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Oyster Stock photography
- Saturday, 28 March 2015 02:02
- Written by Editor
Fresh oysters - Stock photos
Oysters vary widely in their appearance and taste based on numerous factors including geographical location, tidal flows and lunar cycle. They abound in almost every waterway and ocean around the world.
You can enjoy Australian oysters fresh, any time of the year.
You should look for plump full-bodied flesh with a firm texture. The oyster should appear glossy with fresh looking highlights. The oyster should have a clean fresh smell of the ocean.
Royalty-Free Images in this article are available for purchase from Istockphoto. Click on the images to be taken there or have a look at the oyster lightbox containing top quality oyster stock photos
Several of these images have been used on websites, in magazines and on book covers.
Readily available Australian oysters include the well known native Sydney Rock oyster and the introduced Pacific Oyster.
Generally the Pacific oysters are considerably larger in size. Depending on the type of oyster and the region there is a great variety of flavour and size available.
Sydney Fish markets recently estimated that they were selling 1000 oysters per minute in their recent run up to the Christmas holidays.
Sydney certainly does have an appetite for oysters around Christmas and throughout the year generally. Is there a similar spike around Valentines day for these purported aphrodisiacs?
Best enjoyed with lemon and pepper and some fresh crusty bread.
Royalty-Free Images in this article are available for purchase from Istockphoto. Click on the images to be taken there or have a look at the oyster lightbox containing top quality oyster stock photos
How are my photos being used?
- Friday, 27 March 2015 22:45
- Written by Editor
Manly beach - early morning stillness 2 Featured
- Wednesday, 06 August 2014 00:00
- Written by Editor
Early morning photo shoot.
Manly beach provides so many great photo opportunities of the beach and the waves and still and moving water. Wildlife including birds, lizards, whales, dolphins,sea turtles and sometimes sharks.
Bonsai Photography Section 8 - Troubleshooting
- Tuesday, 05 August 2014 00:00
- Written by Editor
Troubleshooting Bonsai photography |
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Common issuesBlurry images - Use a tripod, add more light, increase your shutter speed, open your aperture. Focus on the wrong part of the image: refocus the lens, maybe try manual focus, for an slr adjust the focal point in menu. Incorrect exposure - over exposed - under exposed
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Bonsai Photography Section 9 - Reviewing the photo
- Tuesday, 05 August 2014 00:00
- Written by Editor
Reviewing your photos |
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Review your photos as you take them.Look at your image on the back of your camera and zoom in at 100%. move the cursor around the screen and look for the focal point that it is clear and sharp. If you are doing a full tree shot;
Lighting
Review your photos on the largest screen possible as a second step if you are not connected directly(tethered) to a PC while you are taking the photos.
Advanced tipsCheck the histogram through the back of your camera if you can do that on your model.
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Bonsai Photography Section 2.1 - lighting reflectors
- Tuesday, 05 August 2014 00:00
- Written by Editor
Lighting modifiers
Lighting modifiers are a broad category including reflectors, diffusers, gels, physical modifiers of light like barn doors and cones or snoots to direct and focus light. This is not a complete list, but more of a start into some of the basic tools which can help with photographing bonsai.
Lighting reflectors
You can use lighting reflectors to bounce light, absorb light
Simple reflectors can be made of card, paper, cloth, board, polystyrene foam like packing foam from a dishwasher or flat pack furniture pack.
The whiter or more mirror like the more reflective. Just be aware that the colour of the reflector has an effect on the mood or colour of the subject. The reflector can cool the image down or warm it up or give it a colour hue.
Reflector performance can be affected by distance to the subject, distance to the light source and reflectivity and texture.
It is useful to have a variety of reflector sizes, for example a small reflector placed in front of and below a bonsai can fill in unwanted shadows and show more detail which may have necessarily been hidden without the reflector.
Lighting diffusers
You can use lighting diffusers to soften and widen light. To spread a single light source and to reduce the intensity of light.
A lighting diffuser can be as simple as a curtain on a window a sheet in front of a window or
Warning
Please note that care should be taken using light modifiers near hot and cold light sources as there is a risk of fire/electrocution. Always use the appropriate non-flammable, non-conductive light modifiers for your choice of lighting. Reflectors should always be secured from being knocked or blown over by gusts or drafts.
Bonsai Photography Section 6 - Tripods
- Tuesday, 05 August 2014 00:00
- Written by Editor
Tripods for bonsai photography
Use a tripod that is rated capable of holding the weight of your camera and the biggest lense you intend to use for bonsai photography and any other attachments you may attach to it. As a guide never leave your camera on the tripod unattended, especially when walking around moving reflectors and plants.
Landscape orientation (horizontal rectangle through the viewfinder)
Using the camera to take a landscape orientation of the image is pretty straightforward as the weight is mainly going through the camera body down onto the tripod, if the lense is not too large.
Portrait orientation (vertical rectangle through the viewfinder)
Using the camera to take a portrait orientation requires a slightly more sturdy tripod as the weight is not as evenly distributed, quite often the camera is off to one side of the centre of the tripod.
Tripods with ball heads
Allow movement in many directions with at least one locking mechanism.
Video versus camera tripods
Video tripods tend to have a smoother action on the pan and tilt and have a larger arm to enable
Dollys
If you are constantly moving your tripod around, you can actually get a dolly with locking wheels that the tripod sits on for those finer adjustments, you just roll your tripod.
Bonsai Photography Section 4 - Cameras
- Tuesday, 05 August 2014 00:00
- Written by Editor
Cameras for Bonsai photography |
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Start with what you can afford or borrow.If you put a camera on a tripod in a lighting environment where you control a lot of the variables. Your camera's bells and whistles will become less important to start with. So in other words if you have access to a starter camera start with that. CamerasYou can use any good quality digital SLR to capture great images. Ideally you want to put this camera on a good quality tripod.
Phone camerasCamera phones are great, if you want to get a photo of a tree on the run that shows the essence of the tree, you can get that on a camera phone with not too much fuss. Also if you want to test other factors like lighting or modifiers you can view this on your phone very conveniently. Also camera phones and videos are great for progress shots documenting growth or work you are doing on the tree. Where you will start seeing differences between camera phones and SLRs is in depth of field and apeture controls.
Small digital camerasThese cameras are almost on-par or very similar to phone cameras except they can have optical zoom lenses instead of the digital zooms on phones. Some of these cameras have wireless built in to make transfer of images easier.
Digital SLRs - What a complex mix - and too many choices.I will include the new range of mirrorless style digital cameras in this section as well as the more traditional digital SLRs. Some of the more modern variants the lenses are bigger in height than the camera bodies. Some of the older DSLRs will do a great job on this without too much initial outlay, but the modern cameras with improved auto focus and ease of use can improve the experience. A key point to consider is that you may be worth spending more on the lenses than the camera itself, if you really are starting to push the boundaries. Over the next couple of weeks, I will put in some example shots taken with a variety of cameras so you can get a feel for the differences. A couple of key differences to consider when looking at these cameras.Camera Backs and tilting displays You may find you prefer a viewfinder to the back of the camera, but also some of these camera backs tilt up allowing you to have the camera lower, but still view the image without stooping. Plugging your camera into your computer A key difference between some of these cameras is to be able to connect to the computer and either view the shot image of what you have just taken on the big screen, or also control the camera itself from the PC. This can be very helpful when looking for anomalies that need to be cleaned up, like spider webs that are sitting in the tree, that you just wouldn't see through the viewfinder, but once on the big screen almost take on dinosaur like proportions.
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Bonsai Photography Section 3 - Tree preparation and placement
- Tuesday, 05 August 2014 00:00
- Written by Editor
Tree Preparation and placement
Tree preparation is important and it could even be better to begin preparing the tree for photography the day before your photography shoot.
Things to do before photographing;
- Give your tree a good water and ensure that the pot gets a good rinse off as well.
- Remove any obvious tiny detrimental weeds or leaves
- Do any minor styling or tidying up as required.
- Have a look at different angles and consider any shots you wish to capture.
- If you are shooting multiple trees in a session you may wish to note specifics that you wish to capture, so in the heat of the moment you don't forget when you actually photograph the tree.
- Test the tree on various backgrounds
- If you are shooting outdoors, identify an area where you can photograph, check the light and note the time of day, so you can reproduce the lighting.
- Check you have all your gear together,lenses are clean, batteries are charged and memory cards have capacity for your intended photographs. If you are working in an environment where you can setup your gear safely and securely do that in advance ready for the shoot.
- Check you have your tools such as a paint brush for brushing things and a pair of tweezers and scissors.
Things to do the day of the photo shoot
- Give your tree a light brush to remove any spider webs
- Wipe the pot over with a damp cloth, including the back of the pot in case you spin it around for a different angle
- Wipe the stand over with a cloth to remove dust or fluff
- Check the ground cover for weeds or stand out items
- Ensure that any tie wires coming through the bottom of the pot are neat and tidy as sometimes these show up when you are down at the pot level with the camera.
Camera Angle
Camera angle is at the choice of the photographer, but experiment with the tree. Basically keep the camera at the same height and angle that you would prefer the viewer to see the tree at. Depending on the lense a good starting point is the bottom of the camera at the top of the pot. You can work it out from there and have your own rule. Obviously this will depend on your tree and pot and stand.
Sometimes for a detail shot of the trunk, a flower or in between branches you will need to raise your camera up and shoot down into the tree.
Distance from Tree to camera
The distance you choose to put your camera is dependent on a number of factors. It depends on the length of your lense. If you need to fit more in the frame you may have to zoom out or move your camera back.
You cannot move your camera any closer than the minimum focal distance which is written on the lense, it might be for example .3 of a metre(0.3m). or much closer for a lense with macro. If you move your camera too close, you may find you or the camera(autofocus) cannot focus on the bonsai tree. Just move the camera back a bit.
Bonsai Photography Section 2 - Lighting your Bonsai
- Tuesday, 05 August 2014 00:00
- Written by Editor
Lighting for Bonsai photography
Lighting in its simplest form can be natural sunlight, Here are some of the types of light you can use including
- Natural light; Daylight or sunlight (direct sunlight can be harsh,high contrast and dramatic)
- Filtered Natural light; light or light passing through a medium for example a window or curtain
- Artificial light always on; flourescent tubes, worklights, tungsten lights
- Artificial light flash photography; on camera flash, off camera flash
- Reflected light; any light source reflected off a wall,or sheet, or card or other object
and various combinations of the above;
Example of Artificial light - Bright Frontal lighting (red eye for plants) |
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This is the classic result of a frontal flash with little or no other natural or artificial light. Note the dark shadows behind each branch. |
Finding a balance
Depending on your style it is important to consider the light parts of the image and the dark parts of the image.
Generally speaking it is the ratio of the light and dark parts of the image as well as colour which will affect the overall mood significantly. If you imagine a picture of a tree being light and bright versus dark and shadowy, you can evoke different emotions and interpretations of the same image using two different lighting methods.
Shooting inside next to windows.
Shooting inside next to a window can be an easy way to start. The light coming in from a window is often soft and filtered. If the light is coming in from the left hand side of the photo, you may need to place a piece of white paper / cardboard / sheet on the right just out of the photo to reflect some light back to the right hand side of the bonsai and balance things up a bit. Just be aware that external light can change with clouds coming over and reducing the amount of light coming into the window. So if you have a manual setting that worked with one photo it may change if the light changes over time.
