Photography Tips

Try street photography for making memorable shots of cities

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Street photography portrait of a girl on the streets of Takadanobaba, Tokyo, Japan - one of my personal favorite shots of all timeThe above photograph is one of my personal favorites that I have ever made.  It is the kind of photograph that may appeal only to the photographer who took it.  The reasons I can give for why it is a personal favorite would be, after all, personal.  I do not know the girl in the photograph.  I will never return to the city I made this photograph in.  However, they combine to make a photograph that reminds me of my time in Tokyo more than a photo of even Tokyo Tower.  Much of my time in Tokyo was spent out on the street.  In that city you walk, a lot.  You are also always surrounded by people on the streets.  In my last year there I bought my first DSLR and often had it with me.  I then realized I loved street photography.  I made this street photography portrait on one of the very first times I used my newly obtained Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D lens.  It was the first time to have a f/2.8 lens and immediately I was blown away by the bokeh it could make at f/2.8 and 200mm, and in particular the bokeh in this image.  I can still recall seeing this photo first pop-up on the review screen on the back of my Nikon D80.  It was the beginning of my street photography career.

So my photography tip is this:  to help you remember the city you are traveling or living in, try street photography.  Those images may come to have more meaning to you in the years that follow than the best landmark photograph you took. 

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    • Motion blur for creating background interest - Japanese temple statue

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    Using a slow shutter speed to create motion blur in the background - Nikon D80 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/2.8 ISO 400 1/40thI made the photgraph above three and a half years ago, still early in my DSLR photography career while I was living in Tokyo, Japan.  I noticed the wind catching and spinning this fan around like crazy.  I knew I wanted to juxtapose the stillness of the statue with the manic motion of the fan.  To accomplish this I needed to set a shutter speed slow enough to blur the fan blades, but not too slow that I could not handhold the camera steady enough to keep the statue looking sharp.  

    I found that 1/40th of a second shutter speed produced enough motion blur in the fan without camera shake causing overall image bluriness.  If I had a tripod with me it would have been a simpler shot to execute.  It was actually lucky that there was a lot of shadow in this part of the temple garden which allowed me to use f/2.8 to try and produce a little bokeh, even though I was using a wide angle lens.   

    So this weekend my photography tip and homework assignment is to go out and see if you can find some background object to catch in motion blur while maintaining a sharp, in focus subject.  Put a link to your photos in the comments below! 

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    • Nikon D5000 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson in St. Petersburg Florida with Angela

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    Angela with her Nikon D5000 on our first of four 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lessons in St. Petersburg FloridaOn a surprisingly cool spring late afternoon I met Angela in downtown St. Petersburg for our first of four 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lessons.  She has been the owner of a Nikon D5000 for a couple of years, but all that time just using it on auto-mode.  Since she regularly photographs her daughter racing motorcross, taking control of her DSLR and getting off auto-mode will definitely help her capture better action shots in a wide variety of conditions.  

    We said good-bye to auto-mode and hello to aperture priority mode to start out the lesson as I introduced Angela to my 4-step processing for making a well exposed and sharp photograph in any situation.  By the end of the 2-hour lesson Angela was using manual mode to make flash portraits in North Straub Park in preparation for making prom night portraits of her daughter this upcoming Friday.  She now has the practice and knowledge to be able to make well exposed and composed portraits in an outdoor setting that would also apply to indoors as well, with a few settings tweaks needed only.  

    I look forward to hearing how the prom and motorcross photos came out during our second lesson coming up soon!

    Look for repeating patterns in architecture shots

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    Using balconies as a repeating pattern composition - Signature St. Petersburg tower - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1/500th - black & white processing using Silver Efex ProFinding and using repeating patterns in your photographs is my photography tip for this week.  In the above photograph of Signature St. Petersburg I composed the shot to exaggerate row after row of balconies so that they came to form a repeating pattern.  I also held my camera off-angle to create a leading line with the far edge of the skyscraper and also the interior contour that leads the viewer's eye from lower right to upper left.  Thus, in this architecture shot I combined repeating patterns with leading lines in an attempt to produce an interesting photograph.

    Once again using leading lines and repeating patterns to create interest - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1/200th - black & white processing in Silver Efex ProI used the exact same techniques in composing this architecture shot as well, just put into portrait orientation.  In composing and later in cropping, I paid special attention to make sure each leading line ended exactly at the edge of the frame.  Note how the lower left the line ends right into the corner, and for the small line in the upper right, just before the roof went upwards to the right, I cropped it there to keep the line straight.

    Lastly, I chose black & white processing for both these images because there was cloud cover and the building itself lacks color, so no reason to leave what little color was left in the image.

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    • Canon 5D Mark II 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson St. Petersburg Florida with Gina

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    From setting the date to setting the aperture, a wide ranging DSLR photography lesson with GinaI have been in contact with Gina for the past few days helping her with everything from which DSLR to purchase to which lenses to get for it as she has a very strong need to add to her photography knowledge as quickly as possible.  She has already been shooting for awhile, getting a few high profile jobs even.  The Canon 5D Mark II was new to her and brand new store bought yesterday so we began the lesson from the very beginning, set the time and date and putting the neck strap on.

    During our 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson Gina wanted me to go through every menu setting and every button on the camera leaving no stone unturned.  This gave me my most indepth look yet at how a Canon DSLR works as I shoot Nikon.  I have already had hands on with every Canon model made in the past five years, but before now not setting one up totally from scratch.  I remain convinced the ergonomics of shooting with a Nikon of similar level are far, far better.

    We finished the lesson with a review of the correct terms for referring to shutter speed, how to identify and describe a lens, among other terms.  

    I hope Gina's upcoming shoot goes well and I look forward to seeing the images.

    Nikon D90 Architecture Photography Lesson in St. Petersburg Florida with Bill

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    Bill with his Nikon D90 practicing architecture photography outside of Signature Tower in downtown St. PetersburgMy third DSLR Photography Lesson with Bill on Saturday morning was our first 1-on-1 lesson as his wife Ria could not make it for this one.  We met at the usual spot in downtown St. Petersburg on a typcially beautiful, sunny and warm Florida spring morning.  The focus for this lesson was on making architecture shots, and how to use aperture priority mode to get a general idea of the exposure wanted, before switching to manual mode to fine tune it exactly to the desired results.  

    At the very beginning Bill showed me some shots of the St. Petersburg skyline and waterfront he took since our last lesson, homework so to speak.  This was very useful to me in being able to show Bill which settings were correct, and which ones needed to be changed in order to produce a better shot.  We then simulated some of those shot circumstances during our lesson so Bill could practice getting all settings correct for better results.  

    We had time during this lesson to start to discuss composition more, especially when photographing buildings.  I showed Bill my parallel edge photography tip while saying that the entire building does not always need to be in the frame.  

    Our next lessons will start to include digital photography editing in addition to more shooting practice.  I am looking forward to seeing Bill's early morning dawn shots of St. Petersburg with the help of the things we practiced this lesson.

    Sun setting through downtown St. Petersburg Florida HDR

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    Sunset through the trees in Vinoy Park St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 9-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseVinoy Park is my favorite spot in all of downtown St. Petersburg.  It juts out offering panoramic views of the downtown skyline and also The Pier and Tampa Bay too.  It is the best public place to watch the sunset in the area also, well, maybe the top of The Pier is just as good.  I am always looking for different perspectives, trying not to just use my own eye level for composing shots.  For this one I closed the legs of my tripod so that I was shooting just from about a foot off the ground.  This also allowed me to get the sun right under the tree's lowest branch.

    • Photography Tip:  Use your tripod at its lowest height, or lay on your stomach if no tripod required for a unique, low perspective.

    Marina view from Vinoy Park St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 9-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseMoving in front of the tree in the lead photo reveals a marina, on the far right Vinoy Renaissance Hotel and in the center 400 Beach Drive tower.  There are benches to sit on to enjoy this view.  I cannot imagine there are many sunsets they go unused.

    North Straub Park in St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 9-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseAll along the downtown St. Petersburg area are parks like North Straub Park above that offer quiet places to sit and enjoy the green environment that city developers very wisely preserved.  It is these parks that in my opinioin make St. Petersburg the most beautiful area to live in all of Tampa Bay.