Photo of the week #21 : when it’s clean and simple
Minimal Photographs focus on one single element. This simplicity makes sense and beauty. And it’s possible to shoot similar image in any photography field: macrophotography, urban, landscapes, people, etc.
Below are some inspiring images :
(each image is linked to their source in order to find out more about the photographer)
Under the prism of… #02 : Navin Sarma
We heard about Navin when we saw for the first time « Cherry Blossom Washington » picture (called « Awakening » below). A gorgeous image that gives us the willingness to know more about Navin’s photos.
It turns out he became our 2nd guest for « Under the prism of… » !
*Leave Traces*
At Blackwater Falls State Park, a lone autumn leaf lays upon delicate ridges of sandstone, created by sediments from ancient, shallow seas and slowly revealed by the constant flow of the Blackwater River.
Continue reading »
Our Instagram photo contest results !
First, thank you for having submitted all of your pictures during our first Instagram contest! More than 77 pictures have been sent. We also thank our jury for having spent their time to select a top 10. Thanks to Damien, Ian and Patrick !
Now is the time to announce the winner ! His name is Simon Lesage !
Simon succeeded to stick to the topic (springtime) with this colorful tree picture :
Congratulations to him ! He wins the Heralder bag we offered !
We hope you liked this contest idea! Let us know what do you think and maybe we will organize something similar in the future.
In the meantime, you can still find us on Instagram behind the account « VanguardEurope »
Below is a random pics choice made by you!
Arnaud Malon
Babouchris
Kinoa6
Laetitia Coulon
Nicolas Schardt
Anna
Slz1624
Dave wire
Toutes les photos sont disponibles sur cette page en utilisant le mot-clé « instavanguard »
870,000 images published online by New York city
It’s an amazing set that appeared online : for the very first time, New York City made available more than 870,000 images coming from the Municipal Archives collection (2.2 millions images in total). Some going back to the mid-1800s !
It took 4 years to deliver this project. « We all knew that we had fantastic photograph collections that no one would even guess that we had, » said department assistant commissioner Kenneth Cobb.
Taken mostly by anonymous municipal workers, images were accessible only by visiting the archive offices in lower Manhattan over the past few years.
This set includes images from the largest collection of criminal justice evidence in the world, 800,000 color photographs taken with 35mm cameras, pictures from the the Department of Bridges/Plant & Structures, etc.
The city Department of Records plans to release more images in the future.
But, you have to know the database is currently down because of high peaks of visits.
To wait, you can still visit a small selection made by AP.
Under the prism of… #01 : David Fleet
We’re starting a new series called « Under the prism of… » dedicated to photographers like you and me who want to share their works and comments. How they found the spot, what they thought, what kind of gear, etc.
Our first guest is David Fleet, a photographer living in the Isle of Harris in the Western Isles of Scotland.
There is no requirements to enter this series but passion and motivation to share! If you want to talk about a selection of your photos, send us a message, we’d be happy to show your work!
*Laxay Bothy*
I captured this shot on my return from a night spent up on the North coast of the Isle of Lewis shooting some lighthouses.
It was a cold crisp May morning and mist was filling the moorland glens and being lit up by the early morning Sun. I knew this location would look fantastic and so I drove towards it in anticipation of getting a nice shot.
Luckily for me the mist hung around and drifted over the loch and fisherman’s bothy for long enough for me to find this composition.
I took the image with my Canon 40d backup camera as it was still attached to the EF 70-200mm lens I wanted to use. I shot with the 70-200m lens to compress perspective to enable me to bring the elements of the footbridge, the bothy and the distant mountains together in one shot.
The footbridge draws the eye into the frame nicely and I particularly like the contrast between the muted subtle colours create by the mist.
For me this shot really captures the moorland of the Isle of Lewis looking at its best.
Canon EOS 40D + EF 70-200mm F/2.8 IS L lens @70mm F/11 for 1/100 ISO 100
*Spring Storms*
It had rained on my home , the Isle of Harris for what seemed like weeks and so when the forecast showed it may let up for the evening I got my gear together and headed out to the beautiful west coast with its rugged rocky coastline broken by sandy beaches.
This image was captured close to one of my favourite beaches at Borve but I decided to shoot the rocks instead of the beach because I felt they complimented the fiery skies better.
As the Sun set it turned a fierce red colour creating a scene that I could imagine in the depths of Hell. I wanted to create something that captured this drama and so I used a relatively long shutter speed to capture the movement in the sea as it crashed ashore. In my eyes at least, it resembled a boiling cauldron and this is what brings the image together. The final touch and a subtle one, was to frame in a way that captured the first signs of Sea thrift flowers sprouting out of the rocks which brings an element of hope from this scene of despair.
Shot using Canon EOS 5D mk2 + EF 17-40mm f/4 L lens @ 17mm f/16 for 2 seconds ISO 100
*Intimate Aysgarth*
On a trip to the Yorkshire Dales National park in 2011 I was lucky enough to spend some time shooting some of the beautiful waterfalls of the region, including Aysgarth falls which is a stunning series of waterfalls in the heart of the Dales.
There are 3 main sets of waterfalls here and I took this shot at the top falls. While searching for compositions I noticed this particular section of water which was cascading over the rocks in a very pleasing way to my eye.
The light was just catching the highlights of the white water as it descended over rocks in a series of mini cascades.
I shot with a 70-200mm lens at 200mm to zoom in on the detail and then I converted to black and white in Lightroom software later. The black and white conversion really helps to focus on the texture and the flow of the water.
Shot using Canon EOS 5D mk 2 + EF70-200mm f/2.8 IS L lens @ 200mm f/8 1/6 ISO 100
*Taransay from Harris*
I had envisioned taking this shot for a long time before I finally got the chance. I was at one of my favourite local beaches, Traigh Rosamol which leads onto the famous Luskentyre beach complex when I spotted this lobster pot which had been washed ashore.
I knew this was my chance to capture the image that I had been imagining and so I set up my camera and tripod to frame the scene as I wanted and then played a waiting game with the light.
Luckily for me everything fell into place and a dense blanket of cloud was briefly illuminated by the setting Sun. I timed the shot to coincide with the rolling wave which is such an important element to the image.
I think this image perhaps more than any other I have taken captures the feel of the Hebrides and it’s one that I’m very pleased with.
Shot using Canon EOS 5dmk2 + EF 17-40mm f/4 L lens @ 22mm f/11 1/20 ISO 200
*March Rain*
This shot was captured on Luskentyre beach from up in the sand dunes that back onto the beach. I had been standing waiting for this carpet of heavy cloud to sweep into the Sound of Harris ( a body of water between Harris and the Isle of Taransay) which it so often does.
Eventually my patience was rewarded as this thick carpet of torrential rain swept in and a deluge opened up. It is an amazing site to watch these huge storm clouds just whistle in from the Atlantic Ocean and drop their cargo over Harris. I have never seen rain like it anywhere else. The wind picked up just before the rain hit and so it was a real battle to keep the camera and tripod still enough to take the shot.
Even in such wild weather the colour of the sea in the Outer Hebrides still manages to amaze, with beautiful turquoise hues.
Shot using Canon EOS 5dmk2 + EF 70-200mm f/2.8 IS L lens @ 70mm f/16 for 1/13 ISO 100
Have a look to David’s blog, you will discover many more pics
Stories from Amsterdam
Let’s continue our journey through Romain’s lenses. Today, he enjoys us with a beautiful video of Amsterdam, showing faithfully the capital mood.
Use a bicycle could be the best advise we could give you. Discover the famous canals and enjoy the dutch way of life.
If you didn’t know Amsterdam yet, you will love it fast enough!
Instagram photo contest !
We are pleased to release our first Instagram photo contest, the now famous photo sharing app !
This contest starts now and will be finished the 04/27/2012 at 3pm!
Topic is simple and open to your creativity : spring time!
For the lucky winner, we will give away The Heralder 38 photo bag.
How do you enter ?
1/ You have to download the Instagram app on your iPhone/iPad/Android
2/ Take an original photo about Spring time
3/ Tag it with the hashtag #instaVanguard
4/ Share your pic on Twitter
5/ and follow our Instagram account VanguardEurope !
Because this contest is european, the winner will be designated by an european jury of 3 people which are bloggers, photographers and Instagram fans!
This jury will be make up of:
- Damien Roué, french blogger on www.phototrend.fr
- Patrick Ludolph, german blogger on www.neunzehn72.de
- Ian Keegan, Irish blogger on ikeegan.com
General rules are available here.
Now is your turn to play (and shoot!)
Ho Chi Minh with Claire & Max
Spending his winter vacations in Asia sounds good, isn’t it ? And more precisely in the old city of Saïgon, Vietnam, renamed Ho Chi Minh city.
Well, this is what Claire & Max did! Our french video-bloggers partners spent their holidays in Vietnam Continue reading »
