Steve Rubin Photography

 When ever most people take photographs, they try not to take a picture directly into the sun. If you want even lighting on your subject you have the sun at your back. If you want dramatic lighting on your subject (and the sun is lower in the sky) you have the sun at your side.  If you do shoot into the sun usually you get what’s typically called “backlit” photos, with the subject being very dark almost always in shadow, a silhouette. That can be fine, it’s just a creative choice. However, sometimes you can make it even more interesting depending on the scene.  Have you ever seen the a photograph with the sun coming through and you see a “starburst” effect? Yes, there is software that does it (and I’ve used one of them in the past from Topaz on wedding rings so that the flash has a starburst).  But you can also make this happen right in camera.  Sorry, I’ve not found a way to control an IPhone to do this (no real control of the aperture that I’ve been able to find) but it can be done w

 OK, so I’ve talked about this before of how challenging it is to do landscape photography while traveling without getting all kinds of people in the shot. It’s nearly impossible. I showed how in France we can go to a different part of a church entrance that is closed to capture the architecture, but what do you do when that’s not a solution.  While in Kauai on the north shore we were visiting the Kilauea Lighthouse. It was beautiful, jutting out of the coast to that deep blue ocean. There was only one problem, people and lots of them.  I absolutely loved this shot (even if it was shot mid afternoon) but  I didn’t really want all those people. So what is a photographer to do?  Well this is where patience and a small amount of photoshop skills come in to make the final image.  In Photoshop we have a number of tools to help us solve this kind of problem. But you have to zoom with up (in some cases where you’re working so zoomed up you’re looking at individual pixels, the individual parts

 So sorry, but wanted to make this a weekly series. Unfortunately the distraction of a new photo editing platform (read that brand new big computer) got me distracted.  This week I wanted to talk briefly about photographing architecture while traveling. We usually think of that photographing street scenes with buildings as we explore a new city. For me, being over in Europe I see so many different types of architecture and colors that I usually don’t see in the US.  For example, my wife and I had the opportunity to visit my daughter in Copenhagen Denmark while she was on her semester abroad. While visiting her we got to play tourist and of course, I go to play photographer. What I’ve loved walking around European towns is the stark different in architecture, incorporation of water by many city streets, and in Denmark the bold colors that they use.  The shot above is a typical Denmark shot. This same shot exists all over the internet. So why take it? Because not all travel photography i

 Landscape photographers have one key rule, be up before the sunrise or be ready to be available during sunset. These times are considered the Golden Hour when the light is the best, it’s low and directional.  But what do you do when your traveling with family and friends on vacation. Getting up an moving around in the summer, on vacation,  at 4AM does not necessarily ingratiate you to your family. Many times as a photographer you have to make compromises.  Sometimes when your traveling, its not about disturbing your family but its much more practical than that. It’s all about when your itinerary allows you to be at a certain place at a certain tine. My father taught me all about balance, everything in life is a compromise, and sometime landscape / travel photography can be just that, a compromise.  The image above was in a Japanese Garden at Butchart Gardens in Victoria Canada. My wife and I visited this beautiful set of gardens while coming back to Seattle on our Alaskan Cruise. It w

 Now I’m not usually the most patient person (just ask my family).  However, over time and as I dive more and more into a wildlife photography I have learned to slow down, enjoy nature, and be patient. This  is shown in my recent posts including my sunrise trip to Pungo Lake.  However on that trip, this new attitude is really on display when I drove over to Lake Mattamuskeet. Though there weren’t as much wildlife that I wanted to photograph, but I kept at it. I spent a few hours at the lake and it was now toward the end of the day.  I knew that I wanted to head home soon as a large storm was moving in from the west which meant I’d be driving right into it My stomach was telling me that it’s been some time since breakfast (no lunch this day) and anyone that knows me knows I love to eat! I also knew that my wife would be concerned if I was too late.  So, I got into the car at the Lake and thought, “maybe I should do just one more drive around the lake” . After all, on the far side of the

 Raising my family in central North Carolina we always had access to greenways that led us to parks with large lakes and then the usual wildlife. That would include the common mallard duck, Canadian geese and of course fish. Walking through Bond Lake in Cary NC it would not be unusual to see a blue heron or two as well as a family of egrets.  Do you ever wonder how these wonderful lakes come about to being for our enjoyment? It’s simple really, its’ just the damming of a river or stream. For Bond Lake it’s a simple earthen dam of a local stream that runs to Crabtree Creek and then to the Neuse River.  However, what about those bigger lakes like Jordan Lake just 30 minutes south of Cary? This type of lake is created for flood control and to provide a city drinking water reservoir as well as local recreation for activities such as boating, fishing and hiking. It’s created with a true concrete dam and is usually managed by the US Army Corp of Engineers and the State Parks service.  Howeve