Miksang photography

Hi there,

I have recently taken a photographic course called 'Miksang'. Miksang is Tibetan for 'good eye' and the art was introduced by a Buddhist teacher that learnt several art forms including poetry and photography.

The idea is that one enters the world and awaits 'flashes of perception' that reveal the true nature of things. These perceptions are then caught on camera for others to experience. So, normally, when one walks down a road and sees a car or bus or person, your mind immediately labels them as a car, a bus, a person, and then goes on to judge them: I like the car, I don't care about the bus, I don't like the person. In Miksang, one stops the mind from labelling and judging images and simply allows one to see them as they are: for their colour, texture and for the light falling.

So, as one walks down a road, the sight of bright yellow with hues of blue catches your eye: it is the reflection on the side of a yellow car but you train your mind to only see the colours. One then stops and connects with this image that stopped you. You ask yourself what is it that actually stopped me? Was it only the yellow and the reflected blue or was it also the top part of the wheel, the side of the door. Once you have discerned the image, worked out what actually stopped you, you can see the composition in your mind. You then, at the last stage of the process, raise the camera and take the photo. In Miksang, photography is only 10% of the 'art'.

I have four images below that sort of gives you an idea as to what I mean. Comments on this style of photography are welcome but the photos are just examples and are not there to be rated. If you are interested, the website is www.miksang.net

Damian


The yellow and green contrast 'stopped me ' as I walked past this restaurant in Halifax.











The red colour of this discarded sweet against the grey stone caught my attention.

















I walked past a small car park and at the end was an old mattress with these blankets thrown on them. The image immediately held me there for a while. As I walked up I worked out what actually stopped me, framed the image in my mind and then took the photo. It was the combination of the colour, the texture of the blankets and the light falling on the mattress that stopped me.




I walked into a cafe and at the very end was this woman looking at the monitor. Again, this 'perception' stopped me completely. The blue dress, the drab wall colour, the monitors staring out, and the light. Oh, and her hand making the connection with the computer.

GRANT - WHERE ARE YOU????

Snapshot or Art?

An interesting article regarding snapshots versus art from the Luminous Landscape. I put these things on here, but no one ever comments.....sigh.

Ivan

April Assignment 2 - Portrait of Sue

What is the photo of/When was the photo taken/Where was the photo taken

This is a portrait of Sue (aka Dr Budge), taken on Sable Island at East Light in 2003.

Why was the photo taken

Because I thought the colours were great. Sue had just come in from the outside so her face was quite red from the cold and wind which gave a nice contrast against her blue jacket. The blue jacket also brought out the blue in her eyes. Her hair was dark which again added contrast. She had an interesting expression on her face.

Why was this composition chosen

I wanted a tight composition to focus on the face. The slight angle of the head and the direct stare at the camera, I think, catches the viewer's attention. I also liked the lazy left eye because it enhances the stare.

How was the photo taken

Taken with a Nikon Coolpix 4300, JPEG, sRGB, ISO400, 1/30s at f13.4, with a flash

How was the photo processed

1. I first cropped the photo to remove any background distractions.
2. I then adjusted the levels, added contrast using curves, and boosted the saturation and lightened the image a little.
3. Next I used the Magic Wand to select the jacket and boosted the blue by selecting the Blue Channel in Curves and pulling up the mid-section of the curve.
4. I then inverted the selection and boosted the red in the face using the same procedure but this time selecting the Red Channel.
5. Using the Polygon Lasso Tool I selected the left eye, boosted the blue a little and added some contrast, again using the Blue and the RGB channels in Curves. Opacity was set to 75%. I repeated this for the right eye.
6. Again using the Polygon Lasso Tool, I selected the teeth and using the Blue Channel in Curves I removed some of the yellow by pulling the curve up. Opacity was set to 75%.
7. I then selected the dark background and the hair using the Magic Wand and, using Curves, darkened it so to smooth the transition from the dark background to the dark hair.
7. Finally, I sharpened the image.
8. I added another layer and created a border around the photo. I used the Stroke tool to create a 10px wide white border. This was to add make the photo stand out against the black background of the web page.

Original




















Processed

Interesting articles on "The Luminous Landscape"

Guys (but especially Damian) - the articles under the "May 13" heading on The Luminous Landscape - and particularly the one about being an artist in business - may be interesting. I thought of Damian when I saw this.

Being an Artist in Business Article

Damo - call us before next Tuesday 23rd to make any final arrangements.

April Assignment - Fruit Man

Here is my contribution to the the portrait assignment.

I took the portrait assignment very literaly - I went looking for portraits of people. Pure and simple. Why? Because I have never done this. It forces you to think about the person as well as the image I think. With all due respect - an animal is a different proposition - you can get close or take 20 shots and they will not mind. However, walk up to a stranger who doesn't speak your language and get their permission to shove a point and shoot in their face was a learning experience for me. And one that showed the limitations of point and shoot and also the limitation I felt for original shots, it is very difficult to take a photo with a strangers prior permission without it looking staged...

What is the photo of/When was the photo taken/Where was the photo taken

A packer, porter of fruit and veg, Dubai Fruit And Veg Market at Ras Al Khor, April 7th 2006 approx 10.00am.

Why was the photo taken

I was looking for individuals with an expresive and experienced face, one that told some stories. I saw this guy and was taken aback with the stories his face told. Very hot, very tired - making a hard living.

Why was this composition chosen

The original shot was out of necessity. The guy had a huge trolly of produce and was working for probably a few dollars a day. I was this "rich" expat - I just had to take the shot as it was...

How was the photo taken

Sony DSC-S40, 1/200s / f/3.5 / ISO 400 / focal length 9mm

How was the photo processed

Adjusted white balance and colour balance with curves and histogram to identify exact white / black balance. Saturation of the red channel. Decided not to close crop as wanted the entire head dress to remain. However this meant there was a distracting background not adding to the image. Extracted the guy and created a new background layer. Duplicated the extraction several times to sharpen edges and then flattened. The background copy was blurred with gaussian blur to add some definition and depth to the image. Sharpened the guy to bring out the lines and sweat on his face / neck. Slightly lightened his beard and shirt.

Original image:



Processed image:



Grant

April Assignment - Seal Portrait

Hello there,

Here is my contribution to the the portrait assignment.

I guess Ivan was right when he thought I would post a seal portrait. I just happened to shoot a lot of seal portraits while on Sable for another project of mine. So here is my contribution.

What is the photo of/When was the photo taken/Where was the photo taken

A grey seal female, taken on Sable Island, Nova Scotia on 29 Dec 2005 at 1100am

Why was the photo taken

I was interested in shooting close up of shots of seals. This one looked pretty clean and had an interesting look about her.

Why was this composition chosen

I wanted to fill the image with the seal so I shot very close to her. I waited until she was vocalising at me so that she would look a little more interesting. And I wanted that full-on stare.

How was the photo taken
Canon 350D, EF 100-300mm lens, 1/200th at f8.0, RAW, AdobeRGB, ISO 100, focal length 250mm.

How was the photo processed

I adjusted white balance, exposure/shadows, levels and curves in Camera RAW. I tweaked the levels and curves in PS and added some saturation to bring out the colours, although this female was very light coloured. I then cropped the seal in half vertically and made sure that crop was tight and included only the seal head and a bit of the body. I then duplicated that image, flipped it over and joined that piece to the original crop to create a miror image. I did this because one half was more 'clean' than the other, the crop of the other half was not full of seal, and I wanted to create more of an impact.

Damian


Original













Processed

April Assignment - Portraits. "Cat"

Chaps,

My first entry into the belated April Portrait Assignment. Now you see why I said it was OK to have animal portraits...I knew I had this image, and was keen to work on it for this assignment. I think it qualifies as a portrait, so no apologies from me. I also knew that D would have some seal shots, and G may have camels...

What is the photo of/ When was the photo taken/ Where was the photo taken

Our next door neighbour’s cat (Jimmy) from our previous rental house in Cambridge. It was taken sometime in Autumn 2005 (October, I think).

Why was the photo taken

I’m not a cat fan (Sorry, G), but this cat won me over. Friendly, affectionate and very cute. He would come round and put his head down on the sill of the open patio door, all cute and expectant. I wanted to get some shots, as we were moving and so was he and his owner. I nearly kidnapped him…

Why was this composition chosen

Like all cats, he chose the composition! He rested his head on the sill of the patio door, and let me get in real close, and fire off lots of shots. I had in mind to do some PS work on it, so I knew I needed lots of shots, to make sure I got just the framing I wanted.

I wanted to crop in tight, and create a really intimate animal portrait, and this was my way of concentrating the attention on the face, the eyes, whiskers etc (more below).

How was the photo taken

I don’t have the camera (EXIF) data to hand, but it was wide aperture, moderate (1/50) shutter speed, lying down on my belly getting close in.

How was the photo processed

I have included the original, so you can see the amount of work that went into the final picture.














I wanted to create the impression of the face coming out of the darkness, so I copied a colour from the black of the cat, and, on a new layer, filled that in with the paintbucket tool. Then, using a blending layer mask, I blended the cat’s face to merge into that shadowy background. I also used various adjustment masks to improve contrast and colour etc, and used some selective masking to bring out the eyes and nose. I also used selective sharpening mask to sharpen the eyes and nose etc to further draw the attention in. I removed some gunk from the left (as you look at it) eye, but should have removed from the right too.

As ever, I await your valued critique.

Cheers
Ivan

Photoshop aids

Here are a couple of resources that you may consider to help your PS skills. They are set up as a daily email blog. Often, there are useful tidbits that you wouldn't find in a textbook...

http://www.planetphotoshop.com
http://www.timgrey.com/

Damian

Spinneys Man

What is the photo of

A 70 year old Pakistani gentleman in Dubai

When was the photo taken

31st March 2006, 2pm

Where was the photo taken

In a bank waiting room in Dubai UAE.

Why was the photo taken

In Dubai you see some faces from a far, you see the typical European expat in the malls, however when you really look, you see many more faces. This competition forced me to really look for the shots to take. This charming elderly man was 70 and had been in Dubai for over 30 years. Duabi as we know it today has really looked the way it has for max. 20 years, maybe 10. He has seen it all. And most likely had a hard time of it. His face told all. Yet he was very happy for me to take the shot. I have to say, the very nicest person to meet…

Why was this composition chosen

Simply because it was the only option available. This was an old stranger sitting in 35 degree heat. I had one chance to take a shot and did. The background was thankfully plain, the light was difficult in that extreme sunlight outside, yet dark interior room. Only option I had was to use flash.

How was the photo taken

I really had to think and take the shot fast, I was intruding on his time after all. I crouched down below his eye level, shot up, took one shot and thanked him. The intention was to frame him tight and in detail so as not to have to crop too hard with only a 4.1 meg camera.

How was the photo processed

ISO 200, f/3.5, 1/125s, focal length 8mm Levels balanced using histogram method. Flash shadow removed from behind shoulders. Colour tweaked to bring out colours. Sharpened with smart sharpen. Alternative b&w version created by removing selected colour channels and creating a desaturated layer with 20% opacity to allow a hint of colour to remain.

(This may end up being in the competition,but for now I am assuming I'll take more shots...)

Shelbourne Dory, Grand Manan, Canada

I posted this image a long time ago; I think it was last year. I would like it to be rated because I really like this photo and I did quite a bit of PS work on it.

What is the photo of -

Shelbourne dory

When was the photo taken -

02 August 2005, noon

Where was the photo taken -

Dark Harbour, Grand Manan, New Brunswick, Canada

Why was the photo taken -

I was hiking in this area with my camera and saw these boats. They looked so colourful. This one seemed to be in a great pose.

Why was this composition chosen -

I wanted the bright orange rope to lead the viewer into the picture. This led the viewer to the boat. The position of the boat is such that the eye continues on, sort of on a zig-zag path, to the background. The background fades out so as not to distract the eye away from the boat. There was also interesting seaweed in the water and a nice reflection from the boat so I wanted to capture that too.

How was the photo taken -

Nikon Coolpix 4300. 150th sec at f7.6, exposure bias of -0.3 (to bring out the details in the water); ISO 100; sRGB; JPEG. I shot with a fast shutter speed to blur the background. However, this was quite easy to do since it was a little foggy on this day.

How was the photo processed -

I have included the original photo in this submission because I painstakingly removed a large object; the outboard motor. I was happy with leaving it in but many friends told me to remove it. I think it took me three tries to remove it successfully; perhaps four. This was my first real test of my photoshop skills. I used a combiniation of tools: I cut and pasted areas; I used the spot healing brush set to an elliptical shape to give a smoother 'heal'; and I used the patch tool. After removing the engine, I had to replace the missing section of rope. I used the colour replacement tool to remove the shadow that the engine had created.

A few friends also suggested removing the blue plastic bucket hanging inside the boat. I decided not to because this gives a nice splash of colour.

Once this was completed, I did a slight crop to remove excess water; especially around the vertical sides of the boat. I then did basic adjustments to the photo: adjusted levels, curves, saturation. Shadows and highlights helped to bring out the seaweed a little more. Finally I sharpened the image.

Damian

April's Assignment - a short delay

Guys

Due to bad planning on my behalf, can we extend the timeline for the April Assignment (Portraits) until Friday 05 May? I've not had time to get to it with all the DIY going on in our house, and I have some time off this week too, so no chance of getting in on time for me.

Don't let this stop you all submitting whenever, but perhaps the dearth of entries means we are all up against it a bit...?Let me know what you think (note: as it's my gig this month, I'm taking until 05 May anyway, but this has been dressed up to look like a request....!).

The Critical Eye (as Damo calls me)

Photo Ratings: Ranking

A quick reference on photos posted and ranked since inception of the ranking system.

Note:

If a post had 2 photos, only the higher ranked shot has been included.
If a photo was ranked twice, the original rank was taken.
The mean average was used, if a photo had 1 rank only then this was used.

Comments? I think this throws up interesting results...

Shadowman – Average score – 7.45
comments
photo

The Old Man And The Sea – Average Score – 7.35
comments
photo

Cambridge Punt – Average Score – 7.25
comments
No link to photo. Ivan - please provide if possible (imbedded in original post I think)

Minnis Bay, Kent – Average Score – 7
comments
photo

Stunted Pine Trees – Cyprus – Average Score – 6.15
comments
photo

Looking From A New Angle (Photo 4) – Average Score – 6
comment
photo

"Crocuses - arrival of spring in Nova Scotia” (Photo 1) – Average Score – 5.8
comments
photo

Dinosaur – Average Score – 5.8
comments
photo

Stunted pine trees - Cyprus

This photo involved more digital manipulation than I am used to. However, I like the end result. I could take it much further but I am not entirely comfortable with that yet. Would love to hear your comments.

What is the photo of

Stunted pine trees

When was the photo taken

June 2005, at noon

Where was the photo taken

Troodos Mountains, Cyprus

Why was the photo taken

There was an immediate appeal; the stunted pine trees looked like they had a story to tell. They looked beaten from the harsh weather. I wanted to capture that.

Why was this composition chosen

The opening of the trees provided an 'eye' into the background, reavealing the other trees and giving a sense of scale and distance. The tree in the foreground provided a nice frame for the image. Although there is another opening to the left, I don't find this distracting. I tried various crops, including one that forced a square crop, but in each case I preferred the original composition.

How was the photo taken

Photo was taken with a Nikon Coolpix 4300. I don't have camera settings. ISO 100; sRBG; jpg format.

How was the photo processed

The levels were adjusted in PS, a contrast curve was added, and shadows/highlights were adjusted followed by a sharpening. I then used the Colour Replacement tool to tediously remove the blue haze around the twigs in the upper part of the photo. I still wasn't entirely happy with the final image (some areas seemed blurred) so I applied the Orton technique as given in the website that Ivan recently directed us too. I applied a screen blend set to opacity 100%. Duplicated the image. For the duplicate I applied a Gaussian Blur set to a pixel radius of 20. I then moved this duplicate over the first image and applied a blend:multiply. I flattened the image and then finally applied another levels set to screen with the opacity down to 20% just to lighten the whole image a little. I also did a little more work on the blue haze around the twigs.

So, let me know what you think. Damian

The Competition

Check out this website for some stunning images, and a measure of what really amazing photography is all about....

Cropping the Seal and the Sea

Damian

This is what I was getting at - crop out the distracting dull sky, shave a little off the bottom of the featureless beach (leaving enough to show that the seal is sitting on a beach), and you have a more powerful panoramic-style composition. Even if you put this in a standard black matt, you could have a black border top and bottom to blend in with the matt for sale. It would be a shame if picture sizes needed to be standard, and that negatively affected the impact of this powerful image.

The Old Man and the Sea

What is the photo of

An adult male grey seal resting on a beach

When was the photo taken

22nd Jan 2006 1100am, during a storm

Where was the photo taken

Sable Island, Nova Scotia, Canada

Why was the photo taken

When I saw this chap, 'sitting' on the beach, and the stormy looking sea, the image just said something to me. It gave me this feeling of an old fisherman looking out onto the sea where he has spent most of his livelihood. There was a connection between the seal and the sea. Perhaps this is just me. I was going to post this photo earlier and then deleted it because I didn't think it was worthwhile, but each time I look at this photo it just speaks to me. So I am wondering how others perceive it.

Why was this composition chosen

The composition was chosen to emphasise this 'link' between the seal and the sea. So I wanted the viewer to see the whole body and the head of the seal looking out on to the stormy sea.

How was the photo taken

1/160th, f16.0, focal length 80mm. Shot in RAW, Adobe RGB.

How was the photo processed

Pretty basic adjustments. White balance, exposure, shadows, saturation and curves adjusted in Camera RAW. Levels, shadow/highlights, saturation tweeked in PS and a slight contrast added. Finally sharpened.

Damian

Yet another crop - looking at details

Seometimes, when all else fails, and you can't find a suitable crop per your original thought of the image, go for extreme detail. I've tried this with your camel shot, to focus on the jockey, his hands (both in shot, lucky), rope, cloth detail etc.

I would appreciate your considered views on this.

I

A Tutorial - My tuppence worth...

Grant, Damian

I agree with Damian about getting in tight to the core interest in the image, but I wouldn't have cropped off half the camel's head. I'd have either left it out totally (and assumed the nature of the man's dress suggests a camel) or - as I think is better still - leave the head and the length of the neck in, cropping in a square format. I tried a few other crops, but this one worked best for me, with the whole camel head and neck.

If I had more time, I'd have cloned out the other small distraction bottom left sticking out of the camels neck, using the clone tool and sampling from the sky. The sky is nice blue and fits in well with the desert/camel theme, so it's fine as a backdrop. Nothing intersects the scene if cropped, and I see you removed the pylons too (nice).

I have not colour balanced the image, but the original is a bit red. Your manipulated images seems a bit the other way (slightly blue), but that could be because all our screens are differently calibrated, so comparisons are not valid on subtleties like this, unless we all have the same monitor profiles.

I think cropping square makes good use of the jockey, the camel and it's neck, and the colours of the towel etc. The pose - although clearly posed - is still quite relaxed, and the jockey'a arm makes a nice flow from his head to the camels head, and then the neck takes you - well me, anyway, around the bottom of the image to the colour and textures of the cloth, completing the eye's "review" of the scene. Square format - typically used in medium format film work - has a different spatial dynamic to landscape, portrait or panoramic, and I think this tight circular composition works well in the symmetrical square format.

It's also good that the camel and the jockey are looking at the photographer, and this can't be exploited if half the head is cropped in my opinion. It should either be all in or all out. If the other camels had been positioned differently, I think your horizontal crop - which I like - would have been stronger still. Or, if there had been another jockey or element to balance the image.
Nice picture.

Hope this is useful

Response to the tutorial - a tight crop

Grant,

Not sure if this works, but I am being rather daring here in my cropping. I asked myself what is it that appeals to me; what jumps out. To me, the main part of the image is the man's head and the fact that he is sitting on a camel. The camel's head is secondary and so can be cropped. The viewer's eye knows that this is a camel so doesn't need to see the all of the head. By cropping so closely one simplifies the image right down to its core. You can ask yourself the question 'what exactly am I trying to show to the viewer'. What is it about this image that is so appealing to me. Why did I shoot this image. If you have a clear vision, then it is perhaps easier to achieve what you want.

Please tell me what you think. Damian

A tutorial...

Just a small experiment. One of my first uses of CS2 and also to illustrate a previous question on backgrounds - to take or not...

Please don't feel you have to rate this, it is not 100% finished yet, I am look for a tutorial type reply. Should I have shot this, what could I have done different with the shot or the post process? Is it worth work or am I trying to create something that was not there to begin with...

Original shot from camera:




The worked on shot:






What is the photo of

A camel jockey and his camels...

When was the photo taken

31st March 2006, 1pm

Where was the photo taken

Nad Al Sheba Camel Pens, Dubai.

Why was the photo taken

Out experimenting with locations and shots, trying to get in close, using the point and shot, but having little success with compostions and backgrounds...

Why was this composition chosen

As I mentioned in a previous question, the question was whether to take the shot even though I know the backgroun let it down.

How was the photo taken

The Sony point and shoot, 1/500, white balance sunny, ISO set to 200.

How was the photo processed

Level balanced using highlight and shadow points identified with threshold layer. Slight boost to the curve, cloned out the pylons. Added blue gradient for the sky, dodged out the jockey. Cropped. Should probably sharper using smart sharpen...

New Canon 30D - upgrade to the 20D.

Me want...

Dinosaur

I would be keen for some constructive words on the image below. I am not entirely satisfied by the image but would like to read your thoughts on it.

What is the photo of

The ruins of a wharf or boat taken from the otherside of a river

When was the photo taken

2nd August 2005 at 1300

Where was the photo taken

Dark Harbour, Grand Manan, New Brunswick, Canada

Why was the photo taken

When I saw this ruin it immediately reminded me of the backbone of a dinosaur. I took several photographs, including one that isolates the ruin from the surroundings, but I like this shot because it adds other elements: the seaweed along the bank, the raging river, the different colouration in the pebbles and the finally the ruin itself. I am a little concerned that there is too much in this photo.

Why was this composition chosen

I wanted to add a certain depth to the photo, rather than isolate the ruin itself. There were so many neat elements in front of me but I chose three to lead the viewer toward the ruin: the seaweed bank, river, ruin.

How was the photo taken

I shot the photograph in B/W at 1/1000 sec at f2.8 with a Nikon Coolpix 4300.

How was the photo processed

Levels were adjusted, a slight curve added to boost contrast. Another layer (using levels) was created and the blend mode set to Multiply at opacity 25. A gradient mask was added to this layer so that it only darkened the sky. The whole image was sharpened. A crop was applied which removed a slice of the left vertical part of the image. This created a horizontal flow to the image, moving from left to right; this works well with the river and the ruin. A crop was also applied to the bottom of the image to remove some of the seaweed/bank.

Damian

Our Blog is evolving nicely, I think.

Guys

I think the Blog has taken a significant step forward, with the introduction of Damian's more rigourous submission and review of posts - nice one, D. The added rigour and the need to think about our submissions more is great.

Also, we are starting to get good interaction on photographic technique and composition, and I really hope this continues. This will help us all, as we no longer work in isolation.

I encourage us all to post our thoughts on any topic, but to make them ones that will encourage discussion and debate.

Looking forward to seeing the first entries in the April Assignment too - that's exciting.

Cheers, and have a great weekend (G, I guess yours has already started...being Friday and all).

Ivan

What is acceptable digital manipulation?

This is an interesting topic. Everyone has a different view on this, and it likely depends on which "school" of photography you subscribe to.

First of all, let me start with my position: I am a fully 100% digital convert, and I think anything goes to get the image you envisage - as long as you say what you've done to get the image.

For example, is it OK to digitally blend two images together to get an image that otherwise would be impossible (physically, technically or temporally)? By this, I mean two exposures, one made for the sky, and one made for the land. Again, I say it's fine, as long as you say what you've done, and why. Using graduated filters in either digital or traditional film photography essentially allows you to get all the elements of the photograph within an acceptable range for the sensor/film to capture the image as our eye does, rather than lose highlight or shadow detail in trying to compromise. Also, the dodging and burning technique of developing black and white prints from negatives also enhances real life tonal range for dramatic and emotional effect. Digital allows this to be done to a greater extent, and across a wider range of challenging technical areas impossible in film, so why not use it if it’s available? I do use filters and try to get the exposure right at source, but sometimes you can’t or you want an effect that even filters would not be able to produce – something natural like your eye would see.

I would just like to qualify this to some extent. I think nothing replaces the ability to "see" a picture in the first place. You need good substrate to make something worth looking at, and that will hopefully evoke a reaction. You need to have some impact upon which to build the final image. You need to be able to know where the elements of the photograph should go in order to achieve the desired effect. This is composition, and it applies to light as well as physical elements such as trees, rocks, walls etc.

The ability to compose effectively at source differentiates a manipulated image from a montage, one in which disparate elements from many photographs are brought together to make a new image. Many of the current photo magazines encourage this form of photo assembly/montage, bringing deer into woodland images, adding fences, mist, hills, trees (even) to make a "natural" woodland scene. This is a montage, and, while being a valid and worthwhile art form, it is not what I would call photography – it is digital art, rather than digital photography. These montages also tend to look artificial, as the various elements are usually photographed at different times of day, with different light direction, intensity and temperature, however well they are blended together.

So, is adding a new sky not a montage? Well, to me, it’s not, but neither is it the same as “pure” photography. It’s adding drama to a scene that needs it, and, if done at the same location although on a different actual day, it falls short of a montage to me. That said, I used to do this a lot, but now, I don’t, unless I am trying to have a bit of digital “fun”.

I now very much prefer to get the best image at source, using filters and a better knowledge of exposure, and find that very satisfying. I used to want to improve my digital montage skills, but no more. I want now to take a good source image, and limit my manipulations to cropping for maximal impact, and then deciding what tone, contrast and color balance the image would need, akin to how one would have processed film for different effects.

This is not to limit the scope of digital photography – all this can be done, with care, relatively quickly and to great effect, without requiring the need for messy chemicals, a dark room and the mastery of the dark art of developing. I don’t agree that there is no skill in digital developing – it is easier and more convenient to have a “digital darkroom” than a traditional one, but skilled digital imageers (as I have seen them called!) are as skilled as there traditional forebears, and their skills should not be under estimated.

So, try and get a great source image, but don’t be afraid to use digital manipulation to increase the impact or achieve a different mood. Have fun, digitally, by doing montages, but don’t pass them off for real photographs. And, if you do want to replace a sky, make sure it’s done realistically, and say that it’s been done. It’s all valid, and all worthwhile if a great image, whether real or not, is produced.

I welcome comments and elaboration on this topic.

Ivan

"Shadowman": submission for rating

Guys
Something I worked on a while ago as a possible idea for a local band in Cambridge.

What the photo is of:
A disused mineshaft, and a shadowy figure.

When was the photo taken:
May and July 2002.

Where was the photo taken:
Cornwall (mineshaft), Chicago (figure = Kate!).

Why was this composition chosen:
The band wanted something a little eerie, spooky, menacing etc. I discussed this idea, then found a suitable figure to use at the end of the corridor. I offset the corridor crop to make it feel like the viewer was against the side wall (as if staggering and leaning there, looking back at a possible pursuer/assailant), and chose an out-of-focus (more of this below) feel to accentuate that viewer feeling of being drugged or attacked, and to heighten the other-worldly nature. I also cropped it to ensure the figure was top left third, and the corridor led to that from the bottom right (viewer). The black and white was to give more of a menacing feel too. I also wanted it to feel like those dreams where you are relentlessly pursued by a faceless figure, who you know will get you in the end...

How was the photo taken:
Taken with my old Canon Powershot S4 (4MP) point and shoot. No technical data available.

How was the photo processed:
The shaft was cropped and slightly rotated to give the impression of being against the wall, off-centre for the viewer. The figure was extracted (2 pixel feathering) from a shot taken on Chicago "beach", made into a silhouette, and then resized and placed at the end of the corridor. The layers were then flattened, converted to black and white, contrast and levels adjusted, and then a shallow depth of field effect applied using lens blur/gaussian blur in CS2.

Cambridge Punt: resubmitted for proper ranking

What is the photo of:
A lone punt on the River Cam, Cambridge, UK

When was the photo taken:
About 07:00, early January 2006.

Why was this composition chosen:
I knew I wanted to come to this part of the river, as it had all the elements of a nice scene: the bridge, the tree, the river and banks with trees to ensure an interesting background. However, sometimes the punts are there and sometimes not. This time, there was only one punt, dutifully obliging with a pleasing angle, in relation to the bridge, tree and bank! In truth, it was slowly rotating round. A series of pictures, with the punt steadily changing it's angle, revealled this one to be the best. I chose this as the best because the punt formed a nice line, in harmony with the bridge and distant treeline. The near tree, although a little ragged, framed it nicely.

How was the photo taken:
With a camera? No. I hand-held at 1/10 sec, f8, ISO 800, using the EF-S Image Stabilised lens.

How was the photo processed:
I converted to black and white, and used a Photoshop black to clear filter to create the graduated effect from top to bottom. This just makes the sky less bland and stops the picture being filled with white at the top. I also cropped it to be horizontal, emphasising the length of the punt, and echoing the bridge and trees in the background. Also, it de-emphasised the sky and original foreground, which were of little interest. I adjusted levels, ensuring a good tonal spread on the histogram, and did an additional blending mode, with a copy of the layer set to screen, with opacity reduced to 40%.

A new angle: go tighter..

Grant
Just a suggestion, but to make the most of the best "cylinder" photo (4), go tighter...

Ivan

Crocuses - arrival of spring in Nova Scotia

What is the photo of

These two photos are of crocuses that have just appeared in my garden, with the arrival of spring in Nova Scotia.

When was the photo taken

29 March, just before noon

Where was the photo taken

The photos were taken in my garden

Why was the photo taken

I was inspired to take these photos because these small colourful plants signal the arrival of spring. Everything around them is brown and ugly and tired after months of winter. These plants bring a dash of colour to an otherwise dull landscape. Of course, this is the type of image that I was trying to capture (spring growth amongst winter's dead) but have so far failed.

Why was this composition chosen

I started shooting from above because I wanted to showoff the colourful stamens against the light blue/purple petals. But then the idea of lying down on the grass to make myself level with the flowers popped into my head; I wanted to achieve a sense of scale and used the grass stalks to achieve that.

How was the photo processed

Both photos were shots in RAW. While shooting, I took a photo of a white plastic tag so I could get a correct white balance reading in Camera RAW. The exposure, shadows, brightness, saturation and curves were all adjusted in Camera RAW. In PS, I then tweaked the levels, adjusted the shadows/highlights to darken the background and lighten the foreground a little, dropped the hue to -2 to bring out the colour in the stamens, and added a slight contrast in curves just to give the whole photo a final boost. I then sharpened the image. To get the signature in each photo, I signed a piece of paper using a sharpie, scanned it in at a high resolution (12oo ppi), imported it into PS and cropped the best signature and adjusted the size. I then made the signature a brush type and recorded an action that basically opens up a new layer and selects that brush. All that is left for me to do is to 'stamp' the signature onto the photo. If you want more details of this process I can try to remember exactly how I did it.


How was the photo taken

1/160 at f6.3 - I wanted to blur the background
Focal length 44mm
ISO 100
Polarizer filter - to enhance the colour
*10 close-up lens - to get good detail.






How was the photo taken

1/125 at f5.6 - I wanted to blur the background
Exposure +0.33
Focal length 85mm
ISO 100
Polarizer filter - to enhance the colour






Damian

Looking from a new angle

What is the photo of: Industrial debris & gas canisters.

When was the photo taken: Friday 31st March 2006, 2pm.

Where was the photo taken: While out driving around Dubai on a quiet Friday morning (Friday = Sunday in the Middle East) looking for portrait inspiration I was distracted by the scene of a large fire.

The location is the Oasis Center which was gutted last September by fire (Gulf News article). The site is gradually being demolished. As usual in Dubai, safety can be a bit lax. Which in this case meant I was quite free to explore the site.

Why was the photo taken: These shots were taken almost as an after thought and certainly as a focus experiment for myself.

Why was this composition chosen: The light was very harsh, however the location was very unusual. Stark, parched, industrial, metalic and total non-organic. It could have little appeal. However it appealed to me in ways not usually found in Dubai - quiet, uncontrolled, raw and certainly not polished or 5 star...

How was the photo taken: ISO 200, fixed focal in the Sony DSC-S40 point and shoot with the half press and then reposition the shot to try and use the rules of three. White balance set to sun (technical huh?)

How was the photo processed: For speed, these were colour balanced and contrast balanced using Picasa software.


"Picture 1"


"Picture 4"

A note: Ranking photos

There was some concern that ranking a photo was leading to more 'work'. I have just ranked Ivan's latest post and I have to say that it was actually easier and cleaner than the more conversive approach of before. It makes you think more carefully about the photo and I think leads to a better critique overall. I also found that one needs to be quite conservative in their scoring. I found myself wanting to score higher but if we do that we are going to end up with all of our photos with 8s and 9s and that is not realistic.

Ranking is still up to the individual but I would recommend a try first.

Damian

As Damian says "Expose to the Right..."

An interesting technical article from "The Luminous Landscape" site, which explains the why behind what Damian has stated on this blog about pushing the histogram exposure shape to the right (but not off the scale).

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/expose-right.shtml

A good read, and there are many more on the site too. Check it out.

April's Assigment

Guys

I've had a think about this, and I've tried to make sure it's something we can all do, regardless of our geographical or seasonal location. Also, I wanted something that I don't think any of us have a passion for, or shown many examples of that style of work. So, the theme for April is "Portraits".

I want the scope to be as broad as possible, and can include human or animal portraits (this manages to sneak in seals and camels), as long as the face, features and emotion are there and prominent. Any style, colour or black and white, and any location is allowed. I'd like us to submit 2 images at least, and no more than 3, one of which should be something taken in direct response to this assignment, not just one from your archive. Digital manipulation is fine, but please describe what you did and why. Indicate which images are new and which are archive.

When submitting an entry, please give a technical and artistic description, not too long. Also, indicate in the blog post title "April Assignment - Portraits", and make sure we know who it is. Scoring should happen within a few days after the post. Entries should be as large a file as possible, to allow proper judging for sharpness etc. Something in the 500Kb to 1GB range should be fine.

Deadline for submission is 30 April, and the submissions (3 max, at least 1 new) can be judged by the other bloggers in either 1 or 3 sessions from now to the deadline. The scores over Damians to-be-decided catergories will be averaged for each blogger vote, and the average of the two scores used to define the final score. In the event of a tie, the winner is the one who scored the most 10's/9's/8's (in that order).

The "winner" gets to chose the next months assignment. Any questions, just email to all.

So, may the best portrait photographer win!!

Standard submission of photos and ranking

To follow is a standard hopefully simple approach to submitting photos and ranking them. Feel free to comment.

Here is a suggestion for a simple standard approach to posting the images. Basically

What is the photo of

When was the photo taken - most importantly the time

Where was the photo taken

Why was the photo taken; what motivated you to take the photo; what was the rational; what did the image say to you

Why was this composition chosen - this allows an insight into the mind of the photographer and why the image was prepared in that particular way

How was the photo taken; describe what equipment you used, how you used the light, the settings you used (basic info such as shutter speed, aperture, ISO, focal length)

How was the photo processed - so what steps were taken in photoshop to process the photo


Ranking

I think it would be good if we could rank the photos but I agree with Grant that we don't want to generate too much work here. So, I am going to suggest some simple categories (this time with more thought) and a scale.

However, ranking photos can remain an option for the user. I will rank photos that I critique but I don't expect the same in return.

I do think though that if we rank a photo it makes us think more about the image and perhaps give it a better critique. It will also force us to give more thought to which photos are posted and hopefully generate more discussion rather than photos. However, I do have a tendency to turn fun things in to work and I want to avoid that here, so I think ranking should remain an option.

There are five categories. Each has a score of 10. The ranking of these photographs is the average of these scores. We should score conservatively because we can expect many photographs over time and for our skill to improve. Thus, we should be aiming for 6's and occasionally 7's. Scores of 8 and 9 should be very rare. A score of 10 implies that the photograph cannot be improved upon.

This is the score board

1 - No effort made -not worth the post it sits on
2 - Little effort made - the image shows serious technical defects, eg. overexposed
3 - Poor - likely to have serious shortcomings in technical skill, composition, subject matter, etc
4 - Below average - likely to have only minor shortcomings in technical skill and composition
5 - Satisfactory - in most regards the photo is acceptable but holds little interest to the eye
6 - Average - creates some interest and the technical skill, composition, etc have been competently handled. Few flaws. This is a good, but not outstanding photograph.
7 - Good - a strong image; it's creation (technical skill, etc) has been handled more than competently. This is an excellent photograph.
8 - Outstanding - this is an exceptional image, one that creates excitement and one that you should feel proud of.
9 - Wow - here is the Wow factor. An image of the highest quality.
10 - The picture cannot be improved. Consider yourself a genius.

And these are the Categories

Impact - this is your immediate impression of the photo. How does it make you feel when you first see the photo. Does it give you a strong feeling of power; does it hold your eye. The score for this category should be immediate. It is your gut feeling.

Composition - Give a photo a high rating if you like the way it looks, if it attracts and holds your attention, or if it conveys an idea well. Consider the following : Is the subject(s) well placed. Has the photographer used the available resources in the image to create a good photograph. Is there a good arrangement of subjects with a symmetry that places objects in the most important areas (e.g., rule of thirds); is there a rhythm to the photo with regards to the color, spaces, moods, etc.

Light/Colour - Has the photographer made good use of the light. Was the photograph taken at the best time of day, under the best circumstances. Does the light add quality to the photo. Consider: Is there an effective balance of colours. Good selection of colour for the subject. Is there a creative use of colour, for example complementary colours, dark against light, strong against weak. Is there dynamic lighting. Does the pattern of light create a strong sense of mood.

Technical skill - this is a broad category. It includes the skill of using the camera/equipment and the skill of using photoshop. Consider: technical skill of using lighting, contrast, colour, the tonal range, focus, sharpness, shutter speed, filter usage, camera position, lens selection. In photoshop consider the use of the different techniques (e.g., levels, curves, etc), whether they have been applied appropriately and whether important steps were missed.

Originality - An original photograph is one that deliberately challenges our normal expectations. Has the photograph dealt with a new subject matter or a new style or approach to taking a genre of photograph (for example, landscape). Has the photographer brought us something new. Technical difficulty may also create originality. Consider: the degree of imagination; how new is the approach; a different style of cropping or use of the subject.

Damian

Minnis Bay, Kent

This is a picture I'd value some considered critique, using Damian's new system of categories and scoring. For my part, I'll try to structure the submission too.

Where/When

Minnis Bay, Kent. Summer 2003.

Background and rational to the image

I wanted a panoramic format, since the sunset was spectacular and the shadows it cast on the ground were very graphic in feel. I wanted both elements in the picture.

Composition

Panoramic, but turned vertically, rather than horizontally, to get both the sunset and beach in shot. Horizon in the middle, as both sky and ground elements were very strong and I wanted both to be so. Also, this is an unusual use of the panoramic format, usually reserved for actual vertical structures, like skyscrapers and bridges etc. I searched for a ground pattern to lead into the sunset, which would also have nice shape and strong shadows.

Technical Matters

This was two images taken seconds apart, from the same spot, one of totally the sky, the other of totally the ground. Both exposed for their relative subjects, then merged in photoshop. Saturation boosted a little, contrast, levels and colour balance adjusted. Some distracting beach detritis removed to provide a cleaner graphic pattern. I think if it were now, I'd have picked a cleaner part of the beach and also removed more distracting bits later in PS. Layers merged, final balance, then resized and sharpened.

I still have the original files, and have always wanted to go back and redo, since my PS skills are now better, but this is a reasonable attempt.

Overall

I really like this image, and it turned out just as I had envisaged. Perhaps I need to redo it with my better PS skills, but it's still a shot that pleases me.

Should we rank our photos?

Hello All

Recently, I have signed up to a stock agency and as a result I have my images ranked. This is actually very satisfying because it provides an immediate measure of quality. The scale actually starts at 6 and goes up to 9. If you go below 6 then the image is not suitable. Images of quality 6 should also be deleted unless they show a unique image. Here is the scale in detail:

9 - Wow
8 - outstanding
7 - good
6 - average

The rank is based on composition, colour, sharpness, subject matter, interest, technical skill and originality. So this led me to believe that in addition to the critiques, we should rank the photos that are posted. If we all decide that this is a good idea we can think about how. For example, should we have a mark out of 10 for each of the seven categories above. I thought about 5 but it gives little latitude. Once all the marks have been awarded we simply divide by 7 to get an average score. You can easily set up an spreadsheet in Excel with the titles above in the first row and in the last column have an equation to calculate the average (=average(B1:B7). So our scoring might look something like this (quite difficult to have a description for each mark):

0 - Delete this piece of trash
1 - No effort made -not worth the post it sits on
2 - Little effort made - still not worth the post
3 - Poor - think twice before posting
4 - Below average, not satisfactory, still think twice before posting
5 - Satisfactory
6 - Average
7 - Good
8 - Outstanding
9 - Wow
10 - Cannot get better than this

I would imagine that we will never have a 10 and only occasionally would we reach 9. I have posted 15 images with the stock agency; one is a 6, three are 8 and the remainder are 7. These scores are also based on saleability which does not concern us here, but I would expect most of our photos to have ratings of 7 and 8 with the occasional 6 or 9. Let me know if this is getting to be too much work.

Having a rating system will make you think twice before posting and should stop us (or rather me) from posting too many photos, thus encouraging more discussion for each photo.

What do you all think?

Damian

More Graffitti

This image I took sometime ago at an underpass in Canterbury. I loved the symmetry of the structure of the bridge supports and the colours and vibrancy (is that a word?) of the graffitti. I tried to get a good symmetrical image by cropping after taking the original. I also boosted the shadow detail to create a balanced image and then optimised contrast and boosted the colours. Getting front to back sharpness in low-light with a compact point-and-shoot 4MP digicam was tricky..getting enough light in demands a more open aperture, which in turn means shallow depth of field. Using a smaller aperture (higher f) gets the depth of field, but lets in less light, and thus camera shake is an issue. So, I bumped up the ISO to 200, wedged myself into one of the support structures for stability, used a moderate aperture of 5.6 (which on a digital compact with a shorter focal length means greater depth of field than the same aperture on a DSLR), and shot in RAW (yes, it had RAW, which was a major benefit and almost unheard of then on such cameras) to get a sharp image with detail in the foreground and rear. I really like this image.

As ever, comments welcomed from my co-bloggers!

Final shots of Halifax at night

Here are the remainder of the shots that I took of Halifax at night. They represent different views, with different building compositions, light and reflected light.

Casino

This is the Halifax casino. I used the 100-300 telephoto lens to focus on the building and the reflections. I tried cropping the image to remove the sky but the photo becomes too much for the eye.






Waterfront and Citadel

I shot this photo because I really liked the two beams of strong blue light. The building composition was interesting too. Again I used the 300m telephoto.







The Citadel

I centered this shot on the Citadel and love the almost pastel colours of reflected light. The buildings of the waterfront create some scale against the tall background buildings.







Panoramic





Dancing lights

This photo turned out better than I expected because when shooting I didn't notice the two layers of light. They look like dancing lights similar to the Northern Lights.

Near Wingham, Kent

I took this image on the same weekend I took the ones of Deal Pier. We were out walking, and I saw this nice scene, with curving river, fence, tree, reflection and it all seemed to work. It was not great in colour, due to the harsh light, but I thought it may work in B/W.

Comments welcomed as usual.

Kit and advancement question...

Hi Guys,

A quick question that will be useful to me, but also to others... can you briefly describe your set up?

Camera, lenses, tripods, software, output, choice of printers, medium, paper etc?

How did you make the transition from snaps to time consuming, loving, tempremental, emotional shots?

I am considering jumping from snap happy Sony digital to Canon Eos 350D and Photoshop CS2 (free through my work thankfully).

Will be using Kelby's book "Photoshop CS2 Book for Digital Photographers" (there are no specialist classes out here) to improve processing skills and have started posting on a local site with regular meet ups and field trips to learn from better photographers than myself...

A good way to progress? Comments.

If this thread should be deleted to preserve the image flow, let me know and I'll delete.

Thanks again though...

Halifax, Canada - Skyline at Night

I have recently (the past week) been taking loads of shots of Halifax for a local company who wants some pictures on their bare walls. Several blogs will appear in the next few days of this work but here is one shot that I took last night, or rather early this morning (about 1am). I am shooting from across the estuary on the adjacent town of Dartmouth. The night was incredible; very still and for Halifax quite warm (about -2c). This was taken at f9.0 for 30 seconds at 100mm. I have never done this type of work before so I would much appreciate some critical thoughts. Damian on assignment in Halifax.

PROJECT: Halifax, Canada - scenes through the day

Here are some more shots of Halifax. They were taken over several days from two vantage points from the town of Dartmouth. I wanted the sunrise (rises in front of the skyline), daytime, sunset (sets to the right), dusk and darkness. The sunrise and sunsets were not spectacular but I got some interesting shots. Most of these shots involved me almost freezing to death since I spent 2-3 hours at each shoot. Sitting still on rocks in freezing temperatures. I also made several visits to find the right exposure and composition. But it was worth it. I think. All shots were taken with a tripod at shutter speeds upto 30 seconds. The exposure needed adjusting to push the histogram over to the right. Most of the shots were taken with the EFs 17-85 mm lens. The last shot was taken by attaching the camera to the underside of the tripod so that it was hanging upside down very close to a rock that was sitting low down on the water's edge. This allowed me to pick up lots of the reflections. Comments greatly encouraged.

Damian


Morning Rise - 6am

1/6 sec at f5.6 plus 1.67 exposure adjustment
EF-s 17-85 mm









Morning moon - 700am

1/15 sec at f20 plus 1.67 exposure adjustment
EF-s 17-85 mm









Daytime - 1000am

1/60 sec at f10 plus 1.67 exposure adjustment
EF-s 17-85 mm









Dusk - 630pm

30 secs at f22 plus 1.67 exposure adjustment
EF-s 17-85 mm









Rush Home Across the Bridge - 700pm

30 secs at f16 plus 1.67 exposure adjustment
EF 100-300 mm









Time for Tea - 720pm

30 secs at f7.1 plus 1.67 exposure adjustment
EF 100-300 mm









Night time - 1am

30 secs at f7.1 plus 1.67 exposure adjustment
EF-s 17-85 mm

Sanderlings, Sable Island, Nova Scotia

On my drive home from the very east of the island I saw these sanderlings flying up and down the beach searching for some grub. So I stopped and tried shooting a few images. The problem was that it was dusk (so little light for fast shots), the birds were moving fast but there was spectacular surf that I wanted in focus. I decided to focus on the crashing surf rather than the birds. As a result, many shots had birds entirely out of focus but a few worked reasonably well, even though in these shots the birds were not in sharp focus. Here are three.