Joseph Valentine Photography: November 2011

30 November 2011

Learning to Hunt

About a month ago our class went to see two NatGeo photographers speak, and while it is not directly related to this video, I probably wouldn't have watched it had I not found the speakers interesting a month before. So here is a video I found of a NatGeo contributing photographer, Paul Nicklen, talking about his experience photographing a leopard seal in Antarctica.

Leopard Seal Teaches Photographer How to Hunt Penguins

28 November 2011

Tilt Shift Photography

A friend showed me a video produced by Disney of time lapse, tilt shift photos throughout their parks (link at the bottom) and I was hooked on the technique right away. For those who don't know, tilt shift photography is the technique of tilting the lens on a different plane than the sensor, and this puts the edges of the photo out of focus and makes the subjects of focus appear to be miniature toys. To better understand how tilt shift works, hold out your hands like you are doing a double "karate chop" then tilt and turn your left hand to mimic the action of the lens to the sensor. Tilt shift photography is typically done with a specialty lens, though it can be done by simply hold the lens off the camera body and tilting it manually while using a light resistant material to bridge the gap between lens and body.

Here are some of my favorite photos from a tilt shift website I found. Link at the bottom.

Photos by Nick Cannon, http://www.nickcannon.com/post/amazing-tilt-shift-photographs-will-blow-your-mind

If you would like to see even more examples and read a more thorough definition, click here: www.squidoo.com/Tilt-Shift

And here is the video I mentioned: A Model Day at the Magic Kingdom

26 November 2011

Things Unseen

For this last photo, I wasn't actually behind the camera. I was wandering around a deserted paper mill and I noticed this office on the loading dock. The office was pitch black, and there was barely any light as the day was overcast and it was close to dusk. Through trial and error, I set my ISO to 400, aperture at f/22, and shutter speed at 6 seconds. I set the camera for a 10 second delay so I could get into the room before the expose set off and I used a flash to strobe from within the room. I set off the flash from the top left corner of the window, down, and from chest level toward the door, creating the light sources you see in the photo.