John Hyde and killer whales

I found this photographer when I searched for pictures of the ocean. I really like killer whales, they're really fascinating to me and he has a few really nice photos of killer whales and the mountains in the background.
I didn't research much about him, I mostly looked at his pictures and I liked them, especially the ones of the bald eagles.

http://www.wildthingsphotography.com/#at=0&s=1&p=-1&a=-1&mi=1&pt=0&pi=32

I also found a super nice picture of a killer whale at the National Geographic webpage. I think it's really pretty.

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/killer-whale.html

The Sky!

Taking pictures of the sky didn't go so well for me, I was really confused and didn't know what I was doing to be honest. But, it was my first time taking pictures and actually trying to do it in a certain way so I guess I can't expect too much!

Visual Priorities: what we REALLY need to remember!

 Red is more attractive than yellow:

Large draws more attention than small:

Difference draws more attention than conformity: 

















 

 Jagged lines are more striking than curved ones:

Diagonal lines are more attractive than vertical lines: 

Sharpness is more attractive than blur: 
























 


Light is more attractive than dark:  

Chase Jarvis

For this weeks blog I got a suggestion from a friend about this photographer. His name is Chase Jarvis.
He is not really a nature photographer, he mostly does commercial, portraits and projects, but there is some wildlife invovled, especially landscape pictures. I think all of his work is really cool. In his portfolio he has ski pictures from Stevens Pass in Washington, that are just amazing and thh nature is beautiful there.
When it comes to landscapes there's an album from new Zealand. Those pictures are all in black and white, but still, he's really good at showing how big and powerful the mountains are there. I like them because I'm a fan of black and white pictures even though color brings more power and personality to a picture. Be sure to check this guy out!

http://www.chasejarvis.com/#p=-1&a=0&at=0

Exposure

Reading the book is teaching me a lot of new terms ALL the time. I am new to photography and before I started this class I didn't know anything about it, not even what exposure was. Now I am trying to learn all these terms. I used the internet and the book Natonal Audubon Society Guide to Nature Photography to even be able to write something about exposure.

Exposure is the total amount of light that reaches the film. It is controlled by aperture size and shutter speed, and it can either be set automatically or manually. To be able to set the right exposure checking the histogram on the screen is the key. You adjust the shutter speed and the aperture size until you get the correct exposure. It takes some practice to find the right exposure so I guess I should start parctice it

It is extremly important to be able to know it quickly because if you don't, the scene that you wanted to take a picture of can be gone. 

There are three different exposure modes, those are aperture priority, shutter priority and manual mode. Aperture mode, also called AV mode, is that you set the aperture and the camera automatically sets the shutter speed. It's the best mode to use for all subjects, since it prioritizes depth of field. Shutter priority is almost like aperture mode but you set the shutter speed instead of the aperture and then the camera sets the aperture for you. Not a lot of nature photographers use this mode. The last mode is Manual Mode, which means that you set both shutter speed and aperture manually based on light meter readings.

I like the part in the book about difficult exposure settings, those are good things to start with as an amateur photographer. The book explains how easy it is to set the wrong exposure when it's unusually light or dark out. The example we talked about in class was the bear, how the black bear doesn't look black so you need to over expose to get the right color of the bear. That's something that I didn't know before reading the book.

Now when I'm taking pictures I will be thinking about exposure and personally I prefer when the pictures are a little underexposed just so that they don't get to bright. Darker pictures are really pretty to me because they look very mysterious. Now that I know more about it, I'm going to think about it and  adjust it when I take pictures.

Vemdalen, Sweden!

So, I was thinking what to blog about this time. Last time it was Art Wolfe so this time I wnated to do something different. I finally decided to tell a little about my hometown in Sweden and give some examples of what wildlife we have.
I grew up in a skitown in the middle/north of Sweden, called Vemdalen. It's a town with only 800 people living there all year around, but it expands a lot in the winter time, and summer time.

We get a lot of snow in the winter and the summers are pretty cold, around 65-70 F. It gets really dark in the wintertime, the sun is only up for about 5 hours or so, but in the summer it's really bright out at night which is awesome. Our "county animal" is the bear, which is understandable since we have a lot of brown bears around where I live. It's a beautiful place with a lot of nature, lots of forest and many wild animals and of course, the best part...good skiing.

www.destinationvemdalen.nu

Art Wolfe

Art Wolfe is a world famous Photographer from Seattle, Washington. He was born on September 13. He went to The University of Washington and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts and Art Education.  Wolfe has then become a great artist; famous for his photos of wildlife, landscape and native cultures. He's been traveling all over the world to take amazing photos.

I really like the pictures, especially the ones of the animals, but they're all amazing. He captures things that I would never even think about, and a place where you wouldn't even mind stopping to take a picture turns in to a magical place. The pictures from Alaska, Antarctica and South America (and all the other places) are just unreal to me, I get amazed every time by the beautiful nature and it just makes me really want to go all those places.
I did hear something that he has photoshopped a lot, which makes me a little upset. I like when pictures are natural but using photoshop it's still art, just not as real and genuine.

http://www.artwolfe.com/

Reading for Thursday 9/2

This section is about some more equipment, not just the cameras but also other gear. It talks about lenses and focus and autofocus which is interesting, but a little hard to understand since I'm not to familiar with cameras at all.

Moving on to Winter Photography which I think is fun, since I love the winter and the snow. All the mountains and peaks are amazingly beautiful with a with cover on. I also love when the trees are full of snow. The pictures in this section are really cool, especially the one picture of the trees. I think the text in this section is actually a little silly. Their talking about appropriate clothing and shoes. I wish they would have talked more about how to take good pictures in wintertime. It talks a little bit about the light and the contrast. Once again though, I love the pictures!

Fitzharris, Tim. National Audubon Society Guide to Nature Photography Digital Edition.