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I’ve been thinking lately about how best to optimize photographs without diving deep into the bowels of Lightroom or Photoshop. I took a good look at what my eyes see vs. what the camera actually captures and decided to explore the world of HDR.
In a recent blog post to Photoshop or not to…, I talked about the limitation digital sensors have over what the eyes see – I remain in awe of the human eye and its ability to adjust exposure, so to speak, to such fine levels. Consider in even the brightest days, the eye sees great details in even the darkest shadows. In a nutshell, HDR involves combining multiple images together at varying exposures to convey a better representation of what we see.
Last week, a photographer friend and I went on a scouting trip which included a side trip to Golden, Oregon – a ghost town with an outcropping of a few buildings – so I brought my tripod and gave HDR a try. The verdict…a wonderful experience encouraging me to incorporate more HDR into my photography. Here is my favorite shot and below it the three exposure-bracketed images.
HDR can include a number of images at varying exposures. For this project, I opted for 3 images, with an exposure bracket of -2, 0, +2. Click here to view more HDR images.
I guess I could have tweaked the normal exposure image in Lightroom or Photoshop to mimick what the combined HDR image revealed. I am much more please with the results that HDR provides and encourage others to take a look at this method to render a more realistic tonal balance.
I just picked up issue 95 of Digital Photographer and read an article about enhancing details of the sky. Hummm, I thought a little post processing, no harm, right?
Well I was shocked to find that the article proposed layering images from separate photographs to accomplish this task. WHAT? A photograph is one shot not a crummy sky shot layered with a better stock photo sky shot as the article suggested. This is not Photography, it is DIGITAL ART. Some may contest that HDR is digital art; however, I disagree. In using HDR, multiple shots of the SAME context is layered to imitate what the eye actually sees – see my blog post to Photoshop or not to…
To blatantly take a sky, or any other part, from one image, whether you took the shot or not and layer it into another image you may or may not have shot is a kind of plagerism. Call me a purist or whatever you want. Digital software is quickly blurring the line between photography and digital art and frankly don’t like it. I’m going to rant to the editor about my opinion – maybe you’ll see it in an upcoming issue. I do still like this magazine, just a little peeved at this particular article.
Ever ask yourself why you take pictures?
I suspect many of you do so to capture the moment of a vacation, party, family, etc. etc. etc. For professionals, it’s about bringing home the bacon. Recently, I spent some time with my sister and talked about what we like to shoot and why. My mind’s been churning on this for several days now.
A client hires a professional to take pictures, often with little or no leeway in what you shoot or how you shoot it. Blessed be the client who trusts in your artistic abilities. For those selling photographs in stores, at fairs or galleries (include me in this category), we are again asked to look at what others like more than what we want to shoot.
I find it difficult to balance this reality as I prefer to shoot what I like and hope it sells rather than always look at its income potential.
I remember the first time someone asked me whether I had enhanced one of my photographs. Without hesitation I answered, “What you see is what I saw”. Except in the fun, jovial moments of morphing images, my work involves recreating what I saw, the moment I chose to take the picture.
I’ve been reading a book on Light and Exposure and reading through the details helped me understand the idea of enhancing images. In a nutshell, technology cannot capture what the eye sees, those fine subtleties that only the human eye can convey. I don’t expect technology can ever recreate the wonders of our biological systems – scientists will continue to try – and believe there are some things we’ll never be able to recreate. The number of sensors in the human eye far outnumber those the best digital camera or slow-speed film can hold. Thank goodness though for that same technology that can give people sight.
At the end of my first photography class, my teacher invited Ansel Adam’s curator to show off some of that work. He flipped over Moonrise over Hernandez and pointed to at least 10 areas where the original image was altered (dodged and burned) during the development process. Since the dawn of photography, the development process has involved some level of human intervention, some radical, some subtle, but all in the pursuit of capturing some level of photographic emotion.
Enjoy those moments when an image speaks to you, independent of whether the image was altered or not. Appreciate how those images trigger feelings.
I was talking recently with my sister, who is also a seasoned photographer. Beyond the usual conversations, we had an in-depth discussion on how to make money with photography. Wow, we discussed a whirlwind of ideas, pitfalls, approaches. The bottom line, being a photographer in this time and era, well for one who wants to make money at it, is a challenge – only those who herd cats can appreciate this comment.
The long and short of it is three little words, words I heard when first learning economics – Supply and Demand. This law is pretty simple.
if supply goes up with no change in demand, prices inherently go down
if demand goes up with no change in supply, prices inherently go up
yadi, yadi, yadi
Ever consider why gasoline prices rise during summer? Wonder why refineries go “offline” for maintenance at the same time? Could someone be influencing prices?
When I look at photography in relation to the law of supply and demand, I find the financial window opportunity shrinking more and more. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, only that a more refined approach may be needed.
Considering Supply
With the advent of the digital era and point-and-shoot cameras, the supply of photographs has grown considerably. Albeit most of these shots don’t really qualify as saleable art or images, there are a good handful of great images shot with point-and-shoot. Consider that Getty Images, who recently signed an agreement with Flickr, will now browse Flickr portfolios and sign unknown photographers. Introduce the DSLR, Photoshop, other software and the scores of great film photographers, and it’s obvious that the supply of quality images has grown exponentially. The law, tried and true will impact the photography market. I do though think images (aka supply) can be delineated to the point that some images higher in demand than others will inherently demand higher prices. The trick is how to differentiate yourself amongst a sea of budding photographers. My approach to differentiation is my Abstract Art.
Considering Demand
Who purchases photographs? In my own self-interest, I hope you purchase one or more of my pictures. But honestly, look at the market: magazines, tabloids ($$$), newspapers, families, art collectors (i.e. Ansel Adams quality images) and lovers of photography – the list goes on. Some buyers purchase directly, others may hire contract photographers – oh to be a National Geographic photographer. It now looks as though stock photography is a primary source. Nonetheless, there is demand for photographs. Considering my love for photography, the demand for my images is smaller than the demand for the latest celebrity photograph. I still believe there is a market for it – which products remain unclear. Alas, only time, and the law of supply and demand, will tell.
So why am I blogging about this. I guess being in the thick of creating demand for my product, my photography, my art, I find myself working hand-in-hand with this immutable law. Have you ever considered how this law affects your life? Everywhere I look, I see this law in action.
Go figure, a Pisces and water. We go together like peanut butter and jelly – btw, an obsessed favorite childhood meal of mine.
I find something amazing and powerful about water. Wet, fluid, translucent, reflective, and oh so many photo opportunities. I love a good reflection shot. I find it’s really that simple, just add water.
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A visit to Tashi Choling, a Buddhist center outside Ashland, and an inspired attraction to water drew me to take these 1st two shots. The water ripple brought the red temple to life with it’s 5 colored prayer flags and yes, it’s upside-down. It was included in their 2010 calendar. The cattails was an unexpected summer shot, which has me thinking about shooting all 4 seasons from this same location.
Last May, I took a drive up to Crater Lake. Ready for a hike, I found the park still in snow so taking pictures was limited. I did make it to the rim of the crater to frame this nice shot.
Standing at the edge, the Crater spoke,
on the distant shore a creation awoke,
with the strength of an arrow,
Great Spirit split the world…
and I wept.
I find this reflection of Crater Lake brilliant and can’t help but to be in awe at the magic that can be found in nature. The last shot is of the Wild and Scenic Rogue River in late September. More work using the slow-shutter panning technique and voila, my Matisse I call Rogue Fall.
All the pros speak of magic light, either dawn or shortly thereafter and an hour or so before sunset. While I tend to be an early-bird, I rarely find the motivation to wake up, dress for the cold, pack my equipment and head out for those good morning shots. Afternoon seems to appeal more to my senses; however, this morning was a little different.
Living in the heart of Southern Oregon affords locals many near-by places to camp. This time, late August a few of us headed out to Squaw Lake, 10 or so miles from the Applegate Dam. Ahhh, the joys of car camping – I’ve really come to appreciate 3-day jaunts out, just me, my car, my tent and sleeping bag. Oh yeah, and my camera. Despite the numerous warnings not to feed the bears, I slept quite well and awoke around 6am. Stay in my bag or head out and shoot pictures. I guess I wouldn’t be writing this if I didn’t go out for a while and shoot.
There is something magical about early morning light, especially when you are nestled within a valley by the lake. I headed off down the road, ears and eyes alert for bears and captured some great images.
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One image in particular repeatedly receives attention. It’s my Monet and I call it Squaw Sunrise. At the shore of our campsite, I zoomed in on distant water lilies, well probably water weeds, but they were everywhere. Mind you, the lake remained in shadow, but the mountain walls were beginning to receive light. The mountains reflecting off the spots of water not covered in plants sparkled gold.
To this day, I’m still not fond of leaving a warm bed, but this image speaks to me softly, “explore early light”.
I’ve been thinking alot about how I capture some of my abstract art images and one moment definitely stands out.
Over the past 5 or so years, I have scanned many so-called photography magazines looking for one that captures my attention for more than a brief moment. Many failed, but one succeeded. Digital Photographer, a UK-based outfit puts out a magazine chocked full of pages and a CD to boot. It remains a pricey little bugger, and to my luck I found that Costco carries it (one month lag) for an affordable price. Each month writers discuss a new way of taking photographs. The issue that caught my attention spoke of panning at a slow shutter speeds.
Now I’ve always understood using slow shutter speeds to blur water, capturing sports activities using a fast shutter. Many sports photographers pan at high shutter speeds to emphasize motion. Well I thought, what about combining panning at slower shutter speeds (usually around 1/8sec). I tried straight panning, circle panning, even diagonal and soon learned this method creates quite a nice effect.
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About a month after reading this article, I found myself wandering the Applegate Valley near my home. I went to take a few shots of the McKee Bridge. I enjoyed taking pictures that day, but wasn’t really excited about the results I was getting. I wandered around the picnic areas, under the bridge, close-up’s, panorama’s and then headed over to the fish ladder. While snapping shots, watching the water wheel slowly turn, I decided to test out this show shutter panning effect. After several attempts adjusting both shutter and panning speeds, I found the sweet spot – my camera, the light and speed of the water wheel were well in tune. The last image is my favorite, in fact it is the background for my business card.
I learned some good things that day and realized the power of experimentation. This day’s shoot cemented another tool into my bag of tricks.
It happened Dec. 24, 2007. I had just left the hospital visiting my father and realized Seattle was having one of it’s few sunny days. I simply couldn’t pass up on this opportunity, so I grabbed my camera and headed off to the Seattle Center. What came of that day has spurred me on to find those uncommon perspectives of nature – My Abstract Art.
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The Seattle Center, for those who don’t know, houses the Space Needle among other buildings like the Science museum and the Experience Music Project building. What I found so unique about the EMP building were it’s 4′x12′ steel panels. They had been treated with something, who knows what, that created a wonderful color when the sun hit the building. As you can see from these images, the reflection of clouds and yes, the Space Needle created another layer of intrigue.
Since this day, I look at photography differently. I strive to find the uncommon, and believe I’ve done well so far.
