Miles

I shot this portrait of Miles at the Houston Zoo last Saturday morning. He was 6'3" tall and less than a month old at the time.

I shot this with a 70-200 mm telephoto lens with a 2X teleconverter attached. Since my camera has a 1.6 crop factor, that's the equivalent in the old 35 mm film world of a 200x2x1.6, or 640 mm telephoto lens. And, I needed every bit of that telephoto power to get anywhere near close enough to get detailed wildlife shots, even at the zoo!

I was fortunate to get this shot of Miles in natural morning sunlight with another giraffe providing an interesting background. Notice that the narrow depth of field provided by the telephoto lens provides a nicely blurred background that separates well from the the subject in the foreground. It also helped that the adult giraffe was standing in a shaded area, so the the subject (Miles) stood out because of its higher brightness and contrast.

I learned that two things are required for good wildlife photography: long telephoto lenses and infinite patience! And, the former may be easier to come by, than the latter!

-CG TTL

Anti Monkey Butt Powder

My brother was nice enough to present me with this unique gift to help me get through long-distance motorcycle rides with minimal discomfort.

I wanted this "product shot" to be evenly lit from the front, and at the same time I wanted it backlit to provide some separation from the white background and to help lead the viewer' eye to the subject.

I placed the powder container on a piece of white poster board from the drug store. Two speedlite flashes bounced off reflectors camera left and camera right lit the front and sides. A third speedlite from above bounced off the white background to give the separation I was looking for.

In post processing I made minor tonal adjustments and increased color saturation and vibrancy in Photoshop CS4. Finally, I added a vignette around the outside edges to help keep the viewer's eye inside to image a while longer.

Question or comments?

-CG TTL

Mangos

Photographers who are masters of lighting have a saying: "If you want to light something in an interesting way, don't light it all."

This shot was lit with an off-camera speedlite (Canon 580 EXII), laying on its side on a small box and aimed in front of the mangos. A white envelope, a folded white notecard, and some white paper napkins were used to reflect soft, close-in, rapid fall-off light into the mangos.

Why these materials for the reflectors? Well, I set this shot up on the kitchen counter, and that's what was within easy reach.

I started with color by buying the most colorful mangos I could find at my local grocery store. The almonds were an afterthought. They just happened to be sitting within reach on the kitchen counter, as well.

-CG TTL

Complementary Colors

I shot this image last week near Bolivar Roads at the East end of Galveston Island, where ships from the Gulf of Mexico and the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) enter the Houston Ship Channel. Bolivar Roads is the second busiest waterway in the world (after Amsterdam, I'm told).

This inbound container ship caught my eye because "she has a bone in her teeth" (a bow wave) and because of the nice complementary color pair (Red-Green) painted on her hull. Complementary colors can be seen on the Painter's Color Wheel (aka, the subtractive color wheel for reflected light).

Line, form, shape, texture, and pattern can combine to make compelling images, but finding complementary colors - pairs or triads - is often a good place to start.

-CG TTL

Ten Bits Ranch

Here's the view from the Ten Bits Ranch, near Terlingua, Texas. I was out there with my motorcycle gang, riding around Big Bend and the Davis Mountains in January.

This was taken a couple of hours before sunset. The pattern of the peaks, the texture of the terrain, and the play of light and shadow were what caught my eye. I wanted to separate the foreground, middle-ground, and background to show context, and to draw the viewer's eye with leading lines and areas of high contrast.

Would you believe that John Wayne is standing just out of the frame to camera left?

Questions? Comments?

-CG TTL

Humbling Experiences

If you are into humbling experiences, try to do a self-portrait! It will help you see the world from the model's point of view.

I shot this one last night, using a Canon 40D DSLR camera on a tripod and triggered (by me) with an electronic shutter release. It was cross-lit using two Canon 580 EX flashes, mounted off-camera on portable flash stands and triggered with PocketWizards.

I touched up this image this morning in Photoshop CS4. Another humbling experience.

Questions? Comments?

-CG TTL

Old Galveston Doorway

I shot this old doorway on a very old home on Sealy Street in Galveston, after Hurricane Ike.

I shot this image on a bright, overcast morning. The light was relatively soft, but very flat. Cropping, tonal adjustments, and color saturation in Photoshop helped add depth to the image and direct the viewer's attention to the doors.

I was pleased to have this image selected by Craig Tanner for the Daily Critique on The Mindful Eye.

-CG TTL

San Jacinto Monument!

Here's a simple snapshot I took of the San Jacinto Monument, just as a 600 foot tall Texas flag happened to be passing behind it.

Timing is everything!

Or, the alternative explanation is that I shot an image of the monument from the west side late one afternoon on the way home from work, and the next day I shot another image from the same direction of a HUGE Texas flag in front of a Japanese car dealership in Houston.

Then, I separately edited each of these images in Photoshop, made a selection of the monument, and layered it on top of the flag, so that the stars lined up near the upper right third of the image. I also skewed the flag image a bit, so that the wrinkles provided some nifty diagonal leading lines.

And that's all there was to it. Making a clean selection around the monument in Photoshop was the time consuming part.

All things considered, of the two alternative explanations, I guess I prefer the first one best.

If you want to learn how to do this sort of thing in Photoshop, a good place to start is here.

-CG TTL

Welcome to CG TTL

What on Earth is CG TTL?

Good question. I was hoping somebody would ask.

CG stands for Charlie Gipson (that's me). And TTL, for those of you unaccustomed to photographic jargon, stands for Through The Lens.

So, why CG TTL?

Well, this is a blog designed to share my experiences, as an intermediate photographer, as I work hard to become a more advanced photographer.

I plan to share some of my images and my experiences from time to time, and to include references and links to sources of photographic information, instruction, and inspiration, as I progress on my creative journey.

Just so you know, I'm also into long-distance motorcycle riding, so I expect some of the images and experiences I share will be related to that other passion of mine.

So, my plan is to post items of interest to me here, once a week or so. My hope is that those items will be interesting and useful to you as well. We'll see how it goes.

Feel free to post comments, questions, or suggestions, as the spirit moves you.

-CG TTL