October 2009.  I woke up with an enthusiasm and childish spirit that I haven’t had in a long time.  There was an excitement to the proceedings; showering as quick as possible, throwing clothes on in a hurry, checking camera batteries, memory, cleaning all the lenses and bringing every accessory to ensure that not a moment would be forgotten.  My breakfast was devoured, my shoes were barely tied and I was already trying to make my way to the trains.  For all of the MTR system’s efficiency and speed, today it just wasn’t fast enough.  We made our way towards Central where we could pick up our park passes and boarded the appropriate shuttle.  15 minutes said the travel guide.  More like 15 hours.  Even in a crowded bus full of tourists, children and families, I put my spectacular line-avoiding skills on display.  Disembarking with my camera bags acting as bumpers, I managed to squeeze my way out before anyone else could. 

Presenting our passes at the front gates and making our way through the colorful entrance, I was reminded of the times at Disneyland with my dad.  I grab the park map and quickly scan the list of attractions while taking in the ascending hot air balloons and colorful mascots.  The cotton candy, hot dog, popcorn filled the air with a fun aroma, while the brightly colored performers, souvenir stalls all add to the experience and building excitement.  As we made our way through the opening promenade, the habitat became visible.  A few snaps with the cartoon statues and we were on our way up the ramps and through the lines.  As we neared the entrance, I got the camera ready.  Lots of memory?  Check.  High speed burst mode?  Check.  Fast lens?  Check.  Continuous focus?  Check.  We walked through the turnstiles and saw the first one.  We walked up, he sat quietly eating his breakfast.   I smiled, it was a fat teddy just 6ft away.  I brought the camera up to my eye and pressed the button.  That was it, I didn’t let go of that button for the next hour.  Today was my birthday, and I got to see a panda.

Prior to the visit with the fat teddy bears, photography was purely about capturing what stepped in front of the lens.  The first number of years was spent learning the technicalities and building the arsenal of toys and gadgets.  Next, it was about finding subjects and practicing the theory until it became second nature.  For the most part, the process was professional, robotic and simply targeted at delivering an image.  Photographic passion was about mastering the technicalities, all the compositional rules and putting into play the numbers and settings against a real world setting.

I got to the top of the peaks in the Canadian Rockies, witnessed the beauty of countless sunrises and sunsets and had the opportunity to immortalize life events for friends and family.  Through it all, emotion took a back seat to the drive to learn and understand how to control the camera.  Finally the light bulb moment came when I was able to spend time with the fat teddy bears.  The moment a much greater inspiration for being behind the camera makes itself known – the moment you become emotionally star struck at the subject you’re capturing.   The Panda bears represent my lightbulb moment – when my photographic world shifted and it became more important to enjoy the moment you’re in and appreciate the special opportunities we have as photographers to experience and document the unique moments in the world.

This was one of those situations in life that let you focus on what makes your world valuable.  From the life threatening moments while caught in the middle of a typhoon, the fun memories of being a kid walking through the gates of Disney or the quiet moments spent with a loved one watching a sunset, these moments form the foundation of our valued memories.  The moments combine to define our trajectory and more importantly, they allow us to develop the experiences that we can be grateful for.   A reminder of the adventures, trials and triumphs that I come across and those that I have the privilege of documenting for others.

Almost 4 years on, the wonder and happiness of that first Panda day is still a very vivid memory.   I got the chance to make a return visit in June 2012.  I had learned a lot about being behind the camera in those intervening years.  I learned how to control my cameras better, the impact of lighting, the emotional impact of capturing the right moment and for the most part, I thought I knew everything I needed to in order to deliver a better technical image.  I walked into the enclosure again – better gear, more experience and a swagger that I was going to get a spectacular image.  Well, sometimes you just have to let yourself be a kid again.  I smiled from ear to ear when I saw them again.  I put my camera down, took a seat and simply enjoyed my time with them.  I had an hour with the bears.  I knew that I could get the photo, but I knew that since it would likely be my last visit, it was more important to simply enjoy the experience this time.

I was reminded that you should let yourself be a participant and not always a documentarian.  I was reminded that you have to take the opportunities to enjoy what’s before you because you might not get another chance.  And I was reminded that part of what makes being behind the camera so special is to enjoy and cherish the experiences that are unfolding in front of it.  These are the images from that return trip.  My reminder that no matter how far you’ve come and what you might know, there’s still something out there that will step in front of your camera that will make you stop, stare and remember that for all the negatives in the world, the challenges we face in our daily lives, the world can be a beautiful place.

I am specifically aiming to deliver the best materials to you as participants for your portfolios at no cost in exchange for me fulfilling my personal learning goals and providing adequate materials for lectures & training to my technology and product sponsors.  The resulting images will also be sent out to relevant publications in order to increase visibility of both your portfolios and FYM Photography.   If you’re interested in joining my Project 2013, I encourage you to contact me at 403.667.2071 or francis@fymphoto.com in order further discuss the projects.

Canadian Wilds – Winter 2013

Stunning beauties set against the dramatic backdrop of winter in the Canadian Rockies.   Natural Environmental portraiture combining soft, flattering light for the models contrasted against the cool blue of the snow and striking winter sunrise & sunset.

Simply Beautiful – Spring/Summer 2013

Focusing specifically on production and print ready portrait & fashion photography.   Simply Beautiful looks to highlight the natural beauty of participants and deliver publication ready materials for portfolios.   Let’s go make a beautiful portrait.

To The Limit – Spring/Summer 2013

Exploring the nature of winter sports and activities, To The Limit is looking to incorporate adventure photography set against the backdrop of the Canadian Rockies.   In contrast to Canadian Wilds, To The Limit is looking for active participants looking to showcase their love of winter sports or physical abilities in the Canadian winter.  I am specifically looking to take beautiful pictures of winter adventure activities such as skiing, snowboarding, ice climbing, back country hiking.  This project aims to document the determination and effort that participants go through in order to achieve their personal victories in the harsh Canadian climate.

The City – Spring/Summer 2013

Something a little different and a little cheesier in the spirit of Valentine’s.   The City focuses on beautiful & romantic nightscape portraiture in Downtown Calgary.   A fashion flair for individual portraits of beautiful girls against the backdrop of the city lights or an expression of companionship with your significant other, I would like to shoot this in a street photography style to document companionship in the big city.   Think the visual style of engagement photos set against the wonderful backdrop of night lights and snow in the city.  The City aims to simply deliver a beautiful portrait of participants and if they would like, their significant others.

More projects to come….

Check out some familiar faces and pick up your calendar direct from the UniGirl Website. – part of the proceeds benefit Canadian charities!

In preparation for a summer of travel, I spent spring focusing on increasing my confidence at shooting animals,  perfecting panorama shooting, new cityscape techniques and refining the little intricacies of camera operation.  Side projects in timelapse sequences, graduation photos for clients and the occasional mountain excursions made time fly by.  Confidence levels increased with every passing week as the new gear became more comfortable and second nature to operate.  The files coming off the camera were getting better with every outing and I was mentally better prepared for the coming trip than I had been for previous ones.  Up until this point, I’d made great progress in fulfilling my photography resolutions for the year.   I knew my gear inside and out better than ever, I was shooting more for myself and not just for commissions, I had greater patience and calmness when facing adverse weather and most importantly, I was growing better as a mentor and instructor with better feedback from participants and doing a better job of reaching out to a community eager to learn.   Can’t go wrong right?  I was on top of my mental world and ready to take on whatever Asia threw at me.

Well, that’s where things escalate to a new level of unprecedented gong show.  A summer return to Asia broke the will, determination and confidence of all that I’d worked on in the first half of the year.  The mental shot lists I had been putting together for months, the sites I’d planned to visit and the experiences I intended to capture were all unavailable, unwilling to cooperate and generally just out of photographic reach.  From logistics, time constraints and most importantly, weather, Asia taught me a lesson in humility.  Day after day of trying to get preset shots delivered me memory cards of inadequate light & drama, poor framing and general feelings of defeat.  By the time I was standing on top of Elephant mountain in Taipei, I wasn’t really sure what I’d gone up for since I almost lost my lunch in the climb and had to stop numerous times along the way to rest a broken self.  I took the photos I needed to and for the first time realized that I wasn’t sure if I had anything.  Not that it wasn’t publishable or technically well done, but rather whether I had met my own expectations of what I had set out on this trip to do.  The small mountain was exposing a crack in my plans for photographic glory.  I had prepared myself technically and exposed myself to the different disciplines I wanted to capture, but I never accounted for how large a part the environment and the circumstances of the day would wreck havoc on the photographic checklist I had.   Unlike other trips where I was close to home base or could easily make a return trip, I was at the mercy of schedules, commitments and weather that wasn’t very agreeable to sitting on top of a mountain for hours waiting for the perfect light.  I got a very good photo of the Taipei cityscape, I just wasn’t sure if it measured up to what I had in mind.  Flying out of Taiwan left a feeling of dread to look at the memory cards full of images that I’m not sure is what I wanted or, worse yet, needed to prove to myself that I was a better photographer this year.

Check out the Taiwan Excursion collection

Hong Kong then.  A return to a familiar second home and a chance at redemption.  This time I had all the gear, this time it was going to be different.  From temples, cityscapes, and majestic sights, I can’t lose.  Friends abound, support directly from Canon and a knowledge of the city inside and out.  Here is where summer went photographically right and I could make up for an unfulfilled Taiwan.  I had some early successes and small triumphs to get my footing back.  I did test runs for my Gigapan project and got favourable results.   I ate nonstop to the happiness of my belly.   Ok, let’s go.  Well things have a mighty fine way of going sideways right when you’re ready to do the victory dance.  You can check out the gruesome details here of what happened when it came time to finish the timelapse & Gigapan of Hong Kong.   While winter and spring were fruitful, encouraging and rewarding, summer is where the wheels came off.  The expectation I set for myself were lofty but it wasn’t anything that I knew I physically couldn’t do, but the world around me got in the way of accomplishing what seemed like a perfectly easy, conquerable photo assignment.  I’d never up to this point walked away from a shooting experience with a gut wrenching feeling of being empty handed.  I had memory cards and hard drives full of images, but I couldn’t tell you that I was proud of any of them at that point.

Compared to all the other trips that came before, this was the first I went headstrong into with such a predefined set of images to capture, a delivery of a magical vista and landscape that’s eluded me for years.  I didn’t know how high my expectations of myself were going into Asia this year were and worse, I didn’t realize how badly it would break me and grind to a halt all the progress I had made so far.  It took me a month to unpack my camera gear after returning.  The salt water, spray, dirt and debris caked on as a gruesome reminder from the final night of defeat at Victoria Peak.  I didn’t shoot for almost two months.  Not a commission, not a personal project, not even testing.  For a while, I secluded myself from the photographic community I’d worked extensively with earlier in the year.  I deferred teaching workshops for the remainder of summer to other instructors and I didn’t find an inspiration to shoot for myself.   I hid in the corporate world, familiar, simple and comfortable.  There was a lingering dissatisfaction with myself that I wasn’t good enough to get the job done after so much enthusiasm and preparation.

Slowly as summer came to a close, the little voice started to come back.  Timely events and a combination of friends having recently picked up the camera gave a Day One start.  Slowly but surely with small excursions and little confidence builders, mental confidence started to come back.  Mini projects began to build up again, workshops became a regular occurrence and most importantly, friends were there to support a return with encouragement and camaraderie.  I found a renewed sense of personal development and more importantly, a better mindset to face adverse shooting conditions.  Successes in the mountains, under starlight and the peace of capturing the rising sun gave me situations that I’d faced before but only now appreciated for not just the photo but the journey that accompanied the capture.  From the workshops under the stars to sunrise in Waterton, a commission for a models calendar, furthering new techniques in environmental portraiture and having my friends along for the rediscovery of a passion, the end of summer gave me a renewed focus to shoot, enthusiasm to learn and a returning inspiration to become better with every project.

Months removed from the experience of defeat in Asia, I was able to finally face all the images and muster courage to review and begin preparing them for publication.  I slowly began to sift through images from Asia a little bit at a time.  I went through my goals and my shot lists that I’d prepared prior to the trip and worked tirelessly through the files I captured hoping to check off some victory and regain a measure of composure and confidence.  Slowly but surely images started to present themselves.  Photos of the micro transactions and images of the world in simple, direct visuals.  I went to Taiwan and Hong Kong to capture a landscape and present architecture and cityscape on a grand scale.  Although I managed just a few of those compared to what I had in mind, I realized that subconsciously, I was shooting away at a far more interesting story.  A story of the human experience and the interaction of the people that inhabited those cities, the cultures that permeate and characterize the architecture and most importantly, that unlike a tour-book like collection of sites and landmarks, I had a complete visual narrative to share about my journey, the places I visited and most importantly, the people that made the journey unique.  Looking back on it now, The Hong Kong Diaries gave me what I didn’t know I wanted – a personal project that showed me what it meant to capture life and the world that surrounds it.   It’s not the most comprehensive of works due to the challenges discussed, but it is a defining moment in learning to see the world around me and breaking away from just the commercial ready fine art landscapes.

Check out The Hong Kong Diaries

I don’t think I became a better photographer this year.  Smashed gear, missed captures and circumstances beyond my control took away the most dramatic of planned shots.  In hindsight though, I think 2012 was the year that I finally became a more complete photographer.  Complete in the varied disciplines I’d strived for so long to learn, the reinforcing confidence that comes with teaching and most importantly, the experiences of success and defeat.  In some ways, 2012 was a long year with very hard lessons and experiences, in others, it was too quick and not enough time to enjoy the small successes that came with progressive lessons.  As it draws to a close though, 2012 proves to be the most personally rewarding yet behind the camera.  I set out with some resolutions, generally fulfilled them, experienced a deflating and defeating trip after setting such lofty goals and eventually found the energy and inspiration to get back behind the lens.

I look back on 2012 and I’m thankful for being able to assemble a body of work throughout the year that I’m proud of.  The year didn’t go according to the plan I had in my head.  But at the end of it, I learned more and came to value more about being behind the camera than I had in years past.  More importantly, I learned what it takes to push through the difficulties of uncontrollable circumstances and come through with a new appreciation for the opportunities we have every day.

For all the friends and supporters who continue to frequent this site and share the content, this past year marks a new beginning.   I look forward to compiling a new set of resolutions for the coming year which I’ll share with you all.  Until then, happy shooting and thank you for the support and encouragement.

Check out these selections from the 2012 journey – The Hong Kong Diaries | A Taiwan Excursion | Let The Sun Shine In | A Workshop Under the Stars | A Reminder to Enjoy Summer | We Photographed a Zoo 1 & 2 | Light the City Workshop

Some of the images you’re about to see are from the earliest of my archives.  Some are really really bad.  In the end, it’s about evaluating where you started, what led you to take those images and most importantly, be able to compare it to where you are today and finitely define where your skills have developed.  We are going to go through a mini journey through time to evaluate some examples of the importance of looking back on your personal body of work.  It is a critical part of your journey to remind yourself how important it is to recognize the development and growth of your photography.  Today’s lesson is about setting an expectation for yourself to learn from how you’ve documented the past, how it affects your current shooting and how to use those experiences to push your capture in the future and allow your style to evolve as a result.

Our first collage demonstrates the scenic views of Victoria Harbour, HK captured in the summer of 2008.  These images show the wonderful skyline and have a basic sense of scale with the boats and ferrys in the image.  One thing they don’t deliver however is drama and mood to better showcase the vibrace and business of the harbour.

Flash forward to 2012 and we have a vastly different collection of the harbour.  The photographs have become more focused with the skyline gaining better attention and framed with more movement, a better perspective on scale and more life.   The intervening years taught me a lesson in integrating the environment that your subjects (the skyline) are in so as to better present them as teeming with life.  For a long time I saw Hong Kong as a place of wonderful architecture and tall buildings.  While that thought is still true and relevant, taking the images a step further but better integrating their scale to the people and vehicles that busily hop through the city and including motion and dynamic lighting has allowed me to showcase a more “alive” image and one that allows people to better relate to the hustle and bustle this metropolis offers. 

Next up, Lake Moraine Canada.  One of the most photographed places in the Canadian Rockies, Moraine offers a stunning mountain scape, crystal clear water and a view that reminds you of the beauty of nature.  All well and good, except it took me about 2 years to figure out that although it was an easy escape to get to, it was a difficult journey to master.   The first photo, taken in 2005, is an example of what I considered good enough at the time.  It was framed decently well, the horizon was actually somewhat level and I thought for a long time that it had drama.  Well it didn’t, at least not the drama and scale that this wonderful place offered visitors.  A return in 2006 showed a slight evolution in composition and marked improvement in mood as the late sunset offered a different color palette.  I was more careful to step back and frame a wider shot, but it still didn’t give the impact that I had seen on so many others capture.

In 2009 I challenged myself to deliver the images that made Moraine an incredible place to visit.  I knew how to get there, I knew what settings were required for a sharp photo, but I didn’t recognize until this trip that the pain and suffering of landscape stems from the need to go when others won’t, get up when it’s not natural and get to the site when the light accents the subject.  Now we had the drama of the red light hitting the peaks, the vibrant colors of summer and most importantly, I finally started to learn and appreciate that good photos require great effort in not just the technical side of things, but also the environment to cooperate and allow you an opportunity to capture what is in your head.   A progressive photo the following year allowed me to show a dramatically different, snow covered, Moraine Lake.  It was an image that although didn’t have as much visual impact as a beautiful sunrise, offered a unique image that wasn’t seen very often.  Cold feet and frosty fingers be damned, I was on a mission to learn from past mistakes and strived to deliver something that wasn’t as common as sunrise anymore.

And that brings us to Moraine by Starlight – you’ve seen the previous post here – This was the end of the Moraine journey – it was a culmination of the lessons of grand composition, exceptional lighting and pure effort and determination to stay awake as well as not get eaten by an unseen cougar or bear under the moon & starlight.  From the first lesson in 2005 to this effort in late 2012, Moraine has provided a consistent challenge that demands attention to detail while pushing you to capture something unique of such a well documented space.   Light, sunrise, stars and the season – these are the variables which, applied to all fields of photography, defined the learning curve that I’m grateful to have undertaken.  Had I an opportunity to accelerate this lesson instead of taking 7 years to go through it, I definitely would have, but at the same time, I’m not entirely sure I’d have gotten as much out of it without the downtime in between.

Revisitng the same locations or subjects is a theme of this lesson.  It’s about reminding yourself of what you’ve been able to accomplish there before and pushing yourself to getting something better the next time.  Photography is not just about capturing the scene before you, but to become better at finding those scenes, you have to invest time and energy into analyzing the past.  Your own work and the ones that inspire you help to define where you want to be and also act as a constant reminder of what little details are required to get there.

7 years on, am I done with Moraine?  No, I have a few more trips left on the list to conquer this little place and maybe one day deliver the image I know is still left uncaptured.

I’m not going to beat to death the lesson of reviewing your past work and comparing it to what you have now, but I am going to share a few more then and now examples of how things have evolved over the years – here’s a travel photo of cabs in Hong Kong – 2008 vs 2012 – it’s become about mood and lighting.  Colors pop, the scene gains drama and it’s gone from a simple snap shot to something that is more telling of the busy city that these cabs operate in.

Calgary Alberta Canada – 2006 vs 2011 – understanding the interplay of sunset, downtown lights and making the best use of the blue hour.  Dramatic sky exists in the first with storm clouds but no dramatic lighting gives it a very flat look.  Fast forward a few years and patience and a little luck pays off with a much more vibrant color palette and attention to detail with cars filling the parking lot and bringing needed life to frame the city.

That’s it for this round of examples.  As always, if you have any questions, feel free to shoot me a line at francis@fymphoto.com.  Also don’t forget to stop by my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/fymphoto and show your support by hitting the “Like” button.   Til next time – don’t forget that photography is a journey and more importantly, don’t forget to keep shooting!

I have been taking photos since I was a small kid.  I first dabbled in digital SLR photography in 2003 and haven’t looked back since.  I capture events and moments as I see them.  I share my photos in order to share what I see in my world and how I see yours.   The galleries you see is the work I do and the adventures I have. This is the world through my eyes.  A reflection of dreams, hope, aspiration and a little inspiration. The shots on this site are the embodiment of my world through the lens.  Moments frozen in time. Created from happiness, friendship, adventure and the journey of my lifetime.  These are my photos, the world around me and the people that make the difference.

If you are a prospective client, please view the “Commissions & Investments” link and view the different disciplines.  Feel free to contact me with any questions via e-mail or phone.

Email: francis@fymphoto.com

Phone: 403.667.2071

Please don’t forget to check out my Facebook Fan Page and hit the “Like” button, leave us your comments and let me know what you’d like to see!

Thanks for stopping by!

Covering an area of 870,000 square metres of land, the park is separated by a large mountain into two areas, The Summit (Headland) and The Waterfront (Lowland) respectively. The areas can be reached by a 1.5 km long cable car system, a shuttle bus, or the Ocean Express funicular railway. As the Headland comprises several hills, visitors can also opt to take the world’s second longest outdoor escalator.

Wong Tai Sin Temple is a well known shrine and major tourist attraction in Hong Kong.^[1] It is dedicated to Wong Tai Sin, or the Great Immortal Wong. The 18,000-m²Taoist temple is famed for the many prayers answered: “What you request is what you get” (有求必應) via a practice called kau cim. The temple is located on the southern side of Lion Rock in the north of Kowloon.

Over the course of the last few years, I have to be honest in every cityscape and landscape shot has been taken partially as a mental exercise in preparing for another run at The Peak.   Exposure, sharpness, light metering – every technical detail poured over in every shot to maximize quality, refine technique and mentally note how to push harder and be better so that when the opportunity presented itself, I would be ready.   Even the gear has changed – upgraded to withstand the weather, offer steadier support systems and most importantly, deliver a cleaner and more detailed image.  Hundreds of hours of practice, thousands of dollars in upgrades all for a personal project that has both excited me and tormented me every time I think about it.  It’s been 3 years since I lugged my gear up that mountain and me oh my was I ready, besides, what could go wrong?  Well, apparently, a lot…

Bumming around Taiwan & Hong Kong for a few weeks already helped to acclimate to the heat and humidity of summer – 32 deg Celsius and 85% humidity were the order of most days and by the time The Peak presented itself, I had already survived the grueling, not to mention vomit inducing climb of Elephant mountain in Taipei.  Elephant mountain was the practice round on this trip – a few weeks before  my Victoria Peak attempt, it provided many similarities and familiar challenges.  The heat of the day lead to the consumption of almost 3L of water on the 300m ascent and more than a few breaks along the way as 50lbs of gear takes its toll much faster on the body in the heat & humidity of Taipei compared to the refreshing cool of the Canadian Rockies.  “Photo breaks” along the way were my excuse of keeling over trying to catch my breath and downing water just to keep temperatures down.    Not gonna lie, there were more than a few times the thought of turning around popped into my head.

The trek up to here sucked-  I would put it in my top 5 worst physical experiences and above breaking my thumb golfing, but there was a rewarding feeling now that I stood above it all.  The winds gave their blessing upon reaching the summit as they stuck around to cool and dry me off while subsiding to a light breeze once the camera equipment got unpacked.  A few hours later and a number of shots snapped off and I walked away quite happy to present a panoramic view of Taipei, Taiwan with Taipei 101 proudly standing against the setting sun;

Mental Confidence Level: 10.  Physical ability level: 10 (ok maybe an 8 since I had to stop so many times).  Equipment confidence level: 10.  Bring on Victoria Peak!  Well, they say you pay for it when you get cocky….

Unlike the last photo from 2009, this Peak photo was going to be made away from the creature comforts and stable platforms offered by The Peak Tower and Dragon’s Lookout.  This time, the vantage point was a 2km walk around the mountain side to an outcropping offering a more open view of the buildings below, the surrounding harbours and deep into Kowloon & the New Territories.  Epic was the challenge and so was the vision.  I knew this project was going to involve more challenging conditions the moment I stepped out of the comfort of the nicely air conditioned car.  Unlike Taipei where the height above the city gave a cool & refreshing breeze, The Peak had some other ideas and quickly delivered the message “I don’t want you here”.  The humidity was so dense that clothes, my backpack and certainly all my gear were damp to the touch.  The wind was hot and the resulting heat haze hid most of the Kowloon peninsula behind a layer of horror movie mist.

Did I mention the 2km hike?   Well, that’s also out of a friggin horror movie – dense jungle, sporadic lighting, random gated & heavily guarded private properties.  Yep, not fun when you’re alone and far away from the tourists, lights and sense of safety.  I didn’t care about being mugged or murdered actually, I was worried of running into a random evil monkey, or worse yet, a Japanese girl with long black hair (Ring 3D is playing here in HK).

So half an hour of walking (even more stops and more water than the Elephant mountain trek) and I haven’t been killed by evil Japanese school girl or beat up by mr evil monkey.  I get to my spot, setup and pray for the best due to the mist.  As tonight is a scouting trip (it’s 1030pm) and far too late for the Golden Hour for sunset drama & blue hour detail, my goal is simply to find the right spot, determine the angles and then head back home to compile it and plan for the full multi-hour timelapse, panorama, every last bit of memory card I have with me assault on The Peak.  Night successful.

Mental Confidence Level: 9 (getting a little scared of the task before me).  Physical ability level: 9 (boy I thought I was in good enough shape…)  Equipment confidence level: 10.  Excitement over this successful scouting trip is tempered by my personal pressure to deliver something which has consumed me for the last 3 years.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m really happy to finally get this chance, but by golly was I ever worried about disappointing myself, even if it was beyond my control…

The sun rose and excitement and anxiety grew with every passing minute.  The schedule was set – ascend to The Peak at 4pm, grab an afternoon snack, setup at 5pm and capture through the blue hour until it was time to meet Ms Maegan for dinner at 8.  Straight forward I thought.  3 years of learning, refinement, new gadgets and every technical preparation I could do led to this.  Autopilot time – batteries?  Yep, 4 fully charged sets.  Lenses cleaned?  Check.  Tripod & Ballheads tightened? Check.  Weight ballast to help keep everything firmly in place?  Check.  Everything was going to plan for the first 2 hours.  The timelapse was going well with a nice dramatic sky moving towards me, lots of activity in the harbor and a dancing light moving across the city and highlighting the different buildings of Central.  I was getting giddy and ready to do the happy dance.  So far so good and now the countdown to golden hour & blue hour begins.  And so does a physical experience worse than climbing Elephant mountain.  You see, in my enthusiasm for the good clear weather and lack of heat mist today, I didn’t really bother to check the weather forecast – the one that said a typhoon was moving in around dinner time…. here’s the shot from a previous post – the clouds had come in so low that they were obscuring the top 2/3 of International Commerce Center seen in the left hand of the frame.

These two frames above are separated by 30 seconds according to the time stamps.  

Well, just as the lights started to turn on and the sunlight faded behind the horizon, I got walloped by a wall of wind and water that I have never experienced before.  My tripod (with my camera still attached as there was no time to react), blew over even with a 30lb ballast suspended to keep it from doing just that.  My camera back was soaked faster than I could pull out the rain cover, and me?  Well it was summer right?  T-shirt and shorts for me.  I was soaking wet from head to toe in a matter of seconds.  The wind was so fierce and the water like shards of glass that I contemplated leaving the equipment out and making a run back to the safety of The Peak Tower.  Stupidity prevailed though and I went to retrieve my camera and tripod which had moved the better part of 15ft from where I was and held on for dear life against the iron rails of the lookout.  The only thing that helped to reduce the onslaught of wind & water was an umbrella I picked up the previous day from the Heritage Museum (worth a visit btw).  I thought to myself that it wouldn’t last very long and that I would get a reprieve soon enough so that I can make my way back to The Peak Tower.  Nope.  Not tonight.  It wasn’t a few minutes, it was an hour and a half until the weather broke and the rain & wind slowed to a drizzle that I could safely open my camera bag to start packing my equipment up.  This wasn’t simply about getting wet – it was the possibility of destroyed equipment, high potential for physical injury if I stood up and got caught in the wind, or worse yet, if this didn’t let up before I mentally broke.  I honestly wasn’t sure for that hour and a half if I was getting off the mountain with my sanity intact.  This was 3 years of buildup brought down by a torrent of wind and rain to remind me that it’s not the things you control which makes the difference, it’s the things that you have to compromise with the environment so that it allows you to take your picture.

I walked out to the outcropping with about 50lbs of gear between the lenses, cameras, tripods and supports.  I brought all of that back plus whatever water weight all my gear bags and clothes could bring with it.  I’ll be honest in saying that part of me was worried I was going to meet Ms Maegan for dinner looking less than presentable, but moreso I was gutted that this perfect opportunity with no smog, relatively low humidity and a wonderfully clear view of Kowloon and the New Territories was stopped dead in its tracks by the fierce weather.  Such clear conditions are becoming less frequent and I wasn’t sure if I had enough frames to put together the panorama I wanted.  Worse yet, I didn’t know if I’d get the opportunity to get up here again on this trip with such (until the typhoon part) clear conditions available.

Having a number of missed and out of focused shots with Mr Teddy didn’t bother me as I had hours in a relatively controlled environment to try again and I was successful in navigating the settings and the enclosure to get the shots I wanted.  Taipei was a physical challenge to get to the vantage point but once I got to the top, things ran like clockwork.  Even sunrise and winter photography although presenting unique environmental challenges, were shooting opportunities which I was able to overcome and deliver the images I wanted.  Tonight at The Peak however, was a challenge that presented an insurmountable obstacle.   As time passed over dinner and I started to review what frames I did have.  I became sad.  Not because I didn’t have a panorama that I could be proud of, but because in the end, the image that I’d dreamed of with the city powering up during the blue hour and the lights extending far into the horizon was actually before me and I didn’t get the opportunity to capture it.  Weather presented a challenge to me that I couldn’t get past – it took too long for things to die down and by then, the details in the buildings began to fade into the night.  The lingering storm front also began to obscure the distant lights of Kowloon & the New Territories.  I was soaking wet from head to toe and I wasn’t really sure if my gear was still in working order after it smacked the rocks and took chucks of paint off (not to mention gallons of water falling on it for such a continuous period).

Somewhere behind that water on the lens is Hong Kong….

Mental confidence 4.  Physical confidence 5.  Equipment confidence 5 (I don’t know if anything is damaged).

Over the next few days, I moved on to complete other work in the city and tried to distance myself from the sadness of that evening on The Peak.  It was hard and it did take some of the heart & enthusiasm out of an otherwise very successful photography trip.  Even as I write this, I dwell on that evening as a failure of my ability to overcome the weather and get the photo.  Logically, I understand that it would not have been possible.  Physically it would have been incredibly dangerous to try again.  Personally however, it was a defeat of the spirit more than anything else.  3 years of anticipation and buildup, an hour and a half of getting knocked off your totem pole hanging onto an iron fence like a helpless kid.

It’s been a week now and I’ve finally had a chance to start looking at the images and begin production of the panoramas.  What I set out to do on timelapse and the daytime GigaPan came out a roaring success.  My nightscape of the city didn’t turn out as I planned, but now that I’ve assembled it, I’m happy to have captured the drama of the storm front moving in.   This personal project provided me with both the greatest technical and physical challenge Ive yet faced.  Although I’m still saddened by the opportunity taken away from me by the weather, I’ve finally come to be grateful for the lesson I received on that outcropping – never give up.  It’s the challenges and difficulties that form the stories and backdrop for the images we deliver.  The images we share are born of the experiences we endure behind the camera and it’s these experiences which bring meaning and depth to our images.   It’s a lesson that I’ll bring back with me to The Peak when I’ve recovered, learned a little more, gotten a little better and perhaps be a little more prepared so that I can capture my dream photo when I’m ready and the mountain is willing.

Until next time, I present Hong Kong 2012 – two gigapans from the clear afternoon skies and the calm before the massive storm on the horizon;

Please take a moment to stop by our facebook page and leave your comments on what you’d like to see and Like our page to get the latest wanderings and adventures.  Thanks for stopping by & for your continued support.  Happy shooting!

This week’s assignment we put together for this article encompasses the need to push for clarity – Our goal was to deliver portraits in various lighting conditions to challenge your abilities and push your camera settings to discover yours (and your camera’s) limits without resorting to art filters or editing which conceals the shortfalls of our ability to create a good capture.

1)  Photography should be about having a clear vision of what you intend to capture.  Sometimes this intent is built in a matter of seconds as is the case for photo journalistic assignments or perhaps sports events.  In other cases, vision is defined over coffee, dinner or perhaps conversation with friends, sometimes organized by committee for assignment, or maybe even just specific shots you decide on in order to build up your portfolio.  Regardless of the reasons which might present themselves for you to pull out your camera, it’s important for you to define the subject, the environment (whether you show it or not) and the overall context of the shot you’re going to eventually present to friends, family or a prospective client.  Having clarity of what your photographic subject is will help you achieve stronger composition, better dial-in the settings which will best represent your subject and most importantly, eliminate the feel of a snap shot that looks like you walked by and clicked the button.

2)  That leads us to – Push to become better every single outing – know your equipment, use your equipment and seriously, you paid good money for a good camera – use it to the best of its ability and invest time and effort into learning what your camera can deliver.  Don’t be a photographer that uses “creativity” as a shield for not knowing what settings to use to properly expose & capture a sharp image.   Knowing what your camera can do translates to what you can get away with – our photo set today runs the gamut of really terrible lighting conditions requiring super high ISOs to the very last one shot in perfect studio lighting.  The photographs below range anywhere from ISO6400 in a sodium-lit tunnel (first 2 images), perfect golden hour back-lighting (photo 3) to ISO100 in the studio (very last image).

The characteristic which defines all of the shots regardless of the lighting condition is sharp capture of the eyes – we had to deliver a head shot – that meant sharp eyes and defined features – the challenge was the various and mostly less than ideal light we had to work with.   As we touched upon in the Zoo Photography Tips, sharp eyes define the subject and can allow you to get away with murder (metaphorically speaking) as it gives a focal point to your viewer that they can connect with and delivers an emotional anchor for your photograph.  The range of lighting conditions challenges your skills as a photographer to step up to the next level – “It’s too dark”, “My lens isn’t good”, “It’s an entry level DSLR” – these aren’t valid excuses preventing you from taking any of the photos below- cameras available today far exceed anything that film stalwarts ever had to work with during the heydays of film.  If the old cameras without autofocus, super-high ISOs and modern lenses could capture exceptional photos in war zones and sporting events, there’s nothing stopping you from delivering a great kids or pet picture.

Sometimes a support system such as a tripod or monopod might be in order depending on your combination of light, focal length and general hand stability, but if you’re going to go through the effort to setup, shoot and edit photos, you may as well make sure it’s the best representation of your subject that you can deliver.  Strangely enough – only the studio shot is using a tripod whereas all of the “poor light” shots were completed hand-held.  The shots below turned out well not because of the equipment we were using – they turned out well because we had a clear vision of the shots we needed to get, knew what our cameras allowed us to capture in the given environments and finally, we had;

3) A Mental benchmark or reference for the final image you intend to deliver.  Post production in Lightroom or Photoshop should be treated in the same way as the film days – develop in order to best represent the qualities you captured in the frame. Understanding what you want to achieve in post production helps to narrow down what work is required of you to present it well.   Therefore, post processing is about finishing the image – by this stage, you should have done everything to ensure the lighting, framing, composition and emotion is already included and you’re only visiting Photoshop or Lightroom in order to better bring it out of the frame.  If you want to accelerate your knowledge of the first two parts of today’s lesson, step away from this section as much as you can.  Get things right in camera from the beginning and you will learn faster.  There’s nothing wrong with post processing if you’ve done everything you can during the capture process to get as close as possible to your vision, but until you explore the limits of your actual photographic skill, you will continue to shortchange your learning curve by relying on post production to “fix” things that you could otherwise have tackled and built experience on in the field.

Now, for those that haven’t been to my workshops, I would like to clarify that this has nothing to do with digital art where you add, create or remove elements for composites and or artistic representation, what I’m advocating is using & improving the technical capabilities of you & your camera to ensure a capture which retains the most detail, maximizes your subject impact and most importantly, gives you latitude when you do get to post to have the most creative range because you’ve got the best file to start with.   This is a photography blog and my first priority is to offer advice into maximizing your shooting experience so that you can best capture your life moments when they present themselves.

Push yourself to be a better photographer by having a clarity of mind when shooting, having a clear understanding of what your equipment is capable of delivering and clearly presenting your subject as a completed work.  Til next time, happy shooting!

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We’ve taken our super computers mobile!   UNITY ONE processing power is now available for on-site data management, location logistics support and post production services.  If you have a large photoshoot requiring professional data management & backup services, FYM Photography delivers the tools to keep your production rolling and give you piece of mind.  The best hardware, industry standard software and professional personnel with the field experience to help execute your vision.  UNITY ONE Mobile comes to you wherever and whenever you need it.

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• Adobe Creative Suite enabled with cloud services for maximum versatility & on-site capability
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Edit across multiple screens for faster on-location workflow

UNITY ONE Mobile allows you to

• Manage your capture and data needs onsite without concern for memory limitations or data integrity
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• Logistics management to help you scout your locations and help organize the shoot for the most efficient work flow

 Let us worry about the technology and let your creativity flow.  UNITY ONE Mobile is offered in Alberta and Saskatchewan starting at a rate of $149/location hour + travel time.

The Calgary Zoo is offering an exceptional opportunity on June 9th, 2012 to participate in the “FOCUSED” photography event.  Doors open early and help enthusiasts of all skill levels to explore the zoo without the hustle and bustle of kids running around while offering more opportune moments to capture the animals in their more active states.  Unfortunately due to some prior commitments with awesome Giant Pandas in Asia, I will not be able to make an appearance at this June event.  I wish you all the best at this excellent event and let’s all work towards spreading the word and ensuring a successful event so that we can get more of these opportunities!

By popular demand, here’s round 2 of Zoo Photography Tips

•  Patience Patience Patience  - Observing other visitors on multiple occasions leads me to believe a number of people stop, read the sign, peek to find the animal and then move on in pretty short order.  If you’re trying to capture a moment with your favorite furry friend, patience and the art of slowing down will pay huge dividends.   As mentioned in the last article, it took the better part of a few visits due to weather and circumstances beyond my control before I finally had the opportunity to capture the Siberian Tiger in the pose I’d imagined.  Alternatively, the Giant Panda pictures below took almost two hours of waiting in the enclosure before they finally positioned themselves and undertook activities that gave an interesting capture.   Pick the animal which you’d like to photograph, and carefully walk around the enclosure to find an interesting angle.  Then wait.  And wait some more.  Or heck, visit another fur ball and come back again.  But be mentally patient and wait for them to give you the photo instead of just taking a snap shot.  Exercise patience and don’t forget – Keep your eye on the ball!
• Invest in and use a support system – Tripods are simply too bulky and cumbersome to setup given the fences you butt up against as well as the potential hazards of other guests tripping over them or worse yet, knocking over your camera (I’m a photographer not a humanitarian ).  Invest in a monopod to help stabilize your camera and minimize the physical tasks that could otherwise distract you from getting a sharp shot.  Monopods can help stabilize shaky hands, balance the weight of long lenses, combat slow shutter speeds and even double up as a walking stick.  Check out my previous photographer’s tip to see what gear I bring with me to the field and adjust accordingly to suit your needs.
• Get down low (or at least eye level) – Eye level shots just like portraits of people help delivers an emotional connection.  We talked about focusing on the eyes in the previous zoo article, this tip is more about adjusting your perspective to shoot from the same level as the animal’s face instead of shooting down and shooting up.  It’s a subtle difference, but the finished image can deliver greater impact and intimacy by removing the ‘snap shot’ perspective normally associated with non-eye-level shooting.   The mental association that your viewer makes with an eye level shot is that they’re participating in your subject’s world instead of just looking into a world on the other side of the fence which is the feeling zoo photos can give off when we’re shooting from above or below.
• Watch the background – Trash can, fence, zoo signs can all detract from the experience of your viewers getting lost in your photos.   Part of the patience exercise should be evaluating not just the right angle for your animal shots you want, but also making sure any distractions in the background that doesn’t fit with the animals’ environment is not present.  Animal photos work best when we subconsciously view the background as an integral part of their natural environment.  A washroom sign in the background or a kid with his face pressed against the fence detracts from the depth of your photo and highlights the captive environment of the animal.  Keep an eye out and aim for the cleanest backgrounds you can.  Note – for those paying attention from the last article, a long lens and large aperture will help to diffuse your background.  Know your camera equipment!
• Watch out for reflections – If you’re attempting to shoot through fences, get your front element as close to if not through the openings but be mindful of the sun.  If the front of your lens is too large to fit in the gaps of chain link, choose to shoot from a shaded area to minimize reflections from the fencing which can appear on your images and fuzzy lines and ruin your perfect shot.   If you’re shooting through glass, as inopportune as it might be for your framing, shooting directly against the glass and try to avoid shooting at an angle against it.  This will cause both distortion as well as a loss in image quality due to the light diffraction as the glass can act as a prism reducing the quality of light hitting your camera.
• Charge your batteries, bring an extra one and don’t be embarrassed to bring your charger – If you have to, be that person sitting by a power plug waiting to get a small charge on your camera.  Whatever you do, don’t be the person stuck walking around with a useless camera and never ending missed opportunities because your battery doesn’t hold enough of a charge.   Going with the entire Photographer’s Tip theme of knowing your gear, knowing the shooting endurance of your camera’s batteries is crucial.  As we covered before, when it comes to animal photography – shoot shoot shoot.  This takes a massive toll on your batteries especially if you’re the type to continuously review your shots as you go.  Pack extra batteries, bring your charger and don’t get left out.   As a side note, find out from your camera manual where your battery charge indicator is, how to read it and if possible, find out what the rough lifespan of shots you should get our of it are.  Make a mental note of this number and be conscious to look at your charge indicator regularly so you’re not in the middle of the lion finally walking into your frame after you’ve patiently waited for 30 mins and your camera gently powers off.   It’s happened to me before.  Profanity ensues.

Thanks for stopping by – good luck to the Calgary shooters participating in FOCUSED and a big thank you to everyone who has shared and supported this site.  Remember to stop by our Facebook page and show your support by liking our page.  As always, feel free to drop me a line via e-mail at francis@fymphoto.com or write on the Facebook wall for what you’d like to see, what we’ve done well or share some of your shots!

Distinct buildings and features help to deliver compelling framing for your cityscapes and the majestic rocky mountains help to break up the sunset into dramatic light shows.  This workshop will focus on framing, technique and best practices to get the most out of your equipment and to get you at least one memorable shot for the evening.   The workshop will emphasize training on camera settings, equipment setup and best practices.  A basic understanding of camera functions such as aperture, shutter speed and ISO are an asset but not required.   We will be spending the majority of the evening outdoors so please dress appropriately for the worst case scenario.

• HOW MUCH | FREE FREE FREE – thank you to the readers of this site for their love and support in sharing the work on this site.  This is something that I’ve been asked by a number of readers for so I would like to thank everyone by offering this session.
• WHERE | Calgary Alberta Canada – Location will be determined by the people singing up (do so by RSVP’ing me via e-mail or drop me a line at www.facebook.com/fymphoto)
• WHEN | We will be meeting working through introductions and setup approximately 7pm.  Sunset is approximately 830pm and shooting to approximately 930-10pm with a review session afterwards.

Workshop Recommendations

Weather – We will be shooting outdoors so please bring a variety of environment appropriate clothing.   I recommend dressing in layers for maximum versatility and be prepared with warm shoes, a wind breaking jacket, fleece sweather, touque and wind resistant pants.  Comfort is paramount to get the most out of sitting outside shooting for this extended period of time.  Remember – it’s Calgary

Equipment – As we are focusing on landscapes and exploring low light photography into sunset, a sturdy tripod is a requirement.  If you have access to a remote cable release, this will be invaluable as well.   Bring camera, lenses, tripod, batteries and extra memory cards.  Bring your camera charger as well and an inverter for your vehicle if you have access to one.

Please check out my Photographer’s Tip article on Traveling with Gear as it’s a good prep article for this workshop and check out our first Photographer’s Tip from last year for some ideas.

Updated with shots from this workshop!

Zoo shooting can be awesome practice prior to taking a hike in the wilderness and encountering animals in open spaces.  Zoos offer a great opportunity to practice framing, composition and also a little bit of patience as you elbow your way through the crowds (an allegory for bushes, trees, general obstacles) in order to best setup for the shot you like.   Here’s some quick tips to get the most out of your zoo photography experience.

• Dress appropriately for the day – as you go in and out of pavillions and into the various weather climiates that the animals are in, treat it as practice for when you’re out in the middle of nowhere on a hike.  Dress in layers that are easy to lighten as the weather warms and have enough of them so that you’re prepared for the wind and cold should things change.  This is a mental prepardness exercise – being attire appropriate to all the conditions you may encounter will give you more time to focus on the task at hand instead of trying to get the feeling back in your fingers or giving up prematurely due to less than ideal conditions.
• Shoot long – Want to get rid of or minimize the fence between you and Mr Pooh bear?  Shoot long – use your lens in the 200+mm range (if you’ve got access, beg and borrow 300 or 400mm units for the best effect).  Long lenses compress the subjects and detach them from the background.  The nice byproduct of this is that they also help blur obstacles such as fencing which may be seperating you from your subject.  Most of the shots below are shot at a minimum of 200mm.  Get up against the fence, shoot long and compose in that order.  This will give better clarity and framing for your animal shots as you’re forced to pick a subject instead of just taking a wide angle photo of the entire enclosure which is about as interesting as watching paint dry.
• Shoot wide open – As open as you can go – I love to shoot wide apertures (F2/2.8) in order to pop the subject out of the background as much as possible.  There’s always something more compelling about animals when you isolate them as individuals.  Go as open as your lens allows you to.  Couple this with shooting long, and you’ll be able to isolate your subject with a creamy smooth background, minimizing distraction and maximizing impact.
• Focus focus focus -  The eyes are the window to the soul as they say.  Animals like people have a reflective personality that can be seen in their eyes.  Focusing in this area, coupled with the isolation of long lenses and wide apertures will help bring life to your subject.  It’s also an exceptional training tool for mastering quick and precise control of your autofocus system or perhaps, if you’re a little more daring, manual focus.   Train your camera to the subject you want, and focus on the details which defines them.
• Bring memory, lots of it.  And use it, all of it – you’re there to shoot – fire away and capture every angle and every possible idea that comes into your head.  If it means an hour at each exhibit, so be it.  This is a great opportunity for practice in a controlled environment and more importantly, maybe you’ll walk away with a smiling Panda or a roaring lion.  Like we talked about in the last Photographer’s Tip – keep your eye on the ball and shoot everything that interests you.  Fill up those memory cards and have fun.

That’s it for today – I’d like to thank you for supporting this site and ask that you continue to share it with your friends and family and shoot me an e-mail at francis@fymphoto.com with your ideas and suggestions on what you’d like to see on the site as well as what workshops you’d like me to host.

Don’t forget to check out our Facebook page and hit the “Like” button to show your support.  Thanks for stopping by!

For more Photographer’s Tip, check out the article archive here.

]]> http://www.fymphoto.com/?feed=rss2&p=3583 2 http://www.fymphoto.com/?p=3571 http://www.fymphoto.com/?p=3571#comments Wed, 04 Apr 2012 04:24:09 +0000 francis http://www.fymphoto.com/?p=3571 [...]]]> As deeply entrenched as I am in my technology and toys, photography offers me an opportunity to get away even for a little bit to focus on something external to the connected world.  Photography gives us both an escape from the modern world to focus on the subjects which interest us while also delivering an opportunity to explore and enjoy the world like a child.  As of this writing, I’ve been shooting for almost 4 days straight on both assignments as well as workshops.  In conversation and instruction with the wonderful people I’ve worked with these last few days, one topic kept coming up – what am I supposed to be taking a picture of?  Well frankly, it’s simple – whatever interests you.  Keeping your eye on the ball applies to the subject, the equipment, the scene and your personal growth goals as a photographer.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a landscape or portrait, the important part of capture is that the final image is a reflection of how you see the world and is wholly determined by your perceptions, experiences and timing.  This defines the practice of photo-journalism.  Whether you’re a mom capturing your kids running around the playground or you undertake a hike or expedition to capture the perfect mountain sunrise,  you are directly documenting your experience and sharing it with others.   What images you share are the so-called flash bulb memories committed to a picture frame and whether you consciously recognize it or not, is a reflection of your vision.   Don’t be afraid to pick and choose what interests you and forget the world around you or what people might think of your photos.  Just keep shooting what interests you.

Building on the idea of shooting what interests you, I also encourage workshop participants to not be afraid to hammer the shutter button when it comes to portraits and wildlife.  Sometimes the best moments we capture are the moments in between the the ones we planned in our head.  Over years and through hundreds of thousands of photos, some of my favourites are the ones in-between the ones I planned.  This principles can apply to landscapes where a few extra shots here and there might capture the difference between the sun highlighting the correct mountain peak or fast moving clouds might take your subject in and out of the shade delivering you dramatically different looks.  More importantly, in portraiture, keeping your eyes open, camera aimed and shutter button ready can help capture the candid moments between set poses.  The in-between moments capture emotion and particularly when not working with experienced models can help deliver the connective quality which presents stunning photos.

This wasn't the scene we were there to shoot, but keeping an eye open allowed us to capture this and it turned out to be the best shot of the day.

All of this is summed up in the photo above.  It had nothing to do with the assignment we were there to shoot, but in the end, this candid moment turned out to be the best shot which I can proudly add to my portfolio.  It’s a moment capturing a dramatic landscape, which is what we were there to get and the sunset became even more dramatic by my assistant stepping in to block a little bit of it and creating the wonderful glow you see.  It’s a basic photograph, it’s a technically poor photograph due to the lens flare, but in the end, it is simply a nice photograph that we couldn’t re-create because the candid smile is what makes the photo compelling and adds to the overall warmth of the scene.

Photography is about patience, not necessarily a patience of sitting on a mountain for hours on end waiting for the right light, although that’s just inspiring for your soul, but patience for yourself and taking control of the scene before you to capture.  I believe that everyone will take a beautiful picture at some point in their life, but the ones that excel are those who can deliver a compelling image on a consistent basis.  Defining yourself as a photographer is about finding that internal drive to push for the 4am wakeup or to sit in a lonely mountain peak to capture the stars.  That takes a special focus & attitude that is a core requirement to get the photos that not many others will effort.

Beyond that, as we’ve discussed in previous Photographer’s Tips, it’s about knowing your gear.  I constantly harp on workshop attendees that it doesn’t matter what gear you show up with, but you have a huge responsibility to yourself to intimately and efficiently know the equipment you have, the operational requirements and the execution ability.  I don’t care if you show up with $15k in cameras and lenses, can you actually control your focus, can you control your composition and do you know how to best set your camera for the cleanest output?  That’s what defines the complete photographer.  Drive, understanding, and most importantly, the ability to simply stop and stare to take in the scenes before you, enjoy it and then capture it for presentation.

Setting up for the landscape shot and scouting the right angle

In the end, what we specifically went to shoot didn't produce as dramatic a shot as what we kept an eye out for.

For more in the Photographer’s Tip Series, check out this archive link.

As work and other preoccupations begin to give way to optimal weather and spectacular opportunities, I figured it’d be a good time to outline the 2012 summer schedule and give an opportunity for you readers to throw in your ideas for what you’d like to see on the coming adventures or what classes you would like to have added to the calendar.  Look forward to meeting all the supporters throughout summer at the various workshops and photowalks!  Happy shooting!

April -  The cherry blossom festivals

May – Waterton Lakes Photo Tour | Canon EOS Cinema Workshop | Calgary Photowalk

June – Taiwan Expedition | National Museum Archives Tour | Taipei Photowalk | Taipei Zoo | Hong Kong Photowalk | 24-hour photoshoot at Victoria Peak, Hong Kong | GT-R vs Abarth Top Gear style rally through the streets of Hong Kong

July – Lethbridge Air Show | Edmonton Indy Car Race | Calgary Zoo Photowalk | Jasper National Park Excursion

Click on the images to expand to full screen (1920 x 1200)

Step 1 – Our starting image – 20mm | ISO400 | F2.8

What we want to accomplish;

1. Fix color temperature to make the background less yellow but maintaining warmth on our portrait subject
2. Balance exposure to better highlight our subject and bring out some shadow details
3. Sharpen relevant details in our image
4. Correct our vertical lines and fix any perspectives/angles which can cause distractions

Step 2 – As we did in our earlier landscape processing exercise, fiddling with the white balance and selecting the one which best suits our vision is the first step.  Our camera file gives us a color temperature of 5350k which gives the yellow color cast upon both our subject and causes the downtown buildings to give off a candlelight colored glow.  I settled on a color temperature of 4529k using the sliders in Adobe Lightroom.   This temperature setting took a little of the yellow cast away while maintaining a healthy skin tone for our subject.  Pushing this any further to the left caused undesirable blue color to be introduced to our subject giving her a zombie look.

Step 3 – We begin the bulk of processing in this step.  First and foremost we want to boost the exposure a smidge (+ 0.3 is what I was happy with) in order to bring better focus to the foreground subject and separating it from our dark, but busy background.  We then move into boosting our brightness and fill light sliders to best highlight our individual subject while maintaining the mood of the surrounding environment.  I settled on +16 fill light (0 default) and +62 brightness (+44 default).   This filled in the light on her face, emphasized the contrast of her white coat against the warm wood and gives the photo a more defined environmental portrait feel where the background serves as a frame of reference to the young lady.

In order to increase details, I boosted the black level to +6 (0 default) and clarity to +33 (0 default) in order to help make the shadows pop against the highlights we just worked on.  When working in low-light situations like this, boosting the blacks and increasing the clarity slider will also help to give better definitions to subject edges and can help suppress noise in areas you’re increasing the exposure of.  Our image is now looking cleaner and delivers better focus than our starting point.

Step 4 – Our last step is to correct framing and lens aberrations.   As it’s winter in Canada, you can bet that it was certainly cold.  Blowing gusts also didn’t help our subject nor mine’s situation.  This resulted in a little hap-hazard framing as my fingers were getting too numb to fine tune some settings.  As a result, it’s not perfectly level nor is it squared with our horizon.  Lightroom thankfully allows latitude in this easily fixing this.   First and foremost, we want to visit the Lens Correction module and select our appropriate camera and lens combination.  This brings corrections for color fringing (reducing sharpness and causing some halos) as well as any distortion causing straight lines to bow due to lens design.  Within the lens module, we can also go into the manual correction section and play with the Vertical sliders to correct the tilting convergence of the background buildings.   The 2nd half of this step is to use our crop tool to straighten our horizon to bring a final polish to the image.

Comparison & Final Image

Packing the right gear should focus on two things which will retain your sanity, the health of your back and most importantly, give you the best cross section of equipment to capture the most likely of scenarios you might run into.  Here’s some tips on critical, recommended accessories and finally, your actual gear.  Note that I’m going to skip the fundamentals of batteries, chargers and the bag is truly a personal choice.

The Critical
No it’s not camera equipment just yet.  Here, we focus on the items which will make the experience easier for you.

• Lens pen or wipes – critical for any season or condition you might shoot in as dust or debris buildup on glass elements can ruin pictures and result in hours of post processing work due to artifacts and dust spots.  I recommend the LensPen branded screen & glass element cleaner along with a microfiber cloth gives enough cleaning flexibility to deal with anything that might find its way onto your lenses.  Another side bonus – keep your LCD screens and viewfinders free of smudges and face oil!
• Sensor cleaner – for those shooting with interchangeable lens cameras (SLRs, mirrorless), this is essential kit when traveling.  Much like dust on your lenses, dust on your sensor can ruin an image and might be harder to correct after the fact.  A sensor cleaning kit is a god send whether it be in hot & humid or cold & dry climates.
• Silica Gel – glasses and lenses fogging up due to the extreme changes in temperature and humidity?  Prevent mold issues and minimize fogging with silica gel packs in your bags to better equalize the humidity you expose your gear to.  Light to carry and invaluable protection for your gear.

The Recommended

• A sturdy tripod or camera support system – I use carbon fiber tripods for their light weight, holding strength, weather resistance and portability.   Joby flexible tripods are another great travel option for something compact but still situationaly flexible to meet various shooting conditions you might run into.   A light weight travel support pays dividends the longer your shooting day goes.  Whether it’s climbing ruins or running around the Canadian Rockies, light weight support systems have to first and foremost deliver stability and safety for your precious equipment.  Saving the stress on your back is a nice bonus that doesn’t seem to be a priority until you find yourself asking for a bed and pillow halfway through the day.  Invest in quality support products and your pictures and body will thank you.  Side Note – I use Induro 8X Carbon Tripods for their lightweight, strength and most importantly resistance to hot and cold environments.  Nothing is worse than grabbing your tripod and burning or freezing your hand as the metal has picked up the surround temperature.
• A strong and comfortable camera strap – Before reading any further; throw out the strap that came with your camera!!  Nothing causes more neck strain and tires you out faster than having a camera hanging from your neck all day with little padding and support.  Check out some camera alternatives such as camera slings which go over your shoulder and fully support the weight of the camera.  At the very least, Tamrac offers neoprene padded and stretchy conventional camera straps which will help better balance the load on your neck compared to the cloth straps included with many SLRs.

My current camera harnesses and tripod

The Gear

• Bring a second camera (body) – whether it’s a 2nd SLR body or a high quality compact (I use the Panasonic LX-5), a second body allows you great flexibility to have a telephoto like the 70-200 on my SLR while I cover wide angle and street shots with my compact which is more discreet.   A second body also serves as a backup should the unthinkable happen and your primary goes down (a mountain, trail, into the ocean) or gets stolen.
• Lenses – I tried to cover the entire range of lenses I have at my disposal once.  I regretted it.  Or, more appropriately my back regretted it.   On a trip to Hong Kong a few years ago, I packed a 10-22, 24, 60 macro, 17-55, 50, 70-200 & 400.  My backpack weighed almost as much as my check-in luggage once I had my camera bodies and other gear in there.   In the end, when I reviewed over 3000 shots taken during the trip, most images landed (and by most, 96%) in the 17-200 range.  I could have cut out almost 5lbs from my bag and still walked away with the same photos.   17-200 covers almost every scenario short of a full blown safari.  Even my specialist 50mm F1.4 and 24mm F1.4 lenses didn’t deliver anything that the 17-55/70-200 wouldn’t have been able to.  These days, it’s the 17-55 and 70-200 that travel the world with me, while photo workshops have these two with me and the rest in the vehicle until I require them for a specific shot/teach out.

What are your favourite items to bring when you’re working out of your bag?  Sound off on my facebook page and let me know as I would love to hear your feedback.  Happy shooting!

Lowepro Toploader Pro All Weather – Designed for the pro photographer inside and out, our Toploader Pro AW Series is made for action. The Toploader Pro AW 75 is an ideal fit for a pro DSLR with grip and 70-200mm lens attached. It features a contoured, asymmetrical shape that follows the lines of a camera for a snug protective fit. A side opening with easy-grip access lets you capture the shot in a flash. During inclement weather, you can gain complete access to the main compartment while protecting your gear, thanks to our built-in 360° All Weather AW Cover™.   Other hardworking features include: large, U-shaped zipper pulls that are easy to grasp even in wet and cold conditions; 3-point harness system for a custom, comfortable fit; top pocket with space for sunglasses and personal gear; adjustable divider system to secure grip, plus allow storage of smaller items in main compartment. Use with optional Topload Chest Harness; sold separately. Toploader Pro 75 AW may be used with a belt or belt system, such as our Street and Field™ modular carrying system.

Asking $50

Professional Canon EOS-7D Battery Grip with AA battery tray – offers vertical shutter/exposure and autofocus controls.  Excellent for extending battery capacity and body stability.   Asking $50

Velbon Sherpa 435 Travel Tripod with Case - Strong and versatile tripods for both professionals and advanced amateurs. Velbon SHERPA tripods are equipped with the 4-way panhead PHD-41Q with Quick-release platform system that incorporates some clever features such as a one-touch handle that allows locking of both pan and tilt movements with one twist. The handle is mounted on the left which allows the user to keep their right hand free to operate the camera.  Asking $120

Our beginning image is the Prince of Wales Hotel, Waterton National Park Alberta.  More pictures from this set can be found here.  This is a postcard style image showcasing the landscape of Waterton and one of the iconic structures most seen in vistas and photographs of the region – the Prince of Wales hotel.  The original image below has good tonal range, excellent detail in both highlight (sky) and shadow (hills and hotel).  With this image, we want to maximize the impact of the scenery by highlighting the hotel and framing it in such a way that it showcases brilliantly in the surrounding environment.

Click on the images to expand and fill your screen.

Step 1 – Our starting image; Canon EOS 7D / 17-55mm @ 35mm / ISO100 / F9.0

Step 2 – Choose the white balance which appropriately reflects the vision we have for the image.  You can use different white balance presents to better tune warm and cold feelings in the image then refine it by using the custom slider available in Lightroom.  For this particular image, the light falling onto the hotel was the most welcoming with the “shade” setting.  It eliminates the blue hue of the original image making the entire frame look warmer and more inviting instead of cool.   We can see that the auto expsoure settings of Lightroom have also darkened the overall image due to the program choosing to recover detail in the sky.  This is ok as we will balance the light in the next step.

Step 3 – We balance the light in the image during this step.  Playing around with the Recovery slider, we find the best balance of retaining detail in the white clouds without going too far and creating artifacts in the brighter portions of the image.   Fill Light is used to bring detail back to the shoreline and hill sides.  This helps to expose detail which was previously lost in the shadow of the mountains.  Balancing the sky and foreground like this gives us a very even tonal range which doesn’t leave things too bright or too dark maximizing the depth of our image.

Step 4 – The focus of this step is to bring back the contrast and black levels to give the image depth and scale.  The human eye sees contrast most strongly as objects are closer and less so when objects are further away.  We bright the Blacks slider higher until we have a comfortable starting point that brings good shadow depth to the recovered areas of the hill directly below the hotel.  Moving onto the contrast slider, we edge it up until there is further definition in the mountains behind as well as small details such as the overall crispness of the near treeline and hotel windows.

Step 5 - Our final step takes us into minute corrections to fix the lens abberations using Lightroom’s Lens Corrections module, fixing horizon lines ever so slightly to correct uneven landscapes and cropping it to a more panoramic format.  All the changes we’ve made are small in scope compared to what is available for RAW tweaking in Lightroom, for more extreme examples, check out my previous post.   For more photography & processing tips, check out the previous posts in this series available here.

If you have any questions about this tutorial, feel free to contact me and if you haven’t had a chance yet, check out my Facebook Page and hit the “Like” button to help support this site.

Final Image Comparison

Here’s my primary reasons for shooting RAW;

• Non-Destructive Editing – Photographer has complete control over the “development” of the image much like the film days.  This allows endless processing, tweaking and changes all without affecting your ability to return the image to the original.  All without any quality penalties, loss of the original image and most importantly, the ability to re-edit with different skill sets down the road should you choose to revisit the images.   When you make adjustments to a RAW file, you’re not actually doing anything to the original data. What you’re doing is creating a set of instructions for how the JPEG or TIFF (another file format) version should be saved.  You can always reset your adjustments, and start over again. JPEG files lose quality every time you open them, make adjustments, and save again. True story. It’s what is known as a “lossy” file format. So if you’re making edits to JPEGs you always have to be duplicating the image and saving out a new version if you don’t want to lose file quality.

• Flexible Image Parameters – since the camera is not making predetermined processing selections for you, everything from white balance, contrast, saturation and image noise are all at your disposal for tweaking and finding the balance which best reflects the image in your mind.   This extensive flexibility gives you the highest level of image quality available.   With the image below, RAW has allowed me to retain details in the dark forested areas in the bottom of the frame and bring them back.  The RAW data has also nicely preserved the detail of the downtown buildings which still show excellent levels of sharpness when they are lightened.  These changes would be far more limited had I been working with JPEGs instead.

• Greater levels of brightness and shadow are recorded – Levels of brightness are the number of steps from black to white in an image. The more you have, the smoother the transitions of tones.   JPEG records 256 levels of brightness, and RAW records between 4,096 to 16,384 levels! This is described with the term “bit”. JPEG captures in 8bit, and RAW is either 12bit or 14bit. Those additional steps of brightness let you make more adjustments (expoosure, blacks, fill light, recovery, contrast, brightness) to your image without a significant reduction of quality, because there’s more levels to work with!  It’s also easier to avoid or correct posterization in your images when you shoot in RAW. Posterization is the banding that you often see in bright skies.  The images below highlight the ability of the RAW file to retain details in both the dark and light areas of the image which can be recovered and tweaked to produce the final vivid image.

Example 1 - Recovered detail in foreground forest, restored detail in sky, retained sharpness and resolution in downtown.

Example 2 - Recovered detail in clouds, balanced exposure for foreground and background details, corrected color cast for foreground.  

RAW files have been my main format for a number of years.  The flexibility of the image, scalability of processing (based on your growing skill and return visits to old images) and the ability to start from ground zero without losing the original digital negative far outweigh the main benefit of JPEG which is small file size.  At the end of the day, I might pack an extra memory card or two, but that’s a small price to pay for the ability to maximize my captures especially if they happen to be once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.  Besides, at less than $50 for 16 or 32GB SD Cards, memory is cheap and isn’t really an excuse not to archive your images in the best possible way

 fym photo recommends Adobe Lightroom for your RAW processing and camera workflow needs. 

Well 2012 is here and while Chinese New Year is still a few weeks away, it’s a good time to prime up some resolutions for the coming year.

1. I will read the manuals for my cameras front to back.   I know what most of the buttons do and 90% of the settings, but after seeing some shooters work their magic and change settings without a second glance, I’ve come to realize that there’s always room to improve, learn and grow when it comes to the knowledge and capabilities that modern cameras offer.  With the wonderful milestones and images achieved this year, I look forward to the opportunities of the new year and knowing every setting inside and out and becoming comfortable with said settings will only prove to be an asset in what is already shaping up to be a very long, fruitful & adventurous 2012!    In continuation of this spirit, I will also strive to continuously practice and refine the technical skills of observation, framing, composition and most importantly, planning.   With 4 photo adventures already planned for the year, foresight and planning will be a boon to ensure no missed opportunities and a maximum return on time and money invested at sites around the world.   Efficiency & consistency is the name of the game for 2012!
2. I will take more pictures.   To clarify, I will take more pictures of personal projects, behind the scenes, production work flow and any other scenarios that comes up this year in order to share the experiences and lessons better with the readers of this site.  Much like video tape of a hockey or football game, behind the scenes work allows better references for how shots were accomplished and how to better execute similar scenarios in the future.  Such shots also form excellent teach outs for those that visit this site for photographer’s tips and e-mail me for background information.   I took almost 55 000 photos in 2011, I estimate that with all the travelling and new projects slated for this year, we’ll be pushing 75 000.  Can’t hurt to keep shooting to make sure that I really do end up with “the shot”.
3. I will practice greater patience and not pack it in regardless of the weather.  Ok, I’m probably going to eat it on this one.  The time lapse of downtown Calgary?  It sucked – cold, windy and generally uncomfortable.  But as a learning experience, it was brilliant.  A focus on completing some sunrise and sunset video work plus some top secret stuff on upcoming trips will require determination, a lack of procrastination and generally balls of steel.  This will be the greatest challenge as although 2011 had numerous successes, the skill of patience brought some potentially wonderful opportunities to a premature end.
4. I will give more to the readers of this site who have helped support the growth and provided the inspiration.   Here we go – I will give one photoshoot per month away to readers who are looking to execute a concept in their mind or would like to learn a specific field of photography that’s been featured on this site.  Portraiture, landscape, field, wildlife or architectural.  Contact me and if I don’t have a project that month, I will be more than happy to take your concept on and help commit it to the camera.

What’re your 2012 photography resolutions?   Let me know if you have any ideas for some other resolutions or if you would like to collaborate – francis@fymphoto.com  and as always;

]]> http://www.fymphoto.com/?feed=rss2&p=3325 0 http://www.fymphoto.com/?p=3312 http://www.fymphoto.com/?p=3312#comments Sun, 11 Dec 2011 20:46:28 +0000 francis http://www.fymphoto.com/?p=3312  

Please note that this is not a teaching style photo workshop but rather an intense photo tour emphasizing maximum time and opportunity for field photography.  Please note that these tours are for people with a keen interest in photography who want in-depth immersion into field photography with a group of like-minded individuals (six to seven participants max). In all tours there will be ample opportunity to share experiences and techniques with other participants. Please be advised that you should be fit enough to hike with your gear in winter conditions.

• Banff National Park is the third oldest national park in the world and certainly one of the most magnificent. We begin at sunrise on Lake Louise, Canada’s “Diamond in the Wilderness.” Let your lens take in the artistry of the sun’s rays as they paint the glassy surface of the water with radiant hues. Continue taking advantage of the morning light as we move into view of Victoria Glacier, a towering presence at the head of the lake.
• Capture some of Banff’s most majestic sights along the Mount Norquay Scenic Drive, including Mount Rundle, Bow Valley and the park’s varied wildlife.
• Take in the majestic sights found along the Vermillion Lakes Scenic Drive. Seize the opportunity of the winter season to document some of nature’s delicate details, from the frosty morning mist hovering over reflecting pools to the feathery patterns in the ice
• Craft portraits of this theatrical season at Johnston Canyon, where you will encounter waterfalls frozen in time and giant icicles suspended from cliff faces in uniquely dramatic poses.
• A ride along picturesque Tunnel Mountain Scenic Drive will lead us to Surprise Corner and Hoodoos Viewpoint, both of which boast remarkably gorgeous geological sights.

Dates & Cost

Single day journeys for January 21, 22 2011

• $249 per participant.  Limited to 3 participants per day.
• Transportation and all entrance fees
• In-the-field instruction
• Digital Review sessions
• 5am departure from Calgary.  Approx 8pm return time.

Recommendations

Weather – We will be shooting mainly outdoors, bring a variety of clothing and it is recommended to dress in layers to suit changing weather conditions.  Good walking shoes or snow boots would be an asset as would appropriate cover materials for your gear.

Equipment – As landscapes and wildlife opportunities are abundant, it is recommended to pack at least 18-200mm range lenses, extra batteries and lots of storage.  A tripod with a carry case and a towel to wipe down equipment is also recommended.

Contact for more information or to arrange a viewing.

Superman Man of Steel by Alex Ross

World's Mightiest Mortal by Alex Ross

Marvels Limited Edition Signed by Alex Ross

Superman Peace on Earth by Alex Ross Signed Print

Batman War on Crime by Alex Ross Signed Print

]]> http://www.fymphoto.com/?feed=rss2&p=3295 0 http://www.fymphoto.com/?p=3275 http://www.fymphoto.com/?p=3275#comments Mon, 07 Nov 2011 15:38:14 +0000 francis http://www.fymphoto.com/?p=3275 [...]]]> Photographer’s Tip:   Much like a DSLR camera is a  system of lenses, accessories, bodies and doodads, the backend computer systems used to review, process and present the photos should be thought of as part of the larger technology eco-system supporting your goals.  The computers you use to process your photos should focus on performance so that you can work in a timely manner, scalability so you can easily grow your storage and processing needs and most importantly, data security – backup, backup, backup.  Make sure you have a secondary backup at a minimum, a third, non-active (we’re talking hard drive that’s backed up once a month and otherwise kept in a locked drawer away from the computer) and perhaps even investing into cloud storage options like those offered by Google, Carbonite or Apple.  Cameras, lenses and computers are machines that can break, get lost, stolen or fail.  The photos, videos and work we invest into using these tools are once in a lifetime opportunities however and risking it all by just hosting it on one single computer without a backup is asking for a heart attack moment.   Storage is cheap, invest in multiple solutions to ensure multiple points of fall back – risking a camera getting a shot is one thing, risking the photos of your first born or wedding because you didn’t want to pick up another hard drive is just stupid.

NERD ALERT!   Technology moves at a blinding pace which I think most people have come to accept as part of modern life.  An aspect which is harder to grasp is the increasing frequency we are required to upgrade.  Partly planned obsolescence (looking at you Apple), partly bleeding edge geek (damn you Android 4.0!) but mostly due to ever skyrocketing needs for increased storage, processing power and sharing capabilities.   UNITY One was delivered to us in March of 2011 bringing exceptional firepower and efficiency for its design.  Offering the latest Intel architecture and built to focus on delivering a consistently fast workstation experience, UNITY One has served us well.   Heading into the holiday season and in preparation for some new camera gear, it’s time to scale the system in preparation for the coming workload.

Some 2011 photography stats so far;

• 47055 images shot so far
• almost 20 hours of time lapse work completed
• 4.9 TB of storage space used

Some nerd toys we are currently testing and making room for;

• Canon EOS 1D X Full Frame High Speed DSLR
• Canon C300 HD Video Camera

In order to address the increasing workload and new gadget demands as well as make sure the UNITY Server managing all the data doesn’t go boom, we head into the holidays with a two stage upgrade.

UNITY One Visual Workstation gets 3 main upgrades, the latest Intel Sandy Bridge chip clocking in at 5.2GHz, an expansion of the main RAID array to a pair of 480GB Patriot Wildfire Solid State drives for speed and data redundancy and finally, a new limited edition chassis supplied by our technology partners at Corsair for a little added visual flair.

The UNITY Server on the other hand gets a complete overhaul.   Since first taking delivery in 2008, the UNITY server has been powered by the now ancient Intel Core 2 Duo, this server has given its due service and delivered rock solid reliability in the last 3 years while managing almost 40 Terabytes of data (yes, I really do have over 500 blu-rays on my media server).  The new server sports dual Intel 8-core processors with 24GB of RAM and now powering a dual 60TB storage array giving lots of processing power for concurrent file service, media streaming and data protection.

UNITY One is the visual workstation where I sit to edit, process and publish the photography and video work that is showcased on this site.  It’s built to be the biggest and baddest computer system at the time of specification and has consistently delivered the best performance in its class while delivering reliability, scalability and most importantly, a quiet computing experience.   The UNITY visual workstation is part of a much larger eco-system that serves my home and office.   All media including pictures, movies, music, office and personal data are archived on the UNITY Server and can be broadcast for playback & review onto multiple UNITY Media stations throughout the home and office.  This complete technology eco-system has redefined the way media is produced, controlled and viewed.  From review & production, or hosting a gallery session to sitting back & watching a movie, the multiple UNITY installations allow instantaneous access to media even when away from home base.

We are now ready for ever increasing image processing demands as well as balancing out the R&R requirements of sitting back to watch the latest movies.  UNITY continues to prove its scalability and reliability as we head into 2012 and couldn’t be happier.  A special thanks to Intel, Corsair and AMD in their continued support with our design & development needs.

UNITY is a custom built, solutions oriented digital processing and delivery system offering the very best visual computing experience.

For more information on the system we are sporting or for ordering information, feel free to contact me.

UNITY Server 2012 Edition.  Ok, maybe I went overkill…

My Workstation Desktop across dual Samsung Professional 24″ Monitors

• Sunrise shooting at Peyto Lake
• Field Instruction for Wildlife portraiture
• Athabasca Glacier photo walk
• Review & Editing Time
• Sunset shooting at Lake Louise

Bow Lake and Peyto Lake make for some magnificent sunrise opportunities.   Maligne lake coming up shortly…

Below is a 14-image superwide panorama of the Calgary skyline.  Zoom in to check out the rocky mountains peeking through the left hand side and the numerous buildings of downtown Calgary while Deerfoot begins to pile up along the right hand edge.

The buildings never end in this wonderful city.   It’s a statistical fact that more people live above the 27th floor of a building than below it.

And the street level view is far more claustrophobic than the 70th floor…

And you certainly can’t go wrong with the fresh food and never ending people watching at dinner time…

How do you build more buildings when you’re on an island and at a premium for space?   Rival Dubai for one of the largest reclamation projects around…

And I’m not entirely sure about this item for lunch……  Halloween celebrations are on!

And why doesn’t Canada have mobile 7-Elevens??!?!?

Going to take a short break and regular programming will resume in a few weeks – stay tuned for some new perspectives, some experimental shooting and a little video work!

Please visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/fymphoto and Like our page for the latest updates!  Thanks for stopping by!

Well ok, at 4am there really isn’t much activity, earlier in the day getting off the train however…..

And Nathan Road at its busiest….

1 hour photo session is only $149 including edits and two 8×10 prints either on-location of choice or in-studio.

Halloween Photo Ideas

Kids & Pets
Capture the magic memories of childhood forever by taking pictures every year of your children’s costumes. Do a theme shoot, even if they have different costumes, by including a similar prop for each one.

Family Portraits
Get your family involved by doing a group picture. Do different themes every year, such as favorite super heroes, or dress everyone in the same colors. Other family costume ideas include dressing up as a family of the same animal, cavemen, a famous family or even royalty.

Sexy Sirens
Boudouir shoots are becoming ever popular.  Take break from the trend and spice things up with a Halloween themed photoshoot.  Let your naughty side out, live in character or perhaps present a gift to your husband or boyfriend of you in his fantasy outfit.  Sexy, tasteful and adventurous, the sexy sirens shoot is always popular and timeslots fill up quick!

Spray Lakes

1. Tweak Your Horizon- if you’re like me and many others out there, there’s a high likely hood you suffer from HLD; horizon level deficiency.   I can’t for the life of me take a straight photo without the help of a tripod, sometimes, I’m off by a few degrees, other times, well… I didn’t know the leaniing tower of Pisa leaned     Fixing your horizon in the software your camera came with, Adobe Lightroom (my preferred workflow tool) or even Photoshop Elements, is a quick, 30-second fix which ensures perspectives are correct, the scale of a subject is conveyed accurately, and most importantly, it’s a subtle yet defining cue for our brain to process what we are used to in the real world – straight buildings, landscapes and horizons that are level.Here’s an example of a shot before horizon correction and after;
   

   The original, uncorrected image taken from the promenade. Notice the tilt of the buildings and the incline of the horizon.

   

   Corrected horizon, corrected perspective tilt and it now looks more natural. Total time; 30 seconds.

2. Control Color Temperature.  This is generally referred to as white balance.  All light exhibits a color cast, selecting the one most appropriate to your situation can either change the mood to good effect, or give you a really wonky color space.   Your editing program will allow a quick correction that should be the baseline of any additional processing you do.  The appropriate color temperature will allow you to get as close to the color as you originally saw and also allows the colors within the frame to shine through the way you remember.Here, a white tiger is mis-read by the camera meter due to the strong sunlight highlight on the shoulder.  The camera shifted the balance to make this bright spot the basis of the color temperature due to the dominance of brightness, a quick color correction ensures our white tiger comes out the appropriate color by selecting a “daylight” setting.  This shifts the color back towards the range which most appropriately conveys the tiger’s true color.
   

   The uncorrected tiger.

   

   Now it appropriately reflects the true colors of the tiger.

3. Avoid the fundamentals trap.   Or, more appropriately, the lack of fundamentally sound shooting techniques which result in poorly exposed, focused or framed subjects.  A number of photographers default to processing techniques such as heavy contrast, extreme vignetting, or, queue really angry rant, crappy black & white photography in order to mask the issues you may have had in capture.  It doesn’t come across as artsy, it simply comes across as you’re trying to hide the subject behind some extremely distracting photos.   There is a place for the items listed above, particularly black and white which can produce dramatic impact and a powerful message, however, the strength of that message and accuracy of that vision is compromised if the original photograph can’t stand on its own.Mood is conveyed over the entire course of a photograph.  Darkening the subject when it’s a daylight shot or attempting to boost contrast to add drama when the scene lighting isn’t appropriate leads to an imbalance of your image.  Dramatic light naturally allows our eyes to pick out the details, texture and directionality.  Darkening via over-contrast simply makes it look like you didn’t take the photograph correctly, or worse yet, you’re hiding your subject behind a curtain of darkness.   The impact of over-contrast ruins the natural light that is delivered and the extreme scale from black to white you create causes the definition in your subject to become lost in a psychedelic trip.  It doesn’t work for nature and landscape photography, is very difficult to convey in portraiture and relying on the processing technique doesn’t advance your actual camera skills any further.  Avoid it because it ruins your photos faster than a poor horizon or skewed color temperature.
   

   Relying on heavy contrastingtakes away from the bear. Particularly, the peace and calm on the face as well as the sharpness and texture of the fur along with the comfort of the grass in the shade.

   

   With Mr. Teddy exposed correctly and shown in good detail, we see the relaxed mood which best reflects the picture taken. There is lots of detail in all areas, proper contrast to give us depth and definition, but we're not shown an extreme of darks and lights which takes away from him as a subject.

   Black & white processing is reliant on the availability of light creating a dramatic interplay between shadows and highlights.  The combination of tones within the scene define the success rate of a quality black and white image.  Simply converting a flat lit photo into black and white loses the definition of colors and takes away the shapes and textures which were present in the color version.  You can see countless examples of poor black and white photography, the photos were converted in post and they end up looking flat and lifeless due to the lack of strong directional light or sharp defining lines.   An off-shoot of this is selective color.  Yes it can look good and can bring attention to specific subjects such as flowers in a bride’s hands, but don’t use it in conjunction with a poor black and white.   Selective color pictures only work if the black and white element compliments and enhances it.  Guess what, that means appropriate subject, correct visual cues for sharpness, definition and light as well as ensuring that the color you have selected is in fact a focal point.  Don’t choose multiple colors or subjects.  If it’s a rose, either pick one rose or all the roses.  Don’t pick all the red in the scene as doing so will only serve to reduce the focus on what you had originally intended.

   

   I really liked this angle and the way the lion fit into the frame, however, the lens missed focus, my shutter speed was too slow and the photo came out blurry. Hiding it as a black and white and vingetting the hell out of it doesn't make it a better photo, it extracts all the emotion & detail in the lion's face.

   

   A few moments later, some adjustments to camera settings and a tighter frame allows me to deliver a sharp image more appropriate to the subject. If you're taking the time to photograph something, take the time to make it look good. Your best work is a reflection of your best effort.

For those looking for some entry items into Photographer’s Tip, check out some previous notes

• It’s Not About The Gear
• A Fortunate Sky

And don’t forget to drop by my Facebook Page @ www.facebook.com/fymphoto and sign up for the Photography Town Hall

If you haven’t already, please drop by www.facebook.com/fymphoto and Like my page for the latest updates, information and class schedules.   Thanks for stopping by!

Compare to the photos from June 2010.

Just cause they’re awesome… and because my archive has almost 1100 images and I’ve only published about 30

A day away from the city and into the expanse of Waterton National Parks.   A day for hiking, wandering, tourist watching and generally perfecting the art of wasting time.  A wonderful escape with less tourists than Banff or Jasper, without a compromise in scenery.  Unfortunately we were a little late for sunrise but all the touring and people-watching did bring us some wonderful early evening light.  This is a strongly recommended day trip for those that haven’t gone, and I would certainly encourage you to stay the night and wake early for the wonderful views of magic hour.

Tian Tan – The Giant Seated Buddha

Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery

Hong Kong Tag – A Compilation of All The Adventures

These photos are meant to showcase the snapshots, daily life and hustle & bustle of the city.  It will soon be time to go back and there’s a more than likely chance that we’re staying to finally explore the city we fell in love with as citizens instead of guests.  Enjoy!

October 2009.  Sha Tin is a city in the new territories of Hong Kong.  This bustling city lies far away from the neon and tourism of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon.  Sha Tin also moves away from the cultural British influence that still permeates the popular Hong Kong.  It is here we find another historic Buddhist retreat, the Ten Thousand Buddha’s Monastery.  Buddhism remains the most dominant religion in Hong Kong with over 90 percent of the population as devout followers.  Sitting perched on the hills overlooking Sha Tin sits the land granted to the Reverend Yuet Kai by a wealthy Hong Kong merchant.  Yuet Kai was a Buddhist Monk who came to Hong Kong in 1933 and established a Buddhist college on the site.  Beginning in 1949, Yuet Kai, with the help of his disciples began the construction of the Ten Thousand Buddha’s monastery.  Personally carrying building materials from the foot of the mountain to the plateau, the complex was finally completed in 1957.  Another ten years was required to complete the statutes that would line the pathway leading to the complex as well as the over 12 000 contained in the main hall.

Much like the journey to Tian Tan, Ten Thousand Buddha’s is a test of will and determination.  Over 400 steeply raked steps ascend the mountain.  The walkway is lined with over 500 unique arhats or disciples.  Each one signifies a different expression to demonstrate the uniqueness of man.  We were thankful for the cloudy sky, but the humidity was still winning the battle.  Each step up the mountain drained your energy.  Every seating bench encountered was a “photo opportunity”, otherwise known as sit down and catch your breath.  The higher we got, the clearer the message – this was a site for the devoted, it was their will that built it and their devotion was required to climb it.  Tian Tan was built with modern technology and designed for tourists as well as the pilgrims.  Ten Thousand Buddha’s was a test of will.  Reaching the main temple brought a relief that wasn’t present at Tian Tan.  The sight of a small cafeteria stocked with cold drinks was worth the climb.  After quickly downing a few bottles of water and juice, we began to make our way around the complex.  The plateau houses the main hall, a nine-storey pagoda and a panoramic view of Sha Tin below.

Entering the main hall to pay our respects and give a donation, your eyes adjust to the dim light and the centerpiece of the complex becomes visible; over 12 800 statues of Buddha line the walls.  Each statue is gilded in gold, showing Buddha in unique positions and giving a sense of continuity and movement within the main temple.  Yuet Kai remains with his temple today.  His preserved body is presented in the middle, sitting calmly in the lotus position.  A person can’t come here and not be moved by the surroundings.  There is an immeasurable respect that must be given to the efforts of those that built this complex and even more for the sacrifices they made of themselves in committing to such a project.  The devotion and discipline they demonstrated is something that would be unparalleled in modern western life.  It is in this realization that Ten Thousand Buddha’s Monastery comes into focus.  Much like the thousands of representations of Buddha which line the walls, there are infinite possibilities for the attitudes of men, but there are even fewer that are willing to devote themselves so completely to a noble cause.  Ten Thousand Buddha’s is both a temple of celebration and a testament to the power of will and the kindness of people who believe in a cause.

We wandered around the rest of the grounds and found even more treasures.  A large stone Buddha was cut into the side of a hill, relaxing peacefully and enjoying the skyline.  Finally, we arrived at the upper mount and came face to face with a platinum statue of Kwun Yam, the Goddess of Mercy.  We rested here, enjoying the view of the temple complex and the city below us, quietly appreciating the legacy of a devoted man.

Don’t forget to visit our Facebook page at facebook.com/fymphoto and hit the “Like” button!

Don’t forget to visit our Facebook page at facebook.com/fymphoto and hit the “Like” button!

From “Hong Kong” by Francis Yap M.

September 2008.  In the hills of Lantau Island, west of metropolitan Hong Kong sits the imposing Tian Tan Buddha.  I had seen many photos but had never made the pilgrimage myself.  We travelled from the skyscrapers of Central Hong Kong to Mui Wo pier on Lantau Island by steam ferry.  Upon arriving, the search for the bus to our next leg proved to be a long wait.  45 minute intervals and we’d just missed the last one.  A little wandering around the pier and town area found a McDonalds, 7-11 and the largest parking lot of pedal bikes either one of us had ever set our sights on.  Was this going to be a spiritual journey to a serene and calm monastery or was it going to be a tourist trap?  Time went by, we lined up at the bus stop, the other tourists began to shuffle over and soon enough, our number came into view.  A quick swipe of the Octopus cards and we took a seat at the front so as to best take in the scenery.  Well that turned out to be a mistake.

The eager driver donned a pair of nomex driving gloves.  The same pair I had at home, the difference being I used mine on a race track.  Well, apparently he thought the winding mountain road was good practice for one.  In a bus.  A cliff to one side, the ocean on the other, 80km per hour without a bead of sweat (for him anyways).  That 15 minute journey felt like an hour.  An hour of clutching the hand rest and praying for my life.  Thankfully, it came to an uneventful end as we rounded the final corner and glimpsed the Ngong Ping Village, the colorful rooftops of the Po Lin Monastery and finally, the first of 268 steps to the base of Tina Tan, the Giant Seated Buddha.

Nothing quite prepares you for the image.  Even in the rising heat of the noon sun and thickness of the humidity, there exists a sudden calm and peace.  Gone are the sounds of the tourists and buses around you.  We simple stood there in awe and a quiet amazement at what stood high above us.  He is the largest seated Buddha in the world at over 110ft and weighing in over 250 metric tons.  Imposing, but at the same time calming.  His right hand is raised representing the removal of affliction.  The left rests with the palm facing up, a symbol of dhana, or generosity.

We ascended the steep steps to the summit.  The incense altars along the way setting the stage for a peaceful and calm climb, building upon the initial feeling when we arrived.  By the time we reached the perch of Buddha, we looked around, high above the surrounding hills and found a tranquility and silence.  Ocean to the south, tall mountain ranges to the east and not a hint of the bustling metropolis just beyond them.  Tian Tan derives its name from the lotus throne on which Buddha sits.  It is finished in the same design as the temple of the Earthly Mount of Tian Tan in Beijing which the statue faces.  Under the Buddha are three floors containing the Hall of the Universe, the Hall of Benevolent Merit and the Hall of Remembrance.  It is claimed that some of the cremated remains of Buddha are located here.  Surrounding the seated Buddha are six statues of other Gods, giving praise to Buddha.

We made our way down to Po Lin Monastery to pay our tributes and give our prayers of thanks.  A quick ceremony at the incense bowl asking for health prosperity and good luck to top it all off.  The odd monk seen wandering and quietly going about their business.  We pay a final respect at the main temple and walk back towards Ngong Ping Village.  Time was well spent for a quick lunch, a wander through the shops, and finally, a ride on the Ngong Ping 360 gondola back to the city.

We weren’t quite prepared for the humidity and exercise required for this initial climb to the top, but here’s the obligatory tourist shot

I’m looking for an opportunity to share creativity as well as the gift of photography.  If anyone would like to volunteer for to be the subject of the items below or if you know of a location and would like to be my guide, I will exchange your generosity with a free portrait session or tutorial.  E-mail me for more information, or visit my Facebook Fan Page, hit the “Like” button and leave your comments & suggestions or even post your own bucket list!  Thanks for stopping by!

- Francis

The Bucket List

Landscapes & Travel

• Sunrise over water
• Sunset on the beach
• A lone tree in the field
• Trees in the fog
• Sunrise & early morning fog in the countryside
• The northern lights
• The Milky Way Galaxy
• Victoria Peak Hong Kong – just one more day, sunset to sunrise
• Patagonia
• Fiji
• Sagrada Familia, Barcelona
• Alhambra, Granada
• Circuit du Paul Ricard
• Monaco Grand Prix, Formula One
• Paris at sunset
• Guilin Mountains, Guangxi China
• Bhutan, Kingdom in the Clouds
• Shanghai, China
• Beijing – the Great Wall & the Forbidden City
• Angkor Wat, Cambodia
• Halong Bay, Vietnam
• Everest, Nepal
• Marina Bay, Singapore
• Crete & Santorini
• El Capitan, Yellowstone
• Corsica & Sardinia
• The Vatican
• Italy & Amalfi
• Istanbul, Turkey
• A high mast sailing ship
• A cherry blossom in Japan
• A glacier at sunrise & sunset
• A long exposure ocean
• Sunset from the London Eye
• Rolling Hills at sunrise
• Sunset on a pier
• Urban Jungle, Hong Kong
• Space Launch at Cape Canaveral

People

• Professional European Soccer Match
• Professional Football
• Professional Baseball
• Professional Hockey
• Surfers in Hawaii from inside the wave
• Professional Beach Volleyball Match
• A Concert Pianist
• A metal worker or a welder
• A glamour portrait
• A kiss in the rain
• Two men playing chess in Central Park
• A tennis match
• Rock climbers
• A golf shot
• A Geisha
• A Shaolin Monk in meditation

Animals

• A lion roaring and looking to the camera
• An Emperor Pengiun
• A panning shot of a cheetah
• A moose in the field
• An elephant in the African Savannah
• The Great Migration
• Gorilla in the wild
• Bald eagle in flight
• Siberian Tiger stalking
• Grizzly catching salmon
• A Giant Panda and me
• Mother Bear & cub
• Elephants & their handlers in the wild

It’s just like a puzzle – the collage below is a cross section of photos and the bucket list combined will form a mosaic documenting both a personal and technical journey.   What’s on your bucket list?   Don’t forget to visit my Facebook Fan Page, hit the “Like” button and leave your comments & suggestions.  Thanks for stopping by!

Photographer’s Tip: The Power Button and Other Knobs & Switches

Even in the very first, fundamentally basic class, boring isn’t a part of the vocabulary.  As we cover basic principles, menus and physical controls, I find myself snapping back to my learning days and remembering the importance of knowing your equipment inside out.  The best and latest equipment isn’t worth anything without the knowledge, and deft skill required to operate it.  I’m a strong believer in gadgets, toys and cool things, but I’m an even more passionate proponent of the idea that you should know these gadgets and gizmos inside & out before even exploring the thought of upgrading.  Afterall, why buy the latest when you don’t even know what it does better than the last one you didn’t  know how to use?  This is a principle that my students are engrained with.  Development and the next level aren’t explored or discussed until they can reflect in an educated manner their current lesson.  As you might have guessed, the auto mode or easy scene modes are free passes to the “don’t waste my time and go away” train on these excursions.

This equipment awareness becomes the first lesson and the underlying theme when I discuss what cameras, accessories and extra equipment people should buy.  I explain to them that with adventure and travel photography, the pace tends to move so fast that it becomes more about getting a shot, not necessarily the shot.   Because of this, instruction allows me the opportunity to slow down and further refine and develop even the most basic skills and habits so that when the time does come for the shot, that’s when the brain’s auto pilot should take over and all the settings get taken care of in a second nature manner and I can simply focus on getting what I want instead of looking down to figure out if the camera is “on”.  Photography should be about capturing a memory, not trying to figure out what the buttons do.  Get that out of the way, learn your camera, read the manual (no joke) and that’s when the fun really starts.

And for those wondering, check this out to see what I’m currently using.

Some behind the scenes and the end results of a recent workshop outing – the focus was to learn how to read the scene, select a subject, wait for the light and have the camera ready to go.

If you’re interested, let’s get the ball rolling to 0rganize and shoot me an e-mail or hit the Facebook Fan Page and leave a comment!

The Photographer’s Tip: When you’re working with either fireworks or evening cityscapes, it’s best to scout the location ahead of time and get there in clean light.  This allows you a better vantage point to determine where your most dramatic shot might come from and give you the headsup for what you might require when the time comes.  Scouting also allows you to find any obstacles, whether physical or visual, which might get in the way of your composition.  Taking a few test shots and getting some images in the camera also allows you a bit of time to review and adjust for when the moment comes.

A collection of panoramas compiled on our Vancouver excursion, feel free to use them as wallpapers and don’t forget to visit our Facebook page at facebook.com/fymphoto and hit the “Like” button!

The Ferrari 575M Superamerica was an innovative convertible version of the 575M Maranello; it featured an electrochromic glass panel roof which rotated 180° (both are production car firsts) at the rear to lie flat over the boot. The Superamerica used the higher-output tune of the V-12 engine, rated at 533 hp (397 kW; 540 PS) and Ferrari marketed it as the world’s fastest convertible, with a top speed of 199 mph (320 km/h). The GTC handling package was optional.

A total of 559 Superamericas were built; this awkward number followed Enzo Ferrari’s philosophy that there should always be one fewer car available than what the market is demanding.

Please don’t forget to check out our Facebook Fan Page and hit the “Like” button, leave us your comments and let us know what you’d like to see!

For more, please visit the Nikka Yuko or Nan-Lian posts.