Tamron Blog: Angle of View

Macro Flowers Part 2, Keep it Simple

By Ken Hubbard

 

Some orchids can be very complex flowers with curving lines overlapping one another and colors galore. Having so much to work with, in such a small flower, sometimes it can be difficult to find a point of focus. So I am going to keep this blog nice and short with a simple technique I use to keep myself from getting frustrated.

Keep it simple

We all go through periods where we look at something we want to photograph but just don't know where to start. When I have a tough time finding an interesting image with the more complex orchids, I turn to the very simple ones. A perfect example is the image above, what caught my eye was the perfect curve of the fuzzy stem leading to the slightly opened bud which revealed just a little bit of pink color. That's it, nothing more, so I framed the flower nice and tight accentuating the curve and size of the bud.

I captured this image using Tamron's SP 180mm 1:1 Macro lens with the following settings: ISO 400, F/32 at a 1/2 sec. shutter speed. This was shot in one of Parkside Orchids (Ottsville, PA) greenhouses, so the sunlight was nicely diffused by its translucent roof. I placed a yellow piece of craft paper about 24" behind the flower to add some color and a white panel reflector to bring in a touch more light.

Macro Flowers Part 1: Backlit Painting with Light

By Ken Hubbard

 

A little while back I was capturing some images for a macro photography seminar and I was thinking of some different ways to light my subjects, which in this case was a variety of flowers. At first I headed outside with a diffusion panel and some reflectors to work with the natural sunlight. Then I headed back inside to work with some nice soft window light, using sheer curtains as a diffuser. After capturing some nice traditionally lit images I decided to change things up a bit and started to capture some images by painting with light, using an old maglite flashlight in a completely dark studio. The image above was captured by painting with light, but with a small twist.

Photography is defined as "Drawing with Light" and in this image that is a literal definition, I used a maglite flashlight as my sole light source and "drew" the light where I wanted it. First, with the lights on I set up my subject (the flower) on a black background sweep, I set up my camera on a tripod and framed then focused the camera on the flower. I then set my camera using the Tamron 180mm 1:1 Macro lens to F/22 with a shutter speed of 30 seconds and an ISO of 200. Next I turned off all the lights, with flashlight in hand so I could see what I was doing. I fired the cameras shutter using a release cable (to prevent camera shake). Once the shutter was released I started to paint/draw the flower with light, continuously moving the light across the flower. Making sure not to stop in one spot for too long which would cause a hot spot in the final image. My first few shots were taken by painting the light only on the front of the flower, which looked nice, but wasn't what I was looking for. The small twist with this image was that for most of the 30 second exposure I was backlighting the flower to make it glow and only about 5 seconds of painting of light on the front red center of the flower to make sure I get some detail there as well. This is a fun way to capture some really unique looking images of flowers, just remember there will be some trial and error to getting the correct setting on your camera and how and where you want the light on your subject.

Pike National Forest Sunset Silhouette

By Rob Moody

During the days of shooting film, sunsets and sunrises were easier to shoot correctly. Your image had all the color and vividness you remember standing there witnessing the scene. There is no question that digital cameras have made taking most pictures easier, however this isn’t always the case when it comes to sunrise and sunset. This is because the camera gets fooled into thinking the vivid colors are an undesired colorcast over your image and therefore tries to correct them out. This results in the colors being different from image to image as you shoot.

The solution here is to study white balance and how to set it using the WB button on your camera. In the olden days of film, the white balance was built into the film. You bought either daylight film or tungsten corrected film and then used filters for any further color correction. In digital cameras today, the white balance is selectable at anytime. Adding to possible confusion, there is also now an automatic white balance mode where the camera automatically selects the setting it thinks is right. Well, despite modern advances in state of the art cameras, auto white balance or AWB is not accurate in certain shooting scenarios including sunrise and sunset.

Did you know your camera came with a manual? All kidding aside, inside your manual you can study different white balance settings that include auto, daylight, tungsten or incandescent, shade on a blue sky day and several settings for florescent lights. If you are new to this don’t worry! Your camera may have scene select modes like portrait, landscape and night scene. If it does, it more likely than not has a sunrise/sunset mode inside the menu. If so, that mode does exactly what we are about to learn.

The key for beginners may be to shoot images in auto white balance. Then when the colors go haywire, use that sunrise/sunset scene mode or learn to set your camera to daylight white balance. The icon for this is a sun in your WB settings area in your camera. What this does is set the camera to a known value of white balance, in this case daylight. With this reference, your camera will capture great colors in your sunrise and sunset images like the ones you remember standing there.

Now that we know the color will be correct. The final piece of the pie is to use your over/under exposure compensation to dial in the exact exposure you want. I find in this situation that under-exposing by 1/3 to 2/3 of a stop or 0.3 to 0.7 on the compensation reading in your camera, results in images that most resemble the scene as it was when I was standing there. Also, try under-exposing more to create a silhouette with foreground objects such as trees as I did in the last example image. This is a good thing to do as the sun sets behind the ridgelines. As you do this for a few minutes you will come to a point where the images are too dark. At this point, start moving the exposure compensation back toward neutral or 0.0, reviewing an image every couple of minutes, keeping your trees silhouetted, but the sky as bright as possible. With a little practice, you will have it down. It’s important to remember to change the settings on your camera back to their neutral or automatic positions if you don’t want to encounter a surprise at your next shoot.

These images were taken in Pike National Forest in the Rampart Range of Colorado with the Tamron 18-270 VC PZD. This can be a difficult area to shoot in because you are in the forest with few open areas to the sky. Forest roads work best for finding optimal spots to shoot. Use a tripod and a hot-shoe bubble level for best results. A circular polarizer is also handy for removing undesirable atmospheric particulate reflection if the sky seems hazy. Bring your coat, its cold this time of the year.

South Platte Moon Shot

By Rob Moody

One of the things that used to frustrate me about nature photography was that whenever a picture included the moon, it was always washed out. To me, having the moon in a landscape adds interest and balance to the composition. Ironically, many people think you added the moon in a computer when it is properly exposed in your image.

While you can just show up anytime and hope for the best, for optimum results plan in advance to shoot images of the moon with a little knowledge beforehand. Look up the moon phase on your computer or smart phone, there is an app for that. You may have noticed that you can see the moon in the sky during daylight hours. This only happens during certain parts of the year. Sometimes it’s in the morning and sometimes in the afternoon. Furthermore, with programs like Google Earth, you can determine the path of the moon and the sun in the landscape. This helps you to determine the location and the time that will give you the best chance at getting the shot.

I’m often asked what settings I use in the camera to do this. The answer is the same settings I use for the landscape. The trick to making this easier is changing your thinking about a picture of the moon. It’s easy to think that you have to expose for the moon and that it’s complicated. However, the solution is to shoot the moon in the landscape when they are both in the same light. Notice in the images included that the same value of light is falling on the landscape, rocks and the moon. When this is happening, I shoot several images in various compositions.

The time of day is key because there is a limited time that both the landscape and the moon will be close together in exposure value. It’s best to show up an hour before you think will be the right time for insurance. This is where homework on the computer saves time and enables better results. As you move further away from this key time window, the exposure becomes more about the moon and less about the landscape limiting the types of images you can create. That doesn’t mean you have to quit shooting, you just have to change your exposure if you want detail in the moon instead of a bright blob. I have found that after the key time window has closed, changing my plan to silhouettes in the foreground with a properly exposed moon creates compelling images.

This is where photography can be more difficult to understand and knowledge of how your camera obtains exposure readings can be a plus. Using full or whole screen metering will result in an over-exposed moon because your camera is considering more of the landscape for the exposure and less of the moon. Using spot metering on the moon can be difficult because it’s challenging to put the spot meter on the moon and even when you can, you usually still have to compensate for over or under exposure of the moon. Therefore, while there are several ways to arrive in the same place with a camera, I have found that using center-weighted metering in combination with over/under exposure compensation quickly gets me the images I’m after. I take the first shot like a Polaroid and analyze it. Then I over or under compensate to dial in the exposure of the moon. Once I have it dialed in, I shoot several images in various compositions.

For best results, I use a tripod. If reflections in water are in the image, I use a hot-shoe bubble level to level the camera. A hot-shoe bubble level is better than a bubble level on the tripod for landscape photography because it can be used to level the camera no matter how the tripod is positioned. If you don’t own a cable release or a remote yet, use your cameras self-timer to release the shutter. Use a circular polarizer to remove any unwanted reflection from the scene.

These images were taken in the South Platte River area of Colorado using a Tamron 18-270mm VC PZD lens. This is a great place to photograph during the winter months and it is close to Denver. From a pebble to as big as a stadium, the size and the quantity of rocks in this area will amaze you. With over 310 days of sunshine every year, it seems the sky is always blue around here.

The Creole Plantation Named Laura

By Ken Hubbard

Bourbon Street, beignets with chicory coffee, crawfish, Jazz music and oh those hurricanes at Pat O'Briens! They are all classic visions of the wonderful city that is New Orleans, but there is so much more to experience when you take a trip down to the Big Easy. NOLA is a city that explodes upon every sense of your body with the taste of the food, sounds of the music, sights of multicolored buildings, the smell of Cajun spices & vibrant heat upon your skin. This southern city is an amazingly complex mixture of cultures & beliefs that is rich with history. I am lucky enough to travel down to this bend in the Mississippi river every year, and to see some good friends and to experience all that makes up New Orleans.

One piece of advice from someone who has been to New Orleans a number of times, please don't spend all of your time on Bourbon Street, get out of the french quarter and experience all that New Orleans has to offer. For me, one of the areas I love to visit is St. James Parish and the plantations along River Road. On my last trip to the Crescent City I was able to take a very quick trip out to a plantation that I have wanted to visit for a number of years. It's name is Laura, and it is a true Creole Plantation with a uncompromising historical tour of its past. It is hard to describe in a short newsletter, the vast history of this amazing plantation, just know you are getting a real account of the history of the area and what really happened on these plantations. For more information please visit their website at www.lauraplantation.com

So, now for the images, and how to create good images while on a guided tour that lasts 1 1/2hrs and does not allow you to walk around on your own. For me, it's about preparation and keeping my gear down to a minimum. On this visit I brought one camera body and two lenses, a Tamron 18-270mm VC PZD and a Tamron SP 10-24mm Di II and in the end I only used one lens, the 18-270mm, you move around the property too quickly to be worrying about changing lenses . Starting with the outside of the building, I usually start with wide angle shots of the entire building, shooting it straight on and then at different angles. I then start to zoom in on specific features of the exterior, taking tighter and tighter images. It's a process I use consistently to make sure I get a variety of images at different focal lengths, start wide then zoom in. Once you go inside, images become tougher because the quarters are tight, people walk in your frame and lighting is usually dark and changes from room to room. Shooting in aperture priority will be the easiest way to capture good exposures and controlling your depth of field. Try to shoot at at least F/11 so your foregrounds and backgrounds are in focus, even if this means bumping your ISO up to 800. Make sure your lenses Vibration Compensation is turned on, even with these settings chances are you will have some slow shutter speeds. Stay to the back of the pack and take a few test shots while the guide is speaking and get your framing and exposures down. Once the guide and main group move on to the next room, you should be ready and able to quickly capture images while the room is empty and not fall too far behind. Pay attention to the lines in your frames as well, for example the bed posts in the image below. Try to keep them as straight as possible in your frame, I use the edges of the frame to line them up, you should also turn on the grid feature in your viewfinder. Remember to look at the small details as well, such as the kneeling bench and small cross image below. Capturing only the kneeling bench without the cross in the frame, leaves you without a reference to what it was actually used for. Lastly, the best way to be courteous and not be a distraction to all others and the guide, is to stay in the back of the group even if this means falling a little behind.

Brook Forest Backlight

by Rob Moody

I really enjoy the mountains and the forest. Whether it is on skis, snowshoes or on foot, there is something mystical about hiking through it on a crisp winter day. I often marvel at the way the sunlight looks through the trees as it paints its path. Late in the afternoon a few days ago, I drove to a close by trail near Brook Forest, Colorado to take a hike. I always bring a tripod when I intend to shoot in the forest. While it seems bright as you hike along, it’s amazing how dark it is when you shoot into the trees.

For me, there is something compelling about the challenge of shooting into the sun. This is probably because I was always taught not to do it by my father and eventually teachers as I grew up. Just like touching your tongue to a freezing metal light post outside in the winter, I had to try it at least once. While I found out the hard way that others were right most of the time, today I still shoot into the sun.

Here are a few things to think about while shooting. Blocking the sun out entirely with part of a branch or trunk can be compelling. Partially blocking the sun can also be interesting. If you want the direct sun to be more like a star burst, use higher f-stops or close down your aperture. If your color is getting messed up, use daylight white balance. Use your over/under exposure compensation to dial it in. Make sure to set the over/under exposure compensation back to 0.0 afterwards.

If you haven’t tried this before, consider it. The worst thing that can happen is you have to delete the image. It’s a lot of fun, especially when you get a really good one. Good shooting. Both images were created using a Tamron 18-270 VC PZD.

Adventures with Tamron : Pebble Beach

By Jillian Bell

With all of my postings, a common thread involves searching for inspiration. Another personal goal I find is to photograph ordinary objects in a new and creative way. The examples in this blog are great examples of these two concepts. In honor of our first real snowfall in Minnesota, I found inspiration in the color white. Often if I'm stuck, or feeling uninspired, I'll simplify an idea into a word, or concept (i.e. white, or lines, or macro, or night photography). Then I can focus on how to get the best photographs that portray that idea. I also chose to focus on macro photography because I haven't played with my Tamron SP 90mm F2.8 Macro in some time. If you can't tell by now, these photographs are not photos of Pebble Beach, CA. Although I have a trip in January to California that I'm looking forward to. To start, I looked around for things that are white and found some coconut M&Ms at the grocery store. Flipping them all over gave me a repetitive shape to fill the frame. The candies also had these delightful palm trees and umbrellas that I did not expect. This is where the name "Pebble Beach" came from. The palm trees and round repetitive shapes reminded me of a rocky beach. Each of these three photographs take the same scene, working with composition to achieve three different photographs. When photographing white objects, all cameras will meter to a neutral grey. It is important to over expose slightly, giving the white values their full brightness. The exposure for these three shots are ISO 800, F11 @ 1/40th of a second. With an exposure compensation of +0.07. Using a higher ISO allowed me to handhold these images, if I were to try it again, I would prefer to shoot at ISO 100 for better detail, while using a tripod. In the last photograph, I drew in my beach bum for an added bit of whimsey. A sunny scene while I'm inside drinking my hot cocoa. Thank you for reading, and as always, keep your eyes open for inspiration.

Timing is Everything, but Luck is Good too!

By Ken Hubbard

So there you are in Kelso, Washington and you don't have to be at the airport until 1:00pm the next day, what do you do? Oh yeah, it's also been raining pretty much for the past 4 days straight, I ask again what do you do? Well, if you happen to be with another professional landscape photographer, in this case Ed Heaton from PA, you will convince yourselves it's a great idea to wake up before sunrise and head out to Mount Saint Helen's. Since I've always wanted to see the blast zone area of this amazing place, it didn't take much to talk myself into getting up to see it. Even though the clouds where low and it was raining (of course it was) we still made our way up highway 504 which headed towards the Johnston Ridge Observatory. To tell the truth, for me there is a nervous excitement that surrounds places like Mount Saint Helens, the sheer magnitude of destruction that took place within a few minutes, is amazing to me.

On May 18th 1980, Mount Saint Helens erupted, creating a 5.1 mag. earthquake, collapsing the entire north face of the volcano, then a slab of rock and ice slammed into Spirit Lake, crossed a ridge 1,300 feet high, and roared 14 miles down the Toutle River, and finally a lateral explosion occurred and nearly 150 square miles of forest was blown over or left dead and standing.

Knowing these facts and getting our first few signs of destruction, we continued to march on, hoping the clouds would break. As the altitude started to rise, every now and then we would get a good glimpse of the valley and our hopes would rise and fall with every bit of bright light but then the skies would darken and clouds would impede our view. I was starting to convince myself that this trip was going to end up being a scouting trip, and there would be little to no chance of capturing anything worthwhile. Boy, was I wrong.

As Ed and I pulled into a vantage point just before the Observatory, we planned on stepping out for just a second then continuing on. I stopped my car and we looked out into the valley that led to the volcano, I got a familiar feeling, it was that feeling of being very small compared to mother nature. The clouds were moving extremely quick and in many different directions from the strong winds, slowly a small bit of the volcano started to show itself. Then, all of a sudden a burst of light filled the valley, it took us both by surprise and Ed's exact quote was "I think we better move quickly". We did, grabbing our gear, setting up and trying to fire off as many images as we could before the light disappeared. We were lucky enough to get about 10 minutes of shooting before the clouds took over and covered up Mount Saint Helens once again. If we were there 5 minutes earlier or 5 minutes later, we would never have captured what we did. No matter how much you plan or try and figure out every equation, luck still comes into play every now and then!

It's Only a Matter of Time

By André Costantini

Last month I stopped by Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis, Minnesota and had a couple of minutes to make some pictures. Both images were shot with the Tamron SP 70-300 VC USD lens.

The shutter speed of the vertical was 1/6 of a second, hand held at 200mm. The VC (Vibration Compensation) feature built into the lens allowed me to hand hold this very slow shutter speed. By compensating for slight movements that can cause blur, the stabilizer makes it possible to take images at slower shutter speeds then traditionally possible without a tripod. This is important, especially with telephoto lenses. The reason is that longer focal lengths magnify (optically) what we photograph. The result is that a small movement on the part of the photographer gets recorded as a big movement in your image, creating unwanted blur.

The rule of thumb is that the slowest shutter speed you want to use is 1 over the focal length. So without the VC with a 200mm focal length one would need to shoot at no slower then 1/200 of a second. But at 1/200 of a second the water would not appear silky which results from that same longer shutter speed. The VC function gives you up to 4 more stops of light that one can effectively hand hold. In this case it makes 1/6th of a second exposure possible!

I thought it would be interesting to change the mood and look of the same subject only by changing the shutter speed. The horizontal shot was at 1/2000 of a second, freezing the water and capturing a moment that conveys more power and chaos then the longer shutter speed which makes the water smooth. The difference in the two images is only a matter of time.

Death Valley, More Colorful Than You Would Think.

By Ken Hubbard

So, the first time I ever went to Death Valley was in July of 2002, and it was 120 degrees in the shade of Stove Pipe Wells General Store! So for this last trip in early September I was thinking to myself, the temperature must be a little better since it is later in the year!?! Well it was, it was 110 degrees in the shade at Stove Pipe Wells, and NO, 10 degrees made no difference! Looking past the heat, Death Valley is an amazingly beautiful place with countless places to capture images. I drove up from Las Vegas and into Death Valley via HWY 190. This takes you through Death Valley Junction, past Zabriskie Point, The Harmony Borox Works and many other great places to stop for images.

I had limited time in Death valley, 1 sunset and 1 sunrise, so my goal was to capture images in the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes for both. I was hoping to get some dramatic images of the dunes and their curving lines and strong shadows caused by the setting sun. Instead, a weather front was on it's way in and the wind started to pick up, creating a small sand storm within the dunes. With fine particles of sand flying everywhere and covering myself and my gear, I thought sunset was going to be a bust! It turned out to be the complete opposite, the diffusion of the sunlight in the swirling sand created an amazing golden/orange color to the light, you can see image 1 below. The data for this image is: ISO 200, F/22, 1/30th @ 300mm and shot with the Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD hand Held.

Now onto sunrise and praying for a little less blowing sand. During the night it had rained a bit and the winds had calmed, leaving me with perfect shooting conditions. I started to hike into the dunes as the sun began to rise and the sky was turning into a rainbow of colors! I stopped part of the way in and captured image #2. What caught my eye was the layered colors of the soft pink sand against the blue mountains against the yellow sky. The data for this image: ISO 400, F/9, 1/15th @ 130mm using Tamron's 18-270mm VC PZD hand held.

The final image was taken only minutes later when I came across a dune that had nice ripples in the sand. This as my foreground combined with a very dramatic sky gave me the opportunity to shoot some wider angle images as well. I also positioned the top ridge as a leading line, coming in from the bottom left of the frame then extending out to the background. The data for this image: ISO 400, F/8, 1/10th, 30mm using Tamron's 18-270mm VC PZD hand held.