Fifer Photography Blog

Friendship

2011-07-18T06:02:00.006-05:00

This post has little to do with photography, but needs to be stated just the same.

Through thick and thin. That is what you think about when it comes to true friendship. The bond of human inter-connectivity. The feeling of being worth something, of being needed. The bond we all seek.
For some, this bond is as fruitful as a well maintained garden, producing new friends with every turn of the spade. For others, it is a barren, cracked earth landscape with only an occasional tree to seek a moment of shelter.

How does the lack of friendship affect someone? Maybe you have seen someone without significant friendships and not even noticed, or took time to notice. Was it the person standing in the corner, looking shy? Perhaps it was the person sitting all alone in the movie theater? The lack of friendships erodes the confidence of a person, driving them further away from the crowd and deeper into feelings of not being worthy, or of doing something wrong.

Short term or shallow friendships can be just as damaging to a person. They are often left with feelings of deeper inadequacy than if no ‘friendship’ had taken place, compounding the person’s diminished self-worth.

Friendship is a test of honesty and secrecy. It compels us to be honest with our friends, with things that we share… hopes, fears, anger. Secrecy in that we will not divulge these things to others unless told by our friend that it is an acceptable path to take. Honestly, that we must tell each other when we are not happy with them, so steps can be taken to alleviate their anger.

Friendships are special… know what you have and cherish it.

Getting Your Work Critiqued

2011-06-12T10:52:00.006-05:00

Getting your photographs critiqued by others is valuable to help you grow in your craft. It should be done by all serious photographers at one time or another. There are a few things you should be aware of, however. The biggest is that not everybody is qualified to give you critiques that have any substance.

For instance, I have seen many times, a person that has just bought a camera (first time DSLR users are prone to this) and because they have a nice camera, they feel like the latest Ansell Adams to hit the scene and decide to dish out critiques without knowing the principals of photography, or rules of composition. Taking advice from this type of person will hold you back at the least and may even point you down the wrong path.

Another good tip is to seek out the person’s work that is giving the critique (either before hand or after). By looking at their photographic work, you can determine if the advice they are giving is valid (or if they should follow their own advice).

Photography, like any other art is very subjective and can be many things to many people. Generally, we try and follow good technical practices to get the exposure right and subject in focus, but there are times, in your expression of the art these things do not apply. I have seen many powerful images that were purposeful thrown out of focus or under/over exposed. You need to know what you are breaking and why you are breaking it.

It is a good idea to have a solid knowledge foundation of both the technical aspects of your camera, plus compositional rules. Once these are learned, you can bend or break them to achieve you goal of the photograph you see in your mind.

Most important, don’t take critiques too personally. Not everyone is going to like your photographs or your photography style… it just won’t happen. The only person you really need to please is yourself. If you like what you are doing and show sincere enthusiasm about it, others will see that and be more likely to appreciate your work too.

Morning Decadence

2011-04-02T07:27:00.002-05:00

Chocolate Croissants, a photo by Sam Fifer on Flickr.

Sometimes it pays to get up early, even if it is on a weekend. What does this have to do with photography, you ask? Not much, unless you consider the zen-like concentration one must have to keep the camera steady while nervously anticipating one of these little beauties!

That's all I have for now. Go out and make it a great weekend!

Photographing The Moon

2011-03-19T16:20:00.008-05:00

Photographing the moon seems like an easy task when you first think about it. Just point your camera at it and click. For those who have tried that, they can attest the results are not quite what they were hoping for. In fact, what they end up with is a white blob with no detail. Nothing like the photos of the moon we have seen in magazines and on TV. Follow these tips, and you too will have moon images that show detail and are sharp.

Keep ‘er Steady
The one thing that is absolutely needed is a tripod. Since you are going to be shooting in darkness (even partial), you will want the camera to be as steady as possible. Plus, when using a longer lens, any movement (no matter how small) will be magnified, resulting in a blurry photo You are going to have enough to worry about, you will want to eliminate as much as you can, so your worry list is as small as it can be.

It’s Da Lens
Another important factor in getting photos that don’t look like a white dot on a black background (that type of image may sell in some galleries, but not what we are striving for here) is focal length. Focal length refers to how far the lens will ‘look’ or zoom. A minimum focal length of 300mm is needed. Anything less will have you handing out magnifying glasses to your friends and family to view your new creation. I use a 70mm-300mm lens, and at its longest length, I am still wanting/needing to get closer. To add more reach to your lens, teleconverters fit the bill. Teleconverters are extensions that go between your lens and the camera, giving you more focal length. You can get teleconverters for much cheaper than a longer (good quality) lens would cost you. Unless you are a wildlife photographer and would use a (much) longer lens regularly, I would suggest getting the teleconverters.

Set ‘em Up
As mentioned before, if you have ever tried to just snap a shot of the moon, most likely it came out looking like a white sphere. That is because the moon was over exposed. Many people don’t realize that the moon, although it doesn’t give off any light itself, is a pretty bright light source. You will need to set up your camera to compensate for that.

Take a deep breath, because we are going to an area that strikes fear in the hearts of most novice photographers… the dreaded manual mode! It’s really not that bad. In fact, it is pretty empowering. You are simply telling the camera to not interfere… “I’ll take it from here.” First, set your aperture to f10 – f20. This gives you a good depth of field and makes sure that all of the moon will be in focus. Next, set your shutter speed to 1/60. That is a good starting point. If the moon is too dark, lower that number to keep the shutter open longer and let more light hit the camera sensor (or film). If the moon is too bright, increase that number to make the shutter speed faster and allow less light to enter your camera. Usually a stop in either direction will fix things.

Keep Things Sharp
Getting sharp photos is the goal, right? Even though auto focus is a great tool, it can’t travel through our atmosphere and 238,857 miles to the surface of the moon. Did I mention manual before? Same story here too. Grab that (focus) ring on your lens that you never touch and set it to infinity… or close to it. On my lens, it is a little short of being racked out to infinity… your mileage may very.

By following the above guidelines, you will be taking photos of the moon with detail and that are sharp. Good luck with lunar photography and I’ll see you on the dark side of the moon (OK, I had to say that).

Fall In The Midwest

2010-10-26T19:44:00.025-05:00

It's that time again. When the landscape bursts into an artist's pallet of colors. This can be one of the better times to take photos. All of the same rules/guidelines apply as with regards to taking photos, but the results can be much different than photos taken at other times of the year.

An example is the photo that accompanies this post. it was taken early in the morning to capture that 'golden' light of sunrise. This accomplished two things. First, it accentuated the already golden colors of the grass in the field and leaves in the trees, but it also lit the house with what looks like white light. The house has a lot of white on it, so it doesn't reflect a lot of golden tones the rest of the scene does. This makes the house stand out from the rest of the otherwise monotone look of the rest of the scene.

Again, this photo was taken early in the morning. I had to wait a little longer to take it than I normally would, as the house was at the bottom of a hill and the sun didn't reach it until 7am The sun had already risen above the horizon, but was not high enough to spill over the hill. It was still low enough light that a tripod was required... when taking landscape shots, a tripod should always be used, no matter what time of day it is.

A photo like this could have just as easily been taken just before sunset, as the light has a golden hue at this time also. It really depends on the direction of the sun falling on the subject. You wouldn't get the same look if the sun was behind the house.

You say you want to take photos of the fall colors, not just the golden (OK, dead) grass and trees? Same thing applies. The early (or late) light will make the colors pop, plus you won't have any of the harsh shadows that you would get photographing during the late morning/afternoon.

So, whether you are a morning person, or an afternoon person, you still can get wonderful fall photos, if you just give yourself plenty of time to set up and wait for the right light to fall on your subject.

Camera specs:
Nikon D80
ISO 100
f16@1/25 sec
focal length - 95mm
Aperture priority

Back In The Saddle

2010-10-26T18:50:00.020-05:00

Well, here I am again. Back to this blog after a couple of years away. I had set up a website and was using the blogging software that came with it, so this one was put to the wayside. Why did I start posting to this blog again?

I really enjoyed having a website. It enabled me to easily showcase my photos and have a place to put clients photos for preview, so they could pick out their favorite ones. The truth was I was not actively seeking clients, or other work so the website was just another expense taking money out of my pocket. Being a photographer, there is enough of that going on as it is (new lenses, lighting, misc equipment, etc.). So, as a business decision, I opted to put the site to rest.

Maybe at some point if I develop a good client base that warrants the expense of having a website, I will go down that road again. For now. This will do nicely. I can still post photos that I have on my Flickr account to showcase my work. As for any clients I may have, I will have to get creative... like sending them contact sheets generated by Lightroom via email.

I am in good company.

Midwest Fall

2008-10-14T07:41:00.007-05:00

This year, winter seems to be sneaking up on us. The colors are more muted than usual and therefore, it is harder to tell that winter is just around the corner.

In the past few years, winter has arrived at the end of October, early November. As you can see, that time frame is quickly approaching.

As a send-off, my wife and I took a camping trip to celebrate our anniversary, Columbus Day holiday and the end of the camping season... all wrapped into one weekend.

We started out at a State Park called, Louisville State Rec. Area. It was more like a Larry the Cable Guy convention, than a peaceful camping area. We pulled up stakes and headed up the road a few miles to Platte River SP. There are no camping areas for tents (and trailers, thank God), but cabins one can rent.

The cabins range from full amenities, to basic sleeping quarters with a common shower and restroom for a group of cabins. The one we chose, had a screened deck that overlooked a large pond. It was more secluded, as the deck was surrounded by a few trees, that blocked a view from the other side of the pond, which was a little marina that you could rent paddle boats from. It also had its own kitchen and bath.

We had to wait until 4pm to get into the cabin, so we spent the entire day, walking along the many trails in the park. Even though it was cloudy, we were sitll able to get some good shots. Towards the end of the day, the clouds had started to break up, so I was excited in getting some good shots of the marina across the pond in the golden light of the sunset. However, as the day wained, the clouds moved back in and we resigned ourselves to getting some morning shots.

After having dinner and sitting around for a while, we went to bed (walking about 5 mi in hilly country can take it out of you, especially if you are out of shape!). Early in the morning (about 3am) we heard the sound of gentle rain falling. We hoped it would stop and the clouds clear off, but it was not to be.

About 7am (was still raining), we got up and had some coffee and breakfast. Knowing we would not be shooting anything that morning, we decided to pack up. Getting the car loaded was not as difficult a task as I thought it would be... and luckily the rain had died down some.

As a parting gift to our stay, as we were pulling up to the office, two doe's and two younger deer came trotting across the road, just yards away from us. Bad news was we had the cameras packed away in the trunk of the car. None-the-less, we stopped the car and watched them for a minute. They quickly crossed the road, but then stood at the edge of a wooded area and looked around for a little while before disappearing into the woods. What a marvelous send off!

The picture above was taken on one of our hikes that day. It was overcast, but bright.
Settings: ISO 200, 1/80@ f5.6, 75mm, SandDisk 4GB digital film.

A Dying Legacy

2008-07-26T19:58:00.016-05:00

For as long as I can remember, the State Fair was an event and place of wonderment. The Arts building, which had such a character of its own, that it almost transported you to a different era. The Expo building, where you could go and see baked goods, crafts and photos... ah yes, photos. Of course, there was the midway, with its intoxicating smell and an adventure at every carney's bark. Every year, anticipation grew in the mind of a child, what would be coming for the next fair. Sadly, that is coming to an end.

In 2010, our State Fair is going to move 100 miles to the west, to the central part of the state. This will move it 100-150 miles west of two major population centers. New buildings will have to be built on the new site, a campaign organized to get people to come to the new location, etc.

Some say that this move signals the end of the fair. Some say the more centralized location will enable more people, state-wide to attend. Whatever the outcome, the fair that many grew up with and that had become an icon, will be gone forever.

This year, I was granted access to the buildings on the fairgrounds, to document them, before the fair moves.

My biggest anticipation was the Arts building, with its turn of the century, bright yellow riveted iron skeleton, the second level that wrapped around just the outer edge of the building and allowed a spectacular view of the scene below on the ground floor. I was sure that my best photos would come from this building.

When I got there and walked through the door, my heart sank. Laying out in front of me were piles of machinery, vehicles, pallets of scraps. And then there was the roof. It was literally falling in on itself. Large holes everywhere... debris laying on the floor below them. I was told that this once grand structure was now being used as a warehouse and would no longer be used during the fair. Basically, they were letting it decay of its own accord.

I took some shots from the floor and then headed up to the second level, waded through piles of discarded displays and trash to get some shots up there.

The one shot I came away with, that will always remind me of the once grand building, is the one above. In one of the corners of the upper level, I found this desk with some models on it, that were once used for the large (150'-200') model railroad that was set up during the fair. The shot was made by using two flashes. One to camera right on a stand, through an umbrella and a second one placed behind the house, with an orange gel. Both flashes were fired via Nikon's on board CLS.

Whatever happens, I will always have my memories growing up with the fair... along with this newest one of the forgotten model house in the Arts building.

Emma

2008-07-14T18:30:00.004-05:00

This family, or at least one side of it is getting harder to keep track of. Everyone is having babies, it seems. One of the newest, is Emma. She is 5 months old and just as happy and full of life than you could ever want.

Her parents have enlisted me as the pictorial record keeper of her life and I am happy to do it.

When I first took pictures of her, she was just 2 weeks old and although we got some good shots of her, she was not the most willing. I would take a few shots and then she would get grumpy. Mom would have to take her in the other room for about 10 minutes to get her calmed down and then the whole process started over again.

This was not the case this time...

Carefree and happy would be better words to use this time. She was wonderful. Broad smiles at the slightest prompting by her parents, or my wife, not once complaining in the 30-or-so minutes of the session.

I had transformed our kitchen into a studio, using the table as a platform. I had two studio strobes set up. One through a translucent umbrella, 45 deg to camera right and the other pointing at the wall behind her.

After taking about 100 shots of her in the 'studio', we headed outside and under the soft light of a 42" diffuser held about 1 foot over her head, we were able to get another 80, or so shots. I had just gotten the diffuser the day before and was the first time to use it. There is no better tool for shooting in the mid-day sun!

Even not having the camera's ISO set to the optimal setting for the indoor shots, they still came out good. The photography gods were smiling on me that day and Emma's parents were greatful for it.

If we keep up with the photo chronicling, by the time Emma is 10 years old, she will be more comfortable in front of the lens than most models are at 20.

Camera specs: Nikon D80, ISO 100 (we'll just call it there), 1/160 - 1/300@f10. Adjustments in Lightroom.

Midwest Storms

2008-06-22T12:00:00.004-05:00

This year, the mid-west has gotten its share of storms. Just look at the news and one can see on an almost daily basis the reports of damage storms had caused.

My heart goes out to all that have suffered losses this year.

Photographing storms is not that difficult. Sometimes, it can be the same as photographing a landscape, with the moon. A choice must be made to expose for the moon, or the land. In some storm situations, the dark clouds are miles away and your immediate area is fairly bright. In cases like that, you want to expose for the clouds.

As stated above, the primary decision is exposure. Since you are standing on a hilltop, being pummeled by the wind, I would assume you are either trying to dry your hair, or get some shots of the storm clouds. Assuming the later, you would want to expose for the clouds. This will bring out all of the detail in them (they are the star of the show), without blowing out the details, or having the shadows so dark, they are hiding them. The land will be darker, but can be lightened later, with various methods.

The above photograph was taken in manual mode. I started by setting the camera to aperture priority. I set the aperture to f10, taking an exposure reading of the clouds and noting the shutter speed. I then switched to manual mode and made the settings match. I wanted a large depth of field, so I set my aperture to f10 (I really could have gone with a higher setting). I would then use the shutter speed to control the exposure. I took a test shot and if it was too dark over all, I decreased the shutter speed... if too light, I did the opposite and increased it. The longer the shutter is open, the more light will hit the sensor and brighter the image.

Camera specs: Nikon D80, ISO 400, 1/125@f10. Adjustments in Lightroom and CS3. Final sharpening in CS3.

Waiting

2008-06-15T13:21:00.012-05:00

Here I am again, at the farmers market (we tend to make a habit of it this time of year. This time, I did not find any food, or other items to shoot. Rather, it was my own wife.

We had gotten there early and was just walking around, looking at the scenery. I had seen one shot that I'd liked to have gotten, standing at the first landing of a fire escape, but a vendor had her boxes stacked up on the first few steps, blocking the way. I have taken many shots of the market, so I was a bit uninspired that morning, everything was looking the same.

We had finished walking up a street, looking at vendor's wares.
Instead of walking back down the street the way we came, we decided to walk down the less crowded sidewalk.

About halfway back down, we came to a arched, stone entryway. Set back from this, some 15', was the actual door. The inside of this entryway was also stone that was covered in plaster.

The light must have been just right that morning, as I have walked by that same entryway dozens of times. On that day, it looked different, as many things do early in the morning. That is why, we as photographers are told to shoot early in the morning, or later in the day. The light is softer, golden and there are no harsh shadows.

I had my wife stand in the entryway and I fired off a few shots. What makes this shot, is how the light was falling. The entryway faced south and the soft morning light was just starting to fall on the western side of the arch. The light spilled into the entryway, but fell off quickly. I had my wife stand right at the edge of the arch, right where the light was striking.

I will add this location to my list for portrait shots...

Camera specs: Nikon D80, ISO 200, 1/80@f5.6. Converted to B&W, and blemishes removed in Lightroom. Final sharpening in CS3.

It's A Job

2008-06-12T04:00:00.006-05:00

You hear that phrase all the time... "it's a job, nothing special', "it's a job, someone has to do it", etc. Those are phrases that, even though I think about using to describe my job sometimes, I would never really use them.

You see, my job is pretty special. I work for the state of Nebraska, doing web development, design layout, photographs, video and server admin duties. As you can see, I am pretty much the 'handyman' on our team.

Part of my web development duties is to maintain and update the Governor's and Lt. Governor's web sites. This puts me in a unique position, as I am often called to work closely with these two gentleman, taking photos, or video taping them. Something that 90% of all citizens (state employee, or not) will never have a chance at doing.

I have been working with the Lt. Governor this past week, to add new content to his site. As a part of that, I was asked to come to his office in our State Capitol and video a welcome message from him. I attached a wireless mic to his tie and we did a dry run to make sure the audio levels and color were good. He was reading from a makeshift cue card and his assistant went into the other room to make some adjustments to it.

During this time, I took advantage of the lull and took a few stills of him.

My approach to photographing people is to capture the subject looking as natural and relaxed as possible. Sometimes it works out, sometimes not. I also try and use as much natural light as possible.

The two shots posted here are examples of the impromptu session. The first is the 'relaxed' (it's about as relaxed as a politician is going to get), casual shot I like to try for (Camera specs: Nikon D80, ISO 1600, 1/60@f4.8). This to me, captures the real essence of the subject. The second is a more traditional pose, that I thought may be useful on his site (Camera specs: Nikon D80, ISO 1600, 1/20@f5.6).

I have alway said, from day one of doing this job... Even my worst day here, is worlds better than my best day at my previous job (that is a whole different story).

Farmers Market

2008-06-07T12:35:00.017-05:00

Every year, our local farmers market draws in hundreds of people each week. They are drawn to the freshest produce in town, along with baked goods and crafts. This marks the second week of the market this year and it is no exception to the rule.

People are milling about, even before the market officially opens and the vendors have set out their goods. Once the market is open for business, the best produce and goods are gone within one hour.

Our farmers market is held in the 'Historic Haymarket'. This is an area where Lincoln first sprouted and is now preserved as a historical landmark. Many small shops, coffee houses, restaurants and art galleries all reside within roughly a four-block area. The most notable is the train station. It has been operating in some capacity, since I was a young boy (and trust me, that has been a long time!).

The farmers market has been held along one street in front of the train station for many years. In the last couple of years, it has expanded up another street and is starting to circle back on itself.

There is vendor after vendor sprawling down the streets, offering things from home grown produce, home baked pies, pastries and breads, flowers and plants, organic meats and country crafts.

It is often hard to decide what to bing home. This weekend, there seemed to be an abundance of asparagus. People were lined down the block at the vendors that offered it and as usual, it was gone in about an hour.

Most of my time is spent taking photographs of the produce, people and architecture of the Haymarket, while my wife does the shopping. Today, we got some of that awesome looking asparagus, broccoli, green onions and some farm raised trout fillets.

Of all the things our city is doing, or allowing to happen, sadly, this is only one of the few things that it is doing right. There is a strong sense of community and bonding that I have never felt quite the same about with other events.

There are plans of expanding this area to build an event and convention center. Let's hope our city fathers took into consideration a means to let the farmers market continue throughout any construction that may occur.

Camera specs: Nikon D80, 18-135mm 3.5 G lens. ISO: 200. Shutter speed: 1/125 @ f5.6.

Iris In The Country

2008-06-03T07:00:00.010-05:00

There is a place my wife and I drive by every year. It is a small home some 3-4 miles outside of town. The resident is obviously a gardener, as there is a mass planting of Bearded Iris that stretches from one end of the property to the other.

This year, I decided to get out one morning and take some pictures of them, so we got into the car at 7:00am and drove out to our favorite spring drive-by.

When we got there, the morning sun had just finished licking off the dew and threw a soft glow over the entire scene. We parked the car along the side of the road and I got out and got this shot, along with many others. As I was shooting, the morning breeze (just barely a whisper) would turn and bring the heady perfume from the flowers in my direction. A double treat!

Camera specs: Nikon D80, 18-135mm lens at ISO 200. Shutter speed, 1/100 sec @ f11. SanDisk 4GB digital media. Processed in Lightroom and finished in Photoshop.

Light Tent

2008-06-02T08:00:00.003-05:00

Got the opportunity to borrow a light tent from a co-worker this weekend. It was a large tent, about 3' x 3', with two florescent lights. It took about a day to get used to using it, but after that, I got some good results.

I have always wondered if a light tent would be useful for me and this weekend I got the answer.

While the images turned out good, I quickly found myself searching for things to photograph, walking around the house, like an animal stalking its prey.

While it was a good experience, I found the answer to my question of whether or not I needed one. Bottom line, no. Sure, it was fun to use and I got some good shots, but I could only see a limited use for it, at this time. A light tent is really meant for product shots and maybe some work meant for ads. Seeing as how I don't do much of either at the moment, the cost (I estimate it to cost ~$300) would be better spent on other areas of my hobby.

Maybe someday I can find a more steady use for a tent, but for the time being, I can be comfortable knowing that now is not the right time to get one.

Brave New World

2008-06-01T20:02:00.006-05:00

I finally took the plunge and signed up for a blog. I have been wondering if I would have anything to say, or if I did, if anyone would listen. I decided to give it a try anyway and see how it fits. I may continue, or give up on it after a while.
I work in IT as a profession, but my passion is in photography. I have a part time, home-based photography business I am trying to get started, Fifer Photography. I don't plan on making a great deal of money from it, just enough to buy new equipment.

What you will find here, will be a mix of my thoughts, lessons and findings about photography and just plain everyday kind of stuff. My entries may be sporadic, as I may run out of things to talk about pretty fast!