PrincessInOz
Thanks for my avatar, Mary Jo!
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2010
- Messages
- 108,013
Today, I went on a photo walk with blogger, photographer and author Trey Ratcliff.
Arguably one of the worlds best HDR photographer, the photo walk had been posted on Google +. A nice intimate photowalk with Trey, me and about 397 other photo nuts in Melbourne (397 is the number of people that had accepted to attend on Google + the last time I looked!).
As I knew someone who knew someone who knew one of the Google + helpers, I have it on very good authority that this Melbourne is easily the biggest photo crowd Trey has attracted on any of his walks around the world. Ever! That makes me part of a new world record!
To back this inside information up, Trey did tell us that we were the largest group hes ever walked with; larger than Sydney, London and Paris. He mentioned this at the same time he was telling us about his gear. Hes shooting with a Nikon D800 and a wide angle lens; plus a Sony Nex; and I believe thats a Carl Zeiss lens. I definitely remember him saying that it is a f/1.2. (Or was that a f/1.4???)
Trey was amazingly gracious with us, his time and his information sharing. He told us that we could walk up and talk to him at ANY time and quite a few in the crowd took him up on the offer. I dont think that he managed to walk more than 1 step before someone else would ask if they could grab a picture with him.
So .what did I learn?
Firstly the disclaimer. Ive been taking pictures for about 2.5 years now. I think I now know how to spell HDR. But whilst I can spell HDR, I have not yet dabbled in the world of post processing ..yet. So bear that in mind when you read the below.
Trey always starts off with settings of ISO 100, f/8 22; and takes his pictures for HDR from -3 to +3 EC. He normally ends up with a set of 7 pictures. And as he has a timer device set up on that Nikon, the timer does all 7 shots (at the various time settings) with the push of one button. In fact, he said that he pretty much shoots in ISO 100 all the time.
Trey talked about what would make a good HDR picture. Here hes chosen that bronze statue because in the orange light of sunset, the HDR composite would highlight the different burnishes of the bronze. He also mentioned that in this current setting at this particular time, there we heaps of shadow and light differences, which would be accentuated in intensity during post processing.
At the next stop, Trey talked about what he looks for when framing a shot. He likes street photography, particularly where there is architectural interest. At this setting, he liked the triangle shapes of the buildings. The lesson was at this stop was not just about the framing. It was also about whether the light conditions would make a good HDR picture or not. Ive tried to take this picture to demonstrate the point Trey was making.
There is high light and shade in the setting; which was one of the things Trey looks for. Plus hes already pointed out that he likes the shape the buildings make. But Trey didnt take the shot here. The reason was that he knew that when he went back to look at the shot, the HDR image would be brilliant on the right side of the setting; but there would be a very dull spot on the left side of the setting. For Trey, the picture would appear to be unbalanced.
I mentioned that Trey was incredibly gracious and generous with his sharing. At each stop, he would offer us the privilege of staring down his camera and checking out what he sees.
I just have to digress here and share! It was at this point in the walk that Trey and I moved from casual walkers to sharing drinks.
It had taken us about an hour to get to this point and it turns out Trey was human afterall. He was thirsty. So, he asked if anyone had some water with them. In that crowd of over 350 people, it turns out that I was the only one that had brought a bottle of water with me. I had found some time to slip into a 7-11 store just before the walk and had purchased a brand spanking new bottle of water. And as luck would have it, I hadnt touched the bottle.
So, I handed the bottle of water to him and he literally gulped down the entire bottle without drawing breath! The graciousness of the man was such that he asked my name and to thank me for the water beforehand.
After he's taken his drink, he then offered to buy me a drink in return....in any city!
So, Trey and I have a date for a latte in New York; and hes buying! We didnt settle on a year ..but Im sure that in another lifetime, well have that latte. You know .he thanked me again a little later in the walk AND remembered my name when he got the chance to do so.
Back on the walk. This busker was drawing a picture using chalk on the concrete. If you take a picture of his and/or his drawing, please put some money in the hat. He made a killing this night!
Trey is also interested in people pictures and uses that Nex specifically for that purpose. And as about 300 other people were taking pictures of Trey taking a picture of the busker at work, there was quite a flurry of money being left in that hat!
I suspect that there may be a few people in Melbourne shopping for Nex cameras shortly!
At this stop, Trey talked about what he does for post processing. He will use items from the different settings to get a final look that hes happy with but he does not cut and paste any items into a setting that was not originally there; e.g., the moon.
He was talking about this because he was looking to take a picture of flames, which was expected out of those blocks.
But it was a total fire ban day in Melbourne today .thank goodness someone of the 350 remembered!
It was at this point that I called it a night. The group was still moving on the walk and I needed to head home (it had been a long day at work!).
I learnt heaps!
Some other vignettes to share:
1. Trey talked about how photographers are pretty solitary creatures that spend all their time on-line. He encouraged us to seek out other solitary creatures and go on photowalks together so that we could learn off each other.
I'd like to think that our little community here does the photowalks in this 2D world by sharing our pictures and being generally helpful to each other.
2. As a blogger, Trey gets the full gamut of comments whenever he posts his pictures. He said that we should expect the same wherever we choose to load and share our pictures. For any of the negative comments or the ones that came across as condescending, we could choose to be insulted by it or choose to ignore it. Afterall, the comments are coming from strangers on the internet and there is nothing wrong with ignoring comments and viewpoints that we just different to your own.
Definitely something for me to keep in mind.
3. Trey advised that if in doubt, look for someone with a bigger camera than you and ask them questions. Anyone with a bigger camera will either know what they are doing and be able to help you; or have completely overbought. In either case, you wont know any different.
I will be keeping an eye on Treys blog site over the coming days to see what shots he posts up. It was certainly great seeing how he sets up and to share a brief insight into his world and thoughts. And I will have the delicious thought of sharing a latte with Trey in New York in some year some time!
Arguably one of the worlds best HDR photographer, the photo walk had been posted on Google +. A nice intimate photowalk with Trey, me and about 397 other photo nuts in Melbourne (397 is the number of people that had accepted to attend on Google + the last time I looked!).
As I knew someone who knew someone who knew one of the Google + helpers, I have it on very good authority that this Melbourne is easily the biggest photo crowd Trey has attracted on any of his walks around the world. Ever! That makes me part of a new world record!
To back this inside information up, Trey did tell us that we were the largest group hes ever walked with; larger than Sydney, London and Paris. He mentioned this at the same time he was telling us about his gear. Hes shooting with a Nikon D800 and a wide angle lens; plus a Sony Nex; and I believe thats a Carl Zeiss lens. I definitely remember him saying that it is a f/1.2. (Or was that a f/1.4???)
Trey was amazingly gracious with us, his time and his information sharing. He told us that we could walk up and talk to him at ANY time and quite a few in the crowd took him up on the offer. I dont think that he managed to walk more than 1 step before someone else would ask if they could grab a picture with him.
So .what did I learn?
Firstly the disclaimer. Ive been taking pictures for about 2.5 years now. I think I now know how to spell HDR. But whilst I can spell HDR, I have not yet dabbled in the world of post processing ..yet. So bear that in mind when you read the below.
Trey always starts off with settings of ISO 100, f/8 22; and takes his pictures for HDR from -3 to +3 EC. He normally ends up with a set of 7 pictures. And as he has a timer device set up on that Nikon, the timer does all 7 shots (at the various time settings) with the push of one button. In fact, he said that he pretty much shoots in ISO 100 all the time.
Trey talked about what would make a good HDR picture. Here hes chosen that bronze statue because in the orange light of sunset, the HDR composite would highlight the different burnishes of the bronze. He also mentioned that in this current setting at this particular time, there we heaps of shadow and light differences, which would be accentuated in intensity during post processing.
At the next stop, Trey talked about what he looks for when framing a shot. He likes street photography, particularly where there is architectural interest. At this setting, he liked the triangle shapes of the buildings. The lesson was at this stop was not just about the framing. It was also about whether the light conditions would make a good HDR picture or not. Ive tried to take this picture to demonstrate the point Trey was making.
There is high light and shade in the setting; which was one of the things Trey looks for. Plus hes already pointed out that he likes the shape the buildings make. But Trey didnt take the shot here. The reason was that he knew that when he went back to look at the shot, the HDR image would be brilliant on the right side of the setting; but there would be a very dull spot on the left side of the setting. For Trey, the picture would appear to be unbalanced.
I mentioned that Trey was incredibly gracious and generous with his sharing. At each stop, he would offer us the privilege of staring down his camera and checking out what he sees.
I just have to digress here and share! It was at this point in the walk that Trey and I moved from casual walkers to sharing drinks.
It had taken us about an hour to get to this point and it turns out Trey was human afterall. He was thirsty. So, he asked if anyone had some water with them. In that crowd of over 350 people, it turns out that I was the only one that had brought a bottle of water with me. I had found some time to slip into a 7-11 store just before the walk and had purchased a brand spanking new bottle of water. And as luck would have it, I hadnt touched the bottle.
So, I handed the bottle of water to him and he literally gulped down the entire bottle without drawing breath! The graciousness of the man was such that he asked my name and to thank me for the water beforehand.
After he's taken his drink, he then offered to buy me a drink in return....in any city!
So, Trey and I have a date for a latte in New York; and hes buying! We didnt settle on a year ..but Im sure that in another lifetime, well have that latte. You know .he thanked me again a little later in the walk AND remembered my name when he got the chance to do so.
Back on the walk. This busker was drawing a picture using chalk on the concrete. If you take a picture of his and/or his drawing, please put some money in the hat. He made a killing this night!
Trey is also interested in people pictures and uses that Nex specifically for that purpose. And as about 300 other people were taking pictures of Trey taking a picture of the busker at work, there was quite a flurry of money being left in that hat!
I suspect that there may be a few people in Melbourne shopping for Nex cameras shortly!
At this stop, Trey talked about what he does for post processing. He will use items from the different settings to get a final look that hes happy with but he does not cut and paste any items into a setting that was not originally there; e.g., the moon.
He was talking about this because he was looking to take a picture of flames, which was expected out of those blocks.
But it was a total fire ban day in Melbourne today .thank goodness someone of the 350 remembered!
It was at this point that I called it a night. The group was still moving on the walk and I needed to head home (it had been a long day at work!).
I learnt heaps!
Some other vignettes to share:
1. Trey talked about how photographers are pretty solitary creatures that spend all their time on-line. He encouraged us to seek out other solitary creatures and go on photowalks together so that we could learn off each other.
I'd like to think that our little community here does the photowalks in this 2D world by sharing our pictures and being generally helpful to each other.
2. As a blogger, Trey gets the full gamut of comments whenever he posts his pictures. He said that we should expect the same wherever we choose to load and share our pictures. For any of the negative comments or the ones that came across as condescending, we could choose to be insulted by it or choose to ignore it. Afterall, the comments are coming from strangers on the internet and there is nothing wrong with ignoring comments and viewpoints that we just different to your own.
Definitely something for me to keep in mind.
3. Trey advised that if in doubt, look for someone with a bigger camera than you and ask them questions. Anyone with a bigger camera will either know what they are doing and be able to help you; or have completely overbought. In either case, you wont know any different.
I will be keeping an eye on Treys blog site over the coming days to see what shots he posts up. It was certainly great seeing how he sets up and to share a brief insight into his world and thoughts. And I will have the delicious thought of sharing a latte with Trey in New York in some year some time!
Yes, it was. I spoke to a couple of people around me and it seemed like there were the full range of cameras in attendance.....mobile camera takers through to high end full frame.
