Happy Independence Day, America!

Washington's Statue at Federal Hall, New York

New York Stock Exchange from Federal Hall

I would like to extend a very special 'Thank You' to all of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, bold men who risked life and limb and property for 'truths we hold self-evident', and to those who supported and participated in the American Revolution, wagering all that they owned and held dear for a new standard of equity, prosperity, and rights for the individual. 

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II

Lens: Canon TS-E24 f/3.5L II

Light happens.  Be ready.  Shoot hard.

Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

Death Valley Sunrise

First Light At Badwater

Good morning!

There are lots of Death Valley Sunrise photos on the Internet.  I suppose that one more couldn't hurt.

Imagine the feel of salt crunching under your feet as you hike out onto the flats in darkness.  The air is silent and surprisingly chilly. You half-seriously wonder whether a pack of coyotes is going to eat you for breakfast.

Now you're in the zone! Enjoy the sunrise!

Death Valley Sunrise

This photo is brought to you courtesy of an exotic location, some timely clouds, and Canon's incomparable, ultra-amazing 24mm tilt-shift lens.

Please support our incomparable, ultra-amazing National Park system.  And watch out for hungry coyotes!

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II

Lens: Canon TS-E24 f/3.5L II

Light happens.  Be ready.  Shoot hard.

Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

The Simulated Candid

Earning The Trust Of Subjects On The Street

You spot a couple of tourists studying a map.  You think, "Hey! That would make a nice picture!"

Okay, Hot Shot, what do you do?  Do you point your 70-200 at them and start shooting?

"Why not?" you might reason.  "They're in a public place.  There's no expectation of privacy.  Even if they take me to court, I'll win."

The trouble is that if they look up and catch you in the act, their reaction will most likely be negative.  "Why is that creep taking our picture?" 

Tourists Reading a Map in NYC

I want my subjects to have fun. I want them to feel respected and valued. I want them to tell their friends all about the interesting photo shoot that just happened featuring THEM. If instead I leave them with a negative impression, that doesn't really help anyone.

Why take the chance of making someone angry when I can potentially flatter them by asking for their participation? If things go well, I can share my business card and have subjects become potential clients or referrals.  That's a lot better than having them point me out to a cop who could potentially drag my butt into court. 

When I approached these ladies, I said something like: "Hi, I saw you guys reading your map.  I think that would make a great picture.  Would you mind posing for shot?"

Some people refuse, but most are happy to help.  Once the subjects agree to participate, they'll do just about anything for you.  With access comes power.  I end up with shots that would have been impossible had I hidden in the shadows and shot them candidly.

Sometimes, the subjects offer good suggestions as to how to make the photo better.  It becomes a collaborative project, and it feels much better to all involved than being stalked by a 'creep' with a long lens. 

The simulated candid is a time-honored photographic technique.  Many iconic magazine photos were taken this way.  They look completely candid, but the photographer had acquired the consent of the subjects in advance.

Again, remember the Golden Rule.  If you want to make 'people pictures', it pays to treat people as respectfully as possible.

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II

Lens: Canon EF 70-200 f/4L IS

This is the twenty-fifth post on Light Happens!  Thank you for your continued support!

Light happens.  Be ready.  Shoot hard.

Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

Composing A Photograph

Questions - Choices - Decisions

When we compose a photograph, we address and respond to a handful of essential questions:

1. What should be included in the frame, what should be excluded, and where should the components be placed for maximum impact?

2. What is the most important part of the frame/object in the frame, and how can we highlight it?

The photo below shows the façade of two buildings, but we don't see the entire buildings.  The first decision was to exclude parts of the buildings in order to focus attention on particular details.

We see fishing nets and life preservers hanging from a railing.  We see window shutters of different colors.  If the photo showed the buildings in their entirety, these smaller details might have gone unnoticed.

Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre, Liguria, Italy

The second decision was where to draw the lines for the section that was included.  I wanted to include the green downspout on the right side of the frame.  I thought that it highlighted the edge of the photo nicely.

At the bottom of the frame I included part of a staircase and a sloping stone wall.  The opposing angles appealed to my sense of balance.  I trimmed the lower features a bit in order to hide some potentially distracting elements.

The building on the left was tricky.  Originally, I wanted to include only the two windows with the open shutters.  However, this would have required cropping through the leftmost door.

If you put your hand over the left edge of the photo and move it in toward the blue shutter, you can see the effect that I wanted to avoid.  I felt that it would have been a distraction.  I included the leftmost window in order to avoid cropping through this door.  It's not a perfect solution, but I felt that it was an effective compromise.

I'll mention one more detail.  It's so subtle that it's easy to miss, but I felt that it was important when framing the shot.  The distance to from the bottom of the doors to the bottom of the frame is approximately the same distance between the top of the windows and the top of the frame.  There is a similar consistency between the left and right sides of the frame.  I feel that this consistency in opposing margins gives added balance to the composition.

No cropping was done in post processing (although I'm not opposed to doing so when it helps the final composition).

Evaluation

There's no mathematical test for a good composition.  If such an algorithm existed, we could let an app in out smart phones make all of the compositional decisions for us. 

That said, when we compare two photographs of the same scene side by side, one will almost always impress us as being be the better of the two.  Our minds evaluate details and pick out the better composition almost instantly.

When we're shooting we need to be aware details that could make an image seem cluttered, disorganized, or poorly arranged.  The viewer will make those assessments, and we don't want to disappoint them.

The Human Factor

We can apply guidelines and principles to the composition of a visual image, but there is always room for interpretation.  I made certain decisions when shooting the photo above, and I can justify those decisions, but someone else would shoot the scene differently.  Countless individual interpretations are possible.

Taste, style, and the experience and personality of the photographer are critical factors in composition.  A photograph is as much a portrait of the photographer as it is a collection of the elements that are visible within the frame.

Camera: Nikon D800

Lens: Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G AF-S VRII

Light happens.  Be ready.  Shoot hard.

Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

Ghost Towns

Boom and Bust in the Old West

Ghost towns are strangely fascinating places.  Idolized in stories about the hardships of the Old West, these communities were deserted by their citizens and left to crumble in the wake of financial collapse or other turns of misfortune.

Times change, promises fade, mines close, wells run dry, and business moves on.  Today, only the shells of buildings remain, bare walls and foundations stripped of lumber, copper, and other valuable materials.

General Store, Rhyolite Ghost Town, Nevada

Perhaps the ghost town is the architectural equivalent of an obituary page, a volume of cautionary tales foretelling the demise that awaits those who take foolish risks or rely too heavily on the good graces of providence.

The ghost town is bleak, bankrupt, crumbling, and deserted, yet we still feel compelled have a glance or even spend a few hours exploring their mysteries.

The ghost town represents our fears come true.  We want reassurance that this bitter fate won't happen to us, to our homes, to our towns. 

Rough times hit everyone sooner or later.  No one understands this better than those who have seen ruin and devastation up close.

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II

Lenses: Canon EF 16-35 f/2.8L II

Light happens.  Be ready.  Shoot hard.

Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

Evaluating New Gear

Just Shoot It

When I evaluate new cameras and lenses, I want to go out and do some shooting as soon as possible.  I'll review the manual quickly to ensure that I understand the basic setup, but I really want to get 'out there' and start taking pictures.

I can't get the best out of a piece of gear until I've logged some experience with it.  I want to jump in and get that experience right away - shoot, review, see what happens.

Sure, I'll make some mistakes.  I won't understand how to find some settings, etc.  But that's acceptable as long as I'm not shooting something critical (like someone's wedding).  The struggle to access new features and locate obscure menu items actually helps to burn these details into my memory.

Caveat: This probably isn't the best approach when learning to do something dangerous such as flying an airplane.

I met with good fortune recently when I took a new camera out for its first stroll.  The sky was clear, the light was outstanding, and I ended up with some memorable images.

Hunter College in Reflected Light, New York City

I had photographed this building at Hunter College previously, but I never seemed to capture it in a flattering light.

On the day of my new camera break-in walk, sunlight bounced off of a building across the street and cast interesting reflections toward the subject.  The effect was unique and obvious.  A gentleman passing by noticed what I was doing and said, "Oh, you're taking it with the reflections from the other building.  That's cool!"

The light made a big difference.  I had my first good shot of this building after several tries, and my new camera logged its first keeper.

Later on the same walk, I photographed this statue of Mary in the gardens of a prominent Roman Catholic church.  Once again, it was a subject that I had visited previously with varying degrees of success.  But this time, the pure quality of the light combined with the impressive greenery to create a memorable image.

The Virgin Mary with Flowers, New York City

I like the serenity of the image.  The sculpture itself is crafted to project serenity, and I'd like to think that the photo supports and enhances this mood especially with the addition of the flowers and the greenery.  She seems far removed from the hustle and stress of the big city, and I suppose that that's really the whole point. 

Not all of my shots  that day worked as well.  There were hits and misses, successes and clunkers.  But with every shot I learned more about my gear, lessons that I would be able to apply to future projects.


I'm impatient.  I don't like to read the manual until I've used the camera.  But once I've enjoyed the immediacy of that firsthand shooting experience, I'll go back and read almost every page.  I want to understand the details.  The book makes more sense once I know how the camera responds and feels in my hands.

As a bonus, even a first attempt can yield good photos.  It's all part of the magic and mystique of photography.

Camera: Nikon D800

Lens: Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G AF-S

Light happens.  Be ready.  Shoot hard.

Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

New York's Colorful Subway Signs

Take The 'A' Train

I enjoy photographing subway signs even though they're not a classic subject.  Or perhaps because they're not a classic subject.  They present us with an opportunity to discover the magic within the mundane.

My eye is drawn to the simple shapes, the bold lettering, the clean layout, and vibrant colors. 

Inspiration can happen anywhere.  The way that we look at our world is more important than the subjects themselves.


The sign below was posted during a construction project at New York's Fulton Street Station and has since been removed.  I'm glad that I took the shot that day, because I'll never get another chance at this unique combination of elements.

What hidden photo opportunities await discovery in your city, in your neighborhood - even if you don't have a subway?  

Keep your mind and heart open.  Your next memorable image might be waiting just around the corner.  

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II

Lens: Canon 24-105 f/4L IS

Light happens.  Be ready.  Shoot hard.

Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved