How do the serious photographers enjoy their holidays?

Sunrise at The Gap, originally uploaded by Adriana Glackin.

I ask this question because I’ve just spent 10 days away on holidays with family and friends, and of course much of my camera gear. At the start of this year I also undertook the Photo-a-Day project and was looking forward to the family holiday even more than I normally do – I would be able to take advantage of the wonderful location AND submit stunning images for each day...no excuses.

 There would be no excuses about no time, or being too busy, or couldn’t think of what to shoot, or being too tired, or no props, or there’s nothing exciting to shoot. Nosirree, no excuses – I would be surrounded by fresh scenery – beaches, bush, pastureland, dairy farms, and quaint country towns – gosh, I was even planning the shots in my head as we drove to our holiday destination. That is, until I got there. The minute I stepped out the car, I immediately went into holiday mode. All I wanted to do was go to the beach and have fun with my family and friends; all day and every day. There were days that I really struggled to even take the camera out of its bag as it would mean time away from my family and friends. Stealing myself away from them made me resent the project and resent the commitment I’d made to myself about completing it.

 I then got to thinking – how do the really serious photographers go while on holidays? Do they even have holidays? Do they struggle to have a good time? Do they switch off from all things photographic? Or do they have their cameras around their necks no matter what? Is every moment a photographic moment? What is a holiday to a serious photographer? And is that the difference between a wannabe and a serious photographer – that there’s no such thing as a holiday as every opportunity is a photo opportunity? I would love to hear your thoughts on this. How do you juggle the fun times with photographic times while you’re on holiday? Needless to say there are many photos I didn’t take, which really is just as well as we’ll be returning again next year.

Dear Blog,

raindrops from heaven I, originally uploaded by Adriana Glackin.

How are you? Well, I'm fine, doing really well actually.

I'd like to apologise to you though. Have you noticed, I haven't been here too often? I'm so sorry I've been so lax in keeping you up to date with things. You know I couldn't work out why I wasn't spending more time here with you, and then I realised what it is that has been keeping me away from you - and it's the Project 365. That's right, not only am I composing a photograph a day, I'm also writing a little story to go with each image. It seems that I'm using up all my words in a place other than you. I'm so sorry. I do apologise. I'll try and make an effort to visit and keep you updated with stuffs. I've included a pretty picture for you to look at.

And please remember, it's not you, it's me.

Yours always,
Adriana :)

Book Review - "time of my life" by Allison Winn Scotch

I love books and find I immerse myself in them, getting totally lost in the narrative.  I’m going to tell you about the latest book I’m reading, called “time of my life” by Allison Winn Scotch.  Thanks to another great pick from @hemymusic (the first book being “Hollywood Ending” by Kathy Charles – please read it, it’s great)  I have totally immersed myself in this book – to the point where having only about 20 pages to go, it is with mixed emotions that I read it to the end.  The characters and their lives are so interesting and enjoyable and their problems are so like our own, that it seems a shame to say good bye to them so soon.  Surely that’s a mark of a good book...

Basically, the story is a little like this – Jillian, the main character finds herself in the life that is a little too suburban, shall we say.  She’s married, has a child, a beautiful home, lovely friends...but is this it? Is this really as good as it gets?  Fantasising about how life would have been different had she made other choices earlier on, she manages to find herself in the situation where she can change her life’s direction.  Of course, such a twist in the story comes with its own problems – how will the writer handle Jillian’s situation and the sequence of events, will they be cheesy, will they be predictable, will they be unrealistic or over the top?  Thankfully, the characters and their encounters are none of these.  The warm, friendly and candid style of writing means you could almost be listening to a friend speak with you about her problems; there’s a genuineness about the characters and a realistic and somewhat humourous portrayal of their problems - qualities that make the story so engaging.  Jillian is, after all like many mothers who discover their lives are so very different once babies come along.  Often feelings of “is this it” aren’t talked about during pre-natal classes or even in mother’s groups, the subject being taboo.  And of course, there’s the old adage of “be careful what you wish for” to contend with.   I’ve really enjoyed how this little talked about topic has been treated in this book.  It’s been given a certain lightness so it’s not depressing, whilst at the same time it’s a serious situation the character find herself in, with some very serious consequences.

It is with reluctance, trepidation and excitement that I will complete those last 20 pages tonight.  Reluctance that I will no longer be reading about Jillian’s life; trepidation that the last 20 pages are going to rush through to the conclusion leaving me feeling a little ripped off – so much action happening in so few paragraphs (why do some writers do that? Rush through the ending?)hopefully it won't be the case in this book; and excitement, how will Jillian’s life choices be resolved. I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.

How different Photographic Treatments change the look of a Subject

Take a bunch of hydrangeas, a hand painted ceramic bowl, a string of pearls, a cedar table, some floaty organza and a couple of torches.  Add to this mix your favourite camera equipment and your editing skills.  Get busy and arrange the items in a pleasant fashion. And now experiment!

In the first photograph, a standard 50mm lens – the plastic fantastic, diffused torchlight, and a long exposure of a couple of seconds was used.  The diffused torchlight was used to “paint” the light onto the hydrangeas.  The brightness, contrast, levels were then adjusted in Photoshop to get this final results.

There’s a real trend toward adding textured layers to photographs these days.  Adding textures really changes the feel of the photo.  It somehow ages the photo, giving it a real retro/grungy/moody look.  I recommend you shoot your own textures or if you really prefer, you can obtain free textures by simply searching Google for “free textures”.  I’ve used 3 different texture layers (my own) to the original image, and have blended them using varying opacities and blending modes.   I find I use overlay, soft light, hard light and multiply the most.

This image is identical to the image above - it has been layered with textures to change it's appearance to a more moody and vintage look.

This final image was shot using a very different technique – in fact it’s a blend of two techniques that I enjoy – the dreamy Lensbaby and the Through the Viewfinder techniques are absolute favourites of mine.  Different brands of Twin Reflex cameras will also yield varying results.  So, in these final two images, I used the Lensbaby Muse with the +4 macro filter; I inserted that into the “tube of darkness” which directly points to the viewfinder on the top of the Twin Reflex Camera.  Using the Muse lens, really softened the overall look of the image and the square format plus some cross-processing, gives it an aged appearance.  Follow this link if you’d like to know more about the Through the Viewfinder technique.

Through the Viewfinder using Lensbaby Muse +macro 4 filter and Argus Argoflex Camera

Through the Viewfinder using Lensbaby Muse + macro 4 filter and Kodak Duoflex Camera

Coming Soon - How to apply textures to your images.

Canon 50D - Noise Problems

Back in July 2009, I bought my Canon 50D and so far I’ve very much enjoyed the photographic journey.  My photographic tastes are eclectic – I don't to stick to any one genre of photography...lol...I love all sorts from close ups, or using a lensbaby, doing long exposures, seascapes, landscapes, portraits, abstracts.  I enjoy checking out what other 50D owners produce with their camera, you can learn a lot from talented photographers who use the same equipment.  So it was a little disturbing to come across various forums around the web that discuss noise issues with the 50D.  I was alerted to this by Simone Byrne (please go immediately and check out her seascapes and landscapes – they are to die for!) Simone and I managed to upgrade our camera gear at about the same time, so I keenly view her work and hope that one day I can display the skill levels, commitment and passion that she does when it comes to photography.  If ever there was a case of it being the person and not the gear who is responsible for the photograph, then Simone definitely fits this saying!

Anyway, back to the noise issue with the Canon 50D.  Simone, like many others, is experiencing serious noise issues, while I am not.  Have a look at the following forums to see some lively discussions.  

PhotoMalaysia

Luminous-Landscape

Better-Photo

Australian Photography

DPreview

Photo-Forum

There seems to be a few opinions to explain the noise, but one thing seems clear - you’re either experiencing noise, or you’re not – there doesn’t seem to be a middle ground.  Are there faulty batches?  Is there a patch that can solve the issue?  Are Canon aware of the problem and what are they doing to keep their Canon fans happy?  

I’ve done my own little experiment and have included the results below.  Please judge for yourself, and feel free to leave a comment letting me know how you’re going with your Canon 50D camera.

Umina Rocks early overcast evening ISO 100

Umina Rocks early overcast evening ISO 250

Umina Rocks early overcast evening ISO 400

100% ISO 100

100% ISO 200

100% ISO 400

I didn't bother with experimenting with higher ISO's in this instance. No noise reduction, whether in-camera or during editing, has been used.