Happy Holidays!

I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Holiday and also an awesome 2011. This is our mini Christmas tree. I recently picked up the Yonguo Remote Flash trigger (~$30). The flash is behind the tree reflecting against the blinds. It is probably a bit too strong, but I realized later that you can dial down the power of your flash. Most external flashes in Manual mode have the ability to change the strength of your flashes (Eg. 1/2 to 1/64th)

Tree (F-13, 5 sec. exposure, ISO 400)
Ornament (F-5, 1/5 sec exposure, ISO1600)

Christian Science Church Corridor 18/52

I was on my way home from Prudential Mall after spending the afternoon at Barnes and Noble reading about photography. In particular, an article in the Digital Photographer magazine talked about how to compose a photo. They outlined 5 categories: Shapes, Angles, Movement, Lines and Space. This photo was taken with 3 exposures so the lights would not be overexposed and meant to demonstrate Lines. A good architectural photo will have columns and lines parallell to the side of the photo. This can be accomplished with the Skew function in Photoshop and will aid in correcting some lens distortion.

Sandy Beaches and Creating a Vignette Effect 17/52

To create a vignette around a photo is pretty simple in Photoshop. This one might be a tad exaggerated. First, you select the Elliptical Marquee tool and draw an oval as big as you want. Next, you don't want what you selected inside the circle, so you need to "Invert" your selection which you can find in the pulldown menu. After that, right-click your oval, and select Feather...and choose about 200 pixels. This will ensure there is a gradient after you darken the corners instead of an abrupt change. Finally, you can go to Image--> Adjustments--> Levels or Curves...to darken the area outside of the oval.

Acadia National Park: Thunder Hole HDR 16/52

Last one from Acadia National Park (I promise Sandy). Thunder Hole, an area carved out by water, is supposed to make a loud thundering sound at mid-tide.

I just installed Photomatix and I've been fiddling around with some of it's settings for making HDR images. This image was made from 3 images -2EV, 0EV and +2EV using Automatic Exposure Bracketing (AEB) which can be set on most DSLR cameras. There are some halo areas that I'd like to avoid and I've read that you can blend the HDR image with one of the original images, but I haven't tried that yet.

Thunder Hole (F-10, ISO100, 1/100, 1/25, 1/6 second exposure in order below)

Acadia National Park: Jordan Pond 15/52

I took a quick trip up to Acadia National Park during Columbus Day long weekend to catch some fall foliage. Jordan Pond is a small lake inside the park with a trail that runs around it, parts of it where you can see the Bubble Mountains in the background. A storm had passed through the area couple days before, so there was a large amount of leaf drop in the area.

Waterfalls 14/52

It's a small waterfall, but I've been wanting to try this smooth silky effect on the water. Took these shots with a polarized filter to minimize reflections.

F-10, 3.2 sec exposure, ISO 100

The High Line 13/52

Earlier last month, I had gone to NYC to watch the US Open and have been meaning to post this series. The High Line is elevated above the streets of New York and runs from Gansevoort St to 20th St. It used to be a railroad elevated above ground and was designed to avoid all the accidents that used to occur on the streets below. Since 1980, the High Line has not been used for anything and was marked for demolition; however, a group of individuals known as the Friends of the High Line decided to save it from demolition. They convinced the city of New York to reuse it for a park and in June 2009, the High Line park opened to the public. An extension to 30th street is planned for 2011. (All pictures, F-4, 1/4000 s, ISO 400)

Macro: Bee Drinking Nectar 12/52

F/4.5, 1/500 s exposure, ISO 200

This past week I dusted off my macro lens after a few months of semi-retirement and decided to shoot something other than teeth. With the fall weather having arrived, I was hoping that there would be some flowers still in bloom. Luckily there were still some blooming in Boston Common and even better, some bees still hovering around drinking nectar. Having bees around or any other insects around just makes the macro shot more interesting and alive. The other option without any bugs is to have a spray bottle handy to spray the flower, giving it the morning dew appearance. Anyway, this shot took me a while to get because of the combination of the bee not staying still and the fear of getting stung. I think I probably could use a better depth of field to get more of the central flower in focus which I'll try next time.

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro

Motion Blurrr 11/52

Ferrari 360 (one of my favorite cars) (*ok apparently this is not the 360, its the 430 [courtesy of Stephen Lam] and obviously I don't know Ferraris lol)

Recently, I figured out how to add motion blur to a non-moving object. There are a few ways to do it. One way is a little harder but will be more realistic and won't create a halo around the car or object. The alternate way is to simply duplicate the image, add Motion Blur to the duplicate and then layer it on top of the original. After that, you can erase the blurred car to reveal the original car. To add motion to the wheels, use the Elliptical Marquee tool to select the rims and tire and then add Radial Blur. You can take any picture and add a whole new dynamic.

Tiles for America 10/52

Tiles for America: F-11, 1/250 s, ISO 400

F-11, 1/640 exp, ISO 400

While exploring part of Greenwich village looking for some food, we stumbled upon a small memorial for 9/11. In keeping with the recent 9/11 anniversary, I thought it would be appropriate timing for these photos and to remember all those who perished in the twin towers. I remember hearing the tragedy from the loud radio of a garbage truck that morning then turning on the TV and seeing it on every channel. What's your memory?

US Open 2010 Grand Slam 9/52

Unisphere, Corona Park, Flushing Meadows, NY: F-4.5, 1/50 exposure, ISO 1600

Louis Armstrong Stadium: F-16, 1/125 s, ISO 400

I've been wanting to check out the US Open for a long time and I finally had the chance to go during labor day weekend. We got tickets to the evening session and watched a third round match between Novak Djokovic (3-seed) vs. James Blake from the upper promenade of Arthur Ashe Stadium. The panorama below is actually 2 panoramas stitched together and is the view from our seats. Louis Armstrong Stadium used to be the main show court for big matches before Arthur Ashe Stadium. The Unisphere is located in Corona Park near the grounds of the US Open and is famous for being in the movie Men in Black. Congrats to the eventual winner Rafa! But, still wish Federer won.

Arthur Ashe Stadium: F-5.6, 1/80 s, ISO 1600

Institute of Contemporary Art 8/52

Another one of KL's friends came to visit Boston recently and we've been trying to do different touristy things with each visitor. This particular friend liked art, so off to the ICA...In addition to displaying a lot of interesting art, the ICA is one of the most interesting architechtural buildings in Beantown. Sadly, we weren't allowed to take pics of any artwork which included a section displaying Obey art. The indoor pic was the only area where we could take photos and it overlooks the Boston Harbour. We were lucky enough to have gone on a Thursday when it is open to the public for free between 5-9 PM.

ICA exterior: HDR, F-16, 15 second exposure, ISO 100
Indoor: F-14, 1/60 s exposure, ISO 400

Experimenting with Strobes Part II 7/52

Crystals: F/16, 1/100 exposure, ISO 100

Cocktail glass: F/25, 1/100 exposure, ISO100

Experimenting with Strobes 6/52

So we learned a little more about product/still life photography this week. Although I don't know when or if I'll ever get around to buying those expensive strobe lights ($1000 each), it was still a pretty fun exercise. We took pictures of pretty mundane ordinary things as you can tell, but you can imagine replacing the forks and spoons with a commercial product.

For shiny objects like crystal or silverware, placing the objects in a lightbox and diffusing the light is highly recommended. In this case, strobes were placed above the objects, and also under the frosted plexiglass.

What you need: Power source, strobe lights, reflectors, light meter, hot shoe coupler, frosted plexiglass, light box or black/white background. Long story short: 1) connect power source to camera via coupler, 2) connect strobes to power source, 3) place product on frosted plexiglass, 4) position your strobes, 5) place light meter near product to get a reading. We want high F-stop (16+) and ISO 100 for good depth of field and greater detail. (* light meter has a white dome that senses the light. It is also retractable. For 2D objects like paintings, use light meter retracted. For 3D objects, use the light meter with the dome up.

Green glasses: (F-16, 1/13s exposure, ISO 100)
Silverware: (F-22, 1/80s exposure, ISO 100)

Mount Monadnock 5/52

Some of KL's friends visited us over the weekend and we decided to check out the 2nd most hiked mountain in the world, second only to Mount Fuji. After a 2 hour, thigh burning hike up the trail, we finally stood atop Mount Monadnock 3,165 feet above sea level. We enjoyed a 360 degree scenic view of the White Mountains while eating a scrumptious avocado, egg and turkey sandwich.

F/13, 1/2500 s exp, ISO 400

Vieux Montreal 4/52

So I decided to go on a mini-getaway to Montreal with KL. We were exploring Old Montreal and happened upon Notre Dame Basilica. Fascinated about the history behind the church, we decided to "donate" $10 dollars to see the inside. Not knowing what to expect, we were pleasantly surprised at how rich and colorful everything looked. So out came my camera...
Also, I felt the images taken inside could be used to demonstrate the sharpening tool in PS.

Sharpening your images can help you bring out more detail. It is usually one of the critical steps performed in post-processing of most digital images. If you have Photoshop CS5 and you click on the "Filter" pull down menu, you will find the tool that helps you "Sharpen" your image. Next you will see the following options: sharpen, sharpen edges, sharpen more, smart sharpen... and unsharp mask... According to my photography instructor, all those options are garbage except for unsharp mask.

Unsharp masking, contrary to its name, subtracts a blurred copy of the image away from the original image leaving behind the "unsharp mask." Contrast is increased at the edges of the original image and this gives the illusion of a sharpened image. If you want a more detailed explanation, you can visit http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/unsharp-mask.htm.
So once you click on unsharp mask, the recommended settings are: Amount: 100-150%, Radius: 1.0 pixels, Threshold: 0.
Above is an image before being edited. Some people may prefer the softer image above while others may prefer the sharpened image below. (F-3.5, 1/10 exposure, ISO 1600)

Panorama Fun 3/52

Panoramas are a great way to provide a different visual perspective. To take a good panorama, it is important to keep the lens at 35 mm focal length (don't remember the reason why, but I'll find out). Each shot should also overlap 1/3 of the previous shot. F-stop should be at F11/16 for good depth of field and held constant for all shots. Once the shutter speed is set, it should not be changed either. This way, when the image is stitched together, the panorama will look fluent. The exposure may be different for each individual shot because of lighting, so you can just take the average of the highest and lowest shutter speed.

I used Adobe Bridge to merge the images and opened it in Photoshop CS5. To do this, select all the images in Adobe Bridge. Click Tools --> Photoshop-->Photomerge...

After this a window will pop up. Make sure Auto is selected and check the box at the bottom "Blend images together" Then just wait and voila.

Above are images taken of Lake Nick in Bolton-Est, Quebec(F16, 10 sec, ISO100) and the Boston Harbor (F11, 10 sec, ISO100).

Heaven in my mouth 2/52

I learned about product photography this week. The key to product photography is to capture as much detail as possible, therefore should try to shoot at low ISO (100).

Took this photo in a DIY lightbox made from a cut-out cardboard box and tracing paper.

F/5.6, 1/13 s, ISO 100.

Boston Skyline 1/52

Checked out the top floor of my parking garage and discovered it had a great view of the Boston skyline. I was able to capture the skyline around sunset. For best results, try to take photo approximately 20 minutes after sunset.

F-11, 15 seconds, ISO 100

Facing north, was able to capture traffic on I-93 going into Boston's financial district.