It was a beautiful opportunity to learn from the best, ask lots of questions and work at up-levelling my photography skills, and put new techniques into immediate practice while surrounded by insanely beautiful scenery.<\/p>\n
Here are five photography tricks I learned on the road, and have taken home with me from this adventure with Olympus!<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/emmakateco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/header.jpg\")
[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n
1. Use your iPhone screen to make a reflection<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n
In Lisa\u2019s photography workshop, she shared with us a number of techniques to improve and get more creative with our photo composition. If you take a look at\u00a0Lisa\u2019s work<\/a>, you\u2019ll notice she has a penchant for noticing, and cleverly capturing reflections – in mirrors, lakes, puddles, pools, shiny tables, and basically any surface that reflects.<\/p>\n But, further to that, Lisa shared with us an amazing (and simple) trick, to create a reflection when you can\u2019t find one naturally – by using the surface of your iPhone (or iPad, or any glass-screened smart phone) as the reflective surface.\u00a0Who knew?!<\/em><\/p>\n It\u2019s simple to do, but does take some practice to perfect. With your phone screen locked, and off, hold the camera up to your iPhone screen. Play around with the angle you hold your phone at, but basically, it should be held flat, and with the short side of the phone along the bottom of the camera. Using a low f-stop will help create a blurred reflection and make the reflection captured look more realistic.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a photo I took, using my iPhone and the\u00a0Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III<\/a>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Here\u2019s a better one that Lisa took!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Creating movement in water within a landscape always makes for a beautiful photograph, but I\u2019d never quite mastered how to do this in broad daylight, or understood the metrics behind how to do so! While the best time to attempt this is at either end of the day, in lower light conditions (i.e sunrise or sunset), it is possible to get photos in the middle of the day, with the right camera settings.<\/p>\n The trick is to drop down the ISO right down (to 100), and to increase the aperture to f-22, or the highest aperture your camera will allow. If you\u2019re shooting on manual mode, slow down the shutter speed to a level that will capture movement in the water, but not overexpose the image too greatly. Otherwise, an easier way to get the effect with the right lighting, is to shoot on AV (Aperture Priority mode). Drop the ISO right down, set the f-stop to f-22, and the camera will shoot at a semi-long exposure on its own terms.<\/p>\n Generally, to shoot with a low shutter speed means you\u2019ll need a tripod to ensure the camera doesn\u2019t shake, and the whole image blurs. The\u00a0Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III<\/a>\u00a0camera really shines here – because the built-in 5-axis stabilisation system in the camera allows you to hand-hold long exposures, without any need for a tripod.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”1763″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”25px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”1767″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I\u2019ve been capturing photos like this for a while, but I had never really stopped to think why adding a person in a photo is always so popular on Instagram. Lisa gave us the theory behind this – and it\u2019s all a matter of creating perspective. That is, pointing the viewer towards what you want them to see. When you add a person to the scene, it shows the true scale of a building, or a dramatic landscape. It tells more of a story, and the result is a far more impressive image.<\/p>\n We practiced this at the Crown Ranges in Queenstown – which was literally a picture perfect setting to show scale. Here\u2019s a photo of me, below, as the tiny human against an enormous mountainous landscape. To compare, here\u2019s also a photo of the landscape without any scale reference. Do you agree that the human presence makes the left picture feel so much more impressive?<\/p>\n If you can, use the remote self timer on your camera, frame the composition you want, and run into the frame. Better still, with the\u00a0Olympus Image Share app<\/a>, you can set up the camera, then shoot remotely from the app, and see the live result when you\u2019re still standing within the photo. That\u2019s less running back and forth across a mountainscape![\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”25px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Another creative technique I picked up from Lisa, is to experiment with framing your photography subject in a unique way. This can be done with tree branches, shadows, walls, windows or lighting, to help lead the eye towards the subject of a photo, and capture something in a unique way.<\/p>\n Soon after Queenstown I visited London, and bought myself a little set of battery operated, portable fairylights to experiment with for some future framing experimentation! I also looked out for any leaf-framing opportunities on the streets.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a few photos showing this technique in action.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n My final point is more of an observation, than a specific photography tip.<\/p>\n In Queenstown, I was lucky to spend the weekend travelling with a group of 10 amazing photographers – all talented and amazing in their own right, and all with the new Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III in tow.<\/p>\n Despite everyone having the same camera, it was SO refreshing to see how differently everyone captured the same scenery, on our same Queenstown itinerary. It reminded me how we can use equipment in such varying and different ways, if we just focus on capturing our world through our own eyes.<\/p>\n If you have a look through\u00a0our trip hashtag #OlympusQueenstownExcursion<\/a>, you can see the beautiful differences in our photography and editing styles. With Olympus equipment, there is no limit to what you can capture, it really just comes down to how you capture it, with your creativity and willingness to learn, experiment and evolve your style.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0(Me, just sitting on the edge of The Remarkables – pinch me!)<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n On the subject of learning, did you know that if you own an Olympus camera, you can book in for a (free) coffee date with Olympus? In a small group setting, you can enjoy a 45 minute session with an Olympus trainer! It\u2019s a wonderful way to learn the ins and outs of your Olympus camera, and to up-level your photography skills immediately!<\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] During my weekend in\u00a0Queenstown with Olympus, we were lucky to be privy to a couple of photography workshops run by two photography experts that I admire and respect: perpetual traveller (and one of the most beautiful people you\u2019ll ever meet) Lisa Burns of\u00a0The Wandering Lens\u00a0– and natural light portrait & family photographer Rachel Devine… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emmakateco.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1761"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emmakateco.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emmakateco.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emmakateco.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emmakateco.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/emmakateco.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1761\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emmakateco.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emmakateco.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emmakateco.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emmakateco.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/emmakateco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/ResizedImage788589-Screen-Shot-2018-01-17-at-12.07.49-am-1.png\")
[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”1765″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”25px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n2. Capture motion with water, in daylight<\/h2>\n
3. Use a \u2018little person\u2019 to create a sense of scale<\/h2>\n
4. Frame your photographs creatively<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/emmakateco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/ResizedImage788525-VisitBritainTrip-October-November2017-24-1.jpg\")
[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”1775″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n5. See the world with your own eyes<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/emmakateco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/last.jpg\")
\nBonus tip! Have Coffee with Olympus<\/h2>\n
Book yours here:\u00a0www.olympus.com.au\/coffeewitholympus<\/a><\/em><\/h3>\n
Thank you SO much to\u00a0Olympus<\/a>\u00a0for taking me to experience Queenstown for such an exciting reason + with such beautiful company.<\/em><\/h3>\n