Wednesday, August 4th, 2010
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I once noticed a sign on a copywriters wall that said:
When shooting rapids in a canoe, if you say ‘I don’t know’, the river will decide for you. In marketing if you don’t know what to do, the river of consumerism will drop your brand right over the falls.
You and your team need to have a clear detailed plan of where you’re going and how to expect to get there. And equally important, that plan needs to be actively managed by the team, with changes and alterations as the consumer landscape data is refined into information and analyzed into knowledge.
Climb into you canoe – and get ready to ride the rapids.
Remember, things are not easily done over night. Success takes hard work, studying your competition and last but not least, make sure you involve your team in your next venture.
Keep moving forward, your time will come. Build a niche and mold an effective brand!
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Thursday, July 1st, 2010
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Everyone seems to have their own technique and I’ve tried a few over the years but what the best way for me to get predictable fireworks photos is by using the following technique.
What you’ll need:
Camera with manual settings I prefer a digital SLR for complete control, but you can make this work with compact cameras with either a fireworks setting or manual override
Sturdy tripod I know many people say this, but if you want clear straight lines, a dependable, adjustable but sturdy tripod. You don’t want this slipping and shaking during your exposure
Remote Cable Release I prefer one with a lock and one at least 30 inches in length. You’ll use this to trip the shutter and hold it open for longer bursts
5×7 inch black non-reflective card To cover the lens and adjust your exposures
Flash Light To help you review your settings or possibley paint your foreground with light.
Water, Insect repellant and comfortable shoes You have to take care of yourself, right?
It helps if you can scout the location prior to the event. Preferable getting an obstructed view and a place to place your blanket and cooler and relax. I try to find a place that could offer some interesting reflections or silhouettes.
Set your camera on the tripod and make sure the legs are secure from slipping. Connect the cable release and test to make sure it’s working and get out your black card. Set your camera to manual setting and put your shutter speed at B (bulb). You will dictate the shutter speed using your cable release and black card.
Now decide if you want the skies to be black or if you want some detail or colour in the background. Or if you have a building in your foreground you may want to include some of that detail in your exposure. I prefer black skies and will use the following as starting points for exposure settings for sensor sensitivity/ISO and your aperature.:
ISO/Sensitivity: 100, Aperature f/4
ISO/Sensitivity: 200, Aperature f/5.6
ISO/Sensitivity: 400, Aperature f/8
ISO/Sensitivity: 800, Aperature f/11
ISO/Sensitivity: 1600, Aperature f/16
Keep in mind that the fireworks are extremely bright and will clip out very easily. The lower your ISO the darker the skies and the limited amount of detail you’ll have.
Now you’re ready to shoot.
When it’s time for the fireworks, place the black card in front of your lens, trip the shutter (lock it if you can) wait for the trailer to shoot up and once it disappears, lift the card away from the lens and capture the burst.
Place the card back in front of the lens. If you want to capture multiple bursts repeat this process. If you’re satisfied with one burst, release the shutter, review the exposure (assuming you’re shooting digital) and adjust the f/stop or ISO to suit your camera, lens and environment.
Now this seems like a lot of detail for getting the shots, why not just trip the shutter and let it go? By all means, do it, have fun with it and see what you get. Shooting fireworks is a lot about adjustments and experimenting, but if you can predict what it’s going to look like and being able to adjust will help you increase the number of amazing fireworks photos.
So what kind of lens do I use? Most of the time, I’m shooting with an 18-55 lens. Moderate wide-angle to normal. But shooting with a telephoto zoom can help you create some nice abstract light paintings.
Things to consider for the quality of your image
With higher ISO you will increase the grain/noise of your image plus it will detect a lot of the bomb smoke. While it can provide some great effects, you may want to experiment and adjust
To capture the trails/bursts, you’ll have exposure times for a single burst around 4-8 seconds, This can create some great light trails from other sources but may also create hotspots around street lights. Just be aware.
Reflections of water are generally between 1/2 and a full stop below your normal bursts but are amazing if you can get them just right.
If you’re shooting the grand finale you will see an enormous amount of bursts in a single area and you may experience some blown out areas in your image.
Experiment and have fun. I’d love to see what you shoot for fireworks this season.
Cheers!
~fotodog
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Saturday, January 9th, 2010
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I wanted to practice more on the one light theory, so I brought out the gear and thought I’d share this shot with you guys/gals and show you that “YOU” along with many others can achieve this look with just one light, a Diffuser and a couple white bounce boards!
I first started on what to shoot, and naturally I called out one name and she was available in the next room of course… “DANIELA”!!!! (more after the jump…)
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Tuesday, January 5th, 2010
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So we’ve started a new year, a beginning to a new decade to be exact. We all have a goal to make things easier for ourselves, continue to bring home the bacon… but we’re limited. Limited to time that keeps flying by when we have big plans to become successful. Limited to time that we cherish every second of with our loved ones. Limited to time that we keep trying to divide in so many ways to keep comfortable with the way we live, and it always comes down to money, mullah, dinero, yes the almighty yen.
Why do we torture ourselves ourselves like so you ask? Really?
Since it’s a beginning of a new year do yourself a favor and stop everything! Breathe! Catch up to your mental state of mind and give yourself a break, even if its for just an hour or two and write down your latest projects. Take the time and fix them up, make them look pretty and show them off to us, the public. Get the feedback your expecting, and if you get negative feedback all you can do is improve yourself, practice, get better and note everything down with pen and paper. Share with the world what you have done and see how inspiring you can be… share it with us! Take a breathe! Money isn’t everything… you need to be focused, be happy and the rest will flow naturally!
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Friday, October 16th, 2009
There are many ways to soften skin in Adobe Photoshop. Recently I found a process that I have enjoyed, and one that is quite simple as it only involves a few steps. Given that those steps are typically the same each time, I packaged the steps up into a quick Photoshop Action and am offering here for free download.
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Sunday, September 13th, 2009
For you Nikon shooters out there that have not yet had the opportunity to experiment with the Creative Lighting System (CLS), you are missing out. While at first it takes some adjustments, it is really quite fun. And while not the solution for every shoot, it certainly has it’s place within the photographer’s toolbox. (more…)
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