Sold My First License

 

Samuel Beckett Bridge and Convention Centre, Dublin  .

Nearly a year to the day since I started shooting with my DSLR and I sold my first license. It all came about in an unexpected way. I have many photos on flickr and I recieved a flickr mail from a website designer in Cork who was looking for an image of the Samuel Beckett bridge in Dublin. We emailed back and forth for a few days working out a price based on how the image would be used etc. This was a really new thing for me so I consulted websites including Getty (which suprisingly has no images of the Beckett bridge) and Current Photographer and I'm still not sure if I priced appropriately.

Yesterday the cheque arrived and the photo is now up on the 'Franc in the city' website. I was amazed at how easy the whole process was and of course was very chuffed to have my photo selected and used. The whole event really highlighted the importance of keywording all your photos so they can be found. Now I must finished tagging all my smugmug photos.

Story of the shot - Frog Reflections

Frog Reflections

One of the most common pieces of advice I hear and read to get better photos is to change the angle. Reach high, get down low, don't just shoot from eye level. That piece of advice ran through my head as I visualised this shot. I was walking through my girlfriends garden when I noticed two frogs in the pond. They seemed to be resting and as I watched they didn't move at all. The view gave me the impression of old Roman statesmen relaxing in the bathes contemplating affairs of state. I took a few shots of the frogs but wasn't overly happy with them. 

So I grabbed my long lens, my 55-200 and lay flat on my stomach beside the pond. I tried to steady myself as much as possible and fired off a few shots handheld. A few came out and in others the focus plain shifted so that plants and not the frogs head that was in focus. When I loaded the image onto my laptop I was delighted to see that the frogs reflection had been preserved and I feel like that contemplative mood I picked upon from the scene was preserved in the photo. A little cropping and sharpening in Aperture and this is the final image. 

Changing the angle gave me the photo that I wanted and it's something I always try to remember when visualising a shot now. 

You can view this photo on flickr too.

D

World Aids Day

The 1st of December 2010 is World Aids Day. A day to raise awareness of an affliction which affects over 33 million people globally. To mark the event a number of world landmarks are to be lit up with red lights. Here in Dublin, the new convention centre changed its usual rainbow coloured lights to all red.

Dublin Convention Centre

You can find out more information on World Aids Day here and see the Convention Centre when it first opened here.

D

One weekend, one prime lens

So last weekend I took a trip to London to catch up with some friends and take in a show. I was trying to travel light so decided to take just one lens, my recently acquired Nikon 35mm 1.8 prime lens.

I have been reading lots about how great prime lens with plenty of people saying how the lens never leave their cameras etc. I must admit that since I bought the lens I haven't given it that much use, opting rather to shoot with my 18-55mm kit lens or my 55-200mm. I guess I just liked being able to zoom.

So, off I went and packed my Nikon D3000 with the 35mm lens in my one bag that ryanair allows on the plane. We arrived late on Friday evening and spent the evening in the pub catching up and I forgot about my camera as the ale flowed. My first chance to test out the lens and especially the low light capability was sitting in the Adelphi theatre waiting for the start of Love Never Dies, the amazing sequel to Phantom of the Opera.

 

Adelphi Theatre, London

I had to open the lens right up to f1.8 and turn the ISO on my camera to 1600 to get the shot. Unfortunately the D3000 doesn't perform too well at high ISO so there was a lot of noise in the image. I couldn't take out my gorilla tripod and shoot again without being told off for using my camera.

After the show we went to find a pub to watch the Ireland v All Blacks but I managed to catch a few handheld shots of Trafalgar Sq on my way past. This was really where the lens came into its on. Using any other lens I could never have captured these photos without using a tripod and remote shutter.

Trafalgar Square, London

Trafalgar Square Fountain, London

After seeing some these photos, I finally realised the potential of this little beauty. I loved the fact that I could walk around on holidays and not be lugging a load of gear with me and be able to capture shots that normally I'd set up on a tripod for. During the day this lens is great, as sharp as anything I've experienced with my other lenses.

Goose, London

The one thing about traveling with the one lens was that I missed the longer zoom when we went to St. James Park beside Buckingham Palace and all the animals that live there were rather photogenic. The 35mm meant I had to get quite close to the animals to photograph them and as friendly as they were, they weren't that friendly. On my final night I got a chance to test the lens with my little Joby Gorilla tripod and some night shots. Being able to shoot at ISO 100 greatly reduced the noise in my shots and allowed me to get some great photos. 

London Eye

The weekend away with just the prime lens, really opened my eyes to the potential of this little beauty and also the benefits of traveling light. Having just the D3000, a light camera anyway, and the prime lens felt like carrying nothing at all while wandering around the big city. This weekend I'll be taking it and it alone to a friends dinner party to shoot the food and guests.

I have more photos of the trip up on Smugmug

Now, back to thesis writing....

D

Shooting Light Trails

So for my first blog post I decided to talk about one of my favourite things to shoot.....light trails.

Light trails are seen at night when you let a light source move across the frame while the shutter is open for more than a few seconds. One of the most common and pleasing sources of these light trails is traffic!

Custom House, Dublin. 

The first thing you need to produce a light trail shot is of course a source of the light trail. Usually an area where the traffic is frequent is best so any city street corner will do. In terms of equipment, the most important thing you will need is a tripod. And a steady one at that.

When setting the camera up I always shoot light trails in Aperture Priority mode and set the aperture between f11 and f14. You need to have the aperture set as such to give a shutter speed of about 8 - 15 seconds while keeping the exposure correct for the background. Firing off a test shot to ensure the background is correctly exposed is always a good idea. The camera should also be set to a low ISO to prevent too much noise in the long exposure. 

Ulster Bank, Dublin.

When your set and composed and have fired off your test shot, you are ready to go. Ideally you will use a remote shutter release to fire the camera but if this is not possible you can use the timer on your camera, this will prevent camera shake. Once the traffic is about to move across your frame, fire the camera and watch as the traffic passes and leaves wonderful light trails across the scene. The traffic will be moving at sufficient speed that you will never see cars or buses in your picture. For added interest look at trying to capture emergency vehicles to add blue lights to the traditional red and white colours. 

N11 motorway, Wicklow.

The most important thing when attempting to capture light trails is to have patience. It will take many shots to get the composition just right, the traffic perfect and the exposure exactly as you want it. But all that patience will deliver results you will be truly happy with. 

All the best,

Damian

Getting Started...

Hi all,

My name is Damian Synnott and I'm a postgraduate student in the Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland. Recently I have gotten into photography and from attending photowalks and talking to other photograhers I realise that I really enjoying sharing what I have learnt about photography so this blog is a way for me to pass on tips and techniques as I learn them.

I hope someone will find these useful.

Mainly my work consists of landscapes, urban cityscapes and flowers.

You can find me on;
Twitter @damiansynnott
Smugmug
Flickr