All posts by Thomas Stirr

Thomas Stirr is an author, executive coach, and photographer/videographer based in Grimsby Ontario Canada. He specializes in industrial photography, safety and corporate videos. His work also includes landscape and nature photography, and experimentation with photo art. Nikon Canada has featured Tom's work numerous times on Facebook and Twitter. To follow Thomas, please visit his website and his YouTube channel

Focus Stacking Example

For most people who just want to have some fun with their photography and have another ‘trick up their sleeve’ focus stacking can be an interesting technique to explore. To put this article in proper context, I’ve never used focus stacking for any of my client work, and I don’t profess to be an expert at the technique…but I have experimented with it. The following image is a quick focus stacking example I put together for this article. It was composed from 11 separate exposures. It’s far from perfect, but it does represent a typical result that most hobbyists can easily achieve. Continue reading Focus Stacking Example

Improving image eye flow by creating corner exits

Back in the day when I was working in corporate life I gained quite a bit of experience creating and managing advertising, usually print based. When we designed ads it became second nature for us to constantly think about fundamental concepts like visual depth, dominating elements, and ad balance. The goal was to achieve good eye flow in the ad. Since leaving corporate life I’ve tried to apply what I learned about advertising design to my photography.
Continue reading Improving image eye flow by creating corner exits

The Magic of “7” in Composition

This article will no doubt be the shortest one I will ever write about image composition as it contains only one, very simple idea. And, that is the number “7”. If you’re like me and tend to see the world around you as shapes and angles when you have a camera in your hands then this should resonate very strongly with you. Continue reading The Magic of “7” in Composition

Using Foreground Elements in Landscape Photography

Often when we are creating images, especially landscapes, we can get so focused on the main subject that we forget to think about incorporating a foreground element to help add depth and drama to our scene. There are a number of different approaches we can use. In this short article I’ll be illustrating three simple and effective ways you can incorporate foreground elements into your images. The first is something that I like to call a ‘bottom band’ during my landscape seminars. Continue reading Using Foreground Elements in Landscape Photography

Butterfly Images with Nikon 1 CX 70-300

Many photographers enjoy shooting images of insects, with butterflies being a favourite of many people. I went to the Niagara Butterfly Conservatory to take a few butterfly images, spending a couple of very enjoyable hours at the conservatory. Continue reading Butterfly Images with Nikon 1 CX 70-300

Photographing Captive Reptiles with Nikon 1

In many ways Nikon 1 gear is ideally suited to taking photographs of captive reptiles because of its light weight, portability, and the comparatively short minimum focusing distance of 1 Nikon lenses. In this article I’ll be discussing some of the things you can do to create some interesting images when using this equipment. Continue reading Photographing Captive Reptiles with Nikon 1