Photography Tips – Page 16 – Stuck in Customs
19
Jul 2013 : Friday
filed under  California, Photography Tips, San Francisco

The Hat Store in San Francisco

Episode 1

I don’t know if you saw this or not… but you may enjoy Episode 1 of The Art of Photography tutorial. Here’s the whole thing in its entirety! 🙂

Daily Photo – Hat Store in San Francisco

These are the kind of situations that really call for a wide angle lens. It takes every single line and makes it 2x as extreme. When you walk around with your “wide-angle” mindset, you start to pay special attention to high contrast lines. Lights, stripes in the streets, car streaks, and anything else starts to take on a new sense of drama. If you’re looking to make your photography a bit more exciting and see things in a new way, go borrow (or rent) a wide-angle lens and give it a try! 🙂

Hat Store in San Francisco

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2011-10-21 22:06:13
  • CameraNIKON D3X
  • Camera MakeNikon
  • Exposure Time0.7
  • Aperture8
  • ISO100
  • Focal Length14.0 mm
  • FlashNo Flash
  • Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
  • Exposure Bias+2

Comments
13
Jul 2013 : Saturday
filed under  Beijing, China, Photography Tips, Sony NEX-7

More Beijing at Night

Tip for Noise at Night

I’m getting re-used to APS-C sensors! Man, you really gotta keep that ISO at 100 to keep the noise to an absolute minimum. The noise is barely visible at 100, but it is definitely there. A little nudge of the Noise Reduction slider in Lightroom will take care of it though. Easy Peazy!

But, if you crank the ISO up to 400 or higher, there may indeed be too much noise for LR to fix for you. Noiseware can still help you out, but that’s an extra plugin you’ll need… here’s the Noiseware Review on the site for you.

Daily Photo – More Beijing at Night

I usually don’t do this – post photos of a similar subject matter within the same week, but I thought I would show you another angle of the same place at night. Remember that “bakery” shot from a few days ago? This is basically the same spot (you’ll recognize it) much later at night.

This was another one of those cases where I was not quite used to the 10-18mm lens. I normally walk RIGHT to the spot I want to be in then pop the 14-24 on my Nikon and fire away. But now, I’m always off by a few steps with the NEX-7! But, I quickly re-adjust then shoot. If you have shot with a wide angle lens, then you may know about this concept of picturing things from that vantage before you even do it!

More Beijing at Night

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2013-05-28 10:23:06
  • CameraNEX-7
  • Camera MakeSony
  • Exposure Time1.6
  • Aperture13
  • ISO100
  • Focal Length10.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
  • Exposure Bias-0.3

Comments
11
May 2013 : Saturday
filed under  France, Mont Saint Michel, Nikon D800, Photography Tips, Travel

Exploring the old Village – and new Behind the Scenes Video

Newsletter Special

Those of you that sign up for the free Newsletter not only hear about specials, but you sometimes get to see videos early! Like this one below… Happy subscribers got to see it first! 🙂

Behind the Scenes in the New Zealand Forest (silly video warning)

I ran around in the forest in New Zealand with Curtis, Karen, and Scott. We decided to make a video after we got to a stopping point… Anyway, here’s something fun (and maybe a tad useful) for you 🙂

Daily Photo – Exploring the old Village

If you ever get to Mont Saint Michel, give the whole place a full circle on the curtain wall. It’s easy to get up on the wall (and quite safe to walk on… even though walking on a wall sounds dangerous). There are stairs to get up there and everything. Anyway, the wall circumnavigates about a third of the old village and monastery. There are countless good angles. It’s also worth walking this route at least three times – Sunrise (or sunset), mid day, and night!

Exploring the old Village

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2012-11-13 11:18:25
  • CameraNIKON D800
  • Camera MakeNikon
  • Exposure Time1/30
  • Aperture8
  • ISO200
  • Focal Length15.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
  • Exposure Bias-2

Comments
29
Apr 2013 : Monday
filed under  Glenorchy, New Zealand, Nikon D800, Photography Tips, Travel

Snow over the Creek

Snow in HDR

This is a common question I get. Basically, I think it is a bad idea to HDR the snow and ice part. It just looks dirty. You want it looking nice and pristine, and the HDR will add a little too much texture and grit for me. This seems to happen to an alarming degree with human skin and snow (and a few other things). Anyway, using layers and masking in Photoshop is an easy way to slice-n-dice your way out of that problem!

Daily Photo – Snow over the Creek

There is a place called Pyramid Lake just past Glenorchy that is perfectly wonderful in the winter as long as you have the traction. This shot is from the end of last winter when I caught a little bit of snow. You’ll notice I don’t have a ton of snowy shots from NZ yet, but I think I’ll get a lot more this winter. I’m really looking forward to some good snowfalls, in fact! I’m sure if you’re in the northern hemisphere that you are sick of the cold and ready for the warm… but I really am looking forward to the change!

Snow over the Creek

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2012-07-07 22:47:44
  • CameraNIKON D800
  • Camera MakeNikon
  • Exposure Time1/30
  • Aperture22
  • ISO100
  • Focal Length32.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
  • Exposure Bias+1

Comments
24
Apr 2013 : Wednesday
filed under  Beijing, China, Nikon D800, Photography Tips, Travel

The New Garden Path Along the Great Wall of China

Video from the Great Wall

Here’s a video I took while up here!

Daily Photo – The New Garden Path Along the Great Wall of China

Just to get to this point required a long walk through a rocky forest. It wasn’t like the super-pristine part of the Great Wall (which is actually quite fake and Disney-like) — where you can drive up in a huge tour bus and park in huge parking lot. No, it wasn’t like that at all. Instead, there was a “path” that was barely discernible (much less so when I walked back in the dark alone!) that wove up through a forest along an old creekbed. I’m not sure I could find it again if I had to!

The New Garden Path Along the Great Wall of China

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2011-09-24 00:00:00
  • CameraNIKON D3X
  • Camera MakeNikon
  • Exposure Time1/20
  • Aperture6.7
  • ISO160
  • Focal Length14.0 mm
  • FlashNo Flash
  • Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
  • Exposure Bias+3

Comments
18
Apr 2013 : Thursday
filed under  Caribbean, Photography Tips, Travel, Virgin Gorda

The Rocky Beach Near Dusk

Sony NEX-7 in Virgin Gorda

I recorded this video with Curtis on Virgin Gorda. You can see more about the Sony NEX-7 Review on that page!

Daily Photo – The rocky beach near dusk

And here is the final photo from the video above. As usual, you can click on it to zoom in and see more details… Every day I upload the full-rez version to SmugMug so you can download the full size version for personal use… that goes for any photo!

The rocky beach near dusk

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2012-05-10 18:01:46
  • CameraNEX-7
  • Camera MakeSony
  • Exposure Time3.2
  • Aperture9
  • ISO100
  • Focal Length18.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
  • Exposure Bias

Comments
16
Apr 2013 : Tuesday
filed under  New York, New York City, Photography Tips, Travel

Central Park with Clayton Morris from Fox News

Part 1 and 2 of the Fox Interview

Some of you may have seen this, but I am re-sharing, along with a newly published photo that I took on that day with Clayton! After this, Clayton and I got to be friends and he ended up coming to New Zealand… and he may be coming back again soon, I hope! 🙂

Daily Photo – Under the Bridge in Central Park

And here is one of the final images from the second video above…

Under the Bridge in Central Park

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2012-08-17 11:36:48
  • CameraNIKON D800
  • Camera MakeNikon
  • Exposure Time1/30
  • Aperture8
  • ISO400
  • Focal Length14.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
  • Exposure Bias-1

Comments
26
Nov 2012 : Monday
filed under  Photography Tips, Travel

Where the Bloody Walls Screamed

10 From the Couch

This is an interview I did with Stephan Bollinger — many things covered in here that you’ll find useful I hope! 🙂 I was impressed at how Stephen integrated the imagery back into the interview while we were talking… it must have taken him a long time to put this together!

Daily Photo – Where the Bloody Walls Screamed

Here is one of the many ill-forgotten and scary rooms in the chateau. Some were fully furnished and perfect, but others had fallen apart after years of neglect. Here is one of those many incredible rooms!

Where the Bloody Walls Screamed

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2012-11-08 13:39:01
  • CameraNIKON D800
  • Camera MakeNikon
  • Exposure Time1
  • Aperture8
  • ISO100
  • Focal Length18.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
  • Exposure Bias-1

Comments
17
Nov 2012 : Saturday
filed under  Australia, Photography Tips, Travel

Photo Mystery – The Huge Earthen Arch

Interview with Commag

Here’s a recent interview I received via email… I decided to go ahead and try doing the interview during a live hangout! Here you can see the results of the experiment…

Daily Photo – The Huge Earthen Arch

People are always suspiciously good at these photo mysteries… we will see how long this one takes.

So where was this photo taken? There’s not a lot of clues here, other than you can see the enormity of this limestone formation. I’m also interested to hear your guesses!

The Huge Earthen Arch

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2012-09-27 23:15:38
  • CameraNIKON D800
  • Camera MakeNikon
  • Exposure Time1/125
  • Aperture8
  • ISO200
  • Focal Length14.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
  • Exposure Bias

Comments
13
Oct 2012 : Saturday
filed under  New York, New York City, Photography Tips, Travel

The Movie Set of New York City

Paris Shot How To

I’ll be in Paris in just a few weeks for the workshop at the chateau (see the Photography Workshop Schedule)! Here is a video that I made during my last trip to Paris that you might enjoy if you have not already seen it…

Tanya Rochat’s Digital Castles

Daily Photo – The Movie Set of New York City

I shot this from the Google offices in Manhattan a few weeks ago. Luke and I ended up staying up late at the offices, and we wanted to wait until the sunset rolled through… and when sunset finally came, we discovered that we could not even go outside! All the windows and doors had been nailed shut by security, so there was no chance of getting out. Instead, I had to commandeer a conference room and turn out all the lights so I could get a clean shot out the window.

Over on the left side, you can just see the edge of the Brooklyn Bridge.

The Movie Set of New York City

Photo Information

  • Date Taken2012-08-17 21:16:37
  • CameraNIKON D800
  • Camera MakeNikon
  • Exposure Time15
  • Aperture5
  • ISO100
  • Focal Length85.0 mm
  • FlashOff, Did not fire
  • Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
  • Exposure Bias

Comments
Tanya Rochat’s new eBook, Digital Castles, is insanely cool. Even if you think “I can’t do that!” I invite you to get into the book anyway. No doubt you will discover many new tricks in post-processing that you can re-use in your own craft.From the description:

A matte painting is a painted representation of a landscape, set, or distant location that allows filmmakers to create the illusion of an environment that would otherwise be too expensive or impossible to build or visit. Historically, matte painters and film technicians have used various techniques to combine a matte-painted image with live-action footage. At its best, depending on the skill levels of the artists and technicians, the effect is “seamless” and creates environments that would otherwise be impossible to film.