Photo Minute...On Location

Photo Minute is a new blog concept I would like to incorporate into my weekly blogs! Creating art, in any form, is important to appreciating life. Writing, photography, sewing, cooking, painting, sculpting, fabrication, etc. are all facets to creating in a world that was created for you to appreciate. Photo Minute will focus on the appreciation of capturing light through a camera's lens.

The Goal: To help share tips and my passion for capturing the world around us with my camera of choice! Yes I am a Canon junkie and the camera of choice right now is my Canon 80D that is in my car most days!

The Purpose: To share passion for the art of light that creates a world of wonder for any photographer from beginner to professional. We all learn something everyday. We learn through listening. SO....I want to share so you can share back!

This photo was captured in a series of about 500 shots in about 2 hours for this on location photo shoot. First, this horse is being premiered at an upcoming high-profile sale. This shoot's purpose was to get dynamic, one-of-a-kind photos to promote him in the sale catalog and video.

Note: If you have a Canon or Nikon the battery grip is a must! You have an extra battery for longer on location life of your battery charge and you have another shoot button for vertical shots without reaching around your camera. This helps to build your portfolio for all your #amazingsocials on location.

Now...how do you get to a rock bar with your equipment and position such an amazing equine subject right in front of a waterfall/watershed dam?

Well...the photographer gets to try out the horse! Mind you I have not ridden in about 2 years.

Equipment List: Canon 80D, 32GB SD card, 18-135mm lens, lens hood, battery grip, and water shoes, spectators (aka Codi positioned on the far bank with a mirror)

After crossing to the rock bar in the back we positioned the equine under the bridge in the shade to help with lighting consistency (remember when on location use all your natural light to the best advantage). Then go through and use all the settings on your camera. Use slow/fast shutter speeds and aperture settings. Be sure your camera is set on "rapid fire" because with animals it is hard to keep their attention and we want confirmation and ears up with equine photos!

In the digital era, you can never take too many photos in my opinion. With the wind in Wyoming mixed in with an active background and an animal you only get a few seconds at best between each reset to get that ONE photo that is needed!

This photo was taken about 35 minutes into my session with this particular setup.

I prefer to use Adobe Creative Cloud Photoshop, but Adobe Lightroom is another great application for quick touch ups and such to your photos!

Editing Process: I open up the RAW format of the photo, working on the exposure, filtering, and color saturation sliders in the pre-edit window before opening in Photoshop.

I prefer to shoot in RAW because it captures a more pour representation with no compression of the scene you are shooting so you have plenty of light information to work with in your digital dark room.

Then I work on the levels of the particular photo I am working on. To create the exposure illusion you must know if you want to pull highlights, shadows, or mid-tones forward. This is in an attempt to pull the emotion of capturing life in a moment. Meaning, water is fast but when captured slowly via the shutter speed it evokes the emotion of "fleeting time."

So in a nutshell that is how you plan, capture, and edit a particular shot that is meant to feel and show the movement of water. A fast subject with a slow motion affect.