About Me

I just thought I would take this week to give all of my fans(?) out there a little info about myself.  As you may have guessed, my name is Andrew Hewins.  I am a senior at Rocky Mountain College, majoring in Aviation Management.  I plan on either running an airport some day or doing something in air traffic control.  After I retire by age 40 (it's a dream, I know) I would like to travel the world.  I have been interested in photography ever since I was little.  In fact I still have my first manual wind-up camera.  Unfortunately it was a cheap Vivitar, but it still took decent pictures.  My dad and grandfather were the ones that passed that on to me(the interest for photography and the cheap Vivitar).  Although they didn't teach me a whole lot about photography, it was something that was always a part of growing up.  My grandfather was a professional freelance macro photographer.  As far as I know, most of his work was done through small parts manufacturers who would want photos for their magazines.  My other interests include hiking, tennis, biking, flying, and food. 

Mike Muizebelt Nature Photography

This week I decided to surf the web for some really awesome macro photography.  While I was looking, I found a photographer named Mike Muizebelt, who specializes in macro nature photography.  Mike is from the Netherlands, but has an English site where you can view his work.  In his welcome page Mike writes, " My main interest is macro photography, the life in the undergrowth has my interest and capturing the details in nature never seizes to amaze me. As a member of the Dutch Nature Photographers Guild I'm striving to get better and honest feedback is something I value greatly."  If you look through his online gallery, it is obvious that this is his passion.  The detail of his shots are just amazing no matter how small the target.  He is able to capture the smallest details such as tiny hairs on the back of a bee.  Check out his site!

Citation:
http://www.culinair.com/

Twisted Tree Photography

This week I decided to try to look into some abstract tree photography.  So, I Googled "tree photography".  The first thing to pop up was a link to twistedtreephoto.com.  To my surprise, the photos on twistedtreephoto.com were nothing like what I was looking for, but not in a bad way.  As I looked through Michael and Tammy Rice's photography gallery, I became hooked.  The husband and wife team specialize in landscape photography and promote their photos that they have taken across the U.S. and Canada.  They take pride in what they do, and it shows.  I really can't think of too many jobs that you can go out and enjoy the sights while still making a living at it.  And their photos are beautiful in my opinion.  On the twistedtreephoto.com home page, Michael and Tammy mention that they, "believe that to take photography to the next level, one must pursue both disciplines (taking pictures and enhancing images)."  My favorite section of their photo gallery is the Yellowstone National Park section.  Why?  Well, I really like to see things that I have never seen in pictures that I am sure we have all seen just walking around.  Since moving to Montana, I have been to Yellowstone National Park 5+ times.  Not once have I thought about taking a picture of a marsh or a hill.  The Rice photographers have taken shots like these and look just as magnificent as a picture of a mountain range.  I have noticed that in most all of their landscape shots in Yellowstone contain cloud cover and/or the use of natural side-lighting.  This allows the scene to show more definition and, I think, adds more emotion to the photograph.  My most favorite picture of theirs is a landscape of hotpots covered by dark stratocumulus clouds.  Visit their website if you get a chance!

Citation:
http://www.twistedtreephoto.com/index.html

A Few Tips on How to Make Money off Nature Photography

1.  Good nature photography still requires the use of old-fashioned photography know how.  With all the resources currently available to people that facilitate making good prints, it is important to realize that a great picture requires minimal editing.
2.  Unique moments in photographs set your pictures apart from the next guy's.  Keep your eye out for things you have never seen before.  With the digital age upon us, it is easy for people to take good pictures, but a good eye in seeing uniqueness is key to an awesome photo.
3.  If you like to photograph near home, get to know the local area.  Becoming familiar with your local surroundings will be beneficial in possibly showing people a side of the area that they had never known about.
4.  Be patient.  If you are impatient, you might miss some extraordinary shots.  If you are looking for an animal to be in a certain position in your picture, you may have to wait quite a while.  When the moment comes where the animal is doing something that you are looking for, take lots of pictures as it doesn't cost anything to take multiple shots.
5.  Perfect your technique.  When the perfect photo opportunity arrives, you don't want to be fiddling with your camera settings while the opportunity disappears.  Get to know your camera and make sure that you know its capabilities so that you don't miss that once-in-a-lifetime shot.
Citation:
http://www.cosmepic.com/nature-photography-that-sells-five-essential-tips/

A Few Pictures of the Sky!!!

 RED is better than yellow!

 Bigger IS Better!

Difference is better than Conformity

7 Conclusions for Establishing Visual Priorities for Picture Elements

Red is more attractive than yellow

Citation:www.thehulltruth.com/ boating-outdoor-photos 252101-re...ning.html

Large draws more attention than small

Citation:

http://www.freecoolpictures.net/free_cool_picture_macro_fly.htm

Difference draws more attention than conformity

Citation:
http://www.andrewlmoore.com/view_image.php?photo_id=281&project_id=10

Jagged lines are more striking than curved ones

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Andrew Hewins

 Diagonal lines are more attractive than vertical

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Andrew Hewins

 

Sharpness is more attractive than blur

Citation:

http://gerlachnaturephoto.com/Workshops/HummingbirdPage.html

Light is more attractive than dark

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Andrew Hewins

About Jim Reed photography

I have always been interested in weather, especially severe weather.  So, this week I decided to see who is out there in the world of weather photography.  Jim Reed is the first name that popped up when I Googled "weather photographers", and I can see why.  His images are really amazing.  He not only takes pictures of severe weather, but also anything associated with weather.  Not all of his shots are of scenes you would want blown up in a 24"x36" print, but they all show something unique.  I have never seen a photo of someone cleaning a Doppler radar station, a car driving into what looks like a tornado, a car with its tail lights on floating down a building hallway, or a wheelchair sitting in a river watching the sun go down.  In the biography section of Jim Reed's website, it is stated that he is one of the world's most accomplished weather photographers.  He doesn't just see a a developing tornado and snap a picture of it.  He is able to show multiple aspects of the current conditions all in the same picture.  One of my favorite is of a large developing tornado with black in the foreground and bright sunlight and lightning in the background.  According to his biography, Jim went to college at USC and earned a Bachelors of Fine Arts Degree.  After graduation he wrote for T.V. commercials, music videos, and even for Warner Bros. Pictures.  In the early 1990's he turned back to his passion for photography and began shooting severe weather photography.  if you get a chance, check out his website and all his awesome photos!

Works Cited:
http://www.jimreedphoto.com/