VA Archives - Page 108 of 206 - TimeLine Media Blog

May 28, 2014

Personal, Photography, Technology | 0 comment

Photography Practice

I am a medium sports fan. Overall, there are teams that I follow closely, and some sports that I follow as they get into their playoffs or get ready to crown their new champions. On the sporting-related channels, there is no shortage of behind the scenes shows that tell the story of the athletes and coaches away from the playing field. They detail their preparation, work, and practice that they do long before the games.

Dachshund laying in grass - ©TimeLine Media — Dachshund laying in grass – ©TimeLine Media

Honing Skills

Practice is what separates the professionals from the enthusiasts. The same is true in photography. The value of the equipment can only be fully realized by those that have taken the time to experiment. Emphatically, you need to test, and repetitively work the action until it becomes natural. In looking through my portfolio, it is easy to see how you progress as you work.

Storm clouds - ©TimeLine Media — Storm clouds – ©TimeLine Media

This also applies to when you do the practice. Doing this on a paying job is not recommended! You need to practice this before you are in front of a client. You can really test the limits of your equipment, and see what is possible with different setups. If you are at a wedding, or you have a corporate client waiting for you to make an exposure, you need to have all the technical details worked out. They do not have the time, nor are they interested in waiting for you to test when they have guests to see, or work that needs their attention.

Cupcake photographs - ©TimeLine Media — Cupcake photographs – ©TimeLine Media

Any opportunity that you have your camera can be a time to test. You do not have to have a personal project in mind, but have a piece of equipment, or a specific technique in mind. This will make your effort to “take your camera with your wherever you go” more productive. You already have the basic, automatic settings down after a few shoots with your gear, so push yourself to try something different. It has made me better prepared when faced with different shooting situations.

Pet portrait - ©TimeLine Media — Pet portrait – ©TimeLine Media

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May 15, 2014

Event, Fashion, Photography, Portrait, Technology | 0 comment

Simplifying Backgrounds

The rules of composition for photography mirror the rules of composition for writing. If you think back to writing class, the best stories are ones where the subject is clear. All of the distracting elements of extraneous words, or descriptions that do not directly contribute to the narration. The same is true in photography. In an image, you have a subject, and the surrounding foreground and background. When composing images, simplifying your background will make your subject stand out, and will generally make for a stronger photograph.

Seagull at the end of the pier - ©TimeLine Media — Seagull at the end of the pier – ©TimeLine Media

When I am working a scene, I am always conscious of the background when placing the subject in the frame. If there is an easy way to position myself so that I can anticipate where the action will pass through an area with a non-distracting background that is where I will position the camera. In the seagull on the pier photos, the distant shoreline is far enough away that it is out of focus. It helps that the bird is tilting his head in a funny way!

To further simplify the image, I moved in closer to the bird, and zoomed in as far as it would go. This removed the dark green line of the shoreline, and makes the background only two colors – the water and the pier planks.

In another scene this dachshund was walking on a sunny driveway. With lots of cars, trash cans, toys, and other distracting things in the area, I waited until she moved to a clear area before making the exposure.

At the recent fashion show, having a nice clean “step and repeat” background covers up the storefronts, and other people in the area. You can help separate the subject by waiting until the model is at the end of the runway which is as far away from the back as possible, and opening the aperture as far as it will go before releasing the shutter. Now, the clothes will easily draw the viewer’s eye due to the brightness and sharpness of the subject.

Fashion Show - ©TimeLine Media — Fashion Show – ©TimeLine Media

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May 14, 2014

Personal, Photography, Portrait, Travel | 0 comment

Stalking A Seagull

Looking through my photo portfolio, you could say most of my assignments have a lot of action. From ballroom dancers to weddings, and even to fashion shows. There is always a lot of movement and a sense of excitement – at least that is what I am trying to convey in my photos. This post is about an encounter I had with a bird. You would think that this again would have lots of movement, and trial and error to get a sharp image. But it turned out to be one of the calmest subjects I have had in a while.

Shore Bird

This bird was sitting on the pier near where we were grilling dinner. Although there are usually a flock of seagulls (insert music pun here) in the area, this one gull wanted to see what we were doing. It kept a good distance making sure we were not coming after him in a threatening way. So I thought that I could get close for a nice shot.

As I moved closer to the end of the pier, he moved a little further out. He was cautious, but he did let me get close. I tried moving slowly, and as close to the ground as I could hoping that I could move into a better position.

Fluffing Feathers - ©TimeLine MediaFluffing Feathers - ©TimeLine Media — Fluffing Feathers – ©TimeLine Media

The bird really knew that I was following him, so I just stopped about a third of the way down the pier, and moved around his position. Crouching down all produced even better results:

Bird on one foot - ©TimeLine Media — Bird on one foot – ©TimeLine Media

The best results came from putting the camera right down on to boards on the pier. Keeping the aperture open really isolated the focus to the bird. It made the pylons on the side of the pier both in front and behind the bird disappear making for a nice leading line to the subject.

Luckily, the seagull headed to the middle of the pier making for a nice symmetrical composition. I really enjoyed this exercise! After it was clear we were not going to give him any of our barbecue, the gull flew on to find better luck somewhere else.

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Honing Skills

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Shore Bird

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