Peter West Carey Photography

Author: Peter Carey

  • Water Splash Freeze and Blur – Photography Experiments

    Water Splash Freeze and Blur – Photography Experiments

    In today’s experiment I want you to think about two concepts: freezing motion and blurring it. Our subject to day will be water and you’re going to take two photos of it in motion or more if you like.

    Check out all the 40 Photography Experiments. 

    Objective

    Your objective today is to capture one image of water with its motion blurred and one with it frozen. This hopefully won’t be too difficult but I am always available in the comments section if you get stuck.

    A Water Experiment For You To Try

    I’m not going to give you step by step instructions for this one because you should be able to riddle it out by yourself if you’ve been following the lessons on this site. But I will share some examples.

    Experiment 1 – Blur That Water

    Sure, you can turn on a faucet in your home and get shots of the water falling down, but I’m challenging you to be a little more creative. Some questions to ask yourself in this experiment:

    – What will my shutter speed be?

    – Do I want a lot of light or a little?

    – Would a filter (or pair of sunglasses) help?

    – How will I keep my camera steady (hint: you’re going to have a slow shutter speed and handholding your camera might not work)?

    Examples:

    Experiment 2 – Freeze the splash

    Now go the opposite route. You want to emphasize the motion of the water by stopping it in time, clearly. The same questions above apply with a few additions:

    – Which mode do I want to be in (M, A, P, S)?

    – One photo or many?

    – Does my background matter?

    Examples

    DONE!

    My hope is these two experiments get your creative juices flowing when it comes to stopping and blurring motion. While blur is a four letter word, it is not good nor bad. Like any tool, it matters how you use it.

    I’d love to see your results! Post them online and share a link in the comments below. Or @ me on Instagram (Explore_Inspire_Educate) or Twitter (@pwcarey).

    Photography Basics – A 43 Day Adventure, and its companion 40 Photography Experiments, are series written by professional photographer Peter West Carey. The series are designed to unravel the mysteries of photography, helping you can take better pictures. Subscribe here to receive all the updates and bonus material. Your comments are always welcome.

    Photo Tours

    If you enjoy the series, consider learning photography first-hand on a professionally led international photo tour in Nepal or Bhutan!

     

  • Favorite Photos From 2021

    Favorite Photos From 2021

    Another year on the books but not as many photos taken this year for me. I have been gradually switching to shooting more video for stock work and client work but I still love still photography for what it can express in one still image.

    Here then are my favorite photos from the last year:

    First up, this photo of the Milky Way is not too amazing. For one thing, it’s missing all the colors some people embellish into their versions. What’s amazing to me, is this is from an iPhone. An iPhone 13 Pro to be exact.

    I used a mini tripod for the 10 second exposure.

    Yosemite Valley. What more needs to be said.

    While waiting in the Newark Airport for a flight home, the sun started hitting One World Trade Center at just the right angle. Such a huge reflector!

    Heading out to Nevada and Lake Mead. But before you get there, the landscape becomes a swirling mass of muted colors.

    What the? 9 cameras?!?!  On top of a <sarcasm> very cool </sarcasm> Prius? In Vegas?

    This year I went into business with a company called Overflight Stock Plates (OverflightDrivingPlates.com) to produce driving plates.

    What are driving plates? They are those scenes you see outside of a car in a TV show or movie where the actors are talking to each other and the world flies by outside.

    This custom made rig is able to create sets of plates from eight angles and one pointing up (for reflections onto the car when filming). It’s pretty spiffy and a lot of work but also cool to know stuff I am creating is going into studio productions.

    Ah, Alaska! I made it up to the 49th state twice this year, both times to create images for Uncruise Adventures.

    In this case, I was onboard the Safari Explorer, arguably the finest vessel in the fleet. In the background you can see a glacier of Glacier Bay National Park. Just off the left side of the frame is the wide open Pacific Ocean.

    For this trip I was producing 360° Virtual Tours of six of their vessels. If you want to see and tour the Safari Explorer, click here: https://app.cloudpano.com/tours/A_JAbmNFs

    More tours can be found on their website.

    While getting 360° images, it never hurts to have a DSLR at the ready when the orcas show up!

    Close encounters with Nature and wildlife is what Uncruise does best.

    On the flight to Alaska the sun was setting and my window seat was the best place to be.

    Closer to home in LA’s Santa Monica Mountains, there is a labyrinth a client and I hiked to to practice some art at sunset.

    Slightly larger than the 36 passenger Uncruise ship is the 312 passenger Windstar Cruises Star Breeze on its maiden voyage in the Caribbean after $80 million in renovations.

    The vessel wasn’t full for my trip in July to capture lifestyle images for the company and, along with strict Covid protocols (nose-swabs, masks, etc…), that made it a great trip.

    One of the coolest aspects of the ships is the rear Watersports Platform. It drops down and is equipped with floats, kayaks, paddle boards and other fun water sports equipment. It’s the perfect opportunity to dive into the warm Caribbean waters and soak it all in.

    Very happy with this image on the last night aboard the Windstar Cruises Star Breeze off the shore of St. Marteen.

    One fun activity while on the Star Breeze was an optional catamaran snorkel.

    This stop was at an underwater park where they had sunk a few things, including a helicopter. It’s a little odd seeing one on the floor of the ocean.

    Just another sunset in the Caribbean.

    Final shot from the Windstar Cruises Star Breeze.

    Now let’s head over to Mono Lake in central California.

    For me this was a quick stop and my first to the lake. Such an enchanting landscape!

    While camping near Mono Lake I was blessed with passing storms along the east side of the Sierra Mountains.

    On the way over to Mono Lake I headed through Yosemite National Park and stopped at all the regular stops along Tioga pass to take in the grandeur of the park.

    If you’ve seen my post about sort of converting our Prius to a camping vehicle, this is something of an update. The car has been outfitted with a folding table and rocking camp chair (thanks to my wife) making it almost luxurious in camp.

    On the inside, set up for sleeping. I’m 6’1″ and I fit in the back in this comfy sleeping bag. Side lights and bug screens make for a pleasant camping experience.

    Back again in Glacier Bay National Park, one of my favorite, with Uncruise Adventures and acting the poser in front of Lamplaugh Glacier.

    While in Alaska, big bears walk the shores. We saw a number from the boat and here their tracks are left behind in the muck.

    Some behind-the-scenes action of getting the 360° VR photos for Uncruise. The final version has the drone edited out and I was able to hang the 360 camera from under the drone and fly very cautiously to cover all angles of the boat.

    How could you NOT want to go to Alaska in the Summer?

    This is the Wilderness Discoverer in a secluded bay where the big boats could never visit.

    Another glamour shot of the the Wilderness Discoverer in the Fords Terror-Tracy Arm Wilderness.

    Tracy Arm in Alaska.

    A friendly reminder that the Red Cross needs your blood. Please consider making an appointment to donate today.

     

    Aerial view of OHVs playing in the sand dunes of Southern California. I’m not a fan of the noise they create, but all those lights sure make a spectacle.

    Aerial view of a scrap yard.

    Aerial view of an orange orchard in California.

    Aerial view of replanted forest on the slopes of Mt. Shasta.

    Aerial view of Portland, Oregon.

    Can you tell I like aerial images?

    Aerial view of Covid vaccination site at Dodger’s Stadium in Los Angeles in January.

    Getting up early for this aerial image of downtown Los Angeles and McArthur Park.

    The final shot is not from me, but of me. A much needed vacation in Hawaii and testing out my iPhone 13 Pro underwater. It works pretty well (and is still functioning).

    Thank you for joining me on this recap of 2021.

    I hope we can all get out and explore and photograph more in 2022!

  • Sunset – Photography Experiments

    Sunset – Photography Experiments

    Looking for a sunset and wandered here from somewhere else? Check out all the 40 Photography Experiments.

    It’s almost summer in the Northern Hemisphere and that means it’s time to tune up your sunset taking skills. For those South of the equator, you still have time to participate!

    Sunset Examples

    Here’s the experiment you can run:

    1. Start by scouting a great sunset location. Don’t have a great one handy? Find a good one instead. This may mean choosing a location that allows you to play with silhouettes in front of the setting sun. If you need some help finding locations, try using The Photographer’s Ephemeris to aid with elevations and shadow lengths.
    2. Next, plan out five different shots you want to take. Don’t leave it up to chance. Know where the sun is going down and plan. Some things, like cloud cover, aren’t easily planned for, but you can bank the odds in your favor by being prepared. Your list might look something like:
      1. Sun to the side of tree
      2. Disappearing behind mountains
      3. Reflected off building glass windows
      4. Sunstar high over wheat field
      5. Long human shadows on the beach
    3. Go shoot and post your results here, I’d love to see them!

    Some other ideas:

    1. Straight down the street you live on
    2. From the roof looking over neighborhood
    3. Reflected in the mirror of a car
    4. From the top of a nearby hillside
    5. Viewed through the leafs or branches of a tree (think closed down aperture and sun stars here)

    Done!

    Important points to not forget:

    1. When you change your point of focus, you change your metering. That experiment is an important read. It’s why, when you move the camera just a little off the side of the sun, you might get a completely overexposed sun.
    2. You don’t always have to be facing the sun for great sunset photos.
    3. Bring a human along to add some excitement to the scene.
    4. Think about the mood. Then shoot that. Photography is about helping people connect with your subject by giving them something they can relate to. Calmness, serenity, being at peace…..sunsets say a lot of things. Also drama, excitement, beach party.
    5. If you need some more help, I have a post for you here.

    Now, show me those cool sunset pictures!

    Photography Basics – A 43 Day Adventure, and its companion 40 Photography Experiments, are series written by professional photographer Peter West Carey. The series are designed to unravel the mysteries of photography, helping you can take better pictures. Subscribe here to receive all the updates and bonus material. Your comments are always welcome.

    Photo Tours

    If you enjoy the series, consider learning photography first-hand on a professionally led international photo tour in Nepal or Bhutan!

     

  • Slow Shutter Speed And Bracing Your Camera – Photography Experiments

    Slow Shutter Speed And Bracing Your Camera – Photography Experiments

    Raise your hand if you carry a tripod with you wherever you go?

    Okay, the five of you who do can ignore this post. The rest of you, here’s a chance to get more from your camera by blurring things in a good way, without a tripod.

    There are many times when you want to show some blur in your photos but you failed to pack that bulky tripod. And to be honest there really isn’t much to it, except practice. Let’s jump right into what you want to do.

    Examples

    Here are a few examples of intentional blur while I braced the camera without a tripod.

    Here’s the experiment you can run

    1. Thinking it through and knowing you want to cause blur through a slow shutter speed, which shooting mode do you want to choose? There is no right answer and ideally you’ll keep your shutter speed constant. Also, what will your ISO be? (Hint: You may need to shoot in something other than full daylight.) Try for a shutter speed around 1/6 of a second for good blur.

    2. If need be, review How To Hold Your Camera to give you a good base.

    3. Now that your base is set up, find something to brace with. Anything. Some examples I’ve used in the past: garbage can, boat railing, telephone pole, car hood, etc…  Here’s me and a tree.

    4. Before you shoot, you want to stack the odds in your favor. I’d suggest changing your frame rate over to continuous shooting so you can hold down the shutter and not cause more blur from individual presses of the shutter release.

    5. Another hint: watch the focus points in your viewfinder or the back of your camera. Try to keep them covering the same object while you shoot. If you notice them wandering around, you’re moving too much and are going to cause the non-moving items in your shot to blur as well. This is not what we want for this photo.

    6. BREATHE!

    Fire away!

     

    Done!

    This experiment does not end here, even if this section is called Done. Practice is needed and repetition will be your best tutor. Also you need to judge the speed of the moving objects in your image. Are they close and moving fast or far away and moving seemingly slow? That will influence your chosen shutter speed and how much you need to brace.

    My hope is learning to brace and shoot slow shutter speeds without a tripod will open up new shooting ideas and opportunities for you. There is a time for perfectly focused and static scenes. But there is also a time to include some blur and motion to enliven your photo.

    Let me know how you do! Add a link to your experiment in the comments section below.

    Photography Basics – A 43 Day Adventure, and its companion 40 Photography Experiments, are series written by professional photographer Peter West Carey. The series are designed to unravel the mysteries of photography, helping you can take better pictures. Subscribe here to receive all the updates and bonus material. Your comments are always welcome.

    Photo Tours

    If you enjoy the series, consider learning photography first-hand on a professionally led international photo tour in Nepal or Bhutan!

     

  • Capturing Candle Power – Photography Experiments

    Capturing Candle Power – Photography Experiments

    With yesterday’s topic being Crafting Images with the Mid-Day Sun, let’s tone things down and go the opposite direction for today’s experiment.

    Candles have been around for centuries and they have been providing the light by which we see the world at night for just as long. Many starting photographers shy away from shooting in candle light because it can be tricky. After all, photography is the art of capturing light and with so little light from a single candle, the task can seem daunting.

    But that’s it, it just seems daunting. With a little practice, that fear can melt away (ha ha! wax humor) and you will find just how easy it is to shoot in candle light.

    Here’s the experiment you can run:

    It’s time to play with fire! You’ll need a candle and a dark room, preferably. I am going to suggest you choose your ‘fastest’ lens for this experiment. That’s your lens with the largest aperture. Forgot which way the numbers for apertures go? Re-read this. Also, don’t burn yourself or anything that shouldn’t be burnt.

    1. Set up the candle in the middle of a table in a dark room. Light it (maybe before you make the room dark).
    2. Place a few objects around the candle and then a few more staggered gradually further away, as far as you can go. Make sure one of the objects is white so you can accurately see the color cast be the candle.
    3. Can you take a hand-held photo? Give it a try. Using Aperture priority mode, and with the aperture all the way open, and using matrix or evaluative metering mode, try to get a shot of the objects close to the candle. By the way, what did you decide for your ISO setting with this light? Will there be too much noise?
    4. Then take a photo of the objects a little further from the candle. How fast did your shutter speed change? Did you get blurry photos either time? Why?
    5. Now switch to spot metering. Point that center spot right at the candle flame from about two feet away and take a photo. What happened to the objects around the candle?
    6. Still in spot metering mode, point the spot at something dark but near the candle. Before you take a photo, look at your shutter speed. Do you think you will get blur? Try to take the photo.
    7. If you have a tripod, now is the time to break it out. If not, use some objects to set your camera on on the table. Try taking that exact same shot of the dark object as you did in step 6.

    Done!

    This experiment is really an ongoing thing. You’ll find advantages and disadvantages to using spot metering, so it might not be your best friend. Matrix/Evaluative will help you at other times especially if you know how to use Exposure Compensation/Bias.

    If you want some great inspiration, take a look at some of Daniel Nahabedian’s Canvas of Light website.

    Show me what you’ve got! Leave a comment and let me know how your experiment turned out. I’d be glad to lend any help I can.

    Examples

    Candle
    Kamalachhi, काठमाडौँ, मध्यमाञ्चल, Nepal (NP)

    Cité – Palais de Justice, Paris, Île-de-France, France (FR)

    Devotional butter lamps are lit at the foot of Swayambhunath in Kathmandu, Nepal.

    Swayambhunath, Kathmandu, Central Development Region, Nepal (NP)

    Close-up of tealights – Nepal – Solukhumbu District – Khumbu

    Lighting The Path of the Siq, Petra, Jordan

    Photography Basics – A 43 Day Adventure, and its companion 40 Photography Experiments, are series written by professional photographer Peter West Carey. The series are designed to unravel the mysteries of photography, helping you can take better pictures. Subscribe here to receive all the updates and bonus material. Your comments are always welcome.

    Photo Tours

    If you enjoy the series, consider learning photography first-hand on a professionally led international photo tour in Nepal or Bhutan!

     

  • Crafting Images With The Mid-day Sun – Photography Experiments

    Crafting Images With The Mid-day Sun – Photography Experiments

    You have probably heard of the Golden Hour or the Blue Hour and maybe some other hours. These are the “best times to shoot” according to most photographers, which usually means most landscape photographers. They advise, often strongly, against shooting in mid-day sun. And for the most part, for grand landscapes, I often agree.

    I don’t, however, think that advice is sound for all types of photography. I’ve shot weddings in the middle of the day. I shoot portraits and products and all kinds of things in the middle of the day. Sometimes it can’t be avoided, it’s the only time available!

    And you know what? I’ve survived. I’ve survived shooting in mid-day sun and so can you. Don’t believe me? Let’s have you try and report back to me what you find.

    Here’s the experiment you can run:

    Your experiment for today is to head out when the sun is high (if it’s cloudy, you might need to wait, because there is little challenge in shooting on a day with nice, even light). Exact timing is not important, but let’s keep it to a four hour window on either side of the middle of the day.

    NOTE: if you are in a country who is currently using Day Light Saving, that time when the sun is at mid-day is actually 1pm. Screwy, I know, which is another reason we should get rid of the crappy concept, but I digress, so back to the topic. Let’s just slice it to be 11am-3pm.

    The sun is going to be harsh, but that is no reason why you can’t create interesting and beautiful images of your favorite subject matter. Need some hints on how to keep sane?

    1. Keep an eye on your histogram to make sure your main subject is not blown out or too dark.
    2. There will possibly be a lot of contrast in your shot (bright spots and dark shadows) so think about your metering mode and how best to use it.
    3. Use your Exposure Bias/Compensation to adjust as needed for hard light.
    4. Look under things. Diffused light can be your friend and finding a spot of shade will help. Don’t have diffused light? Make it! Just use a piece of paper to shade a flower or stretch a white sheet across an empty picture frame for a large subject.
    5. Get close. Show some details to lessen the space you need to cover and make your metering more simple.
    6. Shoot some silhouettes.

    Done!

    One more hint: What else works well in bright sun? Action! You can crank up the speed on your camera using Shutter Priority mode (or by using Aperture Priority mode and opening your aperture almost all the way) and capture some things usually not possible. Water splashing (add some food coloring to a glass of water and experiment), acrobatics, kids playing, pets running. All those things and more are a lot easier in bright light.

    And when you are done, please post a link to some samples in the comments section below. I’d love you to see what you come up with.

    Need more encouragement? Here are some of my samples to get you started.

    Questions?  Pop ’em like Pez in the comments section below or email me at peter@peterwestcarey.com.

    Photography Basics – A 43 Day Adventure, and its companion 40 Photography Experiments, are series written by professional photographer Peter West Carey. The series are designed to unravel the mysteries of photography, helping you can take better pictures. Subscribe here to receive all the updates and bonus material. Your comments are always welcome.

    Photo Tours

    If you enjoy the series, consider learning photography first-hand on a professionally led international photo tour in Nepal or Bhutan!

  • When You Change Focus, You Change Exposure – Photography Experiments

    When You Change Focus, You Change Exposure – Photography Experiments

    You might not know this, but your camera is a little neurotic. Trust me. Or don’t, and try this little experiment so I can prove it to you.

    Focus

    The premiss here is your camera has a bunch of light metering points. These points don’t cover your entire field of view when looking through the viewfinder (or back of the camera) and, unlike your focus points, you can’t see them. But they are there and they measure how much light is hitting each and every one of them, then your camera uses that information to figure out which Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO to use.

    One thing most people don’t realize is a little change in focus can cause a little change in metering. If you are shooting in Manual you can ignore this. This is for the rest of us who shoot in Program or Aperture or Shutter Priority.

    Here’s the experiment you can run:

    To prove my point and to help you understand the ramifications this feature has on your photos, let’s set up a simple scene. You’ll need a dark object, maybe your black camera bag, and a white object, like a piece of paper but with a little writing on it to help your camera focus.

    1) Set the objects on a table, side by side.
    2) Make sure the objects are well lit, either by an overhead light or the sun, which counts as an overhead light, I guess.
    3) Change your camera’s focus mode. As all cameras are a little different, you will be looking for a mode which allows you to take manual control over which focus points are used. IMPORTANT! We are not looking for manual focus here, just manual selection of the focus points. Big difference. Consult your boring camera manual if need be.
    4) Set your camera to Aperture Priority and set the aperture to the smallest number you can achieve.
    5) Set your camera’s ISO to an appropriate level given the amount of light you have. 400 should work just fine.
    6) Set your camera on the table or on a tripod so it will not move. This part is important because we don’t want our metering to change because of a framing change, only because of changing focus.
    7) Frame your scene so the middle focus point is right in the middle, so a little of both the dark object and white object are covered. Make sure there is not much else other than your subjects in the field of view.
    8) With that middle focus point selected, make note of your camera’s shutter speed.
    9) Now select a focus point that is squarely surrounded by the dark object. Again, make note of the shutter speed. Did it change?
    10) Lastly, select a focus point completely over the white object and also note the shutter speed.

    DONE!

    What you should have seen is a slight change in the shutter speed. Or maybe your camera is more sensitive and the change was larger. Either way, my point is to be aware of how this will affect your photography.

    If you shoot on anything except Manual or Auto (meaning Program, Aperture or Shutter Priority) your camera’s metering will come into play. It is important to understand that the metering mechanism is affected by where your camera is focusing. While this is certainly not as drastic as using Spot Metering, as demonstrated in my previous post about Metering Modes, it is still a real effect that needs to be understood.

    For Your Own Contemplation

    • How will this affect you in the real world?
    • What might you do to compensate for the difference in metering? (Hints are here and here)

    Questions?  Pop ’em like Pez in the comments section below or email me at peter@peterwestcarey.com.

    Photography Basics – A 43 Day Adventure, and its companion 40 Photography Experiments, are series written by professional photographer Peter West Carey. The series are designed to unravel the mysteries of photography, helping you can take better pictures. Subscribe here to receive all the updates and bonus material. Your comments are always welcome.

    Photo Tours

    If you enjoy the series, consider learning photography first-hand on a professionally led international photo tour in Nepal or Bhutan!

  • Daylight Through Smoke Or Dust – Photography Experiments

    Daylight Through Smoke Or Dust – Photography Experiments

    Yesterday’s topic was Shoot Some Shadows.

    This is the last part of the light and dark, super contrasty experiment mini-series (not its real name). The other parts were Shooting Some Shadows and Shooting Some Silhouettes.

    Today we want to add some pizzazz to sunlight photos. Specifically, when sunlight is coming through an opening, be it a window, another window or maybe a door with a window. Or clouds! The key here is you need stuff for the light to bounce off of so we can see it, otherwise it just passes through the air and we can’t capture it.

    This experiment is going to be easy, but you might get dirty in some way.

    Examples

     

     

     

    Here’s the experiment you can run:

    1) Set your camera on Manual mode, ISO 800. Pick a lens of your suiting. Aperture to f/4.5.

    2) You’ll need contrast for this to work. Pick a room or space that is mostly dark. If you have a natural light source, such as light through a window, that will work. Otherwise, grab a flashlight and a book of matches. In this case, I used my iPhone with a flashlight app.

    3) Meter off the area where the light falls, not where it’s coming from. If this area is very white or black, you’ll need to use the techniques from Making White Tones, White and Making Black Tones, Black.

    Here’s what happens when you meter off where the light is coming from:

    ISO 800, 22mm, f/4.5, 1/1250

    Not good.

    But when metered for the area where the light is hitting, I get ISO 800, 22mm, f/4.5, 1/15.

    4) Metering is set? Good. Now light a match or two and blow it out in that space where the light falls. Using a tripod might be a good idea.

    5) Take your shot!

    DONE!

    Were you able to capture the smoke in the light? Something like this?

    This is the basic concept to taking the picture in the examples.

    In the case of these image, I metered off the floor and then threw some dirt into the air. Same thing as with the match (blowing it out caused smoke/particulate/dust to come about).

    Any time you have a dark area with a strong beam of light coming in, use this technique.

    • Meter off the lit area, compensating depending on its inherent light absorption (black or whiteness).
    • Get some particulate into the light beam. Smoke, dust, dirt, etc…
    • Snap away!

    It really is just that easy to make dramatic images. On a larger scale, you can do this with the sun.

    Things To Consider

    • Be careful when playing with fire.
    • Be careful when playing with dirt as it can mess up your pictures if it is on your lens or sensor.
    • Be careful crossing the street.
    • Be careful when signing up for online dating.
    • Just be careful. Okay?

    Next we’ll tackle Changing Focus Changes Exposure.

    Questions?  Pop ’em like Pez in the comments section below or email me at peter@peterwestcarey.com.

    Photography Basics – A 43 Day Adventure, and its companion 40 Photography Experiments, are series written by professional photographer Peter West Carey. The series are designed to unravel the mysteries of photography, helping you can take better pictures. Subscribe here to receive all the updates and bonus material. Your comments are always welcome.

    Photo Tours

    If you enjoy the series, consider learning photography first-hand on a professionally led international photo tour in Nepal or Bhutan!

  • Photographing Shadows – Photography Experiments

    Photographing Shadows – Photography Experiments

    Yesterday’s topic was Photographing Silhouettes.

    This is part two in a mini-series. This series looks at silhouettes, shadows and light through smoke. They are all essentially the same thing, but we’ll pull them apart to see the subtle differences.

    Examples

    Bottles on cycle – Elevated view – Nepal

    Close-up of orange long leaves – USA – Hawaii

    The shadows of prayer flags are shown against the side of Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal

    Black and white image of a curving sand dune in both the light and shadow – Algodones Dunes, California

    If you read yesterday’s post, this is more of the same.

    What you’re looking to do with shadows is to make sure they are well defined. If your camera is on Auto Mode and there is a lot of shadow, it will try to lighten those shadows so they aren’t so black. Remember Making Tone Black, Black? That’s why shadows don’t come out as true to life as they should.

    What you want to do is meter for the light areas so they are exposed properly. Conversely, you can meter for the shadow and then adjust your exposure bias/compensation to darken the shadows. Either way will work, but metering for the light (especially if you have a gray card) works best.

    Here’s the experiment you can run:

    1) Set your camera on Manual mode. ISO 100. If you don’t want to use Manual mode, you will need use the Auto Exposure Lock feature of your camera.

    1.5) Depending on your subject, pick an aperture that is appropriate for the amount of depth of field you are looking for.

    2) Using spot metering, meter off the brighter areas of the scene. In the example above, I would meter off the pavement as it is tonally close to 18% gray, which is what my camera is looking for. If the subject you are metering off of is bright, you’ll want to change shutter speed until the meter reading from your camera reads about +2/3 to +1 1/3 too bight. If you are metering off the shadow area, make sure it is – 2/3 to -1 1/3 too dark.

    3) Recompose and shoot!

    DONE!

    The trick with using Manual mode in this case is to understand what you are metering off of and what your camera is looking for. If you pointed your camera directly at the shadow area and set the shutter speed so it was lined up with zero, then the shadows will be too light.

    There really isn’t a top secret trick to shadows other than knowing where you’re metering and why. Metering for the light area (areas that are being hit by light) will work better, but you need to compensate for their color. All of this is solved by using an 18% gray card and placing it in the light to be metered. Then you can just zero your reading with the shutter speed and you’re set!

    Tomorrow we will cap off the mini-series by covering light through smoke. Can you figure out who to make that one work?

    Questions?  Pop ’em like Pez in the comments section below or email me at peter@peterwestcarey.com.

    Photography Basics – A 43 Day Adventure, and its companion 40 Photography Experiments, are series written by professional photographer Peter West Carey. The series are designed to unravel the mysteries of photography, helping you can take better pictures. Subscribe here to receive all the updates and bonus material. Your comments are always welcome.

    Photo Tours

    If you enjoy the series, consider learning photography first-hand on a professionally led international photo tour in Nepal or Bhutan!

  • Photographing Silhouettes – Photography Experiments

    Photographing Silhouettes – Photography Experiments

    Our last experiment was Panning Blur.

    Today, let’s start a mini-series. This will be a three part series looking at silhouettes, shadows and light through smoke. They are all essentially the same thing, but we’ll pull them apart to see the subtle differences.

    Example

    How did I shoot this shot? Where did I meter?

    Some post-processing trickery was used (to highlight the prayer wheel and bit of robe). But otherwise, how did I shoot it?

    Here’s the experiment you can run:

    1) Set your camera on Manual mode with ISO 100. Pick any lens you like as long as it fits your subject.

    2) You will need an object that is highly backlit. Either have a light source behind it.

    3) The key here is to meter for the bright light, not the items you want in silhouette. Because the dynamic range of your camera is less than the dynamic range of your eye and brain, even objects you can still see in detail may become excellent silhouettes.

    4) Compose your shot after setting metering and shoot.

    Done!

    Things To Consider

    • Try using spot metering to help isolate the bright object you want to meter off of.
    • If the object of your metering is white, consider overexposing as we mentioned in Making White Tone, White.
    • Your histogram will look like a bowl; high on both sides and low in the middle. Most likely.

    Before we jump into tomorrow’s topic of Shoot Some Shadows, can you see how this technique might apply?

    Questions?  Pop ’em like Pez in the comments section below or email me at peter@peterwestcarey.com.

    Photography Basics – A 43 Day Adventure, and its companion 40 Photography Experiments, are series written by professional photographer Peter West Carey. The series are designed to unravel the mysteries of photography, helping you can take better pictures. Subscribe here to receive all the updates and bonus material. Your comments are always welcome.

    Photo Tours

    If you enjoy the series, consider learning photography first-hand on a professionally led international photo tour in Nepal or Bhutan!