Click And Run Photography Adventures

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What Is Click And Run Photography

Click and run photography, at least to me, is when you go out via any mode of transportation with a camera and photograph anything and everything you happen to come across. This is my favorite type of photography, because you never know what you will see to shoot.

Required Equipment For Click And Run Photography

I always keep a backpack stocked and ready to go with impromptu gear that hopefully will cover any shooting situation I get myself into at any time. I will generally store the backpack in my car for quick, anytime access.

Backpack

The backpack must be comfortable enough to hike several miles and have enough storage space for all your gear. I like lots of pockets on my backpack to help separate my gear. My backpack has rubberized shoulder straps that are stretchable to help ease the load of all my gear. I also require a waist strap on my backpack to help ease the burden during long hikes.

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Tripod

Normally on click and run photography trips I carry my camera attached to a carbon fiber tripod. With this setup I can quickly set up and shoot, then get moving to the next subject. On longer walks I will sling the tripod over my shoulder for an easier carry. Make darn sure your camera is securely fastened to your tripod, and your lens is locked if you are shooting a zoom lens or your trip will be over as soon as your camera hits the deck. (LINK to a great tripod article by TTS).

Neck Strap

There are times a tripod is cumbersome or just plain not allowed. For example in heavy crowds, museums, churches, or other places that tripods are not allowed I keep a rubberized, stretchable neck strap in my backpack. However, when ever possible, use a tripod. Your photos will be much better.

Lenses

Personally, I use the 28-300mm Nikon lens for click and run photography adventures. Most major manufacturers have a similar size lens. This lens gives me a wide variety of shooting options. (LINK to a great TTS article about the 28-300mm lens).

When weight is not going to be an issue, I will also carry the Nikon, 105mm macro lens. The 28-300mm lens with extender tubes will do a decent job of macro shots, but for crystal clear, macro shots the 105mm is incredible.

Additional lens equipment may include extender tubes for macro shots or range extenders for longer shots. I also carry a variable, neutral density filter mostly for water or monochrome shots, a selection of graduated filters, and a circular polarized filter.

Be sure to carry a small lens cleaning kit. You never know when you might need to clean your lens or filters.

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Camera

Any DSLR camera body will work for click and run photography trips. One thing to keep in mind is the security of the area you are going to shoot. When I am in a dicey area I will leave my Nikon D810 in the car or hotel and pull out my old D7000. That way if I get mugged, I will not lose an expensive camera body. Cameras are easy targets and easy to sell for thieves.

Flash

I always carry a Yongnuo manual flash. It is cheap and easy to use. There have been many times during click and run shoots that just a bit more light came in handy.

Additional Equipment

I always carry a small water bottle. I use it mainly to create water droplets on flowers, but a lot of potential subjects can be enhanced by a quick spray of water.

Mainly for flowers, but a stout folder filled with various colors of construction paper can be very useful. The folder not only keeps the construction paper safe, but can also provide a wind break for macro shoots. The construction paper can be used for a color specific background that matches the color of your subject.

Always carry a couple of plastic garbage bags in your backpack. These bags can be used to cover your camera gear during a rainstorm, carry interesting objects for a setup shot, or just in case you ate a gas station burrito an hour before the shoot. (LINKto a great TTS article about the importance of plastic bags). 

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I always carry a pair of knee pads on all photo adventures. Especially in macro photography, a photographer always seems to be on their knees. It is nice to keep you slacks clean and knee pads will increase your comfort level for those hard to reach subjects. (LINK to a great TTS article about knee pads).

Be sure to carry a water bottle and snack in your backpack. You should always stay well hydrated and snack will perk you up and keep you in the field longer for more chances to capture great shots.

Sample Click And Run Shoot

This is just a sample of a click and run photo shoot. There are an unlimited amount of ways this type of shoot can go, but here is an example of my most common type of click and run photo shoot.

Backpack filled with all my gear is loaded in the car. I grab my camera already attached to my tripod, a travel mug of coffee and head out the door just before daybreak. Don’t forget to eat, because a grumbly belly will ruin a click and run photo shoot at just the wrong time.

I jump in the car and head down the road with my head on a swivel for anything cool to shoot as the sun breaks over the horizon. As I drive by a river, I notice there is a lot of fog that would make for some incredible, foggy sunrise, river photos. I strap on a variable, neutral density filter to slow the shutter speed and start clicking. As the fog burns off and the sun begins to climb over the horizon it is time to move on.  But, before I start walking I take the neutral density filter off my lens and reset my camera back to neutral. (LINK to a great TTS article about setting your camera back to neutral).

As I am walking back to the car I notice a beautiful, purple flower. The morning light is still decent. Time for macro flower shots and quickly change to my 105 mm macro lens. I strap on my knee pads and mist the flower down with the small, spray bottle.   I use a piece of yellow construction paper as the background. After shooting the beautiful flower in every possible angle it is time to head for the car.

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With my camera set up for macro shots, I am very limited to what I can shoot on the walk back to the car. I make sure to change the macro lens back to my more useful 28 -300 mm lens, set the camera to neutral, and stow my knee pads in my backpack.

On the walk back to the back to the car a gorgeous butterfly lands on a tree. Quickly, before the butterfly starts to fly again I start clicking like a madman. I leave my tripod attached to the camera, but release the camera to swivel freely. Ideally I would take the camera off the tripod, but time is a factor and start shooting with the camera still attached to the tripod. After my heart rate slows down, I tighten the necessary screws to secure the camera firmly on the tripod.

By now the sun is up and casting a nasty light. However I notice in a nearby field an old, rusty truck. The light is not ideal, but I figure the old truck may look better with a touch of photo shopping anyway, so capturing the image is the goal, not nailing the light.

Finally I make my way back to my car. In roughly three hours and two miles of walking I have managed to shoot a foggy, river scene, flower, butterfly, and old truck. All four subjects required a different setup and photography technique. Plus I still have the whole day ahead of me to find more interesting subjects.

Summary

Click and run photography can offer a variety of subjects to photograph, get you off the couch, and exploring new and exciting places. So get your gear organized and head out for an exciting click and run photography adventure.

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Thrill Girl Victoria Safina

Long Exposure Photography

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Long exposure photography is a lot of fun and a great way to achieve some amazing photos. You can make rushing, mountain stream water look soft and milky, make a lake look perfectly flat, and ocean waves look like surreal fog.

Long exposure photography is also a lot of fun at night. You can create streaking automobile lights, star trails, or cool light patterns from lights shimmering off of bodies of water.

Equipment Needed

Camera

You will need a camera that will let you adjust your shutter speed to control the amount of light that enters the camera. Basically you will need a DSLR camera.

Neutral Density Filter

Neutral Density (ND) filters are a must for long exposure photography. ND filters come in a variety of types, but adjustable filters work the best for long exposure work. With an adjustable filter you simply turn the filter and it gets darker or lighter depending on which way you turn the filter. Long exposure photography requires a lot of tinkering to get the timing just right. Adjustable ND filters will allow you to tinker without changing the filter. It would be a real pain in the butt to work with fixed darkness filters, because you would be constantly changing filters.

One word of caution when using adjustable ND filters. Make sure you stay within the parameters of your adjustable ND filter or you will get some strange looks. Normally adjustable ND filters have a series of marks on the side of them for reference. Just make sure you stay inside the marks to achieve the best results.

Tripod

A good, solid tripod is a must for long exposure photography. The camera can’t move at all while the shutter is open to keep from blurring the photo.

I learned this lesson the hard way when I was in Cairns, Australia trying to get a cool photo of lights shimmering off the harbor water at night from a pier. There were a lot of people walking on the pier at the time, which was shaking the pier just enough to blur my photos. After a frustrating hour trying to get the shot I finally realized that I would have to come back to the pier when all the tourists were in bed.

Timing Device

The jarring of pushing the click button is often enough to mess up a photograph. To achieve crystal clear photos you will need some help triggering the shutter hands free. Cameras generally have a timer built into them that will allow you to click the button, wait 5 seconds for the camera to stabilize, and then the shutter will move.

Although the camera timer works in a pinch, I prefer a remote device. With a remote device you can trigger your camera totally hands free eliminating the chance of any movement to mess up your photo.

Movement Emphasis vs. Movement Smoothing

Now that we have our gear figured out it is time to get to work. When we approach a subject we want to determine what effect we are going for to achieve a spectacular photo.

Movement Emphasis

Emphasis is normally used on subjects that are constantly moving like rushing water, clouds, or automobile lights. To create a look we normally don’t see we will use movement emphasis to make the water, clouds, or other moving subjects really pop.

Movement Smoothing

Sometimes movement in the subject is distracting and does not add to the overall look like waves on a lake. By smoothing the waves we can create a look that is different than what we normally see and allows us to focus on other subjects in the photo. For example if you want a lake in the bottom third of your photo and a beautiful mountain on the top 2/3 of the photo and the lake has waves, you may want to use long exposure techniques to smooth the lake and allow the viewer to focus on the mountains.

Finding The Right Shutter Speed

How can we find the right shutter speed? Basically the more aggressive the movement the more shutter time you will need. For example if you have ripples on a pond you want to smooth perhaps ¼ second is a good starting point. For a strong running stream or strong ocean waves you may need 10 seconds or more.

Setting Up For The Shoot

When using an ND filter you will want to focus the camera on the lightest setting. Dark settings will often make focusing impossible.

Next set your ND filter based on the amount of light. If it is a cloudy day perhaps a light ND setting will be a good starting point. If it is bright day start with your darkest ND filter setting.

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Next set your shutter speed based on how aggressive the movement of your subject and the desired effect you are trying to achieve. If you have a strong mountain stream you may want to start around 10 seconds.

Try a shot and see what you get. The goal is have your shot on the right side of the histogram to achieve the maximum amount of detail without blowing out of the histogram. You want to be slightly overexposed, but not too overexposed or the shot will be ruined.

Long exposure photography requires a bunch of tinkering. At least 90% of the shots you take will be deleted. Thank goodness we are in the digital age. Back in the film days long exposure could get very expensive.

If you don’t get the results you want move you shutter time either direction to get the look you are after. If the shutter time is not achieving the look you want try moving your ND filter either lighter or darker depending on what you are trying achieve.

If neither the shutter speed nor the ND filter is providing you with the look you are after try moving your exposure compensation up or down to get you the shot your after. The exposure compensation button on most cameras is labeled with a plus or minus sign.

The more experience you get with long exposure photography the faster you will find the desired combination of shutter speed and ND filter setting.

Summary

Long exposure is a lot of fun. It will take a bunch of tinkering and you will delete a lot of photos, but you will be able to create looks that a person normally does not see that will lead to amazing photos.

Next Article: Studio Lighting Basics On A Budget

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Tips From A Portrait Photographer

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We all can learn something from portrait photographers to make our selfies and even group photos more appealing. The main ingredient to a good portrait photo is just a dash of imagination. What we want to avoid like the plague is the standard standing facing straight ahead type of shot. This is most unattractive way to photograph anyone including a supermodel.

How Do We Be Creative With Standing Portraits?

Instead of shooting your subject facing directly at the camera ask your subject to twist slightly in either direction. Twist at the waist or move your feet, but face the camera at an angle rather than straight on.

Instead of the standard straight leg look have your subject bend their knee or place one leg over the other leg. For added interest move the legs wider than shoulder length.

Have your model do something with their arms. Straight arms are boring. Have your model put their hands on their hips flaring their elbows out to create a dramatic pose. If you want to get fancy have your model try poses with the arms above their head. Anything but straight boring arms.

Combine a twist at the waist with a bent knee and arms above the head and now you have an interesting photo. Be creative and try different poses. Keep in mind that portrait photographers shoot hundreds of photos to get the few great ones folks swoon over for being great.

Being Creative With Seated Portraits

Just like standing, directly facing the camera portraits, seated directly facing the camera portraits also rank high on the boring list. Again the key is imagination.

If you going to have your subject directly face the camera try having them bend at the waist with their elbows on their knees resting their head in their hands. Perhaps sitting straight up with their legs crossed and their hands on their laps. Maybe legs spread with their hands resting on their knees.

Now if you want to get fancy have your model sit sideways in the chair. Have your model move their legs and arms in interesting positions to mix up the look. Have them lean back and kick one or both legs in the air.

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Don’t be afraid to move the chair from directly facing the camera to slightly sideways, fully sideways, or the chair facing the camera with it’s back. Have your model explore and have fun using the chair as a prop.

Getting Super Creative

Instead of shooting your model at normal eye level try shooting your model from kneeling position or try standing on something stable to achieve a bird’s eye view.

A normal facial expression is a smile. Have your model try growling at the camera, say something funny and click your model in full laughter, or have your model try a mean face to mix things up a bit.

Try tilting the camera or phone slightly to create a visual allusion. Get super close to your model and focus on body parts instead of the full body. Have your model turn away from the camera and look back.

Conclusion

The main idea is to have your model do anything but face the camera with straight arms and legs with the standard smile.

It only takes a moment and a bit of experimenting to create interesting photos. Whether your at a night club or standing in front of scenic view, change things up a bit to create an interesting photo that will have your friends praising you for your photography skills.

Next article: Long Exposure Photography

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