2.10.2011
St. Edwards Photo Club Studio Class
2.08.2011
Art and Photography
There are a lot of reasons we run around with cameras taking pictures. For most it’s fun, it’s a hobby, we love to create images. For a very few others, it’s their art. It’s good to understand the two. The main difference between is that an artist has something they want to say or communicate and photography is their medium. Hobbyists take pictures for the pictures sake and many hobbyists produce pictures that can absolutely be termed very ‘artsy’.
Why does this matter? Because most of us really do have something to say, or at least convey or pass on – even if it’s just that we want others to see the beauty of the world. Maybe we feel there’s more to life than television, shopping, and adolescent pop stars. Maybe we believe in a cause, maybe we’re intrigued by life’s paradoxes and contradictions.
What can we learn from the artist? When an artist seeks to express themselves, they seek to create the images that portray what they want to say. The better they understand and know their medium, the better they may be able to offer their unique expression. So, artists tend to experiment. They are not people who are bound by rules or learnings that places limitations or guidelines on their expression. However, being human, we are a composite of our experiences and education, and so often the learning has more to do with ‘rules’ than it has to do with providing tools that may increase one’s ability to be intuitively expressive.
Where did the rules come from? The rules in photography did not come from creation of art, but through the analysis of finished art moving backwards to its creation. This done by intellectuals and critics to understand why we like what we like, and to discover the intellectual and mathematical sides of harmony and composition.
Most people like rules as they provide structure to one’s life, and this structure provides security. But from an artistic standpoint rules stifle creativity. They set up roadblocks and diversions from allowing us to freely discover and express our creative vision. It is like deciding upon a religion, accepting the rules as divine, and closing the mind, in this case the artistic mind. Accepting rules may be good for the structure of society, but not for free expression and art.
So if you desire to learn more about photography, maybe also think about if you have something to say that can be expressed through the photographic medium. For both the hobbyist and the artist, having a basic understanding of composition and harmony, the way the brain sees objects, and what those objects are, is definitely beneficial. These can be learned by reading basic art books or by taking a beginner art class such as Basic Composition or The Elements & Principles of Design.
The next step is to learn one’s medium, in this case cameras and the digital darkroom (aka, Photoshop). The basics of photography and the camera is exceeding simple and involves only three controls: Aperture, Shutter Speed, and Sensor Speed (ISO). Learn the relationships of these three and the effects and characteristics that that they produce and you have mastered the camera.
After the camera comes the refinement of your image. In the digital darkroom, you will make the adjustments you feel you need to produce the image that expresses what you want to say. As we age, what we have to say changes. And so our images reflect our evolving thoughts and photography becomes a lifelong pursuit of our own expression.
Cheers,
SMBR
Vero Beach Photography
Why does this matter? Because most of us really do have something to say, or at least convey or pass on – even if it’s just that we want others to see the beauty of the world. Maybe we feel there’s more to life than television, shopping, and adolescent pop stars. Maybe we believe in a cause, maybe we’re intrigued by life’s paradoxes and contradictions.
What can we learn from the artist? When an artist seeks to express themselves, they seek to create the images that portray what they want to say. The better they understand and know their medium, the better they may be able to offer their unique expression. So, artists tend to experiment. They are not people who are bound by rules or learnings that places limitations or guidelines on their expression. However, being human, we are a composite of our experiences and education, and so often the learning has more to do with ‘rules’ than it has to do with providing tools that may increase one’s ability to be intuitively expressive.
Where did the rules come from? The rules in photography did not come from creation of art, but through the analysis of finished art moving backwards to its creation. This done by intellectuals and critics to understand why we like what we like, and to discover the intellectual and mathematical sides of harmony and composition.
Most people like rules as they provide structure to one’s life, and this structure provides security. But from an artistic standpoint rules stifle creativity. They set up roadblocks and diversions from allowing us to freely discover and express our creative vision. It is like deciding upon a religion, accepting the rules as divine, and closing the mind, in this case the artistic mind. Accepting rules may be good for the structure of society, but not for free expression and art.
So if you desire to learn more about photography, maybe also think about if you have something to say that can be expressed through the photographic medium. For both the hobbyist and the artist, having a basic understanding of composition and harmony, the way the brain sees objects, and what those objects are, is definitely beneficial. These can be learned by reading basic art books or by taking a beginner art class such as Basic Composition or The Elements & Principles of Design.
The next step is to learn one’s medium, in this case cameras and the digital darkroom (aka, Photoshop). The basics of photography and the camera is exceeding simple and involves only three controls: Aperture, Shutter Speed, and Sensor Speed (ISO). Learn the relationships of these three and the effects and characteristics that that they produce and you have mastered the camera.
After the camera comes the refinement of your image. In the digital darkroom, you will make the adjustments you feel you need to produce the image that expresses what you want to say. As we age, what we have to say changes. And so our images reflect our evolving thoughts and photography becomes a lifelong pursuit of our own expression.
Cheers,
SMBR
Vero Beach Photography
2.07.2011
Toys For Tots
Master Event Organizer and all around good guy Gary Trump put together a Toys for Tots catch and release fishing tournament Saturday December 11th at the beach on North Hutchinson Island, Fort Pierce, Florida. Just under 50 fish were caught with Raymond Riley winning the event with a 19 inch bluefish. Marine Corps Reserve Tots for Toys Commander Nathaniel Wells was given a very large box of toys and several hundred dollars in donations. Prizes and gift certificates for the fisherman were donated by: Harbortown Restaurant and Marina, Out of Bounds Restaurant, Sharkey’s Restaurant, Tabacco Emporium, and J Camm Fishing Lures. Special thanks go out to Gary Trump for organizing the event and the wonderful barbeque afterwards. Snapshots were taken by Elaine Mancusi and Boris Robinson.
12.01.2010
Photoshop - A Dirty Word
“Hilda, what do you think of this amazing photo?” “It is amazing Agnes, yes, but it looks photoshopped.”
The “photoshopped” comment is something most of us have heard, or even thought or said ourselves. Professional Bird Photographer Ron Bielefeld’s images occasionally illicit the response of “that image was photoshopped” from other photographers. Ron has talent, and after 20 years of pointing a very large lens at 4 inch long birds zipping by at 35 miles per hour, his skills have honed far beyond most of us. His images reflect his capture.
To have captured an image that is so perfect it requires no photoshopping is a wonderful achievement. But, if you think about it, there are limited venues that permit such photography. To some photographers, the value or worth of the image comes from its good capture and lack of post manipulation. To others, the final image is what is most important. The question then is: Is worth measured by the process or the final image?
The answer to the question has a lot to do with what you plan to do with your images. If they are for presentation in a photo club with rules against manipulation, then you have to place more worth on the capture and you get what you get. Although this may seem artistically limiting, there can be satisfaction in manipulating the environment and capture process so as to take an image that portrays the scene that was in your imagination. Manipulation includes moving bad or distracting elements, moving yourself and camera’s perspective, and depth of field to further hone in on your subject.
If your photos are for your own artistic creation, then you must know that there are no rules. You are more free to say or express something through your photos. In many ways, this freedom is more difficult than when your creativity is placed in a small box. It requires more thought about the end result, and it requires studying the tools to achieve the result.
Ansel Adams often took several photos of the same scene with different exposures. The negatives were then manipulated and combined so as to allow a much greater dynamic range than would have otherwise been possible. In his day, chemicals and black inks were used. Today with digital capture, we use Photoshop. The result is the same – you imagine an image and you do what you must to make it real.
Photography can be no less an artful process than painting can be. A painter starts with a blank canvas and adds the elements she wants. A painter controls the way your eye moves through the image so you can ultimately experience what was in her imagination.
Photography is the opposite. We start with an image often full of distracting elements. The distractions take the viewer’s eye away from the path intended, from the feeling or message that the photographer saw and tried to capture. The post-capture manipulation of the image in Photoshop, or whatever digital darkroom tool you use, serves to refine the image to what your imagination intended. Painters and photographers may begin at opposite ends, but with skill they can arrive at the same place.
Take time to learn your available tools and expand your imagination and photographic possibilities. Photoshop doesn’t need to be a bad word, but it does need to be done well.
Boris Robinson
Vero Beach Photography
http://www.sebastianmark.com/
11.25.2010
New to Photography
Perhaps you’ve recently discovered that you love to take pictures, you’ve joined a photo club, and maybe you’ve bought a small digital camera. Well, congratulations, but now what. If you’re interested in making better photographs or, at least, making photographs that come out the way you imaged, and you’re serious enough to spend $20 and read a bit, then here are a few ideas that might be of aid.
The camera is the tool of photography. And as with all tools, understanding how your tool works means you’ll know which one to use to get the result you want, i.e., using a flat-head screw driver to try to remove a philips-head screw, or using a standard toaster to try and make a grilled-cheese sandwich (this doesn’t work!).
A good beginner’s book is “The Betterphoto Guide to Digital Photography” by Jim Miotke, available at Amazon.com for about $16. It was published in 2005, but the basics still apply and the main thing that has changed since then is more pixels and higher resolution. This book will teach you how to use your camera in an easy and simple way, and also teach you the fundamentals so if you do buy a DSLR, you’ll know how it can be used.
It’s not what you shoot with, it’s how you shoot. Point & shoot cameras have some limitations as compared to ‘bigger’ DSLR cameras(digital single lens reflex), but it’s mainly depth of field and noise issues. As an example, a fair number of photos that were accepted and hung (and got awards) in the current Backus Museum photography show were taken with point & shoot cameras. Don’t feel intimidated by people with big expensive cameras and lenses.
The next step is to slow down a bit. Digital allows us to shoot hundreds of pictures and that’s what most people end up doing – like firing a machine gun and hoping to hit something. Rather, use the book (and a written out simple cheat-sheet) to get the effects you want. Pick a subject and go and shoot it on purpose with an idea of what you want to get. For example, the last time I went to shoot water lilies at McKee, I shot three areas and took 31 digital photos. It took an hour and a half and the biggest difference between the photos was the light coming through different clouds and waiting for intermittent puffs of wind to die down. I used the puffs of wind to blur the water and get a ‘painterly’ effect in the reflections, yet had to wait a few seconds so the plants weren’t moving and blurry. Read the book and you’ll know that I used a long exposure (about 3/4 second), the highest f-stop, a tripod, and for point & shoots – the self-timer so there was no camera shake.
In today’s world, we’ve gotten so use to the idea that we buy something, turn it on and we get what we want, that there’s a marked resistance to actually having to do something like read a hundred pages in order to learn. In life we get what we give, so take some time to learn and you will be rewarded with artistic creation.
Now, go and shoot and have fun making photos. You’ll never stop learning because the more you discover, the more you’ll want to try and do.
Boris Robinson
Vero Beach Photographer
http://www.sebastianmark.com/
The camera is the tool of photography. And as with all tools, understanding how your tool works means you’ll know which one to use to get the result you want, i.e., using a flat-head screw driver to try to remove a philips-head screw, or using a standard toaster to try and make a grilled-cheese sandwich (this doesn’t work!).
A good beginner’s book is “The Betterphoto Guide to Digital Photography” by Jim Miotke, available at Amazon.com for about $16. It was published in 2005, but the basics still apply and the main thing that has changed since then is more pixels and higher resolution. This book will teach you how to use your camera in an easy and simple way, and also teach you the fundamentals so if you do buy a DSLR, you’ll know how it can be used.
It’s not what you shoot with, it’s how you shoot. Point & shoot cameras have some limitations as compared to ‘bigger’ DSLR cameras(digital single lens reflex), but it’s mainly depth of field and noise issues. As an example, a fair number of photos that were accepted and hung (and got awards) in the current Backus Museum photography show were taken with point & shoot cameras. Don’t feel intimidated by people with big expensive cameras and lenses.
The next step is to slow down a bit. Digital allows us to shoot hundreds of pictures and that’s what most people end up doing – like firing a machine gun and hoping to hit something. Rather, use the book (and a written out simple cheat-sheet) to get the effects you want. Pick a subject and go and shoot it on purpose with an idea of what you want to get. For example, the last time I went to shoot water lilies at McKee, I shot three areas and took 31 digital photos. It took an hour and a half and the biggest difference between the photos was the light coming through different clouds and waiting for intermittent puffs of wind to die down. I used the puffs of wind to blur the water and get a ‘painterly’ effect in the reflections, yet had to wait a few seconds so the plants weren’t moving and blurry. Read the book and you’ll know that I used a long exposure (about 3/4 second), the highest f-stop, a tripod, and for point & shoots – the self-timer so there was no camera shake.
In today’s world, we’ve gotten so use to the idea that we buy something, turn it on and we get what we want, that there’s a marked resistance to actually having to do something like read a hundred pages in order to learn. In life we get what we give, so take some time to learn and you will be rewarded with artistic creation.
Now, go and shoot and have fun making photos. You’ll never stop learning because the more you discover, the more you’ll want to try and do.
Boris Robinson
Vero Beach Photographer
http://www.sebastianmark.com/
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