Team Up Thursday - Week 1

Theme: New Experiences

Having followed this "challenge" for a couple of weeks, I have convinced Claire to become my partner and am quite excited to reveal our first set of photos. I chose the theme for week 1 and as this is a "new experience" for us I thought that it would make a great starting point. I promised myself that I wouldn't make this challenge all about photos of my children but having been on the beach with Nicholas on Saturday I simply couldn't resist my choice for this week.

This is the first summer where Nick has been really aware of his surroundings and watching him lie in the wet sand "exploring" with his hands I just knew I had my shot, he really loved getting his hands dirty and was totally entranced by his "new experience"

Click on the photos to enlarge

I LOVE this photo from Claire, you can just see from her uncle's face the absolute glee of riding this bike, the emotion is brilliantly captured giving the feeling that he is a little boy again - awesome "first experience"

Other bloggers taking up the challenge:
(I have only linked in to one participant in each partnership, you should easily be able to navigate from there)
Kirsten & Marcelle
Corey & Berta
Megan & Melody
Joanne & Rose
Cat and Shayne

Not sure if you are supposed to do this but these are the photos that didn't make the final cut :0)

Sea Mist on West Wittering Beach

Exploring hands

Talking about Tripods

Having been absent for such a long time I think last weeks post has me fired up again and I am finally getting round to a long promised post....hope it isn't to late to be of use to you Helen.

When it comes to tripods the old adage of the higher the cost the better the quality does apply I am afraid and there is simply no cheap way round this piece of equipment, it is important to remember that you are going to trust this "stand" with your most precious possession (your camera) and you don't want it toppling over.

I would recommend staying away from cheap spindly table tripods and spending the extra money on a professional quality one even if you are not shooting on a professional camera - personally I prefer the clip legs which can be very easily released without turning of lots of little knobs but that is just a matter of preference, there is no scientific reason why they are better, they are simply a little easier to use, but as they are a more recent development can be a little harder to find.

And that is it....go sturdy, aluminium and expensive and you will never regret it :0)

Working in the Snow

It has been a while since my last post and I guess it is just a bit of a case of so much to say and so little time to say it in.....the weather in England today has forced my hand however and I would be remiss to miss the opportunity to talk about taking photos in the snow.

Snow photography can be a little tricky as the camera may be inclined to either overexpose the snow if you take your light reading off the subject or underexpose the subject if you take your reading off the snow itself - I generally leave the camera on auto and try and find something between the two to read the light. This has been a recipe for success for me but it has taken practise and lots of thrown away photos to achieve a point where I am happy with the exposure on just about every shot.

The second important element of snow photography for me is the mood you are trying to create - I am of course not referring here to family snaps of snow fights and tobogganing but rather of trying to achieve the type of photo you may want to hang on your wall. I was fortunate enough to go out today on a "photoshoot" into an area of virgin snow....I chose to focus on three elements and I have to say I am pleased with the results.

Water...
Obviously where there is snow most water will generally be iced over, but if you are fortunate enough to catch some that is yet to freeze you can use it to capture some lovely reflections as it will generally be very still.

The way the snow reaches the water can also create a lovely composition and I particularly like the contrast between sky, snow and water in the first shot. The starkness of the snow can be lots of fun to play with using contrasts when photographing, and if you are lucky enough to have a bright blue sky all the better.


Macro Photography
One of my passions which is particularly hard for me to resist is any form of macro photography....in the snow it is important to really get up close and see how the ice has affected plants around you, try to take your light reading off the plant material rather then the snow and make sure you are using either a macro facility on your point and shoot or are using a lens with macro facilities on an DSLR. If the fall hasn't been to heavy you may even be able to pick up individual snowflakes on the branches of trees.


Mood
I find the snow very peaceful and for me straight lines convey structure and order which are also peaceful to me, so in order to convey the mood I was looking for I sought out compositions that allowed for strong linear subjects

Like fireworks snow is all about practise, get out there and have fun with the shadows and contrasts - the rewards can be astounding

Photographing Fireworks

Taking a really good firework photo, in my experience, requires only three things....a good zoom lens, a tripod and the ability to manually adjust your shutter speed while the camera takes care of the aperture. This facility is known as the shutter priority and is normally indicated by an "S" on your camera controls.

To begin with I would recommend finding yourself a high vantage point where you are unlikely to have people walking in front of the lens and set yourself up nice and early when it is still light and you are able to see what you are doing without any pressure to get your camera settings right as the display starts.

While it is light you will be unable to test your camera settings, but I would recommend a shutter speed of 10 seconds as a good starting point and then playing from there....you will find anything higher then about 15 seconds will allow in too much light and you will loose some of the "drama" of the shot while anything less then about 8 seconds won't let enough light in and you will just get little specs of light on a huge expanse of black sky.

One of the most difficult aspects of this kind of photograph is getting your AF to focus when the sky is black, my recommendation here is to wait for the flair to go off, track it and hit the trigger....this will take practise as you need to get the timing spot on, too much movement once the shutter is open will result in blur and without the flair your camera will never focus. On your first time out if you get 25% of your shots right that will be great, use the rest to learn what works and what doesn't and just have fun playing around with timing.

On the topic of blur, it is almost impossible to obtain a nice sharp firework photo without a good stable tripod...the tripod needs to be stable enough to absorb your movement on the camera without wobbling and allow you to keep your finger on the trigger constantly - I tend to anchor my tripod with one hand while using the other to take the shot. It is a good idea to use a remote trigger if you have one, but it takes a bit of practise so this probably shouldn't be the first time you use it.


The most exciting thing about photographing fireworks is that every single one is different and no two photos will every be the same, I LOVE this aspect of photography and trying to capture the magnificence of the display....it takes time and practise but for me is so worthwhile in the end and if it is your thing you will get many happy hours playing with your settings.

Compostion 1 - The rule of thirds

When you hear someone say a photographer has "a good eye" they are generally referring to a photographers ability to see the photograph or compose the shot. While I believe the top photographers in the world have an innate ability to do this, for the rest of us, composing a good shot is something which can be learned....I will put together a couple of entries on this over the next couple of weeks - all of course based on things I have discovered which have helped me.

The Rule of Thirds was always one of those design concepts which was way over my head, and for a long long time I simply ignored it. This time it was Tracy Shimper of Scrapkits.co.za and Art from the Heart who finally explained it to me in a way that made sense and that, together with the grid line display on my camera changed my compositions forever.

Simply put the Rule of Thirds involves "cutting" your photo into 9 blocks. Imagine drawing 2 equally spaced lines vertically down the photo cutting it into three equal columns and another 2 equally spaced lines horizontally across the photo - giving you 9 equal size blocks.

To use the Rule of Thirds effectively:

• place the subject as close to the dissection point of one set of lines as possible rather then placing it in the centre of the photo.
  
  
• if you are doing a really close up shot, try and put the focal area e.g. the person's eye on the point of intersection.
  
  
• In landscapes, try to have one element e.g. the sky taking up 2 thirds of the photo while the balancing element e.g. the sea takes up the remaining 1 third - the best photo will then have a subject e.g a boat on one of the intersection points.
  

Many cameras will allow you to apply the Rule of Thirds grid line to your display mode and it is definitely worth it while you are getting used to the concept. Try having some fun and take a photo the way you would normally set it up and then shake things up a bit and apply the Rule of Thirds to the same shot....chances are you will LOVE the second photo.

The thing about cropping

Cropping is a wonderful way to take an average photo and turn it into something spectacular. In the old days of film photography the photographer had to have a superb eye and the art was in seeing the shot, today that is slightly different. With the invent of digital photography and processing software we all have the opportunity to create photos with meaning and if you take a little bit of time with post production you would be AMAZED at what you can achieve....still art and to some extent still requiring a good eye, just at a different point of the process.

There is of course no replacement for a well composed photograph, but sometimes the superfluous "stuff" can be removed with a good crop. Today very close cropping is in vogue and it is common to see people with the top or side of their heads chopped off and photographs of just a babies hand or foot for example, things that would have been taboo 20 years ago.
Cropping can be used to focus the viewers attention on the subject but badly done it can totally destroy the image, I always try to remember these three tips when cropping:

• Until your "eye is in" use your software and (ctrl z) to try a couple of crops before settling on the final, it doesn't hurt to be ruthless to begin with and then slowly work out. Try to imaging the photograph hanging on the wall in your home and keep going until you have something you love. I recommend cropping in standard photo sizes otherwise you may end up with the perfect photo that you are unable to frame in reality - unless you are scrapping of course and then crop away to any size you like :-)
  
  
• Use your imagination sometimes a photograph that has been taken landscape would work better as a portrait crop and visa versa.
  
  
• If you are cropping a photo which may result in a person's arm or legs being cut off NEVER crop at the joint of the limb, this is a tip I picked up somewhere along the line and it has definitely changed my photography. For some reason when you crop on the joint it makes the person appear as if they are actually missing part of their limb and the viewers eye will be drawn to this point rather then the subject. But if you crop just above or below the joint this effect is disappears.
  

What do all the terms mean?

If you are anything like me you will have heard terms being thrown in photography circles that have absolutely no meaning to you at all, but rather then look like a complete fool, you smile sweetly and hope no one notices you aren't contributing to the conversation.

Now I totally advocate listening and absorbing as a way of learning, but hell it is nice to know what your teacher is talking about :-) so in the interest of demystifying some of the most commonly used photographic terms here goes.

SLR camera: Single Lens Reflex Camera - lots of fancy definitions, but it is basically a camera which will take interchangeable lenses.

DSLR: Digital version of the above.

Candid Photographs: Unposed photographs which are often taken without the subjects knowledge.

Shutter speed: The rate at which the shutter opens and closes to allow sufficient light in to correctly expose the photograph...the less light there is the slower this speed will need to be.

Aperture: Very basically, when the shutter opens the aperture will determine how wide the opening is. Always measured in f.stops.

Cropping: When unnecessary background is removed from the photograph - generally occurs in post production and should only be used to enhance the composition. Very close cropping is in vogue at the moment in portrait photography.

Fill Flash: Using your flash to supplement the natural available light and fill in the subject’s shadow area with light in order to reduce contrast. Worth using a fill flash when photographing outside in harsh light.

Contast: The difference between the light and dark areas of a photograph

Backlighting: When the subject is lit from behind...this can result in a warm light on the subject if set at a 45 degree angle, especially effective with sunlight on hair, or a total silhouette which is stunning in landscapes.

Macro photography: Extremely close up photographs normally of plants and insects where the subject is depicted larger then in life. Requires a macro lens which will allow you to focus extremely close up.

Autofocus: Allows the camera to automatically focus on the subject without requiring you to do it manually. It is possible to use all other functions on the camera manually while still having the autofocus on.

Subject: The focus point of the photograph.

Composition: How you arrange the elements in the photograph to draw the viewers eye to the subject.

Exposure: Again very very basically this is how light or dark your photograph appears. Underexposed will mean your photography appears dark and overexposed means your photograph will be very light with white areas "blown out"

ISO: This used to indicate the speed of the film and is still used today by your camera to determine how to behave in certain light conditions. The optimal ISO to shoot on would be ISO100 but in poor lighting conditions you camera may go as high as ISO800. The higher the ISO the more grainy your picture will appear.

Pixel: Think of a pixel as a single small tile in a large mosaic, it determines the resolution of the photograph and is particularly important when cropping or printing a photo. Photographs for print should ALWAYS be at 300ppi or dpi but 72ppi or dpi is sufficient for the Internet.

Portrait and Landscape: These terms generally refer to the orientation of the photograph i.e. A portrait photograph is vertical whilst a landscape photograph is horizontal, not be confused with photographs of portraits and landscapes.

This list is by no means exhaustive and if there is a term you have come across and don't know the meaning of, remember no question is a stupid question so ask away in the comment section and I will find the answer.