World Wide KAP Week 2009

World Wide KAP Week 2009 is upon us.
April 24, 2009 to May 5, 2009

- What is World Wide KAP Week 2009
- WWKW2009 Photo Pool
- Discussion Forum Thread

Butterfly swimmer at the Masters Ontario Swimming Championships

I’ve spent a lot of my life beside or in swimming pools and currently participate in a Masters Swimming program at a local YM-YWCA. Masters Swimming is an organized training program, not unlike competitive swimming, but aimed at adult swimmers who like to have a coached training program. It is usually a mix of abilities and ages on a Masters Swimming team and a great social environment in our case at least. Those that wish have the opportunity to compete. You race in heats against swimmers that are more or less your speed, based on entry times. Then your final time is pooled with other swimmers in your gender and age group (5 year intervals). So you could be racing against someone half your age or twice your age, as long as they are at about your speed level, but what matters is how well your age-group peers are doing, possibly in a different heat.

Butterfly swimmer at the Ontario Masters Swimming Championships which were held in Ottawa, Ontario at the Nepean Sportsplex.

This past weekend I was cheering on my Masters swim team at the 2009 Masters Ontario Swimming Championships held at the Nepean Sportsplex in Ottawa, Ontario. I was taking pictures of my colleagues in and out of the pool. I’ve decided that some investment in faster lenses would be required to capture still action in the poorly lit environment. So sports photographer I am not. Although not a crisp sport action shot such as I would like to be able to take, I was very happy with this blurred shot of a butterfly swimmer. This is not one of our team members (just in case any SWYM members are reading this and trying to figure it out who it is).

Web site: www.robhuntley.ca

SmugMug & WordPress work well with Twitter

I’ve managed to set up both my Photo Gallery (which is powered by SmugMug Pro Account) and this Photo Blog to cooperate with my Twitter stream. Through the use of twitterfeed I’ve been able to set up automatic updates to my Twitter stream whenever I upload images to my website as well as every time I make a post on this blog. It’s a big time-saver.

With SmugMug you can set up twitterfeed to provide updates either when a gallery is updated, or when you install a new photo. Go to the main page and click on “available feeds” at the bottom of the page and you will see the choice of “recent galleries” or “recent photos”. If you are not a SmugMug user, you can check this on my website’s home page at the bottom. This is the information you give to twitterfeed after you have established that you have OpenID for twitter to access your website or blog.

The followers of your Twitter page won’t be overburdened (and consequently drop you) if you upload hundreds of images to your SmugMug site one day. The updates are done only every hour (adjustable) and only the five most recent updates are included.

I’ve only just started applying this to my twitter site, but I think it is going to work well. You can check my Twitter profile to see some of these blog and gallery photo updates among my other tweets.

Starting to Twitter

I’ve caved in and I am checking what twitter is all about.
I can be followed at http://twitter.com/KAPnRob

There are so many twitterers (probably have the lingo wrong) that it is impossible to get anything resembling your own name without corrupting it with numbers or weird characters. So I have made my own version of Craig Wilson’s Flickr name since I liked it so much and Craig might appreciate that I think it deserves to be stolen. Craig is KAP’n Craig on Flickr. If you haven’t figured what makes us KAPns, the KAP stands for kite aerial photography.

I’ve also set up a twitter for my business, Holiday Junction. That can be followed at http://twitter.com/HolidayJunction

New Travel Blog at Holiday Junction

As part of my business site, I recently launched a Travel Blog for posting short anecdotes, postcards, journals, whatever you want to call them, of your travel experiences. It is a good place to promote your photography too. If you have some interesting shots that have an even more interesting back story, please give some thought to becoming a contributor at Travel.HolidayJunction.com. Or, if you just have the story and no pictures, that’s fine too. Post under “Been There! Done That!” for the province, state, country that applies.

Kite Aerial Photography Video

Here is a very good video that lets you see Kite Aerial Photography (KAP) in action. The 10 minute clip features Cris Benton, a San Francisco area KAPer.

Cris also runs the popular KAP forum called Notes on Kite Aerial Photography where most serious practitioners hang out, share knowledge on new cameras, equipment and technique and tell a few stories about KAPing adventures and misadventures.

Most Kite Aerial Photographers like to show their peers as well as the general public their recent birds-eye results. The Kite Aerial Photography Group on Flickr.com is the best place to see a broad selection of photography from KAP enthusiasts from around the world. We have individual accounts there in order to submit so you can view the images of each individual photographer by going to his/her Flickr photostream. View the images of KAP_Cris on Flickr. KAP_Cris is his Flickr alias. Cris also has his own informative Kite Aerial Photography website.

KAP 2008-43: The Citadel, Halifax, Nova Scotia – August 1, 2008

The Citadel was my second stop to KAP on my one day visit to Halifax. Light was poor, but when you are only in town for one day and the wind is good, then you do what you can.

These images were created by suspending a camera in a remote-controlled rig on a kite line. The technique is called Kite Aerial Photography (KAP).

The Citadel, Halifax and Halifax Harbour in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Halifax and Halifax Harbour in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

A view from high over the Citadel in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Halifax Commons or Common. Baseball fields, tennis courts, playgrounds and the venue for some of the larger open-air concerts in Halifax.

Abstract, overhead view of roads on Citadel Hill in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Citadel wall juts into the top of the picture.

CBC building, Lord Nelson Hotel, across from the park and adjacent to the Citadel in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

You can see additional pictures from my KAP 2008-43 outing in the Kite Aerial Photography Gallery about the Citadel in Halifax, Nova Scotia on my Rob Huntley Photography website.

KAP 2008-42: Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia – August 1, 2008

After returning from holiday in the midwest USA I made a quick trip to visit one of our daughters in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Since I would have most of the day I arrived by myself but with the use of my daughter’s car I took my KAP gear and did two quick KAPs on the same day. The day was a cloudy one but other conditions were good.

The first aerial photography session of this day took place on the grounds of the Bedford Institute of Oceanography. Images include shots of Halifax Harbour, the A. Murray MacKay Bridge, the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, and the docks of the institute with Coast Guard vessels and institute research vessels. I asked permission first at the gate to the wharf to check if there would be any objection to flying a kite and camera gear in the vicinity. I was told that I could not pass through the gate to the wharf without special access and that was all the guard on duty was concerned with. Outside the gate I could do what I wanted. I think it was personal safety and/or security that was the issue, not whether I might photograph anything I shouldn’t. Ironically, the wind direction was such that both kite and equipment went straight past the fence and over the wharf as you will see from some of the accompanying photographs.

These photographs were taken using kite aerial photography (KAP). Taken with a PowerShot A570IS using a 78″ Rok kite.

Halifax Harbour and in the foreground the A. Murray MacKay Bridge – taken from the grounds of the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Halifax (Dartmouth), Nova Scotia. Halifax is on the right, Dartmouth on the left.

Anbother shot of the A. Murray MacKay Bridge with the grounds and parking area of the Bedford Institute and parking lot in the foreground. Bedford Basin is to the right and Bedford, Nova Scotia across the bridge. For the next shots when the camera is over the wharf I am standing on the green patch of grass next to the bridge on the far side of the larger white building. The security gate, main wharf and Bedford Institute are out of the picture on the right, and the wind was blowing from left to right.

Low-level aerial view of the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Halifax (Dartmouth), Nova Scotia. At this point in time the kite was way out over the docks and the camera was directly over the wharf.

Here is a straight down shot from essentially the same location that I took the picture of the Bedford Institute. In the centre of the picture is the gate, and the security office with the grey square roof trimmed with white.

Vessel at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Halifax (Dartmouth), Nova Scotia.

Canada Coast Guard Vessel at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography.

Canada Coast Guard Vessels at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Halifax (Dartmouth), Nova Scotia.

You can see additional pictures from my KAP 2008-42 outing in the Kite Aerial Photography Gallery about the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia on my Rob Huntley Photography website.

KAP 2008-41: Grundahl Park, Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin – July 25, 2008

I post these images simply to mark the occasion of meeting Craig Wilson, the famous and infamous kite aerial photographer of Madison, Wisconsin. Craig and I agreed that this KAP should be written off as a non-KAP. The light was so poor this evening and 98% of my shots were blurred (higher ISO would have helped). My wife and arranged to meet KAP’n Craig, as he is known on Flickr and other internet venues, in Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin which is just outside Craig’s hometown of Madison. Craig and three of his kiting buddies were adding some kite colour to an annual cancer fundraiser held at Grundahl Park. Craig and friends made my wife and I feel very welcome. After it became too dark, and the rain set in, we all retired to the Grumpy Troll for a beer.

This session used a PowerShot A570IS and a FLED kite.

Grundahl Park, Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin.

This Wisconsin Badger kite was hand-made by one of Craig’s skilled kite buddies.

You can see additional pictures from my KAP 2008-41 outing in the Kite Aerial Photography Gallery on my website.

How to Make Tiny Town Miniatures!

This post demonstrates a process known as “Fake Tilt-Shift” carried out in PhotoShop or other image editing software.

After a mere two weeks of playing with the creation of these miniatures, I don’t imagine I’ve become an expert yet. However, I took the opportunity to share what I’d learned with my camera club, the Camera Club of Ottawa, and since I had done the work to prepare the slides I’m posting them here for anyone’s benefit. What follows are a few examples of the results of applying the technique and then subsequent to that I’ve included a short demo of how to create a miniature using PhotoShop CS.

I also have a separate photo gallery where I am adding my own creations over time. Please see TinyTown – (Fake Tilt-Shift Images).

This process has nothing to do with tilting or shifting anything. The name is derived from the fact that there is an in-camera technique that has been around for awhile for creating similar effects using a lens called a tilt-shift lens. We are using PhotoShop to create fakes; hence the name Fake Tilt-Shift.

Basically we are reducing the depth of field to create an illusion that the photograph was taken on a tabletop using model railroad miniatures or similar objects. The process tends to work better on scenes where there is a downward angle on the subject. It is through my Kite Aerial Photography that networking colleagues made me aware of this technique, pointing out that certain of my images might make a good “fake tilt-shift” image. However, the techinique is not limited to aerial shots, and not necessarily to shots where there is a downward view. The example I’ve chosen to demonstrate with, the train lines next to Vancouver harbour, is a compromise. It is not an aerial shot, but it is taken from the raised elevation of the adjacent promenade.

If you would prefer to view a version of this presentation where you can enlarge the images, please go to the How to Make Tiny Town Miniatures! gallery on my website.

The title slide is of Fisherman’s Cove in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The low level aerial photograph of the line of shops is ideally suited for a Fake Tilt-Shift Miniature. The houses take on the appearance of Parker Bros. Monopoly figures and even the people look artificial. The background has been thrown out of focus plus the colour saturation has been greatly boosted to give the objects a plastic-like, toy-like appearance.
View the original aerial photograph.

Again, a low level aerial photograph proves ideal for making a miniature of the Atlantic Fisheries Museum in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. In this example, both the foreground and background are thrown out of focus and the colour saturation enhanced to give the toy house appearance to the museum.
View the original aerial photograph.

The original image for this example was shot from the roadside in a very slightly elevated position. The rising hills in the background may add to the effect by eliminating the horizon.

This red car is in a roundabout (traffic circle) in Conwy, Wales. The shot was taken from the wall of Conwy Castle adjacent to the road.
View the original photograph.

This is a fake tilt-shift of the Champlain Bridge over the Ottawa River between Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec. This is a unique angle of the bridge, obtained through Kite Aerial Photography (KAP). Note how just a few cars and the surrounding bridge and lamp posts are kept in focus while the foreground and background are out of focus.
View the original aerial photograph.

This is a fake tilt-shift of the former EB Eddy mill on the Ottawa River in Ottawa, Ontario. Again, the original low level aerial picture was obtained from a remote-controlled camera suspended below a kite. The orientation of the wall face of the mill being roughly the same distance from the camera makes it an ideal subject for retaining the focus of the whole building while throwing the rest of the picture out of focus.
View the original aerial photograph.

This is a “Tiny Town” version of the Aberdeen Pavilion at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa, Ontario. It is a heritage building also known as the “Cattle Castle” as a consequence of livestock fairs being held there.
View the original aerial photograph.

This covered bridge is found on Chemin Cross Loop south of Wakefield, Québec. It is not to be confused with the larger covered bridge just to the north of Wakefield. Again, the foreground and background have been blurred to shorten the apparent depth of field and the red colour of the bridge has been saturated to the point of synthetic toy look-alike.
View the original aerial photograph.

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Demo Slide 1 (Larger images available with website version.)

To demonstrate the creation of a fake tilt-shift miniature I’m using an image that any photographer might have taken without the assistance of aerial photography. It was taken in Vancouver, British Columbia at the harbour port. Rail lines and trains are particularly good for this technique. Most of us have seen model railroads before and the result of miniaturizing this scene should give the sense that the shot was taken in the basement of a train-a-holic.

I have an older version of PhotoShop, PhotoShop CS. I hope you can convert these instructions to your software and version. After loading A COPY of the picture into PhotoShop, click on the “Quick Mask” indicated by the bottom green circle on the left-hand-side. Then click on the gradient tool, the middle circle. After clicking the gradient tool you will see 5 options for this tool presented at the top and you should select the 4th one which is “Reflective Gradient”.

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Demo Slide 2 (Larger images available with website version.)

Imagine a horizontal zone in the picture where you would like to retain sharpness. I am selecting the foreground passenger trains to be the main subject in this demo, but you could have selected the freight trains in the distance.

The top green arrow indicates where I have initially placed the cursor on the roof of the red car. You can see a thin grey line which I have drawn to the bottom green arrow. This line indicates 1/2 of the height of the gradient zone (the bottom half), from the sharpest point at the top to the least sharp point at the bottom. The top half will simply be mirrored above the top green arrow so you will end up with a “reflective gradient” both upwards and downwards from the top green arrow.

If this is confusing, take note of where the top green arrow is on the roof of the red car, then take a peek at the next slide and note where the roof of the red car is, then come back. Reread this and hopefully you will better understand.

As soon as you release the mouse button after drawing this gradient line, you will get a red band of gradient mask as shown in the next slide.

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Demo Slide 3 (Larger images available with website version.)

This red mask is the area which will be preserved in subsequent steps that we take to throw the background and foreground out of focus. The “gradient” ensures that the most central area of the band will be the most sharp, gradually losing focus towards the edges.

At this point select the standard editing tool indicated by the green circle on the left-hand-side.

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Demo Slide 4 (Larger images available with website version.)

By selecting the standard editing tool, the red mask has disappeared to be replaced by two horizontal lines of “marching ants” indicating the selected area. The area above and below the lines will be put totally out of focus by our next steps. The area between the lines will have a focus gradient outwards from the centre.

From the top menu select “Filter” (green circle) and from the drop-down menu select “Blur”, then “Lens Blur”.

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Demo Slide 5 (Larger images available with website version.)

This is the “Lens Blur” menu. You can play with the radius and probably select between 20 to 60. I have selected 40 in this example. The other variables I have not played with and I believe are the default settings.

Click OK.

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Demo Slide 6 (Larger images available with website version.)

Here you see the basic result of your efforts. At this point if you are not happy with the selected area, you can go back and redraw your gradient line and then reapply the lens blurring.

If you are happy with the blurring, then select “Select” from the top menu and “Deselect” from the drop-down menu to remove the marching ants. Proceed to the next slide.

Aside: (You can skip this). In some cases you may find that something projects out of the sharp zone which you would expect to be in focus given the perceived distance from the lens and the narrow focal area. Imagine a crane in this picture with the arm reaching upwards, yet the same distance from the camera as the rest of the crane. Conversely, you may wish something was out of focus that is in the centre of the focused area. In this demo picture, the nearest lamp post is out of focus at the base and sharp at the top. Clearly this is not quite right but in this example it is hardly noticeable. In such scenarios, additional PhotoShop skills may be applied in the mask phase to either paint in some mask to retain focus, or paint out some mask to lose focus. This was necessary in the earlier shown picture of the Aberdeen Pavilion (Cattle Castle) where the dome of the building was outside of the focused area and had to have mask painted back in to preserve its sharpness.

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Demo Slide 7 (Larger images available with website version.)

This is the same as the previous slide after the selected area has been deselected.

Now, in order to increase the toy-like appearance of your image, if desired, give it a blast of saturation. You can do this a couple of ways but most simply go up to the third item “Image” in the top menu and from the drop-down select “Adjustment” then “Hue/Saturation”.

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Demo Slide 8 (Larger images available with website version.)

Applying +40 saturation seems to be a standard here but I suggest that you flavour to taste. Look back and forth between this slide and the previous slide to see the difference especially in the reds and yellows of the passenger cars.

Similarly you can apply some additional contrast to sometimes improve on the result (next slide). Contrast is also accessed through the top menu “Image” then from the drop-down select “Adjustment” then “Brightness/Contrast”.

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Demo Slide 9 (Larger images available with website version.)

Here is the difference, though small, of applying +10 contrast.

Essentially that’s all there is to it, but I have decided that this particular image might look better as a cropped version. So go to the next slide.

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Demo Slide 10 (Larger images available with website version.)

I used the crop tool, indicated by the green circle, to reduce the amount of sky in this image.

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Demo Slide 11 (Larger images available with website version.)

This is my final version, still viewed in PhotoShop.

The next 3 images show the original in comparison with the final version and also with different option of selecting the distant freight cars as the subject.

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This is the original photo.

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This is the result of demo.

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This is an alternate result if we had initially selected the freight trains in the distance instead of the passenger trains in the foreground.

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There is a Flickr group called Tilt-shift Miniature Fakes devoted to these types of images and discussion by their creators. You might get additional ideas for your own Tiny Town images if you take a look through the group’s photostream.

There are other tutorials and articles around on this subject. Here are a few examples:

• Tilt-Shift Photography Photoshop Tutorial – this is the tutorial I used initially
• Tilt-Shift Photography – Jacob’s Photography Tips and Tutorials
• Fake Tilt Shift
• Fake Model Photography
• Model World

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Please visit my website.