Making a Photo (Three Photographs)

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In an earlier post this week I wrote about why buildings fall backwards and distort when taking photographs of them unless you use a tilt-shift lenses or position yourself in an ideal if difficult position (that is dead center of the building which maybe many stories up). I also used the phrase “making a photograph”. Here I have totally ignored a few basics, the building is by no means straight and the colors are to some degree exaggerated (though the second photo except for sharpening is out of the camera, flare and all). The building has a Gotham-like design that I tried to accentuate. The making of a photograph means having an idea about the outcome when taking the photograph, implementing what we can in camera, and finishing it off in the editing phase. In this case the same venue afforded me several possible approaches, three of which are here.

Classifying Birds From a Photographic Stand Point (Two Photographs)

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As a photographer I classify birds into four groups: 1) I can hear them but can’t see them; 2) in the bush hiding (see Green Heron in this post); the rare but valued out in the open (at eye level) bird against a usable background; 4) same as three but stay put for their portrait. About 60% fall into category 1, 30% into category 2, 10% into category 3 and 5% into category 4. It’s a good thing that there are places with high a concentrations of birds. This is only partially in jest but I will admit percentages are higher for successful bird watching than bird photography.

Why Buildings Bend and Lean (Two Photographs)

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In these photographs I have tried my best to keep lines straight and the buildings from leaning back. The science of optics dictates that if you are not shooting straight on at the middle of a building it will lean backwards. Tilt shift lenses fix this to a great degree but at a considerable cost, it’s cheaper to use the transform and lens correction tools in software like Lightroom to straighten and correct these issues (works for most but not all situations). These Fuji XT-2 photos were a lot of work to straighten to the degree I could. These issues are common and while photographers try their best to fix them they are a part of the making of a photograph and a challenge in architectural and interior photography.

Great Blue Heron (Three Photographs)

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I have not seen many of these herons this year and this is the only one I have been able to photograph. This heron was resting and preening with quite an evil look on its old face. While I have been very close to Great Blues, for the most part a long lens and knowing how to use exposure compensation (so the white feathers do not lose detail) are usually essential.

Simple Little Things (Two Photographs)

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Simple little things isolated on their own provide a perspective on city living. The inability to completely hide the infrastructure we depend on and letting it adorn the monotony of common architecture is the reality of every city going back in history. At the same time modest efforts to make one building stand out from another, such as the odd carving are nothing if they cannot be appreciated on their own. I don’t see why we cannot find some element of interest in photographing those simple little things so often crucial to our well-being and lifestyle.

Here be Dragons (Two Photographs)

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You seldom catch a beetle in flight or taking off so I was very pleased with the first shot. Looking at the two shots I noticed a slight resemblance to some of the illustrations I have seen of dragons and other mythical beings. They are remarkable looking creatures, regardless of the comparison.

A Squirrel and Some Words on Ethics (Two Photographs)

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I took this photo (same photo in B&W and color) on a brief walk and did not really recognize what I had taken until I got home. As usual I took several photos and looking at them I realized the young squirrel never moved, never blinked and probably held its breath all the time I was shooting. I remember taking the shots very quickly and moving on not wanting to disturb the squirrel but looking at the photos I realized this young squirrel was clearly frightened. Hard as you try you still have impacts on the wildlife, maybe not as much as those who feed ducks white bread, but still it bears thinking about how to minimize our interactions so as not to create other problems.