Sunday, January 25th, 2009
I’m listening to the guys over at TWiP and they are discussing the ethics of editing your digital photos. I think the extent of your edits should depend on the purpose of your photo. If you are a photojournalist, any changes should be minimal. Your job is to document what you see. Modifying an image by adding something totally fictional to it is a serious failure for a photojournalist. Any other photographic profession that is paid to factually record what he or she sees is subject to the same restriction.
On the other side of the coin, there is everyone else. I see photography as an art form that provides the photographer a means to communicate his or her interpreation of the world. As Ansel Adams states, the photographic negative is the score and the print is the performance. I think that statement is as true in the digital age as is was in the film age.
The image file you record with your camera is the score. It has the basics of the scene you observed with your eyes but not necessarily the emotions that scene created for you. That is where the interpretation lies.
The photo I’ve included here is a personal example. I took this photo on a lunch hour photowalk. The Columbus College of Art and Design (CCAD) is literally across the street from my office and seemed like a good place to start my walk. This sculpture is several stories tall and the “A” straddles the street. This sculpture is striking especially considering the fact that it is planted right in the middle of the city with construction and commotion happening all around. Despite all that commotion and construction, the sculpture still inspired me. It reminded me how art emerges from the artist and creates for us a new chance to see the world differently. The original shot didn’t quite capture the feeling I had at the time, so I fired up my favorite post processing tool: Lightroom 2
I started with a crop to remove some extra scenary that justt added distraction. Then I put in a horizontal exposure gradient filter to help darken the left side and get a little more detail out of the sky and give a sense of emergence. Next I adjusted the overall exposure to help get the contrast I wanted. I also punched up the Clarity and Vibrance to help the red and blue contrast pop more. At this point I was close, but I still couldn’t see the contrail to the right of the “R”. I really liked that element and decided to work the Tone Curve to adjust the image’s contrast so that I could see it. That contrail is what caught my eye first and is what led me to the shot. Without the contrail, this shot would not have happened. Perhaps it is not technically the optimal compositional element, but it has significance for me and got more attention that it might deserve. That’s my interpretation of the scene. It’s an important part of my performance.
This is the original score.
Along the lines of the interpretation of a musical score, if anyone would like a copy of the digital negative (.dng) to give their interpretation, leave a comment. I’d be interested to see how it works. If I get enough interest, I’ll change the rights from All Rights Reserved to an appropriate Creative Commons license.
Filed under: Photography by schauba
Tags: « art - lightroom - philosophy - Pixel Abuse - twip »
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Wednesday, January 14th, 2009
I’m participating in the January Photo Challenge of taking a self portrait every day. To be honest, I hate taking self portraits. There is a reason that I am behind the camera most often instead of in front of it. However, I am using this as an opportunity to push me out of my comfort zone. Every time I push my comfort zone, I grow.
It’s not fun, but pushing yourself in this manner allows you to evolve regardless of the context. I think the photo I’ve included in this post is a good example. I am obviously using off camera lighting, which is something I don’t often do in addition to taking a self portrait. It’s something I would not have done without the January Photo Challenge pushing me to try new things.
If you are looking to push yourself creatively and evolve I highly recommend the PhotoChallenge.org web site. It has a lot of great ideas and photographers like you. The Flickr group is awesome too. You get a great chance to see others’ work and comment on it. They comment on yours also. And to top it all off, all of the commentary I’ve experienced has been civil and encouraging. You’ve got nothing to lose and a ton to gain.
And in case you’re wondering, yes, that’s a Gorillapod on my head.
Filed under: Projects by schauba
Tags: « photo - photo challenge - photochallenge.org - self-portrait - strobist »
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Monday, January 12th, 2009
I just received an email from JPG magazine stating that it has several credible buyers and will be keeping the web site up. I think this is great news. I must now start thinking about what I want to submit for publication.
The only thing that concerns me is how JPG will change under new ownership. I can’t believe that they will remain unchanged. The new owner will probably find a new way to monitize the service. How is the question. Paid membership seems like an obvious change. Flickr and SmugMug have demonstrated the success of that model. What other way could you monetize JPG?
Filed under: News by schauba
Tags: « JPG Mag »
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Friday, January 9th, 2009
I’ve changed hosting providers and blog tools. It’s been a couple of months, so I’m due. I think this is where I will stay for a while though. I had my experiment with Blogger and found that it just couldn’t compete with WordPress, so I’m back on the WordPress side of the fence. This weekend I’ll be transferring my old data to this site and getting things just so. In the mean time, take a look at my Flickr Stream, check me out on FriendFeed, FaceBook, or Twitter.
Filed under: Administrative Crapola by admin
Tags: « administration - crapola »
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Tuesday, January 6th, 2009
Here is a self-portrait I took for the 2009 January Photo Challenge:
Other than the fact that I included five of the recent challenge themes in one photo, there is nothing terribly remarkable about the image. What is remarkable is the ghetto lighting set up I used to put it together. Here are some shots of the set up.
Wide angle view:
Here is a detail of the strobe to the left of the chair:
Yes, that is a combination tripod, Cactus v2 receiver, cheap-o flash, Gorillapod, plastic coat hanger, and a white pillow case. What you can’t see is the Kleenex rubber-banded to the flash to help soften the light further.
DIY Strobists eat your heart out.
In hindsight, I should have just moved the flash closer to the chair to soften it, but that would not have been nearly as cool as this. Here is a better view of the setup without the pillow case:
Rube-Goldberg photography? Maybe. Fun? Without a doubt. The other aspect that made this an interesting shoot is that I had a hyperactive 4 year old as my “assistant”. Nothing like leaving the room for a minute to return to your camera settings gone all awry and your Assistant constantly cheering you on with “Daddy, hurry up and take the picture!” and “Let me see, let me see!”.
Filed under: Projects by schauba
Tags: « diy - off-camera light - photo - self-portrait - strobist »
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Friday, January 2nd, 2009
JPG Magazine is closing its doors on January 5, 2009. They are a victim of the current econcomy and just can’t get the cash to keep things going. This really too bad.
In case you are unfamiliar with JPG Magazine, it is a publication composed entirely of user created photography. It’s like Flickr, but in print and I think the quality of work tends to be a little higher. I’m personally disappointed because I had made it a goal for 2009 to have some piece of work published in the magazine, whether it be a photo or an article. That goal will be crossed off and I’ll have to find a new one now.
You can still download all the back issues in PDF format here: Archives
You might also want to pull together your contacts from JPG and see if they are elsewhere for you to keep in touch. I just finished going through my contacts and adding them as Flickr contacts and bookmarking web sites.
Filed under: News by schauba
Tags: « economy - jpg magazine - the suck »
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Wednesday, December 17th, 2008
Scott Bourne over at
TWIP had a post this morning that made me think. Scott was discussing the art side of photography, the human side. While we all love obsessing over new gadgets, gear, and technology, I think we are all primarily motivated by the emotional response we get from photography. Here is my reply to
Scott’s post.
I’ve always looked at photography as a chance to share how the world looks through my eyes. For better or worse, I seem to have a non-standard perspective. I see things that other people don’t. No, I don’t see dead people, but I notice little details, light falling in an interesting way, and relationships between things that don’t immediately seem related. When ever I point out one of these observations, people wonder how I came up with the connection. Undiagnosed ADD could have something to do with it. However, regardless of my current mental health, my photography helps me show the world how I see.
That’s why I love looking at photographs from others. It gives me insight into what’s important to them and from which perspective they observe their surroundings. The more I get into photography the more I realize that it’s about people and relationships. Whether the relationship is between the photographer and a model, the photographer and a mountain, or the photographer and some cranes flying through the mist, I think photographs are manifestations of relationships.
Filed under: Photography by schauba
Tags: « art - people - philosophy »
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Saturday, December 13th, 2008
The siren song of off camera lighting is calling me. I already have a cheap flash and a
Catus v2, but I would like to be able to play with at least two off camera flashes. I just read over on
Strobist that
RadioPopper came out with some new technology. The product that caught my eye is the
JrX receiver and transmitter. I think this combined with some
Vivtar 285 HV Flashes are what I need to get started.
If I read this article correctly, I can get by with 2 Vivitars, a JrXTransmitter, JrX Receiver, and
Wein Peanut Micro Slave and I should be all set. Maybe throw in a couple of light stands. The whole shootin’ match should run me around $300, which is about the same price as a single Canon 580 EX.
Filed under: Photography by schauba
Tags: « off-camera light - strobist »
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Wednesday, December 10th, 2008
I’ve been shooting with a
Rebel XT since it first came on the market. Last year I was ready for a major upgrade to my system and decided to invest in good glass instead of a new body. I bought the Canon
24-105 f/4L and will never be able to buy anything other than L glass ever again.
Now I want to upgrade my camera body. The
Canon 50D is very appealing, but the
5D Mk I is a serious contender also even though it is at the extreme edge of my budget. I’ll have to spend a lot of political capital with my family CFO to make that purchase.
Reviews I’ve read on the 50D are all over the board. The review at
DPReview says it’s Highly Recommended, but barely because the image quality is not that much better than the 40D. However, the feature set on the 50D is awesome:
- 15.1 MP
- Digic4 processor
- 3 inch screen
- LiveView mode
- Integrated sensor cleaning
- Burst up to 16 RAW images @ 6.5 to 3 fps
- High ISO sensitivity
Yes, I must consider the fact that Canon has jammed a ton of receptors into a small sensor, which will result in a lot more noise. I still get more room to use the crop tool and I can always down-sample my image.
The 5D Mk I is a classic that still gives incredible image results largely due to its full frame sensor. Despite the fact that it is old technology, the 5D Mk I is a solid camera capable of spectacular images.
I’m still figuring out my photographic niche and my subject matter is all over the board: portraits, sports, landscapes, and a lot of kid pictures. I need a body that is versatile.
Just to complicate matters, I also have a Sigma 10-20 f/4-5.6 EX DG HSM that won’t work on the 5D. I could still use it on the Rebel XT, but it would be stuck there. I also have the Canon 50 f/1.8 II, but that works on either EF or EF-S mounts.
Which camera would you recommend?
Filed under: Gear by schauba
Tags: « 50D - 5D - camera - canon »
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Tuesday, December 9th, 2008
I’ve had a picture published on
Schmap!!, a travel guide web site. You can see my photo here:
Washington MonumentI really like this photo because I think that it is a unique perspective on an commonly photographed monument. It makes all the stares I got from squatting in an awkwardly crouched position for five minutes worth the embarrassment.
Filed under: Photography by schauba
Tags: « publication - schmap »
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