Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon TS-E 17mm f/4L, 17mm, F 4, ISO 100, HDR, 9 Exposures

<Pun Alert>It’s great when a scene is sitting there, waiting for you to shoot it.</Pun Alert>

Sometimes, there is an element in your scene that is clearly the focal point of the image.  You know that you want your viewer’s eyes to go directly to it.  And, there are plenty of ways to make that happen. In the scene above, I ended up tilting my 17mm T/S lens upward to change the plane of focus to the lower portion of the frame, where the clock face is.  I also ran the image through Focal Point, part of the OnOne Plug-in Suite family, to accentuate the shallow depth of field.  Finally, I ended up dodging the clock face so as to make it pop, while burning the rest of the scene and adding a vignette.

There are tons of ways to focus the attention of your viewers and it should be a major consideration with any image that you share.

PS – You can save 15% off the purchase of any OnOne product by using the coupon code MATIASH at checkout.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon TS-E 17mm f/4L, 17mm, F 9, ISO 100, HDR, 9 Exposures

I don’t think I’ve shot any major Urbex locations by myself in a long time. In fact, just about every shoot of this nature has been with my grunge brother, Bob Lussier. The thing is that when we are shooting, we naturally stray away from each other. It’s nothing intentional, but rather second-nature. We come here together to shoot alone and there is so much to say about that. Going on a shoot with someone, anyone for that matter, should be a serious consideration. Now, I am not advocating to shoot alone – not even close. What I am saying is that you really need to be introspective about who you shoot with if you are going with other people.

Do you prefer the social aspect of shooting with others? Then align yourself with those kinds of people. For Bob and me, we tend to retreat to our own places when we shoot. He goes off and makes magic, I go off and try to do the same. We regroup after 30-40 clips, partly to ensure that neither of us is dead and partly to continue to spur our own creativity by comparing brackets. It is a perfect situation for us and I guess my story here is that all of you should make sure that you think about what your perfect situation is. Sure, it can be a solo walk with just you and your thoughts. By all means.

Just be keen to tap into whatever parameters it is that coaxes all of your creativity out when you shoot. It’ll help you concentrate on getting the best possible shots and it’ll also aid in you having the most fun doing it.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye, 15mm, F 16, ISO 100, HDR, 9 Exposures

Styles change. No big surprise here, right? What piques your interest today could be totally boring to you tomorrow. It’s important to be in tune with what gets you going so that you can seek it out and develop it, as it were. For the longest time, I’ve been a huge fan of this grunge/urbex photography. Without going into a dissertation, a lot of the characteristics and elements found in these scenes really jive with my sense of style.

But I’ve also noticed myself lately gravitating towards processing and posting different styles of photos. Some are more nature-based, others are more on the architecture side. But, I was cognizant that I was keeping away from this sort of grunge photography. I think part of it has to do with just how intense grunge photography can be. It really is a barnyard full of different and competing elements, on top of the constant task of herding just the right amount of varying texture in each part of the scene. In short, it’s a lot on the mind and on the eyes to process (and view).

So, I took a break from it. I haven’t really shot any grunge/urbex as of late nor have I visited any of my urbex backlog… until last night, when I happened upon the shot above, taken during my very first visit to the Stone Mill with Mr. Mills himself, Bob Lussier. I remembered composing this shot and being very jazzed about the warped symmetry in windows created by the fisheye. I loved having such a distinctly crusted foreground element in the paint pan. It all worked for me and all of those memories came flooding back. It got me revved up and I was back in action.

I am left wondering how I’d react if I hadn’t afforded myself this break from the grunge. Would the excitement have been diffused and would that translate in a poorly processed image? Considering that as a possibility, I was really glad that I took a break from the type of photography that I was enveloping myself in… if just for a few weeks.

So, never discount a well-timed respite. Sometimes, it is the exact prescription to revitalize your style.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon TS-E 17mm f/4L, 17mm, F 4, ISO 100, HDR, 9 Exposures

I was doing some UrbEx HDR shooting with my good buddy, Bob Lussier, yesterday.  It’s a lucky thing to have such ready access to this feature-rich locale. During the first half of the shoot, I had my 17mm T/S lens on. After a little while, it dawned on me that my shots were pretty wide in scope, as would probably be expected with such a wide angle lens. To change it up, I kept the same lens on but resolved to create shots where I filled the frame as much as possible with 1-2 elements.  It was an interesting experiment. It’s very easy to put on an ultra-wide angle lens, plop the tripod down in any direction and grab a shot.  I do not say this in any derogatory tone at all. But, it did make things more interesting for me. I forced myself to compose tighter scenes while also competing with the natural distortion that comes with an ultra-wide angle lens.

It is often said that one of the most important lessons in photographic composition and style is to know which elements you should remove from your scene and how to effectively do so (not counting cloning it out in Photoshop ).  It’s a lesson that I certainly agree with and it’s one that I recommend everyone pay some mind to during your next shoot. By learning how to remove the extraneous, you will be able to boil your shot down and convey exactly what you’re intending to share while removing unnecessary visual distractions. I do admit – at first, it was a bit frustrating but after 15 minutes or so of just walking around without the camera, I felt myself getting into that groove. That’s when I picked up the camera again and started making some shots. Go ahead and give it a shot yourself!

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon TS-E 17mm f/4L, 17mm, F 16, ISO 100, HDR, 9 Exposures

This is a pretty good example of sharing a shot even though you know that something about it bothers you.  I’ve had this shot ready for a few weeks now.  I took it during a recent shoot at the Mills.  I really do love it.  The pattern and sense of scale really float my boat.  But, despite using an architecture lens, it is still an ultra-wide 17mm and it is subject to barrel distortion, albeit a nominal amount. If you look at the upper corners of the frame, you’ll notice that the vertical lines start to warp just a bit, like they are bowing outward.  This bothered me for a while and the more I tried to correct it with the various lens correction utilities that both Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5 have, I was never really happy with the results.

In the end, I decided to just go with my gut and post it in its original style.  And you know what?  I’m really happy with how it came out.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon TS-E 45mm f/2.8, 45mm, F 2.8, ISO 100, HDR, 9 Exposures

I know that I’ve written about it before, but I have to say that there is something great about throwing on a lens that you haven’t used for a while to get a fresh look at things.  And I’m not really saying go from one ultra-wide to another.  Rather, change it up more drastically, if you can.  I don’t normally shoot with anything longer than a 17mm lens (often opting for the 15mm fisheye or the 14mm UW) so when I spent the day shooting with my 45mm Prime T/S lens, I started seeing things differently.  Instead of stepping back from a scene to try and capture it all in, I tried to lock in and isolation specific pieces of the scene to make my composition.

The hardware above is a good example.  This was taken in that turbine room that I wrote about the other day.  After I got that shot, I started focusing in on more close-up/macro detail and I landed on these chains and pulleys.  I was fortunate that they were already laid out in a compelling way, so I chose my framing, added a little tilt for effect, and fired away.  To me, this shot is very satisfying because it keeps me grounded and aware that it’s not a bad thing to change up what your eyes look for when creating a new shot.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon TS-E 45mm f/2.8, 45mm, F 7.1, ISO 100, HDR, 9 Exposures

So I’m setting up a shot back at the ol’ Stone Mill when I see Bob walking towards me with a pretty quick cadence. Either he is being chased by a deranged maniac or he has something important to tell me.  In either case, I get in a defensive posture, ready to start swinging my tripod like a battle ax.  Fortunately, the news was good.  In a hushed tone and with a smile, Bob says, “I got access to the Turbine Room.”

In my head, I was picturing a cavernous room filled with massive gears and contraptions and machinery. The room didn’t quite fit my imagination, as it was very tight to maneuver around and there wasn’t all that much to see.  The way I figure it, when you reach this point where reality diverges from the avenue of imagination, you can either shrug your shoulders and walk away or you can turn it into something very cool.

It’s funny how little maneuvers like pivoting your camera up or being more unorthodox with composition can make an ordinary shot look very cool.  Of all the items in the Turbine Room, the most interesting to me was this wall of levers and gauges.  Instead of shooting the levers head-on, which was my initial reaction, I chose to get up close to one of the switches and open up the aperture to its widest setting.  As I was looking through my Live View display, I knew that I’d be happy with the shot and it instantly got my creative juices flowing. Sometimes, landing one great shot can spur a chain reaction, opening up your eyes and your mind to all sorts of other photo ops.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon TS-E 45mm f/2.8, 45mm, F 7.1, ISO 100, HDR, 9 Exposures

I really enjoy having the opportunity to shoot this type of scene because there is a sense of movement and narration that the photographer can offer the viewer.  This was one of those ‘stop in your tracks’ shots that sort of hit me in the face when I saw it.  I was walking to the top floor of the Stone Mill with my buddy, Bob, and loved the way the sunlight was breaking through the right-hand doorway, creating a sense of a pathway.

By framing the shot the way that I did, I feel that the viewer’s mind creates a sense of movement.  You start to imagine yourself taking a few steps into the frame, trying to peer around the door frame and see what’s just around the corner.  That is one of the things that I try to accomplish with my photos – a sense of visual narration and, when possible, a bit of ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ so that each viewer creates their own little story from this scene.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon TS-E 17mm f/4L, 17mm, F 16, ISO 100, HDR, 9 Exposures

It’s not really very often when I will think about processing an image in Black and White.  I have the utmost appreciation for B&W but I tend to find myself attracted to the contrast and textures thru color, granted that I’m red/green colorblind… but that’s a whole other story.  Still, I think it is important to pay homage to the style… it helps refine vision.

Actually, this isn’t a completely B&W image.  I did process it that way on its own layer in Photoshop, but I opted to drop the opacity just a tad to let a little bit of the yellow railing pop out.  I felt that it gave the shot a more cinematic look, which enhanced the shot for me.  Isn’t compromise a wonderful thing?  :)

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon TS-E 17mm f/4L, 17mm, F 16, ISO 100, HDR, 27 Exposures, Pano

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It’s funny, actually.  I usually go to great lengths to ensure that that I reduce/remove as much distortion from my shots as possible.  By distortion, I am usually referring to the curving or bending of vertical lines, typically found in architecture and is most often visible as the lines of buildings reach the far ends and corners of the frame.  This effect is called Barrel or Pincushion Distortion and becomes more prominent as you go wider with your lenses.  Throw on a 14mm or a 16-35mm lens and you’ll see what I mean.

To combat this, I use Tilt Shift Rectilinear lenses to help provide straight lines.  However, when I was standing in this pretty massive alley, I knew that I wanted to turn this into an HDR T/S Pano.  It had all of the right elements: a wide expanse, cool visual elements, and a dramatic sky.  When I looked through my Live View, I noticed that the buildings on either side of me were going to struggle with distortion.  At first, I started playing around with my positioning and the shift of the lens, but then I looked again and really liked what I saw.

In this situation, the over-exaggerated distortion lent something to the image.  It was one of those times where I actually used my Tilt Shift lens in the complete contrary way that it was intended to be used.  I’m going to have to remember to try doing that more often.

Oh, what’s that?  You really want to get a closer look at that sweet Buick station wagon?  Well, my good buddy, Bob, is happy to oblige!