Variations---How to get a different look & feeling in a photograph

Fun. I think that is really the core reason why so many of us photograph. Let's face it, it is a downright blast, right!? We get to see things that other people never get a chance to, and often times only dream of seeing the things we do. We are lucky, very lucky my friends. It all comes back to the core belief though that we all do this to have fun, and one of the ways I like to enjoy that 'fun' it to be rather experimental when I am processing. It is honestly amazing the different thought provoking/emotional stimulating kind of photographs you can get from using different techniques in post work.

If you want to take a joyride sometime, try processing the scene not as you just saw it, but also work it. Convert it to B&W, add in a little softness, split tone the image, do some creative cropping, dodge and burn, all of which will give a very different look, feel and emotional appeal to the viewer. This is one thing I dearly love using Lightroom 3 for, it is honestly made for stuff like this with the built in split tone settings, the ability to color shift a precise exactness, the ability to soften exact parts of a photograph using the clarify settings.

To have a better understanding of exactly what I am talking about, see the shots below. Just remember, have some fun, be creative, and most of all enjoy yourself! After all, it is what it's all about, right?

John

photography, technique, tutorail, processing, photo, floral, macro, nature

Insights as an artist

For me, art has always been about a few things; 'getting lost in creation', self expression, communication, relaxation, witnessing to others, and maybe some sort of romantic thought process that others may truely see me for what I am, not to mention leaving something behind for loved ones when I am gone and having some sort of legacy. I consider photography as much as a valid art form as anything else, as much as illustration, fine art, design, photography has it's own place among them. I have never understood why so many argue that and I probably never will.

 

I guess it all started when I was just a kid, I would sit and draw things for hours, usually WW2 airplanes, as my grandfather was a p-38 pilot. I would get lost in doing it and not have a car in the world about anything else. To this day, I still get like that when it comes to post processing my photos...I turn the music on, I unwind, and I dive in. I try not to get to distracted by things on line, so I kind of disconnect from it all, or at least try my best to, when I do. It's always been in my blood, this whole creativity thing. When I was younger they discovered that I had severe learning disabilities, and never ever thought I would be able to read or write because of them. Some things I still have trouble with, math as example being one of those, but what they did find is that my right brain (the creative side) was compensating for the left side (the analytical side) It is kind of funny to see the reaction on peoples faces when I explain to them how I remember things like phone numbers and names, and how I relate it all to color, or how I still play video games at 41 years of age. (I love TF2!)

 

I see the world very differently I think than many others do, except maybe fellow artists. There are always photographers and always will be photographers who will try to capture a scene as best as it looked like. I tend to do this with mostly all my wildlife shots, as example. But for ever landscape I shoot, I generally have 2 versions of the same scene, sometimes 4 or 5 depending on processing. I almost always have a B&W version of a color shot at the bare minimum, but sometimes and quite often, I also have a more artistic version that involves split tones or a version done with a more retro feel with square cropping and such.Some balk at that and say it is "overcooked" or whatever, but I keep moving along, reminding myself that these same also are generally not my tager market either. I do what I want to, I do what I like, and I do what I enjoy, and I have found the images that are of a more creative nature tend to do better in certain markets than ones which are not, CD covers, greeting cards, etc. At least that has been my experience, your results may vary.

 



 

 

I remember reading commentary from an up and coming landscape shooter whose work is quite good, he shoots very realistic, and he said (paraphrasing here) "I don't understand why so many people post song lyrics under a photograph in their artist description. How does a song relate to a photograph?? I don't get that". Ahhh and here is where we separate the artists & creatives from the ones who aren't. Music is visual, at least to me it is, take a look at this set of lyrics below from U2's "Red Hill Mining Town" as example;

 

We'll scorch the earth
Set fire to the sky
We stoop so low to reach so high
A link is lost
The chain undone
We wait all day
For night to come
And it comes
Like a hunter child

 

Now I don't know about you all but I see a LOT of visual symbolism in that. For me, songs have always fit photographs and vice versa. From spot photos used in an editorial or a fictional story, to a CD cover used for a musician, it has always been that way. Can you imagine for example, the Eagles "Hotel California" or The Rolling Stones "Sticky Fingers" without those photos on the covers? How about Bruce Springsteen's "Born To Run"? I can hear maybe a few of you say "but John these aren't songs, they are covers of LP's", fair enough, but to that I would add single releases, which do have covers just like their long play counterparts.

 

Often times it goes deeper for me, it goes in to what I want the person looking at my work, the viewer, to feel, rather than just documenting a scene as a whole. I want to evolke an emotional response out of the viewer, and sometimes I want that to be a kind of shot that has processed in such a way. I want to stop the viewer in their tracks and make them think, and see the world in a different way, see the world in a beautiful way. I want to have people forget about the days pressures and stress, and be able to get lost when viewing my work. It is THAT emotional impact which I strive for, and the message that I want to get across in my work.You always hear about all these battles about HDR and if it is right or if it is wrong, I have never quite understood that. I have always been of the opinion that if you try to lasso and put restraints one a creative medium, it suddenly becomes no longer creative. There is no right and there is no wrong...something that a lot seems to have forgotten about these days, sadly.

 



John

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recent work and catching up on processing

Ahhh how times flies, it does seem though that winter is good for one thing; getting caught up on the backlog of  photographers to process! I thought that I would share a few with you all and what I have been up to as of late. All of these can be purcashed as framed and matted prints and posters over on my RedBubble site. If you are interested in them, simply click the photo.


"Summer Memories"
For this shot I really wanted to try something different and well, this is the end result which you see here. I went ahead and mimicked Cokin filters inside Photoshop to get the look and feel I wanted and desired. It is a 4 exposure blend HDR output through Photomatix.


"Winter Rising"
Now this is a shot which has eluded me for a long time. I wanted wanted a shot of the Moon rising over a cliff face like this, and finally after years I was able to get it. It is interesting to note the compression a 400mm lens can give you, thus making the moon look quite large.


"Alpine Winter"
I have to admit, this shot was a bear to expose for with the light being so diffused and trying to balance it all evenly. Not to mention I was being pounded with wind from the inevitable snowstorm that was fast approaching. Standing at close to 13,000 feet on the alpine, with this kind of weather coming in, is the last place you want to be. Needless to say I didn't stick around to long. Worth the challenge though I think!

So that is what I have been up to as far as processing goes. I will share some more later on
Happy shooting!
JohnTechnorati Tags: photography, photo, photoblog, photoshop, Colorado, Nature

The Inner Battle Among Photographers

Before I write this, I want you to all know where I am coming from. I am a Gallery Moderator on deviantART for Photography-Animals, Plants, & Nature (think basically, Nature Photography) I interact with literally thousands upon thousands of people, sometimes on a daily basis. And it is with that interaction that I started to notice a few things amongst my fellow photographers.

It almost seems there are 2 camps within nature photography, these who believe in capturing the image exactly as you saw it, and those who get a little creative with their images...maybe doing subtle HDR work, de-saturating images, and so forth. Oddly I have found it is the later, the creative camp, who is more likely to do B&W work, but anyways....

What I have come to notice is a BIG chip on the shoulder coming from the the "The eye crowd" as I call them, towards their creative brethren... and it often gets pretty heated. It kind of leaves me scratching me head honestly, wondering why so many feel this way, feeling the need to outright openly and attack others because they feel an image is wrong....I kind of wonder where the respect has gone.

Is it possible to even have a "right" or a "wrong" within a creative medium? I am not to sure of that. No 2 photographers are going to capture things the exact same way, and who cares if one shot has more post work than the other, in all honesty. I think without question, we all view things the same way when we take the shot, regardless if one photographer decides to go with a B&W and the other one replicating the scene the best as they can to the human eye....we are all photographers....

So what is causing these attacks and general disdain? That is what I would like to know myself. Now I don't mean to be offensive here, but honestly, there are a million and 1 cookie cutter waterscape shots that all look the same, long exposure, at sunrise/sunset, etc. And often, oddly, these folks attacking the more creative ones, their shots all look a lot alike. I honestly to God can not tell who shot what....is that a slam? I don't think so as much as it is an observance of a possible pattern. I honestly like their work, but at times, I can't tell who shot what...

Myself, I think I ride the fence a lot between the two camps, sometimes I take shots with a more creative workflow in mind, other times, I capture it as realistically as I can...needless to say, some of the comments I receive are well...."interesting", I will say that. That being said though, I have worked long and hard at developing my own style, and maybe that is what needs to happen....I remember an old quote that goes something like "People put down what they don't understand"....I guess those words really ring true, especially these days with what I have seen.

Anyways, here are a couple shots from this past Friday evening that I took up on Guanella Pass & Boreas Pass here in Colorado...stay tuned for a formal blog post about that, in the days to come!

--John







Technorati Tags: photography, photo, deviantart, landscape, outdoors, nature, colorado

Tales of Insomnia, Photography sites, and Postwork

Sigh....so here I sit again, my sleeping hours these days are now fully dysfunctional it seems. Thought I will say this, it has allowed me for some more time in getting work done. Not that I don't mind, but I would rather be sleeping I think. If anything it has certainly made photography interesting at higher altitudes! I thi9nk I get the lack of o2 effecting me more and more....Anyways, back to processing...

I am seriously behind though in processing my work. It's hard trying to keep up on all this stuff, between DA which basically drowns me, RedBubble, and Flickr has become totally ignored. I think I need a game plan to balance things a lot more. Add in that mix submitting to stock agencies and it is a full time job. And therein lies the problem...

I think I need a change of direction and need to start concentrating more on my work and really getting it out there instead of worrying about catching up on comments and so forth on deviantArt. Granted I love DA, but it doesn't pay my bills, and I wish to see my work published in greeting cards, on calendars, etc...I do sell a few prints here and then on DA but my stock sales run circles around it over and over. So with that in mind I am going to write an agenda out for myself and do my best at sticking to it.

Afterall I don't shoot just to my work on photography sites, I shoot because I love it, and also because I wish to sell my work and make a good living at it. Yet I process all these photos, post them around at various sites, and other than that, don't do much really. Time to have it start paying off and getting my rear in gear and writing query letters to publishers I think!

Anyways, that's my story and I am sticking to it!
---John

Sharing Some Processing Secrets

Yes, you read correctly the title. I thought that I would go ahead and share some of my secrets with you guys and how I process my photos. Why? Well why not!?!? I get a LOT of notes asking me "How did you do this and that?", "Can you help me with.....?", "I am curious how you got the look of such and such shot.....", etc. etc. So I thought that I would go ahead and basically tackle everything in one journal. So buckle up. go grab a cup of Joe, pull up a chair, and get ready to dive in! Away we go!

I shoot everything in RAW. And I am of the FIRM belief that if your camera has the ability and capability then you should be too. About the only exception I can see is if you are a sports shooter and your camera can't do 8fps in RAW when you need it. In reality, I don't know of anyone on DA who does that kinda work. There probably is somewhere though. There is just NO excuse for not taking your images in th ebest possible settings and at the highest quality allowed.

The whole creative process is essentially 2 fold for me. Basically when I am out in the field shooting, I know how I want a shot to look already. I study the composition and choose an angle which I feel works, cropping in camera, trying different focal lengths, etc. This is usually part one, so in my head I know what I want. Now this can and often gets totally turned around 180 degrees when I download my shots and I start the post work processing. Often times, I will change the way I wanted the shot to look in the field, inside PS. B&W, Sepia, Cropping, etc. Often I edit and then I compare..mentally and physically. Sometimes I like it how I shot it, other times, I prefer something else.

Now some of you may be surprised by this next one lol My camera's white balance is almost ALWAYS set on 'sunset' white balance. Why? Well...basically what I have discovered on my camera is this---when I shoot this way, everything has a yellow & orange tint, and often these colors are very hard to expose for correctly. By having my white balance as such, it allows me some greater flexibility when I go to edit my shots. Seeing as I shoot in RAW, my white balance is totally adjustable. So I can always fine tune it, but doing it first in camera allows for a lot of speed and also accuracy. I first started doing this last Autumn when I was shooting the colors of Fall, and since then I haven't changed it really.

Filters. A Circular Polarizer is absolutely mandatory, and Neutral Density filters are not far behind.

I use essentially 3 RAW converters in my workflow---Lightroom, Photoshop's ACR, and AcDeeSee Pro Photo v2. So why 3? Because they each do different things. There really isn't one whole solution that I have found yet when it comes to editing RAW files. Lightroom can do things AcDeeSee can't and vice versa. So I will use one if I am wanting a specific look & feel for a shot.

LucisArt is used in almost EVERYTHING I process. One of the great things about this program is it's ability to recover specific areas of dynamic range in a shot, like adding the sun's highlights on the blades of grass. The info is already contained within a photo, but by using LucisArt, I am able to bring that out farther.

Fred Miranda Photography Plugins & Actions are used constantly for final results. The "Intellisharpner" plugin is the greatest thing since sliced bread and I also use the "Velvia" and "B&W Workflow Pro" with regularity as well.

Layer Masking...and what a Godsend that is! Live it, love it, breathe it! For those of you who wish to see a technique similar to mine using layer masking, but a lil more in depth than mine, head over to the BlueHourPhoto Blog for a video demonstration.

I shoot almost 100% of my shots in ISO 100, and sometimes use ISO 80 or 200. Rarely ever will I shoot above that....unless I need a shot off FAST. But generally, I shoot in lower ISO ranges.

HDR. Sometimes I know when I am shooting a shot if it will be HDR, other times I don't know til I am editing. Some shots are made for the technique while others don't work at all for it. Not all shots have the look and feel that is right for it IMO.

I actually don't use my tripod much unless I am needing a longer exposure say with waterfalls, or if the light is low. I know I should, and don't get me wrong, I do use it, but often when I am shooting, I sometimes need to be fast, cuz I am holding up traffic behind me while I am out in the middle of the road! lol

I use Noise Ninja exclusively for Noise Reduction in post work and every shot incorporates it and often combined with layer masking as well. It is an essential part of my workflow.

Every single shot I take has the curves, levels, and exposure adjusted. Call it fine tuning if you will. Again, essential part of my workflow.

I don't have or use a dedicated Macro lens, instead I use my Minolta kit lens, an 18-70mm zoom that has 1:2 Macro capability, along with a set of macro filters (close up diopters) that screw on the end of my lens and can be stacked for greater magnification. These are cheap, 10- off ebay! And they work excellent!


Well that be about all that I can think of at the moment, if anyone has any questions, just feel free to ask me, and I will do my best in answering. I know there is a lot more that I do, but it is early yet and my brain doesn't function it's best at this time of the morning on Sunday's lol

I hope you all are having a nice weekend. Mine is going pretty good. Yesterday's photoshoot in Rocky Mountain National Park yielded some nice results. A little about that real quickly----it was rather challenging for me, as I was with a friend and we left late. But I was of the mind set that this would be something different, shooting in not optimal and harsh lighting, so I took it as a challenge. And if anything, it forced me to look and see things differently, and to look closer and not so much at the massive view styled landscapes, but something of a more intimate and closer flavor...immediate surroundings. I came out doing pretty good. Now if someone can just hold off the tourists...sheesh what a damn zoo it was. To many people, now ya know why I leave at 4am! So there were like 20 cars pulled off the side of teh road, all these people had their lil cameras taking pics, we pull up and here is this HUGE Bull Elk standing in a river in the middle of the forest 15 feet from the road. I roll down my window to fire a shot off with my 75-300 and all the sudden....I see someone ass in my frame! I was all 'wtf.....they are to close!" And I back off my lens to see this VERY GOOD looking redhead in a miniskirt, about 25, and I yell out, "you are to close to him! you are putting yourself in danger!" And she looks back at me, like I am being rude. So I say "Never mind the fact that your ass is a closeup in my 300mm and is about to be plastered all over the internet too! Not that I mind, you have a nice ass, but hey! Just a FYI!!!"..she moved but by that time the damn Elk was gone! Ugh people!
A few shots down below from RMNP......enjoy!
---John












Technorati Tags: Colorado, Photography, Photo, Tecnique, Photoshop, Rocky Mountain National Park, Processing, RAW, nature, Outdoors, landscape