Larry grayam 

435 creative works found

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  Lt. John Stepp
  by Larry Grayam

  Lt. John Stepp of the Gastonia North Carolina Fire Department. In 1975 you could still smoke in a public building . Stepp liked to sit next to a second floor window waiting for the next fire call. I knew he would smile when he realized I had shot his pic so it was a real snap shot. A second later and the mood had changed. Nikon FTN/F36 with 105mm lens Kodak Tri-X 125sec/f8 “Lt. John Stepp” was featured in “Tone It Down” 11/15/09 / “Lt. John Stepp” was featured in United States 7/10/09 / “Lt. John Stepp” was featured in JPG Cast-Offs 7/05/09 / “Lt. John Stepp” was featured on Home Page 4/08/09 / “Lt. John Stepp” was featured in Fire Station 4/26/09 / “Lt. John Stepp” was featured in Kairos 5/07/09

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  Slick takes a drink
  by Larry Grayam

  Slick would spend the hot days of summer, in Hephzibah Georgia, waiting for the sprinkler to come around again and again. And then Slick would drink, drink in a splash of cool wet water. He then relaxed until it came around again. / “Winner Hall of Fame for artist 3rd challenge 8/15/09 / Avatar for Husbands and Wives group 7/25/09 / WINNER Funny Critters Avatar challange 6/2/09 / WINNER Retired and Happy “Animals” challenge 5/24/09 / WINNER Equestrian Art and phtography Avatar challange 5/17/09 “Slick takes a drink” was featured in Hall of Fame for artist 8/15/09 / Featured in Kairos 7/13/09 / Featured in Husbands and Wives 7/10/09 / Featured in *1:1 with the News 6/15/06 / Featured in Funny Kritters 5/17/05 / Featured in Rural Around The Globe 5/5/09 / Featured in Southern-Style 5/4/09 / Featured in LMAO ART – Your funniest work 5/4/09 /

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  Train ride in park
  by Larry Grayam

  Parents and children enjoy this miniture train ride in Gastonia North Carolina USA’s Lineberger City Park. / Nikon F2 105mm lens Tri-X film / “Train ride in park” was featured in Who Needs Color For Beauty 6/12/09 /

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  Osprey in flight
  by Larry Grayam

  I captured this Osprey as it approached a nest in Boca Grande Florida USA. The Osprey nests on tall structure,many man made, This light pole nest sits right next to the busiest road on the island, and overlooks a large salt water lagoon. Nikon D2H and 300mm f2.8 handheld. Shot at 500/sec. and f5.6 “Osprey in flight” was featured in # 1 ARTISTS OF REDBUBBLE 11/30/09 / “Osprey in flight” was featured in “Top Ten” 11/29/09 / “Osprey in flight” was featured in Husbands and Wives 9/06/09 /

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  Key Deer
  by Larry Grayam

  The endangered, diminutive Key Deer make Big Pine Key, in the Florida Keys, thier home. The deer can be seen roaming the roadsides, parking lots and lawns in this island community. Drivers are warned to be aware of the deer and slow down. Nikon D2H, 85mm lens EI200 / / Winner in the Deer Me!!! challenge DOE 8/06/09 / “Key Deer” was featured in Deer Me!!! 8/06/09 / “Key Deer” was featured in Going Coastal 5/29/09 / “Key Deer” was featured in Southern-Style 5/16/09 /

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  Sandhill Crane Family
  by Larry Grayam

  This family of Sandhill Cranes root for food on the shore of a small lake near Vero Beach Florida USA. The Sandhills are noted for thier habit of mateing for life and are typically seen in family groups with one or two years offspring nearby. / Nikon D2H 300mmlens EI200 500sec f 5.6 /

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  American flag presentation
  by Larry Grayam

  A lone, mounted, rider bearing the flag of the United States of Amercia is highlighted by a single spotlight during the opening ceremony of a cutting horse futrity in Augusta Georgia USA / PHOTOGRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION / Nikon F2 105mm lens Fujichrome / / Top Ten Old Glory: Flag Day, June 14 challenge 6/29/09 / “American flag presentation” was featured in United States Challenge 6/30/09 / “American flag presentation” was featured in The Scavenger Hunt 6/8/09 / “American flag presentation” was featured in Light and Reflection 6/3/09 /

• 

  Double strike
  by Larry Grayam

  While shooting time exposure of city life on top of a Ft Pierce Florida USA city parking garage I noticed a few drops of rain on my lens. And then the lightning came down. / Nikon D2h 14mm lens EI400 4 sec. f5.6 /

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  School bus bully
  by Larry Grayam

  This “School bus bully” seems to roll right over the little guys at this Groveland Florida USA racetrack. A normally mild mannered yellow school bus becomes a monster truck when outfitted with tremendous tires. / Nikon D2H 14mm lens EI200 “School bus bully” was featured in All Trucks 6/25/09 / “School bus bully” was featured in Southern-Style 6/11/09 / “School bus bully” was featured in Rural Around The Globe 6/9/09 /

• On photographic integrity
  by Larry Grayam

  “Not everybody trusts paintings but people believe photographs.” Ansel Adams I’m so impressed with the tremendous photographs I see on…

  “Not everybody trusts paintings but people believe photographs.” Ansel Adams I’m so impressed with the tremendous photographs I see on Red Bubble, Wow what a collection of photographers we have. Can’t wait to visit the many places depicted in your photographs. They make me dream of travel to nearby and far away destinations. But then I wonder if I could find these places, stand where others have been and take the same photograph I saw on display? Most often the answer is yes, the photographer described the location. But does this place actually exist in reality or only in the vision and the computer of an artist? I grew up with phrases like “Photographs don’t lie-Perry Mason” or “A photograph is like speaking a thousand words”. Do our photographs today speak with the same integrity as they once did? I fondly recall a cross country trip I made in 1982, armed with an Atlas of US Highways, we drove from Georgia to California. Coming over a hill in Nevada my wife began screaming “Stop the car”, had I just hit a roadrunner, what was going on? She scrambled to get out our atlas, and thrust it into my face shouting “Were there”. We were in the exact same spot the photographer stood at when the cover photo for the atlas was shot. The road signs were still there even the scrub brush was the same. And still later a camera shooting the film “Forest Gump” was placed in the exact same spot. This became part of my personal history a small, but memorable, moment. If the photographer or editor had photo shopped that image I never would have recognized it. And I would have missed that most memorable moment. Digital imaging could certainly have produced a pretty picture but not capture the reality of being in a precise place and pressing a shutter release at the”Decisive Moment” / If I can’t stand where you stood, with your photo in hand and see exactly what you created then you have not captured reality you have created a vision, an illustration. Probably a darned good one but the viewers need to be warned. This is not real it exists only in the mind and electrons of the artist. You have created a photo illustration. When we see a sketch or a panting it is obvious that the vision, skills and hands of mankind have interpreted the original thought. But when we see a photograph we should believe in the honesty of the representation that “That’s the way it was, and may still be”. As a photographer I hope that 100 years from now people may find my images and say ”so that’s what the world looked like in 2009”. I hope they can still trust the integrity of a photograph then as we do now. More information and thoughts on digital manipulation of images is available at the following links. / “Philip Guo on photographic integrity“:http://www.stanford.edu/~pgbovine/integrity.htm / National Press Photographers Association”Statement on photo manipulation”: http://graphicssoft.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ/Ya&sdn=graphicssoft&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nppa.org%2Fprofessional_development%2Fbusiness_practices%2Fdigitalethics.html / “The Ethics of Digital Manipulation“:http://www.astropix.com/HTML/J_DIGIT/ETHICS.HTM / “The Ethics of Digital Photo Manipulation”:“http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/digitalphotoethics/The_Ethics_of_Digital_Photo_Manipulation.htm

• Revisiting On Depth of Field
  by Larry Grayam

  Depth of field (DOF) refers to that part of a photograph that appears to be in focus. It exists within a plane perpendicular to the ax…

  Depth of field (DOF) refers to that part of a photograph that appears to be in focus. It exists within a plane perpendicular to the axis of the cameras viewpoint. The photographer chooses which affect of depth of field to choose. Narrow DOF tends to separate the subject from an out of focus background, in this image notice how a line of sharpness moves through this photograph of a tray of sewing bobbins. / / While greater DOF incorporates the background as an essential element in the photo. Increasing the light allowes for a stopped down aperture and a greater depth of field. / / A photographer has three tools to manage the DOF, choice of lens, aperture and focal point. The focal length of a lens affects one element of the DOF available from that lens. Generally speaking the shorter the focal length of the lens, the greater the DOF. When set at the same aperture and focal point a longer lens will always have a shallower DOF then a wide angle lens will. A focus point 2 feet from the camera will have less DOF than a focus point of 10 or 100 feet. Aperture selection is the third tool. When a lens is stopped down to, let’s say f22 it will always have greater DOF then if shot wide open at f2.8. / An example of a depth of field chart illustrates the concepts of managing DOF. The cells give two distances the first is the closest distance to the camera that the subject will be in acceptable focus. The later number is the furthest distance from the camera that the subject will be in acceptable focus. / / Hyperfocal distance is a focus point that will give the greatest range of DOF keeping acceptable focus only to infinity but not beyond. / Example / 24mm lens aperture of f11, focused to 9’ gives a DOF of 4’4”/infinity / 200mm lens aperture of f11, focused to 550’ gives a depth of field of 282’6”/infinity / So as the chart points out if you were shooting with a 200mm lens at f11 and the main subject is 290’ from the camera focusing on infinity would put the prime subject out of focus. But focusing to 550’ moves your DOF forward so the subject and background will be sharply focused. / So have fun and happy shooting-Larry “Revisiting On Depth of Field” was featured in TUTORIALS 11/05/09

• Fireworks and other things that light up the night sky
  by Larry Grayam

  Night photography introduces new challenges, low light levels make exposure difficult, harsh lights add reflections, the slow shutter s…

  Night photography introduces new challenges, low light levels make exposure difficult, harsh lights add reflections, the slow shutter speeds means difficulty in steadying the camera. Often night scenes lack the details needed to give depth to a photo so try adding a distinctive foreground object to give the shot some depth Night guard was shot with a Nikon D2H 14mm lens EI200 30sec f4.0 manual settings on tripod / Mounting the camera on a tripod usually eliminates the shakiness common to slow shutter speeds. Without a tripod brace yourself and experiment. Try holding the camera on a fencpost or wall for support. Use a remote shutter release to reduce vibration. / Compensating for bright lights in the scene will make for better exposures. Bright lights shining in the camera will fool your light meter so you may need to underexpose. Lightning shot with Nikon D2h 14mm lens EI400 4 sec. f5.6 aperture priority, minus 1.7 stops / When metering any night time scene remember that your light meter is trying to make everything 18% grey. So without exposure compensation the black night sky may look grey. To compensate I usually do a test of under exposures to find one I like. Shoot the scene at 1, 2 and 3 full stops under exposure then check the histograms or previews. / When shooting in automatic or program modes your camera will tend to choose wide open apertures. These large f stops reduce the resolution of many lenses so you might want to use manual modes. Shooting at f5.0-f11 will add sharpness and increase depth of field Special effects / Time exposures with action, A 1-2 second exposure during a fireworks grand finale will capture some rockets trailing skywards while other are exploding at elevation. Riverside fireworks was shot with a Nikon D2H 70mm lens EI200 1 sec f5.0 aperture priority, minus 1.3 stops / / Shooting over water adds the reflection of the rockets’ red glare. Zooming in during the exposure. / Boom was shot with a Nikon D2H 35-70mm lens EI400 1 sec f5.0 aperture priority, minus 1.3 stops zoomed in during exposure / Remember to stabilize your camera and experiment, make many exposures and check your results. “Fireworks and other things that light up the night sky” was featured in MAJOR EVENT 7/30/09

• Lighting and exposure
  by Larry Grayam

  First let’s discuss lighting. Most of our photos are made under existing light conditions. This can be natural sunlight or moonlight. W…

  First let’s discuss lighting. Most of our photos are made under existing light conditions. This can be natural sunlight or moonlight. While the rest of our photographs are made under artificial light, candles, room lamps, flash, stadium or city lights. Most of our stored imagery is of scenes lit from above. So we often associate natural light as coming from above the subject. Let’s do a little experiment go outdoors and hold your hand out, palm toward you, see the effect of sunlight on your hand. Now turn your body so the sun is on your back and directly on your hand. Look at the detail and color of your hand in “direct light”. Now turn so the sun is from the side move those fingers and look at the shadows created by “side light”. Now turn again until your hand is between you and the sun to see the effect of “back light” note the difficulty adjusting between your eyes on the backlit hand and the rest of the scene. You camera will have that same difficulty in capturing backlit subjects. This example uses strong side light coming through the windows to increase the drama of the scene. / Nikon FTN/F36 with 105mm lens Kodak Tri-X 125sec/f5.6 / A camera mounted flash would have exposed the photo but would also ruin the effect of the strong side light. A camera mounted flash tends to produce a flat lighting, eliminating the shadows that give a feeling of depth to your photos. A flash could be bounced off of a side wall however to simulate window lighting. And a flash can be aimer upwards to bounce light off of the ceiling giving us that familiar down light look. Exposure / In the days of film the manufacturers would include an instruction sheet with each roll of film. On these information sheets would be rudimentary exposure information an example is inside this box of Kodak Ektachrome film ASA 200 / / Kodak box courtesy of Rick Bender A general rule of thumb for handheld shooting was to use a shutter speed no slower than the films ASA and shoot at F16 on a bright sunny day. In the past a photographer would have to make adjustments to shutter speed and aperture, while looking through the viewfinder, to align arrows, make dots appear or receive some other indication of correct exposure. This allowed awareness to prepare the photographer for shooting a slow shutter speed or give us an indication of depth of field. After shooting tens of thousands of rolls of Kodak Tri-x film I got to anticipate exposures. If entering a building my camera would be preset to 1/60sec f4, a home would be 1/30sec f2.8 and outdoors 1/250 @ f11. If I had to make a grab shot without setup I knew I would capture a useable image. We now have sophisticated light meters built into today’s modern cameras Exposure programs give the photographer many choices of exposure profiles to apply. Aperture priority lets you select an aperture to use and the camera selects a shutter speed to expose the image. Shutter priority allows the photographer to choose a specific shutter speed, to stop action for example, while the meter selects an aperture for correct exposure, Program modes and Auto are other common profiles that select both the shutter speed and aperture to use. Many of today’s cameras allow programming under or over exposure compensation and some even allow shooting bursts at several different exposures. The result of all of this automation is that many photographers have no idea what settings their camera is using. So when “The picture doesn’t turn out” we have no idea what went wrong. So pay attention, shoot and review what you do. Oh yes and have some fun-Larry Grayam /

• “Zone focusing”
  by Larry Grayam

  We can focus our lens in several different ways, using autofocus or manually focusing the lens. That focal point can be on a static subje…

  We can focus our lens in several different ways, using autofocus or manually focusing the lens. That focal point can be on a static subject or we may desire to follow focus on a moving subject. Or we can create a zone of focus and wait for the subject to enter that area before taking a photograph. On a trip to Boca Grande Island in Florida I discovered this Osprey; he would always enter the nest from seaward. So I positioned myself to access the seaward part of the nest and created a zone of sharp focus by adjusting the F stop and increasing the depth of field. So everything from about 2’ in front of the nest to everything out to 4’ beyond the nest would be sharply focused. From there it was a matter of waiting until the bird entered my “zone of focus”. / A subject moving at 90 degrees to our cameras axis isn’t a particularly difficult object to focus on where a subject moving directly into the camera can present focusing difficulties. By the time you get a sharp focus the subject has moved closed. Once again creating a zone of focus can solve this dilemma. In this example all I had to do was focus several feet in front of the moving subjects and wait for them to enter the “zone of focus.” / Let’s experiment and create a zone of focus waiting for the subject to enter before tripping the shutter. This gives us a practical use for our knowledge of depth of field as well. So go forth shoot many photographs and display them proudly, have fun. Larry Grayam

• Quick Grab Shots
  by Larry Grayam

  Have you ever walked into the room to see your pet doing something outrageous? Was your child about to dump a plate of spaghettis on his …

  Have you ever walked into the room to see your pet doing something outrageous? Was your child about to dump a plate of spaghettis on his sister’s head? You had your camera in hand but by the time you”got ready’ the shot was gone? How long does it take you to move the camera to your eye, compose, meter and shoot a photo? How long has it been since you read your cameras operators manual? As a working photojournalist I realized the value to being ready for that one great shot at any time. So let’s get you prepared to quick draw and shoot your one great shot. First let’s decide what’s your norma stylel, do you shoot often in program mode or manually adjust the camera for every photo? Do you typically shoot at a wide angle or telephoto? Whatever you do normally, you must return your camera to your normal comfort zone immediately after taking any other type of photo. So that when you pick up the camera you know what EI it’s set to, what focal length you’re using etc. You should always know every setting your camera is adjusted to at all times. With that knowledge comes confidence that you can grab a quick shot. Always be ready to shoot. Can you operate your camera blindfolded? On an assignment to illustrate a story about a young man who was out saving stray animals I walked into this scene. / / By being ready to shoot I got a grab shot of “Sparring cats.” I usually shoot with two cameras one a body on a long telephoto with monopod and the other with a wide angle on my right side. This way I’m prepared for distant and close in activity. / My wide angle camera is always carried inverted, that is with the prism next to me and the base of the camera pointing away. This allows my right hand to always fall into place with my finger on the shutter release as I move the camera upward. With my 14mm lens I can begin shooting long before looking trough the viewfinder. When shooting sports I keep this camera on my chest so I can grab shots of the players as they run into me. In the days of films popularity we gauged everything by Kodak’s ASA 400 Tri-X film. We had slogans to remind us “125th and f8” was the rule, when finished with any photo you returned your camera to 1/125sec and the lens to f8. And then you were ready for “f8 and be there”. If you stepped outside and it was really bright you could feel the camera as you went to 1/250sec and f11 for outdoors. And when you walked into a store or commercial building you would open up to 1/60sec and f4. In most homes we would expect to shoot around 1/30sec and f2.8. And if we got a great shot but then discovered the light wasn’t as expected we would push or pull the film during development to get the shot. Knowing and understanding exposure is the first step in getting an image you can work with. Always being prepared is the next step. On my first day at a new newspaper job I was out riding around town, before my shift, when police cars began screaming past. I kept up and pulled in to a shopping center in time to see several police officers shooting at a car speeding past them. Right in front of me two police cars crashed into the speeding Cadillac, I grabbed my cameras, rushed past several officers and 15 seconds later shot this image. / You probably won’t be shooting spot news photos so how can we put this to work for you? Let’s go for a walk down a nature trail. Do you want to have your wide angle lens on the camera? We might use a wide angle to photograph the landscape or a nearby flower; these subjects don’t run away so you’ll have plenty of time for them. But that deer you spooked will soon maybe the telephoto lens should stay in place while walking down a trail Another thing to do, if you use program or auto settings, is to frequently aim your camera at a scene along the trail and depress the shutter release halfway. This will focus the lens and pre set the shutter speed and aperture. This may reduce the time required to adjust your camera for the next shot. So why don’t you think what you have to do to take a photo. Thinks like a NASCAR pit crew changing tires. What steps can I avoid taking? What preparations can I make in advance? These steps will help you in your everyday shooting also. When you are confident in your equipment you can concentrate on the image. / Have fun happy shooting-Larry

• *Close up Photography*
  by Larry Grayam

  We have all seen close up photographs of flowers, insects or household items and sometimes wondered how did the artist get that shot. So …

  We have all seen close up photographs of flowers, insects or household items and sometimes wondered how did the artist get that shot. So let’s examine close up photography. We have all noted that the closer we get to a subject, the larger it appears in the viewfinder. The problem we soon encounter is that the lens can’t focus as close as we want to be to the subject. We could use a micro lens that will focus close enough to give us a 1:1 reproduction on the film or digital device. Or we could add extension tubes or a bellows unit to increase the magnification beyond 1:1. Micro or Macro lens can be fixed focal length or zoom lenses. Some focus continually from infinity down to 1:1, others requires setting the camera for micro or macro work. They are the easiest to use and can often be hand held for quick shooting. / Extension tubes are hollow tubes that are mounted between your lens and the camera body. They come in various lengths from 6mm to 30mm and can be stacked for greater magnification. They are the least expensive means to achieve close up work. Nature photographers will often mount a extension tube on their 300-600mm lens to allow focusing closer than the typical 20’ offered by longer lens, this makes a great combo for photographing small birds. / Bellows units have two stages mounted to a common rail and connected by a light tight bellows material. The rear stage holds the camera while the front stage mounts the lens. The variable extension capable makes it possible to focus to the front element of the lens.’ / Remember from our depth of field discussion that DOF decrease as you focus closer so you may want to stop the lens down to increase the sharpness. This will cause a decrease in shutter speed requiring that your camera be well supported, usually with a tripod. Backgrounds can be distracting so I will usually carry a background with me. A small black towel can be draped as a background or used to cover your hand while holding a flower stem steady. I also carry a multi sided collapsible reflector with me that often becomes a background. Lighting can be a little tricky particularly when the camera or lens is close enough to block your prime light source. Your portable reflector can be used to bounce light into the subject. Carry a remote cord for your flash and move it away from the camera to fully light the subject and create more dramatic lighting. Focusing is often more easily accomplished by moving the camera rather than attempting to focus the lens. / Holding the subject is sometimes necessary so I use a combination of foam, sponges, toothpicks, small wires and hot melt glue to make a stage for some objects. This is just a starting point, try out various techniques to find out what works best for you and create a new comfort zone for shooting great pix. / Happy shooting Larry Grayam

• “Steady that shot” how to shoot slow shutter speeds
  by Larry Grayam

  Do those available light photos sometimes come out a little fuzzy? Maybe you won’t even try a low light photo. Let’s look at some techniq…

  Do those available light photos sometimes come out a little fuzzy? Maybe you won’t even try a low light photo. Let’s look at some techniques for shooting in low light that may help. We are not discussing time exposures here just slower shutter speeds. Some of the first steps are to adjust the shutter speed/aperture combination for low light shooting. Generally speaking try to open up the aperture to allow shooting at a higher shutter speed. You can also change the EI value on the camera. If you normally shoot photos at EI200 and the camera indicates this photo will be shot at 1/15sec then increasing to EI800 will allow you to shoot at 1/60sec. And of course the higher the shutter speed the less camera movement is visible in the image. Now get a grip. Extend your hand, palm upright, with the thumb pointing away from you. Lay your camera in your hand with the thumb and forefinger wrapping around the lens. This distributes the weight of the camera down your arm. Place your other hand in the shooting position with your finger over the shutter release button. Now bring your elbows into your body and snug the camera top against your forehead. You now have a mini tripod made from your upper body. Much of the camera movement will now be absorbed by your upper body. All you have to do now is Frame+ Focus+ Hold your breath+ Squeeze the shutter release. Now lean against a wall, sign or lamppost. Spread your feet apart and slightly forward. When in this position and holding your camera as above you can shoot at 2-3 slower shutter speeds than normal. When shooting with long lenses many photographers choose to use a monopod. A long multi sectioned tube with a 1/4×20tpi stud on top that screws into the tripod mount on your camera or long lens itself. Sandbags can be placed on a wall, the ground or an open car window to cushion and stabilize your camera. Emergency sandbags can be made from a pair of socks or small plastic bag. Tripods are three legged structures with a provision for mounting the camera at the top providing a rigid but adjustable platform for stabilizing the camera and lens. Many photographers will also use a remote shutter release and some will lock up the mirror to further reduce vibrations when using a tripod. Of course, for hand holding your camera, a well toned set of muscles help. So occasionally doing some upper body strengthening exercises will also help. In a quick shooting situation you might try wrapping the camera strap around your arm to tighten up your grip on the camera. Or with the strap over your shoulder extend the camera until the strap tightens up for a little more support. Plan your stance and stand your plan Frame+ Focus+ Hold your breath+ Squeeze the shutter release. / Have fun shoot lots of pictures-Larry Grayam

• “What lens should I get?”
  by Larry Grayam

  One of the common questions posted to various photography newsgroups is, I have some money and want to purchase a lens for my SLR which o…

  One of the common questions posted to various photography newsgroups is, I have some money and want to purchase a lens for my SLR which one should I get. The first response is often, well what kind of photography do you do? So after looking at what kind of photography we want to do we will take a look at lenses, macro, zoom, fixed focal length, wide angle and telephoto. Are you a wildlife or sports photographer? Long glass rules these fields of photography. Shooting portraiture and glamour is often done with a short telephoto. Building interior and exterior shots may require a wide angle lens. So think about your photographic interests, search out similar thinking photographers and see what equipment they use. Many cameras come equipped with a normal lens, with 35mm film this was typically a 50 mm lens. A normal lens would give a magnification ratio (1X), angle of view and perspective close to what the human eye would visualize. On today’s digital single lens reflex (DSLR) cameras, with a built in magnification of 1.3-1.5X, a 35mm lens would be considered normal after its 1.5X magnification. So a wide angle lens for DSLR use would be anything shorter than 35mm. As the lens focal length decreases, the angle of view increases allowing you to include more of the scene in your photo. The close focusing point usually decreases allowing you to move closer to the subject and your depth of field (DOF) increases. The perspective also changes with wide angle lenses giving a greater sensation of depth to photographs or apparently opening up the distance between objects. The magnification ratio decreases along with the focal length. Wide angle lenses also tend to highlight imperfections or distortions, particularly around the outer edges of the frame. / Many photographers feel a wide angle is for use when you have a wide field of view to capture, while others enjoy the unique perspective and DOF possibilities offer by wide angle. And still others enjoy working in close to the subject. Many people believe that the perspective alone can change a ho-hum photo into a dazzling example of your fine photographic talent. Telephoto lenses will magnify the image; reduce the angle of view and DOF giving a unique perspective. This affect may also be realized by the addition of a tele-converter between the camera and lens. The decreased DOF of a telephoto allows a photographer to focus tightly on a subject allowing the background to remain out of focus; this gives an extra pop to the photo. / Telephoto lenses are the first choice when you need to reach out to capture an image. The greater magnification ratios 2X-12X allow you to fill the frame at a greater distance. Yet still others are stitching together telephoto shots for unique landscape photography. Fashion and other photographers often use telephotos purely for the affect. Many photographers will use a 2-3X magnification telephoto for portraiture. Fisheye and semi-fisheye lens are special use lenses that give an extreme wide angle view of a subject along with a very distinctive change in the perspective as well. They are considered non-rectilinear lenses in that straight lines in the photos will appear curved. Macro or Micro lenses allow for extreme close focusing of a subject resulting in a near 1:1 magnification or reproduction on the film of digital device. Some lenses are macro all the time while others need to be configured into a close focusing mode. Fixed focal length lenses are designed to work optimally at a precise fixed focal length. Wide angle lenses might include 14mm, 18mm, 20mm and 24mm for wide angle lenses. Telephoto might start at 85mm, 100mm, 135mm, 180mm and 200mm. Super telephotos could be 300mm, 400mm, 500mm or even 600mm lenses. Zoom lenses are designed to work acceptably over a range of focal lengths, they can be described as wide angle, normal, or telephoto zoon lenses. An added feature of a zoom lens is the ability to zoom during a time exposure for special effect. / Manufactures have developed systems to reduce vibration or stabilize the image allowing the photographers to shoot at slower than normal shutter speeds and still create a sharp image. IS image stabilization and VR for vibration reduction are just two of the common names for these systems. So start saving those aluminum cans and soon you will be at the camera store and then happy shooting with that new lens.-Larry Grayam

• “Time Exposures”
  by Larry Grayam

  A time exposure refers to a photograph made using long exposure times, typically beyond what could be hand held. Time exposures might be …

  A time exposure refers to a photograph made using long exposure times, typically beyond what could be hand held. Time exposures might be used to capture a dimly lit scene or used to show the trails of action occurring in the photo. Most often the camera will be tripod mounted and the photographer will use a remote shutter release or the cameras built in self timer to open the shutter. Vibration can easily ruin a time exposure. Exposure compensation may also be required as films sensitivity diminishes with long exposure. Some time exposure longer then several minutes may also introduce reciprocity error, this results in a shift of the recorded colors. When exposing the photo remember to darken the eyepiece window so extraneous light does not enter and affect your exposure. If your camera will not expose automatically for longer periods you may need to use the “Bulb setting which holds the shutter open as long as you have the remote trigger pressed. Lifeguards stand at night with a lightning storm at sea as a background. With the camera mounted on a tripod and the shutter open for 30 seconds, many flashes of lightning were captured. In this photo a distant sodium vapor street light provided enough light to illuminate the foreground and nearby cloud cover. / This scene was so dark a flashlight was used to visualize and focus on the lifeguards stand. When shooting at night never forget you hand held light. / Nikon D2H w/eyepiece shutter closed.14mm lens EI200 30sec f4.0 EI200 / With remote shutter release cable used. Another great use for time exposure is to capture motion. Here / John Vandeven used a tripod mounted camera to blur the motion of water flowing over rocks in an Australian landmark. A time exposure makes flowing water come alive. Canon 10sec F22, ND8 filter While stopped at a railroad crossing the camera was placed on the cars dashboard for a quick grab shot of this train crossing at night. A Florida East Coast freight train speeds thru a protected roadway crossing at night, in Vero Beach Florida USA. The speeding train is but a blur allowing images from beyond the train to be superimposed onto the rail cars image. / Nikon D2H 14mm lens EI400 15sec f5.6 Time exposures may require extensive testing and practice, before you gain confidence that you can produce the photograph. Keeping in mind that camera stability is paramount you will also need to accommodate the peculiarities of long exposure times. So you might try non moving objects at first and work your way up to more complex attempts. / So get out and shot, shoot, shoot, have fun-Larry Grayam*

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  Exhausted
  by Larry Grayam

  This Augusta Georgia USA firefighter appears exhausted after fighting a stubborn house fire. Nikon F3 105mm lens 1/250sec f8 EI400 Tri-X film Exhausted” was featured in All Street Portraiture 11/18/09 / “Exhausted” was featured in Husbands and Wives 11/13/09 /

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  Crash
  by Larry Grayam

  Aircradft crash rescue crews in action. Charlotte Douglas airport Charlotte North Carolina USA. Nikon F2 500mm lens 1/750sec f8 EI400 Ektachrome “Crash” was featured in All About Fire 11/30/09 / “Crash” was featured in Husbands and Wives 11/13/09 / “Crash” was featured in Southern Style 11/11/09 / “Crash” was featured in Bits and Pieces 10/26/09

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  Morning run BW
  by Larry Grayam

  An Early morning road race in Augusta Georgia USA. Nikon F3 300mm lens 1/500sec f5.6 EI400 Ektachrome “Morning run BW” was featured in Kairos 11/16/09 / “Morning run BW” was featured in Analogue Photojournalism 11/11/09 /

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  F&L Featured Member Award-Larry Grayam
  by FlowersEtc

  award

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  Focus & Lighting Master Photographer Award-Larry Grayam
  by FlowersEtc

  Master Photographer award for Larry Grayam