Creating a Slideshow

I made my first slideshow last week and was amazed just how easy it was!  I used Adobe Lightroom 4 to make mine, but there are lots of other software choices you could use to make one. Here are a few tips on getting your photos ready for a slideshow.

First- gather the images you want in the show and create a folder for them. You can choose images with a common theme, photos from a particular time period, season, or event, whatever you want to showcase as a set. I made mine with flower images I'd made over the last year. I sized my images to around 1200px on the long side, and arranged them in a sequence I found pleasing, being sure that the colors, shapes and types of flowers were varied in the sequence. I numbered the photos to be sure the order would be saved.

I made a title slide, and an end slide too.

Next, I needed to choose the music for my show. There are lots of Royalty Free Music sites where you can license and download music for your show. I wanted my slideshow to be between 4-5 minutes long, so that was one of the factors I considered when choosing music to purchase. I also wanted music that went well with the type of images in my show. In this case, the entire show was going to be flower photographs so I wanted music that was soft, and simple in nature.

Once I had the music selected and my images ready to go, I imported them to Lightroom 4. Here's a great tutorial from Adobe on the rest of the process:  Slideshows in Lightroom 4

And here is my finished slideshow on YouTube:  2013 Flowers by Kathleen Clemons

I hope you'll make one too!

Kathleen

Photographing Arctic Sea Smoke

      Temperatures have been -10 to +10 degrees F here on the coast of Maine the last two days.  Though these low temps are bitterly cold, I always look forward to this type of cold snap because it usually means I can photograph Arctic sea smoke. Sea smoke is caused by moisture in the air which is colder than the water temperature below it and it is suspended over the surface of the water like fog. The wind whips the wispy mist across the water and it's absolutely mystical and beautiful. Though I shoot it on the ocean, it can also be seen on ponds, lakes or rivers as long as the air temperature is colder than the water. Current water temps are around 42 degrees here. 

Low, early morning light really shows sea smoke in all it's beauty, so as soon as I heard the forecast I knew I'd be up before sunrise. When it's that cold, skin coverage and lots of layers are a must, I was bundled up from head to toe. My hands always get cold first, so I wore thin wool gloves and added a  second heavy wool fingerless glove/mitten over those to cover my fingers between shots. I always keep some Hot Hands packs in my pocket too. Really cold weather can drain your camera battery pretty quickly too, so I am always sure to bring an extra.

Brett Weston said, "Anything more than 500 yards from the car just isn't photogenic." Though I normally don't believe that's necessarily true, when it's this cold I agree wholeheartedly! This morning I started out shooting from our pier, we still have some of our fishing boats in the water and they made great subjects. As beautiful as the sea smoke is, I think a focal point in the mist makes compositions stronger. I shot some wide angle photos, as well as images with longer focal lengths. I also tried a few with my Infrared converted camera just to see what the infrared effect would look like on the sea smoke.

After a quick warmup, I took a drive to the end of our peninsula and did more shooting. As I was getting back in the car, I spotted a fishing boat emerging from the sea smoke so I grabbed my camera and ran back to the beach. As cold as I was, I was happy I wasn't working on a boat!

 I drove to several other locations around town over the next hour until the sea smoke had dissipated as the sun warmed the air slightly. I was lucky enough to find two scallop boats dragging for scallops and took lots and lots of photos of them too.

The forecast for sunrise tomorrow is -5 degrees, so you know where I'll be!

Happy shooting!
Kathleen

Winter Photography Subjects

It's starting to get really cold here in Maine, and I am hearing nature photographers complain about there being nothing to shoot.  Nothing to shoot? You have to be kidding! There is always something to shoot, you just need to think outside the box, and also keep your mind open to photographing things you might not have planned.

We had snow showers one night last week, so early the next morning I bundled up and went for a walk with my camera to see if I could find some frozen leaves in the snow, ice patterns, frost, etc.  I shot some leaves in the snow, some frost on my windshield, some bamboo seeds, nothing that really made my heart sing, but as always, it felt great to be outside with my camera. 

I happened to notice a single leaf clinging to a branch on my neighbor's red maple and when I raised the camera up to my eye and focused with shallow depth of field to highlight the one leaf and blur the background, I just loved what I was seeing.

For me, this photo is all about survival, perseverance, strength in adversity, the fragility of life.... a strong conceptual photo. It may not have been what I was looking for, but I was sure glad I had found it. My point is, if you don't get outside and look around, you definitely won't find anything to shoot. Bundle up, get out there, see what catches your eye and photograph it! Look up, look down, look for patterns, texture, contrasts, shoot from macro to wide angle, winter can be a wonderful time to make photos.

Here's a list of winter subject suggestions for those of you who live in cold winter zones:

~Snow scenes: landscapes, snow simplifies and also hides distractions 
~Snowstorms- freeze falling snow with a fast shutter, or blur it with a long exposure
~Frost patterns and textures
~Frozen leaves and plants
~Snow patterns
~Ice patterns
~Textures
~Tree branch shadows on snow
~Tree branch silhouettes
~Icicles
~Ice/snow covered vines and berries
~Christmas cactuses and Poinsettias 
~ Try vertical panning the leafless trees
~Beaches are beautiful in winter too!
~If the weather is really brutal, set up still life arrangements, buy flowers, shoot inside

Here are a few of my favorite winter photos:

Happy Shooting!

Kathleen

New Workshop Added

     Due to an unexpected change in my schedule, I am pleased to announce a Spring photography workshop in Harpswell, Maine, May 16-19th, 2013. We’ll be visiting both public and private gardens, and spend some time exploring the local coast, the working waterfront as well as a local farm.

The month of May is a fabulous time to visit Maine, temperatures are moderate and so much is coming into bloom. Tourists haven’t arrived at that time, so crowds are not an issue. The emphasis will be on developing your own personal vision. I will provide techniques and suggestions to help you capture images that make your heart sing. We’ll also spend some time critiquing images and discussing post-processing techniques. Let me know ASAP if you are interested as my workshops fill quickly.

A couple of links for you:

 I'll be doing a Webinar on Tuesday November 27th at 1PM EST for Nik software. I'll be talking about how I use Viveza 2 and Color Efex Pro 4 on my flower photos. There are a few spaces left, hope you'll sign up!

My pals at Totally Rad are having an awesome sale for Black Friday! Save 35% on November 23rd only!  If you wanted to add their software to your collection this is a great time to do it. I love their stuff!

Happy Shooting!
Kathleen

Autumn Foliage Photography Tips

I know it's just early September, but here on the coast of Maine I am already seeing leaves beginning to turn, fall foliage season will be here before we know it! I'm excited, Autumn is my favorite season. Here are a few tips to help you capture nature's most colorful season right from the beginning.

~Check online foliage reports to find peak foliage in your area so you'll know just where to go to find the strongest areas of color.

~Plan on shooting early in the morning or late in the afternoon for warmer lighting, you'll want to avoid the contrast of harsh mid-day light.  I prefer to shoot early in the morning to catch any early morning mist which adds mood, and dew can add detail to any macro images you shoot. In late Autumn, early morning also brings the chance of frost, sometimes even snow here in Maine!

 ~Blue skies are a beautiful contrast to warm foliage colors. Thing about using your polarizer to reduce glare and deepen colors.  Polarizers are also great for shooting wet leaves.

~Overcast lighting will saturate colors and make them pop, and it eliminates highlights and harsh shadows. Just don't include any empty white sky in your composition.

~Foggy days can really add mood to your foliage photos.

~Look for contrasts in color such as one branch of brightly colored leaves against an evergreen background, one colorful leaf surrounded by others which haven't turned yet, small amounts of color remaining where all else has gone brown... really look for interesting color combinations and contrasts.

~Look for colorful reflections, the leaves don't always need to be the main subject.

~On a windy day, try using a slow shutter speed on moving leaves for a more Impressionistic photo. 

You can also move your camera with that slow shutter speed to create an  abstract image.

~Create your own scenes with beautiful leaves you find, have fun with your photography!

~Try shooting backlit leaves to bring out the veining detail.

~Shoot from wide angle to macro, from that vast landscape to a single leaf. Look up, look down, really work each scene. As with any subject, look carefully all around your viewfinder for anything that does not add to the image, so that you can remove it before you click the shutter. As my students are used to hearing me say, "If it doesn't add, it needs to go!"

Enjoy this very special time of year!

Happy Shooting!
Kathleen

Work it!

Hi there everyone!

With summer flowers popping up everywhere here in Maine, I thought I'd share a few quick tips for photographing flowers. When looking at flower subjects, most photographers focus on the top of the blossom. That's totally understandable, most of the interesting parts of a flower are on the top, and I concentrate on this area often often.

But- if you are only photographing the tops of flowers, there's much you are missing!  Sometimes the most interesting aspect of a flower is on the side, or even the backside! Look closely at the flower from all angles, see what catches your eye, what you want to highlight and share with your audience. Definitely shoot that top of the flower, but then move on to other points of view. Shooting from several different angles allows you to tell more than one story about the flower, so, as my students are used to hearing me say, "Work it!".

 Be sure you shoot verticals as well as those horizontals, especially if the flower has a long stem, or a slim shape. As always, be particularly aware of the light on your subject, the background, and simplify whenever possible to keep the attention on your subject.

Happy shooting!
Kathleen