Hey Ya'll ! Hope you've had a great week! Me? Pretty good! This week I want to talk about a subject that will improve your photography by leaps and bounds. We as photographers are always trying to find the magic cure or recipe to great photography. We try new gear or special editing techniques. We download all sorts of presets hoping some other photographer has found the magic combination of settings in Lightroom. But there really isn't any secret sauce! The key is to keep it simple. Make your photo's simple. How do we make a photograph that will catch someone's eye? It's by taking out everything that is not needed in the photo .  Taking away all of the distractions for the viewer to see what was so special in the photo you took. By Subtracting! Why do we want large megapixel camera's? So we can crop and still have good resolution. Why do we crop? To get rid of unwanted things in our scene. We Subtract. To me that's the main reason to Raven's Roost Va. have a high megapixel photo. So we can crop or subtract. Thats why cropping works! 

It's not what you leave in but what you leave out that will make your photographs good. People use longer focal lengths for that exact reason when shooting street photography or wildlife or landscapes. To isolate what is important in a shot and to take away everything that is not. One of the great sayings in photography is " If your not getting good photo's move closer your not close enough" The saying is true because when you move closer you take away all of the surrounding stuff that doesn't matter to your photo.  Your Subtracting the junk to make your photo better. When you edit one of the final steps in editing is to do a boarder check. Checking the boarder for unwanted things that are poking in your photo. Subtracting the junk that isn't needed or wanted for the good photo. Distractions! Less is More!

Cades Cove Tree Someone long time ago asked Michelangelo the famous Renaissance sculptor and painter. " How did you make the "David" statue out of a single peace of Marble. He said " I took away everything that wasn't David". He Subtracted! So as we can see this system ins't new it has been going on for centuries ! Now I'm not saying that using this method that you will become the Michelangelo of photography but it should make your photographs more appealing and simple. Without all of the distractions you can show the people what you liked about the photograph to begin with.

So how do we do this in practice? It's all good to say that we need to subtract the distractions in our photo to make them Light House Stairs better but how? I think we should slow down. Get back to basics. We've become button pushers and don't take enough time setting up the camera , composing( framing) or waiting for just the right moment. We want to click , click, click and move on to the next thing. I am very much guilty of this process. As a matter of fact until I started shooting film again I was very much the "Clicker of Photos" My expensive camera just became an expensive point and shoot.  So I think that slowing down getting the correct aperture , composition and waiting for the correct moment to push the shutter is how we eliminate (Subtract) distractions. 

So that's it for this week. Subtract distractions for better photo's. So until next week Get out and Shoot!

Hey Ya'll! Hope you're doing great! When writing this its the first day of Spring so Happy Spring! This week I want to talk about some of the Classic Debates that we photographers have about our great hobby. We photographers love to debate and have fun disagreements with our Photog friends. One of the classic is about camera companies. In my camera club one of the questions that we ask new members is what type of camera that they shoot. No matter what kind of camera it is we hear oohs and  cheers from the people who have that camera and from those that don't. The most classic is Canon vs Nikon these camera lovers are really loyal to the brands that they have chosen and get very outspoken about their cameras. I guess because they have spent so much money on them and want to reinforce their decision to investment in them. LOL So lets get started with the debate.

Full Frame Sensor vs Crop Sensor.  This is one of the most debated topic and people are really serious about it.  Ever since the first Full Frame Sensor Camera came out. (Crop Sensors were first) this debate has begun. They both have positives and negatives to them and I have even written a blog on this one Debate.  I have many years shooting both and can tell you that the differences especially with newer cameras are very small. Full  Frame Sensor are better in low light but not as much as they used to be and crop sensors give you more depth of field. Camera's with full frame are larger and crop sensors are smaller.  Those are the biggest differences. 

Manual vs Auto. Some photographers say that you are not a real photographer unless you shoot in Manual. Others say I can get better photo's quicker by using the Auto settings. I started photography in an age that there really wasn't a choice. It was manual only. I think you should know how to shoot in Manual but think you should use the auto modes and use manual when they don't work. It will make your work flow less complicated and concentrate on composition instead of what shutter speed to use when shooting manual only. 

Photoshop vs Lightroom. This debate has also been around for a while. Photoshop was the first editing program for older photographers then Lightroom came out with easy editing and organizing system.  I use both. I use Lightroom to organize my photo's and do the simple editing that I do and if I have to do some heavy lifting or editing I'll send the photo to Photoshop to do the things that Photoshop is better at. But choosing one over the other is just silly . You should be using both to get the best out of your photo's.

Zooms vs Prime Lenses. I have also had a blog on this subject also. I have a love for both and think that both of them have a place for your photography. Zoom lenses are great for when changing your position is hard like Landscape and wildlife. Primes are great for when you can control your position like Portraits and Street photography. Zooms tend to be heaver than primes and usually have a larger minimum aperture . They both have their place. But to choose one over the other I don't think that is right. But using both to fill out the needs of your photography.

Film vs Digital. This is mainly an Old guy debate as most young photographers have never shot film. But for guys like me _MSP6316 this can be a debatable topic. I like both. I like the look of film . I like the flaws in it. Digital can be flawless and is awesome to shoot with and you can shoot to your self content. With film your limited on the amount of shots on a roll of film. Film is like listening to vinyl record albums. It has a something , something that you can't put your finger on. This is a debate that I have with myself all of the time.

Color vs Black and White. This is a big debate among photographers. Some folks won't shoot Black and white and some won't shoot color. Since the digital age you can shoot both at the same time and I do this sometimes . There is a saying that states " when you shoot color you take pictures of their clothes when you shoot black and white you shoot their souls". Don't know who said this but I do like it. Black and White has a timeless feel to it and sometimes shooting in color the colors just get in the way. I love both and sometimes shoot both at the same time and pick the one I like the best in post.

Natural Light vs Artificial Light.  Among portrait photographers this is a big debate. Some will only shoot in natural light and say that it gives the best colors . Those that shoot with the aid of flash or strobes really control the light and can shoot in any situation. A definite advantage to be able to shoot with the aid of flash because the possibilities are endless. Shooting in Natural light does and can have a special quality to it but getting the light just right can be tough.

So here are some of the classic debates in photography. Do you have some that I don't know about. Please list them in the comments. So let's stop debating and start Shooting! So Get out and Shoot! 

Hey Ya'll! Hope everyone had a great week! I sure did I went on a workshop to the Low Country of Georgia and South Carolina. The camera club that I have been a member for over a decade decided this year to take a trip in the spring. Usually we only do a Fall Colors trip in the Mountains somewhere but this year we did a spring trip. We had one planned in 2020 but COVID put a stop to it. Our fall trip is a week long trip but we wanted our spring trip to be shorter to give people who can't take a whole week off to go to the mountains a chance to go on a trip with us. Our trip was to start on a Wednesday and come home on a Sunday. Last year we took a scouting trip to help plan our trip for this years workshop. Afterwards we (Mike, Robert and myself) had many meetings and came up with an itinerary for the trip. We had settled on two days in Savannah Ga. and two days in Beaufort SC. Caitlin our club's president secured our lodging at both places and as always she did a great job. So then there was just the countdown to the day the trip began. We had 10 people attend and one of them was a former member that had moved away to Tampa Fla. and he drove up to meet us in Savannah. So here goes a day by day of our workshop.

Day 1.  The day was a travel day mostly. We wanted to get there as quick as we could to be some rain that was in the forecast for the next day. We arrived early enough to park our cars at our first rental. (we were too early to check in) Our Florida compadre met us just as we were getting ready to head out. Our house was just a couple of blocks away from the famous Forsyth Park and fountain there. So that's where we headed first. We tried to get as much in as we could walking the streets of Savannah because we knew that rain was on the way the next day.  We wondered down from Forsyth park towards the waterfront stopping along the way for drinks and to take photo's.  When we finally got to the waterfront we found a place for supper. We had a nice supper and explored the waterfront area. We then started the way back to Forsyth Park to get a nighttime shot of the fountain. We did so and headed back to the house. We did a lot of walking and some folks took an Uber from the waterfront back to the house instead of walking the 10 or so blocks. It was a good full day!

Day 2. The weather dictated most of this day. Thunder and heavy rain early in the morning. When the rain slacked up a bit we headed out to Tybee Island to maybe get a shot of a lighthouse or two but the rain was too heavy so we just got something to eat at a local restaurant and headed back to the house. By early afternoon the weather had gotten better but our President had gotten a touch of food poisoning and was really out of commission for the rest of the day and most of the next. Some of us went to the Tybee Island Lighthouse and to Pulaski National Monument to take some photo's of the light houses. It was very windy but we managed to get a couple of shots. We decided to have Pizza delivered that night to the house instead of going out to eat. The rains didn't ruin our time in Savannah but it did seem to cut it short.

Day 3. The first thing on our agenda was a sunrise at Tybee Island pier. We loaded up very early with all of our stuff because we were going to Beaufort SC and checking out of the Savannah house. We had a nice shoot at the pier and had another hearty breakfast.  Then off to the Beaufort area. We were too early to check in and our house was at a gated community just outside of Beaufort.  Our first stop was to get some photos of Shrimp boats which we did then we went to Port Royal Cypress Wetlands. This was a fantastic spot to shoot wild birds, alligators, snakes and other wild life.  We spent quite a while there walking the boardwalks and taking in all the sights and sounds. We then walked to a local place and had lunch that was quite good. Our president stomach was starting to get better. We stopped at a ruin of an African American church and took some photo's and then went to Hunting Island State Park to scout out the next mornings shoot. We had planned to go to a seafood restaurant that evening but we needed reservations and had called too late for the day so we made reservations for the next day. We then went to a place that was near our next shoot which was Sheldon Ruin Church to do some light painting. We stopped by the house to drop off our luggage and then headed out . We went to the restaurant under much hype of the menu of Steak and Potatoes. We got there and there was no steak and patatoes but the menu was Wings and things. It still was a great dinner and we went to the church to do some light painting which worked out great. Then it was back to the house to get some shut eye and up early for another shoot.

Day 4. Up early! We headed out to Hunting Island State Park to shoot the driftwood trees with the sunset. We got there and it was dark and we headed out down a short trail to get to the beach . It was in a different place than the scouting trip and it was fabulous!  There were many trees there and we got there about an hour before the sun peeked its eyes out so we got really good shots. After we exhausted the shots there we went to the lighthouse there at the state park and the "No See Ums" were out! Got a few shots of the Lighthouse and it was off to Beaufort to eat breakfast. The restaurant was packed and we are a group of ten so it's hard to seat us and we waited quite a while for seats. We finally got in and had a great breakfast or brunch it was so late. By then everyone was done and wanted to go back to the house. So we didn't shoot the town of Beaufort as much as I wanted but  folks were tired. We had reservations at a very cool restaurant that evening and had a great meal of seafood. When we got back to the house we were going to do some light painting. We were going to use sparklers and lights out on the beach. We got to the beach and the "no see ums" were terrible swarming. They died down a little later but were bad at first. We tried to light the sparklers but they were duds and couldn't get them lit. We dished that idea and worked with some colored lights that we had brought and got some good shots.

Day 5. Day 5 was packing up and heading to Magnolia Plantation before going home. We went to the plantation and it was nice. We took a train ride and walked through the gardens and saw the plantation grounds. It was a nice place to visit. Then we all headed home.

All in all it was a great trip and I got some good photo's. I always look forward to the clubs trips and workshops and can't wait until the fall trip.  Until next week Get Out and Shoot!