Honesty and photography

I live on a small court high on a hill overlooking London, Ontario. This means I enjoy one of the best views of sunsets in the area. If a sunset is spectacular, there is a good chance I'll see it, walk across the court and take a shot.

On the downside, my point-and-shoot has a tough time with images that have both deep shadows and bright highlights. Keeping detail in the shadows while also retaining texture in the high end values is impossible. I can see it but my camera can't.

The solution? Take two pictures and slide them together in an application like Photoshop. The problem: some folk will claim this is dishonest. The picture was created by a software app. and not simply taken.

I can see the argument and in some situations it has validity -- but not here. My wife saw the sunset last night and when she saw my image she said I had captured the moment. My sunset picture captures the wonderful colours of last night's sunset. Without the aid of Photoshop, my final image would have been pale imitations of reality -- maybe not a lie but a poor retelling of the story.

Don't let critical words get between you and a fine picture.

Think-point-continue-thinking-and-shoot

I have some visitors from Montreal staying with my wife and me this week. The other day I took them to Sifton bog. There are lots of pictures to be taken at the bog but with one very big restriction: one cannot leave the boardwalk.

Most people go for the scenic picture. That's the obvious picture of choice. I went for two image: one, a grouping of toad stools and two an image of the reflection of the shy, complete with clouds, in the pond at the end of the boardwalk.

The one image, the mushrooms, took some looking. It was a small image hidden in the overall scene. The other picture was essentially a scenic picture with a twist; I flipped the image. I thought it looked a lot cooler when viewed upside down.

The next day we all went to the Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory. When one goes to a butterfly conservatory there is only one shot: butterflies.

But, if you can kick up the image with brightly coloured flowers, all the better. This takes time and effort. One must stay observant. If you do, you will be rewarded.

So, don't just point and shoot. That's too uninvolved for a good shooter. Always think about what you are shooting and try and make the strongest possible statement. 

By the way, all the images were shot with my Canon S90 point and shoot. Not a perfect camera but it will do in a financial pinch. Remember: I'm retired.

A couple of tips for shooting portaits

Shooting pleasing pictures of little kids does not have to be hard. Just stay alert and don't reward kids for making faces at the camera.

Isla, my 5-year-old granddaughter, was busy setting up her tea set in the living room. I was one of the invited guests and arrived early. I immediately noticed the lovely morning light illuminating the little girl. I grabbed my camera.

Isla's a ham, as are most little kids in my experience. I followed some simple rules: I posed Isla with the strong window light behind her and I set my point and shoot lens to 105mm.

Backlighting hair is always a fine idea and a lens of between 85mm and 135mm is traditionally best for shooting good portraits. The longish lens gives a more pleasing look when compared to an image made by filling the frame using a wide angle lens.

In the bad old days of film this was much harder. You never knew what you had until you processed, and possibly printed, your film. Today, with digital cameras, shoot, immediately examine the result, and shoot again, if necessary.

Shooting food is easy but there are rules

There is a photog that I follow on Facebook who is possibly the best wildlife photographer in Ontario. He is amazing.

Yet, when he shoots food, his pictures wilt. The images are often dark, the food poorly presented. His food pictures are not inviting. You don't long to sample the food shown.

If you are shooting food there are some simple things to watch for and often an image enhancement program is necessary to get the most from you images.

First, do not use straight on strobe. The light is ugly. Enough said.

Position your food near a large window to take advantage of the soft, even, available light. The window glass must not be tinted. You want clean colour. If there is a shadow, make sure it falls at the bottom of a least toward the bottom. No horror movie lighting (lighting from the bottom) is used here.

My point-and-shoots do not shoot images with the same quality as the pro equipment that I used when working. My point-and-shoots blow-out highlights; the detail in the tart crust was gone (but not forgotten.)

I took this image into Photoshop and using Levels made sure the brightest tones were maxed out (255) but not to the extent that important detail was lost. I set the dark tones in a similar manner. I made sure I had a clean black somewhere in the image. This gives your image excellent contrast. Make sure you don't go too far. You don't want too much contrast.

In Curves I brightened the entire image and I burned the edges of the image as I would have done in a wet darkroom in the past. There was a hint of a green cast in the image. I removed this in Curves, as well. I saturated the colours a little, a setting of 8 as I recall, and finally I used Unsharp Mask to gently sharpen the image (16-.8-3).

Oh, I also made sure the cooling rack bars were parallel to the edge of the image using select all, transform and skew. It didn't take much. It didn't result in the tart being distorted. You don't want to make huge changes using skew but your image can be tweeked quite successfully if you are careful.

Photoshop is not the only program I've used to pull-off this magic. I've also used ACDSee and may at some point switch over to this Photoshop competitor. Photoshop is simply too expensive. When my computer will no longer run my version, I will look at ACDSee -- or maybe GIMP. It's free!

How to get a good picture? Luck and a handy camera.

We don't get a lot of red foxes in our backyard. To be at the window at the moment one is sighted in the yard takes luck.

We don't always have a camera handy but when the fox showed up, a camera was sitting right there. More luck.

I zoomed the lens on the Fuji HS10, stood still at the window and began tracking the fox. It strolled into the open. I got the picture. And that took luck.

All too often, the importance of luck is overlooked in photography. Being there, and of course, being ready, are so very important when it comes to getting a picture.

Now, if only I had better equipment. Ah, that takes money.

As one gets older, one's shooting stance changes

When shooting children, the working rule is to get down to their level.

Soon I'll be 71. Ouch. My back doesn't bend as it once did, nor do my knees. I find myself shooting pictures standing up that I once would have knelt down to shoot.

With today's point and shoot cameras, one can hold the camera at waist level or lower and view the image on the screen filling the camera back.

It is not a perfect way of working but it is damn good. And it beats shooting down on little kids and totally missing including their faces in the pictures.

If you think about what you are shooting and have formed a clear idea about what you are trying to capture, you are well on your way to getting a fine picture.

Isla, my granddaughter, is a drama queen. Everything she does, she does with flare. It was clear I had to capture the magician's pose as Isla waved her wand and created long, tubular balloons.

This was not my first shot. It took a number of tries as the camera shutter was slow to fire. It is a hurry-up-and-wait camera from Canon. Isla, being three, was quick. I had to squeeze the shutter release as she just started sweeping her hand in front of her body. As it was late afternoon, there was enough light to force the camera to choose a fast shutter speed.

I know it is no longer cool but I still like to burn my edges - sometimes I burn too much. I may have gone a little far here, but I like it. And it even though I do this electronically using Photoshop, it brings back memories of the wet darkroom and working side by side with the other photographers at the newspaper where I once worked.

Are you a cook as well as a photographer? Take pictures of dinner.

I am learning to cook. At the age of 70 I am making dinner not only for myself but for my wife. And she is liking my cooking. I guess I can read and follow instructions well.

Shooting food is not all that difficult. First, use window light. It is clean and often soft but directional. Perfect. And serve your meals on dinnerware that looks good. No chipped dishes. No cheap, scratched plastic plates.

Keep your images simple. Simple means quick and quick means fresh, as in fresh from the oven. Food looks best when still warm. Gummy not only tastes poor but often cold and gummy does not photography well either.

One warning. Light usually comes from above. This means shadows usually fall below object. Place your meal to be photographed, with what will become the top of your picture, such that the top is closest to the window. This will give your images a naturally lit by the sun look.

And don't be afraid of trying different angles and different lenses. I tend to favour slightly long lenses like 85mm or 105mm shot from above but wide angles like a 35mm shot from a low angle can work as well.

Good luck and good dining.