johnrochaphoto.net

Caption:

Masked Mummer

Description:

This is a close up of a masked mummer at the summer Rose Festival in Kazanlak in Bulgaria.

If you want to use this photo of a masked mummer, go to Photography Direct.

Photo Comments: >>

The Wikipedia entry is accurate:

The Rose Festival is one of the most remarkable events in Bulgaria, dedicated to beauty and flowers, to spring and the fragrance of the priceless Kazanlak rose. The beautiful celebrations for the blossom of the roses there takes place in the first week of June. The whole week is filled with different attractions every day.

Most years I attend the Rose Festival in Kazanlak, not just because of the festival but because of the many monuments and attractions in the area.

From the photographic point of view it’s not a complete improvement that the crowds get bigger every year.

I remember the first festival I attended about 10 years ago where I seemed to be alone with a bunch of Japanese tourists.

Nowadays thousands of people come from all over the globe.

The point is that rose growing is central to the Bulgarian economy and rose products are the basis of much of the worlds perfume industry.

Another problem is that in June the summer sun is extremely harsh leading to excessive contrast and harsh eye sockets in deep shadow.

I have a number of approaches to this.

I try to get there a day or two early and take photos in the evening when the sun is weaker.

I try to isolate some of the young people in their colourful costumes to photograph them in the open shade.

In this example the mummer’s mask is non reflective so the contrast is not too strong.

A further point is that once you know the route you can catch the mummers as they set out, sometimes resting under trees on the way and far away from the crowds that are waiting in the town.

When I can I prefer to use prime lenses but for accurate framing of moving subjects zoom lenses come in useful. Here I used my 75-300 Canon Zoom.

Over the last few months I’ve written a few articles on keywording and photo sharpness.

My intention is to provide illustrations and more examples to put together as an ebook.

I have a lot of experience in writing photo articles.

My first article was in 1970 when I was honoured to share the wildlife expert spot with the late great Eric Hosking.

Since then I’ve contributed frequently to the photo press but lately I’ve concentrated on the internet.

I thought I would follow up how search engines picked up my articles and what happened to them.

For me it’s pretty fascinating and so I’ll report further – it may be of interest to you.

Caption:

Woman Knitting With Red Wool In Devon In England.

Description:

knitting is a relaxing activity and red a lively colour as shown in this photograph.

If you want to use this photo of a woman knitting, go to Alamy.

Photo Comments:

Somewhere, someone is looking for pictures of everyday activities.

From the stockphoto point of view, it needs to be more than a snapshot – maybe just a little bit different.

This picture is is in a way very simple. It’s a picture of a woman knitting.

From my point of view the main points are:

The shallow depth of field emphasizes the knitting, the needles and the hands.

The wool is red which is a standout colour.

There’s an out of focus hint of the woman’s face which gives more context to the picture.

This was an unplanned grab shot but it turned out well.

New Feature:

I’ve tried to make this website self-explanatory and easy to navigate.

But I still get comments from people who tell me they don’t “understand” it.

They don’t know, for example, what an RSS Feed is.

So I’ve decided to develop an FAQ page where I can detail some of the features of my site.

Hope it helps

Caption:

Dragonflies in Thassos

Description:

These dragonflies were in a marshy spot in the grounds of the Agora or ancient public square in Thassos.

Thassos is known as the emerald isle because of an abundance of grass and trees.

It is the most northerly island of the Aegean group and is just opposite the mainland Greek town of Kavala

If you want to use this stock photo of Dragonflies in the Agora in Thassos go to Alamy

Photo Comments:

I have a strong interest in macro and wildlife photography.

One corner of the Agora or ancient meeting place in Thassos was marshland and an ideal habitat for dragonflies.

I made a number of trips in the early morning, evening and mid day to check when the dragonflies would be active or resting.

One problem was that the ground was really marshy and I could not get too close even if the dragonflies had put up with me.

Dragonflies, like other living creatures have a comfort zone and will take no notice of other creatures – even humans if they stay outside.

I had my macro lens with me, my favourite Canon 100mm and I was using a crop sensor camera which provided a focal length equivalent to about 140mm in 35mm terms.

I took some good photos with this combination but I was still not able to reach into the centre of the marsh and get close enough.

For this picture I switched to my 80-200mm Canon zoom and used a close up attachment.

This gave me both the distance and magnification that I needed.

It seems to me that the use of macro lenses has changed with digital imaging.

In the past I would have used my macro lens to photograph stamps, postcards, old bookplates and other things which needed a flat field and great overall sharpness.

Nowadays, unless I need some particular lighting effect, I just use my flatbed scanner.

The point is that for many macro shots it’s not important to have corner to corner sharpness as most of the picture area is an out of focus background.

This means that a zoom lens with a close up attachment, if stopped down a bit, can provide excellent image quality.

New Feature: Bookmarks

I’ve added a bookmark request to my blog. If you find the post interesting please bookmark my post at you favourite social sites.