High Five Photo Tips for July-August

High Five Photo Tips for July-August:

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Summer Photography 

1. Photograph the Weather! Often best right before or just after the storm.

   Nor'easter Storm

2. Keep it simple but not too simple.  You do need a point of interest. Slow down, look and think. A tripod often helps - more then just providing a stable platform.   
3. Be creative with Pet photography.  It is always raining cats and dogs, so take advantage. Get Down to their eye level. Create action shots by hold treats such as peanut butter or store bought treats. Horses will perk up there ears if you crinkle paper. Experiment! 
4. Think! Plan and Create.  Forget drive by shooting.  

   Beacon Marine Gold

5. Explore the water and night sky. Summer is the perfect time to get out and expand your horizons. Get out of the box. Think and Dream. Thus, create. 

High Five Photo Tips for March-April 2012

1.Small pupils can create fascinating portraits. To create this effect, move your subject from a very bright area to a dimmer one immediately before making a photo     2. Most of the time we only think of portraits as being of the face, but other parts of the body, especially the hands, can tell more of a story. Experiment with just shooting a part of a person to tell the whole story, such as part of a wranglers outfit: just chaps or the boots with spurs. Western Boots with Spurs   Western Chaps

3. Keep your subject busy while you are composing and shooting, by giving them something to do like using props, which can include another person, such as a child, or you could have them work on a hobby project, such as their garden. These types of props can also offer other things you will need to make a good shot, like a good background, and plenty of room to work in.     4. During the golden hours, the sun is at an angle where it will illuminate mist, fog or dust, giving you a great golden glow when the weather conditions permit it. Morning Stampede 5. In travel photography, try to capture or slow down action to make your images less static. With dances, shoot at a slower shutter speed to blur the movement. At night, with your camera on a tripod, these slow shutter speeds will allow car headlights and taillights to blur, creating wonderful compositions. Pow wow Indian Dancers

High Five Photo Tips for Jan-Feb 2012

High Five Photo Tips for JANUARY - FEBRUARY:

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1. Light Painting is done in the dark with the camera on a tripod set with manual focus - preset using a flashlight to aide focus) and shutter speeds in the seconds up to minutes. Use a continuous light source such as flashlight, light pen or instantaneous flash with or without gels. Dress in black, move quickly through a scene and even cover flashlight grip, etc. with black.      2.  Get inspiration for your still life and food photography from your local museum. Look at classical paintings from the old masters. Carefully observe the use of color, contrast and composition. Simple lighting with the use of a single light source will create lovely shapes due to cast shadows.  Dark shadows will produce the illusion of depth. Prime lens with a 50 mm equivalent crop factor will mimic the physical limitations of paintings. Experiment and create harmony with complementary colors such as orange with blue. Don't wait for the perfect object, the perfect lighting or the perfect equipment. Blue Plate with Onions

Pepper Duo 3. Create a mood or inspire an emotion with your photography.   Heading Home, Gloucester Harbor    4. Choose your subject and find the simplest elements. Then compose and shoot with your concept in mind. Think and compose. Remember these key elements to create not take an image. Peony Sunrise 5. More on Patterns. Explore B&W and Color. Look for duplicity of patterns and how the light enhances the effect. Side lighting will bring out the texture. Sand Patterns Square Sand Patterns

All prior photo tips archived in the JMP Blog.

High Five Photo Tips for December

1. When shooting Portraits, alter you viewpoint and either get up higher and shoot down or lower and shoot up. Try direct eye contact and then have the subject look outside the field of the camera or inside the camera field. Try props or candid poses often during action such as with jumping or in an activity. Add light Painting.



2. Lighting is the key to compositing. This will make the selections easier and the composite look real. The lighting on the subject and on the composite needs to match. Another trick - don't include the feet if possible. Plan ahead.

3. Simple compositions are often best. Clean and pure. Follows my photo motto: Simplify. Fish 4. Foreground elements help to balance a composition. Choose them wisely. Use leading lines to draw the eye into the photo. Or just look for patterns and colors. Times Square 5. Location, location, location. True in photography as it is in real estate. Choose a great location and a landmark of that location to be the key focus. This is an infra red pannoramic shot vertically at Pepsico in New York. Infra Red Panno

Accent Line Block Closing Block

High Five Photo Tips for September

High Five Photo Tips for September: 1.Depth of Field is a great creative tool.  Remember,     The most important item to control is the aperture setting. The larger the aperture used, the smaller the depth of field range. A good review at: How to use Depth of Field  Tony at F 2.8 with 70-200 zoom racked out to 200 for bokeh

Tony at 70 mm_same settings Even though set at same wide aperture of f/2.8, better Bokeh racked out ( ie the outer limits of the Zoom; so 200 mm on a 70-200mm zoom lens). Try it out.     2. Remember to MOVE:  Every time you you go out shooting, try different camera setting on the same subject. Move around!  Low high, close up to zoomed out.Change lenses and perspective. Try a tilt.  Or think of the horizon line.  Centered or at 1/3rd. Vary it and see what works.  Be Creative!! Coneflowers from a low perspective

3. Use your Tripod.  It will help you take clear photos all the time whether it is action or close-ups.   A great advantage of having a tripod is you can shoot images hands free. The reason is that you can use a remote release to start the shutter.  People often using telephoto lenses will also find the tripod useful. As having longer lenses normally create more weight to your digital camera, a tripod will keep your device steady. A tripod also slows you down and helps you think and create better images. 4. Black is needed to make an attractive B&W photograph, it says it right in the name, black and white.  If you've grown into the habit of using the histogram in Photoshop or Lightroom to show you the black and white highlighted areas don't adjust the exposure or increase the fill light to the eliminate all the flashing area.  Solid black in some portion of the image is not only acceptable, it's needed.     Searching, Nude Matured Project 5.  A good landscape usually includes an interesting foreground as the focal point that leads you into the rest of the picture.    Pigeon Cove

High Five Photo Tips for AUGUST:

1. Photograph the small things. Instead of trying to fit in as much as possible in one shot, try breaking it up into 2 or 3 closer ones. Small details can often tell a story about the region your visiting. For example, the texture in a building or the details in a shop can often be lost if the photograph is taken from a distance too far away. Wooden Shoes, the Netherlands 2. Vary your Depth of Field to add Bokeh - blur to the background.  Try shooting with a wide open aperture, such as f/2.8.  If using a long telephoto lens, keep it long but get close to achieve this effect.   Bearded Iris, Giverny, France 3. In the  middle of the day with lots of contrast, keep shooting and then convert to Black & White.  Look for patterns, textures, simple compositions. Some say, the most pure form of the art of photography. Marine Railways, Rocky Neck, MA  4. Don't put your camera away at Dusk or at Night.  Use a tripod and play with slower shutter speeds.  Or if you can't use a tripod, raise your ISO with a wide open f stop, such as f/2/8 to 5.6 to obtain a sufficient shutter speed to hand hold your camera.  At least the reciprocal of the lens length, such as need 1/200 sec or faster to hand hold a 70 to 200 racked out to 200 mm.  Turning on Vibration Reduction will also help.   Following Mom, Elephants, South Africa 5. Consider using Fill Flash! Off camera or with the pop up flash using the Gary Fong Puffer to diffuse the light.  Can work pretty well with the camera on Program Mode and the Flash to TTL. For total control, however, meter in aperture priority with the f stop you want and then use those settings (or slower shutter speeds to drag the shutter) with your Camera in Manual mode.  Flash in TTL with flash exposure compensation down to minus 1 1/3 to - 2. Adjust as needed to get the fill you want.    Alum floret with fill flash

Still Point Art Gallery BLOG: Bobby Baker - Black and White Silence

 One of the Photographer's I mentor is the current Artist of Distinction in Still Point Art Gallery's current online show.  I am mentioned in the article as well.  Enhance your creativity and sign up for a Creative Photography Workshop!.
I just released my summer weekend workshop series- Creative Photography - to be held in and around Gloucester, MA, selected weekends in June, July and August.  The schedule is listed under Events on my website at: http://www.judithmphotography.com/events

E mail me for further information at judith@judithmphotograpy.com

But for now, Enjoy the Blog:
 Still Point Art Gallery BLOG: Bobby Baker - Black and White Silence: "Bobby Baker was honored with the title of Artist of Distinction for the work he submitted and is showing in Still Point Art Gallery's curre..."