From my experience most of us are visual learners. If we watch someone and take notes through what they show us, we can learn, but it is much better when we put the methods that we are taught into practice and then repeat them over and over again.
Two primary teachers I have had are Jack "Wow" Davis and Mark S Johnson. Jack Davis taught me about Lightroom and Mark Johnson taught me about using Photoshop. I took what I learned from each other them and then worked it into my own workflow. Yes, I have learned techniques from other people like Blake Rudis, J.R. Rodriguez, Anthony Morganti and others, but this system works for me.
This will be a two part blog post separating my work in Lightroom from my work in Photoshop. They are two different programs and some people may only desire to use Lightroom and not include Photoshop in their workflow. If you happen to be using Photoshop, Lightroom works very similar to Adobe Camera Raw (ACR). For me Lightroom is less intimidating.
Once I have loaded my photographs into Lightroom (I use Lightroom to catalog my photographs rather than using Bridge which is part of Photoshop), I go way down to "Lens Corrections". Check the boxes that say "Remove Chromatic Aberration" and "Enable Profiles Corrections". Be sure to check your Histogram up at the top on the right hand side to see what the length of the lens you used was. You might find that it is giving you the wrong lens. Then go down to "Transform". Here I select "Auto" but I also look at the picture as I might have to manually adjust my picture to get it the way I want.
Next I go to the top and crop my picture to the way I want it. Then I go into the Basic panel and set my White Balance. On a RAW Photograph, you have choices (just one of the reasons I shoot in RAW). From there I adjust my Highlights and Shadows. Most of the time you will find yourself pulling the slider to the left to reduce your highlights and to the right to open up your shadows. It is important to make sure that you are not clipping your whites or blacks, but if you don't like what you are seeing you can always adjust them in Curves, when we get there. Then go down to Clarity and adjust your Clarity. You will see your photo sharpen right up.
Then adjust your Whites and Blacks. This might help some of your clipping, so it is why I don't adjust my Curves until I get there. Then you can adjust your Vibrance. You will really see the colors come to life doing this. From there I go into the Radial Filter. Hold the Ctrl (on MAC the Command key) and double click on the picture. You will see that you get a vignette. Make sure that "Invert Mask" is checked. This will allow you to adjust what is inside the mask. Most of the time all I adjust is the Clarity here, but you might need to make some other modifications Remember you are the artist. As Bob Ross would say, "It is your world, so present it the way you want."
So just a quick recap to this point:
Lens Corrections
Transform
Auto
Crop Tool
Basic Panel
White Balance
Highlights/Shadows
Clarity
Whites/Blacks
Vibrance/Vignette
Jack Davis calls this the "Wow Tango".
If you still need to fix your clipping for blacks and whites, go to Tone Curves and adjust the side of the curve on the left (for blacks) or the right (for whites). Just push it straight up to adjust the blacks for clipping and straight down for the whites (you need to be in the point curve for this maneuver). Once you get the triangles not to have white in the Histogram, you have done the job you need because we will make another adjustment in Photoshop.
Go into the HSL panel and adjust the colors to the way you want. I start with the Luminance, then go to Hue and then to Saturation.
Then go into Detail and adjust your Sharpening (typically 71 is enough for me), Masking, then Luminance if I notice grain (a look that looks like someone took and threw a handful of sand across your image.) and then do the Detail for the Luminance and the Masking (just about the Masking slider).
That is my basic Lightroom workflow. When I am finished in Lightroom, I right click on my picture, go to Edit In, and choose Photoshop and let the program transfer the program. That way I keep my pictures from being destroyed by Photoshop.
Stay tuned for my workflow by Photoshop.
Friday, October 28, 2016
Monday, October 17, 2016
The Alamo Cenotpath
On a recent visit to San Antonio I went by the Alamo. I had photographed the Cenotaph which according to the site www.exploresouthernhistory.com means "empty tomb". Tradition claims that the Alamo Cenotaph marks the spot where the slain defenders of the Alamo were piled after the battle in 1836 and burned in the great funeral pyres. Today the remains are located in a marble casket at San Fernando Cathedral (according to Google Maps about a 15 minute walk.
The Cenotaph is very close to zone vii on the zone system that was developed by Ansel Adams. I shot this picture and then made it a high key photograph by following a video from Blue Lighting TV on youtube that you can find here after doing my normal processing. I feel this gives this image a very spiritual quality and one that is fitting for so many men that are considered heroes in the history of Texas.
The Cenotaph is very close to zone vii on the zone system that was developed by Ansel Adams. I shot this picture and then made it a high key photograph by following a video from Blue Lighting TV on youtube that you can find here after doing my normal processing. I feel this gives this image a very spiritual quality and one that is fitting for so many men that are considered heroes in the history of Texas.
Friday, October 14, 2016
My System
Have you ever sat and thought, that is an incredible picture, of a picture you are looking at? If you investigate the person that took the photograph, you will find that they live in the area that they took the photograph. Ohhh sure, there are people that are able to travel all over the world and take pictures of different subjects, but have you ever thought about how many pictures they took to get that one photograph they were proud enough to show?
I had the opportunity to go out with a photographer that had been photographing a particular area for over twenty years. He has taken some amazing photographs over that time. When I was traveling home, I thought about what I had observed while I was with him. There were people that he knew that were also photographers and they would tell him that a particular bear was in an area with her cubs. He would wait because he knew that there would be a flood of people going there, but he knew he would still get the pictures. Many of the other photographers that I had read suggested limiting yourself to an area of fifty miles.
My situation is different. I learned self hypnosis back in the 1970s. I have been taking pictures since before the time that I learned self hypnosis. Things never really came together for me until I went through something called "Active Cognitive Therapy". That and a counselor telling me when I told him I was getting ready to retire helped me put everything together, self hypnosis, meditation, mindfulness and photography.
Most doctors recommend that you walk at least five miles every other day. Since I am limited in my journeys because I am not able to drive, I decided that I would walk three miles. Then by the time that I walk back to where I started, I have walked six miles total (beating the doctor's recommendation). Most of my journeys are limited to streets. I do mostly landscapes and architecture, but I focus on abstracts, contrast, patterns and textures. I often find myself doing all sorts of stretching exercises in order to get the point of view I want for the picture I am taking. Things like getting on one knee, moving my arms zooming in and out with my legs instead of the lens on my camera and I could go on.
I drew a circle on a map of the area I wanted to photograph. I then divided it up into six sections. So one day I will go out, the next day I will process my pictures that I took, the third day I will go to another section and take pictures, on the fourth day I will process my pictures. I continue on and it takes me roughly two weeks to make my way around the circle. Perhaps, on one cycle you will work north and south streets, the next cycle you work east and west streets. Perhaps there is a place of special interest to you and you can go by there and check it out.
You will want to go to places at different times so the light is different. You will be surprised at how much of a difference the quality of light will be doing that. Maybe you will hear of an event that will be happening in your area that you want to go to. If it is your shooting day, don't fret over missing your area, go to it and pick up the area the next time you go out.
You will be surprised at how good you feel going out, taking pictures and enjoying your specific area of the world.
I had the opportunity to go out with a photographer that had been photographing a particular area for over twenty years. He has taken some amazing photographs over that time. When I was traveling home, I thought about what I had observed while I was with him. There were people that he knew that were also photographers and they would tell him that a particular bear was in an area with her cubs. He would wait because he knew that there would be a flood of people going there, but he knew he would still get the pictures. Many of the other photographers that I had read suggested limiting yourself to an area of fifty miles.
My situation is different. I learned self hypnosis back in the 1970s. I have been taking pictures since before the time that I learned self hypnosis. Things never really came together for me until I went through something called "Active Cognitive Therapy". That and a counselor telling me when I told him I was getting ready to retire helped me put everything together, self hypnosis, meditation, mindfulness and photography.
Most doctors recommend that you walk at least five miles every other day. Since I am limited in my journeys because I am not able to drive, I decided that I would walk three miles. Then by the time that I walk back to where I started, I have walked six miles total (beating the doctor's recommendation). Most of my journeys are limited to streets. I do mostly landscapes and architecture, but I focus on abstracts, contrast, patterns and textures. I often find myself doing all sorts of stretching exercises in order to get the point of view I want for the picture I am taking. Things like getting on one knee, moving my arms zooming in and out with my legs instead of the lens on my camera and I could go on.
I drew a circle on a map of the area I wanted to photograph. I then divided it up into six sections. So one day I will go out, the next day I will process my pictures that I took, the third day I will go to another section and take pictures, on the fourth day I will process my pictures. I continue on and it takes me roughly two weeks to make my way around the circle. Perhaps, on one cycle you will work north and south streets, the next cycle you work east and west streets. Perhaps there is a place of special interest to you and you can go by there and check it out.
You will want to go to places at different times so the light is different. You will be surprised at how much of a difference the quality of light will be doing that. Maybe you will hear of an event that will be happening in your area that you want to go to. If it is your shooting day, don't fret over missing your area, go to it and pick up the area the next time you go out.
You will be surprised at how good you feel going out, taking pictures and enjoying your specific area of the world.
Thursday, October 13, 2016
What Is A Contemplative Photograph?
Quite simply, a contemplative photograph is one that is taken with some thought in mind while taking the photograph. Oftentimes, people will take a picture of something that stimulates their mind in a pleasing way so when they get home they will have a pleasant memory of their experience.
The contemplative photograph takes into account what direction the subject is facing? Where is the sun in relation to your subject? Do you want a shallow depth of field or do you want everything sharp? What lens is the right lens to take the picture with? So often we buy a camera with a kit lens and never take it off while there may be another lens that would work better for the situation and the subject. Is the shutter speed you need for the depth of field you want sufficient for you to hand hold your camera or do you need to use a tripod? If you forgot your tripod, do you need to increase the sensitivity of your sensor? If you are shooting a sunrise, would a purple sky help? Perhaps you need to use a filter to accomplish that. Where should you focus? All of these questions go into the making of a contemplative photograph. As you can easily see, much more goes into taking a contemplative photograph than just taking a simple snapshot.
One of the things I often do is to give myself assignments for a particular photograph that I want to take that day. Sometimes their are lines in songs that I listen to that may stimulate my assignment, other times it might simply be to go out and photograph a particular color against a contrasting color. You might feel that is too limiting, but we will talk about my system in another post. Sometimes, I just listen to inspirational music and let my mind drift while I walk. I will listen to music that has the ocean coming in, guitars that have a rhythm to them that I enjoy. Sometimes a saxophone does the trick for me. You have to make that decision for yourself.
My meditation and mindfulness does not stop when I take the photograph. I think about how I am going to process my picture before I take it. Sometimes the least suspecting photographs turn out awesome in post processing.
The contemplative photograph takes into account what direction the subject is facing? Where is the sun in relation to your subject? Do you want a shallow depth of field or do you want everything sharp? What lens is the right lens to take the picture with? So often we buy a camera with a kit lens and never take it off while there may be another lens that would work better for the situation and the subject. Is the shutter speed you need for the depth of field you want sufficient for you to hand hold your camera or do you need to use a tripod? If you forgot your tripod, do you need to increase the sensitivity of your sensor? If you are shooting a sunrise, would a purple sky help? Perhaps you need to use a filter to accomplish that. Where should you focus? All of these questions go into the making of a contemplative photograph. As you can easily see, much more goes into taking a contemplative photograph than just taking a simple snapshot.
One of the things I often do is to give myself assignments for a particular photograph that I want to take that day. Sometimes their are lines in songs that I listen to that may stimulate my assignment, other times it might simply be to go out and photograph a particular color against a contrasting color. You might feel that is too limiting, but we will talk about my system in another post. Sometimes, I just listen to inspirational music and let my mind drift while I walk. I will listen to music that has the ocean coming in, guitars that have a rhythm to them that I enjoy. Sometimes a saxophone does the trick for me. You have to make that decision for yourself.
My meditation and mindfulness does not stop when I take the photograph. I think about how I am going to process my picture before I take it. Sometimes the least suspecting photographs turn out awesome in post processing.
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