Day 6 - Minerals - Flat

I had a field day at the museum with my mineral shots. I noticed, though, that my techniques for photographing the "flatter" ones (you'll see what I mean) are very different from the 3D objects. Again, I'll have to explain this visually. For now, though, here are my favorite 2D shots:







Hopefully, you can see what I mean. All of these are nice, flat, and smooth. They are easier to shoot than the ones I'm showing you tomorrow, for several reasons:

1) They're flat, so you don't have to experiment too much with depth of field. Things should appear equally sharp.

2) These shapes are easier to play with. If you move the camera a centimeter, you have an entirely different picture.

3) The colors are interesting, and these pictures really stand on their own. They don't need much from you. I didn't even have to crop these.

General tips:

1) Don't use the Auto White Balance. If you're taking these in soft light, go with Tungsten.

2) If you can use ISO 800, you should.

3) Have fun with these. They're far less technical than other types of mineral shots. You can never make a mistake, as you'll have a pretty picture, regardless.

Till tomorrow (when I discuss the more labor-intensive version of mineral shots)!

Day 5 - One Subject, Multiple Shots

I was reviewing my prior posts and noticed a pattern: I'd recommend taking multiple shots of subjects from different angles, but I never provided an example to show WHY that can make a difference. So, that's what I'll focus on today.

I was at the Natural History Museum, and came across one of my favorite subjects. This is a zoomed out version of it, taken several years ago:



This was one of my favorite pictures of all time. When I saw this yesterday, I decided to try to take different versions of it. Here they are:







As you can see, they're similar but not the same. So, the next time I suggest changing your angles and trying different things, feel free to refer to this example for ideas.

A few technical notes:

1) These pictures are more "green" than the original because I used the correct white balance - Tungsten.

2) A macro lens and a steady hand were needed to take these. However, if you are close enough to the subject, you can get by with a point-and-shoot.

Till tomorrow!

Day 4 - Other (Plants)!

I think one of my New Year's resolutions should be to label my pictures while I'm taking them. Some of these pictures could be orchids or cacti, but I'm not sure. At the same time, others are definitely NOT orchids or cacti. I therefore decided to group all of these into the "Other" category.

This doesn't mean that I didn't like any of them. Actually, there are several I loved. Here they are:









With these, I played with:

Angles

Lighting

Reflections

Shapes

And I aimed for simple and beautiful. Hopefully, I achieved that. :)

Many of my standard tips apply here (varying f-stops, ISO) but what made the biggest difference was kneeling, crouching, standing on benches, and trying every option I could find. The camera and lens help, obviously, but I don't let either of them do all the work for me.

Till tomorrow!