Sunday, April 17, 2011

Photo Walk #1

Thanks to everyone who came to the photo walk. We had a lot of fun -- spent about 1.5 hours just walking from the Tanner Building to the Maeser Building. We went over a bunch of photo principles including an over-exposure technique (example below). I'm proud of everyone for shooting in Manual mode -- you're all growing up so fast. Enjoy the gallery!



Over-exposed style
Here's the over-exposed look I mentioned above. Basically, expose for the DARK area of what you are photographing and let the LIGHTER area blow out. THen just make you sure you point your camera INTO the light or shoot perpendicular to it. Here are 3 examples.




Depth of field
Here's an example of one of my flower shots. My first objective is to get a branch that's in the light. Then frame my picture so that there's an attractive composition, then slightly adjust my position so that the background is nice and clean (no power lines, ugly building, half sky-half street, etc.).

You can see from the 2 photos that are similar that one is sharper (more in focus)than the other. That's because I shot the sharper one at f4 and the blurrier one at f2.0. The one shot at f2.0 has a shallower depth of field, so more of the photo is out of focus, creating a single point of focus on the end of the branch.


Focus
This is just a close up. I'll focus my camera as far as it will go then get as cola as I can with my focus maxed out. That allows me to get as close as physically possible and still be in focus.

Shooting in the shadows
Here's an example of photographing in the shadows. There is still some flattering light from a huge building reflecting a large area of light from the late afternoon sun. So the light on Hailey here isn't very flat.

Depth of Field - Explained
Can you see the difference between these 5 shots? Look at the backgrounds. See how they get progressively more out of focus? I started shooting at f2.0 (the really out of focus background) then went to f2.8, then f4.0, then f5.6, then f8. I adjusted my shutter speed proportionately to keep the same exposure. This is why I love shooting wide open (the biggest aperture possible on my lens) when photographing people because it just isolates the person from the background. These kind of lenses can be pricey, but well worth it. By the way, I did not crop these. I stayed in the same position and only adjusted my shutter speed and aperture.






Telephoto
Here's a telephoto (zoomed in) shot. This was shot from about 150 yards away on a 135mm lens. sometimes stepping back and getting a shot from far away can be flattering for architecture. In this case, we create layers by getting trees in the foreground at different distances.

Way to get close! This is a great way to learn. Just get out and SHOOT!


Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Cool Video

Whistler Blackcomb XXS from Whistler Blackcomb on Vimeo.


Found this cool video on the interwebs. I have a 24mm tilt shift that is a lot of fun. Makes me want to get out and play around with it more often.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Sunset from Utah Lake via Vineyard




Went down to Vineyard around 5pm tonight and found a road that went all the way down to the lake (almost). Took a few minutes to catch the birds flying around in the reeds. These are all handheld at f4 ISO 800 at anywhere from 1/250-1/60 of a second. The square one is an attempt to save a mediocre photo. When in doubt, crop it, square it, vignette the heck out of it.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Shots of the Tanner Building









Just went out and took some shots of the tanner building for the MBA newsletter. We've had some great light and some great clouds that made for some fun colors.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

1934 Ford 3 Window Coupe








Kelly Kirkpatrick let me take pictures of his black 1934 Ford 3 window custom coupe. This ride is pretty sweet. This was a grass farm out in Vineyard. The farm manager was nice enough to let me shoot. Thanks again to Rudy for being the come-with guy and taking shots of his own. Thanks to Kelly for having an awesome car! The light was great, millions of mosquitos not so great.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Orem Orchard Photos


It's a goat on a donkey! The little goat just hops on and off the donkey like nothing. It's pretty darn funny.










Found an orchard in the middle of Orem today. I met a nice family and they let me shoot around their house. These spring colors are just amazing out here and I've never had a chance just to shoot them with no pressure to publish. I know the tilt-shift might be getting a little gimmicky, but I'm trying to learn how/when to use it most effectively.