Gargoyles

I frequently photograph at Phipps Conservatory, a small but interesting Botanical Garden in Pittsburgh. One every nice thing about it is that they have several different shows throughout the year. The current showing involves not so much flowers as it does statues. The show, called "Gargoyles" features over a hundred gargoyle statues and statuettes among the flowers. It really was different and enjoyable to photograph them.

"Gargoyle"
Copyright Howard Grill

Folios!

Today's post is just a quick announcement that I have recently completed work putting together my first folio. The project made into folio format is my "Scene In Stone" project. What is a folio? What is the "Scene In Stone" project? Please do check it all out here.

Quick Quotes: Richard Avedon

All photographs are accurate. None of them is truth.

Richard Avedon

I have written several times about the issue of whether or not photographs represent the truth. I really love running across quotes that relate to this subject!

Forgotten

I was taking some pictures in Pittsburgh's Homewood Cemetery a few days ago. It was the first time I had gone there to photograph, as the idea of shooting in a cemetery has always made me feel, well, a little intrusive.

I was saddened by the recognition that even in a cemetery you can still be forgotten.

Forgotten
Copyright Howard Grill

Infrared

OK....here is what a scene, any scene, would more or less look like to us as observers in 'infrared' if we eliminated the visible light wavelengths.

Infrared Scene

The point I am trying to make is that when most people talk about infrared photography they are often under the mistaken impression that it represents what we would see if we (humans) could see the infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. But, of course, we can't. So if we were relying on the infrared portion of the spectrum to see....well, we wouldn't see very much.

So what are we seeing when we look at infrared photographs? Well, we are looking at how the infrared film or the digital sensor reacts to the infrared portion of the spectrum. It is how the film or sensor 'sees' infrared because infrared can be detected by them. That is to say, both are sensitive to the infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Our eyes are not.

So when we look at an infrared photograph we are seeing the portion of the visible spectrum that the film or sensor has converted the infrared into. What we see is, by necessity, an interpretation. So what does infrared 'look like' to the several insects, snakes, and ferrets that can see this portion of the spectrum? Perhaps it gets philosophical, but I don't know and I'm not sure anyone truly can. These insects and animals were born with eyes that are sensitive to infrared so they probably don't think it is anything special! Perhaps it is like trying to explain to someone that has been blind from birth what 'yellow' is.

That said, here is an infrared digital image of Cucumber Falls at Ohiopyle State Park in Pennsylvania. At least this is how the digital sensor (with visible light filtered out) converts the scene to something that we can see.

Cucumber Falls In IR
Copyright Howard Grill

Reflections

It's always enjoyable to make photos of reflections. For one thing, many people who don't photograph never really see these types of details, and when people do take note of them it tends to be fleeting. It's only when such details are 'frozen' in time that they can be really appreciated. Most folks end up being amazed that a patch of water could really look as intensely colored as this.

There were several aspects of this particular image that made it enjoyable to capture:

First of all, to get these types of images one often has to bend and contort themselves in order to find the angle that best portrays the reflections. However, in this particular case, it was easy. The conditions were just perfect to get reflections in the water and I could just stand on the wooden deck overlooking Ohiopyle Falls with my 400mm f5.6 lens (long, but quite light) and pick out small patches of water that showed intense reflections from the trees. No bending over or twisting into painful positions at the water's edge.....nice!

Reflections I
Copyright Howard Grill

Second, usually one finds images like this made in the fall, when the autumn colors are reflected in the water. This was taken in the Spring. In fact, I took it just a few days ago. The bright green color is from the surrounding trees with their fresh 'flourescent' green leaves and the blue is simply color reflected from the bright blue sky. These are not 'Photoshop' colors.....they are real, though only present in small patches of the water. In fact, though I added a bit of contrast to bring out the detail in the water currents (to give it the same appearance as it had at the site), the color saturation was actually decreased because the real reflected colors were so intense that they looked 'unreal'.

Thirdly, I got to go photograph with my friend Linda, and, for me, it is always more fun to take pictures with someone who has the same passion for photographing than it is to go alone.

Stairwells

Odd as it may sound, I have always thought that stairwells would make interesting photos. Depending on where they are and how they are lit they can appear a bit creepy or menacing. Anything that conveys a feeling is always a good candidate for a photo.

Despite the above, there were several factors that kept me from taking photos in a stairwell before. For one thing, depending on the lighting, the contrast range can be quite high. Thus, I thought the image would best be made using several exposures with an HDR technique, which I was not using until recently. In addition, someone with a tripod and camera blocking a stairwell is sure to attract attention....I could just hear the security guards running, particularly after my prior run-ins with guards.

Recently, however, I decided it was time to give it a try. And the perfect place seemed to be at work. That way, if the guards came a-running at least I had an ID and they would know that I worked there and who I was. So I picked a time, very early on a weekend morning when I had to be at work anyway, and set up the tripod in the stairwell and took some shot sequences for HDR processing. Here is what I came up with:

Stairwell I
Copyright Howard Grill

I actually think that a series of different stairwells in various buildings with and without people might be interesting. But then we are back to that whole security guard thing........

Quick Quotes: Ted Grant

When you photograph people in colour you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in B&W, you photograph their souls!

Ted Grant

I thought this quote by Ted Grant was very appropriate as a follow up to my last post on using black and white to 'set the mood'.

I was unfamiliar with Ted Grant. He is considered one of Canada's premier living photographers, with a career in photojournalism that spans over 60 years. His website can be found here.

Black And White Can Set The Mood

I have been 'playing around' a bit more with black and white conversions and experimenting with the types of moods that black and white images can convey.

A few years ago I went on an amazing workshop with Nancy Rotenberg, which took place on the Oregon Coast. One of the most surreal places I have ever seen was Bandon Beach, Oregon. In fact, it was so other-worldly that I took one of my images and made the colors somewhat surreal in order to try to convey the 'feeling' of being in that location, rather than just using the image to show what the location looked like. While I liked the image, I always had my doubts as to whether the viewer would understand what I was trying to say and feared they would just see the image as 'hypersaturated'. Of course, if the image doesn't convey what it is that you, as the artist, want it to, it has failed, at least on some level.

Siren's Song
Copyright Howard Grill

However, when I converted the same image to black and white it seemed to immediately convey to me the surreal feel that I was looking for. I believe it may be a more successful rendering of the photograph. What do you think?

Siren's Song
Copyright Howard Grill

Perhaps, if you agree that it is more successful, the reason might be that converting it to monochrome immediately removes it from the realm of a 'normal' representation of place, as we don't normally see things in black and white. I'm not sure if this explains it, but I thought it was an interesting possibility to consider.

Cameratruck

Sometimes, you run across something that's just plain cool. The 'Cameratruck' is one of them. The photographer, Shaun Irving, drives around in a truck he bought on e-Bay for $5000 and converted into a huge camera.

He mounted an old lens taken from a submarine periscope into the side of the truck. The film is hung on the opposite inside wall of the truck, where it is exposed by light coming through the lens when a metal slide is opened. The photographer stands inside the truck (camera) to open and close the 'shutter'while the exposure is made. He then develops the film with a bucket, sponges, developer, and a garden hose.

The entire story is best explained in this pdf. Be sure to smile if you see it drive by!

Looking Easy

Several times over the years that I have been writing this blog I have noted frustration about how hard it is to make a really good photograph in contrast to how easy, particularly in this era of digital photography, most non-photographers think it is. Sure, it can be easy to point a digital camera at a scene and get reasonable sharpness and exposure.....but it is extremely difficult to get a truly stirring image.

You all know the famous photography joke. The one where the photographer goes to a friend's (who happens to be a cook) home for dinner and, when looking at the photographers photos, the friend tells him that they are gorgeous and that he must have a really excellent camera. On the way out the door he tells the host that dinner was exquisite and that she must have really excellent cookware.

So I have felt that level of frustration when work is seen by non-photographers.

But I'm over that now. How so? It all stemmed from the realization that artists of all genres make their art appear easy. For example, a great musician makes the playing of their instrument appear effortless. They make it look easy. But no one ever sees the years of relentless practice and refinement that they went through. No one can tell how many revisions a song went through or how many times it was practiced before being recorded and performed.

So, I guess I should feel good about people thinking it is easy to make good photographs!


On another topic....a few days back I wrote a post entitled "Small Prints". I happen to run across a post by Brooks Jensen on one of his blogs that discussed essentially the same topic that I really enjoyed reading. You can read that here.

Quick Quotes: Wynn Bullock Masquerading as Albert Einstein

"I now measure my growth as a photographer in terms of the degrees to which I am aware of, have developed my sense of, and have the skills to symbolize visually the four-dimensional structure of the universe. "

Wynn Bullock

I do love photography related quotes. I really enjoyed this one by Wynn Bullock because it seemed to have a little Albert Einstein (who I have quoted here before) twist to it!

By the way, here is a great link to an Einstein photo Gallery.

Small Prints

I have generally tended to make large prints of what I consider to be my best images. But, I have come to realize that there is a problem with this method of sharing one's work. For one thing, there is always going to be a limitation in the amount of available wall space in any one location. Secondly, any image that is printed large and framed needs to be a '5 star' image in order to merit that sort of treatment and stand on it's own. Finally, unless one is dealing with a rather large gallery space or display area where multiple large images are hanging, the image itself tends to 'live' in isolation.

I have come to realize that I have many photographs that do not merit this sort of large scale, isolated display but are still one's that I think deserve to be looked at, if not in isolation than as part of a series designed to give an overview of a location or topic. Somehow, an 8 x10 or 11 x 14 image that can be hand-held and appreciated without necessarily being matted, framed, and hung seems to fit the bill and allows one to appreciate this type of artwork, which is to say high quality images that fit together but may not necessarily be part of a 'best of' collection.

As an example, take this image from the workshop I attended in Provincetown, on Cape Cod. Provincetown is an interesting mix of beauty and serenity with a touch of eclectic wildness. Part of the Cape Cod and Provincetown experience is not just the ocean, but also the beauty and quirkiness of the towns themselves. One thing that I was drawn to in Provincetown, believe it or not, was the signs. So many of the signs seemed to be colorful pieces of art in and of themselves. Take this one from the Land's End Inn for example:

Land's End Inn
Copyright Howard Grill

This image would not fare well printed as a 22x28 inch framed photo. There simply isn't enough to it to have it hanging on a wall at that size. And yet it does convey a what I found to be an intriguing part of the Provincetown experience, along with the lighthouses, beaches, and sand dunes.


Of course, this idea is nothing new. Lenswork editor Brooks Jenson has long advocated special treatment for these types of photos and has, in the last year or two, made it a reality by producing the now well-known Lenswork Folio series. For those not familiar with the folio concept, who could explain it better than Brooks Jenson himself, who states the following on the Lenswork website:

"What is a folio? Think of it as a hybrid between an individual print and a book. It’s a collection of unbound prints – book-size rather than wall-size prints. Because they are unbound, they can be handled individually, are meant for viewing by hand, but can be matted and framed if you choose to. The prints in a folio are presented in an embossed and die-cut art paper enclosure, and feel more like a single collection than a random pile of prints. Like a book, they are typically monographs or thematic, and contain a number of prints that explore a photographic theme more deeply than is possible with a single “greatest hits” image."

I have taken an interest in the folio concept because I think it allows one to share their work in a very accessible fashion and have taken some early steps to learn how to make them. I anticipate being able to produce one at some point in the next several months. I hope this will make it easier to share a broader selection of my work with a wider audience both at home and at work.

Accepting Imperfection

When it comes to most things, I tend to be a perfectionist. However, when it comes to photography, this can be a problem. I am not referring to seeking perfection in aspects of photography like composition or exposure, as I think it is wise advice not to show one's mistakes or the shots that were 'almost good if only I had done x, y, or z'. But there are times when an image does hold emotional value and yet is imperfect, but not in a way that could have been easily changed or remedied. It is this type of imperfection that I am trying to get myself to become more accepting of.

This photograph is a good example of what I am referring to. After seeing the image, I wanted to print it as a tinted monochrome with an 'antique' look. However, since the shot was at dusk (and perhaps slightly underexposed as I had planned to portray it as a low light photo) and because I wanted the sky to show a good deal of contrast, when I finished processing it a moderate amount of digital noise could be seen. In the past, this would have led me to abandon the image and it never would have seen 'the light of day'.

Sunset Sail
Copyright Howard Grill

But this photo seemed to have some interesting emotional content, at least to me. So I decided it would be a shame to abandon it simply because of some noise. I was willing to accept the noise because I liked the image, but also started to think about how I might work with the noise a bit, as opposed to fighting it. Part of the need to work with the noise was the fact that my noise reduction software didn't seem to be doing a particularly good job at noise remediation.

With this in mind, I actually added some digital noise to give the noise a more generalized presence and make it appear a bit more like film grain. Overall, even in a large print, I don't find it particularly concerning or distracting.

Interestingly, as I was driving to work today, I was listening to a Lensflare 35 podcast. One of the panelists made a statement that I found very apropos to this image and gave me further reassurance that I had made the right choice in continuing to work on it. He stated that he had learned photography from his father and that he had once asked his father if it was a problem to have film grain in the image......and his father replied that if people really noticed the grain then it was probably a boring image anyway.

What Comprises The Craft Of Photography?

I recently discovered the Lensflare 35 podcast. On Lensflare, Dave Warner interviews renowned photographers within the various photographic 'sub-specialties'. In Episode 42, he interviews nature photographer Tony Sweet, whose work I have greatly admired for a long time.

During that interview, Tony made a statement which serves as an interesting follow up to my last post, which quoted photographer Esther Parada's statement about image manipulation and also mentioned my essay "Photography and Truth". Tony said "We're at a point in photography where getting the image is only 50% of the game and the other half is making it look the way you want it to look (with software)." He went on to say that "The craft now is largely computer skills."

Those statements gave me a lot to think about. At first blush, I felt that the statements were true, but also found myself wishing that they weren't. Then I found myself thinking that 50% was too much to attribute to computer skills, as software can't make a terrible photograph into a good one.

However, the idea of making an image 'look the way we want it to' is really nothing new. Yes, we make the image look the way we want using software, but back in the wet darkroom days one made (and some still do make) the image look the way 'they wanted it to' through the 'magic' of darkroom techniques. Photographers are well aware that the scenes portrayed in Ansel Adam's prints do not exist. Well, the places do, but they didn't look the way he portrayed them, as the photographs were heavily 'manipulated' in the darkroom. Of course, that didn't make them any less beautiful.

It still takes a lot of 'heart and soul' to make an image that is worthy of bringing into the digital darkroom in order to make it look 'the way you want'. So I don't believe it is fair to say that the craft is "largely computer skills"....that may be so for a graphic designer, but not for a photographer. A very important part, yes, but largely seems just a bit too much.

So perhaps not much has really changed at all. Perhaps it has just gotten easier to 'manipulate' images but, I believe, it is still incredibly difficult to get really good, intriguing, different, and meaningful images that 'speak' to an audience!

Quick Quote: Esther Parada

"We had this belief about photography, but that's about to disappear because of the computer. I actually welcome this development; I'd like to think that more overt recognition and discussion of the manipulation which has always been inherent in photographic representation is healthy."

Esther Parada -Writing in 1993 about her work with digital photographs.

When I read this quote it really grabbed me because Parada's implications ('which has always been inherent') about the subject of manipulation are one's that I feel strongly about. As a matter of fact, I had, in this blog, written a series of posts about manipulation in fine art imaging. The series of posts, formulated into an essay, can be read on my website, here, or on the Digital Outback Photo website, where it was also published....here.

Photoshop Optimized Computer: Epilogue

Several weeks back, I wrote a series of three posts about a "Photoshop Optimized Computer". Those posts can be read here, here, and here. Just this last weekend I received a comment from photographer Mike Mundy (see his blog and website....great stuff) who said....

"It is probably time for a follow-up report on the computer . . . what worked, what didn't. And why didn't you get an Apple product, as everyone else seems to be doing? I have a feeling that Photoshop CS5 is going to be too much for my aging low-end PC to handle . . ."

So here is the follow up on what worked and what didn't.

1) Puget Systems Computers - This is the company that I decided to purchase a custom computer from, as I had discussed in Part 1. I couldn't be happier with that decision. When they say technical support responses within 24 hours, they mean it! I had several occasions to contact them and each and every time I got a thoughtful response in less than 24 hours from folks that obviously knew their stuff .

The computer came exceedingly well packaged with supplemental information provided by Puget Systems, including benchmark testing results, as well as all the spare parts and instructions from each of the individual components that were used for the build. In addition, they included the original Windows 7 OS disc as well as a system image/restore disc for the system as it was configured at the time of shipping.

There was absolutely no unasked for bloatware as you get with Dell. They made good on their offer to include certain free downloads and have them pre-installed. The only one that I had chosen was Microsoft Security Essentials, given the reviews stating that it was an excellent piece of software (from Microsoft????)....elegant in its simplicity and not a drag on the system (from Microsoft????). Not only was it installed, but the computer came with all current Windows updates as well as security essentials updates already applied, so the system was totally up to date and ready to go. I have no hesitation whatsoever in recommending Puget Systems!

2) Windows 7 OS - I like it. I like the way things are organized in libraries, I like the Windows system imaging, and I like the Windows search. Coming from Windows XP it took a little getting used to, but I now prefer it. The only part of the OS that I don't like is the portion that controls tablet functions. More on that in a second. I have had no problems finding drivers for my hardware and they all seem to function normally, save one.

That one, unfortunately, is my Wacom Intuos 2 graphics tablet. There is a Windows 7 driver for it...so, given the age of the Intuos 2, kudos to Wacom for that. The tablet initially started functioning normally, but soon started malfunctioning even with a system image restore to a point in time when it had worked. What do I mean by malfunctioning? When you boot up and try to use the pen, the cursor moves about a mm and then freezes. If you go to the tablet software by right clicking on the Wacom icon in the control panel, remove user presets, and then load the presets again it functions normally until you reboot. It has to be done again with each fresh boot. The whole maneuver literally takes about 20 seconds to do and you just have to do it once when you boot, but, nonetheless, I wish it worked correctly.

That said, I'm not quite sure where the fault lies. It could be the OS but could also be the motherboard USB controllers or the driver itself. Searching the internet, I'm not the only one with this problem. The workaround I describe is the result of Googling the problem. I did contact Wacom and they claim it has to do with a motherboard USB problem, but I am not convinced.

As I mentioned, the tablet functions of Windows 7 are also a bit odd. When you use a pen you get a distracting ripple effect as well as a small Windows Tablet interface. You can turn these off (and I did), but you have to do a bit of research to find out how....it isn't intuitively apparent.

Overall, I think that if one is going to venture into a new OS as an 'early adapter' there are always going to be some issues. I think I encountered a number of these issues (including the fact that I can't get Firewire or e-SATA drivers/drives to function correctly and, again, I'm not sure if this is related to the OS or motherboard) but overall I am quite pleased with Windows 7. I have the 64 bit version to prepare for the future!

3) Internal Components - All seems in order. Did I need the RAID 0 system for the scratch disk and files being worked on that I described here? I am not at all convinced that I did. The system seems so fast that even large files approaching 500 to 750 MB load into and save from Photoshop very quickly.......much, much faster than in my old system. In that system I could open the file and walk away for a minute or two. Not so anymore. I honestly don't see a huge difference between opening or saving the files from the standard Western Digital 1 TB Caviar Black hard disk compared to the RAID 0 system. I haven't timed it and there may well be a difference, it just doesn't seem all that significant in 'real life usage'.

A volume of the Raid 0 array is also being used as the primary scratch disk, as described here. I have not compared the speed of the RAID 0 array used as the primary scratch disk to the regular hard drive used as such, but perhaps it is of some benefit. These benefits might be further magnified if the RAID array consisted of more than 2 disks, but that would start to get even more expensive. Overall, however, if I were designing the system again, I might well pass on the RAID 0 array, which would have saved some cash and kept more internal SATA drive bays open.

I outfitted the computer with 12GB of RAM....it is quite fast. Had I not included as much RAM perhaps the effect of the RAID 0 array might be more apparent.

As you can see, I have not tested these issues in a quantitative fashion but am just commenting on my 'real world' usage experience. If anyone has more quantitative experience and wants to chime in on these issues I would be most appreciative!

4) Monitor - I sprung for a 'lower end' wide gamut Eizo monitor . Not at all cheap, but after using it am really amazed at the increased sharpness, saturation, and soft proofing ability that it offers once calibrated. The difference is dramatic and I wasn't using a bad monitor before (it was a LaCie CRT). I think it was a worthwhile investment. An alternative monitor which has gotten excellent reviews, can be obtained for significantly less, and which I considered is the NEC with integrated calibration.

5) Photoshop / Lightroom - I have the 64 bit versions of these running as well as the 32 bit version of Photoshop installed and have not run into any problems even though CS4 is not officially supported on the Windows 7 platform. I do wish that Nik Software would make all their plug-ins available in 64 bit versions. Viveza 2 is available in a 64 bit version, but Color Efex and Silver Efex are not, and it is a bit of a pain to use two versions of Photoshop. My PixelGenius, OnOne, Topaz, and Neat Image plug ins are all available in 64 bit versions and I have not had any difficulty with any of them.

6) Why didn't I purchase an Apple? I strongly considered it. I ended up with a PC because the price for a machine with similar 'power' seemed significantly lower to me and I already had multiple programs that were Windows 7 compatible that I did not want to repurchase in Mac versions. Also, despite the fact that Apples 'just work', I have read on various forums about problems that people are also having with the Snow Leopard OS.

So, that is the update on the new system.

Photography Book Ideas

Like many people who enjoy the art of photography, I also enjoy collecting photography books of all sorts.....fine art photography, photojournalism, essays etc. I don't think there are many photographers who don't also have a photography library. Sometimes, I will just get in the mood to buy a new photo book and start browsing or looking for ideas. I thought I might write about the sources from which I get ideas for book purchases and also ask anyone who might be reading this to contribute other ideas as to where they go to find out about photography books.

There are several sites that I use as information sources. Here are the ones that I use most frequently and enjoy the most:

1) Photo-Eye Bookstore: A great resource! Also, one can sign up for their e-mail newsletter, which comes about once a week. So, with no effort at all, you can have a steady stream of information about the newest quality photography publications.

2) The 5b4 blog...another great resource with book reviews.

3)Podcasts: A good number of photography podcasts, at one point or another, have book recommendations. In fact, I learned about my latest purchase, a book called The Printed Picture, from a recent LensWork podcast. In fact, the last three LensWork podcasts have been related to photography books.

I also look forward to Paul Giguere's Thoughts On Photography podcast. I purchased a real favorite of mine, Secret City, based on Paul's interview with photographer Jason Langer. In addition, every December or January he has an episode about his picks for the best photography books of the year. Granted, it will be eight or nine months until the next book review episode.....but the old ones from years past are still there for the listening. And the podcast is great, so don't just listen to the book review episodes!

4) Finally, I also get ideas from several photography magazines that contain book review sections. The three that immediately spring to my mind are Photo Life, B&W, and Color but, of course, there are others.

Writing this, it occurs to me that I don't typically peruse the websites of the prominent photo book publishers. Nor, and I guess this is a sign of the times, do I generally find photography books by browsing in bookstores. However, that may simply be because your typical brick and mortar bookstore generally has a very limited selection of these types of books.

So, what are your favorite resources for finding out about photography books?

Zone Plate And High Pass Filtration

I don't usually write many blog posts about Photoshop techniques, but have been asked a few times about my "Dreamscape" images made using the Lensbaby zone plate optic. The "Dreamscapes" series can be seen here. At any rate, the question I have been asked pertains to the sharpness of the zone plate images, and, specifically, how the images are made to appear sharper than a typical zone plate shot.

First, for those that may not be familiar with the term, zone plate photography is ,in some ways, similar to pinhole imaging. However, instead of using a pinhole to allow light into the camera, a series of clear concentric circles spaced at mathematically determined distances are used for this purpose. What this effectively does is:

i) markedly decrease the shutter speed compared to pinhole imaging, as the zone plate lets in much more light than a pinhole per unit time

ii) impart a unique glowing appearance to the highlights in the image and

iii) make the focus of the image even softer than the same shot made with a pinhole.

For a little more information about zone plates see here.

I very much enjoy the 'dreamy' look that the zone plate imparts, at least for some types of images. However, I have to admit that the images sometime do appear too soft focused for my taste, but, yet, the same image made with a pinhole doesn't quite yield the same effect. For this reason I have often added a 'high pass sharpen' layer to the image in Photoshop.

Here is an example of what it can do to a zone plate photograph (the smallish imagesin the blog make it a bit difficult to see, but I think you can tell if you look carefully...it is much more apparent on a slightly larger image)

Dreamscapes #1....No High Pass Sharpening
Copyright Howard Grill

Dreamscapes #1...With High Pass Sharpening
Copyright Howard Grill

The method is started by flattening the image. Now the image consists of only a background layer. Duplicate this background layer twice and click the icons to turn these duplicate layers off, making them invisible. Now click back on the background layer to make it active and go to the Photoshop filters and choose High Pass (Filter>Other>High Pass). You get a dialogue box in which you can choose a radius. Choose 75 pixels to start, but this is obviously a ‘jump off’ point for experimentation.

Your image will now look totally disgusting. Don’t worry….just click on the duplicate background layer which is directly above the layer that was just filtered to make it active and then click on the icon to make it visible. The image now returns to the way it looked before starting this whole thing because it is a duplicate of the original at 100% opacity lying on top of the filtered image. Now the fun begins. Change the blending mode of this layer from normal to overlay (or try Soft Light or Hard Light) and the image undergoes an interesting change.

Perhaps the effect is too much? That is why I added the second duplicate layer (which is not visible at this point) on top of the others at the start of the technique. Click on that layer to now make it active and click on the icon to make it visible. The image now appears as it did before starting. But turn down the opacity of this topmost layer to let the filtered look come through and see how you like it.

In this example, I think the technique really 'tightens up' the look and puts the focus squarely on the person without losing that dreamy zone plate look. This works best on simple images with strong graphic lines. But I find that zone plate imaging works best on those types of compositions anyway.

Seeing The Invisible

Part of the mystery, and joy, of photography is its ability to show us what our eyes can't see. Some of the sights that are normally 'invisible' to us that can be revealed with a camera include:

i) Motion over time - This, of course, can be revealed by photographing using a slow shutter speed. Not only can 'natural' motion be revealed in this way, but we can generate abstract images that can only be seen in the completed photograph by generating 'unnatural' motion by purposely moving the camera during exposure.

ii) Color - Our brain can 'neutralize' colors in order to achieve our own 'custom white balance'. For example, people are often amazed at the blue color cast seen in photographs that are taken in the shade or the color cast that results from photographing a white object located right next to a brightly colored one. The colors are there, it's just that our brains remove them for us. Sometimes these color casts are problematic for an image and, at other times, they can be used creatively to great benefit.

iii) Perspective - Changes in perspective that are related to the optics of a lens. OK, so this one really isn't something that is present in reality, but is related to the physics of the optics. Often these perspective changes can be used creatively, such as when making an object appear to be closer than it is by using a wide angle lens. These same lenses can introduce problematic distortions (like pincushion or barrel distortion). However, at times, even these types of distortions can be used creatively.

iv) Illumination- Only when it is truly 'pitch black' is there not enough light to make an image if you leave the shutter open long enough. Our eyes are only able to see non-additive 'real-time' photons while film or a digital sensor can keep capturing and adding photons to an image. More specifically, bright to us is a large number of photons at once while bright to film or a sensor can mean a large number of photons absorbed over a prolonged period of time. Thus, we are surprised when a long exposure taken in near darkness yields an image with far more subtle coloration, brightness, and detail than we could see with our bare eyes.

One of the reasons that I enjoy this photograph taken during a workshop in Provincetown, Massachusetts with Nancy Rotenberg, Les Saucier, and Don McGowan is that it contains all four of the above elements presented in a subtle fashion, without any of them overwhelming the other.

Herring Beach
Copyright Howard Grill
30 seconds at f18
Click For Larger Image

More specifically:

i) the smoothing out of the ocean water because of the long 30 second exposure, blending all the waves that occurred over the course of the exposure into a smooth misty appearance.

ii) the cool blue coloration of the water and sand is real and is a result of reflections from the blue night sky. We automatically neutralize this when we are present at the scene, but the photograph shows us what was really there.

iii) the interesting perspective, making the foreground pebbles look closer and the background land look farther away than they 'really were'.

iv) the scene was actually quite dark when I made this photograph, which, as I mentioned, required a 30 second exposure. It was dark enough that when hiking back to the car after making the image I had to make sure that I didn't trip over something and was glad that I was able to walk back with a friend who had a flashlight.

Lots of pretty beaches up there on Cape Cod!