Alicia’s Part II

A few days ago I was privileged to meet another bride at Alicia’s to see if we’re “right” for each other.  The photographer/bride/mother relationship is important and needs to feel comfortable on all sides.  If that connection is not strong and easy it’s shown through images containing stiff smiles and tense lines.

The deal is not officially sealed yet, but my time with this family was comfortable and free-flowing.  I hope to be a part of their wedding day.

After reviewing my first Alicia’s post with the semi pink photos and some harsh pinks, I attempted to tackled these in post with a bit less contrast and really worked with the white balance.  I started out with my  x-Rite Color Checker Passport and for a few of the images it worked well.  There were some, however, that proved much more of a challenge as the subjects were hit with three different types of light.  It seems that no matter how I set white balance, if my subject is in mixed light, there will be color casts and funky color mixes all over.

Another difference in these images was the glass I used.  My first post was shot entirely with the 70-200 and this time I had a fixed 50.

Rock it… Rocket

A few days ago I had an extremely rare 1 hour gap between changing diapers and grading papers and I found myself wandering the streets of downtown Bellingham, camera in tow.  The sun was setting, creating some stunning silhouettes.

This rocket first caught my attention and I took my first shot eclipsing the sun with the rocket’s nose.  It looked pretty sweet in my LCD screen but upon further inspection, the rocket was basically cut in half and I realized that the effect I wanted with the sun (to mimic a rocket’s blast upon takeoff) was completely misplaced.

It didn’t take much to realize that if I just squatted down I’d be able to get much more of the rocket’s tail in addition to the eclipsed sun reflected more accurately the placement of released fuel.

I like this one much better.

 

Hipstamatic

I know the horizon line isn’t supposed to bisect an image, but I kind of like this one.

Taken from my car window with an iPhone.  I used the Hipstamatic app.  Super fun if you have access to it.

Alicia’s Bridal

A friend invited me to a local bridal shop today to meet a bride in search of a photographer.  I love weddings.  Well… not actually being IN one, but I love being behind a lens DURING one.  There’s something invigorating about the hype and beauty of the day; everyone looks finished and the flowers are dewey.  There’s every reason for a smiling crowd and there’s no shortage of festive moments to capture.  Having said all this, I have only been a part of two so far, but they leave me hungry for more.

I don’t know if I’ll be invited to be a part in this bride’s day, but tonight I was able to capture a few images to mark the beginning of her next chapter.

Despite setting a custom white balance, the colors still seem varied as well as the contrast.  Some slightly pink, some greenish.  My goal in the next couple of months is to get a better grip on color, making post processing simpler and creating a series of images that look like they came from the same roll of digital film.  Especially portraits.  Skin tones have me baffled.  I’ve got the right tools to make it happen… now I need to learn their mastery.

Impromptu

I know you’re “supposed to” tell a story with each image. It makes them much stronger and more interesting. I couldn’t agree more, actually. Sometimes, however, there’s a moment calling to be captured that just appears.

This image has no story. At least not to anyone but me. What story is told by a girl crouching toward a fence post looking out? But… I love it regardless. Not because it captures her personality; it doesn’t do that at all.

Mostly I love it because I am her mom. But I also love it because I was on an impromptu shoot-site reconnaissance trip crouched down playing with how to frame the fence for a photo, and in the middle of her playing hide-and-seek with me behind the fence post, she had a sudden moment of stillness and I got it.

Riverbank Lady

Some dear friends came for a visit this weekend and one of the days we took our families to a nearby playground.  Our day’s intention wasn’t a photo shoot at all but I brought my camera along just in case.  It turned out that the wife let me take a few images of her on the bank of the adjacent river.

Nothing was intentional as far as photo-prep (hair, wardrobe, etc.), but I was more looking to use Andrea Joki’s rule of “place the background first, then place a person in the scene” (or something to that effect).

Here was my result.

Much more to the right or left and there would be chain link fence or playground equipment peeking in the frame.  It’s definitely no serene lakeside or picturesque mountain scape, but for an impromptu attempt, I am happy.

The other thing I played with was drawing the eye.  David duChemin does a fantastic job of describing what the human eye is drawn to and how to aid that in post processing.  Among my tactics was keeping my friend a little warmer and cooling down the background a tad.  Apparently our eyes are first drawn to warmer colors before their cooler counterparts.

ETA (24FEB): The more I look at THIS edit of THIS image, the more I really don’t care for it.  It’s far too orange.  And her face is far too dark.  Looks like it’s been hit by a nuclear paintbrush.  I pondered weather or not to remove it until I had an edit I was happy with but instead, remembered the entire purpose of this blog in the first place; to mark my photographic progress along the way.  This is a thread in my tapestry.  For that reason, I leave it… along with my original words.

Eel Cloud

Saw this GIANT eel in the sky the other day on the way home from work.  I couldn’t take my eyes off it.  Not too sure of the path to lead a viewer’s eye through this image or how to accomplish that right now.  I’m currently reading one of David duChemin’s (previously noted as DuChemins, revised to DuChemin, and now corrected to reflect the name on his own website… duChemin) books, Vision and Voice, and am hoping I can learn a little about how to creatively and effectively use editing tools to implement my photographic voice.

Snapped out my car window:

•70-200 @ 85mm

•1/125 @ f/7.1

•Lightroom 3 modifications include a bit of darkening the edges and adding contrast to the main cloud.

•Seems like there’s a bit of red in the shadows.  I didn’t add any split toning or anything… I even checked just now, to be sure.  Hmmm…

Say When

A colleague of mine and I have been discussing, to some extent, the ethics behind the art of photography.  We’ve been looking at the very fuzzy line between photographic fact and fiction.  At what point is the photographer applying so much post production that it creates a mood or feeling so far from the truth at the moment the image was made, that in essence it becomes a lie?

This is a question that can take many deep routes… too philosophical to explore on this blog, here, tonight.  But I do understand that this question involves considering the photographer’s interpretation of what was happening at the time of capture, his/her background, view of the world, mood as the shutter was released, etc.  There are books, articles and blogs dedicated to sorting out how much is too much in the ethics of photographic art.  David duChemin is one such author and blogger with a solid voice for this type of thing and my current go-to for issues such as these.

It seems that in every other medium the artist has an enormous amount of latitude in how they represent their ideas.  In the painting world there’s photorealism, impressionism, expressionism, realism, abstractionism and abstract.  These prints range from something so closely resembling a real life creature to dots splattered across a canvass.

When discussing photography, however, you always start out with a real life scene captured on a camera’s sensor.  From there, the artist takes into her hands digital tools that can enhance colors, remove colors, or alter an image entirely.  The creative possibilities are virtually endless and yet the question exists: Is there a “too far”?

My short answer is:  I think there’s a place for everything.  This comes with a lot of musing that will remain unexplored for now (and maybe forever).   Below, however, is one image that was at the heart of this debate between me and my friend.

What originally struck me about this scene, what motivated me to lift my camera to my eye in the first place, was the loneliness of the scene; the tree had no leaves and the bench had no visitors.  The mood of these two key pieces was gloomy.

What didn’t fit the glum subjects, however, were the colors present in the sky and grass.  In the original image, the grass was luscious and green from our recent winter rains and the sun was at an angle to my lens that made the sky an intense blue.  When I looked at the image in Lightroom3, these bright colors completely clashed with what I originally saw.

So, instead of keeping and enhancing the vivid blues and greens, I chose to desaturate everything and create a cloudy, much more glum feel to the entire image, but completely opposite of what the day actually represented.

Is this right?  Is this ethical in photography land?  I think so because it’s what I saw in the first place.  Right or wrong, it makes for good continued discussion about that fuzzy ethics line that plagues artists of all kinds.

Mirror of Me

Friday was a day I wish could be rewritten.  Not because it was a terrible day, but because I had opportunities to make it fantastic and I made it just mediocre instead.  There feels like no more of a wasted day than this.  The images below mirror how I felt that day to perfection, although, at the time of capture, I had no idea how accurately they were a reflection of my insides.

I took a professional day at my favorite local cafe to write a persuasive unit for my middle school students.  After a couple of hours struggling with ideas and finally succumbing to the radiant heat of the corner wood stove, focus and motivation were rapidly waning.  It seemed like the perfect time to take a 20 minute break down at the pier in hopes that the gusting wind would reset my sails.

It did.  And that’s where I found the comical little gull who chose to take the blustery wind tail-feathers first.

There’s nothing more than a snapshot here.  I just rolled down my window and aimed my 70-200 racked out.  I closed down the aperture enough to keep the background rocks and pilings recognizable.  Then waited for a gust of wind and rapid-fired a few shots.  I’m not so geeked on the processing of this.  It was a really brisk, cloudy, and blustery day and I think I gave it too much warmth and vibrance.  Perhaps a re-do is in its future.

Returning to the cafe I plugged away on my writing unit with the fuel of my newly inflated sails (for a few minutes at least).  As the day drew to a close, however, I was back to unfocused and too cozy to be productive.

I packed up and loaded my books and computer in the car to officially end my work day.  On my way home I passed a few trees that looked as dark and gnarly as I felt.  One in particular caught my eye.  I wanted to study it more so I parked the car and walked across the street just to see the whole looming thing; It seemed to ascend at least 100 feet.  I ended up walking half way down the next block just to get this whole tree in my big lens.  The sun was right behind it making a perfect silhouette and I couldn’t resist taking a few photos.

Looking back at how gloomy and gray I felt, it’s interesting to me that I was so drawn to this scene.  My aperture was closed to f/22 and I liked the ss at 800.  When loaded onto the computer at home, I ended up in the split-toning section of Lightroom 3.  A slight dark blue was added to the shadows and a little golden-orange to the highlights.

In the end, I realize my day was only mediocre for my original mission of completing my writing unit.  Two unexpected images came out of the day that, however, and for that I am pleased.  While they may not be award winners, I had vision (on the tree one at least – thanks David DuChemin) and created something that stemmed from a feeling which, for me, landed way beyond mediocre.

Bookends

Most months I’m completely satisfied with our location on the planet.  Our geological diversity and uniqueness rivals most other destinations around the globe.  We’ve got mountains, rivers, lakes, saltwater straits, islands, glaciers, deltas, valleys and rain forests, all of which have coaxed me out of bed long before the mouse in my brain starts running.

Here is just a hint of what I see on a weekly basis.  The morning sunrise over The Sisters has been fire the last few mornings.  And on my way home from work today I spotted a lone paddle boarder (is that what this sport is called?) making his way across the bay.

I’ve been recently captivated by the “less is more” look in land and seascapes and here’s my take so far.  Not sure how to edit them for the greatest impact but at least I’m learning to see simplicity through my lens.