The Softly Spoken Landscape

Posted on January 19, 2012 by kahkityoong

A few days ago, a comment was made on my blog article about perfect moments : “I hope you run a travel workshop in the near future. Something really laid back, relaxing and being about experiencing the place. It’s not always about the shot.” In response, I quipped something along the lines about how people would be unlikely to pay for a workshop not about getting the shot. Given that one of the most successful TV series of all time was based on the premise of a ‘show about nothing’, perhaps there is more to this idea than meets the eye.

This morning, I engaged in my first landscape shoot of the year. Driving into Bude after a week of fine weather in Paris, I was reacquainted with my old Cornish friends : dense fog, driving rain, strong winds and a featureless overcast sky. Nothing had changed by the time I drove out to the beach the next morning. Fortunately this was one of those locations that has never failed to deliver a memorable experience, whether I came back empty handed or not. Even when blowing a gale, the conditions only add to the windswept ruggedness of the place. I was content to walk up and down the shoreline and marvel at the rusty cliffs, smooth rock formations, orange sand and the aquamarine water in the tidal pools. There was no hurry; whether I even made a single exposure was of no consequence.

At its most transcendental level, landscape photography becomes an almost spiritual pursuit. Watching the elements of earth, sea and sky interact, you are confronted by higher powers whether you believe in a higher entity or science. To take this analogy a step further, does a person pray because they have faith or because they expect results? Is the success of a morning outing dependent on whether the photographer bagged a shot or not? What is the best measure of how good a workshop is? The number of images added to a portfolio. How much you learned? Or perhaps how much you enjoyed it?

One aspect of landscape photography that I find increasingly tiresome, is the persistent trophy-hunting style of making images. It’s photography on steroids : more extreme angles, more intense colours, more post-processing and the rush to nail a shot at the most recent discovered location. Of course there are times when it is necessary to pursue an idea relentlessly, after all photos don’t take themselves. However when the hunt becomes an ingrained part of the art, it’s time to slow down. Instead of trying to score a great sunrise or sunset, with time I’ve become more concerned with listening to the story a place has to tell and what I have to say.

Caressing the Sea

So what happened this morning on my first landscape shoot of the year? I eventually settled on a composition that incorporated the features that I had found most striking during my stroll. While setting up, a small break opened in the sea mist and sky – too long after sunrise to produce any colours but it added luminosity to the subtle colours of the scene and a touch of mystery. It was the perfect expression of my mood this morning.

Of course the large version on the website is much nicer and can be found here.

Posted in Cornwall, Landscape, My 2 cents, Rants and musings, TCBlog, Workshops | 12 Comments

The Perfect Moment

Posted on January 16, 2012 by kahkityoong

Paris is Most Beautiful in the Rain

With 2011 just gone, it seems an appropriate time for many people to do a retrospective of their best shots of the year. The difficulty for me in doing the same is that I now tend to keep my very best work in the bag, to be released as publications, blog articles or competition entries when their time has arrived. The buzz I used to feel for immediately showing my latest and greatest has diminished with time. For me, travel and landscape photography is still a completely self-driven endeavour; I shoot only for myself. If I derive enjoyment from my results, then I am satisfied. If I don’t, no amount of accolades from the outside world will convince me otherwise. It is interesting to see how letting images stew for months or even years has on one’s perception of them. You grow more fond of the best ones. Unfortunately many others don’t fair so well over time.

For the first time in many years, my favourite image has nothing to do with nature photography. Instead it falls equally appropriately into the categories of either travel or street photography. The title “Paris is Most Beautiful in the Rain” comes from a line in Woody Allen’s latest movie “Midnight in Paris”. I actually watched the movie on my return to Australia, about a week after making this photo. There were many aspects of this film and its main character, Gil Pender which I identified with. It was a wonderful coincidence that the final scene of the film takes place on the same bridge as my photo, both in the rain.

This was one of those elusive ‘perfect moments’ that I have only experienced a handful of times as a photographer. It was captured on a day which I had not expected to take any photos. A friend had arrived from London and we were showing her around Paris for the day. During the afternoon, a thunderstorm very suddenly appeared over the city. The deluge that followed caught almost everyone unawares. Umbrellas were useless against the horizontal wall of water that had girls screaming and everyone running full pelt to find some shelter. We eventually found respite at a construction site where the workers kindly allowed many wet and soggy people to stand under the scaffolding. After several minutes, I asked myself why I wasn’t out there in the rain photographing people’s reaction to all this. I spent the next 20 minutes in the autumn shower, soaked to the bone with water in my shoes, thunder and lightning cracking above. This image depicts the moment after the sea of clouds had parted to reveal the sun, backlighting the raindrops so that they appeared like a shower of diamonds in the air. These details really do need to be seen in the large version on the website gallery found here. Many elements had to come together for this image and the result you see here is the full-frame image without any manipulations or cloning.

It is the imperfect moments which prepare the photographer for the perfect moment.

Otherwise how do we learn to anticipate its arrival, recognise the potential for it to occur and finally to make an adequate execution of the craft so that the moment doesn’t slip from one’s grasp? These perfect instances remain intangible until the photographer has completed his task. If the composition is not compelling or the technique poor, that moment will no longer be perceived as perfect.

Here’s hoping that everyone gets their perfect moment in 2012!

Posted in Black and White, Journal, My 2 cents, Paris, Travel, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

The Limitation of Imitation

Posted on January 6, 2012 by kahkityoong

Sand Patterns at Uluru

There have been a number of thought-provoking articles in the last year regarding the issues of copying, imitation and the never ending-stream of iconic views appearing on photography websites. Although the issue has been on my mind, I have not felt compelled to participate in those discussions till now. A recent blog article by David Leland Hyde has brought these thoughts to the surface again and prompted me to give my perspective.

Let me start off by stating how I personally operate. I’m not interested in imitating the work of other photographers. The goal of online research is to see what has already been accomplished at each location so that I’m not repeating similar shots taken by others. I have never contacted another photographer to ask where he or she made a particular shot. If someone volunteers information about where I can find a ‘great shot’, this will make me less interested in the location. I don’t want to do what has been done by others before. My preference is to scout, explore and work locations on my own. Being resourceful and learning how to assess the photographic potential of a location using your own eyes is a skill in itself. Those who constantly ask others for coordinates hoping to shoot something similar do not develop these skills and will always follow in the footsteps of others, figuratively and literally.

I believe that these concerns about copying and iconic locations becoming tarnished by over-exposure are a response to being bombarded by the glut of competent but often uninspired landscape photography. These are not new sentiments specific to the explosion of interest in photography during the digital age. In my research of street photography in Paris, I found this rather disdainful comment about photographers shooting Place de la Concorde by Robert Doisneau in 1962 :  “Like moths, photographers are drawn to the lights of Place de la Concorde. They circle around the splashing fountains, trying to get the perfect shot. This they will then foist on dinner guests back home.”

Magic Hour Concorde

While I have more original interpretations of Place de la Concorde, I think the glorious sunrise does enough to make this a distinctive view of the icon. 

It is important to note that many of those sharing their views in blog articles are very experienced and accomplished photographers who are well advanced down their creative paths. On the other hand, just like Doisneau’s photographers, most people are not seeking to become the next Galen Rowell. They are are just aiming to make a few prints that they like enough to put up on their walls. Even for those who have loftier goals in photography, during those first years of photography, one is consumed with developing the technical aspects of one’s craft and making aesthetically pleasing images rather than being concerned with originality or sharpening one’s vision. I know that in my first couple of years as a photographer, I regarded making a technically perfect postcard standard image in nice light as an accomplishment. Nowadays, unless I have something new to say about Uluru, or the Twelve Apostles, those images will never see light of day on my website galleries. I’ve photographed enough iconic locations to know that sometimes you do luck out on some unique conditions. And being able to come up with something out of the ordinary or an original take of a classic view can be very satisfying – the equivalent of pulling the proverbial rabbit out of the hat. However, if the conditions are ordinary or I’m lacking in inspiration, it’s often more satisfying to enjoy the view than go through the motions of getting ‘the shot’ to complete the collection.

Supernatural

I used my car’s headlights to ‘light paint’ the grasses in the foreground to create a unique look to this Uluru photograph.

The Island Arch

This photo of the Island Arch was one of the most famous landmarks on the Great Ocean Road. I’ve only visited the location once and was blessed with a spectacular sunset. Given it’s popularity as a ‘standard view’, I was not too fond of the shot at the time. However, shortly after my visit, the arch collapsed and the fact that this view is no longer possible makes me treasure the photo a little more.

The question to ponder when you’re lining up that classic shot is whether imitation will be merely a stepping stone towards a more creative approach or the end of the road. If the latter is acceptable then there is no problem with shooting what thousands have done before and many more will do in the future. However, if you’re seeking to distinguish yourself as an artist, learning to harness your personal vision should become a priority.

Forest Echoes, Blue Mountains

Posted in Landscape, Paris, Rants and musings, TCBlog | 3 Comments

MHT Retrospective and an Inspiring New Initiative

Posted on January 2, 2012 by kahkityoong

A Beautiful End

The first email I received in 2012 was a piece of spam from a company claiming that they had been studying the MHT website and could offer their services in improving web traffic. Ironically, www.magichourtravelscapes.com’s Alexa ranking of 400,000 plus (not bad for a photography website) was higher than their own ranking of around 3,000,000. Even though web popularity is hardly an indicator of quality, it is nice to know that my photography and blog is being appreciated around the world. A big thank you to everyone who visited the galleries and particularly those who contributed to the blog discussions.

It was another successful year in terms of photography contests.

  • The only honour roll  I missed out on was “Take a View” although two images made it to the shortlist.
  • Making it to the Veolia Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at the British Natural History Museum for the second year running was my highlight of 2011. This year I was recognized in the “Animals in Their Environment” section.
  • “Dawn Stars” also made it to the commended list in the Nature’s Best Windland  Smith Rice Awards. I’m hoping that it will go on to be part of the 2012 exhibition at the Smithsonian in Washington DC.
  • First place in the “Threatened Species” category with a bird image in ANZANG, Australia’s most prestigious nature photography competition, was particularly encouraging, reminding me to look beyond the landscape when in the field. I also was successful in the landscape and environmental sections of this competition.
  • I closed out the year with a win in the extremely popular Digital Camera Magazine “Photographer of the Year” contest – 1st place for landscapes with “Symphony of the Thousands”. Thanks to Gustav Mahler for the title!

Rabbit Proof Fence on display at the South Australian Museum's ANZANG exhibition

Dawn Stars at the British Natural History Museum

The ANZANG exhibition is travels around Australia. The Veolia WPOTY 2011 exhibition recently opened at the Australian Museum in Sydney. I was blown away by the difference between seeing many of the photos in print at the museums compared to the yearbooks.

Veolia WPOTY Exhibition opening at the British Natural History Museum in London

MHT ran its first international workshop, a 19-day expedition around the south island of New Zealand. Some of the awesome locations we visited included : majestic Mount Cook, the wild west coast (where I photographed “Dawn Stars”), the lush rainforests and petrified shores of the Catlins, autumnal foliage around Queenstown and Lake Tekapo and the meeting of mountains and the ocean at Kaikoura. The workshop participant gallery will be up for a few more weeks here.

Shooting the Catlins during the NZ workshop

Some of you may have noticed that over the last year, I have shifted my focus towards the genre of travel which requires a more holistic approach to photographing destinations. Together with a diminishing reliance on magic hour light and more on composition as well as the recent emphasis on black and white, I may have to consider rebranding. How does KKYPhotography sound?

Overall there were not a lot of shooting days in 2011- less than 60, including the time spent running the New Zealand workshop. The only other landscape destination was Cornwall where I spent a few weeks scouting its impressive coastlines. Conditions were challenging overall but fortunately at the three most important locations, some good light turned up when it counted most.

Just Another Morning in Paris

Two weeks in Paris was a real shot in the arm for my travel photography. I took my work in architecture, street and portraits a new level and hope to expand my Paris portfolio further this year as part of a larger project. A couple of useful and unexpected developments came out of this last trip : a flirtation with the panoramic format and learning a great deal more about monochrome conversions.

The year kicked off with a quick trip to northern Italy. With Carnevale in Venice just around the corner now, I can only say that it’s always a fantastic experience, one that I hope to repeat each year if possible. Every year, many of the masks return and I look forward to seeing their new ‘characters’.

On a final note, I don’t have a lot planned for 2012. Since I will probably be working without an assistant this year, any workshops are likely to be shorter and with smaller groups. Those interested in a New Zealand, Australia, Paris or Cornwall should email me on the MHT website and we can discuss tailoring an itinerary to a small group. Look out for updates on the MHT gallery as some of my best stuff from Paris and Cornwall are still to come.

Last but not least, I would like to use my first blog in 2012 to introduce you to www.whytake.net the brainchild of Alister Benn, Juanli Sun, Anca Minican and Rafael Rojas. Many of my favourite nature photographers are involved in this global network and this ambitious project is already off to a great start. Seeing so many fantastic images on the one website from this impressive line-up of nature photographers cannot fail to inspire.

Happy New Year and excellent light to you all!

Posted in Awards, Competitions, Cornwall, Landscape, New Zealand, News, Paris, Travel, Workshops | 1 Comment

Black, White & Shades of Grey – Part III – Creative Decisions

Posted on December 20, 2011 by kahkityoong

Wilderness Coast

In the final part of my series on black and white photography, I’m going to discuss some of the creative decisions involved in converting colour images.

The decision to go black and white was a bit of a no-brainer in this first example, “Wilderness Coast”. This seascape from the wonderful west coast was shot during my workshop in New Zealand this year. The overcast conditions at dawn imparted a blue cast to the scene and the limited colour palette made it a natural candidate for a conversion. While there are strong textural elements : sky, rocks and water, none of these rely on colour to give it shape or definition.

In colour, “Wilderness Coast” looks somewhat flat, but the extra headroom to increase contrast afforded by black and white allows a much more dramatic presentation. Cranking up the contrast in the same way in a colour photo would give it an over-processed unnatural look. A high resolution version of (my newly reworked in SEP2) Wilderness Coast is now available here. 

Lets contrast this with a photograph that relies on a wide variety of colours to help separate elements.  This is from a charming village on the Lizard peninsula of Cornwall. The orange lichen creates interest in what would otherwise be large slabs of drab dark coloured rocks. The aquamarine colour of the water also helps to separate visually the various land masses in the scene. Lastly the pink clouds naturally produce a visually pleasing contrast with the blue sky. On this occasion the black and white version is not nearly as effective.

Lizard Land

One of the locations that I have struggled with during my visits to Paris has been the Tuileries Gardens. The masters of French street photography have always had a fascination for the metal chairs that one finds in the parks and gardens, whether anyone is sitting in them or not. The spatial arrangements, the mystery as to who may have been sitting in the empty chairs and even the patterns that their legs leave in the gravel when dragged to other positions have provided inspiration to photographers for centuries. One afternoon I arrived to find an arrangement which compelled me to finally take out my camera. The most important aspect to this composition was the symmetry of the people and seats in the foreground. This gets a little lost in the colour version and converting the image to black and white removes many of the distractions in a busy scene.

Afternoon at Tuileries

An additional tweak I used to emphasise the symmetry in the arrangement of people and chairs was to process the majority of the scene in high-key, but leaving the foreground subjects dark enough to stand out from the rest of the frame.

One of the other subjects of Parisian street photography I was keen to add to my portfolio was the vibrant ‘cafe life’. Outside tables are well set up for people-watching. These chairs and benches are usually made from straw which take on a shiny appearance in the right light. The tables are always round.

Once again, there are many elements that distract when in shown colour. I wanted to distill the scene to its most basic elements in monochrome : the patterns of straw in the chairs and bench, the round shape of the tables, the lady in motion and the more distant figure who seems to be significant in the balance he brings to the composition. Taking this effort to simplify the scene even further, I have allowed the sky and building on the other side of the road to blow out in exposure so that the focus is firmly on the elements I want the viewer to concentrate on. Finally, the sense of nostalgia, timelessness and elegance of the sepia version is completely lacking in colour.

Take Five

 

Posted in Black and White | 2 Comments

Digital Camera POTY 2011

Posted on December 14, 2011 by kahkityoong

Shooting the Winning Image

I received an early Christmas present with the announcement of UK magazine’s Photographer of the Year honour roll. My image “Symphony of a Thousand” was the winner in the landscape category. I shot it this year in the Catlins while leading a workshop around New Zealand. You may recall that an almost identical shot was taken the year before but this time I went for a faster shutter speed to freeze the water action. The atomic sunrise we witnessed was almost a replay of the one I had photographed the year before.

The technical details : Canon 5DMkII, 16-35mm 2.8L, ISO 100, f6.3, 0.3s, reverse GND filter, Gitzo tripod. As you can see from the portrait photo, taken the same morning as my winning shot, I’m standing far enough away from my foreground subject to get away with a fairly open aperture of 6.3, which in turn allowed me to shoot with the fast shutter speed I wanted. With proper focussing it is amazing how much depth of field you can acquire without resorting to small apertures of f16 and above.

Interestingly this year, the judges went for three classic landscapes : not a long exposure, star or moonlit landscape in sight. It was good to see such a strong focus on those good old qualities – composition and light.

Digital Camera POTY 2011

Posted in Awards, Competitions, Composition, Landscape, New Zealand, TCBlog | 4 Comments

Black, White & Shades of Grey – Part II – First Look at Silver Efex Pro 2

Posted on December 10, 2011 by kahkityoong

Hotel de Ville

Panorama of Hotel de Ville stitched in PS CS5 and processed in SEP2. The larger version is well worth viewing here.

The program works as a plug-in for Photoshop, Lightroom and Aperture. After completion of work in Silver Efex, the result is affected through a single layer in Photoshop. There is an informative starter’s guide to the software as well as numerous tutorials on the Nik website. The purpose of this article is not to give a how-to guide but rather to give readers some idea about how it is relevant to my current digital workflow.

Let me start by saying that if you do a lot of work in monochrome, whether at an advanced or beginner level, SEP2 should strongly be considered. Even without reading the guide, I was able to achieve better results than what done in 20 minutes in photoshop the first time I used SEP2. I have already taken advantage of the recent “Black Friday” specials to purchase my copy. In the meantime, the full-featured 15 day demo version is currently installed on my MacBook Pro.

The powerful algorithms used to tweak contrast and bring out details have saved me a great deal of time. Even after only using the program for a few days, I am getting superior results over CS5 in a fraction of the time. I suspect similar results to the conversions done in SEP2 could be achieved using Photoshop alone but it would require greater skills than I possess and a lot more time on my hands.

SEP2 Workspace

Larger version of the workspace can be seen here.

Before applying the plug-in, I prepare the RAW file much the same way as I do for colour and BW conversions in CS5. The SEP2 workspace feels very similar to Adobe Camera RAW and Lightroom, with many of the controls in the form of sliders. There are three main types of adjustments that can be made : brightness, contrast and structure. You can arrive at some very good results just using these three sliders, however each can be subdivided into more sliders which selectively affect different tonal ranges. Local adjustments can be made placing control points on the image.

What SEP2 does brilliantly, mainly through the ‘structure’ adjustment slider, is bringing out detail and textures. This can result in an over-sharpened look when used over-zealously but it’s such a powerful tool when used well, alone justifies the asking price of the software.

The Vigil (triple processed RAW)

The Vigil (Conversion in CS5)

The Vigil (Conversion in SEP2)

“The Vigil” is a classic view over Paris. I prepared the image for conversion by first triple processing a single RAW file and hand-blending them : a darker exposure for the sky, a lighter one for the city and an even brighter one for the gargoyle which was very dark due to the effects of the ND grad filter. The result you see is was achieved in SEP2 after only using the software for the first time. I have deliberately cranked up the structure slider to the point of an over-sharpened appearance to show the sort of details and textures SEP2 is able to pull out. A comparison with my Photoshop CS5 effort (which took much longer to process) is provided and best appreciated in these links to higher resolution versions : CS5 and SEP2. A good area to see the difference is the paving in the square shown at 100% below.

The Vigil at 100% (CS5)

The Vigil at 100% (SEP2)

The presets proved to be very useful; these are found on the left had column of the workspace. In addition to their raison d’etre of being time-savers, these turned out to be invaluable in giving me more ideas. Even though, I would have already visualized the end-point I want, seeing 38 other finished examples allowed me to be more open to other possibilities. A strategy I often use is picking one of the presets as a starting point which I then tweak further till I’m satisfied with the result. This screenshot featuring a street scene from the northern Italian town of Vicenza shows that I have selected the preset “High Structure”. Some of the master sliders (contrast and structure) have been opened up to reveal other sliders to fine tune effects according to tonal range. A cool feature at the bottom right is the ability to display which areas of the image fall into Ansel Adams’ zone system categories.

"High Structure (harsh)" Preset

Link to large version of the above screen shot found here.

Eternal City (SEP2)

The next example “Eternal City” is a view of the Pantheon in Roma. You can make levels and curves adjustments in SEP2 but a more interesting feature is being able to select one of many simulated film types. I’ve plumbed for Agfa Pro 100 on this occasion. There are also a number of finishing adjustments including colour toning, vignetting options, and a wide variety of preset borders.

Film Types and Finishing Adjustments

Link to larger version of the above screenshot found here.

Four-Legged Customer

This next example “Four-Legged Customer” shows a cafe scene from the charming Ile St Louis in Paris. I used the preset “Antique Plate II” as a starting point. Since the dog is the focal point of the composition and story, I wanted to make it stand out more with some additional brightness and definition. Using a control point placed over the dog, I increased the contrast, brightness and structure sliders to make these local adjustments.

Four-Legged Customer with local adjustment

My final example is a landscape photograph of the iconic Moraine Lake in the Canadian Rockies. Here I have applied Silver Efex over my previous monochrome conversion in CS5.

The Winter Fortress (CS4)

The Winter Fortress (conversion in CS4 with additional processing in SEP2)

 

Posted in Black and White, Paris, Reviews, TCBlog, Technique, Travel | 6 Comments

Digital Camera POTY Shortlist

Posted on December 7, 2011 by kahkityoong

I’m not exactly sure when these were released, but Digital Camera magazine’s Photographer of the Year competition has put up a gallery of their shortlisted images. They offer a wide range of categories and there are some terrific images on the list. I personally find it very interesting to view photographic genres that I don’t practice myself which is why I often purchase the annual POTY book. Anyway I’m pleased to see “Symphony of a Thousand” which I captured on our workshop in New Zealand this year made it to the shortlist at least. A few years back, I was placed in the landscape category of this competition with “Moody Moeraki” which had the undesirable effect of getting me disqualified from that year’s Veolia WPOTY competition after initially receiving a commendation :(

A placing will be the icing on the cake adding to my best year so far with successes at Veolia WPOTY, Windland Smith Rice and ANZANG.

Symphony of a Thousand

The large version can be found here.

 

Posted in Awards, Competitions, TCBlog | 5 Comments

Black, White and Shades of Grey – Part 1

Posted on December 1, 2011 by kahkityoong

While I have always considered monochromatic images to be part of my repertoire, my latest work from Paris has seen B&W photography take centre stage. (For simplicity I will include sepia and other monochromatic conversions when I use the term B&W).

Up till now I have used Photoshop to do all my conversions. However with the lion’s share of my latest portfolio being in B&W, I thought it was time to take a look at Silver Efex Pro 2 (SEP2) from Nik Software, a program dedicated to monochrome conversions.

Concorde (conversion in CS5, finishing in Silver Efex Pro 2)

Why shoot in black and white?

When using the digital format, most people don’t actually shoot in black and white. Rather, what we mean is visualizing and post-processing in BW. Standard practice is to shoot in colour RAW files which are then desaturated in post-capture.

My preferred approach is to deliberately conceive the photograph in monochrome before the shutter is pressed. Sometimes I will expose differently or use a heavier grad filter if the end result is destined to be monochrome. This usually results in superior images over those that come about as an afterthought because a shot didn’t turn out so well in colour. Actively trying to visualize a scene in BW allows me to focus on the structure within a composition. Form, contrast and the textures of the subject are emphasized without the distraction of colour. Stripped raw, it heightens the emotion and mood. Characteristics such as nostalgia and timelessness are more easily conveyed.

Montalcino

Nostalgia (processed in CS4)

Nostalgia (processed in SEP2)

This photograph of a lady walking in the rain in the Tuscan town of Montalcino was my first successful attempt at a street shot back in 2006. The colour and BW versions were simple processing jobs in Photoshop, taking several minutes each to complete. The sepia version, done in SEP2 was even quicker, essentially a one click affair using one the preset settings offered as a suggestion. How does the removal of colour from the image affect your perception of the scene?

“When you photograph people in colour, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in black and white, you photograph their souls!” Ted Grant

The Sacred Heart (processing in SEP2)

There is greater creative license when processing in monochrome since it is a step further away from reality compared to colour photography. This photograph of a crypt taken in 2009 has never light of day until now. Converting it to monochrome has allowed me to manipulate the interplay of light and shadow to an extent that would have led to some pretty funky results in colour. The high resolution version is well worth viewing for its details here.

“Black and white photography is a perfect lie. We must not let colour destroy this magic.” Paddy Summerfield

BW Digital Workflow in Photoshop CS5

I have found working with BW to be more labour intensive in the digital darkroom with most images taking 15 to 20 minutes to process compared to 5-10 minutes with colour when using Photoshop.

There are multiple ways of arriving at a grey scaling a colour image. It is also possible to do the conversion in Camera RAW or in Photoshop proper. My preference is the latter and the usual steps are as follows

  • Produce a well exposed file in camera RAW, similar to what I would do with a colour interpretation. This may include double or triple processing a single RAW file to achieve this end.
  • Conversion to grey scale by adding a black and white adjustment layer. This allows manipulation of tones according to colour using the sliders.
  • Multiple levels adjustment layers for contrast either globally and/or localized using masks
  • Sometimes I fine tune contrast further with Tony Kuyper’s luminosity masks.
  • A second black and white adjustment layer is added over the top if a sepia or other tint is desired.

The Shining (processed in CS5)

Larger version here. The majority of my CS5 converted images still benefit from some additional finishing in SEP2. The next blog entry will cover my first look at SEP2.

 

Posted in Black and White, Monochrome, Postcapture, Reviews, Street Photography, TCBlog, Technique | 2 Comments

Beyond 24mm – An Introduction to Shooting Ultra-wide

Posted on November 23, 2011 by kahkityoong

Harbour City

Looking at the array of lenses I have collected over the years, the state of my Canon 16-35mm 2.8L is notable for being particularly well worn. There’s a good reason for this. Ultra-wide angle zooms are usually the bread-and-butter lens for many landscape and travel photographers. For the wow factor, it’s difficult to go past a carefully constructed wide-angle composition that makes you feel as though you can reach out and touch the foreground. The popularity of this perspective also means that it becomes all the more difficult to distinguish oneself from the large number of other photographers who like to shoot wide. Over a series of blog articles, I am going to present my approach to capturing those grand vistas.

Let’s kick off by defining what focal lengths constitute the ultra-wide range. I find 24mm on a full-frame camera to be convenient cut-off. Anything below is ultra-wide while 24mm can be considered merely ‘wide’. This is a convenient classification as many of Canon’s L and Nikon’s FX normal zoom lenses start at 24mm at the long end. I currently own Canon’s 16-35mm 2.8L and 17-40mm 4L lenses. In the past I also owned a Nikon DX 12-24mm f4. Since I now shoot Canon exclusively, I’ll offer my opinion on the 16-35mm and 17-40mm. Please note that I own the first version of the 16-35mm. I chose not to upgrade to the MkII version because the 77mm size is shared by the 24-105mm 4L,70-200mm 2.8L and 300mm 4L, all of which I also own. The advantage is being able to interchange the same UV and polarizing filters. From all accounts, the 16-35mm 2.8LMkII is not a great step forward optically compared to its predecessor. To be frank none of the Canon ultra-wide angle zooms are great lenses. They all suffer from significant issues with barrel distortion, chromatic aberration and corner softness at small apertures. I have found image quality to be indistinguishable between the two lesnes so the much cheaper 17-40mm is a good choice if you’re not bothered by missing out on 1mm of focal range. I can’t ever recall shooting at f2.8 on my 16-35mm but the extra light gathering ability may be of use photographing a night sky with stars.

Mousehole

This image taken at the Cornish village of Mousehole demonstrates numerous aspects that come into consideration when using an ultra-wide lens.

  • coverage of a wide field
  • perspective
  • depth of field
  • distortion
  • controlling the layers within the composition
  • filling the frame

Technical details : Canon 5DMkII, 16-35mm 2.8L at 16mm, ISO 400, f16, 1/60 handheld. The camera was held about 2 inches away from the mooring, so close that the front of the subject fell outside of the focus range of the lens. This is an extreme example of a near-far perspective : getting up close to a foreground subject with objects also in the distance. The low perspective has also allowed me to eliminate an expanse of beach which was interrupting the graphic relationship between the spread of ropes next to the mooring and those in the midground leading to the boats.

Links to large versions of the two images in this article can be found here : Harbour City and Mousehole.

The Harbour City is of course Sydney. This is a high viewpoint over Darling Harbour with the newly opened “Star” in the foreground. It was shot at a focal length of 16mm. There is a wonderful window of time where the last colour of sunset is reflected in the buildings of the CBD, behind which the dark sky is turning into night.

Mousehole, is one of the best preserved fishing villages in west Cornwall. Although it is on the tourist trail, it retains a timeless character and charm.

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