Photography.ca

Restrictions on Aperture — I Felt Restricted

admin — Thu, 09 May 2013 16:39:01 +0000

Ten days or so ago I posted on Facebook that it was going to be an f/2.8 day (using large apertures) and a strange thing happened — it was quite unexpected actually. What happened was that I found myself handcuffed — unable to shoot. This seemed strange to me because I’ve put restrictions on myself for fun a few times in the past but never an aperture restriction. In the past it was shooting with a specific focal length or deliberately using an extra-high ISO or shooting with a specific theme in mind.

But this aperture restriction was different for me and in retrospect I can see why. It depends on what playground you hang out in. If you are mainly a portrait person, you shoot creative portraits wide open; that’s cool and fun…but it’s easier because there is already some guidance with regard to subject matter. But when you go out ‘just to shoot’ and you’ll shoot just about anything that’s visually interesting, then it gets harder.

For some crazy reason I found myself searching for scenes that I felt were worthy of what f/2.8 can do bokeh wise. I was placing this single aspect of the lens above all else and it was tainting my experience of looking for scenes to shoot. It was slowing me down and sucking from the joy of photography for pure pleasure.

So for this reason — I didn’t like this particular aperture restriction exercise even though I DO like the concept of restriction exercises in general. Maybe it’s also because I feel like I should have been able to overcome the restriction more easily. Truth is, I really didn’t feel like I had anything of value on day 1. Then life gets busy and so I took a few days and waited more patiently for scenes where a large aperture seemed more appropriate. Here are a few that I liked. These were all taken near f/2.8 (I say near because I used a couple of different lenses whose largest apertures were near f/2.8).

Vorsky — ISO 200, f/1.8, 1/100

Belle Gueule — Beer Kitteh — ISO 3200, f/2.5, 1/80

Not Recommended — ISO 200, f/2.8, 0.3

Light Trip — Palais Des Congres — Montreal — ISO 200, f/1.8, 1/2500

Past Reflections — ISO 200, F/1.8, 1/200

117 — Noise Halos and Chromatic Aberration — Interview with Royce Howland

admin — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 13:03:21 +0000

Photography podcast #117 features an interview with fine art photographer Royce Howland where we discuss the ‘junk’ that can get into our photographs. In particular we discuss and dissect noise, halos and chromatic aberration in photography. We talk about how to avoid getting these problems, how to fix these problems and how for some photographers — these aren’t problems at all but rather, deliberate creative choices.

Royce does an AWESOME job of explaining these problems so that they are understandable to anyone.

This is the longest podcast I’ve published to date and it clocks in at around 70 minutes. We spend roughly 20 minutes on each of the 3 topics. We cover halos first, then noise, then chromatic aberration. Each of the 3 issues have very different causes and solutions.

Scroll to the BOTTOM of this post to find the player to immediately listen to the audio podcast.

On the Rocks, Moraine Lake by Royce Howland — An HDR example where Royce controlled the settings to make sure no halos appeared in the sky or water.

Fall at Abraham Lake by Royce Howland — Another HDR example where Royce left the haloing in the sky, and in fact accentuated it a bit more via a Photoshop Curves adjustment, to give a sense of glow over the mountains. So sometimes halos are not a flaw, they’re a creative choice.

Looming, Abraham Lake by Royce Howland — An HDR example involving a high contrast backlit scene. The trees were deeply shadowed. Even on a Pentax 645D medium format camera, there’s noise in those trees in a normal single exposure. Bottom left — A 100% crop of a single exposure that went into the image above showing the level of noise in the trees. Bottom right — A 100% crop of the final image. Using a combination of HDR technique and a touch of additional noise reduction, I was able to subtly boost the contrast in the deep shadows, preserve all of the genuine detail, and also virtually eliminate the digital noise. Without HDR technique, just using a noise reduction filter can take the digital noise down but generally also will sacrifice legitimate detail as well.

Ghost Of Server Present, Jerome by Royce Howland — An indoor shot taken with available light in somewhat dim conditions at a supposedly haunted hotel. I’m using a bunch of creative techniques here including shallow depth of field, a reflection in a mirror, subject motion blur and extra digital blurring. Despite the softening effects of all the techniques used in this image, I also wanted a bit of texture and bit of “vintage film grain” feel. So far from removing all digital noise, I actually controlled it and then added a uniform monochromatic grain layer on top of everything in Photoshop. In print up to 16x20 size it’s difficult to see this grain, but on a nice matte paper it gives a slight feeling of texture; whereas running noise reduction as I would normally do in fact makes the results looking flat and plastic. You can see the noise detail added in the bottom detailed part of the image.

Chromatic aberration example at f/3.5 by Royce Howland — It was a bit after noon so the sun was high, and I shot straight into the light. The tree branches against a darker background show extremely high contrast edges. I was using a Sony RX100 pocket camera, which is a very high quality point & shoot with a Carl Zeiss lens. So a quality piece of kit for a compact. The first composition was at medium lens zoom and the aperture wide open — f/3.5. Bottom left — A 100% crop of the shot shows a lot of green and purple fringes are visible along the branch edges. Even towards the center of the lens, the chromatic aberration is pretty bad. This is a file converted from RAW using the latest Adobe Camera Raw in Photoshop CS6, no chromatic aberration removal. Bottom right — Now here’s the identical file, but using the green and purple fringe removal settings during RAW conversion. Quite strong settings were needed for the green fringes, not so strong for purple. Mostly the fringes were removed.

Chromatic aberration example at f/5.6 by Royce Howland — Now here is the same composition photographed again moments later in the same strong light, but stopping the lens down to f/5.6. Bottom left — Stopping the lens down just over 1 stop has actually gotten rid of many of the purple & green fringes without doing anything else. That’s because a slightly smaller aperture lets through less of the misaligned light rays that contribute to the chromatic aberration in the first place. This is a RAW file converted again with no chromatic aberration settings. Bottom right — And here’s the same file converted with a small amount of purple and green defringe settings, much less than needed in the first example and the results look better.

Links /resources mentioned in this podcast:
Royce Howland Photography
Photo realistic HDR podcast with Royce Howland
Wikipedia Chromatic Aberration
DXO Optics
Topaz Denoise
Nik DFINE 2
Noise Ninja
PTLens
Emily Carr Images - She deliberately painted in what we today call Halos. Shoreline, 1936 is an example.

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Thanks to Jared Fein and Enrique Waizel who posted a blog comment about our last podcast. Thanks as well to everyone that sent comments by email about our last podcast. Although ALL comments are appreciated, commenting directly in this blog is preferred. Thanks as well to all the new members of the bulletin board. Most of the links to actual the products are affiliate links that help support this site. Thanks in advance if you purchase through those links.

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Thanks for listening and keep on shooting!

116 — Sharpness on Steroids — Focus stacking interview with Michael Breitung

admin — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 15:10:13 +0000

Photography podcast #116 features an interview with German landscape photographer Michael Breitung where we talk about why and how to do focus stacking in photography. Basically focus stacking involves taking multiple frames of the same scene but each frame is focused at a different part of the image. Then these frames are blended together using a graphics program like Gimp (free) or Photoshop (expensive). The result is sharpness and depth of field on steroids that can’t be matched by any camera lens combination on a 35mm DSLR camera at the time of this writing. Only tilt shift lenses can compete in this extreme sharpness arena, but those lenses require many saved dollars or a rich uncle. This technique is free if you have the skills and a graphics program.

Scroll to the BOTTOM of this post to find the player to immediately listen to the audio podcast.

Bloody Causeway by Michael Breitung — This focus stacked image blends 4 frames into one. Each frame was focused at a different point and then blended in Photoshop. Check out the sharpness from the closest corners all the way to the end of the causeway. This is sharpness swimming in awesome sauce. The aperture used here was f/9.5

Kraichgau at Dawn — Focus stacked photograph by Michael Breitung

Kraichgau at Dawn Details — Close up comparison by Michael Breitung — Only 2 frames were needed to create the final full-sized image above this one. One frame (left) focused at the foreground corners, gets the corners sharp in the final image. The other frame (right) focused at the midground, gets both the midground and the background sharp. Then the frames are blended in Photoshop to produce the final image. The aperture used here was f/11.

Links /resources mentioned in this podcast:
Michael Breitung Photography
Michael Breitung’s (advanced) start to finish tutorial on his (Lightroom/Photoshop) post-processing workflow and how he created the Bloody Causeway image.
Helicon Focus image stacking software
Zerene Stacker
Tilt shift lenses in landscape photography
March 2013 regular Assignment — Wet or Rain
March 2013 level 2 Assignment — Dramatic angles

If you liked this podcast and want to review it on Itunes, this link gets you to the main page

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Thanks to D. Lavoie who posted a blog comment about our last podcast. Thanks as well to everyone that sent comments by email about our last podcast. Although ALL comments are appreciated, commenting directly in this blog is preferred. Thanks as well to all the new members of the bulletin board. Most of the links to actual the products are affiliate links that help support this site. Thanks in advance if you purchase through those links.

Thanks for listening and keep on shooting!

Photoshop file exposure and exif data

admin — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 15:55:08 +0000

When we are working on our images in programs like Photoshop, sometimes we forget the exposure information in the original file. We can also forget many other useful bits of information that are embedded in the file like did the flash fire, what focal length was used etc.

In Lightroom and Bridge (comes free with Photoshop) this Exif data is easy to find, the default program settings reveal this information clearly. Not so in Photoshop where it is buried under the file menu (in Windows).

File — File info.… reveals the Exif data for any image you are working on in Photoshop. Click on the Camera Data tab to see the exposure information.

The keyboard short cut (Windows) ALT + SHIFT + CTRL +I does the same thing.
The keyboard short cut (Mac) OPTION + SHIFT + COMMAND +I does the same thing.

How to find exposure or exif data in Photoshop (This is a CS6 windows screenshot)

How to find exposure or exif data in Photoshop (This is a CS5 Mac screenshot)

115 — Color spaces — monitor settings — recommended hardware — Interview with Joe Brady

admin — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 14:03:54 +0000

Photography podcast #115 features an interview with Colour expert Joe Brady who works for Macgroup US.
Joe knows pretty much everything there is to know about getting accurate colour from your monitor and your printer. Joe has recorded 2 podcasts with us already about monitor calibration and those links are listed below in the shownotes. In this podcast, we tackle some colour concepts that are a source of confusion for many people. We talk about monitor settings like colour temperature, gamma, and luminance. Then we tackle the sRGB, Adobe RGB and Prophoto RGB colour spaces and explain what they are, the advantages of each and when and where they are most useful. Finally, Joe recommends some calibration tools, monitors and printers.

Scroll to the BOTTOM of this post to find the player to immediately listen to the audio podcast.

This image shows off the 3 main color spaces. You’ll note that the ProPhoto RGB color space contains the most colors. This makes it the best color space for printing your own images on a quality printer. When posting to the web, the colour space should be sRGB as that is the type of monitor that most people have.

Links /resources mentioned in this podcast:
Podcast 62 – Monitor – printer calibration – Interview with Joe Brady
Podcast 63 – Review of the Colormunki and the i1XTreme
Joe Brady Photography
X-Rite ColorMunki Photo Color Management Solution at B&H
X-Rite ColorMunki Display at B&H
Eizo FlexScan SX2262W at B&H
Eizo ColorEdge CG223W 22 at B&H

If you liked this podcast and want to review it on Itunes, this link gets you to the main page

If you are interested in writing for our blog please contact me photography.ca ( A T ) G m ail Dot co m (using standard email formatting)

Please join the Photography.ca fan page on Facebook

If you are still lurking on our forum,
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Thanks to Mikey88 who posted a blog comment about our last podcast. Thanks as well to everyone that sent comments by email about our last podcast. Although ALL comments are appreciated, commenting directly in this blog is preferred. Thanks as well to all the new members of the bulletin board. Most of the links to actual the products are affiliate links that help support this site. Thanks in advance if you purchase through those links.

Thanks for listening and keep on shooting!

114 — 360 degree light painting — Interview with Patrick Rochon

admin — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 16:36:11 +0000

Photography podcast #114 features an interview with light painter Patrick Rochon who discusses his new experimental 360 degree light painting technique. In a nutshell, Patrick light paints a model who stands in the middle of a ring as 24 DSLR cameras around the ring expose the scene at the same time. The frames are then strung together with software to give the illusion of circular movement. Patrick and I talk about his new work, his older work, and we talk about Patrick’s light painting process as well.

Scroll to the BOTTOM of this post to find the player to immediately listen to the audio podcast.

360 Degree light painting by Patrick Rochon

This is a Gif animation that Patrick created from one of the 360 degree light painting sessions

Light painting by Patrick Rochon — Animated Gif

This is the ‘ring’ where Patrick lit the models:

While I was at Patrick’s place recording this interview, I noticed a gallery of new light painted (non 360) photographs on his wall that were gorgeous. This image below was one that I really liked — Thx for sending it Patrick!

Light painting by Patrick Rochon ©Patrick Rochon

Links /resources mentioned in this podcast:

patrickrochon.com
24x360.com — Timecode Lab — Eric Paré
Podcast #82 — Light painting portraits
LPWA – Light Painting World Alliance
Light painting photography
Animated gif photography (AKA Cinemagraphs)
Aurora Crowley Light Painter
– Beginnings — New — is our regular forum assignment for January
– Light painting — light drawing is our level 2 forum assignment for January
Photo tours of Montreal

If you liked this podcast and want to review it on Itunes, this link gets you to the main page

If you are interested in writing for our blog please contact me photography.ca ( A T ) G m ail Dot co m (using standard email formatting)

Please join the Photography.ca fan page on Facebook

If you are still lurking on our forum,
feel free to join our friendly Photography forum

Thanks to Photo Studios who posted a blog comment about our last podcast. Thanks as well to everyone that sent comments by email about our last podcast. Although ALL comments are appreciated, commenting directly in this blog is preferred. Thanks as well to all the new members of the bulletin board. Most of the links to actual the products are affiliate links that help support this site. Thanks in advance if you purchase through those links.

Thanks for listening and keep on shooting!

113 — Six essential photography day trip accessories

admin — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 19:38:01 +0000

Photography podcast #113 discusses what I feel are six essential accessories for day trip photography. I just came back from a super-quick trip to Nevada where I did solo day trips on 2 days to Red Rock Canyon and Valley of Fire State Park.

For now, my day trips to national/state/provincial/local parks and other cool places are easy ON-TRAIL day trips and the accessories that I’ve chosen to talk about reflect this. I go into detail about why these 6 accessories are essential in the podcast. The list I’ve come up with includes a tripod, polarizing filter, hiking shoes/boots, polarized sunglasses, a lens cloth and knee-pads.

Of course I’m SUPER-CURIOUS as to any other accessories listeners may suggest, so please feel free to let me know if you think I missed something.

Pharaoh Rock — Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, USA ©Marko Kulik

Links /resources mentioned in this podcast:

REI Las Vegas - Awesome sporting store — Ask for Tommy, he’s awesome.

Tripods for photography Podcast #96

Polarizing filters and other important filters Podcast #77

If you liked this podcast and want to review it on Itunes, this link gets you to the main page

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MY APOLOGIES THAT THE WEBSITE FIELD TO COMMENT WASN’T THERE, PLEASE JUST CONNECT WITH ME TO ADD IT. I’LL GET THIS FIXED FOR THE NEXT PODCAST.

Thanks to Mac Sokulski, Dave Johnson, Enrique Waizel, Bernard Dallaire, JP, Bret Farris and Sylvain Racicot who posted blog comments about our last podcast.. Thanks as well to everyone that sent comments by email about our last podcast. Although ALL comments are appreciated, commenting directly in this blog is preferred. Thanks as well to all the new members of the bulletin board. Most of the links to actual the products are affiliate links that help support this site. Thanks in advance if you purchase through those links.

Thanks for listening and keep on shooting!

112 — Why camera bags suck

admin — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 18:48:45 +0000

Photography podcast #112 addresses a question posed by Gordon Laing on Google+
The best camera bag — what do you use?

I replied to that question saying that these days I usually shoot bag free and keep my lenses that are in lens holding cases, attached to my belt as per the picture below. In case people are interested, here is a list of the items that I carry with me most of the time without a bag. Gitzo carbon fibre tripod (2540LLVL) also referred to as ‘my baby’. That’s on a Gitzo tripod shoulder strap slung diagonally around my shoulder. It’s an ‘OK’ strap, no better. I’m still hunting for the perfect tripod shoulder strap. Usually I carry 3 lenses; Nikon 14–24, Nikon 28–300, Nikon 50mm and 1 flash, the SB-800.

More details on the exact lenses and lens holders are listed in the affiliate links below from B&H.

I also carry in my pockets a cable release, spare batteries, lens cloth and a hex key for my camera bracket plate. Not shown is the flashlight that I’ll often have with me for night shoots. Not shown are the cokin filters that I sometimes keep in a pouch around my neck.

Obviously this setup will not work for many people carrying very large lenses and heavier gear — but this will work for most people that shoot with lenses that are about as large as an average 70-200mm F-2.8. This setup is also meant to give people new ideas on carrying gear.

I’m also seriously into knowing if other people have alternative gear carrying methods so please feel free to share by commenting.

Although it’s no fashion get up, this set-up allows my back to feel great and it allows me to change lenses quickly.

Links /resources mentioned in this podcast:

Lowepro S&F Lens Exchange Case 200AW at B&H - My favourite lens holding case. It’s FAB!

Pearstone Onyx 60 Lens Case — In the podcast I talk about the Lowepro 2S but it seems to be discontinued. This model seems to have similar specs.

Lowepro 50mm lens holder at B&H

Lens Changer 75 Pop Down V2.0 from Think tank for larger lenses like a 100-400mm or for shooting 70-200mm with the lens hood attached. You may need to buy their belt to use this though.

Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5–5.6G ED VR Zoom Lens at B&H — I just love the versatility of the focal range.

Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G ED AF Lens at B&H - This lens and I are having a wonderful relationship, I love her.

Gitzo GT2540LLVL Leveling Carbon Fiber Tripod at B&H - This tripod works well for me. Fairly big but not too big.

If you liked this podcast and want to review it on Itunes, this link gets you to the main page

If you are interested in writing for our blog please contact me photography.ca ( A T ) G m ail Dot co m (using standard email formatting)

Please join the Photography.ca fan page on Facebook

If you are still lurking on our forum,
feel free to join our friendly Photography forum

Thanks as always to everyone that sent comments by email about our last podcast. Although ALL comments are appreciated, commenting directly in this blog is preferred. Thanks as well to all the new members of the bulletin board. Most of the links to actual the products are affiliate links that help support this site. Thanks in advance if you purchase through those links.

Thanks for listening and keep on shooting!

New ICM Photography by Michael Orton

admin — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 18:31:54 +0000

Michael Orton is one of my favourite modern fine art landscape photographers and he has just recently added new work to his website and revamped his galleries. Regular followers of this blog/podcast may remember the 2 photography podcasts that he and I recorded together. The first one covered a photographic technique called the Orton effect which Michael invented in the mid 80’s. The second podcast, recorded about 1 year ago introduced a brand new body of work based on Intentional Camera Movement or ICM.

Heavenly by Michael Orton

Michael has now added many brand new ICM photographs to his galleries and his new work continues to inspire me personally and professionally. What blows me away to the Nth degree is the craftsmanship of these photographs and Michael’s ability to See. Michael has inspired me to such a degree that last year upon his suggestion I started my own project called Impressionistic Cities at Night. Now I’m so addicted that I troll the streets of Montreal hunting for light. But this post is not about me, I only included the last few sentences because I can now personally attest to how difficult it is to get great results using ICM — and it’s a bloody difficult technique to get good at.

I have been researching and checking out the work of other photographers using ICM and there are many talented artists out there. But to my eye, nobody’s work compares to Michael Orton’s ICM work in terms of impact, colour, consistency and craftsmanship.

Beginning by Michael Orton

I chose 2 photographs of Michael’s to feature in this post and Michael graciously sent me the following information about each of these photographs. Many thanks as always Michael and please keep on shooting!

Beginning by Michael Orton — “Beginning is a small path thru the woods just below where we live . These are Alder trees and the path is paved and dry with some fallen needles on it . The light was overcast and partial polarizer was applied. I applied what I would describe as a tipping motion with one side of the camera moving less than the other. I followed the line of the dominant tree trunks leaning over the path. Too much motion and the image becomes unrecognizable ( which you know I love to do) and too little and it becomes lets say predictable.”

Heavenly by Michael Orton — “Heavenly is a grove of Almond trees in Southern California. The title pretty much says it all, literally clouds of blossoms. The trees were laden and the ground was nearly covered. The sky was blue and clear and I knew that the camera sensor would see this blue to a certain degree in the shadows beneath the trees. This “moment” was amazing, I felt literally enveloped, as I walked deeper into the orchard. And the scent was, well, heavenly. I used many approaches, and as is often the case I thought of several I didn’t use when we got home and I had time to look at the images. Sometimes if I am overwhelmed by the subject this can happen. I don’t let the feeling of “a lost image ” persist though. It becomes “next time it will happen”. So far this has helped me to expand and tune my mindset and develop almost ever-changing responses to the subject matter I encounter. In the grove I used many”.

111 — My shit weather photo vacation

admin — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 18:11:29 +0000

Photography podcast #111 is a personal account of the worst photo vacation I have ever taken and the steps I took to make the experience more enjoyable. I’d love to know how others have dealt with this issue in the past.

The Road to Nowhere — Yukon, Canada
9 out of 10 days had visibility similar to this — Serenity now was my mantra

Due to all the bad visibility in the mountains, I looked to the foreground instead which was often clear. Here I caught logs and tree stumps reflecting in the water at a small unnamed lake in Inuvik, NWT, Canada

Lake Logs — Inuvik, NWT

Details are another fun thing to shoot when the grand scenics are basking in obscurity.
This is the back of the silver pick-up truck we rented after covering 400 KM on the muddy Dempster highway.

Dempster Highway Truck — Yukon, Canada
This truck was silver before it got completely caked with thick Dempster highway mud.

Links /resources mentioned in this podcast:

Rain Photography — podcast #88

If you liked this podcast and want to review it on Itunes, this link gets you to the main page

If you are interested in writing for our blog please contact me photography.ca ( A T ) G m ail Dot co m (using standard email formatting)

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If you are still lurking on our forum,
feel free to join our friendly Photography forum

Thanks for listening and keep on shooting!

110 — Crash course in black and white film photography

admin — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 11:59:24 +0000

Photography podcast #110 gives you a full on crash course in black and white film photography in around 30 minutes. Black and white film photography is not at all dead. Many creative photographers are getting their hands wet in a traditional darkroom. If you’ve ever wanted to know what’s involved in black and white photography, I take you through the entire process. We talk about film cameras, film, developing film, printing contact sheets and printing a final print.
Thanks to John Vales from our photography.ca facebook group for suggesting this topic. Please feel free to “Like” that page.

Links /resources mentioned in this podcast:

Apug.org — Analog Photography Users Group
keh.com
Film photography podcast with John Meadows
Ilford Delta 3200
Kodak Tri-X film
Kodak T-Max film
The negative by Ansel Adams
Photo tutorial on developing film. Shows normal, under, overexposed negs
Loading film onto a reel

- Circles is our regular forum assignment for Spetember
– Self Portraits in a Mirror is our level 2 assignment for September

If you liked this podcast and want to review it on Itunes, this link gets you to the main page

If you are interested in writing for our blog please contact me photography.ca ( A T ) G m ail Dot co m (using standard email formatting)

Please join the Photography.ca fan page on Facebook

If you are still lurking on our forum,
feel free to join our friendly Photography forum

Thanks to Lucille B and Michael Van der Tol who posted blog comments about our last podcast. Thanks as always to everyone that sent comments by email about our last podcast. Although ALL comments are appreciated, commenting directly in this blog is preferred. Thanks as well to all the new members of the bulletin board. Most of the links to actual the products are affiliate links that help support this site. Thanks in advance if you purchase through those links.

Thanks for listening and keep on shooting!

Photography forum image of the month – July 2012

admin — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 16:03:22 +0000

Every month on our photography forum members nominate images that they like. Then at the end of the month I choose an excellent image and talk about why it rocks. The photo I choose is not necessarily the best one of the month. I’ve come to realize it’s not really logical to pit images from totally different genres against each other. That’s why there are categories in photo contests. I just choose a photo that has extremely strong elements that we can learn from.

Pink by Barefoot

This month’s choice is Pink by Barefoot

I chose this image for several reasons:

1 — Composition — The is a very interesting and unusual composition of a gorgeous bird sleeping. I really like the curve all around the bird’s body and where the eye falls in the image. The framing is also interesting here and Barefoot has clearly ‘made this his own’. The pure black background also creates interesting negative space here.

2 — Lighting — The lovely lighting here is soft overall and reveals lovely detail in most of the bird’s plumage. That said, certain areas of the photograph are quite dark but not too dark for my eye. I really like the dramatic aspect of the light in those selective zones.

3 — Post processing — The post processing here is lovely. Making the background go to pure black doesn’t always work but it works very well here to compliment the form of the bird. I dare say that some of the darker areas in the bird’s plumage actually match the background and this works for me. The bird is rendered in desaturated tones that I find very striking and suitable to the subject and mood of the image.

For all these reasons, this is my choice for image of the month. Since we all have opinions, some members may disagree with my choice. That’s cool but THIS thread is not the place for debate over my pick, NOR is it the place to further critique the image. The purpose here is to suggest strong elements in the photo that we may learn from.

Congrats again Barefoot!

Essential and Advanced Filters for Creative and Outdoor Photography — E-book Review

admin — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 22:05:55 +0000

A few months ago Darwin Wiggett and Samantha Crysanthou Published an e-book called Essential and Advanced Filters for Creative and Outdoor Photography. You may think that with digital photography the need for filters is over and you would be mistaken in thinking this.

Certain filters like the polarizing filter are essential and at the time of this writing, the effect of this filter (which stays on my lens 95% of the time that I shoot outdoors in the day) is best achieved with an actual filter on the lens. Although I have seen digital-effect polarizing filters that you apply when post-processing an image, they suck when compared to the real thing. Darwin and Samantha provide awesomely clear images and explanations as to why this filter is essential, how and when to use it creatively and when not to use it. This filter is so important that a good 20% of the book is devoted to it. This section alone is worth the 10 dollars that they are charging for the e-book.

Two other kinds of essential filters that Darwin and Samantha talk about a great deal are graduated neutral density filters and neutral density filters. The purpose of graduated neutral density filters is to reduce the contrast in a scene (like a clipped sky) because when a scene is too contrasty the camera can not record all the tones even though our eye may see them. The filters are normally made of glass or plastic and are usually shaded at one end and clear at the other end. Neutral density filters are solid coloured and are mainly used to make shutter speeds longer to achieve creative blurring effects. This section of the book also has awesome (filtered and non-filtered for comparison) images and crystal clear explanations on how to use these filters.

The final section of the book is dedicated to additional filters that can add pop to your images as well as talking about technical considerations like colour casts and noise reduction.

This e-book is fab and well worth the ten dollars. The only thing I might debate in this book is calling the neutral grad filters essential. I feel they are essential only in certain very important cases. They are essential if you want to spend less time in front of your computer post-processing your images, because your images will already have the contrast control built into the exposure. If you are already excellent at the HDR technique, (taking multiple frames of the identical image with different exposures and then blending them in software) then these filters are not essential because you can achieve a similar goal using HDR. That said, even if you know the HDR technique well, graduated neutral density filters are still useful (perhaps even essential) when the scene is contrasty and involves movement.

It may come as no surprise that I highly recommend this 65 page e-book. Darwin and Samantha are veteran photographers and teachers, write super-clearly and their pics really illustrate the creative effect these filters have. This is an easy read with an easy on the eyes design. It’s a great e-book to have with you on your smartphone or tablet for creative inspiration while in the field. It’s also a fab resource when you are thinking about which of these filters to buy.

This book can be purchased directly from Darwin and Sam’s site.

109 — Flash photography tips — Interview with Joe McNally

admin — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 16:29:11 +0000

Photography podcast #109 features an Interview about flash photography with well known photographer Joe McNally. Joe has been shooting for decades for well known magazines life Life, Sports Illustrated and National Geographic. He was in town giving a seminar on the variety of lighting techniques you can achieve by using just one or two flashes. After the seminar I sat down with Joe for this quick interview to talk about flash tips. In this podcast we talk about diffusing your flash, triggering your flash and Joe talks about personal projects.

Links /resources mentioned in this podcast:

Joe McNally’s blog — Joe McNally’s Dance Portfolio
– Cold Beverages is our regular forum assignment for July
– Opposites is our level 2 forum assignment for July

If you liked this podcast and want to review it on Itunes, this link gets you to the main page

If you are interested in writing for our blog please contact me photography.ca ( A T ) G m ail Dot co m (using standard email formatting)

Please join the Photography.ca fan page on Facebook

If you are still lurking on our forum,
feel free to join our friendly Photography forum

Thanks to Lucille B and Julian who posted blog comments about our last podcast. Thanks as always to everyone that sent comments by email about our last podcast. Although ALL comments are appreciated, commenting directly in this blog is preferred. Thanks as well to all the new members of the bulletin board. Most of the links to actual the products are affiliate links that help support this site. Thanks in advance if you purchase through those links.

Thanks for listening and keep on shooting!

108 — Film Photography Rocks — Interview w/John Meadows

admin — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 16:03:32 +0000

Photography podcast #108 features an Interview with fine art photographer John Meadows where we talk about the advantages of shooting on film. Although it’s true that film photography is slowly being replaced by digital, it continues to remain VERY popular with fine art photographers for a bunch of reasons. One of these reasons is the incredible quality of the cameras and lenses available to film photographers that can be purchased these days for peanuts.

In this podcast we talk about the advantages of shooting on film, film characteristics, buying film, developing your own film, printing your own images in a darkroom, the hybrid approach of using both film and digital and more.

During this phone interview recorded by Skype, the quality of my voice is mediocre and I apologize in advance for this — Luckily John Meadows’s voice sounds great.

Broken and Unbroken © John Meadows

Links /resources mentioned in this podcast:

Royce Howland’s follow up comment on the photo-realistic HDR podcast
John Meadows website
John Meadows on Flickr
apug.org — Analog Photography Users Group
Freestyle film photography supplies
Pocket light meter
Marshal Oils at B&H
Film at B&H
Photo tours in Montreal — Private photography instruction in Montreal

If you liked this podcast and want to review it on Itunes, this link gets you to the main page

If you are interested in writing for our blog please contact me photography.ca ( A T ) G m ail Dot co m (using standard email formatting)

Please join the Photography.ca fan page on Facebook

If you are still lurking on our forum,
feel free to join our friendly Photography forum

Thanks to John Starmer, Lucille B, chris f, Rob S, Royce Howland, Mike Langford and Delbensonphotography who posted blog comments about our last podcast. Thanks as always to everyone that sent comments by email about our last podcast. Although ALL comments are appreciated, commenting directly in this blog is preferred. Thanks as well to all the new members of the bulletin board. Most of the links to actual the products are affiliate links that help support this site. Thanks in advance if you purchase through those links.

Thanks for listening and keep on shooting!

Photography forum image of the month – May 2012

admin — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 17:07:19 +0000

Male RTH Hummingbird by Mike Bons

This month’s choice is Male RTH Hummingbird Mike Bons

I chose this image for several reasons:

Composition — The composition here is very pleasing. The bird’s eye lines up on right near one of the lines of the thirds which is visually interesting. The plant and the bird are captured on a diagonal which is also visually interesting. Brightness is very well handled here and I find no distractions that bother me.

Colour — What a rich pleasing colour palette used here. The colours of the bird and the flower even seem to match. Reds in the flower might be a hint too bright and oversaturated for me, but I can easily live with it.

Sharpness — I love how sharp the bird is here (especially the eye and the beak) versus the out of focus background, it totally pops.

Exposure/lighting — Again both are well handled. The combination of flash and ambient light is what is freezing the bird in mid-feeding here. I like how the bird is well lit without being ‘over-lit’ by the flash.

Congrats again Mike Bons for capturing this little beauty.

F-16 Isn’t Magic

admin — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 20:26:22 +0000

I’ve been giving photo courses lately and I’m coming across a few points that people are regularly having trouble with. The limits of depth of field (or how sharp objects should be in general) is one of the things that many photographers don’t comprehend. This is often because they are aware of only one of the three factors that determine depth of field, namely the aperture. Many of us know that when we use a small aperture we get good sharpness from foreground to background versus large apertures. But this is true only up to a certain point because two other factors are missing. A small aperture like F-16 isn’t a magic one that will give you great sharpness from foreground to background in all cases.

Take the following image called Rust for example. It was created by Crashcat from our forum for our monthly assignment called - June 2012 — f16 or smaller– Shooting with a small aperture. Thx Crashcat for the use of this image.

This image was shot at ISO 1600 f/16 at 1/20 using a 105mm lens.
As we can clearly see the depth of field here is shallow and this is because there are two other factors besides the chosen aperture that influence depth of field. These factors include the distance from the object we are photographing and the focal length we use. As we approach an object, depth of field diminishes. The longer the lens we use the less depth of field we will have versus using a shorter one.

The image we are looking at is a macro image and so the camera is very close to the object. Had the camera been farther way, we’d see more sharpness from the top of the screw to the bottom of the screw. Not tons more sharpness mind you, but more. The side effect is that the screw wouldn’t have the magnification that it does and would look less ‘close-up’.

Had this lens been wider, we’d also see a small increase in sharpness from the top of the screw to the bottom of the screw, but again the screw’s perspective would seem smaller.

There is no easy answer here. It’s just a matter of practising and knowing what to expect.

For those that are looking for fabulous precision, feel free to use a depth of field calculator which will show you the depth of field you can expect under any shooting condition.

107 — Photo Realistic HDR — Interview w/Royce Howland

admin — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 17:34:44 +0000

Photography podcast #107 features an Interview with Canadian Nature photographer Royce Howland. In this podcast we talk specifically about how to get realistic colours using the HDR process. HDR (high dynamic range) is a process that allows us to capture details in the highlighs and the shadows of our images by shooting multiple frames of the same image at different exposures and then blending them in software.

Many HDR images that we see on the web have really wonky and unrealistic colours. We pass no judgement on these types of images but this podcast is dedicated to getting realistic colours using the HDR process. We summarize the process from why we do this, to capture, to gear, to using the software to create the images. We also discuss the differences between the HDR process and using graduated neutral density filters.

Old Prairie Church & Storm Front, Mundare Alberta Canada © Royce Howland

That Halloween Mood, Glenmore Reservoir Calgary Alberta Canada © Royce Howland

Links /resources mentioned in this podcast:

Royce Howland website
Royce Howland’s feature on Photography.ca
Older HDR article by Royce Howland
HDRSoft — Makers of Photomatix
Oloneo — Makers of PhotoEngine
Red Giant — Makers of Magic Bullet PhotoLooks
HDR Labs — HDR information resource
Topaz Adjust
HDR Efex Pro

If you liked this podcast and want to review it on Itunes, this link gets you to the main page

If you are interested in writing for our blog please contact me photography.ca ( A T ) G m ail Dot co m (using standard email formatting)

Please join the Photography.ca fan page on Facebook

If you are still lurking on our forum,
feel free to join our friendly Photography forum

Thanks to Benny and Delbensonphotography who posted blog comments about our last podcast. Thanks as always to everyone that sent comments by email about our last podcast. Although ALL comments are appreciated, commenting directly in this blog is preferred. Thanks as well to all the new members of the bulletin board. Most of the links to actual the products are affiliate links that help support this site. Thanks in advance if you purchase through those links.

Thanks for listening and keep on shooting!

Photography forum image of the month – April 2012

admin — Fri, 11 May 2012 14:37:02 +0000

Weeds yet to be by JustinRyan215

This month’s choice is weeds yet to be by JustinRyan215

I chose this image for several reasons:

Perspective — The perspective here is not what we are used to seeing and it totally works. It gives the dandelion an abstract feel (for a second at first look, it looked like a jellyfish) yet we know what we are looking at. I really like the “starlike” wisp patterns that we are seeing here and this is wholly due to the perspective.

Processing — The processing makes the image pop without drawing too much attention to itself. I also like the vignette which helps frame the whole subject.

Exposure — Very well handled and this is a difficult subject. The whites (especially around the perimeter of the weed) have just enough detail to be as delicate as the dandelion itself.

Congrats again JustinRyan215 for this seeing, capturing and processing this creative image.

106 — White balance and why snow is blue

admin — Thu, 03 May 2012 20:01:11 +0000

Photography podcast #106 discusses the often confusing topic of white balance and why sometimes the camera screws up our images like giving us blue snow. Correcting this is really easy and it just requires a bit of understanding of what is going on in the background. In a very tight oversimplified nutshell, when we see something that has colour, it has that colour due to the colour temperature of the light source illuminating it.

Light a candle in a dark room and look at a white baseball; it will look orange. The same thing happens with white snow that looks bluish under cloudy overcast conditions because cloudy light is bluish. Our eyes might not notice the blue because our brain compensates for the cast because it “knows” that snow is white, but the camera often gets it wrong. In this podcast we talk about white balance, automatic white balance, the white balance presets that your camera comes with and setting a custom white balance. If you’ve ever wanted to improve the colour accuracy of your images, this photo podcast offers up some fast tips.

Left image — When we see an object that has colour, it has that colour due to the color temperature of the light source illuminating it. This is why if we take a white baseball into a room lit only by a candle, the baseball looks orange. The same thing happens when we take a picture of white snow on a cloudy overcast day and it looks blue. Right image — White light (the kind we see at noon on a sunny cloudless day) is actually made up of equal parts of Red, Blue and Green light. These are the primary colours in photography.

Left Image — The camera’s AWB (automatic white balance) didn’t render this scene properly and the snow looks bluish because the day was cloudy and cloudy light is bluish. Right Image — I corrected this in post processing and the snow looks more natural to the eye.

: If your image has a colour cast, to neutralize it, you add the OPPOSITE colour of the cast.

This image was lit with 2 light sources; the light coming from the stove AND overcast light coming in through the windows. AWB does a very good job here but is a hint too warm. The cloudy preset adds yellow to compensate for cloudy light which is blue. In this case it reproduces too warm. The Incandescent preset adds blue to compensate for incandescent light which is warm. Here it added way too much blue. The custom setting, where you take a quick reading from a grey card or use a tool like an Expodisc was the most accurate and best reproduced the scene.

Links /resources mentioned in this podcast:

Spinrite - To recover crashed hard drives
Allan Levene is running for congress!
Grey cards at B&H — Expodisc at B&H — Color meters at B&H
Photography tours in Montreal — One to one photography instruction by yours truly

- Wide open aperture is our regular forum assignment for May
– Texture is our level 2 forum assignment for May

If you liked this podcast and want to review it on Itunes, this link gets you to the main page

If you are interested in writing for our blog please contact me photography.ca ( A T ) G m ail Dot co m (using standard email formatting)

Please join the Photography.ca fan page on Facebook

If you are still lurking on our forum,
feel free to join our friendly Photography forum

Thanks to Rob vE, Yisehaq and Robertv in Edinburgh who posted blog comments about our last podcast. Thanks as always to everyone that sent comments by email about our last podcast. Although ALL comments are appreciated, commenting directly in this blog is preferred. Thanks as well to all the new members of the bulletin board. Most of the links to actual the products are affiliate links that help support this site. Thanks in advance if you purchase through those links.

Thanks for listening and keep on shooting!

105 — Four tips to improve your bounced flash photography

admin — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 20:48:19 +0000

Photography podcast #105 offers up tips on how to improve your bounced flash photography. Bouncing your flash off of walls and ceilings is easy and really softens the light which is often desirable especially in portraits. You can also achieve a much more interesting lighting pattern versus direct on-camera flash. You can often achieve great results with minimal effort and minimal help; I often use bounced flash when I am shooting alone and need a quick lighting setup.

The images below of my wife Carmy were shot in about 5 minutes against a slightly green wall in my livingroom. The tones in the face and background wall are similar but not identical in all images and I deliberately chose not to match them to see the subtle differences. These differences are due to the different ways that the light bounced around the room. There were windows in the room but the day was cloudy and no direct light was shining through the windows. Images are unretouched.

The image on the left shows direct flash. Note the harsh shadow on the wall and the relatively even lighting on the face. The shot on the right, bounced the flash off the ceiling. The shadow is still on the wall but it is softer. The lighting pattern on the face is less even but more interesting to the eye.

The image on the left used flash that was bounced off of the wall about 12 feet behind me. The image on the right used flash that was bounced off the side wall about 6 feet from me. Note the absence of any shadow on the back wall compared to the left image in the first set. When you try this for yourself make note of how far the bounced walls are from your flash. The farther the walls are from the flash, the harder the flash has to work and you may need to increase the flash’s output.

Links /resources mentioned in this podcast:
Spinrite - To recover crashed hard drives
Photo podcast #4 — Fill flash
Photo podcast #47 — Flash sync speeds
Photo podcast #71 Portable flash

- Bright Colour is our regular forum assignment for March
– Silhouettes is our level 2 forum assignment for March

If you liked this podcast and want to review it on Itunes, this link gets you to the main page

If you are interested in writing for our blog please contact me photography.ca ( A T ) G m ail Dot co m (using standard email formatting)

Please join the Photography.ca fan page on Facebook

If you are still lurking on our forum,
feel free to join our friendly Photography forum

Thanks to Neil Speers, Stephen Kennedy, Ken Wolter, Jonathan Ramsdell and Allan Levene who posted blog comments about our last podcast. Thanks as always to everyone that sent comments by email about our last podcast. Although ALL comments are appreciated, commenting directly in this blog is preferred. Thanks as well to all the new members of the bulletin board. Most of the links to actual the products are affiliate links that help support this site. Thanks in advance if you purchase through those links.

Thanks for listening and keep on shooting!

Photography forum image of the month — February 2012

admin — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 22:19:47 +0000

Jump — behind the shot by Richard

This month’s choice is Jump — behind the shot by Richard

I chose this image for several reasons:

Colour — Lighting — Exposure — The cool colours in this image work extremely well with the subject matter. I really like the bluish quality to the lighting in this image as it is in sync with the with colder season. The overall lighting which Richard graciously explains is also well done and I like the hues of the gelled speedlights. The speedlights highlight the child’s movements very well and capture an excellent gesture. In terms of the exposure, Richard confesses to to using an ND filter over the lens to balance the strobes and ambient light and this makes the shutterspeed longer. This was a very smart move that allows us to see a hint of blurred movement in the feet and different position of the hat.

Gesture and Story — The child is caught in mid-jump, playing and smiling. Even though the child is basically told to jump, Richard catches a moment that looks completely natural. For me this is a successful image of a child having a great time just being a child.

Post processing — the added wisps of smoke in the post processing are a lovely touch and blend in really well with the image and the intended concept of the image. The vignetting keeps our eyes well focused on the child and the child’s activity.

Congrats again Richard for creating this wonderful image!

Sneak peek invitation — New personal work by Marko Kulik

admin — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 20:18:53 +0000

Hi everyone!

I’m Marko, the owner admin of the Photography.ca website. Normally when I post from the Photography.ca blog it is to publish a podcast, an image of the month or to feature photographs from different photographers. This post though is to invite you to see some new work that I have published on a new personal site called markokulik.com.

One of the reasons I started this new site is because I feel this Photography.ca website is devoted to the photography community at large and not my own personal work. But I have been shooting A LOT of personal work lately and wanted to feature the work in 1 place. In particular, I have been photographing cities at night using intentional camera movement and long exposures. You can see those images in the new gallery called Impressionistic Cities at Night. This is an ongoing project, and I will talk about and post new photos to that gallery regularly. I also intend to upload and talk about older work.

Although I almost never ask for favors.….I have a favor to ask if you enjoy my work. Please go to any page on markokulik.com and enter your email address at the top of any page to subscribe to updates. These updates will talk mainly about the work being produced and I will never sell, trade, share or pimp out your personal information in any way. You can cancel at anytime. Thanks so much in advance and here is a peek at the opening image on the site. Thanks again, Sincerely — Marko Kulik

Carré Jacques Cartier — Montréal by Marko Kulik

Photography forum image of the month — January 2012

admin — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 21:27:04 +0000

And miles to go before I sleep… And miles to go before I sleep by jumpinjimmyjava

This month’s choice is (Click to see the larger version of this image) And miles to go before I sleep… And miles to go before I sleep by jumpinjimmyjava

I chose this image for several reasons:

1 — It tells or suggests a strong story & Composition — The title of the image is a well known phrase from a poem that many of us studied in High School (Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert frost). Just reading the title helps to support this image and veers our interpretation of it in a certain direction both with visual and thematic elements. I love the position of the man in this image. It’s close to the edge but not quite at the edge. This adds tension to the image and helps support the theme that “there’s still work to be done”, it’s not over just yet) .The wintry scene also supports the theme of a person in their sunset years but the image is bright, not dark, again supporting a thematic element.

I like the layered aspect of the image where the bottom of the image is darker than the rest. The middle part of the image shows lines moving from right to left. The top part of the image shows more sky and is distinct from the other 2 parts of the image. These ‘divisions’ or layers as I like to call them add visual interest to the image. Our eyes like them.

2 — Colour — The subtle colour palette in this image works very well for me, the colours are very harmonious. For me they are calm, well chosen colours. The blue of the jacket stands out really well against the white and brings our full attention to the focal point of the image. In addition, the blue of the jacket is complimented by other subtle blue tones in the image, again helping to create the overall visual harmony.

3 — Post processing — This image is a composite of several images or textures. I don’t know exactly how many but I’d say at least 3 (the snow flakes, the man, the wintry landscape). Either way the blending of the images is well done to my eye and each part of the image compliments the other parts.

And the whole image, is greater than the sum of its parts.

Congrats again jumpinjimmyjava for creating this wonderful themed image!

104 — Backing up images like a pro versus a bonehead

admin — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:41:34 +0000

Photography podcast #104 discusses strategies for backing up your images. One of my external hard drives that held tens of thousands of images failed recently. Even though I had a duplicate of the images on another drive, the duplicates were poorly arranged. This got me thinking about better and safer backup strategies. I’d DEFINITELY appreciate hearing about YOUR backup strategies.

Links /resources mentioned in this podcast:
– Crashplan.com
– Backblaze.com
– Carbonite.com
– Amazon S3 services calculator

- “Transportation” is our regular forum assignment for February
– Intentional Overexposure is our level 2 assignment for February

If you liked this podcast and want to review it on Itunes, this link gets you to the main page

If you are interested in writing for our blog please contact me photography.ca ( A T ) G m ail Dot co m (using standard email formatting)

Please join the Photography.ca fan page on Facebook

If you are still lurking on our forum,
feel free to join our friendly Photography forum

Thanks to skcazador, amber, cartman75 and Glenn Iguanasan Euloth who posted blog comments about our last podcast. Thanks as always to everyone that sent comments by email about our last podcast. Although ALL comments are appreciated, commenting directly in this blog is preferred. Thanks as well to all the new members of the bulletin board. Most of the links to actual the products are affiliate links that help support this site. Thanks in advance if you purchase through those links.

Thanks for listening and keep on shooting!

Photography forum image of the month December 2011

admin — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 21:43:39 +0000

The Peace Bridge — At Last! by JAS_Photo

This month’s choice is (click to see the larger version of this image) The Peace Bridge — At Last! by JAS_Photo

I chose this image for several reasons:

1 — Composition — This is a very strong composition and the bridge itself acts as a fantastic leading line. It guides our eye beautifully into the image. In addition, aside from the shape of the bridge itself, there are also other “mini-shapes” in the bridge itself as well as all around the image. These other mini-shapes add a lot of interest to the image.

2 — Tones and post processing — The bridge itself is selectively coloured in this image and I like that very much in this case. I feel it works and offers a new take on what is likely a heavily photographed piece of infra-structure. For me it suggests ‘something new’ being introduced into a city. The desaturation of the background compliments the bridge and really makes the bridge pop.

3 — Story and perspective — This bridge is still a work in progress and we can see a crane in the background that suggests this. We see the bridge “moving” toward the background which suggests to me something new being introduced to something older. The angle or perspective from which the image was taken was very well chosen to suggest this story.

Congrats again JAS_Photo for creating this wonderful image!

103 — Photography umbrella for rain and snow

admin — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 20:11:54 +0000

Photography podcast #103 talks about a wet weather photography umbrella contraption that I recently put together. Basically it’s a GIANT golf umbrella and a sling.
I’ve been shooting a lot in the rain and snow lately and sometimes you need to have both hands free. This umbrella contraption allows you to keep both hands on the camera and works well in heavy rain or snow so long as it’s not too windy.

This giant 68″ double canopy Gustbuster golf umbrella in a sling gives you close to 30 inches of dry shooting when it’s not too windy.

A close-up of the sling I purchased from brellabag.com — It’s pricey at $30. but works well when the sling is loaded with heavier items like a long lens or bottle of water.

Links /resources mentioned in this podcast:
– Golftown.com
– Gustbuster umbrellas
– Brellabag.com
– Podcast #88 — Rain photography
- “Lights” is our regular forum assignment for December
– Ugly ducklings — looking for beauty in everything is our level 2 assignment for December

If you liked this podcast and want to review it on Itunes, this link gets you to the main page

If you are interested in writing for our blog please contact me photography.ca ( A T ) G m ail Dot co m (using standard email formatting)

Please join the Photography.ca fan page on Facebook

If you are still lurking on our forum,
feel free to join our friendly Photography forum

Thanks to cartman75, Benny and Gale who posted blog comments about our last podcast. Thanks as always to everyone that sent comments by email about our last podcast. Although ALL comments are appreciated, commenting directly in this blog is preferred. Thanks as well to all the new members of the bulletin board. Most of the links to actual the products are affiliate links that help support this site. Thanks in advance if you purchase through those links.

Thanks for listening and keep on shooting!

Photography forum image of the month November 2011

admin — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 16:54:04 +0000

Fight Club! by Lizardqing

This month’s choice is (click to see the larger version of this image) Fight Club! by Lizardqing

I chose this image for several reasons:

1 — Timing/Decisive moment. You gotta have a quick trigger finger to catch a moment like this or you will miss it. We’ve all missed fab opportunities like this, or misframed opportunities like this; good on Lizardquing for this fab capture.

2 — Composition — I really like the composition here. It is especially impressive given the speed needed to catch this image. I really like the faun at the right side as well as the position of the trees.

3 — Exposure/lighting/colour — Exposure looks very good here and could easily have been missed given the lighting. Good choice of shutter-speed to keep things fairly sharp but still reveal motion in the deers’ front legs. Lovely colour palette as well. The lighting is wonderful in this image, good on Lizardqing for being there early enough to capture.

Congrats again Lizardqing for capturing this wonderful moment!

102 — Layering images with interesting elements

admin — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 20:43:59 +0000

Photography podcast #102 discusses layering your photographs with interesting elements. This involves serious attention to the overall composition of every frame that you take.
If you are taking a shot of a mountain for example, there’s always more to the shot than just the mountain. When you are aware of what’s around the mountain and take the time to “layer” the image with interesting elements, the composition as a whole gets much stronger. We also touch on how to refine those “layered elements” in post processing.

Athabaska River Reflecting Pools at Sunrise by Marko Kulik — Banff National Park — Alberta, Canada. As you can see this shot is about more than just the mountain which is in the background. The foreground, midground and background “layered” elements all contribute to the overall composition in this scene.

Sometimes you feel like a nut — Image by Lisa Couldwell. Even scenes using larger apertures benefit from “layered elements”. Here, Lisa focuses on the nut medallion but the tire in the background is a repeating shape that adds interest to the image. The diagonal lines in the image help to guide your eye. The composition here is very deliberate.

Links /resources mentioned in this podcast:
– Improving boring landscapes
- Images that compliment SONG titles or Book titles is our regular forum assignment for November
– Intentional camera movement is our level 2 assignment for November

If you liked this podcast and want to review it on Itunes, this link gets you to the main page

If you are interested in writing for our blog please contact me photography.ca ( A T ) G m ail Dot co m (using standard email formatting)

Please join the Photography.ca fan page on Facebook

If you are still lurking on our forum,
feel free to join our friendly Photography forum

Thanks to Scorpio_e, Melissa Dorner, Josh G, Mathias, Avital Pinnick, Henry. b, and Jill bayer who posted blog comments about our last podcast. Thanks as always to everyone that sent comments by email about our last podcast. Although ALL comments are appreciated, commenting directly in this blog is preferred. Thanks as well to all the new members of the bulletin board. Most of the links to actual the products are affiliate links that help support this site. Thanks in advance if you purchase through those links.

Thanks for listening and keep on shooting!

Photography forum image of the month October 2011

admin — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 19:54:34 +0000

Autumn Web by Richard

This month’s choice is (click to see the larger version of this image) Autumn Web by Richard

I chose this image for several reasons:

1 — Planning and execution — This striking image is the result of planning, it didn’t “just happen” and it wasn’t a quick snap. The lighting, comp and post-processing are all well thought out here. The result is a striking moody fall image.

2 — Composition — details — postprocessing — Lovely rendered details like the spider as well as the spider’s web all contribute to the composition here. Spider is framed nicely between the red leaves and against the backlight. The postprocessing including the vignette and possible selective sharpening are guiding our eyes thoughtfully without distractions.

3 — Lighting — Mood — Backlighting is a challenging light to deal with, but Richard balances it well with off camera flash. The end result is an image with a lovely mood that would likely have felt too dark without the added light.

4 — Selective focus — A wide aperture is well used here to get the dreamy background bokeh. It adds another ‘layer’ to the image.

Congrats again Richard for creating this striking image!