Archives for October, 2010

Close up photo of tree bark
Tiger Bark
Desert Botanical Garden – Phoenix, AZ
f/8.0 – 1/25 sec – ISO 100 – Focal Length 120 mm

Night photography can be a challenge.  For starters you need the right equipment.  Then you need to know the basics of exposure in order to adjust your ISO, aperture and shutter speed correctly to capture images at night.  But it is well worth it as most cities change dramatically at night.  You will capture a whole other side of the city that will make you glad you attempted some night photography.

Photo of the Sea Life London Aquarium at nightSea Life London Aquarium
London, England
f/5.6 – 1/5 sec – ISO 2000 – Focal Length 110 mm

Photo of Big Ben at night

Big Ben
London, England
f/5.0 – 1/10 sec – ISO 1600 – Focal Length 90 mm
Photo of Tower Bridge at night
Tower Bridge
London, England
f/5.6 – 1/8 sec – ISO 1250 – Focal Length 35 mm
Photo of the London Eye at night
Eye on the Night
London Eye
f/5.6 – 1/8 sec – ISO 2000 – Focal Length 28 mm

Photo of Westminister Abey at night

Bedtime Prayers
Westminster Abey – London, England
f/4.5 – 1/20 sec – ISO 1600 – Focal Length 28 mm

Photo a a fairy duster plant bloomFairy Duster
Desert Botanical Garden – Phoenix, AZ
f/10.0 – 1/125 sec – ISO 100 – Focal Length 200 mm

photo of a fountain at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix

Calm
Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, AZ
f/7.1 – 1/13 sec – ISO 500 – Focal Length 200 mm
Photo of an Egyptian bust at the British Museum
Walk Like an Egyptian
British Museum, London, England
f/5.0 – 1/20 sec – ISO 400 – Focal Length 100 mm
Photo of London architecture
A Spot of Orange
London, England
f/10.0 – 1/160 sec – ISO 640 – Focal Length 135 mm
Detail photo of an aloe plant padf/10.0 – 1/60 sec – ISO 100 – Focal Length 200 mm

Photo of a saguaro cactus at the Desert Botanical Garden

f/14.0 – 1/160 sec – ISO 160 – Focal Length 100 mm

I am not a user of Leica cameras and lenses, but I still think it is worth mentioning Leica’s recent launch of a new image hosting website, www.LeicaImages.com.

Screen Shot of the LeicaImages.com search pageLeicaImages.com is a free online gallery for hosting photos captured with Leica gear.  That does limit it a bit to a very specific niche photographer for posting images.  But there is no reason the rest of us can’t oooh and ahhh at the work produced by these very high end and high quality pieces of photography equipment.  The site is rather advanced as well.  It features search functions that allow you to search for an image taken by a specific lens or camera, by focal length, photo age, aperture as well as predefined categories.  This is great for both the Leica enthusiast looking for examples of work done with the equipment they own as well as someone researching the potential purchase of a Leica camera or lens.

Here are a few more features of LeicaImages.com courtesy of Leica.

  • Remember Photos – Keep track of photo you like. No more forgetting where you once saw that photo.
  • EXIF Editing – If your photo was scanned or no EXIF data is in the file, you can set and customize the EXIF data for the uploaded file.
  • EXIF Search – You can search for photos by clicking on EXIF data. Doing so will show you photos with the same EXIF data.
  • Personal Lens List – Build a personalized list of lenses you own or have used. This makes assigning them to photos a breeze.
  • MTF Data – View MTF data for a lens. When you view a photograph, the EXIF data will show the specific lens used. To the right of that lens description is an icon representing a pdf file. If the data is available, Clicking on this icon will display the MTF data sheet for the lens.
  • Follow the photographer – If you want to be kept up to date when a specific photographer uploads new photos simply add that photographer to the “My Following List”. You will then receive email notifications when the photographer uploads new photos.
  • Slideshow – View a slide show. Whenever you see the Silde Show icon, clicking on it will present you with a slide show. This may be for a specific photographer, today’s photos, category or collection.

Photo of the London Eye during the day

London Eye and the London Aquarium
f/10.0 – 1/250 sec – ISO 200 – Focal Length 75 mm
Photo of the London Eye at NightLondon Eye and the London Aquarium at night
f/4.0 – 1/4 sec – ISO 1600 – Focal Length 28 mm