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Does Having Better Gear Make You a Better Photographer?

By on Apr 18, 2017 in Getting the Shot, Photography, Theory Thursday | 0 comments

*** Update #1: This article is not really for the pro or advanced “semi-pro” photographer but rather the new photographer who has the mindset that a brand new and more advanced camera will somehow make them a famous photographer. If you are a working professional or even a hobbyist that has years of experience,  you probably know more about your style and what you need than I do. That being said, this article is not really targeted at you. It is more for those considering purchasing the latest 1D X mk ii when the 6D or even 70D would do just fine.  At some point in our journey through photography we find ourselves lusting after the latest and greatest gear. We suddenly want to go “full frame” or “mirrorless” without fully understanding the camera that we currently own. We fall for celebrity photographer ads talking about the latest camera or gear...

How to Shoot Cherry Blossoms

By on Mar 15, 2017 in Getting the Shot, Photography, Technique Tuesday, Tutorials | 0 comments

  This is one of my favourite times of the year. I know it sounds strange and I should really be talking about “grinding out photos” [insert macho voice] of nightclubs or showing the gritty side of photography by shooting a plate of spaghetti or a stop sign in black and white. This is a time of year that I really do enjoy getting and and just shooting nature. There is a sense of renewal this time of year and I love it. The hardest thing is to try and capture this period of renewal to show other people the beauty. The blossoms are tricky things to shoot because to our eyes everything is beautiful and evenly lit. However, once you click the shutter everything can change. The reason is that often your camera will expose the image differently depending on how it is metering for the light. Blossoms sometimes trick your camera’s meter because they simply scatter the...

Introduction to Cityscapes

By on Mar 7, 2017 in Getting the Shot, Photography, Technique Tuesday, Tutorials | 0 comments

In my last post I showed you how to make the best out of the Blue Hour and I mentioned how cityscapes. In this post, we are going to step a little further into one of my favourite subjects to shoot, cityscapes. The reason that I love cityscapes so much is the fact that you get to see all the shapes, lines, lights and movement of a manufactured landscape. From below or above, this intrigues me. I think partly because I grew up in a small city in the middle of Canada and I grew old in South Korea, which is quite the contrast. Look at the World Around You You don’t have to be in a place like Seoul or Hong Kong to take great cityscapes. It is all about finding the right angle and telling the story. Many new photographers think that they have to get onto a rooftop to make a proper cityscape. While that might help in changing your perspective, it is not the be all and end all of...

Making the Best of Blue Hour

By on Feb 28, 2017 in Getting the Shot, Photography, Technique Tuesday, Tutorials | 3 comments

  One of the best times to shoot in my opinion is “Blue Hour” This is the period of time after sunset or just before sunrise where the sky is a brilliant colour of blue. Without going into to too much detail about the proper names or the azimuth of the sun, I want to introduce you to this as it will change how you shoot long exposure/ nighttime photos. Why is Blue Hour So Special? The main reason is the colour and the light. Many photographers know that sunsets and sunrises are great. I have seen many pack up and leave once the sun is gone. Also I have seen many head out too late thinking that night photography is better when the sky is pitch black. However, there is a magic to this hour and it should not be ignored. The reason blue hour is so special is because it is dark which means that water and and car lights will streak and blur. However, it is not too dark so...

The Number 1 Thing That Beginner Landscape Photographers Forget When Shooting

By on Feb 24, 2016 in Getting the Shot, Photography | 2 comments

Landscape photography is often the first stage for a photographer because they usually want to photograph the beauty that they see around them or while they are on vacation. You could say that many of those scenic shots you got while on vacation are in fact “landscape shots” So now what is is the difference between those shots and the ones that are hanging on the walls in galleries or published in books? Normally, titles like this are click-bait for a new ebook or photo-gadget. However, I have nothing to sell just an idea. This is something that I have picked up from mainly reading David DuChemin. In his books, he talks a lot about vision and this is something that got me thinking the other day when someone sent me a message about looking at their photo. When a portrait photographer takes a photo of a person, we instantly know what the subject is. There may be some more...

Photography and the Growth Mindset

By on Jun 9, 2015 in Getting the Shot, Korea | 0 comments

For the past 10 weeks I have been studying the “Principles of Learning” as a part of my masters degree in education. This course was particularly interesting as it talked about a lot of interesting issues on how students learn and how the brain acquires new information. While reading a number of extremely interesting books for this course, Carol Dweck’s “Mindset” book stood out to me. Particularly with regards to photography. In the book, Dweck theorizes that there are 2 mindsets a “fixed mindset” and a  “growth mindset” and that the growth mindset usually leads to greater achievement. When I looked at these two mindsets while focussing on photography, it gave me some useful insight into what may be a sticking point for some people. Certainly for myself it brought up a number of issues. The Fixed Mindset The fixed mindset for a...

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