 COOL FILTER F/X
If you haven't discovered the Photoshop plug-ins Topaz Adjust and Topaz Simplify, I would like to recommend them. They are quite inexpensive and many photographers are now using them routinely to enhance their photography. Adjust (http://www.topazlabs.com/adjust/) is a unique set of enhancements that allow you to embellish your images and make them look more dramatic as you can see in these three pairs of pictures. Notice how different each of these effects are, and this is only the tip of the iceberg in what can be done. You could probably do many of these effects in Photoshop by applying individual steps, but it would take you a long time. With just a click on the large thumbnails inside the dialog box, you can instantly alter the original to have more contrast, color saturation, texture, color variation, depth, highlight enhancement, and more.
 
There is a user-friendly interface that is completely intuitive, and you don't really need any instruction at all. You can just start using it by experimenting with the various sliders and tabs to see what happens to your pictures. Much of the Photoshop work I do is cutting and pasting different pictures together (such as the neon background I used for the 1959 Cadillac below), but I enjoy working with these plug-ins because they offer instant gratification in seeing my images in a new light. These small images you see in this newsletter don't do these filters justice compared to when you enlarge them on your computer monitor.
One of my all-time favorite effects is the Simplify filter. This turns photos into painterly images that look like watercolors. The
photo of the parliament
  building in Budapest, Hungary at the top of this
newsletter is an example.
Simplify can be bought as a separate plug-in, but it is part of Adjust so it's not necessary to purchase two separate filters.
When using either of these plug-ins, you will feel like an artist. Printing images that have been altered using any of these techniques on water color paper or canvas produces works of art that at the very least deserve to be hung in your home or office.
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PANNING: capture the action
One of the most basic techniques in photography is using a slow shutter speed to blur a moving subject. If a camera is set up on a tripod and it's motionless and a moving object passes the lens, the background will be sharp while the subject is blurred assuming a slow shutter was ussed. The photo of traffic passing the Coliseum in Rome is an example (the streaks of light going diagonally through the middle of the picture were caused by a bus passing just few feet in front of me). I used a tripod here, and my exposure was 10 seconds.
Another option is to use a shutter speed that is fairly slow and at the same time you pan with the subject. The white horse below is an example. Because the camera followed the horse, the animal was blurred less than the background which, in essence, raced past the lens faster than the horse did. It is the contrast between these two areas of the image with respect to the amount of blur you get that makes this such a compelling and exciting technique. This is the most effective way to imply motion in a still photograph, and it can be used for lots of subjects. You can pan with a moving subject with or without a tripod. Most photographers find that with the kind motion needed to get an effectively blurred picture, a tripod is inhibiting. On the other hand, a tripod allows a smooth movement and it also takes the weight of the camera and lens off your neck and shoulders. This is especially helpful if you are using a fairly long telephoto.
I used the exact same idea in photographing the African white penguin below as it flew past Lake Nakuru which was covered in pink flamingos. It may take you a few shots to find the shutter speed that gives you the kind of image you want. Besides the speed of the shutter, the other factors are your personal taste, how fast the subject is moving, the distance of the subject to the camera position, and the focal length of the lens. It's impossible to predict exactly what the image will look like, so you have to take a lot of frames hoping you get something you'll be proud of.
As a general guideline, I use between 1/6th of a second and 1/15th of a second for the shutter speed. It's important to note that even though the subject and the background are blurred, it's still important to focus critically on the subject. Don't think that just because the image is abstracted that critical focus isn't important. Not true. There is a difference between blur due to movement and blur because of poor focus. They don't look the same.
Both the pelican shot and the tribal dancers at a Papua New Guinea Sing Sing celebration at right were taken at 1/15th of a second. When I shot the dancers, instead of panning horizontally I panned vertically just to try something different. I thought the effect was pretty cool.
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ON-LINE PHOTO INSTRUCTION-- with detailed critiques of your work
My new 4-week on-line photo courses began again last Wednesday, Nov. 4. It's not too late to sign up. As preparation for an African safari, you might consider my Wildlife course: http://www.better
photo.com/course
Overview.asp?
cspID=87
Do you want to make money in photography? Want to feel more confident in exposure? Interested in learning more about Photoshop (like putting fireworks in the sky or removing lens flare). Are you insecure about your compositional or exposure skills?
Russian Orthodox church, Riga, Latvia
I teach several 8-week and 4-week courses on-line. The way the courses work is this. Every Wednesday, you receive a lesson that consists of text and photos, explaining various principles in photography, marketing your work, digital manipulation, or whatever subject you are studying. At the end of each lesson there is an assignment, and you have plenty of time to take pictures and upload them for my critique. You can use photos you did specifically for the assignment or images that you have taken previously.
On-line photo courses are like virtual classrooms but not in real time. Other students can see your pictures, read my critiques, and comment on your work. Similarly, you can comment on the pictures of other students. It is a unique and wonderful learning experience.
One of the great things about these on-line courses is that students participate from all over the world. In a single lesson's uploads, you may see pictures from Bryce Canyon or Brazil, or from Singapore or South Carolina. It's a very stimulating environment, and it will help you become the photographer or digital artist that you would like to be.
On the Betterphoto.com website, you can read the lesson outline of each course and see sample photos. In addition, you can also access the courses I teach directly by going to my website, jimzuckerman.com, and clicking on the link 'On-line Photo Courses'. at the top of the home page.
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Why East Africa?
My first trip to East Africa was in 1994, and I met a lady when I first arrived who had been to Kenya and Tanzania eight times. I didn't understand why someone would return to the same place over and over again when the world is such a big place and there are so many wonderful destinations to explore and photograph. After I'd been in Africa for just a few days, I understood.
Africa is such a special place that it can't be fully experienced in only one trip. It's too vast, and things change all the time. Every trip I've made to Kenya and Tanzania is completely different -- the photography, the animals, the people I encounter, and the weather. For wildlife photography, there is no place on the planet that is as spectacular as East Africa for taking pictures of animals.
I am leading a photo tour to Tanzania for Distinctive Journeys (http://www.distinctive-journeys.com/) June 10 - 22, 2010, and I want to invite you to come with me. The group will be small and the photography will be unparalleled. You won't find a better price for a trip like this, especially since the number of photographers per vehicle is limited to three. That makes a huge difference because it gives you great mobility within the van or land rover, and it also means there is less movement that can cause your pictures to be blurred.
One of the highlights of the trip is the Ngorongoro Crater which is a place unlike anywhere on earth. The elephants are huge and the rhinos have mature horns (like the black rhino above), and the predators are plentiful. We also visit Lake Manyara National Park where you can get incredible pictures of hippos like the one you see below. This was taken with a 300mm lens about 5 minutes before sunset.
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The Serengeti is an extension of the Maasai Mara in Kenya, but it is many times the size of the Mara. We spend several days here and every morning and afternoon that we go on our game drives, you'll see different things. You might get an awesome closeup of a stunning bird like the famous lilac breasted roller. To make sure I captured those stunning colors, I used a hint of fill flash because we were able to get so close to the bird that flash was possible.
During the same game drive, you might encounter a monstrous crocodile (and these things are unbelievably huge), a baby baboon clinging to its mother or a family of cheetahs. Every day brings something new and exciting. It's very possible that you'll be firing off pictures so fast that your camera will be smoking!
The lodges we stay in are beautiful and the food is superb. You will be surprised by the variety of food and how delicious it is, especially considering the remote locations of the lodges. The staff are always gracious, knowedgable, and friendly, and the drivers we have always seem to know where to find the animals. If this trip sounds like it is a once in a life experience, it is.
Please contact me for a copy of the day by day itinerary and the list of lodges, the pricing, and a list of photo equipment I recommend for the trip. I'll also be happy to answer any questions you may have regarding photography, health issues, international communications while on safari, and so on. You can also add onto this trip a trek to see the mountain gorillas. If this interests you, let me know when you inquire.
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SELF-CRITIQUE
I like this picture for three reasons. First, this mature male lion is battle-scarred, and I think that fact makes this image quite compelling. We all like to photograph beautiful specimens of each species, but the fact that this patriarch is blind in one eye and has scars on his face shows how hard life is in the wild, even for the king of beasts.
Second, the background is completely out of focus. I took this picture with a 500mm f/4 telephoto, and I purposely used the widest lens aperture to gather as much light as possible (so the shutter speed could be fast) and also to make sure the background remained completely abstracted with no definition at all. This forces all of our attention on the lion, and at the same time nothing is distracting in the background.
Third, I like the lighting. As beautiful as sunrise and sunset light is, this is the other type of natural light that works so well for outdoor portraits (for both animal and human). It has minimal contrast so we can see all the detail in the highlights and the shadows.
In addition to these reasons, there is one more aspect of this picture that works very well. Note the angle -- this was taken at eye-level. This isn't always possible when shooting in Africa because if the animals are close to the vehicles, we tend to shoot downward. However, the cat was laying on a slight rise in the land and that gave me the opportunity to create a more intimate portrait.
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FROG AND REPTILE WORKSHOP
Saturday and Sunday, Feb 27, 28, 2010, St. Louis, Missouri
Twice a year I conduct a very special workshop. A maximum of eight people spend two days photographing some of the most intriguing creatures on the planet. I arrange to have roughly 50 species of poison dart frogs (they aren't poisonous in captivity), chameleons, snakes, geckos and other creatures positioned on natural backgrounds, and after a short lecture on using flash for macro work, depth of field issues, exposure, how to use extension tubes, the artistry of sidelighting and backlighting, and composition, students get up close and personal with these captivating animals. Some of the species of colorful frogs are surprisingly small, and I explain the best strategy for getting as much of the animals in sharp focus as possible.
The fee is $895 for the two days. The workshop is held in St. Louis, Missouri at a hotel a few minutes from the airport. I have a few spaces left for the Feb. workshop, and if you are interested in taking some of the best macro photography ever, contact me and I'll tell you how you can sign up.
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