautiful closeup image of heart shaped leaves. [Journey into your backyard and you might find a collection of the same pattern.]

Take workshops. There are one day workshops in many major cities as well as week long workshops on photography and other related skills. For those in Pittsburgh, Scott Kelby's Photoshop CS3 "Power Tour" taught by Dave Cross [a link to his blog is on the right] will be in town Sept. 26, 08.

Finally, buy books on Amazon or Ebay [I buy and sell books on Amazon and Ebay constantly.] In fact, I buy many items used. I find it amazing the condition of 'used' items. Many times something will arrive and it is still in the original box and the wrapper still on the item. If you buy used on any online site, please take the time to do some research on the seller. [I plan to do a quick article on purchasing used items on the net in the future.]

Get out and have fun taking pictures! [The image in this post was taken in Memphis, TN at Crystal Grotto. Hand-held @ f.2.8,1/4 second, 1600 ISO - 24mm]

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Psalms 19:1

Timless

There is a saying in the digital world, "it isn't a photo until it is printed". Although I disagree it isn't a photo until it is printed, I do agree there is nothing like holding a print of your favorite image.

I call this image timeless because it represents three generations of hands. I was shooting an event and noticed the three generations of hands embracing and felt a timelessness about the image. The grandmother, mother, and child all embraced each others hands. [It brings tears to my eyes as I think about it.] A timeless image. I could not pass it up and fired off a few shots. This image proved to be one of my favorite images. I converted it to black and white to create a sense of age.

I am not one to rush holidays but before we know it Christmas and all the joy it brings will be upon us. However, too often we wait till the last minute to find a great gift for those we love. There is nothing wrong with planning now for the gifts you want to give during the holidays. A mouse pad with your favorite image is always a very nice gift. I use smugmug or mpix for my prints and other photo gifts. Both sites offer free software to create books, cards, calendars, etc. Last year, I created a book I called "The Year in review" [I think I heard that title on a commercial somewhere :-] ] and gave it to my parents as a gift. It covered mid 06 to late summer of 07 and it was a hit. Why? Because it was some fancy production? No, because it contained many images of the family in print. Yes, a digital frame is great but they remind me of a video. There are times I just want to stare at an image and embrace what it represents.

Mouse pads, photo albums or, calenders with a different picture each month is a great idea too! If you begin to plan now by going through all those memorable images and organize them into a folder on your hard drive, it will be easier when you put them together in a 'timeless' treasure.

Back to photobooks. Last year, a long-time friend and work associate retired and I was at the surprise retirment party with camera in hand [of course, isn't there a saying that says 'never leave home without it' or is that something else not leave home without]. Anyway, back to the story. I was able to capture a good number of fun images and compiled them in a photobook [I printed it from mpix] and gave it to her. Well, the tears flowed and hugs given then timelessness took hold again. There is nothing like giving a gift that makes the other person cry. Unless they don't like the gift and are crying because they don't know what else to say and begin to cry.

I can go on and on about this subject but I think I hear the doorbell. Maybe it's FedEx with a new mousepad and a favorite picture on it. :-)

Today's tip: Begin to write your Christmas list and put together all those favorite images in an easy location to find on your hard drive. It will make them easier to find when you create that timeless gift for someone you care about. Oh yea, if all the images are organized it will make it easier to back them up. You do back up your images don't you? More on backing up in future blogs.

Go out and capture the beauty of life and share it with others!

Use back light to change the look of your photo

It is a time tested truth concerning photography. Use back-light to create a glow and change the impact of the picture. In this image the light was behind the subject and created an amazing silhouette. If I would have used a flash or if I exposed for the subject to be lit, the mood of the image would be much different. It would be flat and although the subject is beautiful, the mystery of the image would disappear.

The first image was spot metered and shot at f/5.6 and 1/3 of a second @ 260mm [hand held]. I was a good distance from the subject in the sound booth [which provides me a different vantage point than audience]. Although I hand-held this shot, I use the railing of the sound booth to 'rest' my left elbow and utilize it as a mono pod. [Pretty slick that God equipped us with a built-in mono pod :-] ).

In the second and third image we utilized hot lights to create the back lighting effect. Although the third image is heavily processed in Lightroom, you can see the effect of back lighting. Why does any of this matter? Imagine you are in a situation where you want to take a picture of a child, toddler, adult, cat, dog, etc.. Position yourself and your camera in a manner that allows the light to wrap around the subject. Remember the statement, we are taking pictures of light with a subject in it. When the light wraps around the subject, it creates a look with dimension. It reduces the 'flat' look that is prevalent in many images.

Next take your camera off auto and practice with manual. If you are taking a picture in your house of a child, toddler, adult, dog, etc, then turn off the overhead light and utilize a lamp or table light as the main source of light. Yes, you might need to bump your ISO to 800 to capture enough light but the great aspect of digital. Instant feedback! Experiment with the lighting. Get the light behind or to the side of the subject.

Last tip for today. Change your position relative to the subject. In the third image, I was below eye level and shot up which created a different effect to the image. Get out and capture life's beauty!