PhotoWalking USA

Are you tired of the same old tired looking snapshots of your friends and family? Give your photos a twist, or to be more accurate, give your photos a Dutch Tilt. A Dutch Tilt is a cinematic technique used to portray the uneasiness or tension in the subject being filmed. I personally think the Dutch Tilt offers much more to photos than it’s definition.  I think the Dutch Tilt can bring more interestingness to any photo.

So how do you go about creating a Dutch Tilt? It’s easy.. Normally you hold your camera even with the horizon, this is called  “Landscape Mode”.  If you turn your camera on it’s side, this is called “Portrait Mode”. Hold your camera at any angle in between, that’s a Dutch Tilt!

As humans, we are all too often compelled to follow the rules,  living each day within the lines of what is proper or expected.  Think about this, almost 99% of all photographs taken, are shot in landscape mode. Less than 1% of all photographs taken taken in portrait mode.  

Using a Dutch Tilt is breaking the rules of what is expected or ordinary. Photographs taken with a Dutch Tilt can add interest to almost any photo in the right situations. Dutch Tilt,  give it try…

October is one of the best times for a photowalk. October offers a window of opportunity for photographing fall colors at their peak.  The window for capturing dramatic and dynamic fall images, is short. Don’t put off taking that photo because fall is a time of change, and you think things will look the same tomorrow, but they wont.

Here are some basic tips for photographing in the fall.

Shoot early and late in the day. Try to shoot a half-hour before and after sunrise or sunset. The colors will be noticeably richer, the shadows deeper, textures and forms stronger. Early morning is one of the best times to capture the color of fall reflected in a pond or lake as the water is usually still and the light is coming in at a low angle.

Shoot right after a rain storm. The light is usually more dramatic, and wet leaves, structures, and even roads take on more vibrant, intense color tones.

Shoot from all angles. Move around to find the most dramatic composition.  A few steps can make the difference. Experiment.

Look for contrasting colors. Include visually opposing colors in your photo for dramatic contrasts and more intense color. A bright orange tree will look even brighter when photographed next to a green evergreen.

Try using a warm polarizer filter when you’re shooting colorful red and orange trees. Another option is to increase your cameras saturation settings to produce vivid punchy colors, consult your camera’s manual to see if you have the ability to boost the saturation settings. You’ll be sure to be please with the results.

October is a wonderful time of the year for photographs. Be sure and get out and shoot.

Yesterday we talked about the Fill Flash Technique, as a useful tool in tricky lighting conditions. Today well talk about another technique called Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB).

So what exactly is Auto Exposure Bracketing? Autobracketing is a feature found on more advanced cameras, mostly, DSLR cameras, but I have seen Autobracketing starting to show up even in some of the high-end point and shoots.

Simply put, AEB is where the camera will automatically take several successive shots (usually a series of three) with slightly different exposure settings. Depending on your cameras AEB settings, the difference between each of the autobracketed shots could be anywhere up to two stops in each direction, in half-stop or one-third stop increments.

The reason you do this is because the camera might have been deceived by the light (too much or too little) available and your main subject may be over- or under-exposed. By taking three differently exposed shots, you are making sure that if this were ever the case, then you would have properly compensated for it.

As an example, say you are taking a scene where there is an abundance of light around your main subject (for example, at the beach on a sunny day, or surrounded by snow). In this case, using Weighted-Average metering, your camera might be ‘deceived’ by the abundance of light and expose for it by closing down the aperture and/or using a faster shuter speed, with the result that the main subject might be under-exposed. By taking an extra shot at a slight over-exposure, you would in fact be over-exposing the surroundings, but properly exposing the main subject.

Anytime your photographing a subject with tricky lighting or lots of variation between bright and darker areas. Anytime you feel the scene is a challenging one (too much highlights or shadows).  For example, sunrise/sunsets are usually better taken slightly under-exposed so using Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) here is a great idea.

To sum things up, be sure and use AEB whenever you want to be sure you don’t improperly expose a fabulous shot that you may not get the chance to go back and take again. Use AEB whenever you want to be absolutely sure you have the best exposure possible.

As good as today’s cameras are, they still have their weaknesses and occasionally still need a helping hand from us to pull off a properly exposed shot. Especially when it comes to certain lighting conditions. These problems usually happen when your shot is in contrasting lighting conditions. Usually it’s when a shot contains a strong light source in the background.

Take a look at the example below:

You can see the cameras Auto Mode, incorrectly exposed this picture because of the strong light coming through the background. The cameras AutoMode thought that the scene had enough light. As you can clearly see the main subject was badly under exposed, almost dark enough to produce a silhouette.

Obviously the issue with this shot is that there is just not enough light from the front of the subject, to light up the subject with the shutter speed selected by the camera.

The Solution

While there are a number of possible solutions to this problem,one of the easiest is to override the camera and force it to shoot with a flash. This is commonly referred to as the Fill Flash Technique. Fill Flash is used to supplement existing light in a scene – it’s generally not the primary light source, but fills in light where natural light doesn’t go. Here’s that same shot with a fill flash:

In addition to helping with backlit subjects fill flash helps in more subtle ways also by helping to eliminate shadows cast by facial features (under eyes, noses, chins) or under hats – especially when light is shining down from above. It also could be used to add a special little sparkle to the eye of the person you’re photographing. Producing those lovely catch highlights.

Most of todays cameras have built-in support for Fill Flash. In most cameras, there’s problably a little button, with a picture of a lightning bolt (flash) on or near it. But be sure and check your camera’s owners manual on how to activate your cameras Fill Flash mode.

I get asked this question all the time. Which lens to buy for photo-walking? I don’t normally give away trade secrets, but here it is.. It’s model number 56-67850..Wait.. I’m of course kidding. 

The correct answer of course, is it depends on the type of photowalk your embarking on. If your photowalk is taking you through lots of beautiful vistas and landscapes, a nice wide angle lens would be ideal. On the other hand,  If your photowalk is taking place in more of a urban setting,  then, maybe a longer tele-zoom would suit you better.

For me, I’ve gotten in the habit of carrying  2 main lens with me on all photowalks. I carry a 24-105mm f/4, and a 70-200mm f/2.8. I find that these two lens are usually more than ample to cover most shooting situations.

Even if you don’t own a DSLR, most of today’s point and shoot cameras are outfitted with great general purpose lens. My little Canon G9 is outfitted with a 35-210mm lens, which is perfect for photowalking.  Remember, photowalking is about the experience, not how expensive you gear is.

So get out and photowalk this weekend!

If you have a question on photowalking or photography, or would just like to suggest a topic for us to cover, be sure and drop us a line. You can email us at: photowalkinglife@gmail.com

Today’s cameras provide fast, reliable, auto focus systems (AF). Most modern cameras are now equipped with multi-point AF sensors that do a great job provide quick high-speed tracking for our subjects.

As great as the technology is, it can’t read your mind. Even the most advance auto focus system cannot determine your photographic intentions. With subjects at various distances from the camera, a multi-point AF system will often focus on the nearest reliable target. Undoubtedly there will be times the cameras auto focus will focus on the wrong subject, giving you less than desirable results.

Instead of relying on your cameras auto focus to make decisions for you. Why not break away from the point-and-shoot approach, and tell the camera exactly where you want the focus.

Most cameras today, that offer multi-point AF, allow you to manually select which focus point to use to ensure focus on your intended subject, and give your photos the results you want.

I recommend setting your camera to use a single focus point. In my opinion, using the method of Focus and Compose, is the most effective method of getting accurate shots.

To use this method, simply set your cameras AF to only use the center focus point. The rest is strictly technique. When taking a picture, position the camera’s center AF point directly on the subject you wish to be focused on, then activate your cameras AF Lock by pressing the shutter button down halfway. Once your cameras signals you a focus lock, (usually a audio beep or the center AF point in the view finder will light up). Continue to hold the shutter down halfway, then recompose your shot.

We’ve all seen those fantastic portraits were the models eyes just draw you in. In these type of portrait shots, we generally want to focus on the eyes. This
effect can rarely be achieved in a point-and-shoot mode with multi-point AF.

Using the Focus and Recompose Method, we simply place the center AF point directly on the subjects eyes, lock the focus, and recompose, once composed, take the shot.

This will take some practice, but the results are well worth it.

Let me start out saying that “The Rule of Thirds” is a compositional ‘rule of thumb’, not a hard and fast rule. The first rule in photography is; that there are no rules. To explain the rule of thirds, we need a visual. The rules says you should divide your image into a grid of thirds, like pictured below.

You’ll notice the grid causes the lines to intersect at four (4) main intersections (Marked with a red circle). At the intersection of these lines is where you would place a point of interest for a subject. The rule of thirds is considered by many to make pictures more aesthetically pleasing and professional-looking. The rule of thirds can be applied by lining up subjects with the guiding lines, placing the horizon on the top or bottom line instead of the center, or allowing linear features in the photograph to flow from section to section.

The rule of thirds is a simple and effective way to produce aesthetically pleasing pictures, and once you start putting it into practice, you’ll begin noticing it being used in paintings, billboards,  and even television. The rule of thirds may turn out to be the most powerful tool in your camera bag.

What exactly is ISO? Well if you remember back in the days of film, we use to buy film with a ASA rating, such as ASA 100, ASA 400, etc. This expressed the films sensitivity to light, or commonly referred to as the speed of the film. Today’s camera do not use film, but use image sensors instead.  ISO is basically a ASA equivalent. The ISO setting denotes how sensitive the image sensor is to the amount of light present. The higher the ISO, the more sensitive the image sensor and therefore the possibility to take pictures in low-light situations.

Back in the days of film, you had to physically change the film if you wanted a different ISO, but with todays digital cameras, you can simply set the camera to whatever ISO speed you want. Pretty nice huh… just one of the advantages of the digital world.

Having the ability to change your ISO on the fly helps you always get the shot. Suppose your in a low light situation, and your camera can’t obtain a correct exposure, you could use a flash, but what if your in a museum, or concert where flash photography is not permitted. All you need to do is use a higher ISO setting,  this will allow you to obtain a correctly exposed picture.

Another example is, if you find your camera is using a shutter speed that is too slow (1/60 sec. and slower) to handhold the camera steady and shake-free (thus resulting in blurred pictures), and you cannot open up the aperture anymore, and there’s no tripod readily available. then you might select a higher ISO which will then allow you to select a faster shutter speed.  

Oh course there’s always a price to pay for versatility. Increasing our camera’s ISO setting can introduce what is called digital noise. This is a necessary evil, the higher the ISO the more noise. But I wouldn’t worry too much, about digital noise, as todays cameras have greatly improved picture quality at higher ISO speeds. Just remember to shoot at the lowest possible ISO setting for the lowest noise and best dynamic range.  

So,  go dig up your cameras owner manual, and read up on how to adjust/set your cameras ISO settings. Having this knowledge means you’ll always be able to get that award winning shot..

Want to be a better photographer? Get out and shoot. Believe it or not, the more you shoot, better you’ll get. Experiment, get creative. Too many of us are just too busy with everyday life, meanwhile were letting life pass us by. It’s time to slow down, get out of our cars, take the day off, and go for a photowalk. Photowalking allows you to see the world in a different way. So come on, get out and shoot!

How much would you pay for piece of mind? Do you have a current backup of all your photos? I bet the majority of you answered; ‘No’. Let’s face it, backing up our photos is a time consuming task, and takes a discipline few of us have. At least on a regular basis.

With the introduction of digital photography, the average person now a days stores thousands and thousands of photos of their computer. Most of these photos are priceless, irreplaceable memories of friends and family.

Businesses know how to protect their data from failure and loss, they use technology to automate, and prevent data loss. Using both hardware and software to protect their corporate data. But what about us common folks?

The answer is Drobo. Automated no Headache Data Redundancy System. Drobo utilizes a revolutionary storage technology that makes it simple for anyone to use, yet is powerful enough for business. Once you experience the power of Drobo, the idea of keeping multiple external drives or a RAID 5 array will seem as antiquated as that 300Kbps modem in the back of your closet.

Drobo Features

• Redundant data protection
• Hot swappable expandable drives up to 16TB
• Mix n Match Drives cap
• Both Firewire 800 and USB 2.0

As your library of data grows, now your storage solution can too. Drobo holds up to four hard drives, and can expand at any time, it supports up to 16TB on a single volume.

Drobo is Self-Healing

When Drobo detects a “bad” hard disk, it proactively advises you with a series of warnings ranging from a blinking red LED on its front panel, to pop-up alerts in Drobo Dashboard, to email alerts. What Drobo does next is exceptional. Drobo enters self-healing mode where it repairs around the bad sector or bad disk, working until it returns to the safest state possible. If Drobo has sufficient time and free capacity (indicated by all lights returning to a solid green state), it can even withstand a second hard disk failure. That’s the power of self-healing. Unlike other storage arrays, Drobo doesn’t just sit around and beep at you when something is awry—it takes the set of actions available to it to fix the problem without human intervention.

Check out Drobo for yourself. Click here to see drobo in action.