Low light photography is a bit more complicated, but don’t let that deter you from experimenting. The results are well worth the extra effort. And, in truth, so long as you keep a few key things in mind, it’s not very difficult to achive that great glowing photo.

Hold Still

No, not the pumpkin, they are pretty stationary by default. Well, unless they’re sentient wandering jack-o’-lanterns, but that’s an entirely different topic.

With any night time or low light photography, the more steady your camera the better. Even if you think you are pretty good at holding still, really, nothing beats not holding your camera at all. This means go pull out that old tripod, or if you don’t have one of those, finding a nice spot on the ground or table, or even pressing your camera body up against a stationary object. This will afford you the opportunity to get a greater depth of field, minimize any camera jitter that would cause fuzziness, and not have to use the flash.

Experiment

Now that your camera is nice and still, play around with the composition. Get close, use the rule of thirds, fill the frame, and try different angles and perspectives. If your camera will allow tweaking of the aperture settings, try using a small depth of field (low number for aperture - like 3 or 4). You’ll never know if there is a cool shot hiding in your subject if you don’t try different things. In the world of digital photography the only thing this will cost you is a few extra minutes.

Flash

I for one am the first one to say “Argh! Yuck flash! Blerg. Evil evil awful flash!” That’s not to say that it has its time and place. If you are able to adjust the strength and/or position of your flash, this can actually add an interesting lighting element to a low light photo. Sometimes a little flash actually does work, just remember to keep it gentle. Bright harsh flash will drown out the wonderful orange glow of jack-o’-lanterns and destroy the creepy otherworldly atmosphere of the photo. Again, experiment.

Have fun this Halloween, and happy spooky photo shooting.

I know. Weird, eh?

At any rate, here’s my latest addition to the Secret Lair which I discuss some tips and tricks to (hopefully) help out all those budding photographer minions out there capture some flowers in photographic format.

Check it.

So, if any of you were wondering what my current process is for creating one of my webcomics, you really should go check out the post.

On a side note, my process for creating a Radio Isopod webcomic is basically the same, while my process for creating a All Write! webcomic is all the steps posted minus the coloring parts. For All Write!, I use paths with the oval shape and hand draw the tails instead of hand drawing everything.

Initial digital sketch.

Beginning to ink the piece digitally.

Final image.

Yesterday, P.G. Holyfield released some exciting news about his novel, Murder at Avedon Hill. It’s going to be published though Dragon Moon Press.  As a fan of the story (and friend of the author) I couldn’t be happier for Patrick. As I’ve said upon numerous occasions, it’s a wonderful story and it deserves any and all recognition it receives. So, big congrats! I can hardly wait for its new release. You can see the official press release here. He also released a special announcement episode, here.

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I was going to wait to post this image when the corresponding episode of MaAH was released, but with the recent good news, I figured now was as good a time as any.

Patrick asked me a while ago if I would be interested in doing another image for one of the last chapters. I, of course, jumped at the suggestion. The image itself was left open to whatever scene I wanted to do. After refreshing myself on the events of the applicable chapters, I sent a few ideas off to Patrick. From that correspondence we decided on this image (as to prevent any major spoilers of the plot).

For this illustration I decided to do the whole thing digitally. This method worked well for the last MaAH illustration I did, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to expand my digital art skills.

The first image is a rough concept sketch for what I had in mind. That was approved. I then moved on to the inking.  The great thing about working digitally, I found, was that if I made a mistake at any point, I could easily redo or adjust the image. In this case, I found that I had placed the arm in an awkward position.  I also noticed that the eye position was a bit off. So, I just moved everything around a bit until I was satisfied.

For coloring I shaded with sharp lines of different color shades rather than doing a blended shading. The only reason for this was that I hadn’t really used that technique much and wanted more experience. Plus, I like the look. I also changed the color of the ink for the spirits from the original black to a light blue. This was done using a clipping mask layer (in Photoshop) under the ink layer. During the coloring of the spirits, I also found they needed more detail, so I added some swirls and additional line details. To get the spirits to look transparent, I filled them with color on a separate layer, then reduced the opacity of the layer.

The hardest part of the coloring, oddly enough, was the background. I was having trouble getting a texture and color that I really liked. After adding several textured layers and tweaking the color settings, I finally found a combination that I liked, while also matching the described scene in the story.

Per Andy’s request, I picked up some nectarines from the store for pie. I wasn’t sure what type of pie it would end up being as I was certain I didn’t have a recipe that called for nectarines, but I was confident I could find something or improvise.

This recipe was originally called “Alsatian Plum Tart” and as the name suggests, called for plums. After a few tweaks, I ended up with the following recipe.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Combine the nectarines with the liquor and set aside. They will be absorbing the goodness of the SoCo and cognac during this time.

Roll out the pie crust pastry and line a 9in. pie pan with it. Chill for 5 or 10 minutes in the freezer if the pastry has gotten too soft and room temperature. Prick the base with a fork. Line it with foil or parchment paper, fill with baking beads, and bake for 15mins or until slightly dry and set. Brush the base of the pastry shell with a thin layer of jam. You may need to warm the jam a bit if it is too thick to work (10 sec. in the microwave should help). Bake the shell for 5 more minutes. Reduce the oven temp. to 350 degrees.

Now it is time to make the custard filling. Beat the eggs and sugar until combined. Then add the cream, lemon zest, vanilla, and any juices that have been released from the nectarines. Arrange the nectarine slices in the pastry shell, making sure to get an even layer over the entire pie. Pour the custard mixture over the nectarines. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the custard has setup and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

This particular experiment was quite successful. As this is a tart, it is not as sweet as a traditional American pie. If you prefer something sweeter, you can add sugar to the nectarines and/or more sugar in the custard. Of course, plums or peaches or any other similar textured fruit will work just as well or perhaps even better. Cooking is all about experimenting. :)

Enjoy!

During this time of the year the myriad roses that fill the several acre park are in full fragrant bloom. Having photographed the roses numerous times, I’m always looking for new methods and perspectives to capture. While I enjoy a nice rose photo that depicts the flower (open or in bud) beautifully centered, filling up most of the frame, I have gotten bored with that particular composition. As a result, I have been exploring the macro world of this rose forest.

My tools for macro photography include a wide angle lens, a set of macro filter lenses, a telephoto lens with macro capabilities, and, of course, my Nikon D50 DLSR camera. Most of the time I use the wide angle lens with some combination of the macro filter lenses attached. The reason I like this method better than the macro setting on the telephoto lens is a) I don’t have to stand at a distance in order to focus on the subject, and b) the wide angle lens allows me to shoot at higher shutter speeds. This second reason is most important for me because the higher the shutter speed the more likely I am to avoid any blurriness caused by magnification of hand held camera shake. Ideally a tripod is recommended for macro photography for this very reason, but let’s face it folks, tripods aren’t practical to lug around everywhere you might want to do some casual photography.  Even small portable ones aren’t going to help you much if you want to shoot at a weird angle or anything taller than the tripod height. At least that is what I have found in my experience. That’s not to say I don’t ever use tripods; I do. In fact I carry a small one in my camera case. However, faced with a beautiful sunny day, I’ll choose hand held over tripod if I feel I can get away with it (i.e. get sharp images).

When shooting macro, I ask myself how I can highlight the distinctiveness of each rose. I try to fill the fame in a way that shows the character of the subject by only focusing on a small piece. In the case of the two photos above and below, both had interesting textures. For the photo above, I tried to emphasize the crumpled, almost face-like, appearance of the bloom. For the photo below, the shape of the edges along with the coloration and patterns in the petals were intriguing. I made sure to focus on just the edges for this shot.

In addition to the hundreds of different type and colors of blooms, there were the small inhabitants of the gardens. While shooting a small bloom variety, I found this wee bitty ladybug hiding within the petals. It looked cozy nestled within the bloom. Focusing on just the ladybug, I kept a wide aperture size to allow the rose to be a bit fuzzy while forcing the eye to the sharp ladybug.

Technical Details (top to bottom)

Aperture Value: f/13
Focal Length: 55 mm
Exposure Program: Aperture Priority
ISO: 200
Shutter Speed Value: 1/50 sec
Filters: 2x and 4x macro 

Aperture Value: f/5.6
Focal Length: 55 mm
Exposure Program: Aperture Priority
ISO: 200
Shutter Speed Value: 1/160 sec
Filters: 2x and 4x macro  

Aperture Value: f/5.6
Focal Length: 55 mm
Exposure Program: Aperture Priority
ISO: 200
Shutter Speed Value: 1/500 sec
Filters: 2x and 4x macro  

Aperture Value: f/5.6
Focal Length: 55 mm
Exposure Program: Aperture Priority
ISO: 200
Shutter Speed Value: 1/320 sec
Filters: 2x and 4x macro   

Yes friends, now you too can be the proud owner of your very own gorgalthumper. Won’t you help end gorgalthumperlessness and make one for yourself or a loved one?

Hopefully those interested will be able to follow my rambling enough to make something closely resembling a gorgalthumper. At any rate, here’s the PDF.

Why not wait for a beautiful sunny warm day to go to the zoo? Because that’s when everyone in the greater Portland metro area goes to the zoo. ALL OF THEM.

Yucky days are the best for several reasons. One, hardly any people. Not that I hate people or anything. I just find it’s much nicer when you don’t have to squish up to a few dozen people just to catch a glance of the less popular animals. Two, no people equals quiet. Ah… I can actually have a conversation with my fellow zoo companions without competing with the din of screaming sugerized children. Three, no people plus quiet plus cool weather equals lots of active animals. Yay! Lots of stuff to take photos of!!

For this shot, I had a few things going against me. One was the fact that the window of the enclosure was quite dirty. The second was that it was a dark gloomy day, so I had minimal light to work with.

Reduce Depth of Field

This can help you conquer both of the above mentioned issues. For those that are unfamiliar with the term depth of field (DoF), this basically means how much of the photo is in focus. When you minimize the depth of field you increase the size of the aperture of the camera’s lens. How does that help, you ask? Well, with an increase in the aperture (smaller f/#), the more light you let in (i.e. an aperture value of f/5.6 has a smaller DoF and lets in more light than a value of f/8). This helps you get a nice crisp subject by allowing the shutter speed to be faster. Also, by minimizing the DoF, the foreground (i.e. dirty glass, wire mesh, reflections) or background (i.e. ugly background, cage bars/mesh) details can be minimized or removed from the photo. By reducing the field, the further something is away from the focused area, the fuzzier it will be. So, if there is dirt on the glass (as there was in this case), it can be fuzzed away. Granted this trick won’t work very well on substantial obstructions. However, if in doubt, experiment.

Get Close

Zoos can provide great opportunities to get nice close up shot of animals. So, take advantage of this. In the bobcat photo, I used my wide angle lens and braced myself against some rocks next to the glass. I also crouched down to get on eye level with the bobcat. Because I wasn’t zoomed in (much) and I was using a small DoF, I was able to hand hold this photo and have the subject turn out nice and sharp.

To Include the Cage, or Not?

Remember just a few paragraphs ago when I talked about removing the cages from zoo images? So, yeah, sometimes it’s just inevitable that the cage shows, as was the case in this bald eagle photo. The only angle I could get was a fair distance away, and I couldn’t get a reasonably sharp photo zooming in very much from this angle.

In this case, you won’t be fooling anyone when you regale them with tales of how you expertly stalked the creature over several miles of pristine wilderness and got within mere feet of it, just barely managing to snap an amazing photo. Ah well, maybe next time, eh? However, why not make the cage work with the photo of the animal. That’s what I attempted to do in this shot. Was I successful? Perhaps. I think the image turned out fairly powerful with the chain link and conversion to black and white.

Minimize Camera Jitter

Tripods and monopods or even leaning against a wall can definitely help to create a sharp image, especially if you want to zoom in close. I have a little tripod that extends from about one foot to about two and a half feet. At the very least, it works nicely as a monopod. This particular day, we brought a full sized tripod as well. Since the zoo was fairly devoid of people, it worked out nicely. We were able to set it up without being jostled by people or worrying about hogging prime observation angles.

The above photo of the owl was taken using the large tripod. This little hooter was out in the open, but he was quite small. As I wanted to get a nice image of his face, zoom was a necessity as was the tripod. It started to rain as soon as I got everything setup (go figure, eh?) but was able to get a few shots before my camera was totally drenched. Still, it didn’t turn out nearly as crisp as I would have liked, but much better than trying to take a hand held shot.

This tiger photo was taken with my little tripod. I positioned it on the metal handrail and was very careful not to move it during the shutter release.

Most of these shots could have been taken using a compact camera with a decent zoom and proper stabilization (whether that be a tripod, monopod, or conveniently placed rock).

Patience

Probably the most important thing for taking photos of any animal is patience. If you wait long enough, the animal will face you or come up close or the annoying people obscuring the entire observation window will move on to the next exhibit. You just have to wait a few minutes.

Hope these tips helped. I know they have helped with the quality of my photos.

Technical Details

Bobcat
Aperture Value: f/5
Focal Length: 92 mm
Exposure Program: Aperture Priority
ISO: 200
Shutter Speed Value: 1/60 sec
Filter: UV
Bias: -2

Eagle
Aperture Value: f/5.6
Focal Length: 200 mm
Exposure Program: Aperture Priority
ISO: 200
Shutter Speed Value: 1/400 sec
Filter: UV
Bias: -2

Owl
Aperture Value: f/5.6
Focal Length: 300 mm
Exposure Program: Aperture Priority
ISO: 200
Shutter Speed Value: 1/7 sec
Filter: UV
Bias: -1

Tiger
Aperture Value: f/5.6
Focal Length: 300 mm
Exposure Program: Aperture Priority
ISO: 200
Shutter Speed Value: 1/80 sec
Filter: UV
Bias: -1

One of the smaller whale sharks via the huge viewing window of the enormous main tank. There are glass tunnels and a whole slew of viewing windows for just this one tank.

Technical Details
Aperture Value: f/3.5
Focal Length: 19 mm
Exposure Program: Program
ISO: 200
Shutter Speed Value: 1/30 sec
Filter: UV

Over in one of the smaller exhibits. This sea turtle was being very photogenic.

Technical Details
Aperture Value: f/5.6
Focal Length: 18 mm
Exposure Program: Program
ISO: 400
Shutter Speed Value: 1/100 sec
Filter: UV

The big tropical reef tank. Yes, it does curve overhead and there are waves crashing above. I have no idea who these people are, but they were providing some good photo composition. Thanks random unknown people. :)

Technical Details
Aperture Value: f/9
Focal Length: 28 mm
Exposure Program: Program
ISO: 400
Shutter Speed Value: 1/320 sec
Filter: UV

Tips for Taking Aquarium Photos:

1.) Turn off the flash. It will just bounce off the glass and cast annoying reflections or mess up the image entirely. If you can’t turn it off, press your lens up to the glass, or make sure you take photos at an angle to the glass to minimize reflection.

2.) Put your camera in manual mode (if it has it). This way you have better control over your exposure. Your camera will try to expose the image much too bright for the aquarium lighting. Under expose the image a stop or two if possible. This way you can turn that flash off and still be able to have the shutter speed fast enough to prevent blur. The rule of thumb is you can hand hold a camera without blur if the shutter speed is 1/focal length. For example if you are at 18mm, you can get away with hand holding the camera up to 1/18 second. Also, keep in mind that the fish are moving, which may also create blur.

3.) Put your camera in night mode if your camera doesn’t have manual mode. Since you are shooting indoors and in a fairly dark environment, most of the time you want to preserve this atmosphere in your photos. Night mode was designed exactly for this type of lighting situation. Try it out.

4.) Increase the ISO. Typically your camera will be using (or be set to) ISO 200. By increasing the ISO, you increase the light sensitivity. I found that I don’t like using anything greater than 400 because the image gets to grainy. The higher the ISO the grainer the photo. This becomes really obvious in images with lots of dark colors. However, play around with this setting and see what works for you. Rumor has it that digital cameras are going to finally ditch this sometime soon as it’s really a carry over feature from film. There is really no good reason why it’s used in digital photography.

5.) Use post editing to fix images. If you goof up your photos, use a photo editor to tweak the images after the fact. Photoshop has some nice photo filters/adjustment tools if you take your photos as JPEGs. If you take them in RAW or TIFF, you will have much more control over the exposure settings during post editing.

Although, I can tell you about a great informational site to help improve your photography. Then, once you become a world famous photographer, you will be able to win friends and influence people. ;-)

Digital Photography School is a good spot to go if you are looking for tips and ideas about photography. They have everything from the basics up to advanced techniques. They have tips for camera phones, to compacts, up to DSLR cameras. And, most importantly, RSS!

If you are looking for a good starting place for improving your photos, check out the following articles.

Rule of Thirds – This is the basic of basic for composition. It works for any image, not just photos. Next time you see an image you really like, take note on how the artist used this rule. You’ll be amazed at how often it is used.

Fill Your Frame - That’s right, get up close and personal. You don’t want to have to squint to figure out the subject of the photo. If you don’t want to get close (or can’t), use that zoom.

Give Your Subject Space to Look Into – When you are taking a photo of something with eyes… anything with eyes, and the subject isn’t looking directly at the camera, try to have some empty space on the side of the gaze. Or, have the subject of the gaze in the photo. It helps. Trust me.

Get Foregrounds Right – So, you want to give the feeling of being pulled into your photos instead of hovering above them. Try including more of the forground in the image.

Other than that, the only other things I would add are the following:

1.) Take loads of photos – Just like anything else, the more practice you get, the better you will get. Try different angles. Play around with the various settings on your camera. Experiment! Don’t worry, you’ll only be wasting pixels and those can be reclaimed by using the handy dandy delete button. Don’t feel like you need to keep all your photos. If it sucks, delete it and try again.

2.) Try to be level – Unless your going for the crazy strange angle approach, keep your horizons and subjects level. Use the edges of the view finder or LCD if you need a reference. If your shots still turn out crooked, there is a nice tool in Photoshop to straighten images if you took them in RAW. It’s okay to fix images after the fact. I won’t tell anyone. :-)

3.) Keep those subjects sharp – Be still, like a ninja in the night. In low light (and especially for camera phones) try to keep as still as possible. Prop your phone against something if possible. Use the photo preview and zoom in to see if you got a nice crisp shot. Try taking multiple shots in rapid fire mode (if your camera has it). Chances are one of them turned out sharp. At the very least, always have the eyes of the subject sharp.

5.) Shamelessly copy techniques – If you find a photo you like, try to replicate it yourself. You’ll end up learning new techniques this way. Remember when you were little and were learning how to write? The teacher had you copy letters over and over. It’s the same thing. It all comes back to practice. This way you have a goal. Something you want to figure out how to do – great motivation to improve.

6.) Take loads of photos – Seriously. This is the best way to improve.

As Captain Barbosa once said, they’re more guidelines than rules. Don’t feel like you have to follow them to get great photos. Experiment. Find out what works best for yourself. Hopefully this gave you a good place to start. Now, go out and photograph something.