Category Archives: Picture of the day

Through a haze, clearly

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Here is the city I shall leave again when the airline has seats in a day or two:

You will notice some technique here:

Haze and foreground: I made the two houses in the foreground part of the picture. Anything hazy is OK is there is something sharp in the foreground. (I discuss this in the Impactful Travel Photography book, of course).

Panorama: I cut off the top and bottom to emphasize the strip, and to use the Rule of Thirds. (This too in the Travel book).
Enjoy your day. I am about to enjoy the last day of Nevada before I try to get on a plane, which is proving surprisingly difficult.

 

Zabriskie Point

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Here’s Zabriskie Point in the 1970 Antonioni movie:

And here it is the other day shot by me:

They added a bench and there’s more tourists; that’s about it, in 45 years. I can just imagine being there in 1969. The landscape is as stark as then:

And so is the environment, except for a much better road now.

Stark. Beautiful. I love the desert.

 

 

Fire

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Yesterday’s trip was to the Valley Of Fire, Nevada. Just an hour outside Las Vegas and the most stunning landscapes I have ever seen–and I have been around the world countless times. I can only compare it to Ayers Rock (Uluru) and the Olga’s (Kata Tjuta) — except better (sorry, Oz friends) and bigger.

I have never regretted not having two cameras as much. Every other shot needed a lens change. The above shot was taken with the 70-200 lens. This one with the 16-35:

That National Geographic “wrapping around me” feeling that only a wide lens can give you.

And the crisp, undistorted feeling a long lens delivers:

What was critical in the shot above? Yes, time. I had a few minutes. In 30 seconds, the sun was gone. What happens in mountains under a clear sky.

One more from the wide lens:

And the sun eventually sets.

Not that the fun stops after the sun sets. Beautiful colors come out:

And here finally is the native gas station that I drove a Korean college student, her mom, and her two kid sisters to yesterday, after they had a flat tire in their Kia rental. And I am here to tell you that those “temporary fix” kits they use now instead of a spare tire do NOT work. (the kits that comprise a compressor plus some substance). After the “fix”, 6km later it was flat again. Fortunately, I had a van so was able to drive them 15km to the gas station, where they waited for the rental company.

I could spend a week in that park and only scratch the surface. Instead, I use photography and I am quick.

This country is so beautiful, I am thinking more and more I belong here, the southwestern USA.Now all I need is a green card and an income…

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More travel photography tips: Get my e-book Impactful Travel Photography today. Need to learn your camera? Then buy Mastering Your Camera too.

2014!

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Happy New Year, everyone!

This picture is from almost exactly seven years ago: Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan, early January 2007. For pictures like this, of course, you use a very wide angle lens. 10-20 on a crop camera; 16-35 on a full frame. Slow shutter speeds are possible, everything is sharp back to front and you get great perspective. Cheers!

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My new book release is imminent: if you bought or received a new SLR camera for Christmas, it may be just what you need!

 

 

 

Icepocalypse

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Well, perhaps not quite, but today was a good wake-up call in terms of power and how we rely on it. Like most in the Toronto area, I lost power for a few hours today – for most of the day, in fact. And it failed several times, just when computers were connected and writing to hard drives. Note to self and to you: always use UPS uninterruptible power supplies when working on a non-laptop computer. Your data is too valuable.

My car today, covered in a layer of hard ice:

Note two: Now that my Travel Photography book is out and available for purchase here, I have started my next book: a book for beginners and advanced users alike on using DSLR cameras – any DSLR camera:

And note three: you can still get a certificate for custom training for your loved one:

An idea for Christmas? Contact me-I can have a personalised PDF file for you in an hour!

Now, back to charging the cameras. Enjoy these festive weeks!

 

 

The Compulsory Adjective

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This is a tip from my Impactful Travel Photography e-book, which will be released this weekend–in time for Christmas. Just sayin’.

A trick for better travel photos. The trick is simple: when you press the shutter, ask yourself “what is the subject?” If it is simply nouns (“the Eiffel Tower”, “The Shania Twain Museum”, or “the Houses of Parliament”), then the photo will probably be boring. The subject needs an adjective, a descriptor; something you are trying to say. “The Very French Eiffel tower”, or “The Houses of Parliament as a tourist attraction”, for instance.

Or, as above, “The Failed, Abandoned, Shania Twain Museum”. That makes the viewer look and work out the story. It helps the photo tell a story. Most importantly, choosing the adjective helps you decide how to photograph your subject to achieve that story (like by using the empty car park in the photo above, with a wide angle lens).

Remember: your subject should be not a noun, but an adjective and a noun… and an adjective that your audience can guess!


Drink Responsibly!

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Nah, I will not bug you with educational messages: you are adults and perfectly able to act and drink responsibly without me talking down to you like our various pressure groups, politicians, and authorities .

The same goes for eating: You’re in charge of you. Salads or meat and pasta: up to you.

When getting together with friends, do record the event; on your iPhone if you must – or better, hire me to shoot it for you.

You will of course record the decorations as well:

Now, the point of this post?

These pictures were all from an event I shot Friday night.  And contrary to my habit, I changed lenses several times before settling on what I really wanted. I started with my favourite 35mm f/1.4 lens. But it was not dark, and I wanted a little wider, for the tables and so on, so I switched to the 16-35 f/2.8. Then I wanted longer, to get those large circles from the light – so I switched to the 24-70 f/2.8 L, the perfect all-round lens. I used it at discrete settings of 24, 35, 50 and 70mm. That way I knew what to expect.

Enjoy the festive season, and shoot a lot – this is the perfect season to record permanent memories!

 

 

A reminder for the festive season

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A reminder, with some pictures at an event I just photographed. You can use the pretty lights we see all over the place (Christmas tree lights, festive season decorations) as a wonderful background. Like this:

To do this, you need to really blur that background. This means:

  • Shoot wide open, or close to it.
  • Separate your subject from the lights (not right in front of them).
  • Zoom in.
  • Get close.

If you cannot do all these to the full extent, you can still get pretty lights – they just will not be quite as big. Still worth doing!

Even

Even not quite as big, they are still nice. I shot these at f/2.8 and f/4 with a 24-70mm lens. And here’s one more, just one more:

Yes, this season affords a great opportunity for cool backgrounds to go with your cool foregrounds.

 

Expressions Rule

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When I shoot Santa pictures and the like, I really want to get a child’s personality into the picture (assuming it’s a good personality). So crying on Santa’s lap is fine, if that is the way it happens. After all, babies cry for a living – do not make the mistake iof always having them look great.

And moments. I look for moments like this (Sunday):

Isn’t that much better than forced, fake, smiles? Parents have been conditioned to expect the latter, but please, try to take the former. Moments and personality, not “necessary smiles”. Those are perfect for good business portraits (Friday):

So – think what the portrait’s message  should be. Real personality? A moment in the life? Then shoot those moments. Competence and trustworthiness? Then the latter picture is perfect.  Just try not to mix up the two.

And never tell a boy “SMILE”. You can say “Laugh”, or much better, make them laugh.

Sometimes, however, you just cannot get an expression.