Just as shooting from above can add drama and interest to a normal everyday scene, shooting up from a low angle can give your subject new perspective. In this assignment look for opportunities to shoot your world from the lowest possible angles. Natural depressions, below ground stairwells, crouching down and even lying flat on the ground are all workable approaches.

There is a great blue heron rookery just blocks from my apartment so opportunities to photograph the big gangly birds abound. Looking for fresh approaches to shooting herons I stood under a tree full of nests, shooting straight up to capture this one as it came in for a landing.

Setting out to hike the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail, I placed the camera in a tidal pool, holding it just above the water’s surface to capture the view from a hermit crab’ s perspective.

A low perspective and a wide-angle lens turns a mole hill into a mountain, exaggerating the ordeal these Osaka salarymen must overcome simply to cross the street.

Again, shooting up into a break in the rainforest canopy gave me access to delicately backlit ferns sprouting from the trunk of deadwood.

All photographs were taken by Brian Grover. To browse more images visit my photo gallery here: Brian Grover Photography.

#15 Close Cropping <<->> #17 Foto-Grafix in the Key of High & Low

There’s good motion blur and bad motion blur. The bad kind occurs when you want a crisp, sharp image but the light conditions demand a slower shutter speed and movement of the subject or the camera, sometimes both, leaves you with a blurry image. Good motion blur is easy to achieve technically and fun to experiment with at any time.

Motion blur is achieved by shooting the subject with a relatively slow shutter speed. Set your camera to Shutter Priority [S], focus on the subject and use the command dial to change to a shutter speed setting of 1/30th of a second or less. The slower the shutter speed, the more blur your image will have. Experiment with this, setting the shutter at slower and slower speeds until you find the perfect amount of blur for your subject.

Subject Motion Blur

To achieve subject motion blur, hold the camera still as you would when taking a normal picture but use a slow shutter speed, capturing the movement of the subject as you snap the shutter.

Camera Motion Blur

As the name suggests, camera blur is achieved by moving the camera while pressing the shutter with a slow shutter speed setting. Even a static subject will be blurred using this technique. The amount of blur will depend on the shutter speed setting and the amount of camera movement.

Experiment with slower and slower shutter speeds in both cases to achieve the effect that you are after. In this assignment choose an appropriate subject matter and experiment with painting motion onto the camera sensor. For instance, shooting a forest in a violent wind storm at a slow shutter speed will capture pleasant swashes of green and brown and, in the autumn, red and yellow. Traffic, hurrying pedestrians, running animals and flying birds are all suitable subject matter.

Perfect Timing: Many attempts were required to take this photo of a fire dancer at Vancouver’s Pacific National Exhibition [PNE]. Subject motion blur here was captured with a fisheye lens at ƒ2.8 [wide open] using a shutter speed of 1/20th of a second. Being at the back of a crowd of onlookers, I had to hold the camera high above their heads to get a clear shot of the performer. Doing so enabled me to captivate the attention of the performer, imparting a slight, top-down perspective to the shot as well.

A slow shutter speed [1/8th of a second at f32] accentuates the fluidity of movement while wiping out the crowd of spectators as this shaman dances out the devil at the Mask Dance Festival in Andong, South Korea.

A shutter speed of 1/40th of a second at f8 puts the “rush” in Hanoi’s morning rush hour.

This shot of the Tour de Gastown cycling race was achieved using both subject and camera motion blur. The background was a bit ugly and distracting so I panned the camera in the opposite direction of the movement to blur out the background while at the same time over-emphasizing speed of the racers.

Strong winds provided the motion for this shot of the julbul nori, traditional Korean “fireworks” at the Hahoe Village, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Exposure: 3 seconds at f2.8.

This shot of crows in California used just enough subject motion blur to capture the movement of wing tips while leaving the naked tree branches sharp against a bleached out winter sky. Though I don’t have the exact shutter speed available it was probably between 1/60th and 1/30th of a second. A slower shutter speed would have ruined the shot by capturing camera shake that blurred the entire image.

All photographs were taken by Brian Grover. To browse more images visit my photo gallery here: Brian Grover Photography.

#4 Backlighting <<->>#6 High Contrast Photography

When a subject and background have similar extreme brightness values, these are called either high key or low key. High key images are extremely light with little contrast between subject and background and most shadow has been eliminated. Low key images are almost the opposite, a dark subject matter on a dark background, sometimes with subtle yet powerful highlights. Both high key images and low key images have a “graphic arts” feel that evokes an instantaneous response. In the case of high key photography, the response is usually a positive, pleasant one while low key photos can evoke a sense of drama and foreboding.

When photographing either kind of scenario your camera will try to average out the shot, looking for a middle brightness value. You’ll need to override the onboard computer. The easiest way to do that is with exposure compensation. On most Nikon Digital SLRs the exposure compensation button, a square button with a +/- on it, is next to the shutter release button. Hold down the exposure compensation button and turn the command dial to add or subtract light.

In high key scenarios, the natural tendency of the light meter will be to darken the image. Use the exposure compensation button to brighten it back up again.

In low key situations the response will be the opposite. The camera will attempt to brighten the image with a larger aperture setting. Use the exposure compensation button to darken it once again.

In this assignment look for high key scenes, lighter objects in lighter surroundings and low key scenes, dark objects hidden in shadow to photograph.

Also, spend some time at your at a magazine rack, perusing high-end fashion magazines. Specifically look for the use of high and low key images in advertisements. Review the message and consider why the art director chose this particular approach.

The tip of Lions Gate Bridge pokes out of a thick fog bank, lit from above and behind and within, rendering a high key image in peach as shadow is eliminated by light bouncing in every direction.

Again, fog is the culprit, softening and filling in the silhouettes of Burrard Bridge and the little Granville Island ferry seen in the foreground putt-putting across Vancouver’s False Creek.

This high-angle, low key image of dories at dockside in Vancouver’s False Creek has highlights, muted as they are, by the impact of the overall dark values.

A fire escape in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside deep in shadow, picks up highlights as the sun peeks over the edge of the alley.

All photographs were taken by Brian Grover. To browse more images visit my photo gallery here: Brian Grover Photography.

#16 Bottoms Up <<->> #18 Starburst

Photographic newbies always seem to rush out and buy a starburst filter early on in their explorations. Save your money. Starburst filters create inferior effects. Creating a starburst the conventional way is very easy.

To create a starburst set your exposure mode on Aperture Priority [A] and use the command dial to set the aperture as low as it will go. That’s usually something on the order of ƒ16 – ƒ32 depending on your lens. What that gives you is a tiny hole [aperture] that allows light to pass through the very center of the lens barrel only. Next compose your scene, making sure there is a small but extraordinarily bright source of light included in the composition. Usually this is the sun.

To protect your eyes wear sunglasses, squint, only glance momentarily at the scene to compose and work quickly. The camera should not be pointed at the bright source of light for more than a second or two at a time either, to avoid damaging the insides. Cameras equipped with “Live View” allow using the LCD monitor rather than the viewfinder, to compose.

Usually the full view of the sun is too bright and will overwhelm the sensor. In such a case use your subject to block out all but a tiny corner of the sun, using that as your starburst source. Wide angles tend to work better at achieving starburst effects than do telephotos so try working with your shorter focal lengths. That will, of course depend on the lenses you have access to.

Once the scene has been composed, snap the shutter and point the camera away from the sun, squinting and shading your eyes to further protect them.

I wanted to create an image contrasting a teepee at Vancouver’s aboriginal festival, with the surrounding urban structures. Conventional compositions weren’t working so I moved in close with a fisheye lens, using a bottom-up approach. The bright white of the teepee forced me to use a small aperture, giving me an opportunity to work a starburst into the scene from the sun while simplifying the commercial architecture with silhouette.

Another starburst, this one created in the California desert, using the gnarled and twisted trunks of trees to mask all but a tiny sliver of the sun as it passed through a gap. To get the positioning right I had to lay down on the sand face up, arch my back and shoot the scene upside down. Once again an ultra wide fisheye was used to achieve the starburst effect.

Foliage in Stanley Park beneath Lions Gate Bridge became the mask blocking out all but a corner of the sun in this starburst shot. Once again the ultra wide was used.

A gap in a palisade of Ainu totems called “Playground of the Gods” atop Burnaby Mountain masks enough of the sun to create a sharp edged starburst. The fisheye lens is not only ideal for starburst effects, it also tends to saturate the blues of the sky, creating a rich contrast.

All photographs were taken by Brian Grover. To browse more images visit my photo gallery here: Brian Grover Photography.

#17 Foto-Grafix in the Key of High & Low <<->> #19 Signs of the Times

Shooting a festival, parade or some other kind of event is a great way to practice photographing people in a brand new context. The participants are on display and welcome photographs giving you an opportunity to concentrate on making pictures. And that’s the latest assignment: attend some kind of event with the intention of taking a series of shots that captures the overall flavour of the event.

Be sure to position yourself ideally in relationship to the movement of participants, the light and the crowds. A position near the finishing area of a parade, for example, often means fewer spectators to contend with. Don’t forget, however, the spectators are part of the spectacle. As the procession proceeds, gaps will form and some floats will straggle giving you more time to act and react. Towards the end of the route participants will be getting tired and may more easily let their guard down. Additional opportunities will present themselves as participants wrap up, disengage and dissemble the event.

If it’s a parade-style event you’ll have to work fast as the action moves by and new opportunities crop up in quick succession. Focus on people but be sure not to forget the pageantry, the colour and the message of the event. Use close cropping to focus on details such as balloon clusters, banners and other decorative elements.

This is a good opportunity to practice, under pressure, a number of the techniques you’ve been learning through this series of assignments: blurred motion, silhouette and other high contrast type photos, close cropping, backlighting and unusual angles. As an event photographer you’ll need to think on your feet, adapt quickly and follow through.

The following photos were taken at Vancouver’s annual Pride Parade.

Colour and costumes at the Vancouver Pride Parade.

Hey sailor, new in town?

Freedom and joy under the sun.

Handing out beads to the unwashed masses.

Reflective surfaces add a new dimension, depicting onlookers and milieu, as a brass band marches by.

A T-shirt slogan sums it up.

Rainbows of colour.

Advertising pays.

Panning with the action helps eliminate the crushing crowds.

Focus on details to tell the whole story.

All photographs were taken by Brian Grover. To browse more images visit my photogallery here: Brian Grover Photography.

#13 Weather Effects <<->>#15 Close Cropping

Silhouettes are a special kind of high contrast photography but we dealt with that in a previous assignment. In this assignment you’ll be looking for opportunities to photograph subjects which contrast markedly from their backgrounds. In this case the subject detail is included rather than acting as a mask for a correctly exposed background.

Much like images in silhouette, high contrast photography adds a graphic element to images, lending them power and immediacy. When conditions are right, a high contrast approach can clean up a messy or distracting background, making for a more effective photograph. As in the silhouette assignment, this is an exercise in controlling light: too much light and you have a silhouette; not enough and the image may lose its drama.

When the background is ultra-dark or ultra-bright you’ll want to use your spot meter to set the exposure based on the light falling on your main subject. This is opposite to what we did when making silhouettes. If you’ll remember, in that case we metered off the bright background, causing the subject to appear dark and flat.

Let’s look at some examples…

Backlighting brings this pussycat alive against the deep dark shadows of the yard and porch. Note how rim lighting delineates the picket fence.

Winter brings dark shadows that can be used effectively as a contrasting backdrop to just about any subject. In this case icicles were forming on branches overhanging a fountain. From other angles the shot was dull but when placed against the shadows of St. Paul’s Hospital, the scene came alive, lit from within as the backlight passed through the ice.

This scene of a farmer clambering up stepped rice paddies resides on the threshold of silhouette, yet enough light reflects on the main subjects to give them form. Taken in northern Kyoto Prefecture.

Much of this scene plunges into silhouette yet the high sun of the summer adds a shimmer to the squabbling cormorants and parts of the pilings. Taken at Iona Regional Park in Richmond, BC.

All photographs were taken by Brian Grover. To browse more images visit my photo gallery here: Brian Grover Photography.

#5 Motion Blur <<->>#7 The Height of the Action

In this assignment you’ll be looking for opportunities to illustrate the number three. This assignment is designed to enhance your powers of observation. With a little awareness and a little close cropping you should be able to find numerous — a triptych perhaps — suitable subjects within your immediate neighbourhood.

Three cans a-spraying, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.

Three kakashi or scarecrows presiding over a field in Nara Prefecture, Japan.

Three temporary totems. Kent Avery’s granite installations rise and fall with the tides in Vancouver’s Stanley Park through much of the summer.

I call this one “Everyman Has His Price”. Taken in the shop window of a sad little haberdasher’s many years ago on Vancouver’s East Hastings Street with an inferior quality slide film, this shot could clearly use a rescan.

All photographs were taken by Brian Grover. To browse more images visit my photogallery here: Brian Grover Photography.

#9 Reflected Light <<->>#11 Serendipity

Perhaps out of timidity, budding photographers never move in close enough. Often only a part of the subject is needed to express it fully. Indeed, a thoughtfully cropped subject can have greater impact than the full monty. The use of close in-camera cropping can add dynamism to many compositions.

Your assignment then is to choose a subject — your cat, your friend, a pumpkin, whatever — and explore it fully, photographing the whole and moving in to selectively crop out unneeded detail. Experiment with fresh new angles and a variety of different light directions.

Learning to critically evaluate your own work is an essential skill as a photographer.

Careful cropping of this private herd of zebra in California reveals an optical illusion, making it difficult to determine where one zebra begins and another leaves off.

A fairly cliché treatment of a paper umbrella in Kyoto Japan makes for a graphic composition in spite of itself.

Thoughtful cropping of this spectator and pal following the Vancouver Pride Parade yields a dynamic image.

A dragon mask at the New Year’s festival in Vancouver’s Chinatown takes on formidable impact as a consequence of close cropping.

All photographs were taken by Brian Grover. To browse more images visit my photo gallery here: Brian Grover Photography.

#14 The Big Event <<->>#16 Bottoms Up

Timing is everything in photography. One second before or one second after the “Decisive Moment”, as photojournalism pioneer Henri Cartier-Bresson termed it, can make all the difference between a keeper and the delete button.

Observing your surroundings and anticipating how actions are going to unfold are the essential skills we are going to practice in this assignment. A park or playground would be the ideal place to practice capturing the decisive moment. Watch for joggers and practice catching their foot suspended, just about to touch the ground. Catch children — with permission — in mid-jump and office workers taking a bite or anyone throwing anything: catch the moment of release. Catch banners or flags perfectly arrayed as they flutter in the wind.

As an egret zooms in for a landing at dusk along the Bangbyeon River in Andong it tilts back to slow its descent, extending its legs at the same time. A second sooner or later and the shot would have been just average. Note the gazebo reflected in the background. The ducks paddling about the scene nearly ruined the shot.

With just a light breeze to lift them, I had to wait for many gusts to lift these koi kites, suspending them just so, in Miyamacho, Kyoto Prefecture.

Yesterday’s News: Here I wanted to shoot fast before the recycling collector noticed me yet wait for the moment his hands let go. I could see the pedestrian approaching on the other side, all set to spoil the shot but I took it anyway. Bonus: the newspaper headlines scream about war in Iraq.

Tempura Suspended: An elderly passenger digs into his “ekiben” on a local train in northern Kyoto Prefecture.

This shot was pure luck. The ride was swirling too fast to notice the hands but I managed to capture them, in perfect position, anyway. I’ll take it.

All photographs were taken by Brian Grover. To browse more images visit my photo gallery here: Brian Grover Photography.

#6 High Contrast Photography <<->>#8 Top-Down

Signs are all around us but most of the time we just ignore them as we rush on through our busy lives. In this assignment, take a walk through familiar surroundings and look particularly at the signs that clutter up your personal landscape. Many signs are filled with unintended humour and irony not to mention grammar and spelling mistakes. This assignment is designed to hone your powers of observation. Gradually, photography will impart a deeper understanding of your environment; the world within which you walk. In addition to commercial signage, observe and photograph the bulletin boards, graffiti, T-shirts and nonverbal symbology that comprise your Lebenswelt. Use a straight up documentary style to record signage of note and experiment with juxtaposition and close cropping to add an interpretive edge to the signage you encounter.

I love this sign, perched as it is, atop Granville Street Bridge on one of the main approaches into downtown Vancouver . A city worker, inadvertently or with a twist of irony in mind, flipped around the usual word order to this warning sign, flipping the meaning too: from “be aware that your vision is obstructed” to “The cityscape before you is the consequence of a profound lack of insight.” Couldn’t agree more.

Check out the inadvertent irony here, also on the Granville Street Bridge. In spite of three entreaties to the contrary, we find an environment entirely hostile to pedestrians.

I’ve been mad about graffiti since the mid-70s. This is one of my favourites. The stencilled message reads: “Don’t you know masks are to hide behind”. Note the other contextual elements.

Though I’m not particularly enthusiastic about tags, this one, at the south end of the Cambie Street Bridge, is better than average. Inclusion of an element of self-portrait, and some dude walking his dog makes for an attractive composition without deeper meaning.

All photographs were taken by Brian Grover. To browse more images visit my photo gallery here: Brian Grover Photography.

#18 Starburst <<->> #20 Night Photography