if you've ever been on my Lanzarote workshop you might just recognise this
place we do an exercise a game which I call photo twister where everybody has
to stand on the steps and see how many shots they can find without leaving them
now I'm not going to do that in case you come on the workshop I don't want to
give the game away but as you can see it's quite a nice shot in itself so what
I want to talk to you about is when you go through that you go somewhere really
really pretty and you think okay and when I get some shots around the town
there very often some details can work best but also think about how you put a
shot together think about the elements for example up here we've got a palm
tree and it's kind of holding this side of the shot together and then over here
we've got this lamppost and the buildings beyond and then the steps down
in the foreground which sort of lead you into the picture don't just randomly
take a picture of the square that looks something like this
because it's not great is it you've got to walk around a bit you've got to think
like a photographer you got to think where to stand where to stand is so
important in photography so there we go is a little shot all in itself how would
I execute it well let's have a little go shall we
so I'd obviously be about where we are now because this is the right place
let's see what we've got now the light is absolutely awful because the Sun has
gone in behind the clouds I'm hoping we're gonna get a little bit of light
come up in a moment because there's a blue hole coming here it comes I think
you can see the light is just beginning to lift so I want a bit of depth of
field f11 should be enough if I focus on the steps that should be the right place
very careful with the exposure because those clouds in the sky are bright let's
just make sure I don't burn them out focus on the steps we've got our
composition here we go at f11 now unfortunately when I was talking to you
the light went down so we kind of lost that light so what I'm going to do is
just wait for a moment and come back when we've got some Sun on the scene and
you can see the difference a bit of light makes
so here we go the light has just started to sneak out from behind a cloud and as
if by magic the place is suddenly looking more interesting so we know what
we're gonna do we know a composition we're all ready to go let's be quick and
do it before this gorgeous little bit of light decides to disappear again we've
got some great clouds going on in the distance we've got some nice sort of
that's really quite a pretty picture of the square overall but don't forget some
details can often tell the story better than the big overall picture so let's go
for a little walk around town see if we can find three or four pictures that
kind of tell the story we're into we're into GZ the ancient capital of lanza
rote let's see what it looks like sorry if
I'm a bit dark viewers there's a lot of light going on at the street behind me
but look what a pretty little street this is now it's very easy when you're
walking around to just sort of walk down the street come around the corner and go
oh isn't that pretty and you just sort of take a picture and yeah it's okay but
it's not that exciting really is it think about using a bit of foreground
what about this doorway we've got just here why don't we have it go and see if
we can use that to add a bit more depth to it so the picture sort of zigzags and
leads you up the street so let's just come in a bit closer now I don't want
let's get some video going for you here we go
now I don't want this sign on the wall but I do want that doorway and it kind
of looks a lot more interesting than the shot I just showed you it's not bad with
just a little bit of wall there but let's just come back and eaze that
doorway into the shot look you see how it sort of adds some depth to it so
let's take it quickly before the light goes if I can't
if I can stop my video from rolling done at last sorry about that right now in an
ideal world we do it without anyone walking down the street but there we go
we'd wait for them to go in fact we're going to have to wait for them to go
because the lights just gone so how will we put the shot together we want a fair
bit of depth of field now I notice that if I focus on the corner of the street
just in there that kind of works really really well
f11 it's giving me enough depth of field with a 16 millimeter lens so what we're
gonna do is see if we can hang on for a moment maybe the people leave maybe the
light will come through in which case it makes it a lot more interesting while
we're waiting I don't know if you can see looking the monitor bond about there
there's a castle on top of the hill so it's quite cool really if we had a shaft
of light directly on it that would make a world of difference I think we're
gonna get one I've now of course got the abandoned
Street but I haven't got the light like is the most important thing if I take
that shot again now without the light I think you'll see it looks kind of it
looks a little bit dead it's okay but it's not great here comes the Sun here
comes some light and we've got it clear so let's see if we can take that shot
it's not bad that is a world better than the one we just took when there was no
light so we've got the abandoned street luck does play a part and so does
patience you have to wait and see what you can get here's another one
look did you notice same street we've got these three doors going on that's
right Ola no gracias we've got these three doors going on in
the street now I think they could look really really nice if they properly
composed and put together and it also tells a little story about what this
place is all about about what's going on here
so once again we gotta wait for light because we want shadows you see where
the cross is right now there isn't a shadow this area in here is really
really flat a shadow of that cross is going to lift it it's going to put
little dark edges around the doorways and make a world of difference so let's
have a look and frame up our shot whilst we wait get some video on the job here
we go so there's our doorways now let's have a little experiment let's play with
focal lengths you see that's looking quite nice like that there's a bit of a
shadow starting to come up as well we could possibly just come in on just this
little area here and include maybe some sky in fact I kind of like that it makes
it a bit more simple the wide shot isn't so great we might be in a do it with all
three doors I'm not sure let's see what we can do if I come over here to the
right a bit and zoom in yeah we can and we can include some sky but I think sure
is the one that will work the best so kill the video we got a little bit of
light coming in and let's just zoom that puppy in let's see of course as soon as
I spoke the light disappeared you've got to keep watching all the time you have
to wait here it comes look this will last just a breath here's the shot on
doing one with the focal length wider with the light and I'm going to do
another one without but I'm just including the edge of the street I kind
of like that corner I kind of like that one I think it's pretty cool let's go
see if we can find another shot
as I came around the corner to walk off up this street the one we've just
photographed I noticed something else look at this doorway look this little
doorway here is kind of looking lovely with its bit of Ivy and all the ring
cleanness and over here on the wall we've got some shadows from a palm tree
shadows can be added into pictures too something nice and simple can really
work let's just do it let's take it let's just get ourselves lined up make
sure the horizons nice and level focus on it it's a really really simple
picture but I think it's pretty effective and it's all caused by it's
all caused by what the exposures down this palm tree is throwing a shadow down
here that's all it is that's all you need till the video that's all it was
that made all the difference let's go find another here is a little lesson in
how less really can be more it's very tempting when you come around the corner
to maybe take a shot something like this we see the cross we see the church town
we just sort of take a picture it's not really very exciting is it's a bit of a
load of all nothing but what about the cross throwing I think I need to be this
side the cross down here down here and that window just next to it how about
that sorry viewers I can't actually see my little monitor next to the camera
it's the Suns in my eyes how about if we just confined the shot to that let's
have a little look through my video camera and see and I'm hoping the
battery doesn't die sits on the edge I've got a red flashing thing make sure
the Sun stays out it should do right so let's have a look at our shot let's get
the video going right so that was our original shop how about if we just zoom
in a bit and just concentrate on that area don't you think that the simplicity
the shadows and the light just makes a world of difference so let's just shoot
it let's just get in there and shoot it I'm shooting at
don't need a lot of it at the field do you because we haven't got any depth to
the shot halfway so let's just get that all nicely lined up and take that shot
there it's very simple it's very easy but it makes a great little photo when
you go out and visit somewhere onwards and upwards yeah I ditched the coat now
the sun's getting higher and it's getting warmer
believe me earlier on it was really quite chilly there was a bit of breeze
blowing so one last little thing I just noticed as I was wandering back to my
car is along here look at these pretty little things planted in these pots we
got the lovely white edges the plant the black volcanic stuff and it frames it up
beautifully so how would we go back taking a picture of it well here's a
couple of ways not to do it I mean if we let me just get a bit of video on the
scene here we go focus that I mean everything to do would be to just walk
on the street see there and go click where it's all right or maybe do
something like that and try and get the walls in as well but you know what I
think it's too complicated I think it's too messy so let's have it go at
something different how about we just hop up on the wall and use these white
lines to frame the shot now you don't want your shoes in there like I have you
don't a scuff the wall up but look as we zoom in nope you see it's starting to
get a lot more interesting so kill our video and just take the picture it's so
so simple to get something this easy I just want to check my exposure careful
because we've got black and white but I love the red and the green going on in
between do I need much depth of field not really because when I'm not going
off into the distance am i but I've got to be careful because I want enough
depth of field that I don't just get the top of the plant and the background soft
I want it all sharp so I'm going to go in with about f11 f10 somewhere around
there 200 ISO is plenty just make sure it's nice and straight
and take the picture now be careful with things like this when you got straight
lines because if you get it wrong key look it just looks rubbish doesn't it or
if you kind of you're a bit a bit not careful with it it all starts to look
nasty but you could if you wanted to include the pattern of the pavement but
again be very careful to get those lines straight don't get it
wonky so something like that could potentially work so there we go we've
had a little wander round we've taken a few pictures now I can hear some people
sort of saying yeah well that's all very well I don't live in two geezy I don't
live in a pretty little Spanish village no neither do I but from time to time we
may go on holiday we may go somewhere we may explore a new place in which case
it's about looking at the place not just taking a general overview not just sort
of going oh look over there is the church tower I'm going to take a picture
of it because frankly that's not a great shot is it so we just zoom in and still
frankly it's not a particularly interesting shot but maybe what we did
earlier on back in the village square is a little more little more pleasing to
the eye you can practice this stuff anyway you can practice it in your
hometown now I know it's hard to practice these sorts things in your
hometown because you get jaded to it I do I live in a beautiful part of the UK
but I often sort of I'm thinking who's in the photograph here because I see it
every day but when you go somewhere else start to look photography's about
looking photography's about being inspired and about seeing the world in a
different way how often do we see a plant like that just from straight down
above but it makes a pleasing picture it makes a bit of a more eye-catching
picture so guys I hope that was a some value to you right you enjoyed watching
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up meanwhile have a great time take care get out with your camera go and practice
looking at things differently practice a bit of symmetry practice a bit of detail
see how it goes take care see you later