Part 1: Abstract Photography for Students, All of my Mentees from Westlake High School
- At April 02, 2020
- By Johnny Stevens
- In Aerial photography, architecutral, austin architectural photographer, Austin photographer, camera control, commercial photography, dichotomy, Drone photography, editing, Fine Art, lifestyle photography, light painting, lighting, Photography education, Photography Mentor, portrait, portrait photography, professional, real estate, real estate photography, shutter speed, speedlights, spot lighting, student housing, student lifestyle, Tilt shift, tilt-shift lens, video, videography
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Part 1: Abstract Photography for Students
All of my Mentees from Westlake High School.
Abstract Photography for Students is a challenge. I thought it was time to assemble all of the educational photographic projects I have done with my senior students of the Independent Study Program at Westlake High School over the last 8 years. I was surprised when I went back into my photography archives to see some of the projects that I have forgotten about. I am doing this in 5 Posts so the reader does not get overwhelmed. This first post is about our Abstract Photography exercises. So here we go.
When I agree to teach a student, I tell them that my approach to teaching is to expose them to as many different genres of photography as possible, so they can learn how to leverage the settings on their cameras, read natural light, learn how to control flash and strobe light, how to work with humans who hate to have their photos taken, and evaluate the environment for challenges.
The photography genres I like to introduce them to are:
- Abstract Photography
- Portrait Photography
- Still Life and Landscape Photography
- Architectural Photography
ABSTRACT PHOTOGRAPHY:
My first student 8 years ago was Elena. With her I learned how difficult shooting rising smoke is. We learned that having a flash at 90 degrees to a smoking piece of incense was better than having two flashes, one in each side. The contrast within the smoke was better and made it easier to identify an interesting moment within the otherwise chaotic billowing smoke. Then we edit the image mostly by eliminating surrounding smoke that did not lend itself to the formation we identified. More often that not (and this goes for painting too) we tend to identify with abstract formations that remind of some variation of human forms. Here are Elena’s images:
I had forgotten about this image, and today it is one of my favorite. It is whimsical and requires some time to process its intricacies.
Elena’s Abstract Smoke by Austin fine art photographer Johnny Stevens
This one I called Wisp of Elena. It clearly has some alien life forms that attract the eye….
Elena’s Abstract Smoke #2 Alien formation by Austin abstract photographer Johnny Stevens
My mentee Nolan shot this smoke image. Very often the way smoke rises and curls, it tends to show formations of vertebrae and human bones.
Nolan smoke abstract photography austin
And this one from my mentee Morgan;
Morgan abstract smoke photography by Austin photographer Johnny Stevens
For Jake’s Abstract Smoke Photography exercise, he created 2 edited versions from this first raw file.
Jake’s original raw file of smoke rising
Final edit of abstract smoke rising photograph
Final edit 2 of abstract smoke rising photograph
My mentee Krishan and I tested our reflexes at shooting water drops in a glass.
Krishan’s composition of 4 drops of water
After an hour of gruelling timing to pull the trigger at the right time we learned that we could not get the effect we were looking for which is achieved by buying a Pluto Valve Drop Regulator. It releases drops timed exactly with the shutter of the camera, but more importantly it releases 2 consecutive drops so that the upward splash of the first drop smashes into the one coming down and creates a beautiful mushroom effect. As seen in these two examples:
water drop 1 by fstoppers
waterdrop 2 by 500 px blog
To introduce my students to compositing in Photoshop, I will often give them the task of taking a series of images and composite parts of them into a master image. In this case I gave Nolan these images from my Mannequin folder of images to create a composite:
Mannequin for abstract photoshop compositing lesson Johnny Stevens Austin Photographer
Final composite by Nolan
Aerial Drone Architectural Photography
Aerial Drone Architectural Photography
Some recent good examples of Aerial Drone Architectural Photography show how getting up just 10 or 20 feet can make all the difference in an exterior of a building. These are both apartments complexes. The Lyndon pool is in San Marcos and the 959 Franklin images are from Eugene, Oregon. In those you can see that it was raining but I had just enough time to launch the Mavic Pro and shoot these two angles. The sky was ugly so replacing the sky in Photoshop was easy and necessary.
Aerial Drone architectural Photograph of 959 Franklin angle 2
Aerial Drone architectural Photograph of 959 Franklin
Aerial Drone architectural Photograph of The Lyndon San Marcos
Photographing Student Housing with the drone
Photographing Student Housing with the drone
How many times have I just wanted to get the camera up 10 feet to really showcase the exteriors of some of the student housing properties I have shot? Photographing aerial Student Housing with the drone is the simple answer because the drone allows me to get a different perspective on the property. Usually I noticed that I do get some keystoning distortion simply because I am often shooting down. This is easily corrected with the vertical perspective tool in Camera Raw in Photoshop. Here an example of the difference in perspective from ground photographs off the tripod and similar ones from the drone. These are both the same property by American Campus Communities.
Ground photo from tripod of the pool at Townhomes at Newtowne in Lexington
Aerial Drone photo from Mavic Pro drone of the pool at Townhomes at Newtowne in Lexington
Architectural photography for RollFab
Architectural photography for RollFab
I was recently asked to do some Architectural photography for RollFab in Austin. They are based in Phoenix. RollFab makes metal panels that look like wood. They offer a full line of the highest quality metal roofing systems, siding and metal wall panels for architectural, commercial, industrial, and residential projects of every kind. Architects, contractors and installers appreciate the quality service from their professional staff. They are ready to answer any question, and help devise custom solutions to individual project needs. This project is located at the Village at the Triangle in Austin. It is pretty cool stuff so I thought it would be nice to toss in a few drone shots of the building too because actually getting up an additional 15 feet higher was very helpful in showing the vertical side panels of the RollFab product on the building.
Architectural photography in Austin for RollFab
RollFab products installed at Village at Triangle architectural photography Austin
Aerial Drone Architectural Photography
Aerial Drone Architectural Photography
I was asked by an architect named Humphreys & Partners Architects who have offices in the US, Vietnam, China and Uruguay, to photograph some twilight aerial drone architectural photographs of a property in Austin, called ThinkEast Austin. Student Housing photography is my main forte so this apartment complex was a familiar project. As a professional architectural photographer in Austin I have learned that the drone is my best friend. Just to be elevated 10 to 15 feet to photograph a structure can make all the difference. The rain had just ended and I launched the DJI Mavic Pro in pretty heavy wind. Getting a fast enough shutter speed with the lowest possible ISO is always the challenge when shooting in the dark. You cannot shoot from a drone with a shutter speed higher than 1/30 especially if it is windy. My ISO was pumped up to 1000 but it worked out well after I did my adjustments in Adobe Camera Raw. The lighting on the building was not very attractive so I had to create my own light in Photoshop. I had to push and pull the shadows, highlights and white quite a bit to get a nice looking final image. Here is the before and after.
Aerial architectural photo with Mavic Pro Austin AFTER editing
ThinkEast Drone architectural photo before editing
The Mavic Pro drone perfect perspective
The Mavic Pro drone perfect perspective
How many times have I been shooting architecture from a tripod and wishing I could get just 10 feet higher? The Mavic Pro drone adds the perfect perspective for those situations. The drone does not have the vertical perspective adjust-ability as the TS-E 17 lens does, but once you are up 10 or 20 feet, you don’t need it because the verticals are true at those heights.
Aerial architectural photo with Mavic Pro photographer Johnny Stevens
Aerial architectural photo with Mavic Pro Austin
Aerial architectural photo with Mavic Pro Johnny Stevens
Architectural photo shoot for VRBO and AirBnB
Architectural photo shoot for VRBO and AirBnB
I was just asked to shoot an Architectural photo shoot for VRBO and AirBnB. The home is tucked away in Rob Roy, It has a lovely views of Barton Creek Country Club. There were 2 different rentals, the bottom floor of the main house and a separate quest house. They were both beautifully decorated and appointed. Here is what the client had to say on Google reviews:
First, and most important, the quality of Johnny’s work is EXCEPTIONAL. The way he selected the angles, lighting, composition created remarkable images well above my highest expectations.
Also, he is very friendly and pleasant to work with, did the job quickly and thoroughly, returning several times to take pictures in daylight, twilight, using a drone, …
Highly recommended.
Architectural image of Austin home rental
Exterior twilight architectural shot Austin
Sunset rule wins again.
The 20 minutes after sunset rule wins again.
I was shooting an exterior of this apartment pool in Tucson last week. I always ask the client to arrange with maintenance to have the pool lights in the pool and the perimeter lights forced on at least 30 minutes before sunset. Normally these lights are on solar cells or light sensors and turn themselves on when the sun light dissipates and the ambient light gets dark enough to trigger them on. Inevitably, they turn themselves off way after sunset and too late for the perfect twilight shot. I was watching the sun go down and as it approached 20 minutes after sunset, I was concerned that this scene was going to be boring. The sun must not behave the same in Arizona. But I shot my bracketed shots anyway, and because I was so close to the pool, I decided to shoot and upper image and then shift down with my 17mm tilt shift lens and shoot a lower image so I could stack them together in Photoshop to get more room for the top and bottom of the image.
Entrada Real in Tuscon twilight exterior real estate student housing photography
Aerial Drone Photography and Videography
How many times have I been shooting a structure and wishing I could get just 20 feet up rather than shooting from the ground?
ThinkEast Apartment Aerial architectural photo with Mavic Pro 2 Austin
Alas, this is just what the drones offer us. Not only do they offer a different perspective on a structure, but we can add video to leverage aerial motion and feature the surroundings. Add a bit of moody music and you have a very compelling representation of a property. My drone of choice is the DJI Mavic Pro 2 with the Hasselblad camera simply because I can pack it in my photo bag and travel with it on planes. The camera delivers a superior still image as well.
Drone Photography and Video by Johnny Stevens
FAA Licensed Drone Pilot
FAA Registration FA3347KRKA
Simple Video settings for Canon 60D
Recently I drilled through the Canon 60D to provide my client with some setup Simple Video settings for Canon 60D instructions that the staff could carry with them for shooting video with this camera. It is a wonderful camera for shooting video. Here you go.
Canon 60 D SLR camera
Simple Video settings for Canon 60D
SHOOTING VIDEO
Automatic:
These Automatic notes apply to shooting photos in AUTO as well:
- You get no control over any settings like, shutter speed, white balance, f stop, ISO or focus.
- However, if you have had a margarita and don’t want to deal with settings AUTO mode will give you acceptable video quality.
- The only concern you may have is not having control over focus unless you set the lens to Manual Focus and focus the lens manually by zooming in to the subject, focusing and then zoom back out to wherever you like.
Shooting Video on AUTO
- If you have a lavaliere mic, clip it onto the subject and plug the mini jack into the mic port on the under the rubber flab on the left side of the camera. Otherwise sound will be recorded from the camera mic (not great sound quality). The lav may need a micro mini adapter to fit the mic in port.
- Power up camera (left thumb)
- Turn Main dial above power switch to the video camera icon. (last one)
- On the lens select AF (Auto Focus)
- On the lens select stabilizer OFF if you are on a tripod. ON if you are hand holding .
If nobody has messed with the camera settings these should stay in place for AUTO. But if you want to double check these AUTO settings:
MENU
- SCREEN 1
- Movie exposure – AUTO
- AF Mode – Live mode (lets you see the image on the camera window.)
- SCREEN 2
- Movie REC Size 1920 x 1080 / 30p is fairly standard HD video. 24p is best for cinematic footage.
- Sound Recording – AUTO
You can start shooting now
- Focus on subject by placing the square in the middle of the window on the subject and press the shooting tigger button (right forefinger) half way to set focus. (or press the AF ON button with thumb.)
- Increase or decrease exposure by rotating the Thumb Wheel.
- Push camera icon by viewfinder to start recording.
- Push again to stop recording
Shooting VIDEO on Manual
Rotate top dial to the video camera
Press Menu (there are 3 VIDEO screens for settings. Select them with the wheel on the top right on your right forefinger)
- SCREEN 1
- Movie exposure – Manual
- AF Mode – Live mode (lets you see the image on the camera window.)
- SCREEN 2
- Movie REC Size 1920 x 1080 / 24. This is the most cinematic setting.
- Sound Recording – Manual. Adjust the sound level so that it is not hitting 0 Just above 12 is fine.
- SCREEN 3
- White balance. For indoor office setting choose SUN – Daylight.
(Most of these menu items can also be accessed from the Q button (Quick Menu). Move up and down these icons by pressing the top and bottom of the outer ring on the SET button.
Then you can set your shutter speed, aperture and ISO just like you would if shooting photos.
- Set your shutter speed to 60
- Adjust your f stop to get a good exposure.
- Adjust your ISO up if you need more light.
- Press the i button to get the histogram to see your exposure
- Focus on subject
- Press the camera icon to start recording.
