Frogs can make some of the best photographic subjects. They’re excellent at sitting still when asked nicely, and generally aren’t too agitated by having a rather cumbersome macro lens thrust in their face. They come in all shapes and colours (even a few transparent ones!), and often adorn rather remarkable patterns and camouflage.
WIth an opportunity to visit the beautiful City of Paris, I thought I’d take the chance to try out the Canon EOS 5D, along with my trusty Canon 17-40mm and 15mm fisheye. The Canon 5D is an older camera, launched in 2005, and it’s price has been dropping steadily thanks to the introduction of more recent full frames such as the Canon 5D Mark 3, the Canon 6D and Nikon D600. So, if you’re looking for a cheap full frame digital slr, then the Canon 5D could be a decent option.
Below is October’s cool pics of the day. An eclectic mix ranging from outer space to under the ocean. I hope you enjoy them, don’t forget to check out the author’s websites for more great photos!
A collection of September’s ‘photo of the day’ pictures, I hope you enjoy them.
Following on in our series of HDR photography articles, (don’t forget to read Davide’s how-to guide for creating your own HDR images), we’ve put together a collection of some great examples of HDR photography. HDR techniques are often used to dramatically change the appearance of an image, turning it more into a painting or picture rather than a photo sometimes. However, the best results are often found when using HDR more sparingly. Enjoy looking through the photos below and don’t forget to click through to the photographer’s websites to see more excellent pics.
Venice is a beautiful City which offers many brilliant photo opportunities. Below is a small collection of photos of Venice taken by photographers who have managed to capture something special about the City floating on water. Don’t forget to check out Dominique’s post ‘How and where to take less conventional photographs in Venice’ for a slightly different perspective.
There are many wondrous cities in the world, and in Europe alone, one can argue the compared merits of, say, Rome, Athens, Paris, Madrid or quite a few others. Venice, however, is in a different league from all those prestigious competitors, not only because of its sheer concentration of art in every form and shape, but also because of its unique situation : it is a city built on water, a city literally resting on millions of stilts, where water is everywhere and cars nowhere to be seen – except for the ugly appendage of Piazzale Roma, which all visitors leave behind as soon as they can upon their arrival.
To be able to photograph the Northern Lights, a bit of planning is required. In fact, the Northern Lights are only visible in the “Auroral Oval” at high latitudes around the Polar Circles, and where there is no light pollution, far from the big cities. Some well known areas for photographing the Northern Lights include Lapland and the north of Scandinavia, Alaska and Iceland. It’s more difficult to find a good spot in the Southern hemisphere around the Antarctic Circle. In the Southern hemisphere the Southern Lights are called the Aurora Australis.
Photographing lightning can provide some quite amazing results. Such photos generally require a tripod set-up and a slow shutter speed to capture multiple bursts of lightning as they leave their storm clouds and hit the earth. There are many different types of lightning, including the traditional single bolt hitting the ground, to sheet lightning between clouds, the commonly associated forked lightning as well as forms such as ball lightning and chain lightning, to name but a few.
Macro photography truly is a unique form of art. It brings into focus the minuscule aspects of our world that are typically too small to notice or see. A typical and insignificant part of our day is suddenly given new life and vibrancy, providing a greater understanding of the smaller world that surrounds us. As the following images demonstrate, we can finally see the extraordinary details that were hidden before photography became possible.
