How did the Professional Photographer Take That Photo - Todays Photographer is Deborah Sandidge

Today's photographer is one of those professional photographers that I always make the time to look at her images when she posts them... and I love when she travels... we get to see images from some great locations as seen through Deb's eyes...

 

Today Deborah shares with us some of her photos from a recent trip to London... and as always, they are great... and inspiring... 

 

Take it away Deborah 

 

One of the fascinating aspects of photography is the ability of the photographer to convey the passage of time, or create a sense of motion through the art and technique of long exposure. You can create beautiful long exposure images at the edge of night and beyond, and capture surreal photos during the brightness of day. With the use of neutral density filters, you can calm the crashing waves of an ocean, softly blur clouds across the sky, and create the impression of emptiness on busy walkways and streets. Everything changes, the reality, the mood, and the drama of a composition, and allows you to create expressive, fine art imagery. 

 

 

For example, when I traveled to London recently, everyone including me photographed iconic subjects such as the London Eye. It’s a fascinating structure, and barely seems to move. With a little creative effort and the use of a 10 stop neutral density filter, I was able to create a sense of motion and convey the passage of time. The extended exposure of 113 seconds gives the photo a creative edge over many travel pictures making it more artistic. Long exposure photography requires more time, effort, and patience, however it’s rewarding to come away with a unique and beautiful photograph that is the result of an extended exposure.

 

Here’s how you do it— To blur clouds and water, and capture a subject in motion, you’ll need a sturdy tripod, cable, or remote release, and a 10 stop neutral density filter such as the Lee Big Stopper or Singh-Ray Mor-Slow. Much like using an infrared filter on the lens, compose, meter and focus first. You can calculate exposure for the 10 stop neutral density filter based on metered exposure using an app such as NDTimer or Long-time. Ideally, something needs to be moving in the composition to create a compelling long exposure image. The London Eye Ferris wheel or clouds moving through the scene in the photo below of Tower Bridge in London make eye-catching images. Ocean waves crashing over rocks can create a softened, ethereal scene or rippled water in a lake can become magically smooth—your opportunities are endless!

 

Thanks Deborah... to find Deborah on the web, please see the following links...­­

www.deborahsandidge.com  

https://twitter.com/DebSandidge
http://pinterest.com/debsandidge
http://instagram.com/debsandidge

https://www.facebook.com/DeborahSandidgePhotography 

Gplus.to/debsandidge

If you want to join Deborah and I, we are running a few workshops together.
Paris in September 2014  and  Morocco in March 2014
 

How did the Professional Photographer Take that Image? ~ today's photographer is Danny Bailey

Today's photographer is another local photographer near me, Danny Bailey. Danny has been taking photos for over 30 years and travelled to more countries than anyone I know. But Danny is not only a talented photographer, but an extremely well spoken educator of the art of photography and videography and an accomplished videographer. Some of you may have seen the TV show "photo X plorer" or watch Motoring television... well Danny is the man behind the camera for those television programs..

And if you are ever talking to him, ask him about his time with the Rolling Stones...

Take it away Danny...

With the recent snowfall in Ontario I couldn't wait but to get up at the crack of dawn to go exploring and shooting.  Not normally a landscape photographer I thought my motive would be subtle HDR.  The trick here was to shoot as fast a shutter speed as possible since my subject was moving.

And since my aim was to shoot HDR I wanted to have a large enough aperture setting to add to my depth of field.  Luckily everything came together in a matter of seconds.  By already being prepared for the shot I simply composed where I thought the patron would walk and captured the images in continuous shooting mode.

Photomatix was used for processing along with Photoshop Elements 10.

Camera - Canon T2i
Focal Length     -  18 mm
Aperature -  F10
Shutter Speed - 1/200 "
Manfrotto Tripod
Shutter Released by cable

Thanks Danny! You can catch more of Danny's work at http://www.dannybailey.ca

How did the photographer take that photo? Today's post by Glenn Taylor

Over the past two years I have met some great photographers... and today's photographer is as talented as they come. Please allow me to introduce you to Glenn Taylor, a friend and fellow photographer that hails from Georgia. Take it away Glenn...

Telling the Story in Details

Anytime I get the opportunity to visit a location or take a photowalk, I cover the main shots most people would take at these location, but I always look for the shots that tell the rest of the story.

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to visit Cumberland Island over a long holiday weekend and stay at one of the few homes permitted on the island. The owner is a great guy and wonderful host. I captured some nice sunsets and sunrises over the marsh with a wild horse grazing in the tall grass. I would consider this a classic Cumberland Island image and one most every photographer going there would want to capture.

Canon 5D with 24-70mm L, ISO 100, f 5.0, 24mm at 1/25 second on tripod

While we were staying there, I noticed his riding gear on the landing by the stairway.

The owner was an avid rider and fox hunter in his younger days and I wanted to capture it and give an insight into that detail of the story. He has a “bigger than life” personality and this unusual item gave that sense of past adventures and historical charm. I waited until the next morning, after shooting some sunrise images with everyone still sleeping, and photographed the set up with wonderful window light from the left side. That light helped bring texture and great tones to the final image. The owner liked it so much he has a copy of it hanging in his office because it was a major part of who he was.

The most enjoyable part of any shoot for me are the details. Just finding those little scenes in the location that often go unnoticed. I look for them. Just remember to slow down a little and you’ll begin to see the pictures within the picture on your next shoot.

Canon 5D with 24-70mm L, ISO 100, f 5.6, 34mm at 1 second on tripod

You can find my images posted at the following locations:

Flicker: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gtaylor57/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/glenn.taylor.338
Pintrest: http://pinterest.com/gtaylor57/glenn-taylor-photography/
Google+: +Glenn Taylor

 

Also, there are still a few spots left to join Rick Sammon and myself for our HDR Heavy Metal in Hot’lanta Workshop this March, if you hurry. Get all the details and sign up at http://ricksammon.com/2013-workshops/

What Goes Thru a Photographers Mind - Today's Photographer is Kevin Pepper

Streaking Down Michigan Avenue by Kevin Pepper

This is the new Monday feature on my BLOG... why did the PRO take that photo and how did they create the image. I have asked a few photographers that work with the Photographer's Lounge, and some other PRO photogs to post their images and explain how and why they took some photos... so come back each Monday to see who is featured.... photogs like Ellen Anon, Rick Sammon, and Denise Ippolito, and a few others will be posting in this weekly feature...

I took this photo when I was in Chicago on a business trip. As I was walking down to photograph the Chicago Bean I was standing at the side of the street and I couldn't believe how busy the street was for such a late hour on a week night. I wanted to capture the scene in a photo to evoke the feeling of what i was seeing, lots of vehicle activity. The car taillights were not capturing what I wanted to see so I waited for a city bus to come by.

I set up the camera on a tripod at the side of the road at eye level to give the person looking at the image a true sense of scale. I attached a cable release so I could manually activate the shutter exactly when I wanted and have more control over the exposure time.

What composition rules did I use? Intersecting horizontal and vertical lines... leading lines, use of light to attract the eye (star bursts at the beginning of the break light trail and a darker background and sky to keep the eye on the red trails)

Camera Settings: F/9.0, 2 seconds, ISO100, camera on manual, high saturation to make the colours pop and no flash was used.

Happy Shooting...