Photographing Landmarks and Historic Sites.
It is almost impossible not to be motivated to capture images of structures associated with special places while traveling. Whether it be a church, monument, lighthouse, or civic building, one almost has to line up behind others to record that special place. However, when you get home the image often just looks like either a "what-the-heck-went-wrong-with-this-picture" picture or a cliché, postcard type image. With the former image, you best take a basic photography course. With the latter problem all you need to do is get creative and think outside the box. I will use Mayne Island's Lighthouse Park as my example.

This first picture is, from my point of view, that cliché image. Nicely framed by the trees (top) and shadow (foreground) with the lighthouse structures placed a touch off centre. Yes, take that picture but don't stop there.
One way to think differently is to make your main subject a secondary part of the image by placing it in the context of the setting.

With this image I got down to the shore and just started to scout around. (Photography is a lot about discovery.) I noticed that we had some nice puffy clouds and a generous supply of driftwood so I used them to bracket the lighthouse. Notice, the lighthouse is only 1/5 of the image yet the story is still about the lighthouse. From a graphics point of view, the logs do draw your eyes up to the lighthouse and the clouds provide a nice cushion at the top.

In this next image (taken a year later) I explored the location again this time at low tide. From this location the seaweed provided a nice context for the lighthouse. The lighthouse is still only 1/5 of the image yet remains the subject. As well, notice how the seaweed draws your eye upwards towards the structures. Also, the clouds are present enough to make the sky a little more interesting. Another difference between the images is the sun - defused on the first image and strong and direct on the second. I like both.

With this third image, the tide was coming in but the point was yet to be covered by the ocean. Willing to get my feet wet, I ventured out as far as I could go to see how things looked. From my point of view, this was a horizontal image where as the previous two were vertical. By the way, I normally shoot both angles then decide later which perspective works best. Digital is cheap! The sun was coming from my right creating nice shadows and a dark blue sky. To make the foreground more interesting, I got low and waited for the waves to arrive (notice the white water on left side). Notice again, the lighthouse is but 1/5 of the image yet still the main subject.

My final image is one many of you may not like ... it is rather artsy! Remember, you can always delete but you can't capture later what you have passed up.
With this image I placed the lighthouse on the left with the sun right behind it and placed grass on the right to create some visual dynamics. (Don't you find your eye dancing between the grass and the tower?)
Well, there you have it. One lighthouse, five perspectives. Give it a try. The next time you find yourself in a special place, be creative with your image capture.
Let me know your thoughts.

www.tobysnelgrovephotography.com

Photographing Birds.

Who doesn't like birds? There is something magical about them. Many are cute and others are majestic. 

I have spent a lot of time either watching or attempting to photograph birds and there are many challenges. For the amateur photographer, there are some things to consider.

1.  Blur: This is probably the biggest problem - stopping the action. With moving subjects, you need to be sure your camera is set on "S" or "T" or shutter priority. Also, there is an "Auto" setting on some cameras that display an icon of someone appearing to run. This setting assumes you are shooting something moving and will adjust the camera to maximize a quick shutter. Potential blur can be caused by two main things: degree of movement and focal length. 

• Degree of movement: The faster things are moving in your frame, the greater the need for a high or quick shutter speed. If you pan with a moving object like a bird gliding, you solve part of the problem. However, if their wings are flapping, the blur problem is an issue again.
• Focal length: The higher the focal length (the more you have zoomed out) the greater the probability camera shake will cause blur. Think of it this way; Hold a pencil as steady as you can while your hand is resting on a table. Now, try to do the same thing with your arm extended. The more your arm is extended, the more the pencil wiggles ... right? It is the same thing with our camera ... the longer the zoom, the greater the wiggle effect will show up as blur. This is something you don't notice while you are shooting but the results will show up on your print.

In the above picture the shutter had to stop the actions of the seagull's moving wings.

2. The Moment: This is the most artistic challenge - the moment you have captured. It just can't be a bird, it has to be a bird doing something interesting or looking interesting. With the seagull picture, he was coming into landing, wings out, and his head cocked. Interesting to me. In the second picture, this duck was attempting to save the life if its chicks. She did this by distracting an intrusive dog by pretending to be injured - flying down the canal dipping her wings in the water with each stroke. In this case, camera blur caused by low shutter speed (I didn't have time to set up properly) however the result worked, at least for me. Now the picture needs an explanation but it works.

This image my be more pleasing and one not needing an explanation. I studied the behaviour of the heron for a while noting how he moves around. What stood out for me was their landing; their wings become their air brakes and their landing gear is extended for the landing. This was the moment I wanted to capture.

3. Context: WIth moving birds, this can be a real challenge. The bird needs to be in a setting that focuses attention on it. With the eagle image, I had many where the background was distracting and or unpleasant. I had to admit that it took 2 hours of shooting before I captured both the bird in an interesting position and the background was complementary and not distracting. So, shoot a lot and pay attention to where the best shots may be captured.

When I found the oyster catcher, the bird was in an interesting context - sitting on the rocks - and in an interesting position - on one leg and looking at me from side to side. The problem was the background - the coast of Vancouver was intrusive. The solution, get low and shoot up. It worked, I think. With the heron picture above, it was the the grey sky that I was able to wash out and accentuate the bird.

So, best of luck with your bird pictures. I hope these tips have been helpful. Do comment if you have questions.

Learn about your "+ & -" setting on your camera

The light meter on your camera has a system you should know about as your "auto" setting may just not work in certain situations. Essentially, it averages the highlights (sky) and shadows (dark parts).  Then it sets your camera's shutter (how quickly the picture is taken) and iris (the size of the opening of the eye of the camera) so the resulting image will be light balanced (in black and white photography, a light grey colour).

An example of this is wedding pictures - if you are shooting folks in back suits, the camera will attempt to "average" the luminosity and the blacks come out grey ... as do the whites. (You may not notice this as your photo lab may make the corrections for you).

Another example of auto not working is with this image - a bright sky near the centre of the image. Again, the tendency for the "auto" setting on your camera is balance the light and probably result in an under exposed image.

So, what is the solution? Learn about your camera's settings. One real neat one is your "+ & -" adjustment. Essentially, if you take an "auto" exposed picture and it is too dark, hold down your "+ & -" button and set it to +1 or 2 and take another picture. What is happening here is you have told your camera to "over expose" the picture by adding more light. Alternatively, if it is over exposed (too bright) do the reverse and select -1 or -2.
To see a larger verson of this image go here.

To learn more about your camera's light meter, check this video out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YcCO3x6t5w

Here is the technical information about this image.

An incoming storm at Princess Margaret Marine Park (Portland Island BC) attempts to smother the evening light and almost succeeds. Thirty minutes later the clouds did smother the sun only to offer lighting in exchange.

Nikon d800
DX 12-24 at 12mm
IOS 200
1/200 at F7
Onone texturing

Look for Layers

There are many ways to play with the elements of an image. Thinking about "layers" is one.
It was cold and the bugs were biting however the eastern sky was filled with rich blues and textures and I thought there was an image to capture. So, I took the dingy to shore and stumbled across the spit to the eastern shore of the spit (we were boating on Quadra Island, BC).

Just seeing the textures in the sky invited me to find an image that would work. With this image I decided to use layering as my main element ... rocks, mountains, sky (clouds) and shoot it in a vertical format (tall versus wide). 

Initially it is did not seem to be a very interesting subject. However, bringing out the detail in the rocks (layer 1) contrasted with the distant mountains (layer 2) and bracketed with soft clouds (layer 3) I thought it just may work. 

I wanted to have nice sharp detail with little digital noise. To achieve this I needed to use a low ISO setting (50), a tripod, and long exposures.

This image can be seen larger here

So, think layers when constructing, in particular, a landscape image.

Good luck ... and comment on the blog if you have any questions.

Location Detials

Rebecca Spit Marine Provincial Park (http://www.vancouverisland.com/ParksAndTrails/P... ) is at the entrance to Desolation Sound, a stunning piece of geography 100 miles north of Vancouver BC. The Bay behind the spit provides safe anchorage in water warmed by the heated rocks as the 12’ tide comes in.
This image was taken at dusk on the eastern shore facing the geography of Desolation Sound.
Nikon D800
Nikon f2.8 14-24 at 14mm
ISO 50
Three exposures at F10
30 15 and 8 seconds
Photomatic processed