Coffee and people watching for hours on end, a duo of saxophone and guitar-playing musicians entertaining patrons, endless bottles of rose, afternoons on the beach, dinners that go from 9pm to midnight, sleeping in, repeat. This became the rhyme of life as I slipped into the Mediterranean pace.
I was lucky enough to spend a week in Cannes for the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. Walking through the narrow streets of the old town, I exchange smiles with the elderly man standing on the sidewalk. We say hello as I walk by with my camera. Above us, a woman stares out the window at the pedestrians below her third-floor apartment.
In this part of the world, I find myself calm in a zen-like state. Time here is counted, not in hours worked, but by cups of coffee, glasses of wine, and naps on the beach. A whole week has been spent here before I even knew it. I try to leave but my feet refuse to move beneath me. If only I could stay here a little longer.
Several loads of laundry after midnight, followed by a frantic packing session, I write this blog post. In a sleep-deprived daze after 2 flights and a bus ride, I am finally settling down somewhere in the south of France.
I’m spending 2 weeks in France and a few days in Portugal to get inspired by creatives, take some photographs of my favorite parts of southern France, and - for the first time - experience the magic of the Portugal wine region.
When I first started photography in 2006, I studied a lot of images from books and Flickr. One of my favourite images to look at were those of flowers. I spent hours in my neighbor's garden, rolling in the dirt, photographing her flowers. By the way, my mother was never too pleased with me coming home with stained jeans every time.
Flowers are relatively easy subjects to come by and photograph - after all, they don't complain or get camera shy. Here are a few general rules of thumb for photographing flowers:
1. Soft neutral light
The vibrant colors and intricate details of flora are best captured in a soft light. As usual, avoid harsh direct sunlight and look for soft shades. I shot these images at the Toronto Flower Market on a overcast day. The heavy clouds provided a great softener for the light and didn't produce any shadows. To perserve the original colors of the flowers, photograph them in neutral or natural light. For this reason, I tend to avoid the warm or cool tinted lights of flower shops and default to photographing outdoors.
2. Wide aperture
Aperture controls how much lights the lens lets in. A wide aperture lets in more light than a narrow aperture; wide aperture also produces a blur between foreground and background. For flowers, as is with shooting macro photography, leave your aperture wide open. This creates a long depth of field and highlights the subject of your photograph.
3. Focus
In flower photography, it's crucial to get your focus sharp especially when you are shooting with your aperture wide open. Just a small movement can shift the entire focus of your shot and ruin an image. The key is to identify the point of interest, is it a drop of water on a pedal or the stigma of the flower - find the focal point and make sure that it's sharp.
Last year, I saw Joe McNally give a workshop in person and thought he was wonderful. Yet I only bought his book reluctantly - a sad but true confession - for no other reason than I thought the title was cheesy. But that’s neither here nor there. By the time I had finished reading the forward from Scott Kelby, any negative preconceptions I had based on the book’s title was out the window. I was excited to turn the pages and get to the juicy bits. Note: always read forwards and acknowledgements, they tell you a lot about a book.
Joe wastes no time diving into the best pro tips you’ll ever receive from a photographer. I was hit in the face with one amazing tip after another. Most books spend chapters educating the same concept, but not this one. Joe offers a fresh nugget of wisdom on every page! This is probably the best insightful photography book I’ve read so far. Joe pours so much tactical advice into every page. Talk about some serious knowledge dropping! For intermediate and advanced photographers who want to know the ins and outs of editorial work, I highly recommend Joe’s book.
When Toronto Flower Market announced their June 2013 market opening, I jumped at the chance to photograph their beautiful flowers. I have been wanting to add flowers to my portfolio, plus, lately it seems that double-exposed polaroids of poppies the only way to be relevant on Instagram.
Markets and pop-up shops are some of my favorite things about Toronto. Although I miss the west coast lifestyle in Vancouver, we didn't get nearly as many of these quaint open markets. Happy summer markets!
Welcome to Just-in-Time (JIT), a travel photography blog by Tracy Zhang. Began after a year of backpacking around Europe, JIT is a time capsule of 6 years of wanderlust.
As of August 2016, JIT is no longer being updated. For more projects from Tracy, find her at www.tracyzhang.com.
To read more about JIT and its original purpose, visit our About page.
