Aston Martin’s Supercar

With several on-offs and other supercars gracing the lawn at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, the Aston Martin One-77 stood out. Looking mean, nasty and incredibly wide, it was on show as the culmination of Aston’s long history of beautiful and capable grand touring cars. Aston martin was the honoured marque at this year’s Mar-a-Lago charity breakfast and Classic Sports Sunday, this past 23 January 2012.

While I didn’t get introduced to ‘the Donald’, I hobnobbed in sports-coat and tie and the 80 degree and lunched with the 699 other guests. Talk about feeling out of place.

Ferrari FXX

One supercar that you will never see on the road is the Ferrari FXX. Derived from the Ferrari Enzo, it is a rolling test-bed that Ferrari uses to gather telemetry and help develop the next round of Ferrari road and race cars. The major difference with the FXX program, that no other manufacturer does, is involve the owners in the process. With the FXX program, Ferrari sells the FXX cars to a very select group of clients, then works with them to test, gather, analyze, improve and develop the cars over time and for the next iteration of the program. One surprise caveat that you might not guess, is that the owners usually do not get to take the cars home. Ferrari maintains and transports the cars to six or seven race tracks around the world and the testing takes place in conjunction with the organized Ferrari Challenge series, itself co-scheduled with the Formula1 races, or other high profile race series.

These series of photos are from the XXI Cavalino Classic just this past week (15-23 Jan 2012) in Palm beach, Florida. By the time I got to the FXX, there were so many people around, I spent almost 10 minutes sitting on the grass waiting to capture the head-on shot with the doors open: a classic and iconic shot of these cars. To get away from the crowds, and to break-away from the ‘iconic’ shot, I then moved in closer to capture the muscle and bones of the car, the same as you might with a fine-art nude.

Palm Beach Zoo

After 3 days of photographing cars, I was a tad burned out and needed a break. So what did we do? Visit the West Palm beach Zoo and take more photographs of course. I won’t get into the whole ‘zoo or not to zoo’ debate. Most of the pens at the West Palm Beach Zoo are fair sized enclosures with natural surroundings and plant-life, and some weren’t. From a photographic perspective, try to capture your subject in a natural setting or pose, so that it doesn’t scream zoo! At the same time, when describing the photo, be honest about where you captured the photo: do not represent it as a wild animal.

So when you are out photographing wildlife, or not-so-wildlife in your backyard, try to capture and portray your subject away from man-made objects like feeders etc.

And remember, food-baiting of wildlife is illegal in most provinces and states; even for photographic purposes.

The Faces Have It

The front of a car is the most relate-able part of a car design. Because of this, many car designers incorporate elements of a face into their designs. By choosing to accentuate the front of the car, I’ve exaggerated the features that we recognize as a ‘face’. I think it makes for a series of great images: the ultra-wide lens has distorted the car beyond what we normally see, yet it is still recognizable.

So next time you are out, look at the cars around you and see what facial features they have included in their designs. Then think how it expresses the intent or character of that car. Did the designer succeed? An aggressive face on a minivan just doesn’t cut it, while a goofy grin on a Mazda 3 says ‘fun’.

If you find yourself drawn to a car in a parking lot, on a bright sunny day, try shooting a different perspective. getting down low or on your knees can remove distracting elements from the background, such as other cars, lamp posts or people. If you know you’ll be shooting shiny cars on a bright day, you might also consider investing in a circular polarizing filter to cut down or eliminate glare and control reflections.

Ballet in the Streets

Mercedes Déziel-Hupé, a fellow photog is showing her art and photography here in Ottawa. The show entitled Ballet In The Streets: Dance Photography as Seen by a Dancer, is being held at Avant Garde Bar and Gallery, 135 Besserer Street, Ottawa. The show runs for three weeks starting with the vernisage and opening party which is tomorrow (Thursday 12 Jan 2012) at 7:00 pm. Visit Mercedes’ swing blog for the full announcement.

Mercedes, herself a long-time dancer, has a keen eye for juxtaposing dance in the city where you would normally encounter the homeless, business folk or just people going about their everyday lives.

In addition to supporting Mercedes’ first show, she hired me to print her entire show and post-process select images.

Hope to see you there!

Setting a Style

A specific style can establish or banish a photographer. But more importantly, a style is a reflection on the creative frame of mind or even the personality behind the eye.

I have not yet settled on a style, but currently prefer to explore what I see and feel, at that moment, with as little ‘filtering’ as possible. Still, as an exercise, going out and shooting a specific type of subject or a specific style is excellent practice for training the brain behind the eye.

A cold, overcast winter day at Pauley’s Cove in Nova Scotia, provided just such an opportunity.

So next time you are out on a photo walk-about, try perceiving the world in a different way: a specific aperture, black & white or even a special filter or post-processing.

CSRA Snowcross Racing at Calabogie

The CSRA Snowcross racing season started at Calabogie this past weekend. Held at the foot of the Calabogie Peaks Ski resort, a rather small circuit was built on manmade snow. Still, with the smaller circuit, there was more action for the spectators: they could see the entire course. Equipped with a press pass, John Rathwell and myself  armoured up in the mandatory body armour and went stalking snowmobile racers. It wasn’t hard as we could stand so close to the track, we were pelted with snow chunks and starved for oxygen in the exhaust fumes.

As a photographer, the real challenge was to turn away from the spectacular jumps along the front straight, and look for the exciting racing in corners 1 and 2. Corner 2 in particular had some great passing: the racers streamed up hill from the start, dove into the corner fighting for position, a clear route and to stay on their sleds as they then rocketed back down the hill into a right-hander.

The 2012 Canadian Snowcross Championship circuit starts in Calabogie and runs through Ontario and Quebec towns finishing in Kitchener on the 24-25 march weekend.

Sponsored by Amsoil, Royal Distributing, Rockstar, Yamaha, Polaris, Ski-doo, Arctic Cat, OSM, Dayco, Ontario, Pioneer and Choko Design, the races are fast-paced and thrilling to watch. And with 32 distinct classes spread across 8 different races, the competition is fierce.

Easy steps to producing a long exposure night shot

I love shooting long exposures: you get a very dreamy feel to the resulting images. The easiest times to shoot very long exposures is at sunrise and sunset when the light is still fairly faint. A simple long exposure will get you the shot. And, appropriately enough, you also get the best light.

So what do you need and how do you do it? Here’s a bit of a recipe for a sunset shoot:

1. Gear: 1 camera, fav lens (size really doesn’t matter), 1 tripod, one flashlight and one remote trigger. Cold weather clothes and a chair are also non-essentials that you will appreciate if you brought them.
2. Getting ready: Arrive about 60 minutes before sunset, find your subject, perspective and a comfortable seat, as you’ll be here for 2 hours.
3. Camera set-up: manual, anti-vibration off, autofocus off, set your white balance to the colour of the flashlight (another lesson at another time – just use auto white balance for the first few times), aperture on 13-19 depending on the amount of Depth of Field you want, ISO 100.
4. The best time(s): the ‘golden light’ of sunset only lasts about 15 minutes right before sunset. There is a second slot about 45 minutes after sunset when the sky can be filled with blues, purples and deep reds (if the clouds are with you).
5. The shot: Take the photo several times as the light changes to get different compositions with any moving clouds, as well as different lighting and colours: there is a lot of colour after dark, that we can’t see. Very quickly, you’ll need a remote trigger of some kind as the ‘bulb’ setting on your shutter speed comes very quickly. This photo was exposed for 195 seconds (and yes, I had forgotten my remote trigger, so that is finger on the shutter button the whole time). After that, the duration of the shot doubles with every stop of darkness, so the shutter stays open for very long periods, very quickly. My next shot, just 3 minutes later was 300 seconds of finger on the shutter button.

In the seed-pod photo, you can see some dark edges on the right side of the pods. That is not an artifact of sharpening, or jpg compression. It is actually the blur of the pods moving. I didn’t feel any breeze, but there you go: once I started taking photos, it quickly became apparent that the milkweed was moving. The milkweed itself appears sharp because the flashlight ‘froze’ it for a second.

Backgrounds add Character

Looking for punch in your images? You may have heard the guidance that you should find an interesting location and wait for someone to pass into the frame. Well, what if no one is around? Hire someone or find friends or partner/collaborate with someone who can benefit from your photography.
I did just that with a group os dancers and two photographer friends: Lou Truss and Barb McKenzie.

Many thanks to Ben Jammin, Josee, Rafic and Caroline for posing and dancing for us. If you want to know more about them, they all teach at Dance With Alana, an Ottawa-based dance studio and school.

Ferraris in the Fall

I recently attended the local ferrari club Fall Colours cruise to Westport. And as the event organizer, I had taken the opportunity to build some photo ops into the route. Ostensibly they were explained to the group as ‘rest breaks’, or ‘scenic vistas’. Everyone was happy, and that’s all that counts. We really had great weather for the cruise: tops were down everywhere. Convertible roof tops; what were YOU thinking.

I had decided to experiment with overexposed imagery and I’ve included a few here. Overexposing or high-key photography is tough in that you could go overboard and effectively have no image. but sometimes, out there at the extreme of overexposure, you find great abstract images of shape, colour and form. So get out there and experiment!

Glorious Jaguar E-Type

One of the cars participating in the Chappell Challenge Rally was a 1967 Jaguar E-Type. I just couldn’t take my eyes off of it. Which would explain the higher number of photos of that classic car when compared to the remainder of the cars at the event.

The car, owned by a long-time jaguar club enthusiast, has been well maintained, but has also been driven. The patina of use over the years may detract from the details, but to the people who admire these cars, as they were meant to be admired (driven), they are a badge of respect.

With the Chappell Challenge Rally starting at a Canadian Tire store, the clutter of other cars in the parking lot, ugly signs and buildings and more, do not a pretty photo make. I hope to get more time with this car so I can step back from it and admire it in more controlled circumstances.

Chappell Challenge Rally

Marcus Chappell was a keen Canadian rally competitor. He passed away before he was able to organize a rally for his local Ottawa Jaguar Car Club. In his honour, 6 local clubs came together to run the rally he had planned: BMW Car Club of Ottawa, Ottawa Jaguar Club, Ottawa Valley Triumph Club, Ottawa Mini Club, Ottawa section of the Mercedes Benz Club of North America and the Ottawa MG Club.

Despite, or perhaps because of the weather forecasts, it wound up spitting and drizzling the whole day instead of the partially cloudy forecast. Many of the competitors started out with tops down, but finally gave in and hoisted the lids at some point during the ling cruise way out into the boonies of Ontario. In scoping out potential photo locations, I’d driven the route the week before, so I can attest to the great roads that Marcus had chosen. The route started in Carleton Place, passed through Perth and headed out via Balderson, Elphin, Snow Road Station and Ompah to Plevna and back via a different Route.

And while the rally revolves around cars and driving, it’s really the friends and new people we get to meet, swap stories and get to know that make these events the success they are.

I’ve created a gallery for the participants to review and select images from. It is password protected. The password will be distributed, along with the link, later this week when all the images are posted. In the interim, the link to the gallery is here. For those who did compete, the password is the same as where the awards were handed out. The password uses no capital letters or numbers.

Dragon Boat Races

The 10th annual Carleton Place dragon boat races drew over 30 teams. The crowd of competitors was so large, it wasn’t immediately obvious if there were any spectators. There were: they were just over by the water watching the almost non-stop racing, and on-water shenanigans.

I had originally gone with two purposes: support my wife and her band, the Barley Shakers, and wander around looking for photographic opportunities.

Gorgeous weather, fun and eager competitors and lots of action are  good ingredients for an observant photographer.

Camp Quality Charity Drive

Storm Skies

The best skies are just before, or right after a storm. The best light is at sunrise or sunset. But the rare storm skies at sunset produce the most amazing backdrops: purples, reds, oranges and yellows. Add in an exotic sports car, a heart stopping motorcycle or a classic.

I’ll let the images do the talking.

Garden Compositions

An anchor in an image is vital to provide a reference and to encourage the eye to see depth. Without it some reference to depth an image is a flat, two-dimensional photo that does not capture the eye and stir the emotions. Just as in the best landscape photography, you need an anchor in the foreground to draw the eye and start the user’s path through the image.

An anchor can be as simple as a in-focus blossom or plant; without that anchor, the eye is lost and your viewer moves on. A shovel, a casually dropped pair of gloves, a wrought iron table and chairs also have the benefit of hinting at ‘people’. People are always more relatable, and that makes for more powerful imagery.  You can tap into that human reaction by adding a ‘touch of man’.

So if you are heading out to photograph the landscapes of a garden, take along some garden tools.

Why doesn’t my image fit when printed?

More and more people are consuming art through a computer screen: monitor, laptop, iPad and TV. In one way, this frees you, the artist, to crop and compose an image to suite your aesthetic vision. But when you (or your client) discovers the richness and tangibility of a print, it can be a struggle to translate that vision into common print sizes. Why even bother? You’ve given a really nice 8×14 print to Aunt Selma for her birthday. Maybe of her wee Scottie dog. She goes to Walmart or Michaels to grab a nice frame off the shelf. Oops. No 8×14 frames. Now you’re not Aunt Selma’s favourite anymore. Aunt Selma does not want to be bothered with the complexity and ‘expense’ of custom matting and framing.

So. What is an aspect ratio and what does this have to do with my photography? Or, why can’t I print an 8×14 of this photo? And what do I do about it?

I’ll just jump to the essence of the problem (besides, there is this wonderful internet thingy I keep hearing about, so look it up yourself. Okay okay, I’ve provided links). Your camera sensor (assuming a digital cam), has the same dimensions of a 35mm, but different dimensions than that sheet film from the 1950s. Despite the long history of 35mm and digitals, photo paper and commercial frames are still heavily biased towards these sizes: 4×5, 5×7 and 8×10 (thanks to Harry Nowell for the info).

I’ve taken an 8×12 image printed and framed on 8×10: the first shows the image shrunk to fit, and the second cropped to fit. I’ve also marked up some other compositions with the aspect ratios of common print sizes to highlight the composition challenges you face in capturing your vision.

Last stop: canvas wraps. With a canvas wrap, you need to leave 3-4 inches of an image to wrap over the edge of the frame. You can also have a white or black border make up the 4 inches instead of image. The last photo above, highlights both: the portion outlined in red shows the amount of image that would wrap around the frame. The right side shows that you could show the whole image, with the black portion wrapped around the frame.

So what can you do? Take print size into consideration when creating your composition ‘in-camera’. What, more? I’m already busy enough trying to remember everything else I need to get right. Yes, true. I hate to say it; practice makes most of those automatic, but it’s true. You can do it afterwards, but there is a strong chance that you can’t. Then what will Aunt Selma say when you’ve chopped her beloved Scottie’s nose off?

But wait, there’s more: as digital continues it’s popularity, more and more off-the-shelf frames are coming in those sizes.

Persective

I’ve just gone back over my previous blogs and discovered 11 separate references to perspective. It must be important. At least I think so. A different perspective on a common subject can create a very intriguing image. Of course it doesn’t always work: take a portrait of a woman from below, and she will not be pleased. But step behind a flower and you may have an image that most people do not see. You’ll still need all your vision and craft to create a truly stunning image: perspective is a tool in your kit, just as that nifty lens.

I’ve included three examples of the same or very similar flower, with roughly the same composition, but different perspectives.

Got an opinion? Drop a comment with your thoughts or suggestions.

Photographing a LOT of Clients at Once

I had a recent job photographing the students at the most recent BMW Car Club of Ottawa Advanced Driving School at Calabogie Motorsport Park: 181 students, instructors and racers.

So how do you handle 181 clients who’ve got their own completely full schedule? Pre-visualized shots: for each student at the school, I had decided that I wanted three types of shots: a ‘portrait’; a static shot on the track; and a panning shot while at speed. The next step is to pick the location(s) to shoot from. The final piece of the puzzle is the school schedule telling you where and when each driver will be.

Taking the photos in 34 degree heat (43 c relative and 50 c with reflected heat from the pavement), is the fun part. The real slog takes place in the evenings and after the shoot. Over the three days, between the 4 of us, we’d shot well over 9000 images. But wait, you might be thinking how on earth did they shoot 9000 images; there’s just no way unless they were blasting off hoping to get something. Nothing is farther from the truth: each car is on the track 12 times over a weekend. Each of these sessions is 25 minutes long. In that 25 minutes, each of the cars will have gone past you at least 5 times. If you are panning, you’ll shoot 6 frames for each 1-2 keepers (I’m at about 60% keepers when panning). Multiply that by 181 students and four photographers, and it adds up quick. My final published tally is 1851 images, providing an average of just over 10 images per car/driver.

If you want to try the challenge, there is a driving related event every day at CMP. On most days, anyone is more than welcome to watch from the public viewing areas.

Intentional Camera Movement

Have you ever pressed the shutter on a longish exposure and been unable to stand perfectly still, or even worse, been jostled? And then, looked at the image and thought: wow, I couldn’t'a done that if I tried. I know, because I usually tried. And failed.

I’ve always been fascinated by the images you can create by deliberately moving the camera. I’m not talking about panning, where the camera follows a subject. I’m talking about shooting a stationary object or scene, and while the shutter is open, moving the camera. Up until recently, I’d always forgotten about this technique: too wrapped up in the ‘standard’ shoot-em as a static or moving subject mode.

To push myself, I challenged a group of photographers to step outside their comfort zone and give it a whirl with photos shared by 21 August. Since then, I’ve been practicing. And it’s not easy: you need a suitable subject or scene, and then the motion depends on the subject, how long you’ll have the shutter open and any lighting that’s around.

A lot of my first attempts were blurred nightmares. Well, okay I exaggerate: I didn’t have nightmares. They had a tendency to be either completely boring with no discernible subject or scene. Others left me less than thrilled; not devastated, but eager to figure it out.

I think the trickiest part is to find a suitable subject. Practicing the technique helps you figure out what works and what doesn’t, so when you’ve got your scene or subject, start shaking that camera. Well, steady motions: circular, diagonal, vertical or jiggled.

In the past few days, though, I seem to have crossed a rubicon (is that even the right word?). I’ve had several turn out very well, producing other-wordly images that evoke very different emotions. Have a look at a few.

I’d been keen on seeing any images you have to share, so add a comment with a link to your image; facebook, flickr, your site, or any image hosting program.

For some more info and examples, check out this article intentional_camera_movement_photography.

Photographing moving cars for the first time

Barbara Mckenzie, Lou Truss and Sandra Finner joined me at the recent BMW Car Club of Ottawa Advanced Driving School at Calabogie Motorsports Park. After they’d had time at home, away from the 33+ degree heat, they all still reported having a great time and learned lots about car photography and panning in particular.

Many people think panning is pretty easy: just click the shutter and follow the subject. It is that technically simple, however it is a bit more complicated than that when it comes to execution as Barb, Sandra and Lou learned. Judging by their images, they started out with a near zero success rate: in other words, for every pan they did, they didn’t get one clear image. Someone (no names, no pack drill) even expressed dismay. However by the end of the day, they were easily getting a clear, crisp shot from each pan. A pretty good improvement; after all, you only need one good shot.

They’ve given me permission to share some of their images here. I’d also strongly recommend you visit their home sites and blogs. You won’t find too many car photos there, but you will find some stunning and creative imagery.

Come back for the next blog post: I’ll detail some of the challenges of working with 181 clients at the BMW Club driving school photo shoot, and share some images.

Where are they now: 2Hphotography Update

Harry Nowell has been, and continues to be a mentor for myself and other local photographers: he offers many photography workshops. For those curious about, or interested in a career, he has a proprogram designed to guide and assist you in entering the rarified (and busy) field of pro photography.

In any venture taking time, it is always a good idea to stop, take a break and look back at the progress you’ve made: you will be amazed at your successes. To that end, Harry recently showcased me and 2Hphotography in his blog: http://www.harrynowell.com/blog/2011/07/14/646-where-are-they-now/

And since it’s always about the photography, here’s a few recent event at Calabogie Motorsport Park.

Plans don’t always turn out

The guys at Martin Farms Mechanic (the last place I was photographing abandoned cars), suggested I head up to a field north of Renfrew. Being local boys, I figured they had a good grasp on what was up there. While preparing for the trip, I checked the route in Googlemaps and zoomed in for a satellite view: wow, lots of wrecks at the site.

But! Yes, isn’t there always a but? Some time in the last 30 years, a fellow moved in. He lived in a trailer in the field next door, and had spread out: gardens of vegetables, coops home to chickens, turkeys, rabbits and a racoon filled the gaps between the abandoned farm trucks and equipment. And the gear that was still there? Filled with boxes and other junk. Pretty much a bust for full-scale car photography.

So what do you do when your hopes and dreams are dashed by a cruel, cruel world? Well, for me, gruel is right out. Not even an option. If you can’t find some suitable subjects, try looking in close: narrow your field of view and look for shapes, textures and eye-catching contrasts.

Didn’t bring other lenses to help you capture these closer images? No? Doesn’t matter: use what ya brung: the exercise will help you get more familiar with the gear you’ve got, as well as force you into different perspectives.

Paul Nelson Photo Walk-about

Paul Nelson, owner of Photo Source, was a long-time member of the Carleton Place, Ottawa Valley, and Canadian photographic communities. His photographic influence and inspiration is carried on by the many customers, fans and friends who are a still active in the Lanark County arts.

Paul’s imagery was often based in his local town: Carleton Place, so a few fans from the Photography Matters group, held a walk-about photo-shoot in his honour. Not having met Paul, I do not know his photography, so I focused on my own exploration of subjects that would capture Carleton place: skylines, flowers, and architectural details. Thankfully, there is a splash pool down by the beach: that helped knock some of the heat out of my sun-scorched brain.

Images in the details

When you’re at a car show, it is usually very difficult to get a complete car in an image without tons of distracting ‘other stuff’: people, other cars and backgrounds.

You can still find that captivating photo if you look close. Move in closer to your subject and you’ll find loads of details and compelling compositions. They might not have been what you were hoping for, but, they can still be very beautiful or arresting. I know for me, I usually get a bigger kick out of a whole car, than just a piece. Same as a strawberry & rhubarb pie, I suppose.

To get these close shots, you’ll need a wider angle lens typically in the shorter focal lengths less than 50mm. Macro lenses won’t work. While they let you get close, they still have a very narrow field of view. Prime lenses (that stay at a fixed focal length and do not zoom) also provide an extra advantage: shallow depths of field when shot ‘wide open’ or at apertures under f1/2.8. You can use these wider apertures to minimize distracting aspects of the cars or bikes themselves and create a pleasing smooth backdrop to your subject.

Sunshine does not make the best backdrops

My morale is definitely higher when the sun is up and the skies are clear. Clear skies though, play havoc when it comes to photography: harsh shadows, severe reflections, blown out highlights and those plain, boring blue skies. Don’t get me wrong, I love a nice blue sky: great for top-down motoring, sunbathing and sunbather-watching. All of those are hard to do when it’s raining. Well, not necessarily hard to do, just beside the point when you are getting soaked.

Ah, but overcast or even better, just before or right after a storm, the skies are often filled with dramatic cloud formations. Now we’re talking fantastic photographic opportunities: you get interesting skies full of shapes and often great colours if you’re out at dawn or dusk.

I recently had the opportunity to photograph some great derelict cars in the middle of a thundering rainstorm. Sure I had to dodge under cover when the rain pounded so hard it was jumping back up a foot, and I needed to take care covering my gear, but the variable light and details in the clouds sure make up for it.

The wrecks here are on private property just outside Burnstown, Ontario. Many thanks to Martin Farms for access and support.

Remember, be polite, introduce yourself, ask permission and thank them afterwards: you’d like to go to places, others may have been before right? Plus, getting shot while trespassing is no fun.

At Speed

There are many ways to provide the sense of motion in an image: blur via panning, implied motion and actually capturing a vehicle in motion. The later is my favourite and what I plan on spending more time perfecting. It does require some investment in time and gear, but there is nothing like it when comparing the end results.

Earlier last week, Dave Smith and I got together late on Sunday night. My goal was to capture Dave and his M3 driving through the lit downtown core of Ottawa. It turns out that even at 11:30 pm on a Sunday night, there are a lot of other cars around. On the hunt for emptier, and smoother roads (the downtown core is incredibly bumpy), we wound up on Sussex: beautifully smooth roads, 4 lanes wide and empty of other traffic. Well, empty except for the RCMP who were curious why we kept passing the Prime Ministers residence. Nice gentlemen, who were truly curious.

Even though we’d tightened the camera and rig down as much as possible, the bumpy downtown streets still shook both my car and Dave’s car. As a result, the majority of the downtown shots had undesirable shake or blur. Sometimes it made for an interesting shot, but I tossed the majority as not acceptable. The last shot in this trio was shot in the downtown core. Sussex on the other hand, resulted in the majority of keepers.

So, what can I do to make even better motion shots? The downtown and sussex shots were done at 40-50 km/h requiring shutter speeds as slow as 1 second. That’s a lot of time to bounce over pot holes, veer around parked cars, spread out as far as possible, maintain a constant speed and distance from Dave all while ensuring that the camera was taking photos: I use a remote trigger to activate the shutter, but you still need to control when the photo is taken. Our next steps will be on smoother and wider roads at higher speeds: that will allow for shorter shutter speeds or longer blur. Keeping it all within the speed limits is not really a challenge, as there is quite the variety of roads in and around Ottawa. I’ll also be experimenting with a flash or two to help highlight the subject. Should be fun.

Oh and the next shoot will be really early in the morning too. Sigh.

Wildlife Photography with J David Andrews

Last weekend, I attended a wildlife workshop with J David Andrews. David is a published local photographer, who’s often seen in Canadian Geographic and Explore Magazine. The workshop organized through HarryNowell.com was spread over 2 days and 2 evenings. I was only able to attend the Parc Omega portion. I’ve been past Parc Omega many time, on my way to the race track at Mont Tremblant, but I’d never been into the park itself.

David had organized a late afternoon/evening visit; we were allowed to stay after close, and get out of our vehicles in normally restricted areas. Those privileges were primarily as a result of David’s experience guiding in the Canadian North and many wildlife expeditions.

Not withstanding the sub par weather, the workshop was a great opportunity to photograph gorgeous animals, that you would need many weeks of patience and travel, to experience in the wild.

One of the main learning points, was capturing the subject in a pose or composition that said ‘in the wild’. Many of the animals at Parc Omega, and any publicly accessible wildlife preserve, are conditioned to humans and have often come to expect food. So finding that moment where your subject looked more ‘wild’ than domesticated becomes the challenge.

And no one got eaten by a beaver. Or bison with laser beams for eyes.

Photo of the Month

One of my photos has been chosen as Reader’s Photo of the Month over at HarryNowell.com. Harry is a great supporter of the local photographic community and each month Harry showcases local talent.

Thanks Harry!

I’ve included 3 more photos from that shoot. To see the winning photo, follow the link

IMSA Porsche GT3 Challenge Cup Comes to Canada

Calabogie Motorsport Park (CMP) landed an impressive first: the IMSA Porsche GT3 Challenge Cup series held its first race in Canada, this past weekend. While the weather was poor, the attendance sparse and the fields of competitors small, next year’s event should be better as word spreads through the IMSA community.

The races were an excellent venue for many of Ottawa’s own to shine: Jim Hoddinott driving his green #59 SpeedMerchants/Fiorano Racing Porsche GT3 Cup car to third place, Perry Bortolotti taking first place in his #84 SpeedMerchants/Fiorano Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, and Mark Steenbakker driving #68 Ford Mustang, to name just a few who took part.

Racing is all about control and speed. To capture the essence of the race then, is all about capturing the speed. Panning is the main photographic technique to portray speed: the subject(s) are clear while the background is blurred. Panning sounds easy: just keep the subject in the frame while you follow with a slow shutter speed. The challenges come in when there are more than one subject, the subject(s) are not perpendicular to you, variable speed, and what distractions are in the background. Practice sure helps, and so does being aware of your surroundings: will there be passing here, how will the cars show against that line of tires or barrier and what will changeable weather mean for switching camera settings.

I’ve a great deal of familiarity with CMP, so my main challenges narrowed to finding a good spot in the restricted access allowed to spectators and setting up my camera. To handle the variable weather conditions and shooting locations, I had set three different sets of camera settings, allowing for a quick switch between them without taking the camera down and looking at them. I had one set to freeze motion with a very fast shutter speed, medium ISO and a shallow depth of field, a second for distant subjects where I wanted motion blur and a third for near motion blur. An example of when these three settings came in handy, occurred right at the start of the headline GT3  Cup race in the morning: rain and a lot of standing water meant a great opportunity for rooster tails of water. When the race started, I had the camera set to freeze the motion as the cars crossed the start line in a spray of water. A few rapid shots later, I switched to capture blur while the cars were still 200 feet away, and then switched to my near motion blur setting as the cars passed me. All in the space of 10 seconds, I had changed shutter, aperture, ISO, focus method, focus point selection and frame rate; all with the switch of one dial.

How can you prepare to photograph a race? Learn where you can go, get there early so you can watch the practices and decide which vantage points you like best, talk to the racers and get to know the guys (and gals) you’ll see out on the track and use the practice and qualifying sessions to work out the necessary camera settings in advance.

BMW Advanced Driving School

It’s been 2 years since I last attended a performance driving school, and it was good to get behind the wheel: a very rusty wheel, but, never the less, back on the horse. Or some such appropriate analogy. When not driving on the track, I took the opportunity to work for the BMW Club, photographing the event, drivers and action. Scott Martin and Joerg Bran also helped with the photography. Klaus Willroider, Don Anderson, Derek Lamoureux and Dave Smith also helped by lending their time and cars for some on-track motion photography: thanks guys, your cheque is in the mail.

My favourite style of automotive photography is panning. Motion is a very strong characteristic for cars and bikes: they were built to move. While some enthusiasts are keenly interested in displaying their cars, competing at concours d’elegance and other shows, many owners love to drive. Capturing the essence of the car in motion, can be achieved through implied motion (a single instance frozen in time) or panning (an extended duration where the camera follows the subject). The Digital Photography School has had a recent article and ‘how-to’ pan.

While you are photographing the cars, do not forget the owners and enthusiasts behind these beauties. They pour countless hours and passion into maintaining, showing and enjoying their chosen ride. The car is more than an appliance, or even a hobby, for them, is an extension of who they are.

Even though we were restricted to the public areas at Calabogie Motorsport Park, there are still some good spots to shoot from.

If you are curious about an Advanced Driving School, visitors are more than welcome to come to the BMW Club’s driving schools, see what is going on, talk to the organizers and go for rides with the instructors. So stop by. Or better yet, treat your spouse, partner or loved one with a registration as a birthday present: a BMW is most definitely NOT required.

Preparing for a Car Photo Shoot

Over the next several weeks, I will be spending a number of days at Calabogie Motorsport Park (CMP), just 45 minutes from Ottawa, Ontario. I’ll be there photographing the BMW Car Club of Ottawa’s Advanced Driving School, the BMW Motorcycle Club rider’s day, and the IMSA Porsche GT3 Challenge Cup weekend. SpeedMerchants, one of our local businesses will be competing in the Porsche GT3 Challenge cup race.

While preparing for the shoots, I thought I would share some of the things that need to be ironed out before going.

My first major action is to check and test the on-car camera mounts and equipment for stability, re-familiarize myself with the set-up and check the components for cracks and wear.

After that comes the packing lists. I won’t go into too much detail, just give you an idea of some of the things required in spending 12+ hours at a race track shooting cars, competitors, crowds and the general atmosphere:

Polarizers, Neutral Density filters (ND), bug spray (but not the rub on kind: it gets on the camera), lots of water, clothes for sunshine, rain, wind, hot and cold, wet weather camera protection, batteries, chargers, ladder, notepad, car cleaning supplies, screwdrivers and wrenches to remove licence plates and lunch money.

And that is all in addition to lenses, cameras, camera bags and the other usual paraphernalia of the photographer. At least I don’t need to bring any lights, diffusers or reflectors. Overall, it adds up to more than a trunk-full.

Simplicity in Shapes

Shooting abstract images can be as simple as reducing an object down to different shapes or colours. Our eyes take in a huge amount of detail from the world around us. From the photographer’s perspective, this often leads to cluttered and uninteresting images. One way of simplifying an image is to reduce the amount of distracting detail by focusing in on a subject. Another way is to completely ignore the usual rule about positioning and isolating a subject. Abstracts are non-representational  views of an object: you can’t tell what it is by looking at the photo. Abstracts can be simple shapes, colours, curves or lines, empty portions of the image balanced against texture or colour in unlimited numbers of compositions.

The April photo-challenge for my photography club is ‘abstract’. The only requirement of the abstract, is that you can not tell what is the source or subject of the image. The two images are up for votes. Take a guess by adding a comment. At the end of April, I’ll let everyone know what the images are.

My mother did guess the object in the second image, so it doesn’t appear to be too abstract.

Photographing abstracts can teach you how to see shapes and form from all the clutter that our eye sees. This is particularly helpful in car photography when you are trying to capture a small portion of the car: a fender, a sweeping line or colour transitions.

Canadian Auto Museum

I recently had the opportunity to photograph a great collection of automobilia from the early years of automobile manufacturing in Ontario and Canada. The Canadian Automotive Museum is located in Oshawa, Ontario, and occupies an original 1920 car dealership. Much of the building remains unchanged, which helps add to the atmosphere and places the vehicles in context. The museum contains a car or motorcycle manufactured from almost every year between 1898 and 1940, and a variety on up to the 1970s, that you are unlikely to have seen – or even heard of. A significant portion of the museum comes from the McLaughlin family: a Canadian auto manufacturer from 1905 to the early 1930s when Sam McLaughlin went on to become the president of Buick, then the president of GM.

The biggest challenges to photographing the cars in a museum setting range from low and difficult lighting, to very tightly packed cars. I hadn’t brought large backdrops or sheets to help isolate the cars, so I used a combination of image stitching and lighting to highlight the car or aspect that I wanted. Jorg Braun, a friend from the BMW Club, helped with the set-up, prep, tidy-up and provided suggestions on composition: I’m totally spoiled now and have to make sure I take along some keen and eager help next time I go shooting. Thanks Jorg.

After working out some of the techniques at the Canadian Automotive Museum, I plan on heading to RM Auctions, Legendary Motorcars, and a few other places where you can tour and see exotics, classics and legendary motor cars.

Many thanks to Jack Innes and Kim for access, and the time to photograph the cars.

Backyard Wildlife

Nature photographers often spend hours familiarizing themselves with behaviour, habitats, and where animals can best be found. And then you can get lucky, and they come to you. The Barred owl and Pileated woodpecker were in the backyard at the same time, and pretty much ignored each other; not so the other critters, I was surprised to see that after a while, the Chickadees and Downy woodpeckers started to ignore the owl as well. Can’t say the same about the jays and crows: what a racket. Of course that all changed when dusk arrived and the owl went on the hunt.

Both birds allowed me to get within 15 feet: neither birds were disturbed, as I didn’t try to get any closer.

Cars In The Studio

A typical photo studio gives you the ability to control your lighting and environment. There are some differences between portrait and car photography: you do run out of room really quickly when the subject is a car, as you need space for the car, space to step back for the shot and space to move the lights back from the car. And you probably don’t have enough lights. Lighting for a car is similar to lighting for a portrait, with some significant differences that I’ll mention below. I recently spent some time working out lighting set-ups with a fantastic black Ferrari 348, and learned a lot.

Main and fill lights work the same to provide the illumination on the main surface, and reduce shadows in the opposite ‘side’ such as the car’s nose in a three-quarter view. The major challenge involves watching for the reflections of the lights: a large enough diffuser combined with the light some distance away from the car, will help smooth and spread the light evenly over the whole surface.

Traditionally, separating the subject from the background can be accomplished with either a light shining down onto the top of the subject (hair light), or onto the background (kicker light). For most car colours, this works as expected. With a black car, on a black background, the light is soaked up, so you need to be able to position the light with the reflection seen by the camera. An easier way is to use a kicker light that will silhouette the outline of the car. You may also need several low-power kicker lights under the car to reduce shadow edges, to outline wheels, and to provide additional separation from the backdrop under the car.

Highlights: this is where you need lots of lights. The major difference from portrait photography is in illuminating the characteristics, lines and shapes. You will need to use spot highlights to bring out key aspects of the car: logos, wheels and other features. You wouldn’t shine a light onto a rather large nose: the client may not appreciate the generous nature of their nose. Finally, strip lighting will illuminate curves and provide accents through light reflections. And all of this while ensuring there are no reflections of light stands, you, equipment and surroundings in the car’s paint.

But when you get that all worked out (and you may need to do it in pieces and stitch it all together later), you’ll have re-created those automotive and motorcycle magazine shots we all see and drool over.

In the images here, the car is in a space the size of a two-car garage, and I am using a 45mm lens, positioned as much as 30 feet away. Warehouses make the best indoor automotive photography studio locations.

Winterlude in Ottawa

Ottawa’s annual Winterlude is underway down at Confederation park, Dows Lake and Jacques-Cartier Park in Hull, Quebec. In addition to the world’s longest skating ring on the Rideau Canal, Winterlude is also well known for it’s snow and ice sculpture competitions. Tuesday night, Alain Simard, Barbara Mckenzie and I spent a couple of hours ‘freezing our batteries off’ as we photographed the ice sculptures. Yes, it was the coldest night this year as temperatures and the windchill drove down to -30 celsius. At that temperatures, camera batteries last no longer than 90 minutes. Putting them into an inner pocket warms them up again, and they are ready to go for another 90 minutes. Another major concern is moisture: when you leave a warm building, any moisture on or in the camera, needs to cool down to the exterior temperatures before you can shoot.

Regardless, we were prepared and I snagged some great shots. The sculptures were illuminated with lights cycling through 5 different colours. Each colour set off the highlights of the sculptures in different ways. In other words, you had to stand there for upwards of 5 minutes waiting to see which light would work best with your current composition.

Low-key Automotive Photography

High-lighting the character of your subject is just as true with a car. What aspect, shape or line best defines the character of the car? What angle do most people find appealing or powerful or fun?

For the Ferrari 348, it is the sensuous rear flank: a gentle rising of the shoulder, curving and tapering into a small integral spoiler.

Working in the studio with a car requires lots of room, however I will go into that in my next post. You do get the opportunity to control the lighting completely. You’ll just wish you had more lights.

Surreal Water & Sacrificing the Body

Slowing down your photography is usually used to suggest that time taken crafting an image, results in a better image. Slowing down can also refer to longer exposures. As I mentioned in my recent post, I had a pond staked out as a great winter photo opportunity; there are also several small streams coming through the beaver dam. While not your rushing cascade of white-water, there are opportunities for some long-exposure imagery of water tumbling over rocks and ice. Add in the simplifying character of a blanket of snow, and you have lots of great potential.

I always come back to two of my major influences: Younes Bounhar and Harry Nowell. Harry has been instrumental in helping me slow down and craft the shot. Younes’ contribution to this post is two-fold: shapes, form and simplification, in addition to ‘sacrifice the body’. Well, he didn’t exactly say that. He implied that if you are not willing to get wet, you are missing a lot of opportunity. As with the ladder on the iced pond in my last post, leaning over and perching across a winter brook, certainly qualify.

The pond and stream of these two posts, just on the Carp Ridge, outside Ottawa, Ontario, has provided several great opportunities to practise my craft, train the eye and risk the body. One thing it does not provide is sunrise and sunset photography: the surrounding wood is just too close and thick to let light through it, and during the height of the day, it is hard to get a long exposure without blowing out the image. While that might be your goal, mine was to blur water to such as degree that it didn’t even look like water. That requires a very long exposure. This first image here, was a 45-second exposure, while the second was a 3-minute exposure. To get these during the day, I had a thick overcast sky to help, as well as 8-stop and 2-stop neutral density (ND) filters. Add in the required tripod, some warm weather gear, a willingness to fall into the stream, and a supporting and understanding wife on standby with a warm car, and all that remains is something to photograph. That’s where taking the time comes in. I spent about 45 minutes looking at different angles, tromping through brush, sliding on icy stones, taking a few test snaps, then over the next 30 minutes, I only took 8 photos at two locations; mainly getting the exposure and focus right where I wanted them.

Next time you are out there, start to think  about what you might be missing by not getting in the stream, up the lamp post or on a ladder on a frozen beaver dam.

Winter – A Great Simplifier

Winter is a great opportunity to craft some simple, yet compelling images. All of the complexity of nature is hidden under a blanket of gleaming white snow: no ragged grasses, sticks, twigs or other visual distractions. And possibly the best advantage, if you are a landscape photographer: sunrise and sunset, those moments of glorious light, are at more reasonable hours. Well, I think that 6:00 in the morning is better than 4:00. Snow and winter also bring their own challenges: glare, exposure, white balance, and of course, the cold.

While looking for a nice, stark tree to complete a commission, I was also keeping my eye out for potential locations for simple compositions. A simple composition sounds easy, but it turns out to be very hard to find. You want very little clutter, strong lines, good contrast, an obvious subject, suggestive shapes, and a nice play between shadow and light. Oh and a perspective that allows you to get as much of that as possible.

I had found a site with great potential: a small beaver pond with a few dead trees. My goal was to capture tension between trunks and shadows. My first visit, just after a fresh snowfall, was a bit of a wash, as the pond had been crisscrossed by several deer tracks: so much for no distracting elements. Another challenge I discovered on that first recce: there was no perspective that allowed me to avoid the cluttered pond shore. To get away from the complicating wood-line, I already had a solution: height. Harry Nowell had captured a compelling cross country ski race, by lugging a ladder along the course.

To get away from animal tracks, I needed to get back after a snowfall, but before the critters. I also needed the shadows to fall in a pleasing direction. After several trips, at different times of the day, I managed to get the two shots here. Of course, lugging the ladder across a semi-frozen swamp, through trees, across running streams, onto a beaver dam and into position, all at -10 degrees is a fun and entertaining story in itself.

The lesson? Once you find a spot with potential, visit it regularly through the season: as weather, circumstances, snowfall and a whole host of other variables change, you may get completely different images from the very same location. And my favourite lesson? I’ll be documenting the results of that, in the next blog.