Category: Photography

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Photography

Sensory Overload – The Old Fart Photographer

Copyright Douglas P Brauner

Simple Tricks for Taking Gorgeous Fall Pictures

Cottonwood Lake, Colorado
Cottonwood Lake, Colorado

It had been a long day of taking pictures. My friend, Gary, and I had been on the road since 3:00 am. It was fall in the Rockies and we planned to reach the top of Cottonwood Pass by sunrise, and now it was towards sunset. We had traveled to Tincup’s old cemetery, spent time taking pictures at a couple of Beaver ponds, and enjoyed an amazing vista at the top of Cumberland Pass. We had one more stop before we lost the light of sun. Before heading in to Buena Vista, we stopped at Cottonwood Lake.

My senses were not prepared for what I saw. At the end of Cottonwood Lake were aspen at their colorful peak. Not only were their leaves yellow and green, but many of them were pink. As I walked among the trees I was shouting, “I’m on sensory overload.” Now, understand that I was feeling a bit sleep deprived by this time and I’m sure that Gary would have appreciated a little peace and quiet, but it was truly an amazing spectacle.

I was able to capture a few good pics, but I wasn’t thinking straight. I was so caught up in the beauty that I didn’t slow down and think before I pressed the shutter button. Here are a few tips for you so that you don’t make the same mistake this fall.

  1. BREATHE: Take a few deep breaths before you start taking pictures. Sit back and look over the entire scene. Enjoy the beauty of God’s canvas before you start thinking about composition and camera settings. Walk among the trees looking up and down, and notice what the light is doing as it passes through the leaves. Burn a picture of this scene on your brain before you open your shutter to capture this parade of pigments. You might come home with fewer pictures, but ones with which you are satisfied.
  2. Tincup Cemetery, Tincup, Colorado
    Tincup Cemetery, Tincup, Colorado

    SPEND TIME THINKING ABOUT COMPOSITION: An important question to ask yourself when taking pictures of the fall colors is, what’s my subject? As a friend reminded me, the dominant feature of fall is color, but color itself is probably not your subject. You’ve probably done the same thing that I have. You’ve taken a picture of some beautiful leaves thinking that you’ve got this amazing shot which would make for a masterpiece above your mantel. However, your picture isn’t interesting. It’s just color. Again, ask yourself, what’s my subject?  Think about leading lines to draw the viewer deeper into your picture. Notice what’s in the background. What needs to be included and excluded from your picture?

  3. IT’S ALL ABOUT LIGHT: Backlight the leaves if you want to make them pop.  Backlight is when the sun is in front of you and passes through the leaves. Notice how the light and shadows fall on the leaves. You might even capture the sun as a starburst through the trees. To do this, stop your camera down to a small aperture (f/18, f/22) and slightly under expose your picture.
  4. Lutheran Valley Ranch, Colorado
    Lutheran Valley Ranch, Colorado

    GET ON YOUR BELLY: The light passing through the leaves creates a pleasingly warm light on the ground. The plants and fallen leaves make for an interesting picture, especially if the light is spotted on a few plants and not on others. And don’t forget about macro photography as newly fallen leaves carpet the ground. These contrasting colors, along with both light and moisture, can make a spectacular photo.

  5. BE CREATIVE: Let your personality come through in your pictures. Three people can take pictures of the same scene, yet each picture will be strikingly different from the others. Why? Because, like the leaves, each person behind the camera is a uniquely crafted masterpiece of God. Nobody sees the world like you do. Let your God-given personality shine through.

These five points are not an exhaustive list. Look for other blogs by other photographers to help you go deeper into capturing these amazing fall scenes. Most of all have fun. That’s what photography is all about.

Text and Pictures Copyright Douglas P Brauner

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Photography

Three Skills to Improve Your Photography…Even with a Cell Phone, Part One

The Old Fart Photographer

Okay, so I, Doug Brauner, am The Old Fart Photographer (thanks Terry Reed for the name). Even though everyone will benefit from these blogs, they are intended for people entering the seasoned time of life. Photography is a wonderful hobby that doesn’t require a second mortgage, and is a source of fun and memories.

My memory isn’t as sharp as it once was. Fortunately, I still remember by wife’s name and birthday as well as our anniversary but I can’t say the same about my grandsons (or at least calling them the right name). People who have memories like an elephant have few problems with most photography blogs and Youtube videos. “30 Tips for Fantastic Photos.” “Ten Top Camera Accessories for Your Next Vacation.” “15 Tricks to Make Your Photos Look Like Ansel Adam’s.”

I can only handle three tips. So, I thought I’d write a blog with my top three suggestions for improving your pictures. Three has that kind of three stooges ring to it; Curly, Larry and…and…and…Moe. (Hey, I knew it would eventually come.)

Tip #1: Fill your camera’s LCD or viewfinder with the object of your affection
Tip #2: Play Tic-Tac-Toe with your pictures (I win!)
Tip #3: Seeing 3D in a 2D world

Yes, there are many other tips that will help you create better pictures, but lets start with these three and infuse them into our brains so that when we’re sitting in our nursing home rocking chairs we’ll keep repeating them to the nurse.

Tip #1: Fill your camera’s LCD or viewfinder with the object of your affection

We see a very large picture when we’re standing at Old Faithful. Our eyes capture a nearly 180 degree, wide-angle view. Yes, the corners are a little blurry and lack color, but God made the human eye to do much more than any camera lens.

Old FaithfulEven though we can see such a wide picture with our eyes, our brain can hone in on a very small part of what we see. We remove all the distractions from Old Faithful as though it is the only thing we see.

That works with the human eye in a 3D world, but not on a 4×6, 2D print of Old Faithful.

Many times I took in a roll of film to local Kodak kiosk, or later, the one hour photo department at Walgreen’s and was disappointed because the object of my affection was lost in vast array of nothingness. I didn’t fill my frame with the object I was shooting. Why? Let me muse a moment.

  • I thought that what I was capturing was powerful enough to grab my attention in a 2D world.
  • I didn’t want to cut anything out of the picture.
  • More than likely, though, I wasn’t thinking (normal Doug Brauner behavior)

So, if you want a picture that grabs your attention and says, “Yes, that’s my love!” then I have two suggestions for you (again, trying to keep things simple).

  1. After you have zoomed in on your subject, zoom in a little more.
  2. Use your feet to get closer to your subject.

Simple, right?

Let’s tackle the first suggestion. I have three different zoom lenses for my camera. Let’s say that I’m using by Sony 18-55mm kit lens to take a picture of Pikes Peak from the Garden of the Gods (not like I haven’t done that before). I picture a nice wide-angle shot that takes in a bit of the rest of the surrounding mountains. I zoom my lens to what looks like a good picture, step back for the camera for a moment, then zoom in a little tighter. More times than not my first picture wasn’t zoomed enough.

55 mm
55 mm
70 mm
70 mm
120 mm
120 mm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TIP: Take two pictures, the first at your initial zoom range, then zoom in a little tighter and take another picture then compare them.

The second suggestion will work better than the first in certain situations. To solve the problem of your picture looking like a shot of faithful from outer space use your feet to zoom in a little closer. Let me get a little geeky on you for a moment.

The world you see with the naked eye is similar to a 50mm lens on your old 35mm film camera (or on a full frame digital camera…another blog. Ugh). In other words, there is little to no compression of your picture. The picture will look much like what you saw with your own eyes.  Zooming in on a person or object compresses the picture like a peanut butter sandwich you accidentally sat on. The background is closer than what you remembered as well as the foreground.

If you want the picture to look like what you remember seeing, many times its best to move your feet and get closer to your subject (besides, think of the health benefits of a few extra steps).

Remember, you want to fill your LCD or viewfinder with the object of your affection. It captured your attention, now you want to make sure it stands out when you print it or display it on your computer. You will be amaze at the difference this one little tip will make.

Next up for the Old Fart Photograher: Playing tic-tac-toe with your pictures. (I win!)

Copyright Douglas P Brauner

Categories
Photography

So, I Can’t “Climb Every Mountain”

Copyright Douglas P Brauner

(I captured all the pictures in this blog while in my fifties, most of them in my late fifties.)

The Old Fart Photographer

Photography encourages us to embrace our limitations.

Okay, so I’m (Doug Brauner) The Old Fart Photographer (thanks Terry Reed for the name). I have a series of blogs planned for people who are entering the Seasoned time of life. Photography is a wonderful hobby that doesn’t need a second mortgage on your house.  But don’t let that scare you off if your, say, a twenty-something. These blogs will help all of us enjoy this special pastime.

Our brains say we’re twenty but our bodies speak the truth.

We still fantasize about driving a golf ball 300 yards, hanging out with friends until three in the morning, and playing guitar with Eric Clapton. (Okay, so the lat fantasy is mine and has nothing to do with physical limitations.) The fact is that many of us are physically limited by the process of aging.

Copyright Douglas P Brauner
Copyright Douglas P Brauner

My best friend today is Ibuprofen as I’ve wrestled with back pain for a several years. Not only do I struggle with back pain, but a new joint in my big toe has affected the pace at which I walk. A few years back I summited my first fourteen thousand foot peak. The climb was difficult, but the descent was even more painful on my knees.

I still want to do the things I did when I was in my twenties and thirties, but my body tells me to forget it.

Copyright Douglas P Brauner
Copyright Douglas P Brauner

I’d be okay with all of this if it weren’t for the three photography magazines I read. These magazines are not oriented toward us seasoned photographers. Photographers write about beautiful mountain top vistas that I’d love to reach, but I know I never will. I’d love to carry my tripod to the top of one of these peaks and catch a morning sunrise, or capture a pristine alpine lake, but most days I’d probably be endangering my life (okay, so I exaggerate).

We have two choices as older photographers.

Choice #1: Giving up photography

We can choose to give up and declare that the art of photography is a young person’s hobby and profession. That’s a tough pill to swallow. I can’t imagine saying that I’m finished with photography and giving my equipment to some relative or putting it up for sale on eBay, yet this might feel like the only choice for some of us.

Since we can’t climb every mountain, and maybe not even a mole hill, we’re tempted to give up. We lose our vision for photography because we can’t capture what our hearts desire.

Choice #2: Embracing our limitations
Copyright Douglas P Brauner
Copyright Douglas P Brauner

A better choice is to embrace our limitations and take pictures anyway. We’re not dead yet. There is no gravestone with our name on it and an inscription which quotes Mark 14:8, “She did what she could.” We might not move as fast, as far, or as often as we once did, but we can still push a shutter button, decide what aperture to use, and edit our pictures.

Our limitations have a way of slowing us down, and in this process of slowing down we look at the world differently than in our younger days. Notice that I said we see the world differently. I didn’t say that this perspective was better or worse. We have fifty plus years of experience, something a person in their twenties doesn’t have.  More than likely we’ve seen more joys and sorrows, mountains and valleys, strife and forgiveness than when we were a twenty-something.

Copyright Douglas P Brauner
Copyright Douglas P Brauner

The world will miss our perspective of life if we laid down our cameras and gave up.

Pictures tell a story and we need to tell these stories along with those of younger people. We older people make an important contribution to this story telling magic, so, instead of feeling sorry for ourselves, it’s time to embrace our limitation; to embrace our worldview and share it with the world

Copyright Douglas P Brauner