Last weekend, I had the opportunity to assist in photographing a wedding in Baltimore, MD. The area around the Inner Harbor of the city is a beautiful cityscape of tall buildings, wide streets,. Moreover, there are elevated pedestrian walkways, and a functional boat harbor. Especially on weekends, the area teems with people going to restaurants, shops, and museums that line the harbor. Luckily, there was one weekday when I had the chance to explore the city without much activity in the mid-morning. The harbor had a different feel. It was more serene and people that were around, were on the way to businesses and meetings instead of social gatherings. At this time, I was inspired by the difference from every other time that I have visited. It was easier to slow down with the camera and set up frames.
From the nearby Federal Hill neighborhood, there are monuments surrounding a promontory point that overlooks the harbor. In general, this is a popular spot for portrait sessions with couples and families. Both during the day, and into evening, the views of the harbor and city are a perfect backdrop. There are nice perspectives to the skyscrapers in the distance.
Here are some photos taken at Mason Neck State Park. This large park is full of mature trees that shade the roads and trails that surround you as you travel from the main road to the Visitor’s Center. The banners on the way into the park brag how well-rated the state parks of Virginia are rated nationally. I am biased being originally from the area, but this is an excellent example.
The admission price is especially well worth it for what you have access to at this park. All of the main facilities that are available are at a section of the park that is right by the banks of the Belmont Bay. From this view of the bay from here, you can see Woodbridge, Virginia and see where the Occoquan River flows to the Potomac River. Additionally, there are lots of easy to moderate difficulty trails to walk with plenty of views of the river. On this occasion, it was one of the mildest days we had all summer, and with billowy clouds in the sky, made some very nice photos!
As can be seen, there are leftover structures from piers, to blinds, and other conservation projects that line the shore. It is very accessible from trails. The area is known for bald eagles nesting in the trees. It is a popular spot for photographers to capture these birds, but I didn’t bring my big glass to try myself! Some of the trails take you over the marshlands to observe coastal plant life, tadpoles, and dragonflies.
When I was four years old, my mother took me to my first piano lesson. This would be the start of 16 years of formal training in music. Many good lessons learned that translate to photography. One of my first lessons that I learned after getting my hands on the keys was how loud to play. The small “p” is musical notation for softly, quietly and the small “f” is the opposite – play loudly.
These are noted when the composer wants a change from how loud you were playing just before the notation. I remember it being more difficult for me to play quietly than to pound away on the keys! The concept that was taught from very early on was dynamics. It starts very simply, teaching student to play quiet or loud, but changing how loud you play notes increases the contrast that the audience hears in their ears. It expands the dynamic range of the music making it more interesting to listen.
Photography Dynamics
In photography, contrast is always a setting that you can adjust either in camera or in software. Increasing contrast in a photo will make dark parts of the image darker, and light parts brighter. Just as in a piece of music, the increase in dynamic range will make the photo more interesting to view for the eyes. Here is an example from our trip to the McKee-Beshers sunflower fields which illustrates the concept. This photo is how the camera captured it with default settings:
This is how most camera would capture the scene as you walked out into the field. It gets all the information, but there is no ‘pop’ out of the frame. With any photo editing software on your smartphone or computer, you can push the contrast in the frame:
With just that simple change, the image is already a step above what most people will post online from their point-and-shoot cameras and cell phone cameras. It does take a little effort, but it is worth it to make your photography stand out a little from what it posted out there.
Since I had the time, I took a few bracketed exposures to make a high-dynamic range image of the sunflower field. This really increases the local contrast of each of the colors, and gives a more surreal representation of the scene. I tried to make it a little closer to how your eyes will see the scene since the human eye can see much more range of brightness than the camera. I think it came out well!
