Oxherding Is Fun

on the oxherding path

the bull is ridden

and forgotten

You can HDR a pig but its still a pig.  Now its just a pig in HDR.  And guess what?  In flickr this image will get 5x more hits just because it has the tag HDR and submitted to HDR groups.  That is just damn silly!

I admit to struggling with HDR.  Not the technique per se but when to use it and not.  Sure there is the technical answer about the ability to record more levels of light than a single image can record but even in a simple image of a pig the HDR process adds something intangible.  The luminance, detail enhancement, vivid colors, the extended dynamic range; it all adds up to what can be a “better” image than a single exposure image processed the same but minus the HDR tonemapping step.  But did I need to process this simple image of pig with HDR?  No, not really.

This Spring I have shot many images of wildflowers and I admit that as a rule, I like the HDR/tonemapped images better than the standard images. Especially for viewing on screen. Printing I think it might be reversed and I will like the non-HDR versions better.  Maybe there is an important difference there?

An appealing image needs to be great first and then whatever procedure later.  Many HDR images are just that; HDR images first and foremost rather than a great image first.  Sometimes I fear I am falling into the HDR first rather than producing a wonderful image first.

So, do we have to HDR everything?  Of course not. I understand photographer’s want to develop a style and play in certain niche and HDR is thee style of the day.  But truth be told I will drop HDR faster than a too hot potato once we get a camera sensor that will record 14 usable stops of dynamic range that I can afford.  I bet it will arrive within 5 years.  In the meantime, I will be thinking twice about HDR’ing pigs.  Unless it’s a pig sitting in a sunset and I need record more levels of light than a standard image can record.

I spent the morning yesterday volunteering at Art City Austin which became measurably harder than it should have been given the fierce storm that blew through the night before turning over exhibit stands.  The perk of volunteering in the before hours of the show is that you get to help artists and photographers without the press of the fair goers and you see them without their sales face on.  I got to talk to almost every photographer and see their work.  I saw the giant canvas prints, the obvious HDR and Photoshopped punch of some images but the work of two photographers stood above all the rest.  And these two relied on basic photography fundamentals versus anything new or state of the art; read: digital.

The first was Bryan David Griffith who, in my opinion, produced the best nature image prints at the show and he relies on the traditional 4×5 manual camera.  The quality in his prints over everyone else was immediately apparent. Imagine producing less than 50 images per year – which is where he limits himself.  The second was Raquel Edwards whose work was based on power through simplicity.  She works in basic natural composition elements that heighten their impact in monochrome.  Check out their work and see fundamental photography that shines over the brightest new techniques.

Lesson learned: It is less about the newest techniques and gear, and more about creativity with artistic vision and execution.

there is a vapor glow at midnight,
not from the virgin white moon,
but from the golden ghosts
that hang from the
gallows

“When you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.”
- Cheshire Cat, Alice in Wonderland

When you read that quote, what comes to mind?  Is it a negative idea that starts to swirl as in we have to have destination or else we are lost?  We are driven to believe we have to reach a destination, set and reach goals, stake a claim, have a purpose, make something of ourselves, we have to achieve something, be someone!  What if the journey was as good as the goal? Maybe a road is good for just enjoying the journey too.  I have reached some of my goals but its the journey I appreciate most. Bottom line for me is that sometimes I am on this particular path to get to a destination.  But my best days are when I am on any path and do nothing more than enjoy being on that journey.

Observation Point Trail, Zion National Park, Utah

Do you ever get stuck? Creatively, that is?  I do.  And the old adage about “thinking outside the box” just makes things worse… try changing the box dimensions.  Think horizontal panoramas or vertical heights.  Find a set of images and with simple crop factors like 5 to 1 either horizontal or vertical see what you can see… an exercise in seeing.

Where is your passion?  What ignites that spark within?

Processing my latest images from a business trip to Las Vegas reminded me of what I am passionate about and certainly what I am not.  Every Vegas image was a chore to process.  No fun.  No desire.  No spark.  I made it through six images with many more “good” images left but I had to stop.  It was leaving me as cold and lifeless as dead fish on ice in the market.  While fine images in their own right, each of these three leave me longing for something else.

In Aperture 3 now, wandered over to some left over images in my folder from our hike in Devil’s Den State Park and found one of the trail through the forest.  Everything returned; caring, passion, commitment all for photography/art representing the beauty, the balance, the mystery and the grandeur of nature.

There is third type of image and that is the commercially viable image.  I do not mind working on these as well, knowing that money will get pumped back into the business and can get spent on what I really care about it.  But the Vegas glitz, lights, architecture… I will leave that to someone else.

Every time I get deep into digital editing, as I did recently with many HDR processed images and some selective color work, I am always drawn back to the basics and simplicity in photographic technique.  With all of the whiz-bang, special digital processing of imagery it is good to remember the fundamentals of photography and design/composition.  As an exercise I went back to my library of images from Pedernales Falls State Park looking for images to process via monochrome that incorporates the fundamentals.

Fundamental Composition/Design Elements:

1. Balance and off-balance elements
2. Lines – leading, diagonal to create tension or not
3. Rules – i.e. thirds, golden ratio, quadrants, etc.
4. Color, shapes, textures, etc – all characteristics of the subject to gain attention
5. Framing subjects
6. Highlight lighting and defining by shadows
7. Avoid distractions in image

Fundamental Photographic Elements:

1. Quality of light, direction of light, resulting highlights, shadow
2. Exposure decisions via shutter speed, aperture, and ISO sensitivity resulting in tonal range
3. Focus point decisions resulting in depth of field with aperture, distance, focal length
4. Composition elements above
5. The biggest rule of all… finding that intangible that draws me in, creates a story, or in some way connects me and the viewer to the image

This exercise in image review on the computer helps with internalizing these fundamental photographic and compositional elements making it easier to apply them when we are with our camera in the field.  Then later you can break all the rules after knowing them first except for the last rule above.  It is the one rule to rule them all.

The Gallows, Pedernales Falls State Park, TX

I love how images have the power to move and motivate and make you feel things over again.  Working on this image I returned to Yosemite, stood on the old road that Ansel used to drive into the valley, smelled the incense Pine in the air, and again marveled at God’s glory.  I got chills.  And I remembered why I shoot nature.