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The Right Lighting, The Right Way

Over the past few days, I have pored over videos, blogs and articles about aperture and shutter speed. Now, after learning a great deal about the importance of these two features, I want to share some examples of their effects using stock photos from pexels.com

Slow Shutter Speed

This setting leaves the physical camera shutter open for a longer duration of time, causing the camera to take in light for that same time frame. This feature helps the photographer to take photos in a dark setting, while still capturing the theme or focus clearly. Using a slow shutter speed also allows for blurred action shots, as seen above in the streaked car lights on the road, and plane lights in the sky. The car lights also provide exemplary light painting on the hillside along the road, allowing the viewer to witness and enjoy the landscape along with the stars.
Fast Shutter Speed

This setting allows the photographer to capture a split-second event in an image. When the shutter is open only for a fraction of a second you can catch a quick moment, like the fishing eagle seen above, in one picture while maintaining correct lighting and image clarity. Notice the sharpness of the image; the eagle, though moving fast, is not blurry, and the splash from the water is seen clearly as well.
Narrow Aperture

This setting allows the photographer to seize a scene in its entirety. A narrow aperture means that the iris of the lens opens only slightly, therefore taking in little light from all field depths. This is noticeable in the above image as we see that every part of the image is in focus, from the dock (the foreground) to the distant mountains (the background).
Wide Aperture

This setting puts an intentional emphasis on the foreground while still allowing the aspects of the background to influence and affect the overall image. A narrow aperture means the iris of the lens more, therefore taking in more light but focusing primarily on the object or event close to and in front of the camera. We can see this clearly with the image above; the pineapple is focused on, you can see very explicit detail in part of it, while the rocks, ocean and sky in the background are blurred, yet still add dynamics and visual appeal to the end product.
Astrophotography

As I have learned about aperture and shutter speed over the past few days, a desire of mine has been rekindled for capturing the stars. I have always been fascinated by the night sky, and look forward now to experimenting with astrophotography, in hopes to encapsulate the grandeur and majesty of nature at night.

Epoch Photography

Looking back upon the last three months makes me realize just how much I have learned about photography and how much I have improved. My professor and peers have lent me endless support and shared priceless knowledge. The all-encompassing final project for this class is a professional photobook. Mine was, as stated on the cover, photographed, designed and written by yours truly: me. Some photos may have been seen on previous blog posts, but the majority of them are photos I took while out on various adventures.

Each photo tells a story of my life, sharing a treasured memory through a still image. Each article or poem is aimed toward nature and wander, most being related directly to the photo next to it. Ultimately the book in its entirety encompasses a chapter of my life that I only ever conjured in my dreams. Now those dreams are coming true, and more are on their way. I hope you enjoy experiencing this photobook as much as I enjoyed the adventures I embarked on to create it.

Photobook PDF

Photobook Extras

I am currently working on creating a photobook of all my best photos from the past two months or so, and these photos will be featured in it alongside multiple photos I have already posted on this blog. I hope you enjoy!

Zion National Park certainly is a heavenly kingdom. Already planning what I am going to do the next time I go.

Yellowstone National Park is such an amazing place to see a wide variety of wildlife. Excited to spend more time there in the future.

The stars are incomparable, and put everything else to shame. I just can’t hike there like the other places… Maybe one day.

Photo credit to my friend Aubrey Thatcher for taking this photo of me for my professional page and bio.

 

Best of the Best

Here are the five best photos I captured this semester, I hope you agree!

I feel like this photo belongs in my top-five because of its composition. With the grass and creek in the foreground, the bridge in the mid-ground an the town and hills in the background, I feel like this photo really captures the scene in its entirety. It is one of the only photos I’ve taken where I feel it accurately and almost completely portrays the view that my eyes saw.

The clarity and focus caught in this is what earns it a spot in my top-five. The highlights, shadows, colors and overall sharpness make this photo a personal favorite. The reflection of the trees and sky in the water drop just add to the magic.

This photo belongs in my top-five because it easily portrays the fact that Bannack Ghost Town is a small little town that is tucked into a ravine in the middle of a vast, open world. With the town still technically being the “focal point” of this photo, I aimed the lens upward and outward, trying to capture the feeling of “small and unnoticed in a big world.”

This photo belongs in my top-five because of the perspective and lighting. I felt like the mood that is captured in Martin’s facial expression along with the high-contrast lighting gave this portrait a strong and clear message.

Last but not least, this belongs in my top-five because it was the fulfilling outcome of long and hard work. I loved the colors that turned out in this photo, as well as the distortion of lines and objects visible in the water drop.

Overall, these photos show help to show the accumulative skills I have been blessed in acquiring this semester. From color to composition, and lighting to perspective, all of these help to showcase the things I have learned with the help of my professor and peers.

In Your Face

 Time to get up close and personal! This week’s post is all about macro photography, and this project was likely the most difficult photography project I have completed thus far.

Is it weird if you bite into a kiwi like an apple?

Thank you Annie for lending me your eyeball for an hour.

 Pollen nation.

Because we were inverted. (look at the reflection in the water droplet)

Veins and petals

“Psychedelic man!” – Hippie

Bannack’s Finest

To finish the stream of posts from Bannack Ghost Town, here are my best photos captured from the trip. Enjoy, and thank you for visiting!

This photo captured colors from all over the spectrum and I feel really emulates the vibe of Bannack.

How could I not include the pup? What a gorgeous girl.

In this photo, I was able to merge three of the same image at different exposures to get the detail on the very bright siding and the very dark shadows inside the house. Would have been a good spot for a ghost picture, no?

Similar to many of my “series” photos, this captures the town at a distance; however, seemed to me to have a different vibe.

Another shot with a large depth of field, but different because it’s aiming out of town instead of into town. And yes, if you’re wondering, I took a couple of the “series” landscape photos from that hilltop in the distance.

The boardwalks along the storefronts in Bannack were quite picturesque. Loved the outcome of this low-angle shot.

Likely my favorite of the post, this bridge was just outside the north end of town and crossed the creek that used to be panned for gold. This photo was taken while I was walking toward the bridge and I had no idea it turned out this good until I edited it a few days later.

 

Cowboys & Smolders

A large part my trip to Bannack Ghost Town involved the live models that joined us. I have never put much time or effort into taking good portrait photos, and were it not for the assistants and team leaders we had, I would have failed at this section of the trip. We got to practice using different types of lighting equipment as well, making some of these photos much better than with the natural lighting. Thanks to the help of our team leaders, I got some decent shots.

 

 I will list the model’s name and equipment used with the picture(s) of each model.

Jake Barcaiz

Rogue Flash & Reflector

Meghan Nielsen

Godox AD500 Strobe Light & Reflector

Martin

Rogue Speedlights & Reflector

Rick & Cathy Toot

Einstein Strobes, B Dish

David Duster

Westcott Studio Continuous Reflector

Dave

Continuous LED & Reflector

 

I enjoyed this learning experience with different lighting tools and portraits. Both were a first for me and I look forward to using the skills I gained in the future!

Candid & Created

The great thing about our photo assignments for this trip to Bannack Ghost Town was the amount of liberty we had with each one. For this post, I’ll share  levitation, ghost, commercial, abstract and conceptual pieces with you.

A floating lamp? Not really.

As one of our assigned themes, we needed to take a levitation photo. Well obviously we couldn’t make anything actually levitate, so we had to improvise a little.

I first took three bracketed photos, or three photos at a low, normal and high exposure, and blended them together to get detail in the shadows and highlights.

Then, leaving my camera on its tripod, took a photo of a friend just holding the lamp. After overlaying the lamp photo onto the background photo and masking out my Tori, I realized I didn’t like the placement of the lamp in the photo. Therefore, I unmasked Tori and cut out the lamp, making it replaceable wherever I wanted it on the background. I then remasked Tori and moved the lamp up and to the right, as you can see in the final product.

I’m Watching You Wazowski, Always Watching

Ghost images are rather simple! I had my camera at a two-second shutter speed, and the aperture adjusted accordingly so that the picture wasn’t blown out. Then my friend Emily kindly worked as my ghost. In order to get the transparent “ghost” effect, all Emily had to do was stand in-frame for one second, then move quickly further into the closet for the last second of the picture. Too bad we didn’t see any of the real ghosts in town.

What Does “Bokeh” Even Mean?

The abstract photo only required a unique perspective on an object or objects. The above photo is the old wood siding of the town store, and with a very shallow focus only on the closest, furthest left, of the siding, we get a cool bokeh effect with the intense blur throughout the rest of the photo.

Wildfire

These wildflowers were scattered all over the hillsides that I climbed and traversed throughout the day to capture my Bannack landscape shots which can be seen in my previous blog post titled “Bannack Ghost Town – Montana.” This photo is a blend of three bracketed images as well, to attain the highest pixel quality for highlight, shadow and midtone. Minimal editing was done after combining the bracketed photos.

In My Sights

Our conceptual shot(s) needed to “tell a story.” Halfway through the day, over half a dozen models, dressed in clothing of the time, came to the ghost town so we could take portrait photos of them. Each of our models had props with them, many of them having old shotguns and revolvers.

Choose The Right

For our commercial shot, we had to advertise an person, place or thing. I was planning on buying an old picture frame from a thrift store and using that as my merchandise but I ran out of time. As I got to this point in the day I was considering “advertising” my watch, which had been done before by another student, my shoes, which would have left my socks dusty and/or wet, or my ring. I wear my ring on a necklace while I am on photoshoots so it doesn’t get in the way. This necklace proved very helpful as I shot this advertising photo, because I was able to get better lighting on the ring with it hanging. For those of you interested: this “CTR ring” is an obsidian ring with a healthy weight to it, coming to a cost of $35 at a Deseret Book Store near you!

The biggest blessing about this trip to Bannack Ghost Town this last week was getting to spend time doing what I love, photography, with friends and peers, for college credit. Really it’s the best of both worlds!

Bannack State Park – Montana

This week I got to go on an adventure photoshoot with nearly 50 other individuals to Bannack Ghost Town in Montana. We arrived at the state park at 9am, and photographed different angles, subjects and perspectives until 5pm that evening. What en exhausting day it was, as we had specific themed assignments to accomplish in that eight hours, but it was more than worth the energy expended, as my personal skills, and undoubtedly the skills of my peers, were strengthened dramatically. For an assignment we were to shoot a photo series of the same subject, or similar subjects. I chose the town as my subject with the old Meade Hotel as my focal point. Ladies and gents, Bannack Ghost Town.


Bannack Ghost Town was an old gold-mining town that rose to life in the mid-to-late 1800’s after gold was found in the creek passing through (seen just left of town in this photo). Gold huntsmen soon took to the surrounding hills to dig mineshafts in search of pockets of ore to strike it rich. This photo was taken atop one the highest hillside just west of town.

Coming down an old road, converted into a hiking trail, the town comes closer into detail, and we see more clearly the main street on which the majority of the buildings lay, including the old Meade Hotel, which was once the courthouse and city hall of town.

With the remnants of a spring storm looming in the east, Bannack stands as a monument to those who settled in a harsh environment to make their life’s wages on gold.

With heavy clouds and green hills as a backdrop, every angle of Bannack Ghost Town looked new and exciting as I roamed the hillsides, Meade Hotel stands out almost always as it is the largest building in town.

As you continue along this old road you see the creek, in the foreground on the right, and some of the fenced lands that were once tilled and dug up by the long-gone residents.

After a long day, this is the final picture I took. I stood next to a bend in the creek and saw the composition of thick clouds, blue sky, varying colored buildings, and brush in the foreground. This shot of old Bannack is my favorite of the series.

 

Techniques to Stand Out

This post will discuss the contrast between two or more fonts in a magazine article, as well as its use of photography.

The above photo and article were published by Alexander Braczowski. The image was found at http://www.alexanderbraczkowski.com/media. All copyrights and ownership belong to him, I only use it as an example of good page design.

Typography

Braczowski’s published article contains three contrasting font types. Type one, making the title, is a slab serif font, identified by the minimal change in letter thickness and the large serifs capping the letters. Type two, making the summary directly below the title, is a sans serif font, identifiable by no serifs on the letters and no change in thickness among letters. Both type one and type two are identifiable as the type they are by their vertical stresses. Type three, making the entirety of the article, is an oldstyle font, identifiable by a diagonal stress, slanted serifs on lowercase letters, and an easily recognizable change in letter thickness.

These three fonts contrast dramatically in both style and size, thus separating sections of text from one another and adding diversity without ruining the construct or union of the article. Their size is symbolized by the overdrawn square in the above example photo, and their differing fonts are recognizable in each example.

 

Photography

Braczowski intelligently uses the one-thirds lines to build his article. Notice in the photo that the lion’s right eye is resting focally along the vertical and horizontal 2/3 lines. Also, the third text column aligns perfectly with the vertical 1/3 line. We also notice, demonstrated by the overdrawn arrows, that the lion’s gaze seems to point toward the title, subconsciously pulling the reader’s attention in that direction.

 

The following photos mimic the depth of field, leading lines and application of the the rule of thirds that the magazine image portrays.

Each of these photos has a focal point along the same rule-of-third lines as the lion’s eye, such as the grove of trees in the first photo. Each has a leading line(s) similar to the lion, such as the direction the stylus is pointing in the second photo. And each, other than the first, has a shallow depth of field, like the close up on Captain America’s face from this popcorn tin in the third photo.

Ultimately, these three fundamental techniques make or break a piece of visual media. When used wisely and correctly the rule of thirds, leading lines, and depth of field will make your work stand out among a competitor’s. Thank you for following along and if you have questions you can reach me under the contact tab.

From Flowers To Mountains

This was all about perspective; getting the right angle, focus, placement and lighting. This old, rusting propane tank in the middle of a field near Henrys Lake, Idaho, proved to be a unique and worthwhile subject for this photoshoot.

Each photo, while having its own style, depth, message or focus, has the old tank in it. Being able to use the same area and object(s) to produce a wide variety of styles of photos is a skill that took time and patience to gain, and I would say that I am nowhere near professional.

Way To Ruin The View

I began with the landscape shots, making sure my subject, the ugly propane tank that sticks out like a sore thumb, was clear and apparent while still emphasizing and detailing the scenery and colors around it.

Rust Or Clouds?

This landscape photo had a close-up texture photo from the propane tank overlayed on it, to give it the damaged, old-school appearance.

Close-up texture photo of rusting metal used as a visual effect in the above photo.

Clouds & Other Gases

With this photo I used a fairly low f-stop with a fast shutter speed in order for my hand to come into focus with everything else being semi-blurred but remaining visually distinct.

Deterioration Turned Beauty

This is some old aluminum-coated styrofoam on the end of the propane tank. The years of weathering and erosion caused a bright display of orange and rusty-brown that was attracting my eye the entire time I was taking photos. It wasn’t until the end of the shoot that I decided I’d give this photo a try, since I couldn’t see any natural angle that would present well. Turns out, it was a unnatural angle I needed, looking straight down.

Solid Fire

Another close-up shot of the tank breaking down. The rust here, though solid, looks like it drips down the side of the tank, almost leaving an appearance of singed wood or smoldering coals.

Just Look at the Flowers

Taking a step back, and stumped on the next angle to shoot from, I saw this small, yellow, 2-centimeter flower poking up from the dead and dry grass. Laying prone on the ground and fiddling with settings in the harsh and disrespectful lighting, I finally got a good enough photo this life rising from nothingness, of course with my beloved ugly tank providing shade from the background.

Of All the Colors

This was one of the first photos I took, and in camera it didn’t look good. Once I uploaded it to my laptop and began with basic edits, I realized that it contained a wide spectrum of color. From the blue hued mountain, over the green growing grass to the orange exposed insulation.

Life & Death

This photo had the same, but this time intended, outcome, hence the title. The dying and decay of the outer layer of the propane tank provide a handful of oranges, browns, reds and yellows. The life and nourishment of the background scenery offers greens, yellows and blues. These sets of colors, each coming from different scenes, contrast just as plainly as life and death.

Power in the Palm of Your Hand

I decided that this valve handle was part of the propane tank, and gave it my go at capturing a close-up, detailed shot of it. With the same frustrating lighting as the flower photo, I used my phone flashlight to give it the slight sheen it has.

 

These 9 different perspectives, and any other perspective imaginable, can be applied to most, if not all, subjects. Using the right angle, lighting, focus and depth is what makes your photos stand out.