SVETLANA. I worked on composition and on the colors. I wanted to express the beauty of the coast at sunset and sunrise. The colors are truly amazing. When you stand on the wet sand and see the reflection of the sky you experience an unforgettable feeling of unity with the Universe

Space/Proportion/Emphsis

Let me try this again, I mistakely posted these on the Friday One Shot Blog. I finally got enough light between the rain. I wanted the blossoms to be the emphasis.

Taken in HDR using high ISO (3200) and shutter speed because people move while taking the 3 shots (AEB 2+ 2- and straight up). The HDR process added the light. I didnt take pics of the ceremony because I was in a one hour parking zone and didnt want to get a ticket.

This is a new category called "walking on air." It has to do with illusion, proportion, space and imagination.

Beth: Religious Iconography 101

So this week at our church we wanted to get some pictures of foot washing and a cross draped in black to represent Maundy Thursday and Good Friday respectively. I thought it would be a cool chance to work with backgrounds, inspired as I was by Frank's use of the ceiling tile to get a neutral white last week. So I bought myself a black microfiber (whatever) blanket and we experimented with feet and hands. I used my best know-how to set up a situation with a tripod and flash and lighting practicing with little statues and candles and such, and when I felt ready, I brought in the live models. Of course different people could only lend their hands or feet for limited amounts of time, so I was learning under time constraints. We discovered that arches look more "spiritual" than the do the outer sides of feet. And we had a hard time SQUEEZING the rag hard enough to get loads of water to gush out of it without making the hand look too aggressive. Oy vey! So many little factors in conveying an idea through body parts and their positions and different views of them. And I decided that next time I'm going to get hand models who have manly rough hands without acrylic manicures, you know? It kind of makes me laugh and blush, because we printed out several hundred of these babies for use during the next week, and it was an absolute learn-as-you-go process, but I am excited to play more with backgrounds and with feet and hands. There are many symbolic images one can create using them.

Then we went out into the yard and went all Ingmar Bergman with a cross. It makes me think of The Seventh Seal, anyway, though I am sure it is not nearly as contrasty and value-filled with blacks and whites as that film actually is.

Bruce - Balancing Flash With Ambient Lighting

In this shot, I used my Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1's in-camera flash and an external flash behind the subject as a slave, in addition to the room's ambient outdoor light, to illuminate the subject and eliminate shadows on the wall 2 feet behind.  It was taken with my 20mm F1.7 lens set at an aperture of F8 for 1/15th of a second.  ISO was set at 100 and white balance was set on automatic.  I think I could have done a little better job of balancing the lighting to illuminate the face.

Bruce - Capturing Movement

This picture captures our dog, Jude, running on the beach.  This is real movement, as evidenced by his paws in the air above their shadows, and by his swept-back ears and hair.  I took this shot with my 14-45mm zoom lens set at 45mm at an aperture of F7.1 and a shutter speed of 1/800th of a second.  ISO was set at 100 and white balance was set on automatic.

Bruce - Value in Recycled Wine Barrels

I took this shot for its interesting variations in value within a few hues, ranging from violet and grey-blue to reds and black, and for its movement and patterns in line, shape, and form.  It was taken with my 20mm/F1.7 lens at an aperture of F9 and a shutter speed of 1/60th of a second.  ISO was set at 200 and white balance was set on automatic.

Michelle-Value, Movement, & Flash

1/320s at f/8.0 ISO 500

Focal length 50 mm

suggesting movement

1/500s at f/4.0 ISO 200

Focal Length 250 mm

I thought it showed value in the ground pretty well.

1/50s at f/11 ISO 100

Focal length 50 mm

The log in front had a lot of shadow from the front. So I though maybe I could use my flash to fill in the light. It didn't really seem to work for me. I tried several times. You can see the log in this one because the sun came through the clouds and provided more light on the log and over exposed the sky.

1/500s at f/4.0 ISO 200

Focal Length 250 mm

suggesting movement

Ken - Subtle Nature

200 mm; ISO 100; 1/25s; f/8; WB auto

Ken - Flash

32 mm; ISO 100; 1/125s; f/4.8; WB "flash"

Ken - Movement

26 mm; ISO 100; 1/125s; f/4.50; WB auto

Svetlana. Working with lighting, color contrast, differnt shapes and forms.

Svetlana. Working with converting images into B&W.

Value & Movement?

Male Rufous Hummingbird

Sorry but no flash pictures :<(    But this one has a little bit of color (the light reflected off his neck feathers), dimension (with the circular feeder and his cute little feet), texture (I think the neck feathers almost look like fish scales)   Camera settings:  ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/100.

Michelle- Color and Contrast using Flash

1/50 s at f/1.6 ISO 800

Focal length 50 mm

using built in flash

Tungsten

I don't know if I would call this photo an "AHAH" moment, but I did feel like I was starting to understand it more. I tried using different light settings light Tungsten, Flash, & White Fluorescent Light while adjusting the power of the built in flash. I also tried using a piece of tissue as a diffuser. I didn't notice a difference with the tissue as to when the flash isn't on until I pulled the tissue tighter but it wasn't much.

1/50 s at f/1.2 ISO 800

Focal Length 50 mm

using built in flash

Tungsten

LIFE IN COLOR by Dennis



Flash 1/8th power; focal length 200mm, 1/60 f8; white balance cloudy; aperture priority; ISO 100; saturation high;sharpness hard. 

The Boomerangs:  I love the absolute raw color, very wide spectrum of hue and saturation, on the opposite sides we have the two gourds, one with black background, the other pretty earthy.  Both have nice white for the hieroglyphics.  I was told a gourd this size of your hand has up to 21,000 images, very simple in color, very intricate in design.  I'm at 200mm, about 45 inches from the subject, flash at 1/8 power, manual focus, would have better results with a soft box. 



Flash 1/32 power; focal length 165mm; exposure 1/60 f8; white balance cloudy; manual focus; aperture priority; ISO 100; saturation high; sharpness hard.

The Dolphin:   Laser etched into the center of a crystal cube that's 2" square by 3" long.  I used a black backdrop, side lights from windows; camera flash dialed down to 1/32.  I'm about 33" inches from the subject.  My "AH HA" came when I dialed down to 1/32, got low enough to avoid flash flare, and acutally made the shot.  The uncroped shot shows the whole cube.  I played with different white balance and settled on cloudy to gently warm the colors in the etchings that comes from all the colors around the subject.  



Bruce - Self Portrait

I wouldn't say there was a real "AHAH" moment here, but after several attempts to adjust my studio lights to avoid any shadows just two feet behind me, and after playing with the built-in flash settings to lighten the darker side of my face, I was relatively happy with this shot.  It was taken with my 14-45mm zoom lens set at 45mm with an aperture of F/5.6 at 1/4 of a second.  ISO was set at 100 and white balance was set on automatic. The flash setting was 0 EV, and the picture is cropped from the original, which was taken in landscape format.

Ken - Light Effects

Same subject with different camera settings and similar results
#1 - 55 mm; 100 ISO; f/16; 15 s shutter speed; WB auto; slow flash
#2 - 55 mm; 800 ISO; f/32; 1/15 s shutter speed; WB auto; slow flash

Bruce - Color and Contrast

Of all the pictures I took in this week's study of color and contrast, I like this one the best for its composition, clarity, presentation of analogous colors (especially with the blue background), contrast, and variety in line, shape, movement, and rhythm.  It was shot at an aperture of f/9 for 1/60th of a second, with ISO at 200 and white balance on automatic.

Crocuses Next Door

[Aperture Priority-f8, 1/160 sec, ISO 200, bright sun]

I visited my neighbor's crocuses repeatedly this week, taking pictures under different weather/lighting conditions, and trying to replicate whatever it is that Svetlana (smile) and others of you do to get great flower pictures. I like the what the bright light does to these first two pictures, and the way that the yellow and orange (and also white reflecting highlights) accentuate the purple. Then, green and purple look great together.

[Aperture Priority- f8, 1/200 sec, ISO 250, bright sun] 

[Aperture Priority, f18, 1/200 sec, ISO 1600, overcast]

I like the wet look too, and the colors made by the water droplets--kind of pink-ish. I like the way that the "salad" leaves--whatever they are--contrast with the crocuses above. I photoshopped it a little to make the green leaves brighter. I tried to do the same in the picture below to make the greens brighter, but that dorked up the color of the crocuses, and I love those just the way they are. I'm still figuring out how to get them to look REALLY good, but these satisfy me for now. And doing this kind of feels like making jam. You know how when you do that you are taking fruit that is good at one tiny point in time so that you can have Spooners' strawberries all year? This is homemade Spooners' jam for the eyes. 

[Aperture Priority, f8, 1/200, ISO 640, overcast]

Happiness is Chillin' in the Church Nursery

One of the subjects' mothers asked me to make a print of this, and I thought of color. I like it mostly because of the parallel actions of the two people and the worshipful cherubic look on the little boy's face (and how a teenage boy of that age is beeing a good guy in the nursery with the wee tots). But I wonder if it is also striking because of the work that the bright orange does, and then the way that the mooses on the shirt and the teenager's hat go with the plastic climbing gym colors.