Looking for some hope ( still on body language)

The other day i found myself grabbing a piece of paper , and drawing how i feel those days . Using a pen and a pencil and photoshop for coloring , i managed to get some of whats inside me , and push it out on a piece of paper .

Some times when things get real dark ..... the only thing u could hang onto is.... Hope .

El Gezira Club Session

About 2 weeks ago i was asked to give an overview of photography session at the Gezira sporting club .

Personally i loved the idea because of 2 reasons : 1) I cant waste a chance to talk about photography . 2) To meet people who in the near future are gonna be my superiors when it comes to shooting pics .

So i started reading the basics once more ( which I have to thank them for making me revise ) , summarizing a lot of books , and putting together a presentation which i hope didnt confuse u people all that much .

We discussed :

1) Basics camera controls
2) Lenses
3) How to put together a pic : Composing with different lenses , Basics elements of design .

We still had two sections to go which were : Rules of composition , and LIGHT .

Maybe we could finishem in another session later on .

Btw u guys , for all of u whove been reading the presentation as i explained and noticed sum words that werent spelled right , dont worry , i know the right ones , i just dont believe in spelling , as long as it pronounces right , it works for me .

Anyways , was a great night u guys , dont forget the field trip next saturday .

Just remember to put together an idea log before u go , and decide what types of shots u wanna take , just so u wont be lost when u get there .

Any questions or remarks regarding the presentation , i will be glad if u leavem as comments here .

Thank u all for a great chance . Keep on shootin .

A warm cup of coffee with a mood ....

The only thing better than a warm cup of coffee and a good read , is shooting them i guess ... I know this is another interruption in the middle of all the body language posts , but a lil change never hurt anybody .... The setup here was :

1) First the foreground :
the cup , and book . They set the color scheme for the whole scene , so knowing my cup was brown/ beige , i placed it on a reddish brown book .
2) The background :
a) and here u have to once again remember the color scheme in the pic (brown/ beige) , so any wooden object in the background was gonna work fine for this one ..
b) make sure that the part of the background against/behind the vapor of the cup has to be real dark , so the vapor would show .
3) Lighting :
I placed a lightbulb right behind the cup ( which u could notice by the shadows on the book ) . Now i did this for 2 reasons ,
a) it usually gives for a dramatic heroic feel to the subject ( my cup) , ie it help me set my MOOD
b) Its the best way to light the vapour ( from behind ) .
I also have to note that the fill light on the front of the cup and book were bouncing of the white walls of my corridor ( where i took this shot ) .

And thats about it ... until we meet later ... keep shootin ...

A lil break from all the body language posts

Thought id give u a lil break from all the body language posts , and talk a lil about having a vision . A unique personal goal or style that makes ur photography standout from the rest . Ur trademark , ur copyright , a way in which people will know U shot this , without having to see ur name on it .

I just have to point out that personal style or vision , isnt sumthing that comes overnight . But it will start appearing in ur work without u even noticing it after years of reading , trying new forms of photography and polishing urself as a photographer . I find it limiting that sum people will stick to one form of photography and leave out the rest under the claim that they "like it" . What theyre doing unconsciously is leaving out vast amounts of knowledge experience and ending up having a weaker personal style that comes out of inexperience and not the opposite.

I admit that after 4 years of shooting im still in search of a "personal style" , but in that search im always learning sumthing new and developing myself , so im in no hurry to end that anytime soon .

Body Language 5 : Hand to face Gestures

Sooooo ! , were back on the same topic , BODY LANGUAGE and posing ur subjects ! Today were gonna be discussing HAND TO FACE GESTURES . Hand to face gestures are extremely useful when posing ur subjects as they can tell a great amount about the person . Lets take those 3 shots for example :



1) Shot one : when u have the index finger supporting ur face in that manner and ur middle finger rubbing ur lips or just across'em , that's indicative of a CRITICAL attitude . It means ure evaluating whats being heard and criticising it in ur mind . Now if i were to shoot sumone , that i know has a criticising personality , i am likely to shoot him posing that way . That way the viewers will get that impression when they see the pic . So i used this gesture to tell my viewers more about my subject , and that makes for a more successful portait.




2) Shot 2 : The hand on the cheek position . Ok now thats usually a negative gesture indicating BOREDOM
,DISINTEREST . Usually accompanied by sleepy facial expressions . Now if we were to look at Mr No face's face and see him looking upwards , smiling slightly with the angles of his mouth , that would indicate a DREAMY attitude .




3) Shot 3 : Rubbing ones chin , or holding it between ones thumb and index fingers , is a sign of DECISION MAKING . Its a pose most people make when theyre about to make a decision . If i were to shoot, say a leader , posing him that way would make him seem like a person more capable of making decisions .

More on this topic later , until then , enjoy .

Body language : part 4

Now , firstly im sorry ive been a lil late to post , i apologise. But i still remember we were on the interesting and very imp topic of body language , so lets continue with that . Today were talking about some body gestures that are considered negative body language signs . So here goes :

Negative Body Language

• Leaning back and looking down: Lack of confidence, aloof

• Limp, weak handshake: Nervousness

• Leaning in too close: Could be threatening

• Weak, soft voice: Nervousness

• Clearing throat, saying "um, uh," using overly complex sentences: Insecurity, nervousness

• Dropping head and looking down: Untrustworthy

• Staring at other person during silences: Increases tension

• Maintaining eye contact too long (over 7-10 seconds): May cause anxiety or discomfort

• Rigid, stooped posture, feet shuffling: Lack of confidence

• Folded arms, crossed legs, picking lint off clothing: Disinterested, disagreement

• Twiddling thumbs, drumming fingers: Not paying attention, anxiety

• Clenching or wringing hands, playing with jewelry, sitting on edge of chair, jiggling foot: Stress, nervousness, anxiety

• Rubbing hair or back of neck: Frustration

• Touching your face: Nervousness, dishonesty

Got them from this link here .

I will have to point out sumthing though . Body language is read in clusters or groups , just like words only make context when theyre in sentences . So its a mistake to judge only one sign on its own . U must link several body gestures together to give a correct interpretation . Well discuss that in more detail later .

New Photoshoot

I know its been a while since ive posted and i also know that were still on the topic of body language , but this is a break . A small slideshow of a recent photoshoot ive done . Enjoy

Body language : The NO FACE experiment

So continuing the topic of body language , i thought we'd use a few examples to help get my point through . Were starting a new experiment called the 'NO FACE' experiment , just to show us how strong body language is . In the next series of pictures were posing a character without a face , yet his body will help tell us about how he feels . So lets get to it :



In this first example we have here .... how do u feel about the subject ? I feel like hes relaxed ... Hands crossed behind his head nice and wide , body straight , slightly extended , no .. no tension there at all .... mr no face is relaxed here ...

Ok now the next couple of pics are gonna have mr no face with his hands on his waist ( supposedly a gesture of readiness , or disapprovement ) yet theyre still gonna have a different emotion in each ..











Here mr no face is lookin straight at us in a Challenging fashion . He looks ready , and confident ....











Whereas here just by looking away (slightly upwards) and

pushing his chest forwards , mr no face gave us an impression of arrognace , or disconcern .














Thats bout it for today , more examples in later posts ... Keep shootin ....

Further looking into body language

This image is an example of just how strong body language is . Its plain to see theres no "face" or facial expressions here at all in this pic , yet the pose tells a whole lot about the subject .

The general feel u get from the pic is that of CONFIDENCE , ASSERTIVENESS . Arms crossed on the chest can sometimes show confidence , other times defensiveness , but it shows more confidence here than defensiveness when it was combined with the subject sitting back in the chair, and crossing his legs in an authorative attitude .

Had the subject been sitting up straight, still with his arms across his chest , and had his legs not been crossed , the impression u wouldave got could prob have been defensiveness and lack of confidence , even with the face hidden .

The meaning of body language , and learning how to pose ur subject

Body language is one of the strongest means of communication used by humans . Its what humans do as the talk and live , without realizing it in a lot of cases . As a photographer , i think its really helpfull to be aware of that language and use it intentionally in ur portrait , lifestyle , stock, or modelling shots to convey more about ur subject . Some poses have come to be standard in portrait and modelling pics , and people will just copy them without really realizing what they mean , which is a shame cause in a lot of situations the pose u choose to copy wont really be fitting ur subject or what ure trying to say about it . So in a series of posts were gonna try to tackle that problem , and explain a lil body language so we can spark that creativity bit in all of us .

Examples Of Body Language from this link.

NONVERBAL BEHAVIOR	INTERPRETATION
Brisk, erect walk	Confidence
Standing with hands on hips	Readiness, aggression
Sitting with legs crossed, foot kicking slightly	Boredom
Sitting, legs apart	Open, relaxed
Arms crossed on chest	Defensiveness
Walking with hands in pockets, shoulders hunched	Dejection
Hand to cheek	Evaluation, thinking
Touching, slightly rubbing nose	Rejection, doubt, lying
Rubbing the eye	Doubt, disbelief
Hands clasped behind back	Anger, frustration, apprehension
Locked ankles	Apprehension
Head resting in hand, eyes downcast	Boredom
Rubbing hands	Anticipation
Sitting with hands clasped behind head, legs crossed	Confidence, superiority
Open palm	Sincerity, openness, innocence
Pinching bridge of nose, eyes closed	Negative evaluation
Tapping or drumming fingers	Impatience
Steepling fingers	Authoritative
Patting/fondling hair	Lack of self-confidence; insecurity
Tilted head	Interest
Stroking chin	Trying to make a decision
Looking down, face turned away	Disbelief
Biting nails	Insecurity, nervousness
Pulling or tugging at ear	Indecision

Well thats about it for this post , but wait for more examples , and info about the topic in later posts .

Quick note

When shootin food , we wanna bring out texture . So backlighting jam , and other semi translucent foods , really helps bring out their nature . Also those highlights on the surface of jam are not a thing to be avoided , quite the opposite , it makes it look much tastier and more realistic.

Ramadan Kareem to all of u Guys

May it be a blessed month for all of u guys . Make the best of it .

As we all know , now is a good chance to shoot some Food and Drink . Practice , practice, practice ! Remember when shootin food , go for color , texture , fancy plates , glasses , cool styling ,and ofcourse good lighting . Shoot simple , clean , shallow Dof pics .

The one up there , i used lighting from a window to light this glass full of colored ice ( colored the water light yellow with some acrylic colors before freezing it ) . Simple pic , but works .

Stock photography

Now ive been meaning to talk about stock photography for a while now , and i found this post at Mr Rich leggs blog . It was a great podcast he did with the fellows at lightsource , i personally loved it . Also check out Mr Sean Locke's blog for more on stock photography .

More photoshop links

Post processing is as important as the photoshoot itself . Im a strong believer of that . So here are sum more photoshop links . This time from deviant art .

Panoramics in the break ....

By now u all know im a fan of panoramics . So i snapped a couple of shots durin the break . The second shot was a trick panoramic to achieve a cool effect . Had my cousins and i pose in different positions in different shots as i rotated the cam for a fun shot .

That sums up my shots for the vacation . Keep shooting , and peace out .

Food shots durin the break

Well last post was the last part of the challenge technically . But i also managed to snap a couple of food pics . Also a couple of panoramics , but ull see those in the next post .

Fifth part of the challenge : Landscape

Fifth part of the challenge is landscape . Now we already discussed landscape before , so im not gonna say much . But this pic i took in HDR , actually both of them , just used a tripod ,
took the pics over the span of about half an hour or a lil more , took multiple exposures and combined them on a program named Photomatix , which is why u see the name all over the pics . Again i went for Hdr to spice up what was a pretty bland landscape .

Fourth part of the challenge : Portraits

Portraits were the fourth part of the challenge . Now portraits are a huge topic to discuss and theres all sorts of portraits around ( aesthetic , environmental , etc etc ) .

When asked by my cousins to take portraits for "facebook" use . U immediately understand , they want sumthing thats : a) them , b) cool, c) or in a cool setting . So i tried to go for that .



Some people seem to think that a good portrait only has to focus on the face or the face and shoulders , but i believe in flexibility and there are a huge number of successful full body portraits out there . Thats why the first pic in the post was a full body shot .

Part 3 of the challenge : Modelling Shots

Modelling shots where the third part of the challenge , and those are quite different from portraits . Portraits are usually more natural , and calm than modelling shots .


In modelling shots the photo has to have a certain "wow" effect and a sort of impressive feel .










When trying to bring out muscle in ur shots , always remember its not mass ure looking for , rather definition . Very thin people who are well defined appear much more massive in pictures than huge dudes with no definition . Again hard light aimed directionally at the model and rim lights also help "paint" the muscles .

Second part of the challenge : Sports shots

Having my cousins around , it was a good chance to take a couple of good sport shots . So we headed off to snap a couple of pics . When taking sports shots that aint on the field ( out of actual events ) its more like a modelling session , and so u have to find the best poses in action that help show movement . Poses taken from low angles , with the subject midair usually give a strong action effect .


Also unlike event shots , long lenses arent usually what ure looking for , in fact wide angles can be more useful , as is clear with this shot where i couldnt manage to fit both his legs in the frame . In this shot , i had my cousing jump off a small fence throwing the ball infront of him , as i slept on my back snapping several shots .





Also black and white can give u an impressive look .




U have to find good locations , the sky is always an impressive backdrop . When post processing , go for a look that has a high contrast between light and dark on the model , it gives a radical dramatic look .And what better way to achieve this effect than shooting in the hard light of the midday sun .

Back !

ٍSo i just came back today from a really needed summer break . Thank God for a great couple of days , filled with lots of photos. Speakin of photos i challenged myself before i left to take certain shots , dont really know how i did , but here goes :





Under lifestyle :


First pic


















Second pic :

Just a few goals before i leave ...

My fam and i have been lucky enough to manage and clear up some space in our schedules for a short summer break . To me , its a great chance to do a lil shootin , but i dont wanna just go there and " hunt" for what i can find . I thought id set myself some goals and see how many i can achieve by the end of the break . So i challenged myself to come up with at least :

1) A good landscape shot .
2) Some lifestyle shots .
3) A good action or sports shot .
4) Some cool portraits .
5) A couple of modeling pics .

Theres 5 goals up there . I'll prob be gone for a week, well 4 days to be exact , lets see what happens by the end of that time period . Hope my plan works . See u all soon .

Still not photography ,....

Just found the theme music/ soundtrack of the movie ( which i talked about before ) called KitKat . Its named Beskalia and composed by Rage7 Dawood . An amazing piece of music . Posted by a utube user named meroman32 .

Chase's Summary of an assignment

Just saw this great vid of Chase on strobist . Had to get it here . Loved how he ,in a couple of minutes , expalined the entire process of doing an assignment . Enjoy.

Spelling doesnt matter

Its just sumthing ive been sayin for a big while now . And im sure all of u guys noticed that i intentionally write my posts the way I think words should be written . Spelling doesnt matter . A lot of my frends and fam , and ofcourse parents , would argue otherwise , but it made no sense to me why a word like tomorrow cant be " tomorow " , or different cant be " diferent " . Anyways , i was thrilled to find this post on the yahoo website today which sez just the Same .....

Ever had that happen to u ?

Ever woke up from sleep feeling like u miss someone badly . Someone u know is no longer there in ur life . Someone who has been separated from u by the factors of time , place or ... just ur stupid actions . U wake up and u feel like talking to this person , but u know for sure they wont hear u , cause they no longer exist for u , or u no longer exist for them . The REAL world separates u . Ever had that happen to u ? .... Well it happens to me , and i dont know why im writing this here but , somehow it feels like shouting ur thoughts off a mountain , into open space ..... its ..... Relieving ...

Just another reason to carry ur cam around more ..

There are a billion reasons i can think of why u should carry ur cam with u more often . One of them is to practice ur PHOTOSHOP .

The other day i went out to shoot specifically to get some raw material for some ideas i had on photo shop . It was during a long shift i had at the hospital , thought id snap a couple of shots , to work on a lil when i went home .

Until later , keep shootin .

Mansiat el Set : Not photography related

Blogs are a fun place to be when ure on the net , u read all sorts of articles and stories , see into peoples lives and minds , plus u find really cool stuff all over the place .

My latest read was at Shayma Ashoor's blog , a series shes been working on called Mansiat el Set ( only for those who can read arabic ) . I personally enjoyed it immensely , and respect the reasearch she put into writing those pieces , plus im a big fan of Omo Kalthoum myself , so yea , im biased haha ...

Anyways .. heres the link , enjoy ... :)

Shooting interiors

When shooting interiors :

1) Do ur best to read a lot about interior design , architecture and art movements , cause it not only helps u take better interior shots but it also does : a) Makes ur work more convincing in terms of design meaning if ur furniture is for example of the Baroque style , an abstract Picasso on the wall isnt really fitting , ud rather have a Vermeer or a Rembrandt on the wall ( cause theyre baroque too , same time periods , same style ) . b) Helps u rearrange ur interiors in an impressive way .

2) Remember ur aim is not to include the WHOLE interior , but rather use ur cam to frame a part of that interior that best describes the style , sort of summarize the place in a smart frame .

3) U want ur frame to have horizontals ( representing stability) , verticals ( representing elevation , grandeur ) , and diagonals ( which give still interiors the beautiful dynamic feel ) .

4) Ur 3 friends are STRUCTURE ( organizing the interior into a harmonious whole unit ) , LINE DYNAMICS ( we talked about that in point 3 ) , AND DEPTH OR PERSPECTIVE ( to give ur 2 dimentional frame a 3 dimentional look ) .

5) Symmetry at times maybe cool ( like in the pic above of my living room ) , at other times the rule of thirds applies , other times u may use leading lines .

6) At the expense of a little distortion, a wide angle lens , may be one of ur best tools when shooting interiors , esp tight ones . Others prefer to use a tilt shift lens to avoid leaning verticals , and too much distortion , then again u can do a lot of image post processing on photoshop after using a wideangle . Personally i love the distorted effect of the wide angle .

7) The way u wanna light ur pics is u wanna makem seem as natural as possible . I dont mean dont use accessory lighting , i just mean use it just so its not so awkwardly visible . When lighting interiors u have many options , u can :
a) Use natural light .
b) Use hidden flash units and totally block out interior lights ( turn em off) .
c) Combine a and b ( usually the flash will be used as fill light ) .
d) Light paint ( yes it can be used to achieve a "natural " feel , with a lil effort ofcourse ) .
e) Combining flash and exterior light with the interior lighting .

The advantages of using ONLY natural or flash is ofcourse u dont have to worry about different color temperatures , then again when combining them with interior lighting ( tungsten : red , or flourescent : sickly green ) there are several ways to get around that . Like shooting different frames at different color balance situations and combining them .

8) If u dont have a wide angle ( like myself ) u can shoot several frames and stitch them like the pic up there , panoramic interiors are cool , just watch out for the exposure and color balance of each shot .

Well thats all i can write for now , a whole lot more can be written about that topic , but maybe in later posts . Be safe , and keep shootin.

A lil summer spirit

A song i like from the movie Surfs Up , really fresh , and the words are full of optimism. Song by Sugar ray , and clip by a youtube user called Helicalvortex .

Enjoy .

Not photography , but hey , its a good song .

Amusing : if ure a photographer

As a photographer Ud either have to be extra stupid or extra smart if :

1) U try to take a macro shot of the horizon .
2) U've been tryin to take a wide angle zoom shot for a while now .
3) U manage to get an underexposed pic of the sun .
4) Every time u shoot jello its motion blurred .
5) Everytime u take a nighttime landscape u set ur flash to full power because its always too dark .
6) U've been trying to take a panoramic shot of a housefly for a really long time now .
7) U cant manage to put the film roll in ur new digital camera .
8) Everytime u pull ur memory card out of ur cam , u have to do it in the dark so the light wont burn it out .

Thats all i could think of now , until later , keep shootin ..

Nighttime panoramics....

Nighttime panoramics really have that unique ability of bringing out the beauty in urban landscape . On several of my night outings i make it a point to shoot a few of those , 2 of the pics here were taken on the previous CCC outing .


My advice to u : TRY THEM . Just use ur tripod to shoot several frames and stitch them on ur computer ( so many easy to use programs out there right now) . The trick is when u move ur cam make sure each frame has a common area with the one before it ( minimum 30 percent) for a good stitch . Enjoy ...

Nighttimes .....

First day off i get since the beggining of the week ( the shifts at the hospital are hectic ! ) , thought id do a lil cleaning and tidying up to this pig sty i call my home . Started on that , but i found myself here writing a post on night shots .

Thats the theme of the next outing and was the topic of our last CCC meeting ( Mr Wally did a great job with his "light painting" presentation , it was very inspiring and full of ideas to try ) .

Thought id also do a quick review bout the things ure gonna need if ure shooting nighttimes :

1) The best time is right after sunset , when the sky isnt really black , but rather shades of blue and purple ...
2) Ur tripod is a must ( were doing long exposures ) .
3) Dont forget to clean ur lens nicely , cause all those lights can bring out those stains badly .
4) Keep ur iso as low as possible to minimize this grain .
5) Do a lot of exposure bracketing , and dont forget to try HDRIs .
6) In case u wanna do nightime portraits , or just use shallow dof on nearby dark objects , u may need a flashlight to help the cams autofocus system ( the cams autofocus system usually focuses on the brightest things in the frame) ..
7) For all of u who have star filters , WHAT ARE U WAITING FOR , now is the time to use'm !, for those who dont , really small f stops like f 20 and smaller can give a similar effect in some cases.
8) Nothing wrong with combining light painting , flash , and urban landscape all in the same frame , get creative !
9) Now that i mentioned urban landscape , try not to forget to snap some urban nightime panoramics .

The pic up there was taken from the Gamaa bridge in cairo by urs trully .

I suggest u try this place out for a lil inspiration , its an amazing blog full of urban nightime landscapes ..

POV ( point of view) photography ..

Its basically strapping ur cam to the subject and triggering it with a remote device , its does amazing things when ure shooting action or sports photography .... Enjoy this nike vid POV style posted by a u tube user named Jr213g ...



Chase also has this cool link explaining how he does POV ....

Photoshop video tutorials

A friend of mine sent me this link to some very useful photoshop tutorial videos .... Thought i had to share ......

http://pstutorialsblog.com/free-video-tutorials-from-watch-and-learn-photoshop/

Enjoy...

Article from shutterbug .. Shooting infrared

A sweet article about shooting infrared from shutterbug. Heres a teaser :


Shooting infrared has the power to transform mundane subject matter into unforgettable images. Everyday scenes that you might walk by and never think of photographing take on a more dramatic look when seen in infrared .

Because the imaging sensors used in digital cameras are sensitive to more than visible light, some manufacturers place an infrared cutoff filter in front of the chip to block infrared light from striking it and causing color balance problems. This filter’s effectiveness varies from model to model, but some consumer digicams allow enough IR to pass through to permit, what techies would call, near infrared photography when an appropriate filter is placed in front of the lens.


When I get a new digital camera I give it the “remote control” test. One of the easiest ways to check if your digicam is capable of infrared capture by using filters is to point a TV remote control at the lens and take a picture or look at the image on the LCD panel. If you see a point of light, you’re ready to make IR digital images. All you need is the right filter to get started. If your digicam passes the TV remote control test and has a Black and White mode, you’ll be able see the infrared effect right before your eyes.


For More read the post at shutterbug.com

Watch out for those shaddows on the walls

A lot of people complain of their subjects getting shaddows on the walls when they shootem ( esp with flash) . There are a lot of ways to avoid that ( flashing ur shaddow areas on the walls , or just bouncing ur flash off the ceiling or trying not to position ur light too low , avoid light colored walls , and a zillion other ways probably ) , but one of the simplest ways is just keeping ur subject a good distance away from the walls and not shooting with ur flash straight onto the subject . Flashing ur subject at an angle (i.e lighting in planes ) is always a great idea , plus it gives a more realistic 3d feel to ur shot .

Everybody stutters one way or the other .....

A word of wisdom , from a rather old song which i still find inspiring ..( Scat man John couldnt complete a sentence without stuttering , ever since he was born . Its seriously amazing to think how very few people can sing this " impossible to sing without stuttering " song , yet he did it impressively)... "Everybody stutters one way or the other" .... Even the best photographers shoot bad pics , what really makes them the best is that those bad pics wont ever hold them back .







I also love it when he goes " but what u really dont know , im gonna tell u right now , is that the stutter and the scat are the same thing " ... True , sumtimes accidents and crazy thoughts can really be the peak of creativity , just dont be scared to experiment and do sumthing different .

This vids from u tube posted by a user named Xenoalien.... Enjoy....

Short advice ..... to take better pics ....

When taking a pic :

@Always keep it as simple as possible ....

Dont worry about what others think ... ure a PHOTOGRAPHER .. !

In a lot of cases to get the good shot , u have to dive down on ur belly or lay on ur back , or climb a tree , and i smile when i find photographer friends unwilling to do that . Never worry about what ud look like while shooting , never think about what "others" will think or say . Cause when u do :

a) Ure not using all ur options ( ure missing a lot of good angles) .
b) Ure distracted , so u use only a small percent of ur creative power .
c) It just shows u dont have the confidence to apply ur ideas .

Just be confident , and do ur thing ! ....

The Creative Gap : From Chase's blog

Like a zillion other people , im a regular reader of Chase's blog , and like a zillion more , i just love his work .The other day i saw this rad post there bout what we call the "CREATIVE GAP " , and i just had to link to it . Heres a teaser :

Heres the question that started it all : "Your pictures are stunning. Mine are not. Not trying to oversimplify this, but how on earth do you do what you do with a camera? I desperately want to move my creativity forward, but it won't seem to budge."

Chases answer : The answer to the question above lies in what I call 'the creative gap.'
The term 'creative gap' is a way of describing the difference between what we as artists can visualize ourselves creating and what we actually create. Sometimes we nail it and the gap is nil. Other times, as you might imagine, there's a huge disparity and the gap is wide. Whether we lack vision, skills, timing, whatever - it can get frustrating to set out to create a masterpiece, and settling for a different kind of piece, if you know what I mean. You envision it like an Edward Weston, but what you get is more like an Edward Scissorhands.

The rest of the post and a great vid at

http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2008/06/inspired-bychallenged-by-creative-gap.html

From Berts blog : Time to shoot ...

Was at Bert Stephani's blog a while ago , and loved his new post, a must read , heres a teaser :

" I get a lot of e-mails from people who like to find ways to become a better photographer. When I tell them that lots of practice is the key to improvement, many say “yeah, but I don’t have time for that”.

Bad news for those who seek an excuse for not improving , good news for someone who wants to grow as a photographer: EVERYONE HAS TIME TO PHOTOGRAPH !!!

Don’t panic if you don’t carry a camera or the situation doesn’t allow for photographing. Enter the concept of (what I call) ‘mental photography’, taking pictures in your head. When you see some nice light, a cool background or an exciting composition, try to imagine how to photograph it. It may sound like a silly idea but I just know that a lot of ‘mental photography’ allow me to develop some good reflexes. I have been doing certain actions, settings and technical solutions so many times in my fantasy that I don’t have to think about them anymore when actually shooting. It has become second nature. "

I LOVED THIS ... THE FULL POST AT http://bertstephani.com/blog/?p=75

Bouncing off some ideas : Getting creative with shallow DOF

When we talk about shallow depth of field photos , most of us immediately remember those beautiful portraits with the subjects face sharply in focus against a colorful blurry background . But today were applying a new use for shallow DOF , with the human element out of focus , and in focus will be "something" we will use for "story telling" . So lets get creative . Below are three pics I took that have the very same out of focus background with urs truly sitting in the same position each time . So basically I fixed the background just to show u how flexible this technique is . All were gonna be changing is the foreground and notice how different each pic becomes .

In this first composition I placed a watch in focus in the foreground . The immediate effect is the "Waiting" story . Time becomes the subject here . We start thinking of , "whats he waiting for" , or maybe it’s a "too late" scenario . That’s not the end of creativity though , if we were to place urs truly sleeping on a bed , we get the different story of " late to wake up " . If we were to place urs truly on a desk with a pencil and paper ud get the effect of " no time for this tough exam " . Go as creative as u want !

In this second piece here , is a tiny very unattractive consumer "point and shoot" cam in focus . Now the story is totally different than the previous pic . Now its more like " is he a photographer , maybe a beginner ? " . If I had maybe layed the cam on its back with it turned of it could maybe have sent the message of " no inspiration " . Wanna get creative ? Lets make urs truly hand someone some money " still in the background " , and the cam still in focus , now the story is " Cams are expensive " . Or maybe lets make the out of focus area in the pic someone posing for a portrait with urs truly shooting him with his pro cam , now the story becomes " this cam is as good as a pro cam " . See how rich this technique can get ?

In the third and last pic here , we have a bunch of pills in focus . So the story is " addiction " maybe or "sickness" , maybe or "depression" . Now lets get creative , give me a bunch of weights in the background and a couple of dumbbells and a gym suit , and now the story is " steroids " . Make me sit on a dinner table and eat something in the background and the story is " food supplements " …

There, ! Ive bounced off some ideas for u . Go crazy ! .

Full Frame Sensors continuing the sensor discussion

I was at this forum and saw this post about full frame sensors , and thought since were discussing sensors id summarize this pretty long ( yet informative ) post for all u guys .

Heres the question that started the thread :

@ hi there. i'm trying to understand why people are so crazy about full frame. the biggest advantage of it that i see is the ability to get wider.

conversely, i know that the edges of a lens are where it performs the worst optically, so if you can eliminate that area, it seems beneficial to me.

And those were the replies :

@ Well, a bigger sensor means bigger photosites, so lower noise for the same resolution and/or higher resolution. It also means you can use older lenses the way they were designed - a 50mm acts like a 50mm, not a 75mm.

@ Shallower depth of field. A full frame sensor is capable of the equivalent of one and a half stops (for a given field of view) shallower DOF compared to a crop sensor.

@ For me, I want the larger file sizes to work with, and the ability to use my wide-angle lenses to their fullest potential.

@ If you can't perceive what a 12-24 lens gets you with a crop sensor cam, then you don't need or want full frame. Super wide is super wide, whatever the camera. I've shot stuff with the Sigma 12-24 on 35mm film that gets you places where no crop sensor camera can even go near.

@ Some of the more dramatic landscapes require a wide angle. If you ever need to stitch an image for creative reasons, the FF sensor gives you more image to use, so you need to stitch less.

@ FF is a step towards medium format without the hefty price tag of film or a digital back.

@ the biggest advantage of the FF is the fact that you get shallower depth of fields with your wide apertures. for example on a medium format@80mm f4 possibly gives you similar DOF as you would get 50mm@2.8 on a D3. You probably go to f1.4 on your D200 to get the same DOF.

@ Until the smaller sensors - like the 4/3 system - can produce very low noise images at high ISO's like the the full frame (35mm size) sensors from Canon and Nikon - they will always be relegated to consumer cameras and will never be taken seriously by professionals.

@ For me, in order of importance, why I LOVE full-frame.
1. Lower noise than same generation cropped sensor.
2. Shallower DOF.
3. Same angle of view as 35mm film.

And ofcourse , last but not least , the comment which i LOVED THE MOST , and for me was the MOST EDUCATED, MOST INFORMATIVE --->

@ Chicks love FF!

I couldnt stop after reading that one , i laughed for a pretty long while ! hehehehe ...

SENSORS continuation ..

Every place has to have this photographer whos always out there , keen on spreading the knowledge and making sure the photo " illeteracy" (if i may ) , becomes less and less each day . Over here , it Mr Tony Marcel , whom i cant thank enough for his newsletters and emails . The piece down here is from an email he sent to u where he literally summarized photography in general . Enjoy . Its pretty long but its worth it .

Sensor types

Fujifilm's SuperCCDs use a honeycomb layout for photodiodes and the color-filter layer.

Start shopping for a digital SLR and you quickly find yourself entangled in a rat's nest of claims about sensor types and sizes, not to mention an entire alphabet of acronyms. Here's a breakdown of the basic sensor types.

CCD (charged-coupled device)
Currently the most common type of digital SLR sensor. Almost every dSLR manufacturer offers at least one CCD-based model.
Pros: Traditionally, the highest image quality, pixel for pixel. Current sensors include innovative chip architectures designed to enhance dynamic range or speed.
Cons: Most expensive. Most power-hungry.

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The CMOS sensor used in Canon's Digital Rebel XT.

CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor)
Initial implementations took advantage of CMOS' on-chip electronics to make cheap but noisy sensors. Stripping off the extra circuits increased each pixel's light-collecting area, thereby boosting sensitivity and quality to surpass that of many CCDs.
Pros: Theoretically, lower production cost. Uses less power than CCD.
Cons: CMOS sensors tend to be bigger than their CCD equivalents, resulting in larger cameras.

The bottom line on sensor types
Ignore the theoretical claims and judge the cameras, not the sensor types. We've seen great photos--and crummy ones, too--from digital SLRs with every technology.

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Sensor sizes

Nearly all digital SLR sensors are much bigger--and consequently much more expensive--than the thumbnail-size imagers in point-and-shoot digicams. Current digital SLR models use these sensor sizes.

Four Thirds
The specified sensor size for the Four Thirds format, an open digital SLR standard created by Olympus and Kodak.
Dimensions: 17.3mm by 13mm
Example cameras: All Olympus, Panasonic dSLRs

APS
A loose term for imagers that are approximately the size of the APS-C or APS-H film formats. Most digital SLRs use this size.
Dimensions: Varies, APS-C (ranges from about 14mm by 21mm to 16mm by 24mm), APS-H (28.7mmx19.1mm).
Example cameras: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi, Nikon D80, Sony Alpha DSLR-A350, Canon EOS-1D Mark III

35mm-film format
Often called full-frame, to indicate that the sensor is the same size as a standard frame on a roll of 35mm film. Sensors this big are very expensive to build, but they eliminate the so-called focal-length magnification factor (see page 4 for more on this).
Dimensions: 24mm by 36mm
Example cameras: EOS-1Ds Mark III, Canon EOS 5D, Nikon D3

This image shows the actual sizes of the sensors used in digital cameras, from the tiny chips in compact cameras to the large, 35mm-film-size sensors in some high-end digital SLRs.

Geek note
Larger sensors are the secret to why 10 megapixels from a digital SLR beat 10 megapixels from a consumer digicam. To spread the same number of pixels over a larger sensor area, the pixels (technically, photosites containing diodes) must be bigger. These bigger photosites gather more light, so they produce less-noisy images, capture greater dynamic range, and perform much better at high ISO settings.

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So what sensor resolution do I need?

The short answer
Any current dSLR has sufficient resolution to handle Web or newspaper reproduction. For magazines and large print sizes (16x20 inches and greater), especially where you'll be cropping for detail, 8 megapixels is a good starting point. Fine-art landscape photographers and others seeking maximum detail should consider 10-megapixel-plus digital SLRs.

The long answer
Do the math. For example, let's say you're making an 8x10-inch print on an inkjet printer.
Step 1: Figure out the required output resolution.
Our inkjet printer produces best results at a resolution of 240 pixels per inch or greater.

Step 2: Multiply the required output resolution by the linear dimensions of your final print.
8 inches x 240 pixels per inch = 1,920 pixels required for the vertical dimension
10 inches x 240 pixels per inch = 2,400 pixels required for the horizontal dimension

Step 3: Multiply vertical by horizontal.
1,920 x 2,400 = 4,608,000, or 4.6 megapixels, is our minimum required resolution.

Step 4: Accommodate some overhead for cropping.
If you think you'll usually crop out about 30 percent of a photo, add 30 percent more pixels to the minimum required resolution.
4.6 megapixels x 1.3 = 5.9 megapixels

Keep in mind:
The math outlined above isn't written in stone; you can usually get good large prints even when you scale an image's resolution up in a program such as Photoshop.

What about dust?

Every time you change the lens, you run the risk of dust getting on the sensor, which at best can result in bad pixels you'll need to retouch out of your photos and at worst can muck up your camera's insides. Unless you shoot in very dusty, sandy, or otherwise particulate-heavy environments, and if you take reasonable care when you swap lenses, dust shouldn't be a huge worry; most cameras include a combination of antidust technologies, such as vibrating the sensor on startup to dislodge particles. If you are partial to shooting around dirt and sand, then you may want to search for discussions about the efficacy of various systems. Some sites, such as Chasseur d'Images, ran comparative tests in 2007 and concluded that Olympus had the only decent performance in this area. However, a year (or more) is a long time in a camera product cycle, and the results may have changed with subsequent generations of cameras.