Slot Canyon Photography Tips & Techniques |  |
- Slot Canyon Photography Tips & Techniques
- Interesting Photo of the Day: Dog Walks on Water
- Quick Tip on How to Edit Skies In Adobe Lightroom (Video)
- Bond Trader Turned Top Street Portrait Photographer (Video)
| Slot Canyon Photography Tips & Techniques Posted: 16 Oct 2013 08:46 PM PDT Images of slot canyons represent one of the most fascinating corners of our planet: the American Southwest. Sandstone, over millions of years, has been eroded by the power of water, creating deep, winding corridors. For anyone of any age with an explorative spirit, slot canyons are a playground. The two most iconic, and likely the most photogenic canyons in the world, are within a two hour drive from each other. They are the Zion Narrows and Antelope Canyon.  “Cerámicas Naturales,” a photo of Antelope Canyon captured by Federico Flores Moy (Click image to see more from Moy.) My name is Seth Hamel. I am a professional landscape and adventure photographer working in the Zion National Park area. When I go into the Narrows by myself or with clients, the start time isn’t until 10 am or so, depending on the time of year. Many of the clients that I guide through the Narrows ask, “Can we start earlier? I want to make sure I’m in there for the best light.” This is due to the fact that with typical landscape photography, we want to get that early, glowing light on the features of whatever we are photographing.  Untitled photograph of Antelope Canyon, captured by Mark Allen (Click image to see more from Allen). In slot canyons, however, the best light occurs mid-day on cloudless, sunny days. The best light is not direct sunlight hitting the walls of the canyon, but rather reflected light. Reflected light occurs when bright, harsh, direct sunlight hits a canyon wall and reflects that light onto another wall. This is the type of light that produces rich, saturated, glowing colors in slot canyons. It is very important to keep even a peep of sky or direct sunlight out of your photos, as this produces blown out areas of your image and can produce a nasty haze near those areas. Naturally, there are exceptions to this rule, but they are uncommon. The Zion Narrows and Antelope Canyon are significantly different canyons. The Zion Narrows is the largest slot canyon in the world! Carved by the power of the Virgin River, the Narrows is a canyon where you hike in the river itself. Antelope Canyon is a dry canyon, unless there has been recent rainfall. Due to the narrowness of this canyon and its large water gathering area during the monsoon season, this canyon has been carved by powerful raging flash floods. Because of the differences between these canyons, camera settings can vary with each. To obtain professional quality images, a tripod is required. As a general rule, setting your ISO to 100 will give you crisp, printable images. In canyons, you typically want to have the entire scene in focus–no blurring of the foreground or background (again this is a general rule). In order to obtain such depth of field, set your aperture to a higher number. F/16, f/18 or f/22 are useful. From there, read your camera’s internal light meter and adjust your shutter speed in order to get the appropriate exposure. These settings are a safe bet for Antelope Canyon.  “Red Slot Canyon HDR” captured by Mitch Johanson (Click image to see more from Johanson.) The Zion Narrows presents situations where controlling your shutter speed is the first priority. Due to the beautiful flowing water in this magnificent canyon, controlling what the flowing water looks like plays a major role in the artistic outcome of your image. Good shutter speeds range from 1/2 of a second to 1/10 of a second. This requires some experimentation with different speeds of water flow and the effect you are hoping to achieve. After setting the shutter speed, I would adjust my aperture, and then the ISO. This can be a tricky balance. Having an experienced mentor in this situation is helpful. Slot canyons are amazingly beautiful and awe inspiring. They are candy lands for any level of photographer. Keep in mind that during rainy periods, slot canyons are very dangerous due to flash flooding. Be sure to do your research on flash flooding and weather conditions before you enter into these canyons. There have been numbers of fatalities in both of these canyons. About the Author: Go to full article: Slot Canyon Photography Tips & Techniques |
| Interesting Photo of the Day: Dog Walks on Water Posted: 16 Oct 2013 06:39 PM PDT Everyone thinks their pet is the smartest, the cutest, the cleverest. But photographer Ken Watson‘s German shepherd may have a bit of an advantage — she can walk on water!  German shepherd walks on water by Ken Watson (Via Imgur, Click for Larger Size) Well, at least it appears that she can. Watson explains the natural conditions that enabled this remarkable (and un-Photoshopped) photo:
“The Rideau” refers to the Rideau Canal in Ontario, Canada, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and National Historic Site of Canada. Go to full article: Interesting Photo of the Day: Dog Walks on Water |
| Quick Tip on How to Edit Skies In Adobe Lightroom (Video) Posted: 16 Oct 2013 03:51 PM PDT Many photographers are faced with the conundrum of an over exposed sky and underexposed foreground. Because the detail of the foreground is often more important than the sky itself, we expose for the darker part of the image (the foreground) and let the sky go over exposed. While this gives the foreground a good look, it leaves the sky overblown and uninteresting. Fortunately, this can be remedied with a quick fix using Lightroom. Here’s how: The first photo we see below is the original image taken straight out of the camera. All of the Lightroom’s adjustment sliders are set to their default values and, as you can see, the exposure is all over the place. The first thing that comes to mind is to slap a graduated neutral density filter over the sky, but the problem with that is parts of the trees will also be affected by the filter. So how do you get around that? Easy.
Apply your filter as you normally would then adjust the shadow slider to bring up the tones in the parts of the image in which you do not want affected by the filter–in this case the trees. By brightening up the shadows after the filter is applied, you are suddenly left with a more dramatic sky and more equally exposed image overall.
The simple little trick brought the mediocre original image and made it into this stunning photo we see above. The color and clouds in the sky give the image more depth without compromising the rest of the image. It’s a simple remedy to a common problem! For Further Training on Post-Processing in Lightroom:With every version Lightroom gets better and better, but every time they change things up it means time re-learning the software and adapting its new features. Pro photographer Phil Steele has updated his popular training course to educate photographers on how to master all aspects of the program (including version 5). Discount found here: Lightroom Made Easy Go to full article: Quick Tip on How to Edit Skies In Adobe Lightroom (Video) |
| Bond Trader Turned Top Street Portrait Photographer (Video) Posted: 16 Oct 2013 10:58 AM PDT We often talk about portrait techniques in terms of the technical: how to achieve a masterfully-crafted composition of someone’s facial features. But when it comes down to it, a great portrait is not about posing, or lighting, or meticulous post-processing; it’s about the person, and what we understand about them through the image. In his project, Humans of New York, bond-trader-turned-photographer Brandon Stanton makes it his mission to connect his subjects’ innermost selves with his million-and-a-half subscribers – every single day. ABC Nightline released this heartfelt coverage of the project: What makes Stanton a great photographer isn’t his technical knowledge, but his emotional understanding. Through his relatively short career, he has honed the ability to see the stories that play out all around us and to distill them down into a single shot with a poignant caption. New York City has long been the place where the line between public and private life gets blurred, a quality which can’t be forgotten as people from all walks of life spill their hearts out to Stanton’s lens and friendly smile. Mashable also released this short clip detailing the artist’s philosophy about his work (you can also catch a glimpse of his gear – looks like a Canon 5D Mk III with a 50mm f/1.2L lens!): The way to learn stories is no great secret: if you want to know, ask. As photographers, we sometimes have a tendency to hide behind our lenses, but the only way to connect with the people we photograph is to talk to them, to find out what makes them who they are. Only then can their unique selves fully shine through in our photographs. Honest, earnest questions strengthen the bond between you and your subject, and help you understand how to tell their individual story. Your emotional investment has the potential to turn an average portrait into a work of art.
It’s important to note that every person Stanton photographs – no matter who they are or what they’ve done – is shown with dignity. He always honours his subjects, and never passes judgement, but searches for the best in everyone. The underlying story in all of this, though, is the inspirational tale of how Stanton was able to turn a potentially tragic event (getting fired) into an incredible opportunity which he has used to touch the lives of so many people. He has recently released a 304-page hardcover book, also titled Humans of New York, which compiles 400 of his greatest images to date. Go to full article: Bond Trader Turned Top Street Portrait Photographer (Video) |
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