Getting even closer: Tamron’s new 14-150mm “all-in-one” zoom lens.
Tag Archives: Photography
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
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.
Joe in rim lighting
Tamron 18-270mm VC, Canon 60D, and gridded 580ExII off-camera to subject’s left
Korynne and Carmela holding skateboard deck
Tamron 18-270mm, Canon 60D, and AB800 w/ stripbox angled slightly from camera right
Joe wearing his own branded T-shirt
Tamron 18-270mm Lens, Canon 60D, Gridded Canon 580exII Speedlight angled from slightly above subject
Korynne in navy blue Lies T-shirt
Tamron 18-270mm VC, Canon 60D, AB800 strobe slightly above and right of subject
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
Carmela wearing black Lies t-shirt
Tamron 18-270mm Lens, Canon 60D, AB800 in stripbox slightly above and right of subject
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
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.
Sunset over Wetlands, Loxahatchee NWR
I just flew back home to NJ from Florida yesterday morning and I have lots of files (hopefully good ones to sift through. I will be uploading new images from the trip regularly to http://flickr.com.com/davidraymond but I hope to provide some commentary and technique on individual photos on here as well.
Here’s one sample landscape image from the trip to take a look at it, meanwhile I’ve got to get back to the RAW file processing!
Sunset over Wetlands
Self-portrait with Strat
I dusted off my Alien Bee’s AB800 strobe to prep for some portrait work, draped my black muslin over my backdrop holder, manually pre-focused my 17-40mm lens (very small working conditions), and was happy to come up with this self-portrait.
Self-portrait with Strat
I’m actually sitting on an unseen stool here, so that was what I prefocused the lens on. I thought I’d try a pretty stark sidelighting angle with the AB800 angled slightly downward on camera left to create a “masculine lighting effect”. I do have the diffused beauty dish adapter, so I left that mounted on the AB800. I’m happy that there was not much light spilling on the background, which helps contribute to the somber and mysterious mood of this image.
One of the best parts of shooting on black is not worrying about background exposures!
Technique: Framing a sunrise
A fairly basic photo, but hopefully it has enough going for it to make viewers look twice.
First of all, I went to a section of the beach where I anticipated possible foreground elements to create a multi-dimensional image. I set my alarm so that I’d have some time to spare before first light came above the horizon, made sure I had my essential camera gear, grabbed a flashlight, and made the short drive over to the beach.
Gnarled Tree and Sunrise
I walked past this interestingly twisted dead root as soon as I neared the beach, and made a mental note that I could try to incorporate it into my scene. I continued to scout around for a few minutes after that, but realized that I probably wasn’t going to be able to beat the character of the root.
I set my tripod to a pretty low level so that the widest part of the root would not converge with the horizon for this frame, and I will admit to snapping off a vertically extending portion of the root to make sure it would fit into the photo. Another important part of this photograph is the sunburst effect, which I know is generally best achieved with my lens/DSLR combo at an aperture of F/22. I’ve found that having the sunburst disperse across a solid object to help amplify the effect, and I knew that I wanted to frame the sun within a portion of the root to further draw the viewer’s focus to the sun itself. That took some fine movements of the tripod to get things just right.
I also shot some horizontal frames before the sun came above the horizon, and will upload and possibly discuss those later this week.
My Personal View on Post-Processing
I read a lot about “must have” post-processing programs and plug-ins to “get the most out of photography”. I think the trends like adding background textures, post-processing blurs, and over-the-top HDR programs will eventually go the way of the Dodo.
Do you think Ansel Adams would have benefited from importing someone else’s floral patterns behind his powerful mountain images with often ominous storm clouds? Probably not. Did he go beyond basic post-processing? Not really (mostly what I consider rudimentary contrast enhancements). Does his photography have some of the greatest longevity we’ve yet to see? Of course!
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
If I don’t see semblance of a compelling image through my viewfinder or in the Camera Raw preview, I simply move on, and try to compose better next time I shoot.
Just my two cents.
Quack!
As winter quickly approaches, my mind always drifts towards the migrant ducks that congregate near Long Beach Island in New Jersey. Some of the challenges include isolating a single bird amongst their groupings, trying to predict where the diving ducks are actually going surface, and dealing with the very slippery jetty you have to walk out on.
Quack!
I like this intimate view of the Harlequin Drake because you get a nice view of his intricate patterns, and the very comedic value of a cute duck with his mouth agape!
One of my favorite photos from 2013
You wouldn’t believe the terrible condition this group of flowers was in. In fact, this particular petal was one of the few that wasn’t completely wilted. The vast majority of petals had already fallen to the ground as this photo was taken in early October and most blooming plants were WAY past their prime. I was quite surprised to stumble upon this small cluster of vivid flowers in a local park, but the overall scene was not pretty.
Positioning the tripod for a close photo was difficult. On a few early attempts, one of the tripod’s feet shook the plant during my setup process, causing most of the water droplets to fall off of the original petal I was trying to photograph. On a different attempt, I touched a petal to prevent two from intersecting…. this smudged the droplets and completely ruined the picture. I was also working against time, as bright morning sun is prone to burning dew and droplets off quickly.
It’s funny the small, yet important lessons you learn while photographing subjects like these. In this case: Handle with care, Be very mindful during tripod setup, and remember that many photographic opportunities are fleeting.
Water droplets on Flower Petal
Dave Blinder Nature Photography 