BetterPhoto Instructor Insights

First Shots from Turkey

Turkey is a wonderful place to shoot. In just a short time, I've seen and photographed some remarkable things. The art and history is fascinating. Right from my hotel window in Istanbul, I could shoot two of the most famous mosques in the world -- the Blue Mosque and Haghia Sophia.

I also visited a cistern, created 1500 years ago as a water storage facility when the city was under seige. The heads you can see here represent Medusa. The Christians who built the cistern placed the heads from older columns made by the Greeks on their sides and upside down so people wouldn't worship false gods.

I tried to upload more shots but for some reason the BP software didn't accept them. I'll try again tomorrow.

Jim

Photo Tour to Ireland

by Jim Zuckerman

I have been shooting in Ireland this past week. We've had rain every day and it's been quite cold. I actually prefer rain and mist for photography here because it makes the green vegetation, which is already saturated in color, even more so. And the painted doors in small towns are amazing in soft light.

One of the most interesting shots below, at least to me, is the face of Jesus. It was taken in an old cemetery during a light rain. The grave stone from 1904 had fallen, and the stone carving was facing up. The depression around it had filled with water, creating a unique image that I found very compelling. I am standing over the gravestone, shooting straight down with a 50mm macro lens.

The photo of the abstract colors in blue and gold is a shot of peat and sand mixing on the beach. The graphic designs I captured are amazing, and this is one of them where I increased the saturation quite a bit.

I'm off to Turkey tomorrow, and the next photos I post will be from there.

Jim

Watchful At All Times

When shooting action, I never take my eye away from the viewfinder. I’ve learned too often that in those few moments when I relax my concentration, something great happens and I’ve missed the shot. And I’ve seen many times that when students participating in my workshops and tours miss a shot, they put their camera aside to express their frustration, and in those few seconds something else even better happens and they miss the shot – again.

This photo was taken during the Betterphoto workshop in Montana at the end of January. Wolves are very fast, and to avoid missing even one millisecond of their play I watched them constantly through the viewfinder. What I really wanted was to catch this kind of interaction.

Photoshop Tools for Comfort

I don't have much to write about today since I'm packing madly for my trip to Italy that leaves Wednesday, and doing critiques. But I wanted to take a moment to talk about the Wacom Pen and Tablet for working in Photoshop. I don't know how many of you might already be using one, but after playing around with them a few times the past year or so, I was convinced that it was going to be very helpful.

I love this thing! My hands were cramping from holding a certain position with a mouse, same with a trackball, and now, I get more flexibility with the pen and tablet. I can move the tablet to my lap, and work from that position, or leave it next to the keyboard (although that's a distance away with both side by side. Either way, I'm really enjoying this new purchase.

If you haven't tried one, do so the first chance you get. It's not for everyone, possibly, but many people I know that work with Photoshop a lot and image processing have found it to be less problematic with body ergonomics, and in general faster. Especially since you can custom design the slider tabs on each side of the tablet to do what you want them to do.

Reflections, Maine. Brenda Tharp. All rights reserved.
On another thought, many of us have our computers in rooms that are difficult to get dark enough to see the screen well or keep glare from skimming across the surface. You can buy a hood for your monitor, but why spend the money when you can make one from railroad board or matte board from an art store? With a few cuts and taping, you can custom fit the hood for your monitor. My partner made one and will make me one very soon. They work great!

Well just a few random thoughts since I just spent the day prepping new images at the computer!

Have a great day, everyone.