Archive for March, 2008

Monochrome Birds and Lightroom Presets

Sunday, March 30th, 2008

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I wrote a post last year about black and white bird photography (or any other wildlife for that matter) and how we don’t see it that much  I have always wondered why that is, so I continue to explore various takes on it   Greg posted a comment on that post that it really depended on the situation and subject to make it work, and I tend to agree   Birds that are already black and white or shades in between are obvious candidates.

In this case, it is more of a ‘vintage’ look versus a neutral B&W just to try something different again   I was playing around with some presets downloaded from Matt’s Lightroom Killer Tips site   If you use Lightroom, his site is a great place to visit particularly on Mondays because those are “Preset Mondays” where he shares various presets he has developed or has become aware of   And of course, presets are a great toy to add to your creative playground!  You can never have too many, especially when it is so easy to scroll through them to get an idea of the effect or even promote an entirely new idea.

Once I create a few of these, other than for my own enjoyment, I begin to think about how other people might use them   For stock use or publication, probably very limited – but who knows  For fine art prints, I think there is potential for people looking for something a bit different   Maybe they have a particularly vintage or nostalgic decor, with also a love for nature   Well, a full color nature image might not exactly look right in such a room   But with a little creative processing, you can develop an entirely new look that might create a nice fit    Not that I am processing these for that specific purpose, but it is another example of the “ruler” that someone might judge an image by. 

Perhaps another post topic entirely, but for as much burden technology can place upon a photographer these days, it also can open up new doors to explore, and make it a bit easier also  Yes, sometimes a little fun is involved too!  :)

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Inspired by Stone project continues

Saturday, March 29th, 2008

Photos of my rock abstracts added to my gallery;

Blue Sky Biggs Picture Jasper

Feather Agate

Indian Paint Rock

TeePee Agate

Dendritic Jasper

Plasma Agate

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New look

Saturday, March 29th, 2008

I am sure if you are a return visitor, you just thought – “Did I click on the right site?”  :-)   Yes, I have finally changed my Wordpress theme after a long and hard search   For you Wordpress users, I am sure you can relate to the feeling of hunting and searching until your eyes are about to pop out because you find certain elements of themes that you like, and others that just completely turn you away    There are thousands of themes, and the search can be quite overwhelming.

I finally found one that fit my tastes and elements I was looking for, and wouldn’t you know it has the perfect name.. “Nature’s Highlight.”   It is cleaner, simpler, and has an elegant look I think    I like that I can have rotating images in the header  So clickity click your reload button to your heart’s content   So a special thanks to the designers over at refueled.net.

Please pardon ‘my dust’ as I am tweaking it a little here to get all the right elements back from my old one    I hope I don’t screw up any formatting, so if something looks wierd, don’t worry – it will probably be fixed within nanoseconds.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the new look   I appreciate your support and visitation, please let me know if something is not working right for you. 

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What’s in a name?

Wednesday, March 26th, 2008

RO8777.jpgSometimes everything   Being a nature photographer, sometimes I question whether it is better to be literal about the subject matter in labeling an image, or try to be a bit more creative and give it a unique ‘figurative’ name   Especially with my rock abstracts, I wonder if a figurative name would impose too much interpretation upon a viewer, instead of just letting them form their own vision   Especially because many of these abstracts are simply a combination of graphical elements that attracted my eye – and sometimes nothing much deeper than that   Other times I do actually see something within these patterns, and it gives more meaning to an image to label it as such.

RO8772.jpgI am sure some eyes might glaze over (other than you geologists and rockhounds out there! :-) ) if I labeled something “Biggs Blue Sky Picture Jasper”  versus something like “Giant Squid riding a wave.”   However, it will forever be implanted in their mind will be the image of a squid, perhaps unable to see anything else   Does this ruin the viewer experience of creating their own impression?   I have had this done to me with my own shots   Someone will tell me they see some object in say the feathers of a bird that I never saw before, and that object is now always on my mind when I look at that particular shot    It can be quite unnerving!

I wonder if for abstract works if it is expected that the artist provide some type of personal interpretation of a piece to give the viewer some insight on where to start in relating to it   Are they completely lost without a name?   I draw some parallels to music and relating to lyrics  Often it isn’t known if they intended as literal or figurative meanings   All questions in my head that I don’t really have any answers to, only to simply go with what feels right   So I have tried some more figurative names with my latest additions.

. (p.s. on a separate note, I have had a few comments about the font size on my blog being much too small   I have never noticed it because it always looked fine on multiple computers, even PC to Mac for me   I made a small change, but I would really appreciate if you could let me know if the font size is coming out too small for you  Thanks!!). 

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A pocket full of rulers

Monday, March 17th, 2008

Listening to Brooks Jensen’s podcast (LW0412 – Which ruler should we use?) brought to mind all sorts of concepts that I think about often when evaluating images   He brings forth the question of how we measure the quality of photographs  Is it against the historical masters or perhaps the pictures we see in a magazine or book?   While Brooks questions which ruler to use, I often wonder just how many we need to have to carry around   After all, in the world of measurements, we have metric rulers, standard ‘english’ units rulers, rulers with finer increments than others, some certified for accuracy   This question can come up every time we press the shutter   The rulers for an image may entirely depend on the context of their intended use and how we wish to evaluate our own images.

LA7548.jpgIs the ruler you carry around constantly refined by your own image history, or do you let someone else create the scale for you?   And is having the scale defined by someone else a good thing?   Is it a business potential ruler, or a personal growth ruler?   Is it a camera club ruler or an environmental significance ruler?   If you are involved in various aspects of photography, especially for business and for personal use – I don’t think you can avoid carrying around a pocket full of them   Quite often an image that may measure very well with one, will do quite poorly with another.

Besides the rulers that you are carrying around with you personally, perhaps also worth considering are the rulers that your intended viewers are also carrying around   Is your image being judged by a photo editor that has seen thousands upon thousands of similar shots, by a gallery curator looking for a piece that might fit their clients, or simply someone trying to match the color of their couch?   All have very specific sets of measurements in mind that might be mutually exclusive.

When evaluating images that we are looking at, I think it is important to be conscious of the ruler we are currently using, how it was developed as far as the scale, and if it may be necessary to change rulers all together   While the question of which one to use is certainly an important one, I also wonder just how big my pockets need to be.

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Outsourcing

Saturday, March 15th, 2008

I have been pretty much a do-it-yourself’er when it comes to my photography, website, and my photo business   I did the website from the ground up, make my own prints up to a reasonable size, do matting, mounting, and framing if needed, and make feeble attempts at all the accounting, marketing, submissions and tracking and ordering supplies for the business end   I am the shipping and receiving department  Last year I also invested in a printer profiling setup so I added making my own custom profiles to the mix (not sure that was a wise decision!)   Throw on top of that trying to learn new techniques in Photoshop or Lightroom, improve on your old ones (which no doubt results in wanting to reprocess some older shots), processing images, keeping up with technology, etc, etc  Oh yeah, keeping up the blog also  :-)

SA7551.jpgThe end result is how all of this side stuff can quickly rob you away from all the time you have to do what you actually enjoy – making images    When large orders come in, everything else comes to a grinding halt because there simply isn’t enough time in the day to do anything else. 

I have started evaluating some of the more labor intensive aspects of all these things I have wanted to control in the past   There is no question that cutting mats and mounting using bulk materials is more economical, but I’ll tell ya, my arm is getting awfully tired of dragging across the blade on the ol’ mat cutter   Anyone that cuts their own mats manually knows the feeling here   It is a time consuming, labor intensive task that although important for presentation, there is little creative energy needed   I completely understand why it costs so much to have a picture custom matted and framed    There are places with $20,000 computerized mat cutters that can do this faster, and with more precision, albeit at a higher cost than buying 32×40 sheets  Mat cutting be gone!

I am also considering perhaps an accountant  Not that keeping track of receipts and invoices is that big of a deal, but tax time can be a bear  And who is the wiseguy that made taxes due in prime wildflower season?   Photographers should have taxes due a few weeks after fall color ends   So if anyone has a suggestion for a good artists’ accountant – please shoot me an email   In the meantime, I need a lobbyist for moving that tax date.

I know some photographers who have also gone to the extent of outsourcing all of their printing   It certainly has some very appealing aspects to it – not dealing with ink clogs, scrap prints, stocking rolls of paper, and of course packaging and shipping them   But I think there is still some artistry that goes into making a print, and for that reason, I am going to keep that to myself  I still enjoy seeing an image become complete as a print.

Now all I need is a sherpa to carry my gear and a secretary to schedule in the good light days and I will be sittin’ on easy street   :-)

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First Blackbird

Friday, March 7th, 2008

I heard my first Red-winged Blackbird of the season today   Despite a lot of snow on the ground, at least it is one small sign spring won’t be too much longer  If not, these birds are in for a long wait    He was probably calling out to complain “Why did I come back so early???!”

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Seeing stones

Thursday, March 6th, 2008

“While there is perhaps a province in which the photograph can tell us nothing more than what we see with our own eyes, there is another in which it proves to us how little our eyes permit us to see.” -. Dorothea Lange. 

RO8759.jpgThis is one of my favorite quotes because it pretty much sums up the impact photography has had upon me   I have kept it on my index welcome page for that very reason   I have noticed though, however, that once you start to ’see’ like a photographer – it is hard to stop doing so   Perhaps this is a bit detrimental to being just a normal person  :-)    You appreciate things for very different reasons than some others   Your mind ends up processing everything in terms of light quality, shape, forms, and textures, along with all the relationships between them   A rock is no longer just a rock.

ro8754.jpgIn my “Inspired by Stone” work,  I know that I look at these rocks differently than perhaps a geologist would, or an archeologist, or some passer by that might happen to see one on the ground   Not every piece of stone catches my eye like some others do, even though it might hold more significance to one particular field of study   Someone might see a random pattern or see the rock as a whole – while I see a cave painting of a volcano erupting   (Yeah, OK, that isn’t too hard to see here  :-)  )

I think this happens no matter what type of photography you practice, or any other art that someone might get absorbed in   From portraits to nature and wildlife, you develop a sense of appreciation of some of the details that are normally overlooked   Part of the fun is pointing those things out   And while we can say this enriches our experiences, we must also recognize that it is possible to over analyze to the point where we lose sight of the big picture    

. Pictured:  Burro Creek Agate , African-Queen Picture Jasper

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Winter go away

Wednesday, March 5th, 2008

WI8404.jpgI. am so very ready for winter to be over with  Even though I have accumulated some unique images during the winter months,  this year in particular I just haven’t much of the motivation to get out    Michigan has been through a roller-coaster ride this season – with frequent snow storms followed by spring like days then plunging again below freezing  Crazy stuff   We are yearning for some consistency here     I don’t even want to get into how pitiful the roads have become with new record potholes being found every day   Oddly other states, other countries with the same freeze / thaw conditions have pristine roads, yet our climate is always the excuse for why they are so bad.

It is also a time of year where you can really fall into a rut  So I am thankful I have started my Inspired by Stone project to at least feel like I am producing something to keep that side of my brain active    I am investigating some alternative presentation methods for my prints  I have some more rocks on the way to me, some I still have to photograph, so I think I will have plenty of subject material to last me into spring    And perhaps it is a good thing I don’t feel like going out, gives me more reason to catch up on my guitar practice, do some photography indoors, and try to savor the anticipation for spring   While I am at it with rocks, maybe a pothole project isn’t too far of a stretch.

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