Posts Tagged: light

Photo Tips — 5 Comments
4
Jul 10

Focus on the Background

If you want to dramatically improve your macro shots, focus on the background. I don’t mean that you should literally focus your lens on the background. I mean that you, the photographer, should focus your attention on the background. The background in a macro image is critical to the success of that image.   

A soft ,mottled green background enhances the beauty of dew-glittered fairy trumpets.

Usually when we’re shooting, we tend to focus our attention on the subject. Our biggest concern is that it is in focus, that the composition is good and in a close-up that it doesn’t move. All are very important issues for tight close-ups. We can also get caught up in the magnification of the subject. When the lens magnifies the image, we can see things through the camera that we didn’t notice with the naked eye. It’s easy to get so caught up in the excitement of what we’re seeing and forget to pay attention to what the camera sees. Unlike our eyes, the camera sees the subject and the background equally.

Make sure that the subject is where the viewer’s eye is drawn without any background distractions. We can do this by minimizing the background. Creating a simple, uncluttered background will make your subject stand out and make the background, well, fade into the background. That’s not always as easy as it sounds. An out of focus background is relatively easy to achieve, but that doesn’t ensure a suitable background. An out of focus background that enhances the subject requires a bit more effort. Many macro images are disappointing because the background, even though it’s out of focus, is a cacophonous riot of color. Our eyes are drawn to bright areas and to brightly colored areas even if they are fuzzy and lack detail. Color variations in the background should be soft and subtle. Ideally, keep the background, regardless of color, darker than the subject.

Soft variations in light and shadow highlight grasses at Ridgway State Park, CO.

Many times light and shadow provide a background that is mostly shades of gray. This is good, except when the light and shadow create a distracting pattern. As with a colored background, try to achieve a soft, subtle background lacking distinct patterns that is generally darker than the subject.

A change of focus when you spot a suitable macro subject may help your shot. Before you pull your camera out, move around the subject and look at the background. Look for a simple background. Sometimes squinting will help you envision what an out-of-focus background might look like. Spend at least as much time looking for a suitable background as you spend looking for a good subject. Then pull out your camera and start composing. If your camera has a preview button, use it to see how the background will look at the selected aperture.

A good background is just as important to your shot as the subject. Focus on the background to nail that macro shot.

Good shooting.

Frank

Photo Tips — 2 Comments
28
Jun 10

Summer Shade

Shade is great on these warm summer days, especially if you’re shooting flowers. To the human eye, flowers look great in bright sunlight. The sun makes the colors fairly explode into brilliant irresistibility. Our eyes and our brain work as a super camera and filter allowing us to see the brilliant beauty of a sunlit flower. The camera, on the other hand, is a poor imitation of our eyes and brain, so it sees flowers quite differently.

The same flower shot in shadow and in full sunlight

In bright sunlight, the camera sees flowers as harshly lit with blinding highlights and deep shadows. Unfortunately, our eyes and brain do not compensate for the extremes of light in shadow in a photo, so we see a harshly lit flower. Harsh sunlight can make the colors look washed out or create unwanted highlights. The subtlety of the petals coloration is lost.

Flowers photograph to best advantage in soft, diffused light. The petals fairly glow under soft light. Since we envision flowers as soft and delicate, soft diffused light enhances their beauty in our eyes. Look for early morning or late evening light for soft sunlight. If you find yourself with a perfect flower in harsh mid-day light, create your own soft light. Use your body to shade the subject, or if that angle doesn’t work, press a friend into service.

You can also take advantage of thin, hazy clouds that naturally diffuse the sunlight. Since most of us are unable to call up hazy clouds on demand, try using a diffuser. Diffusers are made of translucent material that diffuses the light. There are many manufactured diffusers available online. It is also possible to make a simple diffuser using a variety of materials from translucent plastics to various lightweight fabrics. Beware of color casts that can be created by some colored materials even though they may look white to your eye.

Enjoy

Frank

Photo Tips — 3 Comments
15
May 10

Enjoy the Storm

If you live in Colorado, particularly the Front Range, Mother Nature has born out my description of spring as a knock down, drag out battle between winter and summer. The past week has been very cool (some would say cold) with plenty of rain and snow. Up here at 8500 feet, we’ve had about a foot of snow over the past three days, although the accumulation hasn’t been more that about 8 inches.
 
But the point of this post isn’t just for me whine about the weather. Actually, I want to praise the weather. For most folks, stormy weather is a pain in the posterior. But for a nature photographer, it is like getting a white Christmas. Storms make for some of the best photographs. Well, not the heart of the storm, but when it’s breaking up it often provides an interesting mix of clouds and clear skies. The light can change rapidly and dramatically, providing some really exciting opportunities for great photos.

Shreds of fog drift through the pines

Fog-diffused sunlight saturates colors

I got out for sunrise this morning as yesterday’s storm was breaking up. Everything was wet from the rain and snow. During the night, most of the water drops froze on everything. The cold temps also left low clouds and fog lingering in the valleys. So the sunrise was a mix of glowing fog, clear skies, dense gray fog, frozen water drops and thawed water drops. Needless to say, I spent much of the morning cold and wet, but as you can see, it was worth it.

Raindrops on grass are always good subjects

The fog provides soft diffused light that makes most colors glow with their own light. The water drops on the grass and pine needles offer great macro opportunities. And the constantly changing light offers many different facets of the same scene.

If you want dramatic photos, head out into the “not-so-nice” weather as a storm is breaking up and you may be rewarded with some surprising photos. Another advantage is that most normal people are still in bed, so the wildlife is out more and they seem to be a little more active right after a storm.

Enjoy

Frank

Photo Tips — 1 Comment
14
Mar 10

When Two Equals Three

I saw some absolutely incredible art today that dramatically demonstrated the importance of perspective. In photography, as well as painting or drawing, we are translating a three-dimensional object into a two-dimensional rendition. In order to see a three-dimensional object in that flat, two-dimensional image we need to pay attention to a number of details—light, shadow and perspective. Without these, we get a two-dimensional object that does not represent the three-dimensional object we saw. For that reason I tend to favor side lighting over front or back lighting. Side lighting provides shadow and light that helps to provide the illusion of three dimensions in our flat photographs. Perspective also adds depth to our images. Straight lines that converge and near objects appearing larger than distant objects create depth in a photo.

South Park sunset

You can see examples of light, shadow and perspective in this photo. Even though this is backlit it does provide excellent light and shadow on the snow drifts to give them shape. (As I said earlier, I tend to prefer side light, that doesn’t mean that front or back can’t be used effectively, also.) The parallel lines of the road, fence and telephone poles all converge creating depth in the image. Also, we know that the telephone poles are, in reality, the same size, yet they get smaller with distance, again creating the illusion of depth.

And what was the art that inspired this post? This guy really understands light, shadow and perspective to create these incredible images. Take a look for yourself. Be sure to scroll to the bottom to see what the “wrong” perspective looks like.

Enjoy.

Frank

Photo Tips — No Comments
1
Mar 10

The Light Direction

When shooting outside, it’s nearly impossible to control the direction from which the light is coming. Moving the sun is one thing that even the best photographers have not mastered. How the light strikes our subject is critical to how the picture is perceived by the viewer. So we, as photographers, must be aware of the light and how it is striking our subject.

There are three primary directions of light—front light, side light and back light. This may sound intuitively obvious, but it is one thing that is often overlooked. These three shots of the same tree under different light dramatically demonstrates the effect the light direction.

 
 
 

Front light creates a uniform light without harsh shadows. By the same token, it also tends to flatten an image because of the lack of shadows. Shadows create a sense of depth.

Side light is when the light is striking your subject from the side. This creates a brightly lit side and shadowed side. This creates a three-dimensional appearance to the subject. It also emphasizes texture. However, if the light is too bright, it creates too much contrast between the lit side and the shadowed side. When this happens, the lit side is overexposed or the shadows underexposed. When the light is soft and there is a balance between the lit and shadowed sides, side light can create beautiful images.

Back light is in some ways similar to front lighting. It tends to provide a uniform shaded lighting on the subject. It is much softer light than front lighting, which sometimes can be more appealing. Back lighting often provides soft light while still retaining the texture, making back lighting a favorite of many photographers. Back lighting can also be used to create dramatic silhouettes.

Since we can’t move the light to suit our needs, we have to find other ways to achieve the effect we want. If possible, move your subject. If you’re shooting people, it’s simple enough to ask them to move to achieve better lighting. This simple technique allows you to take good photos even at noon when the light is harsh and unflattering. Moving people to a shaded spot eliminates the harsh light with deep shadows that is the most unflattering light. If there isn’t any shade available, ask them to turn their backs to the sun so their faces are in their own shadow and take advantage of back lighting. Step in close to eliminate the brightly lit background.

For nature scenes, we have to work with the light that nature provides. For landscapes, we can choose the time of day to shoot a particular scene, using the angle of the sun to provide front, side or back lighting. The same can be done for wildlife, but wildlife has an incredible ability to not be where we want them when we want them there. This is what makes wildlife photography so challenging—and frustrating. It requires more than normal patience and persistence.

Whatever your subject, always, always be aware of the light. Light is everything.

Photo Tips — No Comments
20
Feb 10

Add Sunstars for Drama

While I was in South Park last week, freezing everything off, I found that the sunrises and sunsets were not very impressive. The few low clouds on the horizon didn’t put forth much effort to improve matters. So I started focusing on sunstars to add a little pizzazz to my photos. Sunstars add a dramatic, eye-catching element to a photo. While they may be tricky, they’re not difficult to do.

The best way to create sunstars is to set the aperture to the smallest opening (largest number) possible. In most cases that will be f22 or larger. Reducing the aperture opening to a small point creates the star effect. The trick to sunstars is to put the sun completely behind a solid object. (See CAUTION at the end of this post.) Then shift the camera slightly until a small portion of the sun is peeking out from behind the object. Better yet, wait for the sun to creep out from behind the object as I did in this photo.

Your first attempts will point out one of the major difficulties in shooting sunstars. (Remember, I said they were tricky.) Having the sun in your shot can, and most likely will cause lens flare. Some people don’t mind a little flare and some hate them at all costs. I’m of the hate-’em-at-all-cost mentality. Lens flare is caused by the light bouncing back and forth between the lens elements. Therefore it stands to reason that the more lens elements you have the greater the chance of developing a lens flare. Zoom lenses are more prone to flare than primary lenses because they generally have more elements.  The more of the sun that shows, the more likely you are get a flare. Also, the further from the center of the image you place the sun the more likely you are to get flare. To reduce or eliminate lens flare, first, shoot with less of the sun showing and second, move the sun nearer the center of the image. A little experimentation will show what works best for equipment.

Metering for sunstars can be tricky because the light is changing dramatically and very rapidly as the sun emerges from behind the object. The camera’s metering system can easily be fooled by the extremely bright sun and dark foreground, resulting in poorly exposed images. I prefer to set my camera to manual metering mode to keep the exposure from changing as the sun emerges. It helps me to control whether I have a black silhouette or allow detail to show in the foreground.

With a little patience and practice you’ll find sunstars can add an incredibly dramatic element to your photos.

You’ll find other examples of sunstars on my website.

CAUTION! Be extremely careful when shooting sunstars. Looking at the sun directly or through your camera can potentially damage your eyes.

Photo Tips — 2 Comments
5
Feb 10

Light – The Heart and Soul of a Photo

Sunset behind Longs Peak, Rocky Mountain National Park

"Thor's Reflection"

The most important part of any photograph is light. It may sound intuitively obvious, but light is frequently overlooked by amateur photographers. We tend to assume that what we perceive as beautiful, the camera will capture as beautiful.

Rarely does that happen. The eye and the camera (film or digital sensor) do not see the world the same way. We have a massively complex filtering mechanism called the brain that interprets and adjusts what we see into what we perceive. It corrects for low light, colored light, harsh light, etc., to provide us the image that we perceive. Even the “smartest” camera does not make any adjustments or interpretations. That’s where you, the photographer, come in.

We must use the light to convey everything that we experienced when we took the photo. In an out-of-context, two-dimensional photo, we must use the light to create mood, provide a sense of depth, and show us textures and shapes. Light, or the lack of light, allows us to perceive three dimensions in a flat photograph. Light is also how we see colors.

For photography, all light is not created equal. We’re all aware of how the light at sunrise looks different than the light at noon. The way the sun shines through the atmosphere changes with altitude of the sun above the horizon. Close to the horizon, the sunlight must pass through more atmosphere than it does when shining straight down at noon. At low angles, the atmosphere absorbs more of the blue light allowing the reds and yellows to predominate. It also scatters the light more, softening shadows, creating a soft warm light. At noon, the light is much bluer and the shadows are much sharper. The contrast between brightly lit areas and the shadows is much greater, creating a harsher image.

Pay attention to the quality of the light and what effect it has on your subject. For warm, inviting landscapes, I prefer the soft light an hour after sunrise or an hour before sunset.