Archives for July, 2011
5 Jul 2011
I have been dabbling in real estate and architectural photography lately as well as HDR processing. It is not as easy as it may appear to get the perfect shot of real estate. So practice is essential. A friend of a friend was kind enough to let me practice on their beautiful Scottsdale home recently. Here are a few of the shots after I processed them through Photomatix Pro 4.0.2.
5 Jul 2011
5 Jul 2011
I ran across one of those 10 this, 25 that blog posts that featured this particular blogger’s idea of 40 of the world’s best architectural photographs. For the most part I did not disagree with any of his/her selections and these architectural photographs are worth sharing. Here are four of my favorites, but you can check out all 40 images on nerdtreasure.com.
3 Jul 2011
A quick Google search will turn up everything you need to know about how to photograph fireworks. So rather than reinvent the wheel I have a few quick tips here and then a directory of some of the better fireworks photography sites I have found.
1) Tripod – It goes without saying (although I am saying it), you MUST use a tripod for decent fireworks photographs. With the longer shutter speeds required for night photography the steadiness a tripod provides is essential.
2) Aperture – You might think that since it is dark out you want to open you aperture up to f/5.6 or bigger. Makes sense, but actually I have found that keeping your aperture around f/8 is ideal. You need to balance the night and the great amount of light that the fireworks give off. Use your aperture priority setting as well so you can determine the f/stop and the camera can set the shutter speed accordingly.
3) ISO – My Sony Alpha 850 can go up to an ISO of 6400. For extreme low light situations that might be perfect. But remember that even in the best cameras the higher the ISO the more noise you are going to get. Since you are already using a tripod you can set your ISO lower and take advantage of the steadiness of the tripod to use longer shutter speeds rather than higher ISO. If possible keep your ISO at around 100-200.
4) Focus – It is not easy to focus on the distant horizon and leave it focused while you wait for the fireworks to explode while on auto focus. One good trick is to let the camera focus while on auto and then while holding that focus switch it to manual so that you basically lock in the focus.
For more great fireworks photography tips here are some additional resources.
Tips for Photographing Fireworks
How to Photograph Fireworks Displays from Digital Photography School
Thanks to Matt at Awesome Toy Blog for pointing out this great Photography Cheat Sheet designed by Miguel Gantioqui. It has all the things you need to remember for capturing a great photograph without relying on the auto setting of your camera all awesomely designed into one “cheat sheet.”
1 Jul 2011
The ACLU has filed suit against the District of Columbia accusing the police department of violating a photographer’s constitutional right. D.C. police allegedly lied to a photographer taking their picture on the street when they told him he needed their permission to photograph them and then detained him. The suit claims this violated his First and Fourth Amendment rights.
D.C. Police Violated Photographer’s Rights: ACLU From NBC Washington
