Is HDR the Answer?

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Raw files light and dark

I took this image of the Provo River several days ago. The latitude of light and dark was just too much for the sensor to handle. I wanted detail in the rocks and the sky just as my eye witnessed it. Enter the term HDR or High Dynamic Range. This is a process of combining two (or more) different exposures of the same image into one final photograph with detail in both areas of the highlight and shadow. After all…this is what my eye saw so why shouldn’t I be able to record it exactly how I witnessed it. This has always been my goal in photography.

Processed combined photographs

The image on the left is a combination of the two exposures using a HDR program called PhotoMatix. You can get a trial version of this online for free. It does a pretty good job and lets you select several different outcomes where you can adjust the look you want after processing the two images together. I’m not a big fan of this look. To me it looks kinda cheesy, and I’m not a big cheese fan in any form. It makes the rocks lighter than I saw them  and seems to always make the lighter ares go magenta. Granted, You can adjust this in the program itself to a certain extent, or in photoshop, but who wants to spent hours on the computer? Not me! It also seems to introduce “Noise” in a lot of the areas. On scenes like this where there is an obvious “line” if you will, transition from light to dark, I prefer to use photoshop and just combined the two together using the layers function and either painting in the light areas or the dark areas. Personally I like the one on the right better. Its closer to how I saw the scene and the emotion I was feeling at the time. It seems the HDR programs want to take it too far and almost make the image appear flat lacking in contrast.

Difficult transition from light to dark

Now If I have a scene that has a transition of light and dark that is very difficult to distinguish, like the one on the right, a software program like Photomatix might be the only way to go, unless you don’t mind spending a lot more time in photoshop combining the two. It takes a lot more effort selecting, combining, painting, and merging the layers together, but it can be done. In fact, even though it was difficult, I choose to go the combining of layers for this shot instead of the HDR program because I didn’t care for the look it produced.

Lots of different tools out there to use to get our own unique version of how we interpret the world around us. This is just how one photographer chooses. The question is asked, “What made me have an emotional response to this”, enough to make me stop and take a second and third look,  then finally pull out my camera and make a record to document the moment in time where I felt a connection and understanding of my surroundings.  This is a question you have to ask yourself before and after you shot it.

Win A Free Photograph – Grand Canyon River Running Workshop?

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I spent a week in the Grand Canyon with my daughter on a river trip. The weather was stellar and the water was clear all the way down. For those of you who have gone down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon know that after the little Colorado comes in the river typically goes chocolate brown. Fortunately, the little colorado river was the renowned blue/white color just as havasu river was.  We had 13 other people with us so I was a bit limited to what I was able to photograph and how much time I could spent at a location.

Typically, once we reached camp I grabbed my camera gear and scrambled  around looking for compositions. I wish we could have stopped at all the amazing side canyons where grottos and waterfalls hide in reflected light. This is my sixth time down the grand, and I must say this time of year is without a doubt the best time to go down. The water is clear, the people are few, the wildflowers are out, and the temperatures are splendid! I have been thinking about a photography workshop in the Grand Canyon for years. Think of it, a trip that was catered to photographers where we would stop at key points when the light is just right, spending our day time in deep side canyons capturing waterfalls and golden streams, then camping at locations where we could maximize the sunset and sunrise experience  where the canyon may open up a bit allowing views of the river leading into crimson canyon walls. All you do is photograph, and the guides cook 5 star meals for you and get you to all the great locations. I know just where I would want to be and when. Who’s with me? All I need is 17 brave souls who want the adventure of a lifetime and come away with some amazing images.

Anyway I’m getting to my photographs and as before I am offering another free first edition 15×20 matted photograph of the image you see on the right. All you have to do is guess how many exposures I made on a 6 night 7 day trip down the Colorado! You wouldn’t think a humming bird would be the one picked out for a photograph representing the Grand Canyon. As often happens, I was out and about trying to find some “Grand Canyon” photographs after reaching camp, but found some bees humming around an ocotillo tree in bloom. Upon further exploration I noticed a humming bird flying around. I figured there was no way I could get a shot of this “gal” with her quick moves and jittery actions. Unless you are set up at a bird feeder of some sort or are prefocused on a particular blooming flower waiting for a humming bird to land, it is nearly impossible to get a sharp image. I noticed her landing on this dead limb a couple different times so I put on my 300mm and pre-focused waiting for her to land again. Sure enough, she landed on it but was turned the other way. I clicked off a couple of shots when she flew away again, but after about 5 minutes or so she landed on the same branch again, but this time she was facing me. I couldn’t even see this marvelous purple fuchsia color ornamental drapery wrapped around her neck the first time she landed. The soft light, and the river background was the perfect conditions to capture the rich colors. I had to shoot at ISO 800 wide open at f4 at about 160th of a second with my 300, but I did have a tripod. The closing date for guessing will be May 15.

Inspiration, A Goal In My Photography

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Dear Willie,

You won’t remember me but I met you at the Park City art festival. Your picture of Thamserku and Kangtega inspired me and my wife to make a trip there with a couple of friends attempting Everest summit. I looked for and found the very place where you shot it on the trail high above Pheriche. What a spot! The trip was one of those life changing experiences for us, and I felt I should thank you for inspiring it with your beautiful photography.

Bart and Judy
Ogden, UT

Submit For Judges, Show For Clients

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Years ago, after countless times trying to get into the Utah Art Festival, I finally got accepted. This was back in the early 2000′s. I was ecstatic! The Utah Festival was suppose to be a really good show but super hard to get into. There are probably over 1,500 applicants easy and they only let so many from each media in. It’s funny how its’ name is the “Utah” art festival but it seems they had a prejudice to bring in out of state artist. You get no extra points or consideration if you are from Utah. What happened to locals first? You know, the ones who live here and pay taxes here? At any rate, I was way excited to display my work to see how the general public would react. I had a very successful show and sold many framed photographs.

They always hold a contest in each media at the show. There were probably about 10 photography booths or so. Right next to my booth was a photographer whose sole collection was that of naked women in a swimming pool that were photographed underwater with colored gels. Pretty creative, cutting edge (if you want to call it that) experimental, out there. You know, the type that art critics love but the public does not. The exact material the judges like to see. I think I submitted this one. Guess what? He took first place in the photography category but guess how many he sold? Well, the show lasted 4 days if I remember right, and I didn’t see a single person carry away any colorful naked woman photographs.  Yes, he had bragging rights for winning first place but I doubt he made enough to cover his gas driving out here.

Dont get me wrong, I can appreciate his work, his creativeness. I’m just stating the fact that there seems to be a disconnect with the public eye and that of the “qualified, experienced, (dare I say)  far left, avant-garde, art critic and judge. Some shows are more bias towards this than others, but the Utah Art Festival seems to definitely be up there in the top. So next time you apply to get into a show think about really getting funky, contemporary, off the wall, for at least some of your entries, then bring along some work the  general public will actually like so you can buy yourself a nice four course meal at the end of your 4 day show you worked so hard to prepare for.

There is so much “normal” good stuff out there to photograph sometimes it’s hard for me to go beyond the obvious because it is so obviously gorgeous everywhere I go. I’m working on mixing the two, the abstract and the representational for lack of a better word. I’m a pretty straight photographer, I capture what I see. I’m on the look out for the design of nature, wether it be a grand vista or an intimate detail. Small intricacies make up the larger picture and I love them both. Telling a story may take an approach of both. Seeing the small helps you understand the large. I’m finding beauty that is already there, that exist for all to see if one will but venture out and open their eyes. I’m not really creating anything at all, I’m just capturing what mother nature has worked her whole life to achieve, and she’s really good and what she does!

 

Simply Design

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I’m slowly but surely…well not so surely, scanning in some old photographs I have taken with film. I was surprised to come across this image hiding away in my notebook for no one to see. It is now resurrected for all to enjoy. I hope it makes your senses tingle a bit as it did mine.

Getting Rich Off Photography Contests

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Yep, you read right. I’ve been thinking a lot about photography contests. I just read about a recent contest in a popular outdoor photographer magazine, I won’t name names though. To start with they charge you $25.00 to enter each photograph.  From here you have to guess what style of photographer the judges are. Do they like the abstract, the intimate details, or the vast landscapes. Do they appreciate one who strives to capture something totally unique or are they bias towards the “staple spots” of landscape photography?

I have had the opportunity to judge a few contests myself and have seen the different opinions of each photographer. Some are only concerned with the technical side of things like resolution, sharpness, tonal range, etc, while others pay more attention to composition, form, creativity, and flow. We had on photographer who was a big fisherman and he really liked this wide angle photograph of a fish on a hook in the water. To me it was nothing at all…fuzzy, boring, ho hum, but he had an emotional connection to this image because of his fisherman background. It really got him excited about it. Now I guess I’m a little prejudice on certain images as well, you know the type, the ones you have to work and sacrifice for, the ones that are totally different in location and lighting, ones you can’t just go  capture on any given day. These type of images have always excited me. Why? because they are one of a kind and you can’t duplicate them.

The same can be said about getting into art shows I guess. Who will be judging? If I could see the judges work then I could arrange my portfolio to suite that certain style or genre, that is, if I wanted to get into the show. It seems like everyone is a photographer these days. After seeing over 20 photography booths in St. George all with the same scenes (the wave, the subway, mesa arch, etc) presented pretty much the same way, one has to wonder how much more room is there in the field of landscape photography? Having said that I think there will always be room for those who want to express themselves and not someone else.The word I came away with from the festival was SATURATION. Saturation of colors, saturation of the same locations, and saturation of photographers. Anyway I’m getting off track.

So back to the photography contests. This magazine mentioned they got over 10,000 entrees for this particular contest. Let’s see now, 10,000 times 25 is $250,000! So the winner gets a sonny camera and a lens, maybe a print or two from a lab, second place might get $500.00, maybe a tripod here or there, and the magazine gets to use your winning photograph for free! So the sponsor of the photography contest might be out…at the most $6,000, and even then they probably received the winning items for free because I’m sure they approached them to sponsor the contest. It kind of sounds like the lottery to me.  Who knows, maybe the judges get a piece of the pie!

I hope I’m not discouraging any from entering contest but it might be better to spent the cash on a new filter or gas to get out and produce some great images! Oh, and by the way, I’m holding a photography contest this summer so start saving up!

Work It

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I skied Deer Valley yesterday morning but found myself getting off the trails into the aspens. The low angle of light, and the tall white aspen trees against the snow just couldn’t be ignored. Here are three photographs I took of the same subject. I often work an area by changing vantage points, switching lenses and foregrounds, waiting for the light to change. I find myself getting more creative when I do this. You will be amazed at how the mood of the image totally changes just by moving up or down a few inches.

Conveying mood

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I really enjoy photographing red rock after a fresh snow fall. I used a longer lens to really bring these red cliffs up close and personal. I was hiking in about 2 feet of snow when the soft light started to filter through as the clouds danced around the highest points of the cliffs. Trying to convey mood in a photograph is often accomplished by getting out when the weather man says its going to be bad. Mother nature always makes it rewarding for those who stick it out.