Anna + Andrew

You may remember about twenty posts ago I wrote that I was going to be posting a number of wedding candids this Summer. Well, technically summer is not over, (don't look out your window) so these shots count. This is Anna and Andrew's big day. It was at Semiahmoo, was designed by Steven Moore Designs, and I was there assisting Michèle M. Waite, who was the photographer for this wedding.

Photoshopping Europe

Last Summer, Mindy and I worked twelve hour days, seven days a week, for six weeks. Then, with the last few weeks of our break, we spent all the money we earned on a three week European vacation. It was incredible for many reasons. We tasted food we had never experienced in the States. We saw statues and monuments we had previously only seen in books or movies. We explored museums and famous cities. It was an absolutely fascinating three weeks.

That was a year ago, and I've grown a great deal in my knowledge of what it means to take an effective photograph, and how to accomplish with a camera what I see in my mind. In that spirit, when I look back at some of the photos I captured on our trip, some of them leave a little something to be desired. Today, when I go out shooting, I would hope I could most of the look I want "in camera," but what am I to do with a photograph of the Arc de Triomphe taken a year ago with a slightly ineffective vision behind it. Well, I'm not going to be going back to try again in the next few years, so for now my solution is Photoshop.

Here is the original picture I captured a little more than a year ago today:

The sky is completely blown out, there is no foreground interest, and I think I would prefer a landscape orientation. So... Photoshop to the rescue. This second image is actually the exact same file as the first post Photoshop. Since there wasn't anything going on in the foreground anyway I just cropped it out and changed the photo to an 8x10 landscape orientation, which I think adds a feeling of size and strength to the Arc. Also, a black and white conversion not only accentuates the awesome textures in the photo, but also helps hide the bright colors of tourists’ clothing and create a more timeless look. Finally, (and this is a big cheat) I added clouds digitally. They just weren't there for the original and I couldn't leave such a large expanse of white sky just staring at me, could I? I don't like the idea of painting in clouds, but I do like the final product, so I guess I'll look the other way.

Macro Photography

I don't own a macro lens, but about a year ago my friend Brian told me about how you can create a "macro" lens by placing one lens face to face with another and shooting through both of them. Let me explain.

Firstly, a macro lens is a lens that lets the photographer get really really close to his or her subject. Normally, you need to be maybe two feet or more from what you are photographing. However, with a macro lens, you need to be about a centimeter from what you are shooting. The result is that really small things appear really big. Also, there is a very shallow depth of field. In other words, only objects that are a certain distance from the camera will be in focus, and those in-focus-objects will be contained in a very small range, or shallow depth of field.

Secondly, what I mean by placing two lenses face to face is that I attached a telephoto lens to my camera at about the 100mm range. Then I took out my 50mm lens, removed the covers on both ends, and placed the two lenses face to face. Rings that attach both lenses are available, but I don't own one, so I had to hand hold my 50mm in front of the 100mm.

...probably way more information than you ever wanted to know. But if you want more, here is a link to a video of a guy named Jim Talkington explaining it:

quick video 4, extreme macro photography trick from Jim Talkington on Vimeo.

And here are some of my own creations from around the house. These are straight out of the cameara. No photoshop at all, save for a bit of sharpening.