Coalescing

It’s been two and a half months since my last post which essentially puts me on track (at least for this crazy year) for my schedule of posting. It is not a schedule I prefer but considering the stressors to the nation and our health, it will have to be so. It is a small step taken beyond the usual routine of trying to survive.

That being said, I still am trying to incorporate the techniques and wisdom of John Paul Caponigro into my work flow and understanding of photography. To this point I have purchased four of his digital videos on color theory, photoshop techniques, color strategies and techniques, not to mention printing methods. For me it was a wonderful discovery to find this throve of knowledge. I have watched JPCs videos many times to absorb what seems to flow so casually from him but is quite earth shattering to me. I have listened and have learned. Thank you, JPC.

I have re-created many of my previous photos using JPC’s techniques over the last 2-3 months. The currently posted one is a composition of two photos (actually three) that were re-imagined and recreated to get me to a place I’ve never been before. While I am not totally pleased with it, it does capture the spirit I was trying to achieve when I captured these visual elements.

The currently posted photo was taken at Conimicut Point, Warwick, RI with a Canon DS 5DS, EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, F/16, 1/60″, ISO 160.

 

Watershed Event

If you follow my posts for this blog, you know that I approached a recent photograph workshop with John Paul Caponigro with a modicum of trepidation, putting it mildly. I have been acutely aware of my strengths and weaknesses as far as my photograph skills goes, and I knew that I was going to be challenged at JPC’s workshop. I was not disappointed.

First of all, I have to say, that I divided the workshop into two halfs: one part getting up and putting oneself into the settings (4:00 AM; autumnal Maine, in this instance) to actually take the shots. This part was exceptional, for, indeed, we were up before the sun rose and placed in a setting that definitely had potentials for good to great shots; the other half was the actual class time of instruction. While taking the photos was difficult (especially in trying to be creative), the second part of the workshop was more difficult in trying to align oneself with the instructions and insights that JPC was giving. With honesty, I have to say that I tried my earnest to “be JPC” (as a Zen master would instruct), but I could only come to an approximation of maybe 50% (tops) to seeing the photo world as he does. That is fine with me, though, for I do not want to imitate JPC, but I want to capture the spirit and vision he has for great photographs.

At this moment, I know what a great photo is not. My next task is to dig into my creative spirit to find what a great photo is for me.

The currently posted photo was taken at the Azalea Garden in Acadia National Park. It was shot in the afternoon with a Canon 5 DS camera, using an EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM @ 105mm, f/7.1, 1/5″, ISO 125. Post processing was done using DxO PhotoLab 2, ACR, a Gradient Map, Viveza, and Nik Color Efex Pro. It is far from perfect, with only the lower half being in focus, but the colors were phenomenal.

 

Photographic Reflections

The Post title is somewhat ambiguous for it was not meant to mean reflections as in water or any shiny surface, but reflections as in “what just happened” or “what have I been doing.” Next week I’ll be off to Maine, specifically Acadia National Park and the Schoodic Peninsula, to partake in a Photography Workshop during the glorious Northeast Foliage Season. The workshop is run by John Paul Caponigro, whom I have followed for some time in trying to lean the ins and outs of becoming a better photographer.

While I have taken other workshops, this particular one seems to be more demanding or more of a challenge, which is not a negative, but quite the opposite. As an example, John Paul already had given three assignments before I had even crossed over the Maine border. While I embrace this challenge, I also sense that in many ways it may not speak to all of my needs at this particular stage of my life (72 years of age) and growth (having a unique take on a developing style of photography). Nonetheless, one of the tasks was to produce a portfolio. This produced an immediate existential moment of anxiety within me, for I had no portfolio. In fact, the whole purpose of my photography blog was to document my search in developing a style. In other words I was in an inchoate stage of having any resemblance of a portfolio. However, with the help of my wife I seriously started to critique my photos, only accepting the best technically and artistically, from our point of view. We ended up with approximately 12 first picks, and about 17 second picks. My conclusion to this assignment/process was that it was helpful in helping me weed out weaker shots, allowing a more concentrated collection of what I believed I want to achieve in my photographs.

In some ways, I feel  like I am at an unique stage photographically. When I am taking photographs, I try to align myself with the  Élan Vital of Henri Bergson, i.e., the life force and process which produces those ephemeral moments of creative expression in nature. “Can I capture that moment?” is what I strive for. I do not care about anything else. I am totally unorganized, in a most chaotic state, until I sit down and reflect on how do I produce a photo of what I thought I just saw and captured.

The currently posted photo was taken on the north shore of Aquinnah, Martha’s Vineyard, MA. It was shot with a Canon 5DS, EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 100mm,, f/10.0, 5.7″, ISO 50, using a ND 10 stop filter, post processed with DxO PhotoLab 2, using ACR and Photoshop CC (2019) with a gradient map and DxO Nik Efex Color Efex Pro.

Out of My Element

Since my last post I’ve been putting together my portfolio. This activity is/was totally foreign to me and a bit disquieting, since I have always approached photography in recent years as an adventure, not knowing what kind of shots I would take. I really had no need to change this approach, but I decided to take a workshop in Maine in the autumn around the Acadia National Forest with John Paul Caponigro. One of John Paul’s suggestions to prepare for his workshop was to think of projects I wanted to do as well as put together a sampling of my photographing interests (portfolio, I presumed).

This caused a brief period of uneasiness since I really resisted in putting together a collection of my best (or what I thought were) photos. But, I decided that growth sometimes comes at a cost of uncertainty so I put together a portfolio. I was definitely out of my element and I struggled with doing this for two weeks; my wife assisted me in critiquing since I really did not trust my own judgements (at times).

Be that as it may, I finally began to see that what I liked about a lot of my photos (while valid) was not what others might see. Also, I began to see that while I liked certain photos for their composition they did not meet the precision of focus, color or tonality that I believed also drove me to capture scenes.

I have put my portfolio “to bed” for the foreseeable future. What it is, it is. I definitely am always thinking of my next photo, and still want to shoot photography that way. The portfolio exercise was good and accomplished something. There is a tendency to see a portfolio as static; however, I generally shoot photos in an on-going, dynamic fashion and have a running series in my head of the “real life portfolio” that I am involved in.

I have posted this current photo in this post although it also exists (at least currently) in my online Gallery on this site. The reason I did this was to use it as an example that what I thought was a good photo for my Gallery is not a good photo after completing the exercise of putting together my portfolio for John Paul. The current photo was taken with a Canon 5 DS, using an EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 100mm, f/4.5, 2″, ISO 3200, and post processed with DxO PhotoLab 2 , ACR, and Photoshop CC 2019, using a Gradient Map.

Good Enough

When is good, good enough—at least in photography?

This question has been rolling around in my head lately, simply because I believe I’ve made some gains in growing photographically. Admit-ably, this is a very subjective statement, but since I have no one to bounce it off of, I’ll stick with it. But then again, even if I had someone to bounce it off of, that other person’s perception of my photographs would be highly subjective based on his/her perspective.

But, to get back to my point… How is one to judge growth in an art form? In broad parameters, one can say that in photography a photo is poor rather easily if it is out of focus, poor developed, or not having composition pleasing to the eye (of most people). Another photograph can be judged as good if it is in focus, has good composition, but does not elicit any emotional/aesthetic response from the viewer. In other words, it’s just a good photo.

That last point is where I am at in taking photographs. I, more or less, can craft a good photograph and the subject matter may be more than an ordinary view of a certain subject/theme, but artistically it may fall far short if it were presented to a judging body of established professional photographers. The photograph is good, but nothing more. It would not be worth the time and effort to print it, frame it and post it in a space where others could appreciate its worth.

When all things are said and done, one has to say that “good enough” is when you are happy with the results of your work in making a certain photographic capture possible to express the essence of that particular scene/theme at which you were pointing your camera.

The above musings are relevant to where I am…in a nascent nexus of some qualitative photographic growth. I hope it is true. But even if it were not, the journey has been an interesting one.

The particular shot in this post occurred after having lunch at a most remote spot in Norway at the Stalheim Hotel which overlooked a magnificent valley road, the Stalheimskleiva, which is one of the steepest roads in norther Europe. A Canon 5DS camera, with a EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM @ 28mm, f/13, 1/125″, ISO 50, post processed with DxOPhotoLab II, ACR, Photoshop CC2019, using a Gradient Map, and  Nik Viveza.

 

Real Europe a la Tourist (more or less)

Finally, after a couple of months of inactivity, the Blog has an entry. As usual, there are reasons for this, especially the spring season where work around the house dominates, and then the arrival of the annual tour to Europe begins. This year the tour was to Portugal, up the Douro River Valley with Viking River Cruises, which happened during the last week of May and the first week of June.

Oddly, the Spiritual Energies were not with me on the Portugal excursion. I tried to make the most of it but came to the realization that “shooting” as it is know among dedicated photographers is not the same as “shooting” while on a guided European tour. First of all, there is no tripod (meaning a lack of some kind of sharpness in details), then there is the obvious time of day that tours take place (in bright morning or afternoon light), then there is the pressure of have myriads  of people (literally) around you that are interjecting themselves into your photo attempts. All of this is not to dismiss the really hard task of taking a photo if all of these elements were not there to begin with.  This background had a serious creep into my subconscious predisposing me to a less than creative spirit of discovering the wonders that the scene presented that was before me. The foregoing is my subjective disposition to shooting photographically. How I meet those challenges, ultimately, determines if I take a great photo.

I fought the good fight, and came to the conclusion that despite the limitation that tourist group photography has, that Portugal was a unique place, especially in regard to the rest of Europe. What Portugal still had in its favor was that it was authentic! It had commercialization but it seemed to reluctantly accept this, and favored the more true, rural, and individually developed traditions/customs/foods/ways of life that it wanted. That was refreshing!

This last fact became apparent when on a so-called tasting tour in Lisbon. I did not expect much, but I was more than pleasantly surprised that behind what appeared to be ordinary  store facades there were quite sophisticated establishments. The above photo tries to capture this fact, since within its apparent humble exterior this wine bar was exceptional in how it presented wines and other Portuguese delicacies. I applaud this Portuguese spirit!.

Such was my general impression of Portugal— it was one of humble presentation which morphed  into a true display of taste and style which would equal that of more refined European establishments.

The first posted photo above was shot with a Canon 5 DS, EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM @ 24mm, f/9, 1/125″, ISO 1600, using a B+W Polarizer, and post processed with DxO Optics Pro 11, Adobe Camera Raw, and Nik Color Efex Pro. The second posted photo was taken with a Canon 5 DS, EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM @ 28mm, f/9, 1/800″, ISO 1600, using a B+W Polarizer, and post processed with DxO Optics Pro 11, Adobe Camera Raw, and Nik Color Efex Pro.

Rediscovering Versace

 

About two years ago I made a significant jump in advancing my photographic skills by reading two books, Welcome to Oz, and From Oz to Kansas, by Vincent Versace. They were encyclopedic books to get through since they contained both a broad and specific attention to detail, outlining what it takes to make a good photographic print, i.e., a process starting at how you conceptualize what you want to take a photo of and proceeding all the way through to the final product of making  the print.

I started on the journey two years ago of trying to master those techniques/skills and am still trying, but with the satisfaction that I am making progress. At the start of incorporating the points that Vincent presents in his books I chose the strategy of only adopting some at a time since the points are numerous. I believe I understand what I am doing now more than I ever have—some of this is conscious and some unconscious— but I think there is direction in what I am doing and not just random growth.

In any event, I have come to the realization that I can not only take photos and then just have digital representations of them (i.e., digital files). I must make prints to make any appreciable progress. I hesitated in buying a printer primarily because of the cost factor, but decided the time was right now since Canon offered a deal that was hard to resist; essentially getting a professional printer (Canon Pixma Pro 100) for a quarter of the cost. I could not go wrong.

I am quite happy with my decision not only because it is a quality printer (at an extremely attractive price) but also because it has allowed me to control more of how I can fashion in print the vision of what I actually saw at the moment with my camera. More will follower later regarding this.

The photo of the Northern Flicker was taken during an early December snow, and was not planned but hastily taken by sticking my head outside to my deck quickly so as not to frighten my feathered friend. A Canon 5 DS, EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 400mm was used with settings of f/6.3, 1/500″, ISO 1250, post processing with Adobe Camera Raw, Photoshop CC, DxO Optics Pro 11, using a Gradiant Map, and Nik Color Efex Pro.

Transient Moments of Beauty

For some reason the Muses have overtaken me at this most dark time of the year and have seen fit to energize not only my physical body but also my creative spirit. I am amazed at this occurrence, for truly I am repelled from the very cold that has enveloped New England in these  winter months. But as I have observed the many creatures of nature and seen that they have embraced the challenge of being outside and facing the brutal elements of wind, temperature, and precipitation, I have become emboldened from their example.

What I am trying to describe is that I have been going outside into the winter elements to capture the fragile and quickly vanishing moments that have been occurring. Naturally, I have chosen the various twilight times, simply because of the muted light, and, from what I discover, the increased activity of the various creatures at this time of day.

I have been rewarded beyond what I would have expected, having captured some very special moments of nature. The photo posted here is a very common view of marsh grass, but the hues and shades of stillness were uncommon features the eye may truly miss if not captures by the camera. I have been trying to capture these moments in my latest quest to explore photography.

Without getting too philosophical I will say that I am drawn to the in-between shots or phases of an event that is happening. For example, in regards to a person, if that person is looking at something, and then turns to look at something else, I am interested in the transition phase of the movement (aka photo shot).

The currently posted shot is on the shore of Occupessatuxet Cove, around the time of sunset in mid December — an enchanting time. The shot is of marsh grass (actually an invasive species, not good for the ecosystem). But, attractive, nonetheless.  A Canon 5 DS was used, with a Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens @ 400mm, f/5.6, 1/500″, ISO 1600, post processed with DxO Optics Pro 11, Adobe Camera Raw, Photoshop CC (2018), and Nik Color Efex Pro.

Winter of Discontent

In an attempt to describe the awkward state I am in photographically I am using William Shakespeare’s Line from Richard III in my title. What I mean by this is that while I have come off a productive period of growth in taking photographs this past year, I am stalled by the forces of nature. At an advanced age of 69 years the body becomes sensitive to elements of cold and heat it was not prone before. In December 2016 the winter so far has been cold with many days of unrelenting winds.

So, in a real sense I am captive to the indoors and to my fantasy and musings.  But, I have a plan. Come June 2017 I have planned to take a Canon Destination Workshop in Hawaii  on the Big Island. It is my “come back” to the forces of nature. It is a  five day workshop of taking photos  of volcanos, the milky way, tropical gardens, and multicolored beaches. In addition to this I’ll be spending ten more days on my own visiting two more islands.

The currently posted photo is of Iceland taken this past July (2016) while crossing a stream on a so-called road in the south central part  of the country, namely Landmannalaugar. It is a region which, no doubt, has beauty and form but it escaped me on this day of cold, rain, and wind.

The photograph was shot with a Canon 5DS, Ef24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens @ 24mm, f/16, 1/400″, ISO 800.

 

Style: Coming Softly

The last couple of weeks have seen a resurgence in disparate elements of my photographic skills coming together. Why this is so is anyone’s guess, but my recent Canon Professional Services Destination Workshop in Rockport, MA was certainly  a catalyst.


Arriving at a style is a curious process since so much of what I have been doing with photographs is unconscious and intuitive, but this has been occurring with a certitude I did not have before.  Also it is a subtle process in developing this so-called individual styling preference.

While I am not totally happy with the photo in this post, I am offering it as an example in what I am trying to do. The subject matter of the shot was difficult to craft. It was taken on a very foggy morning around 6 AM at Eastern Point Lighthouse, Gloucester, MA. It was a long exposure of sorts using a polarizing filter to stop down. There is a vagueness to the photo but I tried to capture the unsettledness yet order of the sea and coast. Certainly the sepia toning added to the mood.

It was shot with a Canon 5 DS, EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM @ 58mm, f/22, 4″, ISO 100.