Sunday, January 10, 2010

Foggy Photography

Yesterday was a tough (but wonderful) day for shooting on the Oregon Coast. It was incredibly foggy and even when the fog lifted, a heavy, misty haze kept the atmosphere very gray.

I was out shooting with my young friend near Shore Acres and Sunset Bay State Parks. We had the right subjects with huge crashing waves, seagulls, pelicans, snails, trees, rock formations and all but the lighting was hard to deal with. We attempted different shooting modes on our Nikon's such as sepia, or black and white since the lighting caused most of the shots to be near black and white anyway. Suddenly my friend says "I found that when in sepia if I set my white balance to "incandesant" the rocks are darker and stand out better." I tried a few shots like this and liked the result.

This image is as it came from the camera. I didn't edit it at all and I'm not sure what I would do with it if I did. I think I like it as it is

As I always say, don't be afraid to try new things. Use your camera, change its settings and keep shooting.
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Photography Tips

Here are a few things you can do to improve your photography that will apply regardless of what camera you use. These are the basics that every photographer should know and do to get reasonably good pictures out of any camera.

Make sure you have a clean lens. Don't just blow the dust off, but use a clean cloth suitable for cleaning lenses and do it right.

Set up so your camera is stable and won't move as you press the shutter. You can do this a number of ways. If you will be handholding the camera, hold your elbows in against your sides, and stand with your feet apart with one slightly forward of the other. You can also lean against a solid object like a light pole, tree, building or whatever. The best method though is to use a tripod or monopod. I have both but I like to carry the tripod best. If I want to use it as a monopod I just extend only one leg and us it as I would a monopod. I'll add instructions about to how to use these tools later.

Finally the "First" basic thing you need to do is read your manual and learn what all the parts of your camera are for and how to use them. If you understand how your meter works and what white balence is you'll go a long way to getting that shot you want when the light is wierd and you are wondering why your pictures are all dark or yellow instead of like what you saw on the monitor or in the viewfinder.

I'll expand on all these topics in the coming weeks and months so you'll want to check back and see what I've added from time to time.