Existential Opportunities
- At August 25, 2017
- By Firstmate
- In Canon EOS 5DS, Hawaii, Long Exposure
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Hawaii presents itself as a paradise, and aptly so, since one can fashion his/her ideas around what they consider to be paradise wherever they find themselves: namely, there is something about an: island-an almost perfect climate-and the isolation/uniqueness of terrain— which lends itself to believe fantasy-can-come-true (“Fantasy Island”, if you will).
Such thinking can become dangerous to a photographer since they are supposed to be there to catch the shot. Is it the shot of their fantasy or is it the shot of what is. To be truthfully honest with you, I believe it is a combination of both, which in and of itself even poses more complexity onto the existential moment. Such is the excitement of photography.
And that is what my photographic journey in Hawaii was about: namely, a myriad of possible shots around a single event; trying to get the most of that time slot and location, and understanding how to best capture the scene visually onto a two dimensional medium. This may be a clinical and sterile description, but technically that is all the camera really cares about, since it is not a thinking and feeling entity.
The time in Hawaii was divided into two parts: my photographic workshop and my personal vacation time. In the former part I was exposed to optimal light shooting conditions, namely soft light in early morning and evening. In the latter part, I was at the whims of when it was convenient for me to be at various sites to actually fit the sites into my time stay in Hawaii (generally at mid-day time of lighting conditions).
How to adjust to the above very different ways of taking photographs? I did my best, meaning I tried to focus on certain elements of the shot, even though the light was not the best.
The currently posted shot is of a beach on the eastern shore of Oahu, around the Makapu’u Beach, where the sun was in and out of the clouds, with even rain clouds threatening every minute (such is Hawaii). The wind and wave action were dynamic, at least for an Eastern Coast Mainlander. The light was not perfect but the wave motion was. This is what I tried to capture.
The shot was taken with a Canon 5 DS, EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM, @ 93mm, f/22, 1/8″, ISO 50. I may have had a 3-stop neutral density filter on, but I am not sure about this.
Blowing in the Wind
Today I had the opportunity to travel down to Little Compton, RI. This is a rather remote area of a small state, which is deceptive since despite its diminutive status the state has a road system which makes it not easily accessible to certain areas. If you can imagine that Rhode Island is the 13th State, meaning that it’s been around since colonial times, and the roads in all likelihood were build upon old cow paths, as they are won’t to say in these parts.
In any event, I thought I would take the opportunity to fit some photography in while I was down in this part of Rhode Island. Unfortunately, the elements of tim
e and weather did not fully cooperate, since I was there at around 10 AM and the weather was blustery (25-35 mph winds). Nonetheless, I pushed onward, especially since the area I wanted to shoot in was not visitor friendly. What this means is this: I was interested in shooting Sakonnet Point Light which lies off the southeastern coast of Rhode Island on a little rock jutting out of the sea, whose name is Little Cormorant Rock. Getting a good visual viewpoint of Sakonnet Light is not easy, at least from land. Most of the area is privately owned and very little parking is available to make access easy. In any event, I did manage to find parking (particularly since at this time of year anyone in their right mind under these weather conditions would not be here).
The wind was merciless when I finally set up my tripod on the shore directly in front of the Light. I proceeded quickly since I was freezing (mid 30s temperatures with a wind chill of mid 20s). I captured about 70 shots and felt pretty good about my efforts. Little did I know that although I did everything by the book, with tripod and cable release, my shots were less than sharp simply because of the wind moving my tripod ever so lightly, even though I was about 2 feet off the ground.
The currently posted shot of Sakonnet Light was the only shot I was able to salvage. It was shot with a Canon 5DS, EF24-104mm f/4L IS USM @ 105mm, f/11.0, 30″, ISO 100, using a Heliopan 10 stop ND filter, processed with DxO 11 Optics Pro, Adobe Camera Raw, Photoshop, and Color Efex Pro 4
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.
Valley of Darkness
It has been a struggle recently to engage in photographic creations. I must be going through a transformation of schemata in what I want or want to see in the world around me. Since the range of these schemata or modes or ways of visualizing what is before me is infinite, I must rely on my deepest intuitions to non verbally grasp them and bring them into the light of conscious thought.
The tactic I have chosen to accomplish this, at least at this particular time, is to review my most recent photo shoots, and try to pull from them elements that I find attractive. In other words, I find the living moment of actually taking a photograph to be too challenging to focus on exactly what I want. If I may impose an analogy it would be that of a football quarterback who is a rookie versus a quarterback of pro standing. For the rookie time moves too quickly, for the pro time moves slowly. So, only on reflection can I acquire what I want; the lived moment is too fading to control.
That being said, I am still at a loss as to what my spirit or photographic eye really sees. It appears that I am drawn to the shadows. If shadows do not exist, I want to create them.
Also, I found that on my Chappaquiddick photo shoot that I had to compensate again in post processing what was lacking in optimal conditions while on the island. It was very windy and lighting was unpredictable.
I found that my long exposure shots were salvageable, especially of subjects as coastlines, sky and water. One shot drew me to often revisit it simply because of the grass. It seemed the long exposure of the grass in the particular light created an oil-paint-pallet. I stayed with the grass with that paint-like effect and kept the water more contrasted and the sky even more so in On1 Photo 10 software program. The final posted photo is of Katama Bay. The camera was a Canon 5 Ds with a Canon EF 16-35mm f2.8L lens @ 16mm, with settings of f/16 and speed of 36 seconds, ISO 100.
Mixed Metaphor
“When opportunity knocks, make lemonade.” This is my mixed metaphor for dealing with how I habitually shoot. For the most part I do not plan shots. I do not get up early or stay late to get that “golden hour” masterpiece. Instead I try to make the most of the opportunities afforded me (rather passive, in a sense) rather than making my ow opportunities. And when circumstances give me lemons, I make lemonade. That, in a nutshell, is my mixed metaphor explained.
Such was the state of affairs on an early October visit to central Vermont. Apart from the fact that the colors this year were not bright or brilliant (even tho it was supposedly in the peak), it was rather breezy. In other words, the chances of capturing sharp subject matter were remote. But, the countryside presented so many interesting scenes/objects, that this impelled me to shoot despite the odds of not getting any salvageable photos.
There were dozens of places to take long exposures of water. The photo above is of the Ottauquechee River. The water was captured as I desired but the trees and clouds all were blurry making the shot less than good. Then my mixed metaphor kicked in saving the shot. To obviate the blur, I used the Glow filter in Perfect Photo Suit 8. And to capture the fall-ish sense of multicolor, I enhanced the Vibrance using their Adjustment Brush. Violá
Capturing Time
This photograph is actually a confluence of three thematic interests. Copying Joel Meyerowitz’s approach in his book, Cape Light, I have been taking shots of the cove in my back yard in upper Narragansett Bay. If I were enterprising I would title my collection of these shots, Narragansett Bay Light. That may or may not happen.
However, this shot was my first attempt at long exposure photography using a neutral density filter from Heliopan ND 3.0 (10 stops). I would have liked to have had clouds but then the water would not have been so blue.
Finally, the shot was enhanced using OnOne Perfect Photo Suite 8, to which I had just upgraded. Having used Photoshop for years, getting used to the workflow of PPS 8 takes some getting used to, even though about 80-90% of the interface is the same as Photoshop. This does not mean PPS 8 has the same tool set and precision; it does not. This is not bad or a knock against PPS 8; it’s just that PPS 8 is about doing something different. Each program has their place. Right off the bat I find OnOne’s software more fun to use. I feel a little guilty doing this because to do the same thing in Photoshop would take a lot longer and involve a different level of skills. For this cove photo I used matt Kloskowski’s presets in the Effects module of PPS 8. Obviously, OnOne has packed their Suite 8 software with a host of tools, and each with its own set of adjustments. Some of these I will probably use regularly, while others will just languish.
With the prospect that I may not be upgrading any more to Photoshop due to Adobe’s stance on monthly fees for their software (I disagree with this type of money stream), having tools as contained in PPS 8 provides a viable option.
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