Saturday, April 30, 2011

Tips For Photographing Butterflies



Butterflies are perhaps the most conspicuous and colourful of insects. Due to their attractiveness and omnipresence they have acquired a niche in the prose and poetry of various cultures. Every individual with a camera in hand will be tempted to capture these beauties but when they actually try to do so they may find that it is not as easy as it seems. Here are some tips that'll help you take some amazing photos of these beautiful creatures.




1. Choose the right equipment for the job

For photographing butterflies you may use a compact digital camera with macro or a DSLR preferably with a 90mm or 105 mm lens with macro. Although any lens with macro up to 200 or 300 mm is fine. Always remember that its not advisable to get too close to the butterflies while photographing cause they may fly off as you approach. That is the reason lenses with smaller focal lengths are not recommended for beginners. But as you grow in experience and understand the peculiar nature of different species of butterflies you will be able to go very near the butterfly without disturbing them. Until then choose a lens with longer focal length.



2. Most Important Skills for Butterfly Photography - Patience and Knowledge about each Species.

The most important skill needed for photographing butterflies is patience. Remember you cant control the way your subject behaves. The butterfly may fly off when you approach. You might have to position yourselves in a good spot near the flower and be patient and wait for the butterfly to return to the flower. Butterflies often return to the same flower and assume the same position as it was before if it was disturbed in the middle by your apporach. so get yourselves into position anticipating the butterfly to sit the same way as it was when you apporached. Butterflies do not feed indiscriminately from any flowers that they might find. There are preferences for nectar with specific chemical composition. So even though the butterflies gets scared off when you approach them, they will usually land on flowers very near to you if you are already sitting there.



Understanding the peculiarities of each species is also important some species of butterflies like the cerulean and grey pansy are slow movers while other species like the blue mormon and blue bottle are fast movers. Some are easily scared by human approach while some species like the cerulean are not. They also tend to have preferrences towards certain varities of flowers. So understanding your subject goes a long way in taking exemplary photos.







3. Best time for Photographing Butterflies is Mornings


Best time for photographing butterflies is mornings when then sun is up and the air is warm. Butterflies are cold blooded. They cannot produce enough heat through metabolism to maintain a constant body temperature instead they depend on the ambient temperature. Therefore they bask in the sun in the morning and then may do so intermittently throughout the day. But towards noon when the heat is too much they tend to go towards the shades. If you happen to live in South India the best time is between 9 am and 10 am.



4. Never use Perfumes, Deodorants or Insect Repellents if you are planning to photograph butterflies

Butterflies have an acute sense of smell and it is this sense that they use to navigate to flowers with nectar and communicate between them. Perfumes, Deodorants and insect repellents easily scares them off even when you are a fair distance away from them thereby eliminating any chance of photographing them.



5. Always wear Mute Colour Dresses

Bright colours easily sacre off butterflies so always wear mute colour dresses while approaching butterflies.



6. Always Remember No Jerky Movements - Use fluid motion

How you approach the butterfly makes a huge difference in deciding whether the butterfly will fly off or remain there. Always use a slow and careful approach. No sudden movements. Lifting your camera, shifting positions etc should all be done slowly.



7. A Monopod is always better than a Tripod

It is not always practical to shoot butterflies with a tripod mounted camera. Tripods can sometimes prove to be cumbersome and unpractical. You could use a monopod if needed for some stability.






8. Correct the White Balance of the Camera to get genuine Colours


Butterflies are very colourful creatures. Their wings and body is composed of hundreds of shades of different colours. Inorder to capture the genuine colours of the butterfly you should always correct the white balance of your camera before you start shooting. Choose the correct mode as per lighting conditions like, cloudy, shade or daylight etc and check to see that they render correct colours before you approach the butterfly.








9. If there is enough light never use a flash, else use it


If you have your butterfly frontlit and if theres enough light never use a flash. Else if you do not have enough light on the subject or if you need some fill in light go ahead and use the flash.







10. A Shutter Speed of 200 -250 is ample


Even though butterflies tend to sit on flowers and they move; a shutterspeed of 200 or 250 is ample enough to give you flawless pictures. Going above this often results in a shallow apreture making all parts of the butterfly like the wings or the antennae to go out of focus. Or in an increased ISO setting making the picture prone to noise. If you have steady hands and when you grow in experience you may even be able to capture great shots with shutterspeeds of 60 - 30.



11. Preferred Apreture is 8 or above as per lighting conditions

Since wings, body, antenne etc of the butterfly are in different planes if you do not have enough apreture these parts tend to go out of focus resulting in poor pictures. Although you might sometimes be tempted to blur the background by using a shallow depth of field its always better to have all parts of the butterly in focus.







12. If you are shooting on a windy day use Continuous Focus


Set the focus of your camera to Continuous focus mode if you are shooting on a windy day inorder to ensure the subject is in focus when you actually click.







13. Choose the right angle to shoot


Since you will want all parts of the butterfly in focus like the wings and the body, try to position your camera parellel to the wings of the butterfly thereby ensuring most of your subject are in one geometrical plane ensuring that they are all in sharp focus.





14. Choose the right background by moving the Angle / Position


A right background is the most important thing that determines the attractiveness of the photo. For eg a butterfly with bright colours will look good when pictured in the background of the sky but a butterfly with yellow or white colours or butterflies that are smaller in sizes will look good against dark backgrounds. So always try to get the background right by either adjusting your angle or by shifting your postion.



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Sunday, April 24, 2011

Bokeh Photography

Bokeh is a technique in photography wherein images are made blur in a way that they are pleasing to the eyes of the viewer. When used with lights and creativity, they can give an amusing and playful effect to the image. Also, Bokeh effect enhances the subject in focus, while at the same time giving the picture a fine background and more emotion to it.
Here are some examples  . BE INSPIRED!!!























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Monday, April 18, 2011

INSPIRATION

Gallery that will help you to create your own artistic work.


Monday, April 4, 2011

Kim Jong Bok Illustrations



Digital illustration, illustration artwork, South Korean Piainter,Cartoon illustrations, Art Illustration : Flower Fairy Girl , Colourful Spring Girl 、Colorful Beautiful and artistic illustraions, dreamy and peaceful, softness style, pastel color, Webjong, Kim Jong Bok illustrations, Kim Jong Bok Cartoon illustration, Sweet and beautiful children illustration , fairylike cartoon girls, Fairy, Cute and lovely



















































http://www.shareapic.net/user/lyn2011

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High Dynamic Range.Photography

What is HDR?


HDR is short for High Dynamic Range. It is a post-processing of taking either one image or a series of images, combining them, and adjusting the contrast ratios to do things that are virtually impossible with a single aperture and shutter speed. I would say that about 75% of my images use the technique, and if you are new to it, then you may notice a slightly different “look and feel” to my photographs. You should also probably note that HDR is a very broad categorization, and I really hate categorization. My process starts with using basic HDR techniques, but then there are many more steps to help the photos look more… let’s say… evocative.



I can talk a little bit more about the philosophy behind the photography style here for a quick moment. You might consider that the way the human brain keeps track of imagery is not the same way your computer keeps track of picture files. There is not one aperture, shutter speed, etc. In fact, sometimes when you are in a beautiful place or with special people and you take photos — have you ever noticed when you get back and show them to people you have to say, “Well, you really had to be there.” Even great photographers with amazing cameras can only very rarely grab the scene exactly as they saw it. Cameras, by their basic-machine-nature, are very good at capturing “images”, lines, shadows, shapes — but they are not good at capturing a scene the way the mind remembers and maps it. When you are actually there on the scene, your eye travels back and forth, letting in more light in some areas, less light in others, and you create a “patchwork-quilt” of the scene. Furthermore, you will tie in many emotions and feelings into the imagery as well, and those get associated right there beside the scene. Now, you will find that as you explore the HDR process, that photos can start to evoke those deep memories and emotions in a more tangible way. It’s really a wonderful way of “tricking” your brain into experiencing much more than a normal photograph.







Into The Darkness



Into The Darkness

Before sunrise on Lake Edith, Jasper National Park, the Canadian Rockies.
By NY_Doll


 
 
Marooned


Before Sunrise

Before Sunrise

Early morning on glacial Lake Edith in Jasper National Park, the Canadian Rockies


Mirror

Mirror



This is Mountain View Lake, located near the town of Canmore in Banff National Park, the Canadian Rockies. The elevation of this lake is 1480 meters and it's across the street from the Canmore Nordic Centre which was designed and developed for the 1988 Winter Olympic Games.




The Quarry
 
The Quarry



Quarry Lake Park is one of Canmore’s favourite recreational areas with spectacular views of Ha Ling Peak, Mount Lady MacDonald, and the Rundle Range. Quarry lake is located a few kilometers from the town of Banff on the edge of the Canadian Rockies and is approximately 100 metres deep in some areas


Vancouver Bay Sea Planes

Vancouver Bay Sea Planes



Seaplane Dock on Vancouver Harbor. HDR image
By rgb48


Zabrinskie Point, Death Valley

Zabrinskie Point, Death Valley

By Venky Krishna


jimmy and the bird tree