Photographs – Page 3

February 16, 2011

High On Dynamic Range

It’s funny how things reverse. Someone as old as me remembers hours in a chemical smelling darkroom practicing gesticular magic over RC paper (Dodge this! Burn that!) in order to bend the shimmering beams projecting downwards to my bidding. Photography was not just a skill but a bit of a black art then and those like me who mostly did well out of luck could certainly spend hours in a fruitless effort to create a picture that didn’t look like a white light got switched on by accident during processing. Maybe that explains why folks like me embraced (and as technology improved continuously re-embraced) digital photography. The idea of what could be done and the speed it could be done when compared to the chemical-mechanical past boggled our minds which were still hazy from poorly ventilated fumes. Those were the days of wooden cameras and iron lungs.

Now I see more and more people a few generations newer than me going back to film and pupils dilated by amber safelights in a quest to capture the creative constrictions of those old ways. A rush to embrace vintage or low cost cameras, grainy films, and that long processing wait has snatched victory from the all-conquering march of electronica. The oversaturated, softly detailed photos being made today with lomography and other inexpensive, crude cameras is what we tried to avoid in the days of yore. Still it must be said that they are often compelling and beautiful.

I bring that example up as a barely related introduction to my being presently enamored with the bright and lively photos digitally created through a process known as HDR (High Dynamic Range) imaging. I’ve hyper-linked a thorough explanation but in layman’s (or my) terms it’s about capturing lost detail. When an image it taken usually the camera’s metering system picks the exposure that captures an image where the majority of the subject matter presented is easily visible and similar to how our eyes would see it. However the range of detail captured often is clipped in very bright areas and very dark areas. If you look at a building in daylight you don’t notice the subtleties of white clouds or the shades of gray in the dark shadows. HDR works by utilizing bracketed exposures (over and under normal) which capture the dynamic “edges” a proper exposure misses. You combine these all into a single image which can range from the surrealistically remarkable to just a pleasant enhancement. The subject matter and settings help determine what you wind up with.

Wow! Incredibly boring, eh? In description it is but in practice there is the chance your socks will be knocked off. I’ve loved experimenting with it and below are a few images I recently used this process for. Hope you enjoy.

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January 26, 2011

My Favorite 0b1000100 Photos of 2010

I take way too many pictures it seems. This was supposed to be a post about the 10 favorite pictures I took in 2010. That expanded and expanded till it is now almost 7 times that amount. Oops.

Since I’m too lazy to cut this amount down to a more manageable size I’m leaving well enough alone. There is no rhyme or reason to my selections other than I thought they weren’t too bad and I noticed them. I’m far from a professional photographer but I do get lucky from time to time.

I must admit I did cheat once on the flamingo photo which was taken the last day of 2009. Please bear in mind that when that was taken in places like Manila it was 2010. So there.

If you want to see them larger click on the thumbnails to get a large window type thing with a next button.

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P.S. That’s binary in the title of this post. Sorry to be so confusing.

P.P.S. There are three screens of pics. Click the next number under them to see another batch.

November 2, 2010

My Perfectionism…no…Perfectionism And Me…no…Present Perfect…no…

Calling someone as imperfect as me a perfectionist boggles the mind. I’m often haphazard and prone to procrastination. I’m messy and ramshackle. I’m unorganized and absent minded. None of that sounds like the profile of someone who fights to make every detail correct.

Despite what the litany of attributes above says about me I have to admit that I can turn into a hyper-focused perfectionist at times. I see it more as a curse since it makes itself known with silly things and never what might be helpful in the pursuit of bettering my life or work. When the demon does pop out it seems a bit self-defeating and senseless as when I make sure my ink bottles are sorted by maker.

A recent example of this tendency occurred last weekend during a sunny sojourn with nature. While bicycling along I took a quick glance to my side and was presented with a scene I thought would make a great picture. Yes, I always sling my camera bag over my shoulder when I mount my trusty two wheeled contraption on the off chance I see something I want to capture for posterity. That leads to some of the slowest bike rides ever as I often stop to click my shutter button over and over. Sometimes I jump out of jogger’s and biker’s ways as they almost run me over during my fixation on something through the lens.

In this instance I saw a fallen red leaf being illuminated by the sun and surrounded by darker ex-foliage. It seemed very right as a shot to me in both color and composition and so a few seconds of squealing brakes later and I was on my knees leaning in to focus. It was a rather windy day and the leaf that was the center of my universe for that fleeting moment flew off before I could get a third picture of it. My perfectionism in this case makes me wish to be sure I’ve got a good image so I press that dang shutter release a few times in case focus or lighting is off at first. I was dismayed to think that my need for excessive exposures would not be accomplished so I ran after that dang leaf so I could bend it to my will. What followed was me putting the leaf into many similar settings and positions for ginormous run of subsequent photo-ops.

Now you may feel taking 30 pictures of one sad beat-up leaf is a bit excessive. Um…what would you say about 40 or 50 then? Actually, I’ve not counted and I will not in order to maintain my self-respect. When I did get home with my days’ worth of photographic meanderings I dutifully went through the cavalcade of red leaves I now had. OK, you know there will be a punch line to this story and I don’t want to disappoint so here it is: the one I liked best was the very first frame. Typical.

So, was I right in my choice? I’ll let you decide. Below is the image I liked best and several of the “posed” surplus shots taken later. They are not in order so examine them all and find which one you feel is nicest. I’d be interested in seeing your choice if you would be so kind as to indicate it in the comments. A few days from now I’ll let you know which one I chose. Yes, they are all rather similar so you might just think any would do…but I didn’t. I’m Mr. Picky.

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October 7, 2010

Old Salem

Another day and another bike ride somewhere new. This time I decided to try a greenway on the outskirts of Winston-Salem, NC. Recent floods made it a bit dirtier than I expected but the strangest thing was the construction. A section had some workman and vehicles installing what looked like pipe or drainage corridors underground. What was odd is that much like what you would see on a busy street they had a person at both ends of the work holding a “Stop” or “Slow” sign to give directions to us intrepid path users. I always thought a bike was pretty slow to begin with.

The ride was nice as it wound along the side of a creek on this crisp early fall day passing a ruined railroad bridge which I took a few snaps of. Eventually I reached a rather confusing spot where I couldn’t figure out how to continue on. The greenway went up over and under some roads and ended. I knew you needed to ride along a road to rejoin the path the signage was lacking. I set out in a likely direction and discovered to my surprise I was in Old Salem which I’ve not been to for a few years. I spent a good part of my day wandering around and taking photos of this historic neighborhood. Take a look below for some of them.

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October 2, 2010September 3, 2023

History In Red

For many, many years Virginia and tobacco were synonymous. The bright leaf variety was commonly known as “Virginia Tobacco” and was considered a type superior enough to be bragged about on packaging. In the late 19^th century it built and molded many Southern U.S. cities. Now this once wildly profitable crop’s cultivation has dwindled since it often kills those who use it.

Danville, VA was a beneficiary of tobacco and became a center for processing and storage. Between that and textile manufacturing the city enjoyed a nice industrial base which allowed for businesses to flourish. In the “Tobacco District” commercial structures were built through the early 20^th century. These were severe but handsome warehouses, offices, and processing facilities mostly made out of formidable looking red brick.

As the 20^th century came to an end the two major industries mentioned folded up leaving Danville a much poorer place. Still, the structures were left behind as a testament to the good old days. Looking at them now a few have been converted to housing or are still in commercial use but the bulk of them are empty. The fact that they mostly all still stand is a wonder and a thrill if you get a chance to wander there.

I wandered there and took a few pictures.

September 24, 2010

Natural Bore

Greensboro and High Point, NC share the Bicentennial Greenway system. It’s not always linked together but there are a number of nice long stretches that are fun to bike on. I’ve still got a thing for taking pictures of nature in some way or another while I ride. Even I realize this is rather boring and looks like a thousand other images but that doesn’t stop me from sharing a handful of pictures here I took on a stretch of this system.

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May 21, 2010

Petal to the Metal

I think I take pictures of flowers because they can’t run or hide. It’s easy to walk around them and take as many pictures as you want. They don’t complain about posing or itch their nose at the wrong time. Once in a while a bee will appear out of one and let me know I’m disturbing his work and should buzz off.

I took a walk through the Greensboro, NC Arboretum the other day and cornered some of these not-elusive subjects and took a few pictures. A factoid about Greensboro is that this is the place where Union General William T. Sherman negotiated the surrender of General Joseph E. Johnston’s Confederate troops at the end of the Civil War. The terms Sherman gave were considered too lenient in Washington and were nullified.

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