Playing with Colours

A whole new world has opened up to me with editing RAW photos and playing with colour hues, gradients, balance and levels. On the one hand I feel they create a much more dynamic feel to the photo, but on the other hand other hand, some colours are lost in the process. Particularly in sunset shots. Numerous times I have edited a sunset photo, and when compared with the original, the range from orange to blue has lost its complete gamut. Still, it's an enjoyable past-time, although it is increasingly becoming apparent that proper training is required, although sometimes when you edit, you just feel your way. Most photos are over edited in my opinion anyway.

Check out this photo I took at Point Samson recently. The light was perfect - the hour before sunset, but that didn't stop me increasing the magenta hue to add a touch of purple. It's no secret that purple is a personal favourite of mine!

Canon EOS 50D, f/5, 1/32000 second shutter, ISO 500, 18mm, three shots stitched to form panorama. White balance and colour adjustment in Adobe RAW

Lesson #8 & #9: The remote, the lens and explosions of colour

There are few moments in life where one can sit back and do absolutely nothing and be entertained completely at the expense of others. I am of course speaking literally here – sitting back at a show that has free entrance, watching a fireworks display. I shudder to think how much money these explosions of colour cost, but my goodness are they fun to watch! They are also particularly fun to photograph, as I found out a few weeks ago.

I have had grand intentions of photographing fireworks in the past with zero success – this year is the first opportunity I have fully taken advantage of. I packed my Betsy, my tripod and by the grace of God, my remote.

We set up in amidst throngs of people underneath huge oval spotlights that I confess, had me worried. I set my camera at a 30 second shutter speed, wide aperture and waited for the show.
The lights dimmed, the first spark went up and it was on.

After three explosions it became clear that 30 seconds was going to be way too long. I set it back to 6 seconds. Again, too long. Some fireworks were clearly brighter than others. A single setting for all was not going to work, and I didn’t want to waste time changing settings, especially when you have no idea what is about to explode overhead! How to fix this? Light bulb moment – almost literally – BULB!

Enter lesson eight: With my remote and the shutter set to Bulb I could press and release as I pleased depending on how bright each blast was. I had to adjust the aperture several times, but towards the end managed to get the hang of the timing of the show and came out with some crackers. The best part? I was able to sit back in my comfy camp chair, watch the show and just press and release my remote! Honestly, most enjoyable way to photograph something! It became an awesomely fun challenge to get the timing right.

Of course, each silver lining comes with a dark cloud. The day before this glorious revelation we had been at the beach. Enter lesson nine: Clean lens after taking Betsy to the beach! Due to some salt spray on my lens, many of my firework photos were rendered useless! Luckily some were not bright enough to make the salt spots shine, so there are a number of usable ones.

So I got a little carried away with how many to put up here, but there were many lessons and many different types. This shot I think is awesome, but for the spotlight in one corner and the salt spot on the other side. I love the shine in the middle and the almost reflection of the two fireworks. Canon EOS 50D f/16, 7 second shutter, ISO 500, 18mm.

Two different types here, great patterns. Small salt spots on the bottom though which is a shame. EOS 50D, f/16, 6 seconds, 18mm.

These guys were interesting. When you watch them they appear as dots of light. When photographed they appear as feathers. It's so much fun. EOS 50D f/22 ISO 500 18mm.

The difference the shutter speed makes - same style as two above, but this time the shutter is only 1 second. EOS 50D, f/22, ISO 500 18mm. I think it looks like a protia flower.

Blue seemed to work well as it was not bright enough to light up the salt spots. Plus there were no fireworks underneath this one which helped. EOS 50D f/22 2 seconds, ISO500 18mm

Probably my favourite because of the different colours and the glitter effect of the gold. Canon EOS 50D, f/22, 2 seconds, ISO 500, 18mm

Not bad for a first time photographing fireworks though! It may not be natural creation, but they are still a creation of colours, and a whole lot of fun!

Just a note that all these images are edit free other than cropping. I needed the full 18mm to capture the whole diameter but it left a lot of dark space that required cropping. Not to mention the salt spots!

The Beautiful Desert Rose

One thing that I have always admired about creation is the decorative colours flowers provide. I may be a shocker when it comes to naming a species, but when it comes to admiration, I have it in bucket-loads.

Western Australia is famous for its flowers – this is a well established fact. Not many people think of the Pilbara when it comes to flowers though. The truth is that there are numerous vibrant examples of unique and wonderful natural decorations up here. Some are cultivated but most grow like there is no tomorrow a couple of months after rain.

I may produce another post dedicated to the Pilbara wildflowers, however this one I just want to focus on one flower that is common in pots and gardens up here – the desert rose. I have one, that hasn’t flowered yet, but they are prolific in town green-space and facilities as well as private gardens and they are stunning splashes of pink against strong green with a hardy stem.

I photographed one at a small museum last weekend, and was once again quite amazed at the difference editing the RAW file made. Colours are vibrant and the clarity better. Your can adjust the white balance to ensure maximum impact of colour. The image below was considerably more red in the original. Increased contrast and tweaking the tint to make the image warmer with a slight magenta hue worked wonders.

Canon EOS 50D f/5.6 1/8000 shutter, ISO 500, -1.3 step exposure bias. 70mm. Colour adjustment in Adobe RAW

The Original Kodak Moment

Remember what I said about not taking photos of anything that moves? Well, sometimes life presents an event that you either say “I wish I had my camera in the car right now!” or “I’ve got to do anything to I can to get a photo – the opportunity is too great!” I call it the Original Kodak Moment. Or making your own luck. Or putting yourself in silly situations just for a photo.

One such moment presented itself on the weekend.

I was driving my little car along an outback road, when suddenly my tires nearly burst thanks to the little guy below running out onto the street! I slowed down, the guy coming the other way stopped, and I raced out with my camera, and my grandmother’s camera who was visiting at the time. Of course, I wasn’t first to the scene of the terrified echidna, but I think my Betsy managed to intimidate the other onlookers a little…oops, that’s really not meant to happen!

So here I am, crouched down on a road where the speed limit is about 80km an hour. It’s a popular road on a weekend as it leads to a nice little cove. Two cars had to swerve to the other side of the road to miss me. I’m sure they thought I was quite mad but let’s face it: you don’t want to hit one of these guys with your car!

Pilbara Echidna. Canon EOS 50D f/4.5 1/6400 shutter, ISO 500, +1 Step, 50mm, shutter priority setting. So this picture is boringly composed - who puts the subject almost of dead centre? - but I like it because it shows the echidna literally in the middle of the road, with the gorgeous Pilbara colours behind and even a bush of some wildflowers! Plus I like how the echidna is in focus. Why does he have a stick on his back I wonder? Fancy Dress? Not likely.

Canon EOS 50D f/5.6 1/6400 shutter, ISO 500, +1 Step, 110mm, shutter priority setting. I like the shape of the echidna in this picture, and the pattern his spikes make. I'm still confused about the spike - I wasn't game enough to remove it on the day, I'm a chicken! The only thing that could have improved this picture is getting his eye. I only caught a brief glimpse of it, but my father always said when photographing wildlife, get the eye in focus or else it's worthless! And the threat of speeding traffic should be no excuse, not to the real amateur photographer!

Normally I would remove such a gorgeous creature out of the way on my departure (generally by chasing it, yes) but to tell you the truth I was a little intimidated by those spikes! When left alone however, he quickly scampered off into the bush so no harm done. Well other than the fright of its life!

At the end of the day, if it moves it’s difficult, but if it refuses to move out of shear fright it’s fair game!

Chasing Egrets

I’m not one for patience when it comes to photographing wildlife. I have a rule – if you can’t sneak up on it, don’t bother. This is because whenever I do bother I manage to scare the animal, bird or insect away. Rule one basic photography – anything that moves is difficult!

I rely on the ‘right place, right time’ principle. And luck. Not a lot of it comes my way to be honest.
We took a little adventure on the weekend to a waterhole by the highway. One of those places that exist in the realms of mud-maps with ‘turn-left-at-the-jerry-can’ directions.

So, the gorge was gorgeous, and we were spoiled with a wildflowers and bird-life. Several flew overhead, hid behind rocks and dove for fish. Of course I was waiting for my husband who was busy spraining his ankle, so I decided I might just do a bit of bird chasing.

Let me tell you how this normally goes: Bird flies over, lands just out of reach of the 200mm, I stand quietly, reach for the camera…and the bird flies away. If I am lucky enough to have the camera on me, is sneak, then snap, snap, snap while whatever I’m photographing flies, runs, scampers away. Normal results are nothing.

This particular day however, a couple of egrets flew over. After two attempts of sneaking up, I kept the camera close by. One of my snapping sprees yielded this. 

Canon EOS 50D f/5.6 1/6400 shutter ISO 500 +1 setp 150mm. Cropped. Shutter Priority

 The cropping diminishes the quality, which is a shame. It has been heavily cropped, and colours slightly edited and enhanced in Photoshop RAW.