The Big Church - Oia, Santorini

The Church of Panagia of Platsani

Don't worry if you can't remember this church's formal name. Everyone calls it The Big Church. It's a well-known landmark in Oia, a spectacular cliffside town on Santorini. 

If you arrive in Oia by bus, you'll enter the square after passing a row of shops. It's a popular meeting point for tourists and locals alike. It's a busy place. Neighbors chat with neighbors. Travels share stories of their adventures in Greece. Tour groups listen to their guides while snapping countless photos.

The Church of Panagia of Platsani - Oia, Santorini

If you want take a picture of The Big Church without a single person in the frame, you'll have to be patient. Set up your tripod. Compose, focus, and meter. And then wait for a break in the continuous waves of foot traffic - five, ten, fifteen minutes...

And when you meet with that fleeting moment when the square clears, hope for perfect light and maybe a big, fluffy cloud passing behind the church.

Then there's that tree on the left. It actually sits directly in front of the church. I had to use a special optical technique in order to capture the entire front of the church. 

Effectively, the image that you see is the left side of a larger, wider image. I didn't want to sacrifice resolution by cropping out part of the frame, so I used a special "perspective control" lens. This allowed me to capture the important section of that larger image without the penalty of cropping. 

Santorini is filled with beautiful sites, the Big Church is unmatched for elegance and charm. This was not an easy photo to capture - I had to put some time and thought into it - but in the end, it was worth it.

Camera: Nikon D800E
Lens:     Nikon PC-E 24mm f/3.5 II

Light happens.  Be ready.  Shoot hard.

Copyright © 2014 Daniel R. South

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

Be Ready

Political Rally - Athens

After an all-day drive from the north of Greece, I entered Athens at rush hour and worked my way toward the center of the city. Heavily armed police were everywhere; they seemed to be anticipating trouble.

I learned that the prime minister was about to give a speech in Constitution Square, just a block from my hotel. I wasn't sure whether it would be safe, but something compelled me to go out anyway.

Political Rally - Athens

I lined up with the other tourists to take some photos of the changing of the guard, but I noticed a crowd gathering in the square. I attempted a photo of the group against the color of the setting sun, but the difference in lighting was too extreme. The colors of the flags weren't registering.

When the prime minister made his entrance, two of his supporters lit flares. The flares provided enough light to make the shot work against the gradually darkening sky.

There was a lot of traffic on the street. I clicked off several shots, but most of contained at least part of a passing automobile.  Two unobstructed exposures were all that I could manage.

The flares produced a lot of smoke very quickly. Within a few seconds, the entire scene was obscured by a thick cloud. I had taken my shots at just the right moment, a moment that would be impossible to repeat.

Be ready. It's in my signature because of the number of photo opportunities that I've missed by failing to follow this simple axiom. I'm fortunate that I didn't miss this special moment in Greece.

Camera: Nikon D800E
Lens:     Nikon 70-200 f/2.8G AF-S VR2

Light happens.  Be ready.  Shoot hard.

Copyright © 2014 Daniel R. South

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

Times Square Taxi Cabs

America's Most Famous Intersection

New York - City In Motion - Times Square Taxi Cabs

Times Square, America's most famous intersection, is instantly recognizable, even for those who have never been to New York.

This is my one of my very favorite photos of Times Square. I took a number of shots of the traffic passing by. But when these two taxis passed at the same time, I knew that this exposure would be the magic moment of the evening.

Camera: Canon 5D Mark III
Lens:     Canon TS-E24mm f/3.5L II

Light happens.  Be ready.  Shoot hard.

Copyright © 2014 Daniel R. South

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

Happy Easter, Holy Week, and Passover

Wishing everyone a joyous and meaningful Easter, Holy Week, and Passover.

Renaissance Painting, Zagreb, Croatia

Camera: Canon 5D Mark II
Lens:     Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS USM

Light happens.  Be ready.  Shoot hard.

Copyright © 2014 Daniel R. South

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

Through The Eyes Of A Child

Innocence Lost

The World Through The Eyes Of A Child

Think about the world, about the complex problems, the hostility, the animosity, and the hopelessness. Think about how all of these troubles must look when viewed through the eyes of a young child.

Camera: Canon 5D Mark III 
Lens:     Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS USM

Light happens.  Be ready.  Shoot hard.

Copyright © 2014 Daniel R. South

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

Conversation on 42nd Street

Slice Of Life

Conversation on 42nd Street

Camera: Nikon D800E 
Lens:     Nikon AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

Light happens.  Be ready.  Shoot hard.

Copyright © 2014 Daniel R. South

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

Camera Innovation

How Much Does It Really Matter?

I don't write about camera gear on my blogs. I prefer to discuss my photographs and the adventures that I encounter in the act of shooting. 

Plenty of people blog about photography equipment. I don't feel the need to jump on the bandwagon. However, today, I'm ready to make an exception - sort of.

Opinion Piece

The author of a respected photography blog wrote recently about what he perceives to be a lack of innovation by camera manufacturers. The piece was detailed and well written, and I found myself agreeing with most of the author's conclusions. 

However, hours later, it dawned on me that such criticism, though entertaining for the reader, actually matter very little.

Turkeys Beware

Markets are self-correcting. If a manufacturer introduces an ill-conceived product, the public won't buy it. The product's designers and marketers will try to understand why the product wasn't popular. Eventually, they'll offer new products that, hopefully, avoid the pitfalls of the previous models.

Customers can complain. Bloggers can demand changes. But ultimately, sales keep a company in business. When sales tank, manufacturers listen. And they innovate - or at least they make the attempt.

El Dorado 

This is a rich and rewarding age for anyone with an interest in photography. Today's cameras are very powerful, most lenses are very sharp, and there are models to fit just about any budget. If you like to take photographs, you'll find an embarrassment of riches waiting for you at your local camera store.

How much innovation do we require? How much more capable, compact, and economical do cameras need to become? 

The View Camera in Action - Big Sur, Califormia

Newer isn't necessarily better. We've all seen portrayals of photographers from "the olden days" stooping behind large, wooden cameras and viewing their images from under a black cloth. This "view camera" design is still in use today, and they are some of the most powerful cameras in the professional's arsenal. 

Creating Photographs

Innovation is important, but dependence on innovation is foolish. Requests for newer and better tools often betray a lack of motivation and effort. If someone is unable or unwilling to produce photographs until some manufacturer makes it easier for them, I would question their dedication. 

The equipment that's available today features capabilities that exceed what most of us could have imagined a few short years ago. We have enjoyed generation upon generation of advances in lens and sensor design, image quality and dynamic range, autofocus systems and image stabilization. 

In decades past, photographers made sharp, striking images with far less powerful tools than the goodies that you can pick up today at your local electronics shop. Pick up a copy of LIFE or National Geographic from the Sixties or Seventies. The photographs are amazing.

We can spend our time and energy lamenting the absence of exciting innovations - and even that, I question, because a number of outstanding cameras have been introduced in the past few years. - Or we can invest our time and energy creating photographs. 

Which is precisely why I don't like to waste time discussing gear on my photography blogs.

Image captured with: Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM

View camera (pictured): Ebony SV45-TE, Gitzo tripod, Really Right Stuff head

Light happens.  Be ready.  Shoot hard.

Copyright © 2014 Daniel R. South

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved