Posts from — September 2007

Just to share some thoughts on my photography approach.

Simple - Simplicity is cool. For more shoots, i prefer a simple setup, to use simple equipment and just need one man - me to do that shoot. In this way , you can also shoot anywhere, anytime.

Natural - unless required, i prefered unposed portraiture shots

Non Destructive - No cutting, destroying, killing of objects, flowers and insects. Remember “leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but photos”

Positive  - I am not a photojournalist so I preferred  to take photos that can convey a positive message

any comments? .

Michelle , Deep in thought

Just to share one of my favorite workflow for Black & White conversion.

Greg Gorman’s Photoshop CS Recipe for Black and White Conversion

1. Open a color image in Photoshop in either 8 bit or preferably (in Photoshop CS) 16 bit.
2. Under the Image menu, choose Mode > Lab.
3. Click (Highlight) the Lightness Channel.
4. Under the Image menu, choose Mode > Grayscale (discard color information).
5. Command/Control Click on the Gray Channel (to load the selection).
6. Under the Select Menu, choose Image > Inverse.
7. Under the Image menu, choose Mode > RGB Color.
8. In the Adjustment Layers Palette choose Solid Color.
9. Select a color from the Color Picker or from the Swatches Palette (which I prefer).Your choice of color should be based on the tonal range you wish to see in your final B&W.
10. . Go to your Layers Palette and change your Blending Mode to Multiply.
    Because your Color Fill is on a Layer you may adjust the opacity to dial back the color to your desire.

In addition (IMPORTANT), you may add a Curves or Levels Adjustment to achieve the desired result.
Should you wish to change the color of your B&W “Duotone” simply double click the color fill and reselect.

Just want to share this photo that I took in Putaxi (Victory Gate) in Vientiane, Laos in Dec 2006.  Without writing too much, I felt this photo tells a story, hence the title.

What do u think?

What mode do you usually shoot in?  A, S or P? ( Aperture priority, shutter priority or Program rather than Amateur, Semi-Pro and Pro)

Although there is no right or wrong mode to use, I use Aperture priority 90% of the time. In this way I get to control the camera.  In A mode, you get to control the Aperture which also controls the Depth of Field (DOF). You also control the shutter speed indirectly by choosing a bigger aperture (eg f2.8) or a smaller one (f22).  So which aperture do you choose? Some beginners tends to study the fstop and shutter speeds of every photo they saw in photography books. To me that is not really neccessary. Once you shoot enough, all these settings will come naturally to you.

Other people may use  P mode mode throughout a shoot. Nothing wrong but basically you are handling the controls to the camera and your only job is to press the shutter.

So try the A mode and see how it goes!

Prof Li Yuan is a US based photographer specialising in landscape photography. I had a face to face encounter with him once in Phaking , Nepal when we were both doing our treks. He was going down while I was on my way up.  In that 1-2hours of conversation, he impresed me with his determination to take good landscape photos in Nepal.

This 113 pages book is his take on landscape photography based on his 3o years of experience. Written mainly in chinese,? he shared his experience on topics like

• use of light

• atomspheric effects on color

• composition

• use of different lenses.

The book is loaded with lots of landscape photo taken by Li Yuan taken in countries like US, Nepal and China. Printing quality is good.

If you have difficulty trying to buy a copy, please let me know?

Do you need a monopod ? I would use it for the following reasons

1. sports events where I need something to support my camera to minimizes camera shake
2. events where space is a problem for setting up a tripod
3. i need a walking stick! In fact there are some trekking poles which double up as a monopod too. For example the The Leki Sierra FotoSystem

tripod! we know we need it but we left it at home. We bring it out but never set it up to use it. 

Personally I would rate tripod as one of the most important equipment that I use and own, even more than the lens. I use it for macro photography, low light photography, portrait photography. So how do you select one?

Some of my thoughts here :

1. get a reasonable good one..avoid those that cost S$20-50.
2. get a metal one.. avoid plastic legs tripod
3. get one that the 3 legs can be open independently for better control.
4. get one that can go really low.
5. get a good ball head to go with it

Lastly, buy it, bring it out and use it!

Another light painting shot. This time it was the car light at a traffic junction that paint the light trails. This was taken 2 years back at High Street Center 6th storey car park. Now it should be slightly different with the Central building on the left and the reverse bungee in the centre.

but anyway the setup for such shots is simple. Tripod mount and with cable release or remote control. Set a small aperture like f11 to f16 and a low ISO.  

The small fstop is to achieve the long exposure. So is the low ISO but tat is also to minimise noise. You might notice that the sky still have some details…the cloud. so try not to shoot when it is too dark.

try it