Photo by Nicole Young

(Re-posted with permission from PhotowalkingUtah.com)

The next Photowalking Utah event will be a walk around the Old Greek Town area of downtown Salt Lake City on October 17 @ 6:00 pm led by Nicole Young (that’s me!). The Old Greek Town area is just Southwest of “The Gateway” shopping district along the Trax line on 200 South.

This will be an evening photowalk to catch the “golden hour” of the day, and we will be photographing urban decay, older buildings, your fellow photographers, etc.

The event is free of charge and open to all photographers, regardless of skill level. We frequently have people bring point and shoots, SLRs, and even camera phones.

Location: Old Greek Town Trax Station (550 W. 200 South)
Time: 6:00-8:00 pm
Cost: Free!

Parking in this are is limited so consider riding Trax to the photowalk. I will be riding from the Sandy station at 4:44 pm to the Arena station, and walking to our meeting location.

For those planning on attending please join in on the Flickr discussion group. Hope to see you there!

Photo by Ann Torrence

(Re-posted with permission from PhotowalkingUtah.com)

“The next Photowalking Utah event will be an afternoon stroll around Brigham City’s annual Peach Days event. The event will be led by group member Shaun Nelson. Here are the details from Shaun’s announcement over at the Flickr discussion thread:

Date: September 12, 2009
Place: Brigham City, Utah – Peach Days
Address: 251 South Main Street – Brigham City Tabernacle
Time: 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM

The afternoon walk will be led by Shaun Nelson and will begin at the Brigham City Tabernacle, 251 S. Main Street at 2:00 PM. The group will be walking north on Main Street from the Tabernacle to the carnival on Forest Street. We will walk on the East side of Main Street from 2nd to 1st Street. From there, the city has closed 1st Street to Forest Street to automobile traffic. Between 1st and 2nd, we will have the opportunity to photograph downtown Brigham City, the Brigham City Arch, the Peach Days Motorcycle Show, window and fruit displays, and the Main Street entertainment stage. The walk will end at the carnival on Forest Street. Photowalkers that wish to photograph the Bonneville Rod & Custom Car Club Show can walk from the carnival to Watkins & Pioneer Park. Recommended parking is the area around the tabernacle. A free shuttle service is also available around town with the main parking lot at the Kmart store on 900 South Main Street. Weather is expected to be in the low to mid 80’s.

A map of the walk is located here: shaunnelson.smugmug.com/photos/632732225_vrnEH-O.jpg

Monica Holdaway of the Brigham City Chamber of Commerce would love to have pictures from the Photowalk to share with the media. Each year, media throughout the state contact her to request pictures from Peach Days. If photowalkers would like to share their photos with the Brigham City Chamber of Commerce, please email your photo to [shaun][at][thenoiz.com]. Please include your full name and telephone number so a photo credit can be given. A disc of the photos will be sent to the Brigham City Chamber of Commerce. Deadline is September 30, 2009.

Thanks to Shaun for volunteering to lead the outing. If you are planning on attending or have any questions, chime in on the discussion in the Flickr group.”

Nikon D300, 70-200mm f/2.8, SB-80DX camera right and high on 1/2 power, second SB-80DX through beauty dish on-axis at 1/16 power, third SB-80DX camera left and behind as rim light.

This week we’ll be taking a look at a little lighting technique for opening up harsh shadows in portraiture. Directional light (like off camera flash) is almost always more visually interesting but can often create a problem of very dark areas on your subject’s face. This may be desirable in some situations but usually you will want to bring some detail back into those areas.

To understand what on-axis fill flash is, let’s break the term down. On-axis refers to the lens axis in relation to your subject. The pop up flash on your camera is an excellent example of a flash that is on the same axis as your camera lens. You’ve no doubt noticed that if you use an on-axis flash like your pop-up as your primary light source you are left with a photograph that often appears flat and is prone to red eye. But an on-axis flash used to simply inform a little more detail into your subject can work wonders. Here’s how:

This technique assumes a few things from get go: you are comfortable with your camera and shooting with flash off camera. You will need 2 camera flashes for this technique to work properly, however your camera’s pop up can act as this second light source.

For the shot in this article I used my D300 with a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens, and 2 old Nikon SB-80DX flashes. My old flashes only operate in manual power setting modes, but you could accomplish this same look with fancier flashes and Nikon’s Creative Lighting System, or Canon’s infrared flash triggering system.

The first light went on a Manfrotto light stand with a 43 inch Westcott shoot-thru umbrella. I placed the light slightly camera right of the subject and above him, so the light came down from above which can cause harse shadows in the eye sockets of your subject.  This is where on-axis fill can step in and save your day. My second SB-80DX was placed on another light stand and fired through my homemade beauty dish (learn how to make your own here: http://tinyurl.com/65mz3a). The flash-beauty dish combo was positioned immediately below my lens.

The real key with this on-axis fill stuff is to mind your power ratios. Whether you set your flash powers manually or with some fancy remote system its important not to overdo it. The umbrella-ed light from up high is our primary light (read: key light) and we want it to stay that way. So with our key light at a 1/2 power setting we dial in a power on the fill light that is several stops under our key. If memory serves the on-axis fill for this shot was on 1/16 power; just enough to bring some detail into the shadows of his face and especially to bring a little light into his eyes.

If you find yourself minus a second speedlight you can replace it with your camera’s built-in flash, simply bring the power level down to keep from competing with your key light. You could also use a ringflash unit to get some truly on-axis fill, however these units tend to be expensive.

The observant among you will notice that this shot has one additional light source. Once I had my two light key/fill combo working well I placed a third SB-80DX on the book shelf behind and camera left of my subject. On minimum power the third light placed a nice little separation light on the left side of Max’s face completing the shot.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this little look into flash photography, hit the comments with questions and if you decide to try this technique out be sure to add your shots to the Pixels Photo Pool on Flickr.

I realize this is different from what we generally offer on the Pixels blog, but I thought it was too cool to not share. “Going back to the old days where digital was not even heard of and 35mm might have been a related kin of the .45 mm. Yet they took pictures. They did is using Camera Obscura (Dark Chamber).

The basic pinhole is a really simple – it is a shoe box with a small hole on one end and a sheet of sketching paper on the other end. In fact is it so simple that some scientists speculate that it was the first evolutionary step for the (infinitely complex) human eye.

Photo by Nick

Starting Small

You can start small with a pinhole camera the size of a match box. Nice, but small.

A lightly bigger (and digital) version was introduced by Rich Legg as a great science project for his (now featured on twilight add) daughter.

Taking It To The Next Level

But… can this concept be taken to the next level? You bet!

How about a meter by meter big pinhole camera? Piece of cake – provided you can find film big enough. Just use that crate you got in the basement. What?!!? No film? Ok forget about film. Just use sketching paper (which you can capture digitally – see Rich’s project just a second ago).

How about a room sized pinhole camera? (Yea, really, see the image on the top of this post by Nick ).

No Biggy.

1. Get A Room.
OK, if I had a penny for each time I heard that, I’d be 2 penny richer. But seriously – you will need a room. Here is what you should look for:

• Room with nice view – preferably to a sunny location
• It would be nice if the room was square.
• It is best of the wall opposite from the window is kinda empty – or at least if you could take anything off this wall.

2. Get Some Blanket, gaffers tape and foil.

Photo by Sarah Murray

Once you are in the room, turn on the light and start light proofing the room. The room should “see” no light from the outside.

This is most easily done by gaffertaping the foil on windows and door cracks. The nice thing about gaffers tape is that is goes down without a fight, so when you are tearing down the setup no residue is left.

3. Make A Hole
This is why it is called pinhole. Make a hole about 1-2 cm in diameter in the foil that covers the window-with-a-view.

4. Look Behind You
You should see the street view on the wall behind you. All you need to do now is to take a shot of the image on the wall.”

(And yes, there’s a Flickr group for this)

via DIY Photography

“Never leave the house without two things:

1. a Swiss Army knife, and
2. your camera.

Why the knife? Because it’s a multitasking tool that you can use a kajillion different ways.

Why a camera? For exactly the same reason.

We’ve rounded up so many alternate uses for your camera that you’ll start bringing it everywhere. Use it as a flashlight, a memory aid, or a mirror, and you’ll never let it leave your side again.

Your camera may be a toy, but there’s no reason it can’t also be a tool.” Continue reading 12 Ways to Use Your Camera as a Tool

via Photojojo

Photo by Michael Hughes

German photography Michael Hughes loves collecting souvenirs from all over the world. On a trip many years ago he was inspired to photograph one of his newly acquired souvenir in front of the actual monument it represented. A great idea was born and his series of souvenir photographs has grown into an on-going book project. His photographs are creative and fun. I really enjoy them.

Photo by El Ray

“One of the wonderful things about digital photography is the creativity that you can engage in once you’ve got your image on your computer and in Photoshop. All kinds of effects can be achieved to make your shots look any number of ways.

But what about in-camera techniques for more creative and artistic shots?

Here are twelve fun in-camera hacks to experiment with to get more abstract and artistic shots – the results are only limited by your imagination!”

via Digital Photography School

“Joanna left two disposable cameras on park benches–one in Manhattan and one in Brooklyn. She was curious to see what would happen! Would they be stolen? Would people take rude photos? Her intern Matt left a note saying: “Good afternoon! I attached this camera to the bench so you could take pictures. Seriously. So have fun. I’ll be back later this evening to pick it up.”

That night, when he returned to the scene, both cameras were there, and the rolls of film had been shot. Below are two of them. See all of the photos.”

via swissmiss