by edin chavez | Nov 7, 2014 | Black & White, educational, Informational, People, Street photography, Tips and Tricks, Tutorials
Black and White Photography tips:
Here are some tips on how to make a beautiful Black and White photograph. I live by this when shooting Black and White.
1. When shooting B&W photography it’s important that you learn to see in black and white. Remember you don’t have color to draw the eye when shooting B&W photography, so you have to find shapes and tones to compose your photo. Study the colors and study the your environment picture all the gray tones and picture everything in B&W. I will keep it short and sweet. If you have any others please share on the comments below.
2. Always shoot in color, it is important that you always shoot in color. Most cameras out there have a B&W setting DO NOT USE IT. If you shoot everything in color you will have more control of the gray scale in post production once you convert it.
The Man In White
3. Always use the lowest ISO setting possible. This will get rid of the noise in the photograph and you will end up with a great clear photograph. If you are looking for noise do it in post production. I like to add noise to (some) B&W but I always do it in post production that way I still have a very high resolution high quality photo.
4. Always shoot RAW, most DSLRS shoot in RAW (and any camera now a days), again this gives you more control of the image in post production thus making a better B&W photograph. If you don’t have this setting on your camera, don’t worry, you can still make an amazing B&W photograph shooting JPEG.
5. Contrast is very important when shooting B&W photography, it sets the mood it, it defines your lines, it brings out shapes and shadows you would never be able to see in color photography. Play around with it and make it work for you.
Did I miss any? Please leave them in the comments below.
Always remember that practice makes perfect, and always have fun out there.
by edin chavez | Jul 10, 2014 | Black & White, educational, People, Street, Street photography, Tips and Tricks
5 tips to shoot Street Photography.
I have put together 5 tips on how to approach street photography. I love graving my camera and going out to get some street shots. This is a totally different animal. Street photography is all about being incognito, and getting the shot. Shooting people up close can be a bit scary and intimidating, you never know the reaction you are going to get from people. You have to be on their face and just not care, basically you have to have some balls.
It took me a while to get comfortable with doing this, you never know if your going to get punched on the face or get a good reaction. I must say I have been pretty lucky and only had one bad incident. You will get asked to stop and delete the photos from time to time but I usually ignore them and get lost in the crowd. For the most part people are super cool, even gansters. I try not to make eye contact, go up to someone snap and disappear. You will find that 90% of people out there like their photo taken. Its their 15 minutes of fame. Click here to check out my New York Street Photos.
Click Here to download my Lightroom Street Photography Presets.
Here is 5 ez tips that will help you over come your fear of strangers.
1. Go shoot with a friend, it’s always easier if you go with somebody else.
2. Start from a distance until you get comfortable. Try to work up your courage slowly.
3. Be invisible, try not to be seen, don’t make eye contact and be quick. Blend in, be a chameleon.
3. If you do get caught smile and don’t be intimidating, if you get asked what you are doing tell them you are an artist, its a project for school or tell them you were shooting the person next to them.
5. Have fun out there, thats why we do this to begin with because its fun.
I hope this helps and if you have any tips to share with me I would love to hear them, please post them below.
Click Here to download my Lightroom Street Photography Presets.
by edin chavez | Nov 15, 2013 | Black & White, Street photography
30 days of street photography Day 1:
Happy Friday peeps. For the next 30 days I am going to share with you some of my favorite street photographs I have taken over the past few months. I love street photography, it is one of the toughest forms of photography and in my opinion impossible to master. Once you overcome the fear of photographing complete strangers at close range on the streets, it is one of the most rewarding forms of photography there is. (in my opinion)
There is a certain level of freedom when photographing strangers on the streets, I mean its all unscripted and there are no rules to follow, you, your camera and complete strangers. The truth is I don’t post a lot of this photos, but I certainly take a lot of them.
Look at the masters of photography Robert Doisneau, Ellion Erwitt, Bruce Gilden, the list goes on… when you think photography even if you know nothing about it you think of one of their epic photographs shot on the streets…
Ill start with this one. Venice Beach basket ball. I was on Venice Beach chillin when I saw this guys playing ball with such intensity I thought they were going to kill each other. So I stood underneath the basketball hoop and stated shooting… This was shot at 14mm…
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by edin chavez | Oct 26, 2013 | Black & White, Los Angeles
I want to fall in love, not the kind of love you find, but the kind of love that finds you, the kind of love that makes you dance in the rain, the kind of love that makes you feel like your floating, the kind of love that makes everything possible, the love you read about. I want to fall in love, feel invincible, feel like nothing matters except another second with that person. The kind of love where you plan your whole life entirely based on someone else’s happiness… I want to fall in love…
by edin chavez | Sep 13, 2013 | Black & White, educational, Miami, Street
Miami Heat Parade 2013
Happy Friday the 13th. Earlier this year I shot the Miami Heat Parade. I shot it last year and I got some cool shots, but this year I wanted to get something different, I wanted to step outside the box and get some really unique shots, not what you see floating around the internet, but really something that would stand out.
I walked up and down the streets looking for a place to shoot, but I couldn’t find anywhere that was remotely safe or easy to get onto. Everything was packed and everyone was fighting for a spot. Imagine thousands of exited sports fans trying to get a free seat as close to the players as possible… exactly….
As I was walking towards the American Airlines Arena, I was crossing the railroad and I saw that everyone was up on top of this light stand, so I decided to give it a go. Not only was this light stand packed with people and the cops where yealling at people to get down, but the people already on there would not let anyone else up there. I fought my way and got my self a spot. After all this then I could start shooting.
I wanted to shoot the crowd more so than the players, I mean to me the crowd was far more interesting than some guy holding a trophy. So I started yelling and waiving at people waking by and taking their photos….. This is what I came up with…
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by edin chavez | Aug 10, 2013 | Black & White, City Scapes, Informational, Landscapes
The new Smugmug:
So what is all this talk about the new Smugmug? Well let me tell you, it is awesome. I have been using them for a long time and I was never really happy with them. I have a main site www.edinchavez.com but I have always used Smugmug to sell my prints. A while back I kind of gave up on it and was looking for something better to sell my photos, and then there was a big announcement. The new Smugmug. Let me tell you what a difference, the new design is so amazing, from how it looks to how it functions. Not only can you display your beautiful work but you can also make some extra cash by selling your photos. Talk about killing two birds with one stone.
Ok ok enough of me blabbing about how cool it is. You can try it out for free. Trust me its super ez and if you hate it you have nothing to lose. I promise you are going to love it. It takes minutes to set up, and its free to try out. Click HERE and give it a run, if you need help drop me a message, if you want to se mine go to www.edinrocks.com
Let me know what you think peeps… Have a good weekend, spread the love and good vibes….