Monthly Archives: March 2014

Photography with Intent

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Photography with Intent

I did originally compose this shot (tripod mounted camera of course) putting the thick central line (gap in my exterior car panel) off-center as I find the compositional Rule of Thirds very effective. However, before pressing the shutter, I realized that the prominent diagonals (mud on my car), minimalistic subject matter, and a central divider would give this photo a “pop art” feel to it.

When I make photographs like this I know they will not be popular on my flickr page where “in your face” wildlife shots get me the most views. While I recognize that wildlife is still my bread and butter subject matter with my audience, I do my best to diversify at times without alienating my viewing audience.

Tamron 90mm VC macro lens, Canon EOS 7D DSLR, Manfrotto 190xProB tripod with 489rc2 Ballhead, F/22, ISO 100, 1.6s exposure, Aperture-priority mode, One-shot Auto-focus Mode near center of photo, 2 second timer, Mirror Lock-Up, RAW file format

Lies brand t-shirt photoshoot

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DRB Photo Gear

Dave Blinders Strobes, Camera, and Lens

I did a quick inpromptu photoshoot last night in Northern New Jersey for my friend Joe who runs his own small skateboarding T-shirt business in his spare time. Knowing in advance that I’d be working in close confines, I thought one Alien Bees AB800 Strobe with a stripbox style box, a Canon 580exII with Opteka grid, my Canon 60D dslr, and Tamron 18-270mm VC lens would allow me plenty of diversity and lighting and composing options.

rimlighting portraiture by drb

Joe in rim lighting

Tamron 18-270mm VC, Canon 60D, and gridded 580ExII off-camera to subject’s left

girls holding skateboard

Korynne and Carmela holding skateboard deck

Tamron 18-270mm, Canon 60D, and AB800 w/ stripbox angled slightly from camera right

man in skate tee

Joe wearing his own branded T-shirt

Tamron 18-270mm Lens, Canon 60D, Gridded Canon 580exII Speedlight angled from slightly above subject

girl in skateboard t-shirt

Korynne in navy blue Lies T-shirt

Tamron 18-270mm VC, Canon 60D, AB800 strobe slightly above and right of subject

man in skateboarding t-shirt

Joe wearing one of his designs in white

Tamron 18-270mm VC Lens, Canon 60D, Gridded 580exII Speedlight aimed towards subject’s chest, AB800 on minimum power from subject’s right

girl in skateboard t-shirt

Carmela wearing black Lies t-shirt

Tamron 18-270mm Lens, Canon 60D, AB800 in stripbox slightly above and right of subject

girl in skateboard tank top

Korynne wearing blue Lies tank top

Tamron 18-270mm VC Lens, Canon 60D, 580exII Speedlight w/ Opteka Grid coming in from camera left

If you have any questions about the equipment, techniques, clothing line, or contacting the models please leave your information in the comments section or contact me via facebook.

Self-Critique on a photo I took today

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Image

From a VERY quick walk in this frigid weather.

Instinctively, I critique all of my photos on a technical and compositional basis when I review them.

Sometimes I notice things I couldn’t see through the viewfinder. In this particular shot, the small brown blur towards to the top left is an “error” in my opinion. It’s probably a distant dead leaf, and I feel it detracts a bit from the photo.

I would have removed it physically if I had noticed through the viewfinder. However, I do not like to alter my nature shots in post-processing, and I prefer not to crop. I do my best to present the scene as it was. I did though, move the feather from a pricker bush on the ground, to an elevated and isolated branch to make the shot. It blew away seconds later and I’m lucky I got a shot at all.

I did shoot a few frames at an aperture of F/4 also (presented shot is F/2.8).  The increased aperture brought nice detail into the feather, however I did not like the background elements that starting coming into focus.