Posted by: luxviz
on Jan 02, 2010
Tagged in: Untagged
The story starts out... "It was a dark and stormy night."
No wait. It wasn't stormy. But it was dark.
The evening began with some friends from church, meeting for dinner and hanging out. And then we all went to the beach in Seminyak to watch fireworks. And OH MY GOODNESS! I have NEVER experienced anything like that before... and I have seen a lot of fireworks in my life!
As far down the beach as you could see... and even over the runway at the airport looking towards Jimbaran Bay - maybe for a distance of 5 or 6 miles - there was a CONSTANT stream of fireworks going off. And... they HAD BEEN going off for literally hours. And... being Asia, many many of them were of professional quality... not just the little bottle rockets we used to shoot off in America.
As I was standing there, I had noticed two plywood platforms set up about 50 yards apart and I wondered if they were for fireworks. And sure enough, right before midnight, they both went off, and there were going off at times more than one per second - from both of them. And I was literally standing between them - directly underneath these awesome fireworks that were raining down burnt paper on my head and into my face.
It seemed like the explosion were going off only about a hundred feet above my face. And the noise! Like a war zone in a machine gun fire fight!!!!
I thought I was going to start to float up in the air from the incredible sense of awe from all the noise and the lights.
And I had wondered - before going to the beach - "should I bring my camera?" And I said to myself, "no, it's not going to be that big of a deal."
STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!!!!!
Next year I will be ready.
:-)
Posted by: luxviz
on Nov 18, 2009
Tagged in: Untagged
Tips for shooting portraits - Shallow focus is good
Here's another tip to help focus a viewer's attention on the subject of a portrait shot.
If your camera allows you to do so, shoot with the lowest f-stop number you can (which is a wider aperture for whatever lens you are using). Doing that will provide two benefits:
1. You will be using a faster shutter speed—so there's less chance of the subject being blurred from them moving or from you moving the camera slightly while shooting the exposure
2. You will also have a very shallow depth of field—so that there is less detail in focus in the background to distract the viewer's eyes
If you position your subject as far away from the background as possible, and then also position the camera as close to your subject as possible (and yet still get the desired framing with your lens), you will get the most exaggerated blurring of the background details (an effect that I personally love!).
One thing to keep in mind with a very shallow depth of field/focus is that if you're not careful, the subject will also be slightly out of focus. Make certain that you have a solid focus on the subject's eyes before shooting the image... and I think you (and your subject) will love the results!
Here's a link to view a larger version of the sample image
(roll-over image 3; and then click on image 3)
Posted by: luxviz
on Nov 14, 2009
Tagged in: Untagged
Tips for shooting portraits - Backlit is Bad
Beware of scenes where the background behind your subject is very bright. For example, where the person you are shooting is in a shaded/covered area, but where the background over their shoulders is a sunlit, outdoor scene....
What happens in situations like this is that the light level in the sunlit areas in the background of the image frame are much, much brighter than the light level in the foreground on your subject's face and body.
The resulting image is either going to be exposed properly for the exterior, sunlit area with the person being dark, or exposed properly for the person but with the exterior scene being almost totally white. Neither of those options are good as the background will be much brighter in both of them.
Here's why this will not produce a good photograph ... our eyes see "light" ... not darkness.
So, if your subject is darker than the background in a portrait you shot, someone viewing that portrait will be distracted to look behind the subject to the details in the bright background. But... if the background is darker and the brightest area of the photo is your subject's face and body, then that's what a viewer's eyes will focus on. Which is the way you want it!
If at all possible, set up portrait shots with dark(er) backgrounds—so that your subject is in brighter light than what is in the background—and you and your subject will be pleased with the results!
Here's a link to view a larger version of the sample image
(roll-over image 2; and then click on image 2)