A day around Choa Praya River and the market place, Bangkok

There is often confusion the differences between 'Photo Story and 'Photo Essay'. Both concepts require a series of photographs that have emotions, feelings and tell a story about the chosen subject. Most importantly the photographs should draw the viewer into the content of the  photography. Both Photo Story or Photo Essay can be of a place, person or an event, some text can be added if necessary, however the photograph should tell a story by itself and not the other way around.

A Photo Story can have a series of photographs ranging from a place, person, or an event, each photograph is strong on its own to tell a story about the place, an event or people.

Whereas a photo essay, a series of images depend on each other to emphasis the story, and are usually of the same one chosen subject.

For this article I chose to collate a series of images from my trip to Bangkok. These images were taken to show 'A day around Choa Praya River and the marketplace. 

 

Bhupinder Ghatahora ABIPP, ARPS, ASWPP
Ghatahora Photography
info@ghatahora.co.uk
www.ghatahora.co.uk
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
Flickr

Facebook 

Before & After

Here are the two photographs showing the before and after editing in Lightroom.

Before editing

After Editing

Bhupinder Ghatahora
Ghatahora Photography

info@ghatahora.co.uk
www.ghatahora.co.uk
@Ghatahora
Facebook
Pinterest
Flickr
Instagram

Before & After

Here are the two photographs showing the before and after editing in Lightroom.

Before Editing

After Editing

Bhupinder Ghatahora
Ghatahora Photography

info@ghatahora.co.uk
www.ghatahora.co.uk
@Ghatahora
Facebook
Pinterest
Flickr
Instagram

Image Of The Month

The morning fog

Bhupinder Ghatahora
Ghatahora Photography

info@ghatahora.co.uk
www.ghatahora.co.uk
@Ghatahora
Facebook
Pinterest
Flickr
Instagram

Low Light and Night Photography

Taking photographs in low light conditions can be very exciting and creative. Here are 2 important things to keep in mind: -

1) The time of the day: 

• Before sunrise (pre-dawn)
• Sunset
•  After sunset (twilight & total darkness)

2) Camera settings: we will be using Aperture mode on the camera.

Pre-dawn (before Sunrise)

Before sunrise the light reflected from the sky hitting the scene is very soft and diffused, which means the shadows are very weak. Therefore the colour of the sky will be blue on clear days and grey on cloudy days, such lighting conditions can create very atmospheric photographs.

Cameras which do not have the Aperture Priority mode will often allow selecting different scene settings, such as ‘dusk/dawn’, ‘nightlight’ or ‘sunset’ modes (experiment which of these modes works best for your image).

Here is a photograph of Loch Lomond which I took before sunrise. Set the camera on aperture priority mode at f11 or f16 and let the camera choose the shutter speed. The exposure will be long, so use a tripod as this will avoid camera shake.

The below photograph was taken at the same location just as the sun was rising.

Sunsets

To capture the sunset, you need to act quickly as it would normally set in minutes. Use same settings as before, setting the camera on aperture priority mode at f11 or f16.

After Sunset (Twilight and total darkness)

After the sun has set, there is still some light in the sky, giving a warm glow, which slowly fades to pastel colours of pink, blue and purple. This is the twilight and it will give long exposures from 10 seconds on wards. Here are some examples of photographs I took in twilight. As before, set your cameras on aperture mode at f11 or f16 to achieve maximum depth of field.

I photographed these three trees in the mist in the field, this was just after sunset. I used a tripod to keep the camera steady and set it to a long exposure.

Total darkness

During total darkness, there is obviously no natural light available. These are perfect conditions to photograph trailing lights from cars, lit cityscapes, fireworks and light movement. As before, the exposure will be very long and can lead to minutes, it is therefore vital to use a tripod to avoid camera shake. Set the camera at f11 or f16 on aperture mode.

I took this photograph at Wellington Park during the firework fiesta.

Bhupinder Ghatahora

Ghatahora Photography

www.ghatahora.co.uk

info@ghatahora.co.uk

https://twitter.com/Ghatahora

https://www.facebook.com/GhatahoraPhotography

https://www.pinterest.com/ghatahoraphotog/

Winter Photography

Taking photographs in low light conditions can be very exciting and creative. Here are 2 important things to keep in mind: -

1) The time of the day: 

• Before sunrise (pre-dawn)
• Sunset
•  After sunset (twilight & total darkness)

2) Camera settings: we will be using Aperture mode on the camera.

Pre-dawn (before Sunrise)

Before sunrise the light reflected from the sky hitting the scene is very soft and diffused, which means the shadows are very weak. Therefore the colour of the sky will be blue on clear days and grey on cloudy days, such lighting conditions can create very atmospheric photographs.

Cameras which do not have the Aperture Priority mode will often allow selecting different scene settings, such as ‘dusk/dawn’, ‘nightlight’ or ‘sunset’ modes (experiment which of these modes works best for your image).

Here is a photograph of Loch Lomond which I took before sunrise. Set the camera on aperture priority mode at f11 or f16 and let the camera choose the shutter speed. The exposure will be long, so use a tripod as this will avoid camera shake.

The below photograph was taken at the same location just as the sun was rising.

Sunsets

To capture the sunset, you need to act quickly as it would normally set in minutes. Use same settings as before, setting the camera on aperture priority mode at f11 or f16.

After Sunset (Twilight and total darkness)

After the sun has set, there is still some light in the sky, giving a warm glow, which slowly fades to pastel colours of pink, blue and purple. This is the twilight and it will give long exposures from 10 seconds on wards. Here are some examples of photographs I took in twilight. As before, set your cameras on aperture mode at f11 or f16 to achieve maximum depth of field.

I photographed these three trees in the mist in the field, this was just after sunset. I used a tripod to keep the camera steady and set it to a long exposure.

Total darkness

During total darkness, there is obviously no natural light available. These are perfect conditions to photograph trailing lights from cars, lit cityscapes, fireworks and light movement. As before, the exposure will be very long and can lead to minutes, it is therefore vital to use a tripod to avoid camera shake. Set the camera at f11 or f16 on aperture mode.

I took this photograph at Wellington Park during the firework fiesta.

Bhupinder Ghatahora

Ghatahora Photography

www.ghatahora.co.uk

info@ghatahora.co.uk

https://twitter.com/Ghatahora

https://www.facebook.com/GhatahoraPhotography

https://www.pinterest.com/ghatahoraphotog/

Landscape Photography part 2

Landscape Photography part 1 can be found on the below link. 

http://ghatahoraphotography.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/landscape-photography.html

Landscape photography Part 2

7) Include the Sky

Including the sky makes the photograph more interesting. Most landscapes images will have either a dominant foreground or sky. If you your image does not have one or the other, photograph can end up being boring. If the sky is bland, boring sky, overcast, do not include the sky in your image and place the horizon in the upper third of your shot. However your foreground has to interesting. On the other hand if the sky is filled lots of clouds and colours include it by placing the horizon lower third.


Clouds - horizon on lower third

Sunrise over Loach Lomond -  horizon on upper third

8)     Leading Lines

You may have asked yourself this question, ‘how can lead the viewer’s eye of into the image’?

Here is the answer; there are a number of ways of doing this.

• Include foreground
•  Blur the image to create a sense of movement
• Changing your view point
• Colours in the landscape: i.e. a field of poppies against the blue sky

Leading lines are one of the best ways into an image which lead the viewers into the photograph. Lines give an image depth, scale and can be a point of interest and create patterns in your image.

Below: Photograph taken at Lake Windmere, Lake District

The image below was taken by pointing the camera up at the top

 

9)     Capturing Movement

When most people think about landscapes they think of calm, peaceful and passive environments – however landscapes are rarely completely still and adding the movement creates the mood, drama, and create a point of interest.

Examples of movement in landscapes are:– moving trees, waves on a beach, water flowing over a waterfall, birds flying overhead, moving clouds, stars etc.

Capturing movement generally means a longer shutter speed, which means more light hitting your camera  sensor. For this reason you will need to use a small Aperture, use a Neutral Density or a Polarization filter or photograph your landscapes at the start or end of the day when there is less light.

Below: Zoomed while taking the photograph

Below: Waves, a faster shutter speed used to freeze the movement of the waves

Below: a close-up of a small waterfall by the road in Scotland. A slow shutter speed used to blur the movement of the water.

10)  Weather

A landscape can change dramatically depending on the weather conditions; choose the right time to photograph.

It’s great to get out on sunny days and photograph landscapes; however an overcast day that is threatening to rain may provide you with a much better opportunity to create an image with great atmosphere and mood.

Look out for storm clouds, mist, sun shining through dark skies, sunsets, sunrises etc. and work with the different elements rather than just waiting for the next clear blue sky day.

Sunrise over Loch Lomond

 

After the storm - Speia toned photograph of the beach after it had stopped raining

I hope this brief insight into Landscape Photography assists you in taking better Landscape photographs.

Bhupinder Ghatahora

Ghatahora Photography

www.ghatahora.co.uk

info@ghatahora.co.uk

https://twitter.com/Ghatahora

https://www.facebook.com/GhatahoraPhotography

Woods

Photographs of woods taken at different days. These photographs have been edited in a editting software.

 

 

Bhupinder Ghatahora
Ghatahora Photography
www.ghatahora.co.uk
info@ghatahora.co.uk
https://twitter.com/Ghatahora
https://www.facebook.com/GhatahoraPhotography