Eight things we love about photography – Ease

In his song “Some Kinda Love,” Lou Reed observes “Between thought and expression lies a lifetime.” Anyone who has ever tried to write anything more profound than “brb lol” knows exactly what he means. Careful expression of thought in words requires considerable practice, vision and revision. Just writing this brief blog post took the better part of an hour, and I’ve been practicing this for decades.

Most visual arts involve similar levels of commitment. A painting begins with sketches followed by hours of skilled application of paint to canvas. Not to mention the hours and days and weeks and months and years of classes and practice that bring you to the moment you apply the first stroke.

In photography, the distance between thought and expression is usually a fraction of a second. Post-production adjustments notwithstanding, a photo is created complete and entire the moment you press the shutter button. Using a camera doesn’t require extensive training. It requires a finger.

That’s not to say that someone new to the art can master it in an instant. Even in an age in which our tools are capable of doing a lot of thinking for us, good photographic communication requires an understanding of composition, camera mechanics and visual storytelling. However, no matter how much lining up and fiddling each shot requires, the ultimate act of creation requires no motor skills at all.

And that means anyone who can see can take a picture. The downside of such easy access is the average of more than 200,000 photos posted every minute of every day to Facebook alone, the vast majority of which are crap by professional standards. The upside is that so many people are now at least trying to express themselves visually. That’s either a democracy or an anarchy of art, depending on your point of view.

Because the creative act can be accomplished in such short order, it expands the realm of art. A young cat reclining in a shaft of sunlight might not be momentous enough to drop everything and spend hours creating a sculpture or oil painting, but he’s worth the minute required to grab a camera and press a button.

Guanyin

Nikon D7000, 10.5mm, 1/30, f/2.8, ISO 1600, edited

Ever since I was a kid I’ve loved the room in the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art where a statue of Guanyin is displayed. She sits in a temple-like gallery with a giant mural of Nirvana behind her. The atmosphere is delightfully quiet and contemplative.

It’s also a pain to photograph. The uneven lighting that makes the room so nice also makes it difficult to get a good exposure. Thus I needed to employ a little post-production trickery.

Nikon D7000, 10.5mm, 1/30, f/2.8, ISO 1600

I walked away with a good exposure of the statue, but the background looked pale and discolored. After a try or two, I found that I couldn’t bring out the deeper greens on the wall without trashing the subtle reds on the statue.

Enter the mask. I divided the image into two layers (one for the statue and one for the rest of the photo). By masking off everything but the statue on the topmost layer, I was able to leave it unedited while adjusting the wall behind it. Slight changes to the levels and color balance got me the look I remembered.

I briefly considered taking the reds in the carpet down a bit so they wouldn’t distract from the art. But upon further reflection I decided I kinda liked what they did to the visual flow of the piece.

Devil rat

Nikon D7000, 50mm, 1/60, f/1.8, ISO 1250

Okay, actually this is neither a devil nor a rat. It’s some sort of ferret or weasel that was converted into a tobacco pouch. And then later it became a museum exhibit.

The first time I tried photographing it, the picture looked terrible. I had to crank the ISO up so high that it turned into a festival of grainy crap. And it was still too dark.

Nikon D3000, 42mm (18-55), 1/60, f/5.6, ISO 3200

So when I tried it again recently, I used a “faster” lens (a 50mm prime that allowed for a wider f-stop). The trade-off was field depth, the narrowness of which you can clearly see in the photo. But without recourse to a tripod (not permitted in the Nelson art museum), this is the best I could hope for.

Stained glass

Nikon D7000, 50mm, 1/60, f/4, ISO 1250, edited and cropped

I’m a great fan of stained glass windows, and I enjoy photographing them when I get the chance. However, I’ve frequently found the angles challenging. Naturally what I’d like in a photo is a straight-on view of the window. But they’re frequently some distance above eye level. I haven’t yet mastered the art of levitation, and I don’t tend to carry a ladder with me (especially not into museums or churches). So I’m usually stuck with awkward distortions.

Photoshop once again to the rescue. The lens correction filter allows for at least some correction of distortions such as a bad camera angle. Thus a photo such as the original shot (below) can be adjusted to look more like what I’m after (above).

Nikon D7000, 50mm, 1/60, f/4, ISO 1250

Eight things we love about photography – Silence

Now the “eight things we love” list gets personal. I have to admit that I’m a strongly visual person. I don’t hate music or conversation or any other kind of pleasant sound. But I do note an excess of noise in the world around me, from the neighbor’s leaf blower (which he uses for all purposes from leaves to snow to just generally amusing himself) to bad music escaping from nearby cars to the general love people seem to have for screaming and yelling.

Thus I treasure the silence of photographs. But I also treasure their ability to create a sense of sound without actually making any noise, taking advantage of the strong, implicit connection of our senses of sight and hearing.

I took the photo at the top of this post years and years ago. I have no memory of what the violin actually sounded like. But from the visual clues (the loose hairs on the bow, the musician’s eerie costume) I can imagine what the tune must have been like. As can you, even though you weren’t there.

The stadium in winter

Nikon D7000, 18mm (18-55), 1/60, f/10, ISO 250, adjusted

There’s nothing like cloudy winter light to grab what little color might be found in your shot and leech it right out. Add a brisk wind and you’ve got some exposure challenges.

I started this shot by concentrating on the proper exposure for the people. The detail and colors of the clothes are accurate. But the rest of the scene looks highly washed out. What to do?

Photoshop to the rescue. By using the magnetic lasso and doing some correction in quick mask mode, I was able to generate a layer mask to keep my subjects safe from the edits I needed to do on the rest of the photo. After that, a simple level adjustment brought out the color a bit, making the scene look more natural.

Here’s what it looked like to start:

Nikon D7000, 18mm (18-55), 1/60, f/10, ISO 250

The Kaw

Nikon D7000, 44mm (18-55), 1/60, f/6.3, ISO 100, adjusted and cropped

More evidence that it’s never the shot you think it’s going to be. Around 300 times a year I drive the  road that follows the Kansas River for a brief stretch. And in all that time I’ve meant to stop, get out of my car, climb the nearby hills and shoot a panorama of the valley.

Yesterday’s snow storm (and consequent school cancellation) provided me with a great opportunity. Out I went and up I went. If nothing else, it was a good chance to field test my new camera sling and lightweight tripod (both of which performed admirably, especially the sling).

However, I’ve gotta say that I was somewhat underwhelmed by the pan:

Nikon D7000, 44mm (18-55), 1/60, f/5.3, ISO 100, adjusted and edited (panorama)

It’s not terrible. But the trees blocked more of the view than I’d anticipated. I could also have done without the light pole.

On the other hand, while I was there I noticed an illegal trash dump just down the hill from where I parked. The most striking visual was the field of discarded tires (above). But an abandoned chair also caught my eye.

Nikon D7000, 36mm (18-55), 1/60, f/8, ISO 100, adjusted

As did a splash of color painted onto a trio of trees.

Nikon D7000, 18mm (18-55), 1/60, f/10, ISO 100, adjusted

Finally, this entry wouldn’t be complete without a quick note of thanks to my Jeep, which allowed me to venture fearlessly out into Snowpocalypse 2014.

Nikon D7000, 44mm (18-55), 1/60, f/6.3, ISO 100, adjusted and cropped