The Photo Journey » On Location

Stobes in Landscape Photography

Scott — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 02:22:02 +0000

Using small portable strobes when capturing a landscape can dramatically transform a scene. Sometimes the use of a small light to illuminate for instance a leaf in a rainforest can focus a viewers eye. They are also great for lighting the shadow side of very large subjects like this weeks subject the HMQS Gayundah ship wreck. I have put together a short video where I walk you around the wreck and explain my lights setup.

Not only is this my weekly landscape 52 shot it is also my entry for the Strobist boot camp III, Assignment 3 competition. HMQS Gayundah was a flat-iron gunboat operated by the Queensland Maritime Defence Force and later the Royal Australian Navy (as HMAS Gayundah). She entered service in 1884 and was decommissioned and sold in 1921 where it was used as a sand and gravel barge and was later run aground at Woody Point, Redcliffe to serve as a break-wall in 1958.

I had arrived at 4:45am so I had plenty of time to setup the gear and try a few compositions. I ended up using 2 Cactus KF36 stobes set at full power and positioned down the side on the ship. These were fired with Cactus V2 remotes. It took a little time to position the lights so that there was an even distribution of light. I started with capturing the correct flash exposure for the wreck and I then dialed in a longer shutter speed to bring in the ambient sunrise.

To really appreciate the size of the wreck and get an understanding of the light setup I have put together a small video. I would love to hear your comments and critique on both the shot and the video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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.

Effects of White Balance

Scott — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 00:38:22 +0000

This week I want to share a trick with you about intensifying your landscape skies and cityscape’s with the use of white balance. Even if you are shooting in RAW which allows you to change your white balance settings in post, it is always good to try and capture everything right in camera. Its much more gratifying come days end and if someone asks to see your image whilst your on location you can impress them straight away.

Canon 40D @ 14mm, f16, ISO200 with Tiffen HT Circular Polarizer. HDR +2, 0, -2 merged in Photomatix

After some rather poor weather I decided a mid week sunrise shoot was in order. So I headed out to Wellington Point about 30 minutes drive from Brisbanes CBD at 4:30am to see what would be on offer. Wellington point has some great subjects to shoot like its small jetty, rockpools(as seen in this weeks video) and who can forget the mangroves.

The on location video this week shows you how changing your white balance can boost your sunrises or sunset shots. It is also interesting to play with your WB when shooting cityscapes at night as settings like tungsten can really make your city jump off the night sky.

So this week try shooting the same location with differing WB settings as see how you go.

If you are enjoying the tips and tricks from the site please join the Facebook fan page here.

Donnie Bishop Shoot

Scott — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 06:11:57 +0000

Back at the start of the year I did a photo-shoot for an Australia Clothing label called Donnie Bishop. Starting with the simple concept of wanting to bring an edgier style to the standard menswear market in Australia, owners Jason Sandhar and Viggaenesh Kanniah have spearheaded this lifestyle brand to encompass a hip hop style while working with underground and up-and-coming artists, models, musicians and sports persons like Brisbane Roar’s striker Reinaldo. The A-league Brisbane based star is the new ambassador for Donnie Bishop’s Clothing.

I was approached by Donnie Bishop’s Co-Owner Jason Sandhar to come up with a theme for a shoot with Reinaldo. With Donnie Bishop Clothing being such a casual/dressy urban style, and Reinaldo being such a skillful professional footballer, I wanted to bring the two elements together with a Street Football feel. Brisbane has some great alleyways in the city, and these provided us a great environment for the theme. Anna and I inspected the alleyways the week before the shoot to formulate some ideas. Its amazing what you can learn about your city if you just go for a walk with your camera and get lost in the back streets.

We decided to do the shoot on a Sunday afternoon as A) Reinaldo had time to recover from him Friday night match and B) the streets would be a little quieter. The majority of the shoot was done with 1 Cactus KF36 strobe on a shoot through umbrella mixed with available light. Oh and here is a tip for if your planning on doing a shoot in alleyways anytime soon. Take a towel to lay or sit down on as there can be a fair bit of broken glass and generally yucky stuff in the alleys.

Reinaldo was a champion subject for the whole shoot. He had a very relaxed attitude to the shoot and it is apparent in the photos. His football skills are amazing, the ability to juggle a football with those square toed dress shows was awesome to watch. I was somewhat star struck to be shooting such a great athlete.

Checkout more pictures and the clothing @ – www.donniebishopclothingco.com