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....