Very often I try to find something that matches a feeling I have. On the other hand, a lot of times I photograph with nothing specific in mind. I just play it as it comes. If it’s good, fine. I find ‘letting it happen’ relaxing, a playful vacation. Stimulating pictures almost always result. — Minor White
We are over a year and a half of this nonsense. I’m counting from the day after St Patrick’s Day cause that’s when my wife and I officially decided to self-quarantine. The world is still in turmoil even with the vaccine rollout. Here in the States last I had heard we topped well over 500,000 Deaths! What is the current number Worldwide?
People are still either pretending it’s a political story and are refusing to believe it, or are in complete denial because it’s too difficult to believe.
I haven’t heard about people from other parts of the world taking Livestock Deworming Medicine. But there are parts of the States where Farmers are finding it difficult to acquire this. Can you imagine people refusing to take a medication that can protect themselves that is being given Worldwide and instead taking something that is not only Not Recommended by the Medical Community but is more damaging than the Virus itself? Just search for Poison Control Stats about Invermectin. I think that’s how you spell it.
We are living in a full blown SciFi Movie where people are so in denial that they are poisoning themselves because of false information being spread by those whom actually have been Vaccinated!
People taking trips, going on cruise ships. I don’t get it. Waiting it out and being proactive for the short term knowing that once this passes we can resume our “Normal” Lives. We still see those not wearing masks! Again I just can’t follow the logic. We are both vaccinated and still wear masks! Why? Just in case we might have it with out having any symptoms and unknowingly give it to or spread to someone else. It’s really only that simple!
Some claim it’s Infringement of our Freedoms! Yeah well what about my So Called Freedom? We can’t Travel because you’re perpetuating the Virus!
Some cultures have been wearing and using Masks on there own, way before this current Plague. That’s right I said it. That’s exactly what this is, A Plague. Governments and the Medical Community are refusing to call this a Plague because it might scare people. I say if they need to be scared into protecting themselves or others than why Not? They are still trying to compare this to the Common Flu….
People refusing to wear Seatbelts until the Laws were passed! Now we don’t even think about it. We climb inside a car and automatically reach for the Seatbelts right?
A few years ago when it was a rare sight to see someone going about there business wearing a mask. I had spotted this Lady in a Gondola going by on the Grand Canal. I remember trying to figure out why someone would do this. Did she have a Cold and was just being Polite as to not spread her germs?
Thinking is not unifying or making the appearance familiar under the guise of a great principal. Thinking is learning all over again how to see, directing one’s consciousness, making of every image a privileged place. — Albert Camus
Contrast can be a lot of things when it comes to art. Contrasting colors, shapes and of course light. It’s the grey tones that must be carefully controlled to be done properly.
In B&W conversions it is way too easy to be careless and end up with muddy tones to leave us with an uninspiring bleh. Crisp blacks and bright whites are where we start. The mid tones must be clean enough that they can be spotted by the experienced eye. Once that is understood the next level of creativity is creating mood and interest.
Can this be done in a color image? Of course and is a lot easier to master once the concept is understood and practiced.
Tones are crisp, details are nice and also adds a bit of interest. Drama? From this no matter what I tried I just wasn’t happy.
Drama, dark and moody inside the Cathedral. This is Notre Dame several years back.
16
Then we have storm clouds to add drama.
I wanted to try to get a person walking by in this next capture but this street was desolate and I was running out of time.
People in the distance was the only chance I had so I was forced to take it.
In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration. — Ansel Adams
Touring the Canals of Venice via Gondola.
This is a wonderful experience while in Venice. The low bridges plus the doorways to the buildings from the canals. Old world architecture adds to the charm.
That’s what this City is really. Old World Charm and History! Brings us to a mindset of old historic explorers searching for something new to discover. Every small winding street, every twisting canal has possibilities of finding something new to experience.
Waiting for the Next Gondola
Have a Great Weekend everyone! Happy Exploring!! On a side note. I updated the Menu on top to include two “Streets of Series”. I’m still working on the way the Gallery is showing. I’m Not happy about the way it is. Maybe there is a Widget or a menu I’m missing.. Mark
My favourite thing is to go where I’ve never been. — Diane Arbus
There is an excitement from Traveling! Exploring new Cities! The adventure of walking down a street and peeking around a corner to see something you’ve never seen before. I know and understand that traveling is not for everyone. Some are comfortable and don’t like change! The sights, the sounds and the smells of food coming down the street from a restaurant or store aka The Bread Shop! Buying some fresh bread in France or Italy and just walking while you tear off a small piece. Ha!! Getting sidetracked..
Here we are mid December 2019 and getting ready for the Holidays! It’s the 15th already and we still have not gone anywhere this year!! I guess I can call it Cabin Fever.. I started thinking about our trip to Italy in 2014. Unbelievable that it’s 5 1/2 years ago already .. I like looking around my archives for something that I’ve never worked on before or pull something up to try to edit an image in a different way.
Of all the places we visited in Italy it fascinates me how both Florence and Venice got under my skin. I felt attached to a point I didn’t want to leave. In Florence the Sun is a different angle in the sky and the light just makes you feel like you must create something. It dawned on me that this is why the Great Masters of Art spent so much time painting in Florence. Then there’s Venice, with the old world architecture. Small streets and alleyways that you want to get lost in. The water taxi’s and the gentlemen with the stripped shirts pushing the gondola’s with their long sticks. It is soo separate from our normal world that it reminds me of a fantasy or from a SciFi movie.
Here are two from Venice showing the water taxes. The first was our last day in Venice. We had found a restaurant but the wait was too long and wasting time on our last day was not something my wife and I wanted to do. So we continued walking around to try to find somewhere else to eat. I had turned a corner and that same Restaurant was staring at me. Tormenting me that we were not able to go inside to eat. As funny as that sounds, this Restaurant is famous world wide and finding it purely by accident was pretty funny. So of course I took the shot. I’m sure you’ll recognize it.
Water Taxi
Venice had actually cleaned up the water so if you’re thinking about my comment above about the smells you are actually wrong. No overall smells that you didn’t want in your face. The history and people are wonderful. Walking around the small streets you notice immediately that there are No Cars or Trucks. Everybody either walks or takes a boat/Gondola. I was up and out at sunrise and found the delivery people unloading the stuff to walk the hand trucks to their destination. I was thinking that there’s gotta be an easier way. The boat would dock and the workers would off load with those poor souls pushing the carts to the stores and restaurants. Granted it was early and there were no crowds to have to force your way through but still……….. With everything being brought in by boat?? Every street has a small bridge over a canal. This is just one that this gentleman has to traverse with the hand truck. Up one side and down the other…
Delivery Man
I’m sure the average person never gets to see this, but I thought it was fascinating by being a completely different point of view.
During the day, the main traffic is on the main thorough fare. The largest of the canals is of course the Grand Canal. Traffic is unbelievable with motor boats and the smaller craft whizzing by the tiny Gondola’s. I took this shot from our Gondola to show the different boats all going about their daily routine.
HARRY CALLAHAN [1912 – 1999] An American photographer, who is considered one of the great innovators of modern American photography.
I wish more people felt that photography was an adventure the same as life itself and felt that their individual feelings were worth expressing. To me, that makes photography more exciting. — Harry Callahan
I’ve been seeing a lot of posts lately about travel! Some of the best writing conveys a sense of excitement and wonder about those far away places. Whether your any kind of a photographer or not. We should always come away with some added knowledge about our travels. Or at least I would hope so? Putting it in perspective I would say asking me after I return home from a trip to a foreign country. How did you like your adventure? My normal answer is that was the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen………..
After a few years and many countries later I look back and my mind starts to wonder. Which city was thee most iconic inspiration on my own state of being? Which city left a lasting impression on me and makes me “Want to Return”? With no Offense to any of those magnificent places. I don’t want to offend anyone….. I want to go back to several of these cities to continue to explore. I say two no more are actually calling to me… Calling to me to come back!! If you’re a long time reader you already know that my wife and I have returned to Paris on several occasions. Yeah, I guess that is also one of the few places that no matter how many times you go. It Is Never Enough!
Italy also comes to mind. All the wonderful historic old cities. Thee most beautiful places in the world like the Amalfi Coast and Cinque Terre. I just searched on the net and found this:
Amalfi Coast – Campania – Declared one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites for its undisputed beauty and the uniqueness of its natural landscape.
Cinque Terre which includes 5 villages that are inaccessible to cars.
Only way to describe those two places is “Simply Breathtaking”!!
For me and my travels there is something about Florence, Italy that just got under my skin. You know that feeling that you get when you go to a brand New Place and you feel like Home? Venice was I wanna say just about the same as well. Venice and Florence to me are places I can see myself living in………..
I just went into my archives to re-edit the image from Cinque Terre. Pretty funny that today July 24th was the day we were there 5 years… Strange! See the Travel Adventure Bug still bites….
Vernazza Cinque Terre
Florence, Italy has a completely different flavor. There is something about the light! Most of the Old Masters or Art that have paintings in Museums all over the world. Did work in Florence. The angle of the Sun with the color of the light is something to behold! The only way I can express it to you is extraordinary!
Sunrise over the Arno River Florence Italy
After speaking about those above. It’s Venice that truly captures your soul. Walking through the small winding streets. Very easy to get lost and turned around. But that’s the fun part of it. Getting lost and discovering new shops and restaurants. Different streets and possible shortcuts. It is truly a wonder.
The people are friendly. The Architecture is simply fabulous. I’m going to share a few from Venice to try and give you the mood of walking around…
Adventure is not only measured in kilometers. Strong emotions are not only found in front of the Parthenon. Emotion, if you are worthy of it, will be felt before the smile of a child returning home with his school books, a tulip in a vase touched by a ray of sunlight, or the face of a beloved woman.
— Willie Ronis
We were speaking to a young lady earlier this afternoon who had traveled to South East Asia on a multi Country excursion. Not once did she mention any ancient historical places. Didn’t even mention shooting any pictures of any of the many places she had visited. The experience sounded wonderful. Wonderful enough for me to think of traveling to these exotic places to visit.
I know this family well enough to know that it would have been a waste of time to question if she had taken any images. Wasn’t worth starting a line of questioning that would have probably gone into a debate of some kind. Yeah!! OK I’m being nice… LOL
I understand not everybody is willing to learn photography enough to try their hand at it. There are some that would at least use a camera on “Fully Automatic” and be happy with those. Like the old Kodak Instamatic Cameras. No Adjustments of any kind. Just Point and Click!! It’s been a while since I mentioned it but there was a conversation a few years back I had with someone asking me for a recommendation for a Better Camera Purchase. They had mentioned that they had liked my images and wanted a camera that can take pictures as good as mine! That is very flattering considering I’ve known this person almost all my life. I of course had mentioned that even the most expensive Camera wont capture images like I do till you learn how to use it properly. I was then informed that this person had no interest in learning anything more that just pointing a camera and clicking it. They couldn’t be bothered!! Seems somewhere they had heard about the Leica. If they get themselves a Leica would that camera take better pictures than the one they are using now?? My answer maybe just a little. But you will be extremely disappointed that a camera for that price wont feed you and wipe your mouth for you after you take the picture. See the thought process was comparing a Camera to a purchasing a more expensive Car. Once you know how to drive you can drive any kind of a car. I “Tried” to explain it’s like someone who doesn’t drive thinking that they can just jump in a Race Car and Win! It doesn’t work that way. Man!! They were disappointed to say the least. I recommended a different camera. But explaining unless you learn at least a little bit about what makes a picture look better. The Camera itself is Not going to make you a “Better Photographer”!
Shot from the Eiffel Tower Paris, France
As funny as the above conversation is to those that actually understand the Basic Principles of Photography and are also trying to learn how to shoot better. The above question was asked by a person who was walking besides me in a Foreign Country and was getting annoyed that I was putting my camera to face as we were walking and talking. They had asked me how can you have a good time with the camera to your face if you can’t actually see around you? Seriously? This is what he said to me. I then proceeded to explain I see more and feel more than he ever could. I then excused myself and ran ahead because I had seen something to shoot. Came back to join up with the rest and explained that my Adrenaline is pumping. My Excitement is off the board and I am noticing everything around me. Placing the camera to my face takes only a split second. I’m looking at expressions! At Faces! At Light and Shadows! I’m looking at Architecture and People. At Street Signs and Outdoor Cafés!
View from over the Seine from one of the many Bridges. Paris, France
St Marks Square at Sunrise Venice, Italy
Composition! Proper Exposure! Understanding Light and Shadows! Understanding Depth of Field!
If you Do Not Want to Learn then how do you think your Images are going to Improve? It’s Not the Equipment! If you don’t know how to change your exposure shooting information to be able to capture a better picture. Why should a better Camera take better pictures? Do You Know why the pictures look that way? Do you know how to shoot in Manual? Do you understand that shooting a Higher ISO Number will do certain things and what will they change?.
A better camera may have more features. Better capabilities in shooting in low light. But if you don’t understand how to shoot in low light then you can’t ask the camera to do something you don’t know how to do…
The Toy Store Paris, France
I was asked once why would you take a picture of someone you don’t know?
As great a picture can be made as one’s mental capacity–no greater. Art cannot be taught; it must be self-inspiration, though the imagination may be fired and the ambition and work directed by the advice and example of others. — Edward Weston
May 3, 2019 Happy May Everyone!
As a final point in the discussion of Mood. I just want to bring up a confusing mindset.
Do you want to capture the existing Mood?
Do you want to enhance the existing scene before you?
Do you “Dare” change the scene before you to enhance the “Mood”?
Everyone has different mindsets. Those who follow and/or belong to the “Rules of Street Photography” for instance limit the enhancements that they do to an image. Capturing the moment “As Is” is part of the requirements to fulfill the needs.
Minimalist Photography: I found a definition that explains the idea but not the rules.
What is minimalism in photography? Minimalism is a style employed by many 20th Century artists, using a minimum amount of components such as colour, shape, line and texture. Within the art world it is considered an extremely subjective concept, leaving interpretation and meaning up to the viewers perception of the work.
I found an interesting article by Simon Bray for a 10 Step Guide to Superb Minimalist Photography. Click the Link:
To me with my experience and training. Taking a shot and then bringing that image to the Darkroom is the normal process. One is not complete without the other. Also at the same time I have my camera set so as to Not Influence the Image. I have every Menu Feature of Enhancements Turned Off. The Saturation and Sharpness controls especially. I also try to shoot Raw when I can. I very rarely ever shoot anything else like JPEG. My reasoning is I want that Complete Control of my “Art”. I have No Desire to let someone wearing a White Lab Coat in a factory somewhere else making artistic decisions for me and dictating to me how my images are “Supposed to Turn Out”.
When we look upon a Scene in front of our Camera and we realize it IS Special. The reactions start to take hold. We get tense. Our hands start to shake. We realize we have a magnificent piece of Art in front of us. Our Hearts start pounding inside our chest and we carefully take in what we are about to do! We look at our surroundings and make the decision as to where we are supposed to go for the proper perspective. Move don’t waste time. Lower? Higher? To either Side? Our camera settings? Is everything correct? Making a mental note for the “Proper Exposure” so the numbers look correct when we are gazing thru the viewfinder. We start to double check everything! The ISO to make sure that the Shutter Speed is where we need it. So the Aperture can give us the proper Depth of Field we need for this particular scene. Or should we change something to make that correction! Take the Shot! Take the Shot! Glance at the back of the camera to verify that everything looks right! Did we Capture the Scene the way we wanted to?
Streets of Venice
So the process isn’t easy. This comes from experience. Going out to play does help. Now taking the image to the Darkroom brings us another set of “Rules”. What or how much should we do to this image? If anything? What is your mindset? Granted I am Not One who thinks taking someone’s head and placing it on another’s body for fun is right!! Nope! I don’t do that. That isn’t what I’m about. I don’t like it when someone else does it. The logistics for that is endless…… Making someone look a little bit thinner? Slightly I can see. Having an Ad in a magazine where they do this is part of the reasoning for Advertising. Don’t let that mindset interfere with your creative juices. Removing a pimple? Of course. Removing stray hair? Of course! Cropping and Straightening an Image? Of course! Removing a stray object from a scene that we weren’t able to remove by changing our angles when shooting? Of Course!!
To make ourselves a better Photographer or Artist we play games with ourselves. We can limit our Options to force us to be able to adapt to the Unknown forces that play with Nature! We can force ourselves to use Only One Lens! We can force ourselves to shoot with one particular f: stop! We can also force ourselves to shoot with one particular shutter speed! Add to the fact we can Also go with a “Straight Out of Camera” Image to help force ourselves to learn how to “See” Better!
I thought I made a mistake once but it turned out it was a creative moment. — Scott Fleming
It is our Gift as Artists to have the ability to Freeze a Moment in time to give the voyeurs/viewers the capacity to see what was happening in the past!
It is said that we as Photographers leave a bit of ourselves onto the image. I can’t remember where or who that comes from. It escapes me at this moment. But we try to not influence the mood of the scene whether it is a landscape or street photography. We make an effort to try to capture what we see as we see it. Using the tools we have available using the camera as a paintbrush. The creative process that quickly goes through our mind to change the exposure. To move and change our perspective to give that image a different perspective. This is our perspective from the creative “Eye” that will leave an imprint on the image.
What is going through our heads at that particular moment in time? Do we actually show our Mood on our work? Trying to capture the Mood of a scene without influencing it and leaving our mindset out of it?
The average person is obsessed with photo-manipulation. Because of a few bad examples of someone exchanging a head on a person. Or making a person look thinner in an Ad. All photo-manipulation is bad! That could be so far from the truth it’s actually scary. Many years ago I had decided that I had the ability to draw. I ended up using Charcoal and Pencil and eventually graduated to Pen and Ink. The tools for Charcoal and Pencil were actually pretty cool. Creating thin lines close together in a light stroke made it look like shadows. Closer or farther apart also changed the mood and effect depending on what are intentions were. We also had what is called a Kneaded Eraser (1). This tool was invaluable in helping us lighten areas that both the Charcoal and/or Pencil stroke did that were not capable of creating by themselves. AKA helped us for creating “Mood”!
Oil Painting! Granted I’ve never been into painting or actually have done any studying. But I am aware of the some of the concepts from watching friends paint. Or that Television Show with the Happy Trees and Clouds. You all must know and have watched Bob Ross (I’ll share a Link below)? Brush Strokes! Using the small knives to apply the Oils to the canvas and creates Depth..
Back to Photography. In the Old Days when I first started using my very Own Darkroom. Yeah the Wet Film and Chemical Days. We had different techniques to help us do different things. Changing the temperatures in the chemicals created different effects. Even so much as changing the development times with these chemicals. There were standard temperatures and times for each step along the way depending on the Company Manufacturer and chemicals used. If we changed one or a little bit of all along the way during the process. This gave us different effects in developing the “Film”. Now I’m speaking purely of B&W Film. If you sent a roll away to be developed. The Lab would use the “Standard” times and temperatures for Book Developing. To get the results of a perfect Negative under perfect conditions. We had to stick very closely to those given to us as a standard. But like all art forms. We did change them to get different results on purpose. But the Labs never did that. We were forced to learn and do it on our own. Again like everything else. If we wanted something different. We had to do it ourselves.
So right at the start we are going on our own controlling every aspect of the process in the “Darkroom”. This is where the concept comes from. The moment we click the shutter in a camera. We need to take this Media whether it be film or digital to the Darkroom to be processed. Some of you are saying I prefer it “SOOC“. Meaning Straight Out of the Camera without any manipulation. Really now? So let’s take a closer look at what your digital camera does.
You have your camera set to one of the many picture taking modes right? Maybe even those scene modes on the dial or menu’s. Mountains for landscapes. Flower for closeups. Another icon of a Sun for those bright days. Well guess what people? Those settings are letting the camera make the decisions of what and how to influence your image. Let’s take this one step farther. There are several other things that you can also do to influence the image. Do you have the picture settings for “Sharper”? Or maybe more or less “Saturation”? What do these actually do to the image? Guess what? It is creating a situation that a very limited Digital Darkroom is processing your image!! So, your Image is no longer as pure or “SOOC” “Straight Out of Camera” as you originally thought.
Some of us actually make this decision to do this on our own. To take full control of this process. Just like above where we decided to do the darkroom work in developing our negatives ourselves instead of sending it away to the Processing Labs.
Now let’s take this discussion to creating an image from that B&W Film discussed above. In the Old Wet Days we called this “Printing”. Printing an image by way of shining a light through that negative and projecting this light onto Light Sensitive paper by using a tool called an “Enlarger”. Then this paper is placed into a tray of chemicals to bring out the image. There are several trays of different chemicals but I wont go into the full process and bore you more than I already am. LOL
Now we look at this first test image. We see that some parts of the image are too dark. Other parts are too light. So we need to do this again. But now we have an idea of what parts need to made lighter by “Dodging” or holding the light back a little bit on those areas that need it. Then the areas of the image that are a bit too light. They now need a little bit more of the Light to help them be more visible. This technique is called “Burning In”.
Now don’t misunderstand me. I’m speaking about a perfectly exposed Negative for the correct moment. Even though Film has a wider range of being able to capture the Light in an image than a Digital Sensor. Sometimes this range of Lightness to Darkness needs our help. It is still a man made tool and isn’t perfect. Neither Film nor Digital Cameras can capture the light in a scene with a range like our Human Eyes. This is the bottom line of why said image now needs our Help to make it better.
These Tools and I just gave the basic ideas of the tools available. Need to be used to help us in reproducing the thing we saw at the moment of capture. It doesn’t happen by itself or on it’s own. It Is Like you telling an Oil Painter that they can’t use different Brush Strokes in a painting for different areas.
Why did I bring up all these techniques and reasons for what we do? Because All of the above methods help us as Artists in Creating “Mood”! It doesn’t happen by itself. The Cameras of modern day computer marvels can Not communicate with our Minds to find out what our Intentions are for a specific moment in time. Leaving the Cameras many settings in any of the “Automatic Modes” lets the on board computer compare the scene it is looking at to many of the choices already in it’s database and then it makes a choice for the settings and presents it to you. Is it Correct? Maybe. Is it exactly what you intended? Maybe again! But we as artists must take control of the Paint Brush if we want to be able to produce an image that creates the “Mood” of the moment of Capture!
Blue Hour Grand Canal Venice, Italy
Next week I’ll continue the discuss on the many different ideas or aspects of “Mood”. Have a great weekend everyone. Mark
Visual ideas combined with technology combined with personal interpretation equals photography. Each must hold it’s own; if it doesn’t, the thing collapses.
— Arnold Newman
Mood — All our training! Everything we’ve read from learning proper exposure. To the understanding of Composition and learning everything about what and how to get the Camera to do what we want and when.
Doesn’t prepare us to be able to capture the “Mood”! Emotions are easy! From Laughing and Crying. To all the way to Wonder is from the expression of our subjects.
But Mood? How do we capture the Mood of whatever we are looking at? That my friends is a joining of the skills. The working of the Camera and the Darkroom together to give us the results we envisioned!
Sometimes capturing the mood seems easy! But at the same time what we thought would have been easy after we click the shutter doesn’t always give the results we want!! Then after trial and error we realize that it still needs something. But What?
I had this very same problem from an image I had shot a few years back. No matter what I did in the digital darkroom. It wasn’t doing what I had envisioned when I clicked the shutter. But in my mind this image was only OK! I left it for a few years. Every once in a while I would pick it up and try my hand at it again. From trying the pastel look to creating a B&W Conversion. But I still was missing the “Mood” I had felt at that time. Years had gone by. Then all of a sudden I ended up playing with the image again. Frustration was mounting. No matter what I had done. I wasn’t happy with it. I tried a B&W Conversion again but this time I was playing with some of the sliders in the Layers column. You know on the top left where the Pin Light, Soft and Hard Light sits. I forget the name of that Menu. Then it was like a Bolt of Lightening hit me.
First Version I was happy with for 4 years.
Sun was going down. The details from the shops and the lone walker. But the mood wasn’t right. Here is my worked image that had taken me 4 years to complete. Granted it wasn’t a steady all the time kind of thing. I would pick it up and try my hand. But for 4 years I wasn’t happy. Here is my result:
“Streets of Venice”
Notice how the “Mood” is different? This comes from being able to play with All the Editing Tools. If your Not sure of the results then Play! Play till your happy.
Sometimes we do get lucky. Here is a shot I had taken early one morning walking around in the back of one of the many Castles we had stayed at during our Adventure in Ireland. This was mostly an in camera thing. I had seen it and pretty much was able to capture the Mood right in front of me.
Grazing in the Fog
Last Weeks Exercise was to go out and force yourself to Use One Lens for a couple of days. Preferably at least a week. Try to Capture the Mood of your surroundings.
Let me add another just to show that it is possible while shooting a room. Here’s another from our amazing Trip to Ireland. This was in a Blacksmith’s Shop in the Wonderful Ulster American Folk Park. Ulster County Northern Ireland. Have a Great Weekend Everyone and Happy Shooting! Mark
Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.
— Dorothea Lange
Streets of Venice Series
Shot using a Panasonic DMC-ZS40 in the Panasonic Raw File Format RW2
Remember where we are? This is the Mediterranean! Italy and more specifically Venice. Sometime mid to late afternoon. I normally try not to shoot in this time of day because of the glaring bright Light of the Sun. More than likely this was after we were let loose after our Tour for the day. I just looked into the Exif Info and it says 3:10 PM
Now this discussion is Not an Exposure 101. This is more for those who have read and understand the basic principles of exposure. The Exposure Triangle and how we can manipulate the variables to help us in making the camera capture the scene that we envision inside our heads!
Now depending on the Camera you have in your hands makes this all the more important. I didn’t want to bring my big Nikon and all of my equipment. This trip encompassed Buses, Cabs, Trains, Planes, and Boats (of all sorts). 15 days traveling around Italy and the last 3 days were spent crawling around the beautiful streets and sights of Venice! My funds were limited! I needed a small camera that was able to do the different things I demanded of it.
I need a few options that makes me comfortable when I’m walking around in all sorts of conditions. Shooting in Manual is my biggest requirement. I need to shoot in Full Manual when the situation demands it. Also I need the Option of shooting in the file format “RAW”. RAW gives us the full capabilities of what the Sensor inside the camera can do. While Shooting in JPG is OK for most situations. Again this is Not a Basic 101 discussion. RAW gives us the opportunity to have a little bit more latitude. More room for the Shadows and the deepest Blacks to open up and capture more detail. Now before you leave because you don’t want to hear this about RAW! This camera the Panasonic RAW format is Not able to be opened up by my older version of Photoshop!! Ah the problems of being newer technology creates problems that we didn’t have previously. So what did I do? Of course I worked it out before we left on this long trip!! I ended up going to the Adobe Site and downloading the latest DNG Converter application. The version that I had was too old as well. NO! I’m Not about to spend more money on a newer version of Photoshop thank you very much. I’ve been using CS4 for years and it works great.
The Demands that I place on the Tools we call a Paint Brush aka Camera is as follows. Remember Your needs will be different. I’ve been doing this a Long Time.. WOW I just thought about this last statement. I’ve been a student and studying Photography for 48 years. 15 of those years had me as a paid Professional.
See I got sidetracked LOL…. My demands on a P&S Camera:
Shoots in Manual Have RAW available Low or at least decent Low Noise at High ISO Fits well in my hands. I can change settings fast when I need to Options: Able to communicate with my Droid and my IPad
Like I said my funds were limited. I priced the Canon and Sony cameras. The Fuji that now has stormed the market wasn’t available then. So while searching the B&H site I ran into the Panasonic. Looked like it fulfilled all of the above requirements. Only caveat was the Limited Aperture available. Which still to this day bothers me but I can live with it! It ONLY has f:5.6 and f:8 that’s it?? That’s crazy to me but what can you do.
So in this image above. The water was reflecting the bright light back into me. The roofs and walls were also creating glare from the reflections as well. I checked my exposure and pulled back a little to try and make an attempt on being careful of the blown out white light or Hot Spots. I walked around and tried to get a better angle and composition to see if it helped. I was forced to move a little bit more to try and shoot between the pilings. I remember trying to get that guy from the Gondola in the center between the pilings but the glare was worse. I moved in the other direction and the glare was less so I took the shot.
Before I go into what I did to this image. Here is my Exif Info. If you don’t know? Exif is the shooting information that the camera places on each image. We can access this in several ways. Here is the shooting info for this image:
Panasonic DMC-ZS40 (P&S) ISO: 100 Aperture: f:8 SS: 1/60 Hand Held and shot in the Panasonic Raw File Format RW2
Remember above when I mentioned I converted the RAW files to DNG? I opened this DNG file in my CS4. The first thing I always do is click on Define which is a great Noise remover. Why because I don’t care that the ISO should have given me No Noise. I want to make sure that before I sharpen this I’m Not Sharpening Noise in the dark shadows.
Next thing I do is go to either Curves or the Graph and pull each end into where the spikes are. Sometimes there is a gap of where the pointers are and the Graph is. Wasted information for the files. Then I go into curves again to see if I can get details out of the Shadows. At least a little bit. The small hut where they give tickets/pay was dark and low on detail. Now I go into Viveza. Oh you don’t know? This is from the Nik Collection. All these apps are with it and are wonderful for playing around to Help you make your Image to what you saw to make you shoot it. You See the Camera can capture the Scene our Eyes saw. But what we had inside our Mind at the time of capture is another thing entirely.
Now the RAW Image has absolutely no enhancements from the camera. I choose to do it on my own. Left over from the old darkroom days where I want complete control. I don’t trust the Lab Guys to make creative decisions for me or my Art!
Next thing is I open up Color Efex Pro 2 to see how I can play to give this muddy scene some life. Contrast Filters, Neutral Density Filters, Diffusions and Vignettes are all options. Do I want to use them in this image? Only a Contrast filter and maybe a drop of Warming from another. I think the vignettes are way too overdone and abused by so many people. I can spot it and I look to see what they did. If it’s just a slight enhancement then we really can’t tell. But if you look closely we can see what they did. Yeah it does annoy me. I Almost Never even touch those… LOL
So I then do a Save As in a Working sub directory to save my work up this time. In case I want to add or remove something as I go.. Get it up to this point? This is all called “Workflow”. Everybody does things there own way. What is wrong? What is Right? Doesn’t really matter as long as it works and you don’t waste too much time doing what I just did. Which takes only a few minutes really. This is the Start of what we do next. Selective Work! Selective Sharpening if need be. You want to enhance or make something stand out less? Smoothing Skin or removing blemishes or what ever. You get the idea.
I’m Not going to write a book on all the little details. There are a ton of those already available. The Start of course is the Bible I always Recommend. “Understanding Exposure” by Bryan Peterson. You can search on Amazon for the latest Version. Just be careful!! There are several older versions floating around.
Have a Great Weekend Everyone! Like always all thoughts or ideas you can reply below. Mark
Not4wood's Photography Blog 