Thoughts on Photography

Circular Polarizers - Part 1

So I had an eye opening experience last weekend.  I'm out walking with my faithful photo assistant Abby (my Jack Russell Terrier) and I decided the day was going to be a worthless photo-outing since the sun was out and there was not a cloud in the sky.  Instead of wasting the day, I decided to have some fun experimenting with my circular polarizer.  One of the functions of a circular polarizer is to make skies more blue when it is rotated just the right way.  Another function is to reduce/eliminate reflections on glass/water/foliage.   On this day, my intent was just to see what I could do with these big blue skies that were ruining the potential for getting a good "melancholy" image.   So I shot off a couple of frames with the polarizer turned a bit each time. Turning a circular polarizer changes the intensity of it's effect on the scene. 

Here are my results:

Wow! What a difference.  This little circular polarizer works some kind of magic.  It has made the colors more saturated.  But it has also done something else, which I consider even more valuable.  Let me explain.

When I look at the two images above, one seems to have a higher dynamic range.  How can image two seem to have a higher dynamic range?  If you look at it, the trees and power lines are less of a silhouette and have more color than in the first image.  The bricks on the house are showing detail that is lost in the shadows of the first image.  You see much less blocked up (blacked out) shadow area in the second image.  Just look at the tree on the right side of the image to see what I mean. 

What has happened here is that by darkening the blue sky which is dominating the frame, the polarizer forced me to use a slower shutter speed.  On the first image I think I was at 1/180 second and the second image, closer to 1/60 second.  By darkening just the sky, the polarizer is working much like a Graduated Neutral Density filter would do.  Except with a GND filter, you are usually just darkening a general area of an overall image.  The Polarizer is selectively choosing to darken just the sky in this image.  What that then allows me to do is use a slower shutter speed and give more exposure to the shadow areas resulting in more detail and color in the image.

It's like using HDR software without the hassle and artificial effects that the software produces.  All of a sudden, I'm very curious about how this circular polarizer may change my attitude toward sunny days.  I plan to do a more controlled study, with and without the polarizer (the two images here both had the polarizer on the lens) and also compare the results to something I might be able to do using software after the fact.  In addition, I plan to do some work on how the polarizer reduces reflections, but that seems less important to me at the moment than the possibility of creating HDR in-camera with just one image. 

Thoughtless Photography

Just a quick rant, to make myself feel better.  I haven't been shooting much lately, but I have continued to browse my favorite photo sites to view other's images.  One thing that happens to me, time and again after seeing images from the many prolific photographers on these sites is that I get BORED very quickly with their work. 

What I see is that many potentially good photographers waste their talent by creating thoughtless images.  They tend to be more concerned with churning out more and more photos than actually creating compelling photography.  In the end we are all left with a pile of crap that isn't worth wading through to find one or two good images. 

My advice, slow down, think and then create.  You'll become a better photographer and the world will benefit from not having to wallow in your garbage. 

There, I suddenly feel better. 
:)

OK, so now you can start the combative comments about how I don't have to look if I don't want to.  Hey, I'm just trying to make the world a better place.  If that means having to flame a few photographers in the interest of greater society, I'll gladly take my lumps. 

OK, full on laughter now from my end, so this definitely has made me feel better. 

Isolate and Simplify

Robert Capa's oft quoted saying "If your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough" is advice to make a career on.   This post is closely related to that idea.  It is about seeing a potentially good image and then choosing a compelling composition to make an impactful image. 

A quote from Charles Mingus will start the mind in the right direction.  He said "making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.   For me, this applies just as much to photography as it does to music. 

I relate this idea to my photography by endeavoring to create an image that tells only one story, and then have it tell that story in a simple, yet sophisticated way.   I do this by removing any elements that aren't supporting the story.  I isolate and simplify before I release the shutter.  And often during post processing I will isolate and simplify some more, by changing to a non-standard crop, for example.  If I'm successful, I have an image that has just the right amount of visual information and not a bit more.  With photography, a medium that captures an infinite amount of detail, the art isn't in the inclusion of subject matter as much as it is the exclusion of unnecessary elements within an image. 

I'm going to use one of my own experiences to make the point.   Last September, I was in Venice, Italy and came across a scene with tremendous photographic potential.  It was a scene that I felt captured the essence of being in this beautiful place.   The scene I came upon is seen below in an image taken by a fellow traveler:

Upon seeing this, I thought, "Wow!  Look at that cat on the ledge!  What a shot!"  So in the short time I had to think and compose, I realized a few things that would make a more powerful image of this subject matter before me.  First, I realized I wanted to have an even focal plane and moved directly across the canal from the cat and window.  Next, I zoomed in as far as my lens allow to "isolate and simplify" the scene.  In the end my lens wasn't long enough and I did additional cropping to simplify even further. 

The result is one of my favorite travel images and is seen below:

It was good fortune that the lady came to the window just as I had set up the shot.  It was also good fortune that the cat glanced away at the same time. 

The second image is exponentially more memorable, interesting, emotive, and pleasing to look at.  Let's look at why this image works. It works because all the elements contribute to the story.  It works because I removed any elements that complicated the story.  I chose NOT to include the edge of the building with the boring sky in the distance.  I chose NOT to include the windows below or any hint of the boat/canal.  The reason for this is that the textured wall and shuttered window gives just enough information to give the image a sense of place without detracting from the storyline of the woman and cat.  Isolating the scene in this way also serves to give more drama to the actual ledge, not knowing exactly how high it is, or what is below. 

Isolating and simplifying, in this case, turned a fun snapshot into something much more. 

Getting Creative with White Balance

Let me start by thanking the friends who have shared kind words and thoughts with me about the loss of Lucy.  I still cannot look at her photo without feeling a deep sense of loss.  It will take time. In the interest of trying to deal with this, I thought it would be a good exercise for me talk about something I love to do (photography) and give myself something to focus on that is positive.  So here is a new post created with an idea from a photo class I just finished with Tony Sweet over at Betterphoto.com. 

I wonder how many people learned about white balance the way I did.  It was March of 2004, and I had just received my first digital camera, the Canon 10D.  I was so excited about using this new digital technology, I just put the lens on the camera and began to shoot images in my living room.  Wow!  There they are, my pictures right there on the LCD screen.  I can see my work without having to wait days for a photo lab to churn out my prints.  Very cool!  When I proudly showed my LCD photos to Meg, she curiously asked, "why are they orange?".   

Orange?  What do you mean orange!?  Didn't you mean to say, "that's a really cool composition of the couch."  Or even, "Wow, that wide angle lens takes in almost the whole room."  But no, you had to ask "why are they orange?"   OK, so she had hurt my pride a little by not noticing the depth of my creativity with living room furniture photography, but I'll get over that.  She just doesn't know how to see yet.  I've been shooting images for years, she's an amateur.  But you know what?  She has a point.  Why the heck are these pictures orange?   

And that is the story of how I learned about white balance.  Anyone who has taken photos indoors with standard tungsten lights as the light source knows that even the camera's Auto White Balance setting will produce photos with a slightly orange color cast.  What a frustrating discovery. 

Now it's three years later and I've come to master how to get the right white balance (WB) before and even after the shot if necessary.  In critical situations I use a white card and create a Custom WB setting for the camera.  Most often, I just use one of the presets that my camera offers that matches the shooting situation. 

Well, last month, my eyes were opened to some new possibilities of utilizing white balance.   Getting an accurate white balance isn't always the most interesting interpretation of a scene.  Why not consider changing the Kelvin settings to change the interpretation? 

The Kelvin scale is simply a method used to measure color temperature.  The idea is that changing the Kelvin setting allows you to greatly change the mood/feeling of a scene.  A lower Kelvin setting (smaller number) gives a cooler feel to a scene, while a higher Kelvin (higher number) feels warmer.  These Kelvin settings can be done manually in-camera or after the fact in a RAW converter if you shoot RAW images. 

This concept can be particularly powerful when you have a colorful sky to work with, as I did in this images:

Original, AWB Setting:

Custom WB, Kelvin set to 3000:

Custom WB, Kelvin set to 13200:

Who knew that playing with white balance could be so fun!?  I used to despise the effort needed to get an accurate WB.  Now that I've been made aware of an entirely new set of possibilities I hadn't considered before, I'm really starting to enjoy the flexibility the WB settings give me.  It's like having 100 different types of film and filters inside built right into the camera.  Tony Sweet, a professional nature photographer admits that his prolific use of colored lens filters has greatly been replaced with this method of manually adjusted WB. 

One final note:  If you ever needed a reason to shoot RAW images versus Jpeg, this is it.  Being able to go in your RAW converter after the fact and easily adjust the WB for image interpretation is one of the simplest and most powerful tools available in the digital era of photography. 

Goodbye Lucy, We love you

I can't remember a day harder than today.  Our family lost a truly loving friend and companion.  She was with us such a short while, but endeared herself to us so greatly.  She became an instant admirer of and playmate with our older dog Abby, and a loving lap dog for Meg and me.  This morning, because of her failing kidneys, the vet recommended we put her to sleep. 

Only one week ago, we were out wandering around downtown together taking pictures and enjoying the unseasonably warm weather.  Lucy and Abby sat patiently by, eating grass while I set up my tripod and went to work.  After a couple hours of that, we all went to the park for a three hour picnic.  We spread out the blanket, and basked in the sun.  Lucy loved sitting in the sun.  She also loved to just sit and watch the people and other dogs walk by.  This picture of her was taken on that day.  I'll never forget the moment.  Lucy left my side on our picnic blanket, where she had spent most of the day and climbed the small hill behind us.   I quickly grabbed my camera to take her picture.  She seemed completely unaware of me and just lost in the beauty of the day.  The feeling I had when taking this image was one of such happiness and contentment.  A perfect Spring day, a perfect picnic in the park.  It was truly peaceful.

Oh how I want to go back to that day.  I want to stop time.  It hurts so much how quickly she is gone. 

After a long night of no sleep and multiple phone calls with the vet about Lucy's condition I went back to the animal hospital this morning to say goodbye to Lucy.  I held her in my lap for 45 minutes while she slept.  Her condition was weak and her responses timid.  I'm only hoping that through all the discomfort, her heart felt the love we all have for her.  We love you Lucy. 

Negative Space - Going Beyond the Rule of Thirds

Negative space, I've learned, is a concept most drawing and painting students hear about early on in their education.  Somehow, the school of photography seems to skip over this idea.  I've read countless books on photography, taken a number of classes and not once has this lesson come up. 

Someone introduced me to an article about negative space a couple years ago and I've been struggling to learn the concept.  Well, yesterday, I was browsing through some galleries on altphotos.com and came across a prolific photographer whose gallery is full of many compelling images.  After spending time trying to figure out what it was that set these images apart from the many others I have seen done in a similar style and of similar subjects I settled on this:  his effective use of negative space makes all the difference. 

I am not a master of negative space, conceptually or photographically.  So, I find the best thing I can do is share the article and photo gallery mentioned in the previous paragraph.  It's really good stuff.

The Article:

Composition, A Primer on Positive and Negative Space, by Michael Fulks

The Gallery:

Krzysztof Lisiak

The Creativity Slump

There is a great discussion just starting over on my friend Lawrence Ripsher's Blog about running into a creative slump.  I call it falling into The Slump Pit.  Recently, I involuntarily spent a stretch of time in The Slump Pit.  Interestingly, I saw many friends there.  Some were already there when I got there, some arrived right after me, and some I watched dance around the edge for quite a long time before finally losing their footing and falling in (you know who you are).  The good news for that last group is that there were plenty of us there to break the fall, so it didn't hurt to bad.

Actually, finding yourself in The Slump Pit is really good news for you and your photography.  It just isn't easy to see this when you first fall into the pit.  Upon commiserating with others around you in the pit, you soon discover a common theme.  It is this theme that got you into the pit and it is the knowledge of this theme that will get you out of the pit.

So what then, is the theme?  Well, it goes a little something like this (strum of a guitar and tap of a foot inserted here for effect).  You might be surprised that you brought this slump on all by yourself.  Yep you.   You and your highfalutin photo ideas and standards for excellence.  You, who decided an abstract photo just wasn't cutting it anymore because it looked like 1000 other abstract photos you have already seen or shot.  You, who told yourself deep down inside that you really are destined to be one of the photographic greats, but for some reason didn't establish that with your last photo project.  You who wont even take the time to lift the camera when you know that in the end the potential photo in front of you will be good but not great.  You and your realization that the good photo equipment really didn't make as big of a difference as you had hoped.  You who find yourself shooting the same things in the same ways over and over and over, while secretly hoping that other people will still find them interesting, but you know deep down you are riding your own coattails, and those coattails really aren't challenging you.  You, who are finally FED UP with seeing images that are clever but not interesting.  You, who spent hours arguing that "photography is an art"  against the idea of having to learn more about the technical aspects of the craft. Yep, it's you.   

It's you in denial. And that, my friend, is the best news I can give you when you arrive in The Slump Pit.  Why, you ask?  Simple.  All you have to do, it stop denying. 

• Stop denying that you have raised your standards and expectations of yourself
• Stop denying that you will have to invest more thought to create better images
• Stop denying that you will have to invest more time in the technical aspects of the craft
• Stop denying that your previous work may have only yielded 5 to 10 truly great images out of thousands
• Stop denying that slowing down and thinking is necessary
• Stop denying that shooting 1000 photos to get one good one makes you an editor, not a photographer
• Stop denying that you can't stand on the shoulders of the photographic greats until you have walked in their shoes

We have all arrive in the The Slump Pit with a fair amount of frustration.  The common theme of our frustration is our desire to improve.  The way out of the pit is to stop denying those core issues that are holding us back from improving. 

So rejoice in the arrival of your creative slump.  You are now free to choose to become a better photographer. 

Opening Day

OK, so here it is.  My first non-photo related entry on the blog.  But how can I stop myself.  It's Opening Day for goodness sakes. 

Opening Day, a day of such promise, such expectation, such optimism for the future.  It's a day that makes a man feel a bit like a boy again.  Excitement fills the air recalling days when hot dogs, peanuts and the vendor yelling "ice cold beer here!" were just about the only thing that mattered in life. 

Two years ago, on Opening Day the designated hitter for my team, the Detroit Tigers, hit 3 home runs to trounce the KC Royals 11-2.   What a day!  Last year, our Opening Day victory would lead to an unanticipated season that found my team in the World Series.  Oh what fun it is to dream about what will become of our team this year. 

Go Tigers!