yShots

Monday, January 25, 2016

Fire is an interesting thing. Watch people around a campfire and it’s easy to see the spell it can cast on us. We have such a deep and instinctive relationship with it, there’s no wonder why including flame in a photo can have such an impact. With understanding of how they’re done, let me direct you toward how I create my own fire photos whether your subject is located next to a campfire or coming out of the tunnel at the beginning of a NFL game with fire erupting as your name's been called; the trick to shooting fire will always be the same.

Fire as the Subject

With these shots, the main draw and focus is on the flame (or effects of it) and the detail that can be shown within it. In most cases you’ll want to use a fast enough shutter speed to freeze motion in order to see the detail in the flame. As always, “fast enough” is relative to what you’re shooting. As your shutter speeds increase you’ll need to use wider apertures. Sometimes, Slower shutter speeds are the key to capturing the kind of photo where more interesting detail will be in what the fire emits.

Underexpose rather than Overexpose

Cameras today such as my iPhone have a minimal amount of dynamic range. This means that you can't recover an amazing amount of detail from the shadows. The same can be said for highlights. But edit-bay apps such as Darkroom in particular does an amazing job recovering the underexposed detail in the photographed image and balancing the composition as a whole.

All Images Copyright - yShots

Location: Shady Brook Farm

Camera Used: iPhone 6S

Editing Apps: Darkroom, LongExpo

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Copyright - yShots

Camera Used: iPhone 5

Editing Apps: VSCO Cam

Never forget who you are, where your'e from, or what took you to get here. As the New Year descends upon us we always think about things we want to let go into the past drifts of time rather than looking forward and realizing the opportunities in front us. The beginning of a new year calls for something fresh, experimental, fun. I gave up on New Year's resolutions years ago, when it became clear I couldn't sustain them past February 1. Many of my friends named their years. As this seemed worth trying a theme for the year a first throughout my life. So I've named my 2016 Noticing.

Yesterday, my Teacher was talking about how a paradox can summarize a specific moment in life. Here's a paradox. When we're feeling something uncomfortable, it gives us relief to notice it. We stop spending energy denying it or trumping up some story to explain or justify it. We acknowledge what is. Then, if we don't like it, we can change it. When I noticed my critical thoughts toward myself. I didn't like what I saw, but when I saw it, I could change it.

As I was looking back at my first few pictures I ever photographed; this picture stood out to me as it reflected upon the story of my life. I then realized the true meaning of "A picture is worth a thousand words" when I noticed. Today and everyday in 2016, I am thinking about noticing. I am thinking about how, when our eyes are more softly focused, we do notice things that are important. In addition, we see those things in relation to the whole, instead of in isolation. this feels important somehow.

This year, I encourage everyone to start with a clean slate; give chances, forgive and forget. And for the love of god, unplug sometimes and look around the world in front of you; trust me you will notice things you've never seen before. Start Noticing.

What's your New Year's Theme?

Comment below or post it on my Twitter page with #yshotsnyt.