Through the lens

In this case I'm talking about a Tamron 18-270 zoom.  I acquired this lens from a friend that bought it for his wife.  She quickly found the major flaw for the casual shooter.  This lens is heavy.  If you mount this monster to your average DSLR it becomes very "lens heavy".  This is not a problem for me, but the average hobbyist may not like it. 

On to the performance.  I love this lens.  It has quickly become my go to glass for events.  I can easily take wide crowd shots or zoom in on the action. 

I took this picture of Senator Marco Rubio the other day at a rally.  I was probably 100 feet from the stage and this is cropped only slightly. 

Same rally, I was standing in the same spot.  This is pulled all the way back to 18mm to show the crowd and the venue.

It's not a do-all lens and it has some drawbacks.  It's not full frame so if you have a FX sensor it's not for you.  It is slow - at f 3.5-6.3 you are somewhat limited.  On the plus side, it focuses fast and smoothly, zooms quietly and smoothly, and just feels substantial.  The vibration control works well.  I haven't noticed much "softness" even in close zooms.

Here is a test I did with a tripod and a coffee can.  This is totally straight out of the camera with no post processing.  this is at 18mm.

The only thing that moved for this shot was the zoom.  This is 270mm.













So if you are looking for a DX lens that can do it all...well that may not exist, but, the Tamron 18-270 does a pretty good job.  Street price is about $650 which is not bad for all that glass.  If you don't need something quite so extreme, then look at a 28-80 which can be had for a lot less money. 


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Little things mean a lot

I was taking pictures today of a room in my aunt's home.  We had done quite a bit of work and i wanted some good pictures for family and friends to see how good her house looks now.  In the course of looking at the pictures later I realized that, as always, some of the pictures were better than others.  This room was hard to shoot for several reasons. 

The biggest problem is a giant 12 foot wide by 6 foot high picture window.  I didn't want to close the blinds because I wanted to get some of the outdoors into the room.  The light was great but there was too much of it and it overpowered the shot.  If I stopped down to tame the window, then the room was too dark.  The on camera flash made too many harsh shadows in all the wrong places.  One other problem was the small amount here and there of clutter.  Each table and the desk had a few pieces of paper and scissors, and old mail etc...strewn about. 

With a small amount of de-cluttering, and help from my talented wife in artfully placing a few plants, pillows, magazines and throw blankets here and there, the room looked magazine ready.  Add a few off-camera flash units to light the corners and the finished product turned out good.  What's the moral of the story?  If you are shooting a room spend the time to look hard around, move clutter, dust and vacuum if you need to.  Think about lighting, shadows and color.  Even with a cellphone or point-and-shoot camera, the room can look a lot better with a little thought and some staging beforehand.   

Here are a couple before and after shots of the room.  The changes are subtle but important.

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Not bad, but the window is way too bright and there is some clutter on the table.  A lamp is out of place and some of the shelves are cluttered.

Almost the same shot just a few minutes later.  I took a step or two back, tamed the window light a little bit by using a smaller aperture.  My wife moved the lamp, added a candy dish and some pillows.

 Same as the other view.  This is before the "tweaking"

 After the "tweaking" notice the subtle changes.














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What's Your Exposure?

I'm thinking about long shutter speeds.  What can a shutter speed do for your creativity?  Think about it.  Any time you want to stop motion or "freeze" action you use a fast shutter speed.  Some cameras can go as low as 1/8000 of a second.  Mine goes to 1/5000.  I remember my first SLR only went to 1/500 and I thought that was pretty fast.  If a fast shutter speed stops motion then a slow or long shutter speed would show the action.  The way a camera shows action by use of a slow shutter speed is with blur.  If you are taking picture of a runner or a waterfall and you use a speed of 1/10 of a second then you will get a picture where the runner or the water is blurred.  Assuming you use a tripod then the rest of the shot will be clear.  More about this type of photography in another post.  Today I am concentrating on holding the shutter open and taking pictures of light, at night or in the dark.  The main thing that people like to shoot in this manner is fireworks.  Almost all cameras today have a "fireworks" mode that turns off the flash and holds the shutter open for a longer time than usual.

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Here is an example. This was shot, hand-held, at about a 10 second exposure.  The key is to hold the camera as still as possible. 

This shot was an accident.  I was going to take a picture of our Christmas tree and meant to set the exposure at 1/20 of a second.  Instead I set it on 20 seconds.  When I realized my mistake, I just held the camera, but my shake caused the light trails from the lights.  My daughter loves this one so much, I gave her a 20 X 30 print of it.

This is our fireplace.  The camera was on a tripod and the exposure was about 10 seconds.  I love the trails that the embers make as they pop out of the fire.

This one was on purpose.  I put the camera on a tripod and using a zoom lens, I opened the shutter and with it open, I simply zoomed from 18 to 270 mm.  It took several tries but I think this is pretty cool.

















Keep trying "crazy" things.  Most phones have apps available that will allow you to do all kinds of effects and most point-and-shoot cameras have a fireworks setting.  Read your manual and try a few things.  Who knows, your "accidents" may turn out to be your best shots yet.


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Before and After

Before and after...I'm talking about Photoshop.  Photoshop is the darkroom of our time.  I used to spend hours in my darkroom trying to figure out ways to change things in a photograph.  Need the shadows to be darker or lighter?  Need more light, or less, in one place or another?  Need a tree removed from a landscape?  We used to do all these things and more, in the darkroom, by means of dodging, burning, cropping.  We would retouch negatives and take out blemishes and dust spots by using soft pencils and erasers.  

Today's equivalent of the darkroom, on steroids, is Photoshop.  Just the name Photoshop has taken on an almost generic quality.  Like Kleenex to mean any tissue, or if you are old enough, Kodak to mean any camera.  Photoshop is a program developed and sold by Adobe, but people use the term to mean any post processing.  It is even used as a verb, "it's OK, I'll just Photoshop it out later"  While processing hundreds of files is always the thing that pros complain about, I actually like doing it.  Seeing the potential in a shot, making a good shot great or a bad shot better.  

I take pride in presenting a shot that doesn't looked like it has been "Photoshopped".  Maybe it has something to do with all those hours, I used to spend in the darkroom.

Here are a couple of before and after shots that may be interesting.

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This is a nice shot of the happy couple at a wedding.  I liked the expressions on their faces, but the venue was a little dark and shadowy, and there are a lot of distractions in the background.  I also took the picture with them too close to the back wall so the shadows are too prominent.  I hated the light on the wall over the bride's head as well

Here is the exact same shot.  All I did was remove the background distractions in Photoshop and add a light vignette.  All you see now is the lovely bride and handsome groom.














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This is a shot of Father Michael of Holy Trinity Church in Charlotte.  I took it in a classroom in the church with the standard fluorescent lighting in a quick 3 second, snapshot style.  Not too flattering and the pose is awkward.

This is the same shot as above.  I converted it to black and white then removed the name tag from his coat and the pen from his pocket.  I also cropped it to enhance the subject and lose some of the extraneous background, which I darkened slightly. 














I always enjoy these "before and after" kind of things and I will make it a point to post more in the future.  In the meantime, if you have questions about Photoshop or composition in general or just about anything, feel free to comment, or E-mail me.



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Inhabiting the cave

Dictionary.com defines a man cave as: "A room or other area in a home that is primarily a male sanctuary, designed and furnished to accommodate the man's recreational activities, hobbies, etc. "  

They have always been around.  The man cave has been part of family life since families lived in actual caves.  Think about it.  Your father probably had a study, den, basement, garage, or workshop to go to.  Who knows what they did out there, in there, down there, or wherever their sanctuary was located.  A guy has got to have a place to go...ummm...think.  A place to keep manly things like tools, really powerful power tools, guns, sharp sticks, gas and oil, cigars, wide screen televisions, Chinese food and liquid refreshments.  

I used to be so jealous of my neighbor because he had a separate refrigerator in his den, just for his own stuff like drinks, watermelon, week old Chinese food etc...  I loved the concept, but with young daughters, a small house, and no garage or basement, I was out of luck for a while.  

Well man caves are all the rage now.  There are shows on HGTV dedicated to them.  I have even heard the term "mom cave" used recently, so the ladies are getting in on the action too.  Sometimes my wife thinks the whole house is a little too much man cave, at least I now have a place to go if I need to sit and think, or smoke a cigar and eat leftover Chinese food.

Here are a few photos that I have taken that I think would be good decorating the walls of a real man cave.

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I call this one "Smokes".  This is actually a selection of fine hand rolled cigars from my humidor.  The key with a shot like this is directional light to enhance the shadows, a dark background, and a nice tight crop.

Shaken or stirred, nothing says suave and classy more than a James Bond inspired Martini.  This is just one light aimed directly down at the bottles.

The rumble of a motorcycle with straight pipes.  You can almost hear the testosterone flowing.  This shoot was for a contest and a buddy loaned me his bike for the afternoon.  This is a multi-light setup.  Two remote flashes behind the bike with orange gels on the background.  One diffused flash on the bike with no gel.

Guitars, rock and roll, tours, stadiums, fans, adulation...  What guy doesn't want to be a rock star?  One light setup, pretty much straight down.  Shallow depth of field.

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You knew the Chinese food would show up sooner or later.  This was actually shot on my dining room table with 2 remote flashes diffused camera right and left.  By the way it's chicken wings, lo mein, beef and broccoli and an egg roll.

So if you are a man...stake your claim.  Take what is rightfully yours.  Mark your territory for all to see and don't take any guff from the females in the house.  You work hard, you deserve a man cave.  

If you are the lady of the house...give your guy a break.  All he wants is a quiet place to eat his egg roll.

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Shooting Children

Well...not shooting children.  I mean taking pictures of children.  Except for kittens and puppies there is probably no cuter thing to take pictures of than children.  In fact, it's probably hard to get a bad picture of a kid as long as it's in focus.  There are a few things to keep in mind and they all apply to most types of photography as well. 

If it's your kid or grandchild then take as many pictures as you can.  You will undoubtedly think that all the shots are "keepers" and that everyone else will also think so.  I will caution that kids pictures are not nearly as compelling if you are not related to the subject.  That said, shoot away, but tell a story.  Always have the story in mind when shooting and try to get something in the shot to help tell the story.  Here are some examples from my portfolio.

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I was at Marshall Park in uptown Charlotte last fall shooting an event when this little girl walked up.  I was instantly mesmerized by her outfit, so I snapped a few shots.  Only later did I remember that it was October 31st and she was, most likely, going trick-or-treating.  Without the costume, I would not have taken the shot.  Also the leaves on the ground let you know it is Autumn.

There used to be an old saying in vaudeville (younger readers will have to look up vaudeville in Wikipedia) that said "never work with children or animals".  Well I broke both rules with this shot.  I was shooting a birthday party and this little girl picked up the dog and asked me to take a picture of her.  The cool thing is that both her and the dog looked right in the camera.  This is one of my favorite kid and dog shots.

It's obvious what is going on here.  Christmas, presents, my grandson, funny hats.  The thing that makes this a good shot is that the story is obvious and the subject is well lit and colorful.

 
My Grandson again with his Davy Crockett outfit.  The wrapping paper in the background tells the story.  I wish you could see the tail on the "coonskin" cap, but, you can't win them all.




















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Right place...right time

Sometimes, when it comes to taking pictures, I would rather be lucky than good.  Now don't get me wrong, there is no substitute for technique.  You should know everything about your camera, how to use every menu and how to take great pictures.  You should pay attention to framing, balance, and color, but sometimes, there is no substitute for being in the right place at the right time.  Think about all the great photojournalists and the iconic photographs.  The ones we all remember.  Most of them were a split-second decision.  Shoot now or lose the shot.  They were all in the right place at the right time.   I like to take nature photos and quite often I am lucky rather than good.  There are those professionals that will lay in the grass for days to get that perfect shot of a mother bear and her cubs.  I'm not that professional.  I usually happen upon a cute or cool nature shot and then have to struggle to get my camera out and get the shot before the subject runs, or flies away.  Here are a few of my favorite nature shots where I happened to be in the right place at the right time.


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I looked out my window and saw this squirrel eating corn.  The way he is sitting looks like he is mimicking the gargoyle.  He stayed put long enough for me to get the shot.

I was standing at my bedroom window trying to take a picture of a tufted titmouse without any luck, when, from out of nowhere there was a noise and an explosion of feathers.  A hawk had knocked a dove out of the air, he then held the dove down with his talons until the dove was dead, then he flew away with his dinner.  The whole thing took seconds and I had to focus and shoot through a window screen, but managed to get a couple of shots.  This is a pretty severe crop from a long way off and is blurry because of shooting through the screen, but still pretty cool.  You can see the feathers all over the ground. Nature is amazing, and I just happened to be there to see it.

I was sitting in my house near dark one evening, and the dogs start barking like crazy.  I looked across the street at the empty house and there are 4 deer grazing in the back yard behind the carport.  I grabbed my camera and my longest lens and snapped a couple of pictures from my front porch. I then decided to cross the street and try to get one shot before it got dark or they ran away.  As I walked up, they started to run away then they all stopped, and all 4 turned and looked right at me,  I snapped a few pictures and they ran away. It was like they were posing.

This hummingbird was sitting on the feeder.  He let me get within 10 feet and take several pictures.  Then he finished drinking and hummed away.

I happened to notice this dove, high up, in the end of a sawed off limb.  I got a ladder and managed to get this shot of her peeking out.

Another squirrel, this time basking in the sun on the deck railing.  Daring the dogs or me to chase him away.  I eased the door open and got one shot before he scurried off.












I'm usually in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I have learned a few things.  Keep your eyes open.  Always have your camera with you.  Shoot with confidence, you may only get one shot. 


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Get me to the Greek

The Greek festival that is.  Charlotte has a fantastic and long standing Greek-American community that has an impressive history of philanthropy, service, and religious stewardship.  Like most cities with a thriving Greek population, Charlotte has an annual Greek festival.  Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church hosts the much anticipated cultural and gastronomic event every September.  I have been going for decades.  Just looking at the huge amount of food and pastries is enough to send my blood sugar through the roof.  Here are just a few of the pictures I took today when my wife and I visited the 35th annual "Yiasou" Greek Festival.

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Lots of Greek music on traditional instruments like this bouzouki.

Most people come for the homemade Greek pastries.  Everybody knows about baklava.

These cookies are called Koulourakia.

The Greek flag was proudly displayed throughout the festival.











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Young ladies in traditional dress were all over the place.

Young men too.



















 

The lovely dome of the main sanctuary  rises above the grounds.

Another angle of the church, this is one of the towers.

The expanded "agora" holds many treasures and tasty treats.

This is Father Michael.  We listened to a fascinating lecture from him, about the monasteries on Mount Athos.

We sign up every year to win a trip to Greece but so far, no luck.  Maybe this will be our year.











The festival runs through 8:00 PM Sunday night.  If you are in the Charlotte area and willing to go through the hassle of finding a parking place, I suggest you take a "trip to Greece" without leaving the city.


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A stroll through Central Park

I received a gift today.  A book from my daughter and her boyfriend.  Both are great photographers and the gift was a book about photography.  "Picture Perfect Practice" by Roberto Valenzuela.  I have only read the first two chapters, but so far, I can't put it down.  The parts I have read so far deal with geometric shapes and balance.  It is amazing when you start looking for shapes you start to see them everywhere.  Balance in a photograph is a little trickier and involves training your eye but I am starting to conscientiously try to make my compositions more balanced.  I recommend the book to any aspiring photographers.  What does this have to do with Central Park?  While going through old photos this week, I noticed some shots that I took on one of my trips to NYC to visit the couple that gave me the book.  I thought it appropriate to post several shots of a stroll we took through Central Park.  Notice examples of geometric shapes and balance, or the lack of it, in my photos.


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These trees were interesting and, to me, just begged to be converted to black & white. 

Bethesda Fountain.  This is an OK shot but not very balanced.  The fountain takes up the frame and dominates the photograph.  This is fine if you are into fountains or are writing a guidebook, but the shot would be much more interesting with a different angle.














 

Love the arches in this one.  You can't help it, you have to look at them.












 

Geometric shapes everywhere in this one.  Squares, arches, rectangles














 

 This is a restaurant called The Boathouse.  Notice the balance while looking at the crowd.  The columns on the right balance the pillars on the left.  Lots of geometric shapes too.  This is, in essence, just a random shot of people eating but the balance and the shapes make it more interesting.

An orchestra was playing and drew a pretty sizable crowd.  You've got to love New York.  Note the strong arch in the center.













 

 Finally we come back to the fountain in the first photo.  Notice how much more interesting this one is?  The people and the arches on the right balance the fountain on the left.









Thanks for walking through a small portion of Central Park with me.  I know that from now on, I will be on the lookout for geometric shapes and trying to figure out how to better balance my photographs.


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