Sharing

My recent favorite.

The keys -

• know your models
• get closer
• lower your point of view
• take many shots
• control depth of view
• freeze actions

Ouch

Canon EOS 5D Mark II ISO800 1/40sec f2.0 50mm

Wings!

I spotted this colorful shot when I was striding on the beach. Rarely do I see kids sitting in line properly, until I realised they were enjoying their chicken wings after a probably long day of plays. Five kids, all in colorful outfits, similar ages and gestures. A great coincidence and the picture instantly become one of my favorites.

Canon 5D Mark II 50mm f4 1/500s ISO100

Point of view

Where do you put your camera? 

Your point of view is an important part of your design and the feeling of the picture.  This is especially true when photographing subjects below the eye level.  I have seen too many pictures of kids taken from a top-down perspective.  While this is true for most adults as a documentary one, the view is less of spectacular and more of a boring feeling.  

Canon 5D 50mm ISO100 1/500s f2.8 

Curious

She approached me herself alone without hesitation. She was playing with her little plastic container, and she grew interested in what I was doing with my camera. I was fixing my straps, sitting on a bench inside a shopping mall.

This was my first shot, full auto, with a wrong manual white balance. I had to redevelop it from the raw file. The output compares favorably to the picture I took earlier at the same ISO. See for yourself.

Loved this candid portrait.

Canon 5D Mark II 24-105mm at 105mm f4 1/80s ISO3200

Big Waterbed

Canon 5D 50mm at roughly f5.6, unknown shutter speed.

I love summer.

Separately I am finding a theme for myself to work on. This will allow me to make a series of images based on an idea that ties them together. A challenge, personally. A portfolio approach rather than a Greatest-hits approach.

Ben and bubble

Joshua and his bubbles

Canon 5d 50mm f4 1/800sec ISO 400

I didn't like the blown out sky in the upper right that much. I considered cropping it out but I also wanted to give the subject some space. In the end I chose to do the latter.

Give me a hug

Canon 5d 50mm f2 ISO400 1/2000 sec +1/3EV

The girl was very photogenic. Her expression was so gentle and exquisite. One of my favorite images. Featured in The Radiant Vista's daily critique.

Bubbles

Pictures of bubbles: fast shutter speed, ways to form specular highlights on bubbles, and a darker background.

Curious look in the eyes. She showed a lot of interest in the camera. What fun. We chatted with the family a bit and took some more photos of them at the coffee shop. Our camera proved to be a tool to get to know people and open conversations.

Random excellence of my family members. Candid smiles, powerful movements. We had lots of fun.

Another terrible example of use of on-camera flash. This is even worse when compared with the last one. Modern DSLRs have TTL (through the lens) metering which would prevent overexposure of foreground subjects such as in this. But in general it's terrible to use on-camera flash as the only source of light.


Instead, think of your flash as a light source, as a compliment to your environment and as a balancing tool to light your subjects. The Strobist is the ultimate source of information on learning how to use camera flashes. For technical details of Canon flash systems I recommend the photonotes.

Red and green are opposite colors on the painter's color wheel (YRB). They cast rich contrast on one other. Remember to bring some red the next time you visit your countryside. They make good pictures in the woods.

This is a candid picture. We met him and his family when we were wandering in the waterfront park. Spontaneous and natural looking. Sufficiently low angle.

I still wish the family gave me a correct email address. I hope they can see this.