Street photography: a rental opportunity not to be missed
Apartment to rent (à louer) : the renter has access to an antique multicoloured spiraling iron staircase. Wishing to protect the environment, the owner used wood as the material to insure the structure’s stability. The second floor’s floor is built with different types of wood, following the modern architectural trend. The building’s facade is boarded up to insure your privacy as well as your security. All those advantages for a ridiculous price. Call now!
For other street photography pictures posted on my site, click on the following link:
The photography book « Full Frame », by David Noton, was written in 2010 but the content is still totally pertinent today. It’s possibly the best photography book I’ve ever read. The images are fantastic and the text is loaded with practical and accessible information.
Photography book “Full Frame” by David Noton
The author is known as one of the best landscape photographer in the world. Every page of his book is divided in three sections: before, during, after. This means that you read about everything that the author had to deal with as he travelled around the world with his wife to capture landscapes: the preparation, technique, priorities, obstacles, successes, etc.
All along the book, I had the feeling that a friend was writing me since the text is written with a light and humoristic approach in mind, and certainly without pretend. Here are some of his remarks and advices:
“Luck is where preparation and opportunity combine.” (p.38) This certainly applies to everything we do in life.
“Stick with the full frame quality and crop as when required, keeping all the [sensor’s megapixels] information in reserve”.
“Sometimes a new lens or format will serve as a catalyst for a whole new way of looking. It’s all part of the evolutionary process.” (p.64)
Sharpen all digital images. Pictures are made of square pixels and need microadjustments.
To choose among your interesting similar photos which one is the best, start with a very good one and compare it with each other photo, one at a time, throwing away the ones that are inferior. You will save a lot of time.
A bit of blinking in the highlights is not terrible since RAW files can easily be adjusted. Don’t forget that the camera’s monitor shows an histogram adjusted for JPEG files.
Use a grad filter to control the contrasts only, not to add mood or create an artificial contrast.
There is no need to always show the tops of mountains.
“The best pictures are the simplest. Composition is the art of knowing what to leave out.” (p.71)
“Be flexible and strive to extract the most from seemingly adverse conditions.” (p.77)
“For wide angle views on the world, a full-frame sensor is imperative.” (p.93)
Back cover of the photography book “Full Frame” by David Noton
“Scout the location, analyse the options in different lighting situations, previsualize the image, plan the shoot then keep returning until it’s nailed.” (p.113)
“Location finding is everything; the photography is the easy bit.” (p.125)
“Don’t be afraid of “blinkies” in the brightest part of the sky where the sun shines through […]. We don’t expect to see detail there.” (p.138)
“Using movement is an essential technique in a photographer’s repertoire.” (p.143)
“The classic, golden rule of thirds is a good starting point, but it’s only a guideline to ignore at will.” (p.149)
“A camera’s sensor is not a linear device so the right half of the histogram contains far more information than the left. Those apparently overexposed images, when processed with the brightness brought back to the desired density, will have richer tones and less noise than a frame exposed to the left.” (p.153)
“We photographers can only continue to improve if we keep pushing ourselves.” (p.187)
Boeing B-52 (FSX) airborne from Montréal Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau Intl to Anchorage, AlaskaBoeing B-52 (FSX) building up speed between Montréal and Anchorage
The Boeing B-52 is a Captain Sim creation and the Montreal airport is made byFlyTampa. The remaining scenery is designed byORBX. Here are few basic informations for those of you who would be tempted to try a flight immediately after the download is completed. For the takeoff: pitot heat, 100% flaps down, YAW SAS Switch Engage, stabilizer trimmed, full throttle within four seconds, climb between 1500 and 2000 ft/min. The climb with flaps down is done at 180 kts. Adjust the thrust so that you have time to bring the flaps in totally; use 230 kts as maximum for zero degree flaps. Once in flight, brake to stop the wheels rotation then bring the gear up (although not before reaching 1000 ft agl).
B-52 at cruising altitude (FSX)Boeing B-52 inbound to Anchorage, Alaska (FSX)
For a normal descent: (note: keep 20 kts in surplus of the proposed speed when the aircraft is turning). The descent is done at about 240 kts, with airbrakes 4, gear down, throttle to idle. À 220 kts, you may start applying flaps (they take 60 secondes to be fully extended). Once in downwind, use153 kts with airbrakes 4 (for 225,000 lbs). No more than 30 degrees turns. The rollout is done at no more than133 kts.
Boeing B-52 with flaps and gear out on the approach for Anchorage (FSX)Boeing B-52 with runway in sight in Anchorage (FSX)Boeing B-52 and the parachute on the arrival at Anchorage (FSX)
The touchdown with airbrakes full up is done at 110 kts IAS. The drag chute is then deployed (never above 135 kts). Keep a slight angle only, with the rear wheels touching first. When taxiing, turn the YAW switch and the airbrakes to “OFF”. Those are only basic infos. By the way, when the drag chute is deployed, you will not see a difference in the breaking distance; the chute is there only for “graphic” reality. Have a good flight!
Boeing B-52 leaving the runway in Anchorage (FSX)
For more articles on flight simulation on my web site, click on the following link : Flight simulation
Sunset colors reflecting on an Air Canada Bombardier Q-400 in Toronto
The Air Canada Terminal installations at the Toronto Lester B. Pearson international airport are such that a voyager intending to do a flight from Toronto to Quebec has to walk outside the building to catch his plane. This has some advantages, especially when it is an evening flight and there is, at the time of boarding, a superb sunset.
But to directly photograph the sunset colors without any filter or tripod, while hand holding the camera, is a recipe for disaster. And a photographer cannot stay immobile for very long in that restricted area where security agents and passengers walking towards the DHC-8-400 demand that everyone move with the flow.
A practical method that offers very good results is to indirectly photograph the beautiful sunset colors by using the aircraft as a reflector.
First, it is better to use a camera lens that requires very little light. This will limit the grain size while allowing a shutter speed that is high enough to avoid a blurred picture. The scenery was thus captured with a Canon 5DSRfull-frame camera equipped with a Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM lens.
Secondly, the photographer must crop the photography using an image editing software so that all useless details are absent from the final shot. There are two objectives: 1) it is obviously necessary to keep the aircraft parts that will best show the sunset colors and 2) do the best possible use of the elements presenting graphic interests for the viewer.
If I had kept only several oversized windows in order to show the superb sunset colours, there would have been only clear bright colours, without contrasts. That would have given an uninteresting photo. The advantages of protecting the shadowy top of the aircraft are that it adds a strong luminosity contrast, allows the inclusion of the Q-400 diagonal lines (1-2-3-4-5) and a reflection of the reflections themselves (6) under the aircraft’s wing. All this is highlighted in the photo below.
Photography theory: diagonal lines on a Bombardier Q-400 photo
