The mentored sketchbook.

The Snag

Photographer's notes: camera: canon EOS 40D, lens: 28mm-135mm, shutter speed: 1/250, at f/22, ISO: 200, Exp. -2/3

The making of this photo actually started about two years ago when I noticed this snag while I was riding the bus. When I noticed it that morning I immediately became very fond of it. I looked at it adoringly every morning and afternoon after that. After I received my camera for Christmas, I started thinking, "I really need to photograph that". One day I mentioned it to Chris, then a few weeks later, when we were trying to think of a photo assignment we could do, he brought it up. Our good Israeli friends Taltal and Peleg came with us as and it was a great outing. It is a different experience to be out with a group, I'll tell you that! If you do ever get the chance to go out with several other people, and compare notes afterward, take it! The main lesson here is: if you want to go and photograph or draw something, do it! If you can, do it again and again! I plan on revisiting this snag when a storm is coming, because I think it would look cool with foreboding clouds!

A note on composition: I chose this image because it was the most balanced one I shot. I find balancing very challenging, whereas it comes to Chris naturally. An image is balanced when the major parts have countering parts that have equal visual weight. Sorry, I'm really bad at definitions, but if you look at the image above, you can see that it is balanced because the wood at the base of the base of the snag has nearly equal visual weight with the snag. It would be unbalanced if the snag were off to the left for example, and there was nothing on the right to balance it. Once you know this rule, you can also break it for effect, maybe I would have made the image unbalanced if I wanted it to be more edgy.

The Snag Photo Assignment

I just realized I had forgotten to follow up on my blog posting of April 11th. This was a photo assignment that I went on with three teenagers including Teresa. Teresa chose the subject. I have to say, that when I saw the small non-descriptive snag she choose, I said to myself 'this is going to be challenging'!

But that's good...nothing like a photographic challenge. So if you are interested in photography (I assume that is why you are here!!) my thought process went something like this:  I walked around the snag with my 24-105mm lens looking at different compositions. I quickly realized that the background in every direction was to me uninteresting. The road certainly didn't turn me on. The alternative, therefore, was to get down on the ground and shoot up at the sky. I considered the position of the tree, the branch and the cloud formation. By working my way around the tree once again, I chose my spot. Next I switched to my 14mm wide angle lens which provided what I thought was the most interesting perspective.

I hid the sun behind the tree, and because there was such high contrast, I decided to shoot what is called an HDR (high dynamic range) image. This would enable me to interpret the complete tonal range - from the very brightest to the very darkest tones. If I had made a single exposure, the tree trunk would appear black against such a bright sky. So, to capture the detail in the tree trunk, as well as the bright clouds, I made three exposures; one for the brightest area, one for the darkest, and one for the middle tones. By combining all three together in a program called Photomatics, I was able to get the correct exposure throughout the tonal range. Amazing.

What is so very cool about this process, is that I was able to make an image that resembles how I saw  the tree with my naked eyes. I could see the details on that tree trunk, but a single image using film or digital sensor could not. 

So there you have it. That is how I met the challenge of photographing an old snag against a noon day sun.

There are hundreds of video's online that show you how to shoot HDR imagery. Check it out. There is some amazing HDR imagery out there. Good luck!

San Francisco Trip.

As described in my last Newsletter, Rita and I flew to SF last week where I received the Northern Lights Award as the top North American photojournalist to shoot a story about a Canadian destination. I thought I would share a few images.

As we drove to Vancouver through the night, I made an image while driving through one of the tunnels near Hope, BC. I was hoping to meet with a big semi-trailer to add a little more drama but no such luck! By the way, I wasn't actually driving; I was in the passenger seat!

The first 3 images show the classic Fairmont Hotel where we stayed; the awards banquet in the Grand Ballroom; and finally a picture of the award itself, a beautiful BC First Nations "Spring Moon" mask.

For me the highlight of the Awards Banquet was listening to Dr. Wade Davis, the feature speaker of the event. Dr. Davis is a BC native who presented the Massey Lectures in 2009 and is presently the resident Explorer for National Geographic. His talk about Canada and Canadians was scintillating. The last picture is of Wade and I chatting after the awards presentation.

In my next post I'll share a few images that I made while walking about town.

Direct the Eye - from Chris' Perspective!

It was amazing for me to read Teresa's last blog entry. I can't believe how fast she absorbed all that information! The greatest part for me is not only being inspired by how much and how quickly Teresa is learning, but how much I am learning!

Taking into account what Teresa wrote, let me explain how we improved the image during the processing stage. Her reason for making the image was to draw attention to the subjects beyond the fence. The problem with the first image is the fence is so bright that our eyes get stuck there and have a much harder time getting through to the more important subjects.

So we subtracted light from the fence by subtracting light or 'burning' it in Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) and we brightened up the truck and wall by adding brightness or 'dodging' it in ACR. We also brought out more of their inherent colours and sharpened the details. As Teresa mentioned, our eyes go to the brightest, most saturated and sharpest parts of a photograph. So, if you look at the two images once again, you will notice how your eyes are more easily drawn through the fence and how much more easily you pick up the details of the truck and the chains on the red wall. We also added a little more contrast to both subjects.

That was a great exercise. Everyone can vastly improve their image making by knowing what they are trying to say with their image, and knowing better how to process the image in order to say it.

Try it and let us know how you are doing!

Direct the eye

This is the same image as my previous post, but this time it's been processed-or optimized-in photoshop by Chris. You may not be able to see the difference, but it's there. Chris and I try to process and image a day together, because I'm still leaning the ins and outs of photoshop. Normally we use one of his images, but this was a good exercise for both of us because for Chris, this image holds no emotional attachment, so he can look at it more objectively. What I learned was: when you go to process an image, you should ask yourself two things. 1.) What do I want to say? There is a reason you took this picture, that should come out for the viewer. 2.) How do I want to lead the viewer's eye through the image? These questions are connected because your viewer learns what you are saying by what they see. When he processed this image, Chris used light and dark (the eye will go to light areas before dark areas),  contrast (the eye will go to high contrast areas before low contrast), sharpness (the eye will go to high sharpness areas before low sharpness areas), focus ( the eye will go to areas in focus first), and saturation (the eye will go to highly saturated areas first) to guide the eye. One thing I had to remember while doing this exercise is to not compare myself to Chris. You should never compare yourself to others, everyone is different, everyone is always learning, and everyone is at their own level.

-Teresa

Photo Assignment with 3 Teenagers.

I always remember renowned Canadian photographer Freeman Patterson saying, "I have learned more from my students than from any other source." I agree totally. Whenever I look at the imagery of beginners, I am always amazed. This day was no exception. I took three teenagers, Teresa, Taltal and Peleg, out to find a subject. Teresa chose a small snag beside the road and we all set about our visual explorations; Taltal with sketch pad, and the rest of us with a camera. The results were inspiring. We all had a blast and we all learned from each other. Here is a picture of the snag and all 4 of us at work! Next we will share the results. Stay tuned!

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More fun at the farm

Photographer's notes: Camera: canon EOS 40D, lens: 28-35mm, mode: Aperture priority (Av), ISO 100, shot at 1/13 sec. at f/22.

This is another photo from the trip to the Horn farm. It was the first thing I saw when we started shooting. It was the last thing I shot with a purpose before we left, because when you first arrive at your shooting site it is always a good idea to take a walk around first. Take your camera with you so you can look through the lens if you need to. It was definitely not the last truck I saw; there were tons of old cars and parts of cars, including part of a police car! This was along with tons of other stuff that made you think, "wow, where does he get this?!" Anyway, Chris was also attracted to this truck, It has huge potential, especially because it's parked beside that red wall with all those chains and stuff. I noticed this wooden structure, and I thought it might be cool to try shooting through it to frame the subject. I set up my tripod-it had to be so tall that I had to go get a stump from Gus's wood pile to look stand on!- and took a few shots. I decided on this one because we had been there on a very sunny day and this picture had a nicer diffuse light because a cloud had covered the sun while I took it. It's always all about the light, if anyone tells you differently, they are lying! In this case the diffuse light was better because it made the colours a little more saturated, and it made the shadows softer. You know what I like most about this photo? How "Ford" is missing the "r".

-Teresa

What is this a photo of? Continued...

Photographer's notes: camera: Canon EOS 40D, Lens: 28-35mm, On aperture priority, shutter speed: 1/80 sec, at f/4, exp. -1/3, ISO 100

This is a shot of the reflection in the window. Did I fool you, because I fooled Chris! I took this at Gus Horn's farm, the window belongs to a house that was built by the original owner of the land. This was a magical place that I was very attracted to because it reminded me of the kind of place I would play make-believe in when I was younger. This is a reminder to always shoot what attracts you, you're shooting for you, no one else.

This is a very simple form of illusion, or distortion if you will, that you can do in camera, as opposed to in photoshop. Try playing with reflections, you can find them in any shiny surface!

-Teresa

What is this a photo of?

Can you guess exactly what this photo is?

-Teresa

A Hidden Treasure!

Last week Teresa and I went out to a friends ranch to photograph. As we had never been there before, we decided to just walk around the property and observe before we even made a photograph. Wow...there were photographs at every turn. But where to start?

Then, with camera's and tripods in hand, Teresa and I went our separate ways to make imagery.

I went into an old barn and this is the image I made. It has a very high dynamic range. In other words, by making 3 images and exposing for the complete tonal range (from the brightest to the darkest), I was able to capture much more detail than I ever could with a single exposure. It was because of the extreme detail in this scene that I made the image in this way.

I was happy with my image, but I was even more thrilled to see what Teresa had photographed. If you want to step out of the box and become more visually aware, photograph with a teenager. I thought I was supposed to be mentoring Teresa; believe me, it's the other way around!