How the rain drop drops....

I have always been intrigued by the movements of water. Water seems so delightful when you hear the sounds of it dripping and flopping into a puddle of more water. It has that high, sweet and calming noise as it bounces and ripples. In these few photos taken one rainy day, I tried my best to capture a nice drop of rain drop ( very repetitive ). I set my camera's aperture to its widest at 2.0, ISO at 100 and Shutter speed at 4000 fps. I believe it might actually be too dark but I don't have time to enhance the images because my computer doesn't have an editing software at this present time. Also, I could not get a nice close up macro shot because I didn't want to get my lenses wet from the splashes. A lazy move but anyway.., here we are.

Venting Out! : Releasing a few Photos

I have been negelecting this blog and so it has not grown. Just like a plant deprived of water, the plant will not grow, bear fruits or flowers. So now, I am just dumping a few photos kept in my camera in an attempt to add a few drops of fertilizer to my soil. Please excuse my sayings if they do not make sense because most likely I don't understand either. Here are a few delayed uploads. I will revisit and add the specs next time I am online, as for now, enjoy!

Urban Remains

"An Old Film Poster" by Laurence Nacario

 

" Rusted Cage door Hinge" by Laurence Nacario

 

"Half torn film poster" by Laurence Nacario

Nature ( A Dying vine)

" A Dying Vine" by Laurence Nacario

Lifeline ( Story of the clothesline pegs)

Red: "Everybody march!"

Red: " Keep your balance you fools!"

Red: "Stop shaking the line...I'm gonna fall"

Red: " It was you goofin around aye son"   Green: " Yup"

 

Depth of field exercise 1

"Succulent Desert" by Laurence Nacario - Canon EOS M, ISO 100, Shutter 1/1000, F-stop 2.0, 55mm lens.

"Succulent Desert" by Laurence Nacario - Canon EOS M, ISO 100, Shutter 1/1000, F-stop 2.0, 55mm lens.

Try experimenting with pulling focus to background,foreground or middle ground and see the differences.
Especially fun when looking at smaller objects like my miniature succulent garden. Enjoy!

" Adding depth and dimensions"

"The ball is dropped" by Laurence Nacario- Canon EOS M, ISO 800, Shutter 1/40, F- stop 2.0, Grayscale.

" Rock...Paper...Sand?" by Laurence Nacario - Canon EOS M, ISO 100, Shutter 1/800, F- stop 4.0, "Cloudy".

One thing I have noticed about having a nice focus/blurring effect is that the subject you are focusing on DEMANDS attention. It literally stands out because you directed it to do so. I also like to call it "3D" looking. If you watch the old 3D movies with the red and cyan glasses you may realize that the focus is on the object "popping out of screen". I believe having a strong focus on a subject while blurring/flattening the background, gives it a 3D like quality. It is also a good technique to use for isolating or separating objects. For example, the rock photo above is separated from the sea shells behind it because it is in focus or it is within the lens's depth of field.

Sneak Peek!

Thank you to the people who viewed my blog today. I hope that my memory dump of information will help you with your photographic endeavours. I would like to end this night with a preview of what is going to be posted tomorrow. It will be a few more images relating to " open iris" then I will show side by side comparisons of the effects we have used thus far. Thank you guys and enjoy!

Opening up your "Iris"

Have you ever wanted that soft blurry background on your photos? Well, in this post I will show you a neat trick to help you achieve that effect.

Why is your post called Opening up your "Iris"?
What is an Iris?
In our human eye, there is a part called the iris. Its function is to adjust how much light is being seen through our retina by dilating or increasing its size. Our cameras have the same function that we can use. It is called; Iris, aperture, F stop, the eye and one from my Italian friend in film school " the diaphragm".

Basically, each lens type has its own limit of how open their iris can be. The more open - the more light - the more blurry you can get the background or foreground. Here are some examples.

" Look at my foot" by Laurence Nacario

Canon EOS M-  ISO 400, Shutter speed 1/125, F stop 2.0, 22mm lens, White Balance "cloudy".

" Focus on reading" by Laurence Nacario

 Canon EOS M, ISO 800, Shutter speed 1/160, F stop 2.0, 22mm lens, White Balance "Custom"

If you look at my F stops for both images, they are at 2.0 which means I have opened them right up to its maximum. I believe it is a really good lens from Canon at least for one that came from the pack. Of course you can buy lenses that can open up to 1.8 or even more but if you don't have the money just stick with what you got.

Any more Effects?

Hey fellow earthlings. If you have any suggestions for me to write about on my next post please feel free to leave a comment or get contact with me. I am imperfect so I may need some reminders of things if I have left them out. I will respond promptly and find an appropriate post on the next update. Thank you.

" Squeeze the orange "

Slow Shutter Effects 3 (Delayed)

Finally, I have found time to get back to my online release of information. If you have read my apology post, I hope that this post will suffice.
So, unlike the previous post which dealt with movement.with slow shutter. This photo is stationed on "sticks" or a tripod. It helps create a static image.
Here are two static shots I have captured while visiting my partner aka "model".

This is a Close Up of a wonderful orchid. ISO 100, Aperture F 22, Shutter 1", White Balance at Daytime(5600k). My motivation was ...nothing. I pulled out my camera and looked for the closest object around which happened to be a nice yellow orchid. In this photo, the colours are super rich and vibrant. The exposure on the petals are well compensated even though the outside window is " burnt out". The reds and yellows are clearly distinguished. This is a nice effect  from using a slow shutter for still photography. It helps you see the finer details of the subject while intensely beautifying its subtle shades. I would have shown you a comparison with using a fast shutter but it did not come to mind when I was taking the photo. I name thee " Sunburst Orchid".

"Sunburst Orchid"

"Take a look at yourself"

The image above was captured on the same day as " Sunburst Orchid" but a bit later during the day. Outside was getting dark yet I saw a small opportunity to capitalize on my orchid themed photos. I use ISO 200,  Aperture F 5.6, Shutter 25fps. White balance set at "Shade" which is about 6500 to 8000k. My motivation was to portray an image of self-reflection. In the photo, the subject is looking for what she wants yet she is undecided. The truth however lies within herself, to look closely at her own self and reflect on what she really need. Freedom! Freedom from false advertising and from this "plastic world". To look at what is real and what is right in front of you. The orchid is a symbol of her untapped potential for growth, orchids may look beautiful freshly cut but if not re-planted into open ground it may wither and die. The light bouncing on her clothes and around the room simply came from the mirror. Slow shutter speed also intensifies natural highlights from any light source, in this case, the sunlight.

Apologies to anyone who is viewing my blog.

Hello 117 viewers. I want to apologise for not updating my posts. Especially the 3rd part of my slow shutter effects. As we all know, we need money in this world, though it is not everything it can at least sustain us temporarily until the new government rules over us. I have been working extra long and late hours as a waiter to earn my keep. So, know this, I will post more frequently if time permits. Once again I apologise to everyone and I hope you enjoy reading my previous post.

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.

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!

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