Watch out for the background

Published on January 13, 2012 in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: .
This entry is part 4 of 8 in the series Photography tips

In photography, “bokeh” is the “blur”, or “the aesthetic quality of the blur” in the out-of-focus areas of an image. The term comes from the Japanese language and means “blur” or “haze”.

An aesthetic background makes your subject stand-out and  makes your image all the more appealing. Three things that can help you create bokeh :

  • use a telephoto lens or a macro lens
  • open up the lens (use a low f-stop – f5.6 or less)
  • get as close to your subject as possible – the depth of field is reduced the closer you are to your subject
  • make sure the background is as far behind your subject as possible

Here I used a 60 mm macro lens and was no more than 20 cm from the subject. The background was a good 5 metres behind the subject. The aperture was set at f 5.6.

Check out this “Bokeh Challenge“

Noirmoutiers – Les Marais Salants

Published on January 2, 2012 in Sketches. Closed Tags: .
This entry is part 2 of 3 in the series Sketches

This sketch was done using HB and 2B pencils from a watercolour painting. You have to look a lot closer when drawing than when taking photographs – you are obliged to notice differences in tone.

“To learn how to take great pictures, take art, painting and composition classes. Avoid “photography” classes, as they usually only consider technique, and rarely the fundamental artistic aspects of how to design an image and ultimately what we’re trying to create.”
source: Ken Rockwell

Combine shots with diffent exposures

Published on December 24, 2011 in Experimental and Spain. Closed Tags: , .
This entry is part 7 of 8 in the series Photography tips

View over part of the Alhambra from the Palacio de Generalife.

View over the al-Hamra from the Jannat al-Arif

I took 3 shots at different exposures with my Canon G9 – combined them and got the above result. This is actually closer to what your eyes see than any single shot can be. The dynamic range of a digital camera is 5 stops – the dynamic range of the image is about 7 stops (the human eye is about 9).

Another HDR combination. The Alhambra (from al-Hamra – “the red one”) seen from the Palacio de Generalife. (Reminiscent of “Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry” particularly of the Chateau of Saumur scene.)

Read article : “HDR is the best way to reproduce the original high contrast scene”

“Contre-jour” or back-lighting

Published on November 20, 2011 in Captivity. Closed Tags: , , .
This entry is part 8 of 8 in the series Photography tips

Use backlighting when you want to hide certain details or create a stronger contrast between light and dark areas. Backlighting your subject will allow you produce silhouettes and help to emphasize lines and shapes.

Backlighting can cause the edges of the subject to glow, while keeping certain areas dark – as in this shot of mating lions.

“Contre-jour” or back-lighting is achieved by placing the subject between you and the light source (the sun, moon or other light source).

Albrecht Dürer’s rhinoceros

Published on November 20, 2011 in Captivity. Closed Tags: , .

Albrecht Dürer rhinoceros :

In 2001 the black rhinoceros population stood at 3,100. An additional 247 black rhino are held in captivity worldwide.

Black rhinoceros in captivity (no comment) :

Rembrandt’s Lion

Published on November 19, 2011 in Captivity. Closed Tags: , , .


Rembrandt’s Lion :

Lions once roamed much of the African continent, but recent studies suggest that lion populations may have decreased nearly 90% in just one decade, with fewer than 20,000 remaining in just a handful of countries. In the meantime, the human population has just reached 7 billion!

Cassowary in captivity

Published on October 31, 2011 in Captivity. Closed Tags: .

“The relationship of homo sapiens to the other animals is one of unremitting exploitation. We employ their work; we eat and wear them. We exploit them to serve our superstitions: whereas we used to sacrifice them to our gods and tear out their entrails in order to foresee the future, we now sacrifice them to science, and experiment on their entrail in the hope—or on the mere offchance—that we might thereby see a little more clearly into the present … To us it seems incredible that the Greek philosophers should have scanned so deeply into right and wrong and yet never noticed the immorality of slavery. Perhaps 3000 years from now it will seem equally incredible that we do not notice the immorality of our own oppression of animals.”

Brigid Brophy

Norwegian Photographer Terje Sorgjerd’s New Time Lapse Video: The Arctic Light

Published on October 9, 2011 in Norway and Videos. Closed
This entry is part 2 of 3 in the series Videos

Old fruit

Published on October 1, 2011 in Experimental and Still Life. Closed

Living room

Published on October 1, 2011 in Experimental. Closed Tags: .
This entry is part 26 of 32 in the series Favourite shots


“You don't take a photograph, you make it.”
Ansel Adams