More Inspiring Photography Moments

I'm wrapping up yet another work week, and this one was definitely long and tiring. A nice way to start my day is to think about other moments over the years which inspired me. Here are a few more that come to mind:

1) The first time I photographed in twilight:



This was, as you can see, back in 2007. I had only taken a point-and-shoot on this trip. I was walking around with my family and thought the setting was really pretty. Many people don't like this hotel, but I did. Of course, now I know how to take better pictures of buildings!

2) How waking up early really does pay off:



I don't normally like waking up early, frankly, but this was worth it. I love the beach!

3) The first time I realized that stunning pictures were within my reach:



A picture like this really inspires me to keep trying. It also encourages me to keep scrutinizing my work and striving to improve. Earlier this year, I went to another place of worship with a dome, the National Shrine, and took this:



A big improvement, if you ask me. And that in itself is inspiring - the fact that I really am improving and loving what I do.

And, on that note, have a great weekend!

Photo Challenges

As you know, I try to enter contests every month (that didn't work out so well last month). I don't participate in photo challenges, though. But what are they?

Well, from what I can tell, they're like contests, but with a very specific focus. So as an example, contests can be about a subject like macro photography, but a challenge might restrict it by subject (one particular object, like a bottle) or colors. Something along those lines.

I came across the following challenge topics earlier today:

Day taken at night

Urban nature

Water bottle

Two colors

Backlighting subjects

i would have entered the two colors one, but it was too late. The backlighting subjects one was really interesting. I found myself digging through my portfolio to see if I had anything that would work. I can't say that it was an easy task, but it was interesting. These pictures seem to fit the bill:













Will I enter any of these? I really don't know. I might. I have until the end of the month to decide. However, learning about the technique, as well as really focusing on my work were activities that were well worth my time.

Tomorrow: A promo offer I received in the mail.

Contest - My Finalists

Yesterday, I decided that I was going to enter the NCCF contest, and that I would narrow down my choices to 15 pictures (I can only enter 3). I actually did better than that, I'm happy to say. Here are my seven finalists:




So there you have it! I'll decide in two weeks. In the meantime, next week, I'll shift my focus to other topics ... like the Cherry Blossom Festival and my plans! Have a great weekend!

Fun with Shutter Speed

Yesterday, I began this series with an explanation of aperture. I admit, it's not the easiest concept to explain, but applying it in practice is fairly straightforward. Shutter speed, however, is the opposite - easy to explain, a little more difficult to apply. What do I mean by that?

Well, let's start with what it is, and some examples. A technical definition is "the effective length of time a camera's shutter is open". It's expressed in seconds or fractions of a second.

Sounds reasonable. How do we apply this? I'll explain a few scenarios:

1) Fast shutter speed for definition and freezing moving objects (faster than 1/250 to 1/4000 and beyond):



This shutter speed (taken with a point-and-shoot) is 1/1000. If you look closely, the waves are highly defined - they're not blurred. It looks as though I froze time (or something like that). You would also use a similar speed for sports events or any situation where things are moving quickly and you want to capture everything.

2) Slow shutter speed for dramatic effect/strategic blurring (more than one second):



This is a 30 second shutter speed. The clouds and the reflections are very dramatic. At a faster shutter speed, the picture would have been frozen - like this:



The shutter speed here was a fraction of a second, so everything looks more crisp.

But wait, it gets more confusing:

3) On the slow side - better for low light (1/15 and slower):



It was dark out, and I was using my macro lens. I chose a setting of 1/15 to compensate for the low light. As I have mentioned in the past, I kept the ISO relatively high as well to avoid blurring.

4) On the fast side - good light for sharp landscape shots (1/80 to around 1/125):



I used 1/80. The light was good, and the detail is good, too.

And now, for the most confusing part:

Aperture and shutter speed are related to each other. If you select the wrong shutter speed, you can under- or over-expose your photos. I can only be so technical, so instead of addressing this manually (using the M setting), I decide what I want to control - one or the other - and I set my camera according to that. The camera adjusts based on my selection. This link provides a more technical treatment of the topic, but the best advice is:

1) Shoot with different settings to see for yourself, keeping the above guidelines in mind

or

2) Decide what you want to capture and how - and modify that setting. (lots of detail, fast shutter speed or high f-stop - blurring, low f-stop or slow speed, etc.) Use the above pictures as a general guide.

I'm in favor of 1), as it's really the best way to see this in action. Plus, multiple versions of the same shot can be equally interesting.

Tomorrow, I'll throw in another variable - ISO.

Till tomorrow!

Sunrises and Sunsets - Avoiding the Cliches

My condo has a western exposure. I was looking out the window a few days ago, and forgot how pretty fall sunsets are - nice and pink. Aside from the falling leaves, it's one of the only things I like about fall. The cold and dry air are not my friends!

But never mind my weather issues. Sunrises and sunsets are among the most photographed scenes. I also think they're among the most overused. Here's what I mean: they don't always look special. At worst, they can look so generic. Admittedly, I'm really guilty of this myself:



This was taken in 2007, in an area by the Turkish border. While I don't deny that this is pretty, I could have made it so much more interesting. Here are some examples of my work that I think are better:



To me, this is more interesting because of a few areas of interest: water, clouds, and people. On their own, not so interesting, but together - really cool looking.

Here's a sunrise example:



It's hard to see this, but there's a little bird in the middle. It's an added touch (in my view) that makes this a bit more interesting. The footprints on the left also add a nice touch.

Here's one last one:



I like this one because it was taken in Key West - famous for its sunsets. I put the sunset in the background (with the ship in the distance), and focused on the geometry of where I was - straight lines. To me, it's a good mix of the natural and man-made.

Some other tips to consider:

1) Shoot in RAW, if you can - you can easily correct exposure mistakes in Aperture or Lightroom

2) Try different angles. My Destin and Kessab sets were all about moving around and seeing which shapes I could create. You never know what could crop up.

3) The horizon tool in most post-processing tools is your friend. Don't worry so much about making the picture straight - if you're only a few degrees off, it's not hard to fix - and you won't lose much.

Till tomorrow!

Mixing Business with Pleasure

I took a look at the National Park Service Air Quality Camera this morning, and realized that fall was practically running away from me! But, with the weekend still a few days away, with work meetings between now and then, how am I supposed to be able to go out and get some shots?
Well, I'm going to take a cue from my business travel playbook - I'm taking my gear with me. I have meetings in VA and DC tomorrow, with some time in between, and before the first meeting. It will be a tight squeeze (and a somewhat ambitious one), but I'm going to squeeze in some camera time - or at least try to. Several nice walking trails are near my home. On the way back from my customer site, there are terrific photo opportunities near some local parks, as well as the zoo. I can take my camera gear with me.
I've done this before. Some examples:

I was in Destin, Florida for business meetings. I took these pictures (and the picture above) early in the day, before my business meetings. It can be done.
Another example from 2007:

Thanks to flight scheduling issues, I had to fly to Tucson, Arizona a day early. Because I had a full day between business meetings, I took my Blackberry, woke up at 5 am, and drove to the Grand Canyon. I took pictures for a few hours and then drove back. It was an EXHAUSTING trip, let me tell you. 600 miles in one day can take a toll on a person. It's funny, though - this picture was taken three years ago. I'm a much better photographer these days!
If I can take pictures in far-flung locales such as these, I can certainly manage to take a few shots in my own metropolitan area. I just have to make sure I don't forget or lose my gear along the way! :)
Until tomorrow!

Lessons from the Art Show

I went to the Bethesda art show on Sunday. It's a juried art show, which means that the artists were required to submit applications and essentially "apply" for inclusion in the event. Only about 6 or 7 exhibits were from photographers, so this was a very select group.
I set the bar very high for myself, so using others' work in a show like this as a benchmark definitely helps me. Here's what I gathered from the exhibits:
1) There were generally one or two areas of specialization per artist. Five of the exhibits focused on one area.
2) The pictures themselves were crowd-pleasers - in other words, visually appealing, but nothing requiring a lot of technical precision. Here's one example of mine that was similar:

3) Crowd-pleasing definitely did not mean generic. Many of these pictures were beautiful, but with a twist. There was always an extra element of interest. Here's an example:

(note the seagull in the middle, and the footprints on the left - that's what I mean by visual interest)
4) NO macro photography. I couldn't believe it! I would die without pictures like these:

I'm therefore taking a cue from my professional life by setting a goal for myself: Twice a month, I will enter one contest of sorts. Magazines have them, as well as online sources. Since we're mid-month, and since I submitted my work earlier this month, that gives me until the 31st to find something else. The law of numbers dictates that good things will happen!
Till tomorrow!

Is it the Camera or the Photographer? Part Two

In my previous post, I introduced the concept of not needing to go out and buy an SLR and ten lenses (an exaggeration, perhaps), without taking the time to determine if you actually need one. After all, SLRs and their kits are heavy, unwieldy, and depending on where you travel, not even allowed. So, here are a few more examples for you to consider:



This is one of my favorite shots of all time. The level of detail would have been very difficult to capture in an ordinary camera. I had to play with multiple settings simultaneously, in order for this one to work. In general, interior shots such as these benefit from a wide-angle lens, and a camera with a manual setting.



I took this picture at sunrise with a regular camera. I don't know what it would have looked like with all my gear, but I was traveling from city and city and wasn't able to take more than a compact. I think this looks fine. Had it been one hour later, I would have needed a polarizing filter, and Photoshop for post-processing - not to mention a way to shoot in RAW. (More later)
Finally, an example of my favorite type of photography:



Getting this level of detail in low light and with this precision requires a fast macro lens and a good camera body. I can't do any macro shots with my compact. If there were ever a case for good camera equipment, this would be it.

So, to summarize, if you're shooting objects in the near distance in good (not too sunny) weather without any marked precision requirements, a compact camera (in the $250 range) will do.

Otherwise, go out and look at some SLRs so you can control your environment. If nothing else, you'll be able to shoot in RAW, my favorite format (with a few exceptions). What does that mean? I"ll cover that tomorrow. :)