Nature Up Close

Capturing nature up close can be very difficult and challenging but the out come is very rewarding. With up close shots you can see the detail in the object. I find you see the object in a different way than you normally get to. With small insects the camera can get extremly close and capture photos as if you are eye to eye with them. You normally can not personally get that close to an insect and observe it as you can with a close up photo of it.

I find that when I am trying to get shots of nature up close the zoom does help some but the biggest factor is being patient and get up close to it. the less zoom used the more the photo is defined. With nature you can not expect the animals to come out of their natural habitat and come to you. I found that when I am able to go to their home and sit and wait for the perfect time to capture the more interesting the photos are.



Wildlife Photography

Wildlife can be very difficult to capture. To capture something in its natural habitat takes a lot of time. You must be patient and wait for them to come to you so they are not scared off or attack. I find many times the longer you wait and let them come to you the more natural action of the animal you will see.

According to Photosbykev.com the greatest tip of all is wake up early and move slow. If you move to fast the animal could be gone before you were able to capture anything. If you move slow you also have tendency to catch more of the enviroment around you. Getting up early is also a good tip, many animals move and eat early in the mornings rather then throughout the day. There are many sites on the internet that provide good tips and hints while you are catupring wildlife.



Waterfalls

Water  is fun to use in photography but there are a lot of different techniques you can use to capture these images. I was lost on how to create an image with the water soft the way it is in the above photo. I have always thought that photographers created that look with adobe but that is not true. I learned that it is created with the shutter speed on your camera. The shutter has to be open for a longer period of time to get the water soft and flowy.

Depending on what you are trying to cature depends on how long you will actually be able to leave the shutter open. If the photo contains moving objects such as people or animals the shutter will not be able to stay open as long or else they will become blurred out. The other hard thing with capturing photos with the shutter open longer is getting the surronding scene in focus and stay focused. There are many tips and tutorials on the internet made for each different type and style of photo you are trying to capture. I also found talking to local photographers about their work and techniques have helped out a lot.

Graduation Pictures

Graduation pictures are very fun to take and very creative. Many pictures use very fun, different ideas because of the age in my opinion. Everyone wants to use things they love or that reflect thier personality in their senior pictures. The kids aren't afraid to try new and different poses and ideas. There are different things you need to keep in mind when you're taking pictures and editing them. Many people do not think of the final results of their photos.



Many people have very distracting backgrounds that take away from them. Many times the focus is more on the background items rather then the subject. Other people will have poses that make it hard to recognize them as an individual. I have found many will have their head turned just so, You can't even tell who it is. Others will edit their photos in a way that their face isn't the focus or the effects they put on take away from the actual photo. These are some helpful hints to use when creating your senior pictures.

CD Covers

I have a tendency to look at album covers and if they look nasty I don't buy them but if they look interesting like some of the covers I have pictures of I tend to lean more towards those cds. Many do not think of cd covers as a work of photography with the use of photoshop. What really goes on to create these covers is actually a lot of work and creativity. There are many tutorials out there that will walk you through different steps to create different images that many cover artists use.

 I found many different tutorials on creating cd covers, I couldn't pick one that really stood out to me that would be the most beneficial to share. It all depends on what you are trying to accomplish. My advice to you when you look at your pictures and compare them to models, singers, or actors, is do not be dissappointed. They take an ordinary picture like we see all the time and doctor them up on photoshop. Anybody can accomplish thier look if they put effort and time into their project. I find many people are dissappointed when they see famous people in real life. They are not as pretty as they look in the magazines and other media.

Shadows in Photography

Shadows in pictures can be very interesting and work in different ways to enhance your pictures, but they can also ruin pictures. The third picture down shows both, to me it ruins the picture but to the photographer it enhanced the photo. I think there must be a story or a purpose behind the photo. 

In photography class offered here at the high school we battled shadows. Many photos were usless because of diferent shadows blocking different things. The biggest problem with shadows I found was when I was trying capture an optical illusion. I also had problems with capturing portraits outside without shadows across the face or body. Shadows are difficult to work with.

Bokeh Photography

Bokeh photography looks extremely hard. I found in my research it is actually fairly easy to do! I found a tutorial on Bokeh photography at http://www.designzzz.com/ they simplify the steps into easy to follow steps. The tutorial says it is mainly all in the aperture settings, also to get this effect your camera will need to be adjusted manually. It is a little difficult to get used to when you first start adjusting it manually, but I found that I actually like useing the manual mode better then the atomatic mode now.

I like the effect Bokeh has on different pictures. It adds much more to the subject and a less distracting yet interesting background. Many photographs of people will have the Bokeh effect. It works really well with close up photos and with unique objects and styles.

Capturing Infants

Babies may seem like they are easy to capture good photos of. In reality they actually are really hard. Infants are the hardest unless you do not mind sleeping pictures. On the website Studioonashoestring.com has tips on photography infants. He states that he has been photographing infants for over twenty years and most parents do not like sleeping photos because they appear dead. Up until the Anne Geddes came out parents hated the idea of sleeping babies in photographs, they have changed a lot since then. Most baby photos are of sleeping babies.

As they state in their tips, babies will only feel comfortable in normal surrondings. They tend to sleep a lot when they are first born and the first month or so after that. So babies will only normally be awake if they are hungry, wet, or uncomfortable in any way, such as feeling abandoned. They say the easiest way to photograph them is to first make sure they are well fed, dry, and swaddled. As they grow older the needs will change. The website explains in detail the easiest ways to capture these different ages of infants and toddlers.

Fireworks

Fireworks may seem like an odd subject to blog about, but when attempting to capture fireworks with a camera it is harder then it appears to be. The hardest part is knowing when and where they will appear. The website geofflawerence.com, he offers many tips and a tutorial on capturing fireworks. The best tip I found that would be the most useful to me is finding an object in the distance to focus on. This provides a better focus on the fireworks when they appear. When capturing fireworks your camera's atomatic focus must be turned off because fireworks start in a small area and expand. The atomatic focus will zoom in and out trying to find a spot to focus on creating a blurry picture.

Most cameras have a shutter setting that you are able to adjust. With fireworks you are able to keep the shutter open longer because it is set against a black background. With the shutter open longer though, you will need a tri-pod for your camera to sit on or else the photo will be blurry from the movement. In the tutorial I mentioned, his tip to use a remote to open and close the shutter is a very good idea. When you press the button yourself the camera tends to move and create blur. Taking pictures of fireworks is fun but challenging.

Reflections

Reflection photography draws the eye and holds it creating demanding photos. It stands out in groups of photos, demanding your attention. Creating reflection photos takes a normally boring, ordinary picture and turns it into something amazing and eye catching. It does not take much skill to capture a reflection in photography.

To capture a reflection you would need glass, water, a mirror, or other items that you can find that will reflect an image. You will then need a subject. It could be as small as fun colors or as important as a loved one. Once the subject is in place, where it looks the best, I like to start taking pictures from different angles and try different ideas. The pictures above are random pictures that different photographers have captured. I find it is very interesting to get different ideas off of the internet and creating my own useing the main idea that I have found.

Blurred Backgrounds

Blurred Backgrounds are used to create a very interesting photo. Many photos with the blurred backgrounds are portraits. Many different advertising companies will use the blurred backgrounds to olny bring out their product while making the image very eye catching. Many anouncments such as: baby, wedding, graduation, and many different types, will use the blurred background style pictures to bring out their subject. An example of this is the baby in the above picture.

Creating the blurred background is actually fairly easy to do. All that it really takes is adjusting the apature settings. The website I have included, shows you the steps to taking a blurred background photo. The website is easy to use and really easy to follow along with. Blurred motion pictures can be used in many different ways, such as the photo above. It shows her classmates but it brings out her in clear focus. The main idea is to create the focus point directly on your subject, which this technique easily allows you to do. http://www.dslrtips.com/workshops/How_to_take_portraits_with_blurred_background/people_small_depth_of_field.shtml

High Speed Photography

The first idea I had to blog on is High speed photography. There are some amazing pictures that are created from high speed photos. It takes a lot of preparation to get these photos to turn out right. You have to know how to change your camera settings to have a fast shutter speed. Some photographers will use a sound trigger to capture their photo. Many have had to take multiple photos to get the one they were trying to accomplish. Even the best photographers will take hours or days to capture their goal.

I found a really easy tutorial on High speed photography at photos.soboring.org. They break each step down into simple steps that anyone can follow. They give pictures and examples to show you how the set-up should look. My favorite part of this tutorial is that they give you helpful hints to make your photo even more interesting then before. They also give you hints to create your own set-up at home instead going out and spending a ton of money on equipment! I hope you enjoy looking at the high speed photos and reading my blog! I found there are some really interesting photos of high speed photography on google images!

Welcome!

I am Angela Wilen and I have decided to create a blog about photography and different ideas and sites that are out there. I like finding different tutorials and ways to create an image that catches the eye from original, boring, and dull photos. I hope you enjoy reading!