Take me out to the Ball Game

I haven't critiqued my work in a while. Truth be told, I haven't HAD any new work in a while. Much of this is because I haven't traveled much, and I need a big push.

Last week, my team at work and I went to a baseball game at Nationals Park. I thought, what a good time to practice using my telephoto lens! Well, I was partially right.

First, I checked the ballpark rules. Fortunately, at 7 inches, my telephoto lens passed the test. Given that I didn't know where I would sit, I also packed my kit lens.

I sat in a front section, but far away from third base. Without my lens, it would have been hard to see much of the game. These were the types of shots I'd took:



What I liked:

1) There's some action here. I understood the game well enough to look for good moments.

2) Despite the sun, these pictures aren't too bright. This is thanks to one of my filters - a neutral density filter.

3) Most of my pictures did not have noticeable camera shake. This is definitely thanks to my telephoto lens - IS is the way to go.

4) I took several test shots to make sure my settings were what I'd wanted.

What I need to do better next time:

1) If I want to do this again, I need to sit in a seat where I get a better view. It was difficult to capture much of anything from where I was.

2) The pictures are a tad too dark. I shot in RAW, so that's easy to fix, but I should think about my settings a little more next time.

3) I had to crop almost everything. This goes back to sitting in a seat that gives me more flexibility.

My settings:

F-stop - 8. Shutter speed - 1/800. ISO = 200.

Next time: photo safaris of interest.

Orchid Redux - Hillwood!

It's no secret that I love macro photography. I'd had a long week at work, and wanted to go out and decompress for a few hours. Naturally, I reached for what I love most - orchids. Where to see them? Hillwood Gardens.

Sure, I could have gone to the Botanical Gardens in the city, but what sealed the deal was the fact that Hillwood allows tripods, as long as they are not intrusive or disruptive. The website doesn't say so, but the nice man on the phone did, so off I went. The only issue was that there were far fewer flowers and orchids this time around. They aren't seasonal, per se (they're in a greenhouse), so I'm not sure what the situation was. I'll need to ask next time.

I've taken many pictures of orchids before, but have had to reject a large number due to camera shake, lighting, or issues with busy backgrounds. I decided to tackle as many of these issues as I could, but with a focus on the first item. Here are some of my hits:





Overall, I was pretty pleased. Here's what I liked:

1) I had much better control over my lighting.

2) The pictures are far more crisp, thanks to the tripod (though lugging the thing around was exhausting).

3) These pictures don't look like the ones I've taken in the past. They are original, for sure.

4) Composition has improved - given that I could keep my camera steady, it was far easier to work on that aspect.

Where I should have done better:

1) My saturated colors (the last two pictures) are still not as crisp or defined as I'd like. I think this is an exposure issue, so I need to do research on this for next time.

2) The backgrounds for these four pictures are still a little too busy for my liking. Here's an example of one that I took that turned out better:



Simple black - you can't go wrong.

As far as settings were concerned: ISO 10-200 most of the time. automatic white balance, f-stop at around 3.5 - also for the most part. I wanted to play with depth of field.

Next time - another tripod outing! I'm on a roll!

My Creative Mojo

I came across this interesting article last week, and had to give it some thought. While it was intended to be only half-serious, most of us are definitely guilty of at least a few of the following:

3) Wait until everything in your life is perfect - this is me to a T. Right now, I'm STILL waiting for things in my job to settle down. Guess what? They never will.

8) Resent the process, your community, and your audience - I wouldn't say that all of this is me, but I have been finding my last few photo sessions somewhat tedious.

9) Resist all urges to rest, play, eat, laugh, or fill your senses - okay, I admit this is me. I haven't actually had fun shooting my work in a while. In the past, every outing was an awesome adventure. Not anymore, sadly.

I've come far in the last few months. I finally have some of my pictures on stock photography sites, and have begun to specialize in a few areas. However, I really miss the fun I used to have taking pictures such as these:





In short, I need to revisit exploring options for my abstract photography. I miss it so much. That's the biggest thing I learned from this article. I am not sabotaging my success, but I've cut off more options than I've needed to. I've overspecialized.

Next time - revisiting abstract photography.

I've Done It!

Well, I finally submitted some of my pictures to an online stock photography site. I chose six, and here they are:






A few observations:

1) I needed to come up with more tags and keywords than I'd initially thought. This slowed down the process for me.

2) Dreamstime's workflow isn't

3) I couldn't use any of my 2007 photos in Syria :( because they didn't meet the 3MB minimum.

4) I rejected far more of my pictures than I'd expected - this process makes me even more critical of my work!

5) I found other options for pictures to post - such as cathedral ceilings (I like the way mine look), other travel pictures, and even some architectural shots. I'll therefore post a few more tomorrow.

Given that it will be at least one week before my pictures are reviewed, you won't see an update from me on this topic anytime soon.

Next time - an idea that I need to research involving Apple and its App Store.

Getty Submissions

Back in October, I submitted my work to Getty's Call to Artists Flickr page. While my work was reviewed, it was not selected. The general advice is to try, try, and try.

So I'm back, and I'm going to try again! Here are May's submissions:



My evaluation process was much more thorough this cycle:

1) Can I see these pictures in a magazine?

2) How do they look on my iPad? Do they show well? Even when I zoom?

3) Does the collection provide enough variety? (I believe so)

4) Does the collection look nice as a group? (I think so)

5) Do I demonstrate technical skill and a good eye? (I think so)

I loved these so much, by the way, that I changed my iPad backgrounds to two of these - the leaves and the pink flowers. I look forward to when I can show more people my work, that's for sure.

Tomorrow - my difficult photo shoot on Saturday. I've tried to block it from my memory, but have decided that there were good lessons that I should share with you.

My New Toy

I'd mentioned in the past that I'd like to have an iPad for several reasons, but for the purposes of my photography, as a way by which I can display my work in a portable setting. And yes, maybe to show it off, too.

Well, it's here!

What have I done with it so far? Well, not so much, photography-wise, except:

1) I loaded some of my albums.

2) I set my background picture and my lock picture. For now, they are:





This will change. Some casual observations:

1) My pictures show better on my iPad than on my laptop, as far as color and fidelity are concerned.

2) My macro work is either amazing or blah on the iPad. This tells me that I could apply this in real life, too.

3) I have a better sense of what I should submit in my contests. Some of my pictures are simply not sharp enough. It's as though the iPad were a harsh spotlight on my work. This is fine - I have some excellent pictures and I should focus there.

Speaking of which, tomorrow (or the day after), I'm going to submit more work to a stock photography site. More tomorrow on my selections - using my iPad as my evaluator.

Macro Photography and Audience

Yesterday, I'd mentioned that I did not see any macro photography work at the art festival. I had seen several examples during the prior years, though. This made me wonder - am I targeting the right audience with this work?

Macro work is by far my strongest point. Consider these:









That's all well and good, but I haven't seen pictures like these hanging on people's walls - or anywhere else, really - except for in print ads.

Interesting, I thought to myself. I then went to Google a few search terms to see what audience I should target with my macro work. I had to dig through a lot of information, but I realized quickly that I've been missing the mark all along.

Macro photography is best used for marketing (ads), nature, science, and medical photography. I have been entering this work in general contests - not the right target most of the time. Certainly, there's a place for it in the fine art world, but it's not a natural and easy fit. As far as stock photography is concerned, though, it's a great fit - which is why I see macro work in so many ads.

Sounds easy, right? So why did it take me so long to come to this conclusion? I don't know, but I'm someone who looks for those small victories every day. This was a big one for me.

Tomorrow - equipment update!

Opinions are Like Noses ...

everyone has one.

I'm quoting something that was posted on LinkedIn. Lately, my opinion of my work has been faltering. The last shoots I enjoyed were where I took these pictures:







That was a great weekend. My pictures were crisp and everything clicked. Lately, my most recent pictures have been pretty, but blah. Burry leaves, pretty pictures, but no money shots.

Opinions are like noses ...

I flipped through the latest issue of Popular Photography, and could have sworn that my pictures were as sharp as they. Everything looks fine when I shrink my Arboretum pictures to a 5X7 size. Tiling looks quite pretty.

Opinions are like noses ...

I've decided that I need to keep pushing - I'll be happy with my work again. Perhaps a nice trip to Brookside will cure what ails me. I miss the butterflies!

National Arboretum, Raymond-Style

I mentioned that I went back to the National Arboretum over the weekend. This time, I took a friend with me. I took this friend in particular for several reasons:

1) Raymond and I approach pictures in a completely different way. While I like the pretty, fluffy, and floral, like this:



or this:



Raymond spent his time looking for the interesting, and "edgy". Some examples of what he did:

1) He played with the perspective of the brick wall, focusing on it instead of the flowers - in contrast with what I did above.

2) He zeroed in on the details - tree branches, tree stumps, small leaves. I took a more sweeping approach, and stuck to it.

3) He took his time. I tend to move fast and often. He is much more patient. He'll try again and again to get his shot. I'll try a few times and move on.

This may sound obvious, but trust me, his pictures looked nothing like mine. Frankly, that's the fun part about photography - it's highly subjective and unique.

Tomorrow - my landscape photography, past and present.

National Arboretum, Take Two

I'd mentioned that I'd planned to do a reshoot of these gorgeous gardens. I took a friend with me, Raymond. This week, I'll cover the following:

1) My photos

2) His photos

3) Some musings regarding my work

4) My next steps

So, this wasn't the easiest shoot for several reasons:

1) Wind - the slightest breeze makes the flowers blurry. It's a very precise movement, and dealing with this, well, it's not really my strength.

2) Light - Raymond and I adjusted our settings numerous times, even in the same section of the gardens. I should also say that some post-processing was required of my pictures.

3) Crowds - I felt that I could have been trampled on - more than once.

Having said that, here are some examples of my work:











As you can see, it was a really nice day, and the azaleas were gorgeous. I tried to capture a lush, luxurious kind of feeling. You can see how I used trees and other things (like the wall) to frame my work. I love spring!

A few notes:

1) ISO varied from 100-400 on my camera, 80-400 on Raymond's. When we were in the shade, it was very difficult to get a precise shot without bumping it up. You want to be very good at changing this - very quickly.

2) I had to work around the people. I changed angles, got low, and moved around as much as I could. I can't even imagine what this would have been like with a tripod - though I admit the pictures would have been somewhat crisper, for sure.

3) I took what I thought was pretty. Some pictures didn't remotely resemble my vision. Much of this has to do with the fact that the camera lens is not like the human eye. We perceive and process colors and lighting in a very different way. I'm not an expert in the world of physics (or whatever this would fall under), so I made sure to take a lot of pictures and not worry about it.

3) I definitely fell victim to the flowers, the breeze, and the blur effect. For this reason, I don't think these pictures look good when blown up to anything larger than a 5 by 7 picture. It's very strange, because look at this example of a greenhouse macro that I did:



I'm confused. Macro photography is much more precise and subject to camera shake. I'm going to go into this topic later in the week. Specifically, am I too critical or picky? What does this mean for my landscape photography? I'm not being negative, I'm just wondering. I've done some research, and plan to write about this in detail.

Overall, it was a great exercise, and I had fun with my friend - who had some really interesting successes, himself. I'll share them tomorrow.

My Inspiring Photography Moments

I came across a LinkedIn post that took me to a blog post. The post outlined various inspiring photography moments, so I decided to go through my portfolio and think of my top moments. I don't have 15, but I definitely have a few. I'm going to spend the next few days covering them. It's a good soul-searching exercise for me - and an escape from my job and its hours.

1) When it all started:



The day that I decided to really pursue this as a hobby.

2) The day that someone else believed in me:



I was on a photo safari (with Washington Photo Safari) and one of the instructors told me that she'd never seen anyone take this picture before, and that I should keep taking pictures. She was a professional, so it was a great day for me. :)

3) My first terrific macro picture:



More tomorrow!