exposure Archives - Page 4 of 5 -

Filters & Color

July 19, 2012 by karenulvestad, posted in Instruction, Tips

Filters can be used to enhance colors in a photograph. They may filter out some light rays, while accentuating others. My favorite filter is a Polarizing filter.

With a polarizing filter, it cuts the “glare” from the sunlight off of the surfaces being photographed. It can turn the sky a deep blue, or bring washed-out colors back into a normal range. The photo above was taken in the morning around 9 am. This was shot in the high desert in Eastern Oregon, and the light started becoming harsh a little after 9 am. The polarizing filter enhanced the blue sky, and the red in the hillside.

The photo below was taken later in the day. The leaves are green, because of the polarizing filter. This filter can change water reflections, by enhancing them or making them disappear. In clear water, this allows for the bottom of the water source to be seen, like in the last photograph.

The digital medium requires a circular polarizing filter, to properly work with the medium. It is most effective 90 degrees from the sun, though it does continue to work at lessor angles (with less polarization). The filter freely turns, and the amount of polarization in the photo is affected by this.

There is not a filter that can correct bad lighting, such as mid-day in the desert. Creating brilliant color in photographs requires good light, proper exposure, correct white balance (WB) and appropriate filters. Some of my previous posts discuss lighting and exposure.

More later, and Happy Shooting. . .Karen

Sitka Center Rocks!

July 7, 2012 by karenulvestad, posted in Location, Workshops

Just taught at the Sitka Center for Arts and Ecology last weekend. Absolutely incredible venue to teach through. My “Of the Land, Sea & Air – A Coastal Photographic Adventure” filled months ago, and had a waiting list. The students were great, and the wildlife made its appearance. The coastal weather was misty one day, and simply overcast the second day. Overall, a great experience to teach in, and a wonderful school to work with.

The students photographed the Common Murre colony, fledgling Peregrine Falcons, Great Blue Herons, Black Oyster Catchers, Pigeon Guillemot, Black Guillemot and more. One student watched and photographed a Humpback Whale that was breaching.

The following photographs are from the workshop. . .

copyright Karen Ulvestad — This Great Blue Heron was hunting on the in-coming tide. The mono-chromatic scene in off-set with the orange Starfish, green water and kelp.

More Later, and Happy Shooting. . .Karen

Photography Destination – John Day Painted Hills Unit

July 6, 2012 by karenulvestad, posted in Location, Tips

In the mountains east of Prineville, Or, the small town of Mitchell is located 15 minutes from the John Day Painted Hills Unit. The town of Mitchell has a population of 120 people, and is located directly on Highway 26. The Oregon Hotel offers affordable accommodations, and is pleasant to stay. Main Street is across the creek from the main highway. During our stay, it was quiet and peaceful. Temperatures in the summer reach the 90 – 100 range, and July is the hottest month. With the aspen in the hills, fall would be a beautiful time to catch the colorful hills, and fall colors.

The area is home to three separate units, and all are home to fossils, beautiful landscapes and wildlife. We saw numerous Ravens, Hawks, Falcons, Deer and other wildlife.

The Painted Hills are layers of volcanic ash from the time the Cascade Mountains were young. Today, we see these hills as layers of reds, yellows, whites, blacks and greens. The sunlight changes the colors of the hills throughout the day. The sunlight becomes harsh around 9 am in the summer. It has the best color during the early morning hours, and later in the evening. The photograph below was taken a little after 6:30 am. I polarized filter is very useful in this location.

Besides sweeping landscapes and panoramic, the area lends itself to abstract compositions. The vibrant colors, textures and shapes create a landscape filled with possibilities. The light-colored boardwalk (s) create a brilliant contrast to the colors of the hills. In the photo below, this is the boardwalk through color cove.

More later, and happy shooting. . .Karen

Using Compositional Elements

June 23, 2012June 23, 2012 by karenulvestad, posted in Instruction, Tips

Every photograph is built from the elements the photographer sees through their lens. On the surface, it is a subject like the ocean, bird or person. Beyond the obvious, our photographs consist of lines, patterns, shapes, color, textures and more. What goes into our compositions is what we see, and how we arrange it in our viewing space.

The photograph below is of the incoming tide along the Oregon coast. The ocean is lit by bright sunlight, and the waves are crashing over the rocks. Other people like this photograph, because of the subject. What I see in this photo is its subject. Then, I see the lines, texture and color of the image. The waves create diagonal lines. Splashing water and the rocks create texture. The colors of the water are vibrant greens and blues, due to the sunlight.

Many of these concepts are the basics learned in an art class. A photograph, like a painting, is made up from the same principles. With the painting, the artist has the choice of brushes, paints, color and artistic license of subject placement. The photographer is working with different tools. Being based on light, a photograph at different times of the day or different weather, will affect the photograph. Our brushes are exposure, lens choice and camera choice. Our color is dependent on the amount or quality of light. Subject placement is limited only by our ability to move or observe a subject.

In the photograph below, both the rocky shoreline and the wave make powerful lines. Between the two, they meet creating an arrow pointing to the left and out of the frame. The perspective is from the cliff top. A lower perspective would have changed the relationship between the wave and rocks. It’s up to the photographer to decide how to place the elements in the frame.

With landscapes, many of the elements are stationary. Waves do have a short life-span, but they will repeat themselves. Birds perch, swim or fly. They may not repeat an action. A bald eagle will catch a salmon out of the ocean. If the photographer misses the shot, he/she may not get another chance to take the photo. Living beings add some unpredictability to any photographic scenario.

The photograph below is of Stellar Sea Lions. At the moment of the photograph, they were sleeping on the shoreline. This can make a static photo, since they are not doing anything. In this case, I used the environment to bring in interesting elements into the composition. The sea lions are on the left side of the photo, yet a small whirlpool sits on the right side. These three elements make a triangle for the viewer to look at. The texture and color of the water complete the composition.

More later, and happy shooting. . .Karen

What’s in a Digital Darkroom?

June 1, 2012June 1, 2012 by karenulvestad, posted in Digital Darkroom, Tips

Often times, I get asked if I “Photoshop” my photographs. If it was a film image, it would be like asking me if I took my film to a photo lab, which I worked at one for a couple of years. Our job as employees was to give the customer the best photograph possible from their film. We would color correct the prints, before they left the lab.

In the digital age, there is a lot of concern about “manipulating” photographs. In truth, all photographs are a manipulation of a scene through composition, and use of exposure.

So, what is a Digital Darkroom?

A Digital Darkroom is a software, such as Photoshop, Elements, or Aperture, where a photographer can color correct his/her photographs. There are tools to remove dust spots, filters to enhance color and cropping tools. What comes out at the end is the photograph the photographer wanted to take.

To answer the question. . .yes. . .I use Photoshop. I gather the best possible data with my camera, then polish it into the photograph I saw through my lens.

Here is an example of what computer software can do. . .

In this photo, I used Photoshop to remove dust and correct color.

In this photo, I started with Photoshop to remove dust and correct color. Then, I used Topaz filters to reduce haze, and further enhance the color.

Happy shooting, and More Later. . .Karen

Catching a Defining Moment. . .

April 27, 2012 by karenulvestad, posted in Instruction

Photography is the art medium that “catches” a moment in time, through the use of a camera and the photographer’s creativity/knowledge. Correct exposure means going beyond the Auto functions of the camera, and controlling the exposure through manual, aperture priority or shutter priority. It also includes use white balance, ISO, bracketing (depending on subject), flash and other functions.

Pre-setting exposure is a great way to prepare for shooting subjects like birds. This blog is focused on Osprey, and they are a fast-moving bird. I always pre-set my exposure before shooting birds. This pre-setting phase includes selecting an auto-focus point, as a starting point.

Planning or visualizing the image is essential for bird/wildlife photographs. This simply means know your subject, study it and anticipate the next series of events. It’s good to go out on a shoot knowing what subject you are planning to photograph. For locations I know, I usually have a broad subject such as birds. For unknown locations, I do some research before going on the shoot. This allows me to know what type of landscape I will be shooting in, and what kinds of subjects are usually at the location.

The second part of planning is deciding what equipment will be necessary for the subject. For birds, I always use my 100-400mm IS lens. I take my tri-pod for shooting video. In addition, I carry extra memory cards, an extra battery and lens cleaning cloth. Usually, my flash is included in my bag too.

For the complete Osprey hunting sequence, visit my video at http://youtu.be/S9LFynPyNew.

Have a great day shooting. . .Karen

Sitka Center: Of the Land, Sea & Air: A Coastal Photographic Adventure

March 12, 2012 by karenulvestad, posted in Instruction, Location, Workshops

Here is the information on my upcoming workshop on the Oregon Coast. It is on June 30th and July 1st. It would be great to see you there, and feel free to pass this on to other interested people.

Thank, and have a great day. . .

Sitka Center: Of the Land, Sea & Air: A Coastal Photographic Adventure.

Wildlife and Lighting

March 7, 2012March 7, 2012 by karenulvestad, posted in Instruction

From birds to mammals, the lighting is very important for a good photograph. Light in the eyes gives a depth to the eyes, and attracts the viewer. It is said that the eyes are the windows to the soul, and it is one of the first places we look in a photograph.

The best lighting has the sunlight on the side of the subject or behind the photographer. Light behind the subject requires adding light via reflector or flash. Natural light on the subject gives it shape, and gives dimension to the photograph.

In the photograph with the gulls, the light reflects in the eyes of the gulls. The shadows on their bodies give the birds shape. On sunny days, it is easy to get this effect.

On overcast days, the shadows and highlights become subtle. Contrast is less, and the scene in front of the camera becomes flatter, as shown in the photograph of the racoon. This photograph lacks the dark shadows and the bright highlights. The sky washes-out to white and light gray.

In both these situations, a polarizer filter will cut the glare off of surfaces, and bring more color into the photograph.

More later. . .Karen

Photographing at Dusk

February 20, 2012February 20, 2012 by karenulvestad, posted in Instruction

Dusk is the time of day when the sunset is most brilliant. It is the time many animals and some birds come out to hunt and feed. Modern digital cameras offer us choices in exposure and flash to make the most of these opportunities.

This photograph of a barred owl was taken around sunset under the tree canopy. There was little light to work with, so the exposure for this image is ISO 2500, Shutter 1/80 and Aperture F5.6. I was using my 100-400mm lens at 400mm. This shot is not cropped, and is a full-frame sensor camera. The original file is shot in RAW.

I could have used a fill-flash in this situation, which would have allowed me to shoot with a lower ISO. It would have added light into the scene, and lit the owl. When I mention fill-flash, I am talking about adding a little light. Adding too much light in this situation would startle the owl, create shadows, and possibly over-expose parts of the scene.

On this photo, I did adjust the color and luminescent to reflect less noise, and desaturate the color to fit the time of day.

When photographing the sunset at dusk, the exposure is different. Usually, there is open space before the sunset, and it has more light.

This photo of the mountains at dusk shows the dynamic colors in the sky, which is reflected into the water. The hills and mountains become shades of blue-grey in the photo. The birds feeding in the water and on the mud flats become silhouettes against the reflected colors. The exposure on this image was ISO 100, Shutter 1/60 and Aperture F8. I was using my 100-400mm lens again at 400mm.

On this photo, I adjusted color and contrast.

More Later. . .Karen

Small Things in a Big Way. . .

September 5, 2011 by karenulvestad, posted in Instruction

Macro is taking something very tiny, and composing a complete photographic image from the subject. I love macro. It helps change my perspective of all the “big” things that I photograph, such as birds, people, landscapes and. . .

Macros are mini landscapes. The composition comes from the lines, shapes, colors and textures. It becomes a focus on the minute.

The idea of exposure changes. The photograph shown here has a large depth of field (DOF). I used F32. The reason for the large DOF is that the closeness of the lens to the subject.

The most important tool for macro is a good tripod to hold the camera steady. This shot at a long shutter speed, and could not be hand-held. Also, a slight blur is more noticeable in macro due to the magnification of the subject.

More later. . .Karen

Tag: exposure

Filters & Color

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Sitka Center Rocks!

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Photography Destination – John Day Painted Hills Unit

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Using Compositional Elements

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What’s in a Digital Darkroom?

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Catching a Defining Moment. . .

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Sitka Center: Of the Land, Sea & Air: A Coastal Photographic Adventure

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Wildlife and Lighting

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Photographing at Dusk

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Small Things in a Big Way. . .

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