Thursday, September 30, 2010

09/30/2010 blog

This weeks post i decided to try a litle bit on the area of depth of field and layers with my shots.  I was just out shooting different scenes out with my camera while I was at work delivering pizzas.  I know that these are not purely nature shots by any means, but still turned out fairly interestingly.  The first shot that I took happened to be during sundown sometime where the sky was giving off a beautiful orange, pink, red and blue color in which I thought gave the shot its uniqueness along with the fact that the trees added to the shot.  Since it was so bright my camera made the surroundings darker to try and adjust for the light differences. 

The second photo was my favorite of the two because it gives a really nice sense of depth along with illustrating all of the background to come.  Also, the road give you that sense of distance in the shot as well.  I like that this shot shows the fields, distant hills, sky, clouds, and even some other featuressuch as the signs.  The one thing that i wish wasn't there, however, is the car, but it was the best quality shot I had out of all of them.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

9/23 blog


            
This last weekend I took out the camera and decided to play around a little bit more with it to try and figure more things on it.  I took an abundance of close up pictures since I was nowhere near any places with landscapes that weren’t obscured by any buildings.  The three pictures that I have posted in this blog were chosen for a reason.  The detail of my central focus points came out very well and clear, but even more important than that is that the detail is even better.  When I was scoping of what to take pictures of, I was actually just taking these shots as practice for focusing the camera lens and zoom. 
             
After loading all of my shots onto the computer, however, I noticed some really neat things on some of them especially the nub of the tree and little pine branch.  There were all sorts of webbings and things on there that I did not notice by just standing there looking at them.  I came to the realization that some shots can come out even better than you expect just by messing with the settings on the camera and angles.  I took many different angled shots on these because the lighting outside was so bright and yet shaded from the trees.  After moving to the side I was able to use the side light from the sun and get clearer shots of the pine branch and nub. 
           
  Also, layering played an effect that made the shots come out even better as well.  Not only did I get the main object focused on, but I also had a few other elements in the background such as the blurred fence, trees, little bits of lighting and such.  Overall it turned out to be a neat little photo shoot. 

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

The sky

Light is more attractive than dark

Difference draws more attention than conformity

Large draws more attention than small

 Just because I found it to be a lucky shot!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Dominance

http://www.ephotozine.com/article/All-in-bloom--a-field-guide-to-flower-photography-4673

 This is a good example of red is more attractive than yellow dominance, because in my eyes, I focus more on the red color more than the yellow dull.

 
http://www.tracyleerose.com/Txt/Tutorials/Tutorial_Photography/Tutorial_Photography9.html

This picture represents that diagonal lines are more attractive than vertical, because the mountains are much more noticeable from the hill sides uneven surface than if there was just the mountain itself.


http://www.mendosa.com/fitnessblog/?paged=3

This illustrates sharpness is more attractive than blur, being that you are most attracted to the turtles face rather than the background because it's much clearer being the center of interest. 


http://www.designerprint.co.uk/services/digital-editing/black-and-white.htm

 This represents that light is more attractive than dark in that when you see it, it's a unique picture, but the rainbow in it still attracts more attention.


http://www.oregonlive.com/living/index.ssf/2009/02/08-week/

This picture shows that large draws more attention than small because it is obvious that someone would single out the big rock versus the small one to the bottom left.


http://www.travelswithsheila.com/into-the-simien-mountains-nort.html

Of course this is going to grab your attention, it's different.  It represents that different is more attractive than conformity.


http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Xqmzj9p1Fog58nVuaQCGxA

This represents that jagged lines are more striking than curved ones because when you see the curved lines in the snow, it just seems like snow.  But as you look closer to the peak of the mountains or at the base, you see those interesting jagged points!







Shadow Leaves

This last week I decided to go out and play with the camera that I am borrowing from my friend at the time being until I can afford my own quality camera. Using some of the techniques, or information rather from the book, I experimented around a little bit with some different settings on the camera. For the most part, I focused on using the macro feature on the camera along with different angles of which to shoot the picture. Lighting was another important factor in my shots on the close-up leaves. The sun was just starting to set outside while I was at home, so I decided to experiment with how the light affected the shots on our trees.
I used the side light from the sun that was hitting the leaves from the upper left, and snapped some shots so that the leaves were defined along with the shadows following in front. The shots could have more in likely come out clearer if I had messed with the histogram and aperture setting a little more, but this was just practice. The other technique I used was placing my center of interest. The front leaves were my point of interest, so that they were the most defined and then the leaves in the background sort of blurred out the farther from the center of interest they got.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Exposure

Exposure is a very important thing when it comes to quality of a picture in photography. Metering patterns are very unique in that they are very useful in determining what areas of light the camera will focus on. I somewhat understand the metering and histogram, but with the camera I have, still need a lot of practice with it because in the light there are still dark spots that I don’t want focused on. When winter time comes around and snow falls, I find the information on increasing or decreasing exposure to be of good use. Pictures had never come out clear for me in the snow and now I understand why, which is going to help me better some of my future shots.
One of the best tips from the book that I never really put into consideration before was the fact that you should avoid the midday sun on a clear day if you’re looking for a good shot. There is too much contrast for a digital sensor to record during this time of high lighting by the sun. The types of lighting were of interest to me due to the fact that I was actually playing with a camera this weekend during the dawn hours as I went home. I found the information on backlighting the most useful in getting a clear picture of my brother’s fiancĂ© in the hanging leaves of a tree which was all backlit by the descending sun. I had to focus more on her with the leaves in front, and leave some of the back leaves in blur in order for her not to show up as a silhouette.
Also, I agree with the author in the fact that using a flash during an outdoor shot completely ruins the natural setting and look. However, it is still very handy after nightfall even though you usually end up with mostly the subject and none of the other background unless you have a nice flash set up with your camera. To add on to the quality of the picture that I shot of my brothers fiancé, I think one of the most important features used on the camera and brought up in the book, was the depth of field. The depth of field was used in the sense that the camera focused mainly on her face and then the rest of the background got a little blurry as it moved away from the subject. A useful tip that I sort of figured out on my own, but was better iterated in the book for increasing depth of field, is to first focus on your closest object and then the next just beyond it in a distant depth of field.
The book describes some interesting things about shutter speed, which will turn out to be very useful for future shooting as well. I never understood shutter speed all that well, but now I get it in the fact that the faster the subject/the faster the shutter speed needs to be. In reality, this turns out to be common sense after becoming a little more familiar with the camera I’m using. Panning (leading the subject with the lens) is also very useful and similar to trap shooting in a sense, which can also help reduce blur in an action shot. One of the features that I find to be one of the neatest is Blurring for effect where you set aperture and shutter speed to give a picture a unique abstract blur effect.
Knowing what colors and backgrounds dominate the others is important for knowing what settings and adjustments need to be made to your camera for a better quality shot. For instance if you were to shoot a field of yellow and orange flowers, there is a possibility of blending issues due to the similar coloration of them. There are two important concepts that are mentioned in the book that I have also previously learned in a video production class. The first center of interest that basically means you have one main subject or area that is being focused on and needs to be iterated the most while still coexisting with the background elements. The second is the rule of thirds, which sets your center of interest one third of the way up or down and to either side of the cameras lens. This is used to better the details and beauty of your subject.

Friday, September 10, 2010

It's a bird, no a waterfall!


                For this blog I decided to do something a little bit different from searching for photos and photographers on the internet.  Instead, I had this great idea to search through some of my older photos that I have taken since around 2004 of different things in nature.  All of these pictures were taken around my hometown Douglas, Wyoming at different times of the year and were mostly just because I happened to have my camera there at the time.  Grant it, all of these were taken by a point and shoot camera with nothing more than a 5 megapixel camera, but the quality on some of them I feel is pretty impressive.  The Blue Jay that I captured happened to be injured in my cousin’s back yard, so I happened to get very lucky with getting close shots within one foot of the bird. It was sweet!! The pictures of the bird are by far some of my favorites that I have ever shot. 
                My second favorite shot that I have posted is one that I took of a waterfall on a mountain just above Bolder, Colorado.  I had just finished running a trail race with a few friends back home, and on the way down we decided to do some sightseeing.  As we hiked back a trail some little ways along a creek, we came upon this decently sized waterfall.  I took around twenty or more shots of it just to get a good angle and area on it.  The shot came out as good as I could have asked for given the camera I was using at that time. 
                Though it is nice to have a great quality camera; in the experience I have had in the past so far, I believe it also takes a smart and skilled photographer to actually make the shot count as well.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Natural Faces




As I was searching the web for some unique outdoor pictures, I came across some very unique shots. Unfortunately I was not able to figure out who the actual photographers were, but I found their photos to be very cool. One of the main things that caught my interest was the fact that I see these kinds of thing in nature all of the time. Trees, rocks, and other landscapes in the outdoors form some of the most intriguing designs and even lifelike formations. If you look above to the left, the trees form a woman’s face in the wintery background. Also, I remember finding formations in trees (such as the one in the second link) many times that I am out either running or hiking around. Those are always the moments that I wish I had a camera just so I could show other people.
1.) http://opticalillusionshowtheywork.blogspot.com/

2.) http://www.flickriver.com/photos/sondyaustin/popular-interesting/

Winter Photography

As winter approaches it is obvious that there needs to be a change in clothing apparel, especially if you are going to be outdoors. This chapter in the book talks about the importance of wearing the right temperature regulated clothing once it turns winter. I figured that that it would be very similar to hunting or running techniques, where you want to layer up in case if you get hot. Well the book explains that it is better to wear baggy clothing such as snow pants and also a top with many zippers that are available for air circulation. It also covers how you need to winterize your equipment, and pay attention to light differences as well. As there is little wildlife out during the winter times, the book in essence notes that it’s those little details in the landscapes of snow and such, which really brings out the beauty of a winter shot.