Tony's Photographic Blogger

2011-08-19T19:49:00.000-07:00

Hello,

As many of you already know, I've moved most of my blog posting over to a Wordpress based site with the same name: Tony's Photographic Blog. Here's my latest entry over there while you're here visiting. But go ahead and go there and update your bookmarks and RSS stuff while you're there.

Part of learning photography is to take on new challenges, experiences and projects. As a catalyst to egg me on to keep shooting something different each week, I've joined a group called Focus52 - Shoot at least one new photo a week for 52 weeks. Most weeks have a Prompt for you to follow too.

As part of this weeks Prompt; Water, I thought I'd challenge myself to learn something new and somewhat different. I've seen this trick done several times over the years, and have always added it to my "I'll have to learn that some day list", well today's the day for this line item.

This photo shows the main set-up. First, before you start adding water to the glasses, get everything else in place, experiment with placements, angles and lights long before you start tilting the platform the glasses are sitting on, and especially before adding water to the experiment. I spent a good part of the evening, just trying to figure out the best placement of lights, including the light-table I used as a backdrop. Turns out, it's a bit smaller than I needed, so I had to get the glasses as close to it as possible so that edges didn't show. The rest of it is just moving things around, take a shot, look at your screen, adjust as necessary the props/lights/camera settings, shot again, look at your screen, repeat as necessary.

I was mostly going for the best even lighting with the fewest reflections, especially bright spots in the glass. I don't have any soft-boxes, so I had to make due with what I had. If I had a little bit more time, I would have tried a few other things too.

Once you're pretty comfortable with your set-up, it's time to start tilting the platform that the glasses are on. My first set of test shots didn't have enough of an angle for what I wanted, so I had to tilt a bit more. I just used a cardboard box with a rubber placemat on top. Notice to the side a couple of measuring cups I used as 'technical spacers' to hold the box at the angle I needed. Also, I used a couple of standard 'cereal bowls' to get the light-table up to the the proper height I discovered I'd need once I started tilting things.

You'll also notice a ruler on hand for proper spacing of the glasses - And important - A towel to not only clean fingerprints off the glass, but water spots during the shoot too. Off to the other, "down-hill side" is a larger towel, just in case gravity takes over a little too much.

Once I got the proper angle, then it's a matter of tilting the camera so that it's still parallel and square with the glasses and platform. A ruler helped here too, make sure you're square from left to right also.

Now it's just matter of adding water. I used a small little pitcher that allowed me to pour a bit more accurately, with less spills and splashing. From there, it's must more experimenting as too how much water you'll need. Keep that towel handy, as you're going to need to dab out water spots still.

Every step of the way, I'd fire off a couple shots, just in case. Tweak the lights as needed, play some more and shoot some more.

As for the colored water; I was going to use food coloring (I even thought about using juice at one point, but that's very messy to clean-up and expensive too), but didn't have any, so the colors were added in Photoshop afterwards - Which is another lesson on my Photoshop blog for another day.

Enjoy, experiment, have fun,

Tony

I've Moved – Follow Me To My New Sites

2011-05-28T21:53:00.000-07:00

Hello, first, I'd like to Thank all of you that have followed me over the years. I know there haven't been many of you yet, but I do appreciate those of you that have. And, I know that I'm not real punctual at keeping this site up to date, but I do try, and will increase the posts even more now that I've made some changes. I'm still in the process of learning about all of this blog business stuff, as I've still got a lot of fun teaching about photography to pass on. So read on, have fun and pass the word to all your friends to follow me too.

In order to kind of concentrate my thoughts, messages and/or ideas (I know, those who know me are probably laughing when I said "concentrate"... Ha, go ahead, laugh), I've moved to a WordPress based web-site and have broke things into three different venues of teaching:

Tony's Photography Tips, which will concentrate on camera's and general photography skills in general. Even though photography equipment has made some huge advancements in the last 5 years or so, the basics of photography and how your camera makes an image are all still the same. In order to be a great photographer, you'll need to at least be comfortable with the "tools" that are available.

Tony's Photoshop & Lightroom Tips, which will concentrate on, you guessed it – Photoshop & Lightroom Tips and Ideas. Both of these "Digital Darkroom" packages have come a long ways, and are even more powerful today, providing an unprecedented amount of power to todays photographer that likes to work on their own images after the shot.

And now my latest addition – Eurisko Adventures. This latest web-site will concentrate more on the specifics of travel and adventure photography. There are those that specialize in weddings, family/senior portraits, pets, food, architectural, etc. Me, I like to travel and explore, which generally includes a little bit of adventure – This is a place for me to tell you how you can too.

As always, go to my Facebook; Tony Locke Photography to keep up with all that's going on, make sure you LIKE it so that you'll receive all the news that news. Also, make sure you go over to Alternative Focus Workshops Facebook (shared with That Photo Shoppe), LIKE it too, and the Blog to sign up for our newsletter and keep up with our on going (and very exciting) Photography, Photoshop & Lightroom Workshops. You just missed a great 2-day workshop on San Juan Island.

So, move on over to the new sites, bookmark them, LIKE them and of course – Tell Your Friends Too! We've got a lot of new ideas, events and other fun things coming up this year.

Thanks again for coming by,
See you at the new and improved places for me to get all of these ideas out of my head,
Tony D. Locke, MM
(still reigning, Master of Madness)

2.2 of Tony's Tips For Creative Shutter Speed Images

2011-02-13T22:38:00.000-08:00

Whether you’re inside photographing family or outside capturing a cowboy at the rodeo, knowing how to capture motion is an important photographic skill to practice. There’s “Normal shutter speed”, then there’s “Creative shutter speeds”.

Sometimes freezing the action is what’s needed, while other times using slow shutter speeds of up to 20 seconds or longer are required to get the right effect. Here are 2.2 techniques which will help you convey or imply motion in your images to your viewers. With these 2.2 techniques, it doesn’t matter whether you want to stop the action or add blur - You’re the one in control of your image.

Tip #1) Those Silky Water Shots. This technique is one of my favorites. Be fore-warned, these require very long shutter speeds - And a tripod. Water is an integral part of many landscape images, and to be creative you need to first ask the question: Will this image look better with the water frozen in place or silky and blurred?

Most of the time, unless it’s wave crashing up over some rocks, I prefer to have my water smooth and silky. These types of shots help set a different type of mood in your landscapes.

What shutter speed works best? If you’d like to get that soft water effect, start with shutter speeds around 1⁄4 to 2 sec.

Again, you’ll need a tripod at these speeds. You want everything else in the scene; bridges, docks, rocks, trees, etc. to be rock solid (pun intended). Only the water, or in the case of this train too, should show any motion.

Would you believe that this train was only traveling at walking speed? With a long enough shutter speed, about 2 sec here, it looks like he's moving much faster - The magic of photography!

At these speeds your camera will still retain most of the detail and contrast in the water, it’s just going to be smoother. If you really want to have some fun, try shooting even slower, jump up to 15 to 30 seconds.

Now, in order to get these creative slower shutter speeds without creating an overly bright exposure, you’ve got to employ some other techniques to limit the amount of light that’s able to get to your sensor.

You’ve got several options. You’re first option is to set your aperture to ƒ/22 (Remember - The larger the number the smaller the aperture, the less light going to make it thru that hole). Also, if that’s not enough, adding a polarizing filter will reduce the light another one to two stops beyond that. This combination should allow for a shutter speed of around a several seconds.

This works even better on overcast, rainy days as the light levels will already be lower than sunny days - Plus, as an added bonus, your colors will be more saturated and the vegetation and rocks will have a nice wet sheen to them.

Who says you can’t have fun on rainy days? Some of my best shots are taken then. Now, when it’s pouring down and the wind’s blowing, sorry, but it’s not fun outside anymore.

OK, next. In-order to get those really, really slow speeds you see in some of those amazing images, you’ll need more help. You can add a relatively inexpensive Neutral Density (ND) filter or two to block some more of the light entering your lens. ND filters are essentially, dark grey pieces of glass which restrict light without altering colors. Depending on how much light you’d like to restrict for these slower shutter speeds, you could add incremental ND filters rated at 1, 2, or 3-stops each. Again, each stop of light reduction means one more click slower on your shutter speed settings, with each f-stop equaling half as much light as the previous setting. But - And you there was going to be a “But”, as everything has a trade off. These extra layers of possibly distorting glass, stacked on the front of your lens, may not be doing your images justice.

Next option in the ‘ole tool bag. Everyone that loves long exposure photography loves the Singh-Ray Vari-ND filter. This great little toy enables you to incrementally dial in the amount of light blocked, anywhere from two to ten stops, with one (albeit slightly expensive) filter—How much blur would you like today sir?

With the Vari-ND or other ND filters, you can now photograph at speeds from 20 to 30 seconds in midday sunlight (though afternoon light looks nicer), providing those incredible silky waterfalls, streaks of clouds across the sky and other-worldly looking ocean scenes. I love the look of crashing waves for 30 seconds in the late afternoon, don’t you?

Tip #1.2) If you’ve got an iPhone, iPod Touch or maybe they’ve got one for those Android phones now too, there’s a great little Free app called “Long Time” which will calculate your exposure times for you! (Here’s the: I have no relation/interest/don’t get paid/etc. from Long Time, kinda disclosure inserted here by those fine folks somewhere in some legal dept.). You know me - More cool toys & apps. By the way, just for an odd “did you know?” - I saw somewhere that the word “app” was voted 2010 top new word of the year. Shoot, I make up new words all the time. Most by accident, via the brain not communicating with the speaking parts.

OK, here’s how to use it. Take your time and get your composition all lined up ready to shot (might was well go ahead and take a shot while you’re there in case the long exposure doesn't work), set your camera to Aperture Priority, and set your aperture for the depth-of-field you’d like, then make a note of the shutter speed your meter gives you. Switch over to Manual Mode and set the same Aperture. Whip out your “Long time” app, enter in the original shutter speed and the number of stops of ND filter you’ve added - It will now calculate the new shutter speed you’ll need. Sweet!

Now, don’t say I didn’t warn you, but there’s something else you may not have known: This was just as much an phenomenon in the good ‘ole film days as it is today, its just that the physics and the after-effects are a bit different now. There’s no need to go into the hows, whats & whys here, that’s another long boring story. It’s just that, above a couple minutes of exposure, there are a few odd things that can happen.

Don’t worry, it’s nothing drastic, nothing’s going to explode, the investigators from Fringe or the X-files won’t get called in, you won’t become sterile, and no, time does not stand still. It’s just that at these real long shutter speeds, the math may start falling apart and not produce the type of image or as an accurate an exposure as you’d expected, so you may need to experiment a bit more -

Which is all part of the fun we have in this exciting hobby we call Photography!

Now - The other fun creative use of Shutter Speed. The Action-Stopper.

Tip #2) On the other end of the scale as you pass from long exposure, thru “normal shutter speed”, you get to practice another art of motion photography - Freezing the Action, with blazing fast shutter speeds: Think 1⁄1000 sec., 1⁄2000 sec. and even higher. Your goal now is to eliminate any blur in the image, stop the motion - Many times in mid-air. This doesn’t mean eliminating the perception of motion; just eliminating blur in the shot.

In these images of birds flying and horses playing polo, although the action is stopped, there’s no doubt about motion in the image! To really stop the action, start with a shutter speed of 1⁄1000 sec. This speed should freeze most common action, but you may need to go even faster for, you guessed it - faster action. It’s going to depend on the subjects speed and how you want to convey it to your viewers.

The compromise (yes again, there’s always a compromise) is that you’ll need a large aperture opening to allow enough light in for a properly lit exposure. Now that most of the newer digital cameras are capable of improved low noise, try dialing up your ISO to 400 or 800 to gain extra speed/light.

Now, the other challange is getting sharp focus on your subject. Here are two ways to accomplish this: One option is to use your “predictive focus tracking”, which tracks your subject refocusing while you hold the shutter button down half-way (pull out the manual for your camera to look this up) or prefocus ahead of time at the point that you’d like to capture the motion. Modern cameras are amazingly accurate with their new focus tracking capabilities, so I’ll normally use either one of these methods, depending, not only on the subject, but also, which direction it’s going.

Many cameras feature a group-focusing pattern, which causes the camera to search for your subject as it moves through the frame - This can be a good thing or it could slow you down and cause you to lose the shot (as the puppy and grandkid go running by). Experiment with your camera to learn the best way to take advantage of each tool it includes. For the prefocus technique, try focusing on a spot where you know the subject will pass through, like jumping horses or motorcycles; practice on the first few that come thru, then lock that focus for the rest. If you can prefocus on the subject as they come up to the jump or point that you’d like to shot them, holding the shutter half-way until just the right moment.

Just remember - Photography is just like any other hobby, be it guitar, bike racing, dance or pottery - This will take practicing, experimenting, learning more about how your camera operates in each situation, then practicing again, experimenting some more, looking at your results (which is where digital comes in real handy - looking at your experiments right away), learn from them and experiment and practice again. Luckily the practice isn’t as boring/repetitious as piano lessons can be - I know, I’ve been there.

Oh yeah, Remember one more very important tip - HAVE FUN!!

Wildlife

2011-02-12T12:39:00.000-08:00

Still in the process of putting together your next lesson, but thought I’d throw in a quick reminder of the day while it’s in my head:

Anything that has nothing to do with elephants is irrelephant.

Have a good day!

Focus52 Week 5; Theme: Framed

2011-02-06T17:11:00.001-08:00

Week 5 of a new challenge I've undertaken on my Flickr site.

If you're looking for ways to motivate you, inspire, give you reason to go shoot, this is just one example.

Join an on-line group, create a project for yourself, find something that will motivate you and/or stir up your creative juices.

Look at other peoples projects. Do they have a theme that you can relate too? Is there one that has a challenge that you'd like to attempt?

Projects can be short, as in something you'll complete today. They can be one new photo every day for 365 days. Or, they can be submitting one new photo a week for 52 weeks as I'm doing in this Focus52 group.

The trick is, to find something and get started. I know, that sounds odd coming from someone like me. Someone that's never known what the word Focus means. But, I'm trying it and so can you.

Join Flickr for starters. It's Free to have up to 200 photos and 3 sets. You can always delete photos as you start to max out or, you could join for $24/year and keep adding all you want.

Then, start a project, a theme, a challenge, something new to learn, something new to show someone else. Post your images on your Flickr site and let the world know.

You don't have to be shy about having shots that don't look professional - That's not what it's about! It's about having fun and learning. Even the best professionals out there started as an amateur too.

So... Get started.

That Ole Workhorse 50mm lens

2011-02-02T13:39:00.000-08:00

Hello again,

Lets talk about that 50mm "only" lens.

For those that have been shooting for awhile, that great little 50mm you once used may have been relegated to the bottom of your camera bag to collect dust, while your more glamorous telephotos, wide angle and other zoom lenses now have all the fun.

Those of you new to DSLR photography probably figure you don’t need a 50mm, after all, your new camera came with an 18-55mm - “Won’t that work?”

Long answer short - Yes, but, No! That “kit lens” is generally a great starter lens, but you’ll soon find that you’ll need to upgrade it... Soon. Look for one or two of the better quality zoom lens, but also consider a 50mm prime lens too - Just for the fun and challenge.

This once popular tool, which came as the “standard lens” for a new 35mm SLR “back in the day”, has now been completely displaced by those inexpensive, distortion-prone mid-range zooms with slow-as-molasses focus, which are now standard stock on most new DSLR’s. I blame the folks in the Marketing Dept. for that.

But at least that mid-range zoom has gotten better and is a great start for your venture into the world of DSLR photography. Keep practicing and learning more.

The 50mm dilemma - They’re not long enough for some scenes, nor wide enough for others. Not being able to zoom makes them more challenging to use. Then, why bother? For most modern day digital photographers, spoiled with zooms, the thought of using, much less buying, a 50mm “only” lens is all but forgotten.

Here’s why you should consider either digging yours out or buying one.

Not only are they excellent for hand-held photography in low-light conditions, but as most have a much wider aperture than many zooms, this allows for excellent selective focus and shallow depth-of-field shots. When stopped down, you can also render a scene tack sharp from front to back.

And, since most prime lens have superior glass, images taken with the 50mm “only” lens exhibit superb sharpness and contrast found only in the more expensive pro-level zooms. Add in features such as low distortion, compact size and lightweight - Maybe you’ll start to appreciate the value and utility of the standard 50mm “only”.

Don’t worry about whether the 50mm lens you have is of the f/1.8, f/1.4, f/1.2 flavor, or, even the one I have, the Macro f2.5. They’re all great. Most are autofocus but you’ll work with manual focus often too. Actually, the Macro versions may be more versatile, as a Macro and a standard 50mm.

I’ve got my eye on one of those f1.4’s though. The f1.2’s may allow twice as much light, faster low-light shutter speeds, shallower depth-of-field & nicer bokeh than f1.4, but - all at a much steeper price.

The angle-of-view of a 50mm lens is about 46-degree (on a full-frame sensor, slightly less on an APC sensor), which is very close to what we see with our naked eye. The problem for most photographers is - 1) it’s not wide enough to capture a large group. 2) it’s too wide for the inside of confined spaces or 3) not powerful enough to bring those distant objects into acceptable image size.

Yeah, so. Work with it!

Knowing the limits of what this focal length can or cannot do to your pictures will lead to better training of your “photographer’s eye”.

The 50mm Shuffle:

While many will dismiss the 50mm focal length as being “compositionally challenged - This is where the extra work/challenge comes in - You have to move yourself (while looking thru the viewfinder) in order to get the desired results. If your subject is too far away, you just shuffle your feet to get closer to the scene. If the space between you and the subject is too tight to include everything into the frame, then you have to shuffle your feet backwards a bit in order to fit everything in.

I know it can seem tough, I’ve been there myself. But that’s part of the fun!

So dig out your old 50mm or go find one to purchase. I found mine on Craigslist for under $80 (make sure you bring your camera to test used ones).

Next time you leave for a “photo-walk” - Take only your 50mm, you may surprise yourself.

Thanks again for visiting.

How To Chose An F-Stop, What They Are & Why You Need To Know

2011-01-28T13:01:00.000-08:00

As part of our "Basic Core Fundamental" classes that we produce thru Alternative Focus, we always cover the 4-Fundamentals; Shutter-Speed, ISO, Composition & today - Aperture - What it is and how, along with why to use it.

Aperture settings are an important tool that you'll need to learn when you want to control the 'Depth of Field', which is, how much of the scene, from front to back is in focus - or actually, is out of focus, drawing your viewers eye to part of the scene that is important, while creating a soft diffused background.

From time to time, in order to provide you with some variation from my writing, along with different ideas, I'm going to start testing the idea of including articles written by others in my blog. I'm also combining my writing between this and my Alternative Focus blog as practice to when we expand our services, which will include newer web-sites, newer workshops and new services - Stay tuned to learn more as we unfold all of these new ideas.

In the mean-time, to read more about F-stops go here:

http://alternativefocus.blogspot.com/2011/01/how-to-choose-f-stop-and-why.html

Intimate Detail in Outdoor Photography

2011-01-28T12:34:00.000-08:00

Hello again,
From time to time, my posts will include links to other articles that I find educational, informative and/or of course, humorous too.
Comment below or on my Facebook, your thoughts on this or anything else about this site - Pros & Cons, so that I can make it even better.
Here is one of my first links:

The process of making an image of magic and mystery

Intimate Detail - Outdoor Photographer

Ratios, Fractions and Light Balance

2011-01-18T17:02:00.000-08:00

Hello,

I was thinking of putting together a quick post on how to balance Flash vs Ambient light, as that's one of the things I've been studying.

Turns out there can be a lot of math involved, which is fine for me as I excelled in my Math & Science classes.

But then I came across a study that shows... "4 out of 3 people have trouble with fractions".

I think I'll wait.

White Balance Tools

2011-01-16T20:41:00.000-08:00

Hello again,

I did a post on my Flickr page recently and one of my images still had my Spyder Cube in it as a Grey Card" reference - Which prompted questions on: "WHY?"

So, here's a quick explanation.

All lighting sources have different color temperatures to them. From warm sunlight to yellowish/green fluorescents and blueish tungsten incandescent bulbs. You want to get your White Balance set so that white colors in your image are actually white and not tinted to some other yellow/green/blue shade. With your camera on Auto White Balance, it's going to try and do this for you - Notice I said "try". Generally they do OK, but for accuracy you use a Grey Card. And shot RAW if possible.

Essentially, you're using the black, white and grey areas as a 'known reference' colors in a scene. Most photo processing software such as Photoshop and Lightroom have an Eyedropper tool that allows you to click on a "Grey Card" to set your White Balance - You're telling the software that this is a known, calibrated 18% Grey color, it will then calibrate the rest of the colors to match. You can also use in either Levels or Curves the Black, Grey and White Eyedroppers to set what are called "Black Point & White Point".

Once you've done that for the image with the cube or grey card in it, you save those settings, then when you open up any of the other images with the same lighting, just paste those settings to them (depending on which software you're using) and this allows you to batch process photos for proper White Balance and Exposure.

Now, in this image I've not only left the Spyder Cube in (just for fun), I've also done some extra tweaking of colors too. Go to my Flickr link to see the rest of the set - Playing with toys.

Here's a link to DataColor's tutorials on how to use the Spyder Cube.

spyder.datacolor.com/learn_videos.php

Next post, which is coming up soon, will be on Night Photography.

Thanks again for coming by and reading my blog.

Things To Ponder & Wonder While Learning Photography

2010-10-27T22:01:00.000-07:00

I love learning new things (as well as teaching them), and great quotes provide just something new to ponder - Especially ones that are not only true, but if they are scientific in nature (as science, art and photography are related) and if it applies to many fields of study (or life) and it has a bit of humor - That's even better!

Many who have followed the life of Albert Einstein know that, not only was he a genius - He also had a great sense of humor.

As you're struggling thru your latest photography challenge, ponder some of his thoughts, maybe it'll make it easier for you to get thru - Or, at least provide a nice smile.

"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tired anything new."

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."

"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing."

"Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater."

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."

"If "A" equal a success in life; Then, "A equals "X" plus "Y" plus "Z". Work is "X"; "Y" is Play and "Z" is keeping your mouth shut!"

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed."

"You see, wire telegraph is kind of like a very, very long cat - You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand? And radio operates exactly the same way: You send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat."

And last but not least, a sign hanging in Einstein's office at Princeton: "Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts."

Tony

Learning The Ways Of The Sun & Moon

2010-09-24T17:29:00.000-07:00

Well, we finished off our "Sunset under Deception Pass Bridge" workshop with a lot of great photos captured by all that attended. Unfortunately, on the 4th day the clouds did not cooperate so the shots weren't any fun. But, by then so many photographers had heard about our "secret spot", that we had a large party of people just having fun hanging out - and waiting, for a sunset that never showed up.

That's the most important part of our workshops, besides learning more about this fun craft - having fun hanging out with other photographers.

I'm currently at a Starbucks, on my laptop, so I don't have any of my shots with me to show here, but you can quickly go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/masterofmadness to see them.

While I'm on the subject of sunsets and my previous blog was on the moon, I thought I'd let you in on a very useful website and it's software for predicting the times and locations of each.

It's called "The Photographer's Ephemeris" It will allow you to choose a date and location to find out exactly when and where the sun & moon will rise and set, along with lots of other Gee Whiz info for use at your next cocktail party. TOO COOL!

Go to http://stephentrainor.com/tools and download the FREE software he has. It's an amazing piece of work that he's put together. Make sure you download the proper version for your type of computer, and get the Adobe Air program too, as you'll need that to make it work.

The software's pretty self explanatory, so I'm not going to go into how to use it here. But, just in case - Read the tutorials to learn more about the sun & moon than you ever thought you needed to know.

OK, enough for today.

Thanks again for playing along,
Tony

More "Gee Whiz" Info For Shooting At Night

2010-09-20T22:49:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Well, just had a 2nd night of our "shooting the sun going below Deception Pass Bridge workshop". The weather's been hit-n-miss, but the sunset turned out great and everyone was capturing some great shots. I was busy helping students, so I'm hoping I was able to capture some nice shots too. I'll go out again tomorrow, weather permitting. I'll get some images up here soon. Here's a shot I got from before, tonight's sun was more to the left.

While I'm thinking about it - The reason for this post; When we were hiking back to the cars, we all noticed an almost full moon slowly passing behind the clouds - Another great photo op! Maybe tomorrow.

So, with that came several questions from our group - How to Shoot The Moon - So, here's your next "Gee Whiz" shooting tricks for getting great moon shots - And an upcoming workshop. I'll add those photos samplers later.

There are two things you have to keep in mind when shooting the moon;

First - It's moving! It can actually move a distance equivalent to its diameter every 2 minutes. What this means is that if you try to go for any exposure longer than a few seconds, it will warp itself out of shape - And, the longer the exposure, the more "wiener like" it's going to become.

Second, if you're going to try and have a great, properly exposed moon with great detail and no stretching, and expect some great detail with proper exposure for your foreground objects too - Forget it! There's just too much exposure range to capture them both.

The moon can be very bright on some nights which will cause your foreground to be underexposed. If you expose for your darker foreground - expect an overly blown out & stretched moon.

Now, if you're using a wide-angle lens and the moon is small in the sky, then movement isn't as much an issue. But if you've zoomed in for a unique "Big Moon" shot - Read on.

The trick, which has been performed since the dawn of film, is to make a double exposure. That is - shoot two exposures - One for the moon and another for the foreground, without moving the camera. In the 'old days', you would shoot the 2nd image without advancing the film. Actually, it was more work than that, but that was just how those film days were - Do you still miss them? Today, we can take a couple shots of each element, setting the exposure as needed in each frame, then simply combine them in Photoshop. This provides the added benefit of a lot more control over the final image, with no wasted film and developing fees.

Ah, another digital bonus - Since you've got great moon shots, save them to drop into other photos too! But you didn't hear that here.

Exposures for the foreground should be pretty straight forward (if not, stay tuned to this blog or our Alternative Focus blog www.alternativefocus.blogspot.com for more classes or email me with questions) so go ahead and capture a couple of images, paying attention to you composition skills, then move on to your moon shots.

Now, the trick for getting a great exposure on the moon surrounded by black sky - Start with an exposure of around 1/250 second at f8 and ISO 100 for a full moon, focused on infinity. Jog to about 1/125 or 1/60 for a crescent moon. Now of course, there's going to be a bit of leeway here, depending upon other conditions, but this will get you very close.

There, you now have enough of the basic tricks for great moon shooting. Now go out and practice, study how they came out, learn what worked and more important, what didn't work, and practice again.

We've received many requests, so now we're also putting together more night & low-light photography classes, as well as some star-trail shooting.

Stay tuned to this blog and more importantly our Alternative Focus blog (www.alternativefocus.blogspot.com) for upcoming classes. You'll also find more info & links there to our Facebook, Twitter and everything else photography in the great San Juan Islands & Skagit Valley.

Thanks,
Tony

OK, OK - HERE'S A BIT OF "GEE WHIZ" INFO

2010-09-18T15:54:00.000-07:00

As I prepare for tonight's sunset during equinox workshop, I've got a couple of odd facts for you.

First, the reason for this class on this date - The infamous Deception Pass Bridge, connecting Fidalgo Island to Whidbey Island, which literally has thousand of photos taken of it every year - with good reason - It's a great bridge to photograph.

But, only twice a year can you catch the sun setting directly below the arch of the main span of the bridge! This weekend is one of those times!

So get out there - Oh yeah, you don't know the secret spot to hike to. That spot which allows you to see the sun setting right where you'd like it.

Well, if you haven't already signed up for our workshop, you can either wait till spring for it, and our workshop to happen again, or shoot me an email and I'll describe how to get there.

Now for the odd facts -

Once the sun touches the horizon, it takes only 2 minutes for it to disappear! Don't believe me? Go watch a sunset and time it. Actually go watch a lot of them, they're all different.

2nd odd fact; While you're out there looking at the horizon, put your fingers up and hold them so that you're looking at about an inch of the horizon between them - that is equal to about 38 miles of horizon. Of course, your milage will vary - depending on your horizon. But it's still fun to think about.

OK, talk to you later,
Tony

Hey - I'm Back!

2010-09-18T15:19:00.000-07:00

Hello fellow photographers.

I know, I know, I've been very bad about getting new posts/lessons/ideas out to you lately - Again. I'm sorry, I've just been a busy space cadet, preoccupied with a lot on my mind these last couple weeks/months.

We've also been busy trying to figure out what to do with That Photo Shoppe while looking for at least part-time work. Since the job market is pretty much non-existent, and we're much more comfortable being self-employed, we're working on creating our own jobs.

But, since I've got time on my hands now, I've made a commitment (been told to actually) to getting active again, especially after a bunch of new ideas have come up. The latest being combining the fun of photography with my desire/dreaming of boating. I'm just now starting to put together some concepts and adding some ideas for this blog.

The workshops have still be doing OK though. Some have been smaller than normal while others have sold-out, and everyone has a good time. We're in the middle of putting together even more.

Keep in touch to learn about those.

Here's our workshop site: http://www.alternativefocus.blogspot.com/
Our store's site: www.thatphotoshoppe.com
My Flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/masterofmadness/

Have any questions/ideas - or - if you're a boater looking for a crew member with a camera - Let me know.

Thanks, I'll be back,
Tony

Long Time No Post & That Photo Shoppe is Closing

2010-05-06T21:05:00.000-07:00

Hello to the handful of people that have actually found me and read my stuff - When I get around to posting something.

It's been a busy & crazy spring, I've got plenty of stories started, just haven't have a chance to finish and post them. I'll get back to that soon.

But the big & Sad news of the day is the closing of That Photo Shoppe, our photography store in Anacortes, WA.

Times were pretty slow this past year, which had us moving to this current location last summer to lower our operating costs, which helped, but at the same time, the old saying "location, location, location" - or lack of, has actually made things worse. Even though we're only a 1 1/2 blocks from our old store, so many customers thought we were gone and never found us. While, at the same time we started picking up new customers, especially ones needing photo restoration and printing services, but alas, it's still not been enough to make this 'location challenged" store work as we'd like. There's just not enough foot traffic for new customers to find us and a neighbor has some large dumpsters that hide the view of us from the main street, even though we're only a 1/2 block back.

But even with all that, the momentum has started to return and our workshops have been very successful.

But then came a new challenge. We've been on a month to month lease for 10 months, and the rent's reasonable for the space we're in, but the landlord (who's actually been very good to us) is planning an extended trip to Greece and would like to have us sign a 1-year lease before he leaves. We're not willing, able or wanting to commit to this space for that amount of time. Sorry.

We're in the middle of looking a several other retail spaces, but as of today, time has run out. So, the hard decision to "temporarily close down" until better options come along was made.

We're still in the process of buying out QuickSilver Photo Lab in Bellingham too, which is not complete nor set in stone either - Adding to the frustration, as one decision about how to deal with the store hinges on the other decisions about the other store! Make sense? Got any ideas?

So, that's the news that's news today.

Stay tuned. For those of you who (whom?) know us, or would like to contact us, all the web-sites, phone numbers and emails for That Photo Shoppe and Alternative Focus (our workshops company) will remain active during this "time of change".

Also, Email me at tlockemm@gmail.com if you've got any questions or ideas, not only for either one of our stores, our workshops or this blog.

Thanks again,
Tony D. Locke, MM

5.8 Of Tony’s Collection of Photography Tips and Tricks

2010-01-13T13:09:00.000-08:00

It’s that crazy time of year again, trying to start off a new year (hopefully with new toys from that jolly Santa dude) and figuring out which, if any, resolutions to make or even keep.

But in between tearing down and disposing of the tree and all it’s trimmings (you did recycle your tree didn’t you?), cleaning up after the long holiday weekends and getting back to work - Don’t forget to take time for, what is among my favorite hobbies, and should be yours too - Photography.

As I study more photography related things and talking with those learning this fun hobby, I keep coming across a handful of important basic tips & tricks that every photographer that’s been at it awhile should already know, but may have forgotten, and those that are just starting out should learn now.

So, as my mind starts to wander off for awhile, I’ll start thinking to myself, “...These basic ‘tricks’, this is what people just beginning REALLY need to know. I haven’t posted anything new for awhile, so I should put some of these ideas/tips onto my blog today…”

Then, shortly after that, as usual, my mind started to wander off somewhere else again. It’s a curse I tell ya. One of many that I live with.

Hence, only 5.8 tips for today. But I’ll get to the others soon.

So, if you unwrapped a shiny new digital camera, and started wondering “what now” - Read on.

While these tips apply to “point-n-shoot/happy-snappy” cameras, if you’ve got a shiny new DSLR, you can play along too.

THE BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TRICK OF ALL TIME -

FOR ONE OF THE MOST FRUSTRATING CAMERA ISSUES OF ALL TIME -

SHUTTER LAG

Tip #2; Think Like A Pro; Work the “Magic Hour” - Dinner and/or breakfast can wait.

Hey, if you want those great shots you see the pros make, you’ll soon realize, you may lose a lot of sleep. If you drool over those award-winning, breathtaking landscapes, be it a mirrored lake with shimmering colors in the woods or golden clouds painted across the sky... just remember, someone got up long before the rooster crows to be ready and in place with their tripod as that sun rose. If you’re like me, not one for getting up early, you’ll miss out on a lot of beautiful sunrises.

There’s an hour during sunrise, and then another hour while the sun sets, that are known as the “Magic Hour”. This lower angle of the sun, shining thru a larger, denser portion of the atmosphere creates those rich, saturated tones, plus something photographers call “Golden Light”. It’s an amazing how this golden glow makes everything (and everybody) look beautiful. Normally dull and metallic-gray grain silos, as well as glass high-rise buildings look enchanted and every mountain and valley look breathtaking.

It’s a complete opposite once it becomes midday sun. Once the sun gets up high in the sky, and if there are no clouds, it creates much harsher shadows and more severe, blown-out highlights that your camera can’t deal with. Besides, your photos won’t be quite as exciting either. Landscape shooting can be a terrible experience unless just the right amount - and type, of clouds are helping diffuse that bright light.

That’s what many photographers call “Siesta Time”. You’ll either need to take a nap (since you were up so early), find some interesting shaded areas, or move inside for awhile, anticipating the coming sunset.

Now, sunsets seem to have a different color range to them. Some say it’s because in the morning, the dust (and smog if you’re in the city) haven’t had a chance to get stirred up yet, which creates more ‘stuff’ in the air for the sun to shine thru at night. I’ve also found that the clouds are generally different at the end of the day too - Or, it could just be me. As I said, I’m not a morning person, so I haven’t compiled a whole lot of data on this. I also live on an island that has the mountains of the mainland to the East and an ocean to the West, which in itself will create different looks during the “Magic Hour”.

Tip #2.6; One other tip that helps earn it’s extra 0.6th of a point. Don’t only look at the sunrise/sunset direction - Turn Around! You’ll find amazing things being lit up in all those hues too. I’ve had numerous occasions that the sunset was kind of boring, but turned around and was awarded with a fantastic light show across snow capped mountains, forests or bridges to photograph. And, just because the sun has dipped below the horizon, don’t pack up and leave yet - Many times, there’s lots more to see still to come. Let everyone else pack-up & go, you’ll have the best for yourself.

Tip #3; For that cool, professionally blurred-background look - Shuffle yourself back a bit more - OK, now zoom back in until you’ve got your original composition.

In photo-geek terms, what you’re creating is a limited depth of field.

What you’re doing as a photographer, is deciding - Which part of the scene, front-to-back, is in focus. Subject Yes; background trees/buildings/fences, etc., No.

This professional looking effect is easy to get if you have a DSLR, as you have different lens options and full aperture control, allowing you to set-up a wide aperture (a low f-stop number like f4) to accentuate the effect, while only a handful of point-n-shoots allow it.

So, on a pocket cam, choose the Portrait mode pre-set. Now, have your subject move away from the background - the farther, the better. OK, now stop them there and say ‘stay’. Now it’s time to use the ‘ole “walk-backwards-and-zoom-back-in trick”. Here’s how - Standing further away from your subjects (the farther, the better), and then using the camera’s zoom to “bring you” back up close - This creates this “shallow depth of field, background out of focus” trick.

It’s all because of some weird optics quirk, that, even if I understood it myself, I wouldn’t be able to describe here. It’s all magic I tell you, so you’ll just have to trust me on this one and give it a go. Now, also beware that when you’re looking thru your view-finder or the LCD screen on the back; you won’t see the effect yet. It’s not until you take the picture that you’ll see it. So, practice, review, practice, review & practice again - pixels are free. You don’t have to worry about how much film you’re wasting. Get out and play.

Don’t worry about the strange looks you may get, backing way up, and all that. Strange looks are just part of being a photographer, you’ll get caught doing plenty of other odd things in an attempt to get that great photo. Me, as a landscape photographer, which likes the “low-level” look, I spend a lot of time lying on the ground with knee-pads. Imagine the looks and ribbing I get.

Tip #4. Blast that flash outdoors.

I know, I know, many of you think of your flash for only use inside at parties. It’s probably never occurred to you that you can also use the flash when you’re taking pictures of people outside on a bright, sunny day too. It wouldn’t occur to the little guy inside your camera either. So you’re going to have to trick him a bit.

Here’s how it works, the camera’s little guy inside, you know, the one that figures out everything need for a perfect photo (and creates that shutter lag) “measures” the scene in front of the lens and goes “Whoa, there’s tons of sunlight” and won’t use the flash. But, he’s not smart enough (except on some of the newer, whiz-bang “face recognition” models and DSLR’s with different meter modes) to realize that the face you’re photographing is in the shadow. You’re just going to wind up with a dark, silhouetted person now.

Here’s the secret, that’s a very common photographer’s trick. Force the ﬂash on. Your flash can now provide just the right amount of “fill light” to your subject’s face - without changing the exposure of the background.

This neat trick will not only eliminate silhouettes, it also provides a very flattering light, which softens smile lines and wrinkles, while putting a nice little twinkle in the their eyes.

Tip #4.2; Though, if a silhouetted person looking into a sunset is what you’re looking for, then please disregard Tip #4, as those can be great compositions too.

Tip #5 Buy some elbow macaroni - Leave your tripod at home.

A problem with every camera is that “getting blur from camera motion” syndrome. We all know - “Use a tripod.”

But, if you didn’t feel like dragging it thru multiple airports while on vacation, try this - We all know the trick about using a wall, parked car, tree, pillar, door frame, or any other stationary object, but the problem that often comes up is - They’re never angled that direction you need to point your camera.

But here’s a great trick: Either bring a bean-bag or once you get to your destination, buy a bag of elbow macaroni and use it as a bean-bag. I even know of some travelers that will bring a little, empty bean-bag ‘pillow case’ that packs flat. Then they’ll either buy some beans when they get where they’re going, or slide the bag of beans or macaroni inside. It looks nicer that way and you don’t have to worry about it breaking and spilling.

Set your new, high-tech camera holder on whatever solid object you have handy, set you camera on top, tilt and aim as needed and fire away - Well, actually, when you push the shutter with your camera on this “bean-bag”, you may still cause motion. So, you’ll get better results if you use the built in “shutter-timer”. Set it to the 10-sec (or 2-sec if you’ve got it) option, aim, press the button (run over to join your friends) then in 10-sec, without you disturbing the movement of the camera, your camera will take a perfect, blur-free image.

People might think, seeing you with your macaroni, you’re a genius, a nut-case, or a genius nut-case, but never mind. It works.

There actually are now, bean bags made with a tripod screw on them for attaching your camera. Most any camera supplier will have them. Great idea.

Tip #5.3 This is actually a quick, little tip;

When you’re finished with that bag of macaroni, and you’re packing to head home - donate it to a local food bank or church.

There you have it folks; I actually came up with a little more than Five tips, and my mind only wandered off a couple times.

Now go shoot something!

Again, Thanks for playing along. Hope I did a good job of proof reading.

Tony D. Locke, MM

Still reigning - Master of Madness

Auto-Focus - Gone Auto-Wrong?

2009-12-05T16:27:00.000-08:00

Here’s a subject that I hear asked of me on a somewhat regular basis: How come what I wanted to be in focus is fuzzy while something else is in perfect focus?

The culprit is more than likely, your Auto-focus. It’s trying to think for you, but sometimes it over-thinks - Or, more likely, doesn’t know what you were thinking.

The camera’s default focus point is in the center, and if what you wanted to be in focus is not in the center too, things stop working as planned. Having your subject in focus is critical to making a great photo. To do that, you need to be in charge, don’t let that little guy (or gal) inside your camera make all the decisions for you.

Here’s a few tips to learn how to get better control of at least one of your so-called “Auto” functions.

1. We all know (at least you should know) that putting something in the middle of your composition is a bad thing. So here’s one work-around to the Auto-focus being in the center - This is how I always shot most of the time too:

Temporarily put your subject, that most important part that’s got to be in sharp focus, in the center of your viewfinder, then press your shutter button halfway and hold it. At that moment, that little guy/gal inside will focus on whatever is in the middle of the screen, choose a White Balance and set your Exposure depending on your camera settings and available light. Don’t let go of that button yet!

As long as you continue to hold the button down half-way, all of those settings will remain unchanged. Now, Recompose your scene by moving your camera slightly until the subject falls into place for your composition - Remembering the Rule-of-Thirds when possible.

Now, continue to push the shutter button all the way down to take the picture - And Bam, your photo’s in focus. Another advantage to this trick, especially on Point-n-Shoots, is that it speeds up “Shutter Delay” since all the pre-thinking that that little guy/gal inside has to do, has already been done. It’s just a matter of having him/her trip the shutter - Great for fast grandkids, puppies, cars or horses.

One problem that may appear, so watch for it, is, as your camera locks the exposure as well as focus, if the lighting is drastically different when you Recompose, your exposure may be off. Time to try methods two or three.

2. All DSLRs, and many Happy-Snappy/Point-and-Shoots, have a feature that allows you to manually select between the various focus points available on your camera. Most of the time it’s usually a button press, then rotating a dial on the back of the camera while looking through the viewfinder. You’ll see the various focus points highlight one at a time as you cycle thru your choices. Some cameras only have four focus points, while others can have 30 or more! You’ll have to break out your manual for specifics.

I’ll generally do this when my camera’s on a tripod, and what I want in focus is, or is going to be, in a different area than the center. Then it’s just a matter of hitting the button when ready.

Big reminder - Don’t forget, as I do on many occasions, to reset the focus point back to center when done!

And lastly #3. Now, I know some of you are getting lazy and forgetful with all this great new technology, while others have no idea what life was like before cameras had “auto-everything’ on them - Just the same, don't forget you also have an option to manually focus your lens.

Not many do, but even some point-and-shoot cameras have a manual focus setting too. I know it’s scary, but turn off your auto-focus, it's either a switch on the camera body (Nikon) or a switch on the lens (Canon), locate the manual focus ring on your lens (generally the slimmer ring) and just focus manually. I know it can be tough at times, I’m not real good at it myself, but with a little practice, it’s very easy and fast to do - it's also easier to achieve focus in low-light situations this way - As many Auto-focus systems don’t work in low-light.

Again - Make sure you're in control. Make the camera (and the little guy/gal inside) work for you. For better photos, don't let it (him or her) make all the decisions for you. Leave those moments for tacky touristy vacation photos and family picnics.

Thanks again for reading along,

Tony D. Locke, MM

The Workshop That Became A Book

2009-11-22T20:13:00.001-08:00

What started off as a series of Photography Workshops... Has now, thru the urging of the participants in both workshops, become a beautiful book.

The first workshop: "The Absence of Light" (There are two types of black; that of ink/paint/pigment, tires, asphalt, etc. and that which is in the darkest shadows where there is an "Absence of Light") was taught at Northern State Hospital using the outside of these historic, abandoned buildings with beautiful architecture, as a backdrop. The mission; use the shadows as either the focal point or an important element of your image.

Northern State Hospital, in Sedro Wolley, Washington, built from 1910-1912 was the State's Mental Asylum. If you needed this type of treatment, this facility was widely considered the best hospital of its kind at the time. It was also pretty close to being a self-sufficient working diary farm, which allowed some patients to be outside, working in the fields and with the animals. This hospitals main years of practice were in the early days of studying and treating mental health, with many procedures that today, including lobotomies, would be considered horrific. The facility was closed in the 70's, and has seen many years of aging and neglect due to lack of budget.

After shooting the outside of these buildings, many participants wanted the ability to go inside and shoot there too... Which turned into a 2nd workshop with the theme of "Emotion" (show us what emotion you were feeling, or would like us to feel in your image). There were many eerie feelings amongst all the photographers as we walked the halls of this famous hospital. Whether you believe in ghosts or not, there was no denying the sense of what life may have been like inside those walls.

From these two workshops, the photographers wanted some way to preserve and present what they captured, so the idea for a book was put forward, with proceeds from the sale going to a fund that has been made to assist in the renovation of these historic buildings.

Below is the cover art that I made for the front and back of the book. There's a link on the side of this blog for ordering.

We are planning another set of workshops out there again this Spring. If you're interested in these or any other Photography Workshops taught by us, go to That Photo Shoppe to learn more.

That Golden Hour - A Calculator For You

2009-11-15T15:12:00.000-08:00

That fun little story on the right about "That Magic Hour" is something that all photographers live by, at least those like myself, that shoot outside.

Here's a link to two web-sites that will automatically calculate when That Magic Hour will be available for you, no matter where you are in the world - Allowing you to plan ahead, get up in time, eat breakfast (or dinner for me, as I'm not a morning person), have your kit ready, take a look at how the clouds are doing and go shot!

What makes it even better, should you be traveling - They will in most cases, figure out where you're at when you surf to it. More Auto-Magic stuff from the Internet.

Verify it did in fact find your location and click 'generate table' - Bam! Now you have another reason to grab someone to get out there and shoot!

Your Welcome,

Tony D. Locke, MM

http://www.b-roll.net/goldenhour/

http://www.golden-hour.com/

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The Abstracts of Martian landscapes

2009-11-08T14:35:00.001-08:00

I know, I know - I've gotten behind on my postings again! I'm trying, and have several written, it's just a matter of double-checking them and then getting them posted.

In the mean-time, I came across an amazing set of photographs that I wanted to share with you... Of Mars!

Martian landscapes - The Big Picture - Boston.com

Posted using ShareThis

More of Tony's Top Tips For Better Photos In Camera?

2009-10-17T13:31:00.000-07:00

Many of you know, that as co-owner/founder of a digital photolab (That Photo Shoppe, Anacortes, WA - plug, plug) and a photography/Photoshop instructor, I spend a major portion of my days working (playing) in Photoshop, after all, it is my job. Probably about 60% of my time is spent in photo restoration, scanning, repairing and making new prints of old damaged family photos and slides. Another good chunk of time is spent performing fine-art printing & basic photo touch-up work, much like in the ‘ole dark room days, but now it’s all in my shiny new (Apple computer) digital dark room - all the same functions as before, and more, but now without the smelly mess to clean-up afterwards. And most important - I’ve got an “Undo Button” (and a history palette too), which reduces wasted film & a lot of time.

As we made That Photo Shoppe a comfortable, relaxing and inviting place for people to come in and chat, the remaining chunk of my day is spent talking with customers about what I do, what they do, and how they’d like to get better at this great little hobby.

Well, the underlying fact that I tell all of them is, even though I’ve become well known for my Photoshop skills and creativity, I’m still one that believes and practices as much as possible - Getting the image right in the camera first.

Now, that can go several ways. The two best examples of how I work are:

1: On most of my photos I’ll get my composition, shutter speed/aperture & exposure as accurate as possible while in the field (which as a landscape photographer means, I’m literally standing in a field). Then, all that remains for an image are the standard Levels & Curves adjustments, maybe a little Hue/Saturation and then a bit of Sharpening before printing. If an images needs to be cropped, I’ll do that first. Living in the Pacific Northwest, with skies that are either gray or overly bright, I may need some ND Graduation Filter types of adjustments on those skies too (I really do need to get an actual ND Grad Filter for use on my lens, but todays budgets say no).

2: I may have something odd in mind (as many of you have seen in my images), which cannot be accomplished within the camera, well, not within a single shot at least. Which means I’ve got to pre-visualize the different components of an image before I shoot them, having some type of idea of how they’ll all come together later in Photoshop - Which still means I’ve got to get each image right in camera first, so they’ll all work together in my digital darkroom. These “creations” can be anything from a panoramic, an HDR or one of my odd compositions. Take a look at my “Rusty Scissors”, which has become one of my best sellers, along with my other “Rusty” images as a simple example.

So, it’s back to the original idea for this article - Striving to get the very best possible in-camera image. I, like many others, would much rather spend more time hiking around outside, than sitting at my computer.

In this article, I’m going to share a few tips I use for better shooting. It doesn’t matter if you’re traveling out of the country or just across town.

My Top Tip for the best detail, and ability to apply more useful, non-destructive corrections is to shoot RAW and to use the lowest ISO possible for the lighting conditions. Now I know, not all of you can shoot RAW, or some of you may be scared of it. That’s fine, just make sure you follow all the rest of my tips, and when you’re capable/ready, get on the RAW wagon. Yes, there’s a bit more work involved in post-production, but it’s worth it when you see the quality of your images. As for ISO, keep it low to reduce noise, but if getting the shot requires boosting your ISO, then do it - A shot with a little bit of noise is better than no shot at all. And with todays newer sensors allowing even higher ISO’s with little to no noise, you’ve got a bit more leeway. Otherwise, when in doubt, leave it on Auto-ISO. Your camera will auto-keep-it on the lowest possible setting.

Think the opposite of the norm when it comes to lenses. The norm mostly being, telephoto lenses for distant wildlife and some portraits, while your wide-angle only comes out of the bag for those landscapes and street shoots. Do the opposite of what you think is the norm when you feel the urge to be more creative.

Shooting landscapes? Use your long telephoto to zoom in on distinct patterns in nature like tree lines or cliff & rock formations, giving them prominence over the vast landscape, while at the same time compressing the apparent distances between these points in your image. Use your wide-angle (or fish-eye for even more fun) on items that are very close in the foreground, such as environmental portraits (fancy words for: A subject in its environment), which can be anything from a lonely tree in a large meadow, or maybe it’s a horse, cow or lizard sitting on a rock instead. Get in close, follow your ‘rule-of-thirds’. To keep everything in the scene in focus, use a small aperture (f16 or smaller), and then set your focus about ⅓ the distance into the scene for amazingly great depth-of-field. You'll be amazed at what you'll find and see differently.

I know of one photographer, that, for a challenge will carry only his wide-angle zoom (17-40mm range), and a basic technique that pros have used for years. He’ll set his camera to Manual focus, Aperture priority and f22, then sets his focus point at 1 ft. for the wider angle shots, and 3 ft for the other end of the zoom, using the “focus distance scale” built in to the lens (if you’ve got one. Otherwise you guesstimate the distance). Putting his main subject close-in (while following the ‘Rule-of-Thirds”), he’s able to achieve amazing depth-of-field shots with very interesting (albeit sometimes proportionally distorted) images. The wide-angle also creates exaggerated distances between subjects in the image.

Here’s a 1/2 Tip - Keep this type of last idea in mind - Create a challenge for yourself. Leave the house with only one lens. Make it even harder; make it a non-zooming prime lens. If you don’t own one, set your zoom to one spot and don’t touch it. Say maybe 50mm, 85mm or 100mm - no zooming allowed! Doesn’t matter the length, just use it exclusively. See how you view the world differently now.

Pre-visualize your final cropping. Don’t be afraid to think about how you’ll crop an image, be it while you’re shooting or in post-production - Be creative, even think about the crop as part of your composition - Your Pre-Visualization. You don’t always have to use all the glass in your lens. Think of it, Remember it, Practice it.

Quite often, there are things that you’ll see in your viewfinder, that you know you can’t physically remove but also know you don’t want in your final image. They’re either distractions or don’t ‘work with the image’. One great composition rule is always: Remove what’s not important or doesn’t belong. If it’s not helping the image, it’s hurting it. One technique for solving this if it’s not possible in camera, is to crop it out. Or, I know many cringe at this, if needed, you can clone it out too.

When you get to post-processing, it’s always best to corp first, wether it’s in Camera RAW, or in Photoshop. Look at the image, find out what’s important, what’s distracting - Crop it out. Now, you can go with some of the more standard crop sizes, 8x10, 8x12, 5x7, etc., or, you can hit the “clear” button and free-hand a custom size/shape corp. Maybe even crop a vertical section out of a horizontal shot. Sometimes seeing an image on screen will trigger different feelings/ideas that can provide you with a completely different image. Don’t forget about square images either. There are whole groups of photographers that only crop square. It is a distinct look that I actually enjoy myself too. Get creative, break from the norm (but save the original just in case).

Another advantage of cropping before you do any other work (i.e. Levels, Curves, etc.) is that those adjustments (and your eyes) are not effected by the areas that don’t belong.

Pack your polarizer filter. Yeah, yeah I know. All of you that have only shot digital are of the mind-set; filters are only for those film folks. You, smitten with all your Photoshop filters, you’ll add any type of filter you please in post-processing. But… The one effect that can’t be duplicated 100% though, is a polarizing filter. No digital trickery can do the magic of reducing glare on water or letting you see through water to the rocks below, like a glass polarizing filter does. Though, there are some software which comes close to providing a convincing darkening of a blue sky and making white clouds look whiter, an “old fashioned” glass polarizer, adjusted properly, provides the best effect.

In order to get the best polarizer effect you must be properly positioned as the filter is only effective when the sun is to your left or right and, on todays cameras, it must be a “circular polarizer”.

Now, I’m not going to go into the hows/whys of how these filters do their tricks. It’s all a bunch of scientific mojo. Some kinda stuff about aligning or bending the waves of light rays. With polarizing filters limiting (filtering actually) which of these waves enter the camera. The frequencies that are allowed to pass are determined by it’s direction, the color of light, the size of the wave and it’s intensity - it’s all magic I tell you, so you’ll have to just trust me on this one, and give it a run.

While looking thru your viewfinder at the sky or the glare on water, or even the glistening water and reflections on some flowers & leaves, slowly rotate the polarizer filter and you’ll see the effect slowly increase, then decrease again as you rotate the filter around. You’ll see skies get darker, then lighter again, or if you’re at the lake, you’ll suddenly be able to see thru the water to the mud and rocks below. Gloss on shiny leaves will be reduced and colors will become more saturated.

The magic of photography, as it should be, with real glass not software. Some things will never change.

It’s in the eye. Very important tip when it comes to anyone or anything with eyes - If the eyes are not in sharp focus and properly lit, you’ll be sending that shot to the trash bin. While some use the focus lock on their camera to lock in the focus on the subject’s eyes before they shoot, others like myself will use the center focus point, then, while still holding the shutter half-way to lock that focus, recompose the subject in the frame before pushing the button the rest of the way. You can also often use a flash to brighten a subject’s face (fill flash), or to add some “catch lights” to the their eyes - Wether it’s a bug, crab on the beach or a clown face - make the eyes sharp over everything else and you’ll have a keeper.

Well, those are some of my top in-camera photo tips for today.

However, here is one more: Have fun! After all, you picked up a camera to have fun, right? Don’t get too caught up in all the technical aspects of picture-taking that you miss the fun.

Thanks again,

Tony

Think of it, Remember it, Practice it.

Unclutter Your Screen Work Area

2009-09-17T14:04:00.000-07:00

Hello again,

I was just working away on a few different photos for a couple customers, and I had them all up at the same time. Don't know why, but that's just how I work sometimes. My brain likes to take a break from one project and work on something different for a bit, then go back. Always bouncing around. And a lot of the time it's not even in Photoshop - Like right now! My brain has wondered off to write in my blog instead of working on photos. Hopefully it'll be back soon - I have no control over what pops into it!

When I've got several images up at once, I like to use one of my normal keyboard short-cuts (and for those who know me, know I live by keyboard short-cuts) to clean up my screen for better viewing of the image I'd like to concentrate on.

Well, the customer I was working with, in amazement, who (whom?) also is into Photoshop just had to ask - What did I just do with the stroke of a single key? So here I am to show you too.

This is another one of those stupid, why didn't I know about that, kind of shortcuts that, once you learn it you'll use it all the time.

Here's one of my photos up on screen; notice all the clutter of other images and Bridge behind it?

It's hard to concentrate on what's important.

With simple push of the "F" key, it's all gone, and your image is full screen with a gray border around it and all your tools and palettes are still present.

Pretty nice, Huh?

Now, to get back to viewing your multiple windows, just push "Shift-F". Bam!

Now, the odd thing is that in your Photoshop drop-down menus, all (well, at least most of) the keyboard shortcuts for each function is shown to the side of that function in the drop-down menu. But this is one of those little secret ones that's not shown.

If you go to View>Screen Mode, you'll see the four options you have there - But no mention of a keyboard shortcut - Which is why I'm here to help you out.

By simply pushing the "F" Key, each push will toggle you thru each of the Screen Modes, while "Shift-F" will toggle you thru the modes in reverse order. Go ahead, give it a try, you know you want too!

See! Pretty slick, Huh?

And that's how I was able to quickly (and amazingly) clean-up my screen right in front of my customer.

Thanks again for coming by,

Tony D. Locke, MM

Tony's Tips - Today Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts

2009-09-13T20:05:00.000-07:00

Need to Undo a White Balance in Camera RAW?

If you attempted to set the white balance in your image with the White Balance tool (I) , and you don't like what happened, you can undo your white balance setting (gotta love the ability to undo things) by double-clicking on the White Balance tool in Camera Raw. Simple huh?

Living On & Seeing The Layers Edge

Would you like to see where the edges of one of your layers lies (very handy for layers with soft edges) - Now would you? Well Bucko, just go up to the View menu > Show, and choose Layer Edges. Now a thin blue border will magically appear around the edges of your selected layer, allowing you to see and live on the edge of your layer's boundaries.

Would You Like to Move And/Or

Copy A Layer Mask?

Oh dude, this is so easy, you won't believe it. No fancy key combinations here. Just click directly on the layer mask's thumbnail and drag it to the layer where you want it. If you want a duplicate of a layer mask (instead of just moving it), press-and-hold the Option key (PC: Alt key) before you drag. Instant Mask copy - See, what'd I tell ya!

OK, enough for today. Hope you learned at least one trick/tip today. I don't have any idea why the paragraphs are formatting the way they are, that's just how Blogger works sometimes. I'm learning Wordpress too as another option, so keep track of me here, and you'll see the changes come along.

Thanks again for playing along and reading my blog,

Tony

Go Out And Take More Photos

2009-08-19T12:15:00.000-07:00

Just like the 'ole saying goes: "Money doesn't grow on trees" - Well, by the same token... Photo's don't take themselves.

You can spend hours ogling over the photos on the internet, on the seemingly endless photo sites like Flickr (including mine of course, at www.flickr.com/photos/masterofmadness), not only admiring the work of others, but also trying to figure out how they're made.

But if you're going to take (or make actually) your own photos, you need to turn off the TV and computer, get up off your duff and either go outside, or to your work table and put in the practice time. This is a great hobby, which just like any other hobby, you learn by seeing what others have done, then go practice it yourself.

So while you're out there practicing, keep in mind these common mistakes and attitudes, all of which will make you a better photographer.

1. Set aside time and set out to take photos. Simply grab you bag and get out there! Set aside the time to actually enjoy it too. You don't have to spend more time than you actually have, as that'll just turn into an excuse for not going. Think about it as stealing time from other things that are less important, like watching TV, surfing the internet or laying around reading. Or, one of my favorites - The yard will still be there tomorrow, but that photo op won't.

2. Turn your cell phone off, or maybe... aaghh, don't even take it with you. OK, I know for some of you, it's almost a nagging habit, and you'll have withdrawals if you're without that pesky thing. So, if you must have it for emergencies, when it rings, just look at the caller ID and let it go to voicemail. There's no reason that you have to talk to them right this second - You're busy enjoying yourself right now and don't want to be interrupted!

3. Pack some food, snacks and a bottle of water or two. So now you won't be hunger or thirsty, which would otherwise provide yet, another easy excuse to go home. Grab snacks that are lightweight, have lots of energy and take no preparation time. Go get some of the 'better for you' energy bars. Cliff bars are great, as are the Luma and other brands that make energy bars specifically. Most are available now at your local grocery store too. In a pinch even the Kellogg or Quacker Oats types of 'cereal bars' would work too, maybe just not as healthy though. To make carrying the water around easier too, look into some of the various bottle holders and slings. This is again, an attempt to avoid any disincentives to carrying these around. Make it easy on yourself and you'll enjoy your time out shooting even more.

4. Dress appropriately. If you're not comfortable, you won't have fun and you'll want to come home - Remember, I'm trying to get you out to take photos, not go home.

There aren't too many things that will spoil the day like being too cold or too hot - Or too wet. Wear layers so that you can add/remove clothes as needed. Check weather reports for the area you'll be in. If it's going to cool, but otherwise nice, wear a few thin layers so you don't have to carry around a heavy coat once you've warmed up. If you going to be on a long trip, especially anything that includes the joy of hiking, you might consider bringing a complete change of clothes left in a separate bag to have ready in the car - Just in case you try to get a fish eye view from the water. You wouldn't want to get your car seats wet on the trip home.

Make sure to have good walking/hiking shoes or boots, and very important - good socks! You can have the best boots made, but if you've got thin, weak socks, your feet will make your life miserable all day, and sometimes into the next day too.

5. Pack only what you really need for this trip. After you've carried a heavy camera bag around for a few hours, you'll have wished you followed this step. There are several thoughts on this: One lens or multiple's.

If you're just going for a walk thru the woods, the park or candid street photography around town, you might not even pack your bag. Just grab your camera body and choose a lens. I usually like my trusty 'ole Canon 28-135 f3.5 IS for these trips. It takes great sharp photos, has stabilization, which generally means I don't need to lug around my tripod, and it has a nice zoom range which will cover most situations I may run into on a walk. Nikon and others also make something in a comparable range.

If you think you may run into some low-light situations, pack your flash and your tripod too. Actually, my tripod's always in the trunk, so if I need it, it's already with me. If you're thinking of exploring other areas, or maybe wanting to get a bit more serious or creative, then go ahead and pack what you think you'll need.

On my latest trip up Mt. Rainier, I carried three lens; 17-40 wide angle zoom, 28-135 medium zoom & 70-300 long zoom (oh yeah, and my fun little LensBaby, 'cause you never know when you might want something different). These packed easily, would cover most anything I ran into short of that Black Bear several hundred yards across the valley, saved weight and saved room for snacks and a light jacket. Make sure you've got a lens hood for each lens too.

If you're shooting with a 'Point-n-Shoot' or 'Happy-Snappy' type of camera, then you can ignore this step, as you've got one less reason to not get out and shoot now.

6. As an extension of the above step - Get over "Gear Envy" or "Camera Fetishes". Avoid the tendency to think "I've just got to have a new DSLR" or "Once I get that new lens I'll be ready to go out and shoot more". THE CAMERA DOESN'T MATTER (kinda).

I know I'm always lusting over the latest gear too, but due to budget issues (or lack of), they'll have to wait. Until then I'm still shooting and getting great shots with what I've got.

So, just get out there and shoot! Any camera will work, any lens will work. Even these new compact cellphone cameras will work too in the right conditions. Learn your camera, learn its limitations, adjust your photography to suit - And get out there and use it! As you grow with the hobby, go ahead and upgrade. At least you'll be better informed to make better decisions when you do, with less costly mistakes by buying the wrong gear. In the meantime, keep shooting.

Granted, yes, a better camera will technically take better pictures - But it's still the nut behind the wheel (meaning you) that's operating the camera, who'll make better photographs.

A little added note; When it comes to upgrades, you'll get your best bang for the buck with better glass/lens, which you'll always be able use later. New bodies are nice too, but you'll never stay caught up. As soon as you buy a new body, it'll be replaced with something faster, better, shinier. While your lens will always be ready to go.

7. Now that you're back from shooting - Turn your computer back on, download your images and see how you've done. The fastest way to get better at photography is to immediately throw away the bad photos!

Don't even consider saving them for later. If it's bad now, it'll be bad later too. But... Learn from them. What's wrong with them, what did you do wrong that you can do better later? Sort, name and tag the others. Then, grab the best of the best for working with - Which will be another blog entry.

While your sitting there staring at your screen, first, make sure all our batteries are on their chargers, ready to for your next photo trip. Then, go ahead and do some more research at photo websites. Google the type of photos you just took, i.e. "How to take better landscape photos", "How to improve macro shots", "How to make kids & pets pay attention".

You'll gain artistic and technical lessons, which you'll be able to use the next time you "Go Out And Take More Photos"

Thanks again for playing along and reading my blog.

Tony

P.S. Let me know how I'm doing with this blog thing. It's still all new to me. This is just as much a learning experience for me as being a photographer is. I'm going to try to be more consistent with my entries.

Are you learning anything? Does any of this make sense? Is there something you'd like covered? Is there something I can do to improve my blog, my writing, my types of articles? Or... Have you just wasted another 10-15 minutes on the computer? Be honest, let me know. Thanks again, Tony

100 Strangers In One Year (or so)

2009-08-04T13:34:00.000-07:00

As part of a personal challenge, I've started a new project - 100 Strangers. I'm more of a landscape and abstract/macro/fine art photographer, I don't do portraits, and definitely don't do weddings. I've played with street photography, but have always been shy when it comes to shooting people - Thus this challenge: Meet and photograph 100 Strangers in the next year (or so).

I've only started about a week or so ago, and have 3 Strangers on my Flickr site so far, but I've got others lined up and plan on getting more as I can. It's not been easy, and I have been turned down, but that's part of the challenge.

I encourage all of you to find a project that gets you out of your comfort zone and out shooting more. For some people I know, who are more comfortable shooting nature and wildlife, shooting landscapes is difficult, while those who (whom?) shoot weddings, can't figure out how to shoot anything else except people. Find a weakness that also interests you, turn it into a project, and go for it. Having a project is almost like having a goal that needs to be met... But in a fun way.

Here's the description of the basics, taken from their site www.100strangers.com

100 Strangers
Step out of your comfort zone to a new level of portrait photography: take 100 portraits of people you don't know.

The idea

The One Hundred Strangers project is a learning group for people who want to improve the social and technical skills needed for taking portraits of strangers and telling their stories. The method is learning by doing.

The project is lots of fun and improves photojournalistic skills. During the process you might expand your every day living experience - and who knows, maybe you will even get a couple of new friends during the process.

We welcome both beginner and advanced photographers. You may be new to photographing strangers or already have experience of this type of photography.

The challenge

Take 100 photographs of at least 100 people you don't know. Approach a person or group of people and ask for permission to both take a photo of them and to post it to the flickr 100 Strangers group. Get to know your subjects. Who are they? What is their life like?

Try to tell a small story with each photo you take. This may be a story about the person or how you felt approaching that particular individual. You may have, for example, tried a new approach or used a new photographic technique. Try to learn something from every encounter you make.

This site

The project can be seen at the 100 strangers group in flickr. This site is to showcase the project outside the flickr framework.

Photo Word Search Fun

2009-08-04T13:20:00.001-07:00

Hello,

It's been awhile since I've posted anything here... Sorry. It's been a crazy month. The last post talks about our new store - well, while unpacking and moving into this new store, we were, at the same time, packing and moving our house too. We weren't planing on moving both in the same month, that's just how the stars lined up for us I guess. We knew we would probably be moving our house around then, but the store was just something that came up.

I've got some new lessons in the works, which I hope to have up in the next day or so, but in the mean time, I've come up with a little word search puzzle for you to play. I've made the difficulty 'Medium', which means the words go up, down, left & right. Didn't want to make it too easy (or hard) on you.

Enjoy.

It's Official - We've Moved Our Store!!

2009-06-30T15:12:00.001-07:00

Just a quick note to all of those that follow us at That Photo Shoppe, and to all that will -

After over 3 1/2 years at our original location - We've moved about a block and half down the street to 1005 7th St.

We're just behind Donatella's Flowers and next door to the Elks Lodge, just a 1/2 block off of Commercial. We just finished painting inside and out this weekend, and are still working on a new sign, as budget allows. The outside is now a very bright "raspberry pink" with yellow trim - Hard to miss us.

Website is still thatphotoshoppe.com and the phone is still 360.588.6968.

We're in the works to add cameras and camera accessories to our store real soon, while still doing all the great digital photolab services (archival printing, scanning, photo restoration, classes, etc.) that we've become known for.

Come on in to see all that's new and say hi! We're looking forward to seeing you.

Thanks,

Tony D. Locke, MM

Add A Dash Of Grain For Taste

2009-05-20T12:31:00.000-07:00

Bizarre, isn't it? We've all tried, since the dawn of film, to avoid or eradicate grain in our images, and now that it's gone - We want it back!

Call it nostalgia, but for atmospheric low-key shots

or gritty reportage (thanks to the look of high-speed film), grain has become part of our visual language. The problem is, that with digital sensor noise, it's just not the same. So how does one recreate in convincingly? Well, though it's not exactly the same, here's one of many techniques that will get you very close.

Photoshops Film Grain filter can be useful, but its results aren't quite what you'd expect. The 'grain' edges are a bit too sharp. Anyone that's spent any time with 'old high-speed film' knows that the grain has a slight softness to it, which is what creates part of the character we've been accustomed to. So here's how to emulate that "old emulsion" (is there a pun in there?).

Open your image, black & white's work best, but any image you'd like to age will work. Do your normal adjustment layers first (Levels, Hue/Sat, Curves, etc.), then, above the image layer create a new blank layer, Layer>New, or the click on the little 'post-it note' looking icon in the Layers pallette. Fill this layer, Edit>Fill... with either Black or White, it doesn't really matter for us today.

Select Filter>Artistic>Film Grain... And set the Grain Value to its maximum. At that setting

the other two sliders don't make a whole of difference, so fiddle if you like, but otherwise hit OK. Now, change that layers blend mode to 'Overlay", which will superimpose your new found grain on the image.

But wait, it's still not quite right for our taste, it needs a bit of softening.

Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur and set this to 1-pixel and hit OK.

Now it's just a matter of lowering the opacity of that layer to taste (don't forget to rename that layer so you'll remember what it's purpose in life is), or duplicating that layer to add more grain. Again, season for taste.

That's it for today,

Thanks again for stopping by,

Tony

People Thoughts

2009-05-20T11:24:00.000-07:00

Hello, just throwing in a few quotes/ideas I've run across, that I thought were fun and descriptive of life, including mine, while I'm working up my next blog post.

"There are two types of people in this world; Those that divide people into types and those who don't" unknown.

"There are some people that live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality - And then there are those who turn one into the other" Douglas Everett

"A photograph is not taken - it is made" Ansel Adams

Dodge & Burn Like An Expert, With More Control

2009-04-30T22:21:00.000-07:00

Black & White images can always use a bit of help with a little Dodging (to lighten) & Burning (to darken) in specific areas to improve the contrast and add extra impact. This secret weapon of master printers is no different today, than it was in the good ole' darkroom film days. Except now, it's easier, cleaner, there's no smelly mess and we also get an 'undo' button. Learn more right now.

The Dodge & Burn tools in Photoshop & Elements are OK, but they're not great, and they don't offer as much control as you'd probably like. So here's a way to have a simplier and more effective set of Dodge & Burn tools, with keyboard short-cuts that will have you zipping right along to creating your masterpiece.

1. Create a new Grey Layer. Layer>New>Layer. In the next window, choose Soft Light from the Mode drop-down and check the box 'Fill with Soft-Light-Neutral color (50% grey).

2. Select the Grey Layer and choose the Brush tool. Set the brush size as needed either at the Brush tools drop down menu or with the bracket keys ( [ & ] ), and choose an appropriate softness. Set the Brush opacity to 20% to start with. Press the 'D key' to set the paint swatches to their default colors of Black & White.

3. Start Dodging & Burning with your Brush. Set the Color Swatch to Black to Darken/Burn areas of your image & White to Lighten/Dodge other areas. Raise or Lower the Brush opacity for a stronger or weaker effect - Use Keyboard short-cuts to move faster: Press the 1 - 0 keys for a quick change of Brush opacity from 10% - 100% (example: pressing 5 = 50%, 3 = 30%). Pressing the X key will toggle the Black & White swatches for even quicker Dodging & Burning tool selection.

4. Bonus Option. For those of you using Photoshop CS or above, you can make an Action for the above technique, then assign that action to one of your Function F keys. Now, anytime you'd like to Dodge & Burn an image, simply press the 'F' key that you've assigned and Photoshop will automatically make the Dodge & Burn layer, choose the default Black & White swatch colors and select a 20% brush. Don't understand how to make an Action or have other things you'd like to learn? Email me or leave a comment.

Thanks again for reading,

Tony

Get Close, Get Happy

2009-04-17T17:03:00.000-07:00

Have Fun! - Get Close!

By Tony D. Locke, MM

Looking for something new and challenging, now that the weather has turned somewhat better, on some days at least? Try your hand at close-up Macro photography. Anythings fair game, from the obvious flowers & bugs, to any odd household item in the junk drawer or garage. Just like the image above, which is a little metal 'knick-knack' box, about 3-inches square, with little beads weaved inside. Zoom in close and get to see the details you'd otherwise miss.

No special equipment is needed, and any camera can do it. You’ll be surprised how close you can get with everyday lenses. Granted, a DSLR with a specialty ‘macro lens’ and associated equipment will get you in closer and sharper, but give it a try with your existing equipment first, to see if you even like this type of photography before spending your hard earned money on new toys - As you continue to pursue each of the different aspects of this great hobby, you’ll find plenty of ways to spend your money, just ask anyone that’s been at it for awhile!

You can experiment with any focal length - Wide, ‘normal’, telephoto or even the lens included on your Point-n-Shoot. Each lens allows its own unique perspective on close-up photography. So, how close can you get? Most lens will have a “minimum focus distance” etched into the side of the barrel. While with Point-n-shoots, this spec will be listed in your owners manual. Try to get any closer and your lens will not be able to focus properly.

From there, it’s just a matter of experimenting, moving in and out to see how each lens works and what type of shots you can get. Extension tubes are an inexpensive accessory to look into. They’re simply hollow ‘tubes’ installed between your lens and the camera body, which reduce the minimum focus distances by moving the lens further away from the sensor, and allowing you to get even closer. Though you do lose a little light, so shutter speeds will be longer, so you may or may not be able to hand-hold.

Careful though - At these close distances, any slight movement on your part, or the slightest breeze on a flower (or scurrying bug), adds to the challenge of obtaining a sharp focus. Depths of field will also be measured in fractions of an inch, so a tripod becomes a very useful and highly recommended tool. Telephoto lens are handy for insects, as they’ll allow you to keep a safe distance - Not only so you don’t spook them and make them fly off, but so they don’t jump up and bite!

Lighting can include anything from a desk lamp, to flashlights or dedicated macro-flash. Camera flash doesn’t work very well though, as it’s going to shoot over the top of what your focusing on. Also, beware of shadows, including yourself and your camera.

Have fun, experiment, read, and go out and experiment some more. Have questions, email me, follow this blog, or go to my thatphotoshoppe.com website for more info.

Cowboy Up Your Rodeo Shooting

2009-04-12T20:29:00.000-07:00

Spring is almost upon us (at least in the Northern parts of the world), and with that comes the time to get out and start practicing your favorite sports to stay in shape and have fun - And your sports photography too. I'm one of those types that was never good at sports growing up, don't know why, I just wasn't meant to be, no matter how hard I tried. I can hold my own in Beach Volleyball & bike riding, but otherwise I suck. Oh well, I got over it long ago by being a lot smarter than the 'jocks'. I do enjoy watching others that are good at it though, and plan on working at taking more photos of them doing it too.

Now rodeo - That's just as much a sport as it is a rush for thrill seekers. Growing up as a "long-hair-hippie-rock-musician" during the 70's (and yes, enjoying everything "the 70's" was known for), rodeo was not something you'd find me doing. But, if the rest of my long-hair friends weren't paying attention, I'd sneak off and watch one once in awhile, if for nothing else than the spectacle of "...what the @#$% are these cowboys trying to do"?!! I don't pretend to understand how they do what they do, but I can understand - and respect, the skill and guts it takes to get on top of a pissed-off bull and go for a ride.

Unfortunately I wasn't a photographer then (just a long-hair rock musician that was smart & sucked at sports), but I am today.

So, here's a few tips I've compiled on how to get some great shots of those crazy cowboys as they enjoy their thrill seeking sport.

1. Use your ISO to its best benefit - Faster shutter speeds in low light. This is not a slow sport! Set you camera to Shutter Priority. If you're lucky enough to be outside in the daytime, instead of an inside arena, you may have enough sun light to get by with lower ISO's, but if not, bump it up to keep your shutter speed in the range you need to stop-action the events happening in front of you. You'll also, more than likely, be hand-holding your camera with a long lens too, so fast shutter speeds are important. At ISO 400 you should be able to keep the noise down and get 1/1000 sec at f8 or so on most sunny days, jump to ISO 800 and you'll gain another stop or two of shutter speed, and/or bump to f11 for a bit more depth of field. Though on most rodeo action you're more concerned about freezing action than what's at the other side of the dirt. But, on the other hand, that added depth of field could help if your auto-focus locked on the bull's nose, instead of the rider's. At least hopefully they'll both be in focus now. Experiment with how your camera's ISO range affects noise. Some are better than others of course, but a bit of noise is generally preferred over a missed action shot. And, that extra noise can add a bit more grit to the grit of cowboys.

2. Go Long - That is with your lens of course. You're going to want something in the 300mm f4 range for the most part, as most arenas are at least 50-60 yards or more across. A good zoom in the 70-300 range should do fine, especially when the action moves close to you, you'll appreciate the ability to zoom back too - Just be careful if the action suddenly appears as if it's going to land in your lap (since you are looking at it thru a telephoto), and you jump back into something, or someone you probably don't want to meet by accident. Which brings up another important rule for rodeo - Watch were you walk! Do the terms 'road apple', 'cow patty' or any of the other many names for fresh 'animal droppings' come to mind?

3. Start small & local. Your local small town rodeo is a much easier place to start learning how to shoot, than one of the big county or state championships. It'll probably be daytime, and you'll generally have no problem getting right on the fence - That much closer to the action, smell and dirt of this exciting sport. Again, pay attention to your surroundings, those are some damn big animals. Which, for the most part, are mad because either some fool is sitting on them or has jumped off their horse and is trying to wrestle them to the ground. These animals are moving as fast as they can to try and eject that cowboy (or girl), and/or get away so now they can chase the cowboy and stomp on 'em. Which is when the rodeo clowns come out - More opportunities for some great actions shots. All part of the sport - Hey, the animals what some fun too!

4. Auto auto-focus. Set your camera to 'servo', 'continuous focus' mode, or whatever your camera calls it, if you can. This mode will continue to track the action and constantly adjust your auto-focus as you're holding your shutter button, up to the point you push to trip the shutter. Remember, focus on the eyes, mostly of the rider, but the horse they're on or the animal they're wrestling with can provide some great expressions too. With a bit of practice, you'll be able to 'focus and recompose' too, framing the action for better compositions.

5. Keep clean. Not just clean shots, but clean equipment too. Make sure you have a lens hood attached. This will not only reduce the possibility of flare, but it will help in the protection of your lens glass from the impact of flying dirt chunks. Besides, it makes you look more professional and legitimate, so people will allow you more space for shooting (or bug you with a million questions about your gear). A UV filter is recommended too for that same cleanness and safety. Keep a small lens brush in one of your pockets, handy for those times you need to wipe off the dirt clods that made it in. One of those that look like a retractable pen are great. A lens cloth may scratch if the clods are fine or sharp, but you'll want one handy just the same. Another rag to wipe yourself off now and then will come in handy too, this is a dirty sport - Just make sure you don't mix it up with the lens cloth when you go to wipe off your glass!

6. Have Fun! Enjoy the spectacle, the food, drinks and the crowd - Which are always good for a few great candid shots too. Very Important - Don't try to touch (or hop on) any of the animals without asking for permission and instruction first. And, no matter how cool they look, don't buy a cowboy hat & boots unless you can really pull off the look and attitude that goes with it. It'll just make you look silly and piss off the real cowboys! And, I'm sure if they could, the rodeo animals would enjoy a laugh too if the saw you walking by.

Enjoy, Thanks for reading along,

Tony

2009-04-07T12:57:00.000-07:00

Hello!

Great News - I just had my first sale of an image from one of my web-sites. This "Rusty Scissors" image was just sold for use on the cover of a new book being published in Greece, in Greek, called "O Raftis tou Poseidona" (The Tailor of Neptune). Along with the "use" price, I'll receive credit on the inside back flap and two copies of the book.

I've had several of my images sold in my store, both framed & unframed and on ceramic tiles as 'fine-art' and chosen for corporate art (prize trophy & sponsor thank you plaque's for golf tournaments, etc.), but this is first from my Flickr site.

Updates & Extra Credit For Magic Squares

2009-03-26T22:05:00.000-07:00

Hello again. I've heard from several readers, that the "Magic Squares" project was 'interesting, but too much to figure out' - Sorry about that. I wanted to present a fun challenging way to create a unique version of one of your images. If that one was difficult due to the number of squares, try again, but this time only make four squares. It will still look great, and be much easier to build. I'll make the next one a bit easier - maybe.

Now, for some extra credit to those of you who (whom?) enjoyed the last project, here's how to make it more unique. First, if you didn't like how the Stroke along the outside turned out after setting all the layers, go back to any one of them, double click on the fx icon on the layer, make your changes, then do the 'Copy layer style/Paster layer style' technique again to each of the layers.

Next, lets rearrange the order of the layers to control/change the overlap of each of the squares. Remember, the squares/layers are stacked, from top to bottom. Any layer that's on top, will go over the square/layer below it. You can rearrange to your hearts delight to create overlaps as desired. This allows you to have some squares under one or two of its neighbors, but overlap one or more of the others. Look across the bottom of my image for examples.

This can be done wether you've got 20 layers or 2. The final look is up to you.

That's today's post. Email any questions/ideas/comments.

Thanks for playing.

That Magic Squares Trick

2009-03-22T13:26:00.000-07:00

Isn't that just the niftiest thing you've ever seen? I made it myself, and I'm about to tell you how so you can do it too.

This is another in my series of Photoshop & Photography tricks that I'm going to add to my blogs. This is mostly for CS2 and above, but it may be doable in Elements with a few work arounds. This is an image that I took some time ago, then played with in CS3 to make it look like a kinda mosaic or bunch of small photos laid on the table, puzzle fashion, to make the larger image appear. There are several ways of doing this, which are similar to the "out of box" look that many, including myself, like to play with, but just handled slight different. I'll describe that "out of box" trick in another post.

I'm not sure if I'll be able to completely describe how I did this image, so that it makes sense to anyone but me, but I'll give it a try. If anything, you'll at least have a good time reading this, and a starting point to experiment - Which is what this fun craft of Photography and Photoshop is all about, ain't it?

Alrighty now, on with the lesson. Before we begin - Remember back in Grade School, how you were taught to always duplicate your image first, and rename it so that if you totally bugger this image up, you'll have that original safe image, still sitting there with a smiley little grin. Do it now! Don't worry, we won't watch. I know, I know, some of you will probably ignore this sane bit of advice, thinking you know better - But you're probably the same kids that were told that it's really not a good idea to shove those Monopoly pieces up your nose, but you did it anyway. You were wrong then too, so again, just do as your told!

Essentially, you draw each of the squares by making a selection with your Marquee Tool, right over the top of the image. It may help to pre-draw the location, angle and number of squares on a piece of paper first, so you'll have an idea of how they'll layout. Put each piece of the main image that you've selected on it's own layer - Layer>New>Layer via copy, or Comm-J/Ctrl-J. As you're drawing each of the squares, hold the Shift key to produce a perfect square and have your Info Window open (View>Info) so you can verify the sizes match as you're dragging your mouse. That is of course, if you would like all your squares to be the same size. I dunno, you're the artist here, maybe mixing up the shapes looks cool too. I've got other images where I've done just that, with varying levels of success, or not - Experiment is the word of the day.

After you've got all the sections selected and placed on their own layers, select the background layer and turn off its Visibility Eye (the little eye icon to the left of the layer), which is like hiding it. Sha-zamm! You've now got the beginnings to this magic looking piece of art. If needed, go back and tweak, and/or redo any selections that don't quite look right by repeating the above paragraph.

Now, with the background layer still selected, click on the Adjustment Layer button (you know, that Ying-Yang looking circle) and chose Solid Color (or Pattern, or Gradient - Again, you're the artist here - But for now, solid color's easier to explain). Since you had the background layer selected first, this new layer will appear above it, but below all your pretty squares. In the next window, chose a color you like and hit OK, this will become your new background below all the squares. On mine, I also added a Pattern Layer above the color to add some texture, so just repeat the last sentence and play with the Opacity of that layer as needed. I've also added an additional canvas extension, with a complementary color to mine too, which if you're so inclined, you can do too. It's under Image>Canvas Size. Turn off the "Relative" box, type in the size of extra Canvas you'd like and hit OK. Remember, it's going to be spread across both sides, so if you'd like 1 1/2" added to each side of your image, type in "3" on the height and width.

Looking good now, aren't we? Well, hold on Bucko, you've still got a bit more work to do before heading over to that blender filled with enough tequila and ice to stun an elephant.

Select one of the square's layers, then click on the Layer Style button, which is the small fx button at the bottom of the Layers pallet, and chose Stroke (in Elements, you'll have to dig around to find the Style features, as it's slightly different in each version, and it's been awhile since I've done this in Elements). Now you get to chose a Stroke color (the line around the outside of each square) and thickness. On the pop-down, chose Inside. I've stayed with White here, and increased the width to something that looked pleasing. OK, while you still have the Layer Styles window open, chose Drop Shadow, making sure Global Light is checked (this insures that all shadows will go the same direction, which is after all, how nature intended it), add a bit of drop shadow to your square - Now remember, like any other seasoning, you add enough for good taste, but not so much that others could get sick. Go ahead and do these steps with your image now... We'll wait. When you're done, hit OK. Next, you get to Ctrl-Click on that layer (Or Right-Click for those of you on PC's that rhyme with Blindoes) and choose "Copy Layer Style", then go to each of the other layers, Ctrl/Right-Click and chose "Paster Layer Style", which, if you've properly followed along so far, should produce a pretty border and shadow to all your neat little puzzle squares, exactly like the first one you made.

How's it look? Isn't this a fun and pretty thing you've made now? I bet you're so excited you can't wait to chose another image to try it again. But first - You need to print this one out and hang it on the fridge with one of those lovely magnets you picked up in Las Vegas, just to make a mother proud.

Well, that's the jest of it. It's not one of the easiest or quickest Photoshop tricks, but fun. So, you may need to tweak, adjust, say a few 'choice words' to your screen if things aren't going as you'd like, experiment some more, go get a drink of something strong (like that blender full of tequila and ice that you told me about earlier), come back, maybe read your emails or some humorous web-sites, then get back on that Photoshop horse and try again until you get something you like.

My next step for this image, since we also print photos onto ceramic tiles at That Photo Shoppe, is to print each of these squares onto individual 4" square tiles, and mount them as they're laid out here, to a colored background, with maybe a watercolor paper or fabric below them - That's the next experiment. If it works, I'll post a picture of it here. If not, I'll punt, then join you for that drink.

Thanks for reading along, let me know if you have any questions/suggestions for future posts,

Tony

It Workie

2009-03-20T15:45:00.000-07:00

Hey Look at me! I've figured out how to insert photos! Now the next step is if I can figure out the formatting of the image and text so that they fit together on the page

Buddha Dudes Chatt'n

2009-03-20T15:28:00.000-07:00

This is a combination of two of my hobbies/trades - Bonsai and photography.

These are 'mud-men' that are used as decorative accessories around bonsai trees. I've had up to around 35 trees at one time, but generally lose at least one or two each winter, despite trying to keep them protected, then I'll add a new one or two the next spring, just to lose another one again. It's a fun, but slow and sometimes frustrating hobby.

I've got these types of "Buddha Dudes", as I've always called them, on several of my plants around the yard. This is a close-up Macro shot of them discussing the worlds issues, while having a little something-something to smoke. They're actually only about 1 1/2 inches tall.

30 Minute Star Trails "How To"

2009-03-20T15:11:00.000-07:00

A 30-minute star trail, shot from Sun Mountain in the Cascade Mountains, at about 4,000ft, with snow, 20 degrees and wind blowing up my jacket.

But it came out very nice. It's actually 60 - 30 second shots combined as layers in CS3. This technique reduces the noise that's normal with a long exposure. While shooting, you add one 'black' shot at the end too (I just hold my hat over the front of the lens), which also helps in the noise reduction later in Photoshop.

Make sure you have a good flashlight (or torch for our friends across the pond), and make sure you have a fresh battery in it and your camera. A 1/2 hours worth of shooting every 30-sec will drain it dry. Find an area with an interesting foreground. If you happen to be able to shoot towards the North Star, that'll be better, as you'll get rings around it. This shot is actually looking West, as there were more interesting features in the foreground, and the moon wasn't messing things up. Have your camera on a very sturdy tripod. If your tripod has a hook on the bottom, hang something heavy, like your camera bag, to steady it even more. Set your focus to Manual (otherwise your camera will search in the dark every-time you click). Experiment with the focus point, but for the most part I've found setting it right at the first infinity mark works great. Set your WB to Cloudy or Shade, or even Tungsten if you'd like a blue color-cast (or if you're shooting RAW, which I highly recommend, any WB besides Auto will work), again, for consistency so your cameras not changing its mind on each click. Go to Manual Mode. Set your Shutter Speed to 30-seconds. Use a wide-angle lens to get more sky in the frame, and set your Aperture at your largest f-Stop (f4 on this Canon 17-40mm), or if you're lens is like some, I've found it better to go 1-Stop down to f5.6 just to eliminate any chance of distortion. Take a test shot to verify your exposure on the histogram, and adjust your Aperture as needed. Plug in your remote cable release and your iPod, make sure you've got some hot fresh coffee (or whatever you fancy to drink) and get ready to shoot.

Now you've got two options, and I've tried them both. First, and this is how this one was shot - Take each shot manually, which will give you better results, but you'll have to pay more attention to what you're doing: Turn on your Mirror Lock-up, again, to eliminate as much vibrations as possible, then, with your cable release push once to lock-up the mirror, wait a fraction of a second, then push it again to start your exposure. At the end of the 30-sec, you'll hear the mirror pop back down, letting you know you're ready for your next exposure. You must repeat the 2-click cycle again to start the next exposure, without jostling the camera, and it must be done within 2 seconds, otherwise you'll have gaps in your trails. So, turn on your iPod, but not too loud so you don't miss the mirror sound, and click away. Second option, the easier/lazy man's (or women's) way to go - Semi-auto. Set your Shutter Drive Mode from single shot to multi-shot, you know, the rapid-fire as long as you're holding the shutter button mode. Now when you push your cable release, and lock it in place, at the end of each 30-sec exposure, it will automatically fire again, over and over and over - until you say stop. This works great if you want to hide in your nice, warm car, maybe get a bite to eat and come back in 30-45 minutes. The down side is the vibrations from your mirror slap on each exposure may show up as jagged lines in the trails. See - easier and lazier, but not the best results as the slow hand-made way, but it still works. I've thought about maybe laying a beanbag or something over my lens/body to see if that will dampen the mirror vibrations, but haven't gotten there yet.

Time to process all those images:

Use the black exposure layer for your bottom/background layer, then drag each of the other images on top of that layer, holding the Shift key as you drag and drop (which centers the images), then change the Blend Mode of each new layer to Screen (or sometimes Lighten works too), which will make the stars show up in each layer, while the dark areas remain the same. Depending on how many layers you've got versus how much memory your computer's got, you may need to flatten the layers every so often as the file will get very large, and your computer will seem to move as slow as those stars were that night. I just did a 45-min Venus trail, with 96 layers which came to 1.03Gb. Once it's done, flavor with a bit of Levels and Curves to taste, and you're ready to enjoy.

2009-03-20T15:06:00.000-07:00

"If there is anything the nonconformist hates worse than a conformist, it's another nonconformist who doesn't conform to the prevailing standard of nonconformity"! Aknacer

"Just because you've bought a Canon (or -enter brand name here- ), doesn't make you a photographer - I just makes you a Canon owner. Unknown

2009-03-19T22:40:00.001-07:00

Eventually I'll also figure out how to add pages - And more important - Some of my photos to this blog, and I've got some great photos to share (so I've heard). Then, maybe the spiders will help someone find my little blog among the bazillion other blogs that are already out there.

One step at a time.

2009-03-19T22:26:00.001-07:00

Well, here it is almost a month after I started looking into blogging, and I'm just now getting another chance to add to mine. I've read a lot of others though, in an attempt to get a feel for what one does with a blog.

I've been a bit tied up, and I'm also one that's never been accused of being organized. I've got many talents/skills and lots of knowledge in my head (including tons of useless stuff), with a great, sometimes dry, sense of humor - but the other side of being a classic ADD nut case, is the inability to function (i.e. organize/keep track of thoughts) as most normal folks do.

But I'm working on it, along with getting my research together to not only start writing many more articles on photography and Photoshop, but to add more classes to teach.

Tony's Photographic Blogs beginnings

2009-02-12T15:56:00.000-08:00

Welcome!!

This is/will be, the first of many blogs to come - As I delve into and figure out this world of "Blogging".

I've written for numerous magazines in a previous life, but all have been in the Professional Music & Pro-Audio/Video industries, and mostly technical or of a training nature.

All articles I've written for the Photographic world have been either published in our store's newsletter (Digital Art Moments & That Photo Shoppe in Anacortes, WA USA), or used for the many classes and workshops that I now teach beginning to intermediate photographers. I plan on adding many of those to this blog, as well as my parallel blog that I'm testing at "Talkspot" (tonysphotographicblog.talkspot.com)

As to the regularity of my postings - Well, we'll see. On the one hand, I'm busy running our store, and on the 2nd hand, I've never been accused of being a very organized person - but I'm working on it and I've got a lot to get out of my head and onto paper (or a screen actually in this case).

Thanks,

Tony