by tmoffett | Jun 20, 2010 | Architecture, Color
Boise LDS Temple
I do not shoot a lot of architecture, but on occasion get an itch to do something different than the natural landscape that I am so involved with currently. The Boise LDS Temple is one building that I have wanted to shoot for a long time. I have seen a lot of images that I think do not do it justice. I have felt that I could create a better image. I guess you could say it was a personal challenge to do this one. One evening when I needed to get out and photograph I decided I would give it a try.
One of the keys to successful architecture photography is to make sure that the light on the building and the lighting on the landscape that it is in are balanced. If the sky and surroundings are too bright, then they will take away the focus on the building. I arrived about 45 minutes before sunset in order to be able to set up and be ready as the sun dropped below the horizon. I had figured that just as the sun set the light would be in near perfect balance. On this evening I was lucky to have some color in the sky, which reflected off of the windows and trim on the front of the temple, giving some extra color contrast to the image.
After making this exposure, I wanted to try something different. I loved the tulips in front of the temple and decided to emphasize them. To do that, I dropped down a bit and moved in tight. I chose a small aperture in order to get everything in focus. These images cannot be done with a hand-held camera, you must be on a tripod. This is what I got.
Boise Temple and Tulips
I am not sure which one is my favorite. There are things about both that I like. I like how the spires line up perfectly with the corners of the roof on the second image. The color in the tulips is nice as well. If you have an opinion, I would live the feedback.
by tmoffett | Jun 19, 2010 | Black and White, Landscape, Photo tips, Uncategorized
Winder Reservoir
I love going to new places. I was out with some friends a while back over in South-Eastern Idaho and we decided to find somewhere to go fishing. We ended up at Winder Reservoir mid morning and wet our lines. The sun came out and it got hot and the fish were not biting. I decided to get out the cameras and make photographs. The light was pretty harsh, so I focused on the clouds that were drifting by. I have found that during the day when lighting is less than ideal, the clouds often look wonderful. That was the case that morning.
I also love black and white. In my formative years in photography that is all I shot. Very rarely did I even consider color as an option. This was an ideal time to load the camera with black and white film, put on Wratten 25 filter and shoot away. The trouble was I had no film camera with me. So I shot away with my Canon 5D, visualizing what the image would be in black and white, then when returning home converting the original color to the pre-visualized rendering of the image. By minimizing the foreground and emphasizing the sky and clouds, I was able to create a visually pleasing image in the harsh light of the late morning sun.
Photogaphs can be created any where and anytime. We just need to know where to look. Recognizing what we can do in different lighting conditions is a skill that takes much practice. I am still learning. Shooting and evaluating are both necessary to learn this skill. Many times we forget the evaluation step, but without it we will keep doing the same things over and over and never learn. Take the time to review what you do. Show others and get feedback. That is what really helps.
Happy shooting!
by tmoffett | Jun 18, 2010 | Black and White, Composition, Landscape
John Day Fossil Beds, Painted Hills Unit
On our way home from the Oregon Coast last week, one of the reasons we nearly ran out of gas was because we stopped at the fossil beds to photograph and by the time we got back on the road and into a town with a gas station they were all closed. I am working on a panoramic image form here that I will post later, but this one I have grown to like as well. It really looks good as a larger print, so I hope you get the effect here.
The sun was setting and skimming across the surface of the hills causing them to really stand out against the brush around them. The diagonals flowing from left to right, top to bottom and then the lighter hills moving in the opposite direction break up the composition just enough to keep it interesting. This is one of those photographs that I was pulled into and started shooting, although I didn’t know exactly why. It was after I started working on it to get ready to print that I began to fall in love with it. It sort of grows on you. The more I look at it, the more I like it. The light, the line, the repetition, the movement of the brush in the foreground due to wind… I’m not sure what I like most. Maybe it is the whole experience.
Technical info: Canon 5D, Canon 24-70 2.8L @ 35mm, f22, 1.3 sec., ISO 100
More images at MoffettGallery.com.
by tmoffett | Jun 17, 2010 | Color, Composition, Landscape
Aspens, Jackson Hole, WY
Not everything that I photograph is water. I love nature and spend a lot of time in the outdoors. I have learned that wherever you are images can be made. If the light is right then you can find a composition that will be nice.
I was in Jackson Hole, Wyoming a while back for some meetings and found some time to go our photographing. We (Christeena and I) had been out photographing some barns and other old structures when it started raining, I mean really raining. We found shelter in the car and decided to wait out the storm. As the rain slowed, the sun peeked through the clouds and its diffused light fell on this small aspen grove that was right in front of where we had parked the car. I got out, composed and shot. It doesn’t happen that easy very often.
The dappled, soft light falling on the aspens and wet grass create and almost painterly look here that is wonderful. The soft color, the repetition of the trees, and all of the elements in play here add to the beauty in nature that we often find right after a rainstorm. Everything feels and smells so fresh. It was that feeling of freshness that I was trying to capture.
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by tmoffett | Jun 16, 2010 | Color, Composition, Landscape, Photo tips
Aqua Wave
Not all of my images of water are motion blurred. Sometimes it is more effective to stop the action. While I was shooting on the ocean, I was drawn in to the color of the water. It was most apparent when a wave would break and there was a little light coming through the backside. The wave would become nearly transluscent and the aqua color very dominant. It was as though the color changed from blue to green for just that instant. Capturing that color was only possible by stopping the motion in the image. Timing had to be perfect as well or the whitewater overpowered the aqua color. I followed wave after wave until this one broke in just the right location to capture the color I was after.
Even thought the motion has been stopped here, the curl of the water and the strong diagonal composition still leave you with a sense of motion. Also the shallow depth of field help to isolate the wave against the background, something that with a longer depth would just not happen. The background would become a distraction instead of an enhancer that it is here. I like the feeling that the wave is right on top of you, like it is going to jump out of the frame and get you wet.
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