Thursday 28 February 2013

Update for tomorrow

I am giving anybody who is up right now a sneak peek for my new post tomorrow. Exciting stuff! ( for me anyways ). I will be looking at another useful technique that slow shutter can be used for. It doesn't involve any movement or fancy styles, just a camera, tripod or anything stable to place the camera on. It will help you create lush vivid photographs! It will, but keep on looking out for my post tomorrow to get ahead of the game. Thank you for the people who visited my blog, all 84 of you ( almost double since last night ). I hope you all enjoyed your day and start capturing moments. Good night!

Here is a picture of my dog waiting for his ball. I name it " My dog waiting for his ball"
The settings were automatic on this shot because I used a "miniature effect" function included in the camera.
( "Never let the camera control you, you should take control of the camera" - Laurence Nacario)

Slow Shutter Effects 2

All right, so now we dealt with slow shutter at night time. This next technique is the opposite of battling with darkness, we fight with light!.

In this shot I used ISO 100 because there is enough light for the camera to capture. Then I used a Shutter speed of 30fps and aperture f22. However, even with my aperture almost closed up and a ISO 100, the image is still over exposed. It was full on direct sunlight that day and no cloud in sight so getting a good exposure while attempting a slow shutter was pretty challenging. I did manage to get a cool "motion blur" from the cars and the people walking ( makes me happy ).  

Daytime Suburbia

This shot I must admit does not have the best composition. ( I criticize myself harshly ). Nor am I happy with the exposure ( I told you ). However, this photo does support this topic of fighting with light. As we know, both darkness and light have their own strengths and weaknesses. For example, while light can clearly highlight a subject and make it more visible, shadows offer texture and shape to the subject but too much and you will find that it loses its highlights. It is a constant battle between these two forces. If you get it right then you are a genius.

Wednesday 27 February 2013

Slow Shutter Effects

So I mentioned in my last post that I will show you some slow shutter effects and here it is. Of course, results may vary depending on your camera or lense types but the basic guidelines remain the same. "Look and think before opening the shutter. The heart and mind are the true lens of the camera". – Yousuf Karsh. If you don't know Yousuf Karsh you can always google him.

Ok, so in this photograph I have used my partner as my model. I used a 18mm-55mm Zoom lens from Canon. It was a challenge to choose an ISO for this shot because you are always faced with the dilemma of compromising the graininess of the image for more light  or having a better image with less light. I chose ISO 400 so that it would not sacrifice the overall quality. Now to get that strobe light effect of cars passing, I set the shutter speed at 10fps and set the aperture at around F7.0. That trick now is to keep a steady hand because unless you have a tripod handy (which I didn't), the image might blur because of movement. We were under a post lamp with a cool white bulb so I changed my white balance to Daylight (5600k) which gave it a warmer feel, a bit too warm for my liking actually. However, it compensated well because the white balance matched the black and white pole on the left showing the true white. This image was captured as we were on our way for desserts in a local Dutch restaurant and I happened to have my camera. I name this image " A fast paced world" because slow shutter speeds can enhance fast movements by dragging them accross the photo.
" A fast paced World"by Laurence Nacario

First Impressions

Hyper speed Slow shutter by Laurence Nacario

ISO 200/ F 22/ Shutter 5fps/ pull zoom while pressing the shutter button to get the light speed effect.
Thank you guys! I am actually happy to get 34 views on my blog. I don't really mind if nobody sees this but to know that it is seen feels great. As you may sense by now, I am a non-conformist human being that does not want to be part of this world. You may call me an "earthling man" because I do not want to belong to any boundaries. Tomorrow I will post more photos of Slow Shutter speed effects. If you have any questions, Please leave a comment and I will entertain your queries. Once again , Thanks and Good night!

Tuesday 26 February 2013

Chapter 1: The Beginning

The Beginning

This is the start of my creative release of all things that are captured by my camera.
I will explain in each of my photos; Frame size, Composition, White Balance, Aperture and Shutter settings, Lens size and the overall Motivation of each shot.

When I look through that round well designed piece of glass (the lens), I see more than a picture.
I see a story behind each one, I believe opinions may differ. You may not see what I am seeing but that is the beauty of it. I don't care. You should not care either because as a photographer you have the license to capture whatever moment you want, whichever subject you desire, no matter what others may think. It all comes down to what you want them to see.

Here is my first ever photo to this site. I name it "Sleepless Nights: Mind Prison"
I use a Canon EOS M- mirrorless camera. This will be my staple photography weapon for capturing images.
I used a 22mm Canon Prime lens. That is actually me in the photo using a 10 sec self timer. I decided to put in the frame the outdoor security lights because it showed amazing shadow bars against the wall. On the foreground is the bed post which "entraps" me inside the image. Originally, the white balance was set to 3200k or tungsten but I found the image was too bluish. I chose 5600k instead or Daylight to warm up the outdoor light. Then I used a slow shutter speed of about 15 fps with the aperture closed to about f17. ISO was about 200 or 400 but I am unclear with that. Overall, I wanted to portray a man consumed by his own thoughts that he is rendered sleepless and trapped in his mind. The bars in the background, foreground and shadows represent the "cage like" mindset he is experiencing. I decided to desaturate the colours which left the warm yellow light standing out as a means of freedom.

"Sleepless Nights: Mind Prison" by Laurence Nacario