Creativity and Photography

Keeping our creativity alive and motivated is the most exciting challenge for an artist. There are days that everything just flows in the most wonderful way and there are days that ... well... nothing seems to move. That goes for everything in our lives.
When I feel that the energy around me isn't moving I take a camera, any camera (phone, plastic, DSLR) and I go for a walk. I photograph every 5 minutes. I move around in a small circle and photograph what is close to me from all angles. After a few hours I have an amazing collection of thoughts and pieces of information. I put all images up on my site and look at them. I move them around and create another thought by changing their order.
All this helps me see and think in a different way. I don't go out worried about what to photograph nor how to use the best technique. I go out thinking about something and then my mind wonders as I'm looking for the objects or pieces of information in my circle of 2 feet every 5 minuts. It's fantastic to see how many pieces of visual things we can turn into images. It's meditative and it takes me to another realm.
Crea8fotos is doing a workshop tomorrow. It will be about creativity and all and any cameras are welcome.
Mariana Ferrari, expert in Innovation will be coming to speak about creativity. I can hardly wait to see what ideas she will have for all of us. She has an amazing outlook on life and will be sharing some thoughts with us that will surely take our creativity to another level.
Go to Crea8fotos for more information.

Valentina's First Year!

Valentina's portraits by Marguerite.
Video by Marguerite.

Valentina had her first birthday one week after the photo session. It was also the first time she got in the water. We had a lovely sunset on Miami Beach.

Susan G Komen at the Fountainebleau Marguerite

Photography and video by Marguerite

The Pink Fire Trucks at Fountainebleau for the event Bleau goes Pink.
Benefit against breast cancer held on September 22, 2010.
DJ K-Razor.
Fantastic food from the Fountainebleau restaurants.
Amazing people.

using small strobes and where to get some help

I have been looking at a site that has wonderful information about working with small strobes.
The Strobist is one that EVERYONE knows, and an incredible site!
They have a group on flickr
http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobist

Recently I was on a photo shoot and found out that I did not have enough lights. I used the small hand held strobes to light up the small dark corners and used the larger light for bigger spaces. The two lights complemented each other and the shoot was a success.

I also use the smaller strobes for outdoor portraits. They are perfect because you can take 3 or 4 and not be overwhelmed with heavy cases..... yes, there is still the issue of caring the stands. I figure that I can put 2 flashes on one regular stand. The other flashes go on small light weight stands.

So, this got a bit technical. I have learned so much from the http://strobist.blogspot.com

What I really liked about this blog is that they talk about different equipment and so it is possible to find out how to do all this on a budget. Great for the times!

I'm looking for a site that is similar and has information on videography. If anyone knows of any please send me a note!

http://www.primoliphoto.com

Photoshop classes and Photography classes

We will be teaching Photoshop classes and Photography classes in July. Visit our website for more information and join us!
www.primoliphoto.com

Photoshop is an exciting software that allows you to do infinite possibilities to your images.

Imagine being able to create anything you want!

New Competition coming up!

Photographers:The Environmental Photographer of the Year photographic competitions go to http://www.ciwem.org/arts/photographer

Sunrise in Portland Oregon

I just came back from my Thanksgiving dinner...... well week. Portland Or has the most beautiful views by the river and the morning has the greatest light.
The blue really makes it look so much colder than it was and gives the river a mysterious look. As time went by the light changed and details and forms began to appear. It also got a lot warmer. I have been living in Miami for a long time and therefore am much more sensitive to the changes in the temperature. But, back to photography.... The more you wait the more things will change in front of you and every shot will have a very different mood!

Digital Camera Tips: Shooting Macro Pictures

I always hear people saying how they only get their camera out when something special is going on like relatives coming over, Christmas, birthdays or traveling somewhere. When I ask them why they don’t get the camera out more often, they usually say there is nothing to take pictures of. Most of us hardly notice the little things right in from of us, but there is another world that can be captured with macro photography.

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Macro Photography Tips for Point and Shoot Digital Camera's

Much has been written on the topic of Macro photography for those photographers fortunate enough to own a DSLR with macro lenses – but what about if you own a compact point and shoot camera? Can you get great macro shots too?

While the results achievable with a point and shoot camera in macro mode probably won’t compare with a DSLR with a purpose built macro lens I’ve still seen some remarkably good shots with compact cameras (all three shots in this post were taken with compact cameras). Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of yours:

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I'd RATHER GO PHOTOGRAPHING:

PrimoliPHoto is organizing a workshop to photograph flowers, botanicals and views. We are going to meet at the Fairchild Gardens on December 13th. Contact us for reservations and for more information.



Send me email.

I'd RATHER GO PHOTOGRAPHING:

When photographing botanicals, don't forget about the over all scene.

The sun doesn't always have to be behind the photographer. In this case it bathes the bird and the rock and gives the image a zen moment.

Ok... this is not something you will find in Florida! Really.......

Sometimes you don't need a specific flower... Here it's all about the contrast of color.

Choose backgrounds that will emphasize your subject. Look at what this incredible tree does to the fruit. These photographs were taken in the northwestern part of the US.

When photographing botanicals and landscapes, look for water and check out the reflections. They create wonderful photographs.

11 Landscape Photography Tips

1. Maximize your Depth of Field
While there may be times that you want to get a little more creative and experiment with narrow depth of fields in your Landscape Photography – the normal approach is to ensure that as much of your scene is in focus as possible. The simplest way to do this is to choose a small Aperture setting (a large number) as the smaller your aperture the greater the depth of field in your shots.
Do keep in mind that smaller apertures mean less light is hitting your image sensor at any point in time so they will mean you need to compensate either by increasing your ISO or lengthening your shutter speed (or both).
PS: of course there are times when you can get some great results with a very shallow DOF in a landscape setting (see the picture of the double yellow line below).

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The Sky and our Landscapes

We can also wait for the clouds to do their designs in the sky and the same photographs will have a very different view. The bottom photograph was done with a filter that only darkens the top part (clouds) of the image. The photograph in the middle was done with a polarizer filter, notice how everything is toned down and has basically the same tone. The top photograph was taken with no filter! The clouds started to move around and create shapes, colors and cover parts of the building.

Photographing landscapes

When photographing landscapes it’s a good idea to go to the scene at different times of the day and experiment different lighting. The morning light is very different from the evening light and the stormy day will add a whole different mood. Framing things and editing elements can allow you to photograph the same place many times and make it look like a different place. If the sky is too light or too gray put less sky in your images. If it's cloudy, add contrast by exposing for the sky or you can get a filter that will darken the sky. I haven't used a filter, I control my exposures and frame so that the sky will not take priority unless the clouds look fabulous! These photographs were taken on different days and different times.

Video-Interaction of Shutter Speed and Aperture

This helpful video gives an explanation of the interaction of shutter speed and aperture.

Slow shutter speed vs fast shutter speed

Many times we think that we should do our landscapes with water by freezing the motion of the water and keeping everything crisp. We can make these images have more texture and more life by changing our shutter speed.
A slow shutter speed will make the movement of water softer and more interesting in landscape photography. By using a slow shutter you can maintain a small aperture so that everything that does not move will be sharp. Take a look at the 2nd image. You can see the turtle on the rock because the water is softer around it. The two elements do not compete with each other. On the sharper image above, the turtle gets lost.
You will need a tripod for slow shutter speed photography!

Sharp Depth of Field

A Sharp depth of field will give importance to all the elements in the photograph. This photograph was taken with an F-stop of 11. In Buenos Aires.... for a great tango.... The sharpness was essential to show all the texture in the building, floor and the lady's dress.

Botanicals and the aperture

When you find your beautiful botanical, move around to search for the perfect background, the one that will make your colors and shapes stand out.



These photographs were taken at the Fairchild Gardens in Miami Florida. A wide aperture was used. The wonderful thing about the soft focus is the dream- like quality that the photograph elicits.

Botanicals at the Fairchild Gardens in Miami, Florida

Notice how important the curly needle like part of the plant becomes! It looks like it's going to sew the leaf below it. The soft background keeps our eyes on the plant by helping to frame it. I used a tripod for this photograph. In fact I use a tripod for all botanicals that way I would not be limited by my shutter speeds.

More on the aperture

When I photograph botanicals I don’t follow a set of rules re the aperture. If I want to emphasize a color I will use a wide aperture (F 1.4 or F2) and focus on the plant that I want to be sharp. The rest will soft.