Letting Your Work Breath

Good Monday from Prospect.

My favourite of the set. Processed through Nik Silver Efex.

This one comes out of a long and frustrating winter for me. I'm not a fan of winter shooting so I tend to shoot indoors and spend time going back over the years work.

I also take the time to update myself on new gear and software. Honing the skill set is always a good thing.

What I want to address is all those images we keep that don't make our first cuts. 

As all photographers know we hold onto, no, protect, every image we ever shoot, unless of course they are pure black or white.

It's not that they totally suck but are rather just over looked in comparison to what we had in mind when shooting. Sometimes we just over look a few gems.

There is a value in allowing your work breath. Taking a moment to go back and search for those images you may have passed over.

For instance here's one that, although I thought was okay but not great, turned out to be a wonderful image. When I went back to the RAW files, yup the Raw ones, I realized how good and interesting it is.

If this had been just a jpeg and fully processed I never would have had the opportunity to reprocess and bring out what truly makes it good.

This is the original (as shot). (ISO 100, f6.7, 1/180sec at 35mm)

I thought it was okay but I was more interested in everything else

I shot that day to put it up front

I regularly shoot RAW + JPEG. The Jpeg allows me to quickly and effectively meet short deliveries (especially when I need an image for social sharing) or to discuss the final goal with my client. I can even set my jpeg small enough to email, right out of the box, then go to the RAW and process for high res delivery. Yes this may take a bit more space but compared to duplicating files for back-up it's minimal.

Learned my lesson in 2010 following the New7Wonders of Nature campaign, for the Bay of Fundy Tourism Partnership, advisory week events. Fortunately we made wifi stops on the road so I could process in the car until we arrived at an access point. But now I can shoot the jpeg, upload it to my ipad, attach a description and email from anywhere I have 3G. 

Slight HDR processing makes this a great colour shot,
but I think the B&W is best. Comment and tell me your choice.

Wish I had that when we were covering the event. To meet the on road demand I had to quickly update my laptop so I had enough power to process on the road and connect to the hotspots. I had a G4 Powerbook that just wasn't up to the task and ended up buying the last MacBook Pro available in Halifax and prep it over night to hit the road the next day (one of those last minute things).

I know it seems a bit much but you have to be prepared to meet the clients requests. Fortunately I was prepared for an upgrade, just not that one. I had just added an iMac (planned to process the images when I got back not on the road) and wanted to hold off on the laptop upgrade until I figured out what would fit best. Don't get me wrong, this macbook is great, just a little over kill. A mac air would have done as great a job beefed up to my needs and smaller to carry. Oh well, next one.

Any way, to get back on topic, here's what the original looked like. Not a wonder but has potential. I recently opened this up in Nik Silver Efex Pro and did a BW conversion. I don't know if you agree with me but what a difference. Diamond in the rough for sure.

So let your work breath. Go back over them during times of the year you're not shooting, like the dead of winter, and don't be afraid to experiment. Above all shhot those in RAW and you'll find you have a lot more to work with than you thought you did.

Enjoy, Derek

So where have I been lately

Good Tuesday from Prospect.

7:00 AM in Prospect. The fog doing it's down the river dance.

The geometry is beautiful

Now this is a September morning

Okay so here's the thing. Been a little busy working again. It's that eating thing I can't shake.

I haven't posted since August and I said I'd stay on it. I certainly have been thinking about it and I've been nagged to get it moving let me tell you.

On top of that, working on private projects automatically invokes an unspoken non-disclosure. At least until the project is done.

So, while I'm waiting to be able to share what I've been up to with you I'll fire in some photos from Prospect Bay.

I love the geometry of our little bay here in Nova Scotia along with the ever changing weather conditions.

Couldn't resist throwing this one in from August
What can I say, I love em

This summer has been amazing. Wonderful weather and lots of photo ops. Even the fog has been entertaining and co-operative.

Hopefully I'll be sharing some cool stuff shortly. It's all about clearance on ongoing projects.

Well I hope you enjoy these.

Derek

Road Trip!

Good Wednesday from Prospect.

Three Amigos on the Road

So, Monday found me sitting inside watching the rain on another natal day. Kinda appreciated the cooler air from the weather. The two days before were hot and humid as most of the summer has turned into this year. Not complaining mind you, just it's tough sweating while standing still.

No the beach isn't full of rocks, just this one's interesting

Any way, as the day went on things started to clear, just enough for me to get ants in my pants and off the three of us went (my wife, my youngest daughter and me). Thought a drive on the south shore of Nova Scotia would work. By chance, seems to be the by chance thing I do when I get ants in my pants, Ha, ha. 

We ended up in Bayswater. It's a provincial park, so there are life guards and facilities on hand. A great out of the way, grey sand, open ocean, beach past the hectic, crowded and popular, Queensland beach, heading west off Highway 333 towards Blandford and Chester.

The water was just right to cool off and soak our feet. Well, what else do you do at a beach anyway? Besides, us three amigos enjoyed ourselves. Pics attached. Only hints of the beach though, you've got to explore it yourself, it's worth it.

Enjoy, Derek.

What else do you do at the beach
(Think I should go barefoot a bit more often to tan them suckers)

Amigos chillin at the beach

Prospect sailing and skys at dusk

Good Thursday from Prospect. 

Just got back from a great sail from here to Halifax (RNSYS) today. It was another great one (second in two weeks). 

Prospect dusk sky, June 28 2012

Weather after unsettled conditions usually means good wind but lumpy seas. Today was no exception. 1-2 meter swells with 15-20 knots gust to 25.

Well I'll tell you what, if you don't dig clouds than you won't dig this. Since it's been a little stormy and unsettled here lately, here's what our sky painted for us this evening.

This pic is facing due south at dusk. Can you see the moon peaking out. Can't say I've seen too many greenish horizons.

Enjoy, Derek.

A York Redoubt stroll

Good Wednesday from Prospect. 

Took a quick trip to York Redoubt today. It's a historical Park which used to be a fortification just south of Halifax. It's a beautiful spot to walk and the view of Halifax approaches and MacNabs Island is stunning.

I went with a dear friend, Ann. She wanted to take her dog Sima for the afternoon walk and asked if I'd tag along. I hadn't been there in a while and since I was armed with a camera, and some free time, I said yes. Always like to find some time to take pics.

Not a breath of air on top of that hill, which wasn't going to be good for the RNSYS wednesday night racing. Which by the way is easily viewed from York Redoubt if you're ever inclined to take that in. They usually start around 5:30 in the summer months and 6:00pm in the fall every Wednesday night.That will be a story for another day.

Anyway, I find those sort of Parks/Fortifications fascinating. They make me feel as if I was there at the time of their use. So when I photograph them I tend to show how they make me feel instead of shooting shiny touristy shots, if you catch my drift.

I've attached a good selection of the days shoot for you to enjoy. If you get a chance to visit, do so. It's a wonderful spot to take in a good stroll. Dog friendly as well, as you can see.

If you want to know more go here: http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/ns/york/index.aspx

Enjoy, Derek.

More Sky

Good Thursday from Prospect. 

In case you haven't noticed, I have a small fixation on cloud formations. 

Looking Northeast from Prospec

They tell us so much about our planet and without them, well, no rain. They also help cool us and protect us from the sun.

Here are a couple I found fascinating this evening and thought I would share. Yes I fiddled a bit.

Looking Straight up

Enjoy, Derek.

Angels of Prospect?

Between the fog, Angels 0ne (5D Mark II, 16-35 II f2.8)

Good Wednesday from Prospect.  So here are the two winners in the shoot on Friday the 11th.

One thing you should take into consideration when viewing, I'm shooting from a cemetery. Oooo, ha,ha.

I may just title them angels of Prospect, noting the history of the village.

Anyway, you'll also notice the difference in lighting on the buildings from the last time I shot here. The time of day is a little later so they aren't as pronounced. The available sunlight is now slightly forward and to the right placing this side of the buildings in the shadow, and the spread of fog doesn't help.

Between the fog, Angels Two (5D Mark II 50mm f 1.4)

I think you'll recall I had 13 minutes to get these so the time of day wasn't a choice. Rules are made to be broken I say, especially if mother nature says so.

BTW, these will at some point be printed and for sale. They will undoubtedly be around 42" wide, (with a max or 72" I'd expect).

I'll post when ready.

Enjoy, Derek.

After the Storm continued OR Timing, timing, timing!

May 11 Teaser

Good Friday from Prospect. Hey, got another chance at prospect. Not sure if this shoot will top the last one. I'll just have to go through them and see.

In the meantime, here are some teasers. 

The one thing about shooting these is "TIMING". The fog started to lift, at 11:00 am, so I grabbed my gear (always packed to run), got in the car and flew to the village, It's about 4 miles (6.5k) from my house and that may give me enough time to catch the light and clearing.

You see, one thing you need to be aware of about eastern coastal landscape photography, you may get 15 or even 20 minutes for the shot (just like sunset and sunrise). If you're not there you don't get the pic.

13 minutes later

I arrived at 11:22am this morning. Grabbed my camera and through lens one on (50mm f1.4). Set the filter, placed it on the monopod, (no time for tripods today), got to my favourite knoll and started shooting. Between 11:22 and 11:35 the available shooting view went from great to socked in. See the teasers I posted. I did get through two lens changes to grab everything I could.

Note, I left my house at 11:19 where it was just clearing. By the time I got back to my place (11:48) the fog had already moved inland 4 miles.

By the time I got back home

The point here is simple. Landscape photography takes patience and timing. You can either sit and wait or be prepared to run to the spot to get that pic. For these I could: A: Sit and wait for the midday sun to burn enough off to get that shot. B: Move there and set up a permanent tripod or C: Just be aware of when the change will occur and run when it's ready.

But ultimately, the successful photographer is the one that's there.

Have a great weekend.

Enjoy, Derek.

The Direction of the Camera?

f2.8, 1/5 sec ISO 100 hand held   B&W converted in Photoshop (that's Clapton on the tube. "Crossroads 2010"

Good Tuesday from Prospect. Today I'd like to talk about where we're going with the technology of Photography.

As some of you know, I've just done the switch over/ upgrade to Canon. Specifically a 5D Mark II a bunch of the good glass needed to use one of these "pro" set-ups.

To be brief, for those of you out of the know, I studied using Pentax gear like everyone else in the 70's. It was the camera of choice to learn with. All manual with no gimmicks to get in the way of great pics. Well many years later, when I finally decided to go digital, Pentax seemed to be the logical choice. Especially since everything was C-size sensor, I had some good Pentax Glass and I didn't need big fast sports gear (didn't have those 10s of thousands of bucks to invest anyway).

Since then the technology has advanced so far we've pretty well reached what I think is the pinnacle of the DSLR. With Canon driving it's hardware to productive heights in still and video photography (I mean 14fps in full frame (1DX) and 4K video (1DC) and Nikon pushing at Medium format with the D800 at 36mp.

So where will this all go for the average joe? Just this weekend past I think I've seen it.

I was looking for a camera that would allow me a little more stealth in my photographic endeavours. If you've ever experienced the way people look at you when you are shooting in public with that honking DSLR you'll know what I mean. They either want in the shot, try to avoid you thinking you are on a shoot and don't want to ruin it for you or want something from you if you shoot them. Some actually are offended that they are being photographed at all.

The solution has always been go small and stealthy, so to speak. But, unless you could cough up a lung to pay for a digital Leica you were stuck with small point and shoots with their tiny sensors, awful lenses and awful controls. These won't do for anyone but the snap happy pic taker. You know the one. All pics are out of focus, heads are chopped off and scenes of mountains in ways I've never seen them in real life.(My mother in law has a million of these pics.) Now don't get me wrong, I don't want to offend anyone with one of these. In most cases it's the family camera that can be afforded and it does capture that birthday/christmas/graduation event even though a dozen years later no one can make out who's in it. It's the equivalent of the compact camera we had when I was young. Any way that's a whole story in itself.

I want to address what the serious photographer needs in a stealth camera and those just won't do, not for me anyway. 

A serious photographer is usually a little bit of a control freak. He/she wants to control how that shot is being captured and conscious of how to create the image in mind. He/she only wants it to make choices when we say so. And the quality has got to be there to print BIG.

 Off camera flash (Canon 580EXII) f2.8 1/15sec ISO 400

Well after reading all the hype over the Fuji X100 and the Canon G1X I had to check them out. All I can say is WOW. Full manual control of aperture, shutter speed, ISO, white balance, off camera flash with 1/250 sec sync 10 and 14 mps and JPEG and RAW formats. What more can I ask for.

These are just like putting that Pentax K1000 in my hands. When I walked around town with that camera nobody bothered with me and I shot just about anything. Along with that the picture quality is fabulous rivalling just about any entry level DSLR and coming close to a few Pro-consumer versions. And it fits in my pocket.

Lately, we've been hearing about "street" photography. This is supposed to be the next great genre of photography. Well sorry to disappoint, we've been doing it for years. It's just recent that photographers are understanding what they need in hand to get it done, inconspicuously.

f13, 1/60 sec, ISO 125 built in 1 stop ND filter

Well these new C-size point and shoots are making it happen.

Besides these two there is a raft of what are being called "mirror-less" DSLRs at price points that reach the pro-sumer DSLRs. These will do a great job as well but, sorry, regardless of how cool I would think it would be to have one, I can't bring myself to spend that much bread for another system with all the specialty glass needed to use one. STEALTH not more to carry around is the game here. The X100 and G1X have fixed lenses that can't be changed (G1X is a zoom (15.1 - 60mm) and will accommodate a 58mm filter set including polarizer with the adapter from Canon and X100 is 23mm I believe, 49mm filters with a few tricks to get it installed).

But to say that these new advances in point and shoots and mirror-less systems will replace the Pro DSLR is a bit of a stretch for me right now.

Sensor size, physical size to accommodate the buttons that easily control the camera are two factors that will hold them back for a bit. It's like using a "Motorola Krazer" in a hand of my size. Looks like a toy and don't even think I could use those tiny buttons. Thank goodness for voice recognition. I had one for a while and hated it. To my chagrin, It ended up wet I believe, ha,ha.

f2.8 1/125 sec, ISO 100 built in 1 stop ND filter

But mark my words they will slide in someday. In the meantime I'm going to shoot my 5D for everything serious and grab that G1X on my way out the door to have a camera in hand at all times. Who knows what awaits the "stealthy photographer" If he keeps his eyes open.

As I've always said, the best photographer is the one that was there.

The shots I've posted are from the G1X I picked up on Saturday. The black and white was the 8th frame.

If you want to find out more about these the guys I've linked to on the right, all have lengthy reviews. Rockwell reviews both.

Have a good one and…

Until then, Enjoy, Derek.

In Anticipation of an After Storm Shoot

Good Monday from Prospect. Okay, so I was psyched to shoot Prospect after the storm on Saturday. Unfortunately as any photographer knows, if you are shooting the great outdoors you are at mother natures mercy. 

Stormy Clouds overhead 5D markII  f11, 1/15, ISO 50

Well Saturday's weather was no exception. Wind blew alright, straight out of the North West and brought with it solid cloud cover and chilly temps. Not much coming with that sky, just white and grey and not much contrast either.

5D mark II f11, 1/30, ISO 50

But, since I was in anticipation I had shot a few cloud backgrounds for my stock the evening before. The light was great with the cloud cover trying to break with the 35 knot breezes from the south east. Wonder where these will end up. Maybe on their own.

Anyway, as time will have it, that opportunity will present itself again and who knows what I'll find once again on the Great East Coast of Canada.

Tomorrow I may put my 2 cents worth in on where photographic technology may be headed.

Until then, Enjoy, Derek.

And the WINNER is!

Part 2 of todays shoot. You saw the out of camera originals, now here are the final shots I was looking for the day. Which is your favourite?

Click on the LINK to see it LARGER. Check out the ducks flying in on the right.

Hope you like them. Derek

A little "Creative" HDR

Bryan's GTI

Here's a subject talked about a bit lately. HDR and its use. HDR modelling is a great way to add interest to an image for artistic interpretation.

My wife and I have been doing the house hunt as of late and came across its use quite a lot for everyday images and I gotta say this to all the real estate guys out there. STOP USING IT! People don't find an in-camera HDR shot of the interior of a house looking appealing. It doesn't increase the appeal of a space, it makes it creepy.

In camera HDR is uncontrollable and usually results in something weird. If you want to show the outsides coming in through a window with the interior exposed correctly than shoot for the highlight and lighten the shadow with a flash or post process. Better yet close the blinds and get a shot of the outdoors separately.

Here's a shot or two I find perfect for the use of HDR modelling but not in the "add highlight detail" sense but as one more filter at my finger tips. Artistic expression or just cool poster, you be the judge. Note: these are meant to be viewed large.

Click image to view larger sizes or here for the banner version

One tip I'll add. Start with a properly exposed image. It's the detail that makes it.Enjoy and we'll see you tomorrow.