Great Specials from Hunt’s Photo

Hi Readers:

Gary Farber, one of our sponsors from Hunt’s Photo and Video asked me to pass along the following specials. Check it out! There are some great deals.

http://wbhunt.com/specials/

Gabby

NBPS Flick Contest (Image by Mitchell Nielson)

Check out this fantastic image by Mitchell Nelson. Do you notice anything special about it? How about the even tonal values and the detail in sky and foreground?

Mitchell has used High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging to create this picture. He has combined multiple shots of the same scene that are exposed for different parts of the scene to create a single image with detail and color in all parts. If you shoot a sunset without HDR, either your sky will go white and your foreground will go dark, or vice versa. HDR allows you to expose both parts correctly.

Mitchell will be writing an article on HDR imaging for our September issue! Great image Mitchell!

Gabby

Hare Portrait (Jodie Randall)

Just a very brief post this week of a hare taken a couple of weeks ago at dusk. All the best, Jodie.

Best Time to Hike

There is something wonderful about hiking in the rain. I took a nice stroll through a local preserve yesterday and found that my senses came alive underneath the canopy of deciduous trees during the constant shower of rain.  When I stopped it seemed as though I could hear each individual raindrop hit each leaf.  The mayapples quaked with joy as they soaked up the much needed nourishment.  The forest and connecting prairie/savanna even had a very ethereal, out of this world look to it.  The clouds hung low, the sky was darkened, and yet the forest was lit by a very soft, even glow of white light.  Here is an image I took of a newly sprouted lupine leaf studded in raindrops!

Enjoy,

Tyler

NBPS Flickr Contest (Image by Max Seigal)

This is really interesting image and I am happy to see some night photography. No critique – just wanted to share this!

Great job Max!

Gabby

NBPS Flickr Contest (Photo by Kento Mizuno)

So I am aware that we have featured Kento Misuno’s work on the blog in the recent past but I felt the need to make a posting regarding this image by Kento.  As soon as the I saw the image “Monkey Hand” in the collection of newly updated NBPS Flickr Contest photos, it immediately spoke to me in a profound way.  It got me to question some very difficult thoughts.  The mood being set with the image’s deep contrast is very dark and disheartening. I wondered what the status of this creature is now.  Was it being held in poor conditions?  These thoughts came to me only because the deep contrast, black and white, and minimal depth of field created the mood.  So much of the mood in an image can be manipulated just by how the image is composed.  What kinds of moods have you created in your own work and how did those images reflect that mood?  I challenge any reader to post some of your own images to the NBPS Flicker Contest site!

Have a great weekend!

Tyler

Sunrise (Jodie Randall)

Spring is now in full swing. I am just beginning to see the first insects emerging. There are collared doves nesting in the guttering of our house, I suspect a pair of dunnocks to have built one somewhere near the end of our garden, and the resident blackbirds have made their nest in the centre of our conifer tree as they do every year. The local magpies have caught onto this, and every now and then, huge ructions erupt as the magpies try to gain entry to the nest.

We are currently experiencing a spell of very fine weather after a dismal few months. This has meant that I have been out shooting a lot, and getting up very early to do so. 4:30am to be precise. There is something quite painful about getting up at any time before 6:00am. All I can hope is that it gets easier as I get older! That being said, it has been worth it.

I have been at my hare site again – but this time not just for the hares. The last few days dawn has broken shrouded in a thick fog. It has been so thick at times that visibility has been restricted to only a few metres. The first image was taken as the sun rose over the marshes, the second, of a female pheasant, was taken a little later on as the fog began to clear leaving everything it touched covered in dew.

NBPS Flickr Contest (Image by Matt Sullivan)

I chose this image by Matt Sullivan because it is a solid image and also a good teaching example. The picture of the roseate spoonbill is sharp, the lighting is nice, and it is well composed. I like the angle of the head and the beautiful water surrounding the bird. There are a few questions that are worth posing with this image:

Q:How could the composition be improved?

A: I would have left slightly more room in front of the bird. This is not a big deal in this particular image, but it is always a good idea to leave room for your subject to move. You want the focus to be on the subject, not something outside of the frame that the subject seems to be moving toward.

Q: How is the crop on the image?

A: Matt cropped this image well, however, I am going to use his image as an example of how one should shoot for editorial photography. As an Editor, I like to have more room around a subject to allow me the freedom to crop and reposition. Cover images are the most difficult because photographers often crop in too tight when they are shooting and do not leave enough room for text and placement. There is just enough space in Matt’s image for an Editor to be flexible with placement. There is a tendency among beginners to crop in as close as possible when taking a shot. With digital, this is unnecessary. It is better to leave more room in the original (while shooting) and crop in when you get back to your computer. That way, you still retain all the information in your original file.

Great job Matt!

Gabby

NBPS Flickr Contest (Photo By “Werwin15”)

Taking a break from this hectic semester, my mood was lightened as I looked through this week’s NBPS Flickr Contest images.  I commend everyone for their great work!  This image especially caught my eye.  I absolutely love the tension between the two subjects here.  The little lizard stands no chance as a threat to the person on the other end of the “monstrous” finger.  This feeling is accomplished through using a wide aperture (f2.8, f4.0, etc.) on a manual setting of a camera.  The depth of field is so minimal that all distractions behind the subjects are blurred making the finger appearing to be larger than life.  On a side note, I have to mention that I am sucker for interesting textures captured in images and this one takes the cake: look at that slimy looking tongue. Great work “Werwin15!” I look forward to more photos from you!

~Tyler

NBPS Flickr Contest (Image by Kento Mizuno)

This image by Kento Mizuno drew my eye immediately. I love the shape of the Giraffe’s head and the toned down greens in the background. In this image, Kento approaches a relatively common subject in a very interesting way. I also think that the depth-of-field is perfect – just enough to get all the detail in the giraffe’s face and none in the background.

More soon!

Gabby