OMG, a full range of emotions and other things are going thru my mind

First off, I do not ...well, not normally.....you know, be in the shot, I am the photog, so it is not easy to be here, or there, or in this case, EVERYWHERE.

What do I think of the process.

PLANNING is essential.  Positioning.  I even had some shift and do NOT know why or where the source was.



I took many photos so I have lots of layers to choose from.  Used only 6.  The others were actually very good poses, but bad positions, too much overlay.

As a first attempt to check out the process, it was fun, exhausting, and frustrating and amazing....all rolled into one.  Everyone in my home is asleep, so I had the family room to my self.  Not an ideal spot, but ok as a test site.

I have ideas for my true sessions, and will need help for sure.  I have someone lined up to be an assistant, just need to finalize the days and times and the scene and sketch it out, I called it a story board, what ever it is, it needs the positions, and the proposed end result as a vision.  The steady camera, no zoom creep, so will use a prime lens, lock down the spot, test the lighting, make sure I LOOK at the camera in many of my poses, it does ADD to the drama to see ones face.  And the layers of my positions varied, they should be representative of close, middle and far from the camera position...to show depth.  That is my plan.

Themes, props, lighting, and a good plan.   I am ready to relax, enough for tonight.  Friday, I will do another test run, knowing what I know NOW.

I did not even get into the painstakingly detailed work needed for masking.  But I knew it would be difficult.  This will be a big differential in a good output Vs a mediocre one.   Tight lines, good believable blending of layers.  DETAILS the devil is in the DETAILS

BTW I did not even touch the photos in LR for anything, just dumped them straight into PS ...the new D600 handle the task quite well I feel. 


ISO6400   f/9    1/30    The real test is getting more reasonable specs to the lighting is not over done, and there are still adequate details in the shadows, the faces must be clear and viewable.


So much to think about ......but it was fun.   And took less than an hour to go from camera to final selection, then the masking....OH the masking.....allow plenty of time for that chore.

Well here is is MONDAY OCT 29th and no teacher, so the mice are playing

You have heard me mention the name "Scott Kelby" right?

If you have heard of Photoshop, then you most certainly have heard of Scott Kelby.  If not, then that cave you have been living in needs internet connectivity.

Mr. Kelby is without much argument the most prolific Photoshop user known on this planet.  Yes there might be others equally competent, but this man has shared his knowledge and skills in such a way as to endorse a cult like following.

Back in a day when I first found myself exposed to Photoshop [there was no CS product back then]  he was showing his wares thru many avenues, books, web sites, etc.  His work was simply amazing, he would take a photograph, and then duplicate it entirely digitally without anything in his image being real, all constructed via PS techniques.  It took him months for one image.

 And we whine about spending three or more hours in a lab session just to get one print out

 [ouch that is a social comment on the plight of our current printing issues, 527 error rules our lives right now]

The link is to his site and a blog is within it.  READ IT  LEARN FROM IT  EMBRACE IT.

I was recently looking thru the BLOG and the Oct 24th entry in particular the post was by someone who told his story that captured the evolution and depth of this product, PS.  The statement about this person spending up to 10 hours on a single portrait photo was something that stood out for me. His work is noted through out the posting.  Many photo before and after PS techniques applied.  No he does not go into the depths of what he did per se.  But that this is what can be done, given the time and effort.  You must decided if you just want this EXHIBIT A  a photo right out of your camera, or this EXHIBIT B  a fully worked PS image that will knock your socks off.  These things do not just happen, they take hard work and hours of effort is the point he is making, but, given the end product, this person finds it well worth his time and energy to do the heavy lifting.

http://scottkelby.com/



Enjoy!


Just so you know, I still own and use PS but with LR I find most of my personal work can be performed well enough in LR.  But LR cannot do what PS does.  Likely never will.  These two products exist for different reasons, while they link to each other and compliment each other in so many ways.  PS is the big daddy and will always be the big daddy.  If you want to truly WORK a concept, then PS is the tool you go to.  Yes it will take time, and yes it has a steep learning curve.  But WOW can it do things even your imagination might not be able to exceed.

LR is in full support of you as a photographer.  

PS is in full support of you as an artist.  

That's my story and I am sticking to it!

Who dat Girl?

For those that missed it....


Who dat Girl?

      A big "thank you" goes out to the person whom spoke, the person whom arranged the spoker [yes I meant to say spoker and not speaker, just to see if ANYONE is paying attention?]  and the Digital Photo II class whom allowed outsiders to participate without a peep of "who might you be dude?"

 Spoker:   "Jennifer Silverberg"

It was a great photo show, and discussion.  

To the administrator of the event....Thought the food provided was less than expected [there was NONE!]

This event was a highly educational and entertaining session.  GLAD I WAS THERE!

Besides it was raining hard outside, and it was a safe place to be. 

 I did sneak these shots, and during my stealth I caught  up with a few of the stern glances from KS, sorry, but it is what we do, right? 

Things like this certainly energize one to get out there and want to shoot as much as you can.  

You can find more about our guest speaker at her site, http://www.jsilverberg.com/

See you all WEDNESDAY at class

Portraits.....who dat?

A few of my friends and family whom have graced my sensors recently......but these will not make the final cut for submittal.  

And one that is a  part of my archived past that could not participate:  but I like it...it is HER!

What is most frustrating to me at this time...

I really want to perform at the highest level I can when I do my photography.  But compromises abound.  Time and opportunity are the major obstacles.

Am I in the right place at the right time to have OPPORTUNITY to capture a stunning shot?  It is a combination of skill, anticipation, training, luck, access, knowledge, and probably a bunch of other factors that escape me that go into getting a truly inspirational shot.

Having the base line skill is so very helpful, as is having the best equipment you can afford.  Neither are essential, but certainly very helpful in pulling off a shot under less than ideal circumstances.

Lately it seems the major hindrance to my success is TIME.  Even when I have tried to construct a portrait shoot, the time of the subject is minimal and adds to the stress of the moment and limits my ability to experiment and find that sweet spot of a shoot.

For instance I am working hard [at least I think so] at trying to construct a variety of various shoots with different subjects.

Most recently I finally got a hold of an old friend, who had some assets in his possession that I thought would make for an interesting scene.  These items are a part of who he is now as well as who he was in the past.

After weeks of calling a bad cell phone number, I got the right number, found a day he was off, and he had time to work with me.  We arranged a time and place to do the shoot.  I checked the weather.  Got my equipment ready, charged the batteries, cleaned the lenses and bodies, set up my kits [ what I call my combination of shooting devices, a body, lens, accessories, etc]  I would use three kits, one with a fast lens 50mm f/1.8 for hand held use, one with a variable but high quality piece of glass, a 24-70mm on a tripod, and a 100-300mm on a monopod.

Got set up in my front yard and was ready almost 35 minutes before the appointed time for the arrival of the subject.  He had a short window of availability on Friday.  He had to be somewhere at 12noon.  So we picked 10:300am and would shoot until 11:15am to give him ample time to get to his destination.

I sat as it started to mist just a bit, but the cloud cover gave me beautiful light.  I got out and shot the trees and fall leaves with their near full term color.  Test shots proved rich and lovely in terms of the light as I had hoped.  The mist was very faint, I covered my equipment, it was at ambient temperature, so no fogging would occur, an important lesson that I have learned to account for over the years.

HAVE YOUR EQUIPMENT AT THE SAME TEMP AS YOUR SHOOT WILL OCCUR!

10:30 am comes and goes, how long do I wait to get nervous, 5 minutes, 10?  15?  I know this person well in some respects but not so much lately, is he dependable as he used to be?

15 was my limit for as I could calculate his time was starting to go away.  He lived about 10 - 15 minutes away.  He answered that he was nearly ready and would be leaving soon.  He arrived at my site at 11:05 am.  He was supposed to leave at 11:15am at our original planned shoot timetable.  So I knew I had to work fast, I shot over 200 frames in about 20 minutes, he stayed on until 11:25 and left with ample time for his next task.

Did I get done what I needed?  I think so, this is one time experience helped, and the three separate set up kits helped me gain some different prospectives quickly with few delays. 

But I KNOW that I left some great shots on the floor as they say in Hollywood.  I did not get a chance to work the subject into an iconic position, to get HIM as I know him as well as I might have had I the time to work with him for a pose and position that I could fell my way into.

He was tight and his expressions were tough to feel good about, so I took more shots than I might normally have done, in the hope that I might catch him at ease between the ready aim shoot times.

As I am working the after shoot photos, I find some gems, ones I like, ones that I feel the subject will like, ones others might like, I sure hope this is the case.

Frustrated in that I had a great opportunity, I controlled the where, the light was predicted and it produced the stellar results I had hoped, but the subject was a fleeting moment and I had just 20 precious minutes to work my magic.

This is why we MUST know what we are doing, to make the best of these times.  

My PSA study group co-members share stuff....

I think I have mentioned my membership in PSA and one of it's many study groups.  One of the benefits is the ongoing photog sharing that occurs.  Besides the monthly photo critiques, we pass along words of encouragement, wisdom and share photog information as we accumulate it.

Here is an offering I just got today from a fellow member.

http://www.worqx.com/color/itten.htm

It is about COLOR.  I am still going thru it as well as other links she has given me to ponder.


There is a tremendous amount of depth to this tutorial, so give yourself ample time to sample its wares.



PSA is not the prostate value most men obsess over once they reach the age of 40 but it is Photographic Society of America.

Just thought I would make sure you do not confuse that terminology.

Home Studio FIRST SHOOT Karla

My wife recently suggested we convert our Home theater room into a Studio for my photog use.

While far from ideal in size it did have some distinct features that makes it very much an asset to my photog endeavors.

From my first shoot with a model friend, Karla


I hope it is but one of many more to come.

Studio Lighting on the cheap!

http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/diy-photography-studio-lighting-for-under-200/

Got a couple of spare light stands and a space to install some lighting?  Then this instructional video might open up a new world of studio set up for around $ 200.  Unbelieveable results are shown with the most simple of lighting equipment.


Joe Edelman outlines in his two part video series, even those with no carpentry skills can whip up.


http://www.joeedelman.com/

He loves to shoot PEOPLE, and not in a bad way.  No humans are hurt.  I find him entertaining and engaging in his style and manner.  And his outcomes are stunning.

The American Museum of Photography

http://www.photographymuseum.com/main.html

Worthy of some time to peruse the site....

Chewy RIP 10/8/2012

Our family friend and companion, CHEWY [he had some long winded pedigree name, but we changed it when we got him after he proceeded to chew on just about anything and everything he could, hence the moniker placement] passed this Monday.  

He was not in very good condition for quite some time, but was managing without pain, he was blind in one eye, and nearly so in the other, and started to lose his hearing.  But this past week, he suffered...daily. and we knew the end was near.  The VET advised his time was up due to the pain he was in, so we put him in doggie heaven.  We had him the longest of all of our dogs.    At this time our kennel is empty....

It is a sad time in the Hart home at this time.

All aboard, Diane Arbus is our next stop...

Such an interesting life, and her path thru the back stage world she lived and existed in is simply divine.  We have a movie about her to provide one perspective, but her work stands as the testimony to whom she might have been inside.  She found a sense of reality in everything she saw and touched with her camera.   She took us to places we might not ever knew existed if not for her photographs.

Some thoughts by and shared words from:

DIANE ARBUS

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A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know.

Love involves a peculiar unfathomable combination of understanding and misunderstanding.

I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn't photograph them.

I always thought of photography as a naughty thing to do - that was one of my favorite things about it, and when I first did it, I felt very perverse.

Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats.

Regardless of how you feel inside, always try to look like a winner. Even if you are behind, a sustained look of control and confidence can give you a mental edge that results in victory.

I never have taken a picture I've intended. They're always better or worse.

Nothing is ever the same as they said it was.

I work from awkwardness. By that I mean I don't like to arrange things. If I stand in front of something, instead of arranging it, I arrange myself.

My favorite thing is to go where I've never been.

You see someone on the street, and essentially what you notice about them is the flaw.

The more specific you are, the more general it'll be.

The world can only be grasped by action, not by contemplation. The hand is the cutting edge of the mind.

Men are but children of a larger growth, Our appetites as apt to change as theirs, And full as craving too, and full as vain.

The thing that's important to know is that you never know. You're always sort of feeling your way.

When you grow up your mother says, 'Wear rubbers or you'll catch cold.' When you become an adult you discover that you have the right not to wear rubbers and to see if you catch cold or not. It's something like that.

My favourite thing is to go where I've never been.

Say it Annie! Annie Leibovitz speaks to us....

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While the following are not directly from her videos that we viewed they support many of the thoughts and concepts we viewed.  

When I say I want to photograph someone, what it really means is that I'd like to know them. Anyone I know I photograph.

A thing that you see in my pictures is that I was not afraid to fall in love with these people.

Computer photography won't be photography as we know it. I think photography will always be chemical.

In a portrait, you have room to have a point of view. The image may not be literally what's going on, but it's representative.

Nature is so powerful, so strong. Capturing its essence is not easy - your work becomes a dance with light and the weather. It takes you to a place within yourself.

I am impressed with what happens when someone stays in the same place and you took the same picture over and over and it would be different, every single frame.

Sometimes I enjoy just photographing the surface because I think it can be as revealing as going to the heart of the matter.

It's a heavy weight, the camera. Now we have modern and lightweight, small plastic cameras, but in the '70s they were heavy metal.

My hope is that we continue to nurture the places that we love, but that we also look outside our immediate worlds.

There must be a reason why photographers are not very good at verbal communication. I think we get lazy.

It's hard to watch something go on and be talking at the same time.

When you are younger, the camera is like a friend and you can go places and feel like you're with someone, like you have a companion.

The camera makes you forget you're there. It's not like you are hiding but you forget, you are just looking so much.

At my Rolling Stones' tour, the camera was a protection. I used it in a Zen way.

If I didn't have my camera to remind me constantly, I am here to do this, I would eventually have slipped away, I think. I would have forgotten my reason to exist.

The pictures of my family were designed to be on a family wall, they were supposed to be together. It was supposed to copy my mother's wall in her house.

I feel very proud of the work from the '80s because it is very bright and colorful.

I don't think there is anything wrong with white space. I don't think it's a problem to have a blank wall.

My lens of choice was always the 35 mm. It was more environmental. You can't come in closer with the 35 mm.

Coming tight was boring to me, just the face... it didn't have enough information.

If it makes you cry, it goes in the show.

Quotes by Sally Mann an artist that we studied about in class.

The artists that we studied in class are ones that I have long admired and known about.  Their work is no stranger to me, nor is their life and the path to photographic success.  The words offered are but a glimpse of how THEY have expressed themselves to the world.  I start with:

SALLY MANN

.photographs open doors into the past but they also allow a look into the future. - Sally Mann, Photography Speaks II : 76 Photographers on Their Art by Brooks Johnson (Editor), Chrysler Museum , ISBN: 0893816523 , Page: 134

....I struggle with enormous discrepancies: between the reality of motherhood and the image of it, between my love for my home and the need to travel, between the varied and seductive paths of the heart. The lessons of impermanence, the occasional despair and the muse, so tenuously moored, all visit their needs upon me and I dig deeply for the spiritual utilities that restore me: my love for the place, for the one man left, for my children and friends and the great green pulse of spring. - Sally Mann - Still Time catalogue Alleghany Highlands Arts and Crafts Center, 1988

“…the things that are close to you, are the things you can photograph the best…”

“…and unless you photograph what you love, you are not going to make good art.”

“it’s always been my philosophy to try to make art out of the everyday and ordinary…it never occurred to me to leave home to make art.”

 Sometimes I think the only memories I have are those that I’ve created around photographs of me as a child. Maybe I’m creating my own life. I distrust any memories I do have. They may be fictions, too. 

 Like all photographers, I depend on serendipity, and when you’re photographing children there’s often an abundance of it. I would have an idea of what a photograph would look like and then something would happen—a dog might lumber in and become a critical element. I pray for what might be referred to as the angel of chance. 

 When the good pictures come, we hope they tell truths, but truths “told slant,” just as Emily Dickinson commanded. 

 ... if it doesn’t have ambiguity, don’t bother to take it. I love that, that aspect of photography—the mendacity of photography—it’s got to have some kind of peculiarity in it or it’s not interesting to me. 

 If I could be said to have any kind of aesthetic, it’s sort of a magpie aesthetic—I just go and pick up whatever is around. If you think about it, the children were there, so I took pictures of my children. It’s not that I’m interested in children that much or photographing them—it’s just that they were there... . 

 Sometimes, when I get a good picture, it feels like I have taken another nervous step into increasingly rarified air. Each good-news picture, no matter how hard-earned, allows me only a crumbling foothold on this steepening climb—an ascent whose milestones are fear and doubt. 

 I’m so worried that I’m going to perfect [my] technique someday. I have to say its unfortunate how many of my pictures do depend upon some technical error. 

to Josh

We talked about the Dali, and his melting methods....

A quick and dirty Liquify in PS5

 

THE AFTER [used four of the many options in the tool, less than 30 seconds of work, and no practice, it's learning curve is short and the results are immediate, and you can always go back to the beginning and start over]

 

THE BEFORE 

The thought comes to mind as a future event, to use Dali as the homage artist and perform the creation of a photo to mimic one of his paintings?  Food for thought......you never know .....it could happen.

WEBinars are wonderful ways to get additional education to the many things PHOTOG.

They can expsoe you to new software, a technique used by a working professional, a new gadget or tool, etc.   They are free.  They are usually short in duration, typically lasting for one hour.  And they have an ongoing spirit of photog community embedded in them.

And one more thing, on the day of the webinar, and you want to participate, technology is a wonderful thing, but all is not equal in the world.  I watch these from the comfort of my home, it has a high speed, reliabe internet provider service and I use a decent enough pc [mac mini] and a wonderful large monitor [dell u2410 properly color calibrated each month]

I cannot attest to the ability to watch from any of the many mobile devices that exist. 

But do yourself a favor, if you are serious about photog, then get in the game, and experience as much about the many things that are out there.  You just might run across something that suits YOU as a person and a PHOTOG and a bonding takes place.  

We are never too old or skilled to learn something new from others.  It can be a reaffirmation of what we might already know, or an exposure to something completely new, which opens the door to a new world of photographic artistry.


Get involved!  Seek out new things!


This is a sample of an email that I get based on my sign up to their webinar series.

BTW they make a very professional product, I personally have a number of their tripods and heads in my cache of tools.  Quality is a trademark, as evidenced by the many years of service my own units have performed year after year, taking the abuse of travel, terrain, etc and still work flawlessly.

light and FORM...it's beginning to look a lot like....

practice makes perfect is told to many, I do not feel I will reach perfection, but I do wish to find a point that I like what I see and the results are just as I envision them when I touch that shutter button.

Four different distinct light sources were employed.  None were very bright, one spot via an LED with snoot, a TD5  with a medium square shaped softbox with just two of five bulbs active and on the back right about four feet up and four feet away, a large mirror just off the right edge of frame and a daylight window on far back right with the glow of an afternoon sun hitting the shade.   Havoc for WB, but I actually had a custom setting that did OK.  I futzed with it though to produce the blue hue, with this one at least.  There are many others with various degrees of exposure and post treatment with different results.

BUT......

I like blue.

So blue you get.....for now.  If any make the final cut for Assignment Two ...who knows for sure.  I have time and many more experiments to plod through.

 

I have had these TWO items for quite some time...they came to me as a pass along from my family;

Aunt Irma was the original owner I believe....

 I got them about 1980 if I remember correctly, one got dropped while moving once, I repaired it but a close scrutiny will reveal an obvious rough and jointed fix area.  

 I treasure them as a a fond ....

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Remembrance.....

of those long since passed away.

OH, almost forgot, done in my studio, so this is shoot number two for the young gun, former stand out home theater room, and now the newbie studio, I need a name for the place.   Suggestions welcomed.

And speaking of names, I have a mannequin to name as well.  The model Karla gave me a start with two potential names.  I will post the options along with some key photos of my friend soon, and I ask that you all help me in finding an appropriate name for the young lady.  

Til later. 

dgh