Experimenting with Technique

On June 1st, I will be starting my own project 365. In following other photographer's 365 projects, the main observation I have made is: While each photographer significantly advances their skills during that time, they also run out of good ideas after about a month or two, thus resorting to the everyday images of flowers etc. It does seem a challenging task to take one good image every day for a full year, and I can see how there can be significant bouts of lack of motivation and creativity.

In order to counter that, I have decided that I will do my 365 with a bit of a different approach. I am currently gathering as many photography techniques as I can come across and think of - so far I have a list of 39! The aim is to come up with a total of 52 techniques, one for each week of project 365. I will then employ each technique every day for a full week, hopefully significantly improving within each technique. At the very least, this will familiarize myself with a vast array of techniques, which will form my photography toolbox. I firmly believe that the more tools I create for myself to draw from, the more varied and creative my photography will become. I usually "see" the final image before my inner eye before I even pick up the camera, and experimenting with these techniques will help me see in terms of techniques as well, not just composition and style.

I have been fascinated with HDR photography for a while now. It is a technique, however, that is not highly regarded by photographers who believe in staying true to the original image. This is since HDR takes (at minimum) 3 images composed at different exposure stops (correct exposure, 1 image stepped up, 1 image stepped down). These images are then merged in photoshop, and tone mapping applied in photomatix. HDR allows for perfect exposure throughout the entire tonal range of the image, which means that foregrounds, backgrounds, shadows, light areas of the image are all perfectly exposed. The amount of tone mapping you apply can result in images that look very true to nature or images that are obviously altered. However, some heavily tone mapped HDRs look like incredible works of art. I am usually a believer of staying true to the original image, but I do think that HDR opens up a very powerful tool for creativity. And that is how I see it, as a creative artform of its own.

Sequence Pelican

While out fishing last weekend, we came across a group of pelicans. The challenge was shooting with a 200mm lens (only!) on a rocking boat - not only is it difficult to get close enough to get a decent shot without the birds flying off, but the movement of the boat on the waves amplifies camera shake and thus compromises the clarity of the resulting photo in a major way. That's when Photoshop's sharpening feature comes in handy to recover at least some of the image sharpness. My Dad's friend tried hard to get close to the pelicans, and it was great to be able to see these beautiful birds through a zoom lens. The most fascinating shots, of course, result from the birds landing and taking off. Here is my best sequence shot of a pelican taking off.

Shadow Play

I am embarrassed to admit that I watch "America's Next Top Model" from time to time. The photography can be quite interesting and creative, which makes the endless catfights and combined contestant IQ of 150 bearable. Last night, they used an interesting effect - shadow play. They used various props, such as a wicker chair or screen, which they held above the model in such a way that the pattern would paint her face and body. It created captivating images with very interesting lines and patterns, yet they would not detract from the image by making it too busy.

As I woke up this morning, the sun was shining into my living room and the blinds were drawing lines on the walls and plants around my apartment. I pulled out my camera and took my own shadow play shot. Definitely a technique I will try to master during my project 365 that I am planning to start on June 1st.

Back to the Future

Today, I spoke on the phone with my little nephew in Germany. My sister and her family will be here in a week and visit for a month :) This is a photo I took of him about 1.5 years ago, and it's always been one of my favourites. I was thinking of him tonight and so played around with the photo in learning to use photoshop. When I was little, my Dad still shot slides, and so that is what inspired this effect.

It is interesting how we first use software to enhance images to create effects that cameras are not yet able to manage (HDR for example). And then we get all nostalgic and use software to make the images look like they did back in the day - the slides that were stored unprotected from light and thus have faded a bit, and some might even be damaged. Anyways, I liked the effect, and I suppose I am also a nostalgic person at heart.

To See or Not to See

"To see" is a little 3 letter verb, that often slips into your daily conversations. "See you later!"...."Are you seeing anyone?"..."We'll see about that!" It can take on many meanings, yet many of us go about our daily business without really seeing. Even taken in a literal sense, our senses are bombarded with so much information every day, that we don't really see the things that surround us. Most of it is a casual taking in of familiar surroundings as we rush from place to place. Paradoxically, we never even truly notice or appreciate our surroundings until we move somewhere else entirely.

Photography allows for a whole new medium with which to see. Sure it has the same components as an eye - light hits a lens with a lid that blinks every now and then. But it allows for so much more. Super wide angle lenses allow for degrees of view much larger than the human eye, and a telephoto lens is like an eyeball on a giant rubber band with which you can suddenly transport your viewpoint a few hundred meters closer to your subject. A lens is like a third eye through which you can see an entirely new world - but the main difference is that you can share this world with the people around you. Through photography, you can express emotions for which there are no words, tell a story with a single image, and make the invisible visible. You can stay true to reality or impart your artistic interpretation. There are rules in photography like there are rules for everything in life, but often times it's when these rules are broken that great photographs result.