Rather Lovely Tuesday

If I could stab me
in the face
through the cheek
in my eye
open my skull
spread my veins

See my blood
gush
ooze
spill
drip
drip
drip

That would be a rather lovely Tuesday.

I have to try to shower everyday

He says I have to try to shower everyday. He says I have to try to shower everyday because otherwise I’ll Feel guilty. Like I’m sick. Like I’m giving in and giving up.

He says I have to try to shower everyday or at least every second day so I keep my hygiene up and feel better about myself. Like showering is supposed to be an achievement. 

But sometimes getting out of bed is the hardest thing in the world and if it wasn’t for an overwhelming need to pee, I’d never leave it alone. 

Because bed is the safe space. It’s the place where the rest of the world dissolves into a lullaby. It a place where my back aches because we have spent so much time together, comforting each other. Plucking at threads in the sheets like the strings on a cello. Ba boom, bada boom. 

He says I have to try to shower everyday and I eventually get up to pee. Sometimes I don’t even bother to wash my hands.

Because washing my hands puts me next to the shower; in front of the mirror that shows my bloated swollen face, puffy eyes of derision and the blank expression of a person filled with apathy. 

So I go back to bed, unshowered, hands unwashed, teeth unbrushed, pills not taken. I go back to my bed where even the sheets seem sick of my company but my apathy continues and I just crawl under the covers to hide. 

Some days, I hear him singing in the back of my head, like a repeating lyric on a scratched record. 

He says I have to try to shower everyday and so I wash my hands after I pee. I take my pills. I am again exhausted. So I go back to bed with my sore back and aching muscles and a soaring aria of lethargy. 

And then at some point. Some time. On an unexpected moment, when his lilting voice has reverberated in my mind, in just the right way, I rise. I rise slowly and lumber to the bathroom. My footsteps echo. Ba boom, bada boom. 

I stare at the shower. It will take every piece of my flagging energy to get undressed. 

I comply. 

Naked, completely exposed and beyond weary, I hear the bed singing to me. But his song is shriller. 

He says I have to try to shower everyday and it’s already been three. I step inside and turn on the faucets. The scalding rain cascades down. I am so grimy that even the stinging hot water doesn’t cleanse me. And it leaves my wounded soul raw and red. But it hides the tears streaming down my face as my breath heaves to a familiar tune. Ba boom, bada boom. 

The chorus repeats in my head as I wrap myself in a towel. Because he is right. It *is* an Achievement and I have to try to shower everyday. 

A Life Well Lived

Grandma’s sitting in her rocking chair
Her face all wrinkled like a dried up pear
But I see a sparkle deep in her eyes
And I wonder if she’s still full of surprise.

Did Grandma have a rebellious streak?
Or were you a good girl – shy and meek?
Did you get caught going out at night?
Or kissing boys then running in fright?

Did you stand up for the rights of girls
Or be the glory in tiara and pearls?
I wonder Grandma about your youth
With the wisdom you’ve gained and your moral truth.

What frightens you now, and was it scarier then?
Did the years whiz by or did each take ten?
Were you happy with your life and where it went?
Did you value your time and where it was spent?

I look at you Gran with your weathered hands
And I’m sure you do more than just understand.
You have a wisdom that I’ve never known
And a strong sense of will that’s all home grown.

Can you share some of the world you’ve seen
And help me become a better me?
Because books are good but they aren’t you.
I am your future and I haven’t a clue.

Tell me your story and leave nothing out.
The life well lived or messed about
I’ll stay here right next to you
And we’ll just chat all night through.

I’ve so much to learn from your witty tales:
Just you and me and those juicy details.

Stress Free Posing: Sitting Edition | Photography Concentrate

Alrighty! Last time on Stress Free Posing we went through some standing poses for a couple, now let’s take a peek at some easy ways to create natural sitting poses.

The basic idea here is the same: start with one option, then make small changes to the way they’re sitting, looking at each other, and holding each other. Excellent variety + minimal work = maximum fun.

Let’s discuss a couple quick points about sitting before we dive in.

First off, sitting a great equalizer, height wise. It brings both heads to roughly the same level, allowing for more interaction. If you have a really tall guy, and a much shorter gal, sitting poses are going to be your go-to option.

It can also be very flattering when you shoot your subjects from a slightly elevated position (it lengthens out the neck, gets rid of double chins, and opens the eyes up a bit more). This is super easy to do when your couple is sitting, so take advantage of that.

Finally, if you’re going to be sitting in a field, or working with a bride, bring something to sit on. A small blanket works well, as you can hid it if you don’t want it to be in the photo. Or, if you use a Shootsac, just pull off the cover with a flourish and let them sit on that—you get awesome points when you do that.

Read More…

via Stress Free Posing: Sitting Edition | Photography Concentrate.

100 Photography Tips Infographic – Expert Photography

Welcome to ExpertPhotography’s top 100 photography tips, picked from the best tutorials of 2011, and brought together in one place, for your ease. These tips are extracts from a variety of to the tutorials, where you’ll find much more information, to help you improve your photography. Here are the tutorials that the tips came from:

10 Tips For Better Portraits

10 Steps To Taking Better Photos

10 Top Tips To Taking Sharper Photos

10 Tips For Taking Better Candid Photos

10 Embarrassing Mistakes I Made As A Beginner Photographer

10 Ways To Critique A Photo

10 Reasons Your Photos Suck

10 Reasons Why Being A Photographer Sucks

Top 10 Photography Clichés You Should Avoid To Improve Your Photography

10 Accessories To Improve Your Photography

via 100 Photography Tips Infographic – Expert Photography.

RAW vs JPEG (JPG) – The Ultimate Visual Guide tutorial

RAW vs JPEG (JPG) – The Ultimate Visual Guide

October 2, 2010

Overview

Shooting RAW vs JPEG is a question that every photographer faces at some point. There are many articles out there that cover the topic from the basics of size and quality, to all of the advanced technical details regarding color bits per channel, compression, firmware DCT processing, etc.

So, here is the disclaimer, if you want the technical details regarding RAW vs JPEGs, Digital Photography School has a great technical primer discussing the basic technical differences, a brief Google search will also unearth loads of additional more in depth technical resources as well.

via RAW vs JPEG (JPG) – The Ultimate Visual Guide tutorial.

Capturing Powerful Photos of Fire Trails

This post was originally published on Light Stalking

by Christopher O’Donnell on 13 Jul 2011

 

Photographing fire performers – and the trails they make – is an art form of its own. These incredible artists can put on quite a show, and photographers love the opportunity to capture surreal images using long exposure techniques.

Burning Dan by naturalturn, on Flickr

Successful fire trail photography takes much skill and practice – moving fire combined with a darkened environment can be a difficult subject to capture and extends beyond simple long exposure techniques.

Below are some key technical points about capturing fire trails – your settings, the needed gear, and how to execute the perfect fire trail photo.

For more, Click Here: Capturing Powerful Photos of Fire Trails 

How to Photograph Star Trails: The Ultimate Guide

Photographing the night sky can be a surreal experience, and star trail photography is highly rewarding if you have a bit of patience. Those 2 hour long single exposures can turn an otherwise mundane day shot into an otherworldly image.

Racing Stars by Andrew Stawarz, on Flickr

When photographing star trails, your goal is to allow your camera to pick up light it wouldn’t normally by using extra long exposures. Working under the night sky means that the amount of available light is severely limited – most likely, you’ll only be able to capture the stars in the sky depending on if there are other light sources around, unless you’re planning on spending a few hours for each exposure.

Behind the Rocks at Night by Scott Ingram Photography, on Flickr

With that being said, it’s very important to utilize proper long exposure techniques: locking your mirror, mounting your camera on a secure tripod, and using a remote cable release for your shutter.

However, there are additional things to consider when photographing star trails that will set your night images apart from the crowd – how do you get those fantastic lines of light?

The Celestial South Pole by lrargerich, on Flickr

There are two methods popular with star photographers – using one very long exposure (long enough to register some noticeable star movement; at least 30 minutes) OR taking many shorter exposures and stacking those images in a way that shows sequential movement.

One Long Exposure

To capture star trails using one long exposure, there are a couple important things to consider. You need to let as much light into your lens as possible for those stars to register (the why’s of this are explained below) – this means using a fast lens, preferably in the f/2.8 range.

When photographing stars under one exposure, you need to do it during a new moon night – meaning that the moon is nowhere to be seen. If you have anything more than a crescent, your exposure will be limited to the 10-minute range because of the ambient light, which won’t do much for star trails. For this kind of photography, darkness is your best friend.

Ultimately, you’re aiming for your environment to be illuminated by the stars themselves – yes it’s possible! However, this entirely depends on the length of your exposure. The image below is the result of an 80 minute exposure taken under a new moon – you can see that the foreground is exposed nicely and the star trails are outstanding.

The vortex in the sky by .Bala, on Flickr

When calculating your exposure, it would be best to do a shortened test shot so you’re not waiting a ridiculous amount of time just to see if your settings are correct. Many night photographers will jack up their ISO as far as it’ll go and shoot wide open – you’ll rarely find an instance where you’ll be taking a photo shorter than 30 seconds here. Of course the test shot will be entirely unusable due to noise and lack of trails, but it will give you a base to calculate what settings are needed with an ISO of 100.

Image Stacking Shorter Exposures

An alternative to waiting an hour or more for your exposure to finish is to take sequential images and stack them together in post process to get your star trails. In short, your exposure should be just long enough to register your stars as bright objects in the sky before moving onto the next one. It’s not uncommon to have several hundred images to stack taken over the course of a few hours.

Post process software such as ImageStacker and DeepSkyStacker will automatically throw all your images together and produce a stunning star trail.

Another benefit to image stacking is that you have all the necessary photos to make a time lapse video – here’s a short clip of what you can accomplish with this method of star trail photography: both the time lapse video and the composite trail image are shown here.

Tip: Between shots, try waiting a few seconds to let your sensor cool down a bit as a hot sensor = more digital noise.

Aperture: Wide Open or Narrow?

A common question – or rather misconception – with star trail photography is why wouldn’t you use a small aperture (say f/8 or above) for a sharper image rather than shoot wide open? You’re already shooting hour-long exposures so the timing isn’t a concern….surely it’s better to have a sharper photo, especially if you have other focal points (foreground interest, etc).

The issue with photographing stars is that they move – this is why we want to photograph their trails in the first place. With that in mind, there is a delicate balance to find with your exposure that’s more than just how long your shutter is open.

Wider apertures allow for shorter exposure times because they let more light in than narrow apertures. Focus on that last part – they let more light in. Considering that stars are constantly moving, you need to make sure that they’re registered on your sensor before they move – otherwise your star trails will be very dim, perhaps even non-existent depending on your chosen f/stop. Imagine doing a two-hour shoot where your foreground is lit nicely, but your star trails look no more than a slight variation in tones on the night sky.

Considering this, it’s a good idea to have a lens that’s capable of very wide apertures – such as f/2.8 or even wider. The wider your aperture, the brighter your star trails will be.

Finding the Poles

As you may have noticed, several of the example images used here have a circular pattern around a more central location- also known as the north and south poles. This is especially apparent in the video link above. In order to replicate this, you need to locate the poles first and aim your camera for it.

If you’re an astronomy beginner like me, this may seem a bit daunting – not to worry though. If you’re shooting towards the north pole, the Polaris (a.k.a. the North Star) is what you’re aiming for – it’s the last star on the handle of the Big Dipper, so if you locate that you’re good to go.

The south pole is a bit more difficult to eyeball as there’s no prominent bright star near the pole to help like the Polaris. You can still gather an idea of where it is though by using this free software to help pinpoint the south and north poles – very handy.

More Tips

Light Pollution – Whether from a nearby city or the street lamp at the end of your driveway, light pollution can greatly affect long exposures. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing though – in fact, it may add to the ambiance of your photo, such as a star trail image that begins during the blue hours. Experimenting with atmospheric light can be a creative way to make a unique star trail image – just be aware that the lighter your sky is, the less contrast your star trails will have.

Clear Skies and Dry Air – Obviously you don’t want to photograph star trails under a cloudy sky, but other atmospheric filters can interfere with your night photography – air pollution and humidity being the top annoyances. The best locations for a clear sky would be high up and away from any congested cities, and take on a night with very low humidity.

————–

Read more great articles by Christopher O’Donnell on his website or follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

Click Here: How to Photograph Star Trails: The Ultimate Guide 

 

via How to Photograph Star Trails: The Ultimate Guide.

Light Stalking » The 5 Immutable Laws of Better iPhone Photography

The 5 Immutable Laws of Better iPhone Photography

By Light Stalking

The development of cameras in mobile phones, and more recently the iPhone, has been one of the biggest changes in photography for many decades. In this space of time, photography has gone from technically heavy and gear-reliant to a situation where almost everybody has a camera in their pockets at all times. And those cameras are only getting better. So in keeping with the idea that the best camera is the one you have with you, we have decided to put together a list of ideas to get better results from your iPhone or mobile phone camera.

Stabilise the Camera – In all but well-lit settings, mobile phone and iPhone cameras have trouble with capturing enough light to give you a crisp and well focused shot. In many cases (especially low light and shots of a moving subject) you are going to have to give it a helping hand.

photo © 2009 Matt Burrows | more info(via: Wylio)

The first rule of thumb is to hold the phone horizontally with two hands (not vertically with one). That will help stabilise it to a point.

Now a lot of companies are coming out with heaps of accessories for this like tripods for your iPhone and whatnot, but in many situations you are not going to have something like that in your pocket or easily available. The single best way to solve this problem is to simply brace your phone against a stable surface. This is made a lot easier than many traditional cameras due to the fact that the phone screen is your viewfinder and you don’t need to put the phone up to your eye to see what you are going to be taking a shot of. Often you can brace the phone camera at arms length and still see what it sees.

There are no hard and fast rules here, but try to look for something that allows you to get a level shot too. Leaning your phone camera against a wall or doorway will make sure it’s level. A table or chair will also do if it’s stable.

This is really no different to what traditional SLR or DSLR photographers when they are caught in a situation with less than ideal lighting. Brace yourself or your camera against an immovable object will give you the best chance of getting a good shot.

Improve the Lighting – A lot of low light situations aren’t well captured by mobile device cameras (though this is improving with newer models having flash etc). Sometimes if the subject is moving in low light, you will just end up with a series of motion blurs on the final shot that aren’t anything resembling what you hoped you could capture.

Now, if you have an iPhone 4 or an Android or mobile with a built in flash, that is a great first step. A lot of us aren’t lucky enough to have that though. And sometimes even the flash on them isn’t ideal.

In many situations you are going to have to think on your feet about the environment you are shooting in. Something as simple as turning on an extra light or opening a window curtain will give you a much better lighting setup to shoot with an iPhone camera. Look for natural reflectors like white walls or surfaces too.

There are no hard and fast rules to improving the lighting situation when shooting on an iPhone because every situation is different. Just be aware that your camera will probably have issues in lower lighting conditions and that you need to look around for ways to improve that with what you have on hand.

photo © 2009 Bobbi Bowers | more info(via: Wylio)

Get Closer – We know that we sound like a broken record by including this one as it’s one of our common pieces of advice to people who ask how to take better photos and we have included it many times on this site, but the fact is that it is one of the best pieces of advice for any photographic situation.

You want to fill the frame with your shot, even on an iPhone or mobile. Most of the time that means getting physically closer to your subject. Sometimes it means lying on the ground or climbing up on something – just accept the fact that as a photographer, you will often get into positions that will make others laugh and sometimes scare small children – this is our burden. But if you really want a great shot then you will usually have to get closer to your subject in any way that you can.

We’ve said it before and we will say it again. The first three rules of photography are, “Get closer. Get closer. Get closer.”

Favor Strong Lines and Colours – The cameras on mobile devices don’t process detail particularly well – especially at a distance or in low light. If you’re thinking of getting a shot of that tree swaying in the breeze across the field at sunset, then you are going to have some problems.

This simply comes down to choosing your subject wisely and within the constraints of the gear that you have. Just as a an expensive 50mm lens isn’t suitable for taking close ups of the moon, nor is a mobile phone camera suitable for shooting the Le Mans 24 Hour race. Look for big and bold subjects.

Well lit architecture is an examples of something that can work well with an iPhone. The bold colours of street art can work well if properly lit too. Know your constraints and shoot with them in mind.

photo © 2011 Shane K | more info(via: Wylio)
photo © 2008 Alan L | more info(via: Wylio)

Don’t Forget About Apps – A little bit of software for a few bucks can make your life with an iPhone or Android a hell of a lot more easy when it comes to photography. And the great thing about it is that there are a heap of really great apps that you can get.

But what should you look for in an app?

There are some apps that handle both pre and post production. While the iPhone doesn’t have a zoom lens, a little creative coding by app developers means that this can be rectified (for example). On the other end, dealing with colour situations in common shooting scenarios such as landscapes, portraits, night shots or actions shots can be handled to a point with in-phone post production.

The iPhone app we are playing with most at the moment is Camera +. It covers a lot of these problems and a lot more. Plano is another one you might want to look at for panorama shots.

Don’t forget though that a lot of talented people are working hard on developing new iPhone and Android apps every day, so don’t be too rigid in your loyalties. Something better might well come out next week.

Conclusion

The iPhone camera will continue to improve as will the camera on any other mobile device. That is the beauty of technology. But working with what we have and the constraints it throws up is also a great way to improve your photography. Take advantage of the fact that you can now carry a camera with you everywhere. There has been no easier time to improve your skills through practice!

via Light Stalking » The 5 Immutable Laws of Better iPhone Photography.

38 (More) High Speed Splash Photographs

By Light Stalking

Capturing a shot at the moment liquid begins to splash can produce some stunning results. This collection shows carefully crafted shots taken at precisely that moment – a theme that has quite a lot of participation on sites like Flickr and one that we have given a basic introduction to for folks who would like to start experimenting in our article on how to photograph water drops. Take some inspiration for these high speed splash photographs and try it out yourself!

photo © 2005 Eduardo Cunha | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2008 Tambako The Jaguar | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2009 Julian Evil | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2009 Andrea | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2007 Frédéric DUPONT | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2006 Guiri R. Reyes | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2009 Andrea | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2007 Louise Docker | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2009 LASZLO ILYES | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2007 Lori Greig | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2006 Guiri R. Reyes | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2008 Vikram Vetrivel | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2008 Andreas Levers | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2007 Louise Docker | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2006 Guiri R. Reyes | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2009 Andrea | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2009 Andrea | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2009 Andrea | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2006 Guiri R. Reyes | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2011 Andrés Nieto Porras | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2009 Grégoire Lannoy | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2006 Guiri R. Reyes | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2010 Andreas Firyn | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2006 Guiri R. Reyes | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2006 Guiri R. Reyes | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2009 Andrea | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2009 Andrea | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2009 Andrea | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2009 Andrea | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2007 LASZLO ILYES | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2009 Andrea | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2007 Jonathan Phillips | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2009 Tambako The Jaguar | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2007 Charles Chan | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2011 Andrés Nieto Porras | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2007 Nicholas Manuel | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2007 Steve Ryan | more info(via: Wylio)

photo © 2006 Andrew Magill | more info(via: Wylio

via Light Stalking » 38 (More) High Speed Splash Photographs.