Tamron Blog: Angle of View

Mountain Trails and Wildflowers

By Rob Moody

On a hike a couple of weekends back, a friend and I had an interesting conversation about the difference in our compositional choices. I kept falling behind on the trail as the beauty of a scene would ignite my desire to fully photograph it. Many wildflowers have bloomed and the surrounding scenery is vivid green with new growth. The lure of the trail takes over as each bend of the trail reveals one inspiring scene after another. I kept getting that compelling urge to open up and extend the tripod while my friend stopped, took single shots handheld and continued along the trail. Later when asked, I explained that when people are new to photography, they tend to take a single image in any particular scenario and then move on. As photographers get more advanced, they tend to work the subject, taking many images, both horizontal and vertical, so they have a lot to choose from during the edit. I figured our conversation would be a good topic for the blog.

The set of example images above shows how you can work a particular subject. Train yourself to think globally to locally or big to small. I usually start in grand landscape mode and then migrate to the smaller details of a scene. Take both vertical and horizontal compositions. I tend to take more horizontal images than vertical images, so I try to remind myself to create more vertical images by putting a small sticky note on the top of my camera body. Practice by putting yourself in one scene and fully photographing it with all your lenses. After a while it becomes automatic. Enjoy!

White Moth a.m.

By André Costantini

While anticipating the arrival of my new 60mm Tamron 1:1 f2.0 macro, I thought I would get back into the swing of close-up things with the Tamron 90mm macro. Several weeks ago I woke up to find this white moth on my bedroom window. I took about 50 images of the little bugger and I was reminded of a couple of things about macro.

First of all the closer you get to a subject the less depth of field that you will have. Even though one of these images was shot at f20 and the other three f13 there is still a very narrow depth of field. This is one of the factors which makes macro photography so challenging and of course fun. These where shot at practically 1:1 magnification, which is often referred to as "true macro". This means that the size of the object that is captured on your chip is the actual size that it is in reality. Because the smallest movement can effect your focus, I usually find it easiest to put the lens in manual focus, set it at the closest focus (1:1 macro) and then physically move my camera and body back and forth. It is amazing the different things you will see depending on what plane of focus you are on. Because the plane of focus with an SLR is parallel to the chip plane, moving slightly on an angle will provide different parts of your image in focus.

The second thing that I was reminded is that, especially with macro, the background matters. In all four of these shots, the moth was in exactly the same place on the window. Even the light coming through the window was the same. The only thing that changed was my angle to the subject. What a difference the background makes.

F/20 at 1/400, ISO 400

F/13 at 1/320, ISO 400

F/13 at 1/320, ISO 400

F/13 at 1/320, ISO 400

Sunflower Fields

By Ed Heaton

This week the photographers in my family (there are five of us but only four made it on this trip) and a photo friend visited two sunflower fields on the Eastern Shore in Maryland. One field was five acres and the other was ten. You can just imagine a sea of sunflowers. We arrived at the fields a bit later than planned only because we weren’t positive where they were located. We had the general area but had to search to find them. (Believe it or not finding them was harder than I originally thought) With only 45 minutes of daylight left we worked the fields as fast as we could, doing our best to put together a strong set of images. A return visit is in order but timing will certainly be an issue. The one field is past peak for the flowers and then my personal schedule comes into play…. (Gee I need more time for fun stuff) I hope you enjoy viewing these couple of images as I did making them! Spending time with friends and family should be high on our list in life; it’s good for the soul :-)

I used a couple different lenses for these but I’m really impressed with the sharpness of my Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 lens.

Waterfalls Rivers and Creeks

By Rob Moody

Over the past several weeks I have taken a few photographer friends to the Mount Evans Wilderness and the surrounding area to shoot. I’ve visited this area so many times, but still find new and wonderful things to photograph every visit. This time of the year with the snow run-off, it’s easy to lose track of time listening to the wonderful sounds of the water as it makes its way down the mountain. The area surrounding the creek is so lush and green. Flowers start to bloom and day becomes overcast in the late afternoon offering some great light. All in all, it’s a nature photographer’s paradise.

Most of the great waterfall pictures you see are taken at long shutter speeds. While I have done this for many years as well, I’ve been getting into faster shutter speeds lately for a different effect. Instead of letting a lot of water pass for a long duration such as 1-5 seconds, I’ve been shooting moving water at ¼ and ½ of a second. I really like the look of the water at these shutter speeds. It shows motion and at the same time adds interest to the flow of the water.

I have included three images as examples of this. Image 1 and 2 are taken at 1/3 of a second. Image 3 is taken at 1/2 of a second. As I often teach, if you are unsure, make several images at different shutter speeds so you have a lot to choose from. Make sure to bring your tripod and a hot-shoe bubble level for best results. Also, using a polarizer will allow you to dial the reflection onto or off of the water. This way you can see below the surface of the water if you desire. As an added bonus, you reduce the amount of light coming into the camera allowing longer shutter speeds. Try to avoid large fallen trees and branches as part of your composition as it will attract the eye in the final image.

Summer Scenes

By André Costantini

The combination of high ISO's, night time and wide angle lenses can get you images never before possible. On a clear 4th of July, upstate NY with some firelight, moonlight and fireworks I was able to catch these moments. The portrait in a landscape image was taken with a Tamron 14mm f2.8 at 1/40 a second hand held at 3200 ISO. The landscape depicting moon and figures was taken several hours later with less light. The lens and aperture were the same but the ISO was increased to 6400 and the shutter speed slower down to 1/2 a second! How is this all possible you may ask? There is a rule of thumb for hand holding images without blur. In general, the slowest shutter speed you want to use is 1 over the focal length of the lens you are using. So for example, if you are using a 60mm lens the slowest shutter speed you may want to use is 1/60 of a second, but with a 300mm it would be 1/300th of a second. This is because longer focal length lens movements are magnified. Lenses with image stabilizers can help combat the shake and result in clearer images at slower shutter speeds. But using wide angle lenses decreases camera movement. By bracing yourself you can also reduce shake and increase the chances of a clear image at an impossibly slow shutter speed.

Ben Franklin Bridge Sunrise

By Ed Heaton

Over the weekend several photo friends got together to shoot sunrise in Philadelphia. My goal was to add the Ben Franklin Bridge as a foreground element with the rising sun. However, when we arrived on the correct side of the bridge (facing east) buildings blocked our view. Adjusting for the obstacles, we drove down past the buildings and found a nice pier to put us on the water’s edge. Once in position, we were less than optimistic about our sunrise. Looking east there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and absolutely nothing to add in the foreground. Therefore, I turned my camera away from the sun and surprisingly, there were great clouds over the bridge and as the sun climbed over the horizon, it bathed the clouds with nice warm light.

Here I used my Tamron 18-270mm VC lens at 35mm with an aperture of f/8 and a shutter speed ranging from 1/15 sec. It goes without saying that I had my camera firmly mounted on my Gitzo tripod.

Best of Light,

Ed

Right outside your door... with the NEW 60mm

By John VanSteenberg

I just got back from a two week Extravaganza trip to find the new 60mm F/2.0 had arrived. Since I am always telling folks to look close and to find the images that are always at hand, I ran out into the back yard without even a tripod to try some hand held macro shots with this new model.

I made about 25 images, some which are shown here.

The area around my house is a horticulturalists bonanza. I have almost no idea of the names of all the flowers, but they are amazing.

All of these images were hand held. The viewfinder was exceptionally bright and it was easy to focus in either auto or manual. The fast f/2.0 allowed me to see into areas where deep shadow would have made visualization difficult with other lenses.

Shooting the 60 is a throwback experience, in one really interesting way. It's imaging feels just like the 90mm used to feel when using film, and I LOVED my 90! I can't wait to make some portraits with it next. Then I want to play with the benefit gained from the extra flash distance for both fill flash and flash main to explore how that goes.