Butterfly Photo Tips

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The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough. – Rabindranath Tagore

Canon 1Ds Mark II
Canon 50mm Macro Lens
Manual Mode
ISO 400
f/9.0 @ 1/80th sec.
Canon MR-14EX Ring Lite

Photo tips:
• Learn about a subject from an expert. He or she can help you find and identify butterflies.
• Use a tripod to steady your shots for natural light macro picture.
• Before heading off to photograph in a butterfly sanctuary, ask if tripods are allowed and if the center offers special photo tours.
• When using a ringlight, experiment with even and ratio lighting (possible by adjusting the light output of the flash tubes in the ringlight. Try top light and side light, too.
• Practice your butterfly photography at home with silk butterflies (available on line) before you go out on shoot.
• Want to attract butterflies? Plant a butterfly bush in your backyard.

Explorer the light,
Rick

Happy Father's Day to iDads: Free Redeem Code Giveaway

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To celebrate Father's Day (a few days early), my app developers/friends/dads (Dr. Dave Wilson and Juan Pons) and I are giving away free redeem codes for two of our apps.

Here are the codes for 24/7 Photo Buffet (iPhone app):

W7KPRXRH9JHA
W7TTHRP69NLM
LNX6YN3W7TFT
W96644XT9MXE

That's all we have for now. We gave away our total. More codes to come with the launch of the iPad version.


Here are the codes for Life Lesson We Can Learn From Mother Nature (iPad app):

ERHWL9E4ANNF
M6JY3A6FP3H3
9FHE99K7RNRP
3ATEF369P6P9
76JT4H93N3AP
X44TNFLALWY9
9MHJ34N63PPP

We'll be giving away more codes in the future. Stay tuned.

Good luck to all the iDads (and iKids of great iDads) who have iPhones and iPads. :-)

Happy Dad's Day,
Rick
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Rainbow Photo Tips

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The soul would have no rainbow had the eyes no tears. – John Vance Cheney

Moab, Utah
Canon 1Ds Mark II
Canon 17- 40mm lens @ 17mm
Aperture Priority Mode
ISO 100
f/5.6 @ 1/125 sec.

Photo Tips:
• Never underestimate the importance of cropping. It's the first thing I do after I open an image.
• Look for rainbows after it rains. Sounds like a simple tip, but looking helps you find rainbows.
• Use the Saturation tool in Photoshop to increase the colors in the rainbow. Select a soft-edge brush and "paint" over the rainbow.
• Slightly darkening the image in Photoshop can add drama to an image.

Life Lessons We Can Learn from Mother Nature, my latest iPad app, was recently released on the iTunes app store. The concept: On each page of the e-book-type app you’ll find an inspirational or motivational quote accompanied by one of my wildlife or landscape photographs. I tired to match each photograph to the quote, which was a challenging but rewarding process.

The photographs are from my travels over the years; the quotes are gathered from a lifetime of looking for inspiration from others.

To celebrate the iPad app, co-developed with Juan Pons (the dude who started the Digital Photo Experience with me), I’ll be posting a picture and quote from time to time here on my blog – pictures and quotes that are not in the app. I’ll also include the location in which each photograph was taken, as well as the camera data – as I do in the app.

To order the app, which also features my favorite Photoshop techniques for wildlife and nature photography, click on the iPhone/iPad photographs on the right.

If you have an inspiration quote you’d like to share, please share it here via a Comment.

Explore the light – and explore the iPad!
Rick

Close-up Photo Tips

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To witness two lovers is a spectacle for the gods. – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Coconut Creek, Florida
Canon 1Ds Mark II
Canon 50mm Macro Lens
Aperture Priority Mode
ISO 400
f/9.0 @ 1/80th sec.

Close-up Photo Tips:
• Use a true macro lens for close-up photography. It will get you closer than a zoom with a macro setting.
• Pay extra attention to depth-of-field, because depth-of-field is limited.
• Use a ringlight for even illumination.
• The background can make or break the photograph.

Life Lessons We Can Learn from Mother Nature, my latest iPad app, was recently released on the iTunes app store. The concept: On each page of the e-book-type app you’ll find an inspirational or motivational quote accompanied by one of my wildlife or landscape photographs. I tired to match each photograph to the quote, which was a challenging but rewarding process.

The photographs are from my travels over the years; the quotes are gathered from a lifetime of looking for inspiration from others.

To celebrate the iPad app, co-developed with Juan Pons (the dude who started the Digital Photo Experience with me), I’ll be posting a picture and quote from time to time here on my blog – pictures and quotes that are not in the app. I’ll also include the location in which each photograph was taken, as well as the camera data – as I do in the app.

To order the app, which also features my favorite Photoshop techniques for wildlife and nature photography, click on the iPhone/iPad photos on the right.

If you have an inspiration quote you’d like to share, please share it here via a Comment.

Explore the light – and explore the iPad!
Rick

Life Lessons We Can Learn From Mother Nature – iPad App Now Available

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Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing. – Abraham Lincoln

Kenya
Canon 1Ds Mark II
Canon 1000-400mm IS lens @ 340mm
Aperture Priority Mode
ISO 125
f/8.0 @ 164th sec.

Photo tips:
• Check your histogram to make sure that your highlights are not washed out.
• Don't look directly into the sun at sunrise and sunset.
• Wear sunglasses at sunrise and sunset.
• Have fun in Photoshop creating the mirror effect, as I did here.
• Note that polarizing filters are not effective when shooting directly toward or away from the sun.

• • •
Life Lessons We Can Learn from Mother Nature, my latest iPad app, was recently released on the iTunes app store. The concept: On each page of the e-book-type app you’ll find an inspirational or motivational quote accompanied by one of my wildlife or landscape photographs. I tired to match each photograph to the quote, which was a challenging but rewarding process.

The photographs are from my travels over the years; the quotes are gathered from a lifetime of looking for inspiration from others.

To celebrate the iPad app, co-developed with Juan Pons (the dude who started the Digital Photo Experience with me), I’ll be posting a picture and quote from time to time here on my blog – pictures and quotes that are not in the app. I’ll also include the location in which each photograph was taken, as well as the camera data – as I do in the app.

To order the app, which also features my favorite Photoshop techniques for wildlife and nature photography, click on the iPhone/iPad photos on the right.

If you have an inspiration quote you’d like to share, please share it here via a Comment.

Explore the light – and explore the iPad!

Rick
P.S. Click here to see all my apps.

Africa Photo Safari Tips – live from the Bronx Zoo

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Photograph © Jeff Muschar

Today, while I giving a private workshop at the Bronx Zoo, the student (now my friend), Jeff Muschar, took the opening shot for this blog post. Great job Jeff.

Jeff took the workshop as a prelude to his Botswana safari, which he is doing with his son in a few weeks. I know they will have a great father/son time – and come back with great images.

Jeff asked me to jot down some photo and safari tips. I said sure!

For those of you who may venture off on a safari, I thought I'd share the tips with you, too. Here goes.

Safari Tips:

• Be prepared to get up early and come back to camp early. Most of the action happens early in the day - and late in the day (and at night).

• Be prepared for lots of downtime (downloading time), because you probably will not go on a game drive until late in the afternoon.

• Definitely do the night game drives. Pack your flashlights.

• Ask at the camp when they switch power generators. A power surge can zap your charger.

• Talk to your doc about antibiotics. I travel with Cipro. Always.

• Talk to your doc about other travel issues, such as malaria.

• Pack light. Go to www.onebag.com to learn how to pack . . . in one bag :-)

• Do a web search on the camps. Some let your dive off road, others do not. You often get closer to animals when you can drive off the road.

Photo Tips:

Photographs © Rick Sammon

• Try to get a photo of the animal looking up or toward the sun. If you do, you'll get better light on the animal's face – and catch light in the eyes (as illustrated above).

• Keep your camera clean and change lenses only when absolutely necessary. It's very, very dusty in Africa. Don't use liquid cleaners on your sensor. You can make matters worse.

• If possible, take two camera bodies: one with a tele zoom, one with a wide-angle zoom.

• Take close-up shots and environmental portraits.

• Pack a power strip (or two) so you can charge more devices. Of course, also pack the correct power adapter (take two).

• Remove all filters when shooting into the sun.

• Bring back everything.

• Carry one of your hard drives with you all the time. You don't want your pictures to "walk off."

• Use your photo vest a third carry on.

• Keep your flash very handy. You will need it more than you think – even on sunny days. Master daylight fill-in flash photography.

Photograph © Rick Sammon

Well Jeff, have a great time with your son. Here's a shot I took while on my previous trip to Botswana – with the same tele zoom you are taking, Canon 100-400mm IS.

To get a shot like this, you need more more thing: LUCK!

Let me know here (via a comment) if you are interested in a photo walk at the zoo on September 7th – the day before my Hudson River Photo Workshop.

Explore the light,
Rick

P.S. If you have a photo or travel tip for Jeff (and others) please share it here via a comment.