Exploring the tourist scene. I feel a new project coming on!
Author Archives: Michael Kircher
chiaroscuro
Back from brief hiatus.
Most of the last couple months has been spent exploring the city. As the weather warms I expect to be down there more and more. The other evening my wife and I were walking to the car past the monuments and the river and I don’t know if it was the evening sun casting long shadows and a warm glow or just the hint of Spring in the air, but we both remarked on what a great little city DC is. Of course we both always felt that way, but sometimes you need to walk down a different street, take a new route at another time of day… change your perspective and you see it all anew.
Taking a break.
Going to give myself some time off from the blogging stuff. Need a refresh. Friday Photo Tip will be back… sometime. Plan to put up a few new image galleries/portfolios in the next few days. Swing on by next week and have a look.
Til then… see ya!
MK
Eric takes a break.
iphone 5, creative lighting
Trying a little “studio” lighting with the iPhone 5. The flash on the iPhone is fairly ridiculous, unless you’re going to use it in the daytime and then only as fill light. So I turn it off completely until I need it.
For this shot I used a flashlight with some tissue over the head and my old iPhone 3Gs (I brought up the “Reminders” app which has a mostly white background so it’s like a tiny softbox.). I laid the 3Gs flat in front of the tiki idol and then shined the flashlight on the back wall from underneath the stool the tiki was sitting on. Got some groovy shadows going and ended up with the photo below.
Of course, this is all for giggles. I don’t see doing this for actual paying gigs. But for the purpose of exercising that little creative corner of my brain, why the hell not?
iPhone 5, iPhone 3Gs, Surfire flashlight, tissue paper, Tiki idol cup.
Friday Photo Tip: Fill Flash
Eastern bluebird. ♂
Don’t be afraid to fish out the flash from your camera bag when shooting in nature. Too often a strobe is used only for lighting up people in dark situations.
Nature should look natural, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enhance it a bit. And that’s what fill flash does. If you want to get those natural colors to really pop and if you want to see a little catch light in the creature’s eye, just throw a little light in there. Makes a world of difference.
I like to expose for the scene and then dial down the flash about a stop and a half. Maybe two stops. Experiment.
Dialing down the flash keeps it from blowing out the scene; keeps it more natural looking.
A male eastern bluebird at the C & O Canal in Maryland.
Disengage
Generation i
I once used my earbuds while on the train into the city. After making it halfway through the song I pulled them out and put the phone away. I couldn’t stand not hearing the world around me. The screech of the steel wheels on the rails. The goofy Metro voice warning the doors were closing. The giggling of high-school girls. The general hum of everyday life. I haven’t used them in public since.
The smartphone generation. Phone calls, texting, gaming, listening to music, surfing the web. Social engagement on perpetual hold.
Interesting phenomenon.
Washington DC with iPhone 5
Back on the streets again. From Capitol Hill to Georgetown. Looking for the soul of the city. What is Washington DC all about? Is there a defining characteristic?
I can’t say I know the answer yet… Even after all these years. I just keep looking.
Capitol Building
National Gallery of Art
In the Dutch and Flemish hall.
Window shopping, Dupont Circle
Walking past Kramer Books in Dupont Circle
Taking flight in Georgetown
Sun setting over the Potomac River
Friday Photo Tip: “Just take the Picture.”
Todays Friday Photo Tip is something from my friend and mentor David Alan Harvey.
“When the perfect picture situation happens, you may not have time to worry about perfect exposure and f-stop. Just take the picture. Don’t be afraid to experiment — especially in dark locations where you cannot use a tripod or flash. Brace your elbows on a table, lean against a telephone pole, or rest the camera on a fence post or a Coke bottle.”
Jessica in very low light.
“Action is eloquence…”
But, as my friend Bob Black told me, “Inaction is poetry.” And that’s beautiful.
Surfer at Stinson Beach, California.