Death Valley 2013, Previsualizing in BW

Previsualizing in Black and White

I am not quite ready to leave Death Valley. Sure, we are now in Vegas visiting with friends, he a childhood and car-crazy buddy of Arnie’s. We have been having fun catching up, but we have also been talking about our wonderful time in Death Valley.

During our workshop, as most of you know, Arnie and I don’t get to photograph much. When I do, I have to make it count. The images in this blog were one-shot wonders, as one of our alumni calls them.

Carefully compose, think of composition and shape and form, light and shadow, and it is a perfect recipe for a black-and-white photograph. Those who follow this blog have already seen one of them, done on the last day on the way back to our group shot. The one to the left is one I did last year called “Fingers” that has garnered a few awards.

But there were a few others…

From almost the same location where I made the image above, I made this one. It, too, was about lines.

Out on the dunes, I was helping one of our participants look for and recognize patterns. I did a quick grab shot to show her a possibility. When I looked at it later, I

The Vision behind the Photograph — Cascades & Waterfalls

As many of you know, we are in the mountains of western Virginia with our Cascades & Wildflowers of Virginia participants. It’s yet another fun group. Last night, as we all ate, peals of laughter were heard from all quarters. I can’t speak for the others, but my cheeks hurt this morning from laughing so much!

The Vision behind the Photograph – Cascades & Waterfalls

Continuing last week’s blog on the thought process that led to some of our images — the before and after, I thought I’d address water in photographs.
It is interesting how we see water when we look at the whole scene versus what we see when we follow a stick or certain pattern of water cascading down. When we see the whole scene, water looks blurry. After all, our eye is not following that stick. So when we photograph water, we like to replicate that flow of water, that sense that it is moving. Some people like to stop water, and that can be effective, too, but many people prefer that soft, ethereal look that a long exposure can bring to a water scene.

With all the rain that western Virginia has had this spring, the cascades and waterfalls are spectacular. As always, Arnie and I revisit our locations to make sure nothing has gotten flooded, a road washed out, or a favorite old building been renovated so that it has lost its photographic charm.

These photographs all show how Arnie and I chose to interpret various scenes. They were all made in the same general location, but we focused in on different aspects.
Arnie loved the idea of the falls at night (see above). With a long exposure, he brought out detail in the sky that was a counterpoint to the falls. For me, I loved the patterns I found in the details down below (mountain goat access only).

These I found by perusing the scene and paying attention to what caught my eye, my peripheral vision. Then I set about composing the photographs to my liking.

This morning, we are headed out to another cascades area. It will be interesting to see how our participants progress and interpret their vision behind their photographs.

Meanwhile, we will continue to revisit the Vision behind the Photograph in future blogs.

Upcoming Workshops

With all the great deals on airfares, we are also excited to announce that we have added Spain’s Catalonia & Barcelona (June 21-28) to our workshop roster.

We love Spain and were delighted when this opportunity presented itself.

While you’re at the website, check out our other offerings. If you are considering joining us, do as others have already done … make your room reservations. Rooms go quickly at all our locations, but particularly for Canyon de Chelly & Navajoland, where there are few hotels and New England Fall Foliage, because of reunions, leaf peepers, and football games. Remember, you can always cancel later if necessary and not pay any penalty! If “our” inn or hotel is full, or if you prefer to stay elsewhere, we always have links to other choices.

Comments from you are always encouraged and welcomed. If you do not see the “Leave a Reply” box below this article, it’s probably because you are still on the Home page. In that case, click on the Comments link at the end of all the tags just above “Older Posts” at the bottom of this box or just click on the article title at the top and the “Leave a Reply” box will appear down at the bottom.

Remember, you don’t need to be a WordPress member to do so. Even if you choose not to do that, we hope you will share this blog and our website with your friends and relatives who love photography.

Monthly (ish) Newsletter

If you want to be added to our newsletter list (we send them out about once a month), write us through the Barefoot Contessa Photo Adventures contact page.

The Vision behind the Photograph — Cropping in Camera

I’ve been working hard to revamp all our student photo galleries, and while they’re not all done, I hope you will enjoy the new look. Go to www.BCphotoadventures.com and click on the Student Galleries in the menu at the left. You’ll see the latest ones from Savannah & the Lowcountry as well as our most recent Springtime on the Outer Banks. We were really pleased with the strides our participants made in seeking their own vision. Both were eager groups, and we all laughed a lot and had a great time while they refined their vision and learned how to make better photographs!

The Vision behind the Photograph – Cropping in Camera

Arnie and I were reflecting on the progress our students have made, both first-timers and alumni, and talking about how some participants have a tougher time seeking their own vision than others. We do not subscribe to the “pay me and watch me take the best position to do my own photograph” approach of some workshops. That said, after talking with some alumni friends, we thought it might be useful to talk about the thought process that led to some of our images — the before and after.

We’ll start with our recent Outer Banks workshop. In a workshop, we do not get to photograph much, since we are there for our students.  Occasionally, though, we get to compose and make our own images. So often, we all shoot the straight scene, but Arnie and I wanted to push our participants beyond the norm. While showing them approaches to the classic view, we also showed them what a different perspective could produce. Both of us love abstracts, so we concentrated on them this time, as we always like to stretch our own boundaries and imagination.

Being a sailor, I am always attracted to the water and boats. We were at one of our favorite local areas, puttering about and showing our participants possible things to pique their interest.

One of our students came up to me and showed me something that had caught her eye. Her shot showed a broad scene, and in trying to explain how she might have made the image more arresting, I did the single, quick shot above to show her. I homed in on the reflections which, to me, were the important element. Then I quickly but carefully checked around the edges to see potential hazards — the dock on the left, the bit of flotsam in the foreground, the too-bright light off to the right, and, hmmm, that pesky waterline at the top (see below).

Because our cameras have the common 2:3 aspect ratio, I knew I would have to crop that fourth side in post production, as shown above. The other three sides, however, I cropped in camera. No point wasting all those wonderful, expensive little pixels I paid for!  We always try to crop in camera to maintain the highest quality in our images.

This shot shows the “before” photograph, but what a difference that subtle cropping of the fourth side made.In our visit to the newly repainted Hatteras Light Station, Arnie was fascinated by the abstract patterns of the stairs. In working the scene, he had to turn his camera this way and that to get the angle he wanted. He also was playing with focus. This is the first horizontal he did, and as he studied what he had done here, he saw distracting elements, from the hot spots to the metal braces at the top.By adopting a slightly different position, however, he was able to crop out the distracting elements in camera as you can see here. Sometimes only an inch or two can make just the difference.So, in both scenes, we each worked to crop in camera. I was limited by the tightness of the scene, so I could not change my angle or move to get what I wanted. That fourth side had to be clipped later, albeitly only slightly. On the other hand, Arnie, by moving his body only a little bit and twisting the camera a hair, was able to totally avoid the undesirable elements in camera. By being careful and thoughtful in our compositions, neither one of us wasted those wonderful, expensive little pixels we paid for.

We will revisit our vision behind the photograph in future blogs.

Meanwhile, we are getting ready for our Cascades & Wildflowers of Virginia and Maine Coast & Lighthouses workshops. We love both these areas, but for me, Maine is like going home. I grew up sailing the coast around where we will photograph, and I always enjoy returning to favorite haunts, fish shacks, and scenes that I have photographed so often over the years, always coming up with something different.

Upcoming Workshops

With all the great deals on airfares, we are also excited to announce that we have added Spain’s Catalonia & Barcelona (June 21-28) to our workshop roster. This comes right after our French Wine Country workshop that runs June 12-19.

We love Spain and were delighted when this opportunity presented itself.

While you’re at the website, check out our other offerings. If you are considering joining us, do as others have already done … make your room reservations. Rooms go quickly at all our locations, but particularly for Canyon de Chelly & Navajoland, where there are few hotels and New England Fall Foliage, because of reunions, leaf peepers, and football games. Remember, you can always cancel later if necessary and not pay any penalty! If “our” inn or hotel is full, or if you prefer to stay elsewhere, we always have links to other choices.

Comments from you are always encouraged and welcomed. If you do not see the “Leave a Reply” box below this article, it’s probably because you are still on the Home page. In that case, click on the Comments link at the end of all the tags just above “Older Posts” at the bottom of this box or just click on the article title at the top and the “Leave a Reply” box will appear down at the bottom.

Remember, you don’t need to be a WordPress member to do so. Even if you choose not to do that, we hope you will share this blog and our website with your friends and relatives who love photography.

Monthly (ish) Newsletter

If you want to be added to our newsletter list (we send them out about once a month), write us through the Barefoot Contessa Photo Adventures contact page.