Shadow and Light

A shadow indicates a light source.

Important in photography.

More important in life.

If I only see shadow, maybe I should turn around.

I shot this daisy as it lay on my dining room table, its back to the window. The table itself was blown out except for a tint of colour and the grain of the wood. I increased the exposure on my computer on the face of the daisy and also bumped up the clarity and contrast.

I shot at a speed of 1/60 with an aperture of f/2.8. My focal length was 70 mm and ISO set at 100.

Winter's Beach

Winter's beach can be as serene and peaceful as summer's. Maybe more so with quiet's presence.

With an almost all-white composition, I made sure to compensate so my image would not end up under-exposed. If left for the light meter to decide, it would be a dull and dark image. I "pushed my whites to the right" on my histogram and ended up with an appropriately exposed photo.

I shot at a speed of 1/500 and aperture of f/8. ISO was fixed at 100, as is my habit.

I added a textured layer in photoshop that also brought a touch of colour to the sky.

Snowflake Tree

The snowflakes were ready for harvesting...

I'd like to talk a little bit about exposure in snow compositions. Left to our camera's mind and eye, our winter images would most often be underexposed. When reading the landscape, the camera sees a predominantly white image as too bright and will compensate by decreasing the exposure (when on automatic) or give a reading on the light meter that the image is overexposed (for those who shoot manually). Subsequently, we are often inclined to bump down the exposure ourselves. This leaves us with a dark image.

"Push the whites to the right." Remember that phrase. On your histogram (use it - it is most helpful!) often we like to see the bulk of the pixels right in the center of the graph. Not so with a white landscape! Adjust your settings until the peak of the pixels is at the far right of your graph, without spilling over off the graph. Then you will have a properly exposed winter image (or any white image).

"Push the whites to the right!"

Last Bits of Summer

The sunflowers have been pulled from the garden. This bloom escaped the garbage bag to sun itself a little longer. After taking her picture, I left her to warm for at least another day. The last bits of summer remain and I cannot bag them up and put them on the curb. Not all of the bits. Not just yet.

The warmth of today made it easier to lie on the grass and take this shot. Getting low, face to face with the bloom, I shot with my 60 mm macro lens. The bright sunny day meant I had to use a faster shutter speed or smaller aperture. I wanted a shallow depth of field for this image, so I chose to use f/2.8 which also meant a shutter speed of 1/800 so it would not be overexposed. If you've been following my blog, you've come to assume that I chose to use ISO 100...and you are right.

Sometimes I am a Purist. Other Times I Play.

The mood of the approaching storm was better shown when I played with the contrast and colour of this image. Often the sky's definition can be lost to brightness. Recovering that definition can be done with various presets or playing with individual controls within Lightroom (or Photoshop). Changing up the colour can also enhance the image, depending on the feeling you are going for in your shot.

No matter, you still need something good to work with. Composing most or all of your shot in-camera is still the best way to go. What you add from there can in fact add to your image. Careful, as it can also take away from the shot. Finding the right balance requires thought and insight into what you want to say or show.

Cabin on the Rocks

It is tough to get proper exposure in a composition that includes a good deal of sky that you don't want blown out and a foreground that demands adequate brightness and clarity.To do this in camera is challenging, if not impossible.

Once on my computer I bumped up the exposure in the grassy area, including the cabin and woodsheds, while bringing a curtain down over the sky area to recover what was lost at capture.

Because the cabin and woodsheds were all relatively the same distance from my lens, I didn't need an exceptionally great depth of field. I opted for an aperture of f/9 which brought satisfactory clarity to the buildings.

Morning Light

Stepping into my friend's kitchen, I was bathed in the morning light and also her warm welcome. The beautiful touches of my friend were easily seen throughout the rooms. I'm not sure which was sunnier, the evidence of my friend's hand or the light streaming in from the windows.

I bumped up the ISO to 400 to make sure I had adequate exposure for each hand-held shot. Once on my computer, I brought each of these images into Photoshop to add a soft layer overtop, enhancing the softness of the morning light - just a touch.

Catching Raindrops

It is a rainy morning here in Winnipeg, the perfect time to try and catch some raindrops.

I set my camera up on my tripod with my 75-300mm lens and attached my remote switch to avoid camera shake. I didn't have to wait long at all for each of the drips to drop. My problem was speed, or the lack-there-of. Even with bumping up my ISO, my lens was just not fast enough to stop the action of the drop in lower light conditions. Well, I guess it could have but the image would have been too dark to see a thing!

I settled on shooting the drop still clinging to the grape leaf and used a speed of 1/80  and also f5.6 for barely adequate exposure. ISO was way up there at 1000. Because I was shooting through a screened window, the noise was not as great an issue as it would have been for just about any other shot. There was enough other stuff going on to mask it. I did add a layer in processing to hide the noise even more and darken the shadows.

Daisy Duo

Here are a couple of pictures that will surely bring a little sunshine into your day. The macro lens allowed me to focus in on the splash of sunshine while leaving the petals soft and soothing. Tender and touchable both, these daisies do delight.

A little tip for photographing a scene that has a lot of white:

Push the whites to the right.

This is in reference to your histogram. Be sure your camera's histogram graph shows that the whites (which on a largely white landscape will be the spike of pixels towered high on your graph) are as far to the right of the graph as possible without going over. Adjust your aperture or shutter speed to accomplish this.

Often we'd like to see the bulk of the pixels right in the middle of the graph. This is not so with a bright white image. If you leave the camera to decide this on its own, you will find that your whites are grey, not bright and clean. Try this tip and see the difference for yourself.

Photographing a Winter Wonderland

These last couple of days of mild weather and early morning fog have gifted us with beautiful hoarfrost that lasts well into the afternoon. To be able to walk out my door and out on the trail into this wonderland has been such a blessing. Seeing things anew inspires creativity and opens the world up in a whole new way, at least for a time.

When heading out with your camera into a largely white landscape, remember the tip "push the whites to the right" when viewing your histogram (just don't go off the graph). The camera will be fooled into thinking an underexposed image is a proper exposure. Compensating for this is necessary to avoid an image that is grey and dark.

Picture Window

A picture window. A room with a view. It doesn't matter where you live or how you live, a great front window is of appeal...maybe from both sides of the pane.

I shot this scene in Manitoba in late winter/early spring. The snow had found its way into the ground...but barely.

I shot at 1/125 with an aperture of f/4.5. I bumped my ISO to 200 as it was a darker day and I wanted to keep everything well exposed.

Choosing to place the cabin off center adds more interest, makes room for the background ~ where this cabin lives. The foreground is unobstructed and a good balance to the rest of the picture's stimuli.

Whisper

This quiet hush of tulips softens my moment, maybe even my day.

When I brought this image into Lightroom, I decreased the saturation and softened the contrast to bring out the tulips' gentleness.

The natural light came in through the window at an oblique angle. Allowing the window to wash out with over-exposure completely removed the distraction of the outside, keeping the focus where it was intended. This also gave adequate exposure of the tulips in the foreground.

Sometimes over-exposing parts of the picture is an effective strategy in composition.