summer nights

Nothing compares to the feeling of a warm summer night spent outside amongst good company, live music and great food. It can be a challenge to capture the ambiance and mood of a setting like this. But placing the camera on a solid surface combined with a slow shutter speed provides the ultimate opportunity to showcase the scene. That way the glow of neon lights and unassuming signs are presented in all their glory.

Have you captured any casual summer ambiance lately? Share your images with us.

sun soaked

Every sunny moment is a gift these days, and we're all soaking up the rays when possible. My cat Roxy especially loves snuggling up in a sun-drenched spot and sleeping the day away. And I have to admit that a bright, sunny day inspires me to pick up my camera and start using all the natural light to my advantage. It's refreshing to set the ISO a bit lower and up the shutter speed without worrying about exposure issues. I'm hoping to continue to utilize these rare sunny days to keep my camera warmed up until spring returns.

Are you focusing on sunny spots too? Share them with us and brighten our day!

sunday school: flashdance

shutter speed: 1/5 sec; ISO: 400; aperture: f/5.0 

After years of turning up my nose in the general direction of my flash--built-in and speedlight alike--I've come to a strange realization: I. Love. My. Flash.  There, I've said it.  Why the change of heart, you ask?  I've got four little words for you: slow sync flash mode.  Google it, y'all, and prepare to be amazed at the images you'll find.

So what exactly is slow sync flash?  It's basically dragging the shutter (which Tracey enlightened us about a while back) WITH flash.  In other words, it's using your flash with a slow shutter speed.  I'm sure most of your cameras have a setting for your flash that's either called SLOW (a.k.a. front curtain flash sync) or REAR (a.k.a. rear curtain flash sync).  Both are types of slow sync, the difference being when the flash fires (beginning of exposure for simple slow and at the end of the exposure for rear).  Most cameras will automatically set the shutter speed at 1/60 or faster when you turn your flash on, and that enables you to freeze a specific image blur-free. Setting the flash to one of the slow sync modes, however, changes the shutter speed to something that's usually slower than 1/30th of a second.  Using a slower shutter speed in ADDITION to flash enables you to freeze the image at the point the flash fired with the added bonus of what I call the ghost trail, or the blur of action that occurs during the entire exposure either before or after the flash fired.

The cool thing about slow sync mode is that it looks cool with just your built in camera flash if you don't use a speedlight.  It's great for parties where there's a lot of action such as dancing, especially when there are funky lights that make swirly patterns depending on how you move the camera during the slow shutter exposure.  So the next time you find yourself and your camera at a dimly lit party wishing they would crank the lights so you can get some decent shots, set your flash to slow sync or rear curtain, set your ISO at 200 or below, your aperture at f/4ish or narrower, your shutter at 1/15th of a second or slower, and click away!  Try experimenting with different shutter speeds or by giving the camera a little shake or twist or what have you during the exposure.  Remember to avoid overexposure by adjusting your ISO down or making your aperture narrower if you slow down your shutter speed.

If you happen to try this, please share with us your results.  Or if you've done other funky things with flash or other lights, we want to see those images too!  For more inspiration, take a look at these cool slow sync shots!

sunday school : dragging the shutter

I don’t hide the fact that I absolutely love and cherish my self-timer. In fact, I’ve come to realize that when I am in self-timer mode (pun definitely intended) my antics are a pretty good source of entertainment too. Even my photographer friends get a good laugh watching my moves—limbs flailing every which way as I balance the camera on the nearest makeshift tripod, er, tree stump, pile of rocks, parked car, get ready, get set and then run as fast as I can to get into the frame before the final beeeeeep and click. Hey, whatever it takes to get the shot and have a little fun while I’m at it.

I use the timer often, to ensure I make it into a family picture or a group shot of friends. And then there are the ever elusive self-portraits. In the case of the above image, it was surreal motion I was after. I’ve only got the Manzanita magic to thank for the golden glow of this otherworldly landscape.

The ghostly gesture comes from and intentional technique called dragging the shutter where your shutter stays open long enough to capture the movement of the subject in the shot. But when you only want some of the shot in motion (while other elements in the image stay sharp) you have to either use a flash or a tripod otherwise the movement of your own hands will cause the shot to be blurry and in this case, it won’t give you the desired results. I used a massive hunk of driftwood to prop my camera (aka my tripod) and had the ISO at 100 (even in this low light) to be sure I could really slow down the shutter enough to get an effective stream of motion. My settings were set manually- f8, .8/sec –that’s so slow you can hear the shutter open and close with a delay in between. I ran into the frame and when i heard the shutter open i moved my arms ever so slightly to get the flapping effect. Wheeeee. I'm flying!

It’s a fun thing to experiment with for sure. Just try different increments of shutter speeds until you get what you’re looking for. Do any of you drag your shutters now and again? Got any tried and true draggin’ tips? Be sure to show us what moves you.

sunday school: double take

Truth be told, I'm not much of an abstract image kind of gal.  I consider myself more of a documentarian than an artist.   Recently however, when I was in the mood for  Breaking the Rules, I accidentally discovered a technique that creates abstract images that I find quite beautiful.  It's basically the equivalent of doing a double exposure (exposing the same piece of film twice resulting in superimposed images).  Now, I'm perfectly aware that in this digital age, you can accomplish this easily with two different photos using layers or what-nots in Photoshop, but don't forget that I'm a Photoshop flunkie.

There are a number of ways that you can do a digital double exposure.  I wouldn't be surprised if some cameras have a double exposure feature.  The simplest way to do it is to shoot in manual mode with a long enough exposure so that you can quickly reposition the camera in the middle of the exposure.  Repositioning can be as simple as turning around and facing the camera in the other direction.  Since I like to challenge myself, however, I've come up with a more complicated step-by-step approach. 

• First, put the camera on manual mode and set the aperture pretty narrow so that you can do a long exposure (i.e., f/16 or f/22). 
• Second, determine how many seconds you need to set the shutter speed at for proper exposure.
• Third, double the amount from Step Two and then add 5-10 seconds to allow for repositioning the camera for the 2nd exposure.  So if the light meter says you need 5 seconds, set it for 15-20 seconds, depending on how fast you are at repositioning the camera.  I personally like the 30 second exposure because I'm slow and clumsy.
• Once the exposure settings have been programmed, set the camera on a steady surface (tripod, table, ground, etc.), focus on your first subject, frame the shot and shoot (you can use the timer or a remote to minimize camera shake).
• As soon as the shutter clicks, count off the number of seconds for the first exposure.
• After the first exposure is done, immediately put the lens cap on the lens to block out light.  This will prevent light streaks in the final image from repositioning the camera, and your image won't be affected by camera shake while the lens cap is on.
• Reposition the camera on a steady surface again so that the second subject you want is in the viewfinder, and as fast as you can, remove the lens cap while trying to keep the camera steady.
• Hopefully, you will have timed it just right so that you expose the 2nd image properly.
• Play around with the exposure settings until you get the results you want.

Since your camera is not re-focusing for the 2nd image, the clarity of the focus of the superimposed image may be out of whack depending on your aperture and the difference in distance of the subjects from the camera.  I personally don't think that a sharp focus is key to getting an interesting image with this technique.

How about you?  What's your favorite method of creating abstract photographic images?  For more inspiration, be sure to check out these images in our Flickr group pool by storygoil, Cyan Eyes, and Rachel Schell.