How do you like them Apples?

In this case that's not a quote from Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting but rather a reference to the subject for this week's submissions in the Work Mini-Club.  Apples are a simple subject but offer a lot of creative possibilities.

This shot was deliberately plain Jane and safe. Light was from a 45 degree angle with a bit of fill provided by a reflector.

Contrast the simple safe picture with the craziness of this shot. I have a small flash that can be triggered by another flash. (Check it out here). It has no way of controlling the output but its good for throwing light on a background such as this case. True, this shot is pretty overexposed but I like it because it has an almost "I was abducted by alien apples" feel to it.



This is the same shot but with a little more fill light. It still has the backlighting I liked in the previous shot but with a little more detail.

A little more "normal" and of course I had to try some water droplets. I couldn't find my spray bottle so I took a bottle of water and held my thumb over the end to create the spray. Unfortunately, I ended spraying water everywhere including my background and mat. Lovely.Lighting was from the side to try to emphasize the water droplets.

This was my favorite shot of the night. It has that backlighting I liked plus it has a good amount of fill to provide detail.

Check out series here

Straight from the Camera - A Kensington Adventure

A few of us at work decided to form a sort of mini camera club to encourage us to get out and shoot and to also share knowledge, information and provide constructive criticism of each others images. Today we headed to Kensington to do our shoot this week. Today we had just one rule: we had to shoot JPG and we have to present our images straight from camera with no editing.  Ideally I'd tweak the levels a bit in post however these aren't too bad. I used my 50 mm f/1.8 throughout the day as I feel that its a lens I don't use often enough.

One of the things I like to shoot (when I don't have in particular to shoot) is things with a notable texture like this old power pole.  (ISO 200, f/2.8, 1/800 second)

I also try to look for patterns. This one is a little underexposed but its not too terrible given the subject matter: (ISO 200, f/1.8, 1/3200 second)

We also took turns posing for each other. Here's Charles in the foreground with Bao in the background.  Kensington has some interesting buildings with wild vibrant colors. I have yet to shoot it but the alley behind the Chicken on the Way has this terrific blue wall.  (ISO 200, f/2.8, 1/1000 second)

You can always get interesting shots in reflections. Unfortunately, this particular puddle had a fair bit of slush in it and it happened to line up with Bao's face. It was still a fun shot so I felt it was worth keeping. (ISO 200, f/2.8, 1/1000 second)

You can check out the rest of my picks here:

10 New Years Resolutions Every Photographer should make

One of the blogs I try to follow is Lisa Bettany's "MostlyLisa.com".  She is a modelographer (i.e. model/photographer) who also works for the the Vancouver Province.  She was also named on the top 10 hottest geeks by Wired.   Maybe a strange introduction but unfortunately photography is a male dominated industry and hobby so maybe its not so strange to point this out.  Did I mention she is Canadian? Never hurts to put in a good word for a fellow Canuck.

In her most recent post (as of this writing) she wrote about "10 New Years Resolutions Every Photographer should make". I have to agree with all of them however I was really struck by number 4. I will not be hindered by the gear I do not have.

That is an incredible notion. I mean, how often do we have thoughts like "if only I had this lens" or "if only I had that camera." A better camera doesn't necessarily mean better pictures. And in fact if you don't get your butt out there and shoot it doesn't matter what camera you have collecting dust.

I always laugh and get slightly offended when someone says nice picture --you must have a nice camera.  After all, its the photographer not the gear that makes the picture. Yet I have no problem feeling gear envy when someone else takes a nice picture with a newer/ more expensive camera, lens, or lighting setup.

I think the other resolution that made me think was  I will learn how to process my shots. I still feel quite inadequate with my processing. I can do the basics and know enough to wreck a perfectly decent shot.  That's one resolution I think I'll have to work on.