Owijk´s Photos

New Life in Bali

2011-03-17T06:36:00.003-03:00

Dear Friends,

On with a new life and a new place. Destiny has taken me to live in Bali and I am loving it. I know I haven't been posting any pictures lately but I will soon, as soon as I settle down here in Bali I will pick that old Nikon D70 of mine and start photo hunting again and believe me...there are tons of potential great spots here.

Please visit my new website on Bali and package tours I offer to:

www.tuamigoenbali.com

It would be great if you could spread the website also, I would really appreciate anyone who would want to put my website as a link.

Take care all and hope to see you in BALI

Rendy Loudewijk

Waterfall

2010-11-15T10:54:00.007-03:00

What happened here? That´s probably what you are thinking when you see this photo and I get so many different response, some negative and some positive. However you see it, this is it, this is the final product. This picture was taken on the edge of the bridge of the Devil´s Throat, Iguazu Falls, Misiones, Argentina. I was careless but it was also inevitable, there is no bargain with mother nature. It was a hot, cloudy and windy day, the storm was forming right above our heads and my lense got sprinkled by the waterfall caused by the strong wind right when i pressed the shutter release button. Each and every effort to retake the shot was useless, sprinkles all the time. Luckily though, my initial intention was to take HDR (High Dynamic Range) picture so I had to take at least 3 shots of the same frame but different level of light exposure. When I got home and saw the original RAW picture I was devastated, I knew HDR would do the magic but looking at its original quality hurts me. I then processed the three pictures to photomatix pro, a software I use to generate my HDR photos and this is the best I can do to save this picture. For me it would have been better without the water sprinkle effects but I guess mother nature also wanted to contribute her artistic talent.
What is important from this experience is not to persuade people to like this picture but to know that when you have your basic knowledge on photography whether it be a normal shot or HDR you can still save, recycle and be creative with it instead of deleting the photo no matter the obstacles. Without the proper knowledge maybe this photo would be too severe to save and my trip to Iguazu Falls would be pointless, waste of money and time.

If you want to find out more about generating HDR, please click on the link below:

Mom´s View
HDR Photography

Country Side Sunset Photography

2010-09-04T14:53:00.004-03:00

I was on a small village called Valle Maria in Entre Rios, Argentina when I took this photo. Surely it wasn't the most lively village I've ever visited but Valle Maria has one of the most beautiful country side sunsets I've ever seen. In the early sunset phase I found myself standing in the middle of stunning colors created by the natural orange light the sun gave and everywhere I looked around was like God was painting at that moment as the colors of my landscape changing before my own eyes. Like all sunsets, it only lasted for a few minutes before it got dark.
I took out my Nikon D70 and started taking pictures. I wanted to take HDR but I did not have my tripod with me and most of my efforts trying to take HDR failed because the alignment of the 3 frames was incorrect due to hand shakes so I decided to take one last shot using the auto mode. I knew it was the safest thing to do and experimenting on camera setting would take a few minutes and I might lose the opportunity to take the shot because it was our last day in the village. In spite of the panic and adrenaline rush, I knew that I had to at least apply one of the basic rules of photography to bring home with me a photo that not only would remind me of the village but also something that I can be proud of when showing to my friends and family. So what are the few basic rules of photography? Lining and proportion. Sometimes what makes a photo good is how you frame your lining. It almost doesn't matter what the object is but with the correct lining you would probably get one or two compliments of your photo. If you see the lines of the road, the wooden fence, the horizon and even the lines of the grass itself, your eyes is not stressed out trying to find what to concentrate on. Instead it has a pattern to follow and details to comprehend. The other rule I mentioned was to be proportional. In this case the horizon was my guide point to be proportional. As the sky was empty, I did not want to concentrate on the sky so I made 50% sky and 50% road and it's surroundings. My left and right is also important, on the left I have the lines of the road and on my right I have the electric wires. Therefore my end result, my up and bottom is proportional and so is my left and right.
Practice framing your lines and also try to be proportional, in some tight situation like this it might just make a difference at the end of your day or travel.

Water Drop Black & White Photography

2010-09-03T23:00:00.003-03:00

It was a horrible rainy week and feeling a little bit sick so there was no way I would risk to go out for any photo hunting session to get even more sick so I stayed home enjoying the warmth of my lemon tea. Wondering what to post I stared out my balcony window and saw a twig with a couple of water drops dripping slowly from it. It was around 3pm in the afternoon so there was still day light, well...whats much of it anyway but the water drops seem to reflect the day light and made it brighter. I don't know how the water did it but I can explain how I took this photo.
Knowing that I was going to take a very close shot I used a tripod to avoid hand shake. I thought about taking the shot the way it was with the day light but I knew I was just going to get a grey photo with unwanted detail of the apartment across my building with their hanged laundry blurred as a background. I did not want to miss out this opportunity though cause the twig and the water drops just looks beautiful so I decided to make the surrounding and whatever background details out of my focal length reach pure black. By doing so I set my shutter speed to 1/50, Aperture F4.5, Mode Exposures +4.7. This setting is already almost automatic for me whenever I find myself in these kind of situations. It never fails me. It never fails because with a fast speed, open aperture and high exposure the unwanted detail without enough light will become dark or black and the concentrated object within your focal length's reach has enough light to show the details of your object which is what the aperture does and the white details of the twig and water becomes brighter because of your high exposure setting. That setting is my most reliable setting and if the circumstances differ slightly I only need to adjust the setting a notch up or down.
Because I was using my Nikon D70, this photo is originally in color. If you would like to convert your color photos to black and white, click here: how to best convert your color photo to black and white.
I hope no bad weather or health condition stops you from picking up your camera and start snapping. I wish for a good health for all us.

Photography Tips - The Messenger

2010-08-30T22:16:00.005-03:00

This picture was taken on one of my photo hunting sessions in Recoleta, Buenos Aires. It was a dull day at the moment with horrible grey clouds all over and as far as I can remember even my eyes were seeing black and white. I had to have a strategy to bring home a smile and at least a couple of good pictures. Besides I was using my Nikon N75 and a black and white roll so anything that did not come out right would be a unnecessary additional cost. So that day, I was not hoping for any shadows, bright colors or sunshine. Instead I took the grey sky to my advantage as a background and any bird that passes my camera would be a potential black contrast to the grey color. Luckily Buenos Aires has lots of pigeons so I did not have to wait in vein for it and to spice things up I slightly angled my camera 45° just to get enough of the top part of the dome that I need and making it look more interesting.
With the digital camera you can take as much frames and experiment as you want without having to worry to develop your rolls and paying lots of money. The question is, how long are you going to experiment? Not that there is anything wrong with experimenting but knowing the basics in photography and taking it from there to another level step by step is what will endure you in the industry and perfecting your craft. My advise for beginners is to write down the result or diagnostic that you see on your camera for each shot so you can compare it with other shots you took with different lighting situations, moving objects and even the different focal lengths. Take advantage of what information the modern camera can provide you and not just because you don't have to pay for the film rolls and the developing process.

If you like this article you might also want to see:
Photo Hunting Tips

Simple Is Beautiful II - Over Exposed Photography

2010-08-29T23:02:00.013-03:00

On my previous post on Simple Is Beautiful I uploaded a photo that I took of a wooden dock and over-exposed it and making it look simple. I explained that a photo with less detail could be as interesting as with lots of details or even more. With the available space you can always write something you believe or your feelings to those you consider special.
I asked my visitors to write something for me to post on the 30th of August (My birthday) and here are the results.
Of course if you are more advanced in photoshop you could always make something more creative to your photos, perhaps add a few artistic patterns to it. Mine is just basic adding text to a photo.

Valery Lorenzo Photography His unique classy way of capturing light and shadows captures the life and moment of his black and white photography. Fresh and amazing ideas his work speaks for itself.

Guiseppe Cuchiarra Photography
Photos of places and events around the world. Clean and very crisp quality, Giuseppe's photos takes you along with his travels.

Astrid Wasistyanti Blog
A proud Indonesian girl who shares her thoughts and experiences, she chooses to write her blog in Indonesian Language or Bahasa Indonesia. Away from her beloved country she still values her roots. Her positive young and intelligent vibe makes her blog friendly and open for new friends from around the world.

HDR From A Single Photo

2010-08-26T23:18:00.002-03:00

There has been questions going on about making an HDR image out of a single photo and whether it was possible to achieve it. The answer is, yes it is possible by manually adjusting the exposures in photoshop or any other photo editing software and generate it to become HDR with a second software you'll need such as Photomatix Pro or HDR Darkroom. After the generating process you would need to tone map the photo to get the end result you prefer. From there everything should be simple cause the software should do the rest of the work for you. Nowadays, there is nothing impossible to achieve in photography. There are shortcuts that we can take as an advantage but I suggest to always know your basic photography and camera setting knowledge before using these shortcuts. The art of photography apart from the end result itself is the process we do with our cameras, the craftsmanship and how we paint our photos with lights by using our knowledge and skills. Apart from that, the results are usually more stunning doing it the proper way not just in HDR but in all types of photography. Don't be a lazy photographer. It´s a hobby with a beautiful process in learning to master it.
Have fun with your experiment in HDR from a single photo. If you would like to ask me more about how to properly set your camera for HDR please send me an email.

Simple is Beautiful

2010-08-25T22:37:00.006-03:00

There is something peaceful and beautiful about simplicity. You can have all the details into one photo but still would get bored easily. Being simple does not necessarily mean dull or boring. Being simple is always easy to relate to and soothing.
I over-exposed it by customizing the white balance and slowing the shutter speed to let as much light in as possible to whiten the sky and the river but still keeping the detail lines of the dock visible. It was taken mid-noon when the sun is right above my head and that helped a lot in the process.
To be honest I had a couple of tries and errors taking this picture. I stood there for a good 15 minutes, that´s a lot of time but I guess persistence pays it all off.
With photos like this you can just leave it and appreciate it as it is or you can write a beautiful sentece or two for someone you consider special.

Actually, that just gave me an idea. How about in the comment box you write something beautiful, something simple and on the 30th of August (My birthday) I will post back this photo with what you wrote and underneath it your name as the author of the up lifting words. I hope you guys do write back because I´m not such a good writer.

Foreground & Background in Sunset Photography

2010-08-24T23:14:00.004-03:00

Almost all sunset shots come out if not perfect almost perfect. It's one of the common themes that is taken amongst photographers from different level of expertise. Apart from being easy it is also rewarding.
I want to share a tip or two about taking pictures of sunsets. Most people tend to take just one single furthest object along with the sunset as a background to create that black and orange contrast. Which is fine, but I just want to say that having both foreground and background in sunset shots are just as rewarding and fills in the empty spaces.
Although taking pictures of sunsets is considerably easy, the peek of the moment itself passes by very fast and you might miss that golden chance if you are not prepared. Make sure to arrive more or less an hour earlier and have a look if you are going to take shots from different angles and positions. If you are going to customize your settings, take advantage of whats left of the natural light. During sunsets it can be too dark to set your camera. Take my word, you do not want to go home frustrated because you did not see the panoramic sunset because you were too busy setting your camera or you got there just a few minutes late and don't have a sunset shot to take home.
If you are traveling, ask the locals or tour guide where can you go to see an unforgettable sunset view.
Well, I hope this simple tips can make a difference in your sunset pictures.

Location: Uluwatu - Bali, Indonesia

Other sunset photos:
Mango Lady
Uluwatu Temple

Iguazu Falls

2010-08-22T22:34:00.004-03:00

Legend has it that a god planned to marry a beautiful aborigine named Naipí. However she already had a mortal lover called Tarobá. The two lover fled in a canoe to find their own piece of land to call home far away from their village. In rage, the god sliced the river creating the waterfalls, condemning the lovers to an eternal fall.
The waterfall system consists of 275 falls along 2.7 kilometers (1.67 miles) of the Iguazu River. The Devil's Throat (Garganta del Diablo in Spanish or Garganta do Diabo in Portuguese) is a U-shaped fall that measures 82-meter-high, 150-meter-wide and 700-meter-long (490 by 2300 feet) cataract, is the most impressive of all, and marks the border between Argentina and Brazil. Put this destination if you are travelling to South America and make sure to have an entrance permit for both countries to be able to appreciate the views from both sides.
I took this picture in 2003 with my Nikon N75. I had not yet bought my Nikon D70 DSLR because it was launched in Argentina in late 2004 but I was already saving up for it. I hope to make a review of the D70 in my future posts because it performs really well. Anyway back to the picture, I mounted a P gradual colored series number 665 Cokin filter which made the color effect on this picture. Cokin filters have been in the photography industry for ages and have evolved tremendously with their new products. I have around 15 Cokin filters which serves different purposes and none of them have ever failed me in any way and I recommend Cokin products to everyone.
To find out more about Cokin products please visit www.cokin.fr

Shooting Stars

2010-08-21T23:15:00.004-03:00

Before I start I would like to say, yes, it is not a real shooting star and yes I realize that the moon should be bigger than the stars. It´s a real moon by the way.
Anyway, I realize that I have been talking about knowing your camera settings and spend less time post processing. Let me tell you the story behind this photo first. Originally this is a photo of the roof of my parents house which we all consider to be the family house where we gather and spend quality time together. I like to believe that my late grand parents whom I love dearly are watching over us and the house. Well, that is what the shooting star represents.
There was no other way than to use photoshop to make this photo as it looks right now. I would have to wait forever for a shooting star to happen right before my eyes. Photoshop is a very powerful tool and what I did with the original photo to look as it is now is the least what photoshop can do. I´m sure everybody these days are familiar with photoshop and I encourage everybody to learn and use it to meet whatever needs you need to perform. However, don´t become lazy and dependent on it for your photography work because that can develop to become a bad habit.
If you are interested in how to make these effects please do not hesitate to contact me and I would be happy to help you out. I´m not a photoshop expert but I love sharing what I know to anyone.

Ansel Adams

2010-08-20T23:50:00.002-03:00

Most photographers today when asked who are their favorite top five photographers would be Ansel Adams. One of his famous photographs such as moon and half dome inspired lots of photographers from all over the world even until today. Adams who was born in 1902 did not have the same privilege as we do today with photography made almost user friendly for both beginners and professionals, not to mention digital and photoshop. His black and white photography is legendary, there is no comparison to it and his color photography are just amazing. I consider Ansel Adams the genius in photography and through his work we can all learn the art and beauty of photography.
If you have not yet stumble upon his work, I suggest you look him up in google and go through his photos one by one and really try to live the wonderful moments he had while he took the photographs.
Here is a link I always go back to see Ansel Adams work : www.anseladams.com

Photography Release Forms

2010-08-19T22:42:00.003-03:00

There are too many photographers out there who are being sued by their models and property owners. One of the many reasons is violation of privacy and defamation. As a fellow photographer, I would advice to get a release form signed by your subject or property owners before taking any pictures to avoid future legal actions. Please be a responsible photographer and strongly take this into consideration. To find out more about release forms please visit: http://photography.lovetoknow.com/Photography_Release_Forms It is a very informative website and gives examples like when is a release form needed.

Black & White Landscape Photography

2010-08-18T18:34:00.005-03:00

I always carry my camera along with me every where I go. Depending on the occasion I would choose what equipment to bring. It was a beautiful Buenos Aires Saturday afternoon when I took this picture in one of Buenos Aires finest parks called El Rosedal. The plan was to only have a walk around the park and go boat rowing so I only took my camera and a 18-70mm lense to take normal shots. During the walk I did not find anything interesting to take but as we were on the small wooden board I turned around and there it was, the perfect sky, trees and small island. Before taking this shot I already thought how it would be in black and white so I decided to take a picture of it. That is what this post is all about today, looking things that is not the obvious and what your eyes directly receives. This photo in color looks like just another photo but when I converted it to black and white the details and contrast becomes alive, the clouds, the trees and the island itself came together nicely giving this photo the wow factor.
So the next time you see something, try to visualize the scene from another point of view for example in black and white, HDR (High Dynamic Range)or sepia and so on. Behind anything normal there is always a potentially stunning outcome. So look out and don't forget to consider the potentials.

If you like this post you might also be interested in the link I´ve prepared to compliment on today's topic:

How to best convert your color photos to black and white

HDR Photography

2010-08-16T22:52:00.004-03:00

I have posted this picture before but in black and white. The reason why I am posting this same picture is because one of my followers wanted to see the original photo in color HDR (High Dynamic Range) quality. It turns out that a lot of people are still having problems with producing HDR and to be honest I had problems too in the beginning.
There are several ways to produce HDR. By editing a single photo to 3 photos with different exposures and processing in photoshop I believe that it can be done but I prefer relying on my camera to take the 3 different photos of the same angle with 3 different exposures. One of the most important equipment that you should use is the tripod to avoid movement as the camera will be taking 3 shots. The first frame the camera will snap fast making the picture dark, the second frame will be a normal shot which will make the picture looking like a normal shot and the third frame will be slow which will make the picture bright because the shutter is set low. That is I guess the easiest way I can explain about the 3 different kind of exposures I mentioned earlier. As long as you have your camera on the tripod that is the least problem you have. The main problem is always on the camera settings and people tend not to play around with their camera enough to familiarize with it. Below I will make a short cut of how I set my camera setting and hopefully you can find these symbols in your camera. For those using Nikon cameras this should be easier for you to locate.
1. Menu Settings
EV Steps : ●●● 1/3
BKT Set : AE (flash sign)
BKT Order: N
2. Function Settings
3F 2.0 ]
BKT ] BKT ] Select the multi shots ] +/- = 0.0
+◄ ]
Mode turn it to P

Set your picture quality to (NEF) RAW

It may look like a lot of formula going on but actually it´s very simple. All of the information above can be found in your camera manual. Once you have the 3 photos with 3 different exposures you now have to tone map the photos with a software called Photomatix Pro. What photomatix do is merging all 3 photos into 1. Usually you still have to edit the bright and contrast, I use Photoshop CS4 but it should work with any other photo editing software.
In case you still have doubts, I would be happy to help you out through chat or skype.
Happy HDR hunting!

If you enjoy reading this article you might also want to visit:

STAIRS - HDR Photography Tips
Mom's view - HDR Photography Tips
Metal Flower, Argentina - HDR Photography Tips

Make Money From Your Photography

2010-08-15T22:52:00.003-03:00

I´ve been receiving emails lately with different kind of questions about camera setting tips, doing an online photography workshop session and sometimes people would send their photos for opinion on how they can improve on techniques which I enjoy replying very much. However I have also been receiving emails on how to make money from photos and it seems that a lot of people are trying to find a way to cash in their photos which I think is a very good thing to do.
At this moment I am not selling any photos nor am I trying to sell one just yet because I feel that I am not ready to do so. Guys, I´m sorry if I don´t have an answer for this one for now but I did look it up in the internet and I found a very interesting website on how to monetize your photos. I have been reading back and forth the website and I would not suggest it to anyone if I did not believe in it´s content. So go ahead and visit http://blogs.photopreneur.com and get the most information out of it. You might want to bookmark the website so you can easily find it again. You can also find photopreneur.com in my link list.

Night Lights Photography

2010-08-15T00:44:00.010-03:00

Night lights photography is very popular amongst beginners and professional photographers and I have never met one that hasn't at least once taken a picture of the night lights. For pros shooting this kind of low lights situations may seem like a walk in the park but for beginners it can be frustrating especially when trying to use the manual mode. Just remember when using the manual mode if you set the shutter speed low you should set the aperture higher and when shutter speed is high the formula is the contrary. In my next post on night lights photography I will talk more about values of shutter speed and apertures and how it would effect on the results.
Another thing that is also important when shooting in low lights situation is to always use a tripod to avoid shaking unless you have very steady hands which is also a hard thing to do because you most probably be using low shutter speed and it might take a few seconds depending the needs of the photo you want to achieve.
In case you already have experience in night light shots and had no problems with it, it would be a wise thing to do it again just for the sake of tuning the know-how and avoiding forgetting small details.

You might also be interested in:

Back To Basic Photography Tips

Lines In Nude Photography

2010-08-13T23:39:00.005-03:00

Speaking about lines in nude photography, my first topic is about how important to have a line in nude photos and the second will be about where to draw the line between fine art nude and pornographic nude. I know there are no obvious nude in this photo but I think it serves it's purpose well for the topics I chose for today.

1. Stress on the line in nude photography.
I have mentioned in my previous posts that lines in photography in general is very important and is considered to be key element when someone gives their opinion whether or not the photo is great or poor. It´s the same rule as in nude photography. Have you ever thought what your eyes are doing when you are looking at a photo? For those who are not aware, first your eyes are actually following the lines in the photo from one end to the other, second and so on the other details. Lines creates dimension in your photos which does not make the eyes tired nor sends boredom to your brain. On the contrary, your eyes are actually sending interest because it is not lacking activity. Nude photography is not just placing a naked model in front of your lense and start taking photos. You have to pay attention on your model's curves and lines, not to mention lighting to create shadows but we'll talk about lighting in nude photography in another opportunity. Make sure you have some kind of contrast in lines or curves in your nude photography for the eyes to follow and not just a naked body. When I mean curves, it does not mean that nude photography is only for the violin shaped body. That's the amazing thing about art, there are no limits. We must think outside the box.

2. Where do you draw the line between nude art and pornography?
I have heard from a lot of people that nude art is black and white whereas pornography is in color. I often hear that all nude materials are considered pornography. It´s a question that answers are relative and can never be absolute.
I draw the line looking at the purpose and the end result. Nude art in my opinion does not have the purpose to arouse anyone sexually and it should be able to portray a different meaning other than just lust. For example when I went to a nude photography exhibition I saw a couple of photos of a naked woman one portraying "fragile" and the other "freedom".

What about you? Where do you draw the line between nude art and pornography?

2 Moon Sightings

2010-08-12T21:13:00.003-03:00

Ok fellow photographers get your knowledge on camera settings tuned up because the world has been waiting for the 27th of August 2010 since 2003 of a rare sighting that none of us living today will ever see it again.
Planet Mars will be the brightest in the night sky on the 27th of August 2010 at 11.00pm UAE local time and to the naked eye it will look like a large full moon. Only on this night the earth will look like as if it has 2 moons. Make sure you don't miss this once in a lifetime experience because the next time Mars may come this close will be in the year 2287.
Get your equipments geared up and your camera know-how tuned up so you may have amazing results. I know that lots of magazines are willing to display a photo of this rare sight from a common photographer like us. Start practicing from now on and good luck!

Photo Hunting

2010-08-10T20:09:00.003-03:00

When I am at home and have nothing to do I usually go photo hunting and sometimes just before I leave I would tweet or post on my facebook saying that I´m off to go photo hunting. I would then receive text messages or phone calls from my friends asking where am I headed to thinking that I am going to go somewhere far. Actually, I was just heading to a park four blocks away from my house. That is exactly what I want to talk about today, potential photo hunting sights does not necessarily mean that you have to go the distance. A lot of people take their backyard sometimes for granted or their 23rd floor apartment view of the city scrapes as nothing and they drive 2 hours to go photo hunting. So if you are low in budget this weekend and have nothing to do, make your day productive and one of them is to take a walk in your neighborhood and take pictures. Who knows whats out there, maybe you come home with a stunning photo that you can brag about to your family and friends and if you come home with a not so good result, at least you know your weakness in photography and find a way to improve so when you go for your next photo hunting session you would know what to do to avoid making the same mistake. Either ways, you learn and there is nothing more productive than learning.
Another point that I want to make is not so much whats going on in my head during the hunting session but actually whats in my head before leaving my house to go photo hunting. Before I leave I pause and I think where I´m going to and picture it in my mind what can I expect there. For example, in the park I can expect people playing with their dogs, children running around, ducks in a pond, someone feeding the pigeons, lovers reading books to each other and so on. Knowing what you can expect helps you in advance what kind of camera setting you need. If you know how to set your camera on the spot then you are good to go but if you still don´t know how to set your camera then take a longer pause and start looking it up in your camera´s manual book or even in the internet just in case you need to change your camera settings for a specific needs. Once you are comfortable, then you are also good to go.

Focus Points

2010-08-08T22:28:00.004-03:00

Details in photography is very important. However too many details can be boring to look at especially if they have the same lines, patterns and colors. By minimizing the focus points your photos can still appeal interesting to look at even if the rest of the details are out of focus. If you feel there are too many colors try converting it to black and white using photoshop or other photo editing software. Play around with your focus points if your camera has a multi focus points. Make sure to position yourself in the right angle to line up your objects correctly from near to far so when you focus the middle point you have what is the closest and the furthest from you out of focus leaving in the middle part well focused. As long as you position yourself correctly you can chose which part you want to focus in the order you prefer.
I chose this photo of the Argentine Presidential guards which I took a couple of years ago to demonstrate what kind of situations are best to make these kinds of photography and I hope it serves its purpose well. By practicing this technique you will be more acute in angle strategies to get the perfect lines and framing scenes through your view finder.

If you enjoyed this article you might also be interested in the link below:
How to convert your color photos to black and white without losing quality

Pet Photography

2010-08-07T22:35:00.004-03:00

Almost everyone I know takes pictures of their pets and it doesn't matter what level of knowledge they have in photography most pets photos come out well. In my opinion animals are born photogenic and there are little mistakes to make. Those photos are then uploaded to your computer and you share them with your family and friends through facebook, myspace or blogs, some puts them in a frame and place it on a table somewhere in your bedroom or living room. What usually happens when you want to hang it up on the wall in a big painting size like? The usual answer I receive is that it does not look as good as when it was in the small frame. I am not talking about stretching the pixels as most digital camera today comes with 6.0 up to 12 mega-pixels. I am talking on the artistic point of view. Here is where the software photoshop comes very handy. There are lots of types of filters you can find in photoshop to make your normal photo to looking very artistic that your living room deserves.
The photo I posted is my dobermann when he was still in my care, now he is in Brazil with a great family taking good care of him. As you can see in the photo, I have added a texture that makes the photo look like a drawing or painting and it looks very lively and well when I printed it to a poster size and framed it for the wall. This is what in my opinion that gives the extra artistic look that is often not considered by many people.
For this kind of textures that you see in my photo, you can find it under the filter tool in photoshop and choose sketch to look for different kind of textures that suits well to your preference.

"No man can be condemned for owning a dog. As long as he has a dog, he has a friend; and the poorer he gets, the better friend he has." - Will Rogers

Portrait Photography

2010-08-06T23:39:00.005-03:00

On my last post on portrait photography I mentioned about knowing your model's name and encouraged to get to know their personality to create a relax and fun ambiance. Today's post is more on the camera and lighting settings that I hear far too often how hard it is to achieve portraits in terms of lighting.
The camera setting for this photo was set to manual. How I love to take photos in the manual mode where I can control how much light I want and how it effects the results seen in the photos. The camera setting was set as follows: Shutter 1/8, Aperture F4.5 and Exp +/- +4.7. I also placed a small soft spotlight 20 to 25 degrees from the model's face at a distance around half a meter away from her to illuminate her eyes. Some photographers would take extra soft light and would place it 45 degrees behind the model to illuminate the model's hair from behind and that works perfect if you are taking a portrait photo with your model´s hair lose. As you can see, it is not as difficult as you imagined it in terms of settings. Just remember in photography we paint with lights. What is hard in portrait is finding the right pose for the models.
There are so many types of portraits to try out there, from the traditional, formal, informal, fun and it goes on depending how creative you are.

You might also be interested in the link below on my older post that covers the basic approach on portrait photography: Portrait Photography

Black Background Images

2010-08-05T21:43:00.005-03:00

A lot of new born photographers tends to like taking objects with black background and dark environment with colorful objects like you see in my photo that I post today to get that strong contrast between the object's colors and the background. What they attempt to do to achieve this type of photography is to have a single light source and turn off the lights to make the room darker almost too dark to see and work with. In the end they will only complain with the results being too dark, hard to focus or they cannot seem to make the background black or very dark because of the single light source.
If you are one of those photographers, don't worry, it's good that you are experimenting and learning from your mistakes.
Here is what you did right, having a single light source preferably a small spot light that only illuminates the object and place it close to the object. What you did wrong is turning the main light of the room off to get that dark sensation that you imagine seeing in your photo. Leave the lights on and take anything black you can use as a background. For example, I used my black jacket for this photo setting. After setting the area where you are going to place the object, set your camera correctly.
For better quality use the M (Manual) mode and not the Automatic mode in your camera. In the manual mode you can adjust the shutter speed and the aperture. Let me share with you my camera setting when I took this photo. Shutter 1/50, Aperture F4.5, Mode Exposure +4.7. By setting your camera more or less in these range, I can assure you that there will be no photo editing required. That´s the point, we should keep our photos zero or up to minimum for editing so we don´t have to spend a lot of time in the computer and have more time to take more great photos.

"Every moment of light and dark is a miracle." -Walt Whitman-

Children Photography

2010-08-04T20:47:00.006-03:00

Whether you are here to learn how to take great photos or looking to make money taking photos of children, let me leave you with my experience taking photos of children and hopefully you could have a head start. (Remember when taking a picture involving a person a legal release form should be signed by first and second party and a witness if possible. Involving an underage subject, you must have the parents or the legal guardian's consent)

Children and animal photography is not much difference, they can be really disappointing or with the right camera settings and know how, they can be really rewarding and one to keep for the rest of your life.
Lets talk about the camera setting. If your camera has a AI FOCUS settings, keep it there to get sharp pictures more consistently. If you have a multi focus points, use just the center one. This prevents the cameras auto focus widely focusing the background or unwanted details. Also, make sure you set your camera to multi shooting or continuous shooting mode to not lose any precious moments. Continuous shots usually go from 3 up to 4 shots. Remember to set your camera to high speed if you are taking it manually.
Another important tip to get stunning children photos is the setting or location. Usually the child´s house is the best location. They feel more comfortable as they are in their element. They know which spots they can be naughty and have their toys close to them. Follow them wherever they go of course within reason and be close to them so you can also be part of their game. Always have your camera ready to take that shot, keep your fingers ready. Have both eyes open, one looking through the camera and the other to see what is happening around the children to anticipate the unexpected moves. Great children photography are usually taken when they are off guard, that is when the eyes have that special sparkle.
It will be great if you can visit the parents and the child in their house the day before you plan to have the photo session.

Portrait Photography

2010-08-02T21:53:00.005-03:00

Portrait photography is not for every body. Sadly to say, it is not one of my strongest points but I am very happy with the way this picture came out. I found out that taking close up portrait photos is not just pointing your camera to the subject and start snapping and get a stunning result. It´s more than that. Knowing your subject´s name and personality really helps how you want your portrait to come out. My suggestion is to know your subject and have a nice conversation before starting the photo session. Get to know their personality, laugh with them, that way you see what you want to see in their eyes and capture that moment. By knowing their personality you get to know what is their comfort zone and what is not. Taking your subject to their comfort zone or out of their comfort zone works both as well as long as you know the limits. Of course lighting, angles and camera setting is also important but today I just want to share what is out of the box. We as the photographers need to make our subject as comfortable as possible and make the sessions as fun as possible. Without the personal approach, you can spend 10 minutes and wrap the session up because your subject seemed bored or you can spend hours and hours taking pictures because you manage to create a bond and a fun and relaxing atmosphere for both you and your subject.
Next time, my portrait photography post will touch more on the technical part of how to set your camera and lighting tips.

"A true portrait should, today and a hundred years from today, the testimony of how this person looked and what kind of human being he was." -Philippe Halsman-

Back To Basic Photography

2010-08-01T21:54:00.005-03:00

Going back to the basic knowledge of photography and practicing it is very important and should be done on a certain basis. Some of us may now know the most complicated photography skills which requires lots of complicated settings of camera, lighting, studio, models and location but tends to forget the basics and find themselves off guard when asked or have to take basic shots that the automatic cannot perform.
Today I had nothing to do so I went to Jorge Newberry Aiport or also well known as aeroparque in the heart of Buenos Aires and packed my camera with me. I went to shoot some long exposure photos and came home with very satisfying results. I pictured it in my mind how I wanted the shot to come out, set my camera and started shooting. I must say, the setting part took a couple of minutes until I got the right setting and felt comfortable shooting and that is the point of this article. Don't feel too big to go back to the basics there is nothing wrong with that, on the contrary it will only make you perfect. Every photographer should make this a new habit, amateurs and professionals.
I took this photo with my Nikon D70, Manual setting, focal length 18mm, Shutter 25 and Aperture F22.

"An investment in knowledge pays the best interest." -Benjamin Franklin-

Photography Tips - Overexposed Photos

2010-07-31T22:48:00.009-03:00

One of my followers in this blog sent me an email asking me about overexposed photos & how to fix them. Unfortunately I had to tell him the truth, 85 percent of overexposed photos are too difficult to fix. Different with underexposed photos, they are easy to fix. In his reply he seemed sad and disappointed because it´s the kind of shots you don't get second chance taking. A couple of days later I offered him to do an online workshop with me through skype & he agreed. During the workshop session I explained to him how to set his camera to avoid overexposing shots and also persuaded him to convert the overexposed photos to black and white using photoshop. A few minutes later he called me back & sounded really happy and positive. He showed me the results and it was stunning. Unfortunately he did not give me the permission to post his photos to compliment this article for some third party reason, I respect that and I totally understand so I posted a couple of my old photos instead that were badly overexposed and edited it so that everyone can see what I mean.

You might also be interested in the link below for some photography tips I wrote on how to best convert color photo to black and white and avoid bad habits to become a better photographer.

Best way to convert color photo to black and white

Avoid bad habits to become a better photographer

Reminder: Do not delete your old photos as they may come handy one day!

Become A Better Photographer

2010-07-29T23:22:00.012-03:00

Photography has evolved rapidly and made easier over the passing years, fortunately also cheaper for both who are taking it as a hobby or a job. Having that said lots of new photographers emerge and consider the advantage of the modern world of photography as a short-cut which only means one thing, creating new bad habits. These new bad habits usually brings frustration and could affect negatively to your creativity and your photos. Avoid these habits and enjoy this hobby that many of us love.

1. Not taking the time to learn how to properly set your camera. Think about on how you want your photo to come out before taking it. Learn as much of your craft as possible and stop over shooting. If you are one of those photographers who thinks it´s ok to shoot lots of photos because in digital photography the frames are free anyway, I suggest to stop thinking that way cause you will only have quantity and not quality photos and you wouldn't know where to start to improve and correcting your errors.

2. Taking photos in RAW format by means to touch up and fixing the exposure with a photo editing program.
Don't use RAW as an excuse to be a sloppy and lazy photographer. Taking pictures with the intentions of fixing it later only makes you a poor photographer and a decent post-processor.

3. Blaming your gear for a bad quality photo you took is so very sad. New photographers assume that spending on expensive cameras, lenses and flashes will better your shots. Sure there are better bodies and lenses to meet certain needs to improve the quality but if you don't know what you are doing, whats the point? You are the photographer who decides to push the shutter release and capture what you saw through your camera lense. A camera is simply a tool, if you don't have the knowledge you will never get the optimal results.

If you feel associated with one or all of these bad habits, stop and start learning. I used to be associated with all of these bad habits but I devoted myself to be a better photographer. If you don't have time to take a course in photography, take advantage of the internet like i did.

"You have to devote yourself totally to be successful at it." -Elliot Erwitt-

Herb Ritts Montage Reel

2010-07-26T22:36:00.004-03:00

I want to share a video and still images by Herb Ritts today posted by Herbrittsfoundation in youtube which brings justice to his amazing work and basically how and why I fell in love more to photography especially black and white photography. I had the privilege to go to Herb Ritts exhibition in Vienna, Austria in 1996 and see most of his work on display and it was an amazing experience. Herb Ritts Exhibition is very seldom these days but I suggest to go if you ever hear of one and I can assure you that you will find yourself inspired and motivated in a new positive way and if you are one of those people who associate nude fine art photography as pornographic scene, watch this video and think again. There are tons of pictures and videos of Herb Ritts in the internet, please search and read about him. He is no doubt my number one photographer icon and influence.

"Many people who excel are self-taught." -Herb Ritts-

Ice Breaker - Almirante Irízar

2010-07-24T23:01:00.004-03:00

This ship was named after an Argentine Lieutenant Commander Julián Irízar and was launched in February 1978. The commander commanded this ship when a Swedish Antarctic Expedition led by Professor Otto Nordenskjöld was trapped by the Antarctic winter, the mission was a success.
Almirante Irízar's peacetime missions include annual campaigns to resupply and rotate the personnel assigned to the Argentine Antarctic outposts, as well as conducting and supporting scientific endeavors in Antarctica. She has also conducted several passenger tours to Patagonia and the Antarctic.
In 2007 a fire broke out in the secondary electricity generators and the captain had to ordered evacuation. Fortunately the damages are fixable and repairs in Buenos Aires are expected to take until mid up to end of 2010.
God's speed Irízar for your recovery and hope to see you in the open sea again where you belong!

Photography Tips:
The Irízar is not as big as a cruise ship but it's still big. I took several shots of her but I decided to keep this picture. The other pictures which I took of her was a full body shot but there was lots of tourists and parked cars on the foreground and some tacky buildings on the background. There was too many unnecessary details which I could not avoid so I kept it simple and kept the most important part of the Irízar which is the bow (front part of a ship)which she uses to break ice for rescue missions. Keeping it simple refers back to one basic principal that less is more.
I used my Nikon N75 for this picture and to fix the grey dull clouds I used a cokin sunset creative filter P198.

"A ship is always referred to as "she" because it costs so much to keep one in paint and powder." -Chester W. Nimitz-

Arte Espacio - almacén de arte

2010-07-23T12:46:00.003-03:00

This is one exhibition that a lot of people have been talking about in Buenos Aires and by the looks of the participants and preperation it should be a very interesting one to go to. From Photography, Paintings and Sculpture, all going to be in one place, you´d definitely find me there. Folks, if you are in Baires, put this event on your agenda!
See you there!

Date: 16th to 20th of September 2010
Time: Thursday to Monday from 13.00 to 22.00
Location: Multiespacio Darwin, Hipódromo de San Isidro, Av. Santa Fe 35, Esq. Av. Márquez.

For more information, please visit the link below:
www.artespaciosanisidro.com.ar

The Beauty of Shadows

2010-07-23T00:13:00.002-03:00

Nothing is more beautiful than to see a woman touch her belly knowing it comforts her unborn child.

I am not going to write a long post today but I just want to remind everyone that we should take advantage of being able to manipulate light and produce shadows by positioning it well. In most color photography the effect of shadows in my opinion does not work quite as well as in black and white or as in sephia photos. In black and white nude photography for example shadows produced by a well define abdominal may look like sand dunes of beaches or deserts. Take your time and position your lights well to get the perfect shadow you want for your picture.

"Find beauty not only in the thing itself but in the pattern of the shadows, the light and dark which that thing provide." -Junichiro Tanizaki-

The Power of Three

2010-07-21T19:40:00.006-03:00

Sets of photos in one frame is something you would like to consider making. It´s fun to make but also requires you to be creative as you would have to choose multiple pictures that compliments one another into one frame. Depending what theme you choose, your sets of photos can look both professional that you can use either for your office decoration or a presentation and also a nice home decoration.
The key of making photo sets is not only the obvious facts like all the pictures must have the same theme but also the colors. The idea is to compliment in themes and colors. Choose well the colors of the frames, layers and the photos itself so it´s inviting and soft to look at.

As you can see, there are no limits when thinking of themes. The only limit to being creative like I´ve mentioned before is ourselves. The skateboard and puppy theme was pretty easy to make I must say because the main object or subject itself was in one location and usually these kind of themes just takes one session without moving to another location. Now the landscape theme was a bit of a challenge. Three photos of the same theme but 3 different landscape...but still the same theme. I was puzzled to what to take or where to go, it did took me sometime to finish and I guess the best of me along the way as I had other projects in mind that had a deadline for delivery. My personal tip for you is to never delete your photos and keep them well archived by places, types or names that you can easily remember.

Stairs

2010-07-20T01:31:00.002-03:00

High Dynamic Range(HDR)photography is both challenging and rewarding. It´s challenging because you really have to know how to set your camera for HDR and once you set it correctly you have to really know when is the right condition to take HDR especially when you are hunting for cloud effects like you see in my photo. Some days there are too little clouds and some the sky is all covered with clouds.
For those of you who are new to HDR photography, the simple way to explain it is making 2 or more photos with different light exposures into one photo. For this particular photo I used 3 different light exposures, -2, 0 and +2. I then process the tone mapping of the 3 different light exposure with a software called Photomatix Pro 3, by then I should have a very rough HDR result but still needs some smoothing to do which I do with Photoshop CS4. Originally this photo is in color but I´ve decided to convert it to black and white to show you how dramatic black and white HDR photos can be. Please refer back to my older posts for more HDR photography and the best way to convert color photos to black and white to not lose the quality of your photos.
HDR is so rewarding once you get the perfect result, somehow it´s like a surprise because you can never predict how the photo will look like until you see the end result. A very important tip though, you should always use a tripod as you will be taking 3 different light exposures meaning the camera will snap 3 times. The camera needs to be stone rock steady. You should change your camera setting from single shot to multiple shot.
Please feel free to contact me if you want to talk more about your camera setting or if you are having problems producing your HDR, I would be glad to help you out.

The Light

2010-07-17T21:01:00.006-03:00

This photo session was actually fun and unexpected, it was taken outdoors on one late afternoon on the roof of my house. The original setting was not as dark as it looks right now and there was definitely no spot light on top of the model. How I made this photo? Photoshop CS4. Before continuing on how I made this photo look the way it looks right now, I just want to say that editing in Photoshop CS4 is very easy. The tools are made user friendly and there are tons of tutorial videos on youtube on every editing scenario possible. I never went to a Photoshop course although I am thinking of attending to one but what I am trying to say is "it´s that easy." Photoshop CS4 Portable can be really handy when you are travelling. Save it in your pendrive and start editing in whatever computer you are using.

Editing Tips:
Lets move on to the fun part. I used the lighting effects in Photoshop CS4 and to locate the lighting effects tool just follow these steps; Filter --> Render --> Lighting Effects. You will now see a preview of your photo that you wish to edit and an oval looking shape with a dot in the center, left, right, bottom and top of the oval. The top dot is your source of light and use the center dot to move the source of light wherever you want within the picture and your left and right dot is how bright or dim you want the light effect to be. The narrower it is the dimmer the light becomes and on the contrary the broader it is making a circle shape like, the brighter the light will be. The top and bottom works the other way round as the left and right dot. Experiment by moving it around and press "ok" when you have found your desired light effect. Note that as you narrow down the oval using the left and right, what is left over of the picture outside the source of light range will become darker. Happy editing folks!

"Light, God´s eldest daughter" -Thomas Fuller-

Minahasa House

2010-07-15T00:12:00.002-03:00

The Minahasa House is originally from the North Sulawesi Province of Indonesia. It is recognized in Indonesia as one of the best earthquake resistant home construction suitable for tropical region. The Minahasa house is mostly made of cempaka, lingua and jati (tectona grandis) woods. There are no architects or a software involved to design and construct these traditional wooden houses. In fact, these houses are built by craftsman whose skills are passed on generation to generation by families and each generation tend to improve both materials and construction.

This picture was taken with my Nikon N75, ISO 100 black and white film and a red filter. Please refer to my older posts about how color filters may affect the outcome of your black and white photos.

"Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to." -John Ed Pearce-

Equal Rights Not Special Rights

2010-07-13T23:04:00.006-03:00

Hundreds of people gather today, 13th of July 2010 in Plaza de la Republica (The Republic Square) by the Obelisk of Buenos Aires to sing one song, dance to one rhythm and stand up for one cause; "Equal Rights for Gay Couples!" The same kind of song when women unite as one for their equal rights, the same kind of song when the African American & Black South African unite as one for their equal rights and the same kind of song we sing for our rights for housing, jobs, public accommodation, equal access for government benefits, equal protection of the law, marriage, authority to make medical decisions, handle insurance claims, receive relief aid, our rights by nature etc.

Remember that gay couples are only asking for EQUAL RIGHTS NOT SPECIAL RIGHTS.

"We will never have true civilization until we have learned to recognize the rights of others." -Will Rogers-

Before & After

2010-07-12T14:42:00.006-03:00

In this topic I would like to stress out how important it is to see a potentially good looking photo despite all obstacles. For example this old window was taken in Asuncion, Paraguay from my hotel room and there was no way to get around the cables that were hanging in front of the window as a foreground. Originally this photo was worst than it looked now because I did not save it in a different name and it was already edited half way done when I realized it but there are still some cables and details I still have to edit so it´s still a good example to make my point.
In order to edit this photo I used Photoshop CS4.

1. Converting color photo to black and white
There are many ways to convert photos to black & white in photoshop. The easiest way is to directly go to image --> Adjustments --> Black & White or image --> adjustments --> Hue / Saturation (drag behind saturation to -100). I personally would avoid doing those ways because it loses the quality of my photos and if one day someone would buy it or I might need a big resolution to make a poster it requires a high resolution quality. So my suggestion is to use layers and channels which can be found on your left bottom part of your photoshop. In the channel, you will see 4 channels of your photo. The first is RGB (Red Greed Blue)which is your original photo in color, the second is Red, third Green and fourth Blue which are your black and white photos with the effect of what color filters do to your black and white. (Please refer to my older posts about color filters for black and white photography). Choose one out of the 3 black and white photos you prefer and you may also enhance to make it brighter or darker by adjusting the levels tool.

2. Making the cables and shadows disappear.
I used the healing brush tool. Now this is a very simple yet a very powerful tool, you just need to be patient while doing this especially if you are not use to it yet. Basically this tool replaces or dissolves the cables that you want to get rid off bits by bits and you really need to be precise and careful not to make it too obvious. At times you might need to zoom in to see and edit smaller details like edges or corners.
3. Creating Textures.
If you pay attention to the right wall of the original photo, the humid stain is not quite the same as on the left wall. Using the clone stamp tool you can click on a wall with more humid stain and start stamping it on your empty wall. To make it easier, the meaning of the clone stamp tool is exactly what it says. First you need to click on a spot you want to clone and second you stamp what you just cloned to a new place. To not make the clone and stamp obvious you might want to clone on different parts of the wall and stamp it over your previous stamp to make it more look like a realistic humid stain so you have different patterns of stain on your left wall from your right wall.
Please email or leave me a comment if you have any questions and I would be really happy to help and workshop with you. If you have "teamviewer" workshops can be a lot more easier and effective.

Is this cheating? Well, that´s up to you to decide what cheating is.
For me, I like to be creative and I like challenges, editing in Photoshop is a perfect place for both creative and facing challenges. The outcome is knowledge how to edit a photo and an amazing photo that can make you cheerful.

"There is one thing one has to have: either a soul cheerful by nature, or a soul made cheerful by work, love, art and knowledge." -Friedrich Nietzsche-

Mom´s View

2010-07-10T13:28:00.005-03:00

From a slightly different angle the Salak Mountain is my mom´s view when she is in her kitchen cooking. With a view like this in front of your house, everything is done with "Paz y Amor" (Peace & Love).
The Salak Mountain last erupted in 1938 and it gave birth to Salak Mountain II, Sumbul Mountain and Kawah Ratu. That is why The Salak Mountain is considered a symbol of a mother for the local people. Salak Mountain is now a non-active volcanic mountain and is one of the favorite hiking destination in West Java.
This is a HDR (High Dyanamic Range) type of photography and later processed to another software which helps you tone map your photos called the Photomatix Pro. Basically you need 2 or more photos of the same angle with different exposure to make one single HDR photo and this is where Photomatix Pro will help you with a simple process of tone mapping the colors according to your preference. You can choose to edit the contrast in photoshop or picasa if you see it´s necessary.
Find out how powerful HDR photos can look.
"I remember my mother´s prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life." -Abraham Lincoln-

Perito Moreno Glacier, Argentina

2010-07-09T22:56:00.003-03:00

Sometimes going the distance pays it all off especially if you know that you will be potentially taking amazing scenery like the glaciers. It´s almost once in a lifetime chance so be well prepared, get geared up and avoid regretting it in the future. I brought the subject of getting well prepared up because a dear friend of mine who was beside me when I took this shot did not have the same results not only for this particular shot but the whole 4 days excursion. You can imagine how devastated she was when she went to pick up the results. All that could have been avoided by having a check-list. I know everybody has their own check-list and some don´t really need one but this is the almost ritual check-list I do before traveling.

1. Charge the batteries. If you have more than one charge them all.
2. Clean the camera, lense & filters.
3. Pack your camera cleaning kit.
4. Pack your multi electrical sockets adapter kit (Each country have different
electrical socket entry)
5. Pack lots of camera rolls if you are still using manual cameras.
6. Check & pack tripod
7. Check & pack flash, including batteries
8. Bring along an external hard disc to store your photos and empty your memory card.
9. Bring camera manual guide
10.Pack number 1 & 2

I hope you find the check-list above useful and remember to check & re-check.

Puffies

2010-07-09T03:58:00.005-03:00

Clouds in black and white photography can be so dramatic. I took these pictures from a bus from Entre Rios to Capital Federal, Buenos Aires. When taking shots of clouds be sure that the sun is not too strong behind the clouds because if you do not pay attention to that small detail, your picture, when you convert it to black and white will be too white or bright even if you try making it darker. Remember there is not much you can do to edit with excessive bright photos, on the other hand, if you have a dark photo you can still save it by making it brighter with any photo enhancement software application like photoshop or picasa just to name a few.
Black and white photography these days is made easier to produce, take a shot with your digital camera and convert it to black and white with a software. However, if you are using non DSLR (Digital Single-Lense Reflex) or digital pocket camera and prefer to use a manual camera keep in mind that in black and white photography you might want to use a color filter to have your perfect black and white photo. Here are some theories what effects color filters will do to your black and white that you might want to take into consideration.

Yellow Filter - Makes your yellows, oranges and red subjects to become lighter.
Orange Filter - Darkens your blues and greens while lightens your oranges and reds.
Blue Filter: - Making reds and oranges become slightly darker and blues and greens slightly lighter.
Red Filter: - Makes blue and green very dark while making pink and orang almost white. Red becomes almost orange color.
Green Filter: - Makes blue and green lighter and on the contrary makes red and orange darker.

"Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky." -Rabindranath Tagore-

Dawn

2010-07-08T21:33:00.002-03:00

The dawn is definitely one of the best time of the day to take pictures. The natural silhouette of the fog gives that soft yet dramatic look factor to your shot. You cannot make a mistake and will always come home with a smile when you look at all the pictures you have taken. Keep in mind that you don´t have to go to an open field to get the best of dawn, even in cities when the fog is still thick in the early morning covering some top parts of buildings or a canal covering some parts of a bridge are some examples you can take into consideration. It does not matter what camera you bring along with you and it does not require complicated settings that you should worry about, the only thing is to not use your flash. Oh one more thing, waking up early in the morning could be really hard for some but a early night sleep and a good alarm should do the trick.
"Lose an hour in the morning, and you will be all day hunting for it." -Richard Whately-

The Door

2010-07-08T14:03:00.005-03:00

Doors are sometimes interesting to look at. It´s definitely something that most people or photographers take for granted. There are lots of potential unique doors out there that are just waiting to be discovered the same goes for door knobs, door locks etc. Hunting tips for unique doors are definitely the grave yards or old houses. This shot was taken in Recoleta Cemetary in Buenos Aires, Argentina. As you can see it is a simple shot and the truth is, it was easy.
"When one door is closed, don´t you know, another is open" -Bob Marley-

Robert Mapplethorpe Exhibition "Eros and Order"

2010-07-07T23:39:00.003-03:00

Series :Floral Still Lifes, Sculptures, Nude Men & Women, Homoerotic &
Sadomasochism, Portraits of Famous Artists.
Guest Curator :Anne Tucker
When :4 June 2010 - 2 August 2010
Location :Malba - Museo de Arte Latioamericano de Buenos Aires (Gallery 5,
2nd Floor)
Address :Avenida Figeroa Alcorta 3415

I am Beautiful

2010-07-07T17:38:00.004-03:00

I have always wanted to have shots of flowers in my collection so I decided to take mom´s pot of yellow flowers to my room and turned out the lights and started working with one light source which is my desk lamp directly over the pot. Working with flowers indoors is very easy because they do not jump around like animals do and the challenge here is your creativity. Move the light around, discover by putting it in different position you see the light effects on the delicate texture of the petals.

Compliment the main color of your flower with another color. This could be done by color background or in my case i put a fallen single petal of a small purple flower on the big yellow petals. There is no limit to creativity unless you limit your self.
Focusing is also the key for a successful close up or semi micro shots. You don´t want to focus on the edges of the flower as it will blur the inner part of the flower too much. The same thing as you don´t want to focus what is closest to your lense for example the stamina of the flower itself as it will blur most of the furthest part of the flower. You want to focus between the closest and the furthest of the subject when taking close up or semi micro shots to get the most of your subjent.
No flower was harmed during the making of this photo.
"Each flower is a soul blossoming out to nature" -Gerard De Nerval-

Mango Lady

2010-07-07T12:26:00.002-03:00

Our last day in Kuta Beach Bali was wrapped up eating mangos on the beach, beautiful sunset and a wonderful photo of this lady who just came to sell us her mangos and for a nice chit chat.
Travel Tip:
In kuta beach, there will be a lot of people trying to sell you something. From foot massage, souvenirs, cold drinks, surfing lessons and fruits. Be nice when you refuse what they offer and don´t believe that they are there to only rip you off. If you decide to buy something you can bargain the price to as low as you want but please be always nice because they live from what they can sell each day.
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." -Dalai Lama-

Face Landscape

2010-07-07T11:58:00.004-03:00

Human curves in black and white photography has always caught my attention. In this particular picture I concentrated on face profile with a soft back lighting to bring out the lines.
Landscape like pictures can be made out of the curves from the human body depending of the position of the lighting creating lines and shadows.
I used my Panasonic DMC-FX12 camera for this shot with shutter speed of 10/100sec and focal length of 6mm. The room must be dark with only one light source, preferably at the back of the subject. Play around with the position of the light at the back, i slightly positioned it 10 to 20 degree towards the face to get the most lighting on the profile.

Angels Sleep Too

2010-07-07T02:14:00.005-03:00

I usually don´t take pictures of angels in the graveyard but this one was different, it didn´t give me the chills. I also love the fact that it was taking a nap, an angel sleeping on duty is a rare sight so I decided to take this picture.
The location of this graveyard is in Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the same location of Evita Peron´s resting place. It´s a must "go visit" place especially during the weekends where just outside the graveyard is a handy craft market of local artists.
I took this picture with my Nikon N75 camera and a ISO 100 black and white roll. The setting was set to automatic and it should work well with any camera. The thing that makes the difference is the angle where you take the shot and what you capture also within the shot. I minimized capturing what ever was around it and concentrated on the angel itself.

Abbey The Cat

2010-07-07T01:44:00.003-03:00

It´s one of those days when you need to clean your room thoroughly with the windows and curtains wide open to let the sun light in and change your bed sheets when I took this photo. Abbey just love being on my way every time I have to do something. Well, luckily the lighting and the pose was great, so i grabbed my camera and took this shot. Fortunately it turned out well cause she ran away after she heard the shutter made a noise.
It is a bit tricky taking pictures of animals especially animals that are hard to train how to "stay" like a dog for example but it´s always rewarding. I did not have any special camera setting for this spontaneous shot. Frankly the setting was on automatic and this picture has been enhanced by Photoshop CS4. I played around with the dark and light curves to make the white brighter and Abbey herself slightly darker for the contrast.

Salinas Grande

2010-02-08T20:26:00.010-03:00

The third largest Salt Flats in the world or also known as Salinas Grande is located on the border between the Argentine provinces of Jujuy and Salta. From Purmamarca village, it is a 126km adventurous and unforgettable up hill trip. It is a constant breath taking mountain sceneries and reaching 4,140m above sea level, a glimpse of the first panoramic view of the Salinas Grande can be admired. Arriving there, you will be over whelmed by the vast white space of salt that stretches up to approximately 1,500 square kilometers.

Look out for children that may appear from no where while driving, they usually just want to greet you or sell you some interesting fish fossils. Whether or not those fossils are genuine the interaction with the children could be interesting, a conversation of their point of view living in the middle of nowhere can be a new insight.
Travel Tips:
When reaching high altitudes, remember that it is easy to get tired so do everything slow as oxygen is very thin especially if you have tendencies of low blood pressure. Chewing coca leaves are common amongst indigenous communities to overcome fatigue particularly effective against altitude sickness and the good thing about it is that it does not cause the euphoric and psychoactive effects associated with use of the drug. The coca leaves are sold in local markets on the way to the Salinas Grande for $5,- (Argentine pesos) a bag.
You might likely want to find accommodation in San Salvador, the capital of Jujuy. For more adventurous back packers there are lots of amazing camping sites to choose from such as "El Carmen Camping" which offers lots of out doors activity.
Photography Tips:
The mountains of Jujuy are all photogenic, you don´t have to be a professional photographer to take amazing photos. The main photo of this site was taken in Jujuy with my Nikon N75 camera and a graduated colored Cokin filter which is great to use for dramatic color effects. The black and white pictures I took also with my Nikon N75 except with a ISO100 black and white film. Remember the RGB rules on black and white photography. See my photography tips on black and white photography in my older posts.

Kecak Dance, Bali

2010-02-06T16:20:00.011-03:00

In Bali, life circles around religion, art and traditional dance. There are lots of well known Balinese traditional dance like the barong, legong and pendet to name a few but the kecak dance is definitely a dance you must see when visiting Bali. The kecak dance is like no other, the deep chant chorus "chak chak chak" of sometimes up to 150 bare chested men waving their hands and swaying their bodies definitely makes the kecak dance one of the most dramatic dance. It tells the story of the Hindu epic Ramayana where Prince Rama rescues Princess Sita from the evil King Ravana by the help of monkey-like Vanara. This particular dance does not require the traditional gamelan instrument, it is accompanied by voices of chants and singing which really does give goose-bumps and an experience to tell your family and friends.
Travel Tips:
There are lots of places in Bali where you can see the Kecak Dance, hotels and local theaters are the common places. However, if you want to watch the kecak dance with an amazing natural background view of the Balinese sunset, Uluwatu is the place to go.
It takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes to go to Uluwatu so I suggest to rent a car and preferably with a driver. Car rentals in Bali are considerably cheap and the drivers are very honest and friendly. Most drivers in Bali speaks English and some even speaks Japanese.
Photography Tips:
If you decide to watch the Kecak dance in Uluwatu, keep in mind that it starts just before the sun sets fully so expect to take photos in low light condition. Unfortunately, taking a moving object in low light conditions is not easy at all. For sure, you will be playing around with your exposure settings but here are the rules of exposures; with long exposures it will permit more lights into the camera but any moving object will come out blurry whereas with short exposures it will freeze any motion of your subject but it will be a dark photo. So what do you do? High ISO and wide aperture to cut exposure time for hand held shot.
This photo was taken with sufficient light, so I did not really have to worry about low light settings but I mentioned this tip because in situations like these you want to take home a great photo to add up your travel album. If it was a little bit more darker when I shot this I think I would have set it to ISO 1600, f/2.8 and 1/40sec. I edited this photo with Adobe Photoshop CS4 to bring out the dramatic effects but other photo editing software more or less can do the same trick.

Uluwatu Temple, Bali

2010-02-04T22:02:00.008-03:00

Uluwatu temple can be found at the southern tip of Bali in Badung Regency. It is one of the oldest temple in Bali. Located at the edge of a plateau 250 feet above the legendary surf break of the Bukit Peninsula, it is no doubt one of the top list majestic view Bali has to offer. The reason why the temple was built on the south westernmost part of the island is to protect the Balinese from the evil spirit of the ocean.
It is beautiful to see the temple during a sunny day or even on rainy days but at sunset, the view takes your breath away.
Below the steep cliff of Uluwatu, the beach is famous amongst very experienced surfers for its tides and swells.
Organized parties rage the beach of Uluwatu during full moon, everyone is invited and welcome but only those who are lucky enough to know and hear about it so ask the locals when you know a full moon is comming up.
Travel Tips:
One of the best kecak dance shows in Bali is held in Uluwatu and it is highly recommended to see the kecak dance there. It is an open air show so the view of the sunset on the background is unbelievable. When it rains, the show is held indoors. While it is not necessary to have a tour guide to see the temple and the show, a car with or without paying a driver is necessary to get to Uluwatu. It takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes from Kuta area and about 45 minutes from Nusa Dua. Hostels are amongst young tourists means of accommodation near the beach of Uluwatu especially amongst surfers. There are lots of varieties of food selection but seafood is the most ordered menu.
Warning, there are lots of monkeys around the temple, although some are considered cute and calm others can be mischievous so I suggest take off your glasses, earrings, necklaces, cameras and ladies, hold on tight to your hand bags because once the monkey get a hold on something, it is a very hard task to chase after them. Some just wants you to feed them fruits that you can buy at the entrance.
Photography Tips:
It is important to arrive at a potential amazing sunset or sunrise spots like Uluwatu about half an hour to 45 minutes before it actually happens. The duration of sunset generally is more or less half an hour so if you don´t come early enough you might miss out the take your breath moment so bare this in mind. Another general tips about sunset and sunrise is to know the weather. I prefer a little bit of clouds to get the dramatic effects of the patterns in the sky or even smokes and dusts to give that Marlboro Country advertisement look. Which lenses to use? personally I use either my normal 35mm or my zoom to concentrate more on one magical scene. Don´t forget to bring your tripod if you are planning to use your zoom to avoid shaking. Taking sunsets is very easy and there is no right or wrong but also pay attention on your shutter priority mode to get different exposure shots of your sunset for you to choose which of the light effects you like the most.
Don´t go home without having a beautiful sunset photo to add up in your album especially the sunset of the Uluwatu temple.

Granada, Spain

2010-02-03T21:03:00.007-03:00

The city of Granada is placed at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains where The Alhambra, a Moorish citadel and palace is located. The complete form is actually Calat Alhambra or pronounced in Arabic, Al-Qal'at al-Ḥamrā which means "the red fortress". When going to Granada, the Alhambra Palace should be in the number one in your "must visit" places. Inside the palace you can walk in the beautiful gardens and passages and see the amazing architecture with Arabic writings carved on the walls of the building. Reaching on one of the top parts of the tower, the district of Albayzin can be seen in its most majestic angle. It is a view you don´t imagine seeing in Europe but there she is, posing to feed our hearts and be mesmerized.
Granada is also well known for its prestigious University of Granada built in 1531 by Emperor Carlos V. The university receives 10,000 international students for it´s success Spanish language and culture, and Hispanic Studies courses. Where there are lots of international students, it makes the city even more colorful and rich of culture, not to mention the vibrant night life it offers.
Travel Tips:
Alhambra palace is on top of a hill so unless you are a strong walker I suggest taking the 30 and the 32 line (public bus) from the center of the city which takes you to the main entrance of the palace. Once you arrive in the entrance, you can ask for a tour guide to show you around the palace for a descent price or you can always buy a cheap book about the palace.
Hotels or hostels and other sorts of accommodation is so easy to find. In case you are staying for a long period of time, being a student city you can always find a home stay with the local families.
Photography Tips:
I took this photo with my Nikon N75 and used a black and white roll film and also a red filter. I used to carry 2 N75s around with me, for black and white and color photography. Nowadays you can always convert from color to black and white using any photo editing software.
Black and white photography brings out lines and details somehow in color photography we take for granted, dark windows and contrast is among the few. I mentioned about using a red filter, well you can also experience the effects of other colored filter can do to your black and white photography when using a black and white film. Here are some explanation for different color filter for black and white films to dramatically alter the tones:
Yellow Filter - Makes your yellows, oranges and red subjects to become lighter.
Orange Filter - Darkens your blues and greens while lightens your oranges and reds.
Blue Filter: - Making reds and oranges become slightly darker and blues and greens slightly lighter.
Red Filter: - Makes blue and green very dark while making pink and orang almost white. Red becomes almost orange color.
Green Filter: - Makes blue and green lighter and on the contrary makes red and orange darker.

The Giant Metal Flower, Argentina

2010-02-01T20:24:00.018-03:00

The Floris Genérica or also well known as The Giant Metal Flower can be found in Plaza Naciones Unidas (United Nations Plaza) on the Figeroa Alcorta Avenue. It was designed by the architect Eduardo Catalano and was erected in the year 2002. Catalano wanted this flower to symbolize all flowers of the world. The giant flower opens and closes its petals depending the hour of the day, in the morning the petals opens and during the night it closes. The process of opening and closing the petals according to many people mimics the movement of a real flower, it takes about 20 minutes to fully open and close all 6 petals. However, during festive days such as September 21st (Spring Day), May 25th (The Argentine Revolution Day), December 24th (Christmas Eve) and December 31st (New Year´s Eve) the flower is open all day and fireworks lights up the sky with its beautiful colors and glitters above it during Christmas and New Year´s eve.
Travel Tips:
Bring at least a bottle of water during summer if you decide to walk to get there. The temperature can reach up to 40°C / 104°F and you really want to appreciate this flower in a pleasant mood. Most hostels usually have a bicycle rent but it can also easily be reached by public transportation.
Photography Tips:
As beautiful as it looks in real life, the giant metal flower is not as photogenic as it seems at least in my opinion. I have taken this flower many times, lucky for me I live in Buenos Aires so I can always come back to this spot and retake it anytime but for tourists staying for only a couple of days, the results can be disappointing if you do not think it through. Also, when visiting this flower alone, a tripod would come really handy if you want to come out in the photo with the flower. The plaza can be really full of tourists or you can be the only one there. Don´t be shy to ask someone to take you a picture if you see other tourists, it´s worth it.
I took this photo with my Nikon SLR (Single Lense Reflex) D70. It´s a great camera and user friendly. Read the specs and get it if you are thinking about getting an SLR camera. Although other SLR camera these days are also as good.
For this particular photo, I decided to make HDR (High Dynamic Range) out of it and processed it in a software called the Photomatix Pro designed to help you tone mapping the photos. A final touch of brightness and contrast with Photoshop CS3. If you happen to have Photoshop CS2 the HDR function is already introduced in it. Basically HDR is combining several differently exposed images to produce a single HDR image. I self taught myself taking HDR images from youtube but there are tons of tips and techniques in the internet, take advantage of it! Discover the powerful images an HDR can do.

La Boca, Argentina

2010-01-31T02:38:00.011-03:00

La Boca is one of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires´s 48 barrio (neighborhood). It is the home of the great Boca Juniors, one of the world´s best known football clubs. It´s colorful houses and lively pedestrian street "el caminito" has made la boca a popular tourist attraction. Walking along the street your pace is accompanied by the graceful tango music. Now if that´s not enough, dine in any restaurant in la boca and you will be treated a live tango show where you can also take pictures with the friendly dancers. Although, Argentina has the best meat ever, but when dining in La Boca make sure to order the variety of the fish main course.
La Boca is not too far from the Obelisk of Buenos Aires so there is no need to worry about public transportation and accommodations.
An important note to consider, although during the day La Boca is a beautiful tourist attraction, by night, I can´t say the same.
Photography Tips:
This picture was taken with my Nikon N75 camera. I could have taken a picture of the whole street of the "el caminito", but there was too many people and I always like to keep a little touch of art in my photos so I had to find the best angle and this is the outcome. Don´t be afraid to move around and place your self in what you feel is the best angle to take the picture and pay attention to the line details because if it´s angle you are after then line is inevitable.

Obelisco de Buenos Aires, Argentina

2010-01-30T20:10:00.014-03:00

The Obelisk of Buenos Aires. Located in the Plaza de la República (Republic Square) where the Argentine flag was flown for the first time in Buenos Aires. It was built in May 1936 and it stands 67 meters in height. Believe it or not, it´s construction took less than four weeks. Nowadays, the Republic Square is sometimes used as a public venue for cultural events and other important local gatherings for sports fans especially football. The local Racing fans filled the square with the sound of drumming, singing and victory when their team won the title of the "Apertura" Argentine League in 2001. It will definitely be the hot spot when Argentina play in the World Cup 2010 in South Africa. In the quieter days, you can enjoy the cafes and restaurants surrounding the square or even buy yourself a nice souvenir handy crafts. The Republic Square is also a walking distance to the famous Florida street, it is a pedestrian street with loads of shops and at night the Florida street converts to be a local night market where the locals sells their handy-crafts and their street performers shows off their skill in comedy acts, singing and even the famous tango dance. Accommodation is easy to find around the Obelisk, amongst young people hostels are the target. Most hostels in Buenos Aires offers great prices, activities such as tango shows, football matches, Spanish lessons, volunteer work, walking tours, city tours and pub crawl. What a way to really get to know the city and the people.
Photography Tips:
This picture was taken in 2004. I used my Nikon N75 and slowed down the shutter speed. Aperture f22, Exposure up to 30 seconds. If you don´t know how to play around with your shutter speed, I suggest you look it up and start practicing. The Buenos Aires Obelisk is at its sexiest look at night with some slow shutter speed effects.