Photography Changes Everything

It has been a while since I posted about interesting photography websites.....and recovering from the Thanksgiving holiday definitely seems a good time for a short post.

So here is a site that is quite interesting and offers photography essays on a wide variety of subjects and is definitely worth a trip through. Part of the Smithsonian's Photography Initiative, it is entitled "click! Photography Changes Everything".

Enjoy!

Website Planning II

I almost gave up. On constructing my own website that is. I mentioned in a prior post that I would intermittently write about my thoughts and progress regarding constructing my own website, as opposed to continuing to use a template type service (albeit with multiple customizable options) with Visual Server at www.howardgrill.com.

Why almost give up? Because I want to do it right.....and if you are not familiar with html, CSS, and Dreamweaver (let alone programming in general) it just isn't that easy. Sure, there isn't much to opening a new html document, naming it index.html and typing away. But if you really want to do it correctly in order that it be durable and easily customizable with functionality into the future, it really needs to be done with templates and CSS. Not easy if you don't know how.

Time consuming, that's what it is. And one could strongly argue that it would be much more efficient to stick with what I have and use the time to process images, print, and build portfolios. And that thought really stuck with me to the point where I was about to give up. This led to a side project of looking at the available options for on-line services similar to Visual Server in order to see if any came closer to what I was looking for. As to what is wrong with Visual Server.....well, nothing really....except for the fact that their vision of portfolio presentation doesn't match mine, as well as the lack of ability to upload any type of files other than text or images.

So I looked around. Livebooks really came the closest to what I was after, but the templates (of which there are many nice ones) have limited ability to be more than minimally customized (unless you go with their more expensive custom design team), and if you wish to change something after your site is live there are fees. Thus, once you go live it becomes more expensive to tweak the allowed changes and, even then, the changes allowed without invoking the design team are minimal. Finally, the Livebooks design is totally flash based. They have the search engine 'thing' worked out whereby the site has a pure html 'sister' site that is not visible but available to the search engines for indexing (items inside flash are not indexable). But while I don't personally mind some flash in a site, I am personally not a fan of waiting for the home page to load the flash content.

So I came back to the idea that the best results for me would be had by constructing my own site. But what about the issue of time spent and the other things one could be doing with that time, particularly when time is a limited and very valuable commodity? Well, in the end, I overrided that internal objection by invoking the idea that one's website is truly the presentation of their work to the world. Imagine all the prep time it takes to make an exhibit. Hours of printing, matting, framing, etc. And all that to show one's work to maybe a few hundred people (if you're lucky) for a week or two (if you're lucky). Well, the website presents work to potentially billions (if you can get them there) of people 24/7. So isn't it worth it? I decide it was and re-undertook the project.

So how to get started? Books. Kelby Training videos. Taking Adobe up on the 30 day free trial to Lynda.com for registering CS5. And time. But I have finally reached the point where I feel I have a very basic understanding of how it all goes together and have started the coding process using Dreamweaver. That's not to say it is all smooth sailing....there is still a good bit of trial and error and research into various topics. Plus, even when I think I get it after the video, I still find myself going into Dreamweaver and saying "now how did they do that in the video again?"

And all this doesn't even touch on the non-technical aspect of a site, namely the actual design. I thought that would be easy as well. It isn't. The specifics of where elements should be placed, what color they should be, etc. is also a daunting task once you actually sit down to start making a template.

But I am moving forward. I am also giving myself a deadline, as this is theoretically a project that could go on and on. April. That's when I want to 'go live'. We will see how close I come to meeting that goal and whether I think the final result is attractive enough to have me want to use it to serve my work up to the world.

B&W Magazine Award

I am quite proud to have been awarded a "Bronze Award" in this years B&W Magazine Single Image Issue! I have posted the image before, though the submission to B&W obviously required a conversion to black and white.

"Stairwell"
Copyright Howard Grill

In addition, friend (though we have never actually met....one of the wonders of the internet) and fellow photography blogger Andy Ilachinski had not one, but two images published in that same issue! Check out his thought provoking and exceedingly well written blog here. It is a regular on my reading list.

Murals

I have previously posted about the fact that I like taking photos of interesting wall murals. I recently had the opportunity to make this photo of a terrific mural in Braddock, PA. I love the way the city scene becomes the woman.

City And Woman
Copyright Howard Grill

Quick Quotes: David DuChemin

"Remember that technical perfection rarely moves the soul."

David DuChemin

A quote today from David DuChemin's new Lightroom book (which I have reviewed in a prior post). Not that DuChemin is eschewing technical excellence....in fact just the opposite is true. The quote, when taken in context, refers to the fact that technical excellence alone is not enough to allow an image to elicit a meaningful response.

More Fall Abstracts

Back in October, I wrote about a desire to make some abstract images related to the fall season and posted an example. I did have a chance to pursue this to some extent and scattered throughout the next few weeks thought I would share a few examples. Here is the first of these type of images that I thought was successful.

Fall Impressions II
Copyright Howard Grill

Needless to say, with these abstracts (this one being made by having the camera on a tripod but moving the comera downwards during a long exposure) there is a lot of trial and error until obtaining a photograph that seems 'right' and expresses a feeling that you would like to convey.

Fallen Leaf

This is the first image that I have processed since reading David DuChemin's Lightroom book that I reviewed in my last post. In doing so, I took a lot of his suggestions to heart. For example, in this image I first asked myself what drew my eye to the scene and used that information to help direct me through the image processing.

Leaf And Wooden Door
Copyright Howard Grill

Here, I was drawn to the way the wood of the door as well as the metal of the rusted hinge had an old and deep wrinkled texture that was similar to that of the leaf. In addition, I liked the way the yellow of the old paint on the door echoed the yellow in the leaf and the way the orange of the rusted hinge echoed the red of the leaf. Finally, I was intrigued that the green paint of the door symbolized the color of the leaf before its turning color and that the yellow paint was coming from underneath the green paint. Lots of echoing and symbolism going on here.

So, based on those thoughts, I knew that I wanted to emphasis the texture of the wood, leaf, and rusted metal in post-processing. I also wanted the colors saturated, though not so much that they appeared unnatural and, since the main point for the viewer's eye to be drawn towards was the leaf, I wanted the saturation of the paint to be somewhat less than that of the leaf.

I also used these thoughts to guide my cropping. Given that I wanted to display the leaf in the setting of the old door and for viewers to compare the inanimate to the living, I left enough of the door in the image so that it became a recognizable portion of it and not simply a backdrop onto which the leaf could be displayed.

Going through these thought processes are quite helpful in directing one's self down a specific route or two as opposed to the endless possibilities that exist when first opening a RAW file.

Vision And Voice

There are many books on Lightroom 'out there' and though some are better than others they are, for the most part, pretty similar. This slider is for this, that slider is for that, be careful pushing slider x above 70 etc. Not that such books aren't useful....they surely are for people who are unfamiliar with the software or are beginners in how to develop an image from RAW format.

But recently there appeared on the scene a totally different type of Lightroom book entitled Vision & Voice: Refining Your Vision in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom (Voices That Matter) by David DuChemin. DuChemin's purpose in writing the book is not to show the reader how to use Lightroom but, rather, to demonstrate how Lightroom can be used to express one's photographic vision.

The book starts out with a discussion about artistic vision and it's expression, moves on to a discussion about how to use Lightroom as interpretive software to give voice to one's vision, and then uses 20 photographs to demonstrate 'real-life' examples of the prior discussion (the RAW files are also available for download to more carefully follow their development). To be clear, this is not a book of recipes or presets, it is a book that aims at nothing short of starting the reader off on a journey to think more carefully about what they are trying to express with their photography and to enable them to translate that expression into the final print.

This book is quite different from any other Photoshop or Lightroom books that I have read and I highly recommend it as a 'must have'. (Truth in advertising.....as an Amazon associate I get a few cents credited to my account if you click on the above link and end up purchasing the book).

Website Planning

It goes without saying that a photographer needs a website to share his or her work with the world. Many years ago, I had coded a website using a program called Namo Web Editor. It was, in my opinion, a reasonable site for that era but was a bit difficult to update and I found myself not adding to it as much as I would have liked.

Some years later, I purchased a template for an artist's website with plans to build my site based on that template. However, I found that the template contained so many options that I was going into the code to eliminate or change these options and that I was likewise changing code to allow more images to be posted to the galleries. The exercise became frustrating and I abandoned it.

I ended up moving my website over to Visual Server with one of their online artist's templates, forcing my vision into their options. This has served reasonably well, but I still find myself wanting more from a website and have been thinking about building my own, from scratch, by learning how to use Dreamweaver.

I know that, given time limitations, it might take awhile to complete the project and thought that I would, intermittently, write some posts about the process. My initial step is to think carefully about what I want out of a website and what is not being provided by my current host, while trying to incorporate 'best practices' for a new site.

Here are some of the thoughts that I had regarding the 'big picture' planning of the site:

1) First and foremost, I believe it is important to keep it simple and clean looking. Flashy with lots of bells and whistles might be useful for some type of sites, but I believe that for a photo site the images, and not the platter on which they are served up, should be what speak . Additionally, a lot of fancy add-ons don't necessarily function well on all platforms.

2) Easy navigation. I dislike when I get to some sites and I can't figure out what to do next.

3) Set it up so that it will look good on multiple platforms and screen resolutions, to the extent that this is possible.

4) Able to be easily updated.

5) Because of the frequency and consistency of my blog posting, my blog has more visits and has higher Alexa rankings than my website. I would like to be able to integrate my blog into my website. I am not certain if this is still easier to do with WordPress than Blogger, though I know this used to be the case.

6) Have the ability to make PDF files available for download.

7) Have the ability to add on audio and video files should I wish to make these available in the future.

8) I believe that telling 'the story' behind the photograph helps viewers to become involved with an image and would like to have an opportunity to present 'the stories', in brief, along with the images.

This is likely going to be a slow moving and long term undertaking. I would certainly appreciate any comments, tips, ideas etc from those that have already worked through this type of website building project!

Exposure Bracketing With Canon Cameras

This post is going to be a bit on the technical side and specific to Canon cameras, which I am sure will interest some readers but give others a big yawn. Nonetheless, here we go.

In a past post, I reviewed the Promote Control device which can be used for HDR exposure bracketing since Canon cameras are (seemingly purposefully) hindered by the limitation of only being able to do a three exposure auto-bracket. In addition, if one is bracketing by 1 EV then the most you can auto-bracket is up to +/- 3 EV. In order to bracket to +/- 4 EV you must bracket in 2 EV increments. All in all, it makes HDR bracketing inordinately and unnecessarily complex. In my review, I mentioned that the Promote Control simply did not fit very well into my workflow and for that reason I had returned my unit.

Another partial solution for Canon users has been to use 'Custom Settings', of which three are able to be pre-programmed into the camera. When using these, you could, for example, pre-program +/- 4EV bracketing into the camera and save the setting so that by simply turning a knob on top of the camera the +/- 4EV autobracket is set.

By setting one Custom setting like this and another at o,-1, -2 EV one could conceivably take an autobracket at +1, +2, +3 then switch the custom setting knob to do 0, -1, -2, then switch again to do -4, 0, +4 and then take one image at -3.....well, you get the point. If one wants a series of 1 EV bracketed images to +/- 4 it gets far too complicated.

It gets a bit easier if you want to go with 2EV units and shoot -2, 0 +2 and then 0, +4, -4 but even then you have to use at least one Custom Setting or go back into the menu. In experimenting with the Custom Settings, I have found that the white balance, ISO, aperture etc that the Custom Setting installs are the ones that were there when the Custom Setting was saved, as opposed to drawing these values from the otherwise current camera settings. For someone like me, who not infrequently screws up a setting by not being careful, this is a recipe for disaster. I am sure that I would inevitably end up with a useless autobracketed series with different apertures, ISO etc than my original bracket settings.

All in all, despite the fact that I really enjoy using my Canon gear, I feel that Canon has really left those of us that use many of their models with a mess when it comes to HDR imaging. And the mess, I would think, is easily fixable in firmware if Canon did not want to cripple their non-1 series dSLRs in this way. With Nikon making so many gains and competing with Canon so well, I really am surprised that they have not fixed this. Were I currently purchasing a digital system, I would have to seriously consider going with Nikon for this reason alone.

Quick Quotes: Ansel Adams

"There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs"

Ansel Adams

Though it is an 'old' and frequently used quote, this one seems quite timely given my last post about making fall abstract photographs. It can be both enjoyable and productive to break the rules. Of course, first you have to learn the rules so that you know what it is you are breaking. The more you know about what you are breaking the more likely you are to emerge with something interestingly different!

Fall Abstracts

One of the things I would like to try to do this fall season is to make some unusual and abstract fall images along with some of the more straightforward ones. This particular abstract was made by moving the camera back and forth at an angle during the exposure while it was still mounted on the tripod.

"Fall Abstract I"
Copyright Howard Grill

These types of abstracts are really quite easy and fun to make. And with digital you can make tons of images and pick out the one from the many that seems to have come out 'just right'.

Quick Quotes: Bob Dylan

Beauty walks a razor's edge.

Bob Dylan
Lyric From "Shelter From The Storm"

I was listening to Bob Dylan's "Shelter From The Storm" (that happens when you were a kid in the 60's and early 70's) and was drawn to this line from the song. I guess it is open to a bit of interpretation, but I find it very apropos to photography and the the arts in general. It speaks to me regarding one's appreciation of various forms of art. The more I think about, it the more I find different meanings in the words.

Get The Hell Outta' Bed III

I have previously written two posts about dragging one's self out of bed to make early morning sunrise photographs. Those prior two posts can be read here and here. I mentioned I would occasionally post some more images from that one morning.

"Gone Fishing"
Copyright Howard Grill

It is amazing how productive some trips out are (and, of course, how unproductive....but always enjoyable....they can sometimes be in terms of coming away with good images).

15 Composition Tips

A short post today with a link to some inspirational thoughts about composition.

Here are 15 great tips for photographic composition by photographer Alain Briot that are definitely worth reading.

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.