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Brian Parillo: Skyscrapers of Downtown LA

DSLRBlog Editors — Thu, 10 May 2012 14:29:22 +0000

As the clouds are rolling over the skyscrapers of downtown LA, it’s 3:30pm on a Sunday afternoon in the month of March. It’s empty down here for the most part. The business crowd won’t be back until tomorrow so driving around looking for potential shooting moments makes things feel a little safer on the driving end of things. However being safe is never usually a preoccupation when down here but finding the right moment is. I like the way the wind sounds on days like these when the streets are fairly empty. It’s a hollower sound and makes things feel even more desolate. As I see something lighting wise that looks interesting I decide to pull a quick u turn and park in the yellow loading only zone.

It’s Sunday, nobody will care. I quickly change my lens and I feel like I’m in a race. What am racing for? Light usually and cloud positioning. These poor buildings. They must feel like I’m paparazzi when I show up because I really do want to invade them in every way. So out of my car I go as I begin staring up at these giants. It amazes me every time. I walk around them for a while and try to find something that looks different to me. Something that gives these enormous slabs of concrete a voice. I can imagine what I must look like to the average passerby.

Lying in the middle of the street on my back or standing on some ledge must look fairly ridiculous. However, when I find a moment that truly speaks to me everything slowly goes to silent. The only thing I hear, which I ignore for as long as I can, is the security guard who is quickly walking toward me shouting “Sir, excuse me, Sir excuse me,! Excuse me!” Here’s where things get a little hairy. I’ve almost got my shot and he’s getting really close to ending this for me. I open up a little wider on my focal length, drop my camera speed one stop as the sun tucks behind a cloud, and I start shuttering away. “Excuse me Sir”, I hear again for the last time as I pull my camera down from my face. “Hi,” I say as politely as possible. “You can’t take pictures here,” he says as I ponder the idea of that phrase being my epitaph. “Oh you can’t?” “Okay sorry, take care.”

As I get in my car I quickly review my shots. No, no , no, no, no, maybe, maybe, possibly but the light is a little to hot on the top portion of the far building in this shot. I may be able to save it in post. I start my car and off to the next location. I’ve always felt like some refugee on the run while stalking these buildings. It feels a bit sin city like down here and I’m enjoying every minute of it.

I’ve been shooting architecture for quite a few years now. I choose to shoot in black and white mainly because it extenuates the lines of a building and because it separates the elements of the photograph resulting in a more clean and efficient look. It also creates a feeling as if you’re being dropped into a mysterious abstract world. I see integrity, elegance, strength and vulnerability in black and whites and I try to carry those emotions into my shots as well.

Website: www.brianparillophotography.com

David Julian: Canon Beach

DSLRBlog Editors — Tue, 08 May 2012 15:16:53 +0000

On a recent road trip down the Oregon coast, I spent a day at infamous Canon Beach. To say that it’s a magical and photogenic place is an understatement. The surrounding public- access coastline draws over 20,000 people a year, yet much of it can easily be seen with hardly a soul upon it.

On this September morning, there were probably forty people within a hundred feet of me near the base of the ever- popular Haystack rock, so I chose to move in closer to nature and leave the people out of frame. It’s easy to reach these multi- hued Ochre Sea Stars at low tides, but a challenge to find an unpopulated composition that really comes to life. I wanted to show the habitat more than to focus in on the animals themselves, which I would make detailed portraits of later. I also made a gallant effort not to step on the anemones, mussels and tiny crabs covering the area. I must have looked like a strange clown balance- stepping toe- to- toe with the extended tripod legs held high over my head.

Once I found the perfect composition, I mounted my SLR and a Canon 17- 40mm wide zoom, composing half my frame with the starfish grouping and half with the landscape and shoreline. The warm morning sun lit my foreground perfectly. Timing was important as incoming tidal waves swirled in and around my sinking tripod legs at staggered intervals, causing a shift in its position. I stopped my lens down to f16 so I would have a sharp enough background to show the nurturing sea and landscape’s details. A slow exposure allowed me to soften the receding waters leaving a reflected sky. The result was a pleasing description of animals in their environment.

But I was not finished telling the story of this amazing place, because it is accessibility that allows us to see the colorful creatures of this environment and make our connection to them. My next task was to show the starfish and the people in an imaginative way. I put my camera in my bag and strolled along the tide pools noting how people viewed the uniquely accessible offerings of undersea nature in their path.

Once I had a feel for their behavior, I set out to reverse the typical photograph of people watching nature. Instead, I put my camera’s point of view as close to the starfish as possible, and let the people become the background. This technique worked perfectly, and put the emphasis on the natural history of this location rather than our occupation of it.

Next time you are out in the world shooting nature, macros landscapes, try an exercise of thinking of the idea or story before the compositions, and you will be more deeply linked to your subject. From there, I believe your perspective and compositions will reveal themselves naturally.

Photographer/Educator David Julian teaches creative workshops across the US, and offers screen-shared online custom learning.

Website: http://davidjulian.com

Andrew Prezioso: The Night Before Irene

DSLRBlog Editors — Thu, 03 May 2012 14:30:38 +0000

Looking to break into the photojournalism profession, I’m always looking for some standout image. Though I’m more comfortable shooting sports, when we had Hurricane Irene hit Richmond this past fall, I was ready to go shoot the storm. This image is actually from the day before the storm, right at dusk. I have never seen a sky quite like that, and it just gives a sense of the foreboding storm.

This is actually not the photo I wanted to get. When I was walking back to get my camera after dinner/buying bottled water for the next day, I noticed the sky was golden. I wanted to get that photo; but by the time I was able to gather my equipment, it was too late to get the golden sky. By the time I got out there with my equipment, the sky had turned that pink/red/purple color. Regardless of the change in scenery, I knew the framing of the picture would be important. Obviously, taking just a picture of the sky is a boring photo. There was just something about the clock that I thought provided a terrific contrast between it and the sky.

I fired a couple of frames of the scene, and was immediately pleased with the scene I was able to capture. Originally, the shot looking at the clock straight-on was my favorite, with its more vibrant colors. But recently, I liked the other one slightly better; the bird flying adds a nice touch to the photo. Also, behind the trees in the bottom left corner of the photo, you can see what look like storm clouds in the distance, rolling in. It also helps that the bird is flying away from the clouds, like it is trying to escape the storm.

Even though it was a fairly simple photo set-up, it is still one of my favorite non-sports shots.

Andrew Prezioso is a senior journalism major at University of Richmond.

Website: http://amprezioso.smugmug.com/

Colin Gallagher: Winter in Central PA

DSLRBlog Editors — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:30:27 +0000

This shot was taken after the only real snowfall this year in Central PA. Failure to set an alarm led to a late start, missing sunrise by a good 3 hours. Grumbling that I may have missed and frozen beauty before the sun did its work, a friend and I hopped into his Subaru and headed out of town towards Poe Valley.

The road into the valley looked pretty well-plowed, which worried me. I wanted fresh snow. Untouched. My fears were soon dispersed as we made a right onto a side road and clearly left our mark as the first ones there since the snowfall. A mile drive through snow drifts and sagging, snow-laden evergreens later, we pulled off next to a bridge. Strapping on the boots, I headed out into the woods towards the lovely stream cutting through it. The first few shots were nice, and served their purpose in getting my juices (and warm blood) flowing as I stepped carefully from rock to rock, trying to get a shot down the stream towards the bridge. The game of cat and mouse with the sun was growing frustrating, the dark midday shadows cutting harsh lines through most of my pictures.

Enter Solstice, my friend’s adorable dog.

Crashing through the trees off the right side of my shot, a few of the smaller, bare trees brushed up against the evergreens towering over them, sending dusty snow sprinkling down through the sunlight. And just then, a breeze blew through. From the very tops of the pines, snow crystals began raining down all around me. The light from the sun softened, glittering as the cloud of snow diffused the harsh rays. I stood there, mesmerized for a moment while I got a second helping of falling snow in my own little part of Poe Valley. Then I remembered something…

Push the button, Colin.

Colin is a 27-year-old Bellefonte photographer from Pennsylvania. His uncanny ability to completely destroy any piece of lighting equipment that he touches continually drives him outdoors to capture the breathtaking scenes Mother Nature has to offer.

Website: http://colintgallagher.com

Dipayan Bhattacharjee: Human Rights

DSLRBlog Editors — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 14:30:01 +0000

A man crossing one of the busiest streets in the city with a load on his back which he has to deliver at a shop on the opposite side of the street, and that probably weighs ten times more than his own weight.

I was out on the streets trying to get a subject to shoot for an exhibition on “Human Rights”. It would be unfair if I took all the credit for this image. It so happened that I was looking in exactly the opposite direction from this subject when all of a sudden a friend of mine who was accompanying me in the shoot, pointed her hand right over my shoulder (reaching behind me) and shouted “human rights! human rights!” I immediately turned back and saw what I saw and a part of what you are seeing right now. I barely had the time to make any adjustments on the camera (luckily I had done that before). I just raised the camera to my eye and in less than a second I had released the shutter and the moment had also passed away. Would I be a milli-second late, I could have never got this shot. Because just as I pressed the shutter and even before I could remove my eye from the viewfinder, a big car went past right across my frame, and by the time the traffic emptied out, the person had already crossed the street.

Now about this person, it would be very unfair to say that he is doing it because he can. No! He is doing it because he has to. So that he can feed his family. Employment is a major problem in India, and so people literally do/have to do anything to earn a meal. But we can clearly see that the job this person is doing is inhuman. The smallest mistake and he could get crushed under the weight. Or maybe even run-over by a car.

Dipayan Bhattacharjee is a passionate Street & Portrait Photographer who loves to show posed beauty as well as candid truth.

Website: http://50mmstreettog.blogspot.com/
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/xedmundian

Andy Newman : In the age of Instagram, what sets a professional photographer apart?

DSLRBlog Editors — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 14:45:37 +0000

“I had photographed Abigail as a part of a series I was doing where I connected to strangers through Craigslist and had them come to my studio for a portrait. After I took her portrait for the Craigslist project, I asked her if she would ever consider modeling for a shoot. She said yes.

The other important element in this shoot was the location. It was shot at the historic Milo Arts center in Columbus, Ohio. I had been given a tour of the place a few months prior, and noticed the amazing attic. It was over one hundred years old, and looked untouched. So when I was planning the location of my shoot with Abigail, I thought her timeless look would fit well in that old space. I also borrowed my friend’s tilt-shift lens to further add to the old feeling. ” – Photographer Nick Fancher

I identified with this image because of the contrast in the composition. It has a very cool color palette, yet rather than being distant, it’s engaging. The bright white light of the window behind Abigail increases the intensity of the image. Her gaze goes from engaging to hypnotizing. As I work with Nick and document his work, I am fascinated to break down the creative process, seeing every detail he puts in place as an artist. The creative process is something that isn’t often explored, and that’s what I hope to provide with my work.

That’s why I’m currently working on a feature-length documentary that will focus on Nick and his work, as well as two other great photographers – Andria Lindquist of Seattle, WA and Kim A. Thomas of San Francisco, CA. The documentary, titled “Portrait” is now funding on Kickstarter. It will explore the question: “In the age of Instagram, what sets a professional photographer apart?”

Andy Newman is a freelance video producer, director of photography, and editor specializing in commercial, short form documentary, fashion and modeling videography.

Website: http://portraitdocumentary.com

David Bellis: Wedding in Historic Merchant Adventurers’ Hall

DSLRBlog Editors — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 14:31:39 +0000

It was January, late afternoon, where the couple Tom and Katy were concerned about the low light and had pretty much given up on any chance of the outside shots they had wanted post ceremony. Not wanting to disappoint them, I was mulling over the options prior to the wedding with Barry, a photographer friend, when he offered to assist by holding an umbrella, opening up the possibility of getting some very nice off camera lighting. I’d never worked with an assistant before at a wedding and was intrigued by the creative options, so agreed.

This was an image that won me a Bronze Bar from The Guild of Photographers recently.

The building in the background is the historic Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, in the center of my hometown, York, which dates from 1357 and is a popular location for wedding ceremonies in the city. York is a very photogenic city generally, with many wonderful locations to photograph bride and grooms!

I positioned the couple on the left-hand third of the frame and then did a test shot for the ambient light, which at this point was fast disappearing. The ironic thing about shooting at dusk, is that if you want to capture the lighting that you see in front of you, you need to underexpose. This is because the sensor does its best to render everything it sees in front of it as if it was shot at two in the afternoon. I then used the pop up flash on my Canon 60D to trigger the Speedlite that Barry was holding, pointing into the umbrella at camera left. The pop up flash was used as a trigger only, and did not throw any light onto the scene. The Speedlite did a fantastic job of rendering Katy’s dress and didn’t need any compensation.

The image looked good straight out of the camera, but I took it a little further in Lightroom. I decided to darken down the background some more, so used the adjustment brush to reduce the exposure of pretty much everything except the couple and a patch of lawn in front of them. Then there was just a trip into Photoshop to clone out an intrusive sign that was sticking out of the lawn to their right, and that was job done.

Vital statistics: Camera: Canon 60D with 17-55mm F2.8 lens, Canon 580EX Speedlite, manual exposure, F3.5, 1/100 sec, 1250 ISO, evaluative metering.

David Bellis is a professional portrait and wedding photographer in York, UK, a historic and photogenic city.

Website: http://www.bellisweddingphoto.com/

Kurien Koshy Yohannan — Befriending a Robin

DSLRBlog Editors — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 18:50:48 +0000

Two photography subjects closest to my heart are wildlife and nature. Whenever I do get the time, I love going outdoors to be one with nature taking in the sounds and photographing the amazing plant and animal life that makes our planet so very unique. Each and every season has something to offer from a photography point of view and Spring is no less. Spring represents the time of year when plants and animals come to life after their wintry slumber and it is such a great time to capture this through one’s lens.

The air is filled with sweet songs of birds – a herald to us all that longer and sunnier days are fast approaching. One bird that I have always wanted to photograph, and have never had much success due to its flighty nature, has been the robin. Hence it was a very special day when a robin gave me the privilege of befriending it and offered me the opportunity to enter its world and photograph it up close and personal. It was a humbling experience and one that will last with me for the rest of my life. I personally consider it a gift to have been given the opportunity to showcase the beautiful bird that is the Robin.

I initially started shooting these images with a Canon 70-200mm lens mounted on a Canon 50D but as time went on, and as I gradually befriended the bird, I changed over to a Sigma 17-70mm lens that helped to get really up close to the bird and capture some of the images you see showcased here. All the images were taken handheld and owing to the fact that the robin was more than willing to pose for the pictures, I was able to experiment with different angles to capture the optimal image. This showcases another important aspect of wildlife photography – investing time in understanding and building trust with your subject always pays off.

Kurien Koshy Yohannan is a Scottish based professional Corporate event photographer who in his spare time loves photographing wildlife, nature and aviation related subjects.

Facebook: http://facebook.com/BlackStallionPhotography

Michael Sargent — The Archangel Duck

DSLRBlog Editors — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 20:00:32 +0000

Every once in a while, you will snap a photo that simply defines why we as photographers, spend so much time in the field in search of our next great shot.

The photo I am sharing with you today has proven itself as one of those pictures. This photo has been affectionately referred to as the “Archangel Duck” and with that in mind, I will share with you how this photo came to be.

As a rule, I spend a portion of my free time de-stressing from the week by going on mini photography safaris around my home here in Western New York. With the Iroquois Wildlife Refuge a stone’s throw away, I can often be found walking a trail or sitting near a pond, in anticipation for what may come in for a visit.

After spending the morning walking through the trails, it had become clear that the weather was not going to cooperate. With gusty winds and some precipitation, wildlife activity had seemed to come to a halt. Frustrated and a little disappointed I ventured to the wetlands of the wildlife refuge in hopes that maybe my luck would change. While moving through this area, I had snapped several scenic photos but still had not seen much in regards to wildlife. The winds had locked down the geese and ducks, and most of them were taking shelter in the reeds, and amongst the cattails that are vast throughout these wetlands. Having made the decision to abandon my efforts for the day, I proceeded to start the long walk back to my truck, and call it quits for the day. Reflecting on the morning, I found myself slightly annoyed because I had spent the morning in the elements, hiking several miles with nothing to show for my efforts other than a few shots of the terrain and a wet backside.

With my truck in sight, I had decided to take one last walk around a small pond that was between my truck and me and this proved to be a wise decision.

Feeding in this small pond were two ducks, and they had not noticed my presence, as I went into hunt mode, and slowly approached for a shot. My angle of approach was concerning. The sun although overcast skies were present was peaking through the breaks in the cloud formations, and one rule of photography is to always avoid shooting into the light. Knowing this, I decided that if I was going to make this happen I would need to break the rules, and prepared the camera. With a rain soaked backside, I made my final approach towards an area of the pond in which the reeds and cattails thinned out enough to offer me the best opportunity for a photo. As soon as I hit the opening, my presence was detected, and the female duck had shot up, and proceeded to fly off. Knowing that I had only a split second before the male followed suit, I quickly raised the camera to my eye, and imediatly the male bounded for the sky. Instincts took over at this point, and the shutter was banging, as the duck made his exit from the pond.

Uncertain of how the images would look, I quickly made the short trip home where I would be able to view them on the computer and determine if any of the shots would be worthy of saving. While viewing this one shot caught my eye, and I proceeded to import the photo into Adobe’s Light Room program for some very light editing. Pleased with the results, the shot was uploaded to Face book where it caught the attention of several of my friends and fans. In addition and most recently, I was asked to donate a copy of this photo to a local cancer research charity for a fund raising event they were hosting. To my surprise, I was informed that the photo raised quite a bit of money and they thanked me for my help. Being able to help and do something like this made the trails of that day all worth it.

Sometimes as a photographer, you will at times have days like this. Waiting for several hours, exposed to the elements, and walking away without one decent shot to show for your efforts. These days I like to refer to as paying your dues. My advice, stick it out and endure, because simply, in the end when you catch a shot like this, the feelings of frustration quickly disappear. Wildlife photography requires patience, stealth, and knowledge of how to break the rules when necessary.

Some tech data regarding the shot:

Nikon camera and lens combination, yes I said Nikon.
Iso 400 at 200mm @ 1/1000 of a sec with an f-stop of f-8
Edited in Adobe Light Room, for exposure control and image crop.

Michael Sargent is a top wildlife outdoor photographer in the eastern United States. See more:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/M.SargentPhotography
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/msargentphoto
Blog: http://msargentphotography.wordpress.com

Mark Birks — The Old Prison Door

DSLRBlog Editors — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 20:30:07 +0000

There are so many things in this world that get looked over, not paid attention to, and yet it is these things that make our world the most interesting. In my photography I try to find these parts of our existence and present them as a visual story. Having a camera in hand – that was exactly what I attempted to do last summer on a walk through my city.

Newark, Ohio is a relatively small city but has some of the most interesting corners that people rarely explore such as this old prison door. The building itself looks like an old castle with weather-beaten stone walls and turrets on the two front corners. It is now used for offices but they haven’t changed the outside at all and you can feel the old prisons mood as you approach it.

I took a few shots of the building; feeling a bit dissatisfied with the results and started to walk down the street parallel to it when I saw the old barred door in the shadows. To me it just told the whole story of the prisoners that once were inside. It was cold, rusty, forbidding, and impenetrable. One could just know that once you were brought in, you had a long stay ahead of you. I stood there and watched that door for a while; it’s hard to say how long, and soaked it in.

I composed the shot in my mind, imagined the final as a black and white, and raised the viewfinder to my eye and “click”. I did many other shots that day but this single image was the best. It will stay in my mind and be brought out each time I see that door.

When you’re out on your photo walk — look for the path least traveled, to take a well-used phrase, and get to that place that very few people go. That’s where the stories are; that’s where the lens writes the memories in your mind. When you find your “door”, watch it and feel the emotion that is embedded in that place. The last thing you’ll do is take the picture.

Mark Birks is a freelance photographer living in Newark, Ohio. He specializes in portrait, fine art, and stock photography. See more:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/markbirksphoto