Photo and Travel Tips

Photo Tip : Fewer is Better

In the days when I used a 4x5 a photography session was rarely more than 2 images (due to the effort required to setup and move the camera). Since moving to digital I've found that I tend to shoot much more and as a result, I've not been as happy with some of the results as when I worked a single composition.

During a trip to Naxos, Greece, I imagined a single composition that would combine the sunlit sky with the buildings on the the town beginning to come to life with light. However, this required the blending two images and the light in and on the buildings were not very strong. In order to achieve this, I set the camera on a tripod, and took a single exposure every 5 minutes, until after darkness fell.

Photo Tip : Embrace the Weather

I remember how excited I was about my first visit to Vienna, Austria. I've longed to go there for years so I had a lot of ideas and plans. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate with my longing. Instead it was cold and rainy.

In spite of the rain and cold, I headed to Kärntner Strasse in the Inner Stadt, to enjoy watching the people shopping and the play of light on the street. Once there, I concentrated on the light, the people and the colors of the signs. Sticking with a Sigma 24mm f1.4 Art lens in the Nikon D800 gave me the sharpness and shutter speed I desired in the low light levels.

Lesson, make lemonade from lemons. Enjoy what is in front of the lens.

Travel Tip : Window Shopping

Windows are fascinating! They provide a window into what people are interested in and their culture. That's one of the keys I find to learning about a location when I'm traveling. Walking around Prague, I noticed that there were quite a few shop windows that had some type of marionette on display. Interestingly, I found that the art of Czech marionette and puppet making goes back to the 18th century - they are traditionally hand carved from wood or made from plaster - and I discovered that marionette making is a traditional craft in the Czech Republic, a discovery that began when I noticed them in windows throughout Prague.

This fine example I found was at the Obchod loutkami (The Puppet Shop), on Nerudova Street in Malá Strana (Lesser Town).

Photo Tip : Urban Landscapes

In it’s most basic definition, a landscape is simply “all the visible features of an area or land”. We tend to think of landscapes as a collection of natural artifacts, but photographing buildings and cityscapes in a pleasing manner can be just as challenging.

When photographing the urban landscape, the secret is about light and shadows. In the natural landscape, shooting early or late (near sunrise and sunset) in the day is norm, but with urban landscapes later in the day is preferred; to avoid nasty shadows clashing with the buildings. It’s better to move about in order to make full use of the shadows to highlight detail and shape.

Photo Tip : Simplicity of a Flower

Simplicity in all things is the secret of the wilderness and one of its most valuable lessons. There is something to be said about the simplicity that comes from a simple flower that draws the viewer in. Perhaps, it's because they neither seek attractiveness, except through their natural design, and being simple, they appeal to people of all walks of life.

I like to get close to the flower, to see the dew on their petals, the way the petals lead the eye outwards, and the harmony of their colors. Flowers don't necessarily require the whole of the flower to impart a sense of beauty and peace, so zooming in often leads to a simpler view that is just as enticing to the viewer as the whole flower.