Bird Photography: How to Take Great Bird Photos |  |
- Bird Photography: How to Take Great Bird Photos
- Interesting Photo of the Day: Tiny Planet Panorama of the Bonneville Salt Flats
- How Some Amazing Composite Photography Was Done for the Fiat Car Brand (Video)
- Beautiful Imagery from New York Ballet’s Street Art Installation (Video)
| Bird Photography: How to Take Great Bird Photos Posted: 29 Mar 2014 06:06 PM PDT One of the most popular aspects of animal photography is bird photography. Taking perfect pictures of birds in the wild can be very challenging, but you can create many wonderful photo opportunities in your own backyard.  “Chaffinch on Cherry Blossom” captured by John Booth (Click image to see more from Booth.) Setting up your Backyard Photo ShootsThe biggest challenge isn’t actually attracting birds to your yard. Once feeders are out and discovered, word will get around fast! The biggest challenge is getting the birds to perch where you want them. So before setting up your feeding stations and birdbaths, consider the locations carefully. Choose locations that won’t make the birds easy prey for cats and other predators, and at the same time that will provide you with the opportunity to photograph them with nice backgrounds and good angles. Do remember that if you set feeders out in the winter to consistently provide quality seed so your feathery subjects aren’t filling up on something like bread that won’t provide them with the energy needed to stay warm at night. Birdbaths also provide good photo ops, and bird houses will help encourage birds to hang out in your yard.  “Robin on the Bird Bath” captured by John Booth (Click image to see more from Booth.) If your goal is to attract certain species of birds, check with The Audubon Society to see what types of seeds or plants (in the case of birds that won’t take their meals at feeders) are best. You can also find good tips at the National Wildlife Federation’s Gardening for Wildlife pages. Don’t limit your photographs to the bird feeders and baths either. These will attract birds to your yard that will perch on tree limbs and fences nearby, so when you have your camera in hand, scout out these areas too. Camera Settings for Bird PhotographyHave you ever noticed that birds are in almost constant motion? When eating, their little heads are bobbing up and down, and when they are on the ground they are always looking this way and that for predators. The best setting for your bird photography will be a high shutter speed, so use Sports mode or set your shutter speed to at least 1/250.  “Orange Breasted Sunbird” captured by Patrick Benade (Click image to see more from Benade.) If you have an optical zoom on your compact digital or a telephoto lens on an SLR, this will make taking pictures a whole lot easier. An optical zoom of 6x, depending on the camera, can give you about the same magnification as a 200mm lens, meaning a photograph taken from about 10 feet away could look like a close up. Some of the so called “bridge cameras” offer zooms from 10 to 20 feet, but not all produce quality results, so check around before purchasing. You may also need a tripod or other camera stabilizer when using the high range zooms, and as always, opt for optical. Given a long enough lens, you can get some wonderful pictures of birds in flight or perched high up in trees too. Professional nature photographers often use a 600 lens to capture images with good detail of birds in flight or far away. Telephoto lenses of this size are very expensive, but there is another way, brought to us from birders. It’s called digiscoping. With this method, you combine the birder’s spotting scope with a digital camera. Blue skies are best for pictures of birds in flight. And the bluest sky of the day is often that hour after dawn. Also, look for patterns when you may have flocks of birds that fly over your yard at certain times of day. Or, if you want to photograph birds of prey, such as osprey, go to a lake or river early in the evening when they fish. This is also a good time for soft, even, and warm lighting.  “Egret” captured by Patrick Benade (Click image to see more from Benade.) Hopefully by using these tips, you’ll not only attract more birds to your yard for more bird photo opportunities but capture some fantastic pictures that you’ll be proud to display. About the Author: Go to full article: Bird Photography: How to Take Great Bird Photos |
| Interesting Photo of the Day: Tiny Planet Panorama of the Bonneville Salt Flats Posted: 29 Mar 2014 03:07 PM PDT Tiny planet photos have been gaining popularity, and the reason is clear when you see examples such as this photo of the Bonneville Salt Flats:  Bonneville Salt Flats Tiny Planet (Via Imgur. Click for larger size.) The photo was taken at the Bonneville Salt Flats, an area in Northern Utah well known for hosting several land speed record events. These types of tiny planet images are made from a traditional panoramic portrait and are made into a sphere during post processing. It is possible to make tiny planet images in Photoshop, but there are also apps available on bot iOS and Android mobile devices. Go to full article: Interesting Photo of the Day: Tiny Planet Panorama of the Bonneville Salt Flats |
| How Some Amazing Composite Photography Was Done for the Fiat Car Brand (Video) Posted: 29 Mar 2014 01:18 PM PDT When Dave Hill was approached by car manufacturer Fiat to create a series of images for an advertising campaign that would be featured in Vanity Fair magazine, he was thrilled at the opportunity to work with the company a second time after his first experience with the car makers back in 2012. The new shoot would involve four different images, each paying homage to a specific film genre. Take a look at the mini-documentary for some behind the scenes footage and insights from the photographer himself: To complete the entire campaign, each of the four film genre shoots was shot over the course of a day in various locations. The Sci-Fi ShootThe crew took to the desert where they transformed a section of the sand into a road and used lifts to hoist the car above the ground. Using various light sources, such as Profoto Octos and different colored gels, the car was lit to make it appear as though it was being beamed up to outer space.  Sci-Fi The Film Noir ShootHall says the film noir shoot was one of his favorites. It was shot on a Paramount Films back lot in black and white to create the moody feel the genre is known is for. The crew spent a couple of weeks getting the lot to look exactly as they wanted it. This included taking out some streetlights and adding in features, such as the neon cafe sign you see in the background. Fog machines added further drama. After all of the preparations, the shoot went off without a hitch.  Film Noir The Thriller ShotThis photo required a lot of foresight, as many aspects that made the final image had to be shot individually and composited in during post production. The car was shot separately and lit using a large wall of white diffusion. The trees, fog, and the light in the window of the house were all added in post.  Thriller The Action ShootThis shoot also required a lot of post production to create the final image. The cars were shot separately, as well as the actor jumping, who was actually suspended from ropes in the safety of a closed parking lot. The buildings, helicopter, and background elements were shot individually and added into the final image.  Action For some of the shots Hall also used an inexpensive Sony HD video camera to broadcast a live view of the scene. This assisted with lighting and eliminated the need for taking test shots all day. This was a good piece of insight that could be applied to many different photo shoots.
Go to full article: How Some Amazing Composite Photography Was Done for the Fiat Car Brand (Video) |
| Beautiful Imagery from New York Ballet’s Street Art Installation (Video) Posted: 29 Mar 2014 10:39 AM PDT A Parisian street artist known only as “JR” has been making waves in the international art scene for a few years now. So much so that the New York City Ballet contracted him to design their latest art installation. You can check out the part-documentary, part-trailer for the exhibit here: The trailer makes the final product look intriguingly ambiguous, but it definitely looks cool. JR’s trademark is taking powerful photographs and pasting them–large-scale–on physical boards and walls across Paris.
 JR works in large-scale prints pasted across the streets of Paris.
He uses the movement of ballet in his photographs, generating powerful and evocative shapes out of human bodies. The ballet was a natural fit. The end product, a massive cloud-like eye, was pasted on the floor of the NYCB’s main hall.  This photographic work was pasted on the floor of the New York City Ballet’s main hall.
Go to full article: Beautiful Imagery from New York Ballet’s Street Art Installation (Video) |
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