Shags
Apr, 2016Views
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
Rotorua, Bay Of Plenty, New Zealand. Double exposure photo. The background was taken from my carport, looking up to a bush covered mountain in the rain. The other shot was taken at Sulphur Point on the dead manuka tree which is on the edge of Lake RotoruaTime
The background was taken 10am in the morning. The foreground was taken around 6pm just on dusk.Lighting
The lighting with the rain on the background was reasonably diffused due to the heavy rain. The foreground shags were taken with the sun setting so they were back lit like a silhouetteEquipment
Canon 550D. 24 to 105 Canon lens. No Tripod. Hand held.Inspiration
I often take the view from my front gate because it is always changing with the weather. I like misty, mysterious, soft edged, textured, multi layered photos and the New Zealand native bush often looks this way, especially in the golden hours or when it is misty or rainy I am a great fan of birds. No birds are ignored, even shags who are often considered a pest by fishermen. At Sulphur Point in Rotorua there are many birds around and they are used to being photographed and are reasonably close to the shore so I have lots of files of them. I prefer photos to look lile paintings because i am an artist and art teacher. So I am frequently layering photos upon photos to see what surprises the juxtapositions do.Editing
I processed both of the photos in photo shop. Made them the same size.Opened both of them. Placed one over top of each other in layers. Then applied various effects to them. Scrolled down through the effect until I found one i liked.In my camera bag
550 D Canon DSLR, 24 to 105 Canon series L lens, 50mm sigma Macro lens, spare batteries, Cable release, Tripod, spare cards.Feedback
Take lots of shots of textures of bush and plants and silhouettes.Try to restrict camera shooting to early morning golden light and early evening golden light. Spend a lot of time with nature, Meditate before you begin for 10 minutes and the universe will show you what you are supposed to shoot. Don't try and plan everything down to the nth degree. Embrace happy accidents and focus on freedom and a restricted colour palette. Try taking shots in the rain but protect camera. Set up a file called Double exposures. Make lots and lots of them, so you obtain a huge collection. Post them to facebook and to Viewbug so you can get a feel for what people like. Put your camera on AV. Also try taking some macro shots. Try layering lots of photos on top of each other. Experiment and have fun.
