Nothing to shoot here...

I can't tell you how many times photographers have said to me " there's nothing to shoot here!"
There's ALWAYS something to shoot.....if you keep your eyes open and pay attention to the world around you. Even on the quietest streets and alleyways, there's small details, textures and contrasts that can be explored and celebrated.

I was up early on the island of Santorini in Greece with no-one around, and came across this blue door, broom and colorful curtain that balanced in a perfect composition. The "hand made" quality of the design elements helped tell the story about the beauty of the Greek Islands, and the embrace of individual craft in the construction and decoration of homes there.

The lesson here is to always keep your eyes open for beauty all around you....there's great subject matter everywhere!

Leica R8 with Leica 70-180mm f/2.8 Apo Elmarit-R Zoom Lens

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The pictures in between...

I was traveling between two cities in the state of Rajasthan, India...when I happened upon this itinerant group of locals, and whispered quietly to my driver...STOP THE CAR!!!

My point here, is that some of your best shots will be those moments when you are "in between" two places, and not really thinking about what's flying by the car ( or bus or train ) window. So never let your guard down...opportunities will pop up in the most unforeseen locations.

It's also why I like to have a car and a driver under my control in "image rich" locations like India.
For as much as you're spending on getting there, the small added cost is worth it!

Just don't drink the water.

Nikon F3 with 80-200mm f2.8 lens

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Getting above it all...

I was back in Hong Kong, having walked waaaay further than I really wanted to that day, but you don't get new shots if you don't keep the camera moving, so here I was...tired feet and all. I'd already captured plenty of eye level market shots, and was looking for something new, when I just happened to notice the pedestrian overpass above me.

Well...it's really more than that...they're called the Central-Mid-levels Escalators, and it's the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world, transporting pedestrians over 2500 feet halfway up the steep terrain of Hong Kong Island...but enough about the crazy ways the locals get around!

The point here, is that you should always keep your eyes open to an opportunity to get "above it all"
and capture a nice overview, or "down" shot, as we pro's call it.

Canon 5D MkIII with EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS II USM • 1/125th @ f5.6 • ISO 1600

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Twilight Serenade

Another lousy day on the Oregon Coast! What were you expecting....sunshine?
But don't put away the camera quite yet....because at twilight, something magic happens....no matter how threatening the sky may be, or how dreary the light may look.
Lights start coming on, and the dark, monochrome sky will turn a rich blue...just in time for you to grab your tripod and set up to capture this brief interval of magic light when the natural and "un-natural" light falls into a beautiful balance!

Canon 1Ds with 16-35mm f2.8 Lens

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Make friends in new places....

So a photographer walks into a bar.....er.....a church. In the Cook Islands in the South Pacific....on a Saturday.....what was I thinking? Sunday is a day of worship here.....NOT Saturday! Soft, warm light was filtering in the stained windows, the century old walls peeling and nicely faded.

But wait.....over there is a smiling Cook Islander happily sweeping the floor, getting ready for tomorrows' influx of parishioners. I smiled and walked over. "Would you mind if I grabbed a couple of shots of you sitting in the pews by the windows? I think it would make a really nice shot!"

So the lesson learned here, is that if you see a great location, but no-one occupying the frame, make it happen! If you look around, you'll probably find someone who would love to pose for you. Make a friend....get a great shot!

Fuji 690 GSW Camera w/ 65mm lens


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Your eyes don't work like lenses....

One of the first things I tell people when they get started in photography is that lenses "see" differently than your eyes do. That is, they offer a much broader range in terms of field of view, as well as having the ability to isolate a subject through selective focus.

In this example, as I was walking around a busy marketplace in Hoi-An, Vietnam, the one thing that stood out to me was a small concrete bridge across an adjacent waterway.

Although the scene beyond the bridge was rather cluttered and busy, through the use of selective focus with my telephoto lens, I knew I could keep the bridge in focus while throwing the distracting background out of focus and nicely soft.

On top of that, the bridge was beautifully backlit, so all I had to do was wait.......

And waiting...as always...generally pays off!

Nikon F4 with Nikkor 180mm f2.8 lens

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Details, Details....

I was wandering around Hong Kong's famous Yuen Po Street Bird Garden, unfortunately packed to the gills ( feathers? ) with tourists, trying to figure out how I could shoot without getting Bob and Carol Metcalfe from Muncie, Indiana in my shots...when it came to me...

Move in tight on the details! In this case...birds. Sometimes things get so overwhelming visually, that we can tell the story better with the details rather than the big picture.

You don't need a macro, or close-up lens to shoot this tight, generally. Most modern day zooms allow you to focus and zoom close enough to capture some nice detail without having to switch lenses.

So...the next time you just can't find the wide shot that works....move in tight!

Canon 1Ds Mark-II with Canon 24-70mm 2.8 @ f4.0

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