Tag Archives: curves

“Specs”

140223_Spectacles by Karl Graf. Canon 5D MarkIII, EF24-70mm f/2.8L @ 70mm, f/8.0, 1/640 sec, ISO 400

Exploring our back yard, I saw what looked like a pair of large dark spectacles sticking out of the bright snow.  As I got closer they looked back directly up at me.  Shapes have always intrigued me.  When I was just a kid, I use to just lay on my back and look up at the clouds for hours imagining the different animals as they moved across the sky.  Today, I can easily become fixated on an object’s shape and imagine what it could be if it had a choice.

 

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Where to Focus ??

140217_Kitchen Window by © 2013 Karl Graf. Canon 7D, EF24-70, f/2.8L @ 52mm, f/8.0, 1/800 sec, ISO 400

Fixing our morning coffee, this view through our kitchen window caught my eye.  I rushed to get my camera and capture the moment.  Should I use a shallow DOF and just capture the subject or use a narrow aperture to grab the ice on the window and the tree through the crystal vase?  What is my subject … the ice, the crystal vase, or the tree within the vase?  I tried several different approaches and chose to focus on the tree in the vase and maintain a moderate depth of field to highlight the shape and lines of the vase.  I thought the ice on the window distracted from the main image, so I subdued it with a white vignette.

 

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Circles

Circles for Lenny by Karl Graf. Canon 5D MKIII, EF24-70mm f/2.8L @ 67mm, f/8.0, 1/50 sec, ISO 200

Here I was just trying to capture the repeating circles of the wheel tires and the post in addition to the repeating lines of the logs.  Again I was thinking of B&W when I took this image.  The mixture of green grass and brown leaves cluttered the color image and distracted from the wheels.

 

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Visualizing Black & White

140103__Fireplace (1 of 1) by Karl Graf. Canon 5D MKIII, EF24-70mm f/2.8L @ 62mm, f/11, 1/15 sec, ISO 400

When I saw this fireplace, my mind went immediately to black and white.  The shadows, bright highlights, and shapes captured my attention.  As I view simple subjects, I am slowly becoming able to pick out the shapes and tones that make the subject interesting, at least to me.

 

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Mesquite Dunes #2

130318_MesquiteDunes2 by Karl G. Graf. This was my second try in the Mesquite Dunes.  A few of us got up early to catch the sunrise highlight the dunes while the others caught up on their sleep.  As the sun broke the horizon it cast soft shadows and warm highlights.  The contrast was very subtle.  This morning was a learning experience for me.  My objective was to see the contrasting shapes and lines, not necessarily capture that one great image.  Chuck Kimmerle gave us a few very good starting point insights, then took off over the dunes.  I followed his footsteps across the valleys and ridges, watching were he stopped shuffled around, put his tripod down (or not), then racing off to the next stop.  At these stopping points, I took my time looking around trying to pick out something that peaked my interest. Sometimes an image appeared, sometimes it didn’t.  It was a great morning just to be out and enjoy a wonderful landscape.

 

 

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Mesquite Dunes

130316_DV_MesquiteDunes_1a

Where to start … the grand vista?, shapes?, colors?, details?, shadows? … too many choices!!!  As soon as I walked into Mesquite Dunes, my eyes and mind shot around in every direction.  There were just too many opportunities and a very narrow window to capture the light of the setting sun.  I quickly dropped behind our workshop group as I saw one thing after another.  I went after it all!  When I reviewed my images, I was pretty disappointed.  I ended up with a lot of “snapshots”.  Lesson learned here … don’t be greedy, let the image come to me.  Be patient, let my eyes and mind wander … the image will come.

This was one of the few images that did “call out”  I saw it in the distance and walked around several minutes before I found a perspective that “clicked” for me.  The curve shadow and bright highlights on the ridge separated the dune from the distant mountains.

 

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Let the Image Come to You

130313_20 MuleTeamCanyon_BWIt was mid-morning following a great shoot at Zabriskie Point.  The landscape was filled with harsh shadows, bright surfaces, and subdued colors.  Nothing caught my eye.  I was about ready to walk around and look for some interesting view.  Then right in front of me was this graceful “S-curve”.  Two of our workshop leaders (Chuck Kimmerle and John Barclay) had previously emphasized the point not to force an image … but let the image come to you.  In this case, a little patience payed off as this image engulfed my focus.  Once seen, several other opportunities arose … to be continued in future blogs.

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