Impressionist photography utilizing intentional camera movement and texture layers.
There have probably been millions of articles written on this subject but nevertheless I want to share my experience. I could also have titled it ‘Do Not Let Your Your Perception Of Your Self Limit Your Creativity’.
I got the idea for this brief article the other day after a good friend of mine not only critiqued but also sent me an alternate version of a piece. Continue reading
Yesterday I processed and shared the image in this article, reading one of the comments, I got reminded of the circumstances the day I shot it. It’s all about utilizing the time you have on any given location. As the saying goes ‘It ain’t over till it’s over’ in this case meaning, don’t put your camera down until you are on your way home.
We have all been there, you lose your inspiration or you simply can’t seem to get around to take your camera and go out shooting. In this article I will share one way to solve this, an idea I got a couple of years back when I could not get started.
This post is one part anecdote -me desperately searching for sheep, cattle or horses- and one part me looking for usable frames, ending up doing a composite and a substantial crop in order to create the final image. You’ve all probably heard about ‘sky replacement’, this is about ‘sheep replacement’.
One of the reasons that I’m so passionate about intentional camera movement is the fact that the most mundane, non-iconic location you can imagine can be transformed into a compelling piece of art. With addition of texture layers, the light doesn’t even have to be perfect. In fact, it can even be quite bad, lens flare and /or blown out skies, not a problem. Continue reading
As I was processing the other day, trying to slightly darken an area that was just a tad too bright, I was reminded that the perceived luminosity is dependent on the luminosity values next to any given specific area. I have read about this in several books but never fully grasped the implications. Continue reading
Yesterday I finally got around to make my way to the stables were our retired thoroughbred racehorse ‘Zorran’ been staying for seven years now. He is a 19 years old gelding that had a successful career until he had to retire when he was 4 years old due to an injury. We got him when he was 12 so no, we never made a fortune when he was active.
As you may have noticed I have a newfound passion for using texture layers, I have already shared my process a couple of times. Not long ago I realized that in some specific cases, there’s no need for the typical time consuming process that I have previously described . This post is about those occasions, perhaps too obvious to mention as it’s far from a groundbreaking discovery on my part. Continue reading
I know what you are thinking, this is nothing new, we all know this. And I agree. I want to share how I do it, by challenging myself to always get the composition right in camera. Let me explain.
When it comes to photography it is crucial for the creative process to know you limitations and equally important, your skill set. It is said that our brain can not deal with technical issues and creativity simultaneously.
For this reason it’s vital that you truly know your camera inside out, at no point should you have to focus on technical aspects. This is nothing new, I have read about this in numerous books on the subject. When I first learned this I thought I understood, in reality I didn’t. Only as my experience grew did I truly understand, I now know from experience that it is true. When your camera becomes a part of you, your creativity will increase and with it the number of successful photographs. Continue reading
Since I wrote my original post on texture layers and ICM I have tried an alternate approach that I thought I’d share.
It’s not exactly a revolutionary discovery, it’s more of a shortcut when processing and use of several texture layers with different blend modes. Normally when I process in Photoshop I do a lot of fine tuning, global and local adjustments before I start experimenting with textures.
We all know, and most would agree on this, that learning from our mistakes is an invaluable way of improving our photography skills. Many – and I agree – say that failures and mistakes are a necessity for us to reach some sort of level of perfection. These days – everyone that shoots digital – has access to all the information you need in the EXIF data, or more correctly, most information. For example, if you load your RAW’s into Lightroom, there’s no way to tell exactly were you focused before taking your shot. This you will have to try and remember, the best way to do that is to have some sort of methodology when you do a shoot. Say you shoot landscape, you could decide that during the whole shoot you will focus at the hyperfocal distance. There are numerous apps for both Android and iPhone that you can download for free. If you don’t have a smartphone, download and print a chart that you take with you. Continue reading
Do You Ever Get The Feeling That You Got Something For Free?
Even though I had spent hours on each photo and put a lot of thought into every processing decision, this was the feeling I got when I started experimenting with textures on my ‘old’ ICM images, what was to become my “Visions” project. This was of course an illusion, after all I – as always – had but a lot of thought and effort into the original processing. Nevertheless, it was a good feeling that gave me energy when I chose the perfect texture and blend mode for my favourite images that I thought had potential for new life with the help of further processing by adding one or several texture layers. Continue reading
So….the day comes when you finally get your act together, you check your camera , filters and everything else you need and head out to do some long overdue shooting. You consult the weather forecast, it tells you things aren’t looking good but you go out anyway, sort of hoping for a miracle to happen while you are getting to your location.
At the location you quickly see that no miracle has happen, the light is indeed as dull and uninspiring as you feared to begin with. We are talking ’suicide grey skies’, light that renders the world two dimensional, almost without color. The light is so flat that you fear you have lost your depth perception.
You might find this question kind of odd and wonder how on earth I came up with it, I think it is a valid question though. Short answer to the question, yes to a much higher degree than most realize. Long answer…continue reading.
