Photography

[KingOfPain]

Since I have much spare time nowadays, I am going to share some of my hard work with you all, again. I had shared some of my work in the Dark Side Of The Loon thread a few pages back if you have missed it.

Yes, I said it is hard work. I am mostly a landscape photographer so I will talk on that. Most people do not realize the best sunrise and sunset colors happen at twilight - up to an hour before sunrise, and an hour after sunset. You want to be at location at least half an hour before twilight so that you are ready to shoot in the rapidly changing light. This is provided if you already know the location having been there before or by scouting beforehand.

So, to get a good sunrise photo you have to be up at around 3AM in the summer time when the official sunrise is ~4:30AM. This will give you time enough to drive a short distance, maybe a short hike in the dark (with a big heavy duty tripod as well as ~30LBs of gear), and be ready set by 4:00AM, at least. Usually, tourists start to show for the sunrise when I am done shooting to leave.

The colors at twilight can be so fantastic and intense many people would write it off as photoshop'd.

If I am travelling, I would also want to catch a chance to shoot the Northern Light and Milky Way. It doesn't get completely dark (Astronomical Dusk) until a couple of hours after sunset. The night sky sessions are usually from 12:00-2:00AM. Most of the time many miles away from civilization all alone in the wild.

I have an hour or two before I have to get up for the sunrise shoot. It doesn't even make sense for me to stay in a hotel; even if I don't have to drive miles back and forth.

All that effort, and you might end up with nothing to show for. Such Is Weather. But you do it over and over again, to get lady luck on your side.

I tell myself I should just play tourist one of these days, you know, room service breakfast in bed, shop the tourist traps, take a horse buggy ride, visit a museum, some guided tour, a nice sit down dinner and wine at a fancy restaurant, and cap the night with a quick dip in a hot spring on the mountain top over looking a snowy winter village.....

Sounds like I am complaining but I am loving it.

This is Mount Robson, the highest peak in the Rockies on the BC side, Canada.
I took this picture after shooting the Northern Lights, beside my van. 30 miles out of town and my van wont start. Hitchhiked to town, waited for towing to open. I saw the most unforgettable beautiful sunrise in the cab of a tow truck heading to town.





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[KingOfPain]

This is the photo I got from my adventure above

[RefSteel]

Those pictures are incredible, and I love the stories of your adventures! (Including the old ones from Dark Side of the Loon!)

I'm curious about the details of how these got made: With the big shot of Mt. Robson, did you work with the brightness/contrast/etc with photoshop afterward? Or long exposure times or filters (or digital camera built-in light "filters") on the spot? And what are the streaks of light in the shot from the road? Somehow just a long exposure picking up head/tail/running lights from passing vehicles, or what?

(Since it came up several times in the Dark Side of the Loon thread, I should be clear: I'm just curious about the details of what went into these incredible pictures. I don't have an opinion about what tools should be used/allowed/whatever for creating a particular type of art.)

(Welll ... I can think of some tools and ways of using them that I'd have an opinion about, but none of the ones you've even possibly used here!)

[KingOfPain]

As long as there are people enjoying the topic I will try to get into more details in the future. Also, feel free to share your thoughts and comments, as well as your own photos, y'all.

About Photoshop (post processing) or Right Out Of The Camera
This is one of the most debated topics among photographers. The ROOTC camp believes that you should get everything right the moment you press the shutter button, that very little, if at all, any image processing should be allowed. This works fine if such restriction is required for some reasons, such as historical documentation, and photos for use in news media. 

In reality, every photograph sent by a field photographer get edited by in-house photo editors. Especially National Geographic who claims and trusted by the people to not "photoshop". Even if you are shooting for your own, the camera settings, the film choice, the camera and lens you choose, as well as the chemical process in the darkroom, exposure time and the paper choice all affects the final print. 

These people label themselves as photographers. Most likely not good with computers.  

Strangely, they see black and white photos to be authentic while cameras and we human see in color. 

Nowadays, ROOTC has little meaning since we went digital. It means even less with build in sophisticated image processing in the cheapest cameras and smart phones. Modern camera and Computational Photography have made previously impossible images accessible even for the novice. The two photos above are such examples. Older cameras are not capable to gather such low light. 
 
I belong to the other camp. I would like to be an artist. So much so that I humbly label my photos as Fine Art Photography or Photographic Art.

That means anything goes, the end justifies the means. I would use photoshop and any other programs at my disposal to achieve the look I want. That doesn't mean I will do it with all photos. Photographers shoot in RAW format for the best result, RAW adds nothing to the photo you see on screen but retains all the data of the capture. Raw file shows a very flat photo, but let you choose which data to restore/enhance. Photoshop at its most basic level is standard practice.

I don't shoot what the camera sees, I shoot what I see. I shoot what I see in my mind, that is, what I can do with the image afterward.

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The light streaks are indeed head/taillights of passing vehicles. The photo was shot at 2:55AM at F8, ISO 800 for 30 seconds. Below is the unprocessed RAW file.


Pretty simple processing for this image. Adjust the contrast and 4 layers of (spot) Brightness adjustment. For those not familiar with Photoshop, white is opaque (full effect), black is transparent (area not affected by the effect). The Contrast adjustment affects the entire photo, while each Brightness (Level) adjustment only affects certain areas. (there are a few different ways to adjust Brightness in Photoshop, Level being one of them, each with its own pros and cons)

 
However, the Northern light photo used 3 times as much processing. It was necessary to stack 5 photos, what we call Bracketing, in order to capture the faint aurora. I took one photo at "normal" long exposure, another twice as long, and another 4 times as long, then 2 more the other way down. This is what your smart phone call HDR. 5 photos to expose correctly the darkest to the brightest part of the scene. That's why a ROCK SOLID tripod is a necessity. 

The tripod cost as much as a pro camera. I can't justify the cost, I mean, it's only a three-legged thing... but


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[KingOfPain]

Disasters

The reason I thought of creating this thread was triggered by my reply to Ichabod

Hello, everyone

So, since this seems to be the thread to post about random subjects, I'll use it to announce that I'll probably be moving from Brazil to Canada later this year, as a permanent resident. It's definitely going to be a big change and I'm looking forward to it.

Any advice from our canadian forum members on how to fit in?

East or West coast?
Mostly relax fit here, more of less just like Americans.
Learn to say "Eh"
It gets cold.
No, most of us don't live in igloos
You get to see the Northern Light - Aurora.
I still haven't figure out (how far North) where (Native)Indians turn in to Eskimos
It gets hot in the summer. Lots of wildfires from extreme weather - heat waves. It has became the norm in the last 5 years or so.

My province, BC in Canada, has just declared a state of emergency and travel ban in my region of the woods because we are on fire. I was going to post some photos to update the reply. I am safe for the time being.

This is my view this morning. It cleared up bit overnight thanks to a Southward wind, but now I can barely see pass 100 meters.


Smoke filled sky creates the best photographic lighting. Nothing beats the glow of tinted warmth, contrast without harsh shadows or over blown highlights. As tragic as disasters are, it is as if I crave them. Those are the photo opportunities rare and wonderful. Of course, there is certain amount of guilt associated to feeling "excited" while people are suffering. I get over that by reminding myself how I feel, if I pray or not, has nothing to do with the disaster or any effect on the outcome.

Tough choices - If you see a man fall out of a boat, do you reach for the telephoto lens or the wide-angle lens.

A couple of wildfire photos I managed to get close enough to:



Doesn't that bucket seem only a drop in the bucket?




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[KingOfPain]

Photographic Art - Photo Manipulation Part 1

While we are on the topic of Photoshop/photo manipulation/photographic art, it is something I enjoy doing just as much as I enjoy the photographic process. It is a purely creative process that goes beyond photography, that require expertise in techniques and creativity. It is a process that can take however long it takes to see it to fruition; much like a painting can be. 

This is something I like to spend more time on honing my skills; and be bored enough to get the creative juice flowing.

The following series of 4 posters is called Whale Song. It was inspired by the Project Genesis from the Star Trek - The Wrath Of Kahn and The Search For Spock.

Part 1: Fertilization
I started this 2001. The initial idea was to use and egg and flip it to negative so that the whites is black and the yolk turns blue, then superimpose the globe on top. I wanted the yolk to be more enhanced but I settled, now the outer edge of the yolk formed the atmosphere. Of course, what better to symbolize sperm than sperm whales. 

We were barely into the digital photography age at the time (High Res was 600x400 - 800x600. 2MP digital camera were all the rage)  so image quality is not quite there



Part 2: emerge
The birth came 3 years later with higher pixel counts and Photoshop 5



Part 3: immigrant
Space - 2010 and still on Photoshop 7



part 4: civilization
9 years since part 1. 
2011 still Photoshop 7. Too cheap to upgrade? Nah, I have more than I need.


I just noticed April, January, February, February... Winter is good time for creativity.



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[RefSteel]

Wow, that's incredible! Five different photos for the aurora shot, and planning it that way, taking a whole series from precisely the same position takes a lot of dedication, foreknowledge, and - as you observe - good equipment. I don't have a lot of patience for "right out of the camera" arguments personally - not only because automatic digital "filters" and other settings make the distinction close to meaningless, but because cropping and selection whether before (with zoom and so on) or after the fact (not to mention going out to get the perfect picture at 4AM because the camera will never catch the beauty of a sunset at the same time the eyes can see it) and especially posing of human subjects (which is worst of all in commercial shots that are meant to look candid ... or second worst; worst is "candid" shots posed for news stories) makes "what the camera sees" seem pretty meaningless to me anyway. When I create visual art (very, very infrequently) I certainly use whatever materials happen to come handy. My favorite "drawing" of my imaginary friend Kestrel I started with colored pencils on sketchpad paper, then had scanned at high resolution, then edited so heavily (in a scaled-down, ancient version of photoshop called "photodeluxe" maybe a decade and a half ago) that you probably wouldn't recognize the original from the final result or vice-versa.

Sort of related: I once had a chance to see a moonbow over Lower Yosemite Falls. I didn't have a camera, but lots of other people were there with tripods taking long-exposure shots. I've seen photos posted online and they just look like rainbows over the falls with stars in the background. Leaving aside the experience of being out there at night with the spray on your face and all those people around, those pictures don't even resemble what I saw with my eyes: It was more like the ghost of a rainbow than like a rainbow itself, and it was absolutely breathtaking in part exactly for that reason. I've seen lots of rainbows, but nothing like that before or since. An artistic edited photo in your style wouldn't resemble what I saw either, but it might come closer if you were aiming that way, and it certainly could be something creative I couldn't otherwise have seen.

Also, taking nothing away from the others you posted, those fire chopper photos are breathtaking.

I just noticed April, January, February, February... Winter is good time for creativity.

Yeah; I feel like critical parts of my brain just go on standby in the heat. I suspect a lot of people are part-troll in a certain Terry Pratchett sense.

[KingOfPain]

Perhaps you can share some of your work with us. I am sure there is no shortage of talented people here.

Yeah, landscape photography being what it is, with a large part of "success" depending on luck, one really have to enjoy the experience of being. Some of the most memorable moments I have no photos to show for. Among them are couple of times just resting on the roadside in the wilderness, someone was playing saxophone, and another, some Asian guy stop by and screamed at the mountains. I picked up that habit, I would occasionally scream at the mountains, when no one is around. And, you have never truly experience a beautiful sunset/sunrise until you are all alone sitting there on the beach with classical music (ex. Songbird by Kenny G) playing in the headphones.

Ah Yosemite, probably my next trip when everything settle down....

[KingOfPain]

Photographic Art - Photo Manipulation Part II

This portion showcases using Photoshop to manipulate single photographs.

They say, art should stand on its own - it shouldn't need a title, nor descriptions. I say, never mind what they say and go your own way.
This photo was one of the worst out of the day of shooting cherry blossoms, it would have made its way to the Trash in no time flat. There was something about it, however, that caught my attention and started to Photoshop it. I didn't no what I saw in it. Maybe I was just bored and used it as an exercise.



Nothing really came of it. It was left in the "WorkOnThese" folder and got brought out once in a blue moon. 2 years later, this is what I had, somewhat pleasing, and the start of a direction.




Another 3 years later. While I was working on another photo from Alaska, thinking about the land of the midnight sun it just clicked. That's it! That's the title I needed to give me the direction what I wanted to do with the cherry blossom. I named this piece Midnight Sun. This piece has won some competition awards, sold a few, and is one of my most favorite. I have since used it as one of my signature stamp, logo.

As it turned out, coming up with a title first works great for me.

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One good thing about turning a photo into something completely different is that I got to upscale an image to a saleable size. Still working with my cheapo 8mp Canon Compact. I was envious of Iphone 4.

This scene is not uncommon around here. Something caught my eyes this day. The stars were aligned. I stopped to take a couple of snapshots. I knew what I want to do with it. This is Canadiana. It should be something printed on a canvas. It should also make a decent x'mas card.



This one only took a few hours from the camera to final version.

This turned out to be one of my most expensive piece sold - a 4' x 8' mounted canvas. The package & shipping alone would kill a poor guy such as I.





Irony: I have never seen my own work in their best light. I have also sold 8ft panoramas on acrylic, lots of prints on exotic materials. All I have for my own is a few art paper prints up to 4ft.





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[RefSteel]

Perhaps you can share some of your work with us. I am sure there is no shortage of talented people here.

I do - not my best work, but still fun stuff I enjoy! My visual art pieces are few and far between but I write all the time, and I've written stories for a bunch of the games I've played here. And actually ... buried in an old, old PBeM game is an even-further-ridiculously-edited version of the drawing of the imaginary friend to which I was referring! (That's trivia, not an invitation to seek it out though. That version was merely and extremely silly.)

Yeah, landscape photography being what it is, with a large part of "success" depending on luck, one really have to enjoy the experience of being.

I'll bet! Also, I'm pretty sure it still holds true if you replace "andscape photography" with "ife" so....

Some of the most memorable moments I have no photos to show for. Among them are couple of times just resting on the roadside in the wilderness, someone was playing saxophone, and another, some Asian guy stop by and screamed at the mountains. I picked up that habit, I would occasionally scream at the mountains, when no one is around. And, you have never truly experience a beautiful sunset/sunrise until you are all alone sitting there on the beach with classical music (ex. Songbird by Kenny G) playing in the headphones.

Wow ... and in a thread about photography! I easily forget or fail to realize - just to take one thread from each of those examples - how big an impact sound (and the way it interplays with vision) has on what I see.

Ah Yosemite, probably my next trip when everything settle down....

Yeah, it's ... well ... I haven't been there in ten years now, but when I was able to go, it was (or if you prefer, included: I've got a specific spot in mind, on the side of a specific trail) my very favorite place on the planet.

And: With respect to never seeing your pieces in their best light, some of the visual pieces I have created I can't share here because I don't have them anymore. I did get to see them in their Final Form, but created them to give away (to a specific friend at a specific moment). And a title can have an immense impact, absolutely. In fact, I recently visited an art museum where a somewhat-interesting piece suddenly changed completely and hit me like an avalanche when I glanced at the card and saw a single item of the artist's history.