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Category Archives: Photography Techniques
Brian Parillo: Skyscrapers of Downtown LA
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.
© Brian Parillo
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.
© Brian Parillo
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.”
© Brian Parillo
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.
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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
Colin Gallagher: Winter in Central PA
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.
© Colin Gallagher
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.
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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
Andy Newman : In the age of Instagram, what sets a professional photographer apart?
“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.
© Nick Fancher
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
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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?”
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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
Kurien Koshy Yohannan — Befriending a Robin
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
Thaipusam in Penang 2012
I have seen this event on TV and in magazines for many years now, it makes me wince when I see the extremes that these people go to for their religion. When I found out about this event, I made all efforts to attend this whilst in Asia.
So how do you go about photographing an event like this, without intruding on their religious beliefs and not offending anyone? It’s a tall order to be respectful and yet get some great images. Also how do you prepare for seeing the extreme piercing that is before your eyes? I said to myself I had to look for photographs that were bold, clean and accurate in photographing the persons piercing, and then move on to the next person after you had hopefully got the shot. I only really started to see the extreme piercing I had photographed in detail when I got home and was reviewing the photographs, and then you see the detail in the photos. It was useless trying to edit them on the fly at the event, reasons: – too many people around you, too bright even in the shade to see the screen on the back of the camera, it was very busy, so you did not have time to review any shots on the two days.
My worries were unfounded, as when I went towards the two Indian Temples where all the ceremonies’ etc were taking place and there were many thousands of people all around, a lot of them were taking part, being cleansed with the milk etc.
The down and up side to the large crowds at this event, on the downside you missed images because of someone getting in your way or quite simply you could not get the angle you wanted, and on the upside you were invisible, you could get your shot and disappear, sometimes without any one knowing you had been there. Also a smile and a simple “thank you” went a long way, if they did notice you, no one objected to being photographed, as there were a lot of people with camera phones and had being photographed along the route many times.
Using the crowds as cover it is quite obvious when a “devotee” was approaching, so you had to look for a space in the crowds where you could slip in and get the shot. However walking the route I found there was a policeman on a corner where they came off the main road and towards the temple, he was very good at crowd control all on his own (his assistant was not so good), he kept the spectators away from the devotees (to give them respect as they need space with what they are doing), this meant that I had space between me and the subject to get the shot as I followed them up the short path to the temple.
Some the people were just walking too fast, and as they approached me quite quickly, directly after photographing another devotee, I had little time to compose the shot, and untimely I had to let the shot go, which was a shame, but with so many people doing this, it was not long before the next one was going to come by you.
At this corner they often stopped, did a dance or a mini break before the final walk 200-300m before the long climb up the stairs to the final prayers at the top. The other thing in my favor was a barrier that tried to keep the people moving in one direction either side e.g. left side up and right side down. You have to use everything to your advantage and if someone look badly at you, or you just bump into them, just smile and say sorry, sounds to good to be true, but I did not cross words with anyone during the whole two days.
The temperature was around 35 deg C and most of the route was in the sunshine, so it was hot for all, between photographs you did try and find a little shade from the searing sun, and yes I did go through a lot of water (4 litres when at the festival and lots more when I got home).
Now for the coconut smashing, this was a little different, it was more of a party atmosphere there, as the road/path that the silver chariot was going pass on needed to be cleansed with coconut milk, it’s a serious event, but with a fun side to it. However you had to dodge coconuts coming towards you as they were smashed to the ground and splitting open, and the pieces went flying, I had many hit my shins and feet. Also the other thing you need to watch is the milk from the coconut, and it splashing all around you, hitting you and the camera lens, I was often had milk hit the lens, so frequent cleaning was the order of the day. However I was told that being splashed by the milk brought you good fortune, so I did not mind.
As these coconut smashing sessions were in small batches of around 100-200 meters long, you could photograph one and then wait for the next one to start, so you can correct your mistakes as you go, again, no one stopped me taking any photographs, you had to dodge some traffic on the other side of the road sometimes, but it was slow moving, so that was OK. When photographing a crowd of people smashing the coconuts, it was good to let the camera be on continuous shooting, at what ever max frames per second it would allow, and then edit afterwards, as trying to time the shots, was near impossible as I started out like that, trying to photograph a person in full throw, so I gave up and photographed either the crowd or a particular person in the crowd smashing the coconuts, and then let the camera do its work at 3-5 frames per second and then review when you get home. I got some of my best shots this way along with some sequences of the coconuts being smashed along with the blurs of the milk splashes from the ground.
Prior to the event I had contacted a news syndication agency and to see of they could sell any of these photographs to newspapers and magazines, they knew the shots were coming and currently I have 32 images up on their servers, this is hard to edit down from 1400 over the 2 days, I sent them around 90 in total and they did a final edit for me, as they know what might sell to these outlets. All the photographs were shot on a Nikon D90, with 28-200 VR2 lens. For more info on the actual event: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaipusam
Michael Crawford-Hick photography is an eclectic mix of all things water related e.g. sailing, windsurfing, powerboats, as well as abstracts of waves, reflections, beaches, sunset.
Links:
Websites: Images From Around the World, Prints by Post
Twitter: http://twitter.com/mchphoto
Blog: http://mchphoto2011.wordpress.com
Chasing the Light in New Zealand
I’m a freelance photographer with a preference for Fine Art currently working out of Auckland, New Zealand. As you may know, New Zealand is an extremely photogenic country, however it isn’t all easy peazy as you may not know that the light and weather conditions in New Zealand can be very difficult to foresee and plan for.
Rick Sammon famously talks about Exploring the Light and has a great book to prove it, but here it’s all about chasing the light. The skies can be grey for days on end, windy and rainy and all this can play havoc with your shooting schedule. When you plan for a landscape shoot of a mountain vista looking out over the sea, inevitably the sky turns a blanket of blown out grey, blurring the horizon with the sea. Granted some cloudy days can prove very picturesque, but you need definition in the sky for that to work. You need to be able to bring out the contrasting shades of grey. The old black glass or ND filter can help, but sometimes you just have to pack it in. On other days you’re set for a macro shoot of the botanical gardens just as the southerly winds from Antarctica pick up and make shooting close-ups near impossible. What is the frustrated photographer to do? Well, one goes to the hardware store and buys a sheet of Perspex of course; wraps it around to create a cylinder and melds the edges together. Now place that over the flower or other subject matter and wallah, no more wind interfering with my shooting. Working in variable elements requires myriad techniques. I have learned this nowhere more so than New Zealand.
Fairly recently I was sent to a beach just north of the country’s biggest city Auckland to do some fine art shots at low tide. The plan was to use the images in an advertising blitz for the summer holidays. Summer is just coming to an end here. I had dedicated two full days to the shoot and closely monitored the weather forecast – it’s so changeable. All looked good, my plan was to utilize golden hour, just before sunset, as this time of day works perfectly at the beach. I had some compositions in mind and set off on the hour long drive with my trusty assistant. By the time we arrived at the beach a weather front had rolled in and the whole scene was grey and washed out. Not deterred, we wandered about the beach looking for good vantage points and planned the shoot for the following day. Patience is probably a photographers best asset.
Next morning the wind had picked up and the grey remained. Disappointed, but not defeated we decided to forget the beach and instead headed off for a nearby temperate rainforest. Shooting in a forest on a dull day can be very rewarding. The light is even and there are no harsh bright spots clashing with the blacks. We weren’t there long, when this amazing Tibouchina bud came to our attention. There were a number of them, but this one looked incredible. Now to get the shot. The wind made shooting macro a little trying, especially as I was hand-holding the camera, but after just three shots I had captured it just as I perceived it. The bud as it is about to flower looks like something out of that scary 1950s novel by John Wyndham The Day of the Triffids. A few other nice macros were also taken that day, just to prove that when the light and/or weather isn’t behaving look elsewhere, try to match the conditions and never give up. There is always something you can shoot.
Oh and btw, I finally managed to capture that beach shot. I decided on a storytelling composition that has a foreground, middle and distant horizon that are all in focus. I love to use this technique on landscapes and you can achieve this simply by focusing a third of the way in on your scene. Here I shot with a focal length of 30mm at an aperture of f/16 which gave me an awesome amount of depth of field. By using the small aperture with a wide angle focal length you can create images that have continuity, images that essentially have the potential to lead the eye all the way into the scene.
Susan Blick is the founder of Photoopolis and an Australian freelance photographer in Auckland, New Zealand.
Links:
Website: www.photoopolis.com
Twitter: @photoopolis
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