Posts Tagged ‘photography’

Going Around Again

Thursday, December 1st, 2011

This is a follow up from the last blog dribbling on about the need to combine art and science (read that one first, then this will make more sense!)

Undaunted and challenged to create more of a mood or a style to accompany a certain technical proficiency, I set out today to re-shoot some of the same angles but with a greater emphasis on  using more of the in-scene elements.  I didn’t necessarily want to silhouette the rider because he’s still the subject of the image and there are certain details I wanted to remain in the image, but I knew the direct sunlight had the potential throw-off the exposure settings.  The camera was set to “burst” in order to capture a series of shots as the rider launched off the berm, crossing the line to the sun and this one happened to record just as the rider emerged from blocking the sun.

Ahh, the quest to be in the right place, at the right time, with the right equipment, on the right settings, with the right elements, in the right locations, on days with friendly weather and the time to go back if necessary.  Whew……  If you see a photograph you like and determine in your mind that the photographer “got lucky” and snapped a remarkable shot, think otherwise.  There are very few get lucky moments.

Side note…must confess I photoshopped this a little in order to bring out more detail in the rider.  Don’t hate.

Your Thumb Print

Tuesday, November 29th, 2011

Last week we took the family to a bike park that had a number of obstacles, berm-jumps, and ramps for people to try out their skills.  In the world of terrain parks, this one is at the beginner level.  My goal was to see what I could capture of the bikers because the movements are fast and expressions rather focused (from experience, the moment I look away from the upcoming obstacle or trail in front of me is the moment something jumps up and grabs you!) So forgoing the person in the scene and rather focusing on the action seemed appropriate.  With a fast shutter, ample light, and a skilled subject this is not too difficult to master and catching someone in mid-flight will produce a nice dramatic image. For this shot I went with a low-angle and used the sky to isolate the subject from the background as a way to draw attention to the action…but the images I was taking lacked a certain “artistic” look…something that combined action with style or somehow brought out a different look.  Frustrated, I gave the camera to Susanna (my wife) to “go-crazy” and jumped on my bike to go play in the park (it was killing me to try it out!)

For me, if I look through the photos in our collection, I know which ones she took and which ones I took…each has our thumbprints on them (har..har) meaning our style comes out…it’s like I am happy if the instrument is tuned and she wants it to make great music.  The art, of course, is the ability to combine both of these.  It wasn’t until I got home and looked at the images and sort of slumped a bit when I saw what Susanna had taken.Breaking the Light For this particular image, the exposure was set to the clear blue sky and the addition of the direct sunlight and biker created this silhouetted-look with the punch of the bright sunlight.  Far more stylistic, forgoing of things like balancing the histogram!

There is a lot to learn (obviously!) about combining my love for the technical side of imagery with the stylistic side of combining a variety elements within a scene to bring forth a mood. Still searching for that “eye” for pulling all of this together…

Get with the Party

Saturday, November 26th, 2011

Recently we hosted a holiday party for our friends and among the planned festivities (Thanksgiving leftovers, watching Christmas Vacation and drinking everytime we heard “Old fashion Griswald Family Christmas, etc.) was to setup the strobes and file the couples through and taking their portraits.  It not only added to the ambiance, fun, and uniqueness of the event (who gets a decent portrait shot at a party, right?) but it also enabled me to capture a different side of people that comes out more readily through the use of holiday cocktails! More smiles (some nervous!), more affection towards their partners, and more fun as people could buddy-up with their other friends.  Toughest part was keeping all the moving parts of this operation running smoothly and troubleshooting when something needed tending…all while under the influence myself!  The biggest reward was being able to give something back to those who joined us that evening and kicking off the holiday season with more than just a hangover!

Cheers, All!!