I Didn’t post a photograph for my Nuwomb 360 project.  Technically, I only get 4 more days off in the year of no posting, because I I need to post 360 photographs by next year.  No worries, I’m good.  Using photograph #6, I wanted to talk about the road less travelled.

As great as it is to follow the path on a photo walk, I suggest to go off course if you spot something off the beaten path.  You might lose the entire photo walk group, but you’ll catch up.  I spotted this shack that I didn’t expect as the group of us marched down the street with our cameras.  Oddly enough, only one person decided to follow and snap some pictures with me.

While taking photographs of this shack (a shack very against the act of parking a car), the owner came out and wanted to see what I was up to.  It was pretty awkward, but I lived to shoot another day.   I pretty sure the man was confused why I wanted to take a picture of his sweet ass shack.  I didn’t cause any trouble and found the experience to be entertaining and I came away with photographs that other photo walk participants didn’t see.

Granted that I probably missed awesome scenes that other photo walk participants found.  That’s the great thing about going on walks though.  Seeing what you missed and others found allows you to go back to explore deeper at another time.

You can also check out this same photo in Black and White on my flickr site.  Are we friends there by the way?

Here is a secret photo from the 1 year anniversary of the London photo walk.  I am not sure if I’ve seen any other posted images of the same place, and that makes me pretty happy.  One great aspect of a photo walk is seeing the different ways everyone photographs the same subjects, I also love it when you come away with something unique as well.  I ALWAYS get hung up exploring subjects for longer periods of time and usually that is when the Gem’s make their appearance.

As we embark on our next photo walk, let’s be thankful for our eyesight and the ability to participate in such great creative expression.  Spend a little extra time with the subject you found interesting enough to take the first picture.  Forget about the photo walk for a moment and pull the camera away from your face to look around with so much gratitude for everything.  Watch as the little things emerge and compete for your attention.  Photograph them.

This advice might seem a little weird to most, but would it hurt to try? What have you got to lose? If you lost your eyesight, you’d probably give anything or do anything to get that feeling back.

I did this very thing as I was sitting on the ground taking pictures of the rusting out Corvair.  I sat there, alone, just appreciating the ability to be out and about taking photographs.  It was at that time that the small broken window in the garage door appeared to me. Inside the garage was dark, but it looked pretty grungy!  I did a lot of maneuvering of my tripod and shot a bunch of exposures to get as much light in there as I could.  The resulting photograph opened up a new world inside that garage. Thanks to the technique of HDR photography, I was able to get a lot of the detail and create the upcoming image. The photograph isn’t perfect, there is noise and it’s really grungy. Okay, it is perfect to me.

I came away from the photo walk with this 5th photo in the Nuwomb 360: Beauty in the Grunge.

]]> http://www.nuwomb.com/photowalk-gem-beauty-in-the-grunge/feed/ 4 http://www.nuwomb.com/hdr-photo-is-this-safe/ http://www.nuwomb.com/hdr-photo-is-this-safe/#comments Thu, 22 Apr 2010 12:40:56 +0000 Scott Webb http://www.nuwomb.com/?p=4287

One of these things just doesn’t belong. I swear I remember a game like this on Sesame Street when I was a kid.  It’s Earth Day and this HDR photograph shows us that something needs to change.

I’m not environmentalist, but I imagine this isn’t a positive sign for our Earth. I felt that it did make for a pretty rad grunge scene when it comes to HDR photography.

Last Sunday, there was an organized photowalk here in London, Ontario. Actually, this was the 1 year anniversary of the walk.  It’s hard to believe a year passed, and we returned to the very location the first official london photowalk started: Old East London.

I recommend this type of photographic activity to anyone because of it’s ability to open your eyes. A bunch of changes in the area over the year, but we also realized that somethings never changed.

The photowalk took a bit of a different route, exploring a little bit of King Street.  On this different route, I noticed a rear ‘shack’ and had to go over to explore. This is the location of the small dump you see in the photo.  I thought I was going to get in trouble because the owner came out wondering what I was doing, but he saw I was a harmless artist and just watched me shoot the HDR photo.  I thought to ask him if he had access to the internet to see the photo later but he didn’t look the most friendly.

This photo is not one of the ones I have in the shop.  Why? I’m not 100% sure, but it just doesn’t feel like the time. Eventually I’ll have a photowalk collection ( I’ll explain that idea in another article soon), and it may make it’s way into that.

It’s Friday, and some of the photo walks are probably getting underway for Scott Kelby’s Worldwide Photowalk. It’s a big event as thousands of photographers and people will be out exploring their city with their digital cameras. I wanted to help you to avoid a complete and utter Worldwide photo walk FAIL. In other words, I want to help you have the best photowalk ever, and not have it ruined by silly little things that could go wrong. Yes, I know, the photo walk only requires a camera and going out and taking pictures; however, there are aspects of photography and walking that could seriously impact your success on the upcoming and future photo walk events. These issues could happen to anyone, even the most experienced of photographers. Imagine if some of these issues happened with Scott Kelby? Image he had to report back on his blog or on Photoshop User TV that his worldwide photo walk was totally ruined, he failed, and looks forward to next years walk. Exactly, that would be totally unacceptable and sheepish. So, the same goes for you and your blog or flickr account. You don’t want it to be empty after tomorrow. You don’t want to go home early. So, just follow this list and you’ll avoid a WWPW PhotoFAIL.

**I know that this might not be good for climate change, but a good idea might be to print this out and put it on the back of your door. Or, write a few post-it notes and stick them on the back of the door.

Photowalk tip! Don’t forget Your Camera

I know, this sounds silly but imaging you drive out to the meeting spot and your camera was left at home. Worst yet, you took public transportation and realized your camera was not in bag. This won’t be like high school, and you can borrow someone else’s pen if you forgot yours. People should be traveling light with only one camera (and maybe a camera phone for bonus creativity). Forget your camera and your photo walk just became a PhotoFAIL.

Photowalk Tip! Charge your Battery(s)

Hopefully you’ve never experienced the dreaded low battery warning on your camera at the start of a photo-shoot, photo walk, or photo-opportunity in general. It’s haunting and it will ruin your day. Ensure you camera battery is charged or charging so that it’s ready for the photowalk. Even better, would be having a charged back up battery. Less worry will allow you to use that energy for creative photography. Just remember, if you’re charging your camera battery, make sure to put it back in your camera before leaving or your photowalk just became a PhotoFAIL.

Photowalk Tip! Check your Camera Settings

It will only take a few minutes to check your camera settings at the start of the photo walk. The reason for this check is because the last time you used your camera might have been when you needed ISO 800 or 3200. This could be a problem that you don’t realize on your LCD review screen until you’re home from the walk, or you might not realize until near the end of the walk. Suddenly, the world could come crashing down on your photos. The shot you figured would be the Grand Prize winner, suddenly your Photo walk just became a PhotoFAIL.

Photowalk Tip! Don’t Wear Flip Flops

Seriously. Don’t wear Flip Flops for a photowalk. Wear comfortable shoes for a number of reasons. You’re going to be walking around your city, and possibly into areas that could cause issues for exposed feet. You want to be as comfortable as possible on a long walk and Flip Flops are not going to give you comfort. Also, you may need to get into awkward positions to get the shot or angle you want and the flip flops will be falling off or just becoming a problem. Think ahead, and wear appropriate footwear. No one want’s to be around someone that’s complaining on the walk. If you’re uncomfortable, your feet are killing you, or you cut your foot because you wore flip flops your photowalk just became a PhotoFAIL.

Photowalk Tip! Have an Extra Memory Card

This might not be something super important at first glance. Although, the photowalk is engaging and you’ll probably be taking as many photos as you want. On a good photowalk, you are not thinking about how mach more room you have for pictures. You don’t want to have to pick and choose if that really is worthy of a photograph of not. Taking a lot of photos, especially if you’re thinking to try HDR for the Photowalk, you could fill your memory card halfway through your walk. This is when your extra memory card will come in handy. Maybe you have a few extra cards that you could bring along incase you’re super click happy (there is nothing wrong with taking too many photographs). If you know there is not a camera store on your photowalk route, you might want to consider grabbing another memory card. If you run out of memory card space and the photowalk is not over, your photowalk just became a PhotoFAIL

Photowalk Tip! Set Your Alarm Clock

Some of the photowalks are starting in the morning on Saturday. Image Scott Kelby sleeping in for his photowalk. Not going to happen. He has set his alarm clock. I actually don’t know what time his city’s photowalk is set for; however, I know that he won’t miss it. Set your alarm clock so that you don’t end up sleeping in and turning your photowalk into a PhotoFAIL.

Photowalk Tip! Clear Your Memory Card

Having 1 or 2 memory cards will help here, but it’s not hard to ensure your memory card is so fresh and so clean. Make sure that you’ve downloaded all the pictures on your memory card before your photowalk start time. You don’t want to get to the meeting place, turn on your camera, and realize you have 20 photos left on your memory card and you forgot to load those images onto your computer. You’re going to be faced with a decision: Format the card and lose those previous images OR allowing your photowalk to become a PhotoFAIL.

Photowalk Tip! The Positive Mindset

Surprisingly enough, the wrong mindset could ruin your day. Watch out if you’re angry, upset, annoyed, irritated or just in a negative frame of mind. The wrong mindset will not help your photography. I’ve tried taking photos when I am in a horrible mood and the results were just as horrible. So, go to your worldwide photowalk with an open mind. Know that it’s a day of celebration and take your photographs with a fun, joyous, and happy attitude. What I mean, is that your photography should come form a place within you that loves exploring the world and photography. Some scenes you shoot may require you to expose the grunge or sadness of a scene, but it still comes from a place of greatness within you. If you’re going to the photowalk with a grumpy attitude you’re probably not going to find it. You’re going to find a PhotoFAIL.