portraitsPracticalPhotograPhy.com 21Luck is a photographer’s best
friend as sometimes the shots we want
have a brief window of availability.
While lu ck may be out of our control,
we can stack the odds in our favour with
a proactive approach. Doreen Laskiewicz
(doe.photoshelter.com) tells us more.
“t his shot was taken at the arches in
princeton university, New Jersey. i was
lucky because after this shoot the area
was made off-limits to photographers.
“When shooting in public areas like this
there are always other people to contend
with and it’s difficult to get a clear image.
ihad toclonea treebehindthesubjectto
re movesomepeoplefromtheshot.
“p hoto graphingdancershasbeen
oneof myfavouritethingssincei started
shootinga decadeago.i fin d thatdancers
appreciatethelines,shapesandmoodof
a locationlikephotographersdo,so i find
th eirresponsesincrediblyinspiring.i love
how my musehere,Jennifer,replicatesthe
ar chesaroundherwithherform.
“theoriginalshotcameouta bit dark,
soiincreasedthebrightnessandexposure
in photo shopthenuseda layerof basic
shapesblurredandsetonLuminosityto
cr eatethosebacklit rays.”# 3 s eize theopportunityWhentheweathergivesyou
a spectaculardisplaynaturally,
asphotographers,we wantto
getit oncamera.Andknowing
th e areabeforehandallows
youtogetthemostoutof the
conditionsby pi ckinga location
tosuit,as GarethMonJones
(f acebook.com/garethmon
photography)explains.
“I washeadingoutto Nant
Peris in Snowdoniafora walk
upint o themountainsat about- 30amwhenI noticedthe
cloudswer e streamingby nicely
ov erhead.I madea snapdecision
to stop at the famous lone tree
to s ee if I could capture them
as t hey flew past this iconic
photographic landmark.
Expecting the location to be
packed out with cameras already,
I was pleasantly surprised to
see it empty. I set myself up with
a tripod and 10-stop filter and
worked the composition for
a good five minutes.
“Conditions were tricky in
harsh sunlight, so I timed my
shots as the sun popped behind
the clouds for enough time to get
a long exposure.”# 4 pick your shotL ong ExposurEsNikon D810 | 34mm | 133sec | f/16 | ISO 31
Canon 5D MkIII | 28mm | 1/400sec | f/6.3 | ISO 1250