Photography ideas to try this weekend

Capture the beauty of buildings in your area in a single frame.

The subject of your photo doesn’t have to be a monumental cathedral or famous landmark... it could be a building or a favorite building.

Start close to home with your own town and local landmarks, as you’ll be able to be on the spot quickly to make the most of the best light.

Of course, images of iconic buildings are always welcome, but try to photograph them in unusual and creative ways we may not have seen before.

Photography Ideas for this weekend - photograph numbers

From house numbers to credit card bills, numbers infiltrate our daily lives, so a numbers photography project is a good one if you’re looking to up the number of frames you’re shooting each week. Rather than shooting any old numbers, try to make your way from 1-100. Don’t be afraid to get creative and make some of the number formations yourself – the only limit is your imagination.

Photography Ideas For This Weekend ~ colour, pattern or shapes

Pick a colour, number, shape or pattern and find it in as many contrasting places as you can. I like this one because it emphasises how photographers have to try and see things in a way that others don't. Photography is the art of seeing and this will encourage you to look harder and see things in your own way.

Say you choose a colour - try to capture it on as many contrasting items as possible. That way the photos will be more interesting when viewed as a whole. Look for natural/man made things, soft/hard, moving/stationary, beautiful/'ugly'. The best photos in this project are the ones where you see something that you wouldn’t expect, or that most people would overlook.

Photography idea to try this weekend - single shutter speed challenge

This can be challenging, but spending some time either looking to capture subjects with long or very fast shutter speeds will teach you a lot about the exposure triangle. The camera will adjust the aperture for you and the only other setting you should allow yourself to adjust is the ISO to slow down or quicken your shutter speeds..

To do this shoot in shutter priority mode.

Weekend Photography Idea - Romantic images for that special someone

While we are all still suffering from post holiday hangovers... its not too early to think about Valentine's Day... its less than a month away!

Make your sweetheart a photo to express how you feel... (hey guys... psst... creating your own valentines day card will score more points than a store bought card)

Here are a few simple ideas of the types of photos you can create and give to your loved one(s) on Valentine's Day...

1- A few tips... shoot flowers on a solid coloured background
2- For water drops use a spray bottle of water... or for larger drops use glycerin.
3- Watch where the shadows are cast in these close up photos... the small details will be visable.

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

Weekend Photography Idea - Water Drops on a CD

My friend, John Anderson is our guest blogger today. I saw his photo a few weeks ago on Facebook and asked him if he would share how he took the photo... take it away John...

These types of "experiment and play" photo's can be a lot of fun and very rewarding. After taking many of these types of photos over the course of a few days I realized that not one turns out the same, so your keepers are a "one of a kind" :) I also found myself up quite late, as I found it hard to pack up my camera because I was having so much fun.
Here's how I " took the shot"

Tools
*Your camera and lens of course. ( I flip flopped between a 70-200mm and a 90mm)
*A sturdy tripod
*Shutter release ( corded or cordless will do) If you don't have one I suggest setting the timer for a 2 second delay to prevent any shake
*A water dropper and a bowl of water
*A CD or DVD ( preferably scratch free or close to it)
*Led flashlight ( I used a Mag Light) Lowe's sells them for $10 right now. You can also use a regular flash light.
*Gels (optional)
*Black cloth (silk or muslin is good) or black card board.
*A room that is pitch black, as you will be leaving your shutter open for 10-30 seconds.
*A flat surface such as a table, ironing board or coffee table. ( I used an ironing board) If your surface isn't even and flat your water drops will move and run off the CD.

WHAT TO DO
First off. Make sure you have everything listed above in the area you'll be working in. Nothing worse than running around when your all set up looking for something and not having it :(

Set up your table, or ironing board on a flat surface.

I found the ironing board great because it was easy to move around and I could get a lot of different angles. Set up your camera on the tripod and choose your lens.

Set your black cloth or card board on the surface of choice then put the CD or DVD on top. Now grab your water dropper and water and randomly place drops of water all over the disc using different spacing and water drop sizes.

Now position your camera in any position you want. Remember, there is no right or wrong position to set up in. Just get creative and try many different angles.

Keeping the light on, focus on the portion of the disc you wish to capture in your image. I recommend using manual focus. If you use auto focus your camera will try to focus once you try and take the photo in the dark thus leaving nothing to focus on.

Set your shutter to stay open for about 10 seconds to start.

Turn your flashlight on, turn the light out and hit the shutter release button or your remote. As soon as you hit the button start shining the flash light around the disc ( keeping your hand out of view of the shot).

You can then start playing around with the time after that, but 10 seconds is a good starting point. what you will notice as you shine the light around is the colourful prism display that's on the disc.

Putting the flashlight close to the disc and just leaving it in one spot is likely to render your shot blown out with light.

Try different distances away from the disc as well. This will allow you to leave the shutter open longer allowing you to catch more vibrant colour in your shot.

You can also hold a coloured gel in front of the flash light to add to the vibrancy of colour.

A laser pointer will also create a different effect as well. Get creative with the light. " Light is your best friend " Even "lack" of light. :)That's about it. Take lots of shots at different angles, time and have lots of fun. I promise that you'll get a few keepers for sure to hang up in the music room or bar :)

TIPS
1) Be careful moving around the table or ironing board. One little bump and you'll have to do your water drops over again.
2) Set your ISO to the lowest setting.
3) Be cautious where the legs of your tripod are. You don't want to tip your camera over.
4) If using a laser pointer ***DO NOT SHINE IN YOUR EYES OR ANYONE ELSES... INCLUDING ANIMALS. Laser light shone directly into the eye can cause vision damage or blindness. USE WITH CAUTION.
5)Photoshop is a great tool to eliminate any scratches or blemishes. Just use the Healing Brush ( The little band aid icon ) You can also play with colour as well.
The EXIF information to the shot provided is as follows.
Canon 60D
F-stop = F-16
Exposure time = 30 seconds
ISO = 100
Focal Length = 90mm
Flash = Not Fired

Thanks for sharing John. If you have any cool photo ideas please send me a photo and a write short description, just as John did, of how "you" took the photo.