It will be going out 2-3 nights a week for the entire month of December. This tour was extremely popular last year, so make sure you book your spot, so you don't miss out! Click here to book.
Here are some photos from last years tour.
We are proud to announce the first ever Click! Photo Tours photo contest in partnership with Visit Denver with the theme of "Summer." From pictures to your kids running through the sprinklers to flowers blooming on the mountainside, send us photos of whatever summer means to you!
First Place will receive a free driving tour valued at $119 (Scenic Denver, Scenic Rocky Mountains or Best of Colorado Springs) and will have their photo published in Visit Denver's Official Visitors Guide (if desired).
Second Place will receive a free walking tour valued at $49 (Scenic Denver, Sc...enic Rocky Mountains or Best of Colorado Springs)
Third Place will receive a Click! Photo Tour t-shirt valued at $25.
Seven Honorable Mentions and the top three will have their photos published on the Click! Photo Tours blog and Facebook page with full credit.
Submissions will be accepted from May 23rd through June 17th.
You can submit by going to the Click! Photo Tour Facebook page (www.facebook.com/clickphototours), selecting "Events", selecting "I'm Attending" and adding your images to the wall of the Click! Photo Tours Summer Photo Contest. Photos can be of any subject matter that relates to the theme of "Summer". Each entrant can submit up to five photos. All entrants must "Like" Click! Photo Tours to be considered. This can be done at the time of image submission.
Photos will not be used for any purpose beyond announcing the winners and the photos remain the copyright of the photographer. Click! Photo Tours retains the right to remove any images that it deems inappropriate or offensive.
The contest will be judged by professional photographers Paul Trantow (Altitude Arts), Michael Calanan (Calanan Photography), Ryan Erickson (Elevate Photography) and McCory James (McCory James Photography). Photos will be judged on four criteria: composition, lighting, creativity and adherence to the theme of "Summer."
Contest is sponsored by Click! Photo Tours (www.clickphototours.com) and Visit Denver (www.facebook.com/visitdenver or denver.org).
Any questions can be submitted to info@clickphototours.com.
What typical exposure compensation readout looks like on most cameras.
Exposure compensation allows you to adjust your exposure when your camera under or over exposes the photograph. When your camera reads for light, it automatically reads to make the overall exposure middle gray. This is usually very effective as there are many lights and darks in a scene to take into consideration. However if you are shooting in an instance where there is a lot of white or highlights, or a lot of black or shadows your camera is going to incorrectly expose as it attempts to make the overall image middle gray. In a scene with whites or highlights, this will leave your whites underexposed leaving the photograph too dark. In a scene with blacks or shadows, your camera will over compensate resulting in the photograph being too bright.
To start using exposure compensation you want to begin by assessing the situation... What is in your photograph? If the image is mostly dark such as a forest of evergreens, dark night sky or someone in a dark suit, you'll want to compensate your exposure by adjusting your exposure compensation meter to underexpose. This will make the dark areas properly exposed and your blacks should look rich and dark. Make sure you don't go too far, because you don't want to lose information in your shadows. Reading the histogram is the best way of assuring this doesn't happen and is something we will cover in a future tip.
In a converse situation, your photograph is mostly light, such as a snowy mountain top or fluffy white dog. Your camera will underexpose the scene to compensate for the large amount of brightness it sees. Adjust the scene by dialing your exposure compensation meter to overexpose by as little or as many stops as needed. Again, you'll want to make sure you don't totally overexpose your whites so there are details in your highlights.
Also, don't be afraid to take multiple exposures of one photo, adjusting your exposure with each shot. This is called bracketing (which is another subject we will cover in a future tip) and will help you make sure you have the correct exposure to take home with you!
An example where you would want to underexpose from what the camera's meter is telling you so you don't overexpose the bridge.
Golden Gate Bridge. Copyright 2007 McCory James Photography
Another example where you would want to underexpose from what the camera's meter is telling you so you don't overexpose the city lights.
Madrid, Spain. Copyright 2008 McCory James Photography
An example where you would want to overexpose from what the camera's meter is telling you so you don't underexpose the girl.
Accra, Ghana. Copyright 2006 McCory James Photography
Another example where you would want to overexpose from what the camera's meter is telling you so you don't underexpose the girl.
Accra, Ghana. Copyright 2006 McCory James Photography
]]>Using motion blur by moving the camera can serve four different purposes.
Creating motion blur by moving the camera is achieved in the same way as having a moving subject in the image, by doing a longer exposure. The difference is that you don't tend to do as long of an exposure. The best ways to create a dynamic image are by:
There are a lot of variables to take into consideration to create the amount of motion blur you want. Things to consider are:
With all the possible ingredients in a motion blur shot, the recipe changes from shot to shot dependent on what you are trying to achieve and the different variables involved. Let's go over each piece and talk about how it effects your final image
The amount of light available is key and it's influence on your exposure. No matter how much blur you are trying to achieve, you still want a proper exposure. The best thing to do is expose for your overall scene and then adjust your aperature (making the opening smaller) so that you need a longer shutter speed to get a proper exposure. This can range anywhere from 1/250th of a second to seconds depending on what you are trying to achieve. The longer the exposure the more blur you will create and the more abstract your background becomes.
The visual distance from your subject is dependent on your location in relation to the subject and the length of lens you are using. If you are using a 300mm lens to zoom in on you subject, it takes less movement to create blur. Sometimes when you are zoomed in on a person walking, you can create a good amount of blur by having your shutter speed set to 1/60th of a second. If you are shooting at a wider focal length (let's say 50mm) with the subject the same distance from the camera, it takes much more movement of your camera to create the blur.
The last element to pay attention to is the speed of your subject. A race car and a walking toddler move at much different speeds. The faster the subject is moving the shorter you want your shutter length to be. The longer you leave the shutter open, the more potential error you have in panning with your subject.
Capturing motion blur shots by moving the camera is really something that takes a lot of trial and error to get right. So get out there and shoot!
Using a flash to "freeze" your subject while creating motion blur in the background.
Panning with the subject to create a strong sense of movement.
Zooming with the lens during a longer exposure to create an abstract image.
]]>We pride ourselves on the dynamic and fun personalities of all of our guides as well as ther in-depth photography knowledge, guaranteeing you a tour that you will never forget.
Ashley Williamson
If you have always wanted to know someone with a pink kayak, then you'll enjoy getting to know Ashley! She is a Colorado native and studied finance before pursuing a photography degree.
Ashley received a Bachelor of Arts in Photography for the Art Institute of Colorado. She admires Robert ParkeHarrison's work as a photographer and specializes in studio photography. She has used her skills to photograph for both The Sports Authority and Original Wraps.
Her dream is to go to Australia someday and take a ton of great photos!
Angelo Lucero
Angelo has a passion for the arts that you will find contagious. On top of being a talented photographer, he plays the piano and produces his own music.
Raised in Las Vegas, but born in Denver, Angelo returned to Colorado to get his degree from the Art Institute of Colorado. He finds inspiration in the work of Lou Jones and Steve McCurry and dreams of traveling the world with his camera, just like they have.
When he isn't showing people around Colorado, he shoots freelance assignments and for travel and stock photography.
Katie Walker
Katie is a Colorado native and grew up in beautiful Colorado Springs. She has combined her love of photography and passion for people into her dream career. If she isn't leading a tour, she can often be found using her Arts Degree in Photography from the University of Colorado as she artistically documents various couples' wedding day for Elevate Photography.
Katie also knows her way around a kitchen and loves to cook. If you ask her for her favorite recipe, she'll be happy to share! She is also a great resource if you are looking for a great place to grab a bite to eat in Denver.
McCory James
McCory loves to travel! Over the past few years he has traveled internationally to Ghana, Nepal, Italy, Costa Rica, Spain, Ireland, Holland, England and Scotland. He is also currently working on a project documenting major US cities.
He works as a commercial, travel and fine art photographer based out of Denver, where he has lived for the past 13 years.
As a season ticket holder to the Colorado Rapids, McCory is happy to talk socceer any time! He also enjoys playing soccer, cycling, skiing, hiking and spending time with his wife, Kelly, and sons, Landon and Carson.
]]>Here are some fun images of the two different shirts around Colorado, so you can see how great you'll look while photographing on location with one on. The last couple images are the graphics in detail.
This past Saturday we took out a group of local photographers on the Denver Landmark Morning Tour as the last stage in the training. It was an opportunity for our new guides to see a tour in action. We had a great group of photographers and had a beautiful morning to capture some great shots of downtown Denver. See the group in action below.
Let us know if you want to come along by emailing us at info@clickphototours.com.
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The greatest uses I find for doing motion blur is to add a visual element, give a sense of movement or a sense of scale without having the moving subject be your focal point. Using motion blur is also a great way to just create more abstract and artistic photos.
Motion blur is created by doing a longer exposure, which is also known as dragging the shutter. The amount of time necessary is really dependent on how quickly your subject is moving, how much light there is and how much blur you want. The best way to get good at judging what is necessary is to shoot, a lot! A good starting point is 1/15th of a second and then go longer from there. For moving cars, I'll do anything from 2 to 10 seconds. If you just want a stream of lights you can open your shutter for minutes.
The key to taking a good motion blur photo on a tripod is to pay attention to how the blur will look in your final composition. Obviously a car sitting still takes up a different space in an image than a blur of lights going through the whole image. You also want to make sure your tripod is absolutely still, so the main reference points in your image don't have any blur applied.
Siena, Italy. The photo uses motion blur so you don't focus just on the people, but they still add to the overall scene.
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