Photo of the Week: Dec. 20, 2011

HOW I GOT THE SHOT: Chanukah – the Festival of Lights – should be a photographer's paradise. After all, photographers are always chasing interesting light and here is an entire holiday dedicated to celebrating light, both literal and metaphorical.

Please join me for an Eighth night Photo Walk around the Jewish Quarter. See details below.

This photo of a dreidel at rest was taken as part of a photo essay I shot a couple of years ago. I had been shooting fine art glass and metal tops and experimenting with different light sources to capture their form. In the end, the sun, old faithful, performed best, and I found plenty of good light on this wall right outside my home.

It's a very sparse photo, held together by the elongated shadow, which fills the foreground, and the opposing triangles, one at the base of the dreidel and the other at the corner of the wall. The strip of blackened background, running at an odd angle to the edge of the wall, adds a bit of tension to a very calm image.

The only minor technical challenge to overcome was ensuring the face of the dreidel was bright enough for the words to be readable. I used my exposure meter on the spot setting with the center dot pointed at the words in order to expose that part of the photo correctly. I knew that as a result, the brightest areas of the photo would over expose, but that would give me the dramatic effect I was seeking.

May we all merit to be enlightened by the more mundane miracles which occur daily in our lives. Chanukah Sameach. Happy Chanukah.

Technical Data: Nikon D300, 28-105 zoom at 56mm, f4.5 @ 1/800th sec., ISO 200.

Photo of the Week: Nov. 10, 2011

HOW I GOT THE SHOT: This photo can only be described as "rescued from the rubbish bin." The conditions of the day seemingly defied any possibility for success, so I had resigned myself to a pleasant walk amongst the vines. Only later – in fact several years later – did I rediscover this image with fresh eyes while researching a book project. The reason for my initial rejection, I believe, is that the photo lacks a strong center of interest and appears to be nothing more than a random snap of a mountain valley.

On closer inspection and with the wisdom of hindsight, I realized just how rare was this moment. Landscapes seldom repeat themselves, and subsequent autumns have just not lived up to the fall of 2005 in the Judean Mountains south of Jerusalem, where I shot this image.
In this photo, I sought merely to include the breadth of the varied color and texture of the valley, ablaze at the peak of nature's finest seasonal magic. I worked in a smattering of dark green trees and brush, which help to define the crop and contrast with the brighter colors of the vines and fruit trees. There wasn't much else to do, except maybe stand and applaud, which I often do when witnessing a marvel of creation.

Technical Data: Nikon D70, 28-105 zoom at 100mm, f13 @ 1/25th sec., ISO 400.

Photos of the Week: Oct. 27, 2011

HOW I GOT THE SHOT: Leave no doubt about it: Fall is in the air. And hanging out in vivid color on branches everywhere. I love this time of year, not only because the temperature is more tolerable but also because I get to proclaim loudly to disbelieving ears that Israel has spectacular fall foliage. Sure we can't compete for sheer drama with New England Sugar Maples. But who cares? Open your eyes and breathe in the beauty that surrounds us.

I selected two images for this week's dispatch that paired well in terms of content and technique. It's easy to spot the grand landscapes but much harder to hone our vision on delicate details often hidden amid thickets of visual chaos. In both photos, I began by searching out a suitable, dark background that complements the strong colors, already enlivened by beautiful back lighting. I also played with my camera angle so that the backgrounds appear completely empty, with nothing to divert the eye's attention from the foliage. I also like the blemishes seen in the insect-eaten leaves, a trait shared by both photos. Nature is always magical and miraculous, but rarely is she perfect.

Technical Data:
Upper photo: Nikon D70, 70-300 zoom at 240mm, f5.6 @ 1/500th sec., ISO 200.
Lower Photo: Nikon D300, 18-200 zoom at 200mm, f5.6 @ 1/1250th sec., ISO 200.

Photo of the Week: Oct. 5, 2011

HOW I GOT THE SHOT: I stepped out of my local mini-market last week and stood under Efrat's big sky gazing momentarily at the sunset. A friend spotted me and asked, "Don't you wish you had your camera?" In truth, I didn't. Though it has taken some hard work on my part, I'd rather enjoy the moment in real time than delay gratification for the virtual pleasure delivered by a photograph. That is in no way to diminish the value of photography, but it is also important to have that choice.

This week's photo was taken in a roadside orchard not far from the town of Kiryat Malachi. Anyone can stop and hop the guardrail into the field, yet few people make that effort, preferring instead to whiz by unaware at 100 km per hour. In our urban-centered lives, nature rarely comes to us. Walking through this pomegranate grove, I marveled at the trees' ability to hold the heavy fruit without the branches breaking. I wanted a shot that showed the abundance of fruit just before the harvest and found this angle, with a bountiful tree framed nicely by the mature fruits suspended in the foreground.

Technical Data: Nikon D700, 28-105 zoom at 32mm, f5.6 @ 1/1000th sec., ISO 200.

Photo of the Week: Sept. 27, 2011

HOW I GOT THE SHOT: It takes a tiny bit of chutzpah to walk into a small Judaica shop and start photographing items for sale. Nevertheless, I follow the rule that flattery will get you everywhere. By taking a sincere interest in my subject, in this case a table strewn with shofars of various sizes, colors and shapes, I opened the door to photo opportunity. This tactic works especially well when seeking permission to shoot a human subject whom you don't know. By first taking an interest in their activity and observing without photographing, you communicate that your intent is genuine and not merely exploitative.

I like this shot because it veers from the traditional image we see at this time of year. In fact, there isn’t a single shofar in this photograph which is clearly visible in its entirety. At the same time, there are plenty of visual clues which clarify the subject. I chose to focus on the midsection of the large shofar which cuts across the middle of the frame to accentuate its textured surface. This shot was taken indoors with minimal available light, forcing me to use a wide aperture and squashing the depth of field. Yet the soft focus in and around the photo's central horn does not hinder the viewer's ability to wander the frame and ponder the inner composition – Kind of like what we do on Rosh Hashanah upon hearing the blasts of the shofar.

Shana Tova Umetuka. Wishing all of Am Yisrael a year of peace, blessings and the ability to appreciate the bounty in our lives.

Technical Data: Nikon D300, 18-200 zoom at 95mm, f6.3 @ 1/100th sec., ISO 400.

Photo of the Week: Sept. 15, 2011

HOW I GOT THE SHOT: Had I been wandering the desert with Moses and the Jewish people, I'd likely have stayed in the back of the pack, enjoying the new scenery in quiet contemplation. To me, the best route between two places is the one unexplored. And so I often find myself taking random turns onto dirt roads that lead in the general direction of my destination, frequently getting lost but often rewarded with new vistas to satisfy my creative thirst.

The road that climbs from Ein Boqeq and the Dead Sea to Arad is curvy and steep and one afternoon, stuck behind the ubiquitous, slow-moving Israeli truck, I spotted an intriguing sign pointing toward Masada and directed my car off road. I bumped along a rocky plateau for about 10 minutes when I came upon this majestic mountain stretched out before me with a perfect canopy of cumulous clouds. I found the high ground and grabbed my widest angle lens in order to capture the vastness of the setting. I would have preferred the whole rock formation to be sunlit, but the position of the sun that day caused a shadow to be formed by a nearby mountain. Sometimes, getting lost is the best path to a new discovery.

Technical Data: Nikon D70, 12-24 zoom at 12mm, f13 @ 1/80th sec., ISO 200.

Photos of the Week: Sept. 8, 2011

HOW I GOT THE SHOT: I often tell people that I practice photography, like meditation or Tai Chi, in order to elevate my awareness of subtleties in nature that often go unnoticed. As a professional who strives to continually create original and inspiring images, I frequently return to old subjects and attempt to shoot them anew. One technique I have used successfully involves building unconventional relationships between the subject and its immediate environment to give a fresh face to the familiar. The two photos I am sending this week are excellent illustrations of this concept.

The upper image features ripe sabra fruit which had toppled into a field of dry grass. Sabra fruit and flowers are normally seen as part of the larger, green and spiny cactus plant, so this image offers an alternative to the traditional view. The blurred blades of grass don't impede the viewer's eye as it searches for the photo's subject. Instead, I think they add a bit of realism to the photo as the fruit appears in a natural state, exactly as it was found on the day I walked past it.

The second image emerged while pursuing a shot of black grapes. In the end, the grapes take a back seat to the leaves and the beautifully textured vine, which comes to dominate the photo. I left just enough of the grape cluster visible to help the viewer identify the subject. Here, too, by altering the proportion or the position of the main subject, a new perspective is unveiled, and an old subject is reborn.

Technical Data:
Upper Photo: Nikon D300, 18-200 zoom at 75mm, f6.3 @ 1/640th sec., ISO 200.
Lower photo: Nikon D300, 28-105 zoom at 62mm, f9 @ 1/200th sec., ISO 400.