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.
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
There were at least 22 Snowy Owls at Boundary Bay in Canada earlier this week. The owls were roosting close enough to the dike to photograph with them with a 400 mm lens, and get good photos. Many birders and photographers are visiting the area to observe and/or photograph the white owls.
In this area, weather is an important factor to a successful photo shoot of the owls. The landscape is reminiscent of the tundra, and is wet. The best and driest viewing area is from the dike.
Equipment for the shoot should include a tripod and long lens. The minimum lens length would be a 100 – 400 mm. Many photographers use a 600 to 800 mm lens for this type of shoot.
Visitors can get within 30 to 50 feet of the owls without disturbing them. During the day, the owls are sleeping and/or resting, which makes them easier to photograph. They do startle easily by people coming to close to them. The rules of the area indicate that the owls should not be disturbed, and need to conserve their energy for the long migration back to the arctic.
The owls will be migrating back soon.
Also, the area is teaming with Bald Eagles, Hawks and other raptors.
More later. . .Karen
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
Daylight changes through-out the day. The harshest light is mid-day, where the sunlight travels through less atmosphere. The warmest light is in the morning or evening. The photography shown here was taken in the evening, as the sun was setting.
The orange and pink of the sunlight reflect on the water’s surface, and the warm light baths the birds in flight. The blue is the reflection of the blue sky.
If this was taken during mid-day, the colors would be “washed-out”, and the light would appear to be hard or harsh.
The best time of day to shoot photography is before 10 am and after 2 pm. The sunlight travels through more of the Earth’s atmosphere, and it is less harsh. Colors are more apparent either earlier or later in the day. The colors of the subject will be warmer, and more vibrant.
More Later. . .Karen
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
The quality of light will affect the colors in a photograph. Our eyes adapt to the light without us knowing it. We see sunlight and artificial light as similar, when they are very different on the color spectrum.
Our cameras are programmed to see light as daylight. In the film world, we needed to purchase daylight film or tungsten film. It depended on our needs. So, what is the difference?
Put simply, tungsten/incandescent film or setting on the camera color correct the photograph for this artificial light. Used in daylight, it turns the photograph a beautiful blue. Under tungsten/incandescent light, it color correct the photograph to the colors our eyes see. By the same idea, daylight film or setting on the camera sees tungsten/incandescent light with a yellow-orange cast.
Our digital cameras allow us to shoot on AUTO or select a White Balance (WB). By knowing how the settings will affect the photograph, the photographer can enhance the colors in their images.
More later. . .Karen
Light. . .without light, there is not a photograph. With light, there is a photograph. Using light within you composition can create a breath taking photographic image.
Sometimes, it’s simply luck. This photo was taken from Arches NP on one of the roads. It was late afternoon, and the storm over the mountains with the rainbow added to the composition of the image. It’s one of my all time favorite images, and the first time published.
Sometimes, it takes research, patience and timing. I didn’t know that the storm was going to happen. It was truly a serendipitous moment. It’s also one that not everyone would see. My travel companions on this trip didn’t want to stop, and one of them was a photographer.
I think it comes down to being aware of the surroundings, and seeing/predicting what will happen next.
More Later. . .Karen
The light makes or breaks a photograph, along with good composition. You can have the greatest composition, but if the light is wrong the photograph doesn’t turn out well.
The top photo is taken during a winter storm. The light or lack of light turns the color of the water to a gray, and the greens are muted. Overall, the photo is dark, and lacks shadows. This contributes to the lack of depth in the photograph.
March is a wonderful time to photograph the change of seasons. Here on the West Coast of the US, our weather changes between rain, sun, and hail. Bulbs start to poke out of the soil in February, and the daffodils are blooming.
In April, the Skagit Valley holds its annual Tulip Festival. The photo above was taken in the afternoon, on a sunny April day. The use of color and perspective make for interesting floral photographic images.
This one was taken from below (on the ground) looking up towards the sky. I held my camera on the ground, pointing it up, with a wide-angle lens set at 17mm (full frame sensor). I wanted to focus on the idea of color, and the concept of being unique in the crowd.
Below is a shot of the fields with a sense of the surroundings.
In this image, I used a wide-angle lens set at 17mm (full frame sensor), set the horizon line low in the frame, and used the primary colors to define the photograph. My depth of field was F13.
For more information about garden photography, attend my class this Saturday at Coupeville on Whidbey Island. It’s the WSU Master Gardeners extended learning workshops for gardeners of all ages.
More later. . .Karen