Go Shoot With Digital

Recently, actually while I was at Photoshop World, Adobe said that we were now allowed to say that we were beta testing Photoshop CS5, and we could start showing some of the images that we had processed. So, I have been going back through some of my work, and picking out some of the items that I thought were good, and showed how CS5 was able to improve your artistry. This image was shot a few hours after it had stopped raining, and the sun had come out. It was mid day, so the sun was high in the sky. The picture was taken with my e520 ƒ6.3, 1/125 sec, and ISO 200, with the lens at 14mm.  The image on the left is the original image, the one on the right is after working with it in CS5.

I have been back from Photoshop World for a couple of days now, and some of the items are starting to sink in for me. Of course I will probably need to go back and review my notes, the notes in the textbook, and of course download all the goodies that the instructors were able to share. Then I might have a real chance to understand some of what I learned, and possibly learn from the notes of the sessions that I was not able to attend.

I think that is one of the biggest benefits of PSW, the book of all the instructors notes that you get. And this year, by attending the first ever attendee orientation session on Tuesday, I think that I learned one of the most helpful tips – Leave the big book in your hotel room, and go to the sessions with just a notebook for your own notes. Not only did this save me from lugging around a telephone book with me, it allowed me to focus on what the instructor was saying and not trying to follow along with the notes provided.
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One of the things that I want to accomplish in the coming months/years, is to work on the skills required for “commercial” photography.  Whether that be artistic in nature, or in more of a “usable” vain.  These photos fall into the more usable category.  I recently made a pot of chili, so I thought I would use it as a subject in some photos.  Since it was kind of a last minute thought, I did not go out and buy special dishes, or nice (yet generic) place mats.  I also do not have a lot of equipment yet, so these were taken with my FL-50R on the camera with the diffuser and omni bounce in place.

The settings here were ƒ 8.0 at 1/50^th.  The angle was just a little off from straight down, and the flash was tilted one notch up so that it was not going straight into the bowl, but pointing more over the bowl edge.  Still I did get a little bit of flash glare on the back edge of the bowl, but I do think that I did still get some good shadowing and texture of the chili and cheese.

Here, I was still at ƒ 8.0, but the speed was bumped up to 1/60^th.  I was going for more of a side view of the bowl, so you just get the top of the chili and cheese as it clears the top edge of the bowl.  Again the flash was still angled just slightly up to avoid getting a big glare on the side of the bowl.  It also helped to create the shadow line from the bowl’s lip onto the side.

Ok, so we are a few days into 2010 now, and I have come to a few conclusions.  Taking my hopes and dreams into consideration, I am making plans for the coming months in an effort to fulfill them.

First, I want to build on the knowledge that I acquired in my recent photography class.  The best way to do this is to get out and take pictures.  I know that some people last year made a commitment to post a new picture everyday, on twitter at least.  Most of these people, as best as I could tell, were self-employed photographers.  Meaning that they had the ability to do whatever they wanted, or were able to find customers for.  I don’t have that luxury, so I am only committing to at least 1 photograph every week.  But my goal is to also talk about the photograph, how it was taken, and why I chose to take it. Read the rest of this entry »

Over the past few months, I have been taking a digital photography class at my local community college.  My primary goal for this class was to learn how to take better pictures.  After all, the less time that you have to spend “processing” your pictures, the more time you have to get out there and take pictures.

To that end, I think that the class was a success for me.  The other benefit that I received was to meet some great people from a wide cross section of society.  And during the class, we all received both positive and constructive feedback on our assignments.  Our final assignment was to take at least 10 photographs that related to a theme, and present them.  This is my final project presentation.

“Paths – and those we meet along the way”

From the time we are born, our life is a series of small journeys that become the one long journey of our life.  Sometimes the path that we take is easy to follow, sometimes it is not.  When we have to make a decision, sometimes the way is clear, other times it is not and can be quite confusing to try to make a choice.  When the decisions become difficult, we can gain a new perspective, or we can turn to our friends to help out.  And speaking of friends, along this journey of ours, we meet others along the way.  They may become friends, enemies, or even frenemies.  In any event they become a part of your journey, and they help to shape who you become.  Everyone’s pace is going to be different, and everyone’s destination may be different, but you can always take a break and relax as you go along your chosen path.

These are all concepts that you should be able to see in these images.  Enjoy.

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07-07-2010
Moved the video file over to YouTube due to changes to the Virb site.