The History Of Nature Photography

I have previously wriiten about Jeff Curto's two superb podcasts, The History Of Photography Podcast and Camera Position. I have been a bit behind in my listening, but in the car today had the chance to listen to the Febrauary 24th episode of Camera Position entitled The Camera In The Cathedral: Camera Position Goes Historical.

The reason I thought that this particular episode should be mentioned is that it is specifically about the history of nature photography. It contains a lot of insights that were quite new to me about the interaction between the technological developments in photography and how they influenced the way in which nature was depicted photographically. For example, it never dawned upon me that since the Daguerreotype was essentially a one exposure, one image technique (meaning that one was not able to make more than one image from each exposure; there was no ability to make copies of the images) nature images were not frequently made in the early years of photography. This is because nature photographs would typically need to be mass produced for others to see, while portraiture was generally considered to be an image to be given to a single person.

Whet your interest? This episode is really fascinating and contains many interesting insights. Check it out here.

Photopreneur

I recently ran across an interesting photography blog with a different twist than most I have mentioned here. As opposed to being primarily art related, Photopreneur is a blog dedicated to discussing various ways that one's images can be used to produce income. Whether or not this is of primary interest, I find the blog well thought out and the articles interesting and full of good ideas. I thought it was worth sharing. I think having a peek at Photopreneur is worthwhile, and, who knows, it might give you some interesting ideas!

Just Around The Corner

Spring is just around the corner. OK, so maybe it still is just the begining of March and, while it is true that here in Western Pennsylvania you can get light snow even in the begining of April, the anticipation of Spring is in the air. Spring is my favorite season and I absolutely take delight in photographing it.

So, Mark, if you are out there, lets get ready to shoot more trillium!

"Peeking Out"

Copyright Howard Grill

"Wild Geranium"

Copyright Howard Grill

Quick Quotes: Eliot Porter

In my last "Quick Quote", I wrote about Gary Winogrand's saying:

"I don't have anything to say in any picture. My only interest in photography is to see what something looks like as a photograph. I have no preconceptions."

Just recently, I ran across a quote by Eliot Porter that I thought was an interesting follow-up to the Winogrand quote. Mr. Porter said:

"The more you photograph, the more you realize what can be photographed and what can't be photographed "

Somehow, I think there is an association between the two quotes. In mulling over it, there are times when I think he agrees with Winogrand and times when I think otherwise. This is first "Quick Quote" that I also have mixed feelings about, much as I love and respect Eliot Porter's work (I have not one, but two copies of Porter's 'In Wildness.....' and his book 'Antarctica'). Should one accept that something can not be photographed, or should they seek out new ways to portray it in an image, even if the image can not seemingly convey the full essence of the subject?

Definitely some things to think about here!

Fencing at "The Arnold"

I am going to be bringing my son to the Arnold (as in Schwarzenegger) athletic games in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday to compete in fencing. The games are sponsored by Governor Schwarzenegger, and have been for years. The convention center in Columbus becomes filled with just about every indoor sport competition imaginable, such as fencing, gymnastics, weightlifting, martial arts etc. Each year Mr. Schwarzenegger himself shows up and stops into the finals of every sport. It was actually quite funny last year because, as a governor, he has bodyguards for protection. So, naturally, all competitors in fencing were told that the governor's visit to the fencing match would be pre-announced by about 10 minutes and that all matches would stop and that all foils, epees etc had to be placed on the ground and not remain in anyone's hand.

I have previously mentioned that my son is quite a good competitive fencer in foil. As a matter of fact, he won the gold medal at "The Arnold" last year....but as you age the competition gets stiffer and more difficult.

Sports photography is not something that I really "do", but I did give it a whirl at the fencing tournament last year. So here we have two action shots from the finals (my son is the one on the left in both shots). And, yeah, I will also throw in a shot of Arnold.

Fencing I
Copyright Howard Grill

Fencing II
Copyright Howard Grill

The Governor Visits A Fencing Bout
Copyright Howard Grill

More Patterns

I recently wrote a post noting that I have taken many photographs of patterns in nature. I thought I would take the opportunity to share a few more that I had seen while going through some older images.

Beetle Tracks In Sand

Copyright Howard Grill

Rushing Water
Copyright Howard Grill

Ocean
Copyright Howard Grill

Remembering

Many people remember their family vacations by looking over the snapshots they take. Oddly enough, I am not one of them. I think it has something to do with being a perfectionist when it comes to photography. It makes it difficult to just knock off snapshots. Oh sure, I do have a tiny point 'n shoot and certainly take some quick shots of the kids on the beach and that sort of thing. But I don't particularly enjoy doing that because I constantly find myself trying to figure out how to make the shot better instead of enjoying the moment. Or, if I see something really nice, I will find myself wishing I had my dSLR along. I know this isn't a good habit to have, but it just is.....so instead of taking a ton of snaps I live and experience the vacation with joy but without trying to fully record it. My wife ends up taking snaps that we can enjoy years down the line.

What looking through images does for me is to remind me of the workshops and photography trips I have been on. I have many images from these trips and they are associated with memories of working hard with a group of like-minded people to try and make good photographs.

I was recently going through some shots and ran across this one, which reminded me of a terrific evening on a workshop with Alain Briot at Monument Valley.

Mitten With Moon
Copyright Howard Grill

Patterns

Sometimes, when reviewing your images, you can detect a subtle, or not so subtle, underlying interest. By this I mean detecting a way of looking at things that you might not even have been conscious of at the time you took the photograph. These underlying currents need not be manifest in the serious 'fine art' type of images that you put in your portfolio, they may just be apparent in the 'stuff' that you shoot for fun. I am referring to what comes out when you are shooting playfully to see if you can make images that you find interesting yourself, without necessarily having plans to show them to others.

So what did I find for myself when I was glancing through my images, which is obviously what motivated me to write this post?

It was apparent that I like discovering and portraying the graphic patterns in nature:

Tree Reflections
Copyright Howard Grill

Sand Pattern
Copyright Howard Grill

Mushroom Macro
Copyright Howard Grill

Take a look at a series of your own shots. Do any subjects or themes come to mind when you aren't shooting seriously?

A Negative Review

No matter where I look, I always read glowing reviews about the Visible Dust products used to clean digital camera sensors. Since one of the nice aspects of having a blog is to have a platform to voice one's own opinions, I think I will take the opportunity to do so by making some statements that, perhaps, many will disagree with. I know that most people have had excellent results with their Visible Dust Arctic Butterfly sensor brush, but some folks might like to hear a differing opinion before making a relatively expensive purchase.

Let me state that I absolutely hate sensor cleaning and therefore only do so when the need is more than a trivial one. I have always used the 'wet method'........the so-called Copper Hill method. It isn't any fun, and, personally, I find that it takes many attempts sequentially to get the sensor relatively clean. I also believe, as the Copper Hill website espouses, that it really is easy to do and difficult to harm the sensor. I have done it many times and removed even stubborn spots, cleaning relatively vigorously without any problems (of course, I can't guarantee you will have the same success).

But the Arctic Butterfly seemed to hold so much promise, seemed so.....well, easy and clean, and received so many glowing reviews that I thought my days of sensor aggravation were over. I was wrong.

At first, I got excellent results. But then, after one uneventful sensor cleaning, I found a nasty, gunky looking smear over a portion of the sensor that was worse than any piece of dust could be. After several vigorous wet cleanings it was successfully removed. Needless to say, I was quite concerned and assumed that somewhere along the line the brush had gotten contaminated. I cleaned it using the suggested method, but the brush actually broke (the original versions were made of quite thin and breakable plastic...this has been replaced in the newer versions with a much sturdier build).

Working under the assumption that I had contaminated the brush, and assuming that I could clean my camera's sensor quickly and safely with the product, I went and bought another. This time I got the current version which is much more substantial in build. The first clean was perfect, but the second swipe (which I did right after the first to get off some leftover particles) left me aghast. Again, I found the same nasty looking smear across the sensor that required quite a bit of wet cleaning to remove.

I took a deep breath once I got the smear off. I stepped back and checked out the Visible Dust website. It does clearly say that some cameras have manufacturing oils in the 'box' that encompasses the sensor and that they suggest first cleaning the box with a swab they sell in order to avoid just what had happened twice to me.....smearing oil over the surface of the sensor.
The only problem is that, to the best of my knowledge, I had never touched the brush to the inside of the box, as I had attempted cleaning extremely carefully. The only part of the 'box' that the brush had touched was the ridge of metal right at the very edge of the sensor on either side. And since the most amount of dust tends to collect at the edges of the sensor, touching this little ridge of metal with the brush can not be avoided. It also is a spot that I would not cavalierly clean with a large 'Chamber Clean' swab as it would be impossible to do so without also swabbing the sensor, a purpose for which this product was not made. Use in this area would also risk transferring oil to the sensor.

So, yes, the Arctic Butterfly can be used to quickly and painlessly clean the sensor BUT, on certain cameras, it can also, though far less frequently, make a mess of the sensor. The main reason I bought the brush was to take it on trips where I can't do a leisurely wet clean. These days that means any trip that requires airplane travel. So what would I rather have in those isolated circumstances, a 95% chance of a clean sensor with a 5% chance of a huge oil smear that I don't have the ability to clean, or a dusty sensor requiring a cloning job in Photoshop? I choose the cloning work any day.

In short, I think there is a real risk to the brush and I have totally given up using it. Let me make clear that, to me, this seems a potential problem with any dry brush cleaning method, not just the Visible Dust product. Let me also say that I recognize that the Visible Dust website does clearly state that this can be a problem and does also offer a potential solution. Nonetheless, and going against everything else that I have read on the internet, I give this product which, in my opinion, is quite overpriced, a big thumbs down. I know that this oil smearing problem has occurred to others as well.

Anyone want to buy a minimally used Arctic Butterfly? Mine is up for sale. Really.

Quick Quotes: Garry Winogrand

"I don't have anything to say in any picture. My only interest in photography is to see what something looks like as a photograph. I have no preconceptions."

Garry Winogrand (1928-1984)

For me, this quote by Garry Winogrand really encompasses a good deal of both the excitement and the frustration of photographing. It perfectly expresses to me, in words, the fact that the camera sees things differently than our eyes do.

At times, it can be very frustrating when I am excited about a scene at the time the shutter clicked, thinking that I had captured something special, only to find that the final image leaves me uninspired. Alternatively, how delightful it can be when I first see an image I took and it just hits the right way emotionally, perhaps in a way that I hadn't expected.

I know that there are many interpretations of the meaning behind this quote, but for me the idea that most hits home is the uncertainty of predicting how something will look in a photo. I think Mr. Winogrand expressed this just perfectly. Many times the mundane will look beautiful, and, after all, isn't the ability to make that happen the mark of a great photographer?

The Simplicity Of Snow

I was intrigued by fellow blogger Mark Graf's recent post about how snow tends to simplify scenes that would otherwise be quite disorganized and distracting; morphing a scene that would be difficult to photograph into something that looks much more appealing in a two dimensional image. Have a look at that interesting post if you haven't had a chance to read it.

After reading Mark's post, I found myself wondering if I could use snow to simplify an image even further....right down to bare graphic shapes. I would obviously have to look for very specific, uncluttered, and focal scenes (by which I mean picking out a small area of landscape that had very basic graphical qualities).

As I have mentioned many times before, I am not very much of a cold weather person, but I thought this would motivate me to get out into the cold with a specific idea in mind.

I have to say, it was quite enjoyable to walk around looking for these bits of ground that could be simply represented as abstract shapes. Thanks, Mark, for getting me out into the cold!

Copyright Howard Grill

Copyright Howord Grill

Copyright Howard Grill

Louie Palu: Cage Call Revisited

Back on November 20th, I wrote about Louie Palu's project entitled "Cage Call". At that time, I lamented the fact that I could not find a copy of Cage Call, which had been published by The Blue Sky Gallery in Portland, to purchase, despite searching all the usual spots. Imagine my surprise when I just recently found out that Mr. Palu was one of three photographers that had been awarded a monograph at Photolucida, as part of their 'Critical Mass' competition. Not only had it been awarded, but it was already published and available from Amazon in softcover for about $16.

I just received my copy and it was worth the wait. Rather than repeat my prior post, why not just check that post out. As expected, the images are superb and the accompanying text and interviews by Charlie Angus really round out the monograph. I was not disappointed!

Here is a link to Mr. Palu's website, and here is an Amazon link to the book.

Enjoy!

A Bit Of Confusion?

I am quite pleased that I had two prints juried into a multi-artist show commemorating Pittsburgh's 250th birthday. The show is entitled "Pittsburgh Through AAP Eyes", with AAP being the Associated Artists Of Pittsburgh. The show runs from Feb 8th to March 9th at The Pittsburgh Center For the Arts and includes both two and three dimensional art. The two prints of mine that are going to be on display are:

"Escape"
Copyright Howard Grill

"Old And New"
Copyright Howard Grill

So where does the issue of confusion come in, as the title of this post would suggest? Twice in the past I have written about the rights of photographers in Pittsburgh. Those posts can be seen here and here. In addition, fellow blogger Billie Mercer recently wrote about two even more concerning episodes involving photographer's rights. Those posts can be read here and here.

Again, what is the source of confusion? The issue is that, on the one hand, there are apparently areas in the city where security guards feel that they can stop people from photographing, despite the fact that it is perfectly legal to do so and, on the other hand, a show can be put together to honor the city that contains images that, on another day, might have been unable to be obtained because of over-zealous security guards and building owners. The image entitled "Escape", for example, was actually taken while standing on PPG property, though not of the PPG Building. So, they stop you from photographing there, but, if you manage to get some shots, the images can be in a show commemorating the city! Figure that one out.

Gadgets That Work: Lowepro Photo Gloves

This is the second post (with the first post being about McClamp) in my thus far short series entitled "Gadgets That Work", which is about relatively low cost items (can anything with the word photographic attached to it truly be low cost?) that work well.

I believe I have mentioned before how much I dislike the cold (and it is below freezing here in Pittsburgh at the moment), and for that reason anything that lets me make photographs more comfortably in the winter is a big help in motivating me to get outdoors. One thing that I had always found very frustrating when trying to photograph in the cold is trying to keep my hands warm. Until recently, my best attempt was to use a thin glove 'liner' under a pair of mittens that was split in half with the finger part flipping back to allow the liner glove to be exposed. It was better than other alternatives I had tried, but there were two problems. First, the liner glove wasn't particularly warm when the mitten opened and, of even greater importance, it was very difficult to grip and work the camera controls with the inner glove. In fact, for that reason, I often found myself having to take the glove off.

Then I discovered Lowepro Photo Gloves. Usually I find myself being very cynical when a company takes what is generally a non-photographic product and attaches the word 'photo' to it. That usually means that it is going to be overpriced and may not be better than the same type of product without the magic word association.

But this is truly a superlative product! What makes it so different? First of all, the gloves are somewhat thicker and warmer than glove liners (but still not warm enough to use solo if it is very cold), but still fit under a mitten. In addition, the palm and the palm side of the fingers have little rubber 'treads' to allow you to grip and work camera controls, including wheels and dials, with the gloves on. They really work! If you are going to be out in cold winter weather you will definitely be glad you have a pair of these. If it is really cold, get yourself some small chemical warming packets to put between the mittens and these gloves and you will be all set for all but truly harsh and dangerous conditions.

Using Flashlights For Macro Photography

I have written before about the photography workshops run by Nancy Rotenberg, Les Saucier, and Don McGowan. They are superb, and I recommend them highly for anyone considering attending an intensive workshop. Just recently, Les Saucier wrote an article on their ‘Photography With Heart’ website that has provided me with some useful answers to questions that I have had about using flashlights for macro-photography.

What? Flashlights? You heard it right. For some time, in addition to using fill flash, I have played around with various flashlights to try to accent or add sparkle to subjects in my photographs, particularly flowers. While fill flash works very well for me in general, at times I would like to more selectively accent edges or portions of the image, which can’t easily be done with fill flash. In addition, if I just want to see what a bit of extra light will do, it is easier to just pull out a small flashlight and play a bit instead of setting up the flash.

But what flashlight to use? Incandescent, xenon, LED? Adjustable or fixed power output? How to adjust color cast.....with a gel or in Camera RAW? Though I have tried two or three flashlights, they have always seemed lacking in one way or another. And yet, in the back of my mind, I have always had the sneaking suspicion that there is a light out there that can do what I want it to.....if I just knew which one to buy.

That is why I was excited when I found out that Les had just written the definitive, up to date article that answered all these questions! The article is packed with great information and can be found here. I am putting in my order for a Fenix L1D and some Roscolux #17. I haven’t gotten them yet, but I am looking forward to giving them a try. Thanks Les!

The Changing Light

Sunrise is one of the things that many people who are not photographers often miss. Even though I frequently do take the opportunity to get up to photograph the rising sun, I still am almost always amazed at how quickly the color, intensity, and quality of light can change at this time of day. These changes are some of the aspects of light that are often missed by folks who are not photography oriented, either because they aren't awake for sunrise or don't pay as much attention to the nuances of light.

Several posts back, I wrote about a recent family vacation I took in Florida, at Sanibel Island. On a few of those days I got up early to photograph the sunrise. Here, in Western Pennsylvania, we often don't get a good view of the horizon because of the rather hilly terrain. On Sanibel, there was horizon visible all around. Being able to see the actual horizon so easily made the changing quality of the morning light even more evident. Because you could see so far 'out', the changes seemed to occur much more rapidly than I had ever appreciated here at home. It was truly an amazing, almost surreal experience.

As I was looking through some of those images, I recognized two that really brought this point home, as they were of the same subject and taken only about 20 minutes apart, and yet the difference in the quality of light is startling:

Driftwood I
Sanibel Island, Florida
Copyright Howard Grill

Driftwood II
Sanibel Island, Florida
Copyright Howard Grill

Though I personally prefer the first image, partly because of the color of the light and partly because I like the way the slower shutter speed smoothed the water, I feel they each have their own special feel and appeal.

I should also add that I wonder if the image would look 'tidier' or better composed if the upper branch of the driftwood that breaks through the horizon line were cloned out. From a compositional standpoint, and without arguing about whether that type of cloning should be done, what do you think?

At any rate, one thing is clear. Among the highlights of photographing is the chance to be awake to see, experience, and appreciate spectacles like this. Hard to believe that it happens most mornings!

Going Too Far

Printing is tough......it is where the rubber hits the road, so to speak. I may try to make an image look great on screen, but that always pales in comparison to the effort I end up putting into trying to make a print that looks"perfect" to me. By the time I feel the work is done, I have generally gone through many iterations of the image, making local changes in tonality, contrast, and satuaration to get it to look just the way I envisioned it. I have always felt that the print is the 'final common pathway'; that it is where the artist's final statement is made. Much like the old adage that 'if you love it let it go', the final print is where the photographer lets go of his creative effort and lets it loose on the world. Perhaps a little melodramatic, but I put great stock in the importance of the final print.

Ah, but the purpose of this post is not necessarily to talk about my philosophy of printing. It is actually to pass on some advice I took from from Brooks Jensen regarding making prints. It is advice that I have found to be very helpful and that I thought might be useful to others as well.

Many months back, Mr. Jensen made a brief comment in one of his LensWork podcasts to the effect that (and this is not going to be a word for word quote) "you never know if you have pushed an effect far enough until you have pushed it too far". I realized just recently that this advice has been,for some time, in the back of my mind as I work on making prints.

With Photoshop, it has become so easy to add more saturation, more contrast, make local tonal changes etc, that it becomes hard to know before seeing the print on paper (yes, I know about soft-proofing and color management...but, still, while those may be important clues as to how the final print will look, they still don't replace seeing the hard copy and making appropriate adjustments) to what degree adjustments should be made. How far do you go? How much contrast, saturation etc? If some is good might not more be better?

Mr. Jensen's thoughts ring true to me. If you identify where the point is that you have gone too far, you know what the limit is. That is not to say that what is too far for me is also too far for you. That's what makes us all individuals. But once you know when an effect or idea has gone too far for you, then you can work within those boundries to fine tune an image and decide what type of feel you want to give it. It seems more manageable to work within a range or a zone than to work in a sea of endless possibilities.

The Candid Frame: Interview With Rob Sheppard

I have previously written about the superb podcast by Ibarionex Perello entitled The Candid Frame. During each episode Ibarionex interviews a photographer, some well known and others less so. The interviews are always insightful and fascinating.

During the current episode Rob Sheppard is interviewed. I had expected to hear a lot about Outdoor Photographer, for which Mr. Sheppard is editor-at-large. However, this was not the focus of Mr. Sheppard's comments at all.

I found this episode particularly inspiring. Specifically, there was discussion about finding one's own personal vision, the role of Photoshop in photography, and the continued relevance of the craft of photography in the digital world.

I never miss an episode of The Candid Frame. If you haven't listened before, this is a great episode to start with!

Mark Story: Living In Three Centuries

I recently ran across an amazing set of portraits by photographer Mark Story, taken as part of his project entitled "Living In Three Centuries: The Face Of Age". His project started as an effort to photograph people who, because of living extraordinarily hard lives, appeared worn and aged beyond their years. It ultimately morphed into photographing those who have lived during three centuries, the centenarians and 'super-centenarians', whose life has encompassed the end of the 1800's, the 1900's, and,now, the new millennium. I find it interesting that the original idea of photographing those that appear worn beyond their years ultimately turned into making portraits of those who have lived longer than most of us can hope to.

The portraits are haunting and extremely expressive. They are accompanied by fascinating text that tells the viewer a bit about the subject. Well worth having a look. Once you are there, I bet you stay awhile, as I found myself somewhat mesmerized going through the images and reading about each person.

Mark Story's website can be found here. It is worth taking time to read about the project before going right to the images.

By the way, "Motivation" was one year old yesterday. When I started this blog, I wasn't quite sure how long it would last or where it would take me. Now, 156 posts in and going strong, I am very glad that I undertook it and am particularly thankful for the opportunity to have 'met' a good number of people who have contacted me along the way. It has also served to 'motivate' me to continue my photographic journey. I hope you have found it of some use as well.

Photographing With Flatbed Scanners

Lately, I've been reading about and have become fascinated by the use of flatbed scanners for photography. I am not talking about using them to scan film, but rather to produce primary images by placing objects on the glass and scanning them. Using this technique with today's scanners, one can make extremely detailed high resolution images.

That could open whole areas of exploration in and of itself. However, what I find even potentially more interesting is the ability to scan objects that could be used as background textures to be blended with camera generated images. These would be things that are easy to scan. Think about it....old, weathered paper, cloth, wood, metal etc.

So how many of these types of scans have I made. None! I did say that I was merely at the reading and learning stage. But it does seem to me that there could be a great deal of potential here and it is something I plan to experiment with.

I thought there might be some interest in the background information I have been reading, as well as in seeing some of the artwork that has been produced by others using this technique. Therefore, I thought it might be useful to post some links to resources about using flatbed scanners for photography, much as I did for experimenting with Holgas and pinhole cameras.

So here we go:

1) This article by Vincent de Groot is perhaps the best general article on the subject I have come across.

2) Another source of general information can be found here.

3) Flowers may or may not be your thing, but prepare yourself for what may be the most three dimensional appearing images you have ever seen by photographer (yes, I do think that 'scanographers' should be categorized as photographers) Katinka Matson.

4) Marsha Tudor has also made some beautiful images, I just wish her website would allow one to view them at a larger size.

If anyone reading this has had the opportunity to do this type of imaging, please comment, as I would love to hear what your experience has been!