Friday, July 24, 2009

Macro Magic

Macro Magic


A wonderful world of details and colors goes undetected until we reach for a macro lens. Macro means in very simple terms, that it brings closer and larger what is very small. With a macro lens you can see details in flowers, you can also see the fine texture of some fabrics. You can also, and this is a treat on its own, meander into the world of insects.
With a macro lens you will be able to photograph such beautiful and crisp images that it will bring a whole new dimension to your photography.
Nowadays you have two options to start shooting macro photos, the first and least expensive is to buy a close up filter kit, and just screw like any other filter onto your normal lens. The close up filters have their cons and their pros, like most anything in life. Pros are that they are relatively inexpensive and easy to use just screw them on your lens and you are set. The cons is that you have a limited range of focus using your focus ring, you will physically have to move from and too your subject to find the perfect focus. The other option is a macro lens, this option is more costly but offers the ease of focus of your normal lens.
Which ever way you choose to go, I would encourage you to start experimenting in the world of macro photography, it gives a new and fresh look at ordinary objects like a coin for example. Or the rust on a nail,you will discover beautiful colors and details you never thought existed. I am posting some examples of macro photography, some I have done for clients of my studio, like the jean's tag and the Jean's button and others just for pure enjoyment.







Friday, July 10, 2009

Composition,Composition,Composition!!!

In my opinion besides having the correct light metering parameters measured and making the necessary adjustments, what makes or breaks a photograph is how it is composed. Composition is vital, sometimes even more important than the subject, for it compliments it or detracts beauty from it.
A well composed photograph on a nice sized format be it film or a digital, lends it self to many editing possibilities. I have myself been able to composed two different images out of the same frame. Look at the photographs A and B below and see how important composition was in this particular example.








I was able to make two impressive shots out of the same composition simply by cropping them differently, and adjusting contrast and brightness. This is also true for editing old photographs and giving them a new twist. You can always try how a particular photograph looks in a different layout for example a panoramic can have in itself many interesting vertically composed images, and vice versa a vertical layout may posses great horizontal ones.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Words of Wisdom by HCB


I want to share with you this very interesting and enlightening interview with Henri Cartier Bresson, in my opinion one of the masters.
You will see how his concepts differ from what many photographer today, both professionals and amateurs, have as a guide line as how they should approach photography.
For example I would like to quote this very interesting concept on limiting yourself on the number of  exposures per image. Henri Cartier Bresson said the less the number of exposures you did the better, for the excess of images confuses your mind and gets you further away from your original concept.

We must avoid however, snapping away, too quickly and without a thought, overloading ourselves with unnecessary images that clutter our memory and diminish the clarity of the whole.
HCB

If you think about this concept for a while it makes a lot of sense in the way this philosophy also applies to your creative process.