PHOTOGRAPHING EXOTIC LOCALES THE EASY WAY

PHOTOGRAPHING EXOTIC LOCALES THE EASY WAY - TAKE A WORKSHOP - The photograph illustrating this article was taken by yours truly in northern Thailand where I was privileged to participate in a ten day photography workshop. Pictured are Chuck Feil, the workshop facilitator and workshop participant Curt Stetter aboard an Asian elephant bound for a remote hill tribe village. When traveling to a remote locale, there are distinct advantages to a photography workshop as opposed to either traveling on your own or as part of a tour group. Attempting to find your way around alone in a strange land can be quite frustrating and, in some instances, dangerous. Traveling with a tour group has advantages. However, with a group that is not focused on photography, your options for capturing the locale on film (or sensor) are still quite limited. With a good photo workshop, you're accessing the talent and expertize of a trained professional who is also familiar with the locale you're visiting. Workshops offer you an environment in which you can work with the confidence that comes from knowing that the nuts and bolts involved in putting together a photo excursion to say the African Congo have been attended to. You can then focus on the job of capturing great images. You'll also be learning from an experienced professional and bonding with other workshop participants. And yes, a two week long workshop in India is going to be relatively expensive. But it will also reward you with an experience you'll never forget, perhaps a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience what it's like to photo document s far away land and its native culture. So dive into the deep end of the pool. Research what's available and choose a workshop that suits your needs, then go for it. I promise, you won't be disappointed. LARRY ELKINS - ELKINSPHOTOS FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY

CHRISTMAS GREETING

MERRY CHRISTMAS.

MAKING MACRO MAGIC - QUICK TIP

MAKING MACRO MAGIC - QUICK TIP - When shooting a macro of say a flower or an insect, try keeping the background simple so as not to distract the viewer's attention from the actual subject. As an example, the shot here, which was taken on a sunny day, was shot with an exposure that renders the flower beautifully yet drops the shadowed background to pretty much a dead black. However, in most cases, while you may not be able to totally get rid of a background, you can minimize it. First, try to rid the background of any particularly distracting elements such as twigs or branches. then use a shallow depth of field to throw the background out of focus. This will help to draw the viewer's attention to the primary subject. LARRY ELKINS - ELKINSPHOTOS FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY

WALL MURAL - ECUADOR

WALL MURAL - ECUADOR - I took this photo of a wall mural in a fishing village on the Pacific coast of Ecuador. I found several of these brightly painted murals, most of them depicting fish or sea birds. LARRY ELKINS - ELKINSPHOTOS FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY

APERTURE PRIORITY VERSUS SHUTTER PRIORITY

APERTURE PRIORITY VERSUS SHUTTER PRIORITY - In photography, the balance of two factors achieves correct exposure. Those two factors are aperture size and shutter speed. Aperture size, simply put, refers to the size of the hole that allows light to pass through the camera lens to the sensor or film plane. Shutter speed, on the other hand, simply refers to the length of time the hole remains open. These two factors are reciprocal. This means that the wider the aperture (the larger the hole), the less time the shutter must remain open to achieve proper exposure. Conversely, the longer the shutter remains open, the smaller the aperture (the hole) will need to be to achieve proper exposure. So now that we understand these terms, what are aperture priority mode and shutter priority mode? In aperture priority, you get to choose the aperture size while the camera chooses the proper shutter speed to achieve correct exposure. With shutter priority, you choose the shutter speed while the camera chooses the appropriate aperture size. In other words, unlike auto, where the camera retains complete control or manual metering, where you control both the aperture size and shutter speed, priority modes allow you to control either the aperture size or shutter speed while the camera controls the other factor. Since aperture size controls depth of field, you will usually choose aperture priority when you want to control the depth of focus in an image. You would choose shutter priority when your prime concern is to control camera shake or when you want to be able to stop action or to introduce motion blur. You set the priority, and the camera sets the balance in order to achieve proper exposure of the image. LARRY ELKINS - ELKINSPHOTOS FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY

TEMPLE DRAGON - NORTHERN THAILAND

TEMPLE DRAGON - NORTHERN THAILAND - I took this photograph of a dragon sculture earlier this year in Chiang Mai Province, Northern Thailand. It has a timeless quality to it. It could have been made this morning. It could have been made five hundred years ago. That is if the appropriate technology had been available. In shooting exotic subjects such as this, it can be tempting to include Aunt Esther in the composition. That's fine if your primary purpose is to produce a portrait of Aunt Esther. However, if your goal is to produce an exotic and timeless travel image, then (Sorry Aunt Esther) avoid modern elements, especially of the Aunty type. Or, instead of an intriguing and exotic travel portfolio, you'll wind up with vacation snapshots. Now, if, howevewr, vacation snapshots are what you're after, then by all means, shoot Aunt Esther to your heart's delight. LARRY ELKINS - ELKINSPHOTOS FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY

ONE PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS

ONE PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS - We've all heard this statement at some time or another. But what does it really mean? Well, quite simply, it means that a photograph can, even without a word being said, deliver a most powerful message. Take the photo above which I took at an American Cancer Society Relay For Life here in Bisbee. As a fine art photograph it is quite simply, rather mediocre. The power of the photograph comes from the message it relates concerning the indomitability of the human spirit. These are cancer survivors, one aided by a walker, who are walking the initial lap of the Relay. So many photographs fit into the category of pictures worth a thousand words. Some, like the raising of the flag on on Iwo Jima or Neil Armstrong's footprint on the moon, are famous. Countless others are not. For me, one stands out. An unlikely shot to run on the front page of most every newspaper in the country, the photo was of a nature most newspapers would normally not see fit to print. The image was a full frontal nude photograph of a nine year old girl. However, newspapers all over the world did give the photo front page treatment. The photographer, Nick Ut, was subsequently awarded a Pulitzer prize for the image. If you're old enough to remember, as I am, the stark horror of this photograph is most likely forever etched in your mind. The little girl, who's name was Kim Phuc, was struck by napalm. At the time the photo was taken, Kim was racing down a dirt road, naked, having already ripped off her burning clothes. Now though, the napalm was beginning to gnaw away at her flesh, next would be muscle, right to the bone. Kim's face is contorted by pain and fear. This is a child looking Hell directly in its face. There was nothing prurient about the photograph. The obsenity it conveyed was of a different nature. It was the obsenity of innocents caught up in the horror of war. But it was an obsenity the world needed to see. LARRY ELKINS - ELKINSPHOTOS FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY