14. January 2012 by Friedhelm.

I went to the California coast yesterday. Right before sunset I went to the beach to photograph the waves against the sunset. Normally the fiery ball of the sun is in the center of attention. I wanted to create an image where the sun is used to show the dramatic of the high waves.

Enjoy and keep on creating images!

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13. January 2012 by Friedhelm.

I like the different “quality of the light in this image. The highlights are totally differently reflected from the silver shining candy wrapper in comparison to the black surface on the bottom. Also see the small green spot created by the reflection on the edge of the candy wrapper.

Observing the light and how it reacts and how it can be manipulated and used to create an interesting image is on of the great fundamentals for every photographer!

Enjoy and have a great week-end!

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12. January 2012 by Friedhelm.

I noticed that the inside of of the Chocolate wrapper had a nice reflective surface. In addition, the backlight created some very nice shadows. I took several shot with different f-stops. Also, notice how much attention the letters draw!

Enjoy and keep on trying to create beautiful images!

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11. January 2012 by Friedhelm.

I changed my set-up again. In this image I used a small flash set behind my subject. The flash is connect via cable and PC-connector to my camera. I collected small candy rapper that would give me besides the expected shadows also some reflection and maybe some interesting light pattern.

Enjoy and keep on experimenting with backlight!

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6. January 2012 by Friedhelm.

I was looking for another small subject to photograph in front of my blue computer screen. The hairbrush caught my attention and I decided to give it a try. I shot several images using different f-stops to find out the best possible depth of field for my composition. I also used a small flash light to paint in some highlights.

Enjoy and keep on making images!

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5. January 2012 by Friedhelm.

I created a blue background in Photoshop. Then I put this small pumpkin in front of the laptop screen to create this photo. Camera setting 180mm macro lens, f14, 20sec., ISO 100, tripod mounted.

Enjoy and keep on creating images!

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4. January 2012 by Friedhelm.

In this image I changed strategy. I used the little fill-in flash first and then moved the star during the 5 seconds exposure time. having fun? You bet, sometimes I feel like a little child again playing in a sandbox.

Enjoy and keep on photographing, playing around and observing the light!

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3. January 2012 by Friedhelm.

While I was shooting the star our young cat got interested int he star. She hit it and I decided to freeze the moving star with the flash and still record the blur caused by the movement.

Enjoy this image created by “Little Bear” and me.

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2. January 2012 by Friedhelm.

Happy New Year! May the new year bring us some great ideas for photography and may we all grow in the art of making images!

I would like to do one change to this blog. I would like to stay two weeks on each photographic exercise instead of just one. I am curious to find out what is going to happen if I stay longer on each exercise and how it will effect me as a photographer.

The first exercise is perfect for the winter month. I want to shoot different subjects with a backlight. I took an image of my basic set-up. You may do something similar or maybe something totally different. The main idea is that you focus on your subject and use an aperture setting that blurs the backlight. By doing so it will automatically enlarge the backlight!

Here is my first image.

The candle in the back is beautifully blurred created by my 180mm macro lens. During my initial shots the white paper star was too dark. I decided to use a small fill-in flash with a blue gel to light up the star.

Enjoy and happy photographing!

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