Shoot the finer details

Scott — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 06:38:12 +0000

So how often do you swap your wide angel lens for a prime or macro lens when you are out on location? Capturing the small details that make up the larger picture can be a great way to tell the entire story of an amazing landscape.

Canon 40D @ 10mm, f8, 1/30sec, ISO 200 with Tiffen HD polarizer

Once again I have used the jetty pillars to block the sun directly entering my lens, but still get a very warm feeling to the shot. To capture the details in the shadows in the underside of the jetty I have exposed the image for a little longer than usual at 1/30sec. At this slow shutter speed it is imperative to use a tripod. A Tiffen HD circular polarising filter has also been used in this shot to reduce the glare of the ocean.

For this weeks additional images I used a 50mm f1.4 prime lens. The shallow DOF that this lens gives you is amazing. You can turn a simple rusted bolt into something captivating to the viewer. Whilst these bolts are visible in the wide angle landscape image the finer details are not visible.

A macro lens is also a great 2nd lens to have with you. If you cant afford a new macro lens don’t forget that many point and shoot cameras have great built in macro modes that (with the use of a tripod for an extra steady shot) can yield some great stock shots.

Shots like these can look great when used as page backgrounds for coffee table books that document things like holidays or your portfolio. Just drop the opacity and slightly de-saturate them. Textures like concrete or grass can also look great as backgrounds.

So next time your on location and you’ve captured the sunrise stick around for another 30 minutes and snap the finer details to help tell the story. The warm morning light can really lift some subjects. Who knows you may prefer one of these shots to your sunrise image.

UK & Europe Update

Scott — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 21:15:17 +0000

Well its been a little quite here on the blog the last few weeks as we are on holidays in the UK and Europe. We are 2 weeks into the trip and so far have been to the UK and Turkey for ANZAC Day at Gallipoli.

The Icelandic Volcano did its best to upset our trip but with some last minute changes we still managed to make it to Istanbul all be it 2 days late. We just had to tag onto our tour and miss seeing some great parts of Istanbul.

It was decided we needed a shot of our tour group and well since I have decided to drag my tripod around for the 6 weeks of travel it looked like a fine time to put it to good use.

So to all the guys we traveled with here it is. I’ll upload more of my Anzac tour photos once I get home and process them. It was a very moving experience to do the dawn service in Gallipoli.

Well this is just a quick post to keep you updated and there will be plenty more to come as we head off to Greece, Italia, France and then back to the UK in the next month.

The Photo Journey » Holidays

Shoot the finer details

UK & Europe Update