Kat Eye Studio

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Exploring with a Camera: Night Photography

Welcome to the last day of Six Days of Night! If you don’t have the bug to try night photography after this week, then I’m not sure I’ll be able to convince you. But if you do have the desire to try it out for yourself, today I have some information that will help get you started.

I discovered night photography about a year ago, in October 2009, on a trip to Florence and Tuscany. I’d taken the odd night photo here and there before this, and some even came out great, but it wasn’t until we began travelling in the winter months last year that I really fell in love with it. When you travel in the summer, you have these long days to run around and see everything. By the time the evening comes along, everyone is worn out and you head back to the hotel room as the light fades, especially if you have kids. In the winter, however, the days end early and you find yourself out and about in the darkness, seeing the world in a totally different light. Amazing, beautiful, atmospheric light that is like no other. And just like the quality of light in the daytime, which changes from place to place, the quality of light and atmosphere of places at night changes too. You’ve probably noticed that in the photos I’ve shared over the last few days.  The photo above is one of my first attempts at night photography, in Florence.

My definition of “night photography” covers a broad range of light. As soon as the sun goes down and the lights start coming on, to me that begins the night. This is the time that the flash would start automatically coming on in your camera or you might just put it away, if you are used to using natural light.

Let’s look at how light progresses from day to evening. This image of London is from very early evening. You can see that the sky is still quite light, but the phone booth is lit, the streetlights are on and the windows are starting to glow with light. There is still a lot of light at this time for your photos, but you start to get the warm glow that makes night photos something special.

The transition from day to night is called twilight or also the “blue hour” because you see the sky transition through a wonderful range of blue. The contrast of this blue sky with the warm yellow of artificial lights is especially pleasing, as in this photo from early evening in Split, Croatia.

Toward the end of the  “blue hour,” the skies are an amazing deep blue, as in the photo below taken the same evening in Split, just later. The blue also changes as you look toward the west, where the sun just went down, versus toward the east. You can see the variation in blue in the sky of this image below, from bottom right to top left. I can’t image a prettier blue color! No color adjustments done to this at all.

After a while, you will find yourself in full night, where the background skies are black. This has a completely different feel in the photo, all illumination is from the artifical lights around, as in this photo of Piazza San Marco in Venice.

Guess what? The blue hour happens twice a day, before dawn and after sunset. There is a great website, bluehoursite.com, that gives you the times of the blue hour for anywhere in the world on any day, so you can plan ahead!

Now that we’ve talked about light, let’s talk about how to use it creatively at night. There are so many ways to photograph the night! Looking through my photos last week I came up with lots of ideas. To start off, you know that reflections are one of my favorite things, whether the smooth as glass reflection of my favorite Venice photo (I had to slip this one in!), or the ripples of the bay in Split.

Reflections don’t only come from a large body of water at night as I’ve shown above. The pavement of the sidewalk, streets, rain… at night there are unending sources of light reflections. Not only are they cool to capture, but they increase the light available for taking photographs. Keep your eye out for them! We had a rainy night during our visit to Bath, and the reflections were so interesting. The really highlight the stone walkways and streets.

You might also note how yellow the light looks in the above photo, I did not do any adjustments to white balance to change how it came out in the camera. In my night shots I like the yellow glow of the lights, because that is part of the feel of night for me, although sometimes I do tone it down just a bit. You have to be careful when you adjust white balance on a night shot, because you can make the image look weird. The image below is an example. Left is out of the camera (quite yellow), Center is the color correction I like (still slightly yellow), and Right is over-corrected (no yellow left at all). While the flowers are white in the right one, that adjustment ends up creating an overall blue cast to the photo, and it no longer looks quite like night.

Night is a time for wonderful light bokeh. Since you often need to shoot with a wide open aperture to keep shutter speed down, you can capture the bokeh of lights in the background. This photo of the Chapel Bridge and the Lucerne water front is a good example. Since I’ve focused close to me, on the bridge, the waterfront behind is out of focus with nice bokeh. I’ve decided that I don’t use this effect enough, I need to play with it more in my night shots.

Watch for light pools or effects. Some of the paned windows in York provided wonderful shapes of light on the ground. I would love to go back and focus some shots just on those!

Night is also a wonderful time for silhouettes. Either from the fading light of twilight, or an artificial light source. The silhouette of the person walking by the bookstore in Padua, in the shot below, gives interest to the colorful background. And the strong light coming out the store front made this easy to get.

Strong light can also create shadows, sometimes in multiple directions at once if there are multiple light sources, like in this photo of my son’s legs and feet. Pretty cool! You don’t see this in the day, since we only have one sun. 🙂

Another great thing to capture at night is motion – in the form of blur. Because of the longer exposures you need, moving things will be blurred in your frame if the camera is still. You can also try to capture a moving object as still, with the background blurred to show motion, if you pan along with the moving object. This takes a lot of practice and trial and error. I don’t have any great examples of this, although I’ve tried, but the photo below from Venice shows the idea. I was on a moving boat, trying to get the bridge over the canal still while the rest of the photo was blurred. More practice is obviously needed, but hopefully you get the idea.

Sometimes, when you have just gone beyond the limits of any clear, in focus shot, just play. The photo below is from that same Vaporetto ride in Venice. Since I was moving on the boat, I played around with longer shutter speeds and intentionally moved the camera to get some cool effects. Kind of neat how the background buildings are still clear and “still” while the bright lights are moving – completely unplanned.

And finally, don’t be afraid of the dark. This is night, you can have large areas of your photo completely black and still have an amazing photo. Throw away the idea of the the entire frame being exposed when you are shooting at night, and just go for your focal point. It can create a dramatic image, like this one, another all-time favorite of mine from Venice.

My main mode of operation is to handhold my camera for night shots. I just am not willing to haul a tripod around with me all day so that I can have it handy at night, so big and cumbersome. So I’ve learned quite a bit along with way that I can share with you for optimizing your ability to get good “Handheld” night shots. (By the way, these will work in any low light situation, such as indoors, not just as night.) Tips for “Handheld” night shots:

  1. First off, turn off your flash! Turn your camera to a mode that won’t allow the flash to come on.
  2. Camera shake is your biggest enemy here – just the movement of you holding the camera while the shutter is open. A rule of thumb to avoid camera shake is that the shutter speed should be no slower than 1/[Your zoom setting]. So if you are at 50mm zoom, your shutter speed shouldn’t go below 1/50. At 35mm, shutter speed of 1/30.
  3. Increase your stability by taking a wide stance with your feet, tucking your elbows tight into your sides, and hold your breath while you take the shot. I can sometimes get good shots down to 1/20 or 1/15 with this method. You can also lean against a pole or the side of a building for increased stability.
  4. You can also increase your stability with an “assisted handhold” – use anything stable around, like a railing or bench or fence, and use that to help hold your camera. I put my hand under the lens, spreading my fingers and moving them around, to support the camera with the right angle. I also have to plan for more straightening and cropping in these shots, because you don’t have as much control. Most of my Venice canal shots were done with the assitance of a bridge railing for stability. Another option that is less cumbersome than a tripod but provides more stability is a monopod.
  5. Set your camera on Aperture Priority, with the setting as wide open as it will go. This will help keep your shutter speeds as fast as possible.
  6. Or, set your camera on Shutter Priority, to a reasonable shutter speed. I often do this to set it at 1/50 when we are just walking around a town. I’ve found that this setting works consistently well for avoiding camera shake on the go, and it forces the camera to choose the best aperture for the exposure. This works when my camera is choosing slower shutter speeds but not using the full aperture range of my lens.
  7. My last resort is to bump up my ISO setting. This is one of the most wonderful things about digital, that we can adjust our ISO setting, instead of being stuck with whatever is set for the film that is loaded. When you’re wide open on aperture and your shutter speed is still too low, then increase the ISO setting. I kind of think of ISO increase as a last resort, because with every increase to ISO you also increase the noise. I purchased my current camera (Canon Rebel T1i) partially because of the increased ISO range, 3200 and beyond, but the more I’ve gotten into night photography the more I realize that I would rather not use the ISO settings higher than 800 if I can avoid it. But – when faced with either not getting the shot or having a noisier shot – I’ll always choose to get the shot, even with the noise.
  8. If all else fails, underexpose. By underexposing, you can drive your camera to shorter shutter speeds. As long as you don’t underexpose so much that you lose the vital pixel information of your focal point, you can compensate exposure in the computer using software.  I’ve learned that I can easily underexpose 2/3 to 1 full stop on night photos and recover them in post processing.
  9. Constantly check your settings, especially shutter speed, if your camera is in an auto mode for exposure. You have to be aware of them as you shoot at night, even more so than you might normally, because the lighting conditions change so much from place to place.
  10. Always take multiple shots, because with several you might get one that one perfect one. There is a lot more room for error with night photography. And happy accidents too! Review in camera using the zoom feature, because sometimes a shot might look perfect on your tiny screen only to have some camera shake when you view it larger on your computer.
  11. Finally, if you just reach the limits of your equipment and don’t want to go the tripod route, there is nothing that can help your handheld night photography more than upgrading your equipment for a lens with a wide aperture. Night photography is one area where your equipment really does come into play a bit more, so you will have to experiment and find the limits of your camera/lens combo.When night comes, I switch to my 35mm f/1.4 lens. This has given me an extended range of light I can work with at night. Consider trying out a 50mm f/1.8 lens as an inexpensive first step into this arena, if you have a dSLR. And if you have a point-and-shoot, well… you might want to think about a dSLR or use a tripod.

As I’ve progressed further with night photography, and especially after my photo lesson in Paris, I can really see the benefit of the tripod. You can decrease your ISO and increase your shutter speeds significantly and take your camera limitations mostly out of the equation. The cost of it is carrying the tripod, so for me, I see this as an option when I am intentionally travelling to photograph rather than when I photograph as I travel (the latter is my normal mode of operation). Tips for “Tripod” shots:

  1. You need a good stable tripod that will not move with normal winds and can hold your camera. My 24-70mm lens is a big one and so most of those little, compact tripods you can buy won’t work for my camera. Also recommended with a tripod are a quick release feature (where you don’t actually screw the camera into the tripod, but into a piece that you can easily connect and disconnect from the tripod) and a level that can help you keep your camera straight (something I need!). There are multiple types of adjustments available, but you want to make sure that you can do both horizontal and vertical orientation easily. There are so many types of tripods out there, if you can visit a store and try them out with your camera before you buy, that is recommended. I have a simple tripod that is strong enough to hold my camera stably, has quick release, but is as light as I could manage.
  2. Ensure flash is off.
  3. Set your ISO lower, to reduce noise. Try as low as the camera will allow you to set it, and work up from there as needed.
  4. You have more flexibility in your aperture and shutter speed settings, so play around here. You might still want to set your aperture wide open, to reduce the shutter speed, just to avoid really long exposures you will need for a low ISO setting. You are still subject to camera shake with a tripod, just less so. The longer the shutter is open, the more likely you are to have an issue.
  5. Use a remote shutter release. You can still shake the camera on a tripod just by pressing the shutter. Remote shutter releases (cable or wireless) are available inexpensively for many cameras. This removes you completely as the source of the camera shake.
  6. Use your camera self timer. Another option, if you don’t have a remote shutter release, is to use the self timer feature that most cameras have these days. This doesn’t work so well, however, if you are trying to time the shot with movement in or out of the frame. For example, in many of my Paris shots, I had to be ready to shoot as soon as my frame was clear of people. If I used the self timer, I could never have been able to hit the shutter such that 10 seconds later the frame was clear.
  7. Again, review, check your settings and take multiple shots. Once you get everything set up perfectly, you don’t want to be disappointed if you discover on the computer that it was slightly out of focus. It’s hard to use manual focus at night, so I use auto focus as much as possible but that isn’t always fool proof either.

If you stuck with me here to the bitter end you must be ready to start exploring night photography. And guess what – here in the northern hemisphere the days are getting shorter and the nights longer, so you’ll have plenty of opportunities in the coming months. The Flickr group is available to post your shots, but I think I’m also going to mix it up a little bit to see if I can increase the sharing. Next week come back on Thursday and you can add a link to your night shots (blog or website or Flickr, anywhere with a web address to your specific shots) to share with the rest of the readers here too. Won’t it be fun to go blog hopping and see what everyone else has captured in the night? I can’t wait to see your view!

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Exploring with a Camera: Spirals

Spirals are a beautiful shape. They have marvelous curves and convey energy and motion. Not only that, they are a truly efficient form used in nature, and we see them so many places in our every day lives!

While I have captured spirals with my camera countless times, the first place I truly became aware of the spiral form explicitly was in the Barcelona Science Museum. The exhibit on forms found in nature had this to say:

The spiral is a circumference that twists away on the plane that contains it. It is the best way of growing without occupying too much space. It is frequently found in animals when there exists the contradictory need for something massive, voluminous, broad or long that does not affect mobility (horns, tails, tongues, trunks, shells, etc.) and in plants to grow something that will subsequently be unrolled. If we unrolled all the spirals we have at home (kitchen and toilet paper, audio and video tapes, adhesive tape, records, springs….) we would be forced to leave the house, as we would not all fit.

Wow! I had never thought of it that way. The typical form in nature that comes to mind for me is the shell (above, from Barcelona Science Museum), but there are so many other places you will see it. Take this photo of a gardenia, for example, from my online friend Barbara:

So gorgeous! Mother nature really knows what she is doing in these things (and so does Barbara). 🙂

Our man-made world copies nature to use the function of spirals. I don’t personally have any photos of toilet paper, but the common spiral staircase, like this one in Verona, is a good example.

And I will spare you the countless spiral staircase photos I have of lighthouses on the Oregon coast! I can’t step into one without capturing the wonderful curves and lines of them. (In prepping for this post I learned that technically, this is not a spiral because it is not all on the same plane – it’s a helix. But you’ll forgive me if I claim artistic license here, won’t you?)

Even more than function, humans copy the form of spirals in our everyday world. The Romans used them, as I discovered in this floor mosaic in the British Museum:

The Greeks used them, in their ionic columns. (Thanks to my 9-year-old son, I’ve relearned which are Doric, Ionic and Corinthian. Ionic have the spirals.) These columns are used all over in architecture, here’s just one example I caught in Bath:

And they are used all the time in wrought iron work, as I’ve noticed here in my travels in Europe. Here’s a light post in Bath:

My favorite wrought iron spiral of all time is this railing in Amsterdam. Talk about function following form! What graceful curves…

An architect who used spirals over and over in his work was Antoni Gaudí, in Barcelona. He took much of his inspiration from nature, and this ceiling detail is but one example.

We see spirals every day, even if you haven’t noticed it lately. I captured these two images of bus shelter advertisements in different cities on our recent trip to England. Spirals are used in graphic arts to denote natural beauty and to convey energy. They catch your eye and draw you in.

Keep your eye out for spirals around you. Here are a few ideas:
1. Look at home. All of those rolls of paper! And then there are spiral notebooks, springs, even toys (hello, Slinky!). What is there with spirals, sitting right next to you?
2. Look at nature. Flowers, ferns, vines, shells all show spirals. Water moves in spirals, think whirlpools and breaking waves. How can you capture them? What else can you find?
3. Look at architecture. Staircases and wrought iron are two I’ve mentioned, what others do you see?
4. Look at art and design. Artist have used spirals in their work for thousands of years, and the golden spiral or golden ratio is a fundamental compositional principle (see a short and helpful explanation here). What traditional and modern uses of spirals can you find?

I can’t wait to see your spirals! Join in and share them in the Flickr group.

PS – If you want to do more exploring with your camera, visit past posts here.

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Exploring with a Camera: Repeating Patterns

Time for another exploration! Can I tell you how much I look forward to these? I have been thinking about this post for the last two weeks, pondering today’s topic and seeing things in the world around me with an eye to Repeating Patterns.

We have repeating patterns everywhere in our lives. So much so that we don’t always notice them. We see, catalog, and sort the differences in things, that’s how our brains work. The sameness can blend in to the background. But, when we notice, we can use the “sameness” of patterns to good effect in our photography.

First, let’s explore repeating patterns as the focal point of our images. In the photo below, of a Barcelona apartment building, at first glance it might look like a photo of windows. It’s not. It’s a photo of a repeating pattern – the windows, balconies and shadows all repeat in a regular fashion. There’s no one place for the eye to look. I’ve heightened the “pattern” aspect of the photo by changing it to black and white. No pesky color to distract you from the pattern. The image becomes more about the pattern of light and dark, than what is creating the pattern of light and dark. I especially like the undulating light “stripes” that appear, where the sunlight hits the building, when you stop looking at the windows and shadows and just look at it as a pattern.


    Here’s another image that is of repeating pattern, of a rooftop in Murten, Switzerland. You see the shingles, all repeating at regular intervals vertically and horizontally. There is a difference in this photo, however, from the image above. In this photo, the repeating pattern serves to highlight another aspect – the fact that the shingles are different. The pattern repeats, but what makes up the pattern does not, so this image is about the differences. Differences in color, size, shape. You notice them all more because of the pattern.

    In thinking about repeating patterns and how I use them in my photography, I find that this second use, using a repeating pattern to highlight some third aspect, is my primary use. This image of shadows on the street in Bolzano, Italy is a good example. Imagine the image of the shadows without the contrast of the pattern, or the pattern without the shadows. Either way, in my mind’s eye, it falls flat. But when you combine the two, and use the repeating lines and shapes of the pattern as a backdrop for the irregular and solid shapes of the shadows, you get a great image. The repeating pattern really sets off the subject, the shadows. Again, in this image I converted to black and white to highlight the lines, shapes, patterns.

    The pattern of the edges of the floor tiles, of this Gaudi design in Barcelona, serves to contrast and enhance the flowing nature of the art that is impressed into them. The angle of the photo, with the pattern growing smaller and blurring toward the back, serves to enhance your awareness of the dimension, how the light and shadow is showing you the impressed elements. The pattern of straight lines provides a structured frame that the flowing curves reside in and move through. You also get hints that the natural, curvy figures impressed into the tiles are a repeating pattern of their own, when you look at it closer. All that in one picture of a floor!

    Here the repeating pattern of the balconies serves to enhance the feeling of height in the skyscraper in Barcelona. You see this in many “looking up” skyscraper shots, but this one is very dramatic because of the horizontal lines and angles jutting out on each floor.

    This image, from Milan, shows how the pattern of the light and shadow on the unusual bricks of this building serve to show the curve and size of the building. You see the bricks, but the repeating pattern of them immediately leads your eye along the curve toward the edge. What happens after the edge of this picture? The crop of the image, which doesn’t show you beyond the building, leaves you with the impression that the pattern continues indefinitely.While all of the examples so far have been of architecture, I also find store displays a wonderful source of repeating patterns. In this image,you have repeating patterns in three dimensions. An image of a single chocolate bar, while showing the design of the wrapper, color, etc., would not be as interesting as this one with the repeating pattern. The pattern of multiple bars repeated, as well as the repetition in the third dimension, gives depth and a feeling of abundance. You see the chocolate bar wrapper just as clearly as if that were the only thing in the photo, but you also see more.

    So, how can you use repeating patterns in your photography? Some ideas and tips…
    1. Look for repeating patterns, they are everywhere around us. Architecture is one of the best sources, because it takes lots of little, repeating pieces to build something big. Elements of architecture with repeating patterns can be found in the facades – windows, doors, trim, bricks, blocks of stone – or inside – steps, beams, flooring. Our modern world is built with repeating patterns! Stores are also a good source of repeating patterns, because they have a lot of the same thing to sell. Look for creative store displays that use that to good effect.
    2. Look for opportunities for the pattern to be the subject. Choose your composition and angle such that you see the pattern repeat several times at the same size and there is no “perspective” effect. This will often be looking straight at, or very close to straight at, the subject pattern. Try converting to black and white to enhance the pattern aspect, removing color as a difference that may distract from the pattern itself.
    3. Look for opportunites for a pattern to enhance or contrast with a subject. Use angles that show the dimension – distance, height, depth. Use compositions that capture differences in the pattern – whether it be color or shape. Use a pattern as a backdrop for the subject. Use post-processing, like selective color, to have one element of a repeating pattern pop out.

    What other ideas do you have for capturing images with repeating patterns? I’d love to see what your eye sees! Share here in the comments or join in the Flickr group.

    (Want to explore some more? You can find all past explorations linked in one place here.)

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    Exploring with a Camera: Reflections in Glass

    I’m so excited for today’s exploration! The “Exploring with a Camera” series is about seeing things around you in a different way. To get good photographs, you first have to see, like I discussed in Monday’s post. Today we’re looking at capturing images with Reflections in Glass.

    Reflections in glass are so cool because the image you see is not a direct image of a subject. What’s behind and around the glass changes the images, and the reflection itself often softens and distorts the subject.

    Below is an example from our recent stay in Lucerne, Switzerland. In this image, the only “direct” image you are seeing is straight through the walkway. The rest of the arches and store windows are reflections. See the people on the right? They are really on the left, not directly visible to the camera, but in the reflection they have a “ghost image” quality. It’s like an optical illusion, but it’s just looking down a corridor lined with glass.
    To get this image I moved around and took photos from several different angles and at different times with varying amounts of people. When I took this specific shot, I didn’t even notice the people visible in the reflection on the right because I was focusing on the “direct” part of the image being free of people.

    Here is another example, of my son looking out of a train window. The reflection draws your eye to his profile. Look at it for a while and you start to see the symmetric shape between the two profiles. You’ll also notice that the key areas of his face in the reflection – eyes, nose, lips – are clearly visible while the other parts are modified by what is seen out the window.

    If there is something immediately behind the glass, you can get really cool effects in your reflections. The security door immediately behind the glass in this photo enabled me to get an uninterrupted scene of the reflected street in Lucerne but with a really unique texture.

    A reflection can completely change a setting. Without the reflection of me and my family, the image below would be just another doorway to a modern building. Nothing of note that I would routinely photograph. With the reflection, it becomes a family portrait with a sense of place – you can see the wording above the door is in Spanish (we were in Barcelona) and the funky tube things draped across the top show part of the science museum we were entering. Notice how everything in the photograph seems to draw your eye to the center, where the reflection is. Also notice also the cool “double” effect with our reflections because the entrance had two sets of glass doors.

    Here is another reflection of an entrance, a self-portrait of me at our apartment building in Italy. I love the sense of place that is achieved by what is reflected in the background, along with the tiny little suggestion of what is behind the door. Not a huge fan of my pictures of myself (who is?), I also like how the reflection softens my image so that I don’t focus on all of the things I immediately see as “flaws” in a regular photograph. Maybe I’m able to better see the real me, as others see me, because it’s a reflection.

    And, just a reminder, glass is just not windows and doors! Here is a wine bottle, but in it there is a reflection of me and my family along with the buildings across the street in Nice, France. The subject here is the bottle, but the reflection adds interest.

    Tips for getting your own images of reflections in glass:
    1. Look for indirect light on both sides of the reflection. In reviewing pictures for this topic I realized that the most interesting reflections have indirect light as the main light source – either in shade or cloudy day or evening light. When there is a direct or strong light source on either side of the glass you will not get the kind of reflections I’m showing here.
    2. Look in and Look out. Keep you eye out for reflections on both sides of the glass, whether you are indoors or outdoors. When you see the reflection, also notice what you see through the reflection. That can make or break the image! It’s easy to focus so much on the reflection that you don’t see something distracting on the other side.
    3. Change your perspective. If you see a cool reflection, move around and photograph it from different perspectives and compositions. Because of the way you can often see what’s on both side of the glass, you may find a more interesting composition, or even a different reflection, if you move a few steps to the left or right than where you first noticed the reflection.
    4. Look for reflections in all kinds of glass – not just windows. When you start to see these, you will notice that glass is everywhere, in all shapes and sizes and colors.

    Have fun seeing all of the reflections in glass around you in a whole new way! I would love to see your explorations in this topic, post a link here in the comments or join the Flickr group to share.

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    Exploring with a Camera: Thresholds

    Time for another exploration! This time of a subject: Thresholds. By “threshold” I’m not referring to any technical term, but a physical place. A place where you cross over, from one locale to another, whether real or imagined. Threshold images are not merely images of doors or gates, but they are of portals that transport you to somplace different in your imagination.

    The photo above is an example of the type of “threshold” I am talking about. This image is from the Roman Arena in Verona. When I look at it, I get a sense of time travel. In my imagination, if I walk through that curtain, I will be transported back to Roman times. There is a magical quality of the unknown on the other side of that curtain. It beckons me to come through.

    Here is another, of a gate to Parco di Monza near my home. This image gives me the feeling of looking into another world, some sort of magical winter wonderland. The gate is merely the portal, the threshold to this place. I want to explore down that path.

    And here is a threshold that I captured that has become sort of an anti-threshold to me. One that I don’t plan to pass through. You see, later this year I turn 40 years old and I started looking for places with the address 40 to capture my threshold. This image is from the island of Murano in the Venetian lagoon, one of my favorite places on earth to photograph, but this is one of the most depressing images I have photographed there. After I reviewed and edited it, I realized that is not my 40 threshold at all – there is no hope, no happiness, no creativity in this threshold. It’s pretty bleak and closed off. It showed me that I have no problem with turning 40, that I reject the idea that this milestone is a bleak thing. So there is power in that too – I began to imagine what my internal 40 threshold looks like and it’s nothing like this.

    To capture a special threshold image, here are some tips:
    1. Look for doors or gates that have some contrast in what is behind versus what is part of the wall or structure the opening is in. This could be a contrast in light or in scenery. The greater the contrast, the greater the opportunity for the “threshold” feeling.
    2. Try getting in close to the threshold. By cropping in close on the opening so you don’t see what is surrounding it, you create more opportunity for creative story telling because there is not as much physical “place” presented to distract the imagination with reality.
    3. Look for openings that are not fully open, that just give a hint of what is behind them. This will give a tantalizing, magical feeling. In this case, the imagination is not distracted by the reality of what is on the other side of the threshold, but is allowed to go wild.
    4. Look for thresholds that have meaning to you, whether it’s the address number or the physical place or the imagery you find there. Later, take some time to examine that image to see what meaning you find. Does the image match your imagination or feelings? Why or why not? Can this threshold be useful to you to learn something about yourself?

    Photography, like any art, is symbolic. The images we capture have meaning, whether or not we know it at the time. Explore the world around you with the idea that there are magical thresholds available to you all the time, and share what you find! Post a link to your photo here in the comments or join the Flickr group set up for my Exploring with a Camera series.

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    Exploring with a Camera: Dappled Sunlight

    This image fills me with a sense of peace. The greens and blues, the sheltering trees, the path to follow, with the archway leading you right around the corner into the sunlight. It’s a safe, shaded place to pause before moving onward. Beautiful.

    This path is part of Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia, where we spent one day hiking along a series of lakes with wonderful waterfalls. Just as spectacular is the path you follow, that winds you along and right up close and personal with the waterfalls or “splat” as they are called in Croat. It was an enjoyable day, a nice break from the cities we had visited to commune with nature and see something new.

    I’ve often struggled with getting a good exposure in dappled sunlight images like this one because of the high contrast between full sun and full shade, a common problem in the middle of the day in the summer. Here are a couple of tips for your own explorations of dappled sunlight:
    1. In the camera, underexpose. You want to make sure that the bright areas of sunlight on the leaves and the path are not overexposed or “blown out” completely. If that happens, you lose the ability to make any adjustments to those areas later in photo editing software.
    2. In your photo editing software, consider two edits (I use Photoshop Elements):
    – Adjust Levels to get back the “bright” areas if they were underexposed too much.
    – Lighten shadows or Darken highlights to get less contrast between the light and the dark areas. I’ve found the biggest problem with dappled sunlight pictures is that the dark areas are too dark relative to the brighter area of the photo, so if you just lighten them up a bit it looks more like what your eye sees.

    For this image, I underexposed a full stop in the camera and then just adjusted levels to brighten the highlights back up, because the exposure was pretty good overall. A small bit of cropping and I was done!

    I also played with Pioneer Woman’s Lovely and Ethereal Action for Elements, and I like the depth of color and the dreamy quality this one gives as well. I can’t decide which one I like better!

    Try your own dappled sunlight pics, and let me know how it goes! I’ve created a flickr group if you want to share your exploration results called Kat Eye View: Exploring with a Camera. Come join in!