Raymond Photography

Raymond Photography © 2010

I’ve been shooting for several years now and the one thing that is always a work in progress is learning to light my subjects. I’ve used continuous lights, small strobes, sunlight, big strobes, and even flash lights to light my subjects in order to get the shots that I want. I believe there is always something to learn in lighting and the learning never stops. As a photographer, I’m always facing unique subjects to light and it really is all about getting what you can from what you have. Creativity plays a big part and you need to be on your toes because subjects don’t often like to wait.

For the most part, I have found small strobes to be the most portable and easy to implement in a wide variety of situations. There is even great power in simply using on-camera flash and bouncing it.

I will continue to learn to light anything and everything in my journey to let light shape the world around us.

Raymond Photography © 2010

Seeing that I haven’t posted a new entry in a while, I’ve got a bunch of photos lined up that should satisfy your palette in the next few days so stay tuned!

Above you can see the first which is an HDR photo comprised of 4 exposures. The story behind this photo is that I was driving through Caledon trying to find a good spot to stop at the side of the road and shoot the sunset. I happened upon, what I thought to be, a small side road which actually happened to be someone’s extended driveway! So I turned onto the “driveway” and stopped to the side hoping I don’t get in anyone’s way. Low and behold as soon as I stop to get out of my car, I see in my mirror an SUV indicating to come onto the road. You’ve got to be kidding me. Of all roads! So since I couldn’t turn the car around on the one lane “driveway” I proceeded to drive down the road and that’s when I found out it was a driveway. The road led me to a sizable ranch with horses and all. I noticed the SUV following me down the driveway and when I reached the house residing there I got out of my car.

This looks pretty bad. They might think I’m some spy or something, but those muscular horses look so photogenic and would be perfect in this sunset!

So immediately I greeted the driver of the SUV and told her my purpose for being there. I proceeded to politely ask if I could take some photos of her horses but she was going to put them in the barn for the night since the sun was setting.

I should have asked if I could photograph her doing just that, but my wits weren’t there at the time to think of asking such a thing. I’ll definitely visit again and see if I can capture those horses in a frame.

She agreed to let me take some photos of the sunset using her property as the foreground and the photo above is the result of this little story. Enjoy and have a great weekend.

© 2009 Raymond Siu - All Rights Reserved

Things aren’t always as they seem — especially when you get closer.

Many times when taking a photo, we always try to frame things in such a way to give context to the subject so there’s a story to tell. Sometimes the story can be summed up by the emotion it renders or evokes, and that can often be represented by an abstract perspective of the subject. Not every photo needs to be completely clear about what the subject is, and that’s the beauty of a photograph. Ambiguity can be implied and create even more interest in an image than if the subject was “well-defined” or documented.

Next time you are shooting a subject, see if you can describe the subject in an abstract approach. Often this means getting closer to the subject than normal, using depth of field to isolate parts of the subject, or even using motion blur to give a brush-stroke look to a photo.

© 2009 Raymond Siu - All Rights Reserved

“Happy Holidays and Seasons Greetings!”

The infamous words spoken every end of December. I can’t believe time has passed so quickly and that an entire year of photography has come and gone with thousands of images added to my library.

This is the time of the year where cameras of all sorts are going to be exercised more than any other time of the year. Millions of images will be taken, and some made, by photographers of all skill-levels.

Tip: If you receive a new camera this holiday, remember to read the manual. You can make yourself a better photographer by just reading that little booklet. And if you’re taking photos indoors under decent light, try taking off the flash to avoid the blown out faces and shiny blemishes and see if you’re happy with the results.

I just want to wish everyone the best this holiday season and to capture warm memories/moments with whatever camera you can get your hands on.