April outtakes

By Clifford Oto | Published: May 1, 2013 | Leave a comment

“April is a promise that May is bound to keep.” – Hal Borland

April had very few showers making the prognosis for May flowers a bit uncertain. Here are 10 favorite previously unposted photos from April.

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4/1/13:

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4/2/13:

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4/3/13:

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4/4/13:

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4/5/13:

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4/15/13:

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4/17/13:

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4/23/13:

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4/25/13:

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Readers Challenge Assignment: Flowers

By Clifford Oto | Published: April 29, 2013 | Leave a comment

Wow. I am truly humbled and a bit overwhelmed at the response that we got for the Record’s first Readers Photo Challenge (its semi-official title). The theme was “flowers” and from potted plants to wildflowers 40 readers sent in a total of 123 photos! All the flowers are beautiful but there’s a difference between taking a photo of something that’s beautiful and taking a beautiful photograph. The first relies only on the subject and how it looks and the second is a way of finding beauty in what you’re photographing. For some it may be a subtle distinction but with the latter you can find beauty in anything. The top 10 examples are shown here (in no particular order).

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A true photographer goes through almost any length to get the right angle for their pictures. Carolyn Silva of Jackson saw some vibrant yellow tulips growing along a walkway in her front yard. She quickly got her Nikon D5000 DSLR camera and began taking photos. She first shot them straight on with front lighting, which washed out their color. Then she moved around and laid down on the ground to get the flowers backlit and the low angle captured a dark background of shadows. The result is a photo with the rich, vibrant colors of the tulips that jumps out against the inky blackness of the background and is stunning in its beauty and simplicity.

Jackson said her husband came up the walkway and saw her face down on the ground and thought she had fallen and hurt herself until he saw the camera in her hands. Anything to get the great photo that she did. The next time though, she should warn her husband ahead of time.

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Experienced amateur photographer Dave Skinner’s 12-year-old granddaughter Angel Limas of Stockton shot this foothill poppy on Electra Road near Jackson with a Nikon D70 and 55-200mm lens. Her use of a relatively large aperture and long lens (set at 150mm) gave the photo a shallow depth of field making the flower stand out against the out of focus background making for a simple yet beautifully elegant photograph. Watch out Dave, looks like you’ve got some competition!

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Mary Paulson of Valley Springs shot this photo of roses on a trellis in her backyard with a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50. Excellent use of early morning side lighting to help give the flowers contrast and shape. I like the diagonal composition which brings the viewer’s eye to the one rose in the upper right of the frame. Its bright yellow color is set against the blue sky and contrasting itself from the green of the leaves and the red of the other roses also emphasizes the one blossom.

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Marian McGlothlin of Ripon shot this flowering cactus in her neighbor’s yard with a Canon PowerShot SX230 HS. Most people would have been content of just photographing the face of the flower, indeed McGlothlin did send it others that show the blossom’s top. But she “worked” her subject and went a step further than seeing just what’s on the surface. By shooting the underside of the flower McGlothlin captured the graceful upward sweep of the petals and interesting textured details of the flower’s base in a photo that would normally go unseen to the rest of the world.

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Gary Fiorio of Manteca, a photo teacher in Dublin area schools until is retirement in 2004, shot this clemantis in his yard with a Nikon D3100. It’s an excellent example of using contrasting colors. The magenta of the flower stands out against the green (the direct opposite of magenta) of the surrounding leaves. The bit of yellow at the center of the blossom and the sprinkling of water drops add some great visual interest to the photo as well.

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Susan Scott shot this California poppies and foxtails at Oak Grove Regional Park in Stockton. She used a Canon Rebel DSLR with a 250mm lens. I liked the triangular composition that the 3 flowers created. The bright backlighting captured the bright, graceful, ethereal feeling of the scene.

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Jim Vergara with the Public Information office at San Joaquin Delta College shot this photo of a magnolia tree on the Delta College campus in Stockton using a Nikon D200 camera. Venegra used a fill-flash technique where he used a flash during outdoor sunlight conditions. It allowed him to capture the sun in the sky yet maintained detail in the flowers at the same time.

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15 -year-old Sydney Spurgeon of Stockton took this photo of a dahlia in her yard in Stockton with a Nikon CoolPix camera that she got as an 8th grade graduation gift. I liked how she got in close and captured the petals of the flower radiating outward. She included the sky and another flower at the top of the frame to include a splash of color to an otherwise monochromatic scene.

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Letty Balderas of Stockton shot this potted gerbera in her backyard with a Canon 40D and 24-105mm lens. A nice use of a dark background and slight backlighting to make the already vibrant colors of the flower to pop out even more. By getting close to the flower and cropping out its leading edge it helps to give the viewer’s an entry point to explore rest of the photo.

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Galt resident Leslie Wang’s photo of daffodils in her backyard was shot with a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ60. It’s a great example of using backlighting. The vivid colors really jump out against a dark background and the overlapping shadows of the stems and other flowers make for an interesting composition and gives the photo texture and a visual complexity.

Thanks to all who sent in photos. Everyone did an excellent job. I wish we had enough room to run all the wonderful photos that were sent in but they can be seen in an online gallery at recordnet.com.

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The next challenge is a bit trickier: Outdoor portraits. I talked about photographing people outdoors in last week’s column. Open shade (under a tree or the shadow side of a building) is best .Try not to shoot them in bright sunlight. If you do, try photographing them on their shady side (so that you’re squinting in the sun and not them). Try using a reflector or fill-flash to add light to the shadows on your subjects face to reduce the harshness of the direct light.

Here are the rules/instructions:
1. Entries can be emailed to me at coto@recordnet.com (include the words “Outdoor Portrait” in the subject line)

2. Include your name (first and last), hometown, and the kind of camera you used.

3. Include the name (first and last) of your subject, their relationship to you (relative, friend or stranger off the street) and where the photo was taken.

4. Any interesting anecdotes or stories on how you took or came to take the picture.

5. The deadline for submission is Saturday, May 11. The top examples will be published on Monday, May 20 with an online gallery of all the photos on the same day (Photos have to be shot between today and May 11).

We’ll see you then. Have fun and good shooting!

Posted in Nature, Readers Photo Challenge | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Comet chasing

By Clifford Oto | Published: April 26, 2013 | 1 Comment

On March 10 I went on the hunt for the Pan-STARRS comet. News reports and science websites said that the comet would be visible to the naked eye near the western horizon just after sundown during several days around the middle of the month.

I went out to Buckley Cove Park overlooking the deep water channel. I parked, set up my camera on a tripod, and waited for the sun to set. The park gives a fairly unfettered view of the western sky, and I thought it would be a good vantage point to get my shot. Not exactly sure of where in the west the comet would be, I scanned the horizon back and forth. The sun sank below the horizon, and the colors of the sky slowly turned to and orangish glow.

Although the sky above Stockton was clear, a thin veil of clouds obscured the horizon, and the chances of getting a clear view of the comet, much less a picture of it, were dwindling.

Then I saw a tiny pinprick of light appear, and my hopes picked up. It looked a bit higher in the sky than what the reports said, and it seemed to be rising rather than setting, which the stories I read said it would do. Soon I realized it was moving a bit too fast, as well. It was some sort of high-altitude aircraft — or an alien spaceship, if you’re into that kind of thing. But it certainly was not a comet.

A few others were out hoping to get a peek at the comet, but the heavens grew dark with no celestial sightings, so most gave up and drove away. I, too, packed up my camera and tripod and left a little disappointed, but I knew there would be a few other chances to get a shot

On March 11, I took my 15-year-old son for an evening basketball practice, so I made sure I had my equipment with me so that I could shoot the comet afterward. The practice went long, and by the time we got out, it was too late to get a shot. Besides, once again clouds obscured the horizon. But the next night was supposed to have the potential for even better photos. A thin crescent moon was to appear near the comet, making for a dual celestial photo.

March 12 was to be the best opportunity to shoot the comet. It was supposed to appear, once again, relatively low on the horizon, fairly near that thin crescent moon.

It was clear most of the day, which raised my hopes for a good comet picture. But by the late afternoon/early evening, the clouds again scattered across the horizon. To minimize light pollution that might obscure the night sky, my 17-year-old daughter and I went to the Stone Lake Wildlife Refugee and parked at the dead end of a street near Elk Grove.

There were already several other people there as the sun set and the sky turned a fiery orange. A while later, a large flock of honking geese took flight and filled the sky as it turned to hues of pink and purple.

As the sky darkened, the clouds still lingered, and my hopes of getting a shot of the comet were beginning to fade. Then the crescent moon descended from a bank of clouds into an open horizontal sliver of sky. News reports said that the comet would be visible to the naked eye and appear to the left of the moon. Perhaps my eyes were too naked, but I could not see it. I could make out a high-altitude airplane’s lights blinking on and off as it passed in front of the moon, but no comet. I asked my daughter if she could see it with her fresh 17-year-old’s eyes, but she could not find it, either. Then I heard a guy next to me fire off a few frames of his camera. He “chimped” the picture on the monitor of his digital camera and showed his companion. I looked over their shoulders and saw indeed that he did get a shot of the comet, which was kind of a dim hazy dot. I looked back up but still couldn’t see it. The moon was beginning to sink below more clouds with no other open areas of sky so I “guesstimated” where the comet was and decided to fire off a few shots in the dark.

I reviewed the photo but still couldn’t see it until I used the monitor’s zoom function. There it was, a faint smudgy dot. I shot off a few more frames and then both comet and moon left the clear patch of sky and disappeared behind the clouds.

This November, the Comet ISON is set to appear in the skies. It is expected to be extremely bright (brighter than the moon at some points, it is believed) and visible to the naked eye. Hopefully there will be clear skies for the next comet hunt.

Posted in Nature, Night | Tagged | Leave a comment

Green screen

By Clifford Oto | Published: April 25, 2013 | Leave a comment

On our trip to Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and UC Santa Barbara, my family & I decided to take a detour to Hearst Castle in San Simeon. At the visitors center before boarding buses to ride up the hill to see William Randolph Hearst’s Julia Morgan-designed mansion, people were photographed in front of a “green screen.” The background is then dropped out (assumably via Photoshop) and a photo of the ornate outdoor pool is inserted, making it look like you were actually there. The picture can be purchased when you return to the visitor center at the end of the tour. Why you wouldn’t just take your own photo, I don’t know.

 

Posted in Travel | Tagged | Leave a comment

The alley of ewwww

By Clifford Oto | Published: April 25, 2013 | Leave a comment

On our trip to Cal Poly we visited a rather dubious attraction of San Luis Obispo. It’s not really clear how Bubblegum Alley started in the 1960s, but people have been leaving little wads of gum stuck to its walls ever since. Situated between the restaurant Enzo’s East Coast Eatery (733 Higuera Street) and Ambiance, a women’s clothing and accessory boutique (737 Higuera) the walls of the alley actually bow inward with the accumulation of gum. It’s interesting to see in a disgusting sort of way but to be avoided it you’re easily grossed out.

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Where gnome man has gone before

By Clifford Oto | Published: April 25, 2013 | Leave a comment

My family and I recently visited the campus of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. On a student led tour we stopped outside of the math and science building and as the young tour guide told us about the facility I noticed something high atop the building. On a rain spout near the top corner was a small garden gnome. It didn’t seem obvious on how it got there. It was some 15 to 20 feet off the ground and looked a lot like the Travelocity gnome from the TV commercials. It’s fitting I guess because the building also houses the university’s travel abroad program as well.

Posted in Observation, Travel | Tagged | Leave a comment

The great outdoor (portrait)

By Clifford Oto | Published: April 22, 2013 | Leave a comment

Another assignment I remember from my old photo-student days was the outdoor portrait and it, like the front, side and back lighting assignment, was a lesson in light. You would think that shooting outside would be pretty easy. There is plenty of light, so worrying about having a fast enough shutter speed to eliminate camera shake and small enough aperture for a lot of depth of field is not a problem.

Photographing on a bright sunny day can harbor a number of concerns. Having your subjects facing into the sun can cause them to squint, making them scowl with a furrowed brow. Side lighting helps but can cause deep dark shadows on one side of the face. And while that may be a dramatic effect that you might be going for, most portraits would like to see some detail in the shadows. You could wait for a cloudy or overcast day, which would cast soft and subdued evenly spread light, but here in sunny California that could mean waiting for weeks maybe even months.

For the easiest remedy, consider two words: Open shade. Open shade can mean the world of difference in an outdoor portrait. It means finding the shade of a tree, building or some other structure, natural or man-made, that casts a shadow and placing your subject within it. Although there will be less light than out in the open, there will still be enough of it so you shouldn’t have to worry about depth of field or camera shake. Be aware that if you use a tree for shade that some sunlight may dapple through breaks in the leaves and branches and cause light spots on your subject. Simply rotating your subject 180 degrees so that the sun spots will be on their backs will solve the problem.

 

If there is no shade readily available, then just simply turning the subject’s back to the sun can work, but there is a possibility of light flaring into the lens if the sun is low on the horizon, causing a dramatic decrease of contrast in the picture.

As mentioned before, front lighting usually isn’t desirable, so what’s left is side lighting with its deep shadows. There are two main ways to relieve the problem. The first is to use a reflector to bounce light from the sun into the hard shadows.
He goal isn’t to make the dark side of the face as light as the sunlit side, but rather just enough to be able to see some detail. The remaining lightened shadow will help to give depth and modeling to the face. There are many kinds and sizes of reflectors (also called bounce cards) that you can purchase, but they can also be as simple as a piece of white paper or cardboard. Just have someone (or place it on a stand) hold the reflector at an angle to bounce the light onto your subject from the dark side and — voila! Instant fill light.

If you don’t have a bounce card you can use a light-colored building or other structure. Just stand your subject next to the sunny side of the building and position him or her so that light bounced from the wall fills in the shadows.

Another technique is to use your flash to illuminate the shadows. You may think it a bit odd to use a flash during the day, after all most people only break out a strobe for indoor or nighttime scenes. But it can be used in a technique called fill-flash. Some point-and-shoot cameras and DSLRs have special settings for fill-flash. Check your camera’s menu or owner’s manual to see how to access it on your camera. The method calls for using the highest shutter speed your camera allows and still sync with the flash (usually 1/250th of a second) with a daylight exposure. The flash will fill in the shadows while leaving the sunny side alone.

Most photography is about controlling light. With the outdoor portrait it’s also about that and controlling the shadows as well.

Posted in Column, Portrait, Techniques, Tips | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Dog days

By Clifford Oto | Published: April 16, 2013 | Leave a comment

My dog Lucy is about 5 or 6 years old now. That’s approaching middle age for a canine. I’ve almost forgotten what it’s like to have a puppy around.

Recently I shot Brandi Hovet of Stockton taking in some sun on a bench at the Weber Point Event Center with her dog Basco snoozing by her side. Although Basco was a fairly large dog Hovet told me he was only a year old. I first expected him to be perky and alert to my presence as puppies are wont to do. He did wake up to take a look at me and I thought I would have to wait for a long time for him to lose interest in me and fall back asleep, But when Hovet told him to go back to sleep Basco lay his head down and his eyes quickly shut. Whenever the shuttered fired his eyes would sleepily open a bit only to close again when I stopped shooting. I remembered that, while puppies can be great ferocious balls of energy, when they run out of gas they can really crash, so I only fired off less than 10 frames and then let a sleeping dog lie.

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Flotsam and jetsam

By Clifford Oto | Published: April 15, 2013 | Leave a comment

“And I know what I have to do now. I gotta keep breathing, because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring.” — Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks) from “Cast Away” (2000)

One of the favorite spots for people to photograph is the beach. The sun, sand and grand vistas of the sea makes it a perfect locale for pictures. While the allure of majestic seascapes and unfettered view of the skies is undeniable, don’t forget that there can be many worthy pictures literally as close as the sands under your feet. The tides bring in a plethora of items that you can use as the subjects of close-up photos. All you have to do is think small and look down.

Rocks, seashells and seaweed are all the flotsam and jetsam of the sea and can be found washed up on the shore.
Gull feathers and even small crustaceans can make interesting subjects as well. The water itself can create compelling reflections as it leaves a thin sheen on the beach as it recedes into the ocean. Along with natural items there can be man-made objects that can visually interesting too.

No real special equipment is needed. If you want to get really close, then you can use a macro lens, but generally the kit lens that came with the DSLR camera that you bought will do just fine. You can even get fairly close with a point-and-shoot camera or even a cell phone camera. One word of caution: the beach is one of the most hostile environments for a camera. The salty seawater can be corrosive to a camera’s electronics, and the fine sand can grind away at the internal mechanisms of a lens. Make sure to take extra care to keep your equipment as clean and dry as possible.

A few weeks ago, my family and I took a five-day vacation during spring break to visit Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and U.C. Santa Barbara for my 17-year-old daughter who’ll be graduating high school in the spring. In between checking out the campuses we visited a few of the beaches of these ocean communities. I found many rocks and shells that made for smaller photos yet were still visually compelling in their own quiet way.

At Avila Beach, not far from San Luis Obispo, we walked the sands of this quaint little town in the late afternoon. I got shots of people playing among the gentle waves and playing on a couple of swing sets that were right on the beach. I rolled up my pant legs and took off my shoes so I could feel the silky sand between my toes. After a day of walking around the Cal Poly campus, it was a relief to feel the cool water washing over my feet and ankles. I found a small leaf catching the last rays of the setting sun here and a broken shell clinging to the sands of the beach there. Walking a little farther, I found a small silver bowl, about the size of a baseball, lying on the beach. I thought it was bit curious and out of place. It appeared to be in fairly good shape, but no one was around to claim it. Perhaps it was used as a mold for a child’s sand castle or traveled the sea from some far away land and appeared at my feet.

I shot it where it lay and then a wave swept up and pushed it farther up the beach. I moved back to get more shots, and after several more advancing waves, one finally reached the bowl again and drew it out seaward. It came to rest closer to the sea and I followed it again. There I was marching back and forth with every sixth or seventh wave, which moved the bowl up and down the beach. Each time I got down and got the camera as close as I could to the bowl, less than a foot each time. As a wave came close, I would quickly withdraw it as quickly as I could to avoid getting it wet.

Finally, the sun faded behind some mountains on a finger of land that arced out into the bay, and late afternoon/evening light was gone. My wife became enamored with the little bowl and we took it home with us, a reminder of our trip to the beach and that beauty can come in small things.

Posted in Column, Nature, Travel | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Another reminder

By Clifford Oto | Published: April 12, 2013 | Leave a comment

Just a reminder that we’re still taking submissions for the readers’ photo challenge assignment: Flowers. You don’t necessarily need a fancy DSLR camera. I took the above photo of lupine growing wild at the Stone Lake National Wildlife refuge near Elk Grove with a simple iPhone3GS.  The deadline is April 20. The best examples will be published in the Record on April 29 with an online gallery of all the submissions on the same day. Please email your photos to coto@recordnet.com and type in “Flowers” in the subject line.

Please give a little explanation of what kind of flowers they are, how and where they were shot, with what camera and any other interesting stories on how you got the shot. Also please include your first and last names and what city you’re from.

Posted in Assignment, Nature | Tagged , | Leave a comment

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    Clifford Oto

    Clifford Oto, an award-winning photographer, has been with The Record since 1984. Through the changes from black and white to digital photography, he’s kept his focus on covering the events, people and life of San Joaquin county. This blog deals ... Read Full
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