Entrance in the Clouds

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An entrance to a cloud kingdom - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/11 ISO 200 1/200thI have written before about how photographing clouds is always good.  To end this week I wanted to share this cloud gateway image to fuel your imagination for what may lay beyond the clouds.  This is how I often think myself.  No matter how stormy the surroundings may be, there remains at least a small portion that is bright and hopeful.  As long as that small part still exists, so does hope, and therefore so does life.

Inside Sacred Heart Church Tampa Florida Wedding HDR

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The interior of Sacred Heart Church in Tampa Florida during a wedding - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDRWith all the news this week coming out of Rome regarding the Catholic Church and a new pope, I dug into my unedited archives for these HDR images of Sacred Heart Church in downtown Tampa, Florida.  These images are from a wedding I photographed in the church back in May 2012.  The exterior of the church is very beautiful and elaborate, and as you can see the inside is even more so.

View from the balcony in Sacred Heart Church in Tampa Florida during a wedding - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDRI was up in the balcony for all these photographs gettings a bird's eye view of the wedding ceremony.  When I see such architecture and detail I always think about how much work must go into building and creating something like this.  How much planning ahead of time is needed??

Stained glass windows of Sacred Heart Church in Tampa Florida during a wedding - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 7-exposure HDRThese windows are high up and in the back of the church.  Only up from up in the balcony with binoculars could one get a good view of them.  

Photography Tip - using leading lines in composing your shots

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The lines of the curb act as leading lines to the main subject, The Pier - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/500thUsing leading lines is one of my favorite composition techniques.  In the photograph of The Pier above, everything points to the main subject drawing the viewer's eye across the full length of the frame.  The entire foreground of the photograph uses the curb as a leading line to the focus of the image.  If there was no curb and just black pavement, then having such a large empty foreground would be a waste of space in the frame.  However, using the curb as a leading line adds another element of interest to the photograph besides The Pier itself.  

Additionally, I used a titled axis composition style to add yet more interest to an oft photographed St. Petersburg landmark.  

Nikon D7000 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lesson at The Pier in St. Petersburg Florida with Patricia

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Patricia aims her Nikon D7000 at a pelican out on The Pier during our second DSLR photography lessonFor our second of four 1-on-1 DSLR Photography Lessons I met Patricia on a pleasant Florida winter Saturday morning and headed out to The Pier to photograph pelicans and whatever other surprises we may find there.  For this lesson Patricia used her Nikkor 70-300mm VR lens exclusively on her Nikon D7000.  I recommend having all your gear setup and ready to shoot as you approach a location, so even before we got to The Pier I went over the recommended settings to use with a 70-300mm lens for birds & other small, distant subject matter.

During this second lesson we also focused more on composition, in particular not necessarily always framing things at right angles.  Sometimes, a tilted axis composition style can added much needed pizazz to an otherwise common shot.

Great Egret looking awkwardly straight on St. Petersburg Florida Fine Art Photography

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Great Egret looking straight at the lens in St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/1000thBirds are often seen photographed in profile view where their long beaks compliment their vertical necks.  This is especially so for the great egret who has a very long and slender white neck.  However, when photographed from straight on, such birds lose their elegant appearance and take on a more awkward, comical look as seen above.  I had the chance to get very close to this great egret right at the same eye level as well out on The Pier in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida.

Eye-to-eye with a great egret at The Pier in St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/5.6 ISO 200 1/1000thEven just a little bit less straight on is much more of a flattering look for this great egret!

Manual Mode shooting tip - read the meter first then the histogram after the shot

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If you are hesitant to use manual mode on your DSLR because of concern over getting the exposure right, you DSLR has the tools you need to help you!  Before you push the shutter you can use your camera's meter to get an idea of what it thinks the exposure should be.  Then after the shot read the histogram to see how the exposure really came out.  After using these two tools you can then adjust your exposure settings (aperture, shutter speed, ISO) to get the results you want.

Shooting in manual exposure mode is greatly simplified if you use the meter before pressing the shutter, then read the histogram after pressing the shutter.  Try it out and let me know in the comments below how it worked for you!

Custom Classic Van HDR at Madeira Beach Car Show St. Petersburg Florida 2013

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Classic Custom Van Photography at Madeira Beach Car Show 2013 - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/11 ISO 200 9-exposure HDR digital background

I went to the Maderia Beach Classic Car Show this past Sunday on a cold and blustery afternoon.  Apparently custom car owners do not much like that type of weather as there were only 8 cars there total!  Of those only one really caught my eye, a custom van that with the hood open, looked like the roaring mouth of a dragon or vulture or similar creature.  I wanted to make a shot to accentuate that feature of the car.  As is often the case at car shows, the background was not great and there was only a tight space to shoot in.  So even as I was making the shot that cold afternoon I was already thinking I about how I wanted to edit the shot and I knew I would just remove the background.

The graphic below shows what a single exposure would have looked like, a 9-exposure HDR, then the final image with all edits and digital background added.