NOTINDOOR
LANDSCAPEANDFINEARTPHOTOGRAPHYMAGAZINE
photo by Jiří Jurczak
+ Interview with Joseph Rossbach + ND Filters + Moraine Lake + Landscape Rules of Thumb + Gear Review and much more!
NOTINDOOR | Issue #7 | 6.1.2016 | Los Angeles, CA
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FIRST WORDS /
Moshe Levis
Our community is slowly growing and we are very excited about it. Durring the month of May we have added photographers, writers and readers to our community page to help everyone network in the vast world of photography. There is nothing more amazing to be connected with people from different ends of the globe. Here in the U.S.A. we’ve had a long weekend - Memorial Day Weekend. A day on which those who died in active military service are remembered, traditionally observed on May 30 but now officially observed on the last Monday in May. So. What do we have for you in this month’s magazine? Well... -This month, we have had the honor to interview the amazing photographer Joseph Rossbach and pick his brain about everything photography. -As we continue to give stage to national parks, we have a wonderful article, from Heather Vopni, about Moraine Lake in Canada. -We have all longed astro photography in our magazine and it finally happened. Gianni Krattli sent us a beautiful article and photos from his trip to Hawaii, where he photographed amazing images that you just can’t miss. -If you have not submitted photos to our free contests you better get to it because the clock is ticking and the deadlines are near. We have contests about People, Mountains, Trees and Monochrome photography. Lastly - we are happy to welcome a few new talented writers to our local team here in Los Angeles, California. You’ll be reading from them very soon. Next month we’ll give you a detailed introduction.
Until the next time, Moshe Levis and the NOTINDOOR team 2 NOTINDOOR
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PHOTOOFTHEMONTH click here to submit your photos to next month’s contest. You can win a Hoya filter and a placement right here.
UNDERTHEBONSAIUMBRELLA BY ALLAN PUDLITZKE- Congratulations on this placement and the Hoya fi 4 NOTINDOOR
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ilter
For More From Allan: Website
CAMERA: Nikon D7100 • LENS: 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 SETTINGS: 18mm • f/4.5 • 1/125 sec • ISO 200 LOCATION: Japanes Garden, Portland
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FEATURED THIS MONTH
Moshe Levis
Heather Vopni
It’s all about the beauty of our world. I capture photos of whatever attracts me and inspires me. I shoot portraits, wildlife, macro, landscapes and many personal and original projects.
As a coast-to-coast, Canadian landscape photographer, Heather Vopni pursues her creative craft almost daily with a generous level of anticipation and excitement. The geographic world for Heather is full of splendid stories waiting to be told and is constantly stimulating her imagination.
Photographer /Writer / Founder / CEO
Photographer
We started NOTINDOOR in December of 2015 and we’ll keep making it better!
Allan Pudlitzke
Gianni Krattli
Living in Northwest my entire life kept the fire of traveling burning. Camping, hiking and sports help my photography skills as I do it part time while being a technology consultant.
Born 1984, grew up in a small village in the canton of Schwyz, 40km away from Zurich, the todays home base of his journeys. Already in his early years technology was one of the major interests, what had to lead to the ownership of a DSLR camera.
Photographer / Writer / COO
Photographer
Vishpala Kadam
Bill Dobbins
Photographer /Writer
Photographer / Writer
I am a photographer and travel blogger who loves to roam around, take pictures, write travel blogs and show the world through my lens - the reason for my portfolio ‘Speaking Lens’.
Bill Dobbins THE BODY PHOTOGAPHER became well known for his male and female physique photos - images of the aesthetic, athletic body. Using the same distinctive personal style, characterized by strong graphics and a classic look in both color and BW...
Indu M
Kelee Bovelle
Though I express myself through painting and writing, photography is the most comfortable medium for me. I am drawn to anything under the sun and enjoy the thought process behind creating each image.
Kelee Bovelle is a photographer from the East Coast of the United States. With a passion for all things ocean, surf & travel, she captures the things she loves most in a creative and unique way.
Photographer /Writer
Photographer
Dirk Ross
Arwen Dyer
I live in a small village 65 km west of Munich. Although I have used cameras since 1987, I have only been photographing seriously since June of 2014. I love to shoot landscapes, but really photograph anything aside from people at the moment.
Arwen Dyer is a photographer and artist from Hobart, Tasmania. Her love of landscape and astronomical photography grew from her passion for being in nature. She has a particular interest in macro and night photography: both illuminate worlds that we so often don’t stop to appreciate.
Photographer /Writer
Jevgenija Sitik
Photographer/Writer
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Stephan Smit
Steven Servantez
Jiri Jurczak
Photographer
Cameron Preston
Yulia Starostina
Dagur Jonsson
Bertie Wooster
Photographer / Writer Photographer / Writer Photographer / Writer Photographer / Writer Photographer / Writer Photographer / Writer Photographer / Writer
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FEATURED ARTICLES
WHY WE LIKE BLACK AND WHITE / Bill Dobbins
MORAINE LAKE / Heather Vopni
MY PASSION: HAWAIIAN SKY NIGHT / Gianni Krattli
INTERVIEW WITH JOSEPH ROSSBACH
SONY ALPHA 77II (GEAR REVIEW) / Dirk Ross
DOUBLE EXPOSURE PHOTOGRAPHY / Indu Mohan
contents
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FEATURED ARTICLES
ND FILTERS / Allan Pudlitzke
FLOWERS IN MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY / Jevgenija Sitik
LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY RULE OF THUMBS / Vishpala Kadam
REFLECTIONS / Steven Servantez
PORTFOLIO OF THE MONTH / Kelee Bovelle
FINISHING WITH...
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FREE FLIGHTS+ GIVEAWAY
SUPER AWESOME GIVEAWAY
JOIN OUR MEETUP GROUP
JOIN OUR 500PX GROUP
STAFF PICK
JOIN THE AFFILIATE PROGRAM
FROM OUR READERS’ GALLERY
PHOTO CONTEST - PEOPLE
PHOTO CONTEST - MOUNTAINS
MONOCHROME AWARDS
PHOTO CONTEST - TREES
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K C PI FF ST A For More From Jimmy: Facebook | Website
BIGSUR BY JIMMY ARCADE 12 NOTINDOOR
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O O G
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E R D
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GOOD READS
ND Filters Friends of the Late Sleepers & Early to Bed I can tell you the last time I was actually awake for a sunrise… It was winter and the sun was coming up around 8am and I was on my way to work… Other than that, I do have a hell of a time getting out of bed at a productive early hour for photography. It’s not that I don’t love the craft or the idea of catching a sunrise shot, or using the natural light to extend my shutter for a smooth shot of some flowing water. I do, but I do also tend to sink into the abyss of my memory foam king and find myself nearly stitched to the bed in the morning. About a month or so ago I decided to buy a small ND filter kit… Nothing special, just your traditional $20 package from Amazon.com to take some mid day shots of a few waterfalls at the time. First, I will warn you, what you sacrifice in cost for the most part usually will come back to bite you in the rear end when you are looking for optimal quality in your shots. For me, the trail was worth the tradeoff as it allowed me to see if it would be n option to cater to my ever growing desire to stay in bed longer and longer. continue reading on the next page
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GOOD READS
Mistake Number One
Misty waterfall, Crummy ND filters, and rain make for one hell of a challenge to get a nice sharp photo, even with a tripod. Our day began with a drive to Abiqua Falls to the east of Clackamas, Oregon. I had seen a few shots from a fellow NotIndoor photographer from the location, and they were marvelous. I figured it was the optimal place to test out the ND filters and get in a little exercise, which leads me to my next mistake… Verify the road down…
Mistake Number Two
Lowered Subaru. After about and hour or two on the road we began to approach our destination. The only problem, a striated, dagger filled rock road that any car with a bit off clearance could manage, however mine could not… What this led to was about a 4 mile hike down the road to the Waterfall, which led to my next mistake, the wrong trail. About 2 miles down the hell paved gravel street, the wife and I spotted an opening in the brush to a neatly groomed trail. I
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thought “this must be the spot! We have been hiking forever!” Well not so… In fact this was some sort of downhill climb I am sure no other idiot aside from myself would attempt with a camera bag strapped to his back. The rain made for some spectacularly challenging footing and thus let to mud soaked clothing and shoes that essentially became worthless. After slipping and sliding up and down a 200ft drop of mud and climbing rope, we finally got back to the trail and proceeded on our way like we had just spent a week at muddy Woodstock. Finally, we hit the falls… Yank out the crowned jewel of my life, pop on a few filters and start firing away… Pure magic… Mid Day, with 12 stops of ND, I am shooting extended shutters in full daylight. The waterfall becomes a silk curtain of water frozen in time. As I said before, the mist from the waterfall killed image quality, so I never truly could test the actual filter quality, but for the price it did what I needed and gave me sharp “enough” images to use for online posts and even to toss up onto 500px.
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I will remind you that tossing cheap glass filters, on an expensive, quality lens is the words biggest oxymoron. But I was cheap and wanted to play a bit, and the results rally only suffered with a slight amount of softness that could be somewhat managed with post processing. Is the ND a fix for my morning laziness? Well no (and I do plan to work on that as my next project to enhance my photography), but it does offer up a few new potential opportunities when shooting mid day. They are small enough to carry around witout breaking your back, take a few seconds to screw on, and being that they are so cheap I could just toss them if they get too dirty or dingy. I recommend an ND filter package to anyone looking to enhance some mid-day photo possibilities and even more when shooting with golden hour lighting. When I do this all over again, there will be no rain, there will be no mud, and I will take the truck so I am not soaking wet the entire ride back home.
Allan Pudlitzke
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GOOD READS
Reflections
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GOOD READS
The art of photographing reflections can be very rewarding and can also prove very frustrating. I can offer a few suggestions that may help in achieving in your photographs what you perceive in your mind’s eye. Photographing reflections can encompass many subjects. Large bodies of water, mirrors, raindrops, windows and eyes are only a few places to find reflections. No matter the source of the reflection, there are some basic fundamental techniques that will help you in your photographs. The overall reflection effect can be maximized by having the greatest depth of field in your photograph. Unless you are looking for a dreamlike appearance, aim for apertures of f/11 or higher.
Move around your subject as it relates to the reflection. Find the perfect angle that maximizes the reflection, the subject or both. Experiment until you find the perfect shot. Lower angles can produce the best shots; remember that shooting straight on will often include the photographer in the reflection. If the reflection is the main emphasis of the photo, place the horizon line near the upper third of the image. If the reflection is supplemental to the main subject, place the horizon line near the lower third of the image. Focus can be critical in your photographs. Experiment with the focus emphasizing the subject, then the reflection. Both
may produce different effects that can make or break a shot. If both are important and you are unable to get the depth of field that is required, place your camera on a tripod and shoot multiple shots of each; post production in your favorite editing software can paste both subjects into one photograph that has subject and reflection in focus. Water is probably the most photographed reflective source. Don’t limit yourself to lakes and pools. Macro lenses can produce stunning photographs of water droplets. If your aim is to find still water, visit the site many times during the day to find the time that produces the desired effect. Wind and light rain can disrupt the reflection, but this may enhance your photographs! Remember the golden hours; before sunrise and near sunset. Colors and reflections are enhanced and scenes pop! Also, the lower the direct sunshine, the less effect there is of sparkling reflections on any small ripples. High shutter speeds will minimize water movement. Find the
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Usually, a macro lens will work best. If shooting eye reflections, make the subject and reflection have a common theme. Have the eyes and the reflection work together to make the photograph meaningful. Always pack a tripod and a shutter release cord when out looking for reflections. Having the right equipment will further guarantee great photographs. Lastly, experiment, experiment, experiment. The photos are out there, get out and look for them. None of these rules are concrete; they are just guidelines to begin your photo session. Shoot often, and share your photos with friends and family.
right balance between high shutter speeds and the inverse of lower depth of field. Find what works best for your photos. You may need to increase your ISO to maximize depth of field and reduce movement. I often use a graduated neutral density filter when shooting reflections of water. I use this when the water is darker than the main subject. The filter can even out any excessive brightness in subject in relation to the reflection. Reflections in windows can offer stunning results. I will often shoot reflections of people either as a candid or as a non-candid. Both produce different results that can be very pleasing. Reflections in windows can be abstract when shooting windows that are tinted, curved or even broken. Look for opportunities and explore all options.
Steven Servantez
Reflections in eyes are another great source of photographs.
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READERS’ 24 NOTINDOOR
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GALLERY
A P L A N O I T A N
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NATIONAL PARKS
Moraine Jewel of the Cana
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eadianLake Rockies
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NATIONAL PARKS
The very first glimpse of the breathtaking, electric blue aura of Moraine Lake fully transcends all previous notions of how one would imagine this Canadian rocky mountain treasure to appear. Like a virtual, liquid gemstone emanating spectacular hues of azure, the glacier-fed lake gleams elegantly beneath stunning, statuesque mountains in the Valley of the Ten Peaks. Its home is sacredly nestled within historically renowned Banff National Park, along Alberta’s western border of neighboring British Columbia, in the heart of Canadian Rocky Mountains. With a total surface area of a mere 0.5 square kilometers in size (0.19 square miles), its polished, visual impact does not disappoint and has been keenly well received by countless travelers from across the globe for well over a century. Vehicle access to the lake is strictly limited to the seasons of late spring to early autumn due to avalanche hazards from exponential snowfall during winter months. The brilliant body of water receives its shimmering shades of blue-green radiance from tiny fragments of rock flour created by glacial erosion. Once glacial waters start to run at the onset of spring they bring with it these tiny, fine-grained particles accumulated from the surrounding clusters of the glacier-clad mountains. The rock flour is what light reflects off of to give the famous alpine lake its crystal clear yet stunning, regal color. Settled at the northern tip of the lake, adjacent to the 30 NOTINDOOR
public parking area, remains a natural occurring rock formation known as a Moraine. The rock pile is believed to be the result of a rockslide deposited decades ago from Wenkchemna Glacier (one of the famous ten peaks) and now serves as a well established vantage point for national park visitors, as well as providing the lake’s definitive
namesake. A rugged walking path ascending less than 0.35 kilometers high (0.22 miles) can be found at the base leading up to the very top where enchanting panoramic views are promised. The viewpoint is a favorite for hiking enthusiasts, artists and photographers wishing to humbly capture and behold the astounding grandeur.
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The view from this idyllic lookout also provided the world famous image of Moraine Lake and the Valley of the Ten Peaks which graced the flip-side of Canadian twenty-dollar bill, issued in the years 1969 and 1979, coining its title, the ‘Twenty Dollar’ view, even though one may acknowledge its vision
would be more accurately described as a worthy million dollar view. A similar scene of Moraine Lake has also been featured as one of the background images for Google’s operating system, Android, and for a few other mobile phone manufacturers’ wallpaper backgrounds as well. The pristine and flawlessly
colored water of Moraine Lake with its impressive backdrop of towering snow-capped peaks is truly one of the most exquisite geographical wonders of the world and one of the most photographed locations in the Canadian Rockies, and quite possibly in all of Canada. Cherished by so many, it never waivers in its fascinating appeal. Its magical
presence shines bright like a precious family jewel passed down through the many decades, from generation to generation; an age-honored treasure for all to enjoy, now, and for endless years to come. Heather Vopni
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S E P A C S D
N A L
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Landscape Photography Rules ofThumb
LANDSCAPES
Landscape photography, in my opinion, is being over-simplified by many of us, the photographers. In today’s era of social networking and digital photography, traveling has become frequent and abundance. And so are the opportunities to shoot landscapes. But beautiful destinations and scenery alone can not make a good photo. It needs to be coupled with photographer’s vision to turn it into an awesome landscape photograph. Lack of vision might lead to, in Ansel Adam’s words, a sharp image of a fuzzy concept. Here are few rules of thumb, so to say, some of which I learned from some of the great photographers and some on my own, which I thought would be helpful in your journey of landscape photography.
I always put more emphasis on artistic side of the photography than technicality and gear. For me; vision, composition and perspective takes precedence over f-stop, shutter speed and choice of lens. But since most of the frequently asked questions are on technicality and gear, I am going to start with that today!
Rules of Thumb in Technical Domain Choice of Lens
Go as wide as possible, but be mindful of details. Use wide angle/ fisheye lenses (10 mm to 24 mm on full frame body) to capture a wide open landscape, something like what I did to photograph Yosemite upper fall. Waterfall is one of my points of interests and it looks big enough in this photo. To get slightly more details in, go for 35mm. You can go further up to 50mm when getting details is more important than showing wide open landscape. When I was shooting snow cladded trees in northern Alaska, I wanted to show the details 34 NOTINDOOR
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of tree and layers of snow and wasn’t getting enough of it with might not work. It will either make foreground or background 24mm wide angle lens, so I decided to shoot with 50mm. out of focus. Use higher f-numbers (f-16, f-22) that would allow you to get foreground and background in focus at a time. If higher f-numbers are not working, use focus stacking techF-stop/ Aperture nique and merge photos in Photoshop if you want everything To get crisp and sharp landscape photo, always shoot at f11 or more. Lowest possible boundary is f8, don’t go below that. in focus. Aperture is also tightly coupled with foreground and focus. More details on that in ‘Focus’ section below. We all love star effect in sun at sunrise or sunset, how to do that? Shoot at f16 or f22. Camera will automatically capture the sun with star effect.
Shutter speed
A good thumb of rule is to shoot at faster shutter speeds than 1/(focal lens) of second. So if you are shooting with 50mm lens, do not shoot slower than 1/50 sec when shooting handheld. This rule helps even shooting with tripod on a windy day! Now let’s talk about slower shutter speeds to make silky waters. Use anywhere between 1/4 sec to 2 sec if you want to show patterns in flowing water, like ocean waves, waterfalls. Use more than 4 sec if you want completely silky water without any patterns.
Focus
Rules of Thumb in Artistic Side Composition
Talking of composition, the first rule of thumb that comes to Where to focus?? Should I use manual focus or Auto? This mind is ‘Rule of Thirds’. This rule suggests to put your point is another most frequently asked question. If you are using of interest at 1/3 or 2/3 points when the photo is divided DSLR, most of the times auto focus would suffice. If you have into 3X3 grid. In other words, do not put your point of intera foreground which is closer than 10 feet, then auto focus est/ main subject in the center of the photo. 35
LANDSCAPES
On the similar lines, do not place horizon at the middle of the frame unless you need symmetry, like the in Yosemite fall reflection photo. Place it slightly below the if sky is more interesting and place it above if land is more interesting.
Perspective
Usually everyone is used to see the world from eyelevel. If you choose a different angle, you get to show a different perspective. That photo attracts your viewer. So lay down on the ground and look up in the sky or climb up the rock and look down – capture photo from different angle.
Light
Look for the good light, possibly the Golden Hour! Golden/ magic hour is typically the half an hour span before and after sunrise and sunset when light soft & slanted. Magic hour light is the best to shoot landscapes. But do not worry much if you are stuck with overcast skies. It could be the best light to make black and white landscapes! I shot this photo of cathedral rock when light was dull and shooting conditions were far from ideal. But it still made a good black and white landscape. Lastly, I would say rules of thumb are useful 90% of the times. Be ready to create your own new rules other 10% of the times. Happy shooting!
Vishpala Kadam
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N U E
H T N
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Peles Milky Way 38 NOTINDOOR
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E S R E
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My Passion Hawaiian Sky Night More than 12’000km away from home I discovered my passion or as some people say, my obsession. The picture above is the very first photo of the Milky Way I’ve ever taken. I still have a smile on my face when I think back to this moment and how it changed my life. I did not plan to shoot astro photos during my vacation on the Big Island of Hawaii in
are.
I live in Switzerland and there are some great places for astro photography in the Swiss Alps as well, but nothing as dark as Hawaii. Nevertheless, after my holidays on Hawaii I went on countless hikes to the mountains in darkness to improve my
Earth’s Ride Through the Universe
June 2013. It was more like a ‘nothing else to do’ project. I went down to the rocky coast of Pahoa and pointed my Nikon D800E to a gap in the palms. Boom, there was the galactic core on the back of my camera and suddenly my heart rate increased. The days after I couldn’t sleep anymore and I was constantly observing the Hawaiian night sky. Fun fact: In 2010 I spent more than 7 months on the Hawaiian Islands and did not realize what great galactic vistas there 40 NOTINDOOR
skills. The following years I came back to shoot the stars in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. In September 2014 I found myself on the islands again. This time I even forgot my swimming trunks at home, because I just planed capturing the Milky Way on the Big Island for two weeks. My daily routine was sleeping during the day and getting ready for sunset and long nights. One of the most memorable moments was when I was invited to visit the Can-
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Galactic Ocean
ada-France-Hawaii Telescope on top of Mauna Kea at 4200m. Actually I had a flat tire in front of the telescope and had to change it all by myself, quite exhausting at this altitude. When changing the tire, a technician of the CFHT came and offered me a tour. What an excitement! Especially because it was the day of my 30st birthday. After the explanations of the instruments I got out and the sky was clearer than I’ve never seen it before. Even with my
eyes I was able to identify the galactic core. The temperature wasn’t Hawaii like anymore, it dropped to 1°C and the wind made it really hard to get good 30sec exposures. I had to protect the camera and tripod with my body, which worked not too bad. Prepared whit all my Swiss hiking gear the temperatures it was possible to resist the cold for quite a bit. If someone would have seen the content of my suitcase, they would not have guessed a trip to Hawaii, I think.
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ll alone on the highest peak in the Pacific, a very special feeling.
Dancing with Pele
A couple of days later the scenery which I visited was completely different. The Halema’uma’u crater of Kilauea is probably the most visited spot on the Big Island. Therefore, it was hard to get the best spot at the right time. I guess there where at least 100 people next to me trying to shoot the same photo as I did. After 30min of waiting for the best spot, I was ready to shoot the Milky Way next to the glow of the volcano. When the picture showed up on the display a guy behind me said: “What the hell! Where that thing came from?” He had never seen the Milky Way before and gathered his whole family to show them what I captured. They stopped taking pictures and observed my camera. Normally astro photography is more like being alone in the wild, but not here. It is great to amaze people with galactic pictures. May 2015, By this time I learned everything about the alignment of the Milky Way and when it is best to shoot. On my last trip the galaxy was almost vertical, but this time I wanted to shoot it more panoramic, in perfect horizontal alignment to the landscape. Therefore, we planned a trip for early 2015. Meanwhile I found my astronomy pensioned soulmate at home and I wanted to show her my Hawaii. Since then my girlfriend is fascinated about the Hawaiian culture, landscape and of course the night sky. She has even 42 NOTINDOOR
bought a DSLR camera and we were shooting the universe side by side. It was Mauna Kea again where we shot this panorama of the Milky Way above Mauna Loa and the cloud covered valley. With this picture I decided to participate at the “Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year” competition. www.notindoor.com
Gianni Krattli
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BLACK&WHITE
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BLACK AND WHITE
Why We Like B&W
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Not all animals have very good or even any ability to see color. Birds have good color vision because it lets them see things like brightly color fruit against the background of a green jungle. Cats can only see color if the object is very close up and fills their visual field. Insects see color very intensely but it is usually light in the ultraviolet range. Good color vision was obviously a valuable aspect in the evolution of our species. Seeing color in the jungle gave us the same advantages as the birds and out on the veldt in Africa the landscape tends to be uniformly beige so anything with color stands out. Humans enjoy have a color sense as is evident by our love of flowers, colorful clothing and even food presentation. So why is it we continue to like black and white photography so much?
of this is also the basis for Technicolor. The other approach involved having the color dies actually contained in the film itself. An example is an E-6 color film like Ektachrome. Nowadays, we have digital photography where the camera simply captures as pixels the light that comes in through the lens and the photographer can choose later on whether to output images as BW or color - and can also alter the nature and quality of the color in post production. So with color available to photographers from the 1930s on, why do we still like photos done in BW so much? Why are BW photos so valued, especially as fine art? There are two answers to this, an obvious one and another than I think is relevant but I’ve never seen discussed that has to do with the nature of human visual perception. The obvious appeal of BW images is they have a beauty and a quality of their own. When you have color photos a major subject of the image is the color itself. Color tends to dominate in a color photos. Subtract the color and the graphic, structural and graphic nature of the subject becomes more significant. Instead of color you have tonal gradation, all steps of the famous “Zone System� invented by Ansel Adams. So BW images have an entirely different and very rich aesthetic quality of their own.
The reason photography was mostly BW for the first 100 years or so of its existence was primarily technological. Although experiments were made in color photography as far back as the 1840s, it was until after the turn of the 20th century that real progress was made in developing film that could capture the color of a subject. Eventually, two different approaches were created for commercial film. A process like Kodachrome used three different matrices of different contrast ranges to which color dies were added later during development. These created a very rich and color-intense image and a variation 47
BLACK AND WHITE
But there is another reason I think BW photos have a special impact on viewers. And this has to do with the recent discoveries made about color perception by Polaroid inventor Edwin Land. It has always been something of a puzzle how color constancy works. Color constancy refers to the fact that when you look at a red ball in daylight, under tungsten or fluorescent lights, while there are some differences you are still able to tell the color of the ball is red. How do the eye and the brain make these adjustments? Shooting color transparency film, you need to choose an emulsion that is appropriate to the color temperature of the scene. There is daylight film for outdoors and tungsten film for indoors. Other adjustments have to be made with the use of color filters. Edwin Land figured out that the human eye has no color receptors. Instead, there are there types of BW receptors that have different contrast ranges. Very much like Kodachrome film. What the brain does is receive information from each type of receptor, compares the ranges of contrast involve and calculates what the color must be. This involves a very complex level of computation that eventually results in your subjective experience and perception of color. The brain adds color after the fact. So seeing BW images is much easier, less complex and simpler than seeing color. It happens much faster with less expenditure of energy. I think this is one factor contributing to the fact that we find BW images so satisfying. It is much faster and a great deal less effort and expenditure of resources is necessary. It is a much more economic process. Bill Dobbins
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BLACK AND WHITE
Double Exposure Exposur
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DOUBLE EXPOSURE
A photograph is photographer’s response to reality. So what will be the upshot of merging two aspects of realities like double exposure photography? It may tell more stories, reveal deeper issues. It is not just pressing the shutter button twice. Double exposure photography is the technique of superimposing two images to create single image. It began as “spirit photography’’ and had been used in the days of film. Double exposing a single film was the technique used. Nowadays Images can be blend together using photo editing softwares by changing their opacity level. Many digital SLR cameras allow multiple exposures imaging in-camera it selves. From Gjon Mili to new generation photographers, double exposure images seem to evolve to new forms both technically and artistically. Usually this technique is used to create special visual effects. Interesting part of double exposed image is that they present various aspects of life at one plane. They offer much creative possibilities and fun. The image which pulled me towards this technique was Albert Watson’s Double Exposure shot of ‘Mick Jagger and leopard’ for Rolling Stone magazine in 1992. It was made before the days of Photoshop. He shot the leopard first and then drew the shape of the leopard on the viewfinder of the camera, rewound the film and then shot Mick twice. Various photographers used this technique in their own creative way. Philippe Halsman used double exposure to create unusual portraits of the artist Salvador Dali. Freeman Patterson took a deviated path in multiple exposure technique to craft impressionistic images. Christopher Relander’s ‘We Are Nature’ is a series of multiple exposure portraits of human beings with ferns and trees. This genre of photography demand imagination and techni52 NOTINDOOR
cal knowledge. It would be better if you combine one image with so much detail with one with much lesser one. The first picture should allow details of second picture to pop up. If camera is placed on a tripod it will cause both images to register exactly over each other. Since same frame is exposed multiple times; negative exposure compensation must be considered to avoid overexposure. Use of lot of negative spaces like Plane dark or light areas or shadows will be helpful for this. Details of second picture should fall on such plane areas of first picture. Silhouettes are particularly suitable. Silhouettes against plane white background mix well with landscapes, tress, seascapes etc will create beautiful images. Various DSLR cameras like Canon EOS 6D, EOS 5D, EOS 1DX and Nikon D600,700,750,810,D3X, D4 etc have provision for multiple exposure. I depend on my Nikon 750 for this purpose. The final image obtained in RAW format too
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and minor corrections done in Adobe Photoshop. As this option become available in certain smartphones (like Oppo F1) double exposure photography becomes more popular. This interesting segment of photography lends a hand to you to alter the reality and express subjective feeling towards the reality.
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Flowers In Macro Photography
Certainly one of my favorite objects for macro photography are flowers. You ask me why? It’s very simple! I will tell you what is the beauty of shooting flowers in macro photography mode. Flowers were my first photo objects with my first camera. I just love photographing flowers. Why? The answer is very simple. Flowers are amazing models for me! I can find there stunning mix of colors, lines, shapes, textures. The world of flowers is so big. Anyone can find for himself something really beautiful. Photographing flowers it is very simple for me. It is because I have worked with flowers in my everyday life - I am a Florist. I can see this or that strong side of flower that will be looking good on the photo. The world of flowers is extremely rich and diverse in colors and in forms. There you can find shades of the most delicate to the most saturated and colorful. You can also find all from the simple lines to the most bizarre forms. To make great photos I just need to go out into a garden. Flowers are wonderful objects for the macro photography. The flowers are just like motionless models. Characterized by incredible beauty and huge range of colors and textures. The wonderful world opens in front of you, enough to start photographing flowers. What is the most important things of macro photography if you shooting flowers? What do you must know if you want to take some good pictures? For the macro photography, there shouldn’t be many objects in the frame. It will be enough to find out one or two objects with interesting shapes and colors. Place for photographing flowers maybe botanic garden, city park, your garden, flowers shop. Actually you can shoot the flowers anywhere, even in your own home. Home plants and flowers are also very beautiful objects for macro photography. If you want to take some high quality macro photos of flowers you must use Macro lens. Lens and camera must provide a focus as close as possible, that is the essence of macro photography 58 NOTINDOOR
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The windless weather is the best time to take macro pictures of flowers. You just can’t take quality macro photo if you object moves backward and forward or from side to side. Very important moment for all photography types - is composition. Use your imagination to represent how the object will look on the picture. Try to look at flower from the different sides to find out that unique perspective. Usually background is a grass, land or the same flower leaves. It’s not necessary to give a lot of attention on the background. It will only get in the way of photographer to concentrate his attention on object.
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Optimal condition for photographing flowers in macro photography mode is not a bright daylight. Good time to take picture is in the morning or evening hours. If you photographing in bright sunny day, the contrast of photo object might be very strong and sometimes on a picture this can look bad.
So if you haven’t photographed flowers with macro photography mode - let’s do it! It is really awesome and interesting experience for photographer. Use your imagination and your photos will be great!!!
Macro photography reveals to us the inner world of the flowers. Thanks for the macro photography for human eye opens up many small details hidden inside a flower. If you trying to make macro photos of flowers it’s not necessary to capture flowers at all, you can also shoot just small part of it. Sometimes these pictures are even more interesting and creative.
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Jevgenija Sitik
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PHOTOGRAPHER
OF THE MONTH
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PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE MONTH
JosephRossbach
This month, NOTINDOOR photographer of the month is Joseph Rossbach. He has been photographing the landscape for over fifteen years. Joe’s photographs and articles have appeared in books, calendars and magazines all over the world including Outdoor Photographer, The Nature Conservancy, Digital Photo, Photo Techniques, Popular Photography, Blue Ridge Country and many more. He is a co-author and contributing photographer two print books, The Ultimate Guide to Digital Nature Photography and 50 Amazing Things You Must See and Do in the Greater D.C. NID: When did your photography journey begin? JR: I started out with Black & White Photography in High School, almost 25 years ago, taking an intro to B&W and Darkroom class. I fell in love with the medium after that semester and have never put down a camera since then. NID: When did you start taking photography more seriously? JR: In my early 20’s. Sometime after graduating high school I took a 2 week road 66 NOTINDOOR
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NID: Why do you take photos? JR: For me it is all about being outdoors, connecting with nature and traveling and exploring new and wild places. Photography is a conduit to me exploring the world and having a deeper connection with the landscape. NID: Do you take photos more for yourself—or for others? JR: Always for myself. That being said, as a professional photographer who sole does photography for a living it can be a challenge at times to not take images that you know the masses will respond well to. Luckily, over the years I feel that my style and approach to the art has really pulled people in and now I feel no need to deviate from that.
Let’s Talk About Gear
NID: What kind of gear do you use? JR: I use mostly Nikon gear. Although gear is the least important aspect of the art form to me, it is of course essential to the process. Right now I use a Nikon D810 and D800e camera bodies and lenses ranging from 14 to 400mm.
trip across the wrest US with camera in tote. That trip really sealed the deal for me. From that moment I knew I wanted to be a photographer and this was a passion that would last for life!
NID: When you go in one of your travels, what all you take with you? Why? JR: That all depends on the location. If I am working close to the car then I bring it all. If I am backpacking or hiking a good distance, I definitely go with much less equipment… usually one body and two lenses (almost always my Nikon 1424 and 24-70). A few other essential prices for me is a pair of chest waders for working in streams and along the coast and a hand held GPS unit for tracking off trail locations and knowing how to get back to the trailhead after dark. NID: Which is your favorite lens? Why? JR: My Nikon 14-24mm without question. The majority of my work is wide-angle and that lens is the sharpest from edge to edge of any lens in that range. It’s a beast to carry, but worth it for the quality of image it produces. NID: Among the gadgets that you own, is there something that you wish you hadn’t bought? Why? JR: Year’s ago I bought a Lensbaby. It was the biggest waste of money I have ever spent on photography gear. If I wanted out of focus pictures or warped focus I could simply achieve the same effect in Photoshop…of course I don’t want that in my imagery, so it has sat on my desk since I used it the first time as reminder to me that true cre67
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ativity comes from perspective & imagination and not from gimmicky equipment or techniques.
NID: What do you think are some clichés in photography you steer away from yourself? JR: Milky Way images are in my opinion the most cliche niche these days. That being said, I will sometimes be inspired Inspiration Is Important Too to capture a certain image with the night sky, but I certainly NID: Whose work has influenced you most? JR: David Muench without a doubt! I grew up on studying his don’t do that very often. I won’t say too much on this as it is landscape images. In fact the first coffee table landscape book of course highly subjective and I don’t want to belittle anyone else work or preference. just for me I don’t usually feel very I bought was Windstone and I have to say that book change the way I viewed the landscape from a photographers perspec- inspired when I see a Milky Way image. tive. NID: Who are some of your favorite classic photographers, Let’s Talk Shop and how did they influence you? NID: In the field, what are your most used camera settings? JR: Art Wolfe, David Muench, Jack Dykinga and Frans Lant- JR: Live View all the time for me when shooting landscapes. I ing were probably the most influential photographers for always shoot in manual mode except for wildlife and then I go me…in fact they still are to this day! Those guys just have alinto aperture priority. ways pushed the creative and technical craft and that showed me at a young age that it is much more than just capturing a NID: What kind of tools do you use for post processing? Expretty picture or iconic view. plain your workflow. JR: Where do I begin…I use Lightroom and Photoshop exNID: How does black and white vs color play into your work? clusively. For me the majority of the work is done in the raw Do you find them to be totally separate beasts—or compleconvertor, Lightroom in this case with targeted adjustments mentary? such as dodging & burning, precise color control and sharpJR: I don’t do too much black & white work, but under cerening in Photoshop. I am not in the practice of blending in tain circumstances it works brilliantly. For instance if there is skies from other images or major warping and cropping to my much drama in the way of clouds or atmospheric conditions, images. It’s just not my style. but little color I think black & white, otherwise I am always seeing in color. NID: Do you prefer Photoshop or Lightroom? Or maybe some other software? 68 NOTINDOOR
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JR: Love them both. They both play an important role in my workflow. NID: How has social media played a role in your photography? JR: It’s been huge for me! I have been fortunate or lucky enough to have built a huge online following that translates into a great workshop business and many print and publications sales. NID: When you are out shooting—how much of it is instinctual versus planned? JR: Maybe 50/50. I have ideas and locations that I focus on, but always stay open to other possibilities. I might go to an area and if the light is not right drive 300 miles to where it is. Or I might stay put and work it. It all depends. I operate sole on inspiration when I am shooting. NID: What are your thoughts on working on single images versus projects? JR: I think both can yield amazing results. The single image approach tends to produce a certain kind of image I guess. Whereas the having a project allows the photographer to dig a bit deeper and often results in a more eclectic collection of images. NID: What is the one thing you wish you knew when you started taking photos? JR: I spent years trying to develop a stock photo library and make stock sales. Had I know that by the time I finally made it as full time pro that NID: What projects/ideas that part of the business was going to dry up i would have spent much more time focusing on writing and other projects. you have going on now? JR: This year I am highly But hey I don’t have a crystal ball. focused on the Desert Southwest and capturing new NID: Among your works, which one is your favorite? Why? locations on the Colorado JR: I don’t know really…images are like children you love them all but for different reasons. Who can say which child if Plateau and California desert. I have also made a huge effort the favorite. to focus on intimate images
as much as I do on grand landscapes. NID: How do you educate yourself to take be4er pictures? JR: I read quite a lot and experiment in the field. For the practice of shooting is a huge learning tool. I spend over 69
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200 days a year in the field so I definitely get my practice time in!
Tips For Our Readers
NID: What are your thoughts and feelings about shooting individually (versus shooting with a friend or small group of friends)? JR: Well because I lead workshop and tours I spend a lot of time shooting with others. And I love it to be honest. I like the camaraderie and the fact that we always feed off of each other creatively. That being said, when I am not running tours I like to be alone. I need my alone time and it is usually then that I capture my most original shots. NID: What are some other tips/advice you would give to yourself if you started photography all over again? JR: Never listen to the naysayers! Always believe in yourself and don’t be afraid to break the rules and make your own imagery. It is so easy to get caught up in what others are doing that it so often stifles creativity. NID: What do you want your viewers to take away from your work? JR: The the natural world is special, beautiful, wild, dangerous and worth preserving for future generations. Website | Twitter | 500px Facebook
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Kelee Bovelle MONTHLY PORTFOLIO
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PORTFOLIO
Kelee Bovelle is a photographer from the East Coast of the United States. With a passion for all things ocean, surf & travel, she captures the things she loves most in a creative and unique way. Her goal is to use photography to encourage people to cherish and protect the Earth.
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Click to Enter
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W E I V
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A E G photo by Photo Waldes
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GEAR REVIEW
SONY Alpha 77II
I was trying to shoot at 51000 free hand, but this is where the quality starts to degrade clearly but it’s good enough for documentary use. Of course there is a bit of noise, but the noise patterns are so fine, that it looks more like a ISO 400 analog film, and actually gives the photo a bit of character.
by Dirk Ross
I have been a Sony guy since I started taking pictures seriously. The only issue I don’t like about my Alpha 77ii (my second Sony SLT) is the Image quality at high ISO levels. For the longest time I never used much more than a 1000 ISO setting due to the noise which would appeared from time to time. I avoided situations in which I needed more light. However, in the summer of 2015, I started to use ETTR (Exposure to the right) which helped me to improve the quality but I never was totally satisfied with the outcome. I am sure you may all know this, but when you run around long enough with a big lens, the day comes where you will be asked to shoot a wedding. For my first wedding I didn’t receive any money and what hurt me a bit was I never got any feedback, so it was clear for me I never would do this again. Of course as time went on I continued to get requests and the second of these was pretty serious. I mapped out a plan to rent an Alpha 7s to get this this and some other projects done. To rent one, would have ended up netting me an 8 day fee of about 600 Euros. Looking at that price it made more sense to own one. Long story short end, after a nice conversation with my wife I ordered one Alpha A7 s at Amazon with the crazy hope that I might find a reason to send it back because it is too expensive as a secondary camera. I went with the A7s, because I wanted no more issues with photo noise high ISOs. What I wanted was a camera which is be able to cover all the needs of a wedding (5000 -6000 ISO at church), airplanes at night (25000 ISO) and some other night stuff at a image quality which would look fine for normal screens. I knew that a printed stuff didn’t need the high resolution we have on PC, but, most of the pictures we use today are viewed on the web with screens with pretty high resolution. Let me just say this... So far, so good.
The A 77ii produced pretty big noise clusters which destroyed details rather quickly. Sure you can push up noise reduction in Lightroom but this left you with a picture that looks more like a painting, and unless you are going for that, it tends to be problematic.
Sensor Size
The second big advantage is the full format sensor. There are I won’t start to count up numbers and specs that you can find plenty of discussions out there on Facebook and on other photo groups about the APSC vs Full Frame. I was pretty hapon Sony websites or amazon costumer recessions. I just tell py with my APSC until I moved to a full frame. While the picyou about my experience with this nice new toy of mine. tures look better, it’s not a world but it’s certainly visible. One possible reason is that the crop factor not only does a multiplication of the focal length with a factor of 1.6 which delivers ISO with a 35 mm lens a similar image effect if you would use a With the Sony Alpha A 7s you can go at 12800 ISO and it 50 mm lens. More important is that you have a higher depth looks much better than ISO 1600 at the Sony Alpha 77ii. of field with a higher crop factor, which might be nice with You are capable of shooting pictures like this Panorama free landscape shots, but is bad news for portraits or if you want handed with 1/125 at 25000 ISO and it looks pretty darn to separate something from its background. On an APSC good. (Panoramic Image Donnersberger) sensor you would need an F Stop of 0.3 on a 50 mm to have
Pros
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Panoramic Donnersberger the same image effect like F 2.8 on 50mm on Full Frame. To Weight and size make it short, the A 7s makes this very easy and because it Weight is a positive factor; the body is about 200 grams below looks so much better, you will begin having fun doing portrait an average DSLR Camera. After a week of testing my A7s shoots. with the LA EA and the Minolta 50mm, I took my A77ii with the Sigma Art f/ 1.8 18-35, and I felt practically on my knees when I felt the heavy weight of it.
Dynamic Range
The dynamic range is amazing. For the Picture of this sunrise in Munich I exposed to the light, which gave me a pretty dark foreground. I was able to push up the shadows, blacks and the exposure for almost + 2 exposure steps without any noise.
Overall picture Quality
I am not sure why this happens but I like the look. My Alpha 77ii produces with all of my glass a slightly cold look. The A 7 s delivers a warmer look and richer colors. Different to the Alpha 77ii I push the dynamics slider to the left. Getting things together I must say, I save time on post processing because the RAW Files are coming out of the camera much closer to reality.
Use of older lenses
With the A 7 system you can adapt almost everything prior, and if you use the LA EA 4 you will have Autofocus on A Mount Glasses. That helps you to use a lot of good and in a lot of cases cheaper lenses. One of my favorite pieces of glass at the moment is the Minolta 1.7 50 mm which I bought used for about 60 Euros this is compared to 600 Euros for a Sony Zeiss Prime at a good price. The Adapter degrades the AF System a bit, but i knew that beforehand. The A 7 S isn’t a Camera for sports. In fact I can use my Minolta 50mm, my Tamron 90 mm and my 150-600 with AF and the 70-200 without AF.
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What I like very much is how fine the camera shows the awesome alight at sunset. With the A77ii I needed muchmore time in Lightroom and it often looked over processed.
Cons
Display
Compared to the 77ii the display only tilts up and down. You may miss the 77ii if you are doing macros and operate a lot of time flat on the ground.
Autofocus
The Autofocus is pretty precise but not too fast with the LA EA 4. You have at least something like 5 AF points and you can’t switch to an AF Field of your choice. Sony syays it’s possible, but it seems it doesn’t work with every lens. The solution to this is to use the great focus peaking. Using manual focus is great fun and works fine on my entire lens setup. However the joystick on the Alpha 77ii works way better.
direction towards a seriously matured cameras like the D810 or similar. I think if I must deliver under every circumstance I would perhaps move to another more professional system.
Burst Shot and Speed
Looking at the Burst shot, the A 77 ii is damn fast with 12 RAWs per second, the A 7s with its 5 shots is significantly slower. So sports photographers might find an issue with this.
All in all I am an happy amateur... I can shoot what I want when I want, so I can live with the issues. My main concern is quality, and I like the retro design and the lighter weight. I will use the camera in the future for portraits, landscapes, night, nature and planes at night. For the other stuff like Sport and moving planes at day, I plan to stick with my 77ii.
Energy management:
For this picture I used a flash from the right. The text is similar, and the colors look better than on the 77II.
I think 400 -500 pictures with on one new battery isn’t not amazing by any means. You will need plenty of batteries if you plan on long and heavy days of shooting. Sony ships the Camera with two of them which is definitely better than one. A good tip is turn the airplane mode on, it reduces battery drain significantly when the camera is not in use.
Conclusion
The Sony Alpha 7s delivers awesome quality in my opinion. You will be able to take photos in lighting situations where most other cameras deliver only grainy garbage shots. The lack of stabilization is no problem, add a little more ISO and everything is fine. I now plan to keep the camera for sure. It’s the solution for most of my problems with image quality, and fills gaps my second camera can not. When you know what you’re doing it’s a easy camera to use. The electronic viewfinder shows you what you get, which helps because I think I would have serious problems with a normal DSLR with an optical viewfinder. The usability is fine but when you come from a more serious camera you will miss the better AF and the possibility to choose the AF Field with your thumb. What is a serious point is pricing. The A 7s comes for around 1800 Euro, the newer model with minor improvements comes for around 3300 €. With development they move in the 86 NOTINDOOR
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Mountains Contest Monochrome Awards Contest
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Trees Contest People Contest
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Photo by Madhushan Indika de Silvarea
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