Thoughts On Canon 1 Series Pricing

My primary camera is a Canon 5D MKII. At this point in time, I believe that the only significant difference between the 5D MKII and the far more expensive 1Ds MKIII is the robustness and weather sealing of the body as well as the accuracy/speed of the camera's autofocus mechanism. As one who mostly does landscape and macro work, the autofocus is not an issue for me as I tend to focus manually (using Live View with 10x mag) most of the time. Because of this I decided that, for my use, the price differential is simply far too great to merit ever again purchasing a 1 series camera for my use (assuming that the differences remain similar). Of course, I can only speak for myself. These differences may be significant enough to others that are traveling in far harsher conditions than I do or are doing people/action/event photography to merit the extra expense.

What exactly is the price differential? Currently the 5D MKII comes in at $2499 while the 1Ds MKIII costs $6114 (pricing from B&H). While the 5D MKII was a few hundred dollars more expensive earlier in it's life cycle, the 1Ds MKIII had been, as I recall, $7999 early on (and, I believe, at the $6999 level even when the 5D MKII became available).

I have always wondered about this price differential. Back when I was shooting film, I had worked my way up to a Canon 1V, which was their 'flagship film model', and the one on which the digital 1 series is based. A brand new 1V can still be had for $1650 (though I can't imagine that they sell many).

This is where, in my mind, the pricing issue comes in....and I would be glad to have someone more knowledgeable about the diffrences between cameras correct me if I am wrong here. My sense is that if you took the 'innards', which is to say the sensor and processor, of the 5D MKII and put it into the 1V body you would essentially have a 1Ds MKIII. Let's first assume that the sensor and electronics of the 5D MKII cost $2500 and the body has absolutely no value. Put that $2500 worth of electronic equipment into the $1650 body and you have a total of $4150. Since, in fact, the 5d MKII body does have some cost, if we were to get a rebate for not using it the price of a 1Ds MKIII should be significantly less than $4150, even if you add back in some cost for the development of a more advanced autofocus system.

Am I missing something here? Is my logic out of whack? I am quite happy with my 5D MKII, though I still wonder, more out of curiosity than anything else, how Canon justifies the cost of up to $6000 t0 $8000 for its flagship digital 1 series cameras? Obviously, Canon can charge whatever it wants to without worrying about me, and presumably the next 1 series iteration will have features and options not available on the 5D MKII, but still.......

Don't Fight Mother Nature

When out photographing, I have always found working with the prevailing conditions to be a far better idea than stubbornly resisting what is going on around me. Let me be more specific by using an example. If I were to go out with the idea of photographing wildflowers and find that it is a windy day, I am much more likely to return with interesting images if I decide to shoot using long shutter speeds in order to create abstract images than if I decided to 'fight Mother Nature' and insist on trying to get tack sharp images using fast shutter speeds and waiting (and waiting and waiting) for the wind to die down briefly. Sure, I might come back with a sharp image or two after the fight, but I would not have enjoyed myself, would have a feeling of frustration, and would have robbed myself of the opportunity to have tried something new.

Nonetheless, I recently found myself 'fighting Mother Nature' without really knowing that's what I was doing. When I finally realized that I was resisting what nature was giving me I had a much more enjoyable time and came away with a reasonable image or two. Let me explain..... In a park near my house there is a group of three trees. They are special trees, though I don't know what species they are. They are quite short, but have an aged appearance with contorted and twisted limbs. Truth be told, I don't have a very good 'relationship' with these trees. I find them fascinating and intriguing......even a bit mysterious. For a year or two I have intermittently gone to see the trees with my camera but have never taken a single photograph of them! I have never been able to compose an image that I liked despite my feeling that there should be a hundred fascinating images among their twisted and contorted limbs. There has always been a bad background I can't eliminate (the trees are right near a busy street) or the composition doesn't really express what the trees make me feel etc. Sometimes, in situations like this, you are defeated before you even try......having tried so many times you go in with a losing attitude and an adversarial position (yes, I know those trees can't really think....but why won't they let me take their picture???).

Well, on Friday I went back again. There was snow on the ground and I thought that perhaps I could somehow use that as a 'clean' background. Of course, it turned out to be a bright day, something that is a rarity during a Pittsburgh winter (November through March is mostly gray.....if you don't have seasonal affective disorder before you move here you rapidly develop it). Because the sun was shining, there were strong shadows on the snow. I was trying to compose images of the twisted limbs, but every time I thought I was getting something interesting the trees' shadows would clutter the background.

After continuing to circle the trees in order to try to get an interesting composition without a distracting shadow in the background, it occurred to me that I was fighting this way too hard. Why not accept the fact that the sun was there and that unless I came back another time the shadows were simply not going away? Why not work with 'Mama' and use what 'she' was giving me? Why not try to incorporate the shadows into the composition? In fact, why not make the shadow the main subject of the image since, over time, I had been having so much difficulty making an image with the trees themselves as the main subject?

So that is exactly what I did! Once I started accepting the shadows as part of the image instead of trying to eliminate them, compositions became much easier.

Shadow Tree
Copyright Howard Grill

Is this an 'award winning' image?? I think not, but it is the only composition that I felt intrigued enough with to actually make me want to push the shutter button.

After liking the way my prior HDR bare tree image looked, I decided to use the same treatment for this image. The contrast range, given the bright snow and dark tree, lent itself to making an HDR composite of 6 images which was then converted to black and white and toned using SilverEfex Pro.

Just A Few Minutes

One of the intriguing aspects of nature photography is the constant realization of how things change. This is most easily apparent when returning to favorite nearby locations at various times of year. But very frequently, things change much faster than that, and perhaps no time demonstrates that more than sunrise and sunset. The rapid change in light levels, temperature and subsequent wind makes a scene change so rapidly that photos that were taken just minutes apart can look as if they were taken on totally different days.

Such was the case when I was photographing in Oregon a few years ago. I had previously written a post about this image, taken at Haceda Beach:

Sea Stacks I
Copyright Howard Grill

A short while later the sun had dropped lower in the sky, offering this composition, with the orb of the sun placed squarely between the two sea stacks.

Sea Stacks II
Copyright Howard Grill

Finally, only minutes later, the sun had sunk completely below the horizon. The warm yellow/orange coloration of the sky and water was now gone, but the clouds began rolling in and the sky became a deep blue with the clouds painted red/pink by the sun below the horizon.

Sea Stacks III
Copyright Howard Grill

Changes. All in a matter of just a few minutes. Nothing like photographing sunrise and sunset to make you cognizent of the passage of time!

iPhone Photography Revisited

Back in December, I had written a post about photographing with an iPhone (which I don't personally own). That post revolved around an iPhone app for sharing images and a live feed of iPhone images submitted from folks around the world to Chase Jarvis' website called "The Best Camera" (as in the one you have with you).

Now iPhone photography has been taken one step further. I am talking about fine art iPhone photography! Seriously. Turns out you can do some pretty amazing stuff with the iPhone in conjunction with some image editing apps without ever having the photo leave the phone.

Think I'm kidding or exagerating? Check out this area of Dan Burkholder's website. The images are pretty amazing! He even has iPhone photography workshops and has an article about his iPhone photographs in this month's PhotoTechnique.

Tree And Pond In Fall
Copyright Dan Burkholder
iPhone Image With Post-Processing

I had always thought that cell phone photography was for 'the masses' and could not be used for 'serious art'. However, I have to say that with the changes in technology it is quite possible that this is no longer the case (not that I am about to go out and sell off my Canon 5D MK II). Though I have never seen any of Dan's iPhone prints myself, I do have a friend who has seen them and she was quite impressed with their quality (as a separate issue from their 'artistry' which, in my mind and hers, is clearly superb). But then again, what else would one expect from Dan Burkholder?

As an aside, some may have noticed that there has been a lack of images on the blog recently. That is because it has been taking me some time to set up my new computer system, load software, deal with driver bugs etc. But I hope to be back to making images in the very near future. Thanks for joining me here.

Chris Jordan: Running The Numbers

Seattle photographer Chris Jordan's work is so different, so intriguing, so filled with message that it really is important to see for yourself. Rather than try to describe it I will let you read what he has said in his own words:

"Running the Numbers looks at contemporary American culture through the austere lens of statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: fifteen million sheets of office paper (five minutes of paper use); 106,000 aluminum cans (thirty seconds of can consumption) and so on. My hope is that images representing these quantities might have a different effect than the raw numbers alone, such as we find daily in articles and books. Statistics can feel abstract and anesthetizing, making it difficult to connect with and make meaning of 3.6 million SUV sales in one year, for example, or 2.3 million Americans in prison, or 32,000 breast augmentation surgeries in the U.S. every month.

This project visually examines these vast and bizarre measures of our society, in large intricately detailed prints assembled from thousands of smaller photographs. Employing themes such as the near versus the far, and the one versus the many, I hope to raise some questions about the roles and responsibilities we each play as individuals in a collective that is increasingly enormous, incomprehensible, and overwhelming.

~chris jordan, Seattle, 2008 "

He subsequently continued this style of photography with another project entitled "Running The Numbers II"

I think this work is illuminating and worth looking at and thinking about. After all, isn't the best kind of photography the kind that makes you think?

Here is a link to Jordan's website. Because of the way the site is constructed, I can't give a direct link to the project pages.....so once on the home page just click on the Running The Numbers projects and have a look for yourself!

Pre-Visualization.....Once, Twice, Thrice

It occurs to me that as photographer/artists we pre-visualize our work more than once and often as many as three times or more.

Pre-visualization #1. When we are making images out in the field we need to have a reason for stopping to make a photograph.....to take time to think about what attracted us to the subject and to pre-visualize how we want it to look in the final print.

Pre-visualization #2. Assuming that we are shooting digitally, the image is then imported into Lightroom, Aperture, Photoshop etc and, in my case, this is usually done in RAW format. When I import images into Lightroom I don't apply any develop presets on import and, thus, am greeted by images that have a generally bland appearance. Therefore, when deciding which images to work on, I not only have to judge composition, but also think about what I can make the image 'into' to 'bring out' the qualities that led me to make the photograph in the first place.

Pre-visualization #3. Finally, in todays digital age, we can frequently combine images to extend dynamic range, increase depth of field, or make panoramas. This, for me, is the most difficult pre-visualization, probably because I have just recently started using these modalities.

Obviously, in the 'pre-digital' days there were also mutiple pre-visualizations to be made when it came to making prints. However, as a 'slide shooter' who didn't often make prints back then, I really only pre-visualized once, and this occured when making the initial photograph. After that you got what you got and that was that.

I am not quite sure why it is that I find it interesting that as photographers we need to imagine and formulate our end result in our mind's eye so many times, but I do find it intriguing.

Quick Quotes: Elliot Erwitt

"Photography is an art of observation. It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place. I've found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them."

Elliot Erwitt

I had planned on a different post today, but, while reading the latest issue of LensWork, came across this quote. It just seemed to complement the prior quote by Morley Baer so perfectly that I simply couldn't resist. Two people with the same idea, both expressing it with an amazing eloquence.

Quick Quotes: Morley Baer

Quit trying to find beautiful objects to photograph. Find the ordinary objects so you can transform it by photographing it.

-Morley Baer

This quote by Morley Baer really sums up to me the essence of photographing. So often we want to go someplace exciting or exotic to get 'great shots'. Those photographers that have most amazed me are those that can take everyday objects or routine settings and transform them into something special and, in the process, allow us to see them in a new way.

Photoshop Optimized Computer III

With the background of Parts I and II of this series behind us, I thought it might be useful to discuss what components I personally picked for my "Photoshop Optimized Computer".

In the 'digital age', all of our processing is done on a computer and, for many, prints are made at home on an inkjet printer. For as much time as we spend out in the field, we likely spend as much time, or more, working on our images in the digital darkroom. For this reason I feel it would be foolish to spend money on cameras and lenses and not put forward the investment in a computer system that makes finishing the job efficient and pleasant. In short, I don't think it is wise to buy expensive equipment and mate that equipment with a computer that is underpowered and which makes the processing portion of image making an unpleasant experience. If you have waited and waited for a file to open in Photoshop or had your system crash while using a memory intensive plug-in, you know exactly what I mean. If one can afford to make the investment, a good computer system will make post-processing a much more pleasant and productive experience.

I don't mean to insinuate that one needs to go on a wild spending spree for a computer. In fact, as we shall see, some high end components are well worth buying but there are others, such as the graphics card, where pouring more money into a higher end card is not going to significantly enhance the Photoshop experience.

So, lets get down to particulars. What components did I choose for my new computer? Again, some of these choices are personal and I don't mean to imply that this is the best or only worthwhile configuration.....I just thought I would share my decisions and why I made them.

RAM: I'm starting here because I knew how much I wanted (12 GB) and the way to get to this amount at a reasonable price was to have 6 memory slots on the motherboard so that I could purchase 6 x 2GB as opposed to 3 x 4GB. RAM comes in several varieties and speed. I bought Kigston ValueRAM (DDR3-1333). While one can pay more for 'faster' RAM etc, I am not convinced it will make much difference for still image editing. It may well make a difference for gaming and video, but I am not planning to use the computer for much of either. Therefore, it seemed to me that this RAM would do the trick. Obviously, once one is over 4GB it makes no sense not to get a 64 bit OS in order to utilize it.

Motherboard: There were some limitations here, as any builder is only going to carry a limited number of makes and models. In order to get a 6 memory slot board I went with the Asus P6TD DDR3 motherboard.

Processor: I was originally planning for an Intel i5 750, which sits at a nice price/performance point. The i5's don't have hyperthreading but, to the best of my knowledge, Photoshop doesn't utilize hyperthreading at this point in time. Nonetheless, because of the motherboard choice, an i5 was not an option and I went for the arguably more powerful (and a bit more expensive) i7 920 (which is actually due to be replaced by the 930 soon) which does have hyperthreading. Perhaps in the future (I expect to use this system for at least 5 years) Photoshop will utilize hyperthreading.

Graphics Card: This is one component where, if one were building a computer for the express purpose of gaming, you could go hog wild and really drop a bundle on a high end video card. However, while one wants a reasonable video card, the best of the best is really a wasted resource if it is to be used for Photoshop alone (as opposed to gaming or video editing). For this reason I went mid-range with a Gigabyte GeForce 9600GT with 512 MB of video RAM.

Sound Card: This machine is for Photoshop and Lightroom primarily....I went with no dedicated sound card, just the motherboard sound processing.

RAID: A discussion of all the varieties of RAID is far beyond the scope of this blog. However, for the scratch disk, I did go with RAID 0 (as I had discussed in Part II of this series) using 7200 RPM disks. One worthwhile issue to touch on is the use of on-board RAID controlled by the motherboard vs a dedicated RAID controller card. Again, this goes beyond the scope of this blog, but suffice it to say that, based on what I was able to learn, having a separate RAID controller card is well worth the investment in order to remove the RAID function from the motherboard. I went with a two disk RAID 0 array and a RAID card. I had the two disk array partitioned into a smaller first volume for the scratch disk. This volume resides on the outer, faster portion of the disk while the remaining volume will be used to store files on which I am still working in order to allow rapid opening and saving of the file. When the processing of these images is completed, they will be moved to storage on a non-RAID hard drive given the increased risk of data loss if either of the disks in the array were to fail.

Hard Drives: As I mentioned, I went with two 7200 RPM disks for the RAID array. I also wanted a fast boot drive so that the computer would boot quickly and applications would also launch very fast. Though this was clearly a 'luxury item', I decided to go with a solid state disk (SSD) for the boot disk to hold the OS and applications. In addition, a Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black hard drive is to be used for storage. The motherboard and case will allow for the addition of 2 more disks, should the need arise.

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium

Monitor: Discussing this component of the system is really opening a can of worms. A quality monitor can be expensive, but is also a mission critical part of the digital imaging system. It is used to assess the image, process the image, soft proof the image etc. Clearly, a low quality monitor that is poorly calibrated and profiled can make producing high quality images and prints a nightmare. If one's budget allows, a high quality monitor together with a hardware calibration system is optimal. Some names to look into (and I don't mean to imply that these are the only worthwhile monitors) include Eizo, NEC, Apple, and Lacie.

Well, I hope that this series of three posts will be helpful to others that might be interested in putting together their own 'Photoshop Optimized Computer'.

Photoshop Optimized Computer II

For Part I of this series click here.

Let me begin Part II by explaining what I view as a 'Photoshop Optimized Computer'. Obviously that means a computer whose hardware/software is set up in a way which allows Photoshop to run in the most efficient and fastest way possible. But what special hardware or software is needed to allow this efficiency to occur? How is a 'Photoshop Optimized Computer' (I think maybe I should try to trademark that little phrase before someone else does) different from the standard computer you might pick up anywhere?

In order to answer this, we need to know a bit about how Photoshop itself works. More specifically, we need to know about the software's data handling strategy. Now, I need to point out that my 'day job' has nothing to do with computer programing.....so, if I make a mistake in any of these posts I would be more than happy to have someone out there correct me.

When one opens a file using Photoshop, the program puts the data into RAM. If there is not enough RAM to handle the file, or if in the process of editing the file by adding layers etc the file becomes so large that it doesn't fit into the available RAM, then Photoshop writes that data to a physical hard drive that it has set aside for itself known as the 'scratch disk'. The specific drive or drive volume that Photoshop uses for the scratch disk can be chosen in the Photoshop Preferences. It should be recognized that:

1) Not all the RAM in the computer can be devoted to Photoshop use, as some of it is needed for use by the OS (and 32 bit programs limit the amount of usable RAM to 4 GB).

2) Once the data file gets large enough to require Photoshop to write its data to a physical hard drive things move much slower since the speed at which data can be written to a physical drive is much, much slower than the speed at which it can be stored in RAM.

So what conclusions can be drawn from this information? Knowing that things move much faster when Photoshop has enough RAM to write to tells us that the more RAM the better. And then more! And to allow Photoshop to utilize all that RAM, it would be optimal to use a 64 bit OS in order to remove the 4 GB RAM limit that is imposed by a 32 bit OS.

However, no matter how much RAM is in the system, Photoshop still needs to use the scratch disk to some small degree, even if the file itself fits fully into RAM. For this reason the scratch disk should be optimized, even in systems with a good deal of RAM. How does one achieve this optimization? It can be done in two ways.

The first and most important way is to put the scratch disk on a separate physical drive from the OS (the Photoshop application itself can be installed on the OS boot drive...some say it is optimal to install it there, as opposed to on another drive). That way the drive head can read and write to the scratch disk without having to do anything else. If the scratch disk were on the same physical drive as the OS, that disk's read/write heads would be slowed down by having to perform both the scratch disk duty as well as the reading and writing that the OS requires, such as writing to the page file and other required duties (don't move your page file to the scratch disk....if you don't know what that means just forget about it, as it's not there unless you put it there yourself).

The second way to optimize the scratch disk is to not only put it on a separate physical disk from the OS, but also to make this separate disk as fast a disk as possible. Options thus include, going from slowest (worst) to fastest (best): 5400 RPM drive, 7200 RPM drive, fast 7200RPM drive (no, not a separate type but 'better' because of increased cache, number of microprocessors etc), 10,000 RPM Western Digital VelociRaptor (though many would argue that there are some 7200 RPM drives out there that function faster than the 10000 RPM VelociRaptor) and, finally, a RAID 0 array.

A RAID 0 array is simply using two disks that appear to the OS as a single larger disk. Data is written to the array by splitting it and having half of it go to one disk and half to the other. Therefore each physical disk has to write only half as much and they can both do it simultaneously since each disk has its own read/write head. If one of those two disks fail all the data from the file is lost and can't be reconstructed....but since the scratch disk data is used only temporarily while the file is being worked on.....who cares?

Notice I didn't include a solid state drive (SSD) in the list of options. Though an SSD would be superb for data storage, the OS, or use in a RAID array, the current feeling is that as a stand alone disk it is not optimal (in addition to its being very expensive) for use as the scratch disk. The reason for this is that, while SSDs have blazing fast read speeds, the current write speeds (except perhaps for the super premium Intel E series SSDs) are no faster, and possibly slower, than a fast hard drive. The important fact to recognize here is that, for a scratch disk, the write speeds are much more important than the read speeds. This, then, is what makes the SSD, at the current level of technology, perhaps a sub-optimal scratch disk....or at least a scratch disk that is no better than the current breed of hard drives but costing far more.

So, to sum up:

1) OS and Photoshop on the same drive

2) RAM and more RAM

3) 64 bit OS so that RAM constraints are removed

4) Scratch disk on a second physical disk that is separate from the OS boot disk and

5) Make that separate physical scratch disk a fast one, with a RAID 0 array being optimal.

Want to dig a little deeper? Try this article from the Adobe Knowledge Base or this one, which is exceptional, from Lloyd Chambers. Though the second one discusses performance on a Mac, the information it contains, for the most part, can be applied to a PC as well.

I should mention one caveat, and that is that in this discussion I am assuming that large files are going to be worked on. If you are just working with very small files all of this might not be necessary. But if you are starting with large files (I shoot in RAW format with a Canon 5D MKII) that you then edit with many layers, use smart objects etc....then this info is for you.

Photoshop Optimized Computer I

The time has come for a new computer. I built my current computer myself about 6 or more years ago, and it is showing its age. It crashes when I generate Photoshop files with more than one smart object layer and, when I work on large files, it is frequently unable to utilize certain plug-ins that are begging for more memory. Disk space is also quite low. When I built it, if I recall correctly, I was photographing with a Canon 10D. Equipment and file sizes have certainly changed quite a bit.

The process of building that computer was fun and very educational, as it really taught me about how computer systems work and how components interact with each other in terms of compatibility. However, as much as I enjoyed it, I decided that this time I would not build it myself, simply because of free time issues. After learning the things I did during my last build, one thing was quite clear to me: I wasn't going to buy a prefab, 'mass produced' computer from Dell etc. Having seen the importance of individual components, I wanted to be able to choose exactly what goes into the box and not simply get the hard drive du jour!

I thought it might be worthwhile to write a few posts about the process of thinking through the construction of what will be my new system. I believe that this will be quite apropos to this blog since the computer is being designed specifically with the main goal of being optimized for Photoshop, with other uses being secondary.

So lets begin. First, since this time I wasn't going to be doing the building myself, I had to find a custom computer builder. I was looking for an outfit that received outstanding reviews and referrals, had great customer service, and had components that I 'believed in'. Obviously, not every custom build company will carry every component out there and, while some components had to be chosen from what the builder stocked, I wanted to make sure that they stocked what I would have used myself for the most important components.

So, what company did I come up with that filled these criteria? These guys.....Puget Custom Computers. Though I have not yet put the final order in for the computer, I can say the following: they have great reviews and a very helpful website. And when they say they try to answer inquiries within 24 hours they aren't kidding. Once you save a potential configuration you can have it reviewed by someone at Puget and begin talking about it with them. I have been having a daily 'e-mail' conversation with the person helping me out and they couldn't be more helpful or responsive. I am actually going to be giving him a call tonight for some final help in ironing out the particulars.

Like anything else in life though, it helps for you to have some background knowledge before jumping into things. For that reason, before even starting this journey, I had to do some background research on the state of computer components today.....something I have not otherwise been following very carefully. What's cutting edge, what's mainstream, what's around the corner?

Finally, I had to see if anything had changed in regards to optimizing one's computer configuration for Photoshop and Lightroom use. As it turns out, not much really has changed in that regard since I last built my own computer. Nonetheless, I thought it might also be worthwhile to provide that information in one location, as it might be a useful resource for people thinking about this issue.

I think I will close here with probable plans for two or three more posts on this subject to cover, components, Photoshop optimization, and how I put it all together. Along the way, I will provide links to some really excellent websites that provided me with a good deal of my information.

Black And White Vision

I have always enjoyed black and white photography and the way that lines, shapes, and tones play such an important role in the image. Though I had a black and white darkroom when I was a kid, I hadn't done much black and white imaging recently because of the difficulty in making good B&W inkjet prints. Several years back, folks were setting up for black and white inkjet printing using third party inks with dedicated black and white print drivers etc. Many reported excellent results, others, well, not so much. Lately I have been experimenting with black and white printing again, as my Epson 7900 gives really superb black and white output.

One of the photography sites/communities which I enjoy perusing because of the extremely high quality imagery that can be found there is Fotoblur; and there is a good amount of black and white photography on the site.

As I was looking at some of the images by various photographers, I was struck again by how important tonality and simple graphic lines are to a black and white image; even more so, I believe, than for color images. In addition, somehow the 'magic' of black and white seems to be able to transform a scene into 'art' that would otherwise be bland in color. And part of the skill of making black and white images is the ability to visualize this transformation; to see, if you will, in black and white. I saw many beautiful images perusing Fotoblur yesterday, but the one that really drove home to me the ability of black and white to make 'art' out of what we might ordinarily walk by and not even glance at was this photograph by Linda Wride:

"Cubes"
Copyright Linda Wride

Check out the rest of Linda's compelling imagery here. She also has a website that features her botanicals.

Out Of The Mouths Of Babes.....

I recently decided to work on making some prints of images I had taken while on a workshop with Nancy Rotenberg on the Oregon coast. I found that one of the 8x10 proof images I made looked interesting. At first blush I thought it was nice, but only in a very commonplace sunset shot sort of way. However, the more I looked at the image the more I began to notice interesting subtleties that made the photograph more interesting to me. I liked the flare from the sun despite the fact that I am not usually a big fan of flare effects. I liked the dark and light linear lines the waves made and I liked the subtle silhouettes of the birds flying. However, most of all (and, unfortunately, this will not be evident in the small blog image) I enjoyed the subtlety of the fact that there are hundreds of seagull silhouettes on the sea stacks themselves and that they can be seen when one looks at the rocks more carefully. They are like a hidden treat if you take the time to look.

Haceda Beach
Copyright Howard Grill

My 15 year old son likes seeing my photos, though he is far more interested in sports than in art (which, I know, is totally as expected). So I was quite surprised when, as soon as I showed him the image, he said "It's cool.....I like it. You know there is really a lot going on in this picture". I swear that's what he said! Sometimes you get the unexpected. Or maybe I don't expect as much as I should; after all, there is probably a reason I show him my photos. He does seem to have a good feel for what works.

And then to top it all off I asked him if he thought that I should make the wave ripples on the right side of the picture a bit brighter. His reply was simply "Dad, I think sometimes you just over-analyze these pictures". Smart boy.

1.....2......3........

Now hear this. There are Lensworks blogs. And I do mean plural. Not one, not two, but three Lenswork blogs have just been introduced. Given the excellence of each and every LensWork 'product' that I have had the opportunity to read or view, I have no doubts that these will be blogs well worth reading regularly.


#1 Lenswork Technology Blog - In the words of Brooks Jenson, "random collection of thoughts, discoveries, explorations, hard-won experience, and — I fully anticipate — some technological failures and struggles as I wade through this world of technology and its use to create photographic artwork."

#2 "Ask Brooks" Blog - Not simply an ask a question to Brooks blog, as Brooks actively seeks reader partcipation and input to answer the questions.

#3 LensWork Vision Of The Heart Blog - An opportunity to more fully appreciate photographs. In Brooks own words "In this blog we will take a bit of time with an image to look at it more closely, to understand the photographer's point of view in their own words (transcribed from our LensWork Extended interviews), to savor the subtleties and enjoy a photograph to its full, well, or at least "fuller" potential."

I am definitely looking forward to reading and following these.

I'm A Photographer, Not A Terrorist

In the past, I have written a few posts about photographers rights which can be read here and here. I have also posted information about fashionable photographers rights wardrobe here. Who, after all, would want to be without their "I Am A Photographer, Not A Terrorist" tee shirt? Even I have one and I'm not known to be the most stylish guy in the world!

Having been personally and inappropriately asked to stop taking pictures in areas where it was clearly within my legal rights to do so, I am sensitized to this issue and always have my eyes open for similar happenings. Here is a fascinating story, published in The Independent, and entitled "Warning, Do Not Take This Picture" . It tells of repeated inappropriate limitations on public photographing that took place in England.

And finally, also based in England, an entire website devoted to the cause of not impinging on the right to take photographs. And what would the perfect name be for such a website....but of course, "I'm A Photographer Not A Terrorist". Don't miss the self portrait page of the site either. For those of you on Facebook, here is their Facebook page.

Although one might well argue that there are bigger problems in the world today, this issue is not a trivial one as it relates not only to the specific issue of photography but also to the bigger issue of rights in general.

Quick Quotes - Daryl Benson

"The moment you take the leap of understanding to realize you are not photographing a subject but are photographing light is when you have control over the medium."

Daryl Benson

Isn't it quite amazing how the same scene can look wonderful if the light is just right, but quite plain if it isn't?

Foggy Morning
Copyright Howard Grill

Daryl Benson's quote vividly reminded me of taking this photograph. This particular location can look quite amazing with mist and the right light. On this particular autumn morning the fog was just breaking up as the warm rays of sunrise started illuminating the scene. I had bever seen this location in Moraine State Park look quite like this. I really enjoyed photographing this as an 'intimate landscape'. However, if the light isn't right you would just walk right by and not give the spot a second look!

Show Work At Work

Most photographers/artists want an audience. As such, we generally try to get our work published, hung, sold, and shown on our websites. However, for the longest time, I ignored the most obvious and, perhaps, easiest way to show my work and obtain a larger audience. That is to say, I never showed my work at work. Sure, I had framed photos hanging in my office, but not in public spaces at my workplace.

It occurred to me that my workplace was potentially an excellent opportunity to have my work seen by more people than the inside of my office. So I decided to look into having it displayed in a public space. The long drab hallway outside my office seemed to be the perfect location. As some readers may know, I work in a hospital. What many of you might not know is that the levels of bureaucracy in a hospital can rival that of the federal government.

I initially asked permission from the administrator in charge of that particular hallway. He already knew my work and thought it would be a great idea. Hospitals being hospitals however, he had to 'bump up' the decision. After having the work reviewed by two vice presidents and agreeing not to hold the hospital liable if the pictures were stolen off the wall....up they went. I immediately started receiving comments from people who had no idea that I photographed.

Conclusion: the workplace can frequently offer a good opportunity to have one's work shown......so don't overlook it!

HDR

For the last few months, I have been trying to learn all I can about the HDR process before giving it an initial attempt on my own. Two video training CDs and two books later I think I have a handle on the process and how it works.

In my mind (as well as the minds of many others), there are two extremes to the process. On one end of the scale is the use of the process to deliver 'photo-realistic' results, and at the other end of the spectrum are results that have variably been called "comic-bookish", "illustrative", "surreal", or "hyper-realistic". Although my artistic tendency is to stay at the photo-realistic end of the spectrum, I am open minded and can see how, in some circumstances, a move towards the other end of the spectrum can likewise produce very interesting results. In the end, of course, the direction that one's artwork takes is totally up to the artist.

So I am posting my first foray into the HDR processing technique. I was attracted to this tree by the strong graphic lines of the limbs. Since the shape was what I was primarily drawn to, a black and white presentation seemed to be most appropriate. What I was hoping for here was a look that went just a bit beyond photo-realistic in order to give the tree a slightly surreal "spooky" look. The color images were processed in Photomatix and both converted to black and white and toned in Silver Efex Pro.

Tree I
Copyright Howard Grill

Quick Quotes: Michelangelo

"The greatest danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our goal"

Michelangelo

This seemed to me to be a great quote to start off the year with, particularly with a blog titled Motivation! Happy New Year to all.

Digital Blue 'N Gold

When I switched over from film to digital, I retired my Singh-Ray Blue 'N Gold Polarizer. The results I was getting were just horrendous. I had read Darwin Wigget's article in Nature Photographers Online Magazine where he talks about the differences using the Blue 'N Gold Polarizer with digital, as opposed to film, capture and discusses shooting in RAW format while dropping the color temperature to the 2500 to 3200 K range during processing. I tried it but have to admit that I wasn't happy with the results. The filter stayed in retirement.

Recently, I came across Darwin's article reposted on the Singh-Ray blog here. It was a post with excerpts from the original article. But what got me interested was this "Editors Note" that appeared at the end of the blog post that was not contained in the original article:

Editor's note: By setting a "Custom White Balance" in the field with the Gold-N-Blue in place on the lens, virtually all digital SLR cameras can compensate for the magenta tint and display a correct image on the LCD. The color temperature and tint settings on the RAW file will be similar to what Darwin describes here, and should require minimal correction. Refer to your camera's manual for specific instructions on setting a Custom White Balance.

I decided it might just be worth a try. I took the filter with me on a local outing and used my Color-Right white balance tool.....but you can use Expo Disc or whatever custom white balance tool you have.....and took a shot with the tool in place. I was amazed to see just how intensely blue the light from the image was, and, when I used a custom white balance to make that image neutral, the subsequent shots with the filter in place came out just like in the old film days. So I guess the Blue 'N Gold will have to come out of retirement.

If you have a Blue 'N Gold filter that you have retired you might want to get it out and give this technique a try....it really works.

Race Point Lighthouse

I have previously written about the workshop I attended with Nancy Rotenberg, Les Saucier and Don McGowan in Provincetown, Massachusetts. This is one of my favorite images from the trip, and one with a little story behind it.

Race Point Lighthouse
Copyright Howard Grill

A group of us took a hike out to a relatively small sand dune that had a good view of Race Point lighthouse. It was sunset and we were still relatively far from the lighthouse itself (this photo was taken with a Canon 400mm f5.6 lens). We were anxiously waiting (hoping) that the light would turn on, but it was starting to look like it was going to simply remain off for the evening. Our guide and instructor wisely decided that we should leave for the sake of safety, as it can be very hard to find one's way back among the dunes once it is dark.....they all look the same. I was the last one to pack up my equipment. Most people had started back and a buddy of mine had just scurried down the dune. I had my pack on and was just about to do the same when....the light in the lighthouse came on.

My friend Ken urged me to unpack quickly and take a quick shot or two and that he would wait and keep an eye on the folks going back so we wouldn't get lost. I don't think I ever unzipped the pack so quickly. I knew exactly how I wanted to frame the shot as I had already done the visualizing work sitting there with the 400mm lens and camera on the tripod waiting for the light to turn on. I plopped it on, focused, got off a few shots and was on my way in no time. Thanks Ken!

The Best Camera

Perhaps you are familiar with Chase Jarvis and his iPhone app for taking and sharing images, as well as his book The Best Camera Is The One That's With You: iPhone Photography by Chase Jarvis (Voices That Matter). I personally wasn't until I heard Ibarionex Perello's interview with him on The Candid Frame.

What I find far more interesting (since, for one thing, I don't own an iPhone) is Chase's website The Best Camera, where one can see a live feed of images being posted from people using his application. The volume of images is amazing....and even more amazing is the creativity behind a very large percentage of them. I have to admit, I don't think I am 'into' the phenomena myself, but it is interesting to watch it all happen.

Anti-Aliasing And Its Effect On HD Video

I have not personally been particularly interested in video production and thus have not even used the video capability of my Canon 5D MKII as of yet. However, I read a very interesting article that was referenced on the Outback Photo website about the effect of anti-aliasing filters on HD video obtained via the current generation of dSLRs.

The article, entitled "Aliasing" is by Barry Green and can be found here. I found two aspects of the article quite interesting. The first was the detailed general discussion about aliasing and the artifacts it can introduce and the second was the discussion related to the fact that the type of anti-aliasing filters appropriate for high resolution digital still images and video are quite different. When both types of imaging are combined in a single camera body a compromise must be made with regards to the anti-aliasing filter (and the compromise has rightly been made to sacrifice the optimum video anti-aliasing filter in order to have the appropriate anti-aliasing for still images).

Besides being a well-written and extremely interesting article, it is also chock-full of real life video examples. It makes for some fascinating and enlightening reading.

Quick Quotes: Dan Winters

"Its amazing how many unbelievable photographs happened today that weren't recorded." Dan Winters

I was really taken by this quote which was part of an interview with photographer Dan Winters on The Candid Frame podcast. Dan was talking about developing the ability to really be able to see with a photographers eyes. I particularly like the quote because it speaks towards the ability to make meaningful photographs wherever you might live without having to travel to exotic locations.

Photograph America

In my post about my trip to Cuyahoga National Park, I mentioned that my friend Bob and I had picked out the locations we planned to photograph based on an article in Photograph America. I mentioned that Photograph America was a great publication, but that it was a topic for a different post……

So let me tell you about Photograph America. It is a quarterly newsletter put out by photographer Robert Hitchman. Hitchman travels the country on photo journeys and documents his experiences. This includes what he found worthwhile photographing, how to get around the location and often places to stay and where to eat economically. I find his descriptions of what to shoot the best aspect of the newsletter. If you are making a relatively short duration trip to a location, you can put together an essentially completely planned itinerary prior to actually going, so you don’t waste a good deal of time ‘wandering’.

Of course, that isn’t to say that you will find all of Hitchman’s choices perfect for you. For example, on the Cuyahoga trip, we found that we really weren’t all that ‘taken’ by one of Hitchman’s top locations to shoot in the park. But that wasn’t a big problem for several reasons. First of all, because we knew exactly where we were going we didn’t waste much time getting there, and were able to tell pretty quickly that the location didn’t hold as much interest for us as it did for Hitchman. We were then able to move on to the next location, which we found much more enjoyable to photograph.

In addition to subscribing, Hitchman also offers the opportunity to purchase back issues of the newsletter. You can either purchase them all or just the ones that are focused on a specific area of the country that you might be interested in.

I recommend Photograph America very highly to anyone who is interested in traveling to locations for nature photography. The newsletters are very detailed and extremely helpful in planning a photography trip. They are, however, somewhat more focused on the West and Southwest since that is where Hitchman lives. That isn’t to say there isn't coverage of the South, East or Midwest, there certainly is, though not as frequently or to as many locations as in the West. Subscriptions are now available in PDF as well as in print format.

B&W

I was very pleasantly and unexpectedly surprised to find that an image I had submitted to B&W Magazine many months back had been awarded a 'Silver Medal' in the Seascapes/Water category. This image is a black and white conversion from a photograph taken as part of my "Twin Jewels Project".

"Fluidity"
Copyright Howard Grill

Cuyahoga

A few weeks back I went with my friend, lets call him Bob (mainly because that is his name), for a weekend of photographing at Cuyahoga National Park in Ohio, about two hours from my home. We had the 'photo ops' chosen because Photograph America had published an article on Cuyahoga (great publication, but that is a topic for another post). However, as it turned out we were a bit beyond the peak fall color we had come to photograph and, in addition, the weather was quite lousy.

The first day (Friday) it rained the whole time we were there, so we took the opportunity to scout out most of the sites we were thinking of going to. That actually was very helpful as it gave us an opportunity to prioritize where we wanted to shoot and gave us a sense of what areas would be best to photograph in different weather conditions.

We continued to have miserable conditions Saturday morning, as well as late afternoon and evening. However.....for a several hour window early on Saturday afternoon conditions were excellent. It was overcast (great for the waterfalls) and wet (great for saturating the colors,) and because of the rain the waterfalls had plenty of water to 'fall'.

"Blue Hen Falls"
Copyright Howard Grill

I consider getting even one or two of what I feel are good shots a great success on a short weekend trip like this, especially to a place I hadn't been to before and so, without question, the trip was a definite hit. We plan to return to Cuyahoga in the spring.

Rock Project Complete

It would appear that I have completed my 'rock project'....at least it feels that way. I have reached a point where I don't feel a drive (at least for now) to photograph any more rocks, and 'they' say that you will just know when your project is complete.

I have edited the series to 20 images that, to me, represent abstract landscapes within single stones. Some are landscapes as I imagine them from a usual Earthbound point of view and some are land formations as seen from far above.

I have renamed the project "Scene In Stone" and have also re-written the "Artist's Statement" as follows:

I have, on several occasions, had the opportunity to photograph the "red rock" formations found in the American Southwest. These landscapes are magnificent, but portraying their grandeur within a small two-dimensional image is always challenging. While photographing these rock formations, I found myself wondering what might be found if, instead of looking outward towards massive numbers of rocks arranged into a grand landscape, one peered inward, letting a single rock become the entire image.

What if instead of the rocks making up the landscape there were landscapes contained within each individual rock? What if there were rocks that contained shapes and patterns that were images in and of themselves?

As I began to look at rocks that were available from several different mining sources, I found that a truly unbelievable array of shapes, colors, and patterns could be found within them. In many instances, I was amazed to find that these patterns did, indeed, look just like miniature versions of the landscapes I was so used to photographing; images of the outside world that were reflected and indelibly etched into stone.

These "Scene In Stone" landscapes have been photographed using a technique called cross-polarization, which removes the glare from the surface of the cut stone, thus allowing the underlying texture and colors to show through.

Shrink yourself down and enjoy your walk through these imaginary landscapes!

So, I now invite you to view the 20 image project here.

Any comments (especially helpful criticism) regarding the images, statement, or project as a whole are welcome.

How Do You Learn?

I recently had a very interesting insight into myself....or, more accurately, how I learn.

I have always been a 'book learner'. By that I mean that my most efficient way to learn something new has been to get a good book and sit down with it and digest it at my own speed, making sure that I understand everything as the lessons advance. That is how I learned Photoshop and that was the way I made it through various institutions of higher learning. That's not to say that lectures weren't important. But, in a pinch, I always felt that I could get most of what I needed out of the book with lectures and other multimedia highlighting what the most important and practical issues were.

Well, I surprised myself recently. Several months back, I bought a couple of Michael Reichmann's downloadable video tutorials from The Luminous Landscape. I did this in the hopes of learning something new, but also because I thought that a video with Reichmann and Jeff Schewe would be entertaining. And it was, but along the way I surprised myself by feeling that I was learning more than I thought I would.

With this insight, I pursued the idea that perhaps I didn't know as much about my process of learning as I thought I did. So I followed up on this by buying Brooks Jensen's workshop PDF and Folio tutorials on DVD and loved them. In fact, I previously reviewed the PDF tutorial. Once again, I learned a great deal....even more so from this tutorial as I really had no insight into how to make a PDF book prior to watching the DVD. I found the same to be true when I ordered an HDR training DVD from Kelby Training. I have another DVD from Tony Sweet coming in the mail.

I thought I knew the most efficient way that I was able to learn, but am glad that I ended trying out a new approach that is both enjoyable and effective. If you haven't tried learning from a multimedia DVD it just might be an unexpectedly worthwhile approach. It was for me.

I Love Rock 'N Roll

I love rock and roll......do you? Well, if you love photography AND rock music then you owe it yourself to do two things:

1) Go over to The Candid Frame and listen to Ibarionex Perello's interview with Lynn Goldsmith, who is a premier "Rock Photographer" (though she is a wonderful photographer of many other subjects as well). The interview can be found here, though you will need to scroll down to the Oct 11 post to get it.

2) Buy Lynn's book, which Ibarionex discusses in the podcast, called PhotoDiary. The book is chock full of very entertaining stories about photography and rock personalities as well as great shots of your favorite musicians. And the best part.....I got the book for under $5 (yes, that's a 5 with no zero after it) shipping included. What a deal...and you can get a similar one at Abe's Books here.

ENJOY!

One More Rock

One more rock from my project finding landscapes in stone:

"Mesa"
Copyright Howard Grill

Pushing Towards Completion

I am hoping to have my rock project finished within about two weeks. My goal is to have approximately 20 completed images, by which I mean having hard copy prints as well as the files for computer viewing. The unifying idea behind the project is 'landscapes within stone'--the discovery of landscapes that exist as microcosms within a slab of rock.

Today's post is one of the newer images that I have processed:

Over Hill And Dale
Copyright Howard Grill

Absurd

I recently wrote a post entitled "Trusting Photographs" , in which I mentioned a two part post called "Photography And Truth". In these blog installments, I wrote that I was surprised that there was an expectation on the part of many, if not most, viewers that fine art photography should depict ‘the truth’. In reality, there are decisions made by the photographer including focal length, in camera cropping, and shooting in RAW format (to name a few) that explain why most photographs are ‘untruthful’ to at least some degree.

I was recently looking at a highly regarded photography magazine when I read something that I found to be totally absurd and which reflects back on this whole issue of 'truth' in photography. I won't mention the magazine or the particular photographer, but suffice it to say that the photographer had his superb fine art portfolio published and, in an the accompanying article, says " I very seldom change the actual situation, I just make it more dramatic. I use Photoshop, I never use any plug-in to make the photos more dramatic."

I find this a self-contradictory absurdity on multiple levels. The situation isn't changed...just the degree of drama?? It's OK to use Photoshop, but not a Photoshop plug-in (which itself just uses adjustments available in Photoshop)???? Methinks you protest too much.

Can't we just agree that there is no crime in using Photoshop or Lightroom to make adjustments to fine art photographs in order to express our artistic vision? Can't we just disclose to the public that with todays RAW format adjustments have to be made to the out of camera image in order to restore it to what the scene looked like, and that any such restoration is significantly related to our memory and experience of the location? Photoshop and Lightroom (or similar image editing software) is simply an integral part of photography in the digital age. In my opinion, using them does not somehow denegrate a photograph. And, yes, I also think it is OK to use plug-ins!

Most Popular Post

It is hard for me to believe that I started this blog almost three years ago, in January of 2007. At that time, I really wasn't sure how long it would last. Surprisingly (to me), I now have written just over 300 posts, and plan to continue.

In thinking about bygone posts, I wondered what would be the most 'popular' one. That turned out to be very easy to find, at least if one gauges popularity by the number of comments a post receives. Frankly, I usually don't get all that many, with the usual number being 0 to5 ( bloggers love comments...so come on folks, feel free to write them). However, one post, believe it or not, has gotten 110 comments. In addition, my statistics counter tells me that it is also my most read one, with continual daily hits despite it being written back in September of 2007. The fact that it is still getting continual daily 'hits' despite its age tells me that Adobe still has a bit of work to do. Wondering which post it is? Check it out here.

More Zone Plate

I have previously written about my initial experiments with the digital zone plate process using my Lensbaby with the zone plate 'Optic Swap' insert. I continue to 'play' with it, looking for more images to include in my 'Dreamscapes ' portfolio.

Copyright Howard Grill

I recently took this photograph using the zone plate at a Frabel glass exhibit at Phipps Conservatory. I was drawn to the surreal appearance the zone plate gave to the glass figures. This one may well make it into the series. For each one of these types of shots that seem to work for me, there are many more that end up 'in the bucket'.

Trusting Photographs

One of my blog posts that I most enjoyed writing was entitled “Photography And Truth”, which can be read here and here. These posts ultimately turned into an essay that was published on Uwe Steinmuller’s Digital Outback Photography website. In the essay, I mentioned that I was surprised that there was an expectation on the part of many, if not most, viewers that fine art photography should depict ‘the truth’. In reality, there are decisions made by the photographer including focal length, in camera cropping, and shooting in RAW format (to name a few) that explain why most photographs are ‘untruthful’ to at least some degree.. However, there are journalistic standards that move a photograph more (but not necessarily totally) towards depicting the world as it truly is.

As the digital age progresses, there continues to be advancements in technology which allow for photographic 'doctoring' using methods that are increasingly subtle and difficult to detect. Interestingly, however, the concept of photographic manipulation is not a new one. In fact, such manipulations have been used since the earliest days of the medium.

One of the most famous photographic portraits of Abraham Lincoln was actually a composite image of Lincoln's head atop John Calhoun's body (ironic, given that Calhoun was a staunch supporter of slavery), done to give the president a more 'heroic' appearance.

John Calhoun



PLUS

Abraham Lincoln



BECOMES

A New Version Of Abraham Lincoln

An image of Millard Tydings talking to Earl Browder, the leader of the American Communist Party at the time, played a role in his 1950 election defeat. The photograph is widely believed to be a fake composite.

Millard Tydings And Earl Browder....
Felt To Be A Fake Composite

Similarly, a composite image of Senator John Kerry and Jane Fonda was surely not helpful to Kerry's political career.

Photos Of Kerry And Fonda Used In A Fake Composite

I find the use of 'doctored' photographs for political and sensationalistic purposes throughout history a fascinating topic and ran across two very interesting and informative papers dealing with the subject. Both were written by Dr. Hany Farid of Dartmouth University. The first paper, entitled "Digital Doctoring: Can We Trust Photographs" can be read here. The paper discusses these photos, as well as others, and also describes (using layman's language) various new methods of detecting fraudulent photographs. The article is in pdf format and can be downloaded. It makes for a fast, but very interesting, read on the subject.

The second paper, entitled "Photo Tampering Throughout History", has several pages of examples of altered photographs, including many modern day images.

Both papers are definitely worth taking the time to read!

Quick Quotes: Ernst Haas

"The limitations of photography are in yourself, for what we see is only what we are."

Ernst Haas

I enjoy this quote because, while it talks about limitations, it also explains why it is that each person's photographs are truly unique.

Spending Time

In my last post entitled "Compliments", I wrote about people's responses to viewing photographs. Andy Ilachinski made a wonderful and insightful comment to that post. Because I really enjoyed Andy's words and since people don't always read the comments section, I thought I would put his response up as a post on and of itself.

Andy noted that:

Perhaps an even deeper revelation that underlies a wonderful comment like "It made me think" (or feel, or ...) is that it simply compelled them to *stop* (literally and figuratively), pause, reflect, consider, ponder, immerse,...spend *time* with your image. The only thing that is truly precious to *anyone* in life is time itself; the time we give to others, and to the focus of our attention. And the greatest gift any viewer can give an artist of any kind (IMHO), is the time they give to merely look at your work. If asked to *articulate" *why* they spend time, I'm sure we'll hear all sorts of responses, as appropriate for different people with different predilections and verbal/self-reflective capacity. But, fundamentally, what brings joy to my own ears (from someone viewing my images), is something that - loosely translated - means "I wanted to spend some time with your picture." That always brings a smile to my soul.

Andy Ilachinski

As usual, Andy has hit the proverbial nail right on the head!

Andy also wrote a very insightful post on his blog about how people view photographs based on his experience working in a co-op art gallery that is definitely well worth reading.

For more of Andy's wisdom (and of course his marvelous photographs) check out his blog. To view his photographs scroll down the blog to the list of portfolios on the right side.

Compliments

What is the best compliment you feel you could receive about your work? Some candidates might be that your work is.....beautiful, gorgeous, looks like a painting, breathtaking....maybe even unusual or different.

I recently received an interesting compliment. I initially didn't think much about it, but, with further contemplation, I believe it is probably one of the finest comments I could have received. Let me preface this story by saying that those who know me or have been readers of this blog know that I am more apt to voice my uncertainties regarding the quality of my work than to report accolades. I decided to post this simply because of the insight that it gave me.

I happen to meet a woman I know that was looking at a photograph hanging in an office. It was a lovely sunset photo and, as one who mainly does nature photography, I certainly have taken my share of sunset photos, and this one was quite nice; in fact I told her that I would have been glad to have taken and displayed it. She responded by saying that, yes, it was a very pretty picture, but that "your pictures make me think".

Isn't that an interesting comment? Sure, documentary or photojournalistic photos should make you think, but I had never really contemplated that as being an attribute of nature photographs. I had mainly considered the mark of a successful nature photograph as making you 'feel' something. And yet, in retrospect, the fact that they should make you think, and that 'making you think' is an important attribute of nature photography is obvious. I had just never really thought about it that way.

Sometimes, an innocent comment can give important insight!

Cliff Edge

I continue to put my efforts into trying to complete a defined project. I was given some further insight today when I presented some of my rock images to a helpful reviewer at the Silver Eye Gallery. One insight that I was given is that the rock landscapes appear to be two separate but related groups....landscapes seen from a 'grounded' position and those seen from an aerial view. Thus, I think that I will have to have an adequate number of images in both groups to complete the project and am thus leaning towards 20-25 total, as opposed to 15-20.

Here is another image from the 'grounded' viewpoint:

Cliff Edge
Copyright Howard Grill

Badlands

I have posted before about my project photographing slabs of stone. I have been working on trying to complete this project. This particular rock reminded me of images I have seen of the Dakota 'Badlands'.

"Badlands"
Copyright Howard Grill

Quick Quotes: Janet Malcolm

If you scratch a great photograph, you find two things; a painting and a photograph.

Janet Malcolm

Think about that one for a minute. I really like what this quote implies!

Atwood-Higgins House

In my post about editing photographs from a trip, I mentioned that often images that are not stand alone 'best of' photos can still be important to a project because they impart to the viewer a feel for a certain area or location. This was the case for the Atwood-Higgins house, which is an early colonial homestead near Provincetown, on Cape Cod. Since I had mentioned the location, I thought I would show one of the photographs that is not all that special alone, but might well be an important contribution to a project related to the area.

Atwood-Higgins House
Copyright Howard Grill

Pixel - Peeping, 70's Style

One thing leads to another. I used to watch Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In regularly as a kid. Recently, Henry Gibson, one of the show's comedians, died, which got me thinking of that time in my life. This led to my remembering a book which I had recently bought but had not yet cracked open.

In one of the late Bill Jay's Endnotes columns which he wrote for LensWork, he mentioned, and recommended, a book by Ralph Hattersley entitled "Discover Your Self Through Photography". He mentioned that it is still as relevant today as it was when it was published, though it has a good bit of 60's lingo. Somehow, having Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In on the mind led me to have a peek at the book.

Initially published in 1971, it really is a wonderful book that is filled with ideas and exercises to help expand one's creativity through photography and is definitely worth reading. I personally find the occasional smattering of 60's language and ideas a bonus that tends to bring back memories, if only for a short while (and if they were there to start with). And to top it all off, the book can be had quite cheaply and contains many images by Jerry Uelsmann (who taught with Hattersley at the same institution).

One of the paragraphs in the book made me recognize that what we now call 'pixel-peeping' is not at all something new....the pixels may be new but the peeping goes back a long way. In his introduction to an exercise called 'Creative Destruction' (an exercise involving the exploration of purposefully breaking photographic rules), Hattersley says:

"One of the fascinations of photography is that it can be a subtle and demanding craft. No matter how much sensitivity and technique you pour into a photograph, it can still absorb more. This is a great challenge, of course. But it can lead to the hang-up (there's a bit of that 60's creeping in) of being overimpressed with craftsmanship at the expense of everything else. People who fall in this trap generally turn themselves into unhappy, nit-picking old maids (yikes, I don't think anyone would publish that terminology today) who are terrified of making technical mistakes. To avoid them, they conduct endless experiments with technical trivialities or ceaselessly repeat past technical triumphs."

That sure seems to me a reminder that pixel-peeping is nothing new and that our main goal in photographing should be to instill emotion into our pictures while still secondarily maintaining a backdrop of technical excellence.