I wrote a post last year about black and white bird photography (or any other wildlife for that matter) and how we don’t see it that much I have always wondered why that is, so I continue to explore various takes on it Greg posted a comment on that post that it really depended on the situation and subject to make it work, and I tend to agree Birds that are already black and white or shades in between are obvious candidates.
In this case, it is more of a ‘vintage’ look versus a neutral B&W just to try something different again I was playing around with some presets downloaded from Matt’s Lightroom Killer Tips site If you use Lightroom, his site is a great place to visit particularly on Mondays because those are “Preset Mondays” where he shares various presets he has developed or has become aware of And of course, presets are a great toy to add to your creative playground! You can never have too many, especially when it is so easy to scroll through them to get an idea of the effect or even promote an entirely new idea.
Once I create a few of these, other than for my own enjoyment, I begin to think about how other people might use them For stock use or publication, probably very limited – but who knows For fine art prints, I think there is potential for people looking for something a bit different Maybe they have a particularly vintage or nostalgic decor, with also a love for nature Well, a full color nature image might not exactly look right in such a room But with a little creative processing, you can develop an entirely new look that might create a nice fit Not that I am processing these for that specific purpose, but it is another example of the “ruler” that someone might judge an image by.
.
Perhaps another post topic entirely, but for as much burden technology can place upon a photographer these days, it also can open up new doors to explore, and make it a bit easier also Yes, sometimes a little fun is involved too! :)
.
Learn More
I am sure if you are a return visitor, you just thought – “Did I click on the right site?” :-) Yes, I have finally changed my WordPress theme after a long and hard search For you WordPress users, I am sure you can relate to the feeling of hunting and searching until your eyes are about to pop out because you find certain elements of themes that you like, and others that just completely turn you away There are thousands of themes, and the search can be quite overwhelming.
I finally found one that fit my tastes and elements I was looking for, and wouldn’t you know it has the perfect name.. “Nature’s Highlight.” It is cleaner, simpler, and has an elegant look I think I like that I can have rotating images in the header So clickity click your reload button to your heart’s content So a special thanks to the designers over at refueled.net.
Please pardon ‘my dust’ as I am tweaking it a little here to get all the right elements back from my old one I hope I don’t screw up any formatting, so if something looks wierd, don’t worry – it will probably be fixed within nanoseconds.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the new look I appreciate your support and visitation, please let me know if something is not working right for you.
Learn More
Sometimes everything Being a nature photographer, sometimes I question whether it is better to be literal about the subject matter in labeling an image, or try to be a bit more creative and give it a unique ‘figurative’ name Especially with my rock abstracts, I wonder if a figurative name would impose too much interpretation upon a viewer, instead of just letting them form their own vision Especially because many of these abstracts are simply a combination of graphical elements that attracted my eye – and sometimes nothing much deeper than that Other times I do actually see something within these patterns, and it gives more meaning to an image to label it as such.
I am sure some eyes might glaze over (other than you geologists and rockhounds out there! 
) if I labeled something “Biggs Blue Sky Picture Jasper” versus something like “Giant Squid riding a wave.” However, it will forever be implanted in their mind will be the image of a squid, perhaps unable to see anything else Does this ruin the viewer experience of creating their own impression? I have had this done to me with my own shots Someone will tell me they see some object in say the feathers of a bird that I never saw before, and that object is now always on my mind when I look at that particular shot It can be quite unnerving!
I wonder if for abstract works if it is expected that the artist provide some type of personal interpretation of a piece to give the viewer some insight on where to start in relating to it Are they completely lost without a name? I draw some parallels to music and relating to lyrics Often it isn’t known if they intended as literal or figurative meanings All questions in my head that I don’t really have any answers to, only to simply go with what feels right So I have tried some more figurative names with my latest additions.
. (p.s. on a separate note, I have had a few comments about the font size on my blog being much too small I have never noticed it because it always looked fine on multiple computers, even PC to Mac for me I made a small change, but I would really appreciate if you could let me know if the font size is coming out too small for you Thanks!!).
.
.
.
Learn More
Listening to Brooks Jensen’s podcast (LW0412 – Which ruler should we use?) brought to mind all sorts of concepts that I think about often when evaluating images He brings forth the question of how we measure the quality of photographs Is it against the historical masters or perhaps the pictures we see in a magazine or book? While Brooks questions which ruler to use, I often wonder just how many we need to have to carry around After all, in the world of measurements, we have metric rulers, standard ‘english’ units rulers, rulers with finer increments than others, some certified for accuracy This question can come up every time we press the shutter The rulers for an image may entirely depend on the context of their intended use and how we wish to evaluate our own images.
Is the ruler you carry around constantly refined by your own image history, or do you let someone else create the scale for you? And is having the scale defined by someone else a good thing? Is it a business potential ruler, or a personal growth ruler? Is it a camera club ruler or an environmental significance ruler? If you are involved in various aspects of photography, especially for business and for personal use – I don’t think you can avoid carrying around a pocket full of them Quite often an image that may measure very well with one, will do quite poorly with another.
Besides the rulers that you are carrying around with you personally, perhaps also worth considering are the rulers that your intended viewers are also carrying around Is your image being judged by a photo editor that has seen thousands upon thousands of similar shots, by a gallery curator looking for a piece that might fit their clients, or simply someone trying to match the color of their couch? All have very specific sets of measurements in mind that might be mutually exclusive.
When evaluating images that we are looking at, I think it is important to be conscious of the ruler we are currently using, how it was developed as far as the scale, and if it may be necessary to change rulers all together While the question of which one to use is certainly an important one, I also wonder just how big my pockets need to be.
Learn More
Follow Me on…