Laguna Photowalk:Memorable Techniques,Tricks, Ideasand Gimmicks

This section covers stuff you can only do in-camera, as you are shooting. True, Photoshop allows to bum up the contrast to create a believable silhoette, or blur out the background to fake bokeh, but doing in in-camera is both easier and looks more convincing.Some of the in-camera techniques are equipment-dependent. For examle, you cannot create fisheye efefct without a fisheye lens. Besides, on crop factor cameras like Canon's Revel XT and EOS 40D you can never enjoy full fish-eye effect like you can on a full-frame camera like 1D or 5D. Similarly, you cannot achieve telephoto compression effect without a telephoto lens (duh!). But I decided to keep these topics under in-camera techniques and not create an equipment specific section simply because I did not have enough material (aside form the two examples above) to fill such section out. With contribution from more knowledgeable group members, we can develop one.Also, some in-camera techniques border on composition techniques, but they had to go somewhere. The main distinction to me is that a composition can still be tweaked in post (although it is always preferable to compose in-camera).

Getting down and dirty (literally; pro photographers carry gardening kneepads with them) can make for an unusual and memorable shot. Getting down low allows to show a kid's view of the world, a dog's or an ant's.

Presumably, this is what another dog would see if it approached this friendly terrier. We know - or we think we know - that dog's see in B&W. Who's to say they don't see in ultri-wide as well? One thing for sure: they don't see the world like we do, and that's the point of this shot.

Described as a (largely) cinematic tactic often used to portray the psychological uneasiness or tension in the subject being filmed. A Dutch angle is achieved by tilting the camera off to the side so that the shot is composed with the horizon at an angle to the bottom of the frame.The term "Dutch" here is, reportedly, mistranslated "Deutsch": this technique was perfected by the German filmmakers of the 40s and 50s.

Referring to the out-of-focus portions of a shallow depth-of-field (DOF) photo as bokeh is a surefire way to send a nervous rookie scrambling for his Wikipedia. If only he would wait to see it used for the second and third times next to a shot of a flower with just one petal in focus and the rest a blur, he would likely figure it out on his own. One thing he would not learn by osmosis, though, is how to say it correctly.Say it like a Canadian: boke, eh? The "h" was added to the "boke" (derived from a Japanese word meaning "blur") to prevent English speakers from rhyming it with "poke". At least that's one story. The term is a fairly recent one, it has been in use since about 1996 without the "h", and since 2000 with.

Contest winner.

This http://www.rags-int-inc.com/PhotoTechStuff/DoF/ is a rather technical article, which aims at demystifying the Depth-of-Field (DOF) concept and applications. It talks at length about the "circle of confusion" concept, which I had never heard of. The upshot for me was that I quickly grew bored with numbers and tables and cut to the chase - a handy diagram at the bottom of the page, illustrating how (not why) the focal length, distance to the object, aperture and image format all affect DOF.Want a simple recipe for getting a winning shot with plenty of bokeh? Open wide and get close.

"f/8 and be there" is the best advice a photojournalist can give. Because this was shot in burst mode at f/8, 1/1250s, ISO 400, the focus did not deteriorate too badly as the runners came at and past the photographer. In hindsight, AF SERVO mode for would have been an even better idea.

Tilted horizon makes the shot even more dynamic.

The shutter stays open for a while, the flash goes of for at the end of the exposure, you get a nice ghost of any moving elements.

An even more advanced application of slow-synch flash: set the background blur by panning with the subject.

The author supplied some very helpful comments on how he produced this photo. You have to really know your camera to do things like this."Here's how I did it. Manually setting the flash distance output and having the camera/flash on second curtain sync. Panning and dragging the shutter as the rider rode past."

This takes practice, but the results will be rewarding. Shoot in shutter speed priority and set it a longish 1/5s or slower. At midday, even with ISO 100 or the lowest your camera will alow, you may have too much light. Use neutral density filter if you have it to stop exposure down, or fix it later in Lightroom. As you press the shutter release, quickly zoom in or zoom out. Try and try again until you get it right. Shoot on tripod or use slow-synch flash to get your subject sharp.

The author has not confirmed this was zoom explosion, but it sure looks that way.

Shooting at longer focal distances tends to "compress" objects in the frame, bringing background closer to the foreground. This can create quite a dramatic effect or a visual fake. Did you see the Olympic walkers in the head-on shot where the leader was a minute ahead of the chase pack, yet it looked as if they were on her heels? Telephoto compression.A related technique is popular in portrait photography, although the focal distance is usually picked between 80 and 100mm (not quite telephoto). This allows the photographer to a)put some distance between the camera and the subject allowing the latter to feel more at ease, and b)visually shorten the nose and deemphasize other features that the subject may consider unflattering. (Shoot a face at 200mm and it will apear squished in. Shoot it wide, and you are guaranteed to get a fun mirror-like effect, although the subject will not be laughing.)

Aside for the traditionally pleasing subjets, such as dogs, kids and sunsets, many shots

Cropping the no-smoking sign out would have really helped highlight the irony.

The lady better watch her back!

Lyrical and a little bit eerie.

Two subjects for the price of one.

Even mundane objects can be powerfully attractive when the photographer spots a patter. Human eye is strangely drawn to patterns and our mind is affected by them. That's where photography meets psychology.

I don't even know what it is, but I can't help being drawn to it. The power of geometry.

This is also a good B&W conversion.

The fence and the horizon combine to frame the key words.

To get the shot she wants the photographer boldly steps into the waves.

Photographers don't always look to create a new idea or an object of art. Sometimes, it suffices to capture an idea or an object that someone else put out there. It still takes a keen power of observation and an ability to pick out a trully interesting object while being caught up in the excitement and pressure of a photowalk.

An essential shot for a Laguna Beach photowalk and an all around pleasing photo.

The author claims getting the BAD BOY sign in the frame was pure luck. However, once she realized what she had, she punched the sign up in post.

The notes can be excerpts from Wikipedia, comments from flickr or the mindmap author's idle musings

While composition can be improved in post-processing through cropping, it is always best to compose the shot in-camera. Not all composition slip-ups can be fixed in post, and at any rate it is always easier to do it in-camera.

The three rules of photography from the New York Institute of Photography state that you should 1)Have a clear idea of what your subject is, 2)Emphasize your subject, 3)Deemphasize everything else. Here the author did a darn good job following those, wouldn't you say?

Third place in the contest.

Second place in the contest.

Cutting the top of the subject's head may not come naturally to most beginner and intermidiate shooters, yet it is such a prevalent technique in fashion and editorial photography nowadays that it barely qualifies as "dramatic".For a trully unorthodox in-camera crop see Yama's headless dog walker at http://www.flickr.com/photos/helloyama/2801187470/in/pool-scott-kelbys-worldwide-photowalk-lagunabeachca - unfortunately, I failed to include the thumbnail in this chart (permissions, perhaps?)

Camera tilt can be used not only to create a dramatic effect (known as Dutch, or German, Tilt), but also to fill the frame with the subject. This works great for art (especially three-dimensional), architecture, flowers and food. The eye will adjust to the angle, but because the brain has to work that much harder to identify and "straighten out" the subject, it will be more likely to overlook small distractions that may be present in the frame.

They tell us to leave room in front of the subject, so that he or she has some place to go. That's all very well unless the author wants to emphasize the idea of leaving the shot, or, as it were, the beach.

There was an emoty chair to the right of the subject. While it had its own interest, the author did not like it. Thus was born the "ultra-portrait" look.This is also filed under subject isolation.

Aside from playing off the accepted view that dogs see in balck and white (and the photo is shot from what would be a dog's POV), the B&W conversion helped eliminate what would have undoubtedly been a great deal of distraction surrounding the subject.Fourth place in the contest.

The authors comments on her process:"There was a group of guitar players, not sure which street, maybe Forest Ave, off on the side of a building. Nothing exciting photo wise out of the camera. Hand motion was original capture, no tricks!To make it more exciting, all I did was add a new layer above the background layer, fill it with blue, and change blending mode to Vivid Light."

Gradient filter was added to the lower third of the frame to give the relatively flat water the intensity of the sky.

Traditionally, the procedure of deliberately processing photographic film in a chemical solution intended for a different type of film.Nowadays, mostly doen with plugins for Photoshop.

Also uses the color spot composition principle.

The author lowered the contrast (a lot!) and boosted saturation for a dramatic warm and textured look.Honorable mention from the contest judge.

Really brings out the texture and creates interest in the window. What is this thing?!

Honorable mention from the contest judge.

Honorable mention from the contest judge.