Visions and Nature Cascade Besse-en -Chandesse
Posted on October 16, 2011
Waterfall nearby Besse-en -Chandesse
by Kristel Schneider
Because of the overcast day the light was perfect to capture some nice forest landscapes and with the cascade in the scene the day was not a total disappointment for me – Kristel Schneider
This year the autumn season is slow in the sense of the coloring of the leaves and the lack of mushrooms. The temperature is too warm and there is not enough rain. Many of you who are not in the (nature) photography field would say, we have a great after summer season. But normally autumn is THE TIME of the year when you can find me outside in the woods and getting up early to capture the first sunlight over the misty mountains.
This week, together with a friend, I had planned a trip to the Massif du Sancy. Meteo France had predicted a nice morning.
The alarm clock had been set early and before sunrise we arrived at our spot and waited for the nice sunlight to arrive. Luckily we had some nice hot coffee to warm us up and …..later on to swallow our disappointment away, because the sun decided to stay behind the clouds that day. This kind of weather situation is something a nature photographer often has to deal with. For that day no nice sun rise mountain images.
We changed our plans and headed to a local cascade, nearby Besse en Chandesse. Because of the overcast day the light was perfect to capture some nice forest landscapes and with the cascade in the scene for me the day was not a total disappointment for me.
Images were taken with Canon EOS 5D Mark II | EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM + Lee ND filter + natural light+ tripod.
Mushrooms and Autumn Photography Workshop Discount
Posted on August 29, 2011
Mushrooms and Autumn
Photography Workshop Discount
by Kristel Schneider‘ Nothing planned yet for your autumn holiday?
Join me in the field during on of my Mushrooms and Autumn workshops’October maybe one of the most beautiful seasons of the year for Photographers. A season full with colours, atmosphere and lots of macro opportunities. Every day is different.
I give a special Autumn discount for my Blog readers and Facebook Fans. And if you already joined one of my other workshops before or if you bring a friend along you will get another -10% off the workshop price. So don’t hesitate and look for more information on the workshops 2011 page. Click here
The ‘old box’
Posted on July 30, 2011
In the past everybody had these old shoe boxes with loads of paper images or even original negatives in them. Always fun to sit on the old attic floor and look through the entire stack of old photos. Nowadays you have a hard- disk (s) full of RAW images, less romantic but also fun to look at. Sometimes you find an image that, back then, you were not totally sure about. And now, after not seeing it for years, you think ‘hey this is not a bad image !’.
As for the image I published below, I remember the day when I took it. Then I had loved the different textures and the nice colour pallet. But back home I had been disappointed with the result and it never landed in my ‘to publish box’ till a couple of days ago.
Sometimes it is good to take some distance from your work and let time pass before you actually work on them and decide if this is a keeper or is ready for the trash bin.
Orchids photography
Posted on July 4, 2011
Orchid Photography
by Kristel Schneider
‘ Orchids are a far more challenging subject to capture than many people may think they are’
I have been photographing wild orchids for a couple of years now, since I have lived in France (November 2007) and every year I love it when the Orchid season starts off. There are so many different species that it keeps amazing me how beautiful these flowers are, with their great details and colours.
Although Orchids do not run or fly away like insects and birds, they are a far more challenging subject to capture than many people may think. Orchids grow in very exposed situations such as hill tops or in open grassy places and on roadsides.
Therefore I think there are two important things to bear in mind before you take an image of an Orchid: subject movement and image background.
Early mornings and late afternoons provide us normally with nice light and that is often the time when wind shows up. I know that some other photographers use perspex box shelters to avoid ‘the wind movement problem’, but personally I (sometimes) like to add some movement in my images. Like I did in the image above.
I just wait for the little times when the wind hold its breath a little bit so that the flower is in focus and then shoot the image.
The background of the image is very important for your composition. And this is the second tricky part with Orchids because of what I mentioned above, they grow in ‘busy’ surroundings. Unless you are planning to take an Orchid in its natural habitat, you need to isolate the subject from its background. This helps your eye to focus on the main subject.
I always look what kind of other flowers or grass grow behind the Orchid so that I can capture a nice colour contrast, like I did with the Common Spotted Orchid with the moth on top. I used a wide aperture to keep the main subject in focus and create a nice soft background with yellow defocussed flowers. Always use a tripod to prevent camera shake and a sharper end result.
Look for more flower photography in my flora gallery
Interested in a Macro photography workshop click here for more information
Food in Nature – workshop
Posted on May 30, 2011
Food in Nature – Workshop
by Kristel SchneiderThe nice thing about organizing one-on-one workshops is that you sometimes get funny or unusual requests from your participants. And yesterday I had to organise a workshop with one of those special requests for a private photography workshop. The participant was a cook and wanted to take images of Food in Nature.
After looking on the net and into my own cooking books I thought this was not going to be an easy task. But I liked the request so I agreed to organize this workshop and the date was set for yesterday. A whole new concept for me, normally I walk in nature and drive around to look for some different sceneries whereas yesterday I had to wait while the cook was ready with some kind of dessert or other dish so that we could place the subject on an old moss-covered tree trunk , in high grass or just in the vegetable garden.
I can tell you that food photography is not the same as taking images of wild mushrooms or landscapes. Personally I like images that are a bit abstract or with movement but with food you still have to see what is presented. So in the end also it was a learning process for me and although I didn’t have the time to shoot images for my own archive I took some snapshots with my 300mm to give you an idea of what we did with two little fruit pastries.
Now, if you think you also have a nice idea for a private photography one-on-one workshop feel free to contact me so that we can discuss the 
possibilities. Click here
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Visions and Nature 