Suren Manvelyan an American photographer created this interesting series of Macro photographs of Human eyes, revealing something that we can never imagine. A closer look at these amazing shots would surely amaze you and I bet you will feel like staring at beautiful landscapes, galaxies and well have a look and let us know what is the first thing that pop up in your mind. Enjoy!
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One of things I try to teach in my workshops is how to add drama to your landscape images. Much of this centers on “in-camera” exposure, composition and lighting but sometimes it’s just easier to do something different in your “post processing” such as turning a nicely saturated image to black & white in Lightroom 3.
Now I’ll be the first to admit that I prefer using Nik’s Silver Efex Pro to create my black & white images but not everyone can afford all the latest & greatest plug-ins and Lightroom 3 does a superb job itself (with a little help from you of course). The secret is to play around with the contrast and clarity settings as well as the color sliders until you achieve the look you want. The key to a well balanced black & white image is to have some bright whites and dark blacks as well as many different shades of gray.
Canyon Vista – Palo Duro Canyon near Claude, Texas
Copyright 2010 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II set on aperture (Av) priority using an EF 17-40mm f/4L USM lens tripod mounted. The exposure was taken at 30mm, f/16 for 1/50th of a second at ISO 100 using a Singh-Ray warming polarizer filter and 2-stop graduated neutral density filter. Post capture processing was done in Adobe’s Lightroom 3.
Click on the image above for a larger version.
The Spring 2011 Texas Landscape Safari is just two weeks away and it’s time to think about those final preparations that can make the difference between having a good workshop or enjoying a great experience.
Shoot What You Love
The Texas Hill Country boasts some of the most beautiful landscape settings in this great state of ours and it’s easy to become overwhelmed by the magnitude of your surroundings. Take the time to shoot the things you love and want to remember from this workshop and safari. Sometimes it’s the smaller settings and tighter shots that contain the most meaning.
Hope for the Best but Plan for the Worst
The weather here in central Texas can change in the blink of an eye. It can go from hot and humid to rainy and cold in less time than most folks can imagine. Mornings may be cool and damp but the afternoons could be hot and dry. Folks that plan their wardrobe accordingly, dress in layers and wear comfortable hiking boots tend to get the best shots since they spend less time acclimating to the changing weather and more time behind the camera.
Water, Water, Everywhere, But Not a Drop to Drink
Water is vital to a successful safari, whether in the wilds of Kenya or the outback of central Texas. Dehydration is a very real danger and I’ve had more than one attendee drop out after a day of hiking without sufficient water. I usually carry three liters or more of water on each hike and ALWAYS have a backup gallon in my vehicle. You should too!
Ask Questions. Really.
This year’s outing is going to be a large group of amateur photographers with diverse backgrounds and experiences. Josh, Glenn and I are there to answer any questions we can, so don’t be shy. This isn’t an episode of Survivor or Top Shot. We are all here to enjoy the beauty of central Texas and to come away with some great images to share and some wonderful memories to cherish. Make friends. Ask Questions. Enjoy yourself. Life is too short to do anything less.
Here are a few of the sights from the Texas Landscape Safari in years past. Enjoy!
Texas Hill Country Video
Copyright 2010 Jeff Lynch Photography
Video created in Adobe Lightroom 3. Best shown in full-screen HD.
The Bioluminescence of the Night
Copyright 2009 Atlantic Recording Corporation.
Following the recent article at Forbes showing the world The Richest Pastors in Brazil, this series is a take on the depressing reality of that list, depicting the so-called “bishops” mashed with various representations of the devil in pop culture, revealing somehow the true nature of their game.
by Butcher Billy on Behance
For each of the 31 days in March, Malaysian artist Hong Yi will be sharing an artwork she made with food, like this bouquet of balloons made from cherry tomatoes.
More pics and info here.
A Guest Contribution by Kav Dadfar
Unfortunately, photographing busy tourist hot spots means encountering many tourists who can, unknowingly, ruin your shot by wandering into your carefully constructed composition. Therefore, instead of trying to avoid them, we need to work harder and think more creatively to get those great photos.
One of the best times to photograph busy places is early morning before the tourists have arrived. Not only will the light be softer and enhance your image, but the majority of the time you'll have the place to yourself. The image above was taken at sunrise from a beach in Koh Tao, in Thailand, which is normally busy with sunbathers, people in the water and long tail boats going back and forth.
Even setting up at dawn can't guarantee you a tourist free shot, however, including people in your images can give the final photograph a different dimension or enhance your final image. The image above from a flower park in Dalat, Vietnam, would have been pretty uninteresting without the people in the shot, so even though I could have waited to take the picture without them, I felt that they actually improved the composition.
Sometimes all it takes to get rid of the tourists in your shot is to compose the image in a way to crop them out later. The first image above shows how busy this waterfall normally is during the day. But by getting close to the water I was able to compose the photograph in a way that I could crop out everyone from the shot. I simply set up my tripod as close as possible to the water and just moved the head until I had a pleasing composition without anyone in it.
It always surprises me when I see people get to a location, take a few photos and then leave. Even in the most touristy places there are always a few minutes that you get a break from the flow of people walking or moving. These might just be a few minutes in an hour, but to capture that moment you have to be willing to wait for it. The above image is taken on the Millennium Bridge in London, usually full of commuters and tourists, but after waiting for around one hour, I suddenly had a few minutes of quiet which allowed me to capture the shot above.
The shot above is from Haggia Sofia in Istanbul which is one of the busiest landmarks in the world. I knew that it would be difficult to get a picture avoiding the tourists so I tried to make them part of the image to show the constant activity. I had also seen a lot of other photos of the inside, all shot from eyelevel and up. So to get something different I placed my camera on the floor and placed my flash gun under the lens so that it was pointing up slightly. This meant I could have a slow enough shutter speed to have a little blur to show the movement of the people whilst still keeping the background sharp.
Kav Dadfar is a travel photographer based in London. To see more work visit www.dadfarphotography.com or follow on www.facebook.com/DadfarPhotography or www.twitter.com/dadfarphoto
Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.
Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.
How to Photograph Busy Tourist Sites
The book’s author Mark Cleghorn has been a pro photographer for over 30 years, specialising in ‘creative’ wedding and portrait photography. He is a member of a number of pro associations and has won a number of awards for his work as well as running many training workshops and seminars.
In Cleghorn’s view ‘Understanding the fundamentals of posing and lighting is crucial to successful portrait photography.’
You might also add the stricture - KISS! His own personal motto is ‘Natural light before reflector, reflector before flash, and flash as a last resort.’ He also suggests you should understand how to use and manipulate natural ambient light before you complicate things with technology .... Got me!
The chapter headings are informative:
First up, choosing a camera and lenses. The advice is that while a bulky, expensive medium format camera gives a better quality of image and delivers huge file sizes that are perfect for advertising, they are overkill for a simple portrait.
The DSLR is a preferable choice due to its comparatively reasonable cost, moderate size, along with access to a wide range of lenses and access to complete camera control.
This is followed by a rundown of the three types of flash available: accessory, shoe-mounted; power pack kits; monolights. Considerable detail is given on how to modify their flash output, the use of gels, metering, softboxes, reflectors, snoots and spotlights, diffusion, etc.
A key chapter covers posing and expression, which is where the human interface is at its most important and Cleghorn displays his extreme knowledge of the human figure and how to show it off at its best: ‘Every pose ... starts with the feet, as it is the way in which the subject stands that determines whether or not he or she looks comfortable.’
His advice on how to photograph children is golden: keep things simple, allow the expressions to tell the story, work on the same level and, with very young children, encourage them to move around the studio, make it seem like a game.
And how to cope with problems like a subject’s bald head, spectacles, double chins, squinting and those who are obviously overweight, disabled subjects, those with ‘sleepy eyes’, big ears or noses and (with couples) differing heights. The advice is magic!
Moving on to lighting, there’s detailed discussion on how to place lights, control fill, hair and backlights and control their output. Low, mid and high key lighting is covered in considerable detail, with excellent examples shown.
Some off the wall techniques are demonstrated, like the projection of another image onto the subject, introducing a surreal effect. The use of a single light source and softlight are discussed as well as the role of the cross processing effect achievable in Photoshop.
Quite a few pages are given over to the searching for and use of suitable locations, natural exteriors and shooting in the home.
I often wonder, having read such a useful book, as to the sanity of such a high end and obviously successful photographer in this field in giving away such seriously useful hints, tips and advice.
This is the ‘go to’ book on the subject!
Author: M Cleghorn.
Publisher: pixiq.
Size: 28x22x1cm. 128 pages.
ISBN 978 1 4547 0243 6.
Price: get a price on Portrait Photography: Secrets of Posing & Lighting at Amazon (currently 36% off).
Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.
Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.
Portrait Photography: Secrets of Posing & Lighting [Book Review]
Akif Hakan is an American photographer of Turkish origin. He is currently based in Hong Kong, Istanbul and London. He graduated from the University Of Kentucky with a bachelor’s degree and also holds an associate degree from the Art Institute Of Ft. Lauderdale. via PhotoHab – Photography Hubs and Blogs.
Akif Hakan is an American photographer of Turkish origin. He is currently based in Hong Kong, Istanbul and London. He graduated from the University Of Kentucky with a bachelor’s degree and also holds an associate degree from the Art Institute Of Ft. Lauderdale. via PhotoHab – Photography Hubs and Blogs.
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