By the Light of a Cement Wall

By PF Staff in Favorite Photos on Dec 29, 2012

Back in 1986, back when we used film and called it ASA not ISO, I volunteered at a small, rural preschool in St. Vincent, in the Caribbean. I was 21, and I lived in a small cement brick house with a corrugated tin roof, the tropical rain a cacophony with strangely comforting rhythms. With me was the classic, obligatory Pentax K1000, and a Pentax K 55 1.8 lens. I had some lens cleaning tissue, but that was it. I was young, I had very little money - my camera was a cherised possession that often didn't seem that inanimate.

It was a poor community, and my Pentax and the 5 rolls of tri-X I had with me stayed in an old pot in a cupboard. The lid came off towards the end of my 8-month posting. Like on this day back in ‘86, at the pre-school. The young girl’s name was Kenisha, caught here in the cement-reflected light of the tiny school.  

I took the shot with the 55mm lens, the only one I had with me. It was 400 ASA Kodak tri-x that I developed myself when I got back to Canada. It was all natural light, and in fact the preschool didn’t have electricity.  

Predjama Castle

By PF Staff in Favorite Photos on Jan 23, 2013

When I was thinking which photo would be suitable to write about how it was done I thought of a photo that made people ask me that question more than any other. Even though it didn't require any special photographic techniques or post processing I picked a photo of Predjama castle:

1. Predjama castle from birds perspective

Shooting a Kangaroo with the K20D

By PF Staff in Favorite Photos on Jan 7, 2013

My favourite photo must be the one taken with my first (3 month old then) DSLR, the Pentax (one and only so far) K20D on 9.01.2009 at precisely 18:41:51 AWDT Eastern Australian Time.

Why did I pick this particular  photo? Hmmm…… every time I look at it, brings a smile to my face and to everyone who has seen this photo. It happened on my first “DSLR camera shooting” vacation.

The most powerful photo I have ever taken

By PF Staff in Favorite Photos on Dec 24, 2012

Hello!  I am a 17 year old photographer, well on my way to improving my work in  the field and studio, and hopefully one day a professional. I have taken close to 70,000 photos since October 5th, 2011 (the day I bought my K-5) and this next photo is by far my most powerful. The reason why I chose this photograph is because I have actually come in contact with him and I am bringing him to my High School as a motivational speaker. I also believe that this photograph (these photographs) is just overflowing with emotion.

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How to make a simple HDR

By PF Staff in Favorite Photos on Dec 24, 2012

What is HDR? High Dynamic Range, first thing we heard about HDR photos is picture that always connected with bright and dramatic scene. Even though some scenes simply contain a greater brightness range than can be captured by current digital cameras — of any type but a single image can't capture all parts of the scene in a proper exposure, High dynamic range imaging utilizes this characteristic by creating images composed of multiple exposures.

Generating an image series for HDR works better if you have a tripod since you'll want avoid the slightest shake or variation between shots. It also works better if you have more than 3 shots to combine, perhaps as many as 5 or 7 shots. This picture below is example of a simple HDR. I try to make black and white HDR despite to dramatize the pattern of the sky, even though in order to get that i have to lower down my tripod very low so i can get a unique low angle because sometimes 16 mm is not wide enough in APS-C sensor to make a good composition.

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