GETTING THERE

Discover the best approaches to boost your personal skills in Photography and Processing

Photography and Processing techniques continue to evolve at an amazing clip. How does one keep up? A strong foundation in the essentials of the craft will serve you evermore as you navigate through the changes and evolution. Start your journey. This book helps you cut out all the unfruitful challenges that are not suited to your personal way of acquiring knowledge. Avoid false starts and wasted footsteps. Inside this book you will be able to browse through over 60 possible approaches to skill building in Photography and Processing. All the technical mumbo-jumbo is avoided to help you get to the core info you need. This book serves all levels of photographers. Anyone can optimize their personal learning style as they progress. The book is up-to-date with the latest resources available. There is a generous helping of satire making this an easy read. (Both Paperback and PDF download versions are available)

VISIT THE BOOKSTORE NOW

Posted in Classroom Training, Field Workshop, Fine Art Shows, Getting Into It, Notes of Appreciation, Photographic Tips, Plugs for my Friends, Spring 2012 DSC Classes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 7,400 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 6 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

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Calling it as I see it

This is a premature declaration. Last evening, I downloaded my upgrade to the OnOne Perfect Suite. OnOne Suite is more suited to studio operations because it has masking and portrait retouching tools. I sprung for the upgrade because I thought it might make fast work of the portrait processing I am doing for the Dixie Memory Makers (Help-Portrait) event this coming Saturday, December 10.

I only spent an hour fiddling with it. I didn’t do any of the tutorials. I have never taken advantage of the OnOne training resources. Here’s my early opinion…

  • This is not thoroughly tested software. I behaves like it is still in Beta. It locks up. I know what I am talking about after being a software manager for a number of years. The quality control didn’t come close to what I enjoy in the NIK Software Suite.
  • Installation has some hiccups. The end result is not as illustrated in the help file.
  • The masking piece, unfortunately, requires acquired skill that I don’t have yet. It is not obvious. I am giving it the benefit of doubt.
  • The portrait retouching piece seems like it will be useful once I train myself. It seems a bit too automated, but maybe that can be reconfigured.
  • Perfect Resize (Genuine Fractals) has always been an exemplary enlargement tool. I didn’t see any changes.
  • The entire suite can be run as a standalone application. I can’t imagine anyone doing that though.
  • Perfect Layers seemed to only work with PSD files, not TIFF files. This means you have to create these using export in Lightroom. There is no automatic file generation from the plug-in. I can’t understand this since TIFF files now support layers. Maybe I am missing something.
  • Perfect Effects is kinda cool. It obviously competes with NIK Color Effects Pro 4. I am biased towards the NIK software for this.
  • Different pieces have inconsistent interfaces. I am use to coherent interfaces as produced by NIK software. Software exploration and experimentation is a total waste of time.
  • The current online discounts end on December 10.

So maybe I am being unkind in my premature criticism. I will say this – I do not have the time to fiddle this week to learn how to use this stuff. To be fair, OnOne has hours of online tutorials. I sat through their presentations at WPPI and PMA and the demonstrators used each piece with fluidity. I will go the next step later this month and try my best to get onboard with OnOne stuff, but the upgrade did nothing to give me any immediate warm and fuzzies.

(One should observe all the reference tags to the Mamiya RB67. I have noticed this will increase search engine hits by 500%.)

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Mutually Exclusive: Reality vs. Photography

There is a distinct different between what we see in real life and what we portray in a photography. This may be an overworked topic to some. Opinions about some of the issues are polarizing. I am going to try to shed some light on the science and spirit behind photography. My goal is to give insight to those who have not already taken sides. Let’s start with my thesis: It is reasonable to allow one’s photography to differ from reality because anything else would be impossible to achieve. Normally, when I write such an essay, I would provide to side-by-side images to demonstrate my point. I haven’t done that here. How can I? Think about this for a second…

  • Reality is always pinned to a specific point in time, never to be frozen or revisited.
  • The mind’s eye works with the brain to render its own interpretation of the present. No two people are the same.
  • Because we have two eyeballs, we see in 3D. Photographs (except the inferior 3D simulations of late) are presented in 2D.
  • Print makers were either not present at the scene or separated by time and distance. Human memory changes over time.
  • Artists will suggest a message or feel to their work. Any photography that takes this route is adding the value intended by the artist.
  • Photographic manipulation is a staple that has accompanied the field from day one. It runs the gamut from documentary (little manipulation) to illustrative (major manipulation). From the very onset, a latent image needs to be processed regardless of method.
  • In-camera decisions such as aperture, shutter speed, and tonal representation are neither right or wrong. There is no standard – one can never be attained. Eye-mind response to light is dynamic, individual, circumstantial, and unpredictable.

So while I can show you photographs with different levels and approaches to processing, I have no way of showing you the original scene. Further, the very moment I “take the picture”, the scene evolves – I can’t remember the specifics. The best I can do is:

  • Recall my original inspiration and intentions.
  • After time passes, affirm or alter the path to end product processing.
  • Devise derivative/alternative versions.
  • Process post-camera (film or digital) according to my final plan.

For me, this process involves what I call artistic liberties. I do not do documentary work. For all the reasons I just covered, I feel it is quite a task to attempt to represent reality for a documentary photograph. I consider those that can do this as falling in the category of producing the “best possible” recollection. That takes a keen mind. They do not have the liberty of making artistic adjustments. Their goal is honesty.

In today’s world, we have remnants of a silly argument about the authenticity of a photograph that has been digitally processed. We even coined the irritating term “Photoshopped” as a derogatory moniker. And yet, we all know that the film heroes that we worship consistently controlled:

  • Film emulsion selection (even batch selection)
  • Camera factors
    • Focal length
    • Perspective
    • Vantage point
    • Aperture
    • Shutter speed
    • Tonal response recorded
  • Film development factors
    • Developer choice
    • Temperature, time, and agitation
  • Print paper selection (even batch selection)
  • Enlargement factors
    • Light intensity
    • Time of exposure
    • Contrast adjustment (polycontrast)
    • Sharpness adjustment (unsharp mask)
    • Burning and dodging
    • Blurring
  • Print development factors
    • Developer choice
    • Temperature, time, and agitation
    • Toning
    • Ferrotyping and drying methods

So you tell me, isn’t this indicating that we photographers have always manipulated images? Isn’t this indicating that we always have excercised human control over our representation of reality, now or 100 years ago?

Until next time, be well,
Bob

Posted in Getting Into It, Just Babbling, Photographic Tips | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

2011 Year End Newsletter

Click Here: 2011_Year End Newsletter

Posted in Classroom Training, Field Workshop, Fine Art Shows, Getting Into It, I've Been Shooting, Notes of Appreciation, Photographic Tips, Plugs for my Friends, Spring 2012 DSC Classes | Tagged | Leave a comment

Contest Announcement: My Students Have Privileges

As promised, all of my training students are welcome to compete in a year-end photo contest.

As the entries come in, they can be found at my gallery site: http://gallery.bobkulonphoto.com. Look for the gallery (near the top) that says 2011 Student Contest Entries. Feel free to comment, visit often, post a thumbs up, post a link to a social site, whatever. Comments and thumbs up will not affect the judging, so there is no point trying to sway the judges.

All alumni of Bob Kulon’s classes are allowed to enter their best picture for the year. (Email the jpeg file to bkulon@hotmail.com. Do not exceed 3MB in size. Make sure your file is converted to the sRGB color space.) Any type of photography may be entered – this is an open contest; there are no categories. The criteria for judging are:

  • Concept – 10 points (Was the photo well seen and was the message original?)
  • Execution – 10 points (Was the photography and processing effective?)
  • Impact – 10 points (Did the composition and creativity catch the eye?)

The winner will win a 16×20 Float Mounted Metal Print (from Bay Photo Labs) of their winning photograph valued at $165. You may only enter once. The filename must be your name. (For example, bobkulon.jpg) Make the file original sized so if you win the print will look great (or at least 4000 pixels in the long direction). (All files will be shown here and are right-click protected. You retain complete ownership and copyright to your work. No printing is allowed from this gallery.) Please include your mailing address with your entry so that the prize print can be directly shipped to you. Contest closes on 1/7/2012. Judging will be by Bob Kulon and Jack Graham. The winner will be announced on 1/15/2012.

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Our world: beyond the portrait, the postcard, and the scenic

This article has nothing to do with a person’s skill at manipulating a camera or software. Yes, those skills are at the core of the world of photography. Everyone reading this blog strives to be a “better” photographer. I am just guessing here, but I imagine that mostly means striving to make an advancement in a popular genre of photography. That is what we grow up with; that is what our heroes have mastered; and that is a concept that remains in photographic circles today. I submit, dear reader, that we are allowing ourselves to be sorted into egg cartons according to genre. There are some things that have influenced my opinion of this…

  • I have a very close buddy that privately proclaims to me that his church (of one) celebrates the earth’s creation. There are other established photographers I know of that have this same calling. Once these folks step into the field, they allow themselves to be absorbed by the glory of nature. They look at the depictions they create as a tribute to their majesty. Their work and attitude constantly improves as a result of this alignment.
  • I find myself going out for one type of photography and wind up finding and shooting something entirely different. For instance, I may go out for Fall colors and wind up shooting abstracts in a junk yard. Not many people allow themselves to divert like that. After all, Autumn colors are a vanishing opportunity.
  • I truly admire many of the new avant-garde portrait concepts that break the mold of classic portraiture. Yet, maybe only the first 20 times I saw these practiced were they truly interesting. Now, I see much of this to be trite and mundane. It has been overdone. Once the general public expects it, I start seeking something new for personal expression.
  • The same thing goes for HDR and Panorama techniques. Been there, done that. I need to drive on down the road.
  • I have been chided for delving into photo illustration (computer generated effects) for many years. I no longer make that my outward style. I want to avoid the criticism since I have a commercial intent. Nevertheless, it is really enjoyable to make an artistic rendering on the computer, even if it never sees the light of day.
  • I have gradually moved away from calling my work “landscape”, “scenic”, “nature”, or any confining term. I find interest in the most peculiar places. I recall being the happiest shooting inside a decrepid, abandoned brick mill in the Dom Valley in Toronto. Industrial Ruin! Yes, that is a big turn-on for me. Try to position that in a category!

The point of all of this is that I encourage you to privately see if you have any inner need to explore some new photographic avenues that might take you out of the comfortable categories. If so, you it may bring you some satisfaction. I don’t guarantee revenue, after all, society lives under a set of norms that are very difficult to break. Just understand, part of practicing art is giving yourself freedom to create what moves you. Do you have the guts to try it?

Posted in Classroom Training, Getting Into It, I've Been Shooting, Just Babbling, Notes of Appreciation, Photographic Tips, Plugs for my Friends | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment