Thursday, January 31, 2019
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Tuesday, January 29, 2019
In this podcast, Juan Pons and Andy Williams answer questions submitted by listeners. Have a question you’d like to have answered on a future podcast? They don’t always have all the answers, but if they don’t they will research it and try to give you the best answer they can. Send in your questions to them at contact@recompose.photo.
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Monday, January 28, 2019
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The post Moody Wildlife appeared first on Outdoor Photographer.
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Sunday, January 27, 2019
Saturday, January 26, 2019
Friday, January 25, 2019
Thursday, January 24, 2019
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
Tuesday, January 22, 2019
In this episode of the reCOMPOSE podcast we interview photographer Randy Hanna during our voyage to the Antarctic. Randy is a wildlife and landscape photographer and another of the Muench Workshops Pros. We hope you enjoy getting to know Randy a little bit.
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Monday, January 21, 2019
Depending on where you live, clouds may dominate your skies for 250-plus days of the year. This is more the norm around coastal areas and is governed by the seasons. I’m lucky to live in Colorado where I have just the opposite: 250 to 300-plus days of sunshine. But from a photographer’s standpoint, the word “lucky” can be deceiving. If my pursuit is wildlife, I’m ecstatic if I’m bestowed crisp bright mornings or afternoons of sun bathing my subject in warm golden light. But from a landscape photographer’s viewpoint, things are different. Where’s the drama in the light? Where’s the mood? Where’s the color? Since cloudy or severe, clear blue sky days are more the norm, I welcome days of fog, mood, haunting skies and drama with open arms. The rarity of these conditions is what allows landscape photographs to stand apart from those that are made under “ordinary” conditions. It’s with this in mind I devote this week’s and next week’s Tips of the Week to photos that resonate with mood.
Photographs with mood can connote different visions to different people. For instance, “happy” can be a mood, but it’s a tough concept to depict in a landscape. The mood to which this week’s Tip of the Week relates is based on weather and sky conditions. It’s the kind of sky condition that draws you into the scene using light, color, contrast and atmospherics. These conditions occur more frequently at sunrise and sunset, so set your alarm or adjust your dinner time and get into the field. Use the following tips to help you get started on your journey.
Fog and Mist: Let the Scene Draw You In
Fog is mostly an early-morning phenomenon. A warm day followed by a cold and crisp overnight and morning increases the chance the morning will have fog or mist. This is especially true around ponds, small lakes, rivers and other tinier bodies of water. When there’s a low ground fog, it’s great if the eastern horizon has some clearing so the sun can backlight the condensation. If you’re lucky enough, the fog will be thick enough where the sun can be included in the frame and won’t get burned out. Fog effects change by the second, so even if you experience this opportunity, quickly work the scene as the atmospherics can be totally different one minute to the next. As I often say, Exhaust All Possibilities.
Monitor the Weather
Weather apps that show hourly reports of cloud cover, impending snow or rain, a looming fog or any other weather phenomenon that occurs on the edge of the storm are an asset. Monitor when these edges occur and if they coincide with sunrise or sunset so you can be sure you don’t miss time in the field. It’s best if you know the area beforehand so it can be worked most efficiently. If it’s a new location, look for interesting silhouettes, leading lines, shafts of light that act as a dramatic foreground, light rays that filter through trunks of trees and include any object that adds to the mood of the photo.
Wide Angles and Other Photo Tools
Wide angle zooms work great when you’re bestowed moody conditions. My favorite is a 24-120mm as it provides a wide range of options without having to constantly change lenses. I also use my 80-400mm to zero in on the intimate landscape. Regardless of the lens you use, be sure to use a stable tripod and cable release. When working in dense fog, exposures will be long and you want to ensure sharp files. Use long exposures to your advantage, especially if you have moving water in the composition—see the included image I made along the coast of Oregon. If the contrast is high, shoot a bracketed series and merge the files to HDR or blend parts manually via the use of layer masks to bring out a wide tonal range. If the land to sky contrast range is high, a graduated ND filter can come in handy. Polarizers can beneficial to remove bright glare or unwanted reflections and depending on your angle to the sun, can make the sky pop with more brilliance.
Importance of Post-Processing
If the file of the recorded scene is flat and has low contrast, expand the tonal range using Levels to bolster the highlights and shadows. Be careful to not clip delicate bright tones as it’s good to record their detail. On the other hand, experiment blocking up the shadows as deep rick blacks can impart mood on their own. An ominous overtone can be added to the scene. If the contrast range of the original capture is high, compress the highlights and open the shadows. Again, play with the sliders to bring out the mood you desire in the scene.
Visit www.russburdenphotography.com for information about his nature photography tours and safari to Tanzania.
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Sunday, January 20, 2019
Saturday, January 19, 2019
Friday, January 18, 2019
Thursday, January 17, 2019
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
Monday, January 14, 2019
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Sunday, January 13, 2019
Today’s Photo Of The Day is “Bald Eagle in the Elements of Fall” by Chad Briesemeister. Location: Clear Lake, Wisconsin.
Photo of the Day is chosen from various OP galleries, including Assignments, Galleries and the OP Contests. Assignments have weekly winners that are featured on the OP website homepage, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To get your photos in the running, all you have to do is submit them.
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Saturday, January 12, 2019
Friday, January 11, 2019
Thursday, January 10, 2019
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
Master photographer and longtime OP columnist Frans Lanting is offering a unique opportunity for 2 people to participate in the filming of his new Creative Live course, The Art of Photographing Birds, in California’s Sacramento Valley from January 22 – 25, 2019.
Many thousands of snow geese and other migratory waterfowl will make this an unforgettable experience.
If you’re interested in being one of the 2 students to participate in this experience, visit the Creative Live website at https://www.creativelive.com/class/the-art-of-photographing-birds-frans-lanting. Scroll down to the Class Description where you’ll find a “Click Here” link for details on how to enter.
The deadline to enter your name for consideration is Thursday January 17, 2019 at 4:00 PM Pacific.
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Tuesday, January 8, 2019
Monday, January 7, 2019
Fresh snow takes on the shape of what it drapes. It’s impacted by the wind’s ferocity, it reflects the sky’s color and the twinkle of each flake is affected by the intensity of the cold and sun. Newly fallen flakes paint a virgin landscape with pristine beauty that beckons the call of shutters, polarizers and wide-angle lenses. A winter wonderland awaits those who time a freshly fallen snow with their arrival. To capture all the moods of snow, apply the below tips to make your images stand out from the rest of the crowd.
Heat Up The Frost
Sunrise and sunset are the times of the day when clouds turn vividly warm and ignite the sky in fireworks of red, yellow, orange, purple and magenta. What makes this extra special is the dominant color reflects off the snow and adds subtle warmth to it. White surfaces reflect light and color. Think about a portrait photographer who uses a white disk to bounce light back onto his or her subject. Whatever color and light hit the white reflector, it bounces back. Snow acts the same and reflects the color of the sky and absorbs the tones in the clouds. A huge benefit is this compresses the contrast range of the scene so detail is maintained in shadows and highlights. To prevent blowing out the warm tones in the sky, be sure to monitor your red channel after each exposure. If the sky exposure results in blocked up foreground detail, make two exposures and blend them in Photoshop. The overall mood that’s created is determined by the color in the sky.
Chill Out
Without clouds, snow can’t be created. Therefore, clouds and snow are obviously paired together. Not all sunrises produce color and not all snow scenes are associated with blue sky days. It’s with this in mind you need to check your histogram and be sure you don’t bunch pixels in the middle. Push the histogram to the right, but don’t create spikes on the edge. A drab gray mood of clouds, just like the warm tones of a great sunrise, is reflected by the snow. The gray sky and gray foreground have to be coaxed toward white when you optimize the image in Photoshop. Bring the highlights slider to where the bright pixels begin and you’ll see the snow brighten and take on desirable shades of white. In conditions where total dreary gray dominates, wait for better light because the resulting image, regardless of how much post processing you do, will fall flat and lack contrast. The overall mood that’s created is cool in tone.
90 Degrees To The Sun
Sidelight is key when it comes to scenic photography. Shape, form and texture are created when a subject is raked in sidelight. The side that faces the sun takes on highlights and the side that faces away is in shadow. This creates three-dimensionality. An added bonus is a polarizer produces its strongest effect when it’s spun to the maximum when it’s 90 degrees to the sun. If blue sky is in the photo, it becomes more saturated, reflected surfaces are eliminated—which allows color and tone to come through anything that’s wet or shiny—and the contrast is enhanced. The overall mood that’s created is full of life and expresses happiness.
A Kiss From The Sun
When fresh snow falls overnight followed by a crystal clear sky to the east in the morning, it simply doesn’t get much better. Nothing obscures the warm tones from the sun that gently kiss and bathe the snow in what it blankets. The yellows, reds and oranges that fall upon foreground and background subjects are pure and true. The gorgeous hue that's imparted doesn’t last long, so it behooves you to be in place at the time the sun crests the horizon. Measure your time in seconds since this splendid warm light lasts no longer than 10 minutes. Be very cognizant of not blowing out fragile bright whites and again, monitor the red channel as the warmth that’s imparted to the snow can be easily overexposed. The overall mood that’s created shows new life, a fresh start and is invigorating.
Visit www.russburdenphotography.com for information about his nature photography tours and safari to Tanzania.
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Sunday, January 6, 2019
Saturday, January 5, 2019
Friday, January 4, 2019
Thursday, January 3, 2019
Award-winning travel photographer and Sony Artisan of Imagery Bob Krist is known for his colorful, precisely composed still photographs, but in recent years he’s been shooting an increasing amount of video, too. Carrying a single camera that can shoot impeccable 20-megapixel still images plus professional-quality 4K video—with the creative adaptability of a 25x zoom lens built in—allows Krist to focus on his subject, not his gear.
“As impressive as the Sony RX10 IV is as a still camera, it might be even more impressive as a video camera,” Krist says. “The super-crisp 4K at 100 Mbps in Sony’s XAVC S codec is just the beginning. You can also shoot slow motion, with no crop or time limit, in HD at 60 fps and even 120 fps, all day long—and it records audio as well at these high frame rates.”
When shooting video, the importance of audio quality can’t be overstated—poor audio quality distracts viewers from the narrative. “Audio is hugely important in video production,” Krist agrees, “and the Sony RX10 IV is fully prepared with not only a microphone jack but a headphone jack as well,” allowing you to monitor what’s being recorded and make adjustments if needed. “There’s even an HDMI port so you can run a monitor,” he notes. “In fact, this camera is so versatile for video that at least one video accessory company has made a ‘camera cage’ for it, so it can be connected to shoulder rigs and rails.”
Another consideration when choosing a camera for video, especially for on-location travel documentary, is its ability to perform in a variety of lighting conditions from dawn to dusk and beyond. Krist has been impressed with the flexibility of the Sony RX10 IV in this regard, too. “The backlit sensor produces excellent, noise-free footage with good dynamic range, even at higher ISOs,” he reports. “I can shoot it up to ISO 1600 without a second thought and will go as high as 3200 or 6400 in a pinch.”
The RX10 IV’s integrated 25x zoom gives Krist the option to frame his subjects with a wide-angle perspective to capture the expanse of the scene or to zoom in for tighter compositions on the action. “Having a 24-600mm f/2.8-4 ZEISS T* zoom permanently attached to your camera is an amazing convenience. The lens is crisp and contrasty, with excellent color rendition. Using the zoom rocker control, you can get smooth zooms in and out,” he says.
There’s also another big benefit to a camera with an integrated lens for video work—dust control. “Because the lens is permanently attached and the camera is well sealed, you never, ever have to worry about dust spots on your sensor. Retouching a sensor dust spot out of a still image is a piece of cake, but in a video file recording 24, 30, 60 or even 120 frames per second? As we say in my native New Jersey, ‘fuhgetaboudit!’”
Sony’s Clear Image Zoom technology expands on the camera’s 25x zoom to allow even greater magnification when shooting from a distance. “Video is where Sony’s Clear Image Zoom really comes into its own,” says Krist. “Imagine being able to zoom in 100 percent—making your lens a 1200mm equivalent—on your 4K file without losing a bit of quality. The Sony RX10 IV’s 20-megapixel sensor has more than enough real estate to allow this to happen. A friend of mine who is a full-time news cameraman for one of the big three networks calls the RX10 IV his ‘secret weapon’ and has used the amazing reach of this lens on many a news job. If the quality is good enough for network television news,” he remarks, “it’s good enough for me.”
“I was never really a big fan of the all-in-one camera,” says Krist, “but the Sony RX10 IV has made a believer out of me.”
To learn more about the RX10 IV’s incredible technology and versatility, visit alphauniverse.com/RX10IV.
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Wednesday, January 2, 2019
Tuesday, January 1, 2019
The post Lake Manawa State Park appeared first on Outdoor Photographer.
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