Varina Patel, an amazing and mesmerizing photographer

Varina Patel is an amazing and mesmerizing wilderness and landscape photographer. She's in my photography circle on G+ and shares a great photography tip with us. 


I received a message from Varina on G+ with a description of how she photographed one of her images. I'm sharing the message with you as you'll find the photography tip as informative as I do. This is definitely something I'm going to try. 


Below is a copy of her message. You'll find her image with the original message on G+ at Varina Patel. Once on her G+ scroll down a bit to find #PhotographyTips and her image and message.  

Varina's message:

"#PhotographyTips 
So, here's something a little bit out of the ordinary from my collection. I took this shot on a beach in Florida a few years ago. It's nothing more than a bit of a branch that I found in the sand, but I loved it's smooth form and the cracked patterns that covered it. I wanted a clean and simple portrait.

I took the stick and pushed one end into a little hole in a log nearby and set up my camera so that I could shoot the sticks straight on. I used a 180mm macro lens to get nice and close, so I could bring attention to the interesting cracks and details. And I chose a shutter speed carefully - making sure that the background was completely blown out and that the stick was exposed correctly. I wanted it to look as though I had placed the stick in front of a white background... but of course, I didn't have one out there on the beach... so I just set the stick in front of the bright sky. It's a really simple technique, and the finished image looks as though it was photographed in studio.

Obviously, this look won't work for every photo - but in this case, I like it. :) The stick seems to be reaching for something just out of the frame. I wonder what it is reaching for!"


Be sure and follow the above link to her on G+. Take a look at her wonderful image and leave comments. 


When you leave your comments on G+ please let her know you found her through #PhotographyTips Blog. You'll love her photography so take a look around while you're there. You'll find lots of inspiration in her work.


Do you have a blown out or the opposite, a silhouette photo to share? If so, be sure and leave it in your comments box so we can all share and enjoy. Or post it on your blog and leave a link.


I don't have a blown out photo to share so I've shared one of my silhouette photos, textured and layered. 

A client's engagement  photo - they were thrilled with the results. 

If you're on G+ and would like to connect let me know. If you'd like suggestions of other photographers on G+ I'll be happy to provide some. Leave me a comment.

As always, happy clicking.