City Escapes Photography Newsletter - May 2013

CITY ESCAPES

Nature Photography, LLC

 

 

Newsletter

May, 2013

 

 

 

 

 

The Flowers are Blooming!

Following up on last month’s article on how to photograph butterflies, this month we focus on another of spring’s glorious welcoming signs: flowers.  We’re not talking about staged shots of flowers in vases or other controlled environments, gorgeous though such images may be.  Instead, this month is all about capturing the beauty of the explosion of colors that come with the warming of the earth and the air, without pulling a single stem from the ground.  Get ready to get low!

The first thing to concentrate on is composition.  Very few images shot from above, framed dead center, and with busy backgrounds show off a flower to the height of its beauty and interest.  Look for unusual angles and vantage points, ways of looking at the flower that are not part of our normal, everyday experience.  Try framing the flower off-center to add visual interest.  Don’t feel like you need to include the entire flower in the image; experiment with cropping out parts or entire petals, or even most of the actual flower in order to focus on a small portion.  Pay attention to the background.  Is there something lurking back there that will detract from the image? If you can’t move it out of the way, move yourself to a new angle.

Flower photography is often about getting tightly cropped images of a single or only a few flowers, frequently with a very shallow depth of field.  The shallower the depth of field, the more critical it is to have your focus spot on.  Pay careful attention to precisely what is in the focal plane: very slight adjustments can make a huge difference.  If you are including an insect on the flower, the same rules apply as to other critter photography: unless the major focus is something like the colorful wings of a butterfly, ensure that the insect’s eyes are in sharp focus.

Wind and breezes can be a problem when trying to capture striking images of flowers not in a controlled studio environment.  Sometimes the motion of the flowers can be incorporated into the image to give a sense of motion or to lend an abstact feel.  At other times, even slight movement will drive you batty while you try to capture a sharp image.  There are three major options to deal with wind if you want to leave the flower in place.  The first is, of course, to shoot only on still days.  Because that may be an overly restrictive constraint in some locations, having other tricks up your sleeve is always a good idea.  Building some sort of wind break is often very effective.  This can be as simple as draping a jacket over some brush next to the flower.  (Be careful that whatever you use to deflect the wind does not adversely affect the light falling on your subject.)  Use your imagination.  Cardboard, gray cards, even your camera’s owner’s manual may serve as great wind breaks.  The third option is to actually hold the flower still.  Keep in mind that humans have a tendency to shake ever-so-slightly, so hand-holding the flower stem is not likely to give you the most rock-solid steadiness.  Depending on your shutter speed, this may not be an issue.  There are also various contraptions that are made to hold flower stems still for you, removing the unsteadiness of the human hand.  Basically, they are small clips attached to either end of a thick, stiff coil of wire.  One clip attaches to something that doesn’t move, such as your tripod, and the other is clipped onto the flower’s stem.  I have never personally used one these clips, but I have heard good things about them.  I imagine that a homemade version would not be difficult to construct, and would be just as effective.  Be careful that the clip does not crush the stem, which will kill the flower.  And of course, make sure that your composition does not show the clip or the wire coil.

Lighting is another important consideration when photographing flowers.  Backlighting can be gorgeous on flowers, and sidelighting can bring out a stunning dimension to the petals. When getting in close, take care to not get in your own light; it is easy to cast a shadow over your subject.  If fill light is needed and you decide to use a flash, try diffusing or bouncing the light rather than using it straight on.  This will give you a more natural result, without the harsh effects of direct flash.  You can also use a reflector to direct more light onto your subject.  Reflectors can be anything from fancy, purpose-made professional rounds to a sheet of paper –- anything that will reflect light.  They don’t have to be white, either.  Given the enormous range of hues that Mother Nature dyes her flowers, colored reflectors will often provide a much more intriguing feel to the image.  Got a red jacket?  Try it.  A baby blue T-shirt?  It might be just the color needed to give that extra zip to your image.

No matter how you photograph flowers, don’t forget to enjoy the process.  Flowers are little bursts of petaled fireworks, whose immense variety of colors is rivaled only by their fineness and delicacy.  It would be a shame to capture the image without truly appreciating the physical thing.

 

 

Come See Us In Spokane

 

We’re back to Spokane this month for Artfest Spokane 2013.  Come see us and swap a few stories about great places and fun critters. There will be lots to see and do in this outdoor art and music festival about a mile west of Spokane’s city center.  Come to Coeur d’Alene Park (don’t let the name fool you – it’s in Spokane), in Browne’s Addition.  We’ll be there all weekend, May 31 through June 2.  We hope to see you there!

 

Hours:

Friday, May 31: 1pm – 8pm

Saturday, June 1: 10am – 8pm

Sunday, June 2: 10am – 5pm

 

 

May Specials

 

Get 10% off of unframed, 8x10 prints of “Ahoy, Blue Bill!” and / or 10x15 prints of “Yellow Lilies” when you order from our specials page. As with all of our unframed prints, these prints are eligible for our No Hassle Returns. 

 

 

Fun Facts

 

May 18^th is the anniversary of the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980.  Do you remember where you were when you heard about it?

 

·         Two months of earthquakes emanating from the volcano, including a magnitude 5.1 quake, preceded its massive May 18^th eruption.

·         In the week prior to the eruption, eight earthquakes of magnitude 4 or above were recorded daily.

·         Ash clouds rolling down the mountainside prior to the eruption created static electricity, which in turn created lightning bolts -- some of which reached two miles in length.

·         Another magnitude 5.1 earthquake triggered the eruption, causing a landslide at a magma bulge that had formed on the north face of the volcano.

·         The release of pressure over the bulge caused the eruption, which had an energy equivalency of 24 megatons of TNT.

·         Flying rock from the blast reached 670 mph.

·         The ash column reached 12 miles in altitude in less than ten minutes. 

·         230 square miles of forest were flattened.

·         Eleven states had significant ash fallout, with visibility in Spokane, Washington, over 350 miles from St. Helens, reduced to 10 feet within 3.5 hours.

 

 

If you have any questions, or suggestions for future newsletters, please email us at: relationships@cityescapesphotography.com

 

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CITY ESCAPES Nature Photography, LLC

www.cityescapesphotography.com

774-277-9682

 

newsletter-2013-04

CITY ESCAPES

Nature Photography, LLC

 

 

Newsletter

April, 2013

 

 

 

Photographing Butterflies

It’s spring!  If they are not already, butterflies will soon be flitting about the green areas near you, perhaps even at your house.  Most of us have an appreciation for these insects’ delicate beauty, and many of us want to try to capture that beauty in a photograph – only to be thwarted by the butterfly’s flitting ways.  They just won’t hold still long enough for us to focus and snap that shutter.  Luckily, there are a few tricks that make the job easier – and they are pretty easy to implement.

The first thing to remember is that butterflies are basically solar-powered: their wings work best when they receive heat from the sun.  In the mornings and evenings, when the sun is lower in the sky and not as strong, and the air temperatures are cooler, they are much more sedate and still.  The magical quality of light at those times of day is just an added bonus.  Conversely, in the middle of the day when the sun is overhead and stronger, and the air is warmer, those wings work just fine and the butterflies often flit about like crazy.  If the weather is generally colder, you will likely have better luck than when the weather is warm.  Of particular note at any time, however, is that the insects will actively seek out sunlight.  That means that if you cast a shadow over the butterfly while trying to get close enough for a really good shot, it is likely to fly away.  It is important to ensure that your movements never put the butterfly in shadow, whether it be from your body, hat, or camera.

Next, move slowly.  Butterflies are skittish creatures, easily frightened into flying off.  Another wise approach (that admittedly takes a good bit more patience) is to not move at all: find a flower that looks like a likely candidate for a butterfly visit and set your gear up in advance.  Especially if you use a remote shutter release, the butterfly will never have to see you move, though you may be sitting only inches from it (you are using a tripod, right?).  This approach could require anywhere from a few minutes to a half hour or more to get a proper opportunity to snap a shot, but the results could be dazzlingly worth it.

We often use shallow depths of field when photographing butterflies to isolate them from the background.  The shallower the depth of field, the more important it is to have the wings in a single flat plane so that they will be in focus from tip to tip, as it is usually the beauty of the wings that we are trying to capture.  If you are trying for a head-on image, keeping the entirety of the wings in focus will likely not be possible with a shallow depth of field.  In such a case, the tried-and-true rules of all wildlife photography come into effect: focus on the eyes.  If you are relatively new to working with depth of field, begin with a deeper one (a higher f-stop number) until you get more experience.  Having more in focus than absolutely necessary is far better than having a razor-thin plane of clear focus in the wrong spot.

And finally, use a fast shutter speed.  Even if you go out on a cool morning in the spring, a butterfly is not likely to give you a long period of time to get that perfect image with the wings fully spread and the brilliant colors and patterns shown off in all of their glory.  Plus, the insect will very likely be perched on some sort of flower or greenery – which moves with every slight breeze.  To freeze the image, start with your camera’s ISO setting at 400 and a shutter speed of at least 1/125 sec. Then adjust as necessary to get the image you are looking for.

Now that you know how to start, get out there and celebrate the arrival of the butterflies!

 

 

Thanks to All Who Supported Us at March’s Shows!

 

The two arts and crafts fairs we participated in last month in Spokane and Pasco were great experiences for us.  We made the acquaintance of some wonderful new people, had the unwavering support of old friends, heard great wildlife stories, and got a lot of new leads on places we should check out.  A tremendously heartfelt thanks to everyone who came to see us.  We hope to see you again at another show. In the meantime, enjoy the blooming of spring!

 

 

April Specials

 

Get 10% off of unframed, 10x15 prints of “Iridescence -- Butterfly” and / or 8x12 prints of “Amity Blossoms” when you order from our specials page. As with all of our unframed prints, these prints are eligible for our No Hassle Returns. 

 

 

Fun Facts

 

In the Spirit of April Fool’s Day, this month we focus on the currency of fools: Fool’s Gold.

 

·         “Fool’s Gold” is the common name for the mineral pyrite.  It got its name from its similarity in color to gold and its classic metallic sheen.

·          Pyrite was used to provide the spark that ignited the gunpowder in firearms of the 16^th and 17^th centuries.

·          Gold has no odor. Pyrite smells like sulphur – that unforgettable stench of rotten eggs.

·          When hit with a steel hammer, gold will flatten or otherwise deform (but not break).  Pyrite will spark – thus its use in firearms – and / or shatter.

·          Remember those Energizer (non-rechargeable) lithium batteries you recently bought?  They contain pyrite.

·          Early Native Americans polished pyrite and used it as mirrors.

·          In a phenomenon known as dust explosions, the oxidation of iron pyrite (the reaction of pyrite when it comes into contact with oxygen) can produce enough energy to create explosions and incidents of spontaneous combustion in coal mines.  Mitigating steps must be taken to keep this from occurring.

 

 

If you have any questions, or suggestions for future newsletters, please email us at: relationships@cityescapesphotography.com

 

Become a fan on Facebook at

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CITY ESCAPES Nature Photography, LLC

www.cityescapesphotography.com

774-277-9682

 

City Escapes Nature Photography Newsletter - March 2013

CITY ESCAPES

Nature Photography, LLC

 

 

Newsletter

March, 2013

 

 

Upcoming City Escapes Events

 

Spring Arts and Crafts Show – Spokane

Custer’s 36^th Annual Spring Arts & Crafts Show

March 8 – 9 - 10, 2013

Spokane Fair & Expo Center

404 N. Havana Road, Spokane

Spring Arts and Crafts Show – Pasco

Custer’s 14^th Annual Spring Arts & Crafts Show

March 22 – 23 - 24, 2013

TRAC Center

6600N. Burden Blvd, Pasco

 

International Art Festival at Peace Arch Park - Blaine

June 22 – 23, 2013

Peace Arch Park, Blaine, WA

 

Two Must-Have Filters for Landscape Photographers

 

Many of us enjoy playing with our photographs after we take them, applying in-camera or in-computer filter effects to make our images sepia, black & white, have ragged borders, look like they came from the Old West, or any of hundreds of other effects.  This tinkering can be a lot of fun, and one can end up with some impressive images.  But for sheer usefulness, two filters in particular stand out, and they aren’t applied after the shot is taken, but before.  Yep, they are actual physical filters, not computer alterations of the photograph – and they belong in every landscape photographer’s gear bag.

 

The first is a polarizing filter.  Light rays generally enter the camera lens from many different directions and bounce around like crazy once inside, resulting in haziness, reflections, and washed-out colors.  Polarizing filters block stray light rays, allowing in only parallel rays.  The effect can be dramatic: colors are richer and more saturated, reflections vanish, the surface of water becomes see-through.  Anyone interested in photographing lakes, waterfalls, tidal pools, or pretty much anything else with water will find this filter tremendously useful.  Its ability to reveal things under the surface of water adds a tremendous depth to images, often adding just that needed element to turn an okay image into a spectacular one.  Likewise, a photographer dealing with other reflective surfaces will find a polarizing filter good for reducing or eliminating bursts, reflections, and flare.  Want that sky just a bit bluer, but don’t want your entire image to have a blue cast?  This is the filter for you.  (Know, alas, that even the beloved polarizing filter is not quite perfect: it will make rainbows vanish right out of your image.)

 

Polarizing filters come in linear and circular versions. To determine which you need, determine the age of your camera or – gasp! – read the manual.  Linear polarizers only work well with older cameras.  Because of changes in modern SLRs’ reflex mirrors, linear polarizers will often negatively affect the metering and autofocus abilities of the camera.  Have no fear, however: a circular polarizer is but a linear polarizer with a second element attached to compensate for that change in the reflex mirror, so circular polarizers work beautifully with modern SLRs.  As a bonus, they will also work perfectly well with older cameras, so if you have more than one camera and aren’t sure which version to buy, go for the circular.  They are a bit more expensive, but their universality makes the extra cost worth it.

 

The second must-have filter for landscape photographers is a graduated neutral-density (GND) filter.  (Who comes up with these names?)  This is a filter that is dark on one half and clear on the other.  It is used to even out the light in a scene which exceeds a camera’s dynamic range, or the range of light in which the camera can accurately record detail.  The scene perhaps most commonly photographed using a GND filter is a landscape in which the sky is very bright.  Without the GND filter, if the foreground is properly exposed, a bright sky often loses all cloud detail.  The GND filter darkens the sky, allowing the camera to capture more of the elements in it, deepening the color and increasing the contrast, all without changing the exposure or values of the foreground.

 

The transition from dark to clear can either be abrupt (“hard-edged”) or more gentle (“soft-edged”).  Hard-edged GND filters are used for scenes in which the transition from bright area to darker area is well-defined and on a single plane, such as a flat prairie and the sky.  Soft-edged GND filters are used where the transition is less clear, such as a scene including a mountain and the sky.  GND filters are available in a variety of densities, allowing photographers a great deal of freedom in determining just how much they want to tame down a bright area.  They can also be stacked to create even more options.

 

Graduated neutral-density filters are some of the best things around for nailing the exposure of some of Mother Nature’s favorite challenging lighting situations.  Your camera cannot process the same range of light that your eyes can.  A GND filter or two will go a long way toward helping it out.

 

 

 

March Specials

 

We want to see you! Spend $200 or more at one of our spring shows (see sidebar) and get a five-pack of our beautiful Christmas cards!

 

 

Fun Facts

 

Ah, March – a time to celebrate all things Irish! 

 

-      Up for some tongue twisters?  The prize for longest township name is split three ways: Muckanaghederdauhaulia, Glassillaunvealnacurra, & Illaungraffanavrankagh.  Each has 22 letters.

-      The Guinness brewery, begun in 1759, originally had a 9,000 year lease – at £45 per year. (Since then Guinness has bought the property outright.)

-      In 1800, the population of Ireland was almost twice that of the United States.

-      A few famous Irishmen:

·         The playwright Oscar Wilde.  His full name: Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde.

·         Ernest Shackleton, Antarctic explorer.

·         Hollywood movie director John Ford.  (Born Sean O’Feeney in 1894.)

·         James Hoban, designer of the original White House in Washington, D.C.

·         Dracula.  Okay, maybe not.  But Dracula’s creator, Bram Stoker, certainly was. 

 

 

If you have any questions, or suggestions for future newsletters, please email us at: relationships@cityescapesphotography.com

 

Become a fan on Facebook at

http://www.facebook.com/NaturePhotographs

 

CITY ESCAPES Nature Photography, LLC

www.cityescapesphotography.com

774-277-9682

City Escapes Nature Photography Newsletter - Feb 2013

CITY ESCAPES

Nature Photography, LLC

 

 

Newsletter

February, 2013

 

 

 

 

Mark Your Calendars and Come See Us in March!

 

City Escapes Nature Photography will be exhibiting at Custer’s Spring Arts & Crafts Shows in Spokane and Pasco next month.  From metalworks to gourmet food stuffs to candle making, these shows have something for everyone – now including some really cool critter photography!  Be sure to set aside some time to come say hello -- and bring a friend!

 

Spokane                                              Pasco

March 8-9-10, 2013                               March 22-23-24, 2013       

Spokane Fair & Expo Center                              TRAC Center

(404 N. Havana)                                              (6600 Burden Blvd.)

Hours:                                                  Hours:

     Fri: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.                                  Fri: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

     Sat: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.                                 Sat: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

     Sun: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.                                 Sun: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

 

 

 

Prime vs. Zoom Lenses

 

Similar to professionals in many other fields, photographers are prone to arguing passionately amongst themselves about various aspects of their trade.  Film purists argue that digital will never be able to capture the depth and quality of their medium, while digital users argue that film has long since been surpassed.  Canon users and Nikon users are sworn arch enemies.  And don’t even get them started on whether Photoshop is a godsend or just makes photographers lazy.

 

This division of opinions reaches all the way to the most basic of photographic materials, including lens types.  Forget brand competition; the debate reaches into much more fundamental aspects, including (but certainly not limited to) whether prime (fixed focal length) lenses or zoom lenses are better.  The most truthful answer is, as it usually is, “it depends.”  (Don’t you just hate ambiguity?)

 

First off, I should make it clear that to get accurate results, you should compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges.  In other words, ensure that any set of lenses you are looking at are within the same class (i.e., professional, hobbyist, etc.)  Otherwise, you might just confuse yourself more.  Broadly speaking, anything professional-grade will beat anything hobby-grade – and will come with a commensurate “professional” price tag.  But even among a single class, there is a great deal of variation between the different types of zoom and prime lenses.  To make a truly informed choice about which will suit your needs the best, you must pay attention to the specifics of the actual lenses you are considering.  Having said that, here are some general rules about primes and zooms to get you started on your search. 

 

Primes tend to be smaller and lighter than comparable zooms.  Because they only need to deal with a single focal length, there is less glass and less material in the actual body of the lens.  If weight is an issue, which it is on almost any long location shoot, the lighter weight might be a real advantage, especially if you tend to shoot at a single focal length.  On the other hand, if you need multiple focal lengths, you would need to carry multiple prime lenses to accommodate them all.  This would likely mean a greater total weight, and almost assuredly more bulk, than a single zoom that incorporates the range of focal lengths needed.

 

Prime lenses tend to be faster than zooms, both in terms of aperture and focusing.  Their simpler construction allows many primes to open up to 1.8 and 1.4, while most zooms cannot get anywhere near that wide open, bottoming out in the 3.5 range (or higher).  However, with the 1.8 and 1.4 apertures comes an absolutely razor-thin focal plane, making them a somewhat specialized range to work with; not useful to all photographers, despite the low aperture’s increased light sensitivity.  Primes tend to focus faster than zooms as well, due to a more limited range. 

 

As a HUGE generalization, among a class, primes tend to be cheaper than zooms.  They are simpler in design, have fewer moving parts, and have less complicated components.  Fewer materials are required for their construction.  As with the weight issue, however, whether primes remain cheaper in the aggregate depends entirely upon how many –- and which -- focal lengths you need.  While it is possible to buy three good primes for less money than a good zoom in comparable focal lengths, it is also possible to spend a significantly greater amount of money on those three primes.  So, as usual, it depends.

 

It is “common wisdom” that primes are sharper than zoom lenses.  While that “common wisdom” was accurate ten years ago, zoom technology has advanced so far in recent years that a number of zooms have equaled and even surpassed primes in sharpness.  This is one area in which the particular lenses in question are of fundamental importance, as it is no longer possible to say with any certainty that one style is better than the other.

The single biggest advantage of zoom lenses, of course, is their ability to take the place of several different prime lenses.  As mentioned earlier, this could come into play in weight and bulk issues, as well as price concerns.  But it has its greatest effect during the act of making a photograph.  The photographer is able to change focal lengths quickly, easily, and silently.  As a nature photographer, this trait comes in very handy: animals appear quickly at unexpected distances, they don’t hold those adorable poses for long, and they certainly aren’t going to hang around waiting for me to change to the appropriate prime lens.  (They’re very similar to small children in that regard – another subject that can make good use of zooms.)  Also, because I am not changing lenses as frequently, there is less opportunity for that bane of all photographers – dust – to get to the camera’s sensor.  Unless of course I have one of those zoom lenses that actually moves air in and out, and thus itself becomes a source of dust.  Sigh.  Like I said, it all depends.

While there are definitely purists on either side of the prime / zoom lens debate, most photographers that I know use a combination of the two to cover their range of photographic needs.  Finding the best combination for you will require paying close attention to your shooting style, and let’s face it, your budget.  Compromises will likely need to be made, and you might even find that making those compromises enriches your technique. 

 

Here’s to always improving!

 

 

 

February’s Monthly Specials

 

Get 10% off of unframed, 8x12 prints of “Winter Wind -- Bison” and / or unframed, 8x18 prints of “Castle of Blue Fog -- Iceberg” when you order from our specials page. As with all of our unframed prints, these prints are eligible for our No Hassle Returns. 

 

 

 

February’s Fun Facts

So you think congress is a bunch of baboons?  Well, you’re right!  Demonstrating that our species went a little name-crazy at one point, here are a few of the more interesting names for groups of individuals of the same species:

 

Apes → shrewdness	Boars → singular		Foxes → skulk, leash
Badgers → cete	Kittens → kindle		Doves → piteousness
Bears → sleuth	Cheetahs → coalition		Emus → mob
Hummingbirds → charm	Jellyfish → smack		Mole → labor
Rhinoceroses → crash	Tigers → ambush, streak		Trout → hoover
Turkeys → rafter	Woodpeckers → descent		Turtles → bale
Peafowl → ostentation, muster		Raven → unkindness, congress
Cockroaches → intrusion (fitting, isn’t it?)

 

       

If you have any questions, or suggestions for future newsletters, please email us at: relationships@cityescapesphotography.com

 

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CITY ESCAPES Nature Photography, LLC

www.cityescapesphotography.com

509-396-5154