Archive for the ‘Quick Tip’ Category
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
I've shot a lot of images from my car over the years, but I have to say that I really don't care for it. Yes, it’s nice that you can drive around and sneak up on your subject. Your camera is supported by the car, so you don’t have to carry your gear over your shoulder. You are sitting in a nice leather chair, with maybe a little snack sitting next to the soft drink in the cup holder.
But for me, it totally limits my style of photography. My camera is five feet off the ground and I have limited background options. I can’t get closer that the car can be parked. This was the situation when I tried to photograph a Long-billed Curlew in a field next to a road. The bird was used to traffic so I felt confident that I could drive up as close as the road would permit. I waited until the evening so the sun would be behind my back (or the back of the car), but when I pulled up, the sun was behind clouds. I fired off a few frames and got the following image.
Nothing too wrong with the image. The bird is nice and sharp. The head angle is good with the bird making eye contact.
I just was not happy with the fact that we are viewing this image from a human perspective. If I was to show an intimate perspective of how all ground birds see each other, then I had to get down to the birds' level. So I had a decision to make. Do I stay in the car and get a bunch of average images, or do I take a risk of scaring the bird off by getting out of the car and try to get down low. My approach to this dilemma is once I get the shots from the car, I then go for the more difficult shot. Most times the bird will flush, but every now and again, it can really work out. Here’s what happened when I tried to do just that.
I opened the car door slowly and made the small leap down into the ditch. So now I’m crouched down in the ditch with no idea if the bird is still there. It was so tempting to pop my head up to see, but this would be the wrong time to do that. If the bird became wary or alert, he would be looking for any movement so I waited a couple of minutes. I finally looked up through some tall grasses and saw the bird still there preening. Yes! I made it this far.
I then slowly pushed my bean bag up onto the field edge and waited another minute before lifting my lens onto the bag. Right at that moment the sun broke out under the low clouds and provided this sweet warm glow to the bird and scene. The bird started calling and would call every 30 seconds. The bird was parallel to the camera plane and the perfect distance form me. Everything seemed to be lining up.
Was this luck? I do know that good planning increases your luck. Taking a risk and going for the more difficult shot can also increase your luck.
All I can really tell you is, sometimes you just have to get out of the car.
Tags: avian, tip, visualize
Posted in Articles, Quick Tip | No Comments »
Monday, February 15th, 2010
Here’s a quick tip for getting good exposures of both very dark and very light subjects. When photographing a dark subject, such as this leopard seal that I photographed in Antarctica, set your exposure compensation to -1. When photographing a white subject, such as this polar bear that I photographed in the Sub-Arctic, set your exposure compensation to +1.
I know that sounds backward, but it’s actually true. Very dark and very light subjects can fool a camera’s exposure meter into thinking that the scene is darker or brighter than it is in reality.
By the way, those are just starting points for a good exposure. As always, check your histogram to get the very best in-camera exposure. You can’t trust your camera’s LCD monitor when it comes to exposure and color.
Think backward, and you’ll remember this tip.
You can check out more from Rick at The Digital Photo Experience.
Tags: exposure, Photo Tips, tip, wildlife
Posted in Articles, Quick Tip | No Comments »
Thursday, February 11th, 2010
Dig out and dust off your old light table and put it to use as backlighting for macro subjects. When I started in photography in 2001 I bought a few nature magazines and noticed all the pros were using Velvia slide film, so I used slide film which required me to buy a light table to view the slides.
I only shot film for three years and then made the change to digital. The light tables has been dark until I found a use for it. It works great for backlighting which creates a special look to your images. You need subjects that are somewhat transparent for the best results.
Above is a group of Beech leaves I arranged on the light table and below is a Turkey feather I found in my local park. I added a drop of water to the feather to add a little interest.
See my new Pro Advice link in the top right side of the this blog.
     
Tags: Macro Photography, Macro Tips, Mike Moats
Posted in Articles, Quick Tip, macro | 2 Comments »
Monday, February 1st, 2010
Last summer I was fortunate to have some unusual visitors to my back yard. We had a cicada invasion, and the insects were crawling up out of the ground and making their usual racket. Siting in my office, I thought I saw a dog run across the clearing. On further inspection, it was Great Horned Owl! To add to my surprise, two juvenile owls waddled out of the underbrush. All three were after the tasty morsels emerging from their sleep.
Seeing a Geat Horned Owl around these parts is rare, and having two juveniles on the ground in one's own yard even rarer. I knew I had to get to work, for this might be a fleeting moment.
I had no idea what I was in for. It took me two weeks to get a usable shot. These guys earned their reputation as the top of the avian hunter chain, as they could see and hear my every move. I tried a Doghouse blind, laying on the deck, laying in mud, a Kwik Kamo blind–enough things to make my wife start muttering about "obsession". Finally I tried TWO Doghouse blinds, so the little rascals would be confused about where I was hiding.
Once I was able to keep the owls in the yard while I was in one blind, my problem became composition. What owl would look my way when nice juicy cicadas were on the ground in front of them? Any noise I made, including shutter noise, would make them look up and scurry. Then it hit me. The first shutter click might get their attention, the second shutter click could be my shot. That's how I captured the image above.
My lesson was: stay on point past the first shot. Don't line up your shot, only to pull away after your first shutter click. Stay focused and concentrate on what happens after your first click. Be there for the second shot, the third shot and more.
You never know what might happen after that first shot. The second one may the the one that nails it.
Tags: tips, wildlife
Posted in Articles, Quick Tip | 2 Comments »
Friday, January 29th, 2010
 The spot removal tool in Lightroom has to be one of my favorite features. With Adobe adding this tool, I can now spend more time in Lightroom than in Photoshop, increasing my workflow and my productivity.
The spot removal tool looks like a big O with an arrow pointing to the right. It can be found in the Develop panel, in between the crop tool and the red eye tool. When clicked, you will see an option to Clone or Heal the spot. You can also adjust the size of the area and the opacity you want to use for the removal. Typically I use "Heal" and adjust the other sliders to match the spot. The really nice part of this tool is that Lightroom will try to fix the spot on its own by finding a matching area! However, if the fix is bad you can just drag and drop the matching area to find one that works. Simple, right? It really is!
Here is a great example of a one shot HDR photo that I've been working on. This shot was taken during the Mark Wallace PocketWizard Meetup in Jack Studios. All of the dirt and spots you see are the window, not on my sensor. I really love this photo because it is so industrial. It gives me the "Gotham City" vibe. However, the spots are really annoying!
Even the helicopter at the top of this image gets annoying when the photo is small enough where you can't tell what it is…
…or that really long smudge from the top
 All of the circles you see in this screen shot are where I told Lightroom to make the removal. In Lightroom, when you put your mouse over one of the circles you will see another one appear with an arrow pointing to the original. That is the area of pixels that Lightroom took to fix your spot. As I stated before, move that new circle around and you will see the original spot's area change.
Neat, isn't it?
Getting rid of all of the spots on the window in this photo took me about 15 minutes of Lightroom work. Yes, it could take the same amount of time in Photoshop if you are quick about, it but the key is staying in Lightroom to improve your workflow. While the photo isn't complete, here is what I have done in a matter or 15 minutes:
If you didn't know this tool existed please give it a try. If you knew it existed and never thought it was worth a shot, please give it a try. I'd love to see your before and after photos too, so please post a comment with a link to your photos. Thanks for reading and happy shooting!
Scott Wyden Kivowitz
http://scottwyden.com
Tags: Clone, Heal, lightroom, Removal, Spot, Workflow
Posted in Quick Tip, editing | 2 Comments »
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
Here are two of my favorite pictures from one of my Botswana workshops.
I like the portrait of the lion; the side lighting adds a nice sense of depth and dimension to the image. Remember: light illuminates; shadows define.
I also like the way this guy is looking directly at me. The eyes are well lit and are in focus, which is important in most wildlife – and people – photography.
The action shot, however, is much more interesting. It show the lioness giving a “lovebite” to the lion – after three days of mating, according to my guide.
Because I had my mind set on getting an action shot, I was prepared to get it. In other words, I set the goal of getting the shot. I envisioned the end result.
The info:
- Canon 1D Mark III was set on rapid frame advance to capture the peak of action.
- Focus set to Servo (automatic focus tracking).
- Shutter speed set to 1/500th sec. to freeze the action.
- Aperture set to f/8 – to ensure that both lions were in sharp focus.
I composed the scene with lots of dead space around the subjects so that a paw or tail was not cut off. (This image is cropped tight for more impact.) I also shot with both eyes open, so that I could keep an eye on what else was going on in the scene.
My lens: Canon 100-400mm IS lens – which is sharpest at f/8, by the way.
When you are photographing animals – and people – portraits are pretty, but action shots are awesome.
Explore the Light,
Rick
Make sure and check out Rick's new blog and podcast: The Digital Photo Experience
Tags: action, africa, wildlife
Posted in Articles, Quick Tip | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
Tags: HDR, panorama, video
Posted in Quick Tip, Video Podcast | No Comments »
Saturday, November 14th, 2009
by scottbourne
If you make portraits – be they of fish, birds, insects, people or animals, you need to think about catchlight.
They bring life to the subject. Without them, you might as well be shooting at a wax museum or taxidermy.
Here are some tips for finding the catchlight.
a. Make sure the light source is BEHIND the camera. If not, it’s going to be pretty tough to see that reflection in the eye of the subject.
b. If you can’t find the catchlight in the subject’s eye, move the camera until you can.
c. If moving the camera doesn’t help you find the catchlight, move the subject.
d. If no natural catchlight exists, consider using a reflector or fill flash.
e. Avoid multiple catch lights. There is only one sun so here on Earth so let’s make sure we have no more than one catchlight in the eye.
Tags: catchlight
Posted in Quick Tip | No Comments »
Sunday, November 8th, 2009
by scottbourne
 Copyright Scott Bourne 2000 – All Rights Reserved Photography is a two-dimensional pursuit happening in a three-dimensional world. When you see flat, boring, uninspiring photos, this can be just one of the causes. The photographer may not have understood the important relationship between the foreground and the background. You can use this relationship to add interest, change perspective and depth to a photo.
When I’m working a subject, I study the background first. It’s a very important part of any scene. It can be distracting or it can help draw the viewer’s eye to the subject. But beyond those facts, the background can serve as an important linchpin for your foreground.
For instance, if you photograph a wolf on the run in the foreground, it’s very difficult to demonstrate his speed and power if he’s just frozen against a static background. If however, you slow down your shutter speed and pan with the wolf, the background becomes an important element due to the blur created by the pan. The wolf stays relatively sharp against the blur and the blur appears to move across the shot making it easier for the viewer to understand the motion that was involved.
This connection between the foreground and the background is something you might want to think about when demonstrating size, importance, depth, etc.
For example, if you use a very wide angle lens and position it very close to a small foreground object, the foreground object will appear very large in the frame and something as large as a mountain in the background will appear to shrink. This tactic can be used to great effect to tell stories, shift viewer focus, change relationships and add a new dimension to the final photograph.
I could give many more examples, but hopefully you get the idea. Think in layers. Think about how the foreground and the background interplay with each other. My goal here is to get you thinking about the part that the background plays in your images and then – to get you to think about how to combine that with the foreground in such a way as to create more impact in your pictures.
NOTE: If you want to turn this into more of an advanced exercise, take the layering concept to another level by concentrating on the foreground, background and even the middle ground. Trying to add something of interest in all three layers of the photo really adds a sense of being there for the viewer. Exploring the relationship of size, closeness, location and import between the foreground, middleground and background will help make your photos pop.
Tags: background, foreground, tips, visualize
Posted in Quick Tip, tips, vision | No Comments »
Saturday, October 31st, 2009
Tags: planning, tips, visualize
Posted in Quick Tip | No Comments »
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