Composition and Framing

Yes Edith, they do come together. If composition is how an artist places object in a scene and framing is how a photographer positions a scene in the viewfinder of the camera, what is it when both are used. Is it framposition or compoframing? Or does it matter at all. A good photo is just that... Good.

Here is an example of framposition. This first image is of a bronze figure called "gatherer". It was located on the ramp/walk around the Grand Rapids Public Museum during ArtPrize. In the background is the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, the old Israel's Building and the J.W. Marriott Hotel.

Below is the J.W. Marriott Hotel as viewed from across the river standing next to the gatherer sculpture. At the base of the hotel is a the work of TAnya Vanden Bosch called Loop de Loop.

Here is a closer view of the painting. Actually it is painted vinyl applied to the first three floor windows of the J.W. Marriott.

So here is where the fromposition comes into play.

When I saw the name of the gatherer and saw Loop de Loop across the river I knew what I wanted in a final image. Thirty odd feet of painting in the hands of the gatherer.

It is most important to see the end, or at least have a concept in mind for these types of shots. If not they are all snap-shots and not necessarily great shots.

Take care all... Doug

Let's Talk

When you hear those words, the first thing that crosses your mind is what did I do? It's not like let's do lunch, or let's have coffee. No... those are much more cordial and social mediums of a gathering of thoughts.

On the  other hand when some says lets go fishing, relaxation comes to mind. Enjoying the out of doors, male bonding and all that goes with it. That is what I captured as we walked across the Lion Street bridge back to the Gerald R Ford Museum where we had parked are car.

What we are looking at here is the Michigan Street, and I-196 bridges crossing the Grand River.

Looking a little closer you can see some fishermen north of the small dam enjoying the opportunity and enjoyment of the catch. I could say they are executives that have to fish for their food as a result of the many Michigan corporate downsizings but then that owuld take this post in a completely different direction.

But then again if you look closer as I did once I noticed it in Lightroom, there are a couple of men just standing in the water talking. Hmmm... Maybe it is a new form of therapeutic downsizing.

Let's talk!


Doug

Shark Attack!

Is it a blue fin shark, a great blue, or what?

So there I was on my little photowalk in Wichita KS last week and I came upon a location that showed some interest. Clicking away at some interesting angles and all of a sudden I see this little object. Poised and ready to attack the first thing in its path.

It is part of a larger picture which has three siblings. While this is named after the Kansas mythical mascot Jayhawk, its sibling Kanza was named after the Kanza Indians from which the State of Kansas gets its name. The Jayhawk' other sibling defeated the Italian II Moro di Venezia back in 92'.

Is it:

A. A SGTD - Self Guided Torpedo Device

B. The survivor of a world class piñata contest.

C. A counter weight

D. A power pack to propel men under water.

If you answered C you would be correct! It is the keel counterweight for an America's Cup yachts.

You can see the larger picture to the left how it is attached to the keep of the yacht.

The image to the right is a longer shot of the whole boat. So why is it sitting in Wichita Kansas you ask? Believe me, it was the question on my mind too. Actuallyy the Jayhawk was the first America's Cup yacht to be built by an aerospace manufacturer. It was constructed of carbon fiber (high tech stuff in 91') by Hercules Aerospace near Salt Lake City, Utah.

Ok... So where is the Wichita connection... Ready? Bill Koch was the head of the America3 Foundation which build three (oddly enough) Americas Cup Yachts for the 1992 campaign. The Kanza, the America3 (this is the one that beat the italians, and you guessed it... The Jayhawk. With a little web browsing, I found out that Bill is the son of Fred who founded Koch Industries in Wichita KS in 1940 who invented a crude oil refining process. BINGO!

There's the money. Daddy warbucks came up with the brainiac idea that made the family gabillions to which Willy parts with the brothers Koch and a sizable sum of cash and parties on the high seas. Ok.. The facts might be a little skewed but you get the point.

Anyhow, Bill must have felt the home town strings pulling because that is where he decided to let the Jayhawk come to rest overlooking the banks of the Arkansas River.

I gotta tell-ya, there is always a story behind the photo.

Cya... Doug

So What... It's a JPEG

Yes I am a RAW shooter... Yes I enjoy the range and tonality a 12 or 14 bit file provides the RAW format. Does that make me a RAW snob. Only if looked down on RAW shooters and that is just not the case. Do I think that someone who only soots jpeg is lees of a photographer? Not at all! I come from an industry that has switches that allow pilots to customize the displays they fly by. Why would it make a difference to me what format someone else shoots in.

Actually I am probably stuck in RAW because I am probably be too lazy to make changes in the camera. I am thinking of setting one of the Custom setting on the 40D and 5D Mk II in jpeg so it would be simple to change and reduce the likelihood of forgetting to change it back.

Here is a jpeg my wife took last year while D.C. on her Nikon CoolPix L6. She sets it in auto mode and fires away. Not a thing wrong with that. In fact that is probably the best what to maximize the spontaneity that a point and shoot provides. The xif data revealed the shot was taken at 1/400, f/5.3, ISO 50 at a focal length of 19.2 mm.

Photo by Evelyn Peek

A classic shot from the north side of the tidal basin of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington D.C. Even with the cherry blossom partially obscuring the top of the monument it is a very strong foreground that emphasizes a special time of year in the D.C. area. If this were the fall, a bare branch in the same place would not have worked so well. The real beauty here is that Lightroom and Adobe Camera RAW is  not just a RAW editors. TIFF's and JPEG's are not a problem.

Jazzing with the sliders and localized correction brush (they should call it an enhancing brush) in Lightroom makes an already nice image pop. Being able to locally lighten the cherry blossom and boost the tonality of the monument is really big without having to get into Photoshop.

Sooo... JPEG shooter unite! It is still a fantastic format.

Take care... Doug

Finalized Friday

Here are some more images from my venture downtown Grand Rapids Michigan the other evening. This structure is attached to the Grand Rapids Museum (AKA VanAndel Museum). Yes there is a Merry-Go-Round in the building. But it is an old one!


[Just after posting this I noticed the spot up by the top left of the image. That is usually sensor dust but I checked the camera and it was not there. Must have been a spot of something on the UV or Polarizer filter!]

The sun was really starting to fade so I had decided to pack it up. WHen I turned to take the camera off the tri-pod a building across the river had presented me with this wonderful reflection.

I thought the was a really nice color in the windows. Not that much of a building to look at but the reflection was really cool. The light was not completely gone so I left my camera on the right seat of the car and took off. To get back on the high I had to take the following route.

Only when I was going north about to turn east I saw the Amway Grand Plaza tower glistening in  the subdued and vanishing sunlight. I then knew where I had to go to get the shot but I only had a few minutes. Minutes that traffic was not cooperating with. There is a hotel right at the off ramp of northbound 131 that I ducked into and just stopped. I jumped out of (ok, I got out of) the car and positioned myself against a light pole because I knew I did not have time to pull out the tri-pod. For my efforts I was rewarded with the following shot with spectacular light.

It was a very pleasing feeling getting that one last keeper!

Have a great weekend all. Cya... Doug

City Lights

This is another image from my Sunday evening photowalk in Columbus Ohio. This was take just north of the COSI building shooting east. I did another takeoff on the not so HDR processing that I have been talking about.

The original image was captured with an EOS 40D with an EF 24-105 f/4L IS all mounted on a tri-pod (duh!). I jacked the ISO up to 800 and fired at 1/6th at f/4 with a 24 mm focal length. Time of day was at 9:15 pm.

As far as the post processing, I took a single RAW file, adjusted clarity and vibrance then saved three versions. One as shot, the other two at EV-1 and EV+1. Once in Photoshop Elements I made selective brushing on the two brightest layer masks (the EV-0 and EV+1 images.).

Now it is off to bed and back at work in the morning.

Take care... Doug