Project365 - My Heart Stopped !

Introduction

For a very long time, our family has been fans of the WHL Calgary Hitmen hockey team. They are the junior league, with 17-21 year old players who are taking their shot at the NHL. It is fantastic hockey, and yet still highly family-oriented. Needless to say, we always enjoy the games.

Photographers will tell you that shooting hockey is tough. The high speed nature of the game, coupled with the bright lights and the effect of the reflection off the ice surface is especially challenging. It's one I have wanted to tackle for some time. Alas, the venue for our beloved Hitmen, the Scotiabank Saddledome, specifically prohibits the use of "professional-looking" cameras at the games ! But there's no similar prohibition against camera phones, or "point & shoot" cameras. I know, right ? Stupid policy...
Anyway, in the items rescued from my mother's belongings at the Retirement Castle before she died was a "point & shoot" camera. I figured "What the heck !" Let's give it a try. So I took it to the game & took a few photos.
The Setup
Camera - a Nikon Coolpix L22, Venue - the Scotiabank Saddledome
The Photos
I shot off a couple of dozen photos with this camera. After my Canon 60D, I can't say I was very impressed ! The camera kept entering "sleep" mode; there was a VERY noticeable lag between depressing the shutter and the photo being captured - I kept feeling like I was missing the shots; the recovery time between photos til I could shoot the next was about six seconds ! It made me recognize JUST how much I like my Canon !
But it wasn't until I downloaded the photos that my heart stopped...

I hadn't thought to check or clear the memory card on the camera. These are the last known photographs of our Mother when she was alive. They are dated Dec 6, 2011 - about two months before her stroke and Dad's passing.

I'm extremely happy that the last photo I have of our Mother is one of her smiling, accompanied by the wonderful caregivers at Trillium Ridge Retirement Community. This is how I want to remember her...








Lessons Learned
I have no idea - I'm still blown away to have found these !

Project365 - Training to Use My Wide Angle Lens

Introduction

We spent the day in Cornwall, visiting family. Since I had an idea about shooting a vertorama (which I did in a previous post), I had mounted a wide-angle lens on my camera body. I thought it might make for some interesting perspective. In this shoot, we scouted around town, looking at the sights through a wide-angle lens !

The Setup

My faithful Canon 60D was mated with my Canon 17-40mm F/4L series lens. I shot handheld, with the white balance set for bright sunshine. Not wanting to blur my backgrounds, I shot at f/11. Then it was all about braving the cold and determining if I could operate the controls with my gloves on !

The Photos

There's an old electric locomotive set aside near where we were staying. I love the feeling of depth I get from shooting this photo wide.

It is remarkably easy to create leading lines - lines which draw the viewer through the photo - and the wide-angle lens helps make that experience even longer !

 

Another example of leading lines. You can't help but have your eye drawn along the horizontal crossbar to the barrel at the end. So the effect is to draw the viewer's eye from right to left throughout the photo.

Lessons Learned

While this was a straight-forward shoot, it taught me how to use leading lines to add a focal point to the photos. It helps draw in the viewer to better experience it.

 

Project365 - Back Button Focus

Introduction

One of the major objectives for my Project365 program is to insure that I take my time and apply all that I know about photography to each shooting session. And one of the ways that I thought I might best achieve this is by shooting every single day in 100% Manual mode.

This works very well for most situations. I stop to consider the white balance - am I outdoors ? Is it sunny or shady ? I then try to consider what my photographic objective is - do I want the background blurred ? Am I working to make silky smooth water effects ? What look am I trying to achieve ?

When I am shooting landscapes or macro, I have all the time in the world to set up the shot, to think about composition, and to execute properly exposed photographs.

But what about sporting events ? The conditions change so rapidly, that it would be very easy to miss the "great shot" because I was messing with the controls. You see, on my camera and lenses, it still takes me a few seconds to work out the proper exposure, and then get the manual focus "just right".

Back Button Focus

Back Button Focus (BBF) allows me the ability to use auto-focus, initially to set up the focus, and then allow the AI Servo mode to lock focus on, while the subject is moving. It's like a set & forget mode - set up the focus & then get on with the business of shooting the subject.

It's called Back Button Focus, because on a Canon DSLR, the autofocus system is engaged by pressing the shutter halfway. If you want to engage the AI Servo mode, which tracks the focus on moving items, you'd need to keep the shutter halfway depressed. Which (for me, anyway !) brings the risk of accidentally snapping off a photo prematurely ! By moving the autofocus function to a seldom-used button on the back of the camera, it can be operated independently of the shutter !

So for the next week, I am going to try this technique out. Assuming I can get comfortable with it, I will continue this practice, just like I continue to auto-bracket my shots today. Please bear with me, and don't think that I am abandoning my principles - like all good habits, they take a little while to form !

The Photos

LOL. - There is no apparent means of telling that photos are the product of BBF ! But if I see a higher incidence of tack-sharp photos, _I_ will know the technique has paid off. You'll just have to wait & see if my photos get better...

Lessons Learned

I am constantly looking at various techniques to improve my skills. This particular technique appears straight-forward, and I am hoping that once I get used to it, the technique will help me capture tack-sharp photos.

Project365 - Vertoramas

Introduction

As always, I like to experiment with new techniques. We are in Cornwall, visiting family, and thought it would be great idea to get pictures of the bridge to the USA before it is pulled down. So, mixing technique with opportunity, I thought I'd see what I could capture.

A panorama photograph is typically created when the subject of the photograph is wider than the lens can capture in a single frame. Special software is used to stitch together two or more frames. A vertorama takes the landscape orientation & runs in portrait, top to bottom.
The challenge is having enough overlap between the photographs to be able to stitch them together into a single realistic image. There are also other challenges, usually related to light. As you pan across the image, the intensity of the light changes.
The Setup

Since I want to capture a lot of scenery, my trusty Canon 60D has my Canon 24-40mm f/4 wide-angle lens mounted on it. Since this is a really cold day - 18 degrees BELOW 0C ! - I think I'll give it a go without setting up my tripod. Equally, it is a very bright, sunny day - no need for secondary lighting.
The Photos
Creating a vertorama starts by taking a number of images vertically, such that about a third of the photos overlap each other. Then the photos are turned 90 degrees so the panorama software can stitch them.

The first photo, including a lot of the base. Many tutorials suggest that you start shooting with your toes in the image & work your way up !

Here, much of the original photo is still in view. I wanted to make sure there was lots of opportunities for the stitching software to find identical points.

Now we are starting to point upwards I would guess at about a 75 degree angle. For the entire shoot, my feet never moved. Nor did I change any camera settings.

This photo is looking almost vertical now.

I'm starting to lean over a little backwards - but my feet never moved ! :-P

In this, the final photo of the series, I am leaned way over backwards. Pat was quite sure I was going to fall over !





























So those are the raw photos. In the perfect world, I would have been tripod-mounted, with a rig which makes the tip of the lens the pivot-point. Given I am not expecting to become a professional vertoramist (I think I just made up a word !), I elected to forego such an expense, and thought I would try to shoot it handheld, and see what needs improvement. After all, this IS about learning and experimenting...

This is the output of the stitching program. As you can see, it stretched and turned some of the perspectives in the raw source photos, in order to align the reference points.

After cropping and straightening the output photo, I did a couple of quick touch ups. Finally, it was watermarked.














































Lessons Learned
In a future attempt, I'd like to shoot from the tripod. I think it would render a better product, especially in terms of the alignment of reference-points in the stitching software. Also, I would like to shoot a venue where I have more control over the lighting. As you can see, the sky in the final photo gets progressively darker as I shoot towards the sun.
I like this technique a lot. It is fun to shoot, and creates an interesting photo. Although I am starting to appreciate why most vertoramists shoot inside large buildings - like churches and railroad stations ! But that will be another day's shoot ...

Project365 - Out and About

Introduction

We were traipsing around Cornwall, and found so many interesting things to photograph. I had decided to use my wide-angle lens, to see what effect it would have on the feeling my photos.

The Setup

As always, I was shooting with my trusty Canon 60D. On it, I had mounted my Canon 24-40mm f/4L series lens.

The Photos

Some photographers like to take pictures of running water with long exposures. This smooths the flow, making it look soft & silky. Here, I was hoping to capture the crusty nature of the ice. That crustiness is also seen in the concrete wall, and the swirling water - I hope !

This is the bridge between Cornwall, ON and Messina, NY. I wanted to shoot it before it gets torn down. The very bright sunshine (flare in the top right corner) makes the bridge look dark & foreboding. Maybe this should have been shot in HDR, but I like the hard shadows.

The sluice way at the power dam posed a challenge. The fence you see creating leading lines is also cutting right in front of me. I opened up the aperture wide, and hoped that any incursion would be invisible. It almost was - a little cropping saved the photo.

Lessons Learned

This shoot was an "out and about" series. I had not scouted any locations previously, so I had no idea what challenges I would face. Equally, the brutal cold made me push to be just a smidge faster. Prepping the camera settings in the car beforehand really helped !

 

Project365 - Monochrome

Introduction

It's been a couple of days since I worked my Project365 program. I'm in Ontario, wrapping up the final details of my mother's death. The weather had been grey and frigid, and in haven't felt much like shooting. But that's the whole point of this project, isn't it ? So I decided to stay cosy and warm, and to shoot out our hotel room window. Since Kingston is the "Limestone City", and the weather is grey and grim, I thought it was high time I experimented in monochrome, or "black and white" as some people refer to it.

 

The Setup

Camera - Canon 60D, lens - Canon 24-105mm f/4 L

Nothing exciting today. Shot handheld out the hotel room window. A nice vantage point from the 5th floor.

 

The Photos

Kingston's famous City Hall sits across the road from Lake Ontario.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I very much like the look of the icicles hanging off the old copper roofs.

The famous Martello Tower (to the right), and Royal Military College across the causeway. Kingston, having once been Canada's capital has a rich military tradition.

A closer look at Royal Military College.

Lessons Learned

This was a straightforward shoot in that I set up to expose for shady white balance, kept the aperture at the mid point, and exposed at abou 1/60th of a second. The camera's sensor is very good at picking up the tones & hues, so it was easy to convert to monochrome in post-processing.

 

Project365 - Shoot the Snoot !

Introduction
In reading one of the various photography blogs I like, I come across many kinds of instructional "how-to" sections. Sometimes they have videos on YouTube, sometimes it is a vague description. Last weekend, I learned about gobos and snoots. Go ahead, look them up, I'll wait...
The Setup
The camera was my trust Canon 60D, and I affixed my 17-40mm f/4 L lens to it. I shot my Canon Speedlite 430EX IIflash, set at 1/32 power at 28mm. So low power & wide dispersement. Not that it matters when you use a snoot ! (You DID look it up didn't you ?)
The Photos
My semi-willing model puts up with most projects, but this one I expected to annoy her to no end ! Fortunately, I had the flash dialled low enough, she didn't even flinch !

I think I need to learn how to NOT capture the flash reflecting in my kodel's eyes ! You can really see this old dog's cataracts this way.

This photo shows off the snoot well. The light is concentrated on Annie (on the left), while sleeping Sandy remains dimly-lit. This brings the focus to our model.

I purposely shot this photo further back. See how the light falls away ? It accentuates the middle of the frame, while de-emphasizing everything else.







Lessons Learned
I still have a lot to learn about flash photography. This simple technique helps by using a focused beam of light to help accentuate the subject - Annie in this case. This was relatively close-up work. Next time, I might see what happens when I am further away from my subject.

Project365 - Explaining HDR

Introduction

Over the past few entries, I have dabbled a little with High Dynamic Range (HDR). I've had a couple of people ask me what it is, so I thought I'd pause for a moment and explain it. So this blog entry will be a little different.

The Setup

As usual, my camera is a Canon 60D, and I am using a 70-200mm f/4 L for the lens. I SHOULD have used a tripod, to insure the images were framed identically, and free of camera shake. I compensated for the potential shake by driving up the shutter speed to about 1/1000th of a second. I would have to let the HDR software deal with any misalignment.

Many DSLRs have a setting called Automatic Exposure Bracketing. On my camera, it is adjustable in the settings. It will automatically set up three exposures - one at the correct exposure (0EV), and then two more - one under-exposed and one under-exposed. In my case it was 1 and 1/3 stops. So my settings were -1.3EV, 0EV and +1.3EV.

My camera body also has the ability to shoot about six frames per second. So I set it up to shoot multiple images with a single click of the shutter, in high speed succession. So I could take all three pictures required for the HDR software in one shot.

The software, Photomatix, can take up to nine source images to create the final image, but three is sufficient for basic work.

The Photos

Here is the first photo at -1.3EV. It is very dark, and shows a bit of contrast.

 

 

At 0EV, we have a properly exposed image, which looks a little flat !

 

 

 

At +1.3 EV, it's very bright, but we start to lose the shadows & contrast.

 

 

 

The final photo, produced with an application called Photomatix, blends the three images together. You see all the details of the darker areas, while maintaining the contrast and details of the brighter areas.

Lessons Learned

I'm not sure I like HDR in landscape photography. As we have seen, it makes a final photograph look faked. I do like the process, and how it really accentuates architecture, for example. Once again, I got caught between always having a camera nearby, but not my tripod. But when an opportunity presents itself, you just gotta make the best of it ! Maybe I should just carry all my gear with me - I'd get a workout along with the photographs !

 

 

Project365 - When is HDR Too Much ?

Introduction
A couple of days ago, I decided it would be appropriate to mess around with High Dynamic Range (HDR). There is a lot of discussion in photography circles that HDR is way overdone. Tonight, I thought I would take a couple of examples of photos & see how they turn out.

The Setup
Camera - Canon 60D, Lens - Canon 70-200mm f/4 IS

I have been watching a certain venue for some time. If you come from the South of Calgary, up Highway 2, you come over a rise & the entire city is laid out in a beautiful vista before you. It's quite some distance from the house, and I haven't (yet) figured out exactly how I want to shoot it. So this evening I decided to stop just before dusk & take some test photos.

Note: I still haven't decided if I like Photomatix, so the photos have their watermark instead of mine.

The Photos

I like the overall effect of having the rays of the setting sun flaring out over the foothills of the Rockies. The foreground is very light, and (to MY eye) seems tinged a blue colour. This would be an image _I_ could see people calling "overdone".

 Here is a tight shot of the downtown core - about 25 km away ! The lights seems a little too bright - even a little surreal to me. 

This photo is of the new hospital Pat works at, called the South Health Campus. It was taken at dusk, so the foreground has been lightened considerably. I think this photo displays the correct use of HDR - because you wouldn't know it was, unless I told you !







Lessons Learned
I think that HDR does have a place in a photographer's toolbox, if it is used correctly. While it is fun and challenging to create the images, it is also very easy to create unrealistic photos. Something I'm not sure I like !

Project365 - ... Sailors Delight !

Introduction

For my 100th blog entry, I had intended to do something a little more challenging. If you saw my teaser on Twitter, you know I was planning something a little more advanced. But when opportunity knocks - you throw open the door !

My step-son pinged me on his way home from work. At first, I thought he was letting me know he was going to be late. Lo and behold, his text included an image of a remarkable weather formation. Of course, I HAD to photograph it ! =D

The Setup

Camera - Canon 60D, Lens - Canon 70-200 f/4 L

This was an exercise in opportunism. Fortunately, I have learned the value of leaving my camera in some fairly generic settings: about f/8, ISO 100 and shutter around 1/60th of a second. While they are rarely EXACTLY what I need, it's faster to get to where I need to be for a perfect exposure. And when opportunity knocks - it doesn't wait for me to fiddle with my camera settings !

The Photos

I probably took two dozen photos, just off the back deck. It's not the greatest vantage point, but I assumed that if I hopped in the truck in search of a better venue, I'd lose the light !

Look at how RED the sky is !

I especially like the banding of grey above the red. Incredible !

If you look just at the horizon, you can see another band of red. Simply stunning weather formation & lighting tonight !

Lessons Learned

Tonight's shoot was ENTIRELY opportunistic - proving that like a boy scout, I need to be prepared ! I think my plans are paying off. What do you think ? =D

 

Project365 - Pavillion

Introduction

I certainly enjoy shooting at night. The dark sky provides a backdrop that makes colours pop ! And Calgary has plenty of things that are beautifully lit up at night. Here is an example of one of those things. This is a Pavillion in a park, about a block from our home.

 

The Setup

Camera - Canon 60D, Lens - Canon 24-105mm f/4, Tripod - Manfrotto 190CX Pro 3

Another nice & easy setup. Although I wanted to keep the sky dark, without introducing a lot of noise. So I couldn't set the camera on Shutter priority or Aperture priority (why isn't there an ISO priority), so I stayed fully-manual to keep the ISO lowered. That meant shutter speed & Aperture were my adjustments - hence the tripod !

The Photos

I love how the pavillion's lighting created a spotlight effect ! Must remember to thank the city for lighting my shoot for me...

I like the drama that is created by the multiple spotlights. The highlights creating splashes of colour against the night sky.

So I freely admit that this photo went through post-processing, but only to crop & straighten it - no other adjustments. I'm still trying to decide of I like it straightened better than on the diagonal.

Lessons Learned

This shoot was about the "vision" of the shoot. I knew I wanted the sky to stay very dark. I would have a much more dramatic effect if I did. But at the same time, I didn't want to introduce noise by dramatically raising the ISO. So this shoot was about finding the balance point.

 

Project365 - A Little HDR

Introduction
OK, OK... I said I wanted to stay away from post-processing, and to concentrate on my basic skills. Well... What if the technique I wanted to play with was a post-processing technique ? Let me explain...
As part of my "process" I drive around the city and I see all kinds of cool things, and I wonder what it would be like to shoot them. I may scout the location four or five times, assessing everything from daylight to traffic to weather. I live near the top of a hill in Calgary. Across the valley stands Canada Olympic Park. Its a snow-sports training ground, where athletes train to ski, ski-jump, snowboard, bobsled and luge. Of course it is also open to the public, being a city-owned facility.

The Setup
Camera - Canon 60D, Lens - Canon 70-200mm f/4 L, Tripod - Manfrotto 190CX Pro 3

Simple enough - I stood on the opposite hill, set the long lens to infinity, set the Aperture to f/11, the ISO to 1000 and shot at about 1/50th of a second. I also set the camera up to bracket one full stop (+1 EV, 0 EV, -1 EV). This gave me the under-exposure, correct exposure and over exposure. Three photos to give me the lowlights & the highlights.

The Photos
This is a technique in creating High Dynamic Range (HDR). There are three images - the source files, and finally the HDR-rendered image. I am trying out a piece of trial software called "Photomatix", which is considered "the name" in the field. I haven't paid for a license, so I must live with their stamps.

The first image is under-exposed by one stop. This means it is darker, but when you watch the ski-jump you see more of the detail.

This second image is properly exposed. You can see more of the detail under the lights on the ski-hill itself. But the ski jump is a little washed out.

This image is over-exposed by one for stop. The ski-jump is completely washed out, and the ski-hill appears well-lit.

 

This photo is the HDR version. The ski jump has nice detail, and the ski-hill seems reasonably lit. You can make out more of the details in the merged image.

Lessons Learned
HDR is not easy to capture. I have a little piece of pseudo-HDR software on my iPad which works with two images. Its not all that fantastic. The more images you have to work with, the more reference points the software can include - which creates some stunning images !
The skill is in the setup. Tripod, composition, exposure, getting the bracketing set up, etc. If these are all set fairly well, you have a shot at some good HDR images. This is merely a sample of something I will likely work more on.

Just for giggles, here is the best HDR I can do on my iPad. It's passable, but nothing compared to what Photomatix does on my MacBook Pro ! Compare the individual lights on the ski-hill. It's about an order of magnitude better resolution.

Now to be fair, my iPad only gets JPEG photos, while my MacBook Pro is getting the RAW photos. Of course, that will make a huge difference.

 

Project365 - Shoot the Moon

Introduction

We went to Costco (or CostMO ! as I call it) this evening, and couldn't help noticing how bright & beautiful the moon was tonight. A nice easy subject to get the fundamentals down. No strobes, not gobos, no snoots.

Setup

Camera - Canon 60D, Lens - Canon 100-300mm f/4, Teleconverter - Canon 1.4X, Tripod - Manfrotto 190CX Pro 3, cable shutter release

The setup is straightforward, but for my long lens, the tripod & cable release are an absolute must ! I need to be able to keep the camera VERY still...

Photos

For the record, these are not black & white pictures. Shooting the Moon is a grey disk in a black sky. I wonder if shooting in monochrome would have affected the pictures ? But that's for a future shoot...

Shooting the moon is actually counter-intuitive. You're out in the dark, shooting into the sky. You think to yourself "I need to capture lots of light - open the aperture wide, and have long exposures. And this is what happens when you do !

Here's a better example - aperture down to f/22, ISO 100, and about 1/10th of a second. Now if only I had noticed the wind was waving the branches in the tree ! Time to move the tripod...

Just for giggles, I messed with the settings to try a long exposure. This is at 30 seconds. Can you hear the sensor starting to sizzle in the camera ? While I lost all the details of the moon, I do like the ghosted tree branch and the little bit of lens flare beside the moon.

This is the more traditional shot of the moon. You can see some detail, but I really need a much bigger lens in order to see craters & such.

Lessons Learned

I was right to follow my instincts. I took one look at the moon & said "that's really bright !", which was what attracted me to it. The setup was straightforward, and I got down to business right away. Then I had some fun playing with long exposures & such.

 

Project365 - Still Life

Introduction

When budding painters first start taking classes, the first thing they seem to paint is the fruit basket. Like a computer programmer learning to print out "Hello world !" on the screen, it seems to be a right of passage. Since the weather turned crummy in a hurry today, I thought I would follow in those budding artists footsteps !

The Setup

Camera - Canon 60D, Flash - Canon Speedlite 430 EX II, Triggers - Cactus v5s

I like to shoot in the dining room, as the overhead tungsten light is on a dimmer switch. Just like I can vary the light from my flash in manual mode, so can I vary the output of the overhead. So effectively, I end up with a two light system - ambient and strobe. The bowl of fruit remained fairly constant, while I varied the flash quite a bit. Let's take a look:

The Photos

In this photo, done early on, I was nailing down the intensity of the flash. I was overwhelming the ambient light at 1/16 power ! So I brought up the overhead light a smidge (a HIGHLY technical term), and lowered the power of the flash. The colours are bright, but with harsh shadows.

Just for giggles, this is just the ambient light. If I wasn't careful, the grapefruit and the tabletop were the same colour ! The photo is flat, as there isn't much contrast. Yawn !

This photo has the colours brighter and some contrast, due to the flash to the back right of the fruit bowl. But alas, the flash was too low & close to the table, washing it with harsh light. Blech !

 

This photo is bright, and the observant among you will notice I shifted the fruit around. I find this more pleasing to the eye. I put a snoot on the flash, in an attempt to lighten up the shadow under the front of the howl. It worked, but you can see reflections in the fruit !

I think that this is one of the best. The fruit is bright & clear. The two light sources are not competing, and the food looks appetizing. There are no harsh shadows or huge reflections.

Lessons Learned

While this wasn't a particularly interesting shoot, it allowed me to work through some of the fundamental theories of strobe photography. I played with everything from lighting angle to distance, to balancing the two light sources. After some 65 photos, I started to get a bit intuitive of how the photos might turn out !

I have been reading some colour theory, which would indicate that I might consider putting gels in front of my flash, to compensate for different types of light. Did you notice that only in the FIRST photo did the oak table actually look brown, rather than orange ? The strobe was at a very low angle to the table, so it wasn't really lit by the strobe.

I have read that trying to use a white strobe against a fluorescent ambient will produce a green tinge, while white strobe on incandescent produces an orange tinge - like we see in these images ! Yes, I know I can correct for them in post-processing, but not this year. =D