Opportunity & Transformation

My absence from this personal blog is best captured by the phrase, “Still waters run deep.” The New Year brought another bout with a cold which quickly became bronchitis which lasted until the end of March. If that was not enough, events became more dire with the worldwide pandemic of Covid-19. Luckily, I did not contract it. These several months provided an opportunity of time to reflection, re- reading many things on photography especially skill development.

Naturally, photographic style was always in the back of my mind, for I felt unsettled with what I was producing. From the previous posting in December 2019 I knew I was at the cusp of totally crafting my photos differently. During the winter I did a lot of experimenting in how I actually developed the photograph in post-processing. And, in tandem, how I printed the photographs.

The currently posted photo is a result of my transformative thinking about what I was producing. There is some of the style of John Paul Caponigro in it. The shot was taken at Conimicut Point, RI in late September awaiting the sunrise and a moon shot with a prominent foreground of Conimicut Lighthouse.

The photograph was taken using a Canon 5DS using an EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens @ 135mm, f/8, 1/10″, ISO 200, using a Gitzo tripod, and postprocessing with DxO PhotoLab II, ACR, Photoshop CC.

Moving on from Maine

As I have expressed in recent blog posts, Maine has been quite a fruitful shoot and experience for me. I have spent much time and effort in trying to maximize the photo opportunities that I had had there (past perfect tense) during John Paul Caponigro’s Workshop.

That being said, I believe that I am at the point of moving on. I am moving on for the photos that I took in Maine provided an opportunity to refine my skills, and they pushed me to do this simply because of the material of the shots that I took. The photographs may not have been my best but I learned a lot of critical skills in evaluating them.

The current photo was taken on the second day of shooting in Maine, 2019 at sunrise, near Sandy Beach, Acadia National Park. A Canon 5DS, with an EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens @ 158mm was used, having settings of f/8, 1.8″, 320 ISO, and being post processed with DxO PhotoLab II, ACR, using HDR, and Viveza and Color Efex Pro.

 

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.

 

Into The Rabbit Hole with JPC…

…that is, John Paul Caponigro. Entering the rabbit hole one discovers CaponigroLand, a wondrous place of photographic discovery. Immediately you fall under the spell of seeing the world around you as you never have before. You are at once liberated and challenged as a photographer. Needless to say it is quite disquieting.

Thus began my photographic workshop in the Autumn of 2019, “Fall Foliage – Acadia.” There were only seven students in all in the workshop; and may I add they were all accomplished in their respective professional fields, only one being related to photography in particular. The other students were avid photographers and were versed in the beauty and history of photography. It was surprising how each participant had particular skills and visions of how to represent what they saw through the lens.

After five days of getting up at 4:30 AM to shoot multiple places in Acadia Park and adjoining areas, one felt stretched physically but also appreciative of the opportunities John Paul provided to get the most of what Maine provided. We hit Maine at the height of the fall foliage and had the unique experience to see the aftermath of a Northeastn’ wind storm. Class time was a great shared learning atmosphere where each student had focused attention not only from John Paul but also other participants.

Time in the rabbit hole still resonates within, and I am still trying to process what I learned. After exiting CaponigroLand I am presented with the challenge to incorporate some of his visions or should I say adapt them to a new style of photography.

The currently posted photo was taken in Acadia National Park early on the first day of shooting. It was taken with a Canon EOS 5DS, EF16-35mm f/4L IS USM @ 28mm, f/16 1/10″, ISO 125. Postprocessing was accomplished with DxO Photo Lab 2, ACR, Photoshop CC 2019 using a gradient map, and Color Efex Pro.

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.

 

Martha’s Vineyard: A Photographic Watershed

Indeed, the obvious fact is that the last post was four months ago. I will not bore you with the details but it was a busy four months with spring yard work, planning and completing two two-weeks vacations in the Baltic and Martha’s Vineyard, as well as simply doing the daily routines.

I had visited Martha’s Vineyard several times before and was inspired by both land and sea scapes, with some good photos forthcoming from these visits. However, this past July I had the opportunity to actually rent a seaside cottage among the sand dunes on the north shore of Aquinnah, providing such easy access to the beach and shore that I felt that I was a denizen of this idyllic place.

Wild life was abundant and everywhere, particularly all sorts of shore birds, deer, rabbits, and while I did not catch fish, there were signs of their presence due to multiple fishing boats of all sizes as well as people surf fishing. The surrounding air and sea breezes in conjunction with the special light of this island punctuated the fact that you were in a special place full of wonder.

Energized by this atmosphere I was constantly out and about shooting photos. So much so that I made four night and early morning excursions to catch the Milky Way, moon, and the early morning golden hour. I will speak of these in forthcoming posts.

The currently posted photo is of Gay Head Lighthouse captured after midnight. I had scouted this out earlier in day visits using Photopills, so was confidant that the resultant shot was possible. My wife insisted on accompanying me, which I accepted simply to have company and some assistance in setting up in the dark. My wife’s company serendipitously helped create this shot, for she had unwittingly provided some light painting of the lighthouse with a red light flashlight. The shot was taken with a Canon 5 DS using an EF16-35mm f/2.8L USM lens at 31.0 mm, set at f/2.8, 25″, ISO 3200, with post processing using DxO Photo Labs II, ACR, Photoshop CC 2019 with a gradient map, enhanced by Nik Viveza & Color Efex Pro.

Photopills: Absolutely Great

I have had the Photopills App for at least two years, and I have used various features of it (by the way, it is an app that is jammed packed with features and information; it really is the only app you need if you are a photographer, hands down). But I was somewhat intimidated on the more involved and powerful aspects of it, namely locating the Milky Way, Moon, and Sun based on certain geographical locations and times. So, I never used these more powerful features.

I finally relented and figured out how to use them by viewing the creative videos that Photopills has on its website. I was blown away at what I could accomplish with this tool (especially how I underutilized it).

My scouting schedule for trying to set up different photo shots for foreground and astronomical events ( e.g., moon, milky way) was accurately filled in for the next year, and gave me a definite schedule for shooting potentially great shots.

The currently posted photo is a serendipitous shot of part of St. Francis Basilica in Assisi, Italy at sunset time. The colors of this part of Italy are unique, and I had wished that I could have captured more of them. But I will have to wait for more magical moments in the future, especially if St. Francis grants this prayer. The photo was taken with a Canon 5DS, EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM @ 105mm, f/10, 1/320″, post processed with ACR, DxO PhotoLab2, Color Efex Pro, and using a Gradient Map.

Calm Within Chaos

The visions of my visit to Venice in the fall of 2018 still haunt me. There are so many moments which live in my visual memory that I was unable to give substance to as far as a concrete photograph. Maybe this is the intentionality that was spoken of in philosophy of previous decades. That is, my mind intending and capturing the world (or object thereof) and trying to give meaning or form or some kind of representation to it. In other words, to capture this reality in some concrete form that the mind perceives in so-called immaterial ideas.

The above tries to describe the process of me trying to take a photo of a unique experience and then translating this into a printed form, viz. photograph. The great photographers have successfully accomplished this process from what their mind’s eye has seen to what exists in their photographs. Every other aspiring great photographer is trying to imitate this process.

Venice was so unique and visually stimulating that it leaves one overwhelmed.

When in Venice I attempted to accommodate myself to its challenges, namely time of day, crowds, time pressure, unfamiliarity of surroundings. In other words, hit or miss “tourist photography.”

The posted photo provides somewhat of a counterpoint to the maddening crowd of Venice. That is, the quiet and calm of one of the finest hotels in Venice, Hotel Danieli. The hotel exists in the heart of the most intense tourist activity of Venice, i.e. right off the Riva degli Schiavoni.

[As an aside to my above post, I must note that in viewing one of Kelbyone.com videos, I was struck by the fact that it was filmed at the Hotel Danieli. Be that as it may, it is nice to know that my membership fee in KelbyOne pays for this type of corporate benefit.]

In any event, I am pleased to a degree that I was able to capture Calm within Chaos in Venice.

The posted photo was taken with a Canon 5Ds, with a EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens @ 24mm, f/6.3, Exposure Compensation -1.33, 1/50″, 6400 ISO, post processed with DxO Photolab 2, ACR, DxO Nik2018 Viveza 2, and a Gradient Map.