For our Project 365 (Photo a Day), the month of February was all about love, hearts, roses, and (thanks to a mild winter) anticipation of an early Spring! Here are our favorite images from February:
If you’re drawn to water as most human beings are, and enjoy the view from behind a camera, one fascinating technique is to create a smooth silky water effect. It helps capture natural motion of the water, has almost an ethereal quality, and can create different pleasing effects depending upon the time of the year and lighting conditions.
Here are some simple examples of a smooth silky water effect on a water stream, followed by quick tips and techniques to create some memorable impressions of water.
1) Camera Shutter speed (to create silky effect)
2) A Tripod (to keep non-moving objects sharp)
3) Lighting Conditions (to achieve correct exposure)
Depending upon the intensity of the moving water, you will need anywhere from 1s (1 second) to 4s shutter speed to get this effect. Even if you don’t have a DSLR camera, many mid-grade point-and-shoot cameras now allow manual controls, so that you can set your own shutter speed (and aperture). For comparison, most hand-held shots in natural daylight conditions are captured at a shutter speed of 1/125th of a second or faster.
With such slow shutter speed, you will need to set the camera on a tripod, or else you’ll get really fuzzy/blurry images. If you do not have a tripod, place the camera on a stable object that gives you the point of view that you like. You should also set the camera on a timer (5s to 10s), in order to minimize any shake from your hands after you press the shutter.
Lastly, but most importantly, you’ll need the lighting conditions on your side to get the correct exposure. The best time to try this is within the hour before and after sunrise or sunset, or on an overcast day with low level diffused lighting. To avoid over exposure at such low shutter speed, you’ll also need to set your lens aperture (opening) to as small as needed to get the right exposure. Generally, you’ll need to go to the smallest aperture possible, which results in the largest “F” number for your lens (F22, etc.). If the images still continue to be overexposed, you can try to increase shutter speed that still gives you a pleasing effect, or wait for lower lighting conditions.
It is almost impossible to get this effect on a nice sunny day. However, if you must, you’ll need to get a Neutral Density (ND) filter for your lens, which cuts down the amount of light entering the camera lens without impacting image white balance and colors. Depending upon the lighting, you might need the ND filter to reduce the light by several stops (or times), sometimes as much as 3-5 times. For this, you’ll need Variable ND filters that can reduce light up to 7 stops, although they can be quite expensive.
We look forward to trying the smooth silky water technique at other opportunities and creating some memorable water impressions. We welcome any comments or feedback.
| Call Us: (908) 505-5GFX (5439) |124,32,69,109,97,105,108,32,85,115,32,124| sU liamE |The words “Say Cheese” and the toothy smile it invariably generates, is so well ingrained in our modern popular culture that at times it’s our first automatic response while posing for the camera! The expression, albeit with variations, also continues to be one of the (last resort) options for a Photographer to elicit a “happy” portrait, when all else fails.
The precise origin and earliest use of “Say Cheese” is unknown. Its use today and resulting facial expressions are culmination of photographic evolution of the Twentieth Century, fueled by the commercialization and popularizing of the snapshot culture by the likes of Eastman Kodak, media in general, speedy camera shutter, and the rise of dental care, mouth products, and advertising. The pop culture portrait expressions of today contrast considerably with the solemn faces and stoic expressions of the Nineteenth Century portraits, where etiquette codes and beauty standards called for carefully controlled and small mouth, with only occasional softening by a Mona Lisa curve of the lips (Kotchemidova, 2005).
However, the pursuit of capturing the “natural reality” in portraits can also be documented from the early part of the Twentieth Century with several articles in American Photography (mid-1930s) that discussed “natural” in photo portraiture as “The expression gives the spark of life to the image and that is as near as we can approximate the record of aliveness” (Jourdan, 1936). Although one can argue that the “aliveness” is not just specific to a smile, the Photographer’s skills can produce spontaneity where distinction between a “natural” and fake smile is lost, and the resulting portrait achieves the creator’s intent.
Documentary Photographer Mary Ellen Mark once said “I don’t often like it when people smile for the camera. Sure, sometimes when they laugh it can be beautiful. Often, though, a smile is a defense – people are uncomfortable. If someone has a fake smile I would tell them not to smile.” Some of the early amateur portraiture invariably showed subjects with a sense of unease and fright before the camera. Some likened the act of taking (shooting) someone’s picture to a predatory act that symbolically transforms the subject into an owned object (Sontag, 1977).
Therefore, the art of capturing moving emotions and expressions in portraiture involves persistence, patience, and skill on part of the Photographer to make the subjects comfortable and create a “happy” experience. This allows the Photographer to capture memorable expressions ranging from soft “natural” smiles, hearty laughs, to a lively gaze, even when the subject is looking away from the camera.
| Call Us: (908) 505-5GFX (5439) |124,32,69,109,97,105,108,32,85,115,32,124| sU liamE |“View the whole scene, with critic judgment scan, And then deny him merit if you can. Where he falls short, ’tis Nature’s fault alone. Where he succeeds, the merit’s all his own.”
~ Charles Churchill
If the judging in the professional Print Competitions were to be so kind, many a aspiring professional Photographer would not be so queasy about the idea of entering their images and work into such competitions. The thought of well qualified and highly skilled 6 Master Photographers glazing over your work as merely “Acceptable” (god forbid “Unacceptable”), “Average”, or arguing over why its NOT “Deserving of a Merit”, can be quite unsettling.
But aside from the sense of acceptance among peers, and the rights to brag about awards or “Merit” prints, there is tremendous educational and learning potential towards improving one’s quality of work. The Print Competitions not only offer insightful criticism from judges on one’s own images, but are also an opportunity to see and hear critique of some amazing work of other professionals that can simply leave you in awe! The images are judged against, and the maker must aspire to, as many of the following 12 elements of a merit image as possible: (1) Impact (2) Technical Excellence (3) Creativity (4) Style (5) Composition (6) Presentation (7) Color Balance (8) Center of Interest (9) Lighting (10) Subject Matter (11) Technique (12) Story Telling.
At Greenwich PhotoGrafx, 2012 was our 2nd year entering our work into the Regional Print Competition hosted by Photo North East (PNE) open to the members of the National and State Level Professional Photographers Association (PPA) members in the Northeast District. This year, both Nidhi and Ajay entered 4 images each for the PNE 2012. A humbling experience to say the least, with 1 Blue Ribbon (Deserving of a Merit) for Ajay, and 5 Red Ribbons (Above Average) and 2 White Ribbons (Average) secured between Nidhi and Ajay.
Here are both Ajay’s and Nidhi’s entries for PNE 2012 with the outcomes for the PNE 2012 (be your own judge, and your comments are most welcome!):
Grain Farm In The Snow – Ajay Kathuria (Blue Ribbon)
The Snatcher – Ajay Kathuria (Red Ribbon)
Clinton Red Mill – Nidhi Kathuria (Red Ribbon)
Pink Rose – Nidhi Kathuria (Red Ribbon)
Hot Wheels – Ajay Kathuria (Red Ribbon)
Sunrise Over Lake Harmony – Nidhi Kathuria (Red Ribbon)
Captivating Gaze – Ajay Kathuria (White Ribbon)
Keeping Track – Nidhi Kathuria (White Ribbon)
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I enjoyed this articles since I am just becoming acquainted with the 12 elements of a merit image and am entering my first photos in a contest since going digital. I appreciated seeing how your photos fared in the judging. I do think the snow scene was probably the best…it evokes stillness & serenity. I also liked the wheels right in our face!
So, Ajay and I (Nidhi) at Greenwich PhotoGrafx have managed to get through the first month of our Project 365 (i.e. Photo a Day) for the year 2012! We’re enjoying this photographic journey, and our images are posted on the our Flickr Photostream. Here are some of the highlights of the month of January 2012 that have surely helped us grow some more in our photographic skills:
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by GPhotoGrafx