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! ;-)