Pierre Steenberg

Directing the viewer's eyes: Part I

August 02, 2015 • Leave a Comment

Typically when we talk about directing the viewer's eyes we refer to composition. Where and how you place things in the image dictate where the viewer's eyes will go in the image. We have already mentioned that bright objects also attract the viewer's eyes, and so does anything different. Close your eyes and be mentally aware of where your eyes go...

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Canon becoming Sony's Sigma / Tamron

July 26, 2015 • Leave a Comment

People have fallen in love with the Sony A7 series of cameras. What has kept others from purchasing into the Sony system was their lack of lenses. When you buy a camera that takes interchangeable lenses you are not only buying a camera; you are buying into a system. Even though these Sony cameras have been great, their "system" was not due to a lac...

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Sony A7R II

July 19, 2015 • Leave a Comment

As you know, I no longer shoot with Canon. I have been in the market for a Sony A7R, but decided to wait for its replacement the A7R II which was announced in early June. Professional tests will only come to market after the camera starts shipping in August. Those of you following the photographic gear market and who read my blog regularly, will kn...

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The Difference Light Makes

July 12, 2015 • Leave a Comment

So I have written a few times before that I often go back to the same place, over and over. Why do I do that? Is that not a waste of time? Don't I already have "that" shot? Well, first of all, I do attempt to get different looking shots from the same scene. Even if I shoot the exact same composition, the light is different. Different light totally...

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Old Buildings

July 05, 2015 • Leave a Comment

Old buildings can be fascinating. Many people shoot them from the outside. Many of these buildings can be large and you do not often have a lot of space to work with. So the only way to shoot these buildings is the use a wide angle lens. Wide angle lenses make these buildings fall over backwards in your images. To prevent this architectural photogr...

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Still Life Reflections

June 28, 2015 • Leave a Comment

Still life shots are often in demand because they sell products. They are bought for catalogs and advertisements. They can also be nice images without shooting for commercial purposes. How do you make a still life shot exciting? After all, they are sooooo still! The standard answer is to use great lighting. As we have said in a previous blog about...

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Birds in Flight

June 21, 2015 • Leave a Comment

Birds in flight are more interesting than static birds sitting on a perch (although I also enjoy those). The choice of gear is important when attempting to shoot birds in flight. The camera needs to have very fast auto focus and tracking. These creatures move fast. Your camera will also need to shoot at a fast frame rate (how many shots it shoots i...

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Airshows Part II

June 14, 2015 • Leave a Comment

If you have not read last week's blog please do so before you read this week's blog. With that said and you planning to attend an airshow, let's look at some images: Jets do not have propellers and they fly much faster than propeller driven planes. So when you shoot them you have to use a very fast shutter speed. I typically will shoot at about 1/...

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Airshows ...

June 07, 2015 • Leave a Comment

Airshows provide a nice photo op. Take a long lens for in-flight shots. Take shorter lenses for parked planes. What are some of the best practices for shooting airshows? Let's look at a shot first: Include more than just the plane. So sometimes you just do not have a long enough lens (they do not come cheap). This plane was just too small in the...

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Compacting Objects

May 31, 2015 • Leave a Comment

The good guys are in trouble. The bad guys have a bomb planted, and it is ready to explode. The good guy sees the bomb, grabs the sweet girl's hand and runs. The camera's angle changes. The good guys are running straight to the camera. Another shot shows the tickler on the bomb; there is only two seconds left. The camera is back with the action. Yo...

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