Shutter Mike Photography

One of my favorite places to visit and photograph in the world is Buenos Aires.  It is such a beautiful, diverse and colorful city.  That is why Gabriel Robledo’s blog is one of my favorite photography blogs.  He captures Argentina and Buenos Aires in particular very beautifully.  Almost, but not quite, as good as being there.  www.gabrielrobledoeng.wordpress.com

Click on any image to see an enlarged version.

Left – f/6.3 – 1/125 sec – ISO 100 – Focal Length 18 mm

Right – f/8 – 1/100 sec – ISO 100 – Focal Length 24 mm

Left – f/7.1 – 1/400 sec – ISO 100 – Focal Length 22 mm

Right – f/20 – 1/30 sec – ISO 100 – Focal Length 18 mm

f/11 – 1/320 sec – ISO 100 – Focal Length 30 mm

I took this photograph back in July in downtown Phoenix and always liked the glowing green effect.  There are a few things I would improve upon next time however.  For example I find the tree in the middle left distracting.  Trying a different angle might have helped that.  I would also have shot it more than once to try different shutter speeds and apertures.  I almost did not post it as a “Photo of the Day” but I decided  part of the learning process involves not posting only “perfect” photos.  Rather I need to include those that I learned something from in the process.

Simply put, Mike Cavaroc’s photo blog is full of awesome nature photography and you need to check it out.  I’ll leave it at that for today’s photography blog – go there now!  www.cavaroc.com

I went on a photo excursion to the relatively new Tempe Center for the Arts the other day.  I had never been before and love the architecture of this building.  I did not get a chance to go inside, but if it is half as impressive as the outside I will look forward to getting a chance to see it.  I am going to post my general photographs of the building and grounds soon.  But in the mean time I played around with focal length in one series of photos just for the sake of comparing what I got by standing in one spot and adjusting the focal settings.

I set the camera on aperture priority and kept the aperture constant at f/13.  Since the camera was setting the shutter speed it varied slightly but only between 1/30 and 1/40 second.  Then I focused on one spot and shot a series of photographs using 5 of the various focal lengths of m my 18-70mm lens.  Here are the results.

Focal Length = 18 mm

Focal Length = 26 mm

Focal Length = 35 mm

Focal Length = 50 mm

Focal Length = 70 mm

I wrote a review of my Lowepro Fastpack 250 camera backpack not too long ago.  I figured I would follow up that post with one about what I fill all that space with.  Depending where I am heading and what I intend to shot the contains can change.  And occasionally this bag is too much for what I am doing and I will switch to a smaller bag that only fits my DSLR with a lens and a spare battery.  But in general, here is what you might find at any given time in my camera backpack.

The Obvious

• Sony Alpha 100 DSLR
• Lenses – 100-300 mm 4.5 – 6.7, 18-70 mm 3.5-5.6, 28 mm 2.8, 28-90 mm 3.5-5.6

The Accessories

• Filters – circular polarizing, standard polarizing, 81B and 1A all purpose
• Lens hood
• Compact flash cards – 4 total – 1 512mb, 1 2GB, and 2 4GB
• Remote shutter release
• Extra tripod shoe
• Fully charged spare battery
• Battery charger

Nice to Have

• notepad and pens
• The manual to my camera
• small flash light (comes in handy when trying to set up the tripod and camera at night)
• A small point and shoot camera (with spare batteries)
• Lens cleaning solution, cloth and and tissue

I have to admit to choosing today’s Photo of the Day based solely on the fact that this photograph of Greer, AZ , taken in January 2008, is nice to look at when it is still getting up to 100 here in the Phoenix area.  At this point of my photography I was still totally on automatic.  So these settings, other than the focal length, were set by the camera.  I think the image turned out well in spite of (or maybe because of) that.  Photographing snow is difficult due to the reflection so this winter I will have to try without automatic and see if I can improve upon things.

Today’s photography blog comes from a site I discovered that “catalogs” Photo of the Day blogs from various cities around the world.  One of the better ones I have seen is from right here in Phoenix.  The photographer on the Phoenix Daily Foto blog definitely steps outside of the box and produces photographs that are not what you would normally see.  They are well done representations of the everyday part of Phoenix.  It is a blog well worth taking some time to poke around in.

Photo Induced is tagged as “The first stop in your photographic life.”  This blog has regular weekly contests, “real world” photography equipment and supplies reviews, information on events, galleries and museums, and educational information.  They also have a great gallery of reader photos.   This is a great one to add to your reader and keep tabs on.