Front or backlight?

I'm always reminding my students about the different properties of the direction of light and how important it is to understand what's going on. Frontlight (light behind the camera and front-on to the subject), I tell them, takes always the shadows and can make the subject look flat and two-dimensional. However, I am quick to point out, frontlight does have a trick up its sleeve: there may be colour hiding in the shadows, and by removing them by using front light you will of course see more colour. So a colourful subject often looks even more colourful when lit by frontlight.

 

Well, as always, there are exceptions to the rule, and photographing flowers and leaves is one of them. Depending on the thickness and translucence of the flower or leaf the thinner and more translucent the better - you can often increase the intensity of its colour by placing the light behind the subject and letting it shine through the leaf.

 

The photograph above is a good example. This is a very simple picture which relies on its colour for its visual appeal. The sunlight is almost directly behind the leaf and is shining through it; and so illuminating the green like a projector lamp.

 

In this case, the backlight has shown up the veins of inside the leaf and brought more detail and interest. Frontlight would have shown the colour of the surface of the leaf, but none of the depth of colour and shapes inside it.

 

Give this technique a try next time you are photographing flowers. Sometimes you can get the best of both worlds by having the light source behind the subject and using a reflector under or beside the lens to bounce some light back onto the surface of the flower.

Colour and light

This well-hidden corner in the old town of Cuitedella in Menorca must have been photographed countless times by different groups of my students during the photography holidays I run on the island. I just can't see how a photographer could possibly walk past this place without raising a camera. It positively demands your attention because of those wonderful colours.

 

However, it is never easy to photograph. The first problem is lack of space; you just cannot get back far enough. This tiny little square is very small indeed, and even with a wide angle lens equivalent to 24mm, it is difficult to include as much in the composition as you would like. Use a lens any wider and the distortions completely ruin the atmosphere of the scene. The answer to this, of course, is to decide which particular elements of the scene you find most interesting, and concentrate on those. In other words, careful cropping in the viewfinder.

 

Then there is the difficulty of parked motor scooters and bicycles. On occasions these can add to the interest, but this very much depends on the type and visual appeal of the bikes that are parked there some are more interesting to look at than others.

 

The last problem is the light this photograph was taken around midday with the sun very high so that it shines down into the narrow square, which is surrounded by houses in a narrow back street. The downside of this type of light is the strong shadows and high contrast. But it does have the advantage of bringing texture to the wall, and addng shadow patterns across the cobles.

 

I like this subject best of all on a sunny day when the sun does not shine directly down on it in the morning or afternoon. Then it is very bright, but soft, emphasising the reds in the wall, and the green of the leaves and the wooden bench. You need to adjust you White Balance (WB) in these conditions using Cloudy, Shade or Custom settings.

 

Blue, red and green is a powerful colour combination at the best of times, and when those colours are combined with simple outline shapes the tree, archway and the bench. An interesting image should result.

Photography holiday video

Below is a short video I have put together of some of the photographers on my latest photography holiday in Menorca. It includes several of their photographs and also some of mine. La Mola is an extraordinary place. The old fortifications guarding the entrance to Mahon harbour. The whole place is just bursting with photo opportunities.
So enjoy the video and the photographs - The next holiday will be in September and there are still a few places available.

Photographing close-ups

I’ve posted several photographs taken by my group in Menorca over the last week, but most of the pictures have been of people and places. We also spent some time photographing close-ups and details wherever we went on the island, and I wanted to show you these beautiful shots.

Without any question, Rosemary’s amazing abstract image of jelly fish, below, demonstrates that you do not need top-range SLR cameras to produce great pictures. Rosemary was using a Fuji FinePix bridge camera – and an old one at that. This photograph also shows that great pictures are there to be seen in the most unlikely places, and of the most unlikely subjects – if you LOOK. I like to call this ability to see pictures almost everywhere as ‘visual agility’ You can all do it if you try.

Ande’s two close-ups were taken on a Canon 400D. I confess I have looked at that loading mechanism on the big Vickers gun and never actually spotted its visual potential. Ande did – and a great picture is the result.

Okay, his picture of the door latch is a little more obvious and I would like to think that any photographer worth his salt would have spotted it too. But the fact is Ande not only spotted the picture but he made a cracking good job of capturing it in his camera; it i technically perfect and visually appealing.

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Photographs by Rosemary Warnes and Ande Wick

Disgusting photography

I got an email from a reader about the picture of the naked man I posted yesterday. I thought I should share it with you….

Dear Mr. Dunn,
As a long time supporter of Photoactive and its activities, I have to complain most bitterly about the appalling lapse in good taste recently demonstrated in your blog.
A man's bottom indeed!
I am absolutely horrified!
Disgusted of Sevenoaks

Ah well, Disgusted, all I can say is that you would be even more horrified if you knew what an elegant, beautiful and seemingly pure-minded lady took the photograph of the man’s bottom. But my lips are sealed.

To more respectable photographic matters, here are some more people photographs taken by members of my group in Menorca over the last week. The shot of the little boy in the market, and the one of the lady in the apron, were taken by group member Laura during an excursion to the old town of Cuidetella. She was using a Canon 400D with a small telephoto. I love both photographs. The colour combinations and sense of animation in both pictures really brings them to life.

I also like Peter’s picture of the tough guy with the tattoos. Peter is getting so much reward from his photography, and it is a real delight to watch him improving every time we go out to take pictures together. That’s him taking candid shots from the cover of a bench in one of the squares in Mahon, the island’s capital city.

Oh dear, I’ve just realised – it’s another picture of a bloke. I’m going to have disgusted writing to complain again.

A photograph for the ladies

I keep rattling on about how pleasant and relaxed it is to photograph people here in Menorca. In all the years I have been coming here and whenever I bring my groups of photographers for the photography holidays, there has never been a problem.

Maybe the ultimate in the laid-back attitude was demonstrated the other day when we were taking pictures on a beach and one of the ladies in my group - she shall remain nameless here - spotted the gentleman above. The lady in question told me at the start of the holiday that her favourite subject was photographing flowers, but as a people photographer she seems to have hidden talents. I particularly like the way she was completely unphazed by the fact that the young man baring his bottom had spotted her before she took the picture.

I've said it before but I will say it again... when your subject spots you taking a photograph - press the button again. It is often the response of the subject to being photographed that can make a good photograph.

Oh, it's worth mentioning that none of the blokes on the holiday thought it worthwhile pointing their cameras at this particular subject.

Photographing strangers

These photography holidays I run in Menorca are always full of lovely surprises for me. I just never know which photographer in the group is going to amaze me next by producing a truly sparkling image. It’s not always the most experienced photographers who produce the most outstanding pictures from any of the locations we explore together.

We photograph people everywhere we go; in the street, indoors, anywhere. It is one of the great joys and freedoms of working in Menorca where the people are so friendly and welcoming. Unlike Britain, where less intelligent attitudes prevail, this is a place where people are proud to be photographed.

One of the places we sometimes visit is an old shop that sells everything from guns to leather saddles, wicker baskets and wooden mouse traps. It’s a marvellous place to take photographs and we are always made extremely welcome by Lorenzo, the owner, and Paca, his assistant. It's one of those real old-fashioned shops where people come in not just to buy, but also for a chat and a sit down. Lorenzo’s beautiful dog befriends everyone and is always a favourite subject for us. But when the customers sit by the door and talk to the dog – the photographers are in heaven.

When the charming old chap, photographed above, came into the shop, I simply asked him to sit by the door in the soft sidelight and let the photographers get on with it. I believe these situations are for them, not for me, so I always step back and let them move in to get their pictures.

This lovely photograph was done by Laura, who prefers to be called Beannie for some reason. She is very inexperienced behind a camera but possesses the ‘eye’. That is she has a natural flare for a picture. Here is the evidence. I think is absolutely beautiful; full of human tenderness. It has captured a very special moment.

I suggested that everyone set their ISO to at least 400 before they went into the shop – it’s pretty dark in there and it’s impossible to set up tripods. So that extra speed enables faster shutter speeds. Here it has really paid off.

Well done, Beannie. That’s her in the centre of the picture of three of the girls on the holiday. Oh, and below is a shot of Cathy making friends with another dog outside the shop while being photographed by the other Laura on the holiday.

Menorca Photography Holiday

Our photography group has just had a walk to a small fishing village along the coast where they spotted a great photo opportunity when a local artist arrived and set up his easel under the trees at the back of the beach.

My group was on him like a rash.

He was delightfully helpful and welcomed the attention. Quite a surprise for photographers more used to the attitudes that attitudes that prevail in UK at the moment. One thing for sure here in Menorca is that photographers are made welcome by people who are pleased to be photographed.

The biggest problem with this shot was where the artist had positioned himself under the trees in the shade - careful exposure was needed in order not to 'burn-out' the highlight. I always prefer to under expose a little then bring up the shadows in Photoshop's levels and with the 'dodge' tool.

Anyway here's a snap of some of the group - some of whom seem to be more laid-back than others - and a picture of Pedro, the artist himself.