Posted by TJ Dinsmoor on Thu, Mar 25, 2010 @ 01:56 PM
To continue the spring photography series we move into snapping pictures of water reflections. Stay tuned for more tips and pointers of our spring photography series.
Reflections
To shoot reflections you must keep two things in mind. First, expose the part of the water that has the reflection and drop down the shutter speed. If you just expose the reflection and don't compensate, your final shot will be overexposed. Second, set your aperture on a high setting so the whole shot is in focus. Just before you take the shot, focus your camera on the actual reflection.
The best reflection shots happen when there is a clear blue sky and the sun should be behind you to reduce glare. So in the morning get shots facing the northwest and in the afternoon get shots facing northeast (assuming the southeastern sun behind you).
Another key point to remember is angles can make or break a reflection. Get as close to the water as possible and as flat to the reflection as possible. However, trust your eye - if you are at a level and the reflection looks great you be the judge.
In most cases still water is usually the best shots for taking pictures of water reflections. You can smooth out still water with longer exposures. Think of it when you shoot a waterfall and you have a faster shutter speed you capture all the ripples and detail in the water. When you have a slower shutter and photograph a waterfall the water looks nice and smooth.
Click to see our last spring photography post on Photographing Subjects in Fog.
Posted by TJ Dinsmoor on Wed, Mar 17, 2010 @ 10:51 AM
This tutorial will show Photo Boutique users how to log in and upload photos into your photo gallery.
Start by logging into your Photo Boutique online storefront (login is towards the bottom of your site). You will notice that once you login, a navigation menu will appear in the upper right.
Click "Photos" in the navigation menu. The next screen will prompt you to either "Start a New Photo Folder" or "Start a New Photo Project." Click "Start a New Photo Folder."
Next step is to name your photo folder. For this example I am going to name mine "Outdoor" for the recent pictures I took outdoors.
Once you hit "OK" you will be prompt to select the images you want to upload into your photo album.
After you have finished selecting your images that you want to include in your photo album click "Upload."
It is as simple as that. Within your photo gallery you can view your pictures in three different formats. The version above is "Best View" with thumbnails of other images in the folder off on the right side.
Posted by TJ Dinsmoor on Tue, Mar 09, 2010 @ 01:52 PM
The end of one season brings the start of another. As spring approaches, the appearance of fog comes more apparent. The wonderful thing about photographing subjects in fog is that in an artistic sense it can make a picture very mystical. As fog obscures a subject, it forces the viewer to imagine what is beyond the fog - it paints a picture in the viewers mind drawing them in.
Photographing Fog
The first advice is to take plenty of pictures (bracketing). Start photographing at your max f-stop and take 20 or so pictures adjusting the shutter speed each time. Once you have exhausted all speeds change the f-stop by 1 and take another 20 or so pictures adjusting the shutter. Continue the process until all values are spent.
The reason for capturing the amount of photos is due to the fact that photographing fog can "fool" a camera's light meter which results in an underexposed picture. You can compensate underexposure by slowing down your shutter speed and having a wider aperture but you will still want to bracket your photos to ensure you have the correct exposure.
You can also take a close-up meter reading from the subject being photographed and step back and recompose your shot. In doing so, you will make your foreground stronger. As you create more distance between you and your subject - detail, color and texture drop off rapidly so you will want to make certain your subject is exposed correctly and as crisp as it can possibly be.
Here are a few images I took this morning at Lake Park in Milwaukee, WI.
Posted by TJ Dinsmoor on Mon, Mar 08, 2010 @ 02:20 PM
Now that it's starting to warm up, we can look back at some winter shots. These images were taken on a hiking adventure of mine in Southeastern Wisconsin this past winter. I only snapped about 30 photos but these 3 images were definitely worth sharing. 
Feel free to share links or post your wintery images.
Posted by TJ Dinsmoor on Mon, Mar 01, 2010 @ 11:13 AM
The Lab Apollo has brought back the MADness. Check out our deals on photo products and our online storefront service - Photo Boutique. To learn more about Photo Boutique please visit http://thephotoboutique.com.
