Jim Larson Photography

It’s winter in Idaho and with that comes fun in the snow.  We are blessed to have a great ski resort just 15 miles from Boise.  On this particular day, there was an occasional hint of blue sky peeking through, but for the most part, it was foggy and sometimes snowing.  This lead to some very flat lighting.  I took my Canon 40D with me this day in hopes for some great shots, but didn’t end up with too much, but did end up with a couple.

Even if the day isn’t the best for shooting, try to make the best of what the day has to give, no matter which end of the camera you are on.

This photo is a little more inline for the current season.  Sure we would like to be sailing under a nice blue sky as seen in my prior post, but the snow is this photo turns into water to sail on when summer finally arrives.

We were cross country skiing up a Bogus Basin a few miles from Boise and I liked the image of the parallel lines formed by the ski tracks.  I sat down on the back of my skis an took this shot making sure to leave the tips of my skis in the photo. This puts in some color and to adds more to the storyline of the photo.

Hey, I guess I better start sharing photos of Alle from her 2009 calendar.

Here is Alle getting a taste of the snow.

Enjoy!

Here is another shot from the cemetery I visited a few weeks ago.  For this particular image,  I put on the wide angle lens (17mm) and composed the photo.

When I shoot with a wide angle lens, I normally will try to get very close to some part of the subject, otherwise everything in the photo would seem like a long way away.  It is a great way to add some depth to the image.

Next time you are out taking photos, try different focal lengths on your lens (zoom in or out) and recompose your shots by using your feet.  That is, walk around to compensate for the change of perspective.  It’s amazing how different the same subject will look.

One place that I love to photograph is at old cemeteries.  As you walk amongst the gravestones, you think about what life was like for those people in the days of old and how much easier we have it today.

There is one in particular in Boise that is in the foothills and is not visited very often.  I was walking through it the other day looking for a good composition (I didn’t say decomposition ) and found this one that I actually took may years ago with a film camera, but decided to capture it again on digital. 

I like the lead-in that the fence provides, taking your eye into the picture and up to the tree. The deep blue sky this winter day provided is quite nice as well.

The other day while trying out some new photo gear, I went to a place that I frequent during the summer months.  I was pleasantly surprised when I saw this interesting natural ice sculpture.

I was zoomed in quite a bit on this, because the details are what make this shot rather interesting.

Go and visit some of your normal summer spots this winter and see what a difference the seasons make.

While I was photographing all of the runners in the Christmas Run last Saturday, I spotted Santa and quickly went over to take a few photos. I wanted to get in close to to show the detail of his face, but not too close as to lose any of his clothes from the photograph. This one was just right.

I like the rosy cheeks and nose of this jolly old elf.

A friend of mine and I take thousands of photos throughout the year at different athletic events.  These events are mainly running events, which is the subject of today’s post.  The Saturday before Christmas, the local YMCA puts on their annual Christmas Run.  This year there were over 1,800 participants in the 5K and 10K events. It was our job to photograph every person as they crossed the finish line.

This photo shows the intensity of one of the 10K runners.  The depth of field of the is fairly shallow, giving a nicely blurred background that helped to bring out the subject.  The other technique I used (in Adobe’s Lightroom software) was to add a vignette to the corners of the photo.  It is quite easy to do by adjusting a slider to either make the corners darker or lighter.  I lightened it which kind of gave the photo a mysteriously foggy effect. 

Merry Christmas!

We were able to stop by “the foot bridge” to take the winter version of the image that was shown in my last post. I tried to remember just where I was standing and where I had the center of the photo. It was close, but may have to try again next year.

It’s amazing to see the difference between the 2 shots with no leaves on the trees and the wood planks covered in snow.

Find the location for your 4 season shots and remember the details. Things such as time of day, focal length of the lens, aperture, focus point and where you were standing will help with constancy.

The image to the right was taken where we normally go sailing each summer.  It is fun to take a drive up to the lake at other times of the year to see the differences in the seasons.  The lake freezes over each winter which is interesting to see by itself.

I like to search out details that may not been seen unless you are specifically looking.  The image to the right shows one of these details; a leaf frozen in the ice.

What I found interesting in this is how the leaf, being a different and darker color than the ice absorbed the sun’s heat, and over time, melted the ice surrounding it.  This is solar power on a small scale, but solar power nonetheless.

I also framed the shot so that my subject was on that magic “1/3″ line of the image to help with the composition of such a simple shot.

Watch for the details of things around you.  You’ll be amazed at what you find.

Canon 10D, Canon 28-135 f3.5-5.6 IS at 135mm, 1/250 at f8, ISO 100