Partial Solar Eclipse Makes an Appearance in San Diego

A couple of weeks ago there was a partial eclipse that took place and was visually in the United States.  In San Diego it was just a partial one however it took place during the day.  For me I had to rush home from work to get the gear out and ready.  I missed about the first 30 minutes for the event but I was still able to capture the remaining part of the event.

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To capture the eclipse on a camera does require a few items so that you don't damage your camera and more importantly your eyes.  To captured this eclipse I used a ND filter made by Cokin.  The filter number is a P156 which is especially designed for capturing eclipses.  The number of stops that this filter has is equivalent to about 15 stops of light.  It is so dark that it only allows for the bright of sunlight to pass through.

I photographed the rest of the eclipse for about 1.5 hour before the event was over.  It was interesting being out in front of my house photographing the eclipse and most people didn't know it was occurring.  But they were pleasantly surprise to see part of the sun was missing when they looked through my camera.

Photographed with:

Canon 5D Mark II

70-300mm at 300mm

Additional Equipment:

Cokin Filter P156

Settings:

ISO 400

f10

1/30

Each photo was taken every 8 minutes.

Edited with:

Lightroom 5.6

Photoshop CC

It's Not Always about Photography

Here's a secret about photography that a lot of photographers do not discuss,the secret is; it is not always about photography.  What I mean about this is that the best lessons are learned when you can go outside the box / realm of photographs.  Such as looking to other forms of art for inspiration, thoughts, and ideas.  Additionally you might want to visit museums, attend art shows, read books and magazines, be constantly curious about the world around you.

From Seth Godin

It's true you should understand how a photograph is made but you should also understand and know other forms of creative arts in addition to photography.  Doing this will make you a better photographer and in general a more well rounded person.  Over time you will find that your style of photography will change for the better as you dig deeper into other topics.

I have found that by studying things like botany has help me craft a better photograph and better story.  By studying botany I gained a different perspective to plant life.  Plants are no longer just plants.  I now know where, when, and what kind of plants grow, flower, and change color depending on the conditions.  Which in term has helped me know when it is perfect to shoot a photograph in a particular place.

nother great benefit to looking on the outside of photography is that you can gain a different perspective on various subjects.  Being around other photographers is good but you tend to get the same opinion on various topics.  But surround yourself and hang out with other artists / creatives they may share a differing opinion on a topic that you may have only seen in one way.  Also when you discuss with them about your work, they will see your work in another way that you did see or that your photographer cohorts did't see.  Having these types of discussions will help set you apart from others because you will be expanding your horizons. For example a lot of landscape photographers will cite Ansel Adams but not many will cite inspiration from Claude Monet, known for he's paintings of water lilies.

Art show by Alexander Barrett.  Follow him on Instagram @tuffstuf.

One thing to note is you may experience people questioning and looking you wierd.  But that is perfectly okay.  Remember you want to stand out among others and not just comform to what is the standard.

You Take Great Photographs not Your Camera

There's a statement that a lot of photographers hear or are told by others that I say is completely false.  The statement is; "You have a nice camera so you can take nice pictures."  When I hear this I usually just politely just thank you but honestly when I hear this it makes me to say, yes I have a camera but I'm the one that takes the nice pictures.  My problem with this statement is that it acknowledges the camera rather than the photographer.  Most photographers may not take offense to this and I don't either my point is that this statement discredits all the time and effort that photographers put into their craft.  And basically basing the skill of a photographer on what camera they are using. 

 However my belief is that no matter what camera you use, base on your experience and skill set you learned over the hours, months, and years that you have invested into the craft, you can take an awesome picture.  The thing to remember is that a camera in its most simple terms is a tool that you use to capture images.  But it you the photographer that creates the images.

It is true though that a advanced camera can help you capture images that you could with other cameras.  For example certain camera do not have the dynamic range to capture the huge range of light between the shadows and highlights in a scene.  Some camera will either lose the detail in the shadows and it will be completely black and you can not recover anything from it, likewise on the highlights.  But advance cameras will allow you to preserved that information in those areas. 

It is with the investment in time and dedication into the craft that you will learn these fundamental knowledge that will keep you better informed for when you should advance into the higher end cameras. 

When I first started out, my first digital camera was a Canon S50 point and shoot.  I used that camera to limit and for two years before I got my first DLSR which was Canon Rebel.  And I photographed with that camera for nearly 3 years before I got another camera to help start my photography business and also to help help take the pictures that I wanted.  The type of pictures that I wanted to take was landscape images that required a little bit more dynamic range than what they Rebel offered.  So I got a Canon 40D and with that I was able to learn further and take the pictures that I wanted at the time.  Eventually I moved to a DSLR that could film video with the Canon 7D and the latest camera was the Canon 5D Mark II.  And the main reason with that upgrade was it provided me the dynamic range and features that help me capture and tell the stories.

So you see, it is you the photographer that creates the pictures and it is the camera that helps you capture the picture.  And with investment and time you will figure out for yourself what work and when it is time to move on to a newer camera to help you capture and tell the visual stories that you want to tell.  

What's the Story You Want to Tell?

There is more than meets the eye in photography.  The activity of taking photos is more than just simply clicking the shutter and taking a picture.  In the few seconds before a photographer takes a picture there are countless decisions and choices that he or she makes.  Of theses decisions, I think the most important is; What's the story you want to tell?  With this question alone, it can be the driving force behind why and how you take the picture.

Looking over the city of San Francisco, I scan over landscape to see what scene and story I want to tell.

When you consider the above question first in your decision process of taking a photo it will influence why and how you take it.  The reason that this is important is because without having a motivating motive / reason to the photo, the photo will lack focus that creates a compelling image that will satisfy both the photographer and the viewer.  this is easier said than done especially when you are just starting out.

in the early stages of learning photography there is the excitement of having a new tool to help you capture the pictures you want to take.  There are tons of features, buttons, menus, and things to explore and use.  Having all of these with the additional accessories, can lead to an overwhelming experience that can take away from the excitement.  However before all of that if you understand why you want to take a picture, it will help guide you to the "how."  For example,  let's say that you want to take pictures of landscapes because you want to create your own wall art.  So you know that landscapes will be your subject.  With that you want to dig a bit deeper.  Now ask yourself what kind of landscapes?  Seascapes, vistas, cityscapes, wilderness, etc.  However you may decide that you love all of that, and that is perfectly okay.  The important thing to understand in this is what is story of those places that you want to tell.  Do you for example, want to share the beauty of a place that most people don't see as beautiful, or do you want to show why a certain place is designed a certain way?  These are just a few answers that you may come up with or you may have a completely different story to tell.  It doesn't matter what it is, it is just important that you have one to tell.  When you do it will motivate you to understand the "how" you want to tell it.  And when you understand the "why" and "how" together it will set you up for a awesome journey with photography.

Knowing that I want to show a serene scene, I knew that I could make the glassy water even more calm by increasing doing a longer exposure on the water.

With the "why" understood, you can now take that motivate to help create and take the photographs that you want to capture.  When you know the why and the subject, you can create images that help tell the story further.  For example, let imagine that you want to tell a story about a city and you want to show the hustle and bustle of it.  How would to tell that in an image.  You could photograph the city showing a lot of people.  You could photograph a city from high above to show how large it is.  Or you could photograph a city with traffic moving in it.

Interstate 5 traffic moves in and out of downtown San Diego during rush hour.

With the motive and dialogue you can now craft your photograph to help tell that story.  To create the photograph above, i first needed to know where there is a place to show moving traffic with the city in the background.  I happen to find this location from previous scouting trips throughout the city.  Now with location in mind, I now needed to determine when it would be best to show the city in beautiful light but also when there would be enough traffic on the road to show the hustle and bustle of the city.  I determined that either the morning or afternoon rush hour would be perfect times.  During these times it would show the city with beautiful light and have enough traffic on the road.  I ultimately decided on a afternoon because it was convienent for my schedule.

With the story, location, and time in hand now all I had to do was craft the photograph further.  And this is the part where your story, experience, and perspective will influence the final outcome.  For the photograph I created, I knew that I wanted to show the hustle and bustle but I also thought that just capturing the cars on the road was going to be plain so I decided that doing a long exposure of the traffic would add a bit more drama to the image.  So with that in mind I set out to create the image that you see above.  I exposed the traffic about 2-3 seconds with a neutral density filter.  The filter cut out the amount of light that would be exposing the image.  If I didn't have the filter the image would be over exposed leading to a not too satisfying result.  So it became part of the equation that a filter was needed.  I was equally lucky that on this particular evening that the traffic was building up closer to downtown while the traffic closer to me was moving freely which resulted in the effect of the cars closer to me blurred while the car further away from me look more like cars.  And since this was photograph in the afternoon the city in the background was bathed in golden light which makes for a more pleasing look and gone to the overall image.

As you have read with an understanding of the story that you want to tell in your photograph, you can determine how you take it.  This is lesson that is usually left out of manuals and photography how-to books, that I believe is a critical skill that all photographers need to know and understand.  With this you will be given a process to help craft and hone your photography skills.  The problems that a lot of photographers faced when they don't understand their voice is that they get frustrated that they can not create the photographs that they want.   They feel that getting more equipment, filters, accessories, more photoshop skills will help them create those images they desire hoe dr the thing they need to answer is; What is the Story that you Want to Tell?  So the next time you go out and take photographs, start off with asking yourself that question and see where it goes and how it helps.   I know it has worked for me, let me know how it worked or didn't work for you. And if it didn't, what did you do that help you create the photographs you took. 

Something to keep in mind.