Mandevu Cottage | Falls Fish Farm | Destination Photography

For some reason I love to do indoor and destination photography. Maybe it’s the fact that travel is involved or that I have more time to get the shot right than for instance at a wedding. Either way, after my first visit to Falls Fish Farm in Schoemanskloof earlier this year Dee, the owner, invited me once more to take some photos for her. This time it was of Mandevu Cottage.

Of the two cottages Mandevu is lower down on the farm and consequently closer to the Crocodile River. Mandevu features a lovely free standing dam literally on the door step. I’m told it’s a good spot for fishing and there’s even a canoe next to the water’s edge. I asked her about tubing down the Crocodile River. She warned: “Due to the close proximity of Croc Grove crocodile farm I’d stay well clear of the river if I was you.” It’s a pity as it seems that the Crocodile River always have strong flows in the Schoemanskloof area.

How to do it

The biggest challenge with indoor photography is light. There is massive contrast between the indoor lighting and harsh outdoor light. Flash is not an option unless used expertly by the photographer. The only other alternative therefore is HDR or High Dynamic Range photography. This technique involves taking at least three photos with different exposures of the same subject. A tripod is thus essential as the camera should stay still between the different exposures. The exposures should range from underexposed (to get detail on the outside of the windows) to overexposed (to get adequate detail in the dark interior). Lightroom is then used to blend the seperate images together. This creates a pleasing picture that showcases the details in the well lit as well as dark areas.

I’m looking forward to my stay at Mandevu cottage a bit later this year. Hiking, fishing, landscape photography and sipping wine next to the fireplace will be the order of the day at this wonderful and relaxing destination. Thank you for the opportunity Dee.

Dam

Dam

Mandevu-3

Kitchen

Kitchen

Veranda

Veranda

View

Destination

Veranda

Bedroom

Light

Indoor

Living room

Living room

Living room

Indoor

Indoor

Indoor

Destination.

 

Mpumalanga School Trials Gala – 2015/10/03

Swim, Gala, B&W

2015/10/07

Swim, Gala, B&W
ISO 400, 260mm, f/9, 1/1600s

Last weekend I attended the Mpumalanga School Trials Gala that was held at Van Riebeeck Park, Nelspruit. Swimming is quite an interesting and difficult subject to photograph. The water and subject constantly changes shape and position thus creating interesting reflections, splashes and light bends. Focusing is a challenge due to the swimmer’s continuous movement and the camera sometimes hunting the water droplets.

It was therefore a fun-filled morning experimenting with new techniques. Blue is a beautiful colour but I tried something different by going for the chrome look. I can definitely recommend shooting swimmers as a way to get a much better understanding of how your camera works. Just make sure the dial is not on AUTO. The question to ask is whether to shoot in Aperture, Shutter or Manual Mode. The rule of thumb for sports photography is Shutter Speed Priority but nothing stops you from also trying Aperture or Manual mode. The advantage with Shutter Priority is that your shutter speed is set and the camera then decides what your Aperture should be once you’ve dialed in the ISO number. Here’s a cheat sheet to better understand the relationship between ISO, Aperture and Shutter speed.

Swim, Gala, B&W
ISO 400, 260mm, f/9, 1/1250s

 You’ll need a telephoto lens to get close to the action, preferably more than 100mm. To freeze the action you need a shutter speed of at least 1/1000th of a second or faster. With an aperture of f/9 to get an adequate depth of field on the subject the ISO inevitably has to go up to get a good exposure. You could go the other way though and convey motion by slowing the shutter speed considerably. You can then bring the ISO down for a better quality picture but a deeper depth of field (higher f-stop) would be required to maintain a balanced exposure on your histogram. I found it beneficial to focus slightly ahead of the subject before pressing the shutter as this ensures the focus point is on and not behind the swimmer by the time you actually do press the shutter.

 

Swim, Gala, B&W
ISO 400, 135mm, f/8, 1/1600s

EJ

How to capture a flower in high key lighting

Macro, lily, close up, detail

High Key, still life, flower, macro

A fun indoor photo exercise is capturing a flower of your choice in high key lighting. High-key lighting simply refers to images that are mostly bright, with a range of light tones and whites and not many blacks or mid-tones.

What you’ll need:

1. Flower with its stem
2. Clamp
3. White background
4. Tripod
5. Camera
6. External flash unit

In a room well-lit with natural light set up your flower in front of a white background. I used an A2 white sheet of paper. I also used a 105mm macro lens for this picture but any 18-55mm kit lens will work just as well. Zoom out as far as you can so the flower nearly fills the frame and then set up your tripod at this spot.

Make use of manual focus on LIVE view and choose the focal point. Shoot in Aperture priority mode with ISO 100 for the best possible quality and f-stop of 5.6 for a shallow depth of field. Overexpose by 2 stops (+2EV) with your exposure compensation. All that’s left to do is aim your external flash at a white background (like the ceiling) that will bounce the light towards the flower. Make use of TTL (through the lens) mode on the external flash and adjust the flash’s exposure compensation to achieve the desired result if the first few photos are either too dark or too bright.

Once you master the technique your portrait and product photography will greatly benefit from the high key treatment.

If you’re looking for more info on how to shoot different subjects in high key here’s a more detailed tutorial at Photography.Tutsplus.com

EJ