Looking for a way out
Layers are a great way to enhance photographs for a grungy look. I felt that this ossuary photograph required a little more sinister look. Three textures later in addition to some dodging and burning, I achieved what I was after. The pose of the person standing is another matter - not exactly what I had in mind but it works good enough.
The challenge in this scene was to try to retain some detail in the window and have the rest of the image still acceptably bright and detailed. I could have done that with multiple exposures (HDR) but these days, some of the DSLR cameras have pretty amazing dynamic range. This makes it easier to lift the shadows and preserve detail.
-Vin Singh
Somewhere near San Francisco, CA
Many of my blog reader will know that I love to work with long exposures. Something about capturing images that have changed in the duration that the exposure took place in fascinates me. We see the individual parts of the scene changing over time but the camera records all of it as a single frame - something that is tough to visualize.
The only way to get the result you are happy with is to experiment with the duration. What may work on one subject matter on a given day may not work on another day or subject. My suggestions are to start with a 1s exposure, then keep doubling it until you are happy with the result.
However, as you will note from previous blogs, you will need to use Neutral Density (ND) filters. They are usually available in 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 stop ranges (with other ones in the mix depending on manufacturer). Remember, each stop of ND filter allows you to double the exposure time (for a given ISO and f-stop). For example, if your camera meters 1/2 of a second, then a 3-stop filter will allow you to expose for 4 seconds. You can stack ND filters: 2 3-stop filters is the same as a 6-stop filter.
This image was exposed for 20 seconds using a 12 stop filter.
-Vin Singh
Heading: Unknown
Ever plan a photographic outing (within a few hours drive) and the photographs do nothing for you. You are familiar with the area because you were smart and did all the research online, making sure you knew what kinds of photographs were to be taken. Somehow that excitement about seeing something for the first time doesn't feel great - maybe because you already seen it online.
Well sometimes, it's good just to pick a direction and drive. Then take a couple of secondary roads and see what happens. This sort of strategy usually doesn't work. But every now and then, you see great photographic opportunities that are nowhere to be seen on the net. I'm sure that many people have taken them, but just not posted where they are easily found.
This photograph is just one of many taken last weekend. We had a rough idea where we wanted to end up (which we did not end up in). Took a few side-roads near honey harbour in Ontario (an hours drive north of Toronto) and spent several hours photographing. A worthwhile adventure to the unknown.
-Vin Singh
Antelope Canyon, Page
Picking up from my last post, sometimes a re-shoot needs to be done. Let's face facts and admit it didn't work out. That could be technically, artistically or circumstances beyond your control. With me, on this shoot that I did a few years back, it was a technical and artistic mess-up. I rushed my photographs. The result:
1) Not enough depth of field in many of my images
2) Not artistically strong enough.
Sure, there are always a few winners but not of what I was hoping for. But that's OK, lessons learned and the positive thing - a need to go back :)
-Vin Singh
Webster's Falls, Dundas Ontario
Most of us will likely travel to overseas destinations (same location) only once for photography. If we do go a second time to the same area, we will generally shoot something else unless we really mucked up the first time.
What we fail to get is that the light for any area is changing (angle of the sun) throughout the year. Combine that with the fact that we have to account for weather variations on top of that, it's hard to imagine that the first time will be the 'one'.
I have on example here two photographs of the same place. The colour one was just taken yesterday and the BW photograph was taken a few years ago in the month of October. Usually speaking the water flow is usually more in the spring and less in the fall, however due to freaky weather, this is reversed in the examples. One more reason to re-visit the same spot.
If we only had unlimited financial resources and time to visit those exotic places several times, life would be grand.
-Vin Singh