Technique Tuesday!

I can't believe it's Tuesday,

We had a great group of photographers in Columbus, OH yesterday. One of the highlights was that my buddy, Bob Hughes and his wife Elaine were able to set up an on-location shoot for us over at Jefferson Mansion. This is the former home of the governor of Ohio. It has since been donated to the city park board and is a favorite venue for parties and weddings. We weren't able to get inside, but that was fine. The grounds were beautiful. On top of that, we were able to hook up the computer and electronics outside so I was able to shoot wirelessly and the class could see the images instantaneously. This has proven to be a great way to ramp up the learning process at my workshops. After our session at the mansion we headed back to our meeting room and wrapped the program there. We were supposed to end at 6:00 p.m., but the class agreed to stay an extra hour which let me cover some additional material. We wrapped at 7:00 p.m. and were on the road back to Cincy by 8:30 p.m. A very nice day.

It's Technique Tuesday Again so How About Some Techniques

Flash Flavor - Nice Shot:
Matt Adcock over at Flash Flavor has a nice post which shows an easy filtered flash technique that produced a really nice reception shot. I wasn't going to swipe his pic so head over to his site to check it out. He had his assistant place a red gel over the remote flash and pointed it at the floor. He took the shot from over head to get a great perspective and terrific image. Check out Matt's great image and whole story right here.

Variation On a Theme - The "Pole Cam:"
I think Matt used some kind of painter's pole for supporting his camera. I've had my friend Kent Smith tell me about such a painter's pole at Lowe's. I still need to check it out. Anyway, for about three years now, I have been using a mono-pod to get the same result. I call it my "Pole Cam". I attach my Canon 30D with Sigma 8mm Fisheye lens to the monopod, manually focus on the subject, set the self timer to 10 seconds, put the wide angle diffuser over my Canon 580EX flash, and hit the shutter. As the the count gets to about 7 seconds, I lift the "Pole Cam" and hang it over the crowd and let the camera take the shot. It's a great perspective for a great image. By the way, the same technique works just as well if you put the camera on the floor and have the crowd look down at it. Here is a little slide that shows the various room shots and party images I capture with my "Pole Cam."


More on Infrared Photography and More:
I knew I had another lead on Infrared camera conversions around here somewhere. I finally found it. The company is called MadMax.com and they do IR conversions on just about anything - cameras, video recorders, etc. Not only that, but they also do "Image Enhancement" modifications to cameras, too. Their first page shows how they have improved the resolution of a Canon 5D. They have a fascinating site. Check it out right here. While you are there, check out their IR imaging devices - so "James Bond."

Picture Doctor: 3 Ways to Polarize Properly:
Placing a polarizing filter over your lens can really enhance you landscape images. The sky can be made darker and it can reduce or enhance reflections - it all depends on how the filter is oriented on your camera. Here is a nice (and short) article on the topic over at Pop Photo. I also like the nice "kicker" link in the article which discusses "Photographic Filters" vs. Photoshop. A quick read with good info - check it out right here.

Don't forget - check out our Photoshop tutorial "Touch of Color - With a Twist" next.

See everybody tomorrow. --David