Staying Alert When Shooting

I went out on a shoot last night. There were a number of shots I have been meaning to take, but the conditions haven't bee favourable. This first one I have been I visioning for months. There's an on-ramp into Stoney Trail (Calgary's ring road) which has runoff basins on either side. They fill with the runoff from the highway, and the rainwater is meant to evaporate, but never seems to.

I like to shoot frames in triplets for HDR purposes. It actually achieves two purposes. The first frame is perfectly exposed. The second is 2/3 of a stop over, and the third is 4/3 of a stop over. This gives me the ability to bring up the dark & shadowy spots. Then after I apply the HDR process, I can always play with the exposure rate to get the mood I am looking for, without losing the details.

The challenge To shooting triplets at night is that you have to remember to be situationally-aware ! I was so concerned with getting the exposure correct, I failed to notice the traffic. The first exposure was about 4 seconds, the second about 6, and during the final 9 second exposure a pickup truck came racing through my shot !

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Project365 - Depth of Field

Introduction

In a previous post, I remarked that there IS such a thing as too much Depth of Field (DoF). I thought it detracted to the composition of the photographs. But then I wondered if I could turn that detraction into an advantage. To me, it seemed to be a good thing to experiment with ! So tonight's Project365 entry is about my experiments with Depth of Field.

The Setup

This was a little bit more complex. Of course, the camera body was my Canon 60D, and I mounted it on a Manfrotto tripod. Next I mated the camera body with my Canon 40mm f/2.8 prime lens, and used a 20mm extension tube. My subject was tiny, and wanted it to fill the frame. Next, I mounted my Canon 430EX II flash with the Cactus v5 triggers on a second tripod, and affixed a 8" snoot to focus the light very tightly. The flash was set to 1/64 power, and a 108mm beam.

The Photos

I shot a great number of test shots, attempting to dial in the settings. These are a sampling of some of the more interesting ones.

Here is one of the early photos of the set. You'll note how shallow the DoF is - not even the length of the tines of the fork ! I like the overall effect, but not the lighting or the background.

 

I turned the fork over, hoping to achieve a more interesting look. The farthest tine is sharply in focus, while the nearest is blurry. I still don't like the background !

 

THIS is more the effect I was hoping for ! The ends of the tines are in focus, and by placing the fork on a white plate, the background loses importance. Best, the blurriness increases as the eye travels down the tines.

 

 

 

Lessons Learned

After about two dozen shots, I started to achieve the look I was after. But it proved that I can use Depth of Field as an artistic part of the composition. Something I wouldn't have understood yesterday !

 

Project365 - Landscape Photography

Introduction
I have a friend, Derrell, who is a very good photographer. What I like most is his work in landscapes. Being an avid hiker, Derrell spends a lot of time in the back-country of the Canadian Rockies. You can find some fabulous examples of his work here. Personally, I don't think I have the "eye" for it like he does, but I still try to make technically good and visually interesting photographs.
The Setup
We were driving up to Red Rock Canyon, about 18 miles outside of Las Vegas, and it seemed like it would be a straightforward shoot. I mean, it's not like the subject is going to move or run away, so I could take all the time I needed, right ? =D
Camera - my trusty Canon 60D, lens - my "general purpose" 24-105mm f/4 L series zoom
The Photos

The road to Red Rock Canyon appears desolate in this photo. In fact, I was lucky that there just happened to be no cars going past at this time. The road helped create leading lines to direct the viewers eye from the foreground to the back.

These are the famous red rocks the canyon is named for. I'm quite sure a quick Google search would illustrate a high level of iron oxide in the rocks.

The gradient lines of the landscape from near to far are what captured my eye in this and the preceding photograph. The desert gives way to the foothills, which in turn give way to the mountains before reaching for the bright blue sky. It was shot at f/22, all areas are equally in focus.


Lessons Learned
I need to spend more time on this particular form of photography. While I can compose nice photos and create technically "true" representations, I don't feel very excited about my abilities in this genre. Oh, and please remember to give Derell's Facebook site a "like" if you enjoyed his work.

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.