It’s not too often that I dabble in black and white photography, but when I saw this photo I thought it would be a perfect opportunity.

You have to have a different mindset when taking black and white photos.  You almost have to train your mind to see in black and white.  Black and white obviously can’t show vivid eye-popping colors, so you have to make use of what can be portrayed in a black and white image: textures, contrast, shapes, and composition.  In the photo above, the goat stands out because the texture of his fur is different from the background.  The goat also has some stronger shadows on his face, which helps with contrast.

I also cropped the photo so the goat was looking into the frame and isn’t the center of attention.  The goat looking to the left is an advantage too.  Your eyes kind of follow the goat’s gaze to the left side of the photo, and then “read” from left to right back to the goat.  It kind of makes viewers dwell on the photo longer than just a passing glance.

I had to crop this photo quite a bit to get this composition (and this was taken with a strong zoom lens), so it’s not a high enough resolution to print, but I wanted to share the story.

This video is helpful at showing the creative possibilities available while using different camera lenses.

http://wistia.com/learning/get-creative-with-lenses (Image credit: wistia.com)

My Advice
With a limited budget, I always advocate spending more money on lenses as opposed to cameras. Cameras are just like any other technology purchase, as they get older, new ones come out with more features and the old ones just lose value over time. Lenses are different though. They hold their value over time, and in some cases their value increases as manufacturers raise prices to match inflation. When you buy a lens, you can reasonably expect to be using it for the next 20 years, even with new cameras as they come out.

It doesn’t just make good financial sense to spend more money on lenses though. A good lens on an inexpensive camera will offer much better image quality than a cheap lens in an expensive camera. These days, DSLR cameras are so good, that even the lower-end models can take beautiful photographs if you have the right lens.

What’s in my bag?
I currently use three different lenses on my DSLR. Most of the time I use a 24-105mm f4L IS. This is a really nice walk-around lens because it covers images from wide-angle to short telephoto zoom. It also has image stabilization, so I can still get pretty sharp shots even if I don’t have a tripod with me. The primary drawback of this lens is weight, it’s definitely heavier than a lot of other lenses in this focal range. Also, while it’s not as costly as the highest quality lenses in this range, it’s not an inexpensive lens by any means.

For a regular telephoto zoom, I use the 70-200mm f4L. For a telephoto, it’s not too heavy, and it produces very sharp images. It doesn’t have image stabilization, which can be a drawback because a stronger zoom will amplify any camera shake from holding it. I use it mostly outdoors in brighter light, or on a monopod indoors when I need to. It’s also one of the least expensive lenses in Canon’s professional L series.

The last lens I have is a 50mm f1.8 prime lens. Prime lenses don’t zoom, which throws some people who aren’t familiar with primes. I’ve had people borrow my camera with this lens mounted, and turn the ring on the lens and be surprised to find that it will change focus but not zoom. Prime lenses are great in low-light situations. This 50mm lens gathers over 4 times more light than either of my other two lenses, which makes it perfect for indoor shots at night. It’s also very small, very light, and inexpensive. If you have a DSLR with just a kit lens, there is no better way to improve your photography than to spend $100 on a nifty 50.

Next steps…
My next lens will most likely be a stronger telephoto, somewhere in the 300mm or 400mm range. It would open up a lot more wildlife shots for me. While the 70-200mm will be great for wildlife you are close to (in a zoo, for example), 200mm is still a little short if you are further away from an animal as in the wild.

After watching this video, an ultra-wide angle 16-35mm f2.8L (or the less-insanely-priced 17-40mm f4L) would really provide a lot of creative possibilities. Someday maybe I’ll try one out.

I used to think the best landscape photos were sweeping images of grand vistas.  The type of images you only get in the National Parks.  However, sometimes you can get some great landscape images in really small places.  You really don’t have to travel far and wide to get the best photos.

Take these mushrooms for instance.  I took this photo just outside a cabin we were staying in.  There was a tree stump out front, and on one side there were a couple of cool looking mushrooms.  Looking back, I would have composed this image slightly differently, but the point is that it makes for a nice landscape image.

This second image was actually taken in Yosemite, a place that has no shortage of grand vistas.  However, this shot was taken on a very small scale, and it turned out to be one of my favorites from the trip.  What I like about it is that it summarizes some of the amazing life in the park and surrounding region, even on a smaller scale.  The Redwood is a signature tree in the northern Sierra mountains, which makes this photo unique to that particular region.  Each Redwood is pretty majestic on its own, but it can be pretty amazing how much smaller scale life is supported by each of these larger trees.  The green moss in this photo really captures a whole other world at a smaller scale.

This last photo was actually captured in our backyard a couple of years ago.  We just had a big snowstorm come through, so I went outside to take some photos.  I got quite a few shots of the mounds of snow that were everywhere, but one of my favorites was this close-up shot of a pine tree.   A lot of people will see the snow-covered tree and appreciate its beauty, but if you spend the extra time to look more closely, there is a lot of beauty and detail even on individual branches.  In my eyes, the ice crystals on this branch were more amazing than the snow covered tree viewed as a whole.

I guess my point is: don’t wait until the next time you are on the trip of a lifetime to take a photograph.  You can make some really great shots just by spending some time to look around in your own backyard.

I’ve taken pictures for most of my life.  My first camera was a 110 format film camera back when I was a kid (click, crank, click, crank…).  Before digital, it never really interested me as a hobby.  It took too long between capturing a photo and viewing a print.  And the whole developing phase had a pretty steep learning curve, so unless you were happy taking your film to Walgreens, there wasn’t much to do about it.

Fast forward to the early naughts, where digital cameras came into play.  Take a picture, see the results on-screen instantly. Did it turn out horrible?  No problem, just delete the image and try again.  It didn’t take long for me to develop (pun intended) a keen interest in the hobby.  I’ve taken tens of thousands of photos since then, and have enjoyed every minute of it.  But it’s always just been a hobby.

Over the past year or so, I started thinking about selling my photographs.  There was never enough time to actually go through the work of doing it though.  And what happens if I go through all this work of setting up an online store only to find nobody cares enough to buy a print?

Eventually the idea kept eating away at me, and I decided it was time to go for it.  I came across Fine Art America a few weeks ago as a place to sell prints.  They provide all the online ordering services, printing, and shipping.  I just have to bring the photos and set the pricing.  That made things just a little bit too easy to pass up.

I’m starting with a pretty small sample of images on here for the time being, but I’ll be adding more images as time goes on.  Each photo has a link to the page at Fine Art America where you can place orders for standard prints with or without frames, canvas prints, or even metal prints.  They have a lot of nice products there to choose from.  I try to stick with the standard photo sizes, to keep customers from having to buy custom frames, but it’s not always possible depending on the shot.

I am also planning to post photography related articles to this blog.  Be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed, or follow Radiant Lens on Facebook.  Thanks for visiting!