How I Shot That - Bokeh in the Fall

How I Shot That - Bokeh in the Fall

Get this photo
Lens - Sony 85mm f1.8 FE - https://amzn.to/2Gwzto2
camera - Sony a6000 - https://amzn.to/2H9lplA

Sony has been growing their lens selection to include some impressive glass.  One particular lens is the 85mm f1.8 seems to perform above its class.  That means it is relatively affordable, but at first had some people thinking photos that came from it were like that of a Zeiss build of glass. 

This is what I love about this lens, besides how cheap it was, it wasn't very heavy (for me) to carry around.  And in spite of some of the photos describing how big it was, it didn't feel that big in my hands... it felt just right. 

I rent this lens for a family photo shoot, but I needed to get a feel for the lens.  I went out to one of the parks with access to wild life and a variety of shooting options.  It was fall, with a beautiful collection of fall colors breaking out all over the place. 

Now, I'll let you in on a secret of mine... I have some color blindness.  But it is selective with trouble between some reds and greens.  You will find other incredible photographers out there with color blindness as well (probably most well know is Trey Ratcliff).  So, when I can see how awesome some color combinations are, I'm sure it is going to look amazing.  At least that is what I'm told... lol!

Being an 85mm lens with a 1.8 f-stop available to it, you can achieve an incredibly thin field of focus.  On top of thin focus, you can gain some silky smooth backgrounds.  With a marsh and fall weather, I knew I could get some greens, reds, blues, yellows. 

So this was a plant that lost all of the pedals and just had a ball of its center left.  I was near the water where some sun had peaked out.  That made me in shade, this plant in light, and a mix of light and shade behind it.  This makes use of one of the greatest assets of a mirror less camera, the electronic viewfinder.  It helped me see the effect I was going for all the easier.

That electronic viewfinder also helps because people can't focus this way, and it helped me nail the focus on the ball.  It also helped me realize if I missed my intention, I could go right to the next shot.  No wasting time.

When I first placed this on some of my media pages, people came up to tell me how neat it was.  People also told me about how some colors were amazing (you know, the ones I didn't even know were there)! 

But that is what makes the feedback so amazing.  You not only get confirmation about what you intended to do... but you get to understand the view of other people around you, too.

How I Shot That - Late Afternoon Marsh Bench

How I Shot That - Late Afternoon Marsh Bench

Get This Photo
Lens: Sony 50mm 1.8 OSS - http://amzn.to/2tT6LvK
Camera Sony a6000 - http://amzn.to/2FFH6fF

Golden Hour... 

Besides the fall, spring can give you a magnificent glow.  Morning and evening will give different properties so you want to choose your times wisely.  This article will discuss the ending time of light.  

Usually, shooting into the Sun isn't going to be helpful to your photo.  But, like you will find so often in Photography, rules are more like guidelines. And in this case you can find the exception in this: the shadows are not too much.  

Some of this is because many of the latest sensors like the one in my Sony a6000 have great dynamic range.  That means it can bring out the details between shaded and lit areas very well.  I did need to sacrifice one thing, the sky.  

But what happened to me today?  How did I come up onto this place, it could almost be cropped further for different aspects to give a new outcome.  This spot could be used for different types of portraits, nevermind all of the foliage and wildlife that surely must be near this.

By my nature, I'm a very distractible person.  (I try to keep these posts short because of it.)  But this time when I went out with my camera, I used that distraction.  In fact, I had been shooting what I could of wildlife and random people.  This was part of a path that forces you to turn around and head back as it becomes a dead end.  But photography is almost always a matter of perspective.  And walking a path in multiple directions helps me release my distractions and swim in them at the same time.  

So I was heading back from the dead end, and I realized the sun had produced an extra glow due to all of the pollen in the air.  This location was probably one of the richest in pollen thickness in the air... you could smell everything (if it didn't overpower your nose).

And the glow struck me that the shade never was completely dark.  The glow made me wonder because a portrait would give an air of magic to the subject.  The glow made it possible to break so many 'rules' you could find in photography.  

If I had to come back to one thing, that is to explore... even if you can't travel, explore the same places.  Probably more important when you are new than anything, because it gives you experience.  It gives you ideas for the future.  Explore the same thing at different times of day and of the year.

If that skill was good for Ansel Adams (autobiography, http://amzn.to/2FFC96i), I'm sure it will help me out here and there too.