You can do this, too - Historic Places

As some of you know, I started a new job this week. This new job requires some travel. Sunday, I go away until Thursday night. More on that tomorrow.

I've mixed business with pleasure before, and therefore knew I'd take my camera. However, because of everything else I have to pack, I'll be limited to my point-and-shoot. I initially thought, "Oh, no, this is going to be terrible", but reminded myself that 1) I have a new point-and-shoot and 2) I have traveled overseas with only a point-and-shoot and did fine. I then thought back to 2007.

I went to Damascus, Syria, and Aleppo, Syria in 2007. At the time, I'd just bought my DSLR, but I was afraid to take it with me - I didn't want anything to happen to it. Also, it's important to note that I had had VERY little training at the time. I was by no means an expert.

So, I took my 4MP Canon point-and-shoot. If that's all you have, and if you're going somewhere historic, here are some ideas:

Panoramas:



Interesting interiors:



Twilight shots:



Historic items:



Foreign calligraphy (a personal favorite):



Some tips:

1) Try your best to avoid harsh sunlight. Use the shade, or wait - if you can. It's very hard to correct overexposed pictures.

2) Conversely, if you're shooting in low light, bump up the ISO. You won't be able to control much more than that, but it's better than nothing.

3) For closeups, experiment with the macro capability (it looks like a small flower on a Canon). You'll be able to have fun with shapes and textures.

4) For buildings, try not to tilt the camera upward. If you do, your building will look like it's leaning in from the sides - not very pretty. Either move (far) back as I did, or look for an area of interest in the lower half of the building.

Till tomorrow!

Travel AND Photography?

I love my macro photography, and my pictures of butterflies, flowers, and other small objects. I have always wondered, though, if it would be worth it to explore other avenues. In my earlier What's Your Niche post, I described what I considered my strengths: macro photography, interiors, and abstracts.

What's interesting, though, is that I "fell into" macro photography. A few years ago, I only thought I was capable of landscape photography. I didn't even know what macro photography was. So, I wonder, what else am I missing?

I was looking over some of my favorite albums, and stumbled across this picture of a hotel:



One person said that the picture was probably nicer than the ones on the hotel website. I thought about this yesterday, and asked myself, hmmm ... really?

I think my hotel photography skills need some work.

Then I remembered these:



I mean, who wouldn't want to be at this hotel? I sent these to the general manager, and he thought they were really nice, too. So there's some hope ...

And then I realized what I'd been missing with some of my other shots (not shown here). The straight lines, the angles, they're all here. What is not here is my command of the sun and harsh lighting. I simply am not good (yet) at overcoming adverse lighting conditions.

So, I took one of those pictures and submitted it to one of my Flickr groups. I'm hoping for some feedback as to 1) If it's really a big deal and 2) How I can avoid it in the future.

Once I figure that out, I'll go back out and see if this idea has legs. What do you think?

Till tomorrow!