Hurrah for Simplicity!

As the old saying goes: "less is more"! :-)

Monochromatic Simplicity

Stripped of colour a little discarded moss on a wooden jetty becomes a thing of simplistic beauty.

A Quick Portrait.

Took a quick portrait this evening, setting up lights, shooting and packing back down all done in about 20 minutes!

Nikon D90, Manual Mode, Nikkor 18-105mm kit lens at 90mm with VR on, hand held, f/11, 1/200s, ISO200, two Nikon sb's bounced into two bounce umbrellas, edited in Corel Paintshop Pro X4.

Old Brass Bell shot with a Nikkor 40mm AF-S DX Micro f/2.8G

Nikon D90, AF-S DX Micro Nikkor 40mm f/2.8G, Aperture Priority mode, ISO200, 1/80s, f9.0, two off-camera Speedlights into bounce umbrellas fired via Nikon's fantastic CLS system.

Swedish Country Scene - Alnarp

Nikon D90, Aperture Priority Mode, Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX, CPL filter, handheld, f/8, 1/40s, ISO 200  edited in Lightroom 4.

So what exactly does a Circular Polarising Filter do?

I was asked by someone recently what a polarizing filter does and was it worth paying so money much for one? Well, the only way to answer this question is by example, so I set up, with a little help from God and nature, a perfect test area with a huge amount of reflection on wet leaves coming from the diffused light of the sun. Please note, these are for test and display purposes only and are not meant to look remotely pleasant to the eyes.

Here is the special test area unpolarized:

The leaves are wet and reflecting a lot of light into the lens and giving much less than desirable results. Or to use a highly technical term, "it looks yucky"!

Here is the exact same scene, a few seconds later, with the polarizing filter applied. It is simple enough to use, you simply rotate it until the shine goes away! Just remember to look through the viewer while you are doing this or you will not be able to see when you have achieved optimal effect. Live view works just as well.

The first thing you will notice, of course, is that the shine is gone! Vanished into thin air! The second thing that you will notice, is that the greens of the leaves are beautifully saturated, and the picture just looks better in every way. All that shine plays havoc with metering and exposure.

If you intend to photograph gardens, landscapes or shiny cars and buildings a circular polariser is a great idea that will assist you to get much better results by taking away the shine. In landscapes it will also give a beautiful deep blue sky, but it may not look great using wider lenses because the polariser will only turn part of the sky dark blue and it could all end up looking a little strange. Some people like this effect and do it on purpose.

Please note that the polariser reduces the amount of light entering the lens and so in low light shutter speeds may drop too low to hand hold requiring you to use a tripod.

Happy light hunting!

Another Simple Portrait

Another simple portrait with a plain white background.

Nikon D90, Manual Mode, Nikkor 18-105mm kit lens at 52mm with VR on, hand held, f/8, 1/80s, ISO200, bunch of various small Nikon sb's and some umbrellas, edited in Corel Paintshop Pro X4.

A Simple Portrait

A simple portrait with a plain white background.

Nikon D90, Manual Mode, Nikkor 18-105mm kit lens at 52mm with VR on, hand held, f/8, 1/80s, ISO200, bunch of various small Nikon sb's and some umbrellas, edited in Corel Paintshop Pro X4.

Book Recommendation!

I just posted a thank you letter to Kirk Tuck on his Visual Science Lab blog. Instead of posting something different here, I'll simply repost the letter. I highly recommend the book by the way!


Hi Kirk!

I finally found out about Amazons Kindle software for PC yesterday, (a little behind?) so I checked out your books on Amazon and finally got to purchase "Minimalist Lighting: Professional Techniques for Studio Photography". Now via Kindle's pc software I can open and read it on my laptop! Hooray!

I am already about halfway through the book and have found it to both practical and informative, written in language I can understand! Thank you so much for showing that studio lighting is not as mysterious as it can sometimes be made out to be.

Although I already employ some of the techniques you explain there is a lot of info detailing (for me) new ideas, or old ideas in a new way, or just simply ideas that make me want to kick my own butt wondering why I didn't think about that!

I look forward to reading your other books in time, and learning even more!

Have a great day!

Lanthus Clark
www.thephotophile.com


You can purchase the book here: Minimalist Lighting: Professional Techniques for Studio Photography [Kindle Edition]

How many times have you been told this?

Well now you have the perfect response!

From "What The Duck" over here: WTD 95

Up close to nature with a Nikkor 40mm f/2.8G DX

Taken with a Nikon D90 and Nikkor 40mm f/2.8G DX lens.

A Rust Coloured Sun Rises in a Blue Sky!

...or a bit of rust on blue paint... either way it is one of those little details I always look for!
... eller lite rost på blå färg ... hursomhelst är det en av de små detaljer jag alltid leta efter!

More little details HERE and HERE.

Night Walk in Malmö 5

The TGIF Restaurant in the corner of Lilla Torg (Little Square) in Malmö, Sweden.

What does it take to shoot good photographs?

I get asked by quite a lot of my friends how I get my photos to look so different/better than the photos that they take with their own expensive dslr's when they have the same (and more often better) camera. Shouldn't the camera take just as great photos regardless of who uses it?

Well, the short answer is. No!

The slightly longer answer is, cameras don't take photographs, people do.

A little simplistic maybe, so let me try the long winded approach. Bear with me.

Lake Malawi Beach Life - revisiting an oldie!

Taken with a Nikon F801s, junky third party zoom lens and Fuji Superior film.

Online Depth of Field Calculator

Most of you have probably seen this handy site before, but for us uninformed few it is still a handy learning tool:

Online Depth of Field Calculator

Just don't get too carried away by all this geeky calculation business, simply learn what you can then get out and shoot photos in real everyday situations. It's still the best way to learn!
(Although it's kinda fun to release the inner geek just a little bit! Haha!)

Shooters!

I'm sure I posted this a long time ago, but I am revisiting some of my old pics. This one is from a small town in South Africa called Potchefstroom, and once a year they have a big "cultural" festival that has degenerated into an excuse to drink too much alcohol and behave badly.

If I remember correctly, this was shot with a Nikon F65 and 50mm f1.8D combination. A real light weight setup at the time and great for "street" pics! Ilford XP2 Super 400 film, if memory serves...

Harbour in Lomma, Sweden.

3 second exposure with camera propped firmly down onto a jetty while I am lying flat on my stomach.

I tore a strip off the skin of my little finger getting down on the old worn wood of the jetty, I console myself with the knowledge that at last I am suffering for my art! ;-)

Nikkor AF-S DX Micro 40mm f/2.8G

As long as you don't need to get too close to small creatures that might be scared witless by the front element of the lens looming menacingly at them causing them to take off to safer pastures, this lens makes an excellent bang for not much buck!

"Walking Street", Copenhagen, Denmark.

Thousands of people and not a single smile among them. What gives in Copenhagen?

Taken with the fantastic el-cheapo Nikon Coolpix L21.

...another church spire - Arlöv, Sweden

Portrait in Monochrome

I used the set-up shown here: Portraits in small places

Asminderød Kro, Denmark.

Local inn and restaurant in the small Danish town of Asminderød.

Hälleforsnäs, Sweden.

Hamlet and Ophelia - Helsingør Station

The statues of Hamlet and Ophelia, from Shakespeare's play "Hamlet", grace the railway station in Helsingør. They apparently are only here temporarily after being moved to several locations since they were crafted in 1937. They have been here since 2008, and I hope they stay here as they really fit with the beautiful architecture of the station building, and of course they have a view from here of the castle in Helsingør that is believed to have inspired Shakespeare as the castle that Hamlet was based in. They were made by the Danish artist Rudolph Tegner, who was also supposed to do a statue of Shakespeare at the same time but apparently, for some reason, never got around to doing it.


Isn't history fun!? :-)

Ducks and Jetty - Lake Esrum, Fredensborg, Denmark

So I finally found out the actual name of Lake Esrum! I live and learn every day. :-)

Looking at history in Helsingør, Denmark.

There is a lot of history here in the land of Vikings! If only these old streets could talk, I'll wager they could tell us a lot about the original inhabitants and their daily lives. The origin of this place dates back to about 1231, with one debatable document claiming it's history goes as far back as 70BC. Whatever it is, I feel a great affinity with this whole area because, after all, my Scottish ancestors were from Viking stock originally!

I am having a lot of fun here in Scandinavia! :-)

Ferries arriving - Helsingør Harbour

These ferries shuttle people, cars, buses and trucks back and forth all day long from Helsingborg in Sweden to Helsingør in Denmark, linking the two "Helsings". Normally you can see Helsingborg quite clearly from Helsingør harbour, but the mist is shrouding it almost completely in this shot. Just to the left of this picture (out of picture) is the castle that Hamlet was based in from Shakespeare's play.

Typical Swedish country scene

Early Morning Walk in Fredensborg Palace Gardens

Walking through the Fredensborg Palace Gardens down towards the royal boathouse (Skipperhuset) at the lake, you can just make out the building erected by Frederik IV for the royal yachts. The mist gives it all a kind of magical quality! Well worth braving the winter cold.

A Fearsome Terror in the Woods!

Wooden Jetty - Fredensborg Lake

Mooring Posts - Fredensborg Lake

Inside the Kyrka in Mellösa

Continuing with the "Cinegraphic" theme...

They've taken the Hobbits to Isengard!

I have seen a lot of photographers lately that do these "cinegraphic" style photos and I haven't been bothered simply because I am too lazy to fanny about with such time consuming things... until now that is! The latest Picasa automates the whole thing so it can be done with a simple click or two, and the results don't look half bad either. If you want a simple graphics program, then Picasa might provide the answer. It is very basic and doesn't do much, but what it does do it does well. And then there is the fact that it is free, who can't love free? ;-)

Street in Hälleforsnäs, Södermanland, Sweden at sunset.

Nikon D90, Nikkor 35mm f1.8dx, Aperture Priority, f4.0, ISO400, 1/40s, hand held.

A Swedish Farm in Södermanland

I went for a drive in the Swedish countryside today and I really love the landscape here! This is a typical Swedish farm in a province called Södermanland.

Another of the Kyrka in Mellösa

This time colour worked for me. I think it may be because of the contrast of the red building with the rest of the scene. A little red always seems to liven up a photograph.

Side street in Malmö Sweden

A small side street in Malmö Sweden. The old parts of the city are just beautiful, and a treat to explore!

Taken with the cheapest Nikon point and shoot camera we could find last year, the Nikon Coolpix L21. Not bad considering it only cost about US$50! That's less than taking my family to eat out at a cheap restaurant... ;-)

Church in Mellösa Sweden

Some things are just better in black and white, it's like an unveiling of the heart and soul to lay bare the essentials of our emotions and reveal what lies within.

It is especially effective when photographing spiritual things like people and churches.

African Carving of Giraffes

 

Same setup as used here: Simple Product Photography Set-Up

Mor Mor

My Danish mother-in-law, a real lady!

Nikon D90, Nikkor 35mm f1.8DX, hand held, ISO400, f3.5, 1/250s, natural light from a window, edited for contrast and cropped in Corel Paint Shop Pro X4. Did I mention that the 35mm f1.8DX is a really great lens? ;-)

The Fredensborg Palace in Denmark

The Danish Queens spring and autumn residence in Fredensborg, Denmark. Nice little place, no?

Nikon D90, Nikkor 35mm f1.8DX, hand held, ISO400, f2.8, 1/30s. Just love this lens as a light walkabout on the D90!

It's in the Details! 2

It's in the Details!

There is always something to photograph. Sometimes we just have to look a little closer.

Close Encounters of the Scary Kind!

Coochy, coochy, coochy coo!

SNAP!

CAUTION!

CAUTION!
Photographer at play! ...er, work. I meant to say work... Drat, caught out...

Looking down onto Paradise

The previous photo was taken from the bend in the river that you can see on the left of this photograph of the Vaal river.

I had to wait for a while for a break in the clouds to let some sunlight through onto "Paradise".

This is Paradise!

After working hard all of December at the mall taking photos of kids with Santa (and it really was tiring!) I finally had a break and went on holiday to the Vaal river here in South Africa. No internet or cell phone connection, sheer bliss, Paradise indeed!