Digital Photography Ideas

Turquoise Trail Storm

This precious image that evolved from a color photograph to a sepia tone to a black and white photograph found glory last night in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

KBAC Radio BLACK & WHITE LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY OF NEW MEXICO

On this warm summer’s night my friends Cynthia, Donna, Tom and I walked over to hear the winner announced at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum on Johnson Street. We were an hour early and looking for something cool to drink, but settled for waiting until the contest announcement was over. The images entered by the ten finalists were soon going to be projected in the very same room where the history of Georgia O’Keeffe is shown. So we had time to kill and were easily distracted by the paintings of O’Keeffe and photographs of Ansel Adams.

The museum was crowded and I viewed whatever painting or photo that didn’t have a tourist in front of it at the time. G O’K’s paintings colors are so vivid. Just the memory of the deep reds warms me. I walked towards the Ansel Adams photographs which filled an entire room and was drawn to the one at the far end. Thunderstorm Espanola Valley, 1961:

It was the older brother to my Turquoise Trail Storm so I thought.

No more time to view the exhibit because the winner of the competition:

was going to be announced soon.
In the small dark video room the ten finalists images were projected. Each finalist was called to receive a hard cover book of the main exhibit’s artwork. My name wasn’t called. My friends looked at me like “Uh-oh, they forgot Ruth!”
Just my luck I figured, but then my name was announced… as the winner.
What an adrenaline rush.

I received a thick envelope filled with several prizes and the smiles from my friends. We walked to the Eldorado Hotel and celebrated shouting above the piano music. A lovely day indeed:

Thank you for your votes!

p.s. See you at Jeannie’s next week.
p.p.s. KABC radio b&w; contest information is down, but sign up for new contest alerts. You may be next year’s winner.

I love the saying “You must be present to win.”
It has a Zen like undertone. And leads me to my story about ‘Turquoise Trail Storm’

Storms like this one although frequent aren’t always in my field of vision.
Many times they are obscured by telephone poles, buildings and trees. I had to be in the right place at the right time with camera and looking out the window. Luckily my friend who was driving pulled over and I took this shot a few years ago. I have always liked it and last week entered it into well… I’ll let this e-mail tell the story:

You have been selected as one of the ten finalists for the 98.1 Radio Free Santa Fe Black and White Landscape Photography of New Mexico contest. Your photograph will be framed and exhibited at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum Education Annex this Friday June 6.

Online Voting will commence on this Friday June 6. Photos may be viewed at http://www.kbac.com/section/view_authent/?fnode=81. (Note: All voters will need to register for the site.) For non-digital folks, paper ballots will be available at the Education Annex located at 123 Grant Avenue. Voting is scheduled between June 6 to June 20.

What a great publicity opportunity. My work will be online with nine fellow photographers.

It will have a presence and this alone makes me feel like a winner.

Hi All,

I created an image from a digital photograph in Painter and Photoshop. I was almost done, but didn’t like the clouds — they were like a bull’s eye in the center of the image.

I came up with a simple solutions so I didn’t have to start all over.

This is the finished piece and the sequence below it shows the transition:

Abiquiu, New Mexico

I began with this image:

I painted the photograph in Corel painter and it looked like this:

The image below shows..

… the next step.I moved it into photoshop and brightened it up with one filter and and color adjustments. Wow, I don’t have to be an expert in Painter to achieve the paintings I want. But the center of the sky looked like a bull’s eye. I didn’t want to start all over again. That’s when I thought of the warping tool.

I selected the sky and made it into a separate layer and placed the warping tool over it. Then I warped the clouds over to the right.

Pretty cool, huh?

If one person writes and requests a video. I will create a post a video version of this post.

write to on this blogger or ruth@mydigitalphotographytips.com

Thanks for reading my blog.

Ruth

in Santa Fe, NM

You probably have a photography series idea and don’t even realize it. You have a visual series wrapped up in your dreams. Some people have recurring dreams and those are easy to remember. Others may have to quickly jot the dream down in the morning before it’s forgotten. Ask someone what they dreamt about recently and that might help you to remember yours.

Why do dreams make for a good digital photography series?
They are unique, personal, abstract and visual.

Dreams are open to artistic interpretation. They can be hazy, incomplete, enigmatic, sensual and striking in the subliminal way others will relate to them.

Think of the dream as 5-10 still shots that tell a story. A story so personal you will learn about yourself in its transformation to photographs. A story so personal you may be afraid to tell–that’s the one we want to know.

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost.” – Martha Graham

Thanks for visiting my blog for our success,
Ruth

Hi Everyone,

Just this week I was asked to submit a portfolio of my landscapes to a New York city gallery. My favorite subjects within landscapes are the skies and tremendous cloud formations here in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Since the gallery wants to see everything I have it was important to me to have continuity with the images I took over several months and several locations. I just don’t want the buyer to purchase one. I want to sell a series.
I thought I would try adding a sepia tone to all the landscapes I have not previously shown. Here are the before images:

And here are the sepia toned after images.

the finished size of the images are 25 inches x 17 inches.
there is no cutting and pasting involved. I did clean up a few signs and removed a house if it distracted as you can see in the first image.
any comments or questions reply to this blog.

How did I do it?

In Adobe Photoshop open your image.
Go to Image then Adjust then Desaturate
Next Go to Image then Adjust then Variations.
Move the Fine<.....>Coarse slider to the left — one notch from the middle.
Click on more yellow once.
Click on more red once.
Click OK.

I found a few ways to bump up the image before turning to sepia tone.
I’ll be making a short video of how I did that for my subscribers–for free.
Subscribe for my free newsletters on the upper right .
They cover different digital photography ideas–take what you need and delete the rest.
~Ruth

P.S.
I saw this camera for $59.97. It’s a Norcent DCC-725 Digital Camera – 7.0 Megapixel, 3x Optical Zoom, 4x Digital Zoom, 2.5″ LCD.
I have never seen a 7.0 megapixel camera at this low of a price.
Now I can keep an extra camera in my the trunk of my car for those unexpected kodak moments!

Norcent DCC-725 Digital Camera

One more digital closeup using Photoshop.

see article below for more thoughts on creative ideas.

I used to take photographs of people, but got out
of the habit. Not portraits. That’s different. I’m
talking about photographing the public.

I recall some wonderful images of people. These photos
were taken back when I was a photography student
of Les Krims at the college in Buffalo, NY. One assignment
he gave was just that–photograph people.

Giving it a try I took the bus downtown, stationed myself at
a department store doorway and pointed my camera out at
pedestrians on Main Street, but I felt very uncomfortable.
I kept thinking of Diane Arbus and her images of people
as freaks. “Freaks was a thing I photographed a lot.”*
she’s quoted as saying.

I couldn’t look at people that way.

My second attempt was at an annual parade in the
Polish section of town the next weekend. I think my
intention was to photograph the parade itself. But
when I got there the parade watchers were equally
fascinating.

People were relaxed with my pointing the camera.
They were intent on the parade and didn’t notice
I was there. My confidence grew and I shot an
entire roll of film.

They were black and white photos, a mix of adults leaning
against buildings sometimes framed by the doorways.
Each expression flickered a different response which shaped
character into their faces. The ads on the buildings behind them
them caught a bit of history as did the style of clothing worn,
hairstyles and men in hats. There is something about black and
white that brought out textures and patterns of clothing without
their color competing.

I attribute the success in taking those photographs to ……

You’ll just have to subscribe to my free newsletter to read the
rest of my article with my ideas for photographing people.

You’ll also get Tips and Habits of a digital Photographer -
immediately and for free.

Sign up is on the upper right of this blog.

* http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/arbus.html

When using less color is more effective.

Color is so predominant
in photography that images lacking
color simply stand out.

Do you remember the film ‘Schindler’s List?’
It was filmed in black and white, but there
were two additions of color. They were a
little girl’s red coat and yellow flames on
a candle.

Now, that was subtle yet dramatic.
It’s remembered and there’s a buzz about
why the coat and candles were singled out.

Can you imagine your own black and white
or sepia toned image with one object in it
painted? It would still qualify as a color
photo,but your work would get noticed
amongst the blazing reds, blue and greens.

It’s easy enough to paint color in Photoshop
or other digital software, but there are
other ways.

In my 7th newsletter I give tips and ideas
for turning your images into subtle yet
dramatic photos from images you already have.

All the equipment needed is an image
and a scanner and some materials you probably
have around your home.

You won’t want to miss it.
You can sign up to the right. It’s free and
you can unscubscribe at anytime.

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Advancing in Photography: Letting Go of Old Habits

It was about 5 years ago when I worked on an image that I was obsessed about. Well, I didn’t know it at the time. The obsession that is.

It was a photo I took of an abandoned house. Off to the right was a beam of light that cut across diagonally. I wanted to emphasize this light. But everything I knew at the time (about photo enhancing) wasn’t enough to resurrect this image.

Someone suggested that I move on and experiment with something new. Work on some of my other images.

You know? That’s when my photographs began to take on a new look. My ideas started to grow. Several times a week I stayed up half the night creating.

I had to let go of that one idea that just wasn’t working.

Before images 1 and 2 above

After images 1 and 2 here

The images you choose reflect and develop your photographic style:

I selected the snowy landscape image in my last post below and the two above when, ‘I chose the best ones.’

How do I know after I shoot a couple dozen photos which ones are the best?

Sometimes, I just get that ‘aha’ moment when I view an image. Something stands out in the colors or lines. Like the images above have sweeping diagonal lines.

The deep long path in the right image suggests a journey. I love paths and roads. They pull my eyes into the scene.

The left image: I can gaze into this white forest and feel mesmerized by the depth of the trees and their quiet mystery. Snow and rainstorms tug at my insides. They are both tumultuous and comforting at the same time.

Of your photos, which ones move you?
Are you choosing them because you think that is what others will like or because they appeal to you?

I used to be concerned about fitting a style others would like.
That only meant being all things to all people.

Now when I display a photo I’m saying – ‘can you see what I see?’
I’m inviting others in to take a look at what I have to offer.

There’s a science regarding color and a psychology of how we react to it. But I’ve learned more about color and light from artists than I have from scientists.

Scientists write about color and light and artists express it.
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note: the message above is the introduction to my subscribers’ 4th newsletter .
The entire letter has steps and tricks to create the images from my initial photographs that only had ‘potential.’

To receive tips so you can start using your photo editing software (I use Photoshop but the ideas are applicable to other software) sign up for my free 15 page quide above.

In it you’ll receive a lot tips and habits of a digital photographer. And then my newsletters.
I won’t share or sell your info and you can unsubscribe at anytime.