Picture of the Week 39 – Art of Photography exhibit

Posted on October 6, 2012 by wolfgangbluhmphotography

Canon EOS 5D ,Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
1/40s f/5.6 at 50.0mm iso1600

This is the opening reception of the Art of Photography show.

Last year, my Apple Thief earned me a $100 credit for entering photos into this show. I submitted 9 photos, but none were chosen. They selected 200 out of 16,905 submissions! Pretty steep odds indeed!

Well, if I didn’t get photos into the show, I can still take photos of the show, right?

With this shot, I was trying to accomplish two things at the same time: show the atmosphere of the very crowded opening reception, and at the same time give a taste of the show itself, i.e. the works that were accepted and displayed.

I had expected it to be darker than it was, and since I didn’t want to carry more than one camera and lens, I brought my fastest lens, the 50 mm f/1.4. As it turns out, I would have been slightly better served by a wider lens, and there was enough light to live with smaller apertures.

However, I was still able to get a wide enough perspective from the stairs leading down into the exhibition space. I like how the picture is framed by the stark green and orange photos, which definitely convey the sense that the vast majority of works were rather abstract. At the same time, there is little doubt that this was indeed very crowded.

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Picture of the Week 38 – Watching the Ocean

Posted on September 27, 2012 by wolfgangbluhmphotography

Canon EOS 60D ,Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM
1/400s f/8.0 at 200.0mm iso400

Michele is off to Paris for a month. Since we’ve never been apart for more than a week since we got married 16 years ago, this will be an interesting learning experience for us.

Well, life goes on, and here’s another picture of the week.

Sadly, it was Michele’s turn to get sick with a bad cold, just before her trip. So, we didn’t manage more than another short stroll at La Jolla Cove. I promise, though, that you won’t get stuck with pictures of the same location forever.

What I like most about this shot is the colors. The yellow and purple of the dress and skirt work really well against the dark blue water in the background. As an extra bonus, very similar colors are repeated in the kayak in the background, which is blurred just enough that it doesn’t distract from the primary focus of the image. Finally, one can’t help but wonder what the two women are looking at (I think more kayakers), which adds to the appeal of the image.

Technically, the only challenge was to brighten the women’s faces enough, since there was no direct light on them. I probably sound like a broken record from one week to the next, but again, shooting raw was the ticket. In addition, I used a portrait filter in Photoshop which allows me to pick a range a skin colors (in this case the dark faces) and selectively brighten and warm up those part of the image.

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Picture of the Week 37 – Peregrine Falcon

Posted on September 22, 2012 by wolfgangbluhmphotography

Canon EOS 60D ,Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM
1/500s f/8.0 at 200.0mm iso800

Another very late post. Sorry. I got sick shortly after returning from a business trip last week, spent a couple days in bed, and then had to catch up on all kinds of things…

Last Sunday, we took a stroll on the cliffs above La Jolla Cove. We watched plenty of kayaks, along with a few sea lions and pelicans, until my wife suddenly realized that a peregrine falcon was sitting in a tree right in front of us, probably no more than 15 feet away.

First lesson learned: Look around more!

The light was really bad. The falcon was sitting in the shade, with the sun coming mostly from behind (and a little to the side), and the sky was really bright. If I had shot jpeg and not processed the image, I would have had a choice between a completely black bird or a completely blown out white sky.

However, I always shoot raw, and with some heavy processing both in the conversion from raw to psd and then in Photoshop, I was able to get quite a decent image. It might not win a prize for best bird photography, but it was a nice enough reward for having learned a second lesson:

Don’t give up too easily!

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Picture of the Week 36 – Floating Rose Petals

Posted on September 9, 2012 by wolfgangbluhmphotography

Canon EOS 5D ,Canon EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 Macro II USM
1/4000s f/11.0 at 63.0mm iso800

We found these roses and petals floating in a circular pond at Balboa Park’s rose garden and were immediately attracted to the photographic opportunities they presented.

When we first saw them, a slight breeze had blown them all close to the wall of the pond, and one couldn’t get any of the shadows into the frame. Since someone else had clearly put them into the water (i.e. it wasn’t undisturbed nature to begin with), we found no issue with floating them a bit away from the wall, and trying to come up with a good composition.

It took a couple of tries, since the arrangements tended to be either too loose or too dense, but finally I got some good shots.

To me this photo has the feel of a Japanese art print. I think it comes in part from the fact that the rose petals seem to be pasted onto an almost uniform background. In fact, the physics of what we’re looking at (something floating in water) is not immediately obvious. The shadows add to the composition, but don’t seem directly connected to the flower shapes. Only upon more careful inspection does one find slight hints of what’s happening, for example the subtle wave pattern in the top left corner.

Furthermore, I think the colors add to the Japanese feel. As it turns out, the white balance I used in the raw to jpeg conversion is technically not quite correct, meaning the colors in the photo don’t exactly reproduce the “real” colors in the actual scene. Instead, I took artistic license and deliberately chose a white balance with a slight yellow and green tint.

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Picture of the Week 35 – Getty

Posted on September 9, 2012 by wolfgangbluhmphotography

Canon EOS 5D ,Canon EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 Macro II USM
1/100s f/16.0 at 28.0mm iso200

My apologies for being a full week late with posting the Picture of the Week 35. To make up for it, you’ll be treated to two weekly editions today, this one now, and the next one tonight.

Take a look at this photograph and see if you can figure out what’s going on.

Before I explain it, let me explain how I literally went about taking pictures.

My wife and I spent the better part of last Sunday at the Getty museum, our favorite museum in Southern California. After a couple of hours of seeing an exhibit of Klimt drawings, Michele wanted to see another exhibit, but I decided to take some photos instead. We agreed on meeting again 45 minutes later. How to make the best use of that time?

I started by walking around slowly, looking in different directions, and trying to get inspired by a possible composition. I did this without thinking too much, I wanted something to visually grab my attention. Doing it slowly was important since small changes in position or viewing angle can make a big difference in composition, especially at the Getty.

Once something caught my eye, I stopped, and then tried to figure out why I was attracted to it. Was something framed in a interesting way? Was there a contrast of shapes, colors, materials, etc.? The next step was trying to frame the photo such that the resulting image would maximize the effect that had made me stop in the first place. Finally, it was sometimes a matter of waiting a few minutes until there were people in the right places to complement the composition.

Ok, back to the picture of the week. I first noticed the stairs from a distance, and wondered how I might arrange the multiple flights of stairs in a composition. As I walked over, I also noticed the contrast of materials, the marble on the left, and the painted metal of the stairs on the right.

Finally, while playing with compositions, I thought: “What if I take a picture looking straight up?” I liked the possibilities I saw through the viewfinder, but realized that I need to compose very carefully. So, to steady myself, I lay down straight on my back.

Incidentally, when I was done taking the picture, and started to get up, a guard was standing right next to me, almost hovering over me. I apologized if I had been in the way of anyone, but it turns out he was worried that I had slipped and hit my head. I quickly assured him that all was well.

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