Learned more than HDR

Last Sunday I was fortunate enough to be a guest of  Scott Bourne at his workshop in Tampa Florida. His special guest, Trey Ratcliff and the subject, High Dynamic Range (HDR). Before the seminar started, I struck up a conversation with an attendee. He said he saw a huge differences from the photos he took Friday; the night before the seminar, and Saturday, after he took the seminar. He couldn’t believe what he had learned in just one day. This gave me a high expectation of the workshop. I wasn’t disappointed!

On the surface, these two motivated instructors taught the fundamentals of HDR. The more I listened, the more  I realized they were teaching more than HDR. It takes a masterful instructor to teach one topic and sneak in concepts and theories that can be applied to any subject.  To keep this post simple, I’ve outlined the philosophy I came away with from the workshop.

Trey Ratcliff:

• Blues give other colors their vibrancy.
• Important to put complimentary colors together.
• Lens choice 14-24.
• uses google earth to scout out his locations.
• communicate feeling through temperature.
• perspective crop
• Nik color Efec 3.0 – tonal contrast for HDR look

My favorite quote from Trey: When you can’t get the shot you really want, there are always plenty of other shots around.

When shooting HDR

• Aperture priority mode
• Tripod level
• Auto bracket
• Cable release
• Nikon VR or Canon IS off
• Use PhotomatixPro for tone mapping
• Use Photoshop to complete your image

Scott Bourne

• HDR doesn’t have to stop with color, convert it to black and white.
• Recreate the image the way YOU saw it.
• The human eye sees about 11 stops of light, the camera only sees about 4
• Try vertical Landscape panoramics
• Photography protects memories
• Every photo or painting should have a little mystery in it.

My favorite quote from Scott: Be authentic, be yourself. That’s how you become different.

A Few Guidelines (not rules)

• Look for leading lines
• make the photo lead the viewer on a path
• Watch horizontal lines; either on top or bottom avoid the middle
• Study the old masters.
• Look for odd numbers like 3 trees or 5 benches.
• Look for shapes and colors.
• Landscapes need a strong foreground.
• Focus 1/3 into the landscape.
• When taking photos of people or anything with eyes, try to take the photo at their eye level.

Acronyms

Subject
Attention
Simplify

Entire shot
Detail
Focal length
Angle
Time

Look up
Look down
Look all around