BetterPhoto Instructor Insights

Civil War Batte Reenactments

By Jim Zuckerman

During the summer, there are many historical reenactments around the U.S. and they make exciting photographic subjects. In the East there are Revolutionary battles that are performed for audiences, and along the East Coast and in the rest of the country there are Civil War battles that are played out. The participants are avid history buffs who are usually very knowledgeable about every detail that goes into the recreation, from the uniforms to the strategy involved in the various military campaigns.

The key to photographing the battles is to be situated in the right vantage point. You will need a telephoto lens, preferably a zoom, and if you shoot in color as most of us do now, consider transforming these to black and white or sepia so they have a vintage look. Obviously no one photographed the Revolutionary War because cameras hadn’t been invented yet, but the Civil War was photographed only in black and white. Color images just don’t seem very realistic.

The pictures I’ve included here were taken in difference regions of the country. The vertical shots of a Confederate defensive line, a portrait of a Confederate soldier and a Union horseman were taken at Ft. Tejon, California, which is about one hour north of Los Angeles, while the horizontal picture was taken on the 140th anniversary of the Battle of Franklin in Tennessee. Ten thousand men participated in that battle.

Here is a listing of some of the battles around the country:
http://www.sutler.net/eventlist.asp

Recognition of Memorial Day

by Jim Zuckerman

When I tell my friends that I haven't had a vacation since 1972, they all laugh. Because I've been to so many places in the world, they think my entire life is a vacation. Well, not really. Even though I travel so much, I'm always shooting, and that for me is work. If I lie on a tropical beach somewhere, after thirty minutes or so I get bored and I start looking around for something to shoot.

In 1981 I made my first trip to Tahiti. The color of the water is so saturated, and the palms and the verdant mountains are so seductive, that one could easily come to the conclusion that this is paradise with a capital 'P'. I flew to Bora Bora from the capital, Papeete, and after checking into my lodge I went straight to the beach and did what everyone dreams of doing: I laid down in the tropical sun and thought I had been instantly transported to Heaven.

And that lasted about a half hour.

Ok, now what? Since this was before the Internet, researching photogenic subjects was done with travel books, post cards, and talking to local people about things of interest geologically, historically, culturally, etc. Someone told me that there were two canons in the nearby mountains, so I decided to hike up to them to see if they were of interest. I thought that perhaps they had been left over by the French army, perhaps from the 1800s, but that was not the case at all. They turned out to be artillery from the United States Navy. To help protect the islands in case the Japanese moved that far east in the Pacific, the Navy placed these canons here early in the war. In fact, carved in a nearby tree was an engraving that read "Katz, USN, 1943".

The canons were rusted and had been covered with graffiti, and by the time I trudged up the mountain carrying my medium format film camera, the sun was already high. I took pictures which I knew would never be considered fine art, and probably would never sell. But I stood there trying to imagine how the servicemen stationed here spent their time as they watched for enemy ships.

These pictures were taken with a Mamiya RB 67 on Ektachrome 64 transparency film. I used a 50mm wide angle lens, which is approximately equivalent to a 24mm lens in the 35mm or digital format. The aerial view I've included in this blog was taken from a small airplane I hired on this trip to do aerial photography, and it shows the rugged terrain in which the canons were placed.

On this Memorial Day I thought it was appropriate to remember these pictures and the sacrifices so many have made for our freedoms.

Futuristic architecture in the Pyrenees Mountains

By Jim Zuckerman

Andorra is a tiny country nestled between France and Spain, and recently I spent a couple of days in this wonderful place in the Pyrenees Mountains. I spent the time around Escaldes-Engordany, a beautiful city that is immaculately clean. I discovered that in the center of the city there was the most incredible public spa, and not only did I enjoy swimming in their huge indoor pool with fountains, terraces, stunning lighting and music, but I photographed the futuristic architecture as you can see below.

For this shot, I used a tripod (fortunately no one objected) and my 16 - 35mm wide angle lens. I had to have complete depth of field so all of the incredible detail was in focus, so I chose f/22. At ISO 200, this forced my shutter speed to be a full six seconds. I used a daylight white balance to get the yellow/orange color out of the tungsten lights because the contrast with the blue was so dramatic. The camera was only about 18 inches above the floor at the base of the stairs so I could exaggerate the perspective in this amazing place.

The Power of Silhouettes

by Jim Zuckerman

In my Creative Techniques in Photoshop course, I explain how to turn an ordinary photograph taken in shade or mid-day lighting into a silhouette. The power of this technique is that you can create something exceptionally bold and visually striking. The photo below is comprised of three photos -- each giraffe is a single photo, plus the grass -- and then I added the color background.

To make the sun, I simply used the elliptical marque tool and then filled it with yellow. I did this after I had filled the background with red/orange using the Edit > fill command in CS3. The large sun simulates the use of a telephoto lens. I created this poster-like graphic as a different way for my stock agency to communicate the idea of Africa, wildlife, photo safaris, conservation, the environment, and travel.

When you submit work to a stock photo agency, your creativity can be turned into profit. You must constantly look for eye-catching ways of communicating familiar concepts, and when you can do that -- with or without Photoshop's help -- you will make money in photography. In my course Making Money with Photography, I help students choose the best images from their files for various markets. This picture is best suited for advertising.

CAPTURING MOTION WITH FLASH

By Jim Zuckerman

Photographing fast moving subjects is never easy. Too many things are changing so fast that it’s impossible to slow them down in your mind enough to think about what you’re doing. Just keeping them in focus in a serious challenge even with autofocus tracking. The moment the shutter is pressed and the camera fires a millisecond later, you’re lucky if the subject is still in focus. Exposure is an issue if the lighting is changing, and if you use flash the distance from the flash to the subject is constantly changing as well. Another problem is the graphic shape of the subject – how will their body language appear the moment the shutter is pushed? -- and, if you are photographing people, their expressions are critical.

I recently photographed at a ballroom dance competition, and I had to deal with all of these issues. The energy among the dancers was incredible, and they moved so fast all over the floor that it was amazing I was able to capture any of them in focus. I was using a flash but I also used a slow shutter – 1/20th of a second. My lens choice was a 70-200mm f/2.8 telephoto zoom. I needed the large aperture because it helped gather the relatively low ambient light and, at the same time, it made it easier to see when the autofocus was on target. I turned the image stabilization feature off because it wasn't relevant in this situation.

The photo you see below was taken on a 95mm setting, and you can see the combination of the blur of movement due to the 1/20th second exposure and the frozen image of the couple. In essence, this is a double exposure – one sharp (when the flash went off) and one blurred (because of the long exposure) – where the two aspects of motion were superimposed over each other at the same instant.

In my Mastering Light course here at Betterphoto, I discuss how to do this. It’s one of my favorite techniques, and it can be used for many subjects, from horses to wildlife to kids on a bike. You need relatively low light, and you need to shoot a lot of images because things happen very fast.

Bird Photography Made Easy

By Jim Zuckerman

I have been amazed at the number of species of birds that continue to visit my feeder. Every time I see a new one, it’s an exciting event. The bird you see below is a blue grosbeak, and it’s perched on a branch that I positioned just above the feeder. Many of the birds use it for a momentary resting place before they jump down into the feeder itself. On my desk, right next to my computer, I have a door-mount support that accepts a tripod head. However, instead of a normal head I screwed in a King Cobra, from Mike Kirk Enterprises, and that holds my 500mm f/4 Canon lens. So that I can fill the frame with small birds, I also have a 1.4X teleconverter attached plus an extension tube that allows close focusing. I am shooting through a glass window, so I make sure it’s spotlessly clean.

When a bird alights on the branch, I simply stop working on the computer, turn to the camera and compose the shot. I don't even have to swivel the desk chair. I made sure that the background was distant foliage so it would remain nicely out of focus at any lens aperture I used.

Super telephoto decision

By Jim Zuckerman

For 25 years I used a medium format camera to photograph everything, including wildlife and birds. The longest lens available for the Mamiya RZ 67 II is a 500mm, which is the equivalent of a 280mm telephoto in the 35mm (or digital) format. Photographing birds was, indeed, an exercise in extreme frustration because I just couldn’t get close enough. There were times when I found a situation (often in captivity, but not always) where my medium format system could get a frame-filling shot, but that didn’t happen often.

Most serious bird photographers use a 600mm f/4 super-telephoto In deciding which long lens to buy, I debated between the 400 f/2.8, the 500 f/4, and the 600mm f/4 monster. I actually debated with myself for months, finally settling on the 500mm. I felt this was a compromise between many factors, not the least of which was dealing with air travel. In many planes, the 600mm just won’t fit in the overhead compartment. I’d be forced to check it in the belly of the plane, and although I knew I could protect it from damage (and insure it from loss), the issue was this: What happens if I’m going to Kenya but my lens ends up in Berlin? Answer – I wouldn’t have the use of the lens on safari.

With the 500mm, I can carry it on-board in a soft case with handles and it fits perfectly. The three photos you see here were taken in Florida last week. The egret and the woodstork were taken with the 500mm f/4 lens alone, while the red-winged black bird was taken with the 500mm plus a 2X teleconverter. Flying down to Florida was stress-free because I could carry onboard my lens plus all my camera equipment, and even if my clothes got lost I knew I had the essentials with me.

[There is one space left on my photo tour to Kenya departing Sept. 25 this year. Also, there are a few spaces left on my workshop in Lucerne, Switzerland in July. If you are interested in joining me for either of these events, please contact me at photos@jimzuckerman.com]

Bird Photography in Florida

By Jim Zuckerman

I thought my new 500 f/4 IS super telephoto would make bird photography easier. Wrong. It makes it harder. Yes, it allows me to fill the frame more with the subject, but the problem is that the angle of view is so narrow that birds fly in and out of my frame in milliseconds. Autofocus is great, but you have to be able to first find the bird in the viewfinder and then keep it there long enough for the autofocus mechanism to lock-on so you can get a shot. This is definitely easier said than done.

A few days ago I was shooting roseate spoonbills in Tampa Bay, Florida. I had a great guide, James Shadle (http://www.wildflorida.net/tours.aspx), who got me very close to scores of spoonbills and many other species. My goal was to get birds in flight, and I was happy with the frame-filling ability with the 500mm telephoto, but my shooting ratio of good to bad shots wasn't impressive. That's to be expected when photographing wildlife, but birds are especially challenging. I was shooting from James' small boat (ideal for shooting from a low angle when the birds are wading), and the rocking and rolling didn't help. In spite of the challenges, I was pretty happy with the images I was able to get. With practice, working with a long lens gets easier, but it takes a single-minded ability to focus on what you're doing.

I took all the pictures at 400 ISO, since the light wasn't very bright, and all my shutter speeds were 1/800th of a second or faster. My favorite image of the day, the first one below, was taken at 1/1600th.

Pizzazz Sells Your Photos

By Jim Zuckerman

The classic shot of the Arch of Triumph in Paris is always taken from the middle of the Champs Elysees with blurred traffic. It’s a little more challenging than it looks because as the many cars drive by only a few feet from the camera position, the ground vibrates ever so slightly. Getting a sharp picture is challenging. I had to take quite a few to get a good one. My exposure times were usually in the 8 to 10 second range.

In addition to this picture, I wanted to get something different. I used a 16mm wide angle up close to the structure for a distorted view, and then when I got home I added fireworks to the sky. I find that pizzazz like this helps sell my work to calendar publishers, jigsaw puzzle companies, note card companies, and advertising agencies.

In the Making Money with Your Photography course that I teach here at BetterPhoto.com, I explain to students how important it is to use color and drama to sell your work. The bar has been raised very high, and your work has to compete with the best photographers. Knowing Photoshop to the extent that you can replace a sky – just this one technique – is worth many thousands of dollars in future sales.

White Horses of the Camargue

By Jim Zuckerman

My favorite picture from the horse shoot in France last week is the photo reproduced below. This is what I envisioned in my mind, and this is the picture that eluded me last year. After two days of shooting horses I finally got it. I wanted a tight grouping, great light, the horses had to look mostly white (as opposed to muddy from the marsh) and each animal had to be cleanly visible. If one head blocked another it would be less than ideal. I wanted to convey great action, and the more water spray the better. This is actually a tall order because things happen so fast that every in nanosecond all the factors change, and it’s impossible to study each composition as you take it. You have to shoot fast and hope that the horses stay in focus. In fact, just accomplishing that is a real achievement. The artistry of the shot is a bonus.

We also took the horses to the beach. The advantage of shooting in the surf was that the horses stayed white. The sun was a little too high in the sky for my liking, but it was still low enough (8’oclock am) that it looked good. I shot a lot of images as the horses were taken into the shallow water and then released, and this is my favorite.