Blog Posts

Catch them while you can

Posted on by SteveH
Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

Poppies flower for a short time, you need to catch them while you can. They are short-lived perennial plants and have brightly coloured flowers. The petals appear crumpled and very fine. Spreading out as they straighten. There are many species and many colours. The one I see most, is the 4 petaled red poppy. It grows in and around farmer’s fields of wheat, corn and barley. I expect it’s the Papaver rhoeas, or common poppy I see most. I think it’s this one because of the name and its description. It has 4 red petals. The other famous poppy is the Papaver somniferum, commonly known as the opium poppy. This one I never see. The common poppy will flower from late spring to early summer but each flower doesn’t last long so catch them while you can.

It’s hard to imagine how soldiers in the battlefields of the first world war would look upon such a field of poppies. But the poppy fields of Belgium became a symbol of the conflict and feature in a poem from the front line – In Flanders Fields by John McCrae.

Remembrance

The poppy maintains that link today as the symbol of remembrance for the Commonwealth Remembrance Day. This is held annually on November 11th. It marks the end of First World War hostilities. In the UK the date is an important fund raising event for veterans and organised by the The Royal British Legion. The poppy is not the only flower associated with the end of World War 1. In France it is the cornflower, which is often found growing next to poppies.

Follow this link if you want to see more of my photographs of Flowers and Plants. There is also another blog post showing 3 stages in the life of a poppy flower.

Some of my photos are available for purchase on my Adobe Stock store or directly below. There are other landscape photos here.

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Low light needs a tripod and patience

Posted on by SteveH
Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes

Low light can bring a great atmosphere to any photo. However, low light needs a tripod and patience if you are to capture the subjects at their best. A tripod because you are going to be taking long exposure photographs and without it there will be movement. The slightest movement will lead to blur. Patience because those long exposures may mean people and pets keep popping into frame at the wrong moment spoiling the perfect shot.

Low light occasions easily present themselves at dusk and dawn and indoors. I am going to a local church to capture some of the atmosphere.

What equipment?

As I said, low light needs a tripod and patience. I have a small Rollei tripod. Some will say I am a bit short of patience but we’ll make do. Traveling light means I will take my Canon and 50mm objective. Why not a zoom you may ask? Really, I choose my 50mm because it has has a large f/1.8 aperture so it can let what little light there is into the camera body. It’s also a great objective for capturing a variety of subjects.

Making sure there was nothing else was happening in the church, and that we had permission, I was allocated 2 hours with the objective of 10 or so images.

The process

Initially take a slow walk around the building looking at everything. Focus on the lighting and shadows. You might not be able to get high up, check out where any choir or organ is situated. But certainly low down angles can give interesting images. If you have seen some of my photos of trees you will know I like looking up, for example. Contrasting shades and colours are good subjects. This can come from lights, or even better the sun. I was fortunate to have sun shining through stained glass windows which brings colour to objects which wouldn’t normally be coloured. Candles are also a source of light but the flames do move so can be tricky on long exposures or when creating an HDR, or bracketed, image.

After reviewing the site, set the ISO to 100. Why? we don’t want the camera software doing clever compensation for the lack of light and increasing the sensor sensitivity leading to noisy pictures. Although I have heard that you can reduce the noise, by merging several images. Not something I have tested yet but when I do I’ll add a link here. Because we have our tripod we can extending the exposure time to avoid any issues . Finally, set the settings to manual or AV, Aperture priority, f/1.8 and off we go.

The results

I wanted to share the images capturing the architecture, the candles and the sunlight. They show that low light needs a tripod and patience. Whether it be waiting for the visitors to move away from the seating, the walkways or the pillars. or coming back to the same chair later in the visit as the sun made its way round to add colour to plan straw chairs.

Finally, if you are out and have no equipment or just out of patience, today’s cameras can do a good job. For example the final candle above. The downside is that it’s a little noisy.

Other posts that you may like

If you are interested in lighting, I have some other photos on the lighting page.

There is also a blog post on :

Some of my photos are available for purchase on my Adobe Stock store, via the link in the menu or directly below.


Walk along the Seine from the river Oise

Posted on by SteveH
Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

Last week I walked along the river Seine towards Paris, starting in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine. Walking the in the other direction, towards the sea, Conflans is home to the confluence of the rivers Seine and Oise. So today I decided to walk along the Seine from the river Oise. There are few parking spaces at the confluence of the two rivers.

Both rivers have a path so you have to choose, today I decided to take a short walk along the Seine. The river Seine is a major transportation route and large barges are almost always moored in Conflans. Important road and rail links are also a feature of the town. Alongside the river, the landscape and nature I wanted to capture the transportation links.

The cycle bridge is part of the itinerary from Paris to London. The segment from Maisons-Laffitte to Chaussy, some 48.71km. The rail bridge is part of the RER A line running from Cergy le Haut to Paris and in Conflans fin d’Oise the station also serves the railway line from Paris St Lazare to Mantes la Jolie. From the footbridge you have a lovely view towards the historic town centre of Conflans Sinte-Honorine. You can also witness local birds looking for a meal.

HDR photos to bring out hidden features

I wanted to compare a colour photo of the underside of the rail bridge with a black and white version. Industrial sites lend themselves well to black and white images. I also wanted to capture the clouds and the metal structure. This called for a high dynamic range. Something that many cameras offer today. It builds a single image out of several, often 3, images of the same object. Each image is taken with different exposure settings to capture different lighting and details.

I also took a walk this spring around Villennes sur Seine, which is just a short distance away, on the way to the sea!

Going the other way towards Paris, I have a post about Urban Photography at La Défense.

Some of my photos are available for purchase on my Adobe Stock store, via the link in the menu or directly below.


Spring walk along the Seine

Posted on by SteveH
Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

Spring is having a slow start this year. So when I took a spring walk along the Seine at the Quai de Gaillon, in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine there was still a wintery look to the scenery. The trees were budding and the mistletoe was still clearly visible.

I was surprised to see a snail cross my path.

The walk down to the river seine banks is relatively steep. There are several routes down from the town to the riverside. This is the rue de la Fossé du Moulin. It is for the most part inaccessible to vehicles.

But the peace and quiet of an early morning walk along the banks of the river Seine is worth it. It was a great source of inspiration for the impressionists. Camille Pissarro did some painting there in the 1870s for example this one. This was probably painted in the summer nearby, rather than during a Spring walk along the Seine at Quai de Gaillon.

Here you can see mistletoe clearly in the tress on the far side of the river Seine.

There are also many areas to stop, relax, exercise. There is no doubt in my mind, in the summer it will be busier. Get there early if you want to avoid the weekend crowds.

Next week I will explore some other area of the town. The confluence of the river Oise and River Seine.

I also took a walk this spring around Villennes sur Seine, which is just a short distance away, on the way to the sea!

I have other posts about my visits along the River Seine, for example Capturing birds in flight, or going the other way towards Paris, I have a post about Urban Photography at La Défense.

Some of my photos are available for purchase on my Adobe Stock store, via the link in the menu or directly below.


A spring afternoon walk around Villennes

Posted on by SteveH
Estimated Reading Time: < 1 minute

A cool spring afternoon was the ideal opportunity to take a walk in the park. Walk around the park and capture the quiet atmosphere at the start of lockdown. New year’s growth is just appearing. As a result; it is not swamped by the profuse summer leaves and flowers.

The small Paris suburb of Villennes-sur-Seine, in Yvelines, France has some wonderful architecture and parks. So I stayed in the centre of town and visit the Parc du Docteur Fauvel, the town hall and its garden and the river Seine. The river runs very close to town here. This spring afternoon walk around Villennes was in April.

These were taken on my Canon camera with either my 50mm or 18-135mm lens. I would recommend a Spring afternoon walk around Villennes as it shows you don’t have to be far from the city of Paris to be in lovely countryside. It’s a short train ride from St Lazare station. When you get off the train I suggest you start by appreciating the architecture of the old station building. However, If you come by car, parking in the town centre is limited and short stay. The town is not far from the A13 and A14 autoroutes.

My next walk will be a little upstream on the river Seine at Conflans-Sainte-Honorine

Follow this link if you want to see more of my photographs of Flowers and Plants

Some of my photos are available for purchase on my Adobe Stock store, via the link in the menu or directly below.


The effect of shutter speeds

Posted on by SteveH
Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

The effect of shutter speeds on the final picture is very important. The shutter speed , or exposure time, determines how long light falls on to the image sensor or film. It is measured in fractions of seconds for most photographs. The image sensor, or film, is very sensitive to light. Typically you see the time expressed as 1/125 sec. 1 slot of 125 equal slots of one second. As you extend the duration, the number will get smaller, A duration of 5 slots of 125 could be expressed as 5/125s, but you would see it as 1/25s. As with many features of a camera shutter speed is impacted by other settings. Most importantly the ISO. ISO is a definition of the sensitivity of the film or sensor. The higher the number the more sensitive the sensor is.

The brightness of a picture still depend on the light captured and this depends on 2 factors the speed and ISO. They are balanced like a seesaw. If you increase one you can reduce the other.

Of course the aperture, the size of the hole letting light in also has an impact.

These 2 photographs show the same waterfall at 1/10 second and 1/1000 sec. showing the blurred movement of the water or droplets frozen in time.

Let’s get back to the effect of shutter speeds. They are most useful when considering movement. This movement can come from the subject being photographed. In my examples above – the water. But is also can come from you as you move ever so slightly when pressing the button or wobble on a precarious cliff edge, (please don’t!).

The movement gives the image blur as the light from specific point of water, bird, car etc moves and is captured in more than one position. So the slower the shutter speed the more blur. If we want to capture something moving we can have 2 objectives to either:

  1. Capture the subject of the photo as if it was still, so that the light from the subject always falls on the same part of the sensor. This can be done by moving the camera in parallel with the object, Which is not easy. Or it can be done by having a short shutter speed so the light enters the camera before the object has had a chance to move. However the background will appear blurred as we are moving.
  2. Capture the subject to show the movement, by intentionally allowing some blur. To do this we have a longer exposure time, slower shutter speed. So the light moves across the sensor creating blur in the subject; often against a background that hasn’t moved.

Some of my photos are available for purchase on my Adobe Stock store or directly below.


Other landscape photographs can be found here. You can see more waterfalls here and a post about long exposure tips.

The versatility of a zoom lens

Posted on by SteveH
Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

A Spring afternoon in a park gave me the opportunity to grab my versatile 18-135 mm f/3,5-5,6 zoom lens and Canon DSLR and put it to the test. Just how flexible and versatile is a zoom lens? The weather was overcast and just a little too cold to be comfortable. There were some signs of Spring, but not many. I decided to focus on the trees. As there are no leaves the branches, the trunk and the reflections on the pond had to be the source of inspiration. Light, or lack of it, would be the challenge.

To get an idea of the park these fist few photographs are taken with a wide focal length, around 30mm, to capture the landscape.

There is no bright sunlight to provide vivid colours.

But with a longer exposure and a solid base a longer exposure time can provide a compromise. Take advantage of anything nearby. For example a post, bench, fence or in my case a tree.

Using the tree, as a support, and looking up towards the sky can give an unusual aspect and 0.8sec at ISO400 lets in more light.

Zooming in low light

Testing the zoom in low light conditions isn’t easy. As you zoom to the distant subject the light reduces so you must increase the exposure time. These 2 shots show a tree trunk that vaguely resembles a dinosaur foot. The first taken with 24mm at 1/125sec, the second 135mm at 1/25 sec. At 1/25sec the risk of camera movement spoiling the photo is significant. They do show the versatility of a zoom lens and with a tripod the slight shake would disappear.

Beaten by the dull light I decided to go with the flow. What can be move atmospheric and haunting that trees at dusk.? Let’s start embracing low light. Even making it more pronounced. Here are a series of darker and darker shots.

Unexpected bonus

The last unexpected shots came whilst taking the scenes above when a dove flew past a couple of times. Leading me into trying to capture movement in low light with a zoom lens. I quickly set the speed to 1/800s, even faster if you can, but I didn’t have time to be fussy. However I did ensure I was using servo auto focus. These were then taken at 56mm and 135mm. Not too bad considering. Demonstrating the versatility of my zoom lens. I did a quick edit to make them black and white as there was so little colour anyway.

You can find out more about the parc Meissonier, in Poissy, France at the departmental website, in French, or the town’s website also in French.

I did another post on zooming later in the year which you can find here.

Some of my photos are available for purchase on my Adobe Stock store directly below. There are other landscape photos here.


Simulating Tilt-Shift photos to create a model village effect

Posted on by SteveH
Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

Tilt-Shift is the technique used to create a photo that looks like a model village. You can simulate this effect in software. It is an illusion created by manipulating the focus in the picture. By blurring the image horizontally we confuse the viewer and the brain interprets the distance and scale differently. The image appears to present in focus objects as being tiny when compared to the normal sized objects which are blurred in the image. The effect is enhanced by increasing the colour saturation in the photo. Luminosity and contrast can be adjusted too if needed. Below I will take you through the steps to simulate tilt-shift photos.

Equipment

  1. For this you need a photo
  2. Editing software, such as Photoshop or the GIMP (The Free & Open Source Image Editor, available from their site)

Steps

Time needed: 15 minutes

Simple method to simulate tilt-shift photos

  1. Select the best photo

    Choose an suitable photo – this should be a wide angle photo that does not include the sun and sky. It should also be taken looking down on the scene

  2. Open the photo

    Open the photo in the software, for example the free GIMP.

  3. Duplicate the image and add a mask

    Duplicate the image and add a mask, which will be used to select the horizontal part of the image to remain focused while the rest is blurred.

  4. Blur the remainder of the image

    Select the image and apply a blur to the image. The choice of blur will depend on the software release you are using but is not critical. I use lens blur.

  5. Increase the saturation of the image

    Using the menu, Try +30 to start.

Other considerations

Photoshop has tilt-shift blur in the blur gallery, so you can see where the focus strip is and the result in real-time.

Sometimes items that need to be in focus to make sense of the image will not be in the straight horizontal strip. In this case you must adjust the mask to include them. Take this image below. The flags are not entirely in the same strip as the people. So the Photoshop tilt-shift blur gallery tool would have to include most of the image if we expanded the strip to include all the flags. This is not what we are trying to achieve.

The top part of the flags is blurred. This gives an unsatisfactory effect.

Keeping all the flag in focus is more pleasing and improves the simulation. Although in reality the flags are much closer to the photographer than the people. The result is more satisfactory.

We do this using a mask so we can be more selective and include all the flags in our selection to remain in focus.

In the gallery above there’s a picture of the beach at Trègastel. There’s another photo from Trègastel in the lighting section.

You can find another post relating to New York here.

There are more tips on this external site.

Purchase your own copy of my work

Some of my photos are available for purchase on my Adobe Stock store or directly below.


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Using unusual lighting conditions to create interest and impress your audience

Posted on by SteveH
Estimated Reading Time: < 1 minute

Take any item and photograph it in unusual lighting conditions or from a different, maybe unexpected, angle. Using unusual lighting conditions to create interest is an easy technique. This makes for interesting shots that can also surprise the audience. Maybe keep them guessing on the actual nature of the object. Here I take a common food item. There are other examples of how lighting can be used here.

Let’s look at the golden image. It could be flames, maybe the sun, or a precious stone. It is a thin slice of a button mushroom on a backlit sheet of glass. Using unusual lighting conditions create interest.

Own my images

I have made some photographs available for purchase on my Adobe Stock store, and directly below or the link in the menu.


Good things come in threes

Posted on by SteveH
Estimated Reading Time: < 1 minute

Composing a nice balanced picture is critical. There is a well-known rule of thirds. This divides the picture into 3 horizontally and vertically. Like the # sign, but straight. When applying the rule the main subject of the photo should fall on the intersection of the lines. I discuss this in relation to landscape photos on this page. So why Good things come in threes? Because there is another rule of 3.

I also think that when taking a photo of a group of things, there are other rules of 3. For example trying to organise the subjects into triangles is often a good idea. I also find that 3 inanimate objects is the minimum for a group photo if it is to look interesting. And to choose short depth of focus. In these shots I took some simple items in groups of 3. With 1 or 2 there’s not as much interesting depth, focus, lighting etc. Good things come in threes.

I have made these photos available for purchase on my Adobe Stock store.

Here you can see the photos all have shadows and reflections on the shiny surface. All adding more to the image without adding more items.

Other photos of mine are available for purchase on my Adobe Stock store or directly below.