Tom Dills Photography Blog

We've Moved

2011-02-28T21:11:00.000-05:00

Starting today I am now posting to a new blog location. Update your bookmarks and start following me at www.tomdills.com/blog . From that page you can update your RSS feeds or follow through Networked Blogs on Facebook.

I'll keep this page up for a while but will not be posting anything new here. All the content you have come to love is already at the new location.

Go there now to see the latest post!

Gear Talk

2011-02-13T18:51:00.000-05:00


Sunset at sea aboard Celebrity Equinox - G12, ISO 800

A recent commenter on a blog I follow regularly stated in reply to a post – about image processing and showing examples – that “Figure 6 on my calibrated quad-core iMac is stunning!” OK, so we’re all impressed and everything that you have a “calibrated quad-core iMac” but why is that important to your comment?

Darkroom Time

2011-02-06T15:02:00.003-05:00


Windmill ruin, St. Nicholas Abbey, Barbados

The other night I was working at my computer and heard my phone ringing. I was in my office and my phone was in the kitchen, I was in the middle of a project and didn’t want to be interrupted so I ignored the call and let it go to voicemail. I do that a lot, not to be rude, but because I believe strongly that managing interruptions is an important part of being productive. I’ll close my e-mail and my browser when I’m trying to concentrate. And if I’m in a meeting, having a face-to-face conversation or having dinner, the phone doesn’t have a chance.

A couple of nights later I was teaching my Lightroom class at The Light Factory in a room that is right next door to their darkroom. As my class was wrapping up I had to take a projector into the classroom where the darkroom is located and struck up a short conversation with the instructor there, trading good-natured barbs about “film – what’s that?” and “Lightroom – what’s that?” I found it fascinating that we were both teaching classes about photography, but using completely difference processes.

Later on I recalled both of the above events and I happened to think, “you wouldn’t have answered a cell phone in the darkroom, would you have?” It helped me reconcile the idea of not answering the phone while I am in my own “darkroom.” I’ve never worked in a darkroom so I can’t speak from experience, but I’ve read articles about photographers spending hours and hours in the darkroom, working on prints until they get them just right. The ability to work uninterrupted just isn’t part of our vocabulary these days, and I think our creativity suffers for it. Sometimes we all need to be able to – literally or figuratively – close the door, sit quietly in the dark and do our work, whatever kind of work it might be, without being interrupted by things that we can attend to later.

So, if sometime you call me and end up hearing my voicemail, remember that I might be “in my darkroom” and I’ll call you back when I’m done.

February 2011 Wallpaper and Something New

2011-01-31T20:36:00.000-05:00

Cypress Tree on Lake Mattamuskeet in Eastern North Carolina

As I was getting ready to publish my wallpaper for February and trying to decide what photo to use, I was going to use another beach photo or a glorious sunrise but thought, “February is a bleak month, I’m going to go bleak.” So I chose a photo that I think represents “bleak.”

“Bleak” might be a little harsh, but unless you happen to live somewhere like Barbados (Hi, Sarah!) February is a month of hopeful anticipation. Here in the southeastern US it’s definitely still winter but there can be signs of spring. The Midwest and Northeast will have snow on the ground for months. So, for February here’s bleak. Tell me if you agree.

Since I now have an iPad I thought I needed to have a matching wallpaper for that, so here is an iPad wallpaper to match the calendar. No calendar on this though, I didn't want it to get too cluttered up.

iPad Wallpaper - If you have an iPad you should be able to figure out how to save it!

2011-01-27T20:44:00.000-05:00

In my last post I discussed the benefits of shooting with a Point & Shoot camera. In this second of two parts I discuss the Cons of shooting with a compact point & shoot camera.

The negatives of this camera are few, and I had to work a bit to come up with a meaningful list, but here goes.

Limited ability for shallow depth of field

Depth of field is not unlimited, but you get a lot of it even at the middle apertures like f4. At f8 (the smallest aperture on the G12) the DOF is pretty huge. So it’s tough to isolate your subject against an out of focus background. Even wide open you don’t get the razor-thin DOF you can get with a fast full frame or medium format lens. In many cases you just work with it and use to your advantage. Sometimes you can exaggerate the effect by getting close to your subject.

Still fairly noisy at higher ISOs

I’ve gotten some shots at ISO 1600 or 3200 that I’ve printed and they look pretty good. In-camera JPEG processing does an excellent job at reducing noise, and Lightroom does an excellent job on RAW files as well. I shot RAW+JPEG for a short while before Lightroom was able to read the RAW files, and it has been an interesting comparison between the camera-processed JPEGs and Lightroom processed RAW files.

Lousy audio quality on video

I didn’t buy my G12 for video and consider that to be a specialty that I’m hoping to avoid or stay at the fringes of. The little bit of video I have shot has been interesting but the sound is generally useless. There are probably a number of accessories that could improve that, but for me the whole idea of using this camera is simplicity.

Somewhat limited focal length

It’s the equivalent of 28-140mm so it covers a lot of territory, but it won’t get you a closeup of an elusive grizzly or a closeup of a bee’s knees, but that’s a lot of coverage. You can go longer or closer with accessory lenses, but that kind of defeats the idea of the compact camera.

A little slow focusing

My G12 focuses pretty well with lots of light, but once it gets dark it struggles a bit. It has a nice bright blue focus assist light that annoys anyone else taking pictures of whatever you’re taking a picture of (if they even see it, which they might not!). Don’t count on it focusing on the black bear in the cave.

Optical viewfinder has small area of coverage vs. LCD

I like using an optical viewfinder, and it makes me feel like a doofus to hold camera at arm’s length to take a photo. But the viewfinder on the G12 only has about 77% coverage, so accurate framing is virtually impossible, and with “only” 10 megapixels you don’t want to do a lot of cropping.

I've heard a lot of "excuseplanations" about why you shouldn't buy a particular camera, but this one has a lot going for it, at least as far as I'm concerned!

Point & Shoot Pros and Cons - Part 1

2011-01-26T21:50:00.000-05:00

I’ve written previously about how I am really liking the idea of using a compact Point & Shoot camera for a lot of my photography. I feel these little gems deserve some real respect in terms of their capabilities. The camera companies seem to be having a lot of success convincing people that they “need” DSLRs, but I disagree. I don’t think the average consumer needs anything more than a good Point & Shoot camera, and I’m a firm believer that anyone can take excellent photographs with them.

In this first of two parts I’d like to outline the Pros and Cons of shooting with a compact Point & Shoot camera.

Part I: The Pros

Small and light

Let’s face it. I don’t have a lot of gear compared to many of my friends, but all the DSLR stuff that I use fits in a bag that – even though it is airline “legal” – I would probably end up having to check at the jetway. On my most recent vacation, I took all the photo gear I needed in a little Delsey “doctor bag” that held all my stuff with room for my phone, iPod and more. Ironically that bag is the one I used to carry my medium format film gear in. It’s all I needed!

A very serious camera, but fun to use

My current Point & Shoot camera is a Canon G12. It’s got an excellent lens, shoots in RAW, has Image Stabilization and lots of other features that make it a great camera. I don’t shoot in “Auto” mode, but it has a couple of custom presets that I’ve set up to make it a piece of cake to use.

Easy to take anywhere, fits in my pocket

Chase Jarvis published a book of photos taken with an iPhone camera based on the premise that “the best camera is the one you have with you.” My cell phone takes pretty good pictures too, but not like my G12. It fits in my briefcase or my pocket and can go anywhere I go.

Inconspicuous – I don’t look like a “pro”

People everywhere – from rent-a-cops in the Charlotte office buildings to native trinket sellers on St. Martin – are leery of tourists with a big SLR and a “pro” looking lens. My little camera blends in – as much as I blend in anywhere – and I look like everyone else. After a while nobody notices me, as long as I behave.

Squarish format

The G12 has a frame that is roughly 3x4, a format I came to really like when I shot medium format film. I take a lot of verticals, and I find the more square format a lot more appealing than the longish 2x3 format of most DSLRs, especially in the vertical orientation.

Large depth of field

Even wide open the small sensor in these cameras gives you lots of depth of field. And if you stop down to f4 or smaller you hardly have to focus (although I recommend that you do!). This can be a hindrance in some situations, but it’s just something you learn how to deal with.

Live histogram

This is not exclusive to point & shoots, but I love the fact that my G12 has a live histogram, so I can judge exposure before the shot, instead of having to shoot and adjust, shoot and adjust. Saves time and memory!

Excellent image quality within limits

I’ve taken photos at ISO 3200 that are pretty amazing when you consider that a few years ago we didn’t dare use film over 1000, and usually not over 400. It’s not something you’ll use a lot, but it can make the difference between getting a shot and not getting it. The lens correction and noise reduction in Lightroom and other programs makes the files from my G12 look as good as those from my 5D

No sensor cleaning!

This is a biggie for me, because I’m terrible at cleaning my sensor on my DSLRs. With the G12 it’s never a problem.

Next: The Cons

Marketing and camera choices

2011-01-18T21:46:00.001-05:00

In my last post I talked about people’s fascination with equipment and mentioned that marketing plays a large role in what kind of cameras people buy. I just returned from a 10-day cruise in the Caribbean (talk about good timing!) and one of the many observations I made during this trip was that it seems like the DSLR has really increased market share over past year or two, at least within the subset of people who travel where and how I do. I don’t think I have seen such a large percentage of big cameras on a cruise before. There were a lot of lower-priced models, but I spotted at least one 7D, a couple of D90s and more than a handful of “L” or “EX” lenses. Me? I took along my trusty G12 with my G9 as a backup. Never even pulled the G9 out of the bag.

People often ask me for advice about buying a camera. I tell most people that a good point & shoot will meet the needs of most people from a photographic standpoint, but I also understand that some people believe that they “need” an SLR for reasons other than image quality. There is after all a certain “cool factor” to carrying an SLR and a big lens. I don’t try to steer them either way, but if it becomes clear that they are really looking for me to affirm their desire for an SLR I’m happy to do so, although I point out that they are getting more camera than they need.

I’ve been exploring the idea of shooting “serious” photography with my point & shoot camera and find that it works very well. I’m having a blast with my G12 and am starting to feel like these little cameras are way underappreciated. I hope to make this idea the subject of a regular series of posts over the coming year.

I bought an iPad

2011-01-09T19:45:00.008-05:00

Yeah, whatever. More on that later. This isn’t an article about the iPad. It’s about gear, and my fascination with people’s fixation on it.

As often happens, this post was inspired by three recent conversations. One I just observed and two I was actually involved in.

There was recently an exchange on the CNPA forums with several posters discussing the relative merits of the Whiz-Bang 400 and whether it was worth the upgrade from the Whiz-Bang 300 that one of the posters is currently using. As to be expected the owners of the Whiz-Bang 400 and the even “better” Whiz-Bang 860 chimed in with their support for the “better” camera. The discussion ended with speculation about whether the Whiz-Bang 400 was due to be replaced in 2011, even mentioning that it was “interesting to speculate on the replacement of this fine camera” and that “I've already convinced myself that I need to be ready to jump when the replacement is announced.” Score one for the marketing people!

The second conversation was with a fellow photographer while standing on an observation platform at Chincoteague Island NWR while waiting for the snow geese to do something interesting (they didn’t). This guy, not a CNPA member and not anyone I know, was standing there with a huge something or other camera and lens combination. I was standing above him on this two-level platform where he couldn’t see my cameras so he had to ask what cameras I had. I told him that I had a 5D and a 40D, to which he replied “Mark II?” When I said “no, the original 5D” he immediately became disinterested in any further conversation with me, as though anyone using gear as antiquated as mine couldn’t possibly have anything meaningful to contribute to a conversation. As expected he packed up and left as soon as the sun went down, while the sensible among us knowingly waited while the sky lit up in one of the nicest sunsets I’ve seen in a while. No camera is going to take a good photograph when it’s in the trunk.

Lastly, I had a nice little conversation going on Facebook with a couple of friends – both of whom happen to own Nikon cameras and one of whom I knew had asked Santa for a Canon G12 – that turned into a Canon vs. Nikon (friendly) exchange when I commented on my friend’s reference to his camera as “the best camera made” by asking “so you got the G12.” It was just a good-natured friendly exchange but shows that even among friends gear choice sometimes matters. I think we’re still friends!

Anyone who knows me knows that I tend to have a little bit of a rebellious streak. Really. And when it comes to photo gear I’m convinced that even the relics I shoot with are still better at taking pictures than I am. When it comes to brands I say that the only meaningful difference between them is the file name, and everything else is marketing. I’m also convinced that buying 1-generation-removed used cameras is a great way to get a great deal on a great camera. It’s guys like Mr. Can’t-Wait-For-The-Whiz-Bang-500 that I like to buy my cameras from!

The time I seriously consider buying a new camera is when it doesn’t do what I need it to do or when something else does what I need it to do a lot better than what I have. That’s why I bought the G12. It’s a significant improvement over my G9 in just about every instance. I still use the G9 but know its strengths and keep it out of situations where it isn’t at its best. I’ve still got a 20D in my bag, and if I needed to use a third camera body I wouldn’t hesitate to pull it out. It’s even got a 6GB Micro-drive in the card slot! The camera works as good as it did the day I brought it home. As does the Micro-drive. If the camera you are currently using is a “fine camera” I don’t understand why you would be salivating over the rumored replacement that might or might not come next year. Put down the Internet and go take some pictures!

I think it’s wonderful that newer cameras can take pictures practically in the dark. It literally opens up more possibilities that we never could have imagined just a few years ago. But just because a photograph was taken with a certain camera or at a certain ISO or in the dark doesn’t make a difference if it isn’t an interesting photograph. So that part of the rules hasn’t changed. Newer cameras take bigger files than the older ones. But if all you’re going to do is post photos on Flickr or Facebook why do you need a 20 megapixel camera? If you have clients demanding and willing to pay for huge prints then that makes good sense. There are very few things I’m likely to do with my photographs that a 10 or 12 megapixel file won’t work for.

I always reaffirm that I am OK with whatever way a person chooses to enjoy photography. If a person loves to collect gear and have the most recent version of everything I think that’s great. If a person feels that a certain camera brand is important then that’s a good reason to own it. Some people love to use software, and I support that. I am a firm believer in everyone getting to do things their own way. I like to talk about my preferences not to convince others to think like I do, but to share my thoughts for those who are interested. Hopefully my photographs are more interesting than my thoughts!

It does concern me that it’s easy for people to get hung up on The Next Great Thing. I’m afraid that too often worrying about the right tool keeps people from just using the one they’ve got. A carpenter doesn’t sit around worrying whether to buy a new hammer or not. A new one won’t make the nail go in any straighter than an old one. But if he needs to drive a screw he buys a screwdriver. Some things matter, like making sure your saw blade is sharp. But that’s about maintenance, not whether something is new or not. Take care of the tools you have, use them for their intended purpose and replace them when they stop doing what they were meant to do. Or when something comes along that is so much better that you just can’t help it. In the mean time get out there and use what you have!

Oh, yeah. About that other thing. I bought an iPad. I hope to be able to read books and magazines on it. I’ve wanted one since they came out, but it took me a long time to convince myself that it was time to buy one. I bought a used (refurbished) one, probably just a few months before the next generation comes out. But I got a good deal on it and I think it will be just the right tool for the job. Sound familiar?

Plans, Goals and Intentions

2011-01-02T20:43:00.000-05:00

Plans

Every year at this time I find myself thinking about my goals for the coming year, and reflecting on my accomplishments of the past year. The last several years have taken some pretty interesting turns, but with a few more than usual mid-course corrections we got through them pretty much unscathed. Last year I was able to write this post about one of the bigger turns I’d had to face during 2009. I have to say that 2010 was just about what I expected it to be, I’ve managed to do most of what I set out to do and have a good start on what I haven’t finished.

A few weeks ago my best shooting buddy John Schornak and I were talking about our plans for 2011. It was interesting to note – and at some point we both realized it – that neither of us were talking about doing a lot of group stuff. We’ve both been active in the CNPA, attending meetings, leading outings and making presentations. We’ve regularly attended the various events at Grandfather Mountain, CNPA annual meetings, WNC FotoFest and countless other opportunities. There’s something going on somewhere just about every week. There’s nothing wrong with attending these events and hanging out with all these people. The events are wonderful and well-presented, provide inspiration to a lot of folks and the people are great friends. I’ll probably attend a few, but there’s only so much a person can do and when I really think about it, photography for me is not about going to meetings or attending big events.

What I like about photography is getting out into the world, looking for interesting things and figuring out how to express my thoughts and feelings about what I see with my camera. I already have limited time and creative energy, so when I have a chance to get away I feel like I need to get the most bang for my buck, and given a choice I’m going to give higher consideration to those things that are most important to me and get me where I want to be. I feel like I do my best work while shooting on my own, working at my own pace and seeing with my own eyes. Meetings, workshops and presentations have their place, but when I start thinking about what I most want to do – taking photographs – and when I think about the fact that the time I have to do that is very limited, I just don’t think that’s the way I want to spend my time.

Goals

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

So what does 2011 hold for Tom Dills Photography? First of all I’m planning to get out and shoot more. I purposely held back in 2010 because I had other things that were priorities. I’m not an expert printer yet but I’ve made progress and am pretty happy with my work. I’ve got a marketing plan that I’m in the process of implementing that is already beginning to pay off in some unexpected ways. I’m really itching to get back out there and shoot!

I am looking forward to re-inventing the day trip. Kathy & I like to just hop in the car on a weekend morning and head off somewhere for the day. Sometimes the goal is photography, sometimes the goal is finding peace and quiet, and sometimes the goal is good food and wine. Ideally there’s time for all three! It’s very easy to get caught up in destination shooting, what I call Trophy Hunting. But I’m not trying to fill up a checklist with places I’ve gone and subjects I’ve shot. A lot of people miss out on opportunities because the “experts” say that the only times to shoot are in the morning and afternoon. Yeah, it’s easier then, but it’s not the only time to make good photographs. So I want to explore that.

I’ve been thinking of myself less and less as a “nature photographer” lately. There’s a lot more that interests me than just nature, and there are opportunities to be found everywhere. I really want to explore the creative side of photography, go beyond shooting subjects and clichés and get into expression and intention. This is foreign territory for a lot of folks but that’s what is making me tick these days. I will probably take a workshop or two, but they will be small groups intensely focused on what I am looking to learn, not just trudging around in the woods shooting birds, bugs and blossoms (as I’m overly fond of saying).

I’m hoping to strike a balance between information overload and personal development. There is so much information available these days that it is exceedingly difficult to work through it all, and I firmly believe that many times we take in so much data that we can’t hear our own voice for all the noise. I recently read an article that referred to “visual junk food” and I think that describes the problem well. Tasty and delicious with little nutritional value. It’s OK to eat the Twinkie once in a while but not every day. The key word is balance.

What I won’t be doing is attending meetings, leading outings or filling my calendar with other people’s priorities. You won’t see me posting stuff on Facebook as much. After a year or so of playing around with that I’ve found that it can be such a time-suck that its best if I just avoid it altogether. When my cell phone pictures get more comments than my “serious” ones it says a lot about why everyone is there and who actually takes the time look and to comment. Go figure. But I digress….

My comments will surprise and may even disappoint some people but that’s really OK, because everyone has to decide what they want to do. I’m not criticizing anyone’s choices or suggesting that what I’m saying should work for everyone, because we all have different reasons for doing what we do.

Intentions

I have a lot to do, and time flies while I’m having fun. Joe McNally recently posted on his blog:

“Can’t believe it’s December. As my mom used to say, “Oh, you know, 4th of July and the year’s over.” I didn’t really believe her, but you know, she mighta been onto something.” And he’s right. But I’ve got plans, and I’m looking forward to working out the details and enjoying the journey.

From Heron Dance, one of my favorite blogs:

I remembered a story of how Bach was approached by a young admirer one day and asked, "But Papa Bach, how do you manage to think of all these new tunes?"

"My dear fellow," Bach is said to have answered, "I have no need to think of them. I have the greatest difficulty not to step on them when I get out of bed in the morning and start moving around my room."

- Laurens Van der Post

I have a lot to say, and it’s my intention to learn how to express my thoughts and ideas in the best way possible. I’m really enjoying the expression I find from writing, and I’m planning to continue that because I think it is a great way to clarify my thoughts. And it helps me with my photography because the act of writing a good paragraph is a lot like constructing a good photograph. Use only the words you need to use to make the point you want to make.

“I apologize for the length of this letter but I didn’t have time to make it shorter”

- (Attributed to everybody from Twain to Pascal)

I want to learn, and I want to teach. I want to lead and I want to follow. I want to sell some stuff and share even more. But mostly I want to learn to express myself with my photographs, and to some extent with my writing. I like to do this, I want to do this.

I could sit around watching TV or Photoshop tutorials or gear review articles. I could play around with software to the point where I wouldn’t know my Vision if it bopped me over the head. I intend for 2011 to be a year of simplification, in my life and in my photography. Minimize distractions and noise, but not to the point of becoming a hermit. Just the opposite, I want to be out enjoying the world, being distracted by attraction, living mindfully and purposefully. Attending to my priorities instead of those of some “expert” who wants to tell me how to think and what to do. And don’t tell me when and where and what to photograph!

Does that all sound extreme? It is! It takes a lot to pull the plug on the things that get in the way, but we’ve done it and are doing it. Some people think we’re nuts and maybe to an extent we are, but we’re just doing our thing the way we want to do it. And that’s OK with me. I’m looking forward to 2011 in a big way. It might just be the best year yet!

A New Year

2011-01-01T08:39:00.000-05:00

I saw a Facebook post yesterday that asked "As 2010 comes to an end, will you reflect or will you reset?" My thought is that the clock and the calendar continue to move forward, and so should we.

What better way to start the year than with a beautiful sunrise? Chincoteague, VA in November 2010.

Multiple Catalogs in Lightroom

2010-12-19T20:34:00.003-05:00

I advocate, as most Lightroom users do, the use of a single catalog for my images. Recently I had an occasion where a separate catalog turned out to be the perfect solution for me. I needed to prepare a group of files for a commercial printing company, and there were a number of things they needed me to do that were specific to these files:

- The file names had to be customized according to subject;

- I needed to customize my black point and shadow tones to output correctly on their printers;

- They needed an 11x14 version and a 4x6 version of each file

Several problems I needed to solve for my own benefit were:

- I didn’t want to intermingle those versions with my regular images;

- You can’t have virtual copies with different file names, and changing the file name in my main catalog would mess up my normal naming convention;

- Any processing I did to the images would be specific to the files for this project, and I didn’t want any processing of the new versions to interfere with my original files.

- I could have solved some of these problems by creating multiple virtual copies and putting them in collections, but that didn’t solve the naming issue.

I used a Collection to keep track of the initial images I sent for review, and created a separate Collection of the images they chose so I could keep track of them. I wanted to review each of the images before sending them, and I realized that I was going to need to keep track of the files I had sent and the ones I still needed to review, so I created a Smart Collection using a client keyword for the images that have already been sent.

Once I completed my review I used the “Export As Catalog” function to create a new Catalog of those images. I then added the client name keyword to the images in the Quick Collection to remove them from the “Need Processed” Smart Collection. I now have the images in a new Catalog ready to prep for the client.

In the new catalog I need to do three things with my images to prepare them for output to the client: (1) I need to rename the files to a custom name reflecting the subject of the photo, (2) I need to adjust the black point and shadow tones, and (3) I need to create versions in 4x6 and 11x14 format. It’s a manual process but easy to do. When I am done I create a new Collection called “4x6” and add all the images to that Collection. As it turns out most of the images happen to be already in a 4x6 format so I don’t have to do much cropping.

Next, I select all the images in the 4x6 Collection and create a new Collection titled “11x14,” being sure to select “Create New Virtual Copies.” This creates Virtual Copies of all the images that I now go through and crop to 11x14. This requires some interesting aesthetic compromise as I’m not completely happy doing this, but I do it and they’re fine.

At this point I have two Collections. One has the images in a 4x6 format, the other with the same images in an 11x14 format. Remember that the images have not actually been resized, they are just virtual copies, or versions of the original RAW or TIF files. Using two separate Export Templates I export output them into separate folders, and once they are done I upload them to the client’s FTP server and that’s it!

The “Old Fashioned Way” would have had me doing two different versions in Photoshop, and even though I could have automated the process to some extent it would have been very manual. In this case I was able to keep the manual work to a minimum, and I now have a catalog that contains only the files for this client in the formats they have requested, and the catalog is completely separate from my main image catalog. If the client decides at some point to do a different size image, it will be a simple matter to go to the correct image, create a new virtual copy and export it exactly they way they want it. Hopefully the client will want more of my images in the future, in which case we’ll repeat the process and add the new images to the existing catalog. Easy!

PS: Another interesting thing is that as I went back and reviewed the older images, I found that with only two exceptions I reprocessed them exclusively in Lightroom and ended up with a better result than I had achieved with the older images processed in Photoshop. This is admittedly due in part to an improvement in my own processing skills but I think also due to a dramatic improvement in software over the last 3-5 years.

PPS: This is the short version of this article! I wrote another one that is much more detailed and another page or so longer. E-mail me if you want a copy and I'll send it to you!

Watch What You Say

2010-12-12T08:43:00.000-05:00

I really don’t like ticking people off and risking friendships so I’m not going to identify the source, but I just read a blog post that stated – quite authoritatively and unequivocally – that “you are wasting your time photographing landscapes in the middle of the day under direct sunlight.” Wow, those are strong words. The writer goes on to say that “no matter how dramatic the subject matter is, the pictures will never be successful.” Really? Never? As in not ever? To the writer’s credit he goes on to name several exceptions, but I’m inclined to take exception myself. I agree that it’s easier to take good photographs in the morning and afternoon, but it is certainly not impossible to make good photographs in the middle of the day. It just depends on how creative you are and how hard you want to work. I think the writer does photography and photographers a huge injustice to make such a claim.

December Wallpaper Calendar!

2010-12-01T22:26:00.000-05:00

Just a little late, but it's still the 1st! A little holiday spirit for the month, taken on the waterfront in Belhaven, NC - one of my favorite places!

Enjoy, and Happy Holidays!

My 2011 Photography Calendar is Here!

2010-11-21T15:27:00.002-05:00

I am now taking orders for my 2011 Photography Calendar - titled "A Year by the Sea." This calendar contains 12 beautiful photographs from beaches I have visited over the last several years, from Hilton Head, SC to Barbados. You can see a preview of the calendar on my website.

Place your order now for delivery by mid-December - just in time for the holidays! I'll be taking orders through November 30 at the Paypal link on my blog (top of the right-hand column).

If you would like more than one calendar, please e-mail me for an invoice which I can send you via e-mail. This automates the payment process for me, allows me to collect the sales tax I need to collect, and lets me keep good track of orders.

Thanks!

November Wallpaper Calendar

2010-10-31T20:34:00.001-05:00

I'm sure it's just me (it usually is) but there is something weird about kids going around and trick-or-treating while they text on their cell phones. Seems like if you are old enough to have a cell phone you shouldn't be out begging for candy. Like I said, probably just me....

Let's kick November off with another waterfall image. On our recent club outing to Brevard someone mentioned that they thought it was interesting that there could be 20 photographers standing in front of a waterfall and I would be the only one with my lens pointing away from the waterfall. Well, not always. In this case I was pointed at the waterfall, but at a really small part of it.

This is a detail from Looking Glass Falls in Pisgah National Forest near Brevard, NC. Not too many people get this shot, most of them don't even see it. But sometimes I do actually shoot waterfalls!

Fancy Colours

2010-10-28T22:21:00.003-05:00

(Reference to an old Chicago tune)

I spent last week in the NC mountains photographing in fall color. On several occasions people mentioned that they thought that "the colors are lousy this year" or "this fall is one of the worst I've seen." I even heard someone say something like "this fall sucks." While I admit that there were places where you might have to isolate the colors a bit, I didn't think it was all that bad. As I review my images on the computer this week I'm not all that disappointed with the color. Could it be that we have gotten so used to looking at our images through Viveza-colored glasses that we can't appreciate reality when we see it? Just a thought.

Drum Machines Have No Soul

2010-10-07T20:44:00.001-05:00

Creativity comes from many places and takes many forms. There is no formula for creativity and there is no single definition or example. Photography is no exception, but where my opinion differs from that of many photographers I know is I feel that 95% (or more) of creativity takes place at the instant a photograph is taken, using the camera and related tools to express the vision in our hearts. Whether we use an expensive high-res camera or our phone, the expression of our creativity comes not from the equipment but from how we use our equipment to communicate our thoughts, ideas and emotions through our photographs. We use more tools to realize our creativity after the photograph is taken, and those tools range from the type of equipment used, to the software used to process the photograph to the method for displaying the finished result.

Recently someone suggested that I needed to use a certain piece of software because (a whole list of people) were using it and because it did a great job of making their images look really good. I have seen the results of this software in the work of these referenced photographers and agree that the software does have some interesting characteristics. But it’s not the software that makes good images good. Good images look good no matter what software is used, because a good image reflects good vision, and all the software in the world won’t make a lousy image great (I’ve tried it!). My personal preference is to use software as a tool and learn how to achieve my vision regardless of the name of the software. I work really hard to learn how to use my software to make my images look like I want them to, based on my creativity and vision. The danger comes in relying on software or presets or plug-ins as a “recipe” that doesn’t make images good, it just makes them look like the images of everyone else using that software. To quote art expert Barney Davey, “The talent to emulate and replicate is not the same as to create.”

A car in my neighborhood has a bumper sticker on the back that says “Drum Machines Have No Soul.” When I first read that message I knew exactly what it meant. Drum machines are great for laying down a rhythm track. They sound pretty good and are used a lot in certain types of music. While you can be somewhat creative in programming them, they do some interesting things and can reflect some variety based on the programmer’s input, they have little ability to reflect artistry, and can’t adapt to changes in mood or energy. Once upon a time I was a musician and was very fortunate to have played in a band with an individual who is now one of the top drummers in the world. There’s a big difference between a rhythm track and a virtuoso drum solo.

When I heard the comment about using a certain piece of software to process all my images, I couldn’t help but think of the bumper sticker warning me about drum machines. The computer has no soul either, and while using software can be creative in terms of deciding which button to push, I would much rather achieve my vision by working with software I control, rather than using some faceless software developer’s recipe to give my images some soulless look with a canned effect. Learning how to use the software I use to achieve the end result I want, rather than pushing buttons until I find something that looks “cool,” puts my heart and my soul into my photographs.

October 2010 Calendar

2010-09-30T20:08:00.001-05:00

My, how time flies! October already, the busiest time of the year for nature photographers. Kathy & I have a big month coming up, although we won't be running around quite as much this year as we have in years past. One big week starting with a CNPA outing in Brevard and ending with Kevin Adams' Fall Photo Tour, plus a few random day trips thrown in, will be a great time and should make for some productive photography.

Fall can be so easy that it ends up being hard. When the color starts to show it can be tempting to just point and shoot. The trouble with that is that it's hard to go beyond the obvious. And that is really going to be my focus this year - to go beyond the obvious. I intend to photograph mindfully and intentionally, seeing lines, patterns colors and relationships. We'll see how how I did a month from now.

I liked the photo from my last post so much I've decided to make it the October wallpaper calendar. It's a little bit different look at Hooker Falls in Dupont State Forest. This photo illustrates what I mean by "beyond the obvious" and is the kind of photograph I hope to make a lot more of.

I hope you enjoy this month's calendar, and hope you all have an excellent October. See you somewhere along the way!

When the “Stars” Align

2010-09-22T19:25:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine recently posted a question on Facebook that became an interesting topic of discussion. The Facebook discussion is long over but I’ve been pondering it in my own mind. The friend asked, “on a photo outing, would you rather get one 5* image or five-ten 3-4* images?” Predictably, there were opinions on both sides of the question, with most – OK, all - of the responders answering the opposite of me.

My answer was “I agree that the ‘Wow!’ image is the one you always hope for, but those are so dependent on circumstance that you can hardly be disappointed if you don’t come home with one. Plus, what people buy... doesn’t tend to agree with my rating!

If I come home with a handful of ‘3s’ I can say I had a pretty good day, and a solid group of ‘3s’ makes a foundation for a gallery display, a calendar or a book.”

So let’s look at that. First, to know how to answer that question we all need to agree on what a “5 Star” image is, right? I’m guessing we’re pretty much all on the same page, as most of us probably consider 5 stars to be ‘Best of the Best’. I don’t even think about upgrading to 4 or 5 stars until I’ve done extensive processing to my images and have come up with a print that I am happy with. In my mind the tricky part is when we define what images get 3 stars in the first place. Everyone has a workflow that suits them, and I’ve developed some pretty high standards when it comes to giving my images star ratings.

Back when I was shooting film, I considered one “keeper” per roll of film to be good shooting. The number might have been a little higher with 35mm and 36 exposures on a roll, but when I was using 220 film and getting 20 images on a roll, one keeper per roll was my goal. Not that the others were bad, but I’ve found that there is always one shot that best captured my intentions with a particular subject or scene, and that was my “keeper.” I kept all of my film except the absolute bad ones, but marked the keeper as the one that I would have printed, sent to a magazine or (later) scanned into a digital file for the computer. I didn’t worry about star ratings then because there wasn’t really a need to.

Now that I am using digital cameras I don’t measure my images by rolls of film. I measure them in Gigabytes - dozens and perhaps hundreds of shots from a particular scene or subject. Does shooting more photographs mean I have more keepers? Hardly. The number of keepers – now we call them “Picks” – is perhaps a little higher, but as a percentage of the total it is much, much lower. I have become a ruthless editor. In a day where I shoot 500 photos, I might initially end up with 50 or so Picks, but once I go through them and narrow it down to the very best ones I might end up with 8 or 10 that get the 3 Star rating. There’s no reason to have 20 keepers from a sunrise or sunset, for example, when there are one or two that captured the peak moment. You might select a few more than that if you captured some variety, or shot verticals and horizontals, and then only if it was really something special.

I’m picking on sunrises and sunsets here, but I’m hoping to make a point. A lot of folks trudge out hours before dawn, shoot until the sun comes up then go eat breakfast. In the evening we grab dinner or a glass of wine just about the time things are getting interesting, then head out to our favorite spot just in time to see the ball of the sun disappear into an overcast sky or have the clouds move in just before the “magic moment.” There’s a lot to shoot besides the sun, and shooting the sun makes for some boring pictures more often than not. And when you’re standing at an overlook with 20 of your closest friends, cameras all pointed in the same direction waiting until the magic moment, you’re certainly not going to get anything different!

Truthfully, a lot of my sunrises and sunsets don’t even get picked unless they are better than something I already have. Not that I have a “been there done that” attitude but unless they are spectacular, sunrises are generally pretty cliché. I truly have some pretty good sunrises and sunsets already, and unless something is really different or a lot better than what I have I’m probably better off looking for something else. Hopefully, if I am really paying attention and thinking about what I’m doing, I’m looking for other things to shoot instead of waiting for a boring sunset to turn into something special. That’s where the 3s come from. Look for something that is enhanced by the nice light, or find something interesting and see what I can make of that.

But I digress. The thing I find interesting is that my definition of a 5 star rating changes constantly. I have my All Time Favorites, but periodically I go back, move all my 4 and 5 star images back to 3 stars and re-rate the whole batch. That forces me to re-look objectively at each one of them to confirm that it does or does not meet my 4 star criteria. Most recently I have begun to re-process old files with new software and am surprised at the differences I see. Usually the difference is for the better as the newer software allows me to get even more out of my older files. But often I’ll find an image that I thought was excellent that isn’t, and it stays a 3 or gets deleted. More often than not I start over and re-process the RAW file and delete the old PSD file that was processed in Elements or an older version of Photoshop.

This discussion has been a great exercise and I’ve been thinking about this a lot, and the more I think about it the more I stand by my original response. A good solid group of ‘3s’ means I had a productive outing, that I was seeing well, inspired and creative. If I come back from an outing with a 5 star image I consider myself lucky. If I come back from an image with NO 3 star images I was either uninspired, lazy or not working very hard. To become the photographer I want to be it’s far more important to consistently come home with 3s than to come home with no 3s and a 5. The ideal situation would be to come home with some of each. Once in a while that happens, and when it does it is very, very nice!

Photo is one of those lousy "3-star" images from a trip to Hooker Falls in Dupont State Forest last October. It's got a pretty good shot at getting a promotion, I think.

A Glint in the Eye

2010-09-19T21:05:00.004-05:00

This past weekend I attended a presentation by noted nature and wildlife photographer Bill Lea. During Bill's presentation he showed a number of excellent wildlife images – bear, deer, fox, wolf and more. At one point he made the statement that a successful animal photograph should always include a “glint” in the animal’s eye. I agree completely, but to take it a step further, I feel that a successful photograph of any kind is one that puts a glint in the photographer’s eye.

September Desktop Wallpaper

2010-08-31T21:23:00.003-05:00

Happy September!

Here is an image I made last September along Far Creek near Englehard, NC. The reflections of the old boat in the calm water provide a soothing image to get you through the last days of summer.

Critiques, reviews and evaluations

2010-08-30T18:14:00.002-05:00

One of the things that often puzzles aspiring photographers of all skill levels, from absolute beginners to experienced amateurs and professionals, is the question of knowing how "good" their images are and how to make them better. As great as most experienced photographers are with sharing information about equipment, technique and locations, it is very difficult for photographers to get direct and specific feedback on improving their work.

I think one of the biggest challenges may be that we don’t know what kind of advice to ask for.

For a photographer trying to improve and learn, what to do? Maybe you could start posting to online forums, participate in a critique session, or attend a workshop. Each of these choices has its own benefits, and it’s possible to get a good foundation from a workshop. Even before that, though, you need to have an idea what it is you are trying to accomplish. What are you trying to learn, and who is best suited to help you do that?

Before taking a workshop or participating in a critique session, the place to start is to evaluate your own images. What kind of photographs do you take? Which ones do you like? Do they look like what you intended? Have you captured whatever it was that attracted you and caused you to press the shutter button? Why or why not? What do YOU like about your images, and what do YOU see in your images that need improvement? What matters most is YOUR vision, not someone else's interpretation of your image. Once a photographer has evaluated his own images and edited them based on his own intentions, only then can they be properly evaluated by others.

Eventually you will want to present your work to others, to get feedback, advice and suggestions. Don’t be afraid of this, but also be clear what kind of feedback you are looking for. This is important, as it helps you determine where and how to present your work.

The easiest and perhaps most common approach today is the online image critique. This can be as informal as posting images to Flickr or Facebook and getting comments. It can be an individual image critique forum such as the CNPA message boards, or you can submit to a formal review group or forum such as those offered by PPA and other organizations. When participating in online image critiques it is important to know who is going to be doing the critiques. Who are the critiquers, what are their qualifications? Are they professionals, beginners or someone in between? Are they people whose goals and vision are similar to your own, or are they just people looking for “atta-boys” and meaningless platitudes for their own work and who spend their time doing the same for others? Are they “pixel peepers” who will ignore an image with beautiful composition or wonderful light because maybe it isn’t critically sharp or optimally processed? Make sure you are showing your work to people whose opinions you would most want, and remember that a lot of people who post and comment to online forums are people whose hobby is commenting and posting to online forums. Photographers whose opinions you might value most might not spend a lot of time online because they are out taking photographs.

Group critiques are popular, as they tend to be “live,” with a known speaker or presenter who is recognized as having expertise in the field. While these types of sessions have some value, there are many factors that can limit their usefulness. Factors such as limited time, volume of images and technology issues such as a projector that does not properly show the images can limit the effectiveness of such sessions. Also, when someone is looking at images one at a time, the feedback often tends to be based on "rules" and often doesn’t involve input from the photographer. A good review will take the photographer’s intent into account - what are you trying to show and how well did you accomplish it?

Recently I have started to become more comfortable with my technical ability and have started to explore a more artistic approach to my photography. One of the areas that I wanted help with was the choices I make when editing my photographs (NOTE: by editing I am referring to the selection of images to keep or work on further. Processing refers to the optimization in software, or “developing” the images). I recently took a workshop with a photographer whose work and teaching style I admire, and as part of the process we arranged a follow-up meeting to review the images I made while on the workshop. It hasn’t happened as of the time of this article, but my goal is for us to review the work I did, evaluate the decisions I made about which images best suited my intent, and get his feedback on my post-processing. Yes, I’m paying extra for his time, but I feel that the extra effort to “complete the circle” will be worth it.

Another area I have been working on is doing my own printing. The way to get feedback on printing is to have someone actually look at your prints, so I have been working with a local master printer to get ongoing feedback to help me come up with better output. A trained eye is far better at seeing subtle differences that, once seen, make a huge difference in the impact of a print. Again, I’m paying for the advice, but I am getting a lot of efficiency by having exclusive access to this person, rather than trying to wedge in time during his studio hours or during a hectic workshop.

There are a number of things to consider and look for when deciding about learning opportunities. Decide what it is you are trying to accomplish. Establish goals and get specific feedback. Look at the activity on a forum or in a critique group and see what kind of images people are showing, what kind of feedback they are getting and whether you think it would work for you. Talk to a potential workshop leader or instructor to discuss your needs and to determine if and how he or she can help you. It might require more effort, it will probably cost some money and will definitely take time, but the payoff will be in terms of meaningful and specific feedback to help solve problems you have or answer your questions.

It’s Not About “Best”

2010-08-18T20:37:00.003-05:00

I was recently on a photography workshop with a well-known nature photographer and one of the participants asked the leader “between us, tell me – who are the 4 best photographers in the Unnamed Camera Club?” Just like in the old Dean Witter commercials all of the ears within listening distance perked up, and back came the answer, but not what the questioner was hoping for. He said – and I’m paraphrasing – that you can't evaluate "best." It’s not about “best.” Two different photographers, or for that matter a group of photographers, can each have completely different styles, use completely different equipment and present their final images in completely different ways. What distinguishes them may be content, technical excellence or emotional response. But that just makes them different, not better.

To carry this example a little further, think about other things you know personally. Do you like to read? Who is a better writer, Stephen King or Dan Brown? How about wine? Is Stag’s Leap a better wine than Kendall Jackson? Is Carlos Santana a better guitar player than Eric Clapton? Is Art Morris a better photographer than Joe McNally? Each choice is distinctively different, each choice is excellent in its own way, each choice is very, very good at what they do. But best? It’s not about best.

When evaluating anything, books, wine, photographs, we have to decide what it is that matters most to us. For photography do we want technical excellence? Define that. Does that mean excellent in-camera technique, excellent post processing, beautifully hand-crafted fine art prints on wonderful paper? Are we looking to go beyond technical excellence and explore images that convey feeling and emotion? What matters to each of us is very personal, and whether we are evaluating our own images or looking at others’ images, our preferences and opinions will dictate what we look for, how we feel, and how well those images stack up.

Many photographers are very subject-specific. Some photographers are very skilled at and perfectly satisfied making technically excellent documentary portraits of plants, animals and birds. Things like pose, head angle, direction and quality of light may be their focus. They may have an interest in the biological characteristics, or they may simply be adding to a collection. Whether they are shooting plants, animals, birds, waterfalls, sunrises at the beach or mountain ridges in the fog, it is the specifics of the subject that attract them. Those things are relatively easy to define, and on the surface the resulting photographs are relatively easy to evaluate. But even then, there will be differences in the images because each person brings their own set of interests, their own preferences and goals. Whether evaluating their own images or images of others, those preferences will influence what we look for, what we see and how we feel. Each set of photographs can be evaluated on the basis of many variables, and determining which of those variables is important is up to each individual photographer first.

Some photographers, whether satisfied with their level of technical knowledge or attracted by the desire to go beyond technical excellence start to think in terms of making images that convey thoughts, feelings and emotions. This does not mean burning incense and getting all new-agey – it just means thinking about what we see, understanding what it is that attracts us to a scene and making photographs that reflect the emotions and feelings we have about it. This gets into foreign territory for many photographers and it is easy to be scared off by the concept. Consequently, it can be very difficult to judge whether a photographer has created images that reflect their vision and whether they have achieved his or her goals.

While you are evaluating your own images, take time to look at other people’s photographs to build your own personal database of what you like and don’t like. Start with your own images but also expand your horizons to look at other people’s work. It doesn’t have to be work from famous people either, it can be anyone’s. Look at other images, whether prints in a gallery, online slideshows & galleries, books, magazines or presentations. Look at other images not to copy them, but to learn from them. Which images appeal to you and why? Just like listening to music or tasting wine, you need to have enough experience to understand what things are important to you. You need to have an opinion about what you like and what you look for, and you need to be able to recognize whether your work or someone else’s satisfies your preferences. If it doesn’t, you might still be able to appreciate it because even if it is not something you prefer you recognize that it is done very, very well.

We hear a lot about technical stuff. This is important but it is only the beginning. Learn the basics, but learn them so well that you don’t have to think about them. Learn how to use technique to achieve your goals. Learn to evaluate others’ images to determine how they made them and decide whether you like the results. When you attend a presentation of someone else’s images, participate in an image critique or see someone’s photographs online, learn to recognize characteristics. What makes them appeal to you (or not)? Look at other people’s images, and instead of asking them about aperture shutter speed, focal length, etc. look at the image and decide for yourself what was used, and whether or not you think it was effective. Think about what the photograph might look like with more or less depth of field, a longer or shorter shutter speed, or a different focal length lens. When you look at a photograph and think “wow, I wish I had taken that,” think about how it was done so that when you are in a situation to take a “wow” photograph you know how to do it. Remember that and add it to your personal database, so the next time you are photographing you can go into your personal database, think about all the variables, and have a better idea of what to do to reach your goals.

It’s important that we all try to improve our photography. We all want to get better at what we do. We want to learn and grow. But wondering or worrying about whether we are “better” than someone else or wanting to know who is “best” is an unnecessary distraction. Appreciate photographers and photographs for what they are and how they are different. This is supposed to be fun – enjoy it!

August Wallpaper Calendar

2010-08-02T18:38:00.004-05:00

August 1st came and went, but August 2nd is a better day anyway. It's my son Scott's birthday - a national holiday in my family! For the calendar, a day late and a dollar short will have to do. I will happily refund your money if you are not completely satisfied!

I've got a number of essay ideas floating around in my head and will have at least one of them on paper for the upcoming deadline for the next CNPA newsletter. With any luck it will end up as a blog post. So stay tuned!

This month's photograph is from a visit last year to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It was taken at Currituck Heritage Park near Corolla, North Carolina.

July Wallpaper Calendar

2010-06-30T19:54:00.005-05:00

This month's image is one of those where I knew I had something when I made the photograph, but it got lost in the shuffle and just recently got rediscovered. This is an early morning shot along the Blue Ridge Parkway near Waynesville, NC. It was shot last summer while on a workshop with Les Saucier. I've been wanting to get back to these images for a while and just managed to get one worked up in time for this month. I hope you enjoy looking at it as much as I do!

Simplify

2010-06-29T18:14:00.004-05:00

I was just reading a post on Kirk Tuck's blog about gear choices for going on vacation. The usual dilemma - how much stuff does someone need to take on whatever kind of trip they're taking. And since I'm going on vacation - yes, again! - in just a few days it's a subject on my mind. I've had this internal discussion before, and have managed to get myself down to a nice small kit that doesn't take up much room, gets me the pictures I plan to get but doesn't involve carrying my 40-pound ThinkTank roller through the airport, only to to have to check it on the jetway.

When I was shooting film I had a Mamiya 7 with the 50, 65 and 150, which roughly equates to a 24, 35 and 75 in 35mm terms. And I rarely used the 50. I long to regain that simplicity in a digital outfit, but it finally dawned on me that a body and a reasonable zoom would just about cover me. So until I decide to spring for an M9 and a pocketfull of Leica glass I've been traveling with my 40D and 24-105. It's a little clunky but it's what I've got. And it fits in the little shoulder bag that I used to carry my Mamiya in. Why the 40D? With "only" 10 megapixels there's little to no chance I'll fill up all my cards in a week, so I can leave the laptop at home and enjoy cocktail hour actually doing cocktails instead of backing up files! It's the only camera I have with built-in sensor cleaning so I don't have to worry about taking all the cleaning stuff with me. Lastly, the "crop factor" of the 40D gives me enough reach with the 24-105 that I'm not tempted to bring the 70-200, which seems to help me avoid the inevitable "as-long-as-I" syndrome. As in "as-long-as-I'm taking the bigger lens I'll need the bigger bag and as long as I'm taking the bigger bag I might as well take the..." You get the idea.

One camera, one lens. Maybe the 17-40 if I think I'm going to miss the wide end, and the G9 and a Ziploc bag for going to the beach. Cards, batteries, chargers and a polarizer and I'm there. For support I'll always take my T-Pod, and if there's room after I'm done packing clothes I may throw in a monopod. If I'm really lucky and have a couple of pounds to spare I'll take my tripod, but probably not.

And none of that daily posting to Facebook stuff. I'm on vacation - that can wait!

SoFoBoMo 2010

2010-06-06T09:28:00.005-05:00

SoFoBoMo stands for Solo Photo Book Month, and is a fun way to motivate yourself to do a project. I participated last year and am doing it again this year.

During any 30-day period between June 1 and July 31 you take the photographs, lay them out in a book format and publish them as a .PDF book and if you wish as a print-on-demand book through Blurb, Lulu or one of the many other POD publishers. Lulu and Blurb seem to be the most popular. Last year I published mine on Lulu and someone actually bought one!

I had come up with a really good idea for this year's theme but my plans didn’t work out so I’ve decided to hold that thought for another year. What I’ve decided to do should still be interesting. I’m excited about it and looking forward to giving it a go.

Kathy & I leave July 3 for a cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas. What I’m planning to do is photograph people taking pictures. A cruise should offer plenty of subject matter! I’ve got some ideas about how to make that interesting, so we’ll see how it goes. The primary thing for me is the exercise of shooting and creating a project. I’ll do my best, and regardless of the outcome it will be a lot of fun and a great learning experience.

Look for my book on Blurb some time in early August!

Paper Testing and June Wallpaper

2010-05-31T11:21:00.004-05:00

When I bought my new printer late last year one of the things I intended to do early on was to try out a number of papers and eventually settle on one or two that I really liked and learn how to make the best possible prints from those papers. I spent the last several months working with some Lexjet paper I got "free" with my printer along with several papers I had laying around the house. My "go-to" paper has been Crane's MuseoMAX paper. I originally discovered MuseoMAX paper from print guru Gary Kerr at Fine Art Impressions, who used it on a couple of custom prints he made for me. It's a very nice paper, with a smooth matte surface that holds sharpness and color like a glossy paper. The best of both worlds in many ways.

Over this past winter I took a fine art printing class from Les Saucier, who had recently begun using Hahnemuhle's Fine Art Baryta paper. In his class I made a print of my own using this paper, which I found to be very nice. I had also read about a new paper from Canson called Canson Infinity Baryta Photographique that was said to be very nice. A few articles placed it higher than the Hahnemuhle in terms of print quality. So I ordered some 8.5x11 sheets of the Hahnemuhle and the Canson and proceeded to make test prints on all the paper in my storage cabinet. I must say that - despite my relatively basic knowledge of the art of printing - the Canson paper blows me away. Amazing shadow detail, all the way to the deepest blacks, excellent color and sharpness, and a nice white surface that really makes for a fine print.

I'm still going to use the MuseoMAX as well, as I like the matte surface and warm tone of that paper for certain photographs, but the the Canson is my new favorite. I just ordered a bunch of it from Shades of Paper and can't wait to start making prints with it. Great stuff! Once I've had some time with it I'll start thinking about custom profiles.

It's a day early, but here is the June wallpaper calendar for those of you who collect it. The Place to Be in June is Roan Mountain, and this is an image from last year's visit there. A beautiful blue sky and lovely rhododendron make a great representation of June in the Southeast. Enjoy!

Home Again and May Wallpaper

2010-05-02T16:43:00.004-05:00

Just got back from a lovely week on the high seas...a 6 night cruise on Royal Princess followed by a couple of nights in Hollywood Beach, FL. This was a vacation week so I didn't take my good gear but managed to get a few grab shots with the G9. I've got some fodder for a couple of blog posts and will get them downloaded from my brain over the next week or so and will post them along with a few photos. For now it's back to the banking grindstone for a few weeks.

I remembered to do the May calendar before I left, so here it is, only a few days late! The image is from a last May and was taken along the Boone Fork from the Tanawha Trail, Blue Ridge Parkway near Grandfather Mountain, North Carolina. Enjoy!

Anonymous American Photographer

2010-04-13T19:53:00.002-05:00

I subscribe to receive e-mails from Christie's and Sotheby's with results from various art auctions. Sotheby's recently had an auction of photographs, many of which were historical photographs by famous photographers. A large number of them were daguerreotypes from the 1840's. There were a few Westons, a Cunningham or two. Adams, Strand, Stieglitz and Steichen were among the names listed. But what struck me was the number of photographs - primarily the daguerreotypes - that were listed as being by "Anonymous American Photographer." I couldn't help but think, "is that our fate? Are we either famous or anonymous?" Scary thought.

Shopping and Photography

2010-04-04T21:34:00.003-05:00

This is my 101st post - some kind of milestone!

I was having a conversation today with a friend about my approach to photography, and it caused me to think about the fact that although we make dozens if not hundreds of photographs each time we go out, the percentages of "keepers" can vary dramatically depending on our approach, our intended result and our ability to make tough editing decisions. It occurred to me that our approach toward what and how many images we keep is a lot like our approach to shopping. Some people buy lots of "stuff" even if it isn't really something they need. They like it, it's on sale or something caused them to want it so they bought it. Sometimes they buy these things and keep them forever, even once they decide they no longer want them. Others buy less frequently but what they do buy is well thought out, the purchasing decision is fully analyzed and the item purchased is exactly what they were looking for.

My approach to shopping made that transition long ago. I rarely shop, but when I do it is for exactly what I want, I get it and I go on. My photography is headed in a similar direction but is far less developed. My approach toward photography seems to be evolving from one of quantity to one of quality and as it does, I find myself keeping fewer images. The ones I do keep are ones I am happier with and that I will probably hold on to for a lot longer period of time. I feel like I am making better choices and that the resulting keepers are much stronger than when I was keeping a lot more. I wonder if this is because I am thinking of my images as prints instead of just pictures on a hard drive. Somehow thinking about and making prints forces me to take a harder look at an image. I find that a lot fewer of them are making the cut. Something to think about.

Happy April!

2010-03-31T20:55:00.004-05:00

Wow, another month has flown by! I managed to make one blog post in March, but it's been a busy month. This work thing sure takes a lot of time, but it is worth the effort.

Not much to say this time, but I wanted to post the April calendar for those of you who would e-mail me tomorrow if I forgot.

I would like to ask one small favor. A number of my readers subscribe via Networked Blogs on Facebook. Networked Blogs gives readers the ability to rate a blog, from one star to five stars. If you are one of those followers, I would really appreciate a few ratings (especially if they are good!). Please be honest, but please take the time to rate. I'll be sure to do the same for those of you who have blogs.

Thanks!

This month's calendar is an image from my motion blur series, taken last spring on the Torrence Creek Greenway near my home. I think it really says "Spring" by emphasizing the fresh green and soft new growth of the season.

Photographer or Tourist?

2010-03-14T08:12:00.003-05:00

I've been thinking lately about the propensity that a lot of photographers – famous and otherwise – have for traveling to and doing workshops in places they don't live, and the fascination we "mortals" have for spending big money for the privilege of traveling with big name photographers to such far-flung places. I certainly can't blame the photographers because presumably they are being well-paid to go by those with the cash to afford their workshops, and it's great that people are willing to shell out dollars to be able to rub elbows with famous photographers in exotic locations.

Kathy & I have been talking about and making a list of places we want to go while we're still working and have the money, places we might not be able to afford when we retire and have the time (what's fair about that?). I love to travel, but have accepted the fact that the kind of photography I tend to do requires that I either learn about a place and keep going there until I get what I am looking for, or wander around with a camera until I see something that catches my eye and photograph it. The former approach is very location-specific and requires repeated visits. It’s best done when it is close to home. The second approach is what I often find myself doing when we travel. The interesting thing about that is that many or most of the “better” photographs I come back with are not location-specific. They could have been taken anywhere. Then I think, "if I can make a photograph like that anywhere, why do I have to travel halfway around the world and spend a bunch of money to make it?"

Kathy & I went to Alaska several years ago. It was a trip we really wanted to take, we did it to celebrate our 25th anniversary, we took the kids and it cost us a bundle. I don't regret for a second that we did it, it was that worth it. In preparation for that trip I convinced myself to take the plunge into digital photography. I invested a lot of money in new gear, all of it I still have and use. That was worth it. We were in Alaska for 12 days and I came back with about 2500 photographs. A lot of my photographs are pretty darned good and would make an interesting presentation to the local Rotary club or even a local camera club meeting. There are a few photos in there that I count among my "heroes," but since I had no control of the schedule, the conditions or the weather, everything I got was due mostly to good luck. For the most part they are a bunch of ordinary photographs of some really nice locations. Some of them are probably better because of my "eye" or my skills, but most of them are pretty ordinary. The fact that I am five years down the photographic journey may have an effect of how I feel about them now, but I'd like to think I would make different and hopefully better photographs on a return trip, all else being equal.

If I spend a bunch of money to go one someone's photo workshop or take a vacation to an exotic location, am I going as a Photographer or as a Tourist with a Really Good Camera? I suspect that it may be the latter, and I think I'm OK with that. If I come back from a great trip with a few heros, fantastic! If not, as long as I accept that I may end up with a bunch of ordinary photographs of a really nice location, I can live with that too. I feel better knowing that my expectations are in line with the expected results. Enjoy the journey, and take some good photographs along the way!

That Was Fast!

2010-02-28T21:52:00.004-05:00

It was just what - a week or so and we were wrapping up January. Wow! This work thing makes time fly!

Just spent the weekend with Les Saucier, one of my Heros and the person I credit for much of my recent photographic learning. This was a fine art printing workshop at his home in Weaverville, NC. There is a fine art canvas printing workshop and a visual literacy workshop coming up later in March. I am very much looking forward to both of those.

I have lots to say but no time to say it, so I wanted to get the March calendar out to those of you who are interested in such things. I hope to have a chance to catch up on my writing in the next couple of weeks, but who knows.

This images was taken during our August 2008 visit to Far Creek in Englehard, NC. It's one of my favorite shots from this location. A vertical version of this shot shows off the reflections in the water, but I had to stay horizontal for this calendar.

Hoping that March brings us our much-anticipated Spring!

Something New

2010-01-31T14:53:00.003-05:00

A recent discovery of mine is the writings and teachings of David DuChemin. I recently read his book “Within The Frame” and have purchased a number of e-books he has written. At $5 each – sometimes less depending on his deals – they are a great deal and have provided me with much inspiration. David’s focus is on vision, as opposed to so many writers who are all about the gear, the software or the location. He is very visual oriented and his approach speaks to me in a way that I “get.”

Consider this plug to be a “thank you” for what comes next.

One of the things that David does for followers of his blog is that he creates a monthly desktop wallpaper calendar. He has even provided the Photoshop template he uses to anyone who wants to make their own. So in keeping with the tradition of sharing I have decided to offer my own monthly calendar wallpaper. Free of charge, just for fun, hope you like it and tell others! I’m going to try to avoid duplicating the image used in my print calendar, just for a little variety because I’d hate to limit myself to only 12 images per year! I’m going to try and pull images from the more “artsy” side of my portfolio for something a little different.

This month’s wallpaper is a photograph I made a few weeks ago in Belhaven, North Carolina. Belhaven is a wonderful little town on the Pungo River. A quick temperature change created a layer of fog over the water and I was able to capture some images that represented the dissolving effect of the fog on this receding line of pilings in the water.

Looking Ahead

2009-12-27T07:26:00.003-05:00

A little over a week ago my recent period of unemployment ended. I’m back to work, in banking where I have been for 30+ years, doing work I enjoy for people I respect and for which I am well paid. With that change comes the end of a period of time where I had the luxury of being able to work on my photography full time, while looking for work and “getting paid” by collecting unemployment compensation. It was not a bad gig, but it was never permanent. I knew that, and although I hoped and to some extent still wish it could have been different I knew it would eventually be time to go back to reality. As it turns out reality isn’t all that bad.

Photography had been my Plan B for a number of years. I had regarded it as something to do if my employment situation changed involuntarily, or as something to pursue full time once I hit the lottery or was able to retire of my own volition. I knew from day one of my unemployment that no matter how much I wished it was otherwise my ultimate destiny was to get back into banking as soon as the right opportunity came along. While I’m sure that I eventually could have made a steady income from photography it is unrealistic to expect that I would ever earn the kind of income I had - and now have again - in banking. No matter what my heart told me about how much I wanted to do photography full time and all the rationalization about whether it was “meant to be” I remained focused on what had been my goal from the time I started working full time and saving for retirement: to be able to retire on my terms. It’s not time yet!

The great thing about the period I had off was that I was able to devote almost 100% of my time and effort into the numerous projects and tasks that I had been trying to cram into a part-time hobby that had been busting at the seams. Processing old files, organizing and keywording images, preparing images for submission to a stock agency, submitting images to galleries for sale as prints, filing copyright registrations - the list goes on. Looking back I accomplished a lot. I assisted Nanine Hartzenbusch at The Light Factory’s Shootout, sold a number of prints, donated a print that sold for an exorbitant price at The Light Factory’s Auction, became an assistant for Kevin Adams on his return to the photo tour business, taught a couple of Lightroom classes, did some one-on-one Lightroom tutoring and am on the schedule to teach some classes at The Light Factory this winter. Wow! That’s stuff that it might have taken me 5 years of part time effort to achieve, and I did it in nine months!

Now I get to look forward, and I am doing it optimistically. One of my friends remarked that now I will be able to afford some new gear. That may be true. Ironic isn’t it that we need to have a job doing something other than photography to afford “professional” photography equipment? The great thing is that everything I have accomplished is something I wanted to accomplish, and while I have made a little money from it they are things I wanted to do anyway. Going forward, I only have to do the things that make me happy. If I want to shoot I wedding I can, but if I choose not to I won’t have to worry about paying the mortgage. If I sell a print I’ll use the money to buy more ink and paper. Next time I teach a class for the CNPA I can let them keep all the money instead of keeping a bit for me. The best thing is that going back to being a part-time photographer doesn’t make me any less a photographer. It will allow me to be an even better photographer because I do best those things that make me happiest, and I’ll do them better without the pressure of having to make money from them. Who knows, I may decide to sell my prints for $20 each. Some people may scoff, but if I derive the most pleasure from sharing my work and if selling prints for $20 means I can share my work with more people and that more people can enjoy it, so what? I won’t of course, but I could.

I just bought a new printer, the Canon iPF5100. It’s a fine printer that is capable of making real good prints. My goal this year is to master it and to master fine art printing. Not to become the next John Paul Caponigro, but to become good enough that I can print my own work and be proud of the results. Now I’ll be able to do it for me, and I can do it with the confidence that I’m doing something I want to do because I want to do it. I can take as much time as I need to get it right and know that once I am happy with the results that’s as far as it needs to go. If other people are happy enough to buy some prints that will be a bonus, but it doesn’t have to be a goal.

While I work on my printing I am going to be less focused on taking new pictures. I don’t feel like I need to be running all over the countryside chasing flowers and bugs and sunsets and water just to take more pictures. I’ve got plenty now and I know I’ll take a lot of new ones this year, but if I never take a new one I have enough to work on that it will take me years to go through them! The great thing is that as I continue to develop my vision my photography will improve, and as I learn more about printing I’ll learn to take pictures in a way that I will be able to make better prints. It’s all part of the process. It sounds like a lot of fun, and I’m looking forward to it. It’s a new adventure!

Photo is from our recent trip to Barbados, at a beach called Beachy Head. I'm going back there. Soon!

The Price of Commitment, Continued

2009-11-29T18:26:00.004-05:00

In the last couple of days I have been preparing to pack for our upcoming cruise, an annual tradition for the last 9 years. In recent years I have managed to convince myself that I was on vacation and took only a point & shoot camera - albeit a good camera - the Canon G9. With the exception of our first couple of cruises when I was still shooting 35mm film, and our one trip to Alaska where I had just purchased my Canon 20D, all I have ever taken on a cruise was a point & shoot camera.

A couple of months ago I decided, with Kathy's blessing since it does effect her, that I wanted to do some more "serious" photography on this cruise. We're going to visit several islands that we especially like, consider particularly photogenic and have only been to a few times. Given my current lack of gainful employment it is uncertain when we will be able to justify another cruise, so I wanted to get some "good" photos from this trip.

Herein lies the dilemma: how much gear is enough? In keeping with the theme of my last post, once you decide to do "serious photography" there is a certain minimum level of equipment you are committed to. I want to make sure I have enough equipment to do what I want to do, without taking so much gear that it becomes a burden. I started by deciding which camera bag I wanted to take, figuring that the size of the bag would determine the amount of stuff I would take. Something more than a point & shoot but less than my entire large 40-pound airline-legal rolling bag, preferably. My rolling bag would be a good solution for getting stuff there, since it is easy to handle and designed for travel. But it holds literally everything I use, and that seems a bit excessive. I'd still have to take my backpack, which would need to be packed separately, because I would want that for carrying my gear with me on the islands. My backpack seemed to make the most sense, since it was the bag I took to Alaska with me, holds as much as I can reasonably carry but is not too much to handle.

When I start paring down my gear I long for the days when I shot with my Mamiya 7 rangefinder. A nice compact body, three excellent lenses and a box of 220 Velvia would get me through a productive weekend. For a trip like this I'd probably take 5 or 6 boxes of film, perhaps as many as 10, and it would all fit into a small doctor bag-sized bag. My 3 lenses were 150mm, 65mm and 50mm, roughly equivalent to 75mm, 35mm and 28mm on a full-frame 35mm camera. My favorite lens, the Canon 24-70, for all intents and purposes covers all three of those focal lengths, and while the combination is a bit larger than the Mamiya kit it doesn't take up a lot more space. So why do I need more than that? Let's look at what I'm taking:

Canon 5D Body w/ RRS L bracket
Canon 40D Body w/ RRS L bracket
Canon G9
Canon 17-40 zoom lens
Canon 24-70 zoom lens
Canon 24-105 zoom lens
Canon 70-200 zoom lens
Canon 580EX flash
Gitzo tripod with RRS head
3 spare batteries for the 5D & 40D with charger
1 spare battery for the G9 with charger
Spare AA batteries for flash with charger
7 - 4GB compact flash cards
4 - 4GB SD cards
2 polarizers
Remote release
3 bubble levels
Lastolite Tri-Grip reflector/diffuser
Various cleaning supplies: Sensor Loupe, Arctic Butterfly, Blower, Microfiber cloths
Various tools for tightening brackets and tripod heads
Apple Powerbook laptop with 2 card readers and an external hard drive
Business cards

This is traveling light? From all this it doesn't look like I'm leaving much behind, but there is still a lot of stuff left in my regular bag! Most amazingly, what would I leave behind? It all fits in my backpack, so if I take anything out I will have empty space. Can't have that! Besides, other than the 70-200 there isn't any single thing or combination of things that would make enough of a difference to matter, and I'm not leaving the 70-200 at home. No way! I'll use it all, and there will be something I don't take that I'll wish I had, like my 2X extender, extension tubes or closeup lens. But I think I've covered 99.5% of the situations I'm likely to encounter, and that's about as close as I can hope to get. Besides, I'm going to be doing a lot more than taking pictures!

It's amazing to me how much stuff I feel like I need to take just to take "serious" pictures. But given that I want to be sure and cover as many bases as possible, I just can't imagine getting by with anything less. Let's hope the results are worth the effort!

The Price of Commitment

2009-11-22T08:52:00.002-05:00

I don’t generally spend a lot of time on message boards, although I will admit to doing my share of posting. I recently contributed to a discussion on the CNPA forum about printers and printing. I made what I thought were some reasonable and well-explained opinions on the type of printer one might look for when getting started printing, the many types of papers involved and the importance of having a properly-profiled monitor so you would have some assurance that the colors on your screen would be well-represented on paper.

During the course of the discussion one of the posters stated that she had a printer that she “bought used 2 years ago. It is still in the box. All the horror stories about not calibrating printer and monitor before attempting to print scared me so much I dismissed all ideas of trying to print.”

First of all, CNPA is an organization of what, 2000 members now? And this particular person is one of the nicest, most social and outgoing people I know. She surely could have asked for and received help from someone in this organization! One of the dozens of people she regularly shoots with would have had exactly the knowledge she was looking for.

Secondly, how much does a colorimeter cost? In the context of the money we spend on camera, lenses, tripods, computers, printers and accessories, why would one not properly calibrate their equipment to get the best possible results?

That got me thinking about all the little odds and ends that we often don’t factor in when we sit down and calculate how much it costs to do what we do. Photography is expensive. Whether we do it as a hobby or as a profession, it costs a lot of money. And that’s not just the gear. The travel is expensive, too. We do it either because we love it, because we’re trying to make a living from it, or both.

There aren’t many inexpensive hobbies, at least not hobbies that I know of. Does a golfer spend several thousand dollars on clubs then shoot with “x-out” golf balls? I grew up in a town with the only (at that time, at least) free public golf course. I played with second-hand clubs and balls I had found. But you don’t become Tiger Woods playing that way. Would a musician buy an expensive guitar then listen to himself play through earbuds? I don’t think so.

It is possible to do photography well with used equipment (it’s all used, right?), old computers and even old printers. But for most of us that is an exception. There is a certain level we want to be at in order to enjoy what we do, produce results we can be proud of and go to the places we want to go. There is a certain pride and satisfaction that comes from pulling out a new lens or some gee-whiz accessory and using it. There is nothing like visiting a fantastic location for the first, or second or twentieth time and taking nice photographs. But then what? We want to share them, either by posting them online, selling them to publications or making prints. That’s all part of the fun, but it’s also part of the cost.

There was recently another thread on the CNPA forum where someone shared a checklist he had made to keep track of the gear for certain kinds of trips. That was great stuff and very helpful. I have my own checklist of things to take on various types of trips, from weekend get-aways to cruises. It’s a great way to be organized. How about a list of all the things we need to be photographers? How many people, if confronted with such a list, would decide to take up another hobby because of the expense? I’ll bet a number of people would, especially once they realized the cost!

Since we don’t have that list, at least not that I’m aware of, we sort of accumulate things as we go. We buy a camera and lens, then a polarizer. Maybe a nice bag. Then another lens, or a tripod. Then a bigger bag. We buy a computer but need a bigger hard drive, or some kind of software. I once heard Tony Sweet tell a group that “digital photography is really not that expensive. After the first $20,000.” For many of us that’s not too far off!

Everyone has to decide their own level of comfort based on their own personal situation. That can be determined by time, budget or other factors. But there are some things that no one should do without. One of those things is a properly profiled monitor, and it doesn’t matter which colorimeter you use as much as is does that you use one. There are many more things that are equally important or more so, but you don’t always have to buy the fanciest or most expensive version. You need to get the best one you can afford that does the job. Does everyone need a $1200 tripod or a $200 polarizer? Of course not. A good sturdy tripod is not cheap. My polarizers, and I have several of them, cost more than many of the cameras I see tourists carrying. In fact, that is often the response when someone asks me how much my camera cost.

I’ve always been a believer that whatever is doing is worth doing well. That’s why I gave up golf a long time ago. I was horrible at it and no matter how hard I tried I could never figure it out. I’ve had somewhat better luck with photography, but it is not any cheaper!

I'm also a strong believer in 'to each his own' but my personal opinion is that being the best photographer I can be means being able to own good equipment (not necessarily the newest or most expensive) that gives me good results, learning to process my own photos and competently print my own work. That carries a certain level of financial commitment. Not everyone shares my goals. For many people sharing photos on Flickr or Facebook is their aim. That’s great, but even then there’s still a minimum cost to play. Maybe not as much as some, but it’s there. Camera gear is great and I always want more, but to me, the ability to experiment with paper and processes and tweaking my photos to get them where I want them is part of the learning process. I consider a good printer to be an essential part of my photography equipment, and it is as important to me (or more so) than another lens or camera body. And that takes a certain level of commitment as well.

To wrap up, my point is that there are some things you just need to have in order to do any hobby. Some of them are expensive, some not. It’s sometimes hard to come up with another $75 or $100 or $500 when there are lots of other things competing for our funds, but some things are necessary, and some are just worth it. When it comes to printing, whether you print your own work or send it to an outside lab, you need to be sure that the file you are sending is accurate, and that takes “just another piece of equipment.” There are a lot of those, and as hard as it is, sometimes you just need to do what it takes.

2010 Calendars!

2009-10-20T07:58:00.007-05:00

My 2010 Photography calendars are now available for purchase! This year’s theme is “A Year of Special Places” and consists of 12 images from beautiful locations throughout North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The calendars are printed by Mpix, the same company I have used in the past. The size is 11x17" opened. A preview is available on my website, my blog and on Facebook.

The cost remains $20, plus tax and shipping. Calendars will be printed and mailed the first week of November, so there is plenty of time to get yours. And they make great gifts! To order more than one, e-mail me directly and I will send you a Paypal invoice for the correct number and amount.

To make your purchase easy, quick and secure, click on the “Buy Now” button and you will be taken to a secure Paypal page where you can complete your transaction. A Paypal account is not necessary, and you can pay with a credit card or electronic check.

Looking at Good Prints

2009-10-04T16:09:00.002-05:00

This afternoon Kathy & I visited The Light Factory in Charlotte to view their current exhibition entitled Group f64 and the Modernist Vision, which includes original prints from Edward Weston, Imogen Cunningham, Willard Van Dyke, Brett Weston and Ansel Adams. I've seen some of these prints before, but never tire of seeing them again and again. One of the things that The Light Factory is doing with this exhibit is offering personalized tours of the exhibit with Chief Curator Dennis Kiel. I organized a group tour with Dennis and offered it up to our nature photography group, figuring that an opportunity to learn something about the history of photography - particularly of this era of photography that has been so influential - with someone so knowledgeable as Dennis Kiel would be an opportunity no one would want to miss. Suffice it to say that I grossly overestimated the level of interest. After some cajoling and persuasion I did manage to attract 9 people, including myself, and I think those who attended are nearly as serious about their photography as I am and enjoyed the tour very much.

I'm continually amazed that for all people like to talk about their photography, and how serious people say they are about photography, that there is a general lack of interest in seeing work that is so important to the history of photography. This may sound silly to some, but just standing in front of some of this work brought tears to my eyes, it is so beautiful. No matter how many reproductions you have seen and how good they might have been, there is no substitute to seeing work of the masters in person. And to have the tour narrated by an expert in the field really appealed to me. Most of the others in our group seemed to think so as well, although after an hour and a half most people had reached the limits of their ADD. I could have stayed another couple of hours!

As I have written here previously I am currently on a personal mission to learn more and more about the history of photography, and am simultaneously trying to develop my printing skills. I have a long way to go on both, but seeing work like this is so inspirational and motivating that I want to do more and more. I'll never be an Edward Weston or Ansel Adams, but learning what really good prints look like and experiencing them firsthand gives me a much stronger foundation upon which to base my own work. All of a sudden I see things in my own prints that I want to go back and re-do. It certainly gives me something more to work with on future work. I can't get enough of this stuff!

Lightroom Workshop This Saturday - October 3, 2009

2009-09-28T13:49:00.003-05:00

I am teaching a Lightroom workshop this coming Saturday, October 3 at the Charlotte REI store. The class will begin at noon and end approximately 4:30PM. I will be covering all aspects of Lightroom, from basics to more advance topics.

See the attached flyer for details.

I Am a Photographer

2009-09-21T11:47:00.003-05:00

I am a photographer. I used to be a banker, a pretty good one too, until I fell victim to our planet’s financial collapse and was forced into a premature and hopefully temporary retirement. I’m probably a pretty good photographer too, but the measurement of ‘good’ is hard to define in either world. I made good money as a banker. I make no money as a photographer. I loved banking. I love making photographs.

During my recent hiatus from banking, it might have been easy to sit around and complain about all the things I’ve lost, the real retirement that was almost within my grasp, the financial goals that are now a few years farther away. Instead, I’ve turned my energies to filling my time with learning, educating myself about the history of art and photography, developing new skills and methods for making photographs. I’m as happy now as I have ever been, so even though I am not seeing a success than can be measured in dollars, I am the wealthiest now that I could ever have imagined. I’m glad I started into photography when I did, as although I have the time today it would be difficult to justify the cost of the equipment I own, even though by some standards it is obsolete. I am thankful that I have had something so stimulating and rewarding to keep me from going stir-crazy.

The toughest thing about the last few months is not knowing. I’ve sent out dozens of resumes, and have even had quite a few interviews. They’ve all went well, but there are so many people looking for work that the competition is fierce, and there are lots of people looking for work with the exact skillset that hiring managers are looking for. And while having 30+ years makes me valuable, it also makes me – at least in the eyes of hiring managers – expensive. Never mind that my current income is now zero! I’m really a heck of a deal to someone looking for someone who knows banking, but no luck so far.

A couple of weeks ago Kathy & I spent a weekend with Andy & Karen Fisher, who own a B&B in Belhaven, North Carolina. We’ve gotten to be friends with Andy & Karen over the course of several visits, and we have had the opportunity to go with them on their boat and have had dinner with them and some of their friends. This last visit Andy introduced me a couple of times as “Tom is a professional photographer.” The first time I thought, “well, not exactly.” But after the second time I though “dammit, he’s right, I am a professional photographer.” That made a real impact on me, and for the first time made me start thinking of myself as a photographer instead of a banker. Now I just need to figure out how to expand on that and make something of myself.

Image is from Far Creek in Engelhard, North Carolina.

SoFoBoMo eBook!

2009-09-11T21:00:00.005-05:00

I've been playing around with online print-on-demand services in anticipation of publishing my 2010 calendar. Since I no longer have arm-twisting access to a large portion of my customer base (co-workers from whom I purchased Boy Scout popcorn and Girl Scout cookies) I want to go with a company that has the ability to do online sales. So far the front runner has to be Lulu, partly because I have experience using them from when I published my SoFoBoMo book, and mostly because their price and quality seem to be a good balance.

I was playing around with their site today and was interested in the idea of publishing eBooks. I'm currently working on updating a digital workflow presentation and am im the process of writing a tutorial on registering copyrights, both of which I would like to publish as eBooks. To see how the process works I decided to turn my SoFoBoMo book into an eBook, which I then published and am offering for sale at $10. Not a bad deal if you ask me, except for the fact that it is available for free at the SoFoBoMo website. I'd be interested in feedback from anyone who gives it a try.

Calendars will be ready for purchase (hopefully) around October 1.

Before and After

2009-08-30T14:18:00.005-05:00

I spent some time this past Friday morning shooting on the Torrence Creek Greenway with CNPA member and photography buddy Don Brown. The ever-changing palette of wildflowers on the greenway never ceases to amaze me. Every week throughout the year brings something new, while some old friends say good-bye for the season. Just lately we've started seeing some of the late summer flowers - goldenrod and milkweed primarily, but if you look closely you can always find little patches of treasure that most people walk by. I think what amuses me the most is that I can be standing knee-deep in a patch of flowers, camera on tripod pointed right at a flower, and someone will walk by and ask what I am shooting! They don't even notice that there are wildflowers there!

These two images are actually portraits of the same type of flower at different stages of its life cycle. They are both of a plant called Yellow Goatsbeard, aka Jack-Go-To-Bed-At-Noon. The yellow flower is the Goatsbeard as it initially blooms, while the puffball is the flower after it goes to seed. Both were found in the same patch mere feet from each other. They look a little like Dandelion but much prettier.

While I was shooting the puffball version I found myself thinking about what it was that was moving me. The flower was telling me "soft" and a little voice in my ear was telling me to "Shoot 'Soft.'" I took a number of frames at different apertures to try and get the right mix of "soft" and sharpness. The stopped-down versions are nice but have a bit of harshness to them because all the background starts to become prominent. This frame was taken at f8 and I feel it strikes the right balance between "sharp enough" and "soft."

Why People Photograph II

2009-08-19T15:07:00.004-05:00

I just finished reading issue #83 of Lenswork, which is a tribute to Bill Jay who passed away earlier this year. The issue is a compilation of Jay's End Notes column which has been one of my favorite reasons to subscribe to the magazine. I admit to being one of those folks who would read End Notes first.

Needless to say, a magazine devoted solely to writings of Bill Jay has a number of gems, but this one made me stop and re-read a number of times, as it echoes my own thoughts on why I love to do what I do:

There are some things you know but you don’t know that you know them – and then you do.

An earnest psychologist friend, for years puzzled by my devotion to photography, recently asked, “Why do you photograph?” The question held no trace of disapproval; it was a sincere desire to understand my motive for what to him seemed like an inconsequential act. I prattled on for some time, increasingly self-aware that my words were empty, not untruthful, merely similarly inconsequential. I felt uneasy.

Then I went out photographing. At the first sight of a potential picture my spirits lifted and I knew what I should/could have said if he had been with me:

“Look,” I would say, “This is life. It is everywhere, and it is here for the taking. I am alive and I know this, now, in a more profound way than when I am doing anything else. These sights are ephemeral, fleeting treasures that have been offered to me and to me alone. No other person in the history of the world, anywhere in all of time and space, has been granted this gift to be here and in my place. And I am privileged, through the camera, to take this moment away with me. That is why I photograph.”

Bill Jay
1940-2009

The photo is a recent gift I found on the Torrence Creek Greenway, about 1/4 mile from my house.

Bubba Jumps the Falls

2009-08-17T13:34:00.005-05:00

Kathy & I spent this past weekend in the Brevard area, scouting locations for an upcoming outing I am leading in October for our CNPA chapter. While at Hooker Falls in Dupont State Forest I was hoping to shoot some stock photos of people cooling off in the falls on a hot summer day. One of the shots a got was this action sequence of some very ill-advised behavior. I thought about asking for a model release but decided he probably would not have taken kindly to my asking, although he (or his next of kin) might someday want a copy of the photo.

I'm guessing there won't be much swimming going on in October!

Photos combined using Lightroom's Print Module and outputting them as a single file.

Dust

2009-08-12T12:14:00.005-05:00

I've about convinced myself that the time I spend cloning dust spots would just about pay for a camera with automatic dust removal.

Now I just have to convince The Boss....

She'll probably tell me to clean my sensor more often.

Image is a combination of 5 photographs of a tree that I shot during our visit to Hilton Head this past February. It was shot in different kinds of light with different sky backgrounds. I'm trying to figure out what to do with it.

Staying Close to Home

2009-08-09T21:35:00.007-05:00

I've written a number of times about the merits of photographing in one's "back yard." For me this often involves photographing in my "front yard" which is the Torrence Creek Greenway. I have an entrance across the street from my house, which is not exactly my "front yard" but is not much farther away than my mail box.

To many Greenway users, the plants and wildflowers are just something to walk past or for their dogs to pee on. They don't really pay them much attention. The few people who even notice me and my camera generally assume I'm photographing the deer, and wonder where they are.

In reality, the changing seasons and the constantly evolving variety of grasses, plants and wildflowers are fascinating. I love finding these gifts and going home and figuring out what they are. Most recently I have been taken by these Crimsoneyed Rosemallow. They're a type of Hibiscus typically found near the coast. What they are doing in little ole Huntersville, NC is beyond me, but they are quite beautious.

Why People Photograph

2009-08-01T08:53:00.003-05:00

I’m a lover of quotes, although I don’t spend nearly enough time digging them up, and I certainly don’t do a good job of remembering them. But I find knowledge and comfort in them.

In keeping with the theme of my previous post, I am reading books in an attempt to learn about photography history. The book I just finished, although I’m not sure my reading did the content justice as it is written in a style that requires a lot more concentration than I was able to give it, is “Why People Photograph, Selected Essays and Reviews” by Robert Adams. Published in 1994, some of the technology references are out of date, but the book is not about technology. The book covers topics from random thoughts on photographic subjects, to examples of success using real-life stories of successful photographers to the author’s personal experience and philosophies about photography and life in general.

In the chapter titled “In The Nineteenth Century West” Adams is discussing the photographic exploration of the western United States in the 1800’s and contrasting it with the present day noise, pollution and overdevelopment that is rampant everywhere, but is especially notable when looking at early views of the country such as those of Timothy O’Sullivan and William Henry Jackson and comparing them with the views we see today. He talks about how the change in our mode of transportation from wagon to automobile, and the speed at which we experience the passing countryside, impacts our perception of the size of the space through which we pass.

Adams says:

“To put it another way, if we consider the difference between William Henry Jackson packing in his cameras by mule, and the person stepping from his car to take a picture with an Instamatic, it becomes clear how some of our space has vanished. If the time it takes to cross space is a way by which we define it, then to arrive at a view of space “in no time” is to have denied its reality.”

And the line that grabbed my attention and made me stop and think:

“Little wonder that we, car-addicted, find the old pictures of openness – pictures usually without any blur, and made by what seems a ritual of patience – wonderful. They restore to us knowledge of a place we seek but lose in the rush of our search. Though to enjoy even the pictures, much less the space itself, requires that we be still longer than is our custom.”

How many times, in this age of Twitter and cell phone cameras and 7-step bracketed HDR exposures do we go blasting through the countryside in search of some iconic trophy shot, completely ignoring the beauty of the scene through which we pass, only to arrive at our supposed destination to grab what’s there and move on to the next stop on our checklist? How many of us ignore the beauty in our own back yard while we go rushing off to some iconized destination to set up our tripod right next to 49 of our closest friends?

A few days ago I made an offer to our local CNPA chapter to come out and spend time on the Torrence Creek Greenway that runs through my neighborhood and has an access trail literally across the street from my house. A few of the folks who would otherwise have attended were out of town, and it was a Friday so a lot of people were working, but only one other person showed up. My good friend and shooting buddy John Schornak and I spent a couple of hours in one spot, shooting the beauty in my back yard, in an area about ¼ mile from my house. Did we come back with iconic shots? Probably not, but we had a good time and it gave us a chance to spend some time in nature. Undiscouraged, I plan to make the offer again soon.

This past weekend a few of us spent a day on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Linville Falls. We were there the entire day, some of us from sunrise until after sunset. Some of us didn’t even go to the falls, but we got some wonderful shots from right beside the road or, in the case of the image accompanying this post, right next to the parking lot in the picnic area! I have a whole database of sunrise and sunset locations in that area. Linville Falls is one of the most beautiful natural landmarks in North Carolina, but for me the beauty of the day was to enjoy where I was, what I was doing and let nature speak to me, not running around, dodging tourists and other photographers to try and capture the same images as everyone else.

So the next time you get ready to head out the door for that trophy destination, think about the “place we seek but lose in the rush of our search” and instead seek out that place where we can “be still longer than is our custom.”

Depth of Focus

2009-07-30T17:16:00.004-05:00

I’ve been spending a lot of time lately educating myself about the history of photography. It’s an interesting exercise, and anyone the least bit interested in the field would do well to take some time to learn more. In addition to Jeff Curto’s History of Photography podcast, The Online Photographer and other websites, there are a number of books available on the subject from your local library.

One of the things I have found fascinating, particularly in the history of landscape photography, is that it hasn’t always been a requirement to shoot at the smallest possible aperture and have everything in focus. Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Imogen Cunningham and the rest of the f/64 gang changed the trend dramatically with their ‘everything razor-sharp and in focus’ images. I love that work and it has influenced me greatly, but prior to that, and to a lesser extent after, photographers like Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen and Paul Strand often used selective focus and shallow depth of field to achieve remarkable results. I don’t pretend to be any of those people, but studying the various methods used throughout photographic history can give us a broader base upon which to build our own vision.

Today we can put a Lensbaby or zone plate on our digital camera and make things out of focus on purpose. And if we’d rather spend time on the computer and don’t want to mess with gear, we can even buy software that will mimic the out-of-focus qualities of lenses we don’t have! But just like it seems counterintuitive to buy software to make our digital images look like film (really!) I generally don’t like messing around with more gear. It just leaves me confused and then I stop seeing things the way I’ve learned to see them. Recently I started thinking “gee, what about if I just use a larger aperture and deliberately make things out of focus? I wonder how that would turn out?”

It is easy to overuse any creative tool, so you don’t want to make every image you take blurry or out of focus any more than you want to make absolutely everything sharp and in focus, but these are tools in our tool box that we can use when the scene or the subject warrants it. We all strive to achieve a personal style or “look” to our photographs, but that doesn’t mean they all look the same. It means that regardless of the style or technique used someone can tell it is your photograph. I believe strongly that you create a “look” by what you feel in your heart and see in the viewfinder, not by processing all your photos with the same software package or using some special lens. I want my images to look the way they do because that’s the way I wanted them to look when I tripped the shutter, not because I know how to run actions in Photoshop and do the same thing to every photo I take.

Anyway, I’ve found myself exploring this shallow depth of focus thing and finding that I like it a lot. It doesn’t always work, but there are times when it is better to suggest what is in a background (or foreground) than actually showing it. I can only imagine the comments at a photo critique session – “gee, it looks kind of soft” or “ those out-of-focus highlights are really distracting.” Well, maybe that’s the point! Don’t just assume that whatever is in focus is the subject! The subject might be the highlights!

Another recent trend, one I’ve tried and like a lot, is using camera movement to blur a scene and distill the elements into patterns of form, textures and color. I don’t do it all the time, but there are some scenes that really lend themselves to it. I have had a great deal of success with this at the beach, but finding suitable subjects on land can be a bit more tricky, at least for me. It’s really fun to take a “traditional” shot with the camera on the tripod, then pull it off the tripod and take a shot of the same scene using a different technique. Explore! You just might find something you like!

One of my grandmother’s sayings was something like “so what does that have to do with the price of prunes?” That was her way of saying “Tom, get to the point!” The point is, we would all do well to study our history, be inspired by the work of the masters – all of them – find things we like, be open to things we haven’t tried or maybe even make us a little uncomfortable, and have fun with this life we call being a photographer.

Looking Up

2009-07-26T19:35:00.003-05:00

Things are starting to pop on the bank job front. This past week I had my second interview for a job with a small community bank that I would really like to work for. Tomorrow I have an interview for a position at my former employer that sounds interesting and promising. As opposed to a number of jobs I have applied for lately, I am well-qualified for both of these positions and - most importantly I think - have good connections behind me for each one. Details to come but fingers and toes are crossed!

This past weekend Kathy & I joined some of our CNPA buddies for a day trip to the Linville Falls area on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It seems amazing to say this, but we spent the whole day there and I never went to the falls! I did join part of the group in walking to Dugger's Falls, a little-visited but pretty little waterfall about 50 yards from the parking lot. I didn't take any photos there but enjoyed the view.

After lunch we spent some time hunting wildflowers in the Linville Falls picnic area. I shot some Bee Balm and sunflowers, but had seen some roadside Black-Eyed Susans along the Parkway near the road to the visitor center, so as the afternoon light got nice I went back and paid a visit to these beauties. When I saw them earlier in the day I had visualized this scene, shooting from below with the blue sky and puffy clouds in the background. I know this is way out of character for me, but here I was again laying down on the ground - shooting up through the flowers at the sky!

This is the shot I saw in my mind's eye and feel it is really close to what I was thinking when I first saw the flowers from the road. I think this scene may benefit from some judicious cropping, but for now I'm going to look at it full-frame for a while until I make up my mind!

Website Update

2009-07-15T11:31:00.003-05:00

I just added a "Recent Work" gallery to my website to showcase some of my favorite shots from this year to date. I occasionally use that when I have new work to show but haven't had a chance to refresh the individual galleries.

This image is another from June at a "Secret Location" along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Thinking Big to Think Small

2009-07-13T14:09:00.003-05:00

Last week I attended my second photography workshop with Les Saucier. The learning opportunities from an outstanding teacher are unlimited if you find someone who you connect with on an artistic, creative and inspirational level. Les is such a teacher, and I am still digesting the nuggets I gathered in just a few hours on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The best and most important thing I came back with is a deeper understanding of the creative process. Les espouses, and I'm paraphrasing quite a bit, that the creative process takes three steps. The first is when one first starts out in art or photography and sees subjects. That is the step that most people are at and often stay at, because we are naturally inclined to look at things. We pay a lot of attention to composition and lighting, and our photography is all about our subject. I do it, we all do it, but there's more.

The second step is when we go beyond seeing objects as subjects and start seeing characteristics - lines, patterns, shapes and colors. This is an interesting phase, because we start thinking about relationships, as in how these lines, patterns, shapes and colors interact. These are the details that attract us to a scene, but we don't always know it and can't always identify them until and unless we take time to think about what we are seeing. Once we stop and look, we see all kinds of things that attract our eyes and stimulate our senses. Once we see those relationships we are able to work our composition to best express the things we see, and that translates into a more powerful and emotional photograph. Sometimes the things we think attracted us to a scene are not what we end up with, because as we explore we start to see smaller and more subtle details that were not immediately apparent.

The third step gets into the emotional response we have to a scene, especially once we have learned about how relationships attract us and how we respond. This step goes far beyond subjects and relationships and starts dealing with ideas. Les pointed out some flowers to one of the participants, who looked at them and responded, "I don't know, they look kind of spent." To which Les replied, "so shoot 'spent.'" Yikes! I made a comment about how the occasional breeze made it hard to get the shot I wanted. Les suggested that I should "shoot the wind." Double yikes! If you look at a scene and think "this is so peaceful," how do you shoot Peaceful? How do you create a photograph that best describes Peaceful? Or glorious, sad, cheerful or soothing? I'm not sure I'm able to go much beyond this point right now, but it's given me a lot to think about.

Turk's Cap Lilies are my favorite summertime wildflower. Their curves and colors have a sensuous beauty that I just love. I tried to make an image that captures "sensuous beauty" and goes beyond the typical documentary photograph. This image may not be technically perfect and probably won't win any contests but I think it goes a long way toward expressing what I feel when I look at a Turk's Cap Lily.

I don't generally talk about gear, but the setup for this was a monster so I have to tell. 70-200 zoom at 150mm with a 500D closeup lens, 2X teleconverter and 25mm extension tube at f32 (my metadata says f64 because of the 2X converter), 1/3 second at ISO 1000. Les says this qualifies for "damn close." It's amazing how much dust shows up at f64!

Thinking Small

2009-07-04T21:43:00.003-05:00

I've been working on a number of projects lately and have gotten a bit behind in my posting. I've got lots of ideas so please bear with me while I extract them from my head without doing any major damage!

A few weeks ago I attended a macro photography workshop with Les Saucier, and I'm attending another one with Les this coming week. He is the master when it comes to macro, and he teaches a way of seeing that is quite a bit different than my normal view. Since the last workshop and in preparation for the next one I have been practicing macro and close-up techniques to add some variety to my own shooting and add another arrow to my quiver (as it were).

Fellow photographer and CNPA member Edgar Payne stopped by this afternoon and we spent some time shooting summer wildflowers on the Torrence Creek Greenway, which runs through my neighborhood. I got a few good shots, but mostly ones that will help me improve for the next time.

This is a close-up of Queen Anne's Lace. The radial pattern reminds me of fireworks, which makes it an appropriate image for this 4th of July holiday.

Enjoy, and stay tuned for more of these close-up images in the near future!

My SoFoBoMo Book is Done!

2009-06-30T19:51:00.003-05:00

I participated in this year's Solo Photo Book Month project, a group event where a bunch of photographers all make solo photo books start to finish, in 31 days, at more or less the same time. The idea of SoFoBoMo is to make the photos, write any needed text, layout the book, and produce a PDF image of the book, all in 31 days. The book portion of my effort fell a little outside that 31 day window, but I felt it was important to do a good job while still getting it done by June 30. I made it.

The theme for my entry took a number of turns, as I was originally planning to shoot a series of photos out of my office window, using light and architectural details to make a series of interesting pictures. Since I don't have a job there any more I didn't think the building security folks would be too keen on letting me in there to take pictures, so I decided to do a series of photos using my W.T. Duck plush doll in various locations during our travels this spring. Due partly to yucky weather at the beach and a strong reluctance to the idea carrying around a stuffed animal and taking it's picture in public locations (not that it stops some people!) I didn't get the inspiration I felt I needed to do a credible job on that project. I finally decided to just make a book of favorite images from my various photo trips from mid-May to mid-June. It's what I do and what I am most passionate about, and I think the final result shows that.

The electronic version is available for free download here and there is a hard copy available for purchase from Lulu here.

More Roan Mountain

2009-06-18T14:41:00.001-05:00

I shot some traditional landscape stuff but also played around with motion blur while I was there and came up with this image that I feel captures the softness of the early light and the drama of the surrounding landscape.

Aliens on Roan Mountain!

2009-06-18T14:30:00.001-05:00

Kathy & I spent last weekend with a bunch of CNPA folks at Roan Mountain, Tennessee. The rhododendron there were not quite at peak, although they were amazing at Craggy Gardens, just down the road on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The display there was the best I have seen in years. I'll be posting some more images from that trip in a few days as I get them processed.

Sunrise on Round Bald is one of the highlights of a trip to Roan Mountain with or without the rhododendron, and this year's sunrise morning did not disappoint. While we were there, however, I came across this other-worldly looking creature. I didn't find the mother ship, but I'm certain that beings not from this planet had also come to Roan to experience the beauty of this wonderful place.

Actually, this is CNPA member and Charlotte chapter co-coordinator Edgar Payne in his hunting attire, out to shoot the bald with the rest of us!

The Great One (Buried Treasure 5)

2009-06-12T06:16:00.005-05:00

As Kathy and I prepare to head off to Roan Mountain, TN for the weekend to (hopefully) shoot some Catawba Rhododendron, I thought I'd share another Buried Treasure.

This is an image of Mount McKinley (aka Denali - The Great One) from Stony Hill Overlook in Denali National Park & Preserve, Alaska. This is the best view we had of the mountain during our stay there. I like this image because of the lines and layers of the foreground terrain, and the mysterious shrouding of the mountain by the clouds that surround it.

Buried Treasure 4

2009-06-03T12:45:00.003-05:00

If there's such a thing as a Tom Dills Signature Image (and I believe there is!) it's a scene with dramatic light and lots of sunbeams. I'm still back in the time machine in 2005, but now I'm up to August!

This sunrise image was taken along the Blue Ridge Parkway near the Green Mountain Overlook, near MP 301. The view is of the upper Yadkin Valley and the town of Lenoir. It's a favorite summertime sunrise spot of mine!

Fuzzy Logic

2009-06-02T12:04:00.004-05:00

I've been playing around with camera movement to create impressionistic images for a while now and have had a fair amount of success with water as my subject. I've been less successful in getting results I was happy with on land. This past weekend I finally made some images that are more successful. It's a great way to make pictures when it is windy!

I also had an instance where I had camera movement of a different kind, when my tripod started to sink into a rotted log during a 2-second exposure. That result was much less successful!

This image was taken from Flat Rock, on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Grandfather Mountain.

A Busy Month

2009-05-31T19:34:00.004-05:00

Kathy & I spent this past weekend at Grandfather Mountain, attending their annual Nature Photography Weekend. This weekend traditionally kicks off what promises to be a busy month for us. We like to spend our June weekends chasing the Catawba Rhododendron, which were just starting to pop at Grandfather this weekend but were in full bloom in many other places along the Blue Ridge Parkway. In two weeks we head for Roan Mountain, which straddles the North Carolina and Tennessee borders and is renowned for its display of rhododendron and azalea.

The festivities at Grandfather Mountain included presentations by such luminaries as Tony Sweet, Gregory Georges, Jim Clark and Pam Barbour. There is also a photo contest held as part of the weekend, and it is always interesting to see what other people saw that I didn't.

Always on the lookout for a unique vantage point for sunrise, fellow CNPA member and Photo Buddy Don Brown and I went out Saturday morning and hiked to Flat Rock, on the Blue Ridge Parkway just south of Grandfather Mountain. We were treated to an hour of dramatic side-lit cloud formations streaming over the top of the mountain before and after sunrise. I'll post a few images in a slideshow once I am able to get some processing done. In the mean time here is one of my favorites, a view of Grandfather Mountain from Flat Rock, accented by the blooming Catawba Rhododendron.

Invisible

2009-05-26T15:02:00.001-05:00

I admit that I’m pretty much a loner. I have a few good friends that really are friends, but I’m not an outgoing social person. I generally don’t go for self-promotion and keep well away from the limelight. It’s a good way to be, because it suits my temperament and personality. But it’s not a good trait for someone looking for a job or trying to market their photography. This blog is a good outlet for me, because it lets me write my thoughts and feelings, brag a little about my accomplishments and showcase my photography and writing skills. I know a number of people ready it, and I hope more people read it, because I feel like I have something useful to share.

In this post I bragged a bit about the fact that I had photos published in three different magazines in one month (May). That’s a huge accomplishment for me and one I am very proud of, given that I’ve only been doing this for a relatively short time. It’s a big deal to me to be able to share my photography, to have my work published and appreciated by my peers, and especially to have my work included with work of those who I look up to. Many people have accomplished much more than me, but many more haven’t come close to what I’ve done. Often that’s because that’s not their style so they haven’t tried. That’s OK, because everyone gets to do their own thing.

Recently several of my nature photography buddies had photos published in Our State Magazine (June issue), and one of my other buddies posted about it on the CNPA message boards. It’s great and they should be proud, but I found myself thinking, somewhat selfishly, “what about me?” Isn’t that silly? I go out of my way to not call attention to myself then get my shorts in a knot when someone doesn’t notice.

I think the lesson for me in this is that I need to work hard to be noticed without being annoying. I need to work hard to not be invisible.

The photo is from Silver Lake on Ocracoke Island, taken on our trip there in 2005.

To The Beach!

2009-05-15T20:53:00.003-05:00

Kathy & I are off on our annual jaunt to Hilton Head Island, SC for a week of rest and relaxation, with perhaps a little photography thrown in. I'll probably work on some of my wave motion inventory, and perhaps add to my collection of sand patterns. I may also try to get some stock shots of some of the more touristy places on the island. Don't expect to see an uptick in posts though, because for me a vacation is NOT time sitting in front of the computer. I'll get back to work when I get home.

This photo is another recently uncovered treasure from a different beach. This was taken on the Outer Banks near the old Coast Guard station at Oregon Inlet.

Branching Out, and Buried Treasure 3

2009-05-10T20:42:00.003-05:00

I spent most of Saturday helping out at The Light Factory's annual Shoot Out. It was the 20th such event and is a Big Deal. A number of professional photographers donate their time to do portrait sessions for individuals and families, and the customers range from singles, to singles with kids, singles with pets, to full-blown family shoots. There was even an "After Dark" Shoot Out that I'm sure had some interesting subject matter.

I had a blast assisting Nanine Hartzenbusch, one of my 'buds" and a veteran photographer with roots in photojournalism who is making a go at being a kids and families shooter. Nanine is not used to working with an assistant and I've not done much (any?) assisting so neither of us had any expectations or preconceptions. We were a perfect pairing! I helped set up lights, move them around, help get the kids posed and - probably the most important job of all - got to use an assortment of squeeky toys and other gimmicks to help get the attention of cranky toddlers and with any luck help to turn a "reject" into a "keeper." At least I hope so! It was hard work! The Saturday session only lasted a half day, but when I got home I was whooped!

Anyway, the experience underscored for me the importance of learning new things in order to grow as a photographer, as an artist and as a person. It is a rewarding experience to help make special memories for families, especially when it also helps support a local organization that does a lot of good in the community. I like the idea of being an assistant, and think I may make a go at trying to do some more of that work for other photographers. Eventually I might even get good enough to get paid for it, but in the mean time I'm thrilled to have a chance to gain some knowledge and experience doing something I really enjoy. Even if I don't pick up a camera I think the exercise of looking and seeing other photographers in action will help me grow my own vision.

The photo is another one from the archives. From June 2005, the image was taken just after sunset from the parking area of the Craggy Gardens visitor center along the Blue Ridge Parkway just north of Asheville. The various peaks around Craggy Gardens are usually the best places to be, but the parking lot is a pretty decent sunset spot during the summer months. This image underscores the importance of sticking around well after the sun has set, especially when there are clouds around. Sunset itself was pretty nice, but these high whispy clouds lit up big time just after sunset.

Buried Treasure 2

2009-05-06T15:43:00.004-05:00

I may be posting some more old photos over the next few weeks. I've been making a concerted effort to go back through the archives and catch up on my unprocessed images from Digital Day One, which was sometime in late 2004.

This particular photo was taken almost exactly 4 years ago today - 5/7/05! It is image #204 on my Canon 20D, which was actually my second digital camera, the first being my still-trusty Powershot G5.

This is a view from Waterrock Knob on the Blue Ridge Parkway, taken a few minutes after sunset.

Slideshow Test

2009-05-02T17:20:00.007-05:00

Please bear with me while I test out a site called Issuu that will allow me to embed presentations on my blog. This is only a test....

Open publication - Free publishing - More photograph

A Hat Trick!

2009-04-25T07:26:00.004-05:00

In hockey a Hat Trick is what you have when you score a goal in each of the three periods, and the term is often used to describe three of something in a game, month, day, etc. May is the first time ever that I've had photos in three magazines in the same month!

Our State Magazine ran a full-page layout of one of my Cape Hatteras Lighthouse photos, which is the photo attached to this post. WNC Magazine hasn't come yet but they are running a stock image I sent them for an article about Franklin, NC. Blue Ridge Country ran 4 of my photos of Hendersonville, NC to accompany an article about that town.

This shows the value of persistence, organization and more persistence. This is the first image in Our State in about a year and the first in Blue Ridge Country for almost a year. WNC Magazine is currently not doing paid assignments, but I had been keeping up with their calendar, and as a goodwill gesture I sent them some stock that included images from Franklin. Even though I told them they could use anything for photo credit they are paying me their standard rate. That's more than fair and fine by me!

The competition is tough, but it pays to be organized, be persistent and send only your best work.

Blue Ridge Country (Again!)

2009-04-20T19:36:00.004-05:00

I just received my May/June 2009 copy of Blue Ridge Country Magazine, and they have featured 4 of my photos to accompany their article on downtown Hendersonville, NC. One of the fun things about Blue Ridge Country is that they don't tell you whether or not they are using any of your photos, you just get the magazine and look inside to see. I knew that I had sent them some good stuff and had been hopeful they would use it. It's great to see "Photos by Tom Dills" at the top of the page!

I'm a little behind on processing new work, but the attached photo is another one from our February visit to Hilton Head. This tree was right outside our condo, and I photographed it a number of times during our visit, under different lighting and with different backgrounds. I haven't decided exactly what to do with them but I'm thinking that they will make an interesting poster.

Priorities

2009-04-12T22:27:00.004-05:00

In my last post I mentioned how much progress I have been making on a lot of my goals, so I thought I might elaborate a bit on what those goals are and what has been keeping me busy. I still won't be able to get into the details in this post, but I'll lay things out in a little more detail here and try to outline some of the specific activities in future posts.

Being a glass-half-full kind of guy, I have been trying to use my time to my best advantage, and have developed what I call a three-pronged approach. I have every hope of jumping back into a banking job soon, so I have made a list of things that I want to accomplish so if I end up with only a few more weeks off I can feel like the time was well spent. Understandably a lot of my activities have been centered on photography, since that is my passion, but also being a realist I know that there are other things to take care of as well. My activities have centered around the main topics of (1) finding a new job, (2) catching up on and furthering my photography and (3) taking care of me.

As far as finding a new job, I have set up a list of contacts and have been working them regularly. I set up a system of checking websites and applying for jobs I find there, and I have been working any contacts of contacts I come across. Once my severance runs out I'll have to jump on the Unemployment bandwagon, and there will be a certain amount of work associated with that. Like everything I do, I go 100% on the job search stuff in the time I have allotted for it. I have a system and a routine and I do it. Nothing scientific, but in this economy there isn't a lot of point trying to spend more than a few hours a week trying to find banking jobs, because there aren't a lot of new ones being posted and there are more productive things to do than check the same websites 5 times a day. Chances are whatever job I land won't come from surfing websites anyway, so while it's something you "have to do" the contacts are the most likely source of success.

I've had photography goals for a long time, and have developed a pretty elaborate system for laying them out and keeping track of my progress. When I was working a Day Job I really had to be careful to not try and accomplish too many things, because it is tough to do as a part-time venture. Despite the fact that I was putting a lot of time into it I was often frustrated by all the things I wanted to do that I didn't have time to do while working a full time job. The main thing holding me back has been that there is barely enough time for taking and processing photos, let alone all the business things that you really need to do in order to have a successful photography business. What has amazed me over the last several weeks is how little time I have actually spent taking and processing photos! I've been networking, I put together a submission for a juried art show, I'm working on another submission for another art show, I've submitted a number of images to various magazines (many of them successful!) and have for the first time registered my images with the Copyright Office. I'm writing an article/tutorial on how to use Lightroom to prepare images for copyright registration, I have a couple of critique/review sessions coming up with pro photographers, and I'm in the process of developing a marketing and business plan for a photography business in the event that the banking thing doesn't work out. I'm working with our local REI store on doing a paid workshop on Lightroom & Digital Workflow, am leading an outing for our local CNPA chapter for this fall and I am looking to expand my marketing of my stock portfolio and magazine submissions. I want to work on my writing and am hoping to take some writing classes at the local community college. Oh yeah, I also need to take and process more images and write more on my blog!

The "taking care of me" part is not just me personally, but taking over some of the things at home so Kathy doesn't feel like I am just sitting at home "playing photographer." I have been walking every day - 45 minutes or 1.5/2 miles, working on getting some long-overdue maintenance projects done around the house, running errands, making phone calls and generally taking a lot of the burden off of Kathy since she is gone all day. It's hard on her and I have been trying to ease the load as much as I can. The nice thing is that since I don't have to spend all evening working on my photo stuff, I can be with her and we can do things that are relaxing instead of trying to play catch up.

In a nutshell, that's where I am and what I have been doing. I've got a lot on the calendar for this week and am hoping for some more progress. As I process more images I'll have some fresh ones to post, but in the mean time I'll keep digging into the archives!

Why I don't Twitter/Linkedin/MySpace/Facebook/Whatever

2009-04-05T20:54:00.005-05:00

I just finished reading the paper (yes, the paper paper, as opposed to the online paper), and in it was an article talking about how many people these days don't check their voicemail, because of all the alternatives they have - text messaging, e-mail, Twitter, etc. One guy even said that it was too much trouble for him to check his voicemail, because doing so took 7-10 steps versus 1-3 steps for e-mail. Now, I realize that I am way in the minority, but you don't have time? Um, what exactly are you doing that pushing a button 7 times is keeping you from some super-critical task? Are you working on a super-top-secret plan to save the Antarctic ice shelf from crashing into the ocean, or advising Obama on his foreign policy initiatives, or what? I don't get it, but that's OK, I'm not sure I want to get it.

While I will accept the fact that all the people who spend all their time on their cell phone, talking/texting/e-mailing are probably all talking to each other, I can't help but wonder what the heck they are talking about? I write this not because I think it's amazing that people are so consumed by communication, but because those who seem so consumed by communication are way too often the last people I'd want to talk to!

I guess this struck a nerve with me because in the last several weeks I have received invitations from a surprisingly large number of my friends to be their "buddy" or whatever on whatever social-networking site they are involved in. Before I go on I want to say that some of my friends are readers of my blog, so before you think I am talking about you specifically please be aware that I am talking about society in general and that any resemblance to real persons, people or places, fictional or otherwise, is purely coincidental and not intended to be personally directed, defamatory or insulting in any way. Whew!

Of course, of all the invitations I've received, none of my friends are using the same social-networking service, so in order for me to participate, I would have to join them all. As interested as I am in what all my current friends are doing, and while I'm sure it would be interesting to find out what some of my old high school friends and college buddies are up to, and as much as I know that a lot of these sites are good for networking that could lead to a new job and all that, it just doesn't seem to be a prudent use of my time and would just introduce a whole lot of distractions that I'd just as soon do without. The irony is that several of the invitations came from people that already have way too many distractions, and the last thing they need is some new thing to worry about keeping track of and never being able to keep up with. That's why I stopped watching TV several years ago, and if my cable stopped working it might take me weeks to realize it. Sorry, but it's just not for me. I won't say never, but not today.

What does all this have to do with photography you ask? Well, it doesn't, except that over the last several weeks I've been prioritizing the things I need to do to make myself useful around the house since I am no longer earning a paycheck. Between looking for work, trying to use the time to catch up on developing my photography business, getting some overdue projects done around the house and doing all the things that are really important, I've decided that more communication is the last thing I need. I close e-mail during the day to minimize distractions, I have a To-Do list that I have been working diligently on, and I've made some impressive progress over the last several weeks to the point that I feel really good about the direction things are going. I'm really excited about some of the things I've done - such as doing my first copyright registration last week - and I'll try to write about them in greater detail over the next several weeks. I've even taken some pictures!

Somehow I think it's OK that long-lost classmates stay that way. There might be a reason for that! And my current friends - sorry, but you'll just have to settle for seeing and talking to me face-to-face or at meetings. I hope that's OK.

Another Quote

2009-03-28T16:10:00.004-05:00

I guess I'm into quotes lately. Maybe it's because of all this time I have for deep thinking. Yikes.

Don McGowan is a nature photographer, best known for his work in the Smokies. He's also one of my 'heros.' He's a deep-thinking, passionately creative photographer. Don publishes a sometimes-monthly newsletter called "A Song For The Asking," and in his February 2009 newsletter spends a lot of time discussing principals from Eric Maisel's Coaching the Artist Within. There are 12 skills in all, and I think I just need to get the book and read it, but it is in Don's discussion of the second skill which he refers to as "passionately making meaning" that hit me like another brick between the eyes:

"“Regardless of whether or not the universe is meaningful, of whether my odds of succeeding are long or short, of everything at both the existential level and at the practical level, I am going to intentionally make meaning.” What this amounts to is saying to yourself that you’re not going to wait on the universe to announce to you what you should do; you are going to decide, based on your own best understanding of truth and reality, how you will matter."

Hmmm?

SoFoBoMo 2009

2009-03-19T13:10:00.007-05:00

I read about SoFoBoMo (aka Solo Photo Book Month) last year and thought it was a cool idea. I didn't participate because I thought I was pretty busy. I had already planned on participating this year and was going to do a book of photos from my office window. But since I doubt they'll let me in there to take pictures I had to come up with a new plan. I think I have a good one.

A couple of months ago Aaron Johnson of What The Duck started selling duck plush toys. I purchased a couple of them, having no idea what I was going to do with them. Now I do. Mr. W.T. Duck is going to hit the road! Like the garden gnome but much better, old W.T. is going to have his pitcher made all over North and South Carolina. I've already asked for and gotten Aaron's blessing, and he says he is "flattered."

The project doesn't start until May 1, so I'll have to dream up some great locations over the next few weeks.

You can buy your own W.T. Duck here, but no copycats!

Wow

2009-03-18T11:45:00.002-05:00

Jay Maisel is the guest blogger on Scott Kelby's blog today. A portion that I find especially compelling is here:

When we shoot we should savor what goes on in front of us, allow things to develop, anticipate things, not be in such a hurry to move on to see how much more we can see quickly and superficially. It’s all there, if we take our time and look, things have a way of happening in front of you. Standing still is also a good way of covering things; just let the world come to you. To paraphrase an old cliché – Don’t do something, just stand there. Be patient.

Read the whole thing here....

Personal Style

2009-03-16T10:03:00.002-05:00

I got into a discussion with some of my photo buddies this past weekend about "developing a personal style" and got to thinking about it on my own. A lot of photographers (and other artists) have a recognizable, identifiable personal style, to the point where you can pick out their work among a group of images or prints. I don't think this is something you can "do" as much as it is something that "happens." You can't for example put on your To Do list: "Develop personal style today" or something similar. And it doesn't happen with a certain camera, lens or Photoshop plug in. I think it must come from hard work, from taking a lot of pictures, using whatever influences and inspiration you have in you, editing your photos into some kind of organized structure, and showing them to others.

Everyone has a personal style, but not everyone's personal style is individual or unique enough to be recognizable. But some people's personal style definitely stands out as their own.

Art & Photography

2009-03-10T08:15:00.002-05:00

(1) I went to a meeting of an artist's group last night. Several of the painters talked about having worked from a photograph to do their paintings. I couldn't help but think that if they would just learn to take better photographs they wouldn't have to bother with the paint.

(2) Photographers who like to get all righteous about their work being art and say it is more dependent on their vision than their equipment always say that they get upset when someone asks them what kind of camera they have to get those nice pictures. One of the typical lines is that "painters don't sit around talking about what kind of brush they used, or their brand of easel or what kind of palette they use...." Well, when someone (not me) showed their photography, one of the painters said "what kind of camera do you have, it must be a good one?" I was tempted but kept my mouth shut. I was a guest, after all.

(3) Most of the painters seemed to be more interested in whether the photographers would photograph their paintings, presumably for free, than they were in what kind of photographs they made.

Lessons I Didn’t Learn In Photo School

2009-03-02T16:35:00.004-05:00

Syl Arena was recently the guest poster on Scott Kelby's blog and wrote an amazing article that everyone who pretends or intends to be a photographer needs to read. He promises that this is the first of a series to appear on his own blog every Wednesday. If they are as compelling as the first dozen it will be a real treat. If I were to choose just one to quote here I would (and did) pick this one:

7. Learning to create photographs that “look” like your world should be only a milestone – not the destination.
Embrace the fact that cameras see differently than humans. Accept that, even today, state-of-the-art tools and technology fall short of reproducing the entire gamut of human vision. The reality is that photography cannot perfectly record or portray the world as we experience it. Yet, this is typically the goal of most neophyte photographers. They measure the “goodness” of their photos by how closely the images match what the shooter experienced. If this is you, with time and practice, you’ll come to understand that your photos will seldom (if ever) match your reality. When that awareness comes, celebrate! You’ve finally reached the true starting line on your journey as a photographer. What lies ahead is the exploration of how you can create photographs that express rather than represent.

Read It!

Snow Motion

2009-03-02T16:25:00.002-05:00

The nice light didn't last too long this morning before the clouds moved in, but the conditions got right for some motiony blur stuff, which I thought might look kind of cool with snow. These aren't the best I've ever done but we don't have a good selection of nice straight tree trunks along my section of the greenway.

I like how the snow erases all the background clutter, so you just get the tree trunks, a little green and some brown.

Snow Day!

2009-03-02T16:14:00.003-05:00

Hey, the weather people got one right! I would have bet money otherwise, but just to be safe I brought my work laptop home on Friday "just in case." So today I ended up having one of those whatever-they-call-those-days-when-people-stay-home-from-work-when-the-kids-are-out-of-school days. Sick day? Sure as heck isn't going to count as a vacation day! Since I don't usually take sick days we'll call it that!

Anyway, I wandered around this morning trying to see what I could get and whether I might get something to get in the paper and make me famous again. Well, I got some nice stuff, but while I was downloading the images our power went out, I went off and did something else, and by the time I got back to it and processed some images the paper had decided they had gotten enough photos and disabled their upload link. Oh well, a few more for the stock files!

This image was made during some fleeting golden light shortly after sunrise this morning along the Torrence Creek Greenway, about 100 yards from my house.

Clarification

2009-02-24T18:46:00.007-05:00

Since I don't know who-all reads my blog I don't know who-all read my previous post and wondered what the who-all I was talking about. Most followers know that my day job is with a large financial institution in town. Most people also know that this is not the best of times to be working for a financial institution. Well, this past Friday I got to experience first-hand the way that financial institutions "build shareholder value" by reducing the quantity of what in better times is often referred to as "our greatest resource." Boogers said "sayonara," gave me a little severance package and a pat on the head and said "thanks."

Now the good news is that, within 30 minutes of getting my notice I had applied for a position doing almost exactly the same thing for the same customers in the same market segment but with a different product serviced by an area where they are hiring. Gotta love big business - why they can't say "we gotta give somebody up, you need somebody, let's make a deal" is beyond me but that's bidness. Found out today that I've been selected for the interview process, which means they think I'm worth talking to. Best part is that I already know the people I'll be interviewing with and they know me, they're great folks that I'd love to work for, and even if I have to take a cut in pay it's still better than zero. So hopefully things will work out, maybe I end up with a little paid vacation, conveniently the week of the CNPA Annual Meeting here in Charlotte, which I was already planning to be off for. Whatever happens, we'll be fine.

Update 3/5/09: I didn't get the job. But we're still going to be OK. Maybe better than OK!

The photo is something else I borrowed from William Neill. The artsy term is "Triptych" and I think that's pretty nice so that's what I call mine. Collection of three (hence the name) images from our recent adventure to Hilton Head.

Distracted

2009-02-22T21:34:00.005-05:00

This was supposed to be a productive weekend, but things didn't turn out exactly as planned. In a number of ways. Looks like I may have a lot more time on my hands in a couple of weeks. We'll see.

This image is one of a number of impressionistic images from our trip to the beach. Hard to believe it was just a week ago!

For now, suffice it to say that this image sums up the state of my head these days. Lots of content, just a little fuzzy.

More From the Beach

2009-02-17T22:17:00.003-05:00

Here is another quick photo from Monday morning's sunrise. I shot a few panoramas of this scene as it developed but haven't had time to process them. I "only" shot 800 images this weekend! A few of them should turn out to be jewels but I'm going to need some time to process them over the next few weeks.

One bit of exciting news - I submitted an article to Camera in the Wild, the newsletter of the Carolinas' Nature Photographers Association, and it got published in the March issue! Now this is sort of like getting your 3rd grade artwork posted on Mom's refrigerator, but published is published, right? It's not the New York Times, but it's the best I've done so far! I'd share the link but it is member's only. The article was originally posted here, so you can still read it if you haven't already.

Published is published, right? Now I can say I'm a writer and a photographer!

Red for Valentine’s Day!

2009-02-14T16:26:00.002-05:00

Kathy & I are spending the long President’s Day weekend in Hilton Head, SC, our favorite destination to get away for a few days and chill. Sometimes I use our trips here to have a vacation from photography, but I haven’t been doing a lot of shooting so far this year and I decided I needed to work on upping my giggage quotient.

We got here late Thursday, well after sunset, but the forecast for Friday was excellent with conditions deteriorating late Friday into Saturday. I decided to get up for sunrise, which is at a fairly civil time this time of year, and while I was a little later getting to work than I might have liked there was plenty of gorgeous color. I took a bunch of shots and will try to post a few over the next several days.

Things started to cloud up as the afternoon progressed, and I was afraid we might lose our sunset opportunity for the day. There was some pretty nice color in the sky but nothing spectacular. As often happens however, well after sunset things got a little interesting, away from the sun and over the water. For about 5 minutes things turned a brilliant red and I managed to get a few shots.

I’ll call this one Nature’s Valentine!

Expose to the Right, or Not?

2009-02-10T21:38:00.004-05:00

I spent this past weekend at a workshop with John Shaw, famous landscape and nature photographer. Learned a lot of good things, heard a lot of things I already knew, and found a few things I don't necessarily agree with. Now John's a pretty opinionated dude, not afraid to say so and what he says is right. As far as he's concerned. All in all it was worth the time and money, especially in the middle of February when there's not a whole lot else going on.

One of the most inspired conversations of the weekend was around Shaw's espousal of the principal of "Expose to the Right" or ETTR. I feel pretty confident in saying that I understand the theory behind ETTR - half of your information is in the 5th box, the preview on your LCD will look overexposed, move the histogram as far right as possible without blowing highlights, move it back during processing etc, etc, etc. I get that. But here's the thing: Many if not most of the attendees at this workshop were completely clueless about this, as evidenced by the questions and background whispers. I don't think it's a good idea for most people to run around constantly overexposing their pictures because "I was at a John Shaw workshop and this is what he said we should do." NO! How about subject or situational appropriateness?

During this lengthy discussion someone asked the rhetorical question, "what if I'm taking a photo of my Black Lab in a coal mine?" Shaw's response - "EXPOSE TO THE RIGHT!" "How about if..."EXPOSE TO THE RIGHT!" Like there were no other options. What I wanted to ask and didn't was, "If, in order to expose to the right I have to increase exposure by 3 stops, and assuming I know what I want my aperture to be, I have to increase exposure either by using a longer shutter speed or higher ISO. What if the dog is panting hard and will be blurry at a longer shutter speed, or what if we're in the woods, there is just a little bit of breeze and the leaves are moving? What if lengthening the shutter speed or raising the ISO by three stops takes it beyond the optimal low-noise threshold for my camera? Is it better to have the information I want, properly exposed and sharp, or should I accept a blurry subject with noise because someone said that I need to EXPOSE TO THE RIGHT? And what if I don't want to spend the time it takes to process all my images back to the proper exposure?

Most people have a hard enough time understanding exposure as it is. Many of them have advanced beyond shooting JPEGs which is great, but to then introduce this principal of purposely overexposing their pictures is an unnecessary complication for a lot of people. The problem as I see it is that most of the people who are knowledgeable enough to use and understand ETTR are probably experienced enough to know that it is not a One Size Fits All proposition. Those who aren't should be happy with the gains they achieve by shooting at the higher bit rate and larger color space of RAW files and leave the color theory to the scientists.

Different Strokes, etc.

2009-01-25T21:34:00.011-05:00

My #1 artistic goal for 2009 is to develop my printing knowledge and ability, from a technical standpoint but primarily from an aesthetic perspective. With that in mind, a month or so ago I suggested to Joe Ciarlante , a local commercial photographer, Photoshop Jedi and fine-art printing Master that he should do a fine art printing workshop. He agreed, and said workshop was this past weekend.

I’ve not historically placed a lot of emphasis on printing, and although it's always been something I've wanted to do I've seen it as such a huge undertaking that I wanted to save it until I "had time." I’ve never even been in a darkroom, let alone made a wet print, and until just the last 5 years or so I had never really spent much time looking at or thinking about “good” prints. I’ve had pretty good success coming up with files that look pretty good, and have done most of my printing through an online lab. For special occasions I have gone to Charles Johnson, a local custom printer, and he has done prints for me that are absolutely beautiful, but never really felt like they were “mine.” As I’ve learned more about photography and began to develop my own vision I realized that learning to print, even if I never got as good as Charles or anyone else, was for me the completion of the circle. An electronic file sitting on my hard drive or on a website somewhere is just a sample, but not the real thing. Right or wrong that’s where my vision is taking me and I’m anxious to follow.

I bought a used Epson 1800 about a year ago, and while it’s not a printer usually associated with Serious Printing I have made some prints that are fairly decent. I know that printing is one of those areas where “the more you know the more you realize what you don’t know.” I had made one print about 8 months ago that I thought was pretty nice, struggled to make it look even better then took it to a meeting of a photo group I belong to. The feedback I got, while helpful and constructive, made it clear that I had a lot of work to do.

I had put that particular print aside since then, thinking that “one of these days” I would get back to working on it, and that eventually I would come up with something I could be proud of. I managed to do that this weekend. I came up with a print that I am happy with, and I am looking forward to working on it some more with my own printer, and now have the confidence to move forward with other printing projects to see what I can do and how much more I can learn in the process. But that’s another story for another day and another essay.

In the course of the workshop I was struck by the different approaches of the attendees. My primary goal going into this workshop was to come out with one good print. My expectation for the class was that we would all work at our own computers, make a print, get feedback, make another print, get more feedback, etc. I foolishly took about 20 files, thinking that depending on my inspiration at the time, I would maybe print 3 or 4 of them. As I mentioned above however, I knew that if I spent the entire weekend working on one file but came out with one good print I would consider it a success. I did and I do.

What I found amazing and amusing was the number of people who treated this class as sort of a “Photoshop Speed Dating” experience, like they had never had a chance to make a print before and likely never would again. They printed the same print on different types of paper, and printed as many prints as they could but never really spent any time looking at them or trying to make them better. It got to the point where there were so many people waiting for a printer I almost gave up. There were three workstations set up, but one of them was “only” printing to an Epson R800, and I don’t think anyone ever used it because it would not print larger than 8 ½ x 11. Everyone wanted to use The Big Dog, the Epson 7600, so it was heavily used. A few folks worked with an Epson 4000 but it was having issues and ended up not producing too many good results.

There were a number of nice prints made, but it seemed to me like everyone sort of missed the point. Instead of learning how to look at their work, evaluate their prints based on their intent and vision, using the software to make their prints better and generally mastering the process, they just ended up with nothing more than a bunch of Costco prints on nice paper. And that’s OK if they’re happy. But what a shame.

This photo is my labor of love for the weekend. It was taken in August 2007 at a water garden at Raffaldini Vineyards in Ronda, North Carolina. The image is a bear to print, especially for me, because the water is reflecting the clouds overhead but there are bits of blue sky in the bottom corners that make it look like a botched burn job. And there are places where the stems of the lilies are showing through the water, so getting that detail to show is really tough. I managed to get a pretty decent result and am looking forward to printing it again on my own printer. It looks really nice on paper, and I even have a black & white version that has potential, too. More to come!

More Stitching!

2009-01-21T21:55:00.004-05:00

I decided this past weekend to add more memory to my computer. I had 2GB of RAM and upped it to 4GB. Not a lot by some people's standards but quite a lot for me. I ordered the memory from OWC, it came today and computer guru Kevin installed it for me tonight. He then took the old RAM from my iMac and put it into Kathy's PowerBook, which upped hers from 512MB to 2GB. Now we both have screamin' machines with the substantial increase in memory. All for under $50!

To commemorate the occasion I've been playing around with things that use memory-hawg processing like panoramas. This one is a 15-frame stitch made at sunrise at Pounding Mill Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway last fall. Click on the image to see larger. It looks pretty nice on the screen. I may have to try and print it!

Long Weekend

2009-01-18T07:54:00.007-05:00

Those of us in the financial industry get a long weekend this weekend, and I'm trying to take advantage of it and get some work done. Kathy & I went to a little doings last night at the home of Nanine Hartzenbusch and her husband Bert Fox. Most of my usual Photo Buddies were there, and I met a number of interesting people whose work I have seen but didn't know personally.

Gary O'Brien is a photographer for the Charlotte Observer and does fantastic work with panoramas, for his own portfolio as well as the Observer and for charlotteobserver.com. I'll be interested in following his work to see what I can learn about panorama photography.

Although nothing like Gary's panoramas, today's photo is a measly 14-frame stitch panorama from last November's Chincoteague outing. I've posted it a little wide, and you should be able to see the full-size image by clicking on the photo.

Don't Make It About the Technique

2009-01-08T18:40:00.006-05:00

I've been experimenting with impressionistic motion blur techniques on land and on water as inspired by William Neill and his recent book Impressions of Light that Kathy happened to buy me for Christmas (thanks!). I have been following this work on his website and on his blog for quite some time and find it really appealing. I really like some of the results I have been getting, especially on water, and have made some prints which I'm really, really happy with. The thing I like the best is that Neill's work has inspired me but I don't feel like I am just copying someone else's work or style. I feel like it is very personal and allows me to express myself in a personal way.

I belong to an informal photo support/print review group that meets a couple of times a month, and I took some of my prints to our meeting this week. I got a number of favorable comments about the work, partly because it is a real departure from my usual landscape work, partly because it is - not just in my opinion - pretty nice work and partly because everyone is being polite. But not too polite because it is a pretty tough crowd!

Among the many comments I received was one that went something like "you need to do more of this, but don't let it become about the technique." After additional discussion and conversation, and some subsequent thinking on my own, I think that comment summarizes in a lot of ways what I am trying to do with my work. It's so easy to get hung up on the gear, the software, the technique that for many people creativity becomes about the "how" and not the "why." When I see some bandwagon that everyone is jumping on, whether it is some new selective-focus lens, special effects plug-ins or some special filter, I tend to run the other way. There's nothing wrong with using the tools, but we don't go around wrecking the furniture just because we got a new hammer.

I need to explore this further, as I'm not sure where my head is going with it. Not every scene or subject is appropriate to photograph with motion blur any more than it is appropriate to use a Lensbaby to photograph everything we see. I think I need to do more of it, with different subjects and under different conditions to learn more about where it works and where it doesn't, what I like and what I don't like. And I probably need to get back to the beach. Kathy will hate that!

Happy 2009!

2009-01-01T22:40:00.004-05:00

"Beamies," as I like to call them, have become somewhat of a trademark for me. I like finding them and they make dramatic subject matter. Sunbeams are rays of hope and provide encouragement in the face of a new year.

One morning at Chincoteague this past November was a day with high Beamie Potential. As I often do I took off with just one lens, in this case my 70-200 which turned out to be a little long for this scene. What to do other than to try a few panoramas? This is just a 2-frame stitch but was all I needed to catch both ends of the rays. A wider lens would have given me more foreground and sky, which I would have probably cropped out anyway!

A Productive Year

2008-12-27T17:14:00.004-05:00

Considering that I started out the year planning to take it easy on picture taking in order to get something done other than add to my ever-increasing backlog of image processing, I still managed to burn almost 10,000 images this year! For people who spend a lot more time pressing the button than I do that's a busy week, but for me that's a BUNCH!

For the last couple of years I have been keeping a list of goals that I wanted to accomplish. My goals for 2008 set a pretty high bar for someone who does this part-time and for fun while trying to have a somewhat normal life and pay sufficient attention to my lovely companion, assistant and steadying influence (that would be Kathy). Despite all the distractions of Real Life I managed to get some things done:

(1) I created and distributed to potential clients a list of my existing stock inventory.
(2) I started and regularly updated my photo blog,
(3) I totally revamped my website and kept it updated with my best and most recent work. MAJOR BIGGIE and thanks Neon Sky!
(4) I finally put together a group of my Greenway images for a public show. Yeah, it was just a show at a local art-in-the-park show but it was a START.
(5) I prepared and presented a talk on Digital Workflow with Lightroom to our local CNPA chapter.
(6) I had two images published in one new publication (Blue Ridge Country)

The two unfinished biggies from 2008 that I had just moved to the top of the list for 2009 were (1) to finally get around to sending some of my images into a local stock agency and to (2) develop a process for registering my copyrights. Welllll, just this weekend and just under the wire, I started working on that stock agency project. I now have on my desk a stack of 10 DVDs, containing about 2600 of my images from 2004 to today. They'll go to the agency on Monday, and that will cross one more thing off my list for 2008. I now have a process in place using Smart Collections in Lightroom to automatically put new images into a folder for future submissions.

According to my calculations I've processed about 1000 of those 10000 images and have another 1500 or so "picks" to process or toss, so I still have my work cut out for me. But there's still a lot of winter to go!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T07:50:00.001-05:00

It's nice to have a few days away from the office from my Day Job, although I am technically Working From Home on Friday and do need to get some work done while I am here. The commute is certainly better than usual!

One of a number of door images taken on our walk around Old San Juan (Puerto Rico) on our recent cruise. I thought the wreath on this door made it appropriate for a Christmas Day post.

I hope to do some more posting over the weekend, depending on what other responsibilities crop up.

Vacation Photos!

2008-12-21T07:56:00.000-05:00

I just posted a gallery of images from our recent cruise aboard Celebrity Solstice. Click on this link for the gallery, and enjoy. It's not a comprehensive travelogue, and will disappoint anyone looking for complete coverage of the ship or the islands, but I was On Vacation and trying to act like it! I do think I came back with a number of nice shots.

Angles and Clouds

2008-12-15T07:04:00.003-05:00

We just returned from our annual cruise, this year aboard the almost-brand-new Celebrity Solstice. What a beautiful ship and what a wonderful vacation! It's Kathy's reward for following me around the mountains in October and November chasing fall color.

One afternoon while lounging by the pool I happened to notice these glass panels that serve as a wind break between sections of the deck. From certain angles they reflected the clouds, but I just liked the way the shapes interacted with the clouds, without reflection. I didn't even have to get out of my chair for this shot - proof that if you look around you'll be amazed at what you can find.

I'll be posting some more of these artsy shots as well as some vacation snaps soon!

Snow Job!

2008-11-23T20:43:00.004-05:00

Our latest magazine assignment was to shoot photos for an article about Banner Elk, NC for the January/February issue of WNC magazine. Since the article is to feature activities in the winter months, and since Banner Elk is known for being a ski destination, we kinda needed to get some snow to make it look like someplace you'd actually go and ski, right?

I was sweating this one, because I needed to have the photos turned in around the beginning of December, I really wanted to get some snow shots, and most importantly, it doesn't usually snow very much there in November, and when it does it doesn't always stick around very long. I also don't have any more unscheduled vacation days from my day job, so it would be really convenient for me if it would snow on, say, a Friday so I could go there on a Saturday.

Needless to say, luck was a-shinin' on me, because this past Thursday night and Friday morning Banner Elk got about 6 inches of the beautious white stuff. Add that up with a really helpful marketing director at Sugar Mountain Resort and Kathy & I copped a trip on the chair lift to the top of 5300' Sugar Mountain! Lots of ski and snowboard shots, and everything just looked so nice and winterly with a good coat of snow.

This view is from the top of Sugar Mountain looking down over Banner Elk and the Elk River Valley. Those tracks in the foreground? The ones that look like they lead off a cliff? They lead to an actual ski trail called Boulder Dash, which is a not-for-sissies black diamond trail. I didn't think I would try to look over the edge!

2009 Calendar Available!

2008-11-16T20:26:00.006-05:00

My primary goal for this weekend was to complete my 2009 calendar, which I offer for sale to friends and co-workers each year. The price is a mere $20, which essentially covers my cost to print them. If I order enough I do get a quantity discount, but it doesn't even cover the cost of the few that I give away as gifts and promotional items.

This year's theme is "A Year of Color" and consists of 12 images from 2008. A complete sample of the images can be found at my website. Click on the "2009 Calendar" link. Contact me by 11/30/08 at the link on my website to order a copy.

Snow Geese!

2008-11-13T21:09:00.003-05:00

I am now hopelessly behind. I made the mistake last night of adding up the number of images I have taken since and including our trip to the coast in September. With the exception of a few images I have processed and those done and turned in for magazine assignments I now have approximately 5000 images to edit and process. Yikes and thank goodness for Lightroom!

A number of people have asked about the Snow Geese we shot at Chincoteague this past weekend. What an amazing trip and a wonderful place to photograph! More to come on that.

This was a quick one to answer some questions I had gotten about what Snow Geese look like. Here are a bunch of them!

Even More Fall

2008-11-04T22:46:00.003-05:00

Starting to wade back through the images from the last several weeks. This was one of those "stop-the-car-I've-got-to-shoot-this" moments. Found along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia, just south of Fancy Gap.

For anyone interested the tractor is a McCormick-Deering Farmall F-14, probably 1939-ish.

Small Scenes and Abstracts

2008-11-02T21:48:00.003-05:00

Kathy and I spent what will officially be our last fall weekend of the year in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which is just about our favorite place in the world. One of my favorite spots for fall color in the Smokies is the Tremont area, on the Tennessee side but away from the mayhem of Cades Cove and Gatlinburg. Tremont is an out of the way gem with plenty of places for exploring, from literally steps to miles from the road.

I love capturing small scenes that give the impression of huge color, especially reflections of sunlit trees in shaded water. This particular rock was in an area of stream that was simultaneously reflecting yellow leaves and deep blue sky. I juiced the colors just a little for contrast but this is really what it looked like.

More to come as I get caught up on processing!

More Fall

2008-11-02T21:43:00.003-05:00

I came across this gem from last week's trip to Brevard and had to share. This was shot from Cherry Cove Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway. See the previous post for the story about how this stop turned out to be the three hour shooting extravaganza of the weekend. This is one of my favorites and I am dying for time to see how it looks when printed!

Looking Vs. Seeing

2008-10-27T20:49:00.004-05:00

We had an interesting experience this past weekend that has gotten me to thinking. Usually when we head to a location I have a general idea of the places I am going to go, and I come up with some ideas of the types of things we are going to try to shoot based on what my notes or my research tell me about a place, with lots of flexibility built in for serendipity and opportunity. Certain locations lend themselves to specific subjects, such as colors reflected in pools of water along a river or stream, agricultural vistas, layers of mountain ridges, etc. There's often a dilemma about sunrise or sunset, because often the good locations for sunrise and sunset are mutually exclusive of places that might have other characteristics, such as waterfalls and places with easy access to water, etc.

Such was the case this past weekend. Pounding Mill Overlook is unsurpassed for a sunrise location near Brevard, and Cowee Mountains Overlook is the absolute tops for sunset this time of the year. Pounding Mill is a 30-minute drive from Brevard, not bad, but it is also 30-minutes or more back down to the good spots for water. That section of the Parkway has a high potential for dramatic atmospherics under certain conditions. This past Saturday was a typically excellent Pounding Mill morning, with clouds and fog in the valley and a clear sky above, enough wind to move the clouds around the ridges, over some of the lower ones and just generally keeping things interesting. Sun comes up, shoot the contours and textures, wait to see what happens, clouds roll in and that's it. Socked in. Now what? Stay and see what happens? Head down to the valley and see if the fog is thin enough to get some dreamy color but not so thick that you can't see? Drive up and down the Parkway looking for that perfect scene? Tough choice.

I was with a group, which is not usually the case, but it was only four cars and individuals that I have come to know as flexible and easy going, instead of the manic-panic-gotta-drive-until-I-find-the-perfect-place-even-if-it-means-racing-around-like-a-maniac-until-dark-and-never-getting-any-pictures types. These are probably the same people who drive 10 minutes out of their way to avoid a 5 minute traffic jam (topic for another essay - people who are always in a hurry but never get anywhere and still are always late). Oops, digression! We decided that our best bet would be to head to either a lower elevation or a higher elevation, knowing that lower would maybe get us soft, diffused light but that higher would maybe get us dramatic clouds in the valleys. A just-right elevation would maybe get us the best of both, with clouds rolling in and out, creating a soft light then revealing a dramatic valley.

As happens way too often on the Parkway, we headed south and in the first mile passed a number of beautiful scenes that were nowhere close to an overlook and had no possible safe parking for a group of 4 cars. We passed from lovely views of the valley to shafts of sunlight blasting through the fog. We ended up stopping at Cherry Cove Overlook, which was socked in at the time, to discuss our options. While we were standing around talking about what to do next, the clouds rolled out to reveal a stunning view of the valley below. Once in a while the fog would be the perfect thickness for beams and sunbursts. A few minutes later the clouds rolled out again. Hmm, interesting. Finally someone (it might have been me) pulled out a camera, which of course caused the clouds to roll back in, creating a soft fog that muted the contrast and made for a dreamy fall scene. More cameras come out, one of our group spotted a chipmunk and started stalking it. I spotted a place where the sunbeams blasted through pinholes in the trees and created some amazing starbursts. A couple of us headed up a trail to see if we could find a better view and ended up with some nice isolation scenics. We ended up there for over three hours! All from a place we "just stopped" to regroup.

The lesson for me is one that I continue to learn and that bears repeating and reinforcement. The best way to see is with a camera in hand, contemplating a scene, the light, the conditions. While it's possible to stumble across a scene while driving down the road, it's a lot easier to see when you stop and take the time to look. Otherwise you're just trophy-hunting. That works fine for a lot of people and I'll admit to doing my share. But for me, the best way to approach a scene creatively is to stop, let it speak to you and listen to what it has to say. It doesn't work for everyone, but for me landscape photography is about engaging with a scene, seeing what's there and responding to it. I'm ultimately a lot happier working with what is in front of me that worrying about where else I might be and what else I might be missing. I've accepted the fact that I can't be everywhere, I'm always missing something, that I don't always make the best guess. I'm ok with that. And I think I am a lot better off for it. I certainly seem to come away from those days happier with me, and am in most cases happier with my results.

The photo is a shot of Looking Glass Rock and was taken pre-sunrise from Pounding Mill Overlook.

Fall Wears Me Out!

2008-10-26T20:00:00.004-05:00

Just returned from an amazing weekend in the Brevard, NC area chasing more fall color. Wow! The problem is knowing when to stop. I have already accepted the fact that I can't get everything, I'm always going to miss something and that it's not the end of the world, but geez! Color, color everywhere and no possible way to get all of it, no way to stay focused on a theme or project or any kind of plan. Just shoot what you see and figure it out later! Not exactly, but this is "going with the flow" at it's finest.

"Only" 452 images this weekend, as compared to last week's 628, but it rained Friday. Really, really rained, to the point that I only shot a few photos in the Grove Arcade in Asheville where we stopped to visit our friends at WNC Magazine.

Off to Cherokee this coming weekend, here's hoping for some more amazing color and great weather. Whew!

This image is actually my last one of the day today. Playing around with motion blur and decided to try zooming the lens while pointed way up at some really tall trees with great color and a Carolina Blue sky. The location is the woods near Slickrock Falls in Pisgah National Forest.