Pet Portraits - from the front and from behind

I enjoy taking photographs of pets. In fact pet photography is something which I hope to specialise in longer term.

Photographs showing the animal looking towards the camera can give an insight into the animal's character. The German Shepherd dog below, for example, looks alert and inquisitive. His gaze conveys the nobility and wisdom which tend to be associated with the breed. I used a small depth of field for this photograph to blur the background and keep focus on the dog.

The puppy in the following picture also looks inquisitive and alert. You can see from the size of her paws that she has some growing still to do! This picture was taken on my mobile telephone and I was pleased with the result. Mobile technology is so good these days that many 'phone cameras produce lovely pictures (and there is an impressive range of photo processing software available too).

Having pets looking directly at the camera can create a connection between the viewer and the animal. Sometimes though, as in my 'Best Friends' photograph below, having the animals turned away from the camera can be equally effective. 

In this picture the dogs were on their way back to the car after a busy day exploring together. The image conveys a sense of togetherness as they walk alongside one and other. You can feel the companionship between the two as they stroll. They do not appear to be alarmed or distressed but are heading purposefully towards somewhere they both want to be. In this case, car, home and tea time.

I hope to share more pet portraits with you as I continue on my journey. Until then, enjoy your own photography journey and I will post again soon.

Creative Photography Workshop at the Natural History Museum

Last Saturday, I spent the morning at the Natural History Museum in London. The museum is always a fantastic place to visit but on Saturday I was there to participate in a creative photography workshop run by the extremely talented Chris Gomersall.

Chris has been a wildlife photographer for a number of years and in 2007 he won the prestigious title of European Wildlife Photographer of the Year. Who could ask for a better tutor for the morning!

As well as sharing a number of his own images, Chris talked us through some of the creative photography techniques which he, and other photographers, use very effectively. The message was that we shouldn't be afraid to try new ideas, and experimenting by breaking the 'rules' can lead to some interesting pictures.

The examples which follow are my attempts at rule breaking:

1. Shoot into rather than away from the Sun.

2. Move the camera vertically or horizontally while the shutter is open. The image below shows vertical movement; the shutter was open for 1/4 seconds and the exposure compensation was set to -5 points.

3. Using the flash even in bright sunlight.

I will continue to experiment as my journey progresses and will be looking out for future courses at the Natural History Museum; based on this experience I can recommend them very highly. 

I'm sure you can find plenty of other ideas to work on in creating your own unique pictures. It's about learning from others and not being afraid to try your own thing - as always, have fun!

Maternity Unit Photographs

Earlier this year, the Maternity Partnership at Warwick Hospital invited mothers and photographers to submit photographs of babies born at the hospital to display in the Maternity Unit. The photo initiative was set up by the Partnership with the aim of enhancing the existing facilities in the Maternity Unit and improving the experience which new parents have when using the Unit. 

There was a fantastic response to the call for pictures, with over 150 being submitted by mothers and professional photographers. Having photographed a relative who was born at the hospital towards the end of last year, I sent in three of my own images for consideration. I was absolutely delighted when one of the pictures was selected. 

The picture (below) shows the baby sleeping peacefully at home. I didn't want to use flash for the image so set a high ISO, and used the natural light falling through a window . I used monochrome for the picture to highlight the different tones and draw out the contrast between the textures in the picture.

And here is a picture of the photographs which were selected for the display (I'm at the front on the left). It was a pleasure to be involved in the handover event and I am grateful to the Partnership and to Warwick Hospital for the opportunity to have my work displayed alongside some other beautiful pictures in the Maternity Unit.

Edouard Boubat Quote

"Over a lifetime I have noticed that everything is woven together by chance encounters and special moments. A photograph gives you a deep insight into a moment, it recalls the whole world." More on Edouard Boubat

Patience!

I recently spent a weekend in Hay-on-Wye trying to resist the temptation to spend hundreds of pounds on books ... this really is very difficult when surrounded by such wonderful shops full of literary treasures!

When not perusing bookshelves, I took some time to explore along the River Wye. Finding a quiet spot I spotted a heron fishing and proceeded to spend the next couple of hours observing and photographing the bird. Just over 700 photographs later I left the river behind and returned to my hotel to begin processing the pictures.

I do enjoy reviewing images and it takes me much less time these days to sort my pictures. Perhaps I am more self-critical than I used to be but whatever the reason, I appreciate having a bit of extra time to take more photos. The picture below is my favourite from the shoot. The heron was moving between fishing spots and I was fortunate that on this occasion it moved towards me, and I had the camera ready!

  
I was using a polarising filter to bring out some of the contrast in the heron's plumage and the water so I increased the exposure by plus 5 points. I wanted to freeze the motion by using as high a shutter speed as possible, but I did not want the image to be too dark so I took several test shots to find the right balance between shutter speed and exposure compensation. 

The full details behind the shot are: Canon 7D with a +5 exposure bias, ISO 3200, 1/1500 second shutter speed, f/5.6 aperture and a Tamron AF 150-600 lens.

I was very pleased with the final picture. I'm never going to complain about spending hours nature watching but patience really is key to capturing any pictures of nature. As animals are patient in their endeavours, so a photographer must be patient in theirs.

My First Photo Book

I've just finished creating a photobook comprising a selection of pictures from across the three main strands of photography which I am focussing on:

- Animal portraits
- Natural landscapes
- Mystical images

It took longer to choose my photos and design the book than I had anticipated it would - a lesson which I will learn from next time I do something similar. 

I always worry about the layout and presentation so I asked someone to proof read the book before I submitted it for publishing. Seeking help from others is something that I am notoriously reluctant to do. However, with experience I have come to value constructive comments about my work (it doesn't matter whether comments are good or bad, being constructive is the main thing I ask for). I find that comments about a piece of work often lead to other trains of thought as well and set me off on new ideas for future projects which can be very helpful.

I'm dedicating this book to my wonderful husband for his continued support, belief and encouragement. You can see the book here.

A Creative Technique in Photoshop

In my previous post on Photoshop, I talked through the step by step development process for a sample image.

In this post, I will go through a step by step tutorial to teach you to isolate some of the colour within an image, while leaving the rest of the image in black and white.

I took the photograph I'll be working with in the Lake District and as usual, I had my trusty prop, Bob the skull, with me. Here is the original picture, Bob lying in a bath of water which I found while exploring. I'd like to create a black and white image which leaves only the skull in colour as contrast to the rest of the picture. 

So, the first step is to open your photograph in Photoshop.

With the image open, you need to create a copy of the image, known as a duplicate layer. Highlight the background image line (highlighted in the screen shot above) and right click to get the drop down menu shown in the screen shot below. Select duplicate layer.

An options box should pop up on screen and simply select OK to this. 

You now have a duplicate image. Keep the duplicate image selected and go to the top menu then select layer, new adjustment layer, and black & white. These selections are highlighted in the screen shot below.

You should now have another selection box on screen (as shown below) and as before, click OK. 

You will now have a black and white version of your original image. Make sure this is the image you have selected to work on (ie. it is highlighted in the layers box as shown below), and we can set about reintroducing the areas of colour which are going to be put back into the picture.

Firstly, select the eraser tool from the vertical left hand menu.

Then from the top menu, select the size of eraser you would like to use. To begin with I tend to use a large size (sometimes up to 120) and I reduce this when I move onto the finer tuning of the picture.

Now use the eraser to paint over the area of the picture to which you would like to add colour. You can see in the screen shot below that the original colour of the skull is returning.

When it's time to fine tune the picture, zoom in a bit to make sure you don't go over the edges. The zoom tool is towards the bottom of the left diagonal menu bar. (Tip - use your left mouse button to zoom in, use alt and your left mouse button to zoom out).

Zooming in is useful for colouring the edges of the skull. You can see from the screen shot below that I need to use the eraser again to fine tune around the top of the skull in particular.

When you have finished colouring, you might consider using the adjustments tool (lower left box in the shot below) to enhance the brightness and contrast of the picture. This can help make the image much more noticeably black and white with a bit of colour.

And my final image looks like this:

Although this technique has been used for a number of years, I feel it can be very effective. It is probably a case of less being more, just a small patch of colour is more eye catching than having a number of colours added back into a black and white image. I considered colouring the reflection of the skull when I was working but opted to stick with just colouring the skull as I felt this had greater visual impact.

I tried the technique with a misty morning scene as well. In this case I added the colour of the daffodils back into the image. The final photograph is below and I was really pleased with this one as the yellow is a good contrast against the dark gate and grey stone wall. I will definitely be experimenting more with this technique.

The Solar Eclipse

I was fortunate to find a good spot from which to view the solar eclipse on 20 March 2015.

Solar eclipses occur during a New Moon when the Moon comes between the Earth and the Sun. I won't go too deeply into the science but because of the geometry of the line up of Earth, Moon and Sun, and the relative sizes of the Moon and the Sun, the Moon appears from Earth to be the same size as the Sun. 

At the time of an eclipse (which doesn't happen every New Moon because of the Moon's orbital path), as the Moon orbits the Earth, it passes the face of the Sun and blocks the light for a few minutes. The entire event lasts around an hour, and at the time of maximum coverage, the light of day may dim a little, the temperature may drop, and birds may begin to go through their roosting patterns.

In spite of the fact that the Sun's light is being blocked during this time, looking directly at an eclipse can still cause irreparable damage to your eyes so please make sure that you have appropriate safety glasses if you are attempting to watch the eclipse.

In order to photograph the eclipse, I needed a solar filter for my camera. Rather than buying a custom made filter, I bought a sheet of black polymer which was big enough to attach to the end of my largest lens. Black polymer is a tough material which filters out the brightest of light to leave the Sun looking a natural orange colour. I attached the square sheet to my lens with some tape, which meant I could remove it easily and use it again.

Safety note if you buy your own solar filter sheet, make sure that it is attached securely to your lens so that it will not drop off while you are viewing the Sun. The image on the left below shows the lens with the filter resting next to it. The image on the right shows the lens with the filter attached to provide an easy, inexpensive, and effective method of photographing the Sun.

    

There were lots of people out to witness the eclipse and I took the picture below on my mobile telephone. You can see the silhouettes of other eclipse watchers highlighted against the sky, which has dimmed with the reduction in daylight. 

With the filter attached, I set my main camera up on a tripod with my shutter cable in place to avoid camera shake. Viewing the Sun through eclipse glasses, I lined the lens up to take my images. 

I took a number of photographs of the event and it was hard to pick just a single image for this blog but I settled on this one which reminds me of a big smile across the sky.

Sensible Cropping

When taking a photograph, it isn't always possible to get the entire subject into the frame. This is where what I call sensible cropping comes into play. If you can't get the whole subject into the picture, at least try to get enough into the image so that the viewer can comfortably fill in the missing parts for themselves.

Let's look at some images of red kites as examples.

The first image shows the whole bird; there is nothing here for the viewer to do other than take in the picture. I used a shutter speed of 1/8000 second for this picture in order to freeze the bird in motion.

The next image is much closer and you can see more of the details of the talons and flight feathers. Although the wings are cropped in this frame, it is not difficult as a viewer to picture how the wings might extend to the tips. You don't need to know all the details (for example, that kites' wings have finger-like feathers at the end), but you can surmise that this is a bird in flight and based on the detail in the photo, you can imagine what the full bird would look like. As a viewer, you have one almost complete wing on which to base your assumptions about how the full bird might look.

The next image is cropped much more closely to the body of the bird. Although you can tell this is probably a bird in flight, something about the image jars to look at. Without any extension to the wings, the appearance of the bird is somehow more artificial and less comfortable to view.

The lesson here is that by all means crop your pictures (it's not always possible to get everything into the frame, however hard you try), but make sure that you give the viewer enough information to enable them to complete the picture without any difficulty. A picture that jars the senses is not one which people will tend to linger over in appreciation.

I will end this post with my favourite picture from this particular bird watching and photography session. There is no cropping in sight but I do hope you like the photograph. Thanks for reading!

An Introduction to Infra-Red Photography

Infra-red photography captures infra-red light (which is invisible to the human eye) to create otherworldly images of high contrast, usually in black and white. 

Under normal circumstances, an inbuilt filter will block the infra-red light from reaching the camera's sensors, but with an infra-red filter, the light is able to reach the sensor. Different structures and materials absorb or reflect infra-red light in different ways, giving rise to the potential for some very creative images.

You do not need expensive equipment to take infra-red pictures, just certain optimum conditions and patience as the technique does involve some trial and error.

I use an infra-red filter for my images, which is shown here drying out after I inadvertently submerged it in a river. The infra-red filter is the part at the back with the serrated edges. This slides into the holder which is on top of the pile in the picture, and which in turn screws onto the front of the lens. I generally screw it into a UV filter (in the middle of the wet filter sandwich) for a bit of extra lens protection.

It is best to try infra-red photography when it is sunny as this gives rise to the highest volume of infra-red light for your images. You will notice when looking through the viewfinder that you cannot see anything with the filter in place. To work around this, some people like to line up their shot before attaching the filter. I prefer to attach the filter and line the shot up afterwards but that is a personal preference. Once the camera is in place I find it easiest not to try to attach extra equipment.

As the infra-red filter is so much darker than other filters, the shutter will need to be open for longer. The best way to control the length of time that the shutter is open, set the camera to bulb mode (B) and use a remote shutter release to avoid camera shake.

When I first tried infra-red photography it was a dull overcast day and the conditions really weren't suitable. I left the shutter open for almost 5 minutes but found my results were little different to just having shot in monochrome in the first instance.

The image above is as taken with the filter. I haven't trimmed the edges of the picture so you can see the side of the filter holder creeping into the photo.

The following image is converted to black and white and as you can see, although the picture has a certain spooky feel to it, there's not much in it which could not have been achieved with a simple monochrome image. My mistake here was to try shooting in very overcast conditions, I really did need some sunlight to make the picture work.

Learning from my first attempts, I waited (not altogether patiently) for sunnier weather. I also changed location as I wanted to take advantage of having the shutter open for longer to create some smooth effects with flowing water. I took the following image on a very sunny day and left the shutter open for a minute.

You can see that the longer exposure has led to a very smoothing effect across the water, and the sunlight has created much greater contrast across the landscape. I was very pleased with this image and will definitely be experimenting more with infra-red photography. Watch this blog!

More on Filters

In a previous post I discussed the use of polarising filters. As well as enhancing your images, filters can also be very useful in protecting your lens. I was reminded of this recently when balancing myself and my camera somewhat precariously on a rock in a river to take some infra-red photographs.

  
As you can see, it was a beautiful spot and the temptation to venture into the river was too great to resist. I got the picture I wanted but also slipped and dunked the camera into the river.

Fortunately, the filters provided some protection from the water and the camera was unharmed, while the filters could be dried off easily enough.

My final image looked like this ...

I was pleased with the picture although grateful that it was not at the expense of losing my camera. In my next post, I will discuss infra-red photography in greater depth, including how to use it to create silky smooth water images.

Development Tools for Film Processing

Any photography will produce images which need developing somehow, whether using digital development processes or chemicals. I generally use digital cameras but as part of my journey, I am building my film camera skills too. You can read my initial post on film photography here. 

When processing my own films, I have learnt about a number of interesting options available to use in development, including introducing sepia and bluetone hues to my pictures. The sepia and bluetone processes require a photograph to be developed in the usual manner. The picture is then subject to further development processes to produce either a sepia or a bluetone effect.

The images which follow are examples of a black and white image, then the same image which has been produced in sepia and in bluetone format. I've talked through the steps at the end of the post to give you an idea of the process used to create the end pictures.

   Original black and white image

                                 Sepia Image

     Bluetone Image

Sepia is created by submerging the print in a tray of sepia chemical for around two minutes (the indicator is the time at which most of the black on the photo has disappeared; this takes about two minutes). After this, the image needs to be rinsed for a further two minutes in another tray. The third stage is to put the image into the final chemical tray to bring out the sepia tone. The tone can be lighter or darker depending on the strength of this mix. Finally, leave the image to rinse for three minutes. Sepia toned images can be dried using a drying machine. 

Bluetone is also created through the use of extra chemicals but there are only two stages. Firstly, make sure the image you wish to tone is dry. Then submerge the image into a tray of bluetone developer for three minutes. Agitate the chemical mix during this time to keep the mixture moving across the image. Secondly, place the picture into a tray to wash it. You should be looking for the blue tone to come through in the image; it might look yellow for a time until the blue comes out. This stage can last up to 5 minutes. Dry the picture naturally and not in the machine.

I really enjoy the chemical processing part of film development as you can introduce a personal element to the pictures. I think the image above works quite well in black and white but I do like the sepia tone too. I think the bluetone is something I'd be more likely to try on a snowy scene, to introduce an extra layer of coldness to the image.

iPad Photography

I tend to have a camera somewhere to hand most of the time. This won't always be my digital SLR camera and as I've discussed before, mobile telephone photography can be very effective.

I took the following picture on my iPad when trying to hunt down some of the cats for their regular flea treatment. It was an opportunity to capture an image which I did not want to miss, but had I taken the time to set up my digital camera, I suspect the cat would have found another hiding place. The photograph still captures the catch lights in the eyes and the depth of field means the cat is in focus while the foreground is blurred.

A tip for new iPad users still getting used to the camera function ... the iPad will focus for you but if you touch the screen gently where you would like to focus specifically, the image will adjust accordingly, changing the exposure to adapt to the main area of focus.

Another function which can be useful is the ability to a sequence of images by keeping your finger on the shutter button. Some of the resultant pictures may be blurred but you will generally find some nice sharp ones, even if the subjects were in motion when photographed.

The Zoom Burst Technique

This is a little creative technique which I enjoy using from time to time. It's quite straightforward and will look more or less effective depending on your subject. For this example, I've used a tree.

Here's the tree photographed without any extra zoom effect:

At this point I've used manual focus to ensure that the tree is in focus with the zoom at its maximum width.

The zoom burst picture is created by slowing the shutter and zooming steadily in on the subject. I slowed the shutter to 1/4 second which of course allows more light into the picture, so I used the exposure compensation option to reduce the exposure by five stops. Keeping the camera as steady as possible, I zoomed in on the tree which resulted in the following picture:

I like the technique and it's something I will continue to experiment with. There are numerous good examples of similar photographs on-line and I'd particularly like to try some night-time work and crowd photography. 

Flowing Water

Photographing water flow, such as a river or waterfall can lead to some impressive images. If you would like to create a smooth effect to the water, set the camera mode to shutter priority and slow the shutter speed. This of course allows more light into the image so you may need to decrease the exposure using the exposure compensation setting on your camera. You should also consider whether you need to use a tripod for stability.

The following picture, which I took a couple of years ago, used a shutter speed of 1/8 of a second. I braced the camera (and myself) on a rocky shelf to reduce the chance of camera shake. I lost elements of the colour through having a longer exposure so I've brought out some of the colours in Photoshop on this occasion.

If I had the opportunity to revisit the scene and take a similar picture, I would use a polarising filter to help bring out the different colours and I would experiment with longer exposures, compensated for by adjusting the exposure compensation setting in the camera functions. You can read an introduction to polarising filters in my post here.

An Introduction to Polarising Filters

Using a filter is very much a personal choice. When I started photography I tended to use UV filters on all of my lenses. While the UV filters did not alter the images a great deal, they did offer a certain level of protection to my lenses from things such as dust and sand. It is a good idea to buy high quality filters if you can afford to. Using a cheap filter on an expensive lens is likely to degrade the quality of your images by introducing vignetting and sun flare, for example.

These days I tend to use polarising filters most of the time when photographing outside. Light is polarised when it is reflected from a transparent material. For example, light in the sky will be polarised when it passes through water droplets in the atmosphere. This can create glare which in turn can appear on your photographs. Polarising filters remove most polarised light and in doing so, enhance colours such as blues in the sky while reducing reflections such as those on water. When using polarising filters you should keep in mind the fact that the filters will reduce the exposure by around 1 to 2 stops. To counteract this, you may need to slow the shutter speed, or adjust the exposure compensation to capture the image you are seeking. Slowing the shutter speed might of course mean that you will need to use a tripod to stabilise the camera for some situations.

There are two main types of polarising filters, circular and linear. Without delving too deeply into the science, both filters produce the same sort of photographs but the difference is in how they interact with your camera. A linear filter will work on a manual camera as you control all of the settings. The linear filter works by removing all polarised light which would otherwise reach the lens but as you control the settings, the camera does not need any polarised light in order to work. However, digital SLR cameras need some polarised light in order to perform certain functions such as auto-focus, and auto-exposure. The circular polariser allows just enough polarised light through to let the camera work properly. My polarising filters are all circular and these screw straight onto the end of the lens.  

So, looking at the filter in action. The photograph below was taken without using a polarising filter:

Compare that with the following picture which was taken with a polarising filter:

The difference between the pictures is subtle but you can see a little more colour in the sky, and greater contrast between the clouds and the blue.

It might be clearer in the following images. The first image is the one without the filter. I've ringed a patch of sky where I think the difference is particularly noticeable:

And here is the image with the polariser, with the same patch of sky ringed:

In the second image, the clouds are defined more clearly, and the contrast between the clouds and the sky is more noticeable. 

The following two images show the difference a polarising filter makes when used to shoot a cloudy sky. The first picture does not use a filter, while the second one uses a polarising filter.

The cloud contrasts are much more marked in the second photograph in which I used the filter. You do however lose some of the detail of the field. Shooting in Raw will enable you to draw out some of these lost details. See my posts on Raw images for more information; you can find the first post here and the follow up here.

That's all for the moment, keep enjoying your photography.