Detour into Photojournalism

For my blog today, I decided to explore the concept of photojournalism. While learning about landscape and night photography, the recurring theme is that of planning: deciding what exactly you want in the shot, when is the best time to get it, and what equipment you need to obtain the exact amount of focus you desire.

In contrast, photojournalism focuses on capturing the moments you can't plan. These articles I found suggest tips for getting good photojournalism shots, even if the only camera you have in the moment is your iPhone. Equipment is not quite as important here as long as you can anticipate and capture the moment. Photographs for news emphasize emotion, and there are several ways to show that emotion in the way the picture is designed. Composition, different angles, symmetry, and varying points of view on a subject are all important elements used to effectively demonstrate the desired emotion.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/IREPORT/09/02/capture.photo.bootcamp.irpt/

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/youngphotographer/article2642999.ece

The Seven Rules of Dominance

This week, I spent time taking pictures that would display some of the seven rules of dominance. These "rules" suggest that certain elements of a picture will catch the eye more than others, and are useful tools to remember when designing a photograph. The rules of dominance include:

• red is more attractive than yellow
• large draws more attention than small
• difference stands out more than conformity
• jagged lines are more striking than curved lines
• diagonal lines draw more attention than vertical lines
• sharpness gathers more attention than blur
• light is more attractive than dark

I have posted four photographs I have taken that incorporate these rules of dominance. See if you can find examples of the rules in each!

Night Photography: Round 2

This week, while exploring more aspects of night photography, I actually found a good website of what not to do. This article from Digital Camera World explains common errors of night photography and gives great examples of pictures that did not turn out so great. Sometimes, it is best to see examples of what not to do in order to avoid making similar mistakes.

http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2012/03/23/12-common-errors-of-night-photography-and-how-to-fix-them/

In contrast, night photographer David Kingham has some fantastic examples in his gallery of great night photographs. I was amazed by the way he captured an entire semi-circle of the Milky Way or a full-circled star trail in his pictures. They are quite beautiful. Although they could not be posted here, my favorites are "North Moulton Barn Milky Way," "Path to Longs Pano," and "Snowy Range Star Trails."

 http://www.davidkinghamphotography.com/night

Additionally, David Kingham has posted a video about editing night photographs. He created some helpful tools specifically for night photographs that can be used in Lightroom and downloaded for free from his website. These tools include enhancing the Milky Way, sharpening stars, blurring stars, and removing light pollution.

http://www.davidkinghamphotography.com/night-photography-lightroom-presets

Night Photography

 While searching the web for ideas on night photography, I came across this blog from PhotoShelter.com listing six tips for shooting at night. A few of these stood out to me: first, including an interesting foreground such as a tree or rock can increase the interest of the photo and bring the viewer into the scene. It enhances the effect of the stars or star trail and makes a more dramatic photo. Second, taking a "dark frame" shot, or a shot with the lens cap on, can be layered onto the star or night photo in post-production in order to decrease noise and enhance clarity in the final shot. Here is the link to this article:

http://blog.photoshelter.com/2012/05/six-standout-night-photography-tips-to-help-you-master-the-craft/


Another concept I found while browsing the web is that of zoom burst photos. I had not seen these before, and the resulting image from zoom bursting can be quite interesting, making the subject or light appear to be moving toward the viewer. The zoom burst is achieved by zooming the lens in or out during a long exposure, making it ideally suited to nighttime photography. Here are some examples of zoom bursting that I discovered:


http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2013/12/01/9-creative-photo-ideas-to-try-in-december-2013/



http://www.photographymad.com/pages/view/how-to-take-stunning-zoom-burst-photos

Filters and Landscape Photography

This week, I decided to look at camera filters and their effects on landscape photography.

There are many types of filters that can be used to manipulate how the camera interprets exposures and colors. One of these is the GND, or graduated neutral density, filters. These filters are especially useful for the landscape photographer since often times in a scene the sky will be much brighter than the ground. The GND filter allows the photographer to darken the sky by a few stops while keeping an optimum exposure for the ground, allowing both the sky and ground to be viewed in a proper exposure without creating dark shadows or blowing out the sky. This effect can also be done in post-production if the photographer combines several photos of the same scene taken at different exposure values. However, if something moves in the scene between shots (like a blade of grass blowing in the wind) then that object will become blurred in the blended shot (called ghosting). Here is an excellent article describing the use of the GND filter versus exposure blending from landscape photographer Christopher O'Donnell:

http://christopherodonnellphotography.com/gnd-filters-vs-exposure-blending/

In addition to GND filters, polarizing filters can be useful in landscape photography. A polarizer can bring out warm or cool tones in a scene, emphasizing the changing colors of leaves or a bright sunset. Polarizers are also helpful on overcast days to add some "pop" to a scene with flat or gray lighting. Photographers can also use multiple filters at the same time; for example, one can create a unique effect with the proper exposure from a GND filter while simultaneously emphasizing warm tones from a warm tone polarizer. Here is a great article describing the use of filters in nature photography from the Nature Photographer's Online Magazine (the before and after photos shown here are worth checking out!):

http://www.naturephotographers.net/dw0502-1.html

Montana Landscape Photos

 

Landscape photographer Jay Wesler provides some great examples for landscape photography in his work. I came across his photos by searching for landscape photographers in Montana. I took an interest in the photos of this local artist and thought his work was unique.

 http://www.jaywesler.com/


I really liked his black and white photography; it seems to be an unusual way to display landscapes. It is amazing to me how stunning a landscape can still be when it is void of its color. The black and white tones bring out the clouds and water more as well as creating a very dramatic contrast between the elements of the sky and the land. As you can see from his photos, what better place is there to take dramatic landscape photographs than in Montana?!

Here are few of my favorites (all photos by Jay Wesler):

Week Two: Landscape Photography

While researching information for our first topic of the semester, landscape photography, I came across this article from National Geographic. It describes some basic landscape photography tips from Robert Caputo.

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-tips/landscape-photography-tips/#page=1

At first, it seemed like a very simple article that was decent to read but not really helpful. However, it did bring up an interesting idea that I hadn't considered: even landscape photography has to have a point of interest. A common misconception of landscape photography is that it will be a good photo if you simply capture as much as possible of the landscape in front of you. Even when it looks great to your eyes though, the photo will not display the emotion you feel or interest you see unless you can find a way to highlight that.

This article provides ideas on how to choose an interesting subject in many different types of landscape settings in order to capture that emotion and portray it to your viewers. Taking a great photo of a landscape requires more than just point at the horizon and shoot; it requires you to decide exactly what it is you want to convey in the photo, whether it is an object such as an unusual tree or a feeling such as heat in a desert. Planning doesn't have to be difficult, but knowing what you want in the end result will enable you to find something in your landscape that more successfully portrays what you want, resulting in a better landscape photograph.