History Around Us

No matter where one lives, there are historical artifacts to be found. As many may know, Pittsburgh was once a major center of steel production. While the majority of the steel mills are now closed, their artifacts remain.

Some of these closed historic manufacturing facilities are difficult to get into to photograph. However, there are some remnants of the industrial age that have easy access for photography. One of the older mills land was sold off to make a shopping center near my home, but the mills' chimneys were not taken down. Rather, they were kept as an artifact of that age and stand as an aesthetic focal point of the mall.

Let me be clear that I am not at all a fan of building malls, nor a fan of steel mills and the pollution they produce. As a matter of fact, I find myself lamenting the fact that every large city in the US is starting to look the same with essentially identical malls and chain stores. Nonetheless, I am glad that in this instance it was decided to at least preserve the remnant of what once stood in this place.

Chimney Builders
Copyright Howard Grill

The photograph above is the door of one of the remnant chimneys. The color image was converted to black and white and then sepia toned.

Photographing local historical sites could potentially make for an interesting photographic project.

More Outta' Bed

Back in the beginning of the month, I wrote a post about the benefits to be had by dragging one's self out of bed to photograph in the early morning and how those benefits outweigh the pain of getting out of bed at relatively ungodly hours. The early morning photography from that day motivated me to write that post, which can be read here.

I thought that over several scattered posts I would offer some more images from that inspiring morning.

I also forgot to mention one additional benefit of going out to photograph with friends in the early morning. In addition to having to show up to meet the others, there is also the benefit of a great breakfast with camaraderie following the sunrise....you just have to have friends that know which of the local restaurants are the right ones to go to (thanks Bob).

Fishing Heaven
Copyright Howard Grill

Promote Control: Doesn't Fit My Workflow

In my last post, I discussed my discovery of the Promote Control for taking bracketed HDR exposures . It was with great enthusiasm that I awaited the arrival of the device. However, despite its apparent utility and the glowing reviews it received in the links I provided in my original post, I have found that the device simply doesn't fit into my photographic process very well.

That is not to say that it doesn't work or do what it says it will.....just that it doesn't work the way I do. It might mesh quite well with the way you photograph and so I don't mean to dissuade anyone from giving it a try. But, let me describe why it doesn't fit my workflow and perhaps that will provide some incite as to whether it will fit yours.

I tend to shoot using Live View with the camera in Aperture priority mode. However, in order to use the Promote Control, the camera must be set to Manual mode. There is a setting on the device that allows it to set the camera to Manual mode if the operator forgets to, though the manual states that this won't work on all cameras and it didn't seem to work properly on mine. However, if I accidentally left the camera in Aperture Priority mode, the Promote Control would shoot off a ton of images before stopping. So, accidentally leaving the camera in Aperture mode can get the Promote Control to do some pretty unusual stuff.

In addition, the manufacturers website FAQ states that the device can be used in Live View mode. Nonetheless, using the device in Live View, even with the camera set to Manual mode, gave me very inconsistent results, with not all the bracketed exposures being taken. By doing nothing else to the camera but turning off Live View, all the exposures were taken properly. I am not the only person to find this as an issue, as one of the reviews linked to in my initial post also notes this as a problem.

Finally, even when the camera is properly set to Manual mode the metered shutter speed needs to be entered into the Promote Control manually, or at least it wouldn't pick it up from my 5D MKII

For me, though the device could potentially solve a significant problem, it just requires too much 'futzing around' with. If it was tough for me to get it to work properly in my home, I suspect it would generate a good deal of frustration out in the field and I might potentially miss photo opportunities simply trying to get things set up properly. I thought about just getting used to always using the device as a trigger, as it can also be used as a single shot cable release. However, the need to connect it to the camera with two cables (to get the fastest response time) and its bulk (small, but still much larger than a regular cable release) just makes it inconvenient to use routinely.

I suspect that using the device would take away some of the joy of photographing and thus it is simply not something that I want to use. I have returned it and will go with my usual routine of simply resetting the auto-bracketing in camera....a pain that requires touching the camera before the full set of exposures are taken, but one that still requires far less 'futzing' than the Promote Control.

So there you have it.....a very different opinion from the ones that I was able to find on the internet. Just to reiterate.....the issue for me was the way the device failed to fit into my workflow. Your workflow might well be different.

I would be interested to find out if any readers have had experience with this device and if their experience was similar to or different from mine.

Promote Control

When it comes to bracketed exposures utilized for HDR, us Canon users definitely take a back seat to those with Nikon cameras. Most Canon (? all....I don't keep up with every model) cameras are only able to auto-bracket three exposures, which is less than ideal for many situations. Nikon cameras are much more functional in this regard and, depending on the model, are able to auto bracket more exposures. In the past this difference might have been relatively unimportant, but in the HDR era it really is of significance and, frankly, it seems inexcusable to me that Canon has hampered their cameras in this way. It would at least appear on the surface that this could likely be fixed with a firmware update. (The other situation in which Canon lags is in the ability to make in-camera multiple exposures......but that is another discussion).

Whenever there is a void and a need, someone will fill it! Enter a device called "Promote Control". This device connects to the camera (including Canon models) via USB and a shutter release and takes over the control of exposure sequences, overriding the ability to take only 3 bracketed exposures. There are some caveats, the main one of which is that the camera must be set in manual mode and the midpoint exposure's shutter speed needs to be set manually on the Promote Control device.

Rather than write in detail about it before I receive the one I ordered, let me refer anyone interested in this to the following reviews:

Review #1 by Brian Matiash

Another review here

And a review on youtube located here.

Finally, the manufacturer's website.

And so I will report back on my experience with the device once it arrives.

Digital Indecision

Generally speaking, the advantages of digital capture are now obvious to most people. Once you have memory cards you can shoot all day, every day, for free (well, lets not count the camera upgrades, computer upgrades, storage drives, software etc.). You can check your exposure via histogram and your composition via LCD and gain immediate feedback. You can work on images, molding them into your vision, without the wet darkroom 'mess'. Once the image has been processed it is easy to output as many identical copies as you want.

But what about the downside? There is one downside that seems to always haunt me, and that is that there can be too many possibilities!

What do I mean by that? Because it is easy to make so many digital photographs, I think I actually make too many of them. When I am out shooting, I now tend to take many more frames of an image than I did when using film. I find myself altering the composition ever so slightly and reshooting, making images where the point of focus is a bit different, shooting with different apertures, and refocusing manually just to make sure I get the sharpest focus possible. At the end of the day I might have so many frames of essentially the same composition that it makes picking the 'best' one to process frustratingly difficult. And the 'fear' of not picking the 'best' frame may well lead to not picking a frame at all, leaving the endeavor to 'later'.

This isn't to say that I don't have a specific vision when making a photograph.....I do. It is just that with digital it can sometimes be too easy to doubt whether that vision might be 'optimal' and to try to examine every possibility. In speaking to some of my photography friends, it turns out that I am not alone with this issue. Maybe I need to trust myself to the original vision I had when first approaching the shot or, alternatively, being happy when I find a frame I took that expresses that vision, as opposed to feeling obligated to examine each and every frame and comparing them to each other in order to find the perfect one to use.

Get The Hell Outta' Bed

Lets face it....it is really tough to get out of bed at 6AM on a work day, let alone at 5AM on the precious weekend, even if it is to go out and photograph. Sometimes it is just plain impossible to get up. Nonetheless, every time I force myself up, even if it turns out that there were no interesting photographs to be had, it always ends up just feeling good to have been up before the rest of the world to watch the new day dawn.

However, some days the early awakening is associated with great photos, either because conditions are just right or because the muse speaks. Some days, well, not so much! But it is never predictable........so had I slept in two weekends ago I would have missed this beautiful sunrise over Lake Arthur.

Sunrise Over Lake Arthur
Copyright Howard Grill

One way that I make sure that I don't roll back over in bed is that I have a group of two or three other photographers that I go out with on Sundays. We have a pre-arranged meeting time and place that we have committed to, which makes it much harder to roll over and go back to sleep. I don't always use that strategy, but it sure helps.

So don't just roll over. Get your ass out of bed and see what you've been missing!

ELP - Way Off Topic

Int my last post entitled "Coincidence?", I compared the style of a portrait of keyboardist Keith Emerson (from Emerson, Lake, and Palmer) to that of the famous portrait of Igor Stravinsky taken by Newman. That post can be read here. I received a few comments, both on this blog as well as on my Facebook photography page.

I had mentioned that since ELP was at their prime in the seventies, some readers might not be familiar with them. Even though it is off topic (hey, it's my blog), I thought that I would post a few YouTube links to ELP performing so that anyone that is not familiar with them might have a look (the sound quality isn't perfect given that the recordings were made in the 1970's):

Here they are performing an acoustic version of Lake's "Lucky Man" in concert in Japan:




And here playing a small portion of their amazing piece entitled "Tarkus", also in concert in Japan:




And finally, playing a portion of their rendition of Russian composer Mussorgsky's classic "Pictures At An Exhibition":




Enjoy!

Coincidence?

I was born in the late 1950's and thus, not too surprisingly, my musical taste leans towards 60's-80's rock. I also tend to go through phases where I really enjoy listening to a particular artist or group.

Lately, I have been going through an Emerson, Lake, and Palmer phase. For those who might be reading this that are too young to have heard of them, they are generally considered one of the earliest 'progressive rock' supergroups. If you haven't heard of them you really owe it to yourself to have a listen. Try "Lucky Man" for a more conventional 'over the radio' song, but if you really want to try something different give "Tarkus" a try.

But what has any of this to do with photography? Well, I recently was rounding out my ELP collection and ordered the album entitled "Works Volume 1". Ok, it isn't their most renowned music but I was completing my collection by purchasing albums I was missing. At any rate, I bought the CD (for essentially the same price as an i-Tunes download why not have an uncompressed hard copy as well?) and looked at the album insert. I was very surprised to find in the pamphlet this photograph of Keith Emerson taken by David Montgomery in the 1970's (the reproduction is somewhat poor as I had to scan an image that was already reproduced for the insert).

Photo Of Keith Emerson From Works Volume 1 Album
Copyright David Montgomery

The first thing that ran through my mind was 'Whoa, I've seen that before!'. To me it looked like essentially the same image as the iconic photograph of Igor Stravinsky taken by Harold Newman in the mid 1940's. For those not familiar with that photo, I have copied it below.

Copyright Harold Newman

I thought the similarity was clear. I would be curious as to whether Montgomery thought that the Newman image was so well known that people would realize that it was a copy of the idea and that it was almost a 'spoof' on the image or if it was a situation where Newman's image was not well known at the time. Not that it makes much difference at this point, I suppose. It is just that I was taken aback by the similarity between the two photos. Coincidence? I doubt it. Spoof....I don't know!

Quick Quotes: Peter Adams

"Great photography is about depth of feeling, not depth of field."

Peter Adams

I thought this quote was particularly pertinent following my last posting "Everything's Been Done". Been done, yes, but with a different depth of feeling applied than the one you will use. Your depth of feeling may not be any 'better' or 'worse'.....just different. And as Andy and Colin pointed out in the comments section of that post, that is what makes each photograph unique, even when the subject has been photographed many times before.

Everything's Been Done

When I was in a bit of a nature photography rut recently, I found myself wondering how many more pictures of waterfalls, flowers, fall foliage, and mountains the world really needed. But as I began to think about it more carefully, I realized that one could ask the same thing of almost any subject. How many more images of abandoned buildings, cityscapes, smiling people from other cultures, and portraits of people we don't know does the world really need?

Interesting questions! But if the answer is none......than what we are left with is to go out and photograph simply because whatever the subject is has not been photographed very much in the past. That might lead to some interesting images, but my guess is that those interesting shots would be lost amidst millions of inane photos with little artistic merit that were taken simply because of the novelty. We have all seen plenty of those already.

My conclusion is that the vast majority of what I am going to photograph in my life has already been photographed before.....and quite frequently. BUT, the issue is not has it been photographed before but has it been portrayed the way I see it? In the end, I realize that one's audience isn't simply interested in your image of a waterfall because they haven't seen a waterfall before but, rather, that IF they are interested in your photograph it is because they want to see the waterfall the way you see it....through your eyes.

I think the answer, for me, always comes back to making photographs of the subjects that I am interested in and have a passion for. If you don't have a real desire to make images of the subject you are photographing it is unlikely that many people will want to see that subject through your eyes.

So, I am going to shoot what I love......but what I love to shoot is open to change from time to time based on interest, but never simply based on novelty!

Experimentation

For the last week, I have been on a family vacation in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. This was a family outing and so the opportunities for serious photography were somewhat limited. Nonetheless, I did get out to photograph early on two or three mornings, before the rest of the family got up. In coming posts I will show some of these images. But today, I wanted to write about experimentation because I think it is one of the most creative and overlooked aspects of photography.... and the digital age makes experimentation easy.

Most people know how to make abstracts by moving the camera during exposures. This, and just about any other 'experiment' with motion, shutter speed, and aperture can be easily accomplished and the results seen immediately on the LCD screen of a digital camera. Although I don't suggest that immediate editing decisions regarding any images be made 'on the spot' (I think more deliberate editing is better done with a larger image on the computer screen), the immediate feedback of digital can help guide you on a course. In the case of camera movement during an exposure, the LCD can give important feedback as to whether the degree and speed of camera motion is giving you the type of results you were hoping for and suggest changes that can then be used to achieve the look you want.

One afternoon, while waiting for my kids to get ready to go out for dinner, I was walking through the garden in back of the condo where we stayed. There was a plethora of orange lilies growing and I had a few minutes to spare, so I got my camera out. I didn't want to spend time taking the types of flower photos that I might typically take at home, so I decided to experiment a bit and took a series of images using camera motion. I was hoping that the resultant abstract blur might express the essence of these beautiful, but common, orange flowers in a different sort of way.

Lily Abstract
Copyright Howard Grill

I can understand how some might say the image is little more than a blurry flower photo, but to me it communicates a bit more....

Quick Quotes: Anthony Barboza

"You are putting on paper, in print, what you sense and feel in your mind"

Anthony Barboza

I have written many times about The Candid Frame podcast. For a short period of time there were no new episodes.....well, that time is over and there is a new podcast available now. The latest interview is with photographer Anthony Barboza, which can be heard here.

The interview really brought out Barboza's personality and thoughts about art and photography. I particularly enjoyed the quote I have reproduced above, as it really puts into words a deep and emotional feeling that I have about the photographic process.

Mill Via Pinhole

I was looking over some of my older images and ran across this one, which is from a time when I was experimenting with pinhole photography using film. I could be wrong, but I don't believe I have posted it before.

McConnell's Mill
Pinhole Photo On Film
Copyright Howard Grill

I did enjoy photographing this way, but it became quite cumbersome to develop the film in my basement and then scan the film even before bringing the image into Photoshop. However, I became quite pleased a year or so ago when I found that I could once again do some pinhole imaging using the new LensBaby with drop in optics!

With the drop in pinhole / zone plate optic one can now do pinhole and zone plate imaging digitally, without film. Some might call this heresy.....but when you have limited time you do what is practical.

We Are Not Alone

A bit of a surprise link today....with no clue as to what you get. Suffice it to say that it is reassuring that creative lapses happen to everybody....even the 'greats' . Here it is put into words far better than I could ever have hoped to!

Daniel Stainer

Every so often you run across someone who seems to be similar to yourself. And so it is with Daniel Stainer. I ran across his blog entitled "Illuminations" and noticed that we share many of the same philosophies and tend to photograph in many similar ways.

I actually e-mailed him and, as it turns out, we only live about an hour or so from each other and had briefly met under non-photographic circumstances eight or nine years ago, though I hadn't initially recalled that. So we decided to go out photographing together and had a great outing at a place called Frew's Mill. The light wasn't all that great by the time we got there, but we still enjoyed the experience of photographing nonetheless. Below is one of Daniel's moody images taken when the lighting was more conducive to making photographs.

Frew's Mill
Copyright Daniel Stainer

So check out his blog and his image gallery as well. There are some inspirational images and writing to be seen and read!

Show Themes

I am a bit befuddled about themes. Most juried art and photography shows have submission themes. Knowing that such themes are usually loosely interpreted, I nonetheless try to have my submissions demonstrate a clear relationship to the requested theme. While some shows seem to stick to the stated topic, there are still many where I am frequently surprised that, at least in my opinion, many of the accepted submissions don't seem even remotely associated with the submission theme, even with what I view as its loosest interpretation.

This leads to me wonder.... how important are statements of show themes? How important is trying to think of a construct wherein your submission would fit into the stated theme? Is it the artists or the judges job to understand how a submission fits into a stated theme?

No answers here. Just some rambling thoughts .......

Pittsburgh Architecture

Those folks who have been following my Facebook page (just click the icon in the sidebar or click here) know that recently I have been doing a bit of urban architectural photography. In fact, I have been shooting in downtown Pittsburgh for the last several weekends along with two friends and have been enjoying it very much.

I find that I approach city shooting in much the same way that I approach nature and landscape photography, which is to say that I find myself attracted to graphic lines and shapes and generally simple compositions. I can easily see this becoming a small project, so I thought I would offer up two recent images from our outing to Union Station, which was built between 1898 and 1903 by Chicago architect Daniel Burnham.

Union Station II
Copyright Howard Grill

Union Station I
Copyright Howard Grill

I will likely post more images of Pittsburgh architecture as I slowly process my favorite shots from these weekend forays.

The Camera With You

One more post about my new Droid smartphone. I had mentioned in the past that while many people are able to have a camera with them at all times, I have found working in that way to be very difficult. I have also previously written about Chase Jarvis's The Best Camera Is The One That's With You: iPhone Photography by Chase Jarvis (Voices That Matter) and his website about the same subject called The Best Camera.

Well, I can now attest to the fact that it is fun to have a camera with you all the time....now that it is light and not something that I wouldn't otherwise be carrying. And I find it useful, not so much for trying to make a serious photo, but, rather, to exercise one's vision and to keep in practice.

So I might, from time to time, post some of these spontaneous photographic exercises that I do on the Droid X phone. This one involved trying to make a few creative images from the window of my office, something I never would have lugged my regular photo gear around to try.

"Triangles"
Copyright Howard Grill

"Floating Cloud"
Copyright Howard Grill

Way Off Topic: Smartphones

On some occasions I allow myself to go off topic on this blog.....and this is one of those occasions. I have never owned a 'smartphone' in the past....I never thought I needed one and, frankly, wasn't sure how I would use one. However, my cell phone contract was over last week and I thought I would give a smartphone a go. I was originally planning on an iPhone, but the ATT coverage where I live isn't all that good, at least all I hear is complaints from those that use ATT around where I live. In addition, the iPhone 4 has gotten some bad press and, finally, my family already has 4 cellphones on a Verizon plan. It was time to try out a Droid.

So, last week I got myself the most recent Droid incarnation, the Droid X. I have to say...I love it. After just a few days I can see that it will be very useful and is far more like a computer on which you can make phone calls than a phone on which you can do other things.

The apps are amazing. Sure, a good many of them are just cool or for fun, but many are extremely useful as well. I have to say, I am very pleased with the purchase. My only concern is that it does use up the battery much faster than a regular cellphone. However, my iPhone friends say that the same is true of their device as well.

So how can I make this somewhat relevant to a photography blog? Well, it doss have an 8 megapixel camera...and one that will always be with you and ready to take a picture (see my older post The Best Camera). And there are some very interesting photo apps as well. Here are my four favorite photography apps so far:

Photo Tools :A great set of tools for multiple types of photographic calculations. This app is really a favorite because it can be helpful for photography in general and not just allow you to be creative with the phone's built-in camera like the next three. This app allows you to calculate reciprocal exposure values, tells you sunrise/sunset time based on your GPS coordinates, lets you calculate hyperfocal distance etc.

Vignette: Add all sorts of film and border effects to photos taken with the cameraphone.

FX: More camera effects.

And of course...Photoshop.com Mobile

Book Of Birds

Book of what? Book Of Birds!

Book Of Birds is a British band that is led by musician and songwriter Robert McCracken. Their music has already been intermittently played in the US, but they have not had a formal album release until now.

I will be honest with you......I hadn't heard of them either. But having now heard their music, I am a fan. The style is wide ranging from alternative rock to almost ballad-like. Their first album, which was just released, is now on my iPod.

Well, what does all that have to do with a photography blog, you might ask. I am very pleased that during the summer I was contacted by Rob McCracken to see if I would be interested in selling the non-exclusive rights to my photo "The Burning Bush" for use as the cover art for their first CD release. McCracken felt that the image conveyed the mood of his music and was hoping to be able to use it. So there it is: my 'Burning Bush' image is now the cover art for the 'Book Of Birds' first CD entitled "Luthiern Lullabies".

"The Burning Bush"
Copyright Howard Grill

So, check it out. Here is the band's website with a shot of the CD cover and an option to by the release. Want to listen first.....check out the band's My Space page or Facbook page, both with audio samples. Or, for a more complete sampling, wait until August 2nd, which is when I understand they will be debuting their music on iTunes. So go ahead, why not buy an album :>)

Oh, and I get absolutely no royalties or payment.