The Discerning Photographer » Inspire

Photographing On the Water

DiscerningPhotog — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 02:16:12 +0000

On my list of “Photographic New Year’s Resolutions” that dates back to 2009 has been to get my old aluminum flat boat up and running. A fishing boat that originally belonged to my father-in-law, the boat has worked, and not worked, over the years. After a number of fits and starts, I’ve finally (I think) solved all of the nagging little problems that have stopped me. My motivation: an ideal shooting platform.

What’s a shooting platform? Anything you’re standing or sitting upon when you shoot a photograph. One of the very best shooting platforms, for any photography under a couple of thousand feet, is a helicopter. Take the door off, make sure your seatbelt is securely fastened, and you have the absolute best way to shoot lots of aerial stuff.

When you live in south Louisiana and your primary landscape subject matter is in and around the water, a boat is the perfect shooting platform. For a lot of my work, this has been an overdue development that has me truly excited.

I’ve been on two ‘shake down’ cruises so far, seeing what works and what still needs work. I’m using an old Gott ice chest as a ‘dry box’ for my camera equipment and that seems to work fine. (I have it shock-corded to the bottom of the boat.) I still need to invest in a push pole but have a paddle and very nice donated trolling motor (thanks to a colleague who had an extra one). These things, and my 18hp Nissan outboard, turn my old boat into a fabulous new photographic tool.

I’m researching the northern shoreline of Lake Pontchartrain on Google Earth, planning my next few trips.

So why is this such an exciting development?

One of the fundamental facts of photography concerns vantage point: the position you’re in when you press the shutter determines a big, big piece of the result you will obtain. Now with the boat, I get a chance at an unlimited number of new vantage points to shoot from. This is probably the thing I’m most excited about.

I have two early examples included with this post. Both are images that could not have been shot from land. So right away, I see a new world opening up.

Isn’t this what’s at the heart of our love and passion for photography? Exploring new vistas, working in a new area or in a new way, learning new skills and applications that we can bring to bear upon our work and art.

So in the weeks and months ahead, I plan to spend a good bit of my shooting time out on my new platform.

Bon voyage!

Hi, I’m Andrew Boyd, a.k.a. The Discerning Photographer, and I hope this post has been interesting and informative. Please leave me a comment about it, let me know what you’d like to see more of on the site! You can also sign up for email delivery of all future articles or my RSS feed. Or subscribe to our Facebook page or our Twitter feed. Thanks!–DiscerningPhotog

A Foggy Morning Full of Life and Death

DiscerningPhotog — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 03:12:20 +0000

It was very foggy this morning when I stepped out the front door, the soft light suffused with a beautiful even glow. Although I had planned to get right in the car and go, the beauty in the scene made me stop, get out a camera and spend some time exploring.

Our property has some beautifuland very old camellia plants on it—huge, slow-growing bushes that are famous for their late-winter blooms in this area. I don’t know much about the history of these plants but I’ve always appreciated the wisdom of some previous, long-dead owner who put them in the ground all those years ago. At a time when most things are still dormant, the camellias put forth a burst of color that rivals anything else that might come along later.

Here in the very early spring,due to our excessively mild winter, the azaleas and Japanese magnolias have already bloomed, a month early, and before the camellias have even finished. This is unusual but gives us a burst of color throughout the landscape unlike any year I can remember.

I was struck while photographingby the compressed flower ‘life cycle’ that I found in front of me: beautiful, delicate blossoms hanging on each stem, and down below on the ground, brown and lifeless shapes that were last week’s beauties! Everything compressed, Nature in a hurry, rushing headlong into what will soon enough be our long, hot summer.

January 2012 Flickr Group Critique

DiscerningPhotog — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:46:12 +0000

Selections from the January 2012 Discerning Photographer Flickr group pool. Discussion below.

One of my favorite things to do when I log onto the site is to check out the new images that have been uploaded to our Discerning Photographer Flickr group pool. The interests and talents of our members are so diverse—it’s a truly eclectic group of shooters, isn’t it? So while it’s a bit of work to assemble (and some months I’m late, like now!), I really do enjoy our online discussion around the images.

This month is no exception. I’ve picked images I like, plain and simple. I’ll explain what I like and why. I may ask a question or two and hopefully we’ll get some answers from the artists. Finally, please add your own two cents in the Comments below and let everyone know what you think. Let’s get started:

‘Lacey 2,’ by Julian Schroeder.

'Lacey 2,' by Julien Schroeder. http://www.flickr.com/photos/julianschroeder/6686485649/in/pool-1182517@N23/

Julian submits some of the very best animal photos. Frequently they’re of what appear to be house cats. You can tell from looking at these that he’s a very patient photographer! ‘Lacey 2’ is another nice example. I do find the red object in the background is competing for my attention in a negative way, though. It might be worth trying to desaturate that area and see if it brings the focus back on that yellow eye. Also, what would happen if you took the crop a bit tighter and split the cat’s face right at the nose? Not sure, but worth considering. What about it, Julian?

‘For the Women I Love,’ by Jar.

'For the Women I Love,' by Jar. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jariceiii/6693426477/in/pool-1182517@N23/

This is a beautiful flower macro. Nicely composed and very importantly, the depth of focusis right for this image. Jar, tell us about shooting this photo: how did you decide upon the focus point? What sort of aperture did you use for this one? These are the kinds of things you must consider in the macro world…

‘Stereo 1,’ by Vitor JK.

'Stereo 1,' by Vitor JK. http://www.flickr.com/photos/vitorjk/6670294317/in/pool-1182517@N23/

This past month or so, Vitor has been shooting some really nice abstractions. This one falls into that category. (I’m reminded a bit of the work of Sean Garrett, who we don’t have represented this month.) I’m not sure what we’re actually looking at here, and it doesn’t matter, does it? But since we can ask, Vitor, tell us about shooting this image…

‘Missouri Sky,’ by Gabriel Hasser.

'Missouri Sky,' by Gabriel Hasser. http://www.flickr.com/photos/mamemimo/6739147971/in/pool-1182517@N23/

Here’s a classic, put–your-camera-on-a-tripod-and-point-it-up-at-the-night-sky-and-see-the resulting-magic photo. I’ve always loved that swirl and the not-knowing part of shooting these. So much of digital photography now is instant gratification: chimping to see what you came up with right away. Not with this photo. Gabriel, how many shots did you attempt on this night? And how long was the exposure?

‘Focus on Beauty,’ by Kevin Thornhill.

'Focus on Beauty,' by Kevin Thornhill. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ukphotoart/6668764637/in/pool-1182517@N23/

I’ve really enjoyed getting Kevin’s submissions from London, frequently filled with beautiful young models. Most of this has been street photography but now we’re going into the studio for the first time. Kevin, have you acquired studio space, or made some other arrangement? I like the simplicity and the framing here.

‘Forest Impressions II,’ by Justin G.

'Forest Impressions II,' by Justin G. http://www.flickr.com/photos/justingarofoli/6791302665/in/pool-1182517@N23/

This is an appropriate title for this bit of Impressionism. The color palette is wonderful here with the browns offset by the yellows and greens. So Justin, was this intentional or a happy accident? If intentional, what shutter speed did you use to create the effect? Of is this possibly done in post? (I’m thinking now of a way to do this in PS with a directional blur filter.)

‘London Thames,’ by Sandy Biring.

'London Thames,' by Sandy Biring. http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandy6767/6720036257/in/pool-1182517@N23/

We finish out this set with a beautiful river shot from Sandy Biring. I really like this composition and the gold-green working down from the top right towards the vignette, all of it in counterpoint to the boats in the upper left. This photo, with the visible movement of the water, almost seems to dance! Sandy, what are you standing on to shoot this? Is the vignette natural or something you created? Any other thoughts you’d like to share would be most welcome here as well…

OK, that wraps it up for this month’s Flickr Critique. Now please add your thoughts in the Comments below! I’d love to hear what everyone thinks about my selections.

The Hard Work of Photography

DiscerningPhotog — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 03:59:13 +0000

The next time you see an image that you really like, think for a few moments about the photographer that shot it:

He (or she) didn’t roll over in bed that morning and decide to sleep another 30 minutes.

He (or she) didn’t decide to put off shooting on that particular day because there were 20 other pressing things that needed doing.

He (or she) decided to ignore that sore shoulder, or toe blister, or the cold, or the heat, and went ahead and went out shooting.

In other words, he (or she) didn’t make excuses or rationalizations. He (or she) went out to do the hard work of pursuing great images.

And every once in a great while, something magical happens, and a truly transcendent and beautiful image gets made.

So think about this just a bit the next time you see an image that you love. Think about the hard work and sacrifices that were made.

Photography can be rewarding work, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy.
Hi, I’m Andrew Boyd, a.k.a. The Discerning Photographer, and I hope this post has been interesting and informative. Please leave me a comment about it, let me know what you’d like to see more of on the site! You can also sign up for email delivery of all future articles or my RSS feed. Or subscribe to our Facebook page or our Twitter feed. Thanks!–DiscerningPhotog

New Photo Assignment is Posted: ‘Self Portrait’

DiscerningPhotog — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 02:28:15 +0000

I love how wonderful mirrors can be when playing around with self portraits. But you could do this lots of others ways as well, even eliminating the face from the portrait if other telling things about the individual art present....think about it. (Copyright 2012 / Andrew Boyd)

Have you ever shot a really compelling self portrait? You can learn about yourself and your photography by attempting this oldest of artistic constructions. Well, a self portrait is what’s called for with this new photo assignment over in the Forums. Here are the details:

OK everyone, here’s our new photo assignment: ‘Self Portrait.’ Make a really interesting and compelling self portrait. You may shoot it as a reflection, into a mirror, with a tripod and timer, however you want to accomplish this feat…but a self portrait it must be! Remember, like all portraits, your self portrait needs to reveal something of the personality of the subject (that would be YOU). So think about this for a bit before you start shooting.

Also don’t forget: in the proper spirit of this Assignment series, you need to go out and shoot a NEW photograph. (Honor system in play here.) Limit is two images per shooter.

I’ll keep this assignment up in the Forums for about two weeks, so let’s see what you guys can come up with! (Information for posting your image can be found at the top of the Photo Assignments forum, if you haven’t posted before.)

Good luck! –DiscerningPhotog

Photo of the Day: Louisiana Brown Pelican in Flight

DiscerningPhotog — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:05:13 +0000

You have to admit: Louisiana does have the absolute coolest state bird. I mean, just look at this guy! Prehistoric, serene, that confident jaw jutting forward, always on top of his game….the Louisiana brown pelican: what’s not to love?

I was out shooting along the shoreline of Lake Pontchartrain recently when I was surprised to run into some of these big, beautiful birds. They are fairly common in this area but typically shy away from people, preferring to stay further out and away from areas with lots of human activity. I think the fog might have made them feel a bit more secure on this day, because they didn’t start when I got close enough to photograph. This one was part of a group of about a half a dozen, fishing from the pilings along the breakwater in Mandeville, La.

Always Carry a Camera

DiscerningPhotog — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:31:05 +0000

When I think about truly great images—the thrill I get from stopping, viewing, and really trying to absorb and experience a great photograph—I’m reminded of this simple but profound fact:

If the photographer that captured that image hadn’t picked up the camera that day, the image would only have been a momentary flash in his or her own consciousness: it wouldn’t have become the amazing photograph before me at that moment.

This is at the heart of all photography, isn’t it? Yet still there are days I forget to pick up the camera. (Or, it’s out of reach, unavailable at the one moment that I actually need it. This is a common issue as well.)

On those rare occasions when I’m out with my gear shooting and magical things do happen—the sudden appearance of an amazing cloud formation, the unexpected shimmer of light on water, or whatever the situation may be that suddenly dazzles and delights—on those occasions I am humbled and grateful just to be there, just to at least have the chance to attempt to bring a bit of that magic back with me as an image.

So it’s the simplest of admonitions: Always carry a camera. Maybe this means you need to pick up an additional, smaller camera. Maybe it means you’re going to be more determined to lug that big DSLR around all of the time. However you decide to approach this resolution, I promise that if you try it for just one week, amazing things will happen! No kidding!

You’ll become more aware of all the photographic opportunities throughout your day. You’ll ‘see’ more images as you are out and about. You’ll find yourself trying new and different experiments. It will change your shooting, and possibly your sensibilities of your world around you.

So carry that camera today. Carry it tomorrow, and the day after. Try this for one week and see what happens! It might just change your world forever.

December Flickr Group Critique: Black and White

DiscerningPhotog — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 02:24:08 +0000

[Note: Once a month we host a ‘group critique’ here at The Discerning Photographer based upon our related Flickr group pool. The idea behind the critique is to try and give a bit of constructive criticism and/or praise for the selected photographers’ work, and then to have a discussion about the images in the Comments section below. Please check out the following images, see what I thought about them, and tell us what you think!]

Black and white photography: do you practice it yourself? How do you find black and white shooting to differ from color shooting? For me, black and white is a wonderful area to explore: stripping color out of the imagery brings forth form, pattern, and the interplay of light and shadow in a way that my brain doesn’t process with color photos.

In our December 2011 Group Critique from our Discerning Photographer Flickr pool, I’ve chosen some black and white images for us to discuss. So, let’s get started!

‘Foggy Morn,’ by Enivea.

'Foggy Morn,' by Enivea http://www.flickr.com/photos/enivea/6498620587/in/pool-1182517@N23/

I think this image works wonderfully in black and white. The fog in the distance is nice and I love the strong diagonal line the tree forms from lower right to upper left, AND how nicely the foreground tree frames the distant tree, with its similar leaning shape, a bit of nice and subtle pattern repetition.

‘Pathway to the Sky,’ by CJ Schmit.

'Pathway to the Sky,' by CJ Schmit. http://www.flickr.com/photos/cjschmit/6482532521/in/pool-1182517@N23/

The strong lines and monolithic composition – think ‘2001—A Spacy Odyssey’ – make this one work for me. The reflection of clouds on the glass surface is great too.

‘White Curves,’ by Joyce445.

'White Curves,' by Joyce 445 http://www.flickr.com/photos/joyce411/6338666661/in/pool-1182517@N23/

We could probably all benefit from attempting to photograph a calla lilly. I always think about Georgia O’Keefe and Imogen Cunningham when I see good examples of calla lilies, and this one is no exception. Nicely done.

‘And Looked for a Way Out…’ by Justin Garofoli

'And Looked for a Way Out...' by Justin Garofoli http://www.flickr.com/photos/justingarofoli/6595753863/in/pool-1182517@N23/

I like the image more than the title. This is a nice image that would be better with a more interpretive toning job, in my opinion: I’d like to see the trees darkened to enhance the sense of foreboding and the foggy vanishing point brightened in contrast to the rest.. Justin, tell us about making this photograph.

‘Guimarães Castle,’ by Ana Matos.

'Guimarães Castle,' by Ana Matos. http://www.flickr.com/photos/fiuinha/6522457811/in/pool-1182517@N23/

So of course my question with Ana’s photograph is compositional: Ana, why did you feel the need to tilt your camera? For me, the tilt adds a sense of the world ‘askew,’ everything not quite right, etc….but I’m always suspect about camera tilts: does it bring so much attention to the act of photography that the actual results are diminished? I don’t know, but I’ll be really interested to see what Ana has to say about the image and what others think as well.

‘Little Lulu,’ by Sarah Tomlin.

'Little Lulu,' by Sarah Tomlin. http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahtomlin/6546288285/in/pool-1182517@N23/

This wonderful photograph reminds me of all the joys of childhood: here a little girl proudly shows off her missing two front teeth. Sarah, tell us about making the photograph: what were the circumstances? You’ve captured a great moment—something that would qualify for the ‘Peak Action’ photo assignment that’s running over in the Discerning Photographer Forums right now—and I love the spontaneity of this image. Great job.

‘A single rose can be my garden… a single friend, my world,’ by Mick LeConte.

'A single rose can be my garden... a single friend, my world,' by Mick LeConte. http://www.flickr.com/photos/mickleconte/6284769867/in/pool-1182517@N23/

I had to go google this to find the proper attribution: apparently spoken/written by American-born Leo Buscoglia, who wrote a number of best-selling inspirational books before his death in 1998. Mick, are you a Buscoglia fan? I like the image simply for the layered texture that the rose makes, subtle in all of its black and white tonality.

So please let us know your thoughts about these images in the Comments below, and we’ll see if we can get a conversation going, and thanks!
Hi, I’m Andrew Boyd, a.k.a. The Discerning Photographer, and I hope this post has been interesting and informative. Please leave me a comment about it, let me know what you’d like to see more of on the site! You can also sign up for email delivery of all future articles or my RSS feed. Or subscribe to our Facebook page or our Twitter feed. Thanks!–DiscerningPhotog

Photo Assignment #6 : ‘Peak Action’

DiscerningPhotog — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 15:15:46 +0000

New Orleans Saints safety Roman Harper (41) manages to get a hand in and stop this touchdown pass intended for Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen (88), 2nd quarter, during the New Orleans Saints vs. Carolina Panthers game in the Superdome January 2, 2012. (Photo copyright 2012 / The Times-Picayune / Andrew Boyd)

There’s a new Photo Assignment posted over in the Photo Assignment Forum here at The Discerning Photographer. It’s all about the notion of ‘peak action’ and what’s entailed in capturing it. This assignment will challenge your timing, framing, understanding of your camera, and more…

Photo Assignment #6 : ‘Peak Action’

Here’s our new photo assignment at The Discerning Photographer’s Forums: ‘Peak Action.’ What exactly does that mean? Well, it’s not just about catching the quintessential sports moment (although certainly qualifies as an example). It can be the absolute split second of surprise on a person’s face. It might be the exact point that a lightning bolt cracks through the sky. It can be the instant a jumping fish’s nose hits the water. It’s all about the true ‘decisive moment,’ as Henri Cartier-Bresson was fond of saying: the point that everything else leads up to, and falls away from.

So: Take your camera gear, crank up the shutter speed (peak action usually does involve some very small fraction of time), and make us some ‘peak action’ photos!

We’ll keep this assignment up live in the Forums for about two weeks.

I can’t wait to see what you guys come up with!

“Of all the means of expression, photography is the only one that fixes forever the precise and transitory instant. We photographers deal in things that are continually vanishing, and when they have vanished, there is no contrivance on earth that can make them come back again. We cannot develop a print from memory…”—Henry Cartier-Bresson, ‘The Decisive Moment,’ 1952.

Photography Resolutions for 2012

DiscerningPhotog — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 17:11:37 +0000

Did you make any photography New Year’s resolutions last year? If you did, how did they work out for you? Successful? And now with the new year upon us, have you thought about any photographic resolutions or goals that you want to attempt for this year?

I think setting New Year’s photography resolutions is a useful thing for any shooter to do, if you want to improve your work—and who doesn’t? Below I’ll revisit my resolutions for 2011 and show you my ‘scorecard’ for how it worked out. Then I’m going to let you in on my new set of goals for 2012…

2011: My Photography Resolutions

1. Introduce a companion site to The Discerning Photographer which will be focused on my own fine art photography. I worked and struggled with this one. I’ve learned a good bit about html and javascript and even a bit of jquery, but I haven’t put it all together into the site I want. The biggest challenge has turned out to be the photo gallery animation, which I haven’t nailed down.

2. Automate my image backup routine. I’m using the Time Machine utility on my Mac now which does an automatic backup every day. I need to purchase an additional hard drive to provide some additional redundancy here. But this goal is pretty well met.

3. Enter at least a half dozen juried photography shows this year. Partial success on this one. I entered 4 juried shows in 2011 and had work accepted into 3 of them. Yowwsirr! This was great and an education for me as well: framing, matting and shipping solutions all had to be figured out, as well as the images themselves. It’s actually pretty damned expensive to pursue this, I’ve discovered: most shows average about $40 for the entry fee; if your work is accepted, you need to frame it ($$) and then provide shipping both ways to the show ($$$). So while I think it’s important to build a show record, it’s not cheap.

4. Continue to shoot for myself every single week. No problem on this one. I stayed in a pretty good shooting rhythm all year and produced a lot of work I’m excited about.

5. For the blog: more hands-on equipment reviews. Some success here. Maybe not as many as I had hoped to do. The equipment reviews are a lot of work, particularly to create all of the illustrative images that I feel I need for the reviews to be as useful as I want them to be. But the reviews I did have all generated interest and traffic for the site.

2012 Resolutions

1. Keep shooting for myself each week. This is the most important goal for all of us, I think.

2. Enter 4 more juried photo exhibitions this year. I’m cutting this goal down some because it looks like I may have a one- or two-person exhibition of work later this year. If this happens, it’s going to be a lot of work to put together. More on this later as it develops.

3. Redesign and reorganize The Discerning Photographer web site. I want to make the information easier to find and use on the site, so I’m in the middle of researching new WordPress themes.

4. Launch the fine art companion site for my landscape work. This will link to the blog and hopefully create new opportunities going forward. I just need to get it done!

That’s it for my photography goals for this year.

So: have you set your own photo goals? If not, I really urge you to stop what you’re doing, sit in a quiet place, and imagine what you’d like to accomplish this year with your work. Then write those ideas down. This is critical because you want to hold yourself accountable. Take that list and put it somewhere you’ll see it once a week or so—on your refrigerator is fine, or as a pop-up reminder in your calendar program, if you use one. (The reminder technique isn’t important, just as long as you set something up that works.)

I’d love to hear what your photo resolutions are for this year! So leave a Comment and we’ll see what folks are thinking and/or dreaming about.