Biltmore Estate In Summer
Enjoying The Gardens and Some Interesting Finds
Whenever my family and I want to enjoy a brief getaway during the weekends, we often make the relatively short drive from…
Enjoying The Gardens and Some Interesting Finds
Whenever my family and I want to enjoy a brief getaway during the weekends, we often make the relatively short drive from Greenville to Biltmore near Asheville, NC.
Biltmore House is famously known as America's largest home, built by George Vanderbilt in 1895, and definitely worth a visit. For those of you who have enjoyed the Downtown Abbey series, a visit to the house will make you feel like being one of the Crawley family members. Just imagine how it must have felt living in a mansion like this, as the Crawleys did in fiction and the Vanderbilts did in real life.
For me however the estate itself and the gardens are always the highlights of our visits. Especially in summer when all flowers are in bloom.
The grounds are vast, and offer many nice photo opportunities. And can you image to have your wedding in a setting like this? Biltmore actually offers a full service package to plan and organize your wedding. Full disclosure: I am not at all affiliated with Biltmore and do not gain anything from directing you to their site, I just love the place!
While walking through the gardens, I stumbled upon some interesting finds. That is... from a photographic perspective. If you are a regular visitor to my blog and website you probably will have noticed that I love black and white pictures. Below are two I recently found when visiting Biltmore returning from our brief trip to the Bryson City area.
I hope you enjoyed these brief impressions from Biltmore, and I encourage you to visit this grand home and its gardens and grounds.
Great Smoky Mountains Railroad Brief Impressions
Current and abandoned equipment of the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad
Two weeks ago my family and I spend a long weekend in Dillsboro, North Carolina. Besides relaxing and enjoying some great…
Current and abandoned equipment of the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad
Two weeks ago my family and I spend a long weekend in Dillsboro, North Carolina. Besides relaxing and enjoying some great family time, we made a couple of short day trips to Cherokee, Sylva, and Bryson City the home town of the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad (GSMR). Since it only was a short break we didn't have the opportunity to actually take a ride on one of the GSMR trains. This however is something we definitely want to do in the future.
I took a couple of pictures of some of the trains, which I later converted into black and white in Lightroom.
As an additional treat I stumbled upon some old, abandoned railroad cars near our hotel. It is always a bit sad to see these nice cars breaking down. The faded and rusted colors however provided some great picture opportunities.
What To Blog About
5 Solutions for when you don't know what to blog about
Keeping up a blog and publishing posts on a regular basis can sometimes be a real challenge. While in theory there is a multitude…
5 Solutions for when you don't know what to blog about
Keeping up a blog and publishing posts on a regular basis can sometimes be a real challenge. While in theory there is a multitude of topics to choose from, in real life inspiration doesn't always match opportunity. Writer's block does exist! And when stuck there is the danger of reverting to the same kind of content again and again, making the blog less appealing to your regular audience.
When I faced the challenge to write this week's article, I was exactly in that situation. I had no clue what to write about. However, struggling to come up with some ideas to get this post started I realized that the problem I faced actually would be a great topic to write about. So, what can you do? Here are five tips to break through your writer's block and generate blogging ideas.
Review your audience
I assume that you are writing your blog with a certain audience in mind. If it is a photography focused blog that could be other photographers, or it could be art buyers, galleries and collectors. If you have a travel blog, it could be fellow travelers. If your blog mainly exists to support selling anything from your website, it can focus on showcasing the products or services you provide. Whatever the case, you always can ask the following questions:
Who am I writing for?
Are all articles written for the audience I'm targeting?
What have I not written about that my audience would be interested to know?
Can I write something that appeals to a broader or different audience, without driving away my current followers?
Answering these questions will help you to refocus on your audience and come up with ideas for new blog topics, and maybe even ideas for new projects, products or services.
Review past posts
Another great way to generate new ideas for your blog is to review past posts. Are there any patterns you can see? Is there anything you can build on, maybe a couple of articles that you now can combine into a series to expand on? When looking at all your blog entries, do you see gaps, is there anything you have not written about? Has anything changed since you wrote a previous article and can you refer back to it and make additions or clarify?
Review your portfolio
Step back and have a fresh look at your portfolio. Do you see any patterns or maybe changes over time that you can write about? Are there any images you have not written about? Are there any images you could compare, or that showcase your development as a photographer?
Another opportunity could be to write about the similarities or differences between images and collections in your portfolio. Are some in black in white and some in color? Do you have landscape and urban pictures? Write about the reason for this, and how the use of each impacts the message you are communicating. Making new connections between your collections can be a great way to see your work from a different perspective and generate ideas for your blog.
Read and follow other blogs
Yes, you have to face reality: there are more blogs out there than only yours. And while it sometimes can be overwhelming to see how much 'competition' for your audience's attention there is, it also provides you with a great opportunity. Read other blogs and see what trends there are, what other bloggers are writing about. This not only will help you generate ideas for your own blog, following and connecting with other bloggers will help you to grow your experience and become active in a bloggers network in other ways (hey, another possible blog topic!).
Important here is that you not only use ideas from other blogs, you also will have opportunities to reference these other blogs and link to them. And of course, if you find something to share, always, always, give credit!
Ask someone to write a guest blog
Each blogger has their own distinctive way of writing, their distinctive voice. Having someone else posting an article on your blog will give your audience something 'fresh' and new. Asking another blogger to write a guest post also provides a great opportunity to link back to their blog and give them a broader or new audience. Over time, it also will support you by becoming part of the blogging community and connecting to people with the same interests as you.
I hope this article has helped some of you who are struggling with writer's block. What techniques do you use to fight the dreaded empty page in front of you?
And on a closing note: As you will have noticed, in the process of writing this blog I followed my own advice and reviewed my portfolio, deciding to use some images from my South Africa collection to illustrate this article.
Images Selected for Small Works Juried Show
Artists Guild Gallery of Greenville Small Works Juried Exhibition
Today I have some quite exciting news to share: both entries I submitted for the Artists Guild Gallery of Greenville (AGGG) 6th Annual Small Works Juried Exhibition have been accepted for the show!
Artists Guild Gallery of Greenville Small Works Juried Exhibition
Today I have some quite exciting news to share: both entries I submitted for the Artists Guild Gallery of Greenville (AGGG) 6th Annual Small Works Juried Exhibition have been accepted for the show!
AGGG's gallery is located in the heart of Greenville, South Carolina. It represents more than 20 juried local artists, offering work in a variety of media. The interested visitor and buyer will find works in acrylic, graphite, mixed media, oil, pastel, glass, woodwork, pottery, sculpture, and of course photography.
Both entries are printed in a 7x7 square format with pigment-based ink on Ilford Galerie paper.
The first image is a black and white picture of the entrance stairwell of the Pasadena Museum of California Art. It has a very clear, almost abstract design with curves and nooks creating great shadows. The image was taken with a Fujifilm GS645S medium format camera on Portra 400 film, converted to black and white in Lightroom 4.
The second image is a black and white picture of a bath's faucet. I especially like how the highlights and shadows interact with each other. The picture was taken with a Canonet QL17 on 35mm film.
This year's show opening and artists reception will be 5 August from 6pm to 8pm at AGGG's gallery on 200 N Main Street - Suite 104 Ivey Square, Greenville, South Carolina 29601.
I entered AGGG's Annual Small Works Juried Exhibition for the first time last year with the image below, also taken with the Canonet QL17 on black and white 35mm film. You can imagine that I was very happily surprised it won a Honorable Mention?!
If you are in Greenville on or after 5 August, please take a moment and visit the gallery. Not only to see the entries of the artists who's work will be on display in the Small Works show, but also to appreciate the work of the talented resident artists of the Artists Guild Gallery of Greenville.
Instant Film On A Hot Summer Day
Expired Fujifilm FP-100c Instant Film At Furman University
Last Sunday was a typical hot South Carolina summer day. With temperatures raising into the mid 90s it would have made…
Expired Fujifilm FP-100c Instant Film At Furman University
Last Sunday was a typical hot South Carolina summer day. With temperatures raising into the mid 90s it would have made perfectly sense to stay at home and enjoy the air conditioned inside. However, people do what they do and I decided that I wanted to go out and take some pictures.
Since I had a package of expired Fujifilm FP-100c instant pack film in the fridge, I decided to take the Mamiya RZ67 out and head to Furman University.
Furman has great grounds with an auditorium, a football stadium, and the other usual suspects you might find on a university campus. The centerpiece however is an artificial lake that surrounds a small peninsula with a bell tower.
I am not displeased with the pictures, but as you can see it took some experimenting with exposure to get acceptable results, partially because I used a polarizing filter for some of the images. The darker band at the right side of the third image is on the picture (not from scanning). I probably took the strip with film and developing emulsion not even enough out the camera.
After having taken a couple of images of the lake and the bell tower, I turned my attention to a small creek located just near the verge of the lake.
All pictures as displayed here are 'as taken'. No edits done, what you see is what it is. Note that although the Mamiya RZ67 is a 6x7 camera, because the Polaroid back I use doesn't have a mask it produces a square 7x7 image in the middle of the frame.
I like the results I got, but probably would need to experiment a bit more to get the results I really want. The colors are bright and details are sufficiently visible. The whole feel of the images to me actually is a bit vintage. Unfortunately Fujilm FP-100c is discontinued and although still available, it is a bit expensive and only expired batches are left. So I need to think if I will order more.
For the techies: all pictures taken with the Mamiya RZ67 Pro II with 250mm APO and 50mm ULD lenses on Fujifilm FP-100c instant film. Scanned using a Canon MP920 scanner/printer and the Canon standard software.
Editing Images In Lightroom
To edit or not to edit: choosing to be a photographer or a digital artist
We all do it: editing the images we made to make them nicer, brighter, shinier, or even totally change their appearance and/or…
To edit or not to edit: choosing to be a photographer or a digital artist
We all do it: editing the images we made to make them nicer, brighter, shinier, or even totally change their appearance and/or content. All photographers I know use Lightroom to enhance their images...or Photoshop, or GIMP, or NX2, or DxO, or ACDSee, or any of the many other photo editing software available.
The question is no longer "how far can we go", but has become "how far should we go". Current state of the art photo editing tools, combined with the enormous amount of photo data (pixel data) achieved with high quality sensors or scans allows us to do almost anything with our original images.
Quite some articles and blogs have been posted that champion what I would call the "purist" approach: in principle you should not (have to) change anything from your images, whatever effects or mood you want to achieve with your images should be achieved in-camera. For this group using any photo editing tool is almost heresy and if really needed, editing should be kept at a minimum. One of the arguments this group uses is that in the old-days-of-film no such thing as Photoshop existed and all this editing was not possible. They probably forget that the real masters of the darkroom, then and now, could and can edit an image to a very great extend using their developing and printing wizardry.
Although I usually try to get my final image as much as possible in-camera, I personally feel there is nothing wrong with even extreme photo editing. For me the question actually should not focus on editing yes or no, or to what extend editing should be "allowed". In my (very humble!) opinion the answer to that question will present itself when asking the question "what do I want to be".
As a creator of images consider asking yourself this question: do I want to be a photographer, or do I want to be a graphic artist? Yeah duh, you possibly will say; I want to make images with my camera, so I want to be a photographer. Sure, but let's take this one level deeper: what do you actually want to achieve with your photographs?
Do you want to create an image of the world around you "as it is", or do you want to use whatever you captured to create a new and unique work of art, never seen before? And of course, there even is a more important question underlying which needs to be answered first: why are you creating this image in the first place? Who is your client? Is it a newspaper or is it yourself trying to create something MoMa will kill for. Maybe that question is something that should be tackled in a future post...
Once you have answered the question about what you want to be, the question to what extend you should edit your images will be solved automatically. If you want to create "realistic" images, don't edit too much; if you want to achieve a highly creative end result, use all tools available to their fullest extend.
Easy!
Hmmm, maybe not...
How about using expired, or special film that will "alter" the image already in-camera? Or using lens filters? Or other technical means that impact the final outcome even before importing the image or its scan onto your hard drive (remember the ancient trick of Vaseline on a clear filter to create a foggy picture?).
Key here again is the question: what do you want to achieve, and what do you want to be, a photographer or an artist.
So then what's this photographer versus artist thing about? From my point of view there generally are two groups of photographers: those who want to create an image that predominantly is a realistic rendering of what they see (e.g. documentary photographers, street photographers, landscape photographers, food photographers), and those who want to use the photographic medium to create a "work of art".
Before you now all start overreacting: of course there is overlap, of course the photographer creates art, of course the photographer has an artistic vision too. What I'm getting here at is just to help me understand and decide on when or if I should edit or not.
Editing is great, when well done. And definitely should be done. And sometimes needs to be done. But please, keep three rules of the road in mind when doing it:
1. do it keeping in mind what your client/audience wants or needs;
2. do it only to achieve the image you have in mind (not because everyone does it);
3. be clear and open about the fact that you did it.
I wonder what your point of view is on the dilemma regarding editing or not.
Improve Your Film Photography By Shooting Test Rolls
Deciding on Exposure Indexes for Film Photography
I now have been shooting film again for some time, and I was not always getting the results I wanted. This made it necessary to…
Deciding on Exposure Indexes for Film Photography
I now have been shooting film again for some time, and I was not always getting the results I wanted. This made it necessary to adjust the scans in Lightroom. Something I actually wanted to prevent by shooting film! So what was wrong? My first thought: exposure!
As per the advice from Richard Photo Lab I decided to shoot several test rolls to see how changing exposure would impact the final result, and to decide how I want to expose film in the future. Since I mostly use one of four specific films the choices for the test were easy: Ilford Delta 100 and Kodak Tri-X 400 for black and white, and Kodak Ektar 100 and Kodak Portra 400 for color.
I took 10 pictures with each film on my trusted Mamiya RZ67 Pro-II with 110mm lens. All exposures have been incident metered with a Sekonic Flashmate L-308S.
The examples on this page show for each film the frame under exposed with 1.5 stop, the frame exposed as metered, and the frame over exposed with 3.5 stops.
The results make it quite clear that the "right" exposure for each film is different. That is why in stead of using the ISO value for each film as shown on the box (the box speed) you should use the Exposure Index for that particular film. The Exposure Index can be calculated by taking the exposure from your test roll that looks best for the look you want to achieve, and applying the under or over exposure value to the box speed. The resulting value, the Exposure Index (EI), then should be used to set your light meter.
For example: if the box speed of a film is ISO 400, and your test images show that an over exposure of 2 stops leads to the best results, you should expose this film as if it was a ISO 100 film. This means that you will use this film with an EI of 100. If the best result was achieved by under exposing this film with 2 stops, then for you it would have an EI of 1600. The film then should be processed as per the box speed (no push or pull processing).
The tests gave me a clear indication of how to expose these four films going forward. I encourage you also to shoot some test rolls and see how the results will help you to improve your film photography.
Taking The Fuji GS645S To Florida
Tampa and the Fuji GS645S with Kodak Ektar 100
A couple of weeks prior to my trip to California, I had the opportunity to take the Fuji GS645S on its first outing. I needed to visit…
Tampa and the Fuji GS645S with Kodak Ektar 100
A couple of weeks prior to my trip to California, I had the opportunity to take the Fuji GS645S on its first outing. I needed to visit Tampa, FL for business and had some time left to take a walk on the W Courtney Campbell Causeway.
It was a hot and sunny day, and I had the Fuji GS645S loaded with a roll of Ektar 100. It being a new camera for me, I had to figure out how to load it, set ISO, and adjust basic settings. Which are all easy to do on this camera.
I like using rangefinder cameras like the GS645S, especially in an environment where a lot is going on. The rangefinder allows for seeing more than only what is happening directly in front of you and anticipating any action that might impact the image you want to create. A possible setback of this is of course the fact that you have to account for parallax error when framing the scene. One of the nice features of the GS645S is that it has moving frame lines in the finder that allow for parallax compensation.
The first picture I took was from my hotel room. I was looking out over the northern part of Tampa bay and there was a nice reflection of a building I wanted to capture. Although I had some reflection from my window, I think the resulting image is rather nice (I cropped it just slightly to get rid of a not so nice street at the left).
Next step was leaving the hotel and start walking. The W Courtney Campbell Causeway is a rather long road connecting two shores of Tampa Bay, with as an additional feature a walk/bike path that is separated from the main road. Although I have been told that it is possible to spot dolphins and fish, I was not lucky enough to see any. Fortunately there were some other good image opportunities available (did I mention I like palm trees?).
For the technically inclined: I shot the Ektar at box speed (ISO 100).
Film Photography At La Jolla Beach
How I Traveled To California And Almost Exclusively Shot Film
Last May my oldest daughter and I went on a trip to Southern California. She is a Photography and Graphic Design student at Greenville Technical College and wanted to see an exhibit of images from Brett Weston at the Pasadena Museum of California…
How I Traveled To California And Almost Exclusively Shot Film
Last May my oldest daughter and I went on a trip to Southern California. She is a Photography and Graphic Design student at Greenville Technical College and wanted to see an exhibit of images from Brett Weston at the Pasadena Museum of California Art (PMCA). I decide to take two cameras on this trip: my trusted Fujifilm X-Pro 1 and a Fuji GS645S which I bought a couple of months ago and had not really used yet.
The Brett Weston exhibit was really great and inspiring, and my daughter and I where very impressed by the subject matter and how he executed his images.
Besides going to the exhibit and walking through Pasadena, we visited San Diego and several other places on the South California coast. We spent quite some time actually at La Jolla Beach Cove where a sea lion colony can be approached at very near distances.
To my own surprise I ended up using the GS645S far more than the X-Pro 1. I shot about 10 digital pictures and 60 on film. All film pictures are on Kodak Portra 400 and 800, using two rolls of 120 and one roll of 220.
The picture format, as the name of the camera indicates, is 6 x 4.5 cm with the standard orientation being portrait. Taking landscape oriented pictures however is quite easy.
The GS645S is very easy to handle. Although the aperture, shutter speed and focusing dials are all grouped together on the lens barrel, they are placed in a very convenient way and easily distinguished. It is a range finder type camera with a very bright viewfinder with clear frame lines and automatic parallax correction to assist framing.
I sent my rolls to be developed and scanned by Richard Photo Lab, and I am very pleased with the results. This GS645S / Portra combo probably is something I'm going to use more often.
I am also still very happy with the X-Pro 1 as the images below might show.
Combining Pictures In A Triptych
Three Images of Stained Glass Windows Mounted In One Frame
Last Sunday Rev. C.E. 'Smoke' Kanipe, our senior pastor at Mauldin United Methodist Church, had his last Sunday services here before moving to his next assignment in Columbia, SC. Smoke is a great and charismatic person, and he and his wife Sue have…
Three Images of Stained Glass Windows Mounted In One Frame
Last Sunday Rev. C.E. 'Smoke' Kanipe, our senior pastor at Mauldin United Methodist Church, had his last Sunday services here before moving to his next assignment in Columbia, SC. Smoke is a great and charismatic person, and he and his wife Sue have been instrumental in making our family feel very much at home and welcomed in South Carolina.
To show our feelings of gratitude and knowing that Smoke and Sue liked the transparencies I made from one of the stained glass windows in our church, I decide to combine the images of three windows into one frame: a triptych.
The first challenge was to select what windows I would like to include. Our church has several very nice stained glass windows depicting New Testament stories, and some other that have more general Christian themes. Eventually, I decided on the Nativity and the Resurrection, marking the beginning and end of Christ's life on earth.
For the third image, I choose the Dove which stands for the Holy Spirit, the Helper (John 14:26).
After some enhancements in Lightroom (I still use version 4), I printed all three images separately with the Canon imagePrograf Pro-1000 on Canon Photo Paper Pro Semi-gloss.
The next challenge was to have the pictures matted and framed. Since this is an art on its own, which I do not master, I turned to the team of Frame Warehouse on Woodruff Road in Greenville who did a great job. I am really happy with the final result, and I hope that Smoke and his family will enjoy it too.
Do Not Print Your Pictures.....For You
Print your pictures for your kids, grandkids, family, and friends
I recently had to travel to the Netherlands because my sister and I had to clean out my mother's apartment. She had lived in it for almost 48 years: since we moved there in 1968 until she moved into assisted living a couple of weeks ago. Although it was partially…
Print your pictures for your kids, grandkids, family, and friends
I recently had to travel to the Netherlands because my sister and I had to clean out my mother's apartment. She had lived in it for almost 48 years: since we moved there in 1968 until she moved into assisted living a couple of weeks ago. Although it was partially a sad job, going through all her things and deciding what could be kept and what had to be given or thrown away, it also had some fun and nostalgic moments.
My mom saved hundreds of pictures. Some in albums, some just lying around. She had made albums with pictures of our kids, she had pictures of her and dad when just married, old pictures of other family members, pictures of us as kids, and even some very old family pictures from the early 1900's.
One picture was very intriguing: it was an old picture of some army soldiers and civilians. I am not sure, but I think it was from my father's dad when he was a member of the Dutch Army.
The image has no date, but it must have been taken some time during or just after the First World War. The sign says "Leve het 16e R.I." (Long Live the 16th R.I.), and I think it refers to the 16th infantry regiment. I'm pretty sure the soldier sitting on the far right is my granddad.
This and all the other pictures we found in mom's treasure trove bring home exactly the point I want to make here: a lot of people just don't print their pictures anymore. The images are living on computers, tablets, phones and in the cloud. People don't print because keeping their pictures in digital format only is easy, and they share them with people they don't really know, who most likely live at the other side of the world.
Discovering these pictures in forgotten albums and stacked in boxes was pure joy! It brought back memories, and some were discoveries of my families history.
And that is the most important reason why you really need to print your pictures: not for you, not for your Instagram or Facebook friends, but for your kids, your grandkids, your family. They will be triggering memories, kids asking about their family's histories, and bringing back memories from loved ones.
So go out and get your pictures printed! It is not difficult to do: you can use a professional photo lab like Richard Photo Lab or Dalmatian, but you can also have it done at for example CVS or Costco (they even have apps to have your pictures printed directly from your smartphone), or with a similar service outside the US.
As you can see, there is no excuse for not printing your pictures.
Chisels and Wood
Medium Format Black & White With The Mamiya RZ67 Pro II
While rummaging through my toolbox at home some time ago, I stumbled on a set of chisels that once belonged to my dad who passed away in 2010. When my family and I still lived in the Netherlands, my dad…
Medium Format Black & White With The Mamiya RZ67 Pro II
While rummaging through my toolbox at home some time ago, I stumbled on a set of chisels that once belonged to my dad who passed away in 2010. When my family and I still lived in the Netherlands, my dad helped on several occasions to make alterations to the subsequent houses we lived in and he always left some tools behind: chisels, a tile cutter, bricklayer's tools, and so on. When finding these chisels and remembering him using them, I thought it would be a nice idea to make some pictures in remembrance of him.
Once this idea came up, I had to decide how to make the images. I decided to capture them on film: although the chisels are not antique, I wanted to capture the feeling of craftsmanship. After selecting film as the medium of choice, the next question was: what camera? Since I wanted a lot of detail and a limited depth of field I decided on using the medium format Mamiya RZ67 Pro II. Those of you who know this camera are aware that this is a large beast, capable of taking beautiful images. It can be hand held, but it usually is used on a sturdy tripod. I will dedicate a future post to discuss this camera in more detail.
So here is my set up: I had an old, wooden table that had weathered nicely. I put the Mamiya on a tripod and for some of the pictures placed the tripod on the table with the film plane horizontally aligned to the table top. For the other pictures I placed the tripod at a slight angle next to the table. A heavy camera, on a tripod, on a wooden table is quite sensitive to vibrations. To prevent these as much as possible I used the camera's mirror-up feature by attaching a remote cable to the lens, and first using the camera's release button to move the mirror in the up position before releasing the shutter with the remote. The Mamiya uses lenses that all have leaf shutters build into the lens.
For developing, scanning and proof printing I sent the film to Dalmatian Black & White in Greensboro, NC. Prior to printing I only did some minimal post processing in Lightroom 4.
The final results are nice graphic fine art images with a lot of detail and just the amount of depth of field I was looking for. These pictures are great to make a big interior design statement in a room when printed really large and displayed as single images. They however also look beautiful when printed and framed individually at a smaller size (about 8"x10"), and displayed as a group. I found some great wooden frames that match the texture of the wooden table in the images. The pictures turned out great in these frames, and every time I look at them they bring back fond memories of my dad.
The Old Corral
Fine Art Black and White Pictures of an Old Corral
One of my favorite fine art series is "The Old Corral" series I made in 2014 with the Mamiya RZ67 Pro II. These pictures are from an old corral near the Saddlehorn neighborhood in Pelzer, SC.
Fine Art Black and White Pictures of an Old Corral
One of my favorite fine art series is "The Old Corral" series I made in 2014 with the Mamiya RZ67 Pro II. These pictures are from an old corral near the Saddlehorn neighborhood in Pelzer, SC.
Information from the Historical Marker Project:
Before Saddlehorn was a neighborhood, it was a rural cattle farm. Corrals like this were used (and still are in some instances) by farmers as holding pens to work with cattle that grazed the surrounding pastures. When farmers built this corral, they cut the posts from Eastern Cedar trees located on the property because this wood is slow to decay. They built the cross members high so an excited animal couldn't jump over the fence. The main section of the corral acted as the holding pen, and the cattle were brought into the narrow shoot to separate them for tagging or for veterinary care. The metal gate at the end of the shoot acted as a head-hold to stabilize the animal.
Old Livestock Corral (HM78N)
Location: Pelzer, SC 29669 Greenville County
Country: United States of America
N 34° 39.53', W 82° 21.277'
When making pictures of man-made objects I am often drawn to old buildings structures: castles, churches, houses, barns, and stand alone structures like this old corral.
This typically is for two reasons: in the first place, these old buildings and objects have gained a certain patina and structure that made them very interesting as a photography subject, usually providing a lot of textures and interesting detail. Secondly I'm always wondering about the people who build, used and lived in these buildings. What kind of people were they, how did they live, who were they?
From a photographic perspective this old corral provided a great opportunity to explore the shallow depth of field that medium format film can provide.
For that reason I used the Mamiya RZ67 Pro II with its 110mm 'standard' lens. This lens is called standard because it more or less compares to a 50mm lens on a 35mm film and full-frame digital camera, and a 35mm lens on a digital camera with an APS-C size sensor. It produces an almost three-dimensional effect.
The structure furthermore has a lot of texture that looks great on black and white film. For this shoot, I used an expired roll of Efke R25 with very fine grain that brings out the detail of the weathered wood and iron.
The best way to display these pictures would be in a simple, not to broad black frame with a pure white mat.
When used as a set I recommend to have these pictures printed at a size near to 8"x10" keeping as close as possible to the original 6x7 negative aspect ratio. The pictures then can be displayed all next to each other to create a lengthening effect for the wall, or they can be grouped to provide more weight and emphasis on one part of the wall.
When using a single picture to create a distinctive focal point, I recommend printing not smaller than 24"x28"
Creating Photobooks with Lightroom
Use photo books to enhance the way you share your pictures
While a portfolio website is a great way to share your pictures with a broad public and to provide a selling platform, your pictures deserve a more tangible life as a high-quality print. Printing your images can be done…
Use photo books to enhance the way you share your pictures
While a portfolio website is a great way to share your pictures with a broad public and to provide a selling platform, your pictures deserve a more tangible life as a high-quality print. Printing your images can be done in a multitude of formats: inkjet or giclee prints, photographic prints, canvas wraps, on aluminum, even on glass. A popular way to print a selection of pictures is to create a photo book.
With a photo book, you can showcase a specific selection of fine art prints, bring holiday memories together, or compile an overview of treasured family pictures. It looks professional and enhances the way your pictures are experienced by others.
I created my first photo book with Blurb, which is quite an easy process when you use Lightroom as your photo management tool.
After you have created a collection in Lightroom (I have LR4) you want to make a book of, go to the "BOOK" menu at the top right of your screen.
You then will be in the section of Lightroom where you can create books in several formats.
In this screen, go to the Book Settings drop-down area and select "Blurb". This is also the place where you can select book size, cover type, paper type, and if you want to have the Blurb logo printed on the last page of your book (select 'yes' if you want to get a discounted book price!).
This will change your options to create a book with Blurb. You will see a full menu to the right to create front and end pages and to select several layout types for each page. You can add text to pages, and create a professional looking photo book by dragging and dropping the images you want on the page layouts you create.
The final step is to go to the bottom right of your page and click 'Send Book to Blurb...'.
This finalizes the process in Lightroom and uploads your book to Blurb: you will be connected to the Blurb website to check book-type, paper quality, and - if you want to sell your book to the public - selling options. Please note that you need to create an account with Blurb if you don't have one yet.
The process is very straightforward and easy, and to see an example of how a final product looks just have a look at my Old World Charm book.
There is a Blurb page with specific instructions if you want to read more about the process of creating photo books with Lightroom and Blurb.
5 Great Reasons For Shooting Film (part 5)
How shooting film will improve your photography (part 5)
This is the fifth and last post in a series of five in which I share the for me five best reasons why I will continue to use my film cameras. Reasons, for which I recommend that you also should consider picking up one of…
How shooting film will improve your photography (part 5)
This is the fifth and last post in a series of five in which I share the for me five best reasons why I will continue to use my film cameras. Reasons, for which I recommend that you also should consider picking up one of those older cameras, a roll of film, and giving it a try; and why it actually will improve your photography [first, second, third and fourth posts in this series].
My fifth great reason for shooting film after the break.
You actually will have pictures in your hand
Although I love to share my pictures via Zenfolio [note: currently I use SquareSpace], I sometimes also want to have a tangible product. When shooting film it is just easier for me to get actual prints: I usually order them when I have the film developed and scanned. No need to go through the process of preparing the image in Lightroom for printing and taking or sending the digital file to a lab or printer, or printing it at home. And to be honest: as a result of these additional steps needed, most of my digital pictures only live in the digital world.
This was the last post in this series about five great reasons for shooting film. There is actually one bonus reason: it is just fun to fiddle with the mechanics of a film camera, going through all the actions to make sure all settings are correct. It is just more fun than working with the digital stuff, even if you are shooting your dSLR or mirror-less camera in 'full manual' mode.
Does that meant that I am against digital cameras and images? Absolutely not! I still am using my X-Pro1 more than my film cameras, and I love the versatility of digital. For me, these are two different worlds, and I am lucky I can live in and with both.
So go out there, check eBay for your first film camera, put a roll in it, and start shooting!
5 Great Reasons For Shooting Film (part 4)
How shooting film will improve your photography (part 4)
This is the fourth post in a series of five in which I share the for me five best reasons why I will continue to use my film cameras. Reasons, for which I recommend that you also should consider picking up one of those…
How shooting film will improve your photography (part 4)
This is the fourth post in a series of five in which I share the for me five best reasons why I will continue to use my film cameras. Reasons, for which I recommend that you also should consider picking up one of those older cameras, a roll of film, and giving it a try; and why it actually will improve your photography [first, second and third posts in this series].
My fourth great reason for shooting film after the break.
You spend less time in post-processing
First of all, since you only have a limited number of exposures per roll you probably will be more selective about taking a picture. As a result, you will have fewer pictures to go through per session, which of course will save time when reviewing and selecting your best images.
But even more important, it is my personal experience that a well-taken picture (i.e. correct shutter time, aperture and sharpness for the result you want to achieve) on film needs less post-processing than a well taken digital picture.
Here I have to admit that at this moment I am only shooting film, not developing. I send my rolls to a professional lab for developing, scanning and printing. I upload the scans into Lightroom for minimal post-processing and publishing on my portfolio pages.
The next and last post in this series I will talk about a more tangible reason for shooting film.
3 Pinterest Boards Each Photographer Needs To Have To Improve Your Artistic Vision
How using Pinterest can help you to become more creative and improve your photographic vision
Pinterest is used by many people to capture and share ideas, projects, and products. Every photographer, however, should have three specific Pinterest boards to boost your creativity and improve your photographic…
How using Pinterest can help you to become more creative and improve your photographic vision
Pinterest is used by many people to capture and share ideas, projects, and products. Every photographer, however, should have three specific Pinterest boards to boost your creativity and improve your photographic vision.
Photography Board
Although this sounds like a no-brainer, you definitely should not forget to have one general board where you can capture photography tips, techniques, technical information, and information about cameras you have or would like to have. This is your general go-to board that you can use when you need a quick refresher on technique and which you can use to share with fellow photogs.[back to top]
Inspiration Wall
As every dedicated artist knows, an inspiration wall will help you to develop your artistic insight, ideas and developing your photographic vision. What do you like, what do you not like. What type of photography would you like to learn or sell. [back to top]
Interior Design
Do not forget that the best place for pictures to live is not in the digital world, but in the real world. Having tangible products enhances the experience of your pictures. And clients rather will buy prints than electronic versions to keep on their screens. Printing is sharing.
An interior Design board will help you to capture and share ideas for yourself and your clients for what to actually do with the prints and how to use them best in your interior. In order for them to be viewed in the best possible way, and in order to use them in the best way to enhance your interior. [back to top]
5 Great Reasons For Shooting Film (part 3)
How shooting film will improve your photography (part 3)
This is the third post in a series of five in which I share the for me five best reasons why I will continue to use my film cameras. Reasons, for which I recommend that you also should consider picking up one of those older cameras…
How shooting film will improve your photography (part 3)
This is the third post in a series of five in which I share the for me five best reasons why I will continue to use my film cameras. Reasons, for which I recommend that you also should consider picking up one of those older cameras, a roll of film, and giving it a try; and why it actually will improve your photography [first and second posts in this series].
My third great reason for shooting film after the break.
For some shots, film is just better
In my opinion film still has more detail retention in highlights and shadows than electronic sensors can capture. There is no need for HDR photography because film is HDR. Film has a huge dynamic range, with even gradation from dark to light tones.
Of course, it is up to you to choose the right shutter speed and aperture to achieve this. Keep in mind, however, that there is no such thing as the 'right exposure': you decide what feeling, mood, and effect you want to create with your shutter speed and aperture selection.
And then there is that specific film look: blogs are filled with discussion about whether film images actually look different from digital images. And what to think about the numerous "film" presets available for digital post-processing software. Probably a lot of personal taste is involved, but to me for some pictures film just works better.
The next post in this series will provide you with information on how you can spend more time actually taking pictures.
Five Great Reasons For Shooting Film (Part 2)
How shooting film will improve your photography (part 2)
This is the second blog post in a series of five in which I will share the for me five best reasons why I will continue to use my film cameras. Reasons, for which I recommend that you also should consider picking up one of those older…
How shooting film will improve your photography (part 2)
This is the second blog post in a series of five in which I will share the for me five best reasons why I will continue to use my film cameras. Reasons, for which I recommend that you also should consider picking up one of those older cameras, a roll of film, and giving it a try; and why it actually will improve your photography. Look here for the first post in this series.
My second great reason for shooting film after the break.
You need to know your photography theory
As I mentioned in the first post on this topic, most of the older film cameras do not have any auto mode settings. You all have to do it yourself: transporting the film to the next frame and cocking the shutter, setting the shutter time, choosing the aperture, focusing, and of course taking the picture.
Since you have to change settings manually, you really need to know what you are doing: why for example are you choosing a specific aperture, or specific shutter time. You also can not switch film sensitivity between shots (some medium format cameras, however, have changeable film backs, which do allow you to actually use films with different ISO values). Yes, even before you go out to take pictures you need to think about what kind of images you want to capture. Is it very light outside, or dark? Do you need to freeze motion, or do you want to blur motion? To answer these questions and make the right decisions for the pictures you want to achieve, you need to know a bit more about photography and light theory than when working with a fully automatic digital camera that can adjust ISO settings 'on the go'.
The next post in this series will explain why for some shots film just is better.
Fine Art Defined
What exactly is Fine Art when it relates to photography?
I found a great definition in a post by Steve Johnson on his The Minimalist Photographer site: "It means, simply art that has no purpose other than being art – art that is its own reason for existing… To qualify, the intent would have to…
What exactly is Fine Art when it relates to photography?
I found a great definition in a post by Steve Johnson on his The Minimalist Photographer site: "It means, simply art that has no purpose other than being art – art that is its own reason for existing… To qualify, the intent would have to be to produce something that has no specific purpose outside of itself." Steve's post about fine art photography was an eye-opener for me and it really drives home what I currently try to accomplish with my images:
Capturing the reflection of light off people and objects, in such a manner that it represents the reason why that reflection at the moment of capturing inspired me to capture it on film or digital media at all.
The interesting notion here is that, different from other art forms, photography to be creative needs an already existing creation; be this a man made object, a natural object or a living being. Whereas a painter by using the capturing medium (canvas, paint and whatever else the artists decides to use) can create a picture of a vase without an actual vase in existence, and the potter can create a formerly not existent vase by applying his creative medium, without light bouncing off an actually existing vase a photographic image of a vase is not possible.
I'm probably rambling here and the above can be the topic of a long post on a psychology blog, or maybe initiate some serious psychoanalysis. Te essence, however, is that Steve Johnson's post and his definition of fine art made me realize what I really want to accomplish: creating photographic images that can exist just because they exist. The beauty of this definition also lies in the fact that it detaches the art 'value' of the images from any opinion whether they 'are' fine art: they are because they exist, not because someone (including me) says or agrees they are.
Does that mean that I will be happy if someone says an image of mine is fine art? Sure. Does that mean that I will be offended if someone says that an image of mine is not fine art? Nope. Does that mean that I (eventually) will not start selling images? No. Does that mean that I will be unhappy if anyone wants to buy one of my images? Definitely no!
For now, however, join me in enjoying the images you see on my website. And I will be happy to respond to any questions or comments you might have.