Tips for capturing the best photos at twilight...

Twilight is my favorite time to take pictures, the sky is absolutely magical in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada! Twilight lasts for a short time, it's key to be be ready and in place for pictures! This was actually my parting shot. I didn't want to leave, the scene was incredibly beautiful to me. It's tricky shooting anchored boats. As other boats pass by, the ripples from the water are magnified into big waves that I had to just wait out. I liked the mirror perfect reflections caused by the long exposure and great weather conditions. There is slight movement with some of the boats in the photo, but it adds to the realism, and I'm happy with the end result!

How to shoot at twilight:

• Scout out locations first.  It's easier to find potential compositions before the sun goes down.

• Exposures will be long, you'll need a sturdy tripod. I use a Feisol CT-3442 which weighs 2.31 lbs and folds down to 19 inches. Perfect for travel and everyday use.  

• Keep it level. Use Live View or place a bubble level on the hotshoe of your camera,

• Cable release or self timer feature. The exposure was 60 seconds long, the Bulb feature helped with the timed exposure. I shot this with the Nikon D7000 that I'm giving a whirl for travel, along with the Nikon 28-300mm lens. Beautiful combination, and this lens is fabulous on the D3s!  

• White balance.  Try starting with 4000K, or Daylight (5000K) to see how it looks with your scene. White balance isn't etched in granite, you may like the look of a given setting although it's not "technically correct." Experiment, and see what works best for your composition.

• Manual exposure. Set the aperture for the desired depth of field, and decide how long the exposure will need to be. You may even want to make a series of exposures for HDR. Or, think about putting together a panorama of the scene!

• Wait for the "blue hour." You may want to shoot during and after sunset, then wait for beautiful blue quality of balanced light in between daylight and darkness.

• There's an app for that. Light Tracker, Helios, Velaclock, Sunrise & Set, and for tracking stars on the iPad try Sky Walk. 

• Lost the light, no worries. Go for a classic black and white image with Nik Silver Efex Pro 2!

• Be inventive. Think about creative lens choices or angles, Make your shot different and unique!

Have fun shooting! I hope to see you in a future seminar, workshop or online course. You can check my Event's page to see what's coming up next. ~ Deb

A touch of Spring - Adding texture to a photograph for a painterly effect...

Layering textures with a photograph can create an expressive image reminiscent of a painting. This solitary tree photograph was layered with several textures from Flypaper Textures which created the brushstrokes of color look. Texture adds a little definition and detail throughout an image. No clouds, no worries, empty skies work well for textured effects!

The key for adding texture is to find a blend mode that will work for the images. Copy and paste (or drag) the new texture layer over your original photograph layer, and find a complementary blend mode by scrolling through each Blend Mode. Here's how you do it... With the move tool active, hold down the shift key and press the plus or minus key to see the various effects Blend Modes have on your image. Soft light was used for this combination. Nik Viveza was used to selectively tone down, brighten up  and add color to areas in the image. The artistic edge treatment that pulls the image together is PhotoFrame from OnOne Software. Make great pictures! ~ Deb

PS - Coupon codes are always in the sidebar, including links to software you might want to try. Totally Rad Dirty Pictures will set up your texture layer (including Flypaper and your own favorites) with your photo automatically, and assign a blend mode, how cool is that? Try it and see!

A quiet evening in Rome...

Twilight is one of my most favorite times to photograph - the sky is often the most beautiful blue. The light was balanced between the night sky and all the city lights for just a few minutes. The water under the bridge seemed to soak up the most amazing reflections, creating a very painterly image. Early morning and late evening is the perfect time to walk along this section of the pedestrian bridge. The view is always impressive. Long exposures at twilight paint the water with golden light, giving it an entirely different texture and color than during the day.

I used an inexpensive but sturdy tripod called a Joby Gorillapod to make this picture. It easily holds a heavy camera and lens still during exposure. A cable release or self timer works well to reduce vibration that could be transferred to the camera during exposure. Placing the tripod directly on the widest part of the ledge on the bridge allowed for the best angle.

Another thought is consider white balance settings. A setting of Automatic created a very cool look, while Sunny, which was used here warmed things up bit and made the scene more inviting. If you have Live View on your camera, you can scroll through the various white balance settings to see which one gives you the look that will complement your visual story. Finishing touches from Nik Viveza 2 made it easy to quickly brighten and dark selected areas without complex masking. Your coupon code for anything Nik is DSANDIDGE. Have fun shooting!  Ciao...

PS.. If you want to learn more about twilight and night photography, please join me at Florida's Birding & Photofest in St. Augustine this April. I'll be covering, twilight photography, HDR, infrared and everything creative!