The Wide Lens- Shooting and talking « The Wide Lens- Photography Stories

Firefox 3- Recommended browser to view The Wide Lens

Published on May 15, 2009

The Wide Lens had lately changes its appearance. A designed version of the K2 theme, and mainly new graphic elements such as the featured content box on the home page the the “shadowbox” which makes images open to full size in a very cool and smooth way- for an improved image viewing experience.

Unfortunatly, a few tests I made indicated the Microsoft Internet Explorer does not always open the effects as it should- resulting in either opening the image in a new window or showing an “error on page” which isn’t really an error…

While I’ll make an effort that IE does work better with The Wide Lens, for best viewing results, and also for general purpose web browsing, I strongly recommend using Mozilla FireFox 3- it’s free, reliable, quick and has loads of great addons.

To download FireFox simply click on the big FireFox logo I’ve placed on the right sidebar.

Tal

Windows into Europe

Published on May 13, 2009

Ido Liven is back with a somewhat international post, showcasing a small collection of photographs from across Europe with one topic in common- Windows.

Window Window at Sanssouci Palace, Potsdam, Germany

Without going to any philosophical connotations, windows make a somewhat unordinary photography objects. Composition-wise, they’re all flat, practically two-dimensional. Furthermore, the conventional window-shots are simply a frame within a frame, just like this window in Olbia, Sardinia.

A fine window photo would then usually be one that might present an interesting color composition (unless there’s a cat sitting on the windowsill). In these three other photos I tried different approaches for these problematic-though-intriguing objects.

You too can feature your photos on The Wide Lens, here’s how.

Light and Music- Band Photography

Published on May 13, 2009

Tel Aviv has a justified reputation of a none-stop city. It can match just about any other metropolitan in the world with it’s around the clock activities and easily outrun the majority of other cities on the globe. It’s this character that easily allows nightlife photography to take place in various spots and scenarios.

I had the opportunity to get into a concert of a few unknown local rock bands, some excellent and some will definitely raise an eyebrow with the average listener, like myself.

The interesting point was actually the venue- a huge loft over an old warehouse, with the band located right in the middle, and a set of extremely strong lighting which could make the entire room brighter than daylight. The lights were effective enough to point out that sunglasses are recommended.

Hearing about this set of performances at the particular set up translated clearly into a photo opportunity. Equipped with my trusty, though somewhat slow Olympus C-8080, I headed out.

The lighting conditions kept changing dynamically throughout the night and every few seconds. Which made the use of flash virtually impossible to set up in time. Aperture priority and lots of snapshots became the immediate tactic, while also trying to get the lighting, musicians and crowed into the composition. Black and white post processing also seemed to add a bit of atmosphere to some images.

Beyond the special event and unique lighting conditions, this was my only attempt so far with band photography, a genre I encounter quite a bit at personal galleries of photographers. It’s actually fun an challenging, as the combination of items and composition is both endless and dynamic.

Have you tried band photography as well? Why not let us all see?

Site updates- WP version, main page and more

Published on May 9, 2009

A few more site updates as The Wide Lens starts to look like I want it to look.

Starting with the core, I’ve updated the WordPress version to 2.7.1. On it’s own it won’t show, but hopefully it improves overall performance- always good to stay updated.

On the main page- I’ve added the featured content gallery which will always show the last 3 posts or so (if you think of a better number and have a reason, let me know).

On the sidebar- I adjusted the position of some elements, but more then that added a large and clear button for The Wide Lens RSS feed and also for the respective twitter page. Those together with the e-mail subscription allows you to follow updates on the site in 3 ways besides simply visiting.

That’s it for now,

Hope you like the overall look&feel, comments are welcome.

Tal

Chasing waterfalls: from the French Alps to the Judean Desert

Published on May 9, 2009

Looking for a common subject as a photographic description for both the French Alps and the Judean desert isn’t trivial. Picking waterfalls as that subject is even more tricky- but with the right timing, and good weather forecast- anything is possible.

In the French Alps, an area featuring quite a bit of my own photographs since I stayed there most of the summer of 2008, clear streams and waterfalls are not a rare sight. Just in “my neighborhood”, The Brochaux waterfall and the area surrounding lake Montriond have quite a few spots to check out.

A note on timing (1): When photographing waterfalls and running water in general, it’s a good thing to bring a tripod or find a steady spot. You can then use slow shutter speed in order to give the water a bit of a “foggy” effect, enhancing the sense of movement in the image.

Moving east to the Judean desert, waterfalls, and water in general, aren’t as common. The Judean desert does however enjoy the occasional flash floods. The mountain formation and unique soil contribute to the creation of massive flash floods for just a few hours. You need to either be there on the right time, or pay close attention to the forecast. With good timing it’s not a problem to get there just about on time- although flash floods occur only a few days each year.

A note on timing (2): Flash floods start strong and then grow weaker. I’ve had a good enough timing to catch these floods, but only towards the end- not showing just how powerful these floods can be. the pattern of the stream in the image does, however, show the potential.