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Behind the Lens is a new series that allows you to learn a bit more about your favorite FYP Writers.  While we know your enjoy their articles, sometimes you just want to know what makes them tick!  We are pleased to provide that insight for you.

Hugh Walker is an amateur photographer who lives on the beautiful island paradise of Barbados with his wife, Cheryl and 14 year old daughter, Giselle. Photography is a family affair for the Walkers; Hugh’s wife and daughter being award winning photographers, having both won numerous medals and special prizes at the annual Barbados National Independence Festival of Creative Arts. As Hugh put it: “We have a healthy family competition going on and so far I am losing to the ladies”. However, Hugh is not to be outdone by the family, having won silver and gold medals as well and special prizes in Architectural, and Black & White photography.

Hugh has a passion for landscape photography and one of his greatest dreams is to have the opportunity to travel to exotic locations and be exposed to a wide variety of landscape scenarios. In late 2010 he took one such memorable trip to the Grand Canyon. His comment about the trip being “The temperature was about 5 degrees below zero and there is this guy from the Caribbean, with an insane smile on his face, shooting everything in sight an loving it! It was a dream come true”.

Besides landscape photography he has dabbled a bit with portrait photography. Hugh is however drawn to architecture and abstract photography. There is something about the lines of a building that intrigues him. Each building has a character that has been developed through the design elements used by the architect, and he loves to try to find it and demonstrate it in an artistic manner.

Hugh loves to create images that are dramatic in nature; his point of view is that “We see the ordinary every day in our lives and I strongly believe that the images we create should not be ordinary, but should attempt to take the viewer to another place”. Hugh embraces colour, but loves black and white. His initial exposure to photography was in the era of film and the wet dark room . “Black & white was the medium we used because we could not afford to process colour, because of the cost of the chemicals and papers. We had full control of the black and white process, from developing to printing”. Today he embraces the digital tools, especially Adobe Lightroom and the Nik suite of plugins. His favorite tool is Nick Silver Effects Pro which he finds is best at black and white conversion.

When it comes to equipment Hugh has a foot in both of the major camps. He shoots both Nikon and Canon. Some may think this is strange but he finds that both have their weakness and strengths and that being slavishly tied to one system does not fit his profile. Favorite lens are the Canon 100mm f 2.8 L macro, and 70 -200 f2.8l and the Nikon 16-85 VR . Favorite software products are Adobe Lightroom and Nik Silver Effects Pro.

Hugh’s work can be found online at his portfolio site  http://Art4life.zenfolio.com

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Weekend Photo Focus Submissions:

“Fes Sunrise” by uk_photo_art

Other Links:

"Spilled With Light" by maticgolob

"Surfing Over The Clouds" by xavierjamonet

"Light Searcher" by rykardo

"Light Absorbing Machine" by bosnia

"Light Of Day" by karisca

"Cotton Candy Clouds" by light-from-emirates

"Dark Clouds Rising" by r3ds0ld13r

Each Friday we will post a Weekend Photo Focus (also hash tagged on Twitter as #weekendphotofocus) on a certain subject, something to spark your creativity. An empty weekend for a photographer, is like an empty canvas, we could always use something to do when we have nothing planned right? So with this in mind we created this series, one that will get you out doing what you love. The premise is simple: snap some photos over the weekend dealing with the weekends focus, and if you send them to us, or Tweet them to us, we will post them for others to see. Having a focus will help us as artists & photographers see things that we might not always see, make us take a shot at something we might otherwise have not. In seeing other photogs chase after the same focus, it can only breed even more creativity in our own work.

At the weekends close, we will follow up our weekend focus, with what we found on the Web (including some of the photos sent from you) that falls in line with our focus. We hope you join in the fun and help us spread the creativity.

example of a tweet to us:

@fuelphotography Here’s my submission for this week’s #weekendphotofocus, New Life & Spring: http://bit.ly/aY1oC7

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Behind the Lens is a new series that allows you to learn a bit more about your favorite FYP Writers.  While we know your enjoy their articles, sometimes you just want to know what makes them tick!  We are pleased to provide that insight for you.

Ameena comes from a small town just on the outside of London, United Kingdom.  She will be 21 years old this September, and will have been with FYP for two years and a few months by that time. She currently lives in Bristol, in the south west, where she is in her first year of studying photography at university.

Ameena is a prolific writer and has published numerous articles about different techniques and genres in photography at FYP, but at the moment she is responsible for the ‘Weekend Photo Focus’  and ‘Weekend Photo Find’ which are published every Friday and Monday. She also publishes a monthly interview with notable professional photographers, which goes live on the 30th of every month (look out for this months featured photographer).

Her style is still in its developmental stages, and therefore very experimental. Portraiture is her strongest area, as well as conceptual photography, which is mainly due to her participation in the 365 project (in which she attempted to take a self-portrait everyday for a year). As well as that, she has a great love for creating surreal and dream-like images, especially as sometimes she gains inspiration from her dreams which can be very vivid.

As well as portraiture, she loves to photograph landscapes and different cultures, this stems from having relatives all over the world and being quite well-traveled as a child because of it.  One day, when she can afford it, her dream is to go traveling and discover all the hidden gems of the world,  just to take photographs.  Ameena also has a growing collection of film cameras, and loves to expose roll upon roll of black and white  film.

Recently, Ameena upgraded her dSLR from a Nikon D60 which was cherished and loved for many years, to a Nikon D7000 which was bought because of its greater range of features but also because of its ability to shoot video, which Ameena hopes to experiment with in the near future.  Her favourite lens is also a recent purchase, a 50mm F1.8 lens, which she fell in love with as soon as it was affixed to her camera.  Ameena loves to use it for her portraiture photography, and self-portrait series as it provides gorgeous depth-of-focus, she is rapidly developing an affection for prime lenses.  It was also the perfect lens for a recent series she did based on the cinematic style for a university project, which she also did an article on.

Ameena was introduced to photography in an unusual way; before she was given a digital camera for her 14th birthday, photography as an art had never crossed her mind.  She took her new camera with her to local gigs that she attended fortnightly with her friends, and started taking photographs of the bands that played.  Eventually, she was asked to take photographs for the company that held the gigs, so that they could show them on their website.  She did this for about three years, and during those years her skill in using a camera developed, and her interest became a full-blown love affair with photography, which to this day has not dwindled, nor does she expect it to.

As mentioned before, Ameena is in her first year, studying photography at university, and intends to become a famous and perhaps rich photographer one day, photographing for the likes of Vogue and I-D magazine.  Writing for FYP has given her the technical skill and desire to become part-journalist and to also has allowed her to pick up a variety of other skills to add to her collection and therefore up her value as a creative.  When she started university, Ameena decided to take it a step further by seeking clients and hopefully have the chance to work with real models and establish her name in the industry.  Yes, it is a slow process, but everyone has to start somewhere, fortunately for Ameena it is paying off slowly because  in December 2011 she did her first ever fashion shoot in which she shot some brilliant photographs, and had a great experience at the same time.

You can view Ameena’s most recent work on her Flickr and Facebook page, and her portfolio here. She may also be contacted by email to a.rojee@hotmail.co.uk.

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Everglades, copyright Tito Trelles

The Everglades have always sounded exotic and alluring to me.   In my mind, “Everglades” conjured up images of green swamps, alligators, and me speeding along in an airboat wearing a pair of those fancy earmuffs.  I was always glued to those National Geographic specials on TV, and made a mental note to visit there someday.

A few years ago, when I came upon the exquisite fine art images of the Everglades by photographer Tito Trelles in his “Almost Full Moon” and “Caretakers of Paradise” series, I was inspired, absolutely sold, and immediately started planning a trip out there.  Photography can be quite persuasive…

Tree in the Everglades, copyright Tito Trelles

Kat Villari in the "Caretakers of Paradise" series, copyright Tito Trelles

Everglades National Park in Florida protects the southern 25 percent of the Everglades.  The park is comprised of wetlands that are maintained by a slow-moving river from Lake Okeechobee. (slow as in moving 0.25 miles per day!)  Hundreds of species of birds thrive in this fragile ecosystem.  Several threatened species also call the Everglades their home, including the elusive Florida panther, the American crocodile, and the West Indian manatee.  The entrance to the National Park is only about 1.5 hours drive from Miami, so it made a great, easy day trip.

Upon first glance, the Everglades was an endless sea of grass capped by a moody, cloudy sky.  On closer inspection, there was actually even more grass than I originally thought, and sometimes the occasional bush.  But on foot, camera in hand, sauntering along the well-marked walking path, I began to see a whole living world in the water and between the blades of grass that I never would have discovered by airboat or by plane.

Double-crested cormorant

Fresh catch, anhinga

I spent one afternoon in Shark Valley, wandering the paved trail with my husband.  We figured it’d be a leisurely walk, but it was much longer than we had originally anticipated.  It was actually a 15 mile long path and the sun fried us to a golden crisp.  Not a good place to forget your sunblock!  Those tan lines persisted for almost two years, no joke.  Nevertheless, there was plenty to see, alligators in every direction, turtles, and birds galore.  The next time I do this trail, I am renting a bicycle!  There was the occasional tourist and their young child getting far too close to the gators (there is nothing blocking gators from crossing the path, it’s not a zoo, folks!).  I’d suggest a good zoom lens instead of risking your hand and the resulting $20K hand surgery.  It’s a much better investment, anyway.

Gator on the trail

Florida softshell turtle

These images were taken on my second trip to the Everglades with friends and gifted photographers Bryan Benoit (who so kindly lent me the Canon 100-400mm lens and clinched my decision to buy it for wildlife photography!) and Kat Villari.  We spent the afternoon wandering along the Anhinga trail and the Gumbo Limbo trail and there was no shortage of birds, alligators, as well as photographers armed with every sort of lens you can imagine.   I found the 100-400mm to be the perfect lens for the variety of wildlife we saw there, and portable enough to walk a few miles in the heat.  I did not carry a tripod, though many photographers out there did.

Double-crested cormorant

Alligator

The busiest season tends to run from December to March (also known as the dry season), when the temperatures are more tolerable and the mosquitoes are less active.   The mosquitoes in the Everglades grow to absolutely ridiculous sizes, so they are best avoided if possible!  Water levels are also lower during the dry season, making it easier to view wildlife in more central locations.  May to November heralds the wet season, where humidity can be at 90% and storms can literally drop 10-12 inches of rain at a time, which is not great for your gear unless you shoot with a waterproof camera!

Anhinga, the namesake for the trail

Purple gallinule

A few things to never forget when photographing in the Everglades:

-       hat

-       sunblock

-       bug repellent

-       plenty of water (and make sure to stop for a cool drink at Robert Is Here nearby- really great smoothies and fresh fruit!)

Endless sea of grass

There is a great deal of ongoing preservation and restoration work constantly occurring in the Everglades.  To read more about these efforts, visit the Everglades Coalition.  Hopefully we can help preserve this marvelous World Heritage Site for generations to come.  If you’ve spent some time in the Everglades, please share your thoughts and experiences with us, because I’m sure I’ll be back again to visit soon.  ’Til then, happy travels!

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Each Monday, we’ll highlight one indie photographer whose body of work deserves special recognition. Please enjoy their photography here, and make it a point to enjoy the rest of their work on their website.

Jim Crotty currently lives and works on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina USA but originally hails from Dayton, Ohio. His style of photography, as it relates to his work with nature and landscape subjects, has been best described as calm and peaceful. He strives to convey a sense of serenity with his nature photography through the use of subtle natural light, shallow depth of field and emphasis on texture and shape.

When it comes to equipment Jim shoots with both a Canon 1D Mark III and a Canon 5D Mark II. He is more likely to use  the 1D Mark III for his work with nature and landscapes  because he is in outdoor situations where he has to deal with the elements and most recently, sand, for which the weatherproofing of the camera make it ideal.  The speed of the the 1D Mark III is also ideal for wildlife.  Jim’s favorite lens is his Canon 17-35mm f2.8 L lens.  He loves working with dynamic skyscapes at sunrise and sunset and he finds that the Canon 17-35mm f2.8 L lens works beautifully with how he likes to capture scenes with interesting foreground elements.

Jim uses natural light exclusively when working with nature and landscapes and he shoots raw format files  at lowest possible ISO as he does a lot with HDR which necessitates multiple exposures (from three to seven frames) with changes in shutter speed for over, even and under images.  The first thing he does when back at his desktop work area is back-up all the raw files directly from the cards to archival DVDs. He then imports the raw files into his Mac Pro desktop system or MacBook Pro.  If they are for HDR he just transfers the files  to a folder on his desktop for merging and tone mapping via Photomatix Pro stand alone program. After processing in Photomatix he imports the resulting 16-bit TIFFs into Aperture for file management and further adjustments.  He also loves converting HDR to black and white using Nik’s Silver Efex Pro.

For non-HDR he imports directly to a project folder in Aperture. From there he edits and performs basic adjustments, such as dust spot removal, straightening, definition, etc. Edited images for uploading to his printing service, web site galleries, blogs, etc. will most likely go through a few more adjustments using one of the various Nik plug-ins of which his favorite is Viveza 2.

For portraits and digital art photography he uses Adobe Photoshop CS5. There are some custom actions that he prefers such as those by Formula One.

Jim loves shooting dynamic skies at dawn or dusk, he believes it is in the margins of the day when light and life merge seamlessly and it is those brief moments when we are blessed with scenes of incredible peace and beauty.  Fortunately he lives in an area where more often than not there is a dynamic and colorful sunset happening, from late summer to spring.  Hilton Head Island is on the coast of South Carolina, so you are often near water where  there is more of an opportunity for incredible light and reflections at sunrise and sunset.

As with every photographer experience and knowledge counts but a little luck never hurts.  Jim finds that it is almost always the image he is not planning for or expecting that ends-up being the keeper from a particular photo outing.  When he is out shooting he keeps himself open to all the possibilities.  For example, shooting into a beautiful sunset is what most people do.  However, what Jim likes to do is to look in the opposite direction and see what the play of light is doing to the clouds on the other end of the horizon.  Often that’s where he finds the more interesting image and pleasing light.

Jim has been working with HDR since its advent in  2007 and Photomatix Pro is his preferred program.  Viewers who dislike HDR often think of those images where the effect has been applied with a “heavy hand,” leaving the images look almost cartoonish.  Jim believes that the key is to use all of the options available within tone mapping and to not oversaturate.

Jim advises that a  pro-quality tripod makes all the difference in the world, along with a quality ball head and L-bracket. He  loves working from creative angles. Just a slight change in perspective can dramatically alter the composition.  He says that having the kind of gear that allows one to make those types of changes are a must.

When queried about two photographer’s work he really admires Jim immediately chose Art Wolfe as his first choice, because Art’s passion for his subjects is clearly evident in all of his photographs. Jim says of Art’s work “I think for Art photography is a life experienced through visual storytelling.”

For his second choice Jim said that, the best nature photographers are also outstanding teachers, and the one who had the most impact on him was David Middleton.  Jim reminisces about the  10-day program on professional nature photography taught by David in Montana, back in August of 2000. Jim learned how rewarding it can be to inspire others to pursue their passion and develop their creative vision through photography and he tries to pass that on during the workshops that he teaches now.

Jim hopes one day to try underwater photography. He is amazed by the underwater photography he has seen and considers it a must on his bucket list despite the fact that  it is much more involved than traditional nature and landscape photography.   Fortunately for Jim he already knows how to dive and he is SCUBA certified but to be able to handle pro-level gear and lights while diving will take careful combination of his photographic and diving skills.

Jim also admires those photographers who excel at photojournalistic style street portraits.  He thinks that  this genre definitely takes an extroverted personality and a good bit of courage.

Because of Jim’s background in corporate marketing and PR, he is adroit in social media marketing, you may find more of his work on his 500px, Flickr, Tumblr, Facebook or Zenfolio sites, you can also follow him on twitter @JimCrotty

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Mornings, for the most of us, are slow, cold and groggy, and we don’t like to wake up in the morning. However, mornings can also be beautiful, and we explore this in this weekends photo focus.

"Morning Inspiration" by marie85

"Early Morning Biker" by speedonl

"Morning" by duskofsummer

"Morning Glow" by inside-my-art

"Romantic Morning" by missayleen

"Quiet Morning" by vikarus

"Gold Morning" by dukeofspade

"And When Morning Comes" by nelleke

"The Morning Fog" by emizael

"Morning Feeling" by patrickruegheimer

Each Friday we will post a Weekend Photo Focus (also hash tagged on Twitter as #weekendphotofocus) on a certain subject; something to spark your creativity. An empty weekend for a photographer is like an empty canvas – we could always use something to do when we have nothing planned, right?

The premise is simple; snap some photographs over the weekend dealing with the weekend’s focus, and if you send them to us (or Tweet them to us) we will post them up in the follow-up article. Having a focus will help us as artists and photographers to see things that we might not always see, and make us take a shot at something we might otherwise have not.

At the weekends close, we will follow up our weekend focus,  with what we found on the Web, and your submissions, that fall in line with our focus. We hope you join in the fun and help us spread the creativity.

example of a tweet to us:

@fuelphotography Here’s my submission for this week’s #weekendphotofocus, New Life & Spring: http://bit.ly/aY1oC7

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I’m not a hunter, but I imagine wildlife photography is a lot like hunting.   You wear neutral-colored clothing, spend a lot of time tracking wildlife in the bush, get dirty, wait a lot, and you’d better have some decent aim or else you waste a bunch of shots.

On my most recent bear photography trip to the Katmai wilderness in Alaska, there was a lot of downtime between bear sightings. Sometimes the boat ride into bear territories was 1.5 hours long. In the meantime, however, there was no shortage of wildlife photography!  Bald eagles, osprey, sockeye salmon, and Alaskan wildflowers were common sightings and welcome diversions to the waiting.   I actually found that photographing birds was so much fun, that we spent an entire day at a bald eagle nest just watching and waiting. A particular pair of eagles kept us waiting for nearly an hour as the perched in the sun… finally when we put our cameras down to give our arms a rest, they decided to take off in their glorious flight… they probably enjoyed this game as much as we did!

American Bald Eagles, Alaska

Fireweed

The first and most important thing I learned about wildlife and nature photography is that it’s worth getting to know your subject.  This will help create the opportunity for the shot, help you find the most common locations for your subject, as well as their behavior patterns and best angles.  If all your shots are of a bear’s rear end or a bird flying off into the distance away from you, chances are you are approaching them to quickly or too closely.   Their comfort level will reflect in the images.  This is not only important for the great wildlife shots, but also important for the general well-being of the wildlife.   Often, birds have to conserve their energy to hunt and survive, and cannot waste that precious energy flying away from people who are stalking them and chasing them away from their hunting or nesting grounds.  So consider the well-being of your subjects and it’ll show in the images!

Juvenile bald eagle

Osprey, hunting

For me, I find that shooting hand held worked better than shooting with a tripod.  Before you all go tsk-tsking me, just hear me out!  If I know my subject will be staying in a small contained area, obviously the tripod is the better choice. However, in the wild, animals don’t stay in viewfinders or boxes!   When the eagles took off in flight, I found it was so much easier to track with my body rather than with a tripod, and this resulted in sharper images.  Sometimes I wanted to get down at ground level to get a different perspective of the bears, and I could maneuver my body much faster than I could my tripod.  Sometimes the bears would walk right past us and I wanted to back up to give them room and actually fit them in my 100-400mm lens; it was much easier to scoot myself backwards than awkwardly fumble with a tripod in my waders and 5 layers of clothing.  This is not to say I shot without support- often times I braced my left elbow on my left thigh while kneeling, especially when shooting from the boat.  I also had a 500mm lens with me which was literally a bear to carry around and maneuver (8.5 pounds!); I did benefit from a tripod in this situation but missed out on many shots as sometimes I could not maneuver fast enough to catch the charging bears or swooping osprey.

Taken from the boat, no tripod

Camp Dog Winston, practicing my non-tripod moments

Tripod mandatory, low-light at dawn, long exposure

I do not typically consider myself a technical photographer, but in wildlife photography, sharp, focused images are paramount- I suppose it is akin to having good aim in hunting.   For flying birds, I liked to have a shutter speed of at least 1/1600, but lighting conditions did not always comply (birds are most active in the early morning and late afternoon when the sun tends to be lower).   For the most part, I tried to aim for their eye when shooting; this generally gave me good results and more of the bird ended up being in focus in the end.  Most of you will know what I’m talking about – when you get that gorgeous, perfectly timed, sharp bird image, it makes all that waiting and planning worthwhile.  In my opinion, “getting that image” is far more difficult than spraying a shotgun full of birdshot at a group of ducks.  Photographing birds is humbling and the more I try it, the more I realize there is to learn. Any bird photographers out there willing to share your favorite websites, or a tip or two?  Maybe I’ll devote another blog to the bird photography alone!

Takeoff

Landing

As we were leaving the wilderness, hunters were flying into the region to scour the land for moose, heralding the beginning of moose-hunting season.  Just as the hunters were returning to camp with their trophy heads (I will leave my personal opinion of hunting out of this!), we returned to camp with cameras in-hand, excitedly downloading our daily images into our cameras and backup drives.  Wildlife photography is a lot less bloody than hunting, and instead of cleaning your kills, you just have to clean your lenses.   True, you don’t get to eat your photographs, but the images are trophies nonetheless and great for wall mounting- not to mention the peace and exhilaration that comes with being outside in nature.  Happy shooting!

Success- Alaskan brown bear with sockeye

Trip planning: There are many ways to get to the Katmai wilderness and numerous outfitters that do photography tours. If you are not experienced in the area, the best way to go is with a guide.   We used www.bearguidealaska.com and flew in from Anchorage, Alaska into King Salmon airport.  Bring clothing in layers and insect repellent.  Rain showers can come on quickly and unexpectedly, so waterproof packs or drybags are recommended for your equipment.  Also refer to my previous post for other lessons I learned on this trip.

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After a successful retro-themed contest for October, we decided to go back to Mother Nature for November’s contest.  The winner for our FYP November Photography Contest is… *drum roll*… Boris Frkovic! Congratulations Boris!  We hope you enjoy your annual 500px.com account and as promised, today’s Indie Spotlight segment would showcase Boris’ winning pictures.

Hailing from Croatia, one of the most beautiful country in Europe, Boris spends most of his time photographing some of mother nature’s greatest creations.  He enjoys flocks of birds, ocean waves, and the sound of wind blowing all the while capturing them with his trusted Pentax K200 camera coupled with a Tamron 10-24 lense.

Boris loves to photograph nature, especially water (rivers, lakes and ocean) because he finds the water and reflections in water give the photos a special charm

Aside from his Pentax, Boris’ default photography equipment include the use of a tripod and a wired shutter release.  Most of his work is comprised using HDR because according to him, current cameras ‘see’ less than what our eyes can see – camera sensors can only see dynamic range of approximately 5 stops whereas the human eye can see 9-10 stops. So the only way to show others what he really sees is through HDR.

To make his HDR photos look more realistic, Boris uses a technique that he invented, which is similar to the Orton effect.  Boris prefers to shoot in RAW format before tone mapping in Photomatix.  The final stop is Adobe Photoshop where he makes final adjustments.

When processing, Boris will always export his final creations as TIFF format because there is no loss of quality. His own HDR processing technique involves three overexposed photos layered on top of each other while choosing ‘Multiply’ as his blending mode and image opacity set to about 75%.

Boris’s techniques make the HDR photos look more realistic and lifelike.  He believes that to photograph and produce a great HDR, one must understand the basic concept of shooting with this technology – True HDR are made from multiple (differently) exposed photos while pseudo HDR is made from just one photo.  It is also very important to use a tripod and a remote trigger for this method.

It is important not to have any part of the photo overexposed if you’re going to shoot for pseudo HDR (because overexposed parts are permanently lost).  Boris suggest that you use pseudo HDR method for scenes with movement

Boris admires the work of ‘Sunrise@Dawn’, Olga Shiropaeva, Mario Moreno, Dave Cox, Jorge Maia, Omid Golzar, Alfred Forns, Alisdair Miller, and a number of other great photographers.

Eventually, he would like to try some different styles of photography such as IR, night stars, panning, and black card among others.

Boris can be found online via his Google+ profile as well as:

http://500px.com/borisfrkovic

http://www.pixoto.com/borisfrkovic

http://www.flickr.com/photos/borisfrkovic/

http://borisfrkovic.blog.com/

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There are a few subjects in the photographic world that will really teach you how to use and understand your camera and how it operates.  One of those subjects is night photography.   I’ve always been the type of person who for whatever reason always seems to take the hard way to learning something, and that’s what I did when it came to night work.  I’m similar to a skier tumbling his butt down the triple black diamond trail on the ski slopes, but by the time I come to the bottom I have it figured out enough that I can actually stand up.  Then I march myself back to the top and do it again…and again…and again.

Night photography requires a few things.  A tripod is first and foremost, followed closely by a remote shutter release.  Working at night teaches you a lot about patience, white balance, how your shutter and aperture play together, and a lot about time.

Most images that are taken at night are long exposures, anywhere from tenths of a second to minuets, to hours.  With the inventions of digital, nobody using a DSLR unless they want to fry their sensor is shooting hour exposures.  One good thing to keep in mind is the longer you leave the shutter open the longer your sensor is on.  Your sensor generates heat and after awhile can leave lots and lots of beautiful hot pixels all over your image that you then have to go and remove…not fun.  I find I won’t go much longer that 15-20min.  Most of the time you won’t need anything longer than 20min anyways.  If you want to shoot star trails like the image above the only way to do it is with an intervelometer and shoot lots of images over time, then combine together later, using any number of stacking programs.  Also this method is used to make some amazing time-lapse work.

220 Images at 14mm f/3.5 ISO 125 @ 30sec

For example the above image was shot at 14mm f3.5 @ 30 seconds times about 220 images, then each shot was dropped into Helicon Focus and combined together.

Night photography forces you to always be thinking about your shutter speed, time, ISO, and aperture.  If you are in the middle of the Mojave Desert and there isn’t any light pollution for miles and miles, and you want to shoot the stars without any movement to them then I might start at my widest aperture, maybe f2.8 or wider and set the ISO to maybe 320 for 30 seconds, throw as much light into the camera and see what happens.   I will then adjust from there if I need to, much of night work is a game of adjustments and it’s obviously much easier now with digital. Another thing I like to play with a bit from time to time is white balance.  Sometimes a change of a setting here can give a photograph an entirely different dimension, especially at night.

Of course if you live in a city, and you want to do the skyline at night with maybe some light trails from cars then you will need a lower ISO, smaller aperture, and maybe the same 30sec exposure or longer.  The combinations of what you can do I could go on and on about but in the end all these things force you to work in Manual mode, and keep you thinking and adjusting and that right there will take someone who isn’t fully comfortable with their camera and it’s functions and turn them into a fairly confident person who IS comfortable with their camera, and that right there is one of the most important things for any photog.  If I’m not comfortable with my camera then I’m not going to make images I’m happy with.

I really love doing night photography.  Especially in NYC where during the day the city is beautiful, but it’s truly majestic at night.  I find the night simplifies subjects a bit, during the day you see everything where as at night you only see what is lit, it’s more dramatic I think.  I suggest go out when you can at night and seeing what you come up with.  Grab the iPod, maybe a flask, or bottle of whatever and head out on your own little adventure and see what the night brings you.  Often times, especially in cities, this is when all the truly interesting things and people reveal themselves.  Not only will you most likely walk away with some great stories, you will walk away feeling more comfortable with your equipment.

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Knight by roblfc18

There is a feeling, an aura if you will that revolves around a black & white photograph that cannot be expressed by words alone.  Our eyes play the critic, and they alone soak in the full impact that this type of photograph has on an individual, which I feel partially explains the resurgence of this medium over the past few years.   Add the digital revolution to the equation, and you have an entire new breed of photographers, creating amazing and breathtaking images that would have made Mr. Adams proud.

Empty Space Square by ruioliveira

Gouda by Chopen

Although not a new medium, HDR or “High Dynamic Range Imaging,” is still one of the new kids on the block when talking photo enhancement.   As a photographer who shoots black and white, I have embraced this medium with open arms, and when “executed correctly,” it can take the qualities of a photograph, be it emotional or aesthetic, to an entire new level.   I purposely placed quotations around “executed correctly” because it seems that too many HDR photographs both color and black and white, are completely ruined due to “overkill.”   As with any new technology, we tend to push it to the limit because we can, however, subtle is king when it comes to a great photograph, and HDR is no exception.

Palermo Cathedral by GabOrcinus

Quebec City Old Town by ilpavone2004

To create a stunning black and white photograph, we must always start with a stunning color photograph.   As we all know, a true black and white photograph is not 100% black, so we must tweak the tones and squeeze out just the right amount of saturation until the photograph is ready to be transformed from a cocoon to a butterfly.

Next, it is time to bring our photograph into the tool of choice to begin making adjustments that will ultimately bring our photograph to life.   I liken my experience to the movie Frankenstein when the doctor announces to the world that he has created life by screaming, “It’s alive, It’s alive!” You may have a tiny smile on your face as you read this, but if you think about it, the transformation from a flat photograph to an HDR photograph is not far from breathing life into an otherwise dull image.  This is not to say that black and white photos that do not have this technique applied are dull, just different, more vibrant.

Stephanie by biozz-d3bkne2

The Shining by holala830

You do not need special software to create an HDR photograph, however, it will take you much longer and will most likely cause frustration should you decide to go this route.   There are many procedures that go into an HDR photograph, so you are better off using specialized software that can provide the “grunt work” so you can concentrate on your masterpiece.  The procedures used are beyond the scope of this article, however, I have included a list of software applications below that will accomplish this task, not break the bank, and get you on your way. I have also provided links to samples, tutorials, tips, and techniques.

University Hall by KanteForce

With this information in mind, remember, there is no book, website, sample, tip or a tutorial that can replace what you have envisioned as the result, so I challenge you to learn the basic concepts and dive in, headfirst.  You may hit your head on the bottom of the pool a few times, but once you have a basic grasp on the tools and learn to be subtle, you will be diving with the best of them.

HDR Apps:

Photomatix – The first HDR application I used. A nice price if you stick with the lite version.

NIK Software HDRefex Pro – Pricey, however, slowly becoming a favorite.

Dynamic Photo – A very inexpensive yet robust application

GIMP – A FREE photo editing tool that does HDR – See here!

Oloneo – The most expensive out of the bunch, but definitely worth every penny.

HDR Resources, Tips, and Techniques:

Stuck In Customs – The home of Trey Radcliff, an HDR pioneer.

HDR Soft – Indexed list of HDR resources

HDR1 – Not as organized as the others, but another great list of HDR resources

Examples of finished Black & White HDR:

Black & White HDR Flickr Pool
Google Images of Black & White HDR
HDR Creme

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[ Editor's Note: This week's Indie Spotlight comes from our latest addition to the team, Alicia Poole, a photography student from the UK. She has plans to become a multiple threat by pursuing a Graphic Design degree as well and has shown she has a great eye by posting some fantastic work on her Flickr page, which you all should check out. Enjoy! ]

With the growing popularity of monochrome photography, I try to look for images that are unique. So it was clear that when studying Steve Landeros’ work, that I had found a photographer who could capture that uniqueness and such beauty in his images.

[ Editor's Note: Today, we feature a new addition to the team, Alicia Poole. She is a photography student who hails from the UK and has not only great photographic skills, but also has many other talents like singing and sonqwriting. She's got quite the gift, as is shown in her images, so we hope you enjoy her discoveries as much as we do! ]

Landeros has most recently been capturing some of his captivating images with a medium format, Hasselblad 500C/M. Though, when shooting digitally, Landeros is equipped with a Canon 5D MKII. When queried, Landeros revealed that his favourite lens to use digitally is the 24-70mm f/2.8, which he mainly uses around the range of 50mm. When working with the medium format, on his Hasselblad, he said that his favourite lens to use is the 80mm f/2.8.

Two subjects that Landeros would love the opportunity to photograph are the Golden Gate Bridge from the top of one of the towers, and Death Valley, in the US State of Nevada.

Landeros says that there is much information out there, in the world of photography, but believes that photographers should ‘To take time to truly see what it is you’re photographing- there is a lot going on in that viewfinder and with a little extra time to study your surroundings, things will come together.’

Once, when Landeros was using his 5D MKII, he decided to customize one of his rear buttons for focusing, he then ended up accidentally hitting the Liveview feature and realized how well this feature worked for composing and focusing his old screw on his 10 Stop ND Filter – thus discovering a technique that he still uses today.

When prompted for two photographers that he admires, Landeros is quick to admit that it’s a hard question, with so many amazing artists to name, but settles on Michael Kenna and Steen Doessing. Michael Kenna has opened his eyes to the medium format analog, whilst Doessing has influenced him to create monochrome waterscapes.

Landeros is currently studying the art of ‘wet printing’ – as it is only natural for him to move into darkroom experimentation now that he works with analog photography. He also states that he will be spending more time experimenting with nocturnal long exposures of land and seascapes.

Steve Landeros’ work can be viewed on his personal website, or on Flickr.

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Bill Gerrard is our contest winner of the FYP October Photography Contest, congratulations Bill!  I addition to being featured in our Indie Spotlight Bill also won an annual 500px.com account.  Here is Bill’s winning image.

Bill is an eclectic photographer from  Northern Utah in the United States, but he has also recently lived in Las Vegas, Nevada and Southern California.  Bill’s favorite subjects to shoot are landscapes, automotive, architecture, events and portraiture.

Bill’s primary camera is the Canon EOS 5D but he usually has his Canon PowerShot S90 in his pocket for those moments that he is unable to have his SLR.   A true photographer is rarely without his camera and Bill finds that for a point and shoot camera, the Canon S90 produces quality images, while it lacks the control afforded by the 5D the image is far better than no image at all.  Bill’s stalwart lens is his  Canon 24-105mm f/4L.  He finds that  it gives him a nice range for anything from landscapes to portraits.

Bill admittedly says that his workflow is rather quite simple.  The majority of his work (landscapes, automotive, events) is captured in natural light.  He uses artificial light sparingly for portraiture and special effects in which one of his favorite techniques to use is “dragging the shutter”, dragging the shutter shows motion and then freezes the subject matter with second curtain flash, here is a video link to explain the technique.

After Bill has captured his images he then loads them into Adobe Lightroom and usually apply some presets to give the image some pop or special toning (vintage, etc.).  He then processes some of those images with the Topaz Adjust feature, many of his automotive images are processed in Topaz giving them that HDR like look, on the rare occasion he loads an image into  Adobe Photoshop but that is only when the image requires  special attention.

Bill has an extensive list of places he’d like to photograph for  for landscape photography, however with his growing interest in photographing people, he has an interest in mixing people with his landscapes in interesting ways. He has already experimented with this technique had hopes to do many more.

Bill has started a process of discovery in which he experiments more with post processing techniques that give his images a vintage or yesteryear look, or even a grungy or more atmospheric look. There are a lot of presets available for Lightroom that make this easy, or that give a base or idea to start with. He suggests experimenting with Lightroom in this way. Download some of the free presets and see what creative processing can do to an image.

Bill has one of those motivational pictures of a basketball court that says “You’ll always miss 100% of the shots you don’t take” and he takes this advice to heart.  Bill advises  “No matter what kind of camera you have, get out and start shooting.  The more photos you take the better the photographer you will become.”

Bill discovered  his love of automotive photography completely by accident.  He had always admired the old wooden bodied automobiles that were manufactured in the early 1900’s affectionately known as “woodies”.  One summer at the local county fair, his wife purchased a really cool photograph of a group of these woodies lined up in an old warehouse.  While completing the purchase his wife mentioned to the photographer that her husband Bill  liked woodies and the photographer suggested that she advise him to attend a woodie show coming up the next month near their hometown.  It was slated be the biggest gathering of wooden bodied cars in the world.

While had had never done any type of automotive photography before, Bill jumped in with both feet when he got there; he was in heaven.  Everywhere he looked there were these beautiful wooden cars and he started shooting right away.  He was awed by the wood grain, being a photographer he appreciated the craftsmanship. he admired the reflections in the chrome and lacquered surfaces.  Bill found that everywhere he turned there was an image waiting to be captured.  This love of woodies was further cemented when he post processed his photographs with the previously mentioned Topaz Adjust technique that he was taught by Rick Sammon.

Bill has a few photographers whose work he really admires.  He is inspired by Art Wolfe’s landscape and people photography, in fact Bills says that Art’s work has inspired him to visit some of the places where he has captured some of his best images.  He also appreciates  John Telford’s work in photographing and documenting historic buildings of worship has inspired much of his architecture photography.  Not leaving out the old pioneers, he was initially first inspired to landscape photography through the work of  Ansel Adams.

One of the styles that Bill has on his bucket list to try is light painting .  He is in awe of the quality of the photographs being produced now and seeks to join a group of local photographers who get together on a regular basis to experiment with the technique, he admires the light orbs they create using steel wool and other objects in the execution of the technique.

Bill has also created a few images mixing people or wildlife photography with landscape photography wants to spend more time exploring that genre.

You may view more of Bill’s work at his website where he has images for sale, on his Facebook page and he has just started populating his 500px.com presence.

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Each Monday, we’ll highlight one indie photographer whose body of work deserves special recognition.  Please enjoy their photography here, and make it a point to enjoy the rest of their work on their website.

If you read my previous Indie Spotlight article, the initial attraction to the photographers work was the fact that they experimented with various styles and did not confine themselves to a particular genre.   Our Indie Spotlight this week not only experiments with various styles, but is from the same part of the world as the aforementioned spotlightee.

Holy Déjà vu Batman!!

Germán Ruiz, a system engineer and photographer from Bogotá Colombia, is a self proclaimed minimalist as it relates to nature and macro photography, and a ‘maximist’ regarding architecture, landscapes, and some portrait photography.  He is attracted to the saturation of color as well as the contrast of  Black & White.

Armed with a Nikon D7000, battery grip, and various speedlights, Germán is prepared to shoot any subject and genre that comes his way.   The lens’ of choice for our Colombia native is a Sigma Ultra-Wide Angle 10-20mm f4-5.6 and Nikkor Fish-Eye 10.5mm f2.8 for landscapes.  What’s that?  You think those are the only lenses he carries with him?  Nay my photographic friends, for macro work, he depends on a Nikkor 60mm f2.8 with a Kenko 3x Teleconverter.

Germán shoots entirely with natural light, which seems to be a running theme with our Indie’s as of late.   If the shoot focuses on landscapes or architecture, he will study the weather first and then prepare accordingly.  Germán’s gear will normally consist of a LowePro bag, Vanguard tripod, camera, lenses, filters, and a remote trigger.  Upon arrival at the shoot location, angles and bracketing are essential, usually choosing three or more exposures.

After the shoot, Adobe Bridge is the first stop to choose the best photos.  Post production includes Photomatix Pro or HDR Efex Pro from NIK Software to produce the best HDR effects.  Noise reduction is pushed through Imagenomic or Noiseware, and finally Adobe Photoshop CS5 via Camera Raw for retouching and edge burning.

When shooting portrait, and depending on the lighting (in-studio or outdoors) Germán will choose the model, the clothes and makeup, the lighting, and the background.   The remainder of the workflow is similar to shooting landscapes except HDR processing and the addition of touching up imperfections and softening skin if needed.

Regarding tips and technique, Germán offers the following suggestions.   When shooting portraits “on-location” a medium density ND filter should be used on bright days, as this will enable the photographer to use their lenses at the maximum aperture in turn creating a nice bokeh effect.  Also, use apertures between f5.6 and f11 as it makes for a nice sharp image.  A creative touch can be accomplished with the use of a fisheye lens.

When shooting portraits “in-studio,” he suggests using two studio softboxes, a reflector, a flash with an umbrella /snoot, and color filters for backgrounds.  This will help in achieving a great photo with the lighting in line with makeup or clothing.  Germán will always shoot with white balance in “PRE” mode and a 18% gray card settings to get the best colors and avoid corrections in post-process.  Lastly, when shooting portraits always focus on the eyes.

If shooting landscapes, and the day turns cloudy, do not hesitate to use HDR as the clouds will take on a dramatic and interesting effect.

A technique that Germán stumbled upon happened while visiting a dinosaur park.  He was prepared to take a photo using a flash, and accidentally moved as the camera fired, aiming directly at the sun.  The photo turned out so good that Germán includes the sun whenever possible and mixes in some speedlights for good measure.

Two photographers that inspire Germán Ruiz are Joe McNally and Scott Kelby.   A few lesser-known names like Frank Doorhof, Karl Taylor, and Calvin Hollywood have also inspired much of his work.

Lastly, Germán would like to do wedding photography someday as well as shoot a forest of bamboo in China, which he describes as a mystical place.

Germán Ruiz Online:

Portfolio | Facebook | Twitter | Contact

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Do you carry your camera every day?  Do you take photos every day?  “Yes” was my answer to both of the questions in 2009.  On January 1, 2009, I started my own 365 project; for those of you that don’t know the 365 project, you take a photo a day (thought next year in light of the leap year it will be a 366 project), then upload and share it on the Internet.  You can shoot anything: self-portraits, skyscapes, landscapes, seascapes, still life subjects, food photography, or wherever your interest take you.  You can stick to one theme for the entire year and build your skill in that arena or you can shoot variety of things you encounter in your daily life.

On January 1st,  2009, I started shooting and sharing a photo every day.  The theme I chose was “My Tokyo.”  I wanted to share with my audience what I saw in my daily life. I don’t remember why I started the project now, but it may have been because I wanted to try something new with a newly purchased point-and-shoot camera or  I may have gotten inspiration from people who had been engaged in their own 365’s at the time.

Did I finish my project successfully?  Yes, at the end of the year I had taken and shared a photograph each and every day.  I kept shooting what I saw around Tokyo, trying to give the people who visited my photo stream on Flickr a virtual tour of my city and my life;  It was really hard.  When I had to work late, I shot a stuffed animal at home before going to bed.  On one stormy night, I had to make do with the bottle caps of Coca Cola for my daily photograph.  Some results were not very creative at all, but I learned something with every single click, regardless of the difficulties I encountered through the year, my 365 project has made what I am as a photographer.

I started the project in Kabukicho, Shinjuku, and ended in the same place.

There were countless reasons I could have given up the project, but I stuck to it.  Why?  I’ll share the reasons for my successful completion of my 365 project here.

I Always Had My Camera in My Bag or Pocket

I used a point-and-shoot cameras for the entire project; either a Panasonic’s Lumix DMC-FX35 or a DMC-LX3.  Everyone suggested to me that I should, “Carry your camera all the time”  to successfully complete the project and there’s no denying that is probably the single greatest suggestion towards my success.  Photo opportunities are everywhere, there may be a nice subject right in front of you right at this moment if you look around.  While the performances of small cameras may not as good as large DSLRs,  I didn’t want to carry a large heavy camera with me all the time because I was not a pro photographer and my goal was not to strengthen my arm muscles and in order to compete in an arm-wrestling match.  My goal was quite simply to take a new photograph each and every day!

Don’t pass interesting subject matter without clicking.

I Didn’t Push Myself Too Hard Artistically, But DID Think All the Time

I always wanted to shoot “wow” photos.  Breathtaking sunsets, flowers with morning dews, etc, etc , but such moment didn’t often come for me.  Except for weekends, the time I was able to spend on photography was limited to before work, at lunchtime, or after work; so I often had to wander around after dark or rummaging through my house trying to find a subject that I wanted to capture.

I was most depressed when I shot this …

Another problem I had to surmount and was the distance from my home to my workplace.  It is approximately 3km and takes only about 15 minutes by bike, such a short distance provides limited subject matter to shoot when you consider taking 365 photographs over the course of a year.  I shot this and that and  this and that, at times it seemed like there was nothing left to shoot halfway through the project.  So I decided to explore angles, distance and everything I could think of with the same subject old matter.  The photos I took didn’t have the “wow” factor,  in fact they may not have been artistic at all, but because of this, I was able to improve my composition skills immensely.

This is the slide I see every day, it’s the only thing that looks interesting on the way to work. I have no idea how many times I took photos in this tiny park.

Crowd-sourcing Support

One of the reasons I shoot photos is that I want to share my take on Tokyo with the people all around the world.  Luckily I had a few on-line friends when I started the project and the more visitors and comments I received, the more motivated I got.  I had a lot of visitors every day, and all of them were looking forward to my updates, or at least so I thought.  Some of my friends were also very vocal in their support, they browsed through my photos from time to time, gave me their feedback and praise.  The viewer feed back was so inspiring for me that the chances of dropping the project became slimmer and slimmer.

This is the photo that was viewed most. I was happy when my efforts paid off.

In order to capture my viewers interest there’s one thing I did when uploading photos on the Internet.  I always added a short passage expressing what I saw, felt, or thought of the photo, however,  I was mindful not to make the passage to long as I didn’t want to bore my viewers.  When I thought the photo was not good enough to encourage people leave comments, I took pains to write something even more enchanting to hook viewers.

Photo Buddies

Some Flickr friends of mine visited Tokyo, and we sometimes went photo-shooting together.  Seeing them taking photos was really inspiring for me, I gained many tips that  that expanded my vision.  Of course I tried to imitate the ways they shot even though they had large DSLRs while my compact camera was as small as a cigarette case.

A friend from Vancouver loved cats. He took cats, and I took them. They are not cats actually, but my camera was not good at capturing real cats :P

Another friend from Austin was really good at capturing night lights, so I tried to do the same thing with my point-and-shoot camera.

If you are ready to start planning your own 365 project and you want to find friends/support on-line, joining the 365 Project website is a good place to start.  There are also many inspiring  groups on Flickr, and daily themes circulating on Google+.  Eric Leslie has lists themes shown here on his website.  Now are you inspired sufficiently to want to start your own 365 project in 2012?  In next month’s article, I’ll write about the things I tried during in 2009 and hopefully give you even more catalyst to embark on your own 365 project.

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[Editor's note: This post contains artistic nudity that some may consider, NSFW]

Each Monday, we’ll highlight one indie photographer whose body of work deserves special recognition. Please enjoy their photography here, and make it a point to enjoy the rest of their work on their website.

El Descanso

Last year I had the pleasure of interviewing this weeks guest, Mónica Cifuentes, on my now defunct photography podcast.  Showcasing Mónica on this weeks Indie Spotlight is like finding money in the back pocket of your favorite jeans.  You didn’t know it existed, however, regardless of the amount, there is always that rush of excitement.

Mónica Cifuentes Vargas hails from La Calera, which is nestled in beautiful Colombia, South America.  My initial attraction to her work was the individuality of each photo, and the fact that they were not pigeon-holed into any one genre.  Her main camera, which she has been using for the past five years, is a Canon EOS Rebel XT, and although not her favorite lens, Mónica relies the standard Canon 18-55mm lens which she find useful working with portraits and landscapes.  The zoom feature is versatile, and it was used for the photos showcased on this page.  I also shoot with an 18-55mm, and concur, this is a great lens.

camino y niebla

Redemption Song

Regardless of what she may be shooting, Mónica will always seek out natural light as it reveals the true photograph.  RAW is the format of choice, and her post process workflow includes Adobe Lightroom 3 for temperature and minor defects that may have occurred during the capture as well as the built in filters to emphasize tones or produce effects.  Although Adobe Photoshop CS5 is also part of her arsenal, it is used sparingly for deeper corrections and effects.

Ocaso

El Portal de la Tormenta

When it comes to one particular subject that Mónica enjoys shooting, she is hesitant to choose just one as we are surrounded by so many beautiful subjects on a dialy basis.  Her one regret is that she doesn’t carry her camera with her more often.  She sees so much inspiration in nature, and considers some of the most simple subjects to be the most complex.

Mi Viejo Cacharrito

Mariposa y ortiga

Mónica embraces the internet for inspiration, to meet fellow photographers, and help her define her own style, however, she warns that specialized sites that cater to photographers should be used with care, especially if just starting out.  When you post to these types of sites, the criticism will come, and ​often harsh at times, which can discourage the beginner.  This is not to say that you should steer clear of aforementioed sites, as critisicm can help you grow as a photographer, however, you must be able to accept all forms of criticism, good or bad, and use it as a learning tool.

Lourdes

Macondo

​Several years ago, Mónica stumbled upon HDR photography without even realizing it.  It happened during a complex lighting situation, and she wound up experimenting and blended the images in Photoshop.  She has never purchased specialized HDR software, and to this day she continues to manually produce all of her HDR work.

Just Opened

Eden

​Hengki Koentjoro and Zhang Jingna are two photographers that Mónica admires not only for their photographic talent, but also their diverse styles.​​

​Lastly, looking toward the future, she would like to try 360 degree panoramic photography, perferably at night.  Capturing what happens in the dark is particularly intersting to her.  So far she has not come across any photographers who have tried this style.

You can find Mónica Cifuentes out and about on Twitter, DeviantART, and her personal site.