LENS CAPTURE

Vol. 1 No. 27
Summer is here and there are several great events coming up. There's the 4th of July, which I plan to post about photographing fireworks, and the Worldwide Photo Walk on July 18th. I already have 26 registered to join me at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden! If you're interested in joining us, don't delay - register now before it it's too late.

In the interest of time, and while I finish up the article on capturing firework displays, I have put together some speed links I think you'll find interesting.

Looking to retouch your photos for free?
Look no further than the freely distributed GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program). Now in version 2.6 and originally released officially in version 1.0 in 1998, this powerful piece of software is available for most operating systems such as Linux, FreeBSD, MacOSX and Windows. The Digital Photography School has posted an excellent introduction to the power, tips and tricks of this freely licensed post production tool.
GIMP - An Intro

Police in trouble for taking photo
So, you thought only photographers get in trouble capturing the moment? Seems a city attorney from Indiana had a little too much to drink and tried to sleep it off. One of the responding officers snapped a quick shot of the barrister while he slept in public and is now in "hot water."
Attorney Trashed

Joining a Photo Walk?
Laurie Excell, a professional nature photographer and instructor, guest blogs on the World Wide Photo Walk. She discusses participating in the PhotoWalk and how to properly prepare for the event. If you are joining my walk, or signed up for any of the other walk on July 18, you should take a few moments to read her post.
Laurie's Advice

Photographs from the International Space Station
The Boston Globe posted 35 awesome photographs from the recent eruption of the Sarychev Peak Volcano to stunning images from recent NASA archives. 35 photos in total, definitely worth a visit.
View From Above


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Vol. 1 No. 26

"1026 Photo Walks Worldwide" is the banner on the website, WorldWidePhotoWalk.com. I will be leading one of those groups through the beautiful 52-acre Brooklyn Botanical Gardens on Saturday, July 18, 2009. So, if you missed the LensCapture Photo Walk several weeks ago to BBG, here's you chance! During last year's Photo Walk, there were 236 cities participating with more than 1 million photographs captured.


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Photo walks are a great way to share your love of photography, and learn from one another. Absolutely no experience is required. You can even participate with a disposable camera by having the images developed by your favorite local drugstore and placed on a CD. And, if that wasn't enough, there are some great prizes this year!

In order to participate, you MUST register in advance since each group is limited to 50 people. If you would like to join the group I am leading this year, you can sign up here.

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Vol. 1 No. 25

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Photographing our closest celestial body, the Moon, presents some challenges. You have probably attempted this in the past and wound up with a blown-out blob in the sky. Devoid of any detail.

The key thing to remember is the moon is illuminated by the Sun - the brightest object in our sky. You can photograph the moon using the trusted "Sunny 16" rule which states on a sunny day, set your aperture to f/16 and your shutter to 1/ISO speed. So to get shadow detail in your image you could set you camera, on a tripod of course, to ISO 100 (the lower the ISO the better to reduce noise), your aperture to f/16, and your shutter to 1/100 seconds. Do not expect to find detail in any other objects in the frame such as foreground elements (trees, buildings, etc.). These objects will be totally underexposed and lost in the shadows.

So how do you add interest in your moonscape images?

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The best way to accomplish this type of photograph is through the use of double-exposure. The image above, again, taken on a tripod, consists of two different exposures. The first capture was exposed for the Moon. The second image was taken to provide some detail in the sky, notice the cloud streak, and the park setting in the foreground. Depending on your camera model, you might be able to accomplish this type of photograph right in your camera. Otherwise, you will need to combine them later in post-production using tools like Adobe Elements or Photoshop.

Adding foreground elements when shooting moonscapes definitely makes the scene more interesting. Another useful tip is knowing when the Moon rises and where it will be in the sky. A very useful website is Time and Date.com's Moonrise and Moonset Calculator. Just select your location and it will present you with the when (times) and the azimuth, or where in the sky to see the moon. The Moon is usually largest just after moonrise and just before moonset.

One last tip. When photographing the Moon, if you wait till it is full, it will usually look somewhat flat. Capturing the Moon while crescent or, in the images above, in the last phase before a full Moon called "Waxing Gibbous," will show more dimension or shadowing.


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