Thursday, March 25, 2010

Top Photoblogs to subscribe

Today a list of my favorite or at least important  blogs that I recommend you to read, subscribe etc.

Aggregator of photoblogs
1. Photoblog community at http://photoblog-community.com/Home.php. A very big photoblog community. here you can find a photoblog categories and to be xposed to what is happening the the photography world

From the site:

The purpose of this web site is to offer free and fun way for photo-bloggers to add their photoblogs to our directory and become part of the community.


There are many interesting functionalities, such as: voting for your favourite photoblogs, posting comments, adding tags, live statistics, etc. This is a photography oriented web site and you can be assured to find good quality photoblogs from all around the world.

It is also a great way for you to increase your photoblog traffic and meet new and amazing photographers.

2. PhotoBlog - another photoblog aggregator  with links to lots of photoblogs. the appereance based on ranking.From the site:

Our Mission


The mission of Photoblogs.org is to connect the audience to the photoblog, and to help the photoblogging community grow and evolve.

3. Coolphotoblogs - this photoblog baes on links exchange and you have to place a link in your site/blog before they approve your membership.
 
Here from the site:

CoolPhotoblogs.com was created by the sheer popularization of photoblogging around the world. Our mission is to inspire, encourage and unite the global photoblogging community.


The photoblogging community's most prestigious award, the Photoblog Awards, is presented annually by CoolPhotoblogs.com. Mission of the Photoblog Awards is to encourage and honor the brilliant photoblogs that have shown excellence in photoblogging.

4. Photoglogs Directory - another way to increase traffic to your photoblog. It based on reciprocal link with your site/blog.

From the site:

Photoblog Directory is a web directory for listing Photoblogs under chosen categories. You can also add 5 subpages if you submit as a Featured Site Review.


We now offer Free Featured Listings for our Photo Gallery Submitters. How does it work?


next post I will describe some of the blogs that I like to follow.


During the 2 first weeks of April I will participate in photography expedition in Morocco
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Friday, March 19, 2010

How to photo Silhouettes?

Silhouette looks very striking. It is sharp colorful and convey strait message. That's what is a good photograph is all about no?

So how would we do it?


I will use photos from one afternoon at "Drummer beach" is south Tel Aviv. It was cloudy day with strong sun which creates very difficult conditions for photography. I decided at that day, to take some silhouettes pictures.

The first one is from a circle of "Capuera" dancers.

Usually I use these techniques:

1. Measure from the brightest source in the picture. It has to be at least more than 5 stops than the light from the figures that create the silhouette. The background has to be at least 3 stops brighter.




2. Open the aperture. You don’t need depth of field and you want that the silhouettes will be sharp and black so u need the aperture to be opened as possible.




3. Wide angle lens. Or would I say a super wide lens. It creates more drama in the picture.




4. Low angle. Take the photo from a low angle almost from the floor. Together with the wide angle lens your silhouettes become more live.




5. Include sky in the picture. Especially when you can get cloudy and dramatic sky.




Post production for silhouette


1. Sepia or other dominant color. I tend to use it a lot since silhouette images are usually mood photos. So, while using a dominant color you can emphasis the mood you wanted to crate.


In order to create this color effect I used Camera raw. In the camera raw I play with the temperature and tint slider, that's all very simple.

Gold -taking photo with tele agains the sun will create gold hue, but still you will need to, slightly adjut it with photoshop.

2. Contrast – contrast can create drama. Although I kept some of the original colors of the picture, while I contrast it the colors blow up a little.







Wednesday, March 10, 2010

How to make a silky water - case of Costa Rica and Tel Aviv's coasts(2)


And now back to the digital age and to Tel Aviv.
One Friday rainy night I grabbed my camera bag and went to Tel Aviv's harbor. If you are going by yourself don't forget to take with you the following items:
1. IPOD - with your favorite music. It is going to be long exposure shots, and while the light has been registered on your sensor, listen to a good music.
2. Your gear –
a. Camera – cleaned sensor and charged battery. Sound rhetoric? Believe me how many times I saw people that find out in the field that their camera is not charged.
b. Lenses - I prefer to use ultra-wide lens but in some cases I used my ultra-tele lens.
c. Cover for the rain – when you, like me, prefer to go out in stormy and rainy day (the clouds and the sky create more dramatic sky), take care for camera cover. Don’t save on this item. You will be sorry when you will download the photo into your computer and see stains of rain's drop from the lens that was register on the image.
d. Cable release – since it is a very long exposure every camera shake counts. Please note that you use Bulb, and you have to have release cable that fit this status.
e. Flashlight – it is dark out there. It will help you set your camera right and in some case focusing your camera.


In that picture, I manages to capture the woman that was standing on the boardwalk. It was only for 30 seconds, but still the waves was captured good.



What do you have to put attention to?
Metering - if you shoot in bulb you can't measure from the camera. You have to search for the 18% grey and then measure with 30 seconds and see what aperture you will get. With these two numbers, you can manipulate the shutter and the aperture to 2 minutes and above, based on the silk mode of the water that you want to achieve. The formula is – longer exposure=silkier water, longer exposures=brighter sky.


Solid ground – since it is very long exposure the risk for camera shake is higher. One night I went to biet yanai beach near Netanya Israel, and put the tripod on the sand. When I got home I found out that most of the pictures were blurred. The fact is that the beach's sand is moving, especially when you are close to the water line. The solution I found is to bring with me big brick that I found in one of the building sites and put the tripod on it. This picture was one of the few that is sharp.


CU





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Monday, March 8, 2010

How to make a silky water - case of Costa Rica and Tel Aviv's coasts

I was asked several times about the picture of the blog. Where was it taken? How? etc.
So, taking photos of beaches looks as a simple task but there are few factors that can impact your final image. The pictures that I will show here (and more of it can be watched at Greatphotoshop.com and in my Gallery) were taken part of it by film and the others digitally.
The first picture of the silky water was taken with my old Minolta 7, and Fujifilm Velvia 50 ASA (the best film I used ever).Data for this slide was:
• F/22 in order to have depth of field and,
• 2min shutter speed in order to make the waves to a silky dream. There are several concepts of how to capture water. Usually the common practice for making silky water in waterfall or a river is 1Min. In order to transform the sea waves into silky water it must have to be longer than 2 second.
The place is at Manuel Antonio's beach - Costa Rica. It was a rainy evening but I couldn't resist going and shooting. It was very lucky, that the fisherman on the rocks almost didn't move (photo No. 5). I scanned this slide at Shevah and played a little with Photoshop.
Costa Rica - Manuel Antonio at night




Another one from this night



Next post I will talk more about the "how to do it" based on photography session at Tel Aviv's harbor.


CU

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Tuesday, March 2, 2010

When is the best time to approach a stock agency?

I Like to follow this Blog as a good reference for help about the photography of the business. This is a good start for those who wnat to find out how to establish thier business or to expand. Please write me if you want more about this subjects.
When is the best time to approach a stock agency?