Cliche flower shots - How to improve.

There are two things we all like to shoot (Correct me if I am wrong) :) ... Lots of flowers and the moon (for some reason). As for the flowers, its a natural instinct as we get easily drawn into their amazing colors which is a result of generations of evolution. The flowers which has the most vibrant and most preferred colors (by bees etc) succeeds in making more copies. Now enough with biology :) and lets get into shooting them. All below shots were taken by me at different stages of my photography learning curve... and thought would help to solidify the guidelines. Please note that ALL PICS ARE COPYRIGHTED and CANNOT be used without my consent.

Also note that the critique below is my personal view only..and does not claim a global standard.

Here we go.. This is what I would have shot sometime back...

The above shot does have some vibrant colors to it (minimal PP done on this)... But lacks significance in my opinion. It doesn't provide the user with a unique view or a story. Lighting is completely flat and mainly due to the overcast weather at the time, but no consideration was paid to the lighting of the shot.

Now the one below is a little different and in my opinion, a much better shot.

Now, the above picture do contain some vibrant colors in it. But it also puts one flower in particular as the focal point of the picture. Putting it right in the middle might not be appealing.. but nonetheless it catches the eye. This is achieved by thinking about the lighting and the angle of attack of the shot. This is what we call as a back-lite (also a little side light) subject and that light helps to outline the contours of the object much better.  So, even though there s a lot going in the picture (a lot of flowers in it), the eye of the viewer is guided to the desired focal point.

Now the one below has even better impact in my opinion,

This is shot in very harsh sunlight but the positioning of the flower and its petals helps to minimize the effects of that light. Plus, the shadow it cast improves the dynamic range of the picture. I hold this picture above the other two posted here due to one main reason. Its the DETAILS in the shot. This is a "not so beautiful" flower by the side of the road... and yet this provides the user with a view of its unique structure evolved for pollination... and that adds value.

So there you go.. the next time you see a flower, don't snap a picture of it.. But think about  the following things,

1. What do I want to show about this flower?
2. What kind of lighting do I have right now and how to use it?
3. Where are the important details of the flower that makes in unique?

If you answer one or many of these points, I believe you ll have a stronger picture than many other vacationers would have sitting in their computers/cameras. Please add below if I have missed anything or if this was helpful to you.

Thank you!
Akila.

SlutWalk London Ontario 2013

Coming from my ethnic background, I was inherently shy at talking to people I don't know. So, street photography was beyond my forte... But always wanted to try it out. Then along came the annual Slutwalk which presented me an opportunity to speak with the organizers and their approval to be there as a photographer for the event. This is what caught my eye during the proceedings of this vivid walk which gathered people of all walks of life to protest against rape and also a comment made about how women should/should not dress to avoid getting raped.

Please note that All Images are Copyrighted. 

Comments are always highly welcomed.

Rolling with style...

No shame.... 

Passion to express....

Serious in harsh sunlight....

Full attention... 

Showing his/her support...

Emotional speech....

Colorful event.....

 

Careful listeners.....

Digital age is here...

Only one paying attention?

Need I say more?

Making a statement....

Looking for equality... 

Fun...reflection and a walk...

No age limit to express yourself....

Thank you.
Akila.

Child's play... exploring colors with bubbles.

I was blowing soap bubbles to distract my one year old son during one of his feeding sessions, when I saw the amazing colors (refracted) on the surface of them... This gave me an idea which I thought had some merit to it. So this turned out to be a 2 night adventure.. The first night was to explore the idea, get the lighting just right etc...  This was a tedious process but yielded some results with a lot of potential. The main problem was (apart from the watery mess it makes) the difficulty in getting something in focus and of course, the hit and miss nature of timing of these shots.

To get everything in focus and to improve my chances I moved away from my macro lens for a telephoto lens. The lighting was a simple single source light set up which effectively created a light trap for me to capture the bubbles. All shots were made with the same EXIF data basically at f/16 at 1/100 sec with an ISO 400.

ALL IMAGES ARE COPYRIGHTED.

Please feel free to comment and will be highly valued.

Thank you!
Akila.

Among arts and craft....

I took some time off to go visit an annual event in London Ontario where various artists gather to showcase their products and services. I carried only a macro lens to the event on my Canon rebel body, sort of to limit causes for changing lenses so often.... a choice which proved to be a great one.. The event was so crowded and all the stalls were covered with people, juggling with lenses would have been the last thing I wanna do. The set up created some challenges.

1. Sellers and artists were interested to showcase but were skeptical about photographing them due to the risk of someone steeling their ideas. I had to clearly state my intentions many times.

2. The lighting was not that good and also highly uneven. Due to the crowd, I could not use a tripod (to not to get in the way of others). So, that meant, a fixed wide aperture to not to increase the chances of getting a sharp shot. This also meant there s a very shallow depth of field.

3. My lens at hand meant (at an effective focal distance of 160mm = 100mm*1.6) meant I should better stick with macros... So went hunting for small objects only.

*** But the most important skill I developed was not photography related at all.. It was the way to discuss with people and build a good rapport with people.. so it was all people skills.

Below are some of the shots. Will provide more as (if) I receive permission from other vendors,
All images are copyrighted. 

The following two pictures are from two pendents which were made out using multiple layers of glass.. fascinating.. But I would have loved to play with lighting in these ones to bring out some drama.

Thanks
Akila.

Creating something out of nothing...

Was walking to the lab after a long weekend due to Easter... and saw this strip of light filtering through a glass window strip and hitting the elevator door. It caught my eye due to the golden color of the morning light...but the situation was pretty boring as can be seen below,

Due to the religious significance to some of my friends (Easter) and to create something interesting out of this boring shot, I started to think of the following aspects.. First, I realized that framing and the angle would play critical in doing this. The horizontal light streaks (barely visible from this angle) along the doors were slightly resembling a cross. So, decided to get close to the surface while retaining the vertical strip in the middle of the shot. Then under exposed the image to loose other irrelevant information (Since my last post, I found how to do Expos. comp on my hand phone :D ).  Here s the holy cross I created out of it..

Would like to know your thoughts regarding this shot.

Akila.

A crappy camera at hand is better than 10 DSLR cameras at home

Was doing grocery shopping last evening and saw the skies lit up with the setting sun.. Felt miserable for not having my DSLR with me at the time.. So took out my mediocre mobile phone, looked for a good composition and stuck to the golden rules and below is the result. No EXIF data as its a pinhole camera with no control over exposure. Wanted to give an immediate subject for creating interest and then I wanted to position the shot to get the light distribution (fading of light) from bottom left to top right (diagonal) where the street light would be more dramatic.

Comments are welcomed and the pics are copyrighted.

Akila.

Exploring the shallow depth of field in Macro photography

Depth of field (DOF) is a big challenge any amateur enthusiast (including myself) faces when getting into photography. Its the illusive block of focus which varies from lens to lens and from one f number to the other. I have had numerous shots in the past which I had to regret about not having enough DOF in the shot. Below is one such case where the value of this shot would be doubled if I had both these little fellows in focus (which I didn't notice at the time I shot this),

Shot at f/5.6 and at 1/320 sec.

Things get even more dicey once you step into the domain of macro photography where a low aperture value would give you unbelievably shallow depth of field, which is also hard to notice from the display at the back of ones camera. So, I decided to do a small demo using a watch I bought sometime back to demonstrate what f/2.8 yields in macro level.

In this shot, I attempted to focus on the seconds hand (which proved to be really tricky) and fire away.

There the seconds hand appear tack sharp while the everything else (which is millimeters away) appears blurred and out of focus.

The same shot was then taken by focusing on the dial (with numbers) and it gave this result

Here we see the opposite case where Casio brand name is in focus while few millimeters in front, the seconds hand is off focus.

Hope everyone who is getting into macro photography will find this useful and please feel free to discuss any related issues below.

*** Thanks Duane Jacques for suggesting I make a small article about this while we were discussing shallow DOF issues.



Akila.

The holy grail shot of Macro photography...

Tried out the classic standard shot of macro photography.. which was a pretty simple setup and gave surprisingly fast results. Used my brand new, Canon 100mm 2.8 USM macro lens for the shoot. Will explain the setup in detail if anyone needs it. For the moment, here are some of the test shots.

 

All pics are copyrighted. 

Comments are highly welcomed. 

Akila

Starting out on MACRO Photography..

I have come across a lot of people who are afraid or don't know how to start dipping into the world of macro photography. But once you do, it will open up a whole new amazing world for you. The start up kit is the biggest question people find... How much do I have to spend to get into it? Do I need a fancy lens? ... Well it all depends on what kind of Macro you are interested in. In my opinion, there s only two kinds of macro shoots.

1) Small stationary objects -  Model cars, water droplet shots, patterns and textures

You need not spend much for this type of shots. Reversal rings were not that attractive for me. But there are two other cheap options for macros. One is called "Close up filters"....they are just like the UV filter that goes in front of your lens which acts like a magnifying glass (price $20-99). They do give you fast shutter speeds (So can be tried out on bugs even), but don't give you the best picture quality as far as sharpness is concerned. The second solution is a set of extension tubes ($35-250). A cheap knock off brand would cost you around $40. These are simply hollow tubes, so need not worry about optical qualities. They just places your lens far from the sensor and thus giving your the macro ability. When buying, its always important to purchase some tubes with autofocus capabilities...which can electrically connect your lens with the body. The down side is, you lose light. The amount depends on how long the extension tube/s are. Works great for still objects, but with bugs, you may need a ring flash to get faster shutter speeds.

2) Insect photography - Butterflies, bugs etc...

This is a totally different beast altogether. The two options I mentioned above would still work here, but would have very limited applicability. Mainly because for both methods, the end of your lens needs to be so close to the bug, you will be literally breathing down its neck. So, shy insects will be out of your reach. This is where you have to spend some good bucks to get a descent lens. I myself is a Canon shooter, so very limited knowledge about Nikor lenses. Always keep an eye for third party lenses made by Sigma, Tamron etc... The only thing you need to pay attention is about the focal length. The longer the focal length, the further away from the subject you ll be shooting from...so less chances of scaring it away. + Its always great to have IS or VR to minimize camera shake. Not a critical factor, but will help.

In my personal opinion, its always best to start with something cheap. Extension tubes and a ring flash would not cost you more than a $100 (unless you go for high end brands).. and will let you know if you are up for it or not. As I understand, its not everyone's cup of tea...Certainly is mine though.


Here are two sample shots I have taken last summer without a dedicated macro lens.

Shot 1 - Taken with a Vivitar close up filter (10X) on my telephoto lens. Shot with natural (harsh) daylight.

Shot 2 - Taken with a knock off extension tube set (31+12 mm) on my 50mm 1.8 portrait lens. Shot with natural (harsh) daylight.

The only requirement was pure GUTS to stand that close to these bees while almost touching them with the lens (specially with the second shot) :D


PS - Can provide links for those interested in buying these stuff.
Akila.

I did this shoot sometime back.. First let me present the outcome and then describe what it is.

Most would not be able to guess what this is apart from the fact these are water droplets....Oh! Believe I gave it away with the title of this post. During the winter, I was exploring indoors for a shot and saw a snow globe and the water droplets formed on top of it. Here s how it looked like.

Pretty boring ha? Not for me! :). So, there we go... carefully moved it a desk...Used two colored LED lights (From a dollar shop) and pointed the lights from either side of the globe from below. Didn't have a descent tripod..so took this handheld at f/5.6. Also used extension tubes to get close up (No macro lens :D).... and snapped away...!

All copyrights reserved for the images. 

Akila.

A moment of reflection

Wanted to share something that happened yesterday (25th Feb 13) when I was doing TA (Teaching Assistant) for a programming course. I forgot one of my student's name and he corrected me. I said sorry and in an further futile attempt to justify my mistake, I said that its hard to keep track of all student names etc...and we broke into a discussion and a third student also joined in...

Then this student started asking me about Islam religion. First I thought it as a general question and started answering him. Then I realized that he assumed I was a Muslim.I was shocked and maybe a little offended and quickly replied "NO!".. Then he said "Hindu?"...and I followed "NO!".. and before he ventured another guess I replied with a strong resounding answer, "Buddhist!". He smiled and said "Close enough!.. You all look the same..".

Later that evening, I was FB and saw another of these Halal posters claiming how different the Muslims were from Buddhists. But it seems, to a foreign eye, we all look the same. That got me thinking...the more I thought, the more similar we appeared to be. So these differences are nothing more than a problem of the perspective we take. You see the world through colored glasses and you ll see everything colored!. This post was not meant to claim anything more than a personal reflection I just had. Hope everyone will have similar experiences in the near future and will stop alienating all brothers in every other religion. We are people divided by casts, regions, provinces, elevation (upper country/lower country) etc... don't bring religion into the mix...and always remember, no matter how different you think you are, to a foreigner, you all look the same!.

Akila Subasinghe
26-02-2013