December 6, 2018
Watch this 3-minute video on nine photography tricks advertisers use to make food look delicious.
Don’t try these photography tricks at home or the kids and your spouse will revolt! 🙂
Have a safe and happy holiday season! Dan
November 28, 2018
Neat image isn’t it? How did I do it? I used ICM! Here are the details on how you can do it!
ICM or Intentional Camera Movement is when the photographer intentionally moves the camera while he or she presses the shutter. This is done for artistic reasons or special effects.
The first shot is an ICM image of our Christmas Tree. The camera was set in Manual mode, ISO of 100, aperture of f/3.5, with a exposure of five seconds. I held the camera in my two hands, pressed the shutter, and during the five seconds moved the camera in a circular motion. I had pre-focused on the lights on the tree and placed the lens in manual focus before I took the shot. That way, the autofocus mechanism didn’t try to find the focus in the dim light.
With ICM, start with a five second exposure. I find an exposure of five seconds to be about the amount of time for one to smoothly move the camera through the pattern one plans. You may need to adjust the camera’s aperture or ISO in your shots depending on your situation.
The first shot also demonstrates a common ICM problem. A jerky start! If you look at the top of the image you will see little “hooks” where I started the motion after I pressed the shutter. The way to avoid these jerky starts is to begin the motion of the pattern then gently press the shutter. I did that on the other three images. Performing a clean start and moving the camera in a smooth motion takes practice!
For this next ICM shot, I zoomed in closer to the middle of our Christmas tree. Again, I used a five second exposure where I moved the camera in a circular motion. Because I was closer to the lights, I needed to change the aperture to f/5.0. Actually I took a bunch of shots at different aperture settings and I liked the f/5.0 one the best.
Note: The dashed line effect is due to the blinking of the LED Christmas lights that we use on our tree. LED lights are like fluorescent lights, they blink 60 times a second in sync with the AC power.
The next shot is another ICM where I moved the camera in a circular motion during the five seconds but with an aperture of f/11. They look similar in exposure because I adjusted both in Lightroom.
The last shot was taken similar to the previous one–ISO 100, aperture of f/11, exposure for five seconds–but I moved the camera in a figure eight several times.
Use the holiday lights in your own home to take some ICM photographs! They are easy to take and lots of fun! And when you show them to your friends and relatives, they will be impressed by your photography skills! 🙂
With ICM photos, one needs to do a lot of experimentation. Typically one takes many shots and selects only a few good ones. But the results can be amazing!
Have a Happy Holiday Season!
Dan
November 22, 2018
Cheryl Dunn’s excellent 2013 documentary about street photography, “Everybody Street” is available for free on YouTube.
The one caveat to this free stream of “Everybody Street” is that there are about a dozen, skippable short commercials sprinkled throughout the movie but they’re not too distracting (most of the ones that popped up in our stream were photography related).
If you care at all about street photography, or any type of photography, “Everybody Street” is a must-see movie. It is very impressive!
The movie is 85 minutes in length so make sure you have the time to watch it with the care it deserves!
The link to the free version of the movie can be found at https://www.shutterbug.com/content/watch-landmark-street-photography-documentary-everybody-street-free-youtube
I highly recommend you watch the movie “Everybody Street!”
Dan
November 12, 2018
A beautiful clear, crisp morning for photography! I was up before 6 a.m. and drove to the Penn Commons wetlands near Giant Foods in Lewisburg, PA. Temperature was 22 degrees with a heavy frost on everything. Nippy but very still! With no wind, it was very nice outside as long as one dressed warmly.
Here are some of my shots this morning. All the shots were taken with my Tamron 100-400mm zoom lens on my Canon 80D digital camera.
Dan
Skyline of Lewisburg taken from Penn Commons wetland. The glow in the sky at 6:18 a.m.
Some clouds had formed by 6:49 a.m.
The sky over Montour Ridge in the east just before the Sun rose. Taken at 6:56 a.m.
Sumac tree with frost on its leaves.
Since the next five images were almost monotone, I converted them to Black and White using Lightroom.
Frost on a plant on the gravel path.
Grasses sticking out of the ice on one of the ponds.
Neat reed sticking out of the ice and its reflection.
Large ice crystals have formed on the surface of one of the ponds. Some are more than a foot long!
Large ice crystals have formed on the surface of one of the ponds. Some are 6-8 inches long!
November 11, 2018
Do you print your own photos? Do you sell or share your images with others? Have you calibrated your computer monitor lately?
I had read “Calibrate your monitor before you print your images or share them with others!” I have an iMac computer and the colors on the monitor’s screen looked fine with me. So why bother?
However, since I was having trouble with colors when printing my images, I decided to take the plunge and buy a device to calibrate my monitor. I purchased a Spyder5pro from B&H on sale for about $100. After I ran the software to calibrate my iMac’s monitor, I was amazed by the difference! First, like many people I had the monitor’s brightness too high which means when I adjusted my images in Lightroom they would print too dark. Also, the colors were slightly off! And, the calibration solved the weird colors that I was seeing when I printed an image!
On the left is a sample image that I had adjusted in Lightroom before the monitor was calibrated. On the right is the same image adjusted again in Lightroom AFTER the calibration. The one on left should appear a little dark with a slight change in colors. Of course, the appearance depends on if the monitor you are using is calibrated properly! 🙂
The bottom line: You need to calibrate your monitor before you adjust them in a program like Lightroom or Photoshop if you plan to print them, sell or share your images with others. It really does matter!
Dan
November 9, 2018
What do you do on a dark and gloomy rainy day? Why not take a sequence of photos to tell a story? Here is one I photographed today. Try your hand at storytelling!
Dan
I saw a monster on the stairs!!
Oh! It’s only Socks!
November 1, 2018
Good morning Photographers,
I hope you all had a chance to photograph some Halloween Spirits last night! Here are several I took Tuesday evening (October 30th) in Lewisburg, PA. I used a sturdy tripod and cable release with my Canon 80D on Manual setting.
Keep taking pictures!
Dan
October 16, 2018, Lewisburg, PA
Did you see the sundog this evening? I was on my walk around 5:15 pm and I saw a sundog or mock Sun in the west and ran for my camera.
I took the images with my Canon 80D digital camera and Canon 18-200mm zoom lens. I also used a circular polarizer filter screwed on the front of the lens. The polarizer brings out the rainbow colors. The first image was shot with the lens at 50 mm. In the later images, I zoomed into the swirling clouds at 70, 90, or 200 mm!
“A sundog is a concentrated patch of sunlight occasionally seen about 22° to the left or right of the Sun. Sundogs often form in pairs on either side of the Sun when sunlight refracts through icy clouds containing hexagonal platecrystals aligned with their large, flat faces parallel to the ground. Technically known as parhelia (singular parhelion) they are often white but sometimes quite colorful, looking like detached pieces of rainbow, with red on the inside, toward the Sun, and blue on the outside.”
Sundogs typically means snow is on the way!
Keep your camera handy!
Dan
October 13, 2018
Kevin Stroble sent me five images to share that he took on the Scott Kelby Photowalk at the T&D’s Cats of the World wildlife refuge last Saturday. Kevin is a member of the Williamsport Shutterbugs.
Kevin – Thanks for sharing!
Dan
October 7, 2018
On Saturday morning October 6th, Lewisburg Photography Club member Louise Higgins led ten photographers on a tour of T&D’s Cats of the World wildlife refuge. We spent two hours photographing the animals and the park’s environs. It was cloudy but a very pleasant 68 degrees. We had a fun time!
Here are 14 of my images. The last image was not taken in the T&D’s Cats park but on my drive home. The combine is in a field on New Berlin Mountain Road just south of Furnace Road.
Dan Hyde
Group shot
Combine in field on New Berlin Mountain Road just south of Furnace Road.
September 29, 2018
Great morning for spiderwebs in Lewisburg, PA. Want to take pictures of spider webs? Wait for an early morning with heavy fog then walk around your yard and search for spider webs.
The traditional “Halloween” spider webs are made by Orb spiders. Here are several shots of Orb spider webs that I took this morning.
For the first three images with the brown fence in background, I used a tripod and an ISO of 100. The last two were handheld with ISO of 1600. I used my Canon 80D camera with a Canon 18-200mm zoom lens.
Dan
I like how the heavy fog has formed large beads of water especially near the bottom of the web.
At 7 pm Dan Hyde will run a hands-on workshop on Fun Photography. Dan will show you how to easily make rainbow flares. No, you don’t need Photoshop! Dan will also demonstrate how to use a 3-inch glass sphere, a 6-inch triangular prism, and a glass pyramid to take creative and fun photographs. Also, he will share other fun techniques such as how to make your own DIY light stick for light painting.
Bring your camera to have fun being creative! If you want to do the light painting exercises, you will need to bring a tripod and, if you have one, a cable release. If you don’t have a cable release, you can use the 2-second timer on your camera.
Remember we have a Photographer’s Clinic before our meetings starting at 6:30 pm where an “Expert” will be available to answer questions about your camera and/or photography. Though the Photographer’s Clinic is aimed at less skilled photographers, all photographers can stop by and chat. Bring your camera and ask the Expert your questions about what has been puzzling you.
After Dan’s Fun Photography workshop we will break for light refreshments and conversation for ten minutes or so then Dan will get us back together for a Critique Forum. If you wish to participate and have your photos critiqued by the group, please submit up to five JPEG images to Dan at hyde@bucknell.edu by 5 pm Tuesday September 25. More details on a Critique Form can be found at http://lewisburgphotoclub.o
For future reference, the theme for October’s Photo Quest is “Animals.”
Have a great day!
Dan
Photographers, August 7, 2018
The Perseid Meteor Shower is coming, and it’s the biggest shower of the year, hitting its peak on the night of August 12-13, 2018. On or around the peak night, the Perseids can produce 80-100 meteors per hour or more under ideal conditions… meaning a dark, clear sky. You will need to find a viewing spot with little light pollution where you can view the northern sky.
Viewing the Perseid meteor shower couldn’t be easier. Simply go outside after sunset and look a little to the right of dead north (use the compass app on your phone if you’re not sure where north is). Perseus will be a bit low on the horizon at first, but as the night progresses it will march higher in the sky. You can also use the “W”-shaped Cassiopeia as a guide. Find the constellation and look down and to the left and you’ll see Perseus. On the 12th, in PA, as we hit sunset, the earth will be rotating directly into the path so the rates will steadily increase through the night and peak between 10:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m.
And the hard part, we will need a clear night! Cross your fingers!
To photograph the meteor shower, place your camera on a study tripod. Use a wide angle lens. Use manual focus and pre-focus on a distance light. Set your camera on Manual and set your exposure time to 15-30 seconds. Adjust the aperture after you do a few test shots.
Take a lawn chair. And don’t forget your bug spray!
Dan Hyde
More details on the following web page:
Did you miss my talk on “Fake Photos” at the last meeting of the Lewisburg Photography Club on Thursday July 19?
My slides and handout are now online. See “Past Meetings” link on “Meeting” tab or click on http://lewisburgphotoclub.org/past-meetings-topics-and-speakers-notes/
Dan
We all hear “Why do I need that large bulky camera when I can take pictures with my smart phone?”
Here is a good article by Chris Corradino that provides ammo for your next response:
“5 Reasons Your Phone Can’t Compete with a Real Camera”
Happy Shooting!
Dan
July 4, 2018,
Yesterday Mary Jane, our son Scott, and I had a great trip to Clyde Peeling’s Reptiland in Allenwood, PA. Cost is $16 for adults. $14 for children ages 3 through 11. Summer time hours are 9 am to 6 pm. Because of the heat, we decided to arrive at 9 am just as the doors opened. A good plan! It was relatively cool and we almost had the park to ourselves for photography. We decided to see the outside exhibits first while it was not too hot.
A typical tourist can see the zoo in about 2 hours. It may take longer for a photographer as there are so many photo opportunities.
If you go at 9 am on a weekday, you should have the place almost to yourself. One can photograph without distractions. I had good access to the animals. We did not see any signs restricting photography. Scott and I did not use a tripod or flash.
Enjoy your photo trip!
Dan Hyde
The best part of the park for me was the “Dinosaurs Come to Life” path with about a dozen life-size animatronics-run dinosaurs. Some dinosaurs move their heads, open their month, roar and may spray water on you!
I was impressed by how the dinosaurs are hidden in the vegetation along the path. Notice that the above dinosaurs have feathers as was discovered by scientists a few years ago.
The Emu is an example of a living dinosaur.
Several animals in the outside exhibits.
We attended the 30-minute live show “The Ruling Reptiles” at 10:30 am. We really liked the show! Mary Jane and Scott got to pet an alligator at the end of the show.
Above is the house for Parakeet Landing. We found it worth it to pay the $2 for a seed stick.
We had no trouble getting a parakeet to land on our sticks.
One can get very close to the parakeets for great shots!
I’m partial to the geckos and the poison dart frogs.
July 1, 2018
We hope you had a chance to watch/shoot Lewisburg’s fireworks display last night. If you missed it, there are still plenty of fireworks shows in the region in the next few days. Grab your camera and try to capture some fireworks!
Here is how I like to shoot fireworks. First I use a sturdy tripod as I like to expose for 4 seconds. The longish exposure of 4 seconds captures the longer streaks as the bomb explodes. I use a cable release so I can start the exposure just when I detect a firework is starting, usually by the rocket’s ascending streak. Since it is easy to overexpose fireworks, I set my Camera 80D on the Manual setting, with an ISO of 100 and aperture of f-22. That usually produces nice colors on a black sky. You may have to adjust the aperture and/or shutter speed depending on your camera and how close you are to the action.
I used my “walk-around” Canon 18-200mm zoom lens. It’s important to set the lens to manual focus. I set the focus manually on a distant object before the show when there is more light and then don’t touch the focus ring! If you are like me and are prone to accidentally hit the focus ring in the dark, use a piece of artist tape to keep the focus ring in place. The artist tape will not leave any glue residue on your lens when you remove it. You can buy it at Brushstrokes. Since one is on a tripod, it’s best to turn off image stabilization.
Here are several shots of last night’s show.
Enjoy! Dan
We need images of Reflections for the next meeting’s Photo Quest!
The next meeting of the Lewisburg Photography Club is Thursday June 28, 2018 7-9 p.m. at the usual place – The Village Common.
During the first hour of the June 28 Meeting, we will have a panel of four “Experts” discuss the different lenses and filters they use. They will explain why they use a particular lens or filter and when. The four “Experts” are Photo Club members Penny Patterson, Charlie Guttendorf, Kyle Fawcett, and Dan Hyde.
During the second hour after the break, Dan will show images submitted to the June Photo Quest. The theme is “Reflections.” Recall a Photo Quest’s purpose is to challenge you so you can grow as a photographer. Don’t just select two images from your past images, plan and take several new shots that you think would make a strong image with Reflections. Those who wish to participate should submit two JPEGs that typify “Reflections” to Dan <hyde@bucknell.edu> by 5 p.m. Tuesday June 26.
Announcement
Due to scheduling issues, the July meeting of the Photo Club is a week early on Thursday July 19. We will have a Critique Forum. The next Photo Quest will be in August.
Image is of ‘Poppy’, a Cyanotype by Anna Atkins, about 1852. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Great website to explore that covers the extensive photography collection at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
Spend some time and browse.
Dan
www.vam.ac.uk/collections/photographs
The Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) in London has an incredibly varied collection of artifacts that span 5,000 years and includes architecture, furniture, clothing and textiles, sculpture, painting, jewelry, glass, ceramics, book arts, Asian art and design, and of course, photography. The V&A has been collecting photography since the very beginning of the medium in the mid-nineteenth century and its collection is especially strong in the work of early photographers. This is in part because approximately 270,000 photographs from the collection of the Royal Photographic Society, as well as camera equipment, books, and photographer’s journals, was transferred to the V&A in 2016. The V&A plans to open a new Photography Centre in October of 2018, making this website the best way to currently view its photos. A few examples are presented here, such as a 1953 official portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by Cecil Beaton, or one of MIT professor Harold “Doc” Edgerton’s milkdrop photos. A great way to get a glimpse of the V&A’s photographic riches is a short video narrated by several photography curators, “Introducing the photography collection,” and a feature including video and images of early photographer Julia Margaret Cameron.