Bonnie Rannald's Photo-Explorations in focus with nature. : Exposure

Monday, January 28, 2013

Special Effects Through Mistakes

Making the Most of the Moment

Rushing out with the camera to catch that scene before it disappears can often allow for mistakes. However, a few of my mistakes have created some interesting photographs.

While trying to catch the full moon just as it was peeking over the Gillis Mountains at Walker Lake, Nevada, I forgot to remove the UV filter. As a result, the light reflected off the optical elements within the lens and bounced back to the camera's sensor, thereby producing this scene where the moon has lost her face.

On a sunny day, I was attempting to photograph ice crystals or sundogs (parhelion) that were forming in the clouds. Aiming that close to the sun, it is almost impossible not to catch flare, even with a lens hood. The flare in this image produced radial streaks, appearing as a bright spots (ghosting) across the scene. An added bonus to this scene was the jet and contrail that seems to be headed toward one of the polygonal shapes.

As much as I love full moons, the crescent moon also holds as much beauty and intrigue. While bracketing my exposure on manual setting, I overexposed this scene of the moon with some interesting highlights.

My first attempt to catch the solar eclipse ended in disappointment when clouds covered the Wassuk Mountains just as the sun went in to eclipse. Not being one to give up, I took the photos hoping that the sun might show through the clouds. What I did catch, due to filter stacking was some interesting effects from lens flare.

Attempting to capture the scene of the undertaker's parlor through the dusty window at Bodie Ghost Town State Park put shivers up my back. However, when I processed the RAW images and saw the light streaking from the dark ceiling, it really gave me the shutters!

Creating special effects with photography is fun and can be challenging. It’s a special bonus when they just happen and create a more interesting scene.

What an exciting and interesting photo-adventure this day has been. I love it when I am drawn to an area and not knowing what to expect I get treated to new experiences.

Photography places me in the moment where I can share that moment in time. It becomes a life story as represented by my interaction with the scene. The happiness and beauty or the sorrow and strife; how I focus leaves a lasting impression that might touch the viewer on a spiritual level.

"Reflecting Nature's Artistry"

Many of these images are available on my website:

http://www.bonnierannald.com/

For custom matted and framed images:
Off The Wall

No images on this blog are within Public Domain or are available for free download.

All rights reserved, world-wide and images protected by Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). All photography, graphics, text, design, and content is copyrighted by Bonnie Rannald and should not be copied, down-loaded, transferred and re-created in any way without the express consent, in writing to Bonnie Rannald. For information on Bonnie Rannald licensed, right-managed images, please submit a written request.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Bad Photos Exposed

How Not to Take a Bad Photo

I'm writing this entry in reference to a comment on one of my Facebook posts from a friend who wrote "Can't you just post one lousy crappy photo? Just once?!" Well my friend, you've given me some food for thought and the more I thought about your comment the more I realized that yes, I’m always talking about the good photos. Now it's time to confess, show off the mistakes and ones that do not make the final Save As file. It took me a while to locate some bad ones because they usually are sent to the delete bin after processing.

One of the most difficult decisions for a photographer is to delete the poor ones from the good quality. Below are some examples of my photographs that have technical problems and will not make the cut!

On first glance, the dancer's photo appears to be nice and strong; however a closer look at his body shows exposure problems. With much of the editing software, including Lightroom, the exposure problem can be fixed, to a point. However with digital, once the highlights are blown out or clipped, they can not be recovered.

The wild horses and coyote at Walker Lake would have made a nice photo had the wind not been blowing so hard to cause camera shake. The white streaks in the background are white caps on the lake. Even by increasing the ISO, the force of the wind was just too hard and the photo is not sharp.

The Northern Flicker would have been a nice photo if the background was not so busy and distracting. A slight move to the right or left might have remedied the problem.

Ah, a grave site at the historical Aurora mining town cemetery. The contrasty lighting makes the image hard to see and the brick pillars create a barrier. Photographing the scene when the sun was at more of an angle would be nice. However if time will not allow, firing the flash and a side view would give a much stronger image.

An overexposed full moon lacking any detail was caused from rushing the photo without taking in to consideration the overexposure tendency of the digital camera and also not using spot metering. The moon is so much brighter than the sky or landscape and spot metering will allow for a more accurate setting.

One of my favorite mistakes and what I call: "Premature Shutter Clicking". I do this quite often by clicking the shutter in anticipation of the shot before I am in focus.

So often with wildlife, we are rushed to get a photo before the animal disappears. However, a little patience and tracking the animal in focus usually rewards me with a better image.

I just can't seem to get past the obstruction of the leaves in front of the robin, so I click the shutter, hoping for the best. Well in most cases the best just is not good enough when you are working for a sell-able commercial image.

Hum, what was the main subject that I was trying to portray in my photo? This scene has so many different subjects that it's hard to tell. All I needed to do was step back and decide what message I was trying to send to the viewer.

This is one of my favorites when trying to photograph a fast moving subject. I've seen more out of focus and blank frames that go straight to the delete file. The beauty of digital is, you can take numerous images and not worry about having to change film.

I was trying to get an action shot with a Costa's Hummingbird, but the lighting was wrong and the projectiles sticking up create a barrier and are distracting. Sometimes nature just doesn't want to cooperate.

When the distance is too far and exceeds the limits of the lens, all you can do is take a shot and hope for the best. Sometimes you can crop in and the subject will be sharp enough for a decent photo.

My favorite of all poor quality photos is not using a tripod so that I can get the sharp focus on my subject. Tripods are inconvenient and have to be set up, however the sharpness of the image is worth the extra effort.

So yes, even I take lousy, crappy photos sometimes. But I also know that the true difference between taking photos and creating images is the finished results within the scene.