Photo Tips from Chris - Lesson 5 - Another Image Breakdown

[tree68]

ChuckCobleigh

And we're back to that "eye" thing I've referred to before.  I'm not sure that can actually be taught, but one can learn how to turn that inner vision into a very close approximation to what the mind creates.

One "eye" factor that can be taught (and I'm always willing to share it with anyone taking a picture) is the "rule of thirds," and it is quite evident in Chris' shot of the train.  

You'll note that the crossbucks/signal are roughly on the right hand vertical third line, and the line of the headlights is more or less on the bottom horizontal third line.  Despite that fact that the elevator is nearly dead center in the photo, it serves as background, not the primary subject of the image.

There is no replacement for skill, experience, and knowledge, especially  combined with serendipity,  but the rule of thirds comes close - oftimes turning a "snapshot" into a portrait.  With time, it can become almost automatic.

That, and remembering to look for the tree growing out of Uncle Henry's head...

[edblysard]

Like Mookie, I too found the elevator photo compelling.

An everyday building, one I would not bother to look at in passing, now keeps drawing me back to study, the detail just hidden in the edge of the dark…fantastic.

[K. P. Harrier]

ChuckCobleigh (8-20):

 

Reference that famous Ansel Adams shot entitled “Moonrise, Hernandez,” the location looks somewhat different in person than the photo.  So many photos do.  Sadly, the church on the photo’s lower left is no longer there.  But, outside of that, to know one stood near where Mr. Adams himself once stood gives one a strange feeling, especially on site.

 

Maybe someday one of us, Chuck, will say the same thing about CopCarSS’s night crossing gate photo …

 

Best,

 

K.P.

[ChuckCobleigh]

CopCarSS

It's part vision. I had to visualize the image I wanted to make in my head in the minutes before the train arrived. In this case I was thinking on my feet. But vision can be something that takes far longer than that. Think about what you want to say with your photo and how you want to say it. Vision is what really starts upping your game because photography becomes an active engagement instead of a passive one.

And we're back to that "eye" thing I've referred to before.  I'm not sure that can actually be taught, but one can learn how to turn that inner vision into a very close approximation to what the mind creates.

Now for some digression.

Speaking of "one shot" makes me think of an Ansel Adams story about an iconic Adams image, "Moonrise Over Hernandez, NM."  He related that he was actually returning from a day of shooting and had one unexposed film holder (technically, two shots remaining) when the scene presented itself to him.  He hastily set up the camera and got pretty much what he wanted.  Metering was something out of the question, but he realized that the moon would be in the zone of essentially high noon (VII), so that was where he set his exposure.  He then got the shadow detail he wanted by inspection developing the sheet.  Apparently by the time he had made his first exposure and before he could get the holder out and reversed, he had lost the light he wanted.  I heard the story in the late 70s at a talk that he gave, and other tellings are at this link.

So here we are, a similar story before us to show how having the experience can give you the ability to spot quickly an image opportunity and do quickly what needs to be done to transform the idea into a captured moment, or in this case, moments.  And your comment about "the more you shoot" is spot on.

Finally, a tiny detail that takes some close scrutiny but is neat, at least to me, is how you can detect the alternate flashing pattern of the two inner lights on the near crossing arm as it sweeps its arc.

[Mookie]

Chris - I especially like the grain elevator and its own special moon!

[Electroliner 1935]

Nicely explained and a GREAT image. Thanks.

[CopCarSS]

Hey Gang,

Sorry I've been absent lately. I've been working a lot of hours and haven't even been shooting very much lately, alas. I did manage to get out last night, though and came home with a shot that I kind of like, so I thought I'd do another lesson breaking down my thought processes as I made it.

I went out after work with the intention of shooting the sunflowers that grow around Denver International Airport. That didn't pan out as well as I had hoped. Still, there was a nearly full moon rising in the East and the haziness we've had due to all the wildfires out west have made for interesting skies. There's a nice concrete grain elevator a little east of Denver in Watkins that I like to shoot when I can't figure out anything else to do.

When I arrived in Watkins, I decided that I had to add some supplemental lighting to the elevator if I wanted to keep any detail in the moon. I set up my camera on a tripod, measured for the ambient to determine my exposure for the moon and then worked out what I needed to do with my single Nikon SB-26 flash to balance the light from it with the moon. I like to get the flash off camera whenever possible because on camera flash is just flat and dull. This is what I ended up with for the elevator image (not strictly related to what I did with the train, but it kind of sets it up):

Grain Elevator and Moon - Watkins, CO by Chris May, on Flickr

While I was working with this shot, I noticed the haze on the horizon lighting up. The light source was far too strong to be just from the highway, so I was guessing that I had a westbound on the Limon Sub. Shortly thereafter, my suspicions were confirmed when he whistled for a crossing east of town and I knew I had only a short time before he arrived.

I only had one flash with me and I didn't have a ton of time to figure out how to use it most effectively with the train. I'm not big on the idea of blasting crews with a flash without giving them a head's up, either. So a flash image was out.

I decided to maximize light motion between the train and the crossing gates. Between not using a flash and using a long shutter speed for light motion, I knew that the moon would now be a problem instead of a potential element in a photo. The biggest problem is that the moon moves through the sky fairly quickly. In a 30 second exposure (which is what I was planning to utilize), the motion of the moon would be completely obvious. Additionally, because I'd now be limited in exposing for the ambient light without a flash, the moon would blow out beyond recovery and just be a white blob. So I just decided to hide it behind the elevator. Honestly, that actually proved to be a bit beneficial. The moon ended up giving a little rim light to the elevator which helped give some separation between the elevator and the sky.

After moving my tripod to a location suitable for hiding the moon, I did a quick check of my composition and decided I wanted something a little wider for this shot. I swapped lenses to my 12-24mm and zoomed to 22mm to suit the scene. The headlights/ditchlights were now distinguishable from each other, so I knew I didn't have a lot of time left and wouldn't be able to fire off a test image. So I just trusted the meter reading on my D600. I set the camera to manual so that the meter wouldn't be fooled by the headlights when I tripped the shutter (normally I shoot in Aperture Priority, but this is a situation where that wouldn't be the best option). After that, I just waited for the crossing gates to light up, tripped the shutter, waited 30 seconds and hoped for the best. This was the result:

Evening Westbound - Watkins, CO by Chris May, on Flickr

I think it's a good illustration of everything that goes into a successful photo, which is why I thought it was worth sharing.

• It's part serendipity. I wasn't planning on shooting a train, or even a grain elevator for that matter! But that's sort of what worked best, so I went with it.
• It's part adaptability. Since everything was a bit serendipitous, I needed to adjust my shooting strategy to my subjects.
• It's part experience. Having shot enough, I knew what some of the challenges would be while I was out there. This is why there's no such thing as a bad day of photography. Even if you don't come home with a single keeper, as long as you learned from an outing, it's not a waste. And obviously, the more you shoot, the more experience you get and the better prepared you'll be for anything the world may serve up.
• It's part vision. I had to visualize the image I wanted to make in my head in the minutes before the train arrived. In this case I was thinking on my feet. But vision can be something that takes far longer than that. Think about what you want to say with your photo and how you want to say it. Vision is what really starts upping your game because photography becomes an active engagement instead of a passive one.
• And, honestly, it's big part luck. I had one shot at this. I used my experience and vision to make a best guess at everything. Still, I was trusting the D600's meter (at light levels below where it's advertised to work). I was hoping that the train would be moving fast enough to provide a streak of light through the whole image (it was). I was hoping that the lens wouldn't catch too many nasty flare spots (this lens has a nasty flare habit, and it's impossible to predict with a shot like this. There were a few flare spots to clean up in post processing, but nothing too dreadful). And I was hoping no cars would drive up to the crossing gates during the exposure (one did...but it was about 20 seconds after the shutter had closed thankfully!).

I guess it really comes down to the old photographer's standby,  "f8 and be there!" OK, so I used f10 in this instance, but the idea is that sometimes you just have to be prepared as best as you can and then get out shooting. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't. But no photo will ever pop onto your memory card (or roll of film) if you don't get out there photographing. And the more you shoot, the more your keeper rate will go up due to both volume and experience.

As always, thoughts, comments, questions or other ideas are more than welcome! Class dismissed!