The Art Of Seeing

Tilt-Shift effect using Lightroom 3.0

Like wine and cheese, tilt-shift is an acquired taste. Not everybody likes it. For those who do, you can follow this amazing  tutorial by Kim Dalmeijer to get the following effect.

Before:

After:

Getting the horizons horizontal

The more profound a photography tip I yearn, the more rote they come.

The rule of the thirds, going low which shooting kids, focusing on the eyes for a portrait etc. Then I realized, probably that is all there is to it to teach. I mean how much more can you expect an artist to explain an art scientifically?

I was reading this article about keeping horizons straight and said to myself, “Phoo. isn’t that obvious?”.

Then as I was trawling through some photos I had taken on a floating island on lake Titicaca in Peru  three years ago, While taking this photo, I was so much focused on the two beautifully dresses natives, the reed infested surrounding and the mind blowing sky, that I let the horizon slide to the left. It immediately make the photo unreal.

The horizon is sliding left

So I straightened it.

it is quite apparent that the slope that they were standing on and the vertical bamboo stilts of the watchtower formed the virtual frame that made me ignore the horizon.

 

So after all, it is not always obvious.

Painting Angkor Wat with light

 

My Nikon 300s is on tripod . The white balance is set to cloudy, ISO to 800, shutter speed to 60s, with focal at f/8.

Since it is completely dark out there, I left the shutter open for a long time. I used the safe mid-spectrum focal length as I am not going to get too much depth anyways. I cranked up the ISO to make the camera sensitive to light without catching a lot of noise and the white balance is on cloudy because – well, when in doubt, I leave it on cloudy. I then got the flashlight out and slowly “painted” the temple with light.

Not too bad for a first attempt.

The scoundrel was loitering around till he saw me in his peripheral vision. Then he became all religious. Once he heard my camera stop clicking, he engaged me in a wonderful conversation that – as he knew all along – ended in a dollar for him. 

It was just past sun break at the Preah Khan temple in Cambodia. A lazy ray of sun light snuck through the east gopura to gather at the base of the ancient shivalinga.  As the Khmer boy fell to his knees, the smoke from the incense sticks changed directions and headed straight for his face.

In the inner most sanctum, surrounded by the lovely diffused morning glow, I almost felt pious.

Best things in life are free…

Product Shots

The setup is simple.

The “product” is sitting on a Plexiglas to get the nice reflection. A white poster card obliterates the surrounding. My D60 is on a tripod with 18-55 racked out. The SB-600 is off-camera and is pointing down, about four feet high and directly above the D60. I have a LED penlight shining into the product creating the glow you see in the lens. Then I flood the setup with the overhead chandelier. The shutter is at 1/20s, aperture at f8 and 200 for ISO. I am using my remote to trigger the camera.

The idea is to get a lot of highlights and shadows to show the contours of the subject.

It is not a bad shot for first try. 

Notes to self for future reference:

1. Clean all shiny surfaces of the product. I mean really CLEAN.

2. Do no worry about the shadow. That can be dealt with in post production.

3. Turn the EV up two notches.

4. Get two more light sources. The knob in this case should not have been so much in the shadow.

5. Detail! The neck strap is looking ugly.

6. Raise the (shooting) camera bit more. The reflective top of the Argus could have been interesting.

BTW, The product on showcase is a 1953 full frame Argus Seventy Five that I bought at a pawn shop at a throwaway price. It seems to be in working condition though I can only confirm after I have bought the specialized 620 film. 

Girl power

Well, she bugged me till I allowed her to finish the shelf. Finish she did, carefully hammering in the last dozen nails.

As I sat back, I could not help reach out for my camera. I turned the flash off, and slowed down the shutter to catch the hammer in motion… Then I clicked. 

Werewolf Magnet

 

This time I managed a decent shot under 10 minutes. Last time, the experimentation had taken over an hour. f/11, 1/40s, ISO200, tripod with a remote.

Hold a camera in the palm of your hand,

and the night is just an hour …

(apologies Bill)

( BTW, notice the gigantic frog on top of the Space Needle? )

Tuscany

The hills in Tuscany are always described as “rolling”. I fond the chant funny till I saw them. They do roll ...