Ohio State

So, here's the real object of my trip. Ohio State University at Columbus Ohio.
I came here for two weeks for a collaboration meeting and some one-on-one time with the students here. So, yeah, I was doing physics for two weeks, and only a little partying photography on the side.

Although I did compress a lot of time spent and a couple of things outside of school that I got to photograph. All that and more, after the jump.

Arachnophobia

It is spider season in Weizmann institute. All the shrubs on the side of the roads are spotted with patches of spiderwebs.

Naturally I got a tripod and a macro lens one day.

This shot of one not-so-shy spider (most of them ran away when I got this close - making me think how important working distance is for macro work) is actually a composite of two images with slightly different focus plane. At these distances it was impossible to get everything in focus without compromising sharpness.

So instead of compromising, I prefer compositing.

Below are some more shots of different spiders along the way.

Macro World

Today I have another collection of images, most of them very recent. I always loved macro photography. I got a macro lens about two years ago and fell in love with it. The fun part about macro photography is that everything becomes interesting... Hopefully these picture live up to the claim.

Chocolate Shop

This week I have the last project I did for 2012, photographing a candy shop in Ramat Gan. The interior design is due to the talented Adi Erlich, and you can find these images as well as a few others on her website.



This was a rather small room so I had to work wide. Also, a couple of the images are actually panoramas (one of them is easy to detect, the other a bit more subtle). Besides, a few shots of the very artistic chocolates and a bit on how they were made, after the jump...

Macarons

Besides the obvious benefits of going on photo shoots with models and make-up artists and other photographers, like I did a few weeks ago, there is also the advantage of meeting new people. This, like the many facebook groups for local photographers, opens up new opportunities to photograph things.

In this case I went to a friend I met at the above-mentioned photo shoot, to photograph a workshop on making `macarons': a kind of French dessert which is both tasty and colorful (two things I especially look out for when invited to photograph food...).

This workshop has a very casual atmosphere, and the food preparation is half-way between baking and playing... in a word: fun!

Night Catalog

Last November I helped a friend make a catalog for a line of LED products for pubs and clubs.


I took this as an opportunity to learn more about product photography, although this project was very different than most product catalogs.


Since the whole point was to show the self-lit products, I wanted to make everything in a nocturnal environment. This made some things very easy (the backgrounds were easy to black out) but it also presented some problems. The main difficulty was that the LED lights are much weaker than my flash, and I had to go to very small apertures and very long exposures to get them at the same power.


So I had to resort to other lighting sources. Making sure the colors match and that the background stayed as dark as possible were also concerns that kept this shoot interesting.

The second part of the shoot was a month later at a pub, showing off the products at their intended surroundings.

Exposure part I: Proper Exposure

Today I will try to answer the following questions:

What is 'exposure'?

How to determine what a proper exposure is?

What does my camera's light meter do and why should I care about it?

What is the difference between SLR and pocket cameras when it comes to determining exposure?

and why do I need P,S,A and M modes, really?

For expert photographers these questions are trivial, but for people trying to get into the field these concepts always seem to be scary. I aim this post at people who want to know more, and I will try to explain the how-to's for SLR owners that are just starting up, and to pocket camera enthusiasts who want to get more out of pictures.

Freddie the Mantis

This week I have just a few pictures, which I have already uploaded (these were taken in September last year). I had shot these when I was travelling with National Geographic in the Amazon Rainforest of Brazil.

No, actually it was in my living room (on the basil plant, where it had really good camouflage). We named it Freddie (after the Elm street murderer) and I really wanted to keep it... only it turned out that mantises (mantii?) tend to get aggressive when you poke a lens and flash at them...

I did always want to take pictures of bugs with all the right equipment: macro lens, flash and tripod. I just never happen to have these things around when I see some interesting critters. Since Freddie was kind enough to come to my own living room, I made a few good shots before he started climbing the camera and jumping me (he was about half an inch tall, but really aggressive! ).

DUMBFSA

Today I want to talk to all the people who have digital cameras but never bothered to read the manual. Or tried to read it but it was too complicated. For all my friends who 'just put it on automatic'.

I know the internet is full of guides to help out beginners who want to get more out of their pictures, but I always think it must be too long/boring/complicated for most people - fact is, most people I know (that aren't serious photographers) never did read any of that stuff, and quite a few times ask me basic questions about photography, most of the time about how to work their camera. This includes SLR owners (not just point-and-shoot moms).

So here is the most basic things you should know to get the best shots off your camera.

D.U.M.B.F.S.A - Didn't Understand the Manual, But Felt Silly to Ask.