Bacon Lettuce Photo

by Joe

I am a fairly new photographer and just bought my first SLR camera right before our trip. This photo was taken in Prince Edward Island (PEI).

Technical aspects:
Canon Rebel Xsi
Sigma lens 18-200mm f3.5-6.3

Aperture: f/10.0
Shutter: 1/250
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 59mm

I saw this Lighthouse while on our drive out to Cavendish Beach on PEI. We actually came across this because we took a wrong turn somewhere. You always find the best things when it’s unexpected. This was just a quick snap from the car and it turned out to be one of my favorites from the entire trip! If you ever plan a trip out to Canada to visit the Maritimes, PEI is definitely worth it!!

Thanks for sharing Kim. People often ask me for good photo advice and one of the things I tell them is to ALWAYS carry a camera on them. I can’t tell you the number of photos I have that happened on accident or were unexpected. I carry a camera with me all the time. In fact, as I write this blog post I have my Nikon EM sitting right next to me. Always be prepared to take a photo.

by Joe

“This photograph was taken during a wonderful week of vacation to Belize with my family recently  We stayed on Ambergris Caye which is a very small island off the coast of Belize.  I didn’t get as much sleep as I wanted during the vacation because I was up before dawn taking pictures, but it was certainly worth it!  This was taken on the last day of our trip.  After a week of trial and error, I was happy to finally able to correct all the little mistakes that I had done earlier in the week and come up with this photo.  I used my new Canon 5D Mark II camera along with a Canon 16-35mm lens.  This was taken with a 3-stop neutral density filter to allow me to get the waterblur.  In addition, I used a 3-stop soft edge GND filter to prevent the sky from being overexposed.”

Exposure:  13 seconds
Aperture:  f/22
Focal length:  17mm
ISO  100

A neutral density filter is sort of like a sunglass for you lens. It limits the amount of light entering the lens which in turn allows you to slow down your shutter speed in bright, daylight situations.

Notice also how Michael closed his aperture down to f/22 further limiting the amount of light that is able to enter the lens. Also, ISO 100 means that the ISO was as low as possible. See how the water is smooth and the clouds have motion blur? That can give you a sense of how long the exposure was.

Here is a little bacon bonus for you (oh yes, I did just coin a new term). Here are the technical details:

Exposure: 1 second
Aperture: f/22
ISO: 100

Michael, again by limiting the amount of light entering the lens, was able to blur the moving water.

Thanks Michael for reminding me about filters and using long exposures even in the day. I think you may have inspired me to write a post on using motion in photography for this Thursday’s post.

by Joe

This is a picture of three year old Ella. I have three sons and so I am always amazed and entertained by the personalities of little girls. at three years old, Ella already has a strong sense of style and carries a matching purse with her everywhere she goes. Since I was doing this session on Valentine’s day - I told her mom to bring some red accents - the red bow in Ella’s hair was perfect.

It was a dreary day - but for me - these days are better for portraits than bright sunny ones. I wasn’t originally planning to stop at the railroad track - we just had to cross it on the way to our planned destination - but most of my best shots are unplanned.
I just set her on the rail and let her play with rocks for a few minutes - then called her name - and this is the look i got! Lucky me.

I used a Canon 5d, 400 ISO, 100 shutter speed, and 70-200mm 2.8 lens zoomed all the way out.

Using an aperture of 2.8 gives this photo a great depth of field. What does that mean? Notice how the subject, in this case Ella, is clear and the background is out of focus. That is a great quality that helps bring attention to the image. It also looks like Jaki added a layer of noise or some texutre to the image in post processing which gives it a classic feel.

by Brian

This photo was taken at Magic Island where you can capture some pretty stunning sunsets.

I timed this as the sun slipped between the upper deck of clouds and before it slipped behind the lower bank of clouds. The rays of light caught my eye in this particular shot (I must have snapped a 100 or more!). Taken with my trusty Canon 20D, 1/4000sec at f5.6 with 105mm lens and ISO400. There was 2/3 EV compensation and I used aperture priority mode in this shot. I believe the lens was my Canon 28-135mm which has since been broken in a fall =(

by Joe

It was a nice and sunny morning and while having a walk, I found this beautiful calendula against a bush…. both were facing direct sunlight (from the backside… facing my camera)! The bush with its numerous porous leafy surface instantly meant an excellent bokeh backdrop…. and I did just that! The rest was Lightroom….

Aviral’s photography is a great example of how one can use aperture and depth of field to make a beautiful image.

by Joe

Photo by Erick Abrego. Submitted by Grace Martinez who tells us about the photo.

After rock climbing (@ La Huasteca, Mty, México) I was fooling around with my friends, having a great time and somehow I finished on the ground, tired… and then Erick started taking pictures.
I guess I’m a little shy when it comes to being IN the picture. I enjoy more taking them… funny, cause although I was tired and dirty and shy I still wanted to be in it. So I grabbed my camera that was next to me and kind of covered my face.

Here is the technical jargon:
Canon Rebel XTI
ISO: 200
Aperture: f/10
Shutter: 1/40 s
Lens: 18-55mm @ 24mm
White Balance: Tungsten
Vivitar 285 flash camera right with 3/4 CTO gel

by Joe

This photo was shot at the Honolulu Family Festival and it was part of the activity for a photo workshop I was attending. There were no tricks to this shot, it just required a little patience.
I walked around the ride a few times to find the right angle, from where faces could be captured. I also had to wait a few rounds for the ride to be filled with a little more people.
“Click” and I walked away. I think I was very lucky.

Shot with:
Canon EOS 30D
Canon 50mm f/1.4 USM

Susie Lin is a graduate of HPU and is a part time geek, photographer, and blogger. You can see more of her photos here.

by Brian

During the recent Chinatown New Year’s celebration in downtown Honolulu I came across a temple with burning incense and a statue.

The vibrant colors of the incense in contrast with the ashes made a great metaphor and the textures present throughout drew my attention. Taken with a Canon 40D, Canon EX-580 speedight, and a Canon 17-40 f/4L at 40mm, f4.0, and 1/250th of a sec.

Here is a promotional video from this year’s City and Council of Honolulu’s Month in Chinatown:

by Brian

We would like to welcome Brian Dote from Dote Photography as our guest blogger.  Brian will share one of his amazing photos every Thursday and he would love to hear your feedback.

Photo of a water lily taken at Lyon Arboretum in Manoa valley. There was a beautiful fish pond with lots of lilys.

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The photo of the water lily was shot at 1/200 sec at f/4.0, 145mm at ISO 100 using my Canon EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens mounted on a Canon 40D.