Soave Photography

Yesterday I posted an article ( Photographing Smoke ) about taking pictures of smoke. This article will explain how to add color to your smoke pictures. This was the picture I ended with yesterday: 1. Open your picture file in Photoshop (or a similar program). 2. Create a new layer. 3. Use the brush tool to paint colors over your smoke in a new layer (color can be applied in other ways too; try using the gradient tool to fade from one color to another). 4. Apply a Gaussian Blur to your color layer (to blend the colors together). 5. Set the color layer's blend mode to Color (you can also try Soft Light , Overlay , or any other mode for a variety of color styles). Feel free to experiment with combinations of colors, coloring techniques, and blend modes. And try inverting the final product. Here are some of mine: The above is inverted without adding color. The above is using a circular rainbow gradient. Again, you can see the rest of my Smoke set on Flickr.com.

One thing I've been doing a lot lately is photographing smoke. I think it makes some really interesting abstract shapes, especially when you get a really simple shape in the smoke. And it's not all that hard to do; it just takes a little patience. Ideally, you should have a camera with flash, manual focus, and shutter speed control. If you don't have some of those features, you can probably still take these kind of pictures, but it might be a little harder to do. Additionally, you'll need a stick of incense (or something similar that will continuously produce smoke without a flame), and it needs to be dark outside, preferably with little wind. First, set your camera to use the flash, then set the manual focus to roughly two feet. Next, light the incense and let some smoke build up. Hold the incense at the same distance as your focus (in this case, about 2 feet away). Try taking a picture of the smoke against the night sky (so you have a solid black background). I...

Sometimes it's cool to mix up your photography by experimenting with different angles. Rather than taking your pictures straight on, try moving yourself to a different position until you find a different perspective on the scene. Instead of taking a frontal picture of a group of people, maybe find a balcony above that you can take the picture from. Sometimes you'll end up with some pretty good looking pictures. In the above picture of some stairs in the Vatican Museum, I wanted to capture both the height of the stairs and the geometric pattern. By taking this picture from straight above, you can see the spiral design of the stairs while getting a feel for its height. This next picture (of a church tower in Rome) was taken from a lower angle. Sometimes you need to get low to the ground to get a more extreme angle to give a better perspective (or to make an exaggeration). Often times, that's necessary just to get the whole subject in the shot (the Washington Monument co...

This is just a quick post to show you the opposite of my previous post. In the last post ( Working with Slow Shutter Speeds ), you learned how to leave the shutter open longer to expose the camera to more light and create photographs that show the passing of time. High speed photography can be used to capture very fast motion, while still giving a clear picture (see the example at the end of the post). This time, instead of increasing the amount of time you leave the shutter open, decrease it (something like 1/1000th of a second). Again, the camera will adjust the other settings for you, if possible. You can use this to take pictures like this: I used a 1/2500th of a second exposure time for this one, and I barely got it in time (it's near impossible to photograph a humming bird; they zip around too much).

Many digital cameras (from digital SLRs to simple point-and-shoot cameras) now include an option to adjust the shutter speed , or how long the shutter of the camera is open. This allows you to capture not just a moment in time, but maybe a few seconds, or more, in your pictures. The above picture is of the Champs-Élysées, a very busy street, in Paris, taken from the Arc de Triomphe. For this shot, I left the shutter of the camera open for 30 seconds. During that time, cars drove down the street, and because the camera captures any light while the shutter is open, it results in streaks of white and red lines from the cars' lights. To use this feature, you'll want to look for any kind of shutter-control mode on your camera. Canon (and probably a few others) call it "Tv" mode, for "time value." Once you've found it, try increasing the amount of time that the shutter is open (a typical amount of time for a regular picture is usually between 1/200th and ...

Almost everyone who has picked up a camera has heard of the rule of thirds , but not everyone uses it when composing their photographs. And while some photographers write it off as a trite technique, there's no denying that it can improve your pictures. The idea is to envision a 3x3 grid when looking through the viewfinder of your camera. Imagine where the grid's lines would cross, and place your subjects at those intersections (like in the grid that follows). In addition, it is a good idea to place any lines (horizons, edges of buildings, etc) along the lines of the imaginary grid. In doing so, you draw attention to certain points in the picture, while at the same time introducing an interesting, non-symmetrical composition. I used the rule of thirds to compose this photograph of a statue in Rome, with some ruins in the background. I've put a grid on the picture to show how I used the rule of thirds to create a more interesting picture. Notice how the top right inters...

So I'll start this blog off with a quick post about using the blend mode known as hard light . If you've used the layer feature in Adobe Photoshop , you probably know that there are a multitude of blend modes , from normal to overlay to soft light , among many others. These blend modes can be used for a variety of effects, including special effects as well as simple photo touch-up. I like to use the hard light blend mode to brighten up my pictures (usually landscape or nature photographs). Adobe describes hard light as follows: Multiplies or screens the colors, depending on the blend color. The effect is similar to shining a harsh spotlight on the image. If the blend color (light source) is lighter than 50% gray, the image is lightened, as if it were screened. This is useful for adding highlights to an image. If the blend color is darker than 50% gray, the image is darkened, as if it were multiplied. This is useful for adding shadows to an image. Painting with pure black o...

Well, I decided to start up with another blog again. My idea for this blog is to post pictures I've taken/edited (only a few at a time) and write about maybe what's in the picture, any special techniques I used to take it, any editing techniques I used, etc. Maybe I'll post some before and after shots. I hope to make this into a blog that can help other people produce better-looking photographs. I think what I'll do is post a picture, then explain something about it. This is inspired by a few friends who praised some of my recent pictures :).