June 18, 2013  As I have previously stated – it is the shape and the light falling on a given subject that attracts my eye to capture it.  While I don’t consider myself a nature photographer, I sometimes find the plant life here on the Sonoran Desert a challenge to capture.  The flowering season is short due to the extreme heat.

First I look at how the flower is lit –and then I focus on a key part of it.  Sometimes angle can

be very important  -shooting the flower from the back with the light shining through the pedals can be more dramatic then simply shooting down on it.  Depth of field is important – using a wide aperture allows me the blur out parts of the image that may conflict visually with what I wish the viewer to see.  A tight crop in postproduction can also be a useful tool for isolating visually a section of the flower.  The main thing about capturing the beauty of a flower or for that matter any subject – is to stop and look carefully at your subject and then determine what you see and want others to see.  Then it is your technical skills with choice of lens, angle, focus and light that will allow you to capture your vision and share it.  

June 11, 2013 Faces of Exit 270

I think one of the characteristics or ambiance of a place is the people who inhabit the space you are in –recording these inhabitants and their surroundings is commonly called “street photography”.  While the camera and its size sometimes help in letting you shoot unnoticed –it is still up to the photographer to choose his subjects carefully.  My images, the faces of Exit 270, are a form of street portraits and I hope I have treated their images respectfully.   

While the camera and its size sometimes help in allowing you freedom of movement –it is still your eyes that pick and choose the subject.  The key is to work quickly which means many of your camera settings have been predetermined.   Most photographers shoot from a distance or a stealth approach to their subjects, but I try to move right in close and hope my subject is tolerant of my invasion of space.  The camera I use the most for this photographic invasion is the Sony Nex7 –is it light and responsive to this type of shooting.  The 18-35mm zoom lens gives me enough latitude to move in and out of my subject’s area.

Street photography is considered legal in most cities – there has been a case in New York City where a photographer is being sued for exhibiting his neighbor’s apartment window shots in a gallery.  The first Amendment is supposed to protect a photographer’s freedom of expression –however, it is wise to respect the privacy of the individual and the circumstance’s you are photographing them under.  I have found that if you ask permission, people are usually agreeable.   However, in some cases it is impossible to elicit this permission in advance and the exhibiting of these images should be considered carefully.

June 1, 2013

Peppers – I love peppers.  They come in different colors, sizes and shapes.  I have always considered them an erotic sensual fruit.  It is a fruit I have always found a visual challenge to capture.  My lighting of choice is a Flashpoint portable light (purchased from www.adorama.com) – which I can hand hold and move around to accent the subject from various angles, but I have also made use of natural window light and a small reflector to fill in shadow areas.  There is little I can say why I choose one composition over another – exposing the inside seedpod gives a sort of dramatic accent to the images.  Because I am shooting close I use a small aperture combined with a close-up filter (Opteka Close-Up Lens Set).