Tom and I want to celebrate the great images being created by photographers each month. For June we selected an image from our new online workshop Creative Camera Craft We hope you enjoy Stuart’s images as much as we do.
Congratulations to June’s photographer – Stuart Litoff
The Story:
The assignment was to capture motion.
I live in Washington DC and it’s summertime. The thought of going out in the hot and humid weather wasn’t very appealing so I started thinking about what I could do in my apartment.
I was looking for something manageable from the technical aspects of shooting. I asked myself, “What do I do a lot of? Sitting at my desk and typing on a keyboard. That’s how the idea came to me.
What would I need for the shoot? A tripod. I needed the keyboard to be rock solid and my hand’s needed to be free. I focused on the keyboard and framed it the way I liked it. And then, I used a remote with a ten second delay to take the picture.
I experimented both with being in front and behind the tripod. I found being behind the tripod and reaching around it worked better. The angle of where the camera was worked better.
Next, I experimented with the shutter speeds – I was trying to see how much blur looked good. The shutter speed I chose was faster than I thought it would be. It was just .8 seconds.
I realized it was important to keep my hands apart and not use the middle keys. I learned this by reviewing the first set of images in the l.c.d.
Once I had it I did minimal post processing – even though I do love to move those sliders!
I knew it was a successful image for the assignment. I wouldn’t have thought to take it on my own. That’s one of the fun things about taking a class. I transferred the idea into something that looked clever. It wasn’t a blazing sunset, but I do like it.
The Data: .8 sec, f4, ISO 200
The Gear: Fuji X-T2 with a 16-55mm lens
About Learning Photography Online:
Taking classes online is very stimulating. They have me looking around the apartment and out the window for things to photograph.
Tip from the Photographer:
The pandemic is dominating everyone’s lives, including photographers. Up until the pandemic, I took 90% of my pictures on workshops. I live in Washington DC. It’s one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but I just don’t go out and photograph it much.
The class I took was perfect for me. My advice is to look around where you live. Follow the light for interesting photographs. If the photographs don’t come on their own, take an online class.
On Stuart’s Horizon
I keep thinking there will be a photo travel trip in the near future…..but I don’t see it. I will apply what I learned in class around here and see what new courses come up.
