Month: October 2014

Sunset Over Princeton Airport

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I parked near the Princeton Fitness Center and walked over 206. I only realized it when I got to the traffic light but there is a pedestrian cross walk near the exit onto Route 206 from the strip mall.

Despite my experience photographing the Princeton Boathouse this morning I forgot my cold it was outside. I got to the location -- the empty lot just north of the Princeton Airport -- around 5:30; just a few minutes before the start of golden hour.

Thank goodness I had my sunglasses. Steering into the sun while I focused my camera to the horizon might have damaged my retinas. I stood in the cold firing off a few shots about every five minutes. I left when I thought the sun would go down and leave me standing in the field in the dark.

Slower Shutter

Screen Shot of Slower Shutter
Slower Shutter
I've been having a lot of fun with long exposure photography. Long exposure photography allows me to create the glassy look created by water on a lake or the fluffy cloud look created by water flowing over a waterfall.

I use a Hoya NDx400 9 stop — “Big Stopper” — ND filter. It’s nearly impossible to focus once the filter is on the lens. Computing the exposure values for the use of an ND filter can be complicated. Slower Shutter is a simple app -- in appearance and functionality -- designed to assist with long exposure photography.

Using Slower Shutter is easy. With your camera in Aperture Priority mode set your desired aperture and ISO. Your camera will determine the shutter speed. Take note of the shutter speed. Enter the shutter speed value into Slower Shutter. Select the strength of your Neutral Density filter into Slower Shutter. Slower Shutter will display the new shutter speed that you'll need to set the proper exposure for your photo. If the shutter speed is greater than 30 seconds you'll want to set your camera to "bulb" mode and use a remote trigger. Use the timer on Slower Shutter to time your exposure.

Long exposure photography isn't difficult but if you need help the, Slow Shutter's developer, Mike Wong, has written a simple tutorial.

Slower Shutter is $0.99 in the App Store.

No one want to steal your amateur photos

In order for you to worry about someone stealing your images for their own commercial usage, you need to create a body of work that someone will want to steal for their own commercial usage. What does that mean? It means that the more photos that you shoot of your cat or your food, the less of a chance they have to be stolen. Why? Because there are loads and loads of cat and food photos out there. But if someone will want to steal yours for commercial usage, then the image has to have something very special about it.

Yes, that hurts. But it’s true.Chris Gampat