2010 Workshops
Posted on | December 1, 2009 | No Comments
SAVE THE DATE………..!
October 17th – 23rd 2010 I will be giving a week long Macro workshop at the Maine Media Workshops in Rockport, Maine. In my opinion, the Maine Media Workshops offer one of the best photographic learning opportunities in the United States. This is peak season and the perfect time of year to photograph everything macro from fall foliage to tidal pools. Linda and I are very excited to be able to spend a week in this special environment. Enrollment is limited to 15 students so there will be plenty of time for one-to-one instruction and review. More details later!
October 1 – 3rd, 2010 Roger Foley and I wil be giving the 6th Master Photography Workshop at Chanticleer Gardens in Wayne, Pennsylvania. For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of being at Chanticleer in the fall, this is an opportunity not to be missed. At this time of year, the morning and afternoon lighting is spectacular. Theresa Forte, one of this year’s students, even wrote two newspaper columns about Chanticleer complete with images taken during the workshop. Enrollment is limited and portfolio review is required – but both Roger and I will be happy to answer any questions on how to submit. Once again, more details later!
For Fun Part 2
Posted on | November 16, 2009 | No Comments
By and large horizontal images tend to be more mellow and soothing while vertical images are more rigid. The last post had me trying to make the horizontal image more vibrant while this weeks post would be a vertical image and more mellow. I was working inside a Japanes maple with a zoom lens on a tripod. I moved my rig about one foot from the horizontal to shoot this image.
To be honest, I had trouble getting exactly what I wanted. It was one of those images where no matter what you did, the image would be a compromise. I wanted the stems to be sharp but have the leaves go soft. No matter which f stop or where I focused, a few of the leaves would have some shaprness or if the leaves were totally soft, the stems would go soft. I could have reached a solution in photoshop but…. Anyway, this image came pretty close to my vision. Not exactly a soft mellow vertical but not a stiff image either.
Did I have fun? Yes, as always, it was a great day to be behind the camera.
Just for Fun – Part 1
Posted on | November 6, 2009 | No Comments
As photographers we spend our time behind the camera looking for scenes that seem to ‘fall in place’. We look for compositon that works. The ever famous ‘leading line’, ‘rule of thirds’ and ‘S’ curve are touted over and over. But what about getting an image of one of the composition giants where it was the subject of the image?
I was in Ringwood State Park recently and spotted a Japanese maple. It was just past peak and the view from outside of the tree was dull but the inside glowed in the late afternoon sun. As I crawled around looking for a scene to fall in place, I noticed this branch in the form of an S curve. I decided to shoot the branch in a very graphical manner and make it the subject. To get the entire curve into the frame and still have impact, I had to shoot it as a horizontal. While horizontal images usually have a more mellow feeling than vertical images, the strong contrast of the branch and leaves give this photo the vibrant feel it needs. (Before we get carried away, keep in mind that this image is an exercise to push us to adjust our thinking to fit the situation. It is image taking for fun.)
After capturing this image, I decided to see if I could find a vertical image in the same tree that would have a soft feeling.
Oh, and without changing lenses. Canon 24-70 zoom on a tripod
Part 2 to follow.
Keep looking
Posted on | October 13, 2009 | 1 Comment
The first weekend this month, I taught a Master Photography workshop with my friend Roger Foley at Chanticleer Garden in Wayne, Pa. Our schedule called for presentations and lectures on Friday night, a two hour shooting session in the garden early Saturday morning and again Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. In between the photography sessions, we would do class reviews of the images captured, Q & A and additional lectures. The forecast for Saturday had rain, showers, cloudy or a mix of all the above until late afternnon. We decided to be very flexible with the schedule and let the weather guide us.
Saturday morning Linda and I arrived at the gardens at 6:45 – just before sunrise. “Look behind us,” said Linda. The fields across from the entrance were filled with mist and the pre-dawn light was a rainbow. Before I knew it, four of us were trying to capture the images before the sun rose and the mist disappeared. We had great lighting and decided to stay in the gardens shooting until 10am. At 10:05 it poured. By the time we edited the morning images, had lunch and did the class review, it was 3:30 in the afternoon. The rain had moved on and the lighting was as good as it was in the morning.
During the garden shooting sessions neither Roger nor I do any photography but instead keep moving around to talk with each student. Late on Saturday afternoon, we found ourselves at the Terrace Garden. As we talked over the progress of each student, we noticed the setting sunlight on the Terrace Garden. At one point, Roger asked me what time it was. “5:35 pm” I replied. I knew then that on Sunday evening, after the workshop finished, Roger and I would find ourselves back at that spot.
Well, the class ended around 3:30pm on Sunday and by 4:30 we were in the gardens with our gear. I didn’t see Roger until I climbed the hill to the Terrace Garden. It was 5:32. Both Roger and I kept moving around to capture different angles. It was beautiful. In about fifteen minutes a cloud came over and temporarily killed the golden sunlight. I had captured a number of different images and took the opportunity the flat lighting afforded to explore another angle. What I found caught my breath. I ran for the camera and managed to get a series of shots as the sun completely disappeared behind the trees and the garden was in complete shade.
Here is one of my favorite images from that group.
Point & Shoots
Posted on | September 18, 2009 | No Comments
The Mohonk Mountain House, located just outside of New Paltz, NY, celebrated its 74th Garden Holiday week this year. Held the week before Labor Day, Linda and I were asked to return for the sixth time to do an evening keynote presentation and a morning garden walk.
Over the years that we have been part of the Garden Holiday program, we have become friends with a number of the people who come each year. One of these, Dick Chamberlain, loves to take pictures. This year he told me he decided to enter the 21st century. ‘I am going Digital. Can you give me some advice?”
I asked Dick the usual questions. What are you going to do with the images? Do you like working on the computer? How many lenses do you think you will need? Is weight a consideration? His answers – I like taking pictures. I don’t like computers. I want to get rid of my heavy camera bag with all the lenses. I am not planning on making large prints or have any desire to get the images published. Shirley and I like to travel and I want to be able to take pictures of the places we visit.’
After spending a half hour or so, I suggested Dick consider a point and shoot camera. “A POINT AND SHOOT? I don’t think so. I am a little more serious than that.” “Ah,” I said, “but you are mistaken. The lowly P&S has become a valuable tool in the digital age. Many professionals are carrying a P&S for some of their shooting, especially when they don’t want to lug along a large camera bag.”
I pulled my Canon G9 out of my pocket and handed it to him. “I took this on my morning walk in the garden today instead of wheeling the camera bag. I wasn’t planning on a shooting session so I brought it just in case there was something I wanted to capture. Linda also uses it to capture images of the grandchildren.”
At the end of our talk, Dick decided that a Canon G10 or maybe the new G11 would be the perfect choice to meet his photography needs.
Oh, the image at the beginning of this post was captured on a G9 during my morning walk. It is an image of the main garden at Mohonk depicting a chess board.
Macro Workshop??? Help needed.
Posted on | September 11, 2009 | 1 Comment
Over the past year (actually since the Macro book was published), I have had an increasing number of requests to do a week long Macro workshop. One of the Sunday to Fri. or Sat. schedules. So, I am working on a possible schedule but before going any further, I thought I would check to see if there is any real interest for offering such a workshop next year. I think the location would be in the northeast US.
Plese help me by clicking on the ‘no comments’ or ‘comments’ with a yes or no and/or any additional thoughts.
I will post the results.
Thanks,
Alan
Digital , Digital , Digital
Posted on | August 28, 2009 | No Comments
We finished up (until further notice) all the projects our landscape architects and designers assigned us this season. As I was reviewing the images I realized that many would not have been attempted or even possible if we were still shooting film. For example, when we have a swiming pool involved, we had to get the robot cleaner and bright white hose out of the pool. Not as easy as it sounds, especially if you are racing the light. Or a patio where we can sweep the dirt off but the bird droppings require much more effort. In both cases, eliminating these faults in Photoshop saves time and energy.
An even better example happened this year. As part of one large project, we were asked to shoot a long two foot high stone wall with a beautiful limestone capping. When we arrived on location, we noticed that the home owners children discoverd that the stone capping made an excellent tablet for them to practice their alphabet. Large chalk A,B,C, etc for over a hundred feet. Of course this added extra computer time, but we got the image for the client.
The image is this post is an example of using the software, in this case Lightroom, to adjust the raw data and produce an acceptable image where film would have failed.
The upper left was a very bright sky while the right was in shadow. The left side and bottom had sun coming across but the middle of the image was dark. If film were in the camera, we would have had to pass on this shot. With over a uneven twelve stop range – no combination of ND filters would have rendered an acceptable image. With digital, I was able to use a graduated neutral density filter in Lightroom develope module in the upper left and lower the exposure by three stops. I added another ND filter at the bottom to add saturation and highlight the sun coming across. Finally, I added some fill light to open up the shadows in the middle of the image. Total time for these selective adjustments amounted to about five minutes – a few dollars of time. Happy customer – priceless.
Next time you encounter a tough lighting situation, capture some data and see what you can produce. I often remark that digital photography is a large circle we keep traveling. As we learn more about one part we can extend ourselves in the next part. Each time we go thru the process of capturing and processing images we find new possibilities. Images that were passed by before become possibilities.
Lower angle = more reflection
Posted on | August 17, 2009 | No Comments
This is the time of the year when we are busy completing the list of gardens that our landscape architects and designers have asked us to photograph. Many of the properties feature swimming pools. It is important, if possible, for at least one of the images to show the relationship of the pool to the house.
This image is from a recent shoot that presented a number of problems. One, the house was situated in a north/south direction. That meant the sun threw the back of the house and pool in shadow in the morning ( a flat image) and was very bright in the evening. Two, the house was white and really got bright when the sun hit it in the evening – a real exposure challenge. And three, the owners’ children were waiting to go swimming.
I needed a multi-faceted solution. First, I positioned the camera so that one tree would block some of the house on the right border and another would interrupt the whiteness of the house in the middle of the image. Then I lowered the camera angle to include reflections of part of the house and a passing cloud. The white reflections helped to diminish the perceived brightness of the house as well as adding interest to the pool. A lower camera angle included more reflections but also more of the house. Moving to the right would have included more of the tree than I would have liked. The final image is, as usual, a compromise.
I set the camera for a slight overexposure of the house. In processing, I was able to lower the highlights and open up the shadows. Best of all both the customer and homeowners were happy and the children went swimming.
Just Keep Shooting
Posted on | July 29, 2009 | 2 Comments
So there I am in my brightly colored cycling clothes (spandex) getting the bike out of the garage. I turn around and the late afternoon sunlight is just leaving the Helenium by the driveway. The bees, however, are still busy collecting nectar. With so much image potential, the bike ride can wait.
I set up the camera on a tripod with my 180mm macro lens. By positioning in close, I was able to rotate the camera without moving the tripod and still cover a number of blossoms. Every minute or so a bee would land on one of the blossoms. I set the aperture at f11 and pressed the shutter every time a bee paused on the blossom. The one here is what can happen when you keep shooting. You get lucky. Two bees sharp on one blossom.
As a side note, the tech on this image is f11@1/13 of a second. If I had hand held the camera, getting this images would have been impossible. Even if I had used f8, the shutter would still be 1/25 of a second. Hand hold a 180mm lens at 1/25 – not very likely. I may have missed some opportunities due to the tripod, but I got the final shots that would have been blurred otherwise.
As a second side note, I was lucky in another regard. No one stopped and took a picture of this crazy photographer dressed in cycling gear photographing bees.
Focus, focus, focus ?????
Posted on | July 13, 2009 | No Comments
When students have trouble achieving critical focus, I often suggest they bracket their focus points. This is especially true for macro work where getting the depth of field in the right area can seem to be an act of faith. There are also other times where it pays to play with the focus point. Today’s images are such a case.
I was outside looking at the gardens after a recent rain when I noticed that the rain drops created interesting patterns on the glass top patio table. I set up a 180mm macro lens to see if there was an image worth capturing.
The first image in this post is the result. I had to shoot on an angle in order to get the bright area from the sun in the image. It was impossible to have the entire image sharp top to bottom. I elected to have the image sharp at the top and go soft at the bottom. It was fun to play around with but not exactly a five star result.
Then I captured a series of images by changing the focus. Some were so out of focus that the rain drops became nothing more than a pattern of diffractions of light. In the second image, the reflections of the trees in the glass table top are just sharp enough to become recognizable and the drops of rain are still evident.
Camera position, tripod, exposure remained the same for all images. The only difference between them were the manual changes in focusing. Both images appear to be almost monochromatic but are more colorful and impressive when viewed in a larger format. The second image, like the first, has diffractions where rainbows of color are evident throughout but it has the added bonus of the texture of the trees. This one is a keeper for me.
If this isn’t enough reason to play with your focusing points once in a while, here is a second reason. If you are unsure about your composition, throw the image out of focus. If the pattern of shapes and colors in the out of focus image hold together, your composition is good.