Christmas Tree

Christmas Tree
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

Everyone takes out the camera this time of year. If photographing your tree and decorations... one word... Tripod tripod tripod (ok 3 words) or a suitable stable platform to eliminate the blurries and out of focus images. Use your self timer and turn off image stabilizers. Don’t be afraid to increase your ISO but a 1 to 4 second exposure is not that unusual for incandescent light. Hold still if you get in front of the lens even if you use a little flash. If you can get your pets to hold still then you’ve really met the Christmas tree challenge. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Uploaded by Michael Slear on 23 Dec 10, 10.23AM EST.

sarabella on stairs

sarabella on stairs
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

As we welcome this holiday season and with all the new additions to the Brandon family this year and next. I am reminded of my blessings particularly my children. Now out of sight, a lot, but never out of mind!. They are a constant source of inspiration, hope, pride and love. My hope for your children and mine is ...... That they have a foundation for happiness—a great passion for excellence. Such a passion erases the distinction between work and play, turning toil into recreation—literally re-creation. This is the best gift a parent can give. Merry Christmas Everyone.

Uploaded by Michael Slear on 20 Dec 10, 5.05PM EST.

Astronomer

Astronomer
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

-- Thought I’d share another interest of mine.....”stargazing”. Scanning the cosmos can be rewarding although frustrating without the right equipment. This setup belongs to Steve Elwood, artist and astronomer. The pic was a combination of flash for Steve and telescope and long exposure for the constellation Orion. A tripod was absolutely necessary and Steve had to remain still during the exposure, the ambient lights in the background and the LED’s on the scope were a bonus.

Uploaded by Michael Slear on 14 Dec 10, 8.32PM EST.

cross pocess1

cross pocess1
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

-- From the days of BPS (before photoshop), This unique treatment was known as cross processing. It was simply processing slide film in the chemistry that you would normally process negative film. The slide film would then appear as an unusual colored negative and prints would be a bit grainy and blow out the highlights giving a unique look. There are now plugins for photoshop that simulate the look. Might be hard to find a lab willing to do it today. What do you think Tony? http://www.803labs.com Check out the blog for more tips and clips... mikesphotostop.com

Uploaded by Michael Slear on 9 Dec 10, 12.00PM EST.

Resident Comic

Resdident Comic
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

Stage lighting varies from venue to venue so it helps to have incremental adjustments for the Kelvin temperature of the lights. Tungsten being close to 3200 degrees and sunlight is close to 5550. Your average point and shoot has the capability to adjust for these generally but sometimes having a finer control is desired as here. Then just added a bit of bounce fill flash for the markee. Also a very high ISO. exposure 1/40@f5.6.

Tomo

Tomo
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

Its one of the privileges of photography. Sometimes seeing the unseen or being first to experience, or getting behind the scene access. I’ve photographed molten steel, computer inards, and light bulbs being manufactured. Actors in the wings
--Artists creating, and you may remember close up and personal with the Moomba snake. These shots give an inside look at some new technology, that will help save lives. The TOMO radiation at CRCC right here in Myrtle Beach. Adding some colored gels to the flash gave the scene a bit more drama and interest, and discovering that the laser alignment light was photographable was a bonus. The longer the exposure the more prevalent it became.

Sgt.Major

Sgt.Major
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

With the Veterans Day tributes, I was reminded of the image of Sgt.Major Buddy Hewitt. I photographed him in his home for PD magazine. Mr. Hewitt was part of what the movie “We were Soldiers” was based on. A VietNam era veteran, Buddy lived through one the wars most notable and horrific battles, the first one, known as LZ Xray. It was my honor to meet such a man. “just doing his job”, as he was quoted in the article. We spent an afternoon going thru his memorabilia and talked of his long career. He was a lucky one. This holiday is for remembering the lost and we should honor ‘them’, and my friend Buddy.
This image was produced by projecting a slide of the Viet Nam memorial onto the Sgt. Major with the flag behind him.

Fall

Fall
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

This image breaks compositional rules by centering the subject and having a horizon line split the image. Rules were made to be broken, right? I believe it is still successful, eliciting the emotion of a cool quiet fall morning. When photographing fog or snow or even white sandy beaches, beware of taking an average meter reading as the overall brightness of the scene will fool the meter and give you an under exposed capture.

Owl

Owl
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

Interesting thing bout wildlife is you never know how close you may get. This guy was unduanted by my presence and was actually quite curious. A long lens (300mm) and large fstop enhance already expressive eyes.

Alysha

Alysha
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

Recently had the pleasure of photographing Alysha for her senior portrait. Some studios in the midwest specialize in senior portraits, with hours of sitting time and half dozen wardrobe changes. We did a couple clothes changes and an hour and this was my favorite, where preparation and timing with a special sky came together with a beautiful young lady. A little fill light, a rim light, and a little luck gave us an image she had envisioned. Enjoy!

Uploaded by Michael Slear on 20 Oct 10, 9.24AM EDT

NBPlantation

NBPlantation
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

Your basic twilight shot where the window of time for balanced available, twilight sky and supplemental light is very short. I've attempted 2 twilight scenes on same evening and usually find there is only time for one. A speedlight within the gazebo, one far camera right and one near camera, gave the shape and accent I had previsioned. The rest was up to the models. Enjoy!

RYAN the Golfer

RYAN the Golfer
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

Its always good to shoot in the studio. You get to exercise more light control and usually with less components and distractions. You’ll always have the technical and electronic gremlins but they are more easily handled in the studio environment. Location work demands you make the best of any given light. In the studio the light becomes completely malleable. The effect and construct is up to you or as in this case the art director who knew he wanted drama. So with comp in hand we put together an image, using rim side lights to accent the shape of our golfer and club. The negative space was allowed for copy.

Uploaded by Michael Slear on 29 Sep 10, 3.59PM EDT.

River golf

River golf
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

The new command controlled strobes give you the versatility of using flash more easily outdoors to help fill in shadows or augment sunlight or create your own light. They are not light activated as most remote flashes are and they are light, portable and multiple units can be controlled from the camera. They give imagers a whole new bag of tricks. I used 3 in these pics, one main, one fill and one accent. In addition used a faster than normal shutter speed to darken the ambient light. The Nikon D200 allows up to 4000th of a second and still have shutter sync!!

Uploaded by Michael Slear on 23 Sep 10, 4.36PM EDT.

Private

Private
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

I was reading Ansel Adams, Letters and Images 1916-1984, and in a letter to his good friend Alfred Stieglitz, he wrote, “ Nothing important lately except a glimmering of wondering what it is all about...work and life in general. Perhaps I am on the edge of making a really good photograph. I hope so. I have a growing awareness of the insufficiencies of my work, I hope it is a good sign!”.....Of course he went on to make many great photos. We all need to know our insufficiencies, and look to make choices to improve whether it be as simple as composition or in our interpersonal relationships and our interconnectivity with each other and the world. Looking though is only part of the process, seeing allows you to grow. When you look you label, analyze, and choose. When you see, you become part of the experience. Go beyond your insufficiencies and grow, like Adams. This image is just entertaining and I always enjoy seeing it.

Uploaded by Michael Slear on 15 Sep 10, 2.42PM EDT.

Untitled-1

Untitled-1
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

Sooner or later if you’re a shooter, you’ll turn your camera on the abstract. I’ve always been fascinated by angular objects and the play of light and shadow on subjects. Sometimes you don’t know which way is up......kinda like life sometimes. The basics of composition still apply, keeping the eye moving about and not static. This one certainly exercises the eye, from any aspect.

cotton fields

cotton fields
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

Showed an example of elevation last week ..... This is another example. I’ve always loved seeing the cotton fields while driving to Charlotte, but never seemed to have a shot present itself. Having the lift on way back from Talamore, I had cottonfields on both sides of the road and sun setting. Getting higher was the key to showing the rows and the depth. Adding a suttle flash to foreground to keep from going black and positioning rows to lead to one of the center of interests, gave me the shot I’d seen in my minds eye for years. http://www.mikesphotostop.com

Talamore

Talamore
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

The Talamore shoot was blessed with perfect weather, comfortable temps and fast moving clouds for changing compositions and depth and overcast for the interiors to reduce contrast. These 2 images are of not a particularly great golf hole but illustrate the value of a little elevation. Its easy to see the difference. And interestingly one of the very first things our founder Cecil showed me in Fall of 1979. Geez!, 31 years ago.!!

Sandy Nudes

Sandy Nudes
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

When looking for interesting subjects for your photography, textures and rhythm are two of the best compositional elements available to you. I call this example 'Sandy Nudes' and it presents both texture and rhythm. When photographing sand its very easy to get the reflection of the sky which will give a cyan hue to the image. A warming filter will correct this or depending on location a well placed towel or even hotel will help, because as you may remember from science class the angle of reflection (light from the subject) is equal to the angle of incidence, (light approaching the surface).

Dizzy G Cheraw

Dizzy G Cheraw
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

In answer to the questions; the more recent 2 day challenge and the obvious follow up to my last post.......After a day of scouting 8 smalltowns in the Sandhills of S.C., A 2 day shoot was planned to include volunteer models at each location. With limited models, props and wardrobe, the challenge was to show everyday folk in an identifiable city locale. This was a favorite where the models and locale presented a more than average look at the heritage of smalltown S.C.. ......If you’re in Cheraw, be sure to stop by the Dizzy Gilespie statue, there’s plenty of history to be found at his feet.

Tara

Tara
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

Every photogs dream, girls in bikinis, right? Well for this Towels Etc. catalogue, we did over 50 separate setups in 2 days. Keeping on schedule is paramount on a shoot of this magnitude. This was one of my favorites. Once again using a slow shutter speed as a tool. I had noticed the highlights on the waterfall while scouting the location. Streaking them made an otherwise frozen waterfall into a “different” background. Note also the natural hair light providing just the right amount of separation and shape. Color coordination was also important in making this a possible cover shot. Enjoy!

Uploaded by Michael Slear on 29 Jul 10, 9.47AM EDT.

SeaMist sunrise

SeaMist sunrise
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

This image was done for Sea Mist Resort, a very old client that I still maintain contact with. They wanted a new ambiance shot. Remember the sunrise tip about metering off the area away from the sun.?, Worked well here but flowers were too important to silhouette, so positioning a light off camera and adding a flower or two framed this area nicely and another beautiful Myrtle Beach sunrise gave us the ambience requested. Depth of field also needed to be considered here to keep flowers, chairs and fence sharp. Therefore a small f stop was required which also meant light had to be full and close to flowers. Using a remote trigger allowed this option. Enjoy!
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Uploaded by Michael Slear on 22 Jul 10, 4.17PM

Concord Ad proof

Concord Ad proof
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

This shoot was rather straight forward, follow an established layout that they have used for similar property management companies. When you have two important subjects yet both need to be lighted and need to be in focus, an on camera flash won’t do. So with sunlight as main light, 2 flash heads to the left and one for fill were incorporated to establish a depth of field to keep all in focus. The rest was up to the talent, and composition, keeping in mind the requirements of the layout.

Close to home golf

Close to home golf
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

Simple concept, but we wanted to make it homey looking. By adding strips of tape to to the light source it appears as though this was shot on this guys desk, next to a window. A little soft focus filter and ‘close to home’ .

Blueberry slush

image
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

I've mentioned selective focus before. Well this new lens for the 35 mm has the capabilities of a 4x5 bellows camera, it that can change the plane of focus in an image, not just from front to back with fstops but from side to side or top to bottom, by angling the plane of the lens with the film plane. Not as precise as with a 4x5 but will give acceptable results, if you like soft focus, for accentuating specific elements within an image.

Thistle

Thistle
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

I suppose if I were to specialize I would pick aerial photography. The palette of the land before you at any altitude is unlimited and diverse. Put a golf course in the viewfinder and I’ll assure you of something like this. #14 at Blackmoor or Thistle #8 they both have just about everything, water, traps, framing, flowing fairway and undulating rough, and golfers for scale. For aerials a fast shutter speed is needed to reduce vibration of the plane, or chopper, focus is on infinity. Don’t forget to insulate your body from the frame of the plane and keep the lens out of the slip stream.

Lauderdale Bay

Lauderdale Bay
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

Photography is often improvisation, utilizing your tools or what's available around you. A recent shoot returned me to my favorite subject....architecture! Original career path was architecture so I have a love of design and function. Early work here at Brandon was for the local builders and architects and the hotels gave me lots of practice. Every building has its best time of day to be photographed, and if its lit at night by the designer, then all the better. Easy pickins and with minor tweaking, a building, like a face can be enhanced to look its best. Here a portable light thru the back of the guard shack to light the glass block and at this time of year a window of only 10 minutes at twilight to balance the ambient and available, along with car headlights to accent the shrubs and gate, should make the client a happy camper.

image[1]

ir

Depth of Field (DOF) can be confusing but simply put, its the area of focus that is rendered sharply. These 2 images have the same focus point....the foreground flower. The only difference is the f stop used, (remember the hole in the lens) or iris in your eye? For the first image, a large f stop was used-- f4 and only the point of focus is sharp, and the background is soft. The 2nd image had a much smaller fstop –f22, and the entire image is sharp. So not only does the fstop control the amount of exposure it can also be used to control depth of field, and emphasize an element of a photo. Of course when changing f stops you must correspondingly change the shutter speed to create an equivalent exposure.

Swan

Swan
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

Gotta love wildlife....Hard to beat a swan, they are so graceful....but can be mean as a snake, so don’t get to close. This composition uses the basics foreground, middle ground and background. A slight breath on the lens gave the aura. This technique was taught me by Alectron Dorfman, in the early years at Brandon Advertising. You can see Alectrons terrific work at http://www.studioalectron.com

Black Mamba

moomba-2
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

Another of my favorite subjects besides people is wildlife. This image has both. I wanted to give the ‘otherside look’ if you will. So they let me in the backdoor of the Moomba cage, at Alligator Adventure. I had first recruited the family and set lights for them in the normal viewing area. The glass reflections were reduced using a polarizer. I was able to get just inside the cage with my arms to eliminate the doorway, so was unable to see left or right. I was later told that this bigguys mate was just to my right inside. Which I confirmed later. Interestingly every time the on camera flash went off, this snake would jerk as if he’d been shocked. Black Moombas can strike 3 times their body length, also told me later. He was 8 ft I was 5 ft from him, even closer to his mate. The zookeeper who allowed this was later retired.

Chef

This was a great concept by our own Jon Leon. We had the theatre for an hour, lights were required camera left to illuminate Cinthia and her “date”, at camera to light John Rusher our chef and at the curtains to brighten them. Specific placement of the people was necessary as we were limited on numbers. An extreme depth of field (we’ll discuss another time) was required to keep foreground chair, chef, lights, & screen in focus. Jon added an additional set of lights and enhanced the curtains. Overall, lots of pieces brought together, and a successful shoot for posters, to promote "Dinner and a Movie".

Witch1

Witch1
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

witch2

witch2
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

One of my favorite subjects of course is the golf landscape. Late afternoon light is pleasant given the right quality, it will present long shadows and delineate the contours of the land. A sky with clouds will give added depth. Mix in some sunrays and you’ve got the makings of something special. I originally transplanted the flag to be in keeping with the rule of thirds (tic tac toe grid). But kinda like it being framed by bridge. What do You think?

Night Pool

Night Pool
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

This location shoot was a real challenge with a mixture of tungsten, fluorescent available light and bar inside. But with a few strobes to accent the very dark antique bar and the fountain as well as the pool and roof line, this twilight scene comes off inviting and well lit. It also points out the balance of timing when doing this type of shot. Just 5 minutes earlier or later can change the balance of available light and twilight sky. 1-4 seconds @ f 8

Rainbow

Rainbow
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

Last weeks rainbow, after a late afternoon shower if the sun pops out, check out the eastern sky, you'll usually get a colorful show.

sunrise kayak

sunrise kayak
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

Quick trick, if you’re shooting that beautiful sunrise or sunset, frame your shot then move the sun just out of frame and lock exposure by depressing shutter half way, and keeping it there, most small digitals have this capability. Return to original framing composition and shoot. Metering the direct sun will underexpose your image, but an exposure ‘balance’ can be reached by using this technique.

faucet

faucet
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

Someone asked, what’s an f stop? Technically, its the f-number or focal ratio of an optical system that expresses the diameter of the entrance pupil in terms of the effective focal length of the lens....Whew! Simply its the size of the hole or aperture which can be adjusted and hence vary the amount of light passing thru the lens to reach the film or light sensor. (Just like your pupil.) Think of it like a faucet, if you want to fill a quart jug with water, a garden hose may take a few seconds, switch to a fire hose and jug will fill in a split second. As u try smaller and smaller hoses the time it takes to fill gets progressively longer. Any equivalent combination of time and size of hose produces the ‘correct’ result: a full quart jug or in photography a correct exposure. This shot was one of those confluences, red handle, blue sky, just turn it on, slow shutter to show water movement and slight diagonal to emphasize motion. Note also main subject at intersection of the tic tac toe.

wine

wine
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

On a recent outing got to do one of those shots just wanted to have being a wine lover, couldn't resist this composition and subsequent softening round the edges to place emphasis on one of my favorites. a 2006 Chardonnay.

UPS

UPS
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

For another change of pace, some of you may remember our friendly UPS guy. This was simply a matter of propping and the right face expression. Against a white background couldn’t be simpler, right? Well maybe but the multiple package angles and labels created highlights we didn’t want and our model was not expressive for most of images. This was actually taken when he almost did drop the whole bunch. Happy accidents are always part of your portfolio. “Luck is the confluence of timing and preparation”. One more note, dark complexions require more exposure so open up if your using manual or move in close to get your reading, save, reposition, then shoot.

Boardwalk

Boardwalk
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

This photo has just about everything......primary colors, framing, rhythm, shapes, leading lines, magic hour light and a center of interest. I think all contribute to a successful image. 1/180@f8 ISO400. These new kiwi umbrellas provide an abundance of abstract possibilities. Lots more at my http://flickr.com/photos/slearshotz

ice crystals

ice crystals
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

Something simple today. Photographers typically chase things most people don’t see and look for coincidences of variables. This particular set of circumstances are ice crystals just forming on a lake surface. The back light and rich reflection of the sky make for an unusual abstract. If you’re looking for abstracts, look no farther than your refrigerator. Vegetables were some of the earliest subjects of Ansel Adams, Weston, Stieglitz and Eisenstadt.


Seabrook glasses

Seabrook glasses
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

Changing gears a bit, this was a studio shot done for Seabrook. The client request was for the etched crystal wine glasses on the beach with a rose. The initial attempt proved impossible to clearly show the light etched logo against light colored sand in a natural environment. Glass is typically done against white and black outlined and etched glass needs back light to be seen. The solution was in the studio and raising the subject up off the sand to allow us to control the light on the sand independent of the glass and etching. Simply by placing the glasses on a sheet of glass and raising 4 inches off the sand, this was accomplished. Something different!
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Michael Slear

When photographing a group of this size be thoughtful of your lighting. You could easily use a single front light, but that would give no ratio and thus no dimension. I elected to cross light 45 with 2 umbrellas to soften the light and reduced power on one side, the side away from the window banks to the right. Tip... Ask your subjects if they can see you and the lights. Also placed a light behind the group to provide separation. Most notably 3 of these gents weren't here and were placed later after allowing for their absence in the composition and individual shots were done later. Rich Gose @Http://803labs.com is the go to guy for composites and retouching of this sort to match shadows light and composition.

Dale and kayak

Dale and kayak
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

Another shutter speed option is to leave the shutter open for longer periods and not move the camera or lens. As in this case of 1 to 4 secs at f8 on a tripod. Of course the subject needed to be still. Note the framing of the tree, and the placement of point of interest (kayak) in the right lower third. This is a typical compositional method employed by the masters from earliest of art. Imagine a tic tac toe grid and placing your item of interest at the intersections, your photos will be more pleasing to the eye. Hey if it works for Michaelangelo it’ll work for you. This was the conjunction (coming together) of Jupiter and Saturn (in the tree branches) a few years ago and appeared inside back cover of Astronomy magazine.
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Michael Slear

Whale

Whale
Originally uploaded by Michael Slear

Since shutter speed was an issue with beginning images, thought this image might be appropriate. Obviously we need to freeze this action, because a pan or zoom would render something unidentifiable, unlike a car which has wheels and recognizable features. Therefore not wanting to take a chance on missing this unusual opportunity, as well as the landscape. I selected a higher ASA or ISO to allow an exposure of 1/1000 of a second at f11, thereby keeping the background from being out of focus. Your normal digital cameras would try to expose this scene on a sunny day at 1/125 of a sec @ f8. When dealing with motion the accepted norm is to have the motion read left to right. Which of these do you like?

Racecar Sebring

Yesterdays pan shot is interpretive, this is an example of ‘freezing’ the the action yet blurring only the background. Again using a tripod and allowing subject to traverse the focal plane. However speed of car was obviously faster so shutter speed is necessarily faster. Final exposure 1/125 of a second at f11, with pan, no zoom. This was one image I chose for slearshotz.com as an example of technique. Check out other images @ slearshotz.com and if something suggests a question email me.
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Michael Slear