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.

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!

Resolutions

Yesterday, I acknowledged that upgrading my Aperture 2 environment was a necessity, not a luxury. I'm not lazy, but I don't like to spend much time editing my pictures. I think I've said this more than once. :) Aperture 3 definitely has quite a few features that will make my life easier. They are:

1) Polarizer - this one is really like applying a polarizer filter - here's an example of what I mean:



Notice how blue the skies are. This was taken mid-day, so without this filter, the sky would have been much more pale - and the highlights would have been blown out. Having the ability to recreate this look in Aperture (to an extent) will help me. Another one is:



I LOVE blue skies!

2) Dodge/Burn - LOVE this - using this enables you to lighten or darken areas selectively. You can select the brush thickness, the changes you'd like to make, and then you can go to town. This would work as a band-aid for some of my pictures.

3) Hold Highlights - a preset that allows me to make this change quickly.

4) Brighten Shadows - the opposite of 3) - this will help rescue my pictures that are too dark because of sun issues. The sun is my friend in real life, but as a photographer, I totally struggle with it.

5) White Balance - this picture was BLUE when I took it, because I used the wrong white balance setting:



I had to adjust this manually in Aperture 2, but doing this in Aperture 3 is a snap - it's a menu option. Huge timesaver.

6) Curves and Levels - another topic for another day. I'll need to master them, first. :) I've had access to these tools in the past, but never used them.

In Aperture, it's very easy to select and preview every one of these. Tomorrow, I'll discuss my experience in Lightroom. Till tomorrow!

Fauquier County - Ayrshire Farm

I was very pleased with myself - I actually did everything I'd planned to do this weekend! Today, I'll talk about Ayrshire Farm, my pictures, and what I learned.
First, the entire Flickr set is here. I'm only posting a few pictures today.
The farm is about 60 miles from my house. Transportation from the parking lot to the main property was done by tractor! Here is one picture:

You may wonder why I took a picture like this, with the top of the tractor visible. I had a burst of inspiration while I was riding. I'd taken a few boring pictures, and then fell into this one by accident. I really liked the lines and the feeling of movement that this gave, so I took about 30 of these. This one was one of my favorites.
My telephoto lens came in handy that day, too! I found some turkeys on the far side of the property. It was very difficult to take these pictures, even with my filters, though. Here's an example:

The picture is a little bright, but I think this captured what I was going for - turkeys in motion. Lots of them, to be sure! The telephoto lens was used here, because I was standing far away behind a fence. I need to practice more with this lens and the light. This is progress, though!
This picture almost got me in trouble:

I think it's beautiful! Unfortunately, I wasn't supposed to be standing there. There were no signs, so I went for it (remember that I'm in sales - it's what I do). Someone came up to me and let me know, and I graciously stepped away from that area. It's too bad - I would have wanted at least a few more shots. I loved the way this is framed, as well as the blue sky. The lesson learned here for me is that you should always try. If someone says no, they say no. Just try not to break the law - the woman wouldn't have been so nice had I tried something blatantly illegal.
You may wonder why I didn't take any pictures of the property itself. Actually, I did, but I didn't like any of the shots. None of them did the house any justice, in my opinion. Here is one "glamour" shot of the fountain and surrounding greens:

This really shows how lush the property is, even if you can't really tell where I am.
All in all, I found this shoot very challenging. I needed and used all of my lenses, filters, and brainpower to set up and execute. I want to improve my pictures of buildings, just so I can have a more complete portfolio for the future. I would want to market these to different properties, and being able to take a picture including the main building would help complete the look.
Till tomorrow!