by successfulbob | bird photography, black & white, imaging competition, inspiration, Lumix GX8, Lumix Lounge, photography competition, photography creativity, photography gear, wildlife photography
Sunday Photo Art Quote – Thomas Jefferson
I’ve seen this quote attributed to Tom although I’m certain it belongs to him as there are variations in place attributed to others. I try to research my quotes for accuracy. With that in mind if you know who the originator of this quote was, please let me know.
“I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.” – Thomas Jefferson
You might ask, “What in the heck does this have to do with art, Bob?”
It all has to do with getting in there and doing the work. Whether you feel like doing it or not. Many times I will happen into a fortunate art situation just because I keep on trying even though things have not worked out crazy good in the past. If you see a concept, you need to keep acting on it until it comes to fruition.
Here’s an example. I love photographing wildlife, especially birds. I enjoy the texture of their wings. Studying and anticipating their movements to capture more compelling images. The time alone searching out new behaviors. It can be very frustrating to try to come up with something original. That doesn’t stop me from going out and trying. Over and over. And over. Until that magic moment when the luck part comes into play. Because I was still there trying I was treated to this perfect moment of a Snowy Egret chasing fish.
I captured approximately 200 images of the bird working the shallows in front of me. And this is the composite I thought I wanted to accomplish.
Working composite of Dance of the Snowy Egret
I had sifted through and extracted many images of the snowy egret to get this far but wasn’t happy with what was happening. It was the vision I originally had in my head while I was photographing the bird, but it just wasn’t working form, although my wife loved it. So I kept working.
So I kept working. And working.
And because I kept working on it even though I wasn’t happy I had another stroke of luck. In turning off the background to clean up my extractions of the birds, I saw the image in it’s simplest form. All attention became focused on the positions of the birds with absolutely no distractions.
PPA Loan Collection Image – Dance of the Snowy Egret by yours truly
I entered the image in the International Photographic Competition from Professional Photographers of America, and it was judged into the Loan Collection in the Master Artist category. That judging is based on twelve elements (click here for more on the twelve) including composition, technical excellence, and storytelling. Also, how the artwork was accomplished is a significant part of the criteria which is why the reference images are shown.
I feel I was lucky on two fronts in the creation of this photo. But I did work hard to get ultimately get there
But I did work hard to get ultimately get there.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – I think one additional piece of luck was the equipment I’ve been using. Because the micro 4/3rds format is so small and light I was able to handhold a 600mm equivalent lens and track the egret comfortably for a long period of time. Heavier gear would have required a tripod and been much less mobile. Lumix GX8 with the 100-300mm f4.0-5.6 lens
by successfulbob | inspiration
Writing for Successful-Photographer
354,115. That’s a shitpot of words. Just received a year-end review from Grammarly which is a service I subscribe to check my work before I publish my posts and information on the Internet. Hopefully, it makes it a bit more readable for you. They tell me they also helped me find, and fix, about 1,200 writing errors of one type or another. That’s 0.21 percent of mistakes per written word.
Grammarly Graphic Report
They tell me they also helped me find, and fix, about 1,200 writing errors of one type or another. That’s 0.21 percent of mistakes per written word
That’s 0.21 percent of mistakes per written word. Not bad for someone who needed some serious tutoring in English when he started writing books.
As a reference to how much writing this is a typical magazine article is between 1,500 and 2,500 words. Books average between 25,000 and 50,000 words.
All the words written leads me to a question.
Who’s reading? And, does it help you?
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | inspiration, Lumix G7, Lumix Lounge, photography creativity, photography gear, time lapse, video
Stop Motion Video – Aloy Anderson
Through the Internet, I have met an avid advanced amateur photographer/videographer named Aloy Anderson. Aloy is always pushing to learn new and creative ways to use his cameras. I have never attempted stop-motion video myself even though it is a capability built into the Lumix Cameras. When Aloy shared his project with me, I asked if he’d mind sharing some of his thinking and his process with me. And now with you.
I invite you to check out his stop-motion video called Jungle Movie “Be Brave” and turn the rest of the post over to Aloy. Enjoy!
Jungle Movie “Be Brave” from Ray Anderson on Vimeo.
“My name is Aloy; I’m a photographer and Youtube content creator from Miami. From an early age watching Sesame Street, I’ve always been curious about how to make stop-motion animation films. In those days it took a 35mm camera with “miles” of film to develop which was out of my reach. When I realized my new Lumix G7 had the feature built in I was pleasantly shocked. I had to give it a try. My video “Jungle Movie” my first attempt at a storyline video.
When you enter the stop motion menu on the Lumix camera choose whether you will snap each shot independently with the shutter button or the camera can be set to shoot at your preset interval. I do a little of both to give me time to reposition the set pieces and camera placement. For simplicity, I chose 5 seconds between each shot to give me time to move the characters quickly and get out the way.
Stop-motion can be very tedious and time-consuming, and it’s tempting to take the easy way out by leaving the camera on a tripod in one spot. That would be a mistake akin to watching a whole movie from one angle. I suggest different scenes and locations for variety, using a wider lens to show establishing shots and standard lenses for shallow depth of field moments. Before you begin, have a definite storyboard in mind. I like to use manual focus and exposure for each shot.
Here are some tips.
1) Don’t to move each piece too far between each shot as I did in some of my Jungle Movie. The resulting video will have choppy movement. A few centimeters is a good start.
2) Keep the camera on a tripod or table-top to maintain a solidly grounded scene.
3) Every few shots check to make sure your exposure or focus point hasn’t changed.
4) As you improve, you will know what not to do next time and come up with more complex ways to tell your story.
5) Imperative before you begin, set your camera’s aspect ratio to 16:9 which will allow it to play back full widescreen rather than a smaller 4:3 photo size.
6) Finally, have fun!
I guarantee your first 10-second video attempt may look like a five-year-old did it but you will have a good laugh watching it play back with all its faults.
The good thing about the Lumix is when you’re finished making captures the camera will ask you how to customize your video rendering such as how many frames per second it will be and at what resolution. It will then stitch all those photos together into an MP4 file. The only downside is it will be a “silent” movie. In my case, I imported the MP4 into my video editor and added music and text titles to polish it off. It is crucial to add some form of audio to keep your video engaging. This information is not an exhaustive tutorial by any means, but the fun is learning as you go.
I invite you to visit my Youtube product review channel and my Flickr Photography album. Most importantly I would like to thank Bob Coates for inviting me to write this piece. Hopefully, you will have a good time learning this type of creative way to use your camera.”
Aloy Anderson.
Thanks to Aloy for sharing his first foray into stop-motion.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – Most Lumix cameras have the stop-motion and time-lapse features built into the camera. If you have any questions about which camera might be best for your needs let me know.
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by successfulbob | inspiration, photography - art quote, photography creativity
Sunday Photo/Art Quote – Minor White
Minor White was a black and white photographer who was at the forefront of pushing boundaries of what photography was all about. Abstract images of landscapes which had a tendency to disorient a viewer were among his gifts to the photographic world. In addition to being a ground-breaking photographer, he was an educator and editor of Aperture Magazine.
As they might say on CBS Sunday Morning, ‘Here now is today’s quote.’
“One should not only photograph things for what they are, but for what else they are.” – Minor White
We should spend time reviewing those photographers who came before us for education and inspiration. As in the fashion industry, we might mine the past for ideas, not to copy, but to build upon in taking our photographic work to new levels.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | inspiration, photography, photography software
MacPhun Software – Luminar & Aurora
What are we going to do when our software updates stop allowing us to use Google’s NIK Software? Right now it’s free for download if you want to use it! I highly recommend if you haven’t already taken advantage of this deal get to it. It’s good stuff! I even paid for it originally and was happy to do so.
But it won’t be around forever.
It may be Adobe or it may be our computer operating systems that will make the software no longer usable. For Apple computer users one answer lies with MacPhun Software. Some of the folks who were at NIK Software before Google bought them out have been working on some solutions at MacPhun.
At first, they came out with some stand-alone solutions for handling noise and adding creativity. They bundled them into a nice package called Creative Kit which had six different software solutions usable as plug-ins for Photoshop and Lightroom. Next came Aurora HDR software.
Here are a few images I dressed up using the software and since it’s a holiday promotion here you go.
Next came Aurora HDR software followed by Aurora 2017* (see the deal below!). I like Aurora 2017 because it allows me to get the HDR process to increase the density range of an image but without the images screaming ‘HDRRRR!!!.’ And I still have the creative possibilities available. It is also a stand alone program. I have been fortunate to be able to work with MacPhun’s new software as it becomes available and I’m having a great time playing with the possibilities. I think you’ll like it too.
There’s a new stand-alone product that has just hit the market combining the software that is called Luminar**. Learn more about it below with a special deal until the New Year.
* Check out the Aurora 2017 Deal DetailsAurora HDR 2017 + Bonuses for only $89. Total value $175. Savings of 49%Give your holiday photos a truly unique look this year with Aurora HDR 2017 and our new Winter Preset Pack. Plus, improve your photography with training from Nature Photography Guides and Trey Ratcliff!
You get:
Aurora HDR 2017, the world’s #1 HDR software for Mac photographers
2 eBooks by Nature Photography Guides: “Forever Light: the Landscape Photographer’s Guide to Iceland” & “Iceland: Black & White Photography Portfolio by Sarah Marino” will inspire your photography to new heights.
Creative HDR Presets Pack: Use these exciting new presets to stylize and experiment with your photos.
20-minute Deep Dive video from Trey Ratcliff: Learn from the most influential HDR shooter of our generation, and co-developer of Aurora HDR 2017!
** Check out the Luminar Deal DetailsLuminar + Bonuses for only $59. Total value $319 Savings of 80%Celebrate the holidays with an incredible deal on our most popular photo editor to date and a host of bonuses sure to put a smile on your face!
You get:
Luminar, super-charged photo software for any Mac photographer
3 eBooks from Andrew S. Gibson: Mastering Photography, Mastering Composition & Mastering Lenses. The “Mastering” series is designed to help improve the creative aspects of your photography. They are aimed at intelligent and creative photographers who understand that light and composition are just as important as knowing which buttons to press on the camera.
Over 300 high resolution sky overlays: Use Luminar and this set of warm, blue or dramatic skies to enhance any image. Perfect for any photographer who has photos with dull or lifeless skies – bring them to life with this exciting collection!
Creative Portraits Preset Pack for Luminar: Make even more amazing photos with this speciality pack of presets ideal for improving any portrait.
How to Shoot Sandscapes by Baber Afzal: In this video, you’ll learn pro techniques for capturing the best sandscape photos possible.
Lots of good things for you. Happy Holidays!
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
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by successfulbob | inspiration, photography - art quote
Sunday Photo/Art Quote – William Eggleston
I share today’s thought from Eggleston who was one of the pioneers of the move to recognizing color photography a true art form. Remember as photography grew throughout the years any change to the medium was met with derision and skepticism. (can you say digital or Photoshop boys and girls??) As technology adds possibilities to processing our vision we get blowback from those who feel there is cheating going on… My personal feeling is can you get the image that is in your head output to another medium such as photo paper, metal or canvas or any material that helps tell the story the way you want it told. How you get there doesn’t matter to me.
Onward to the quote.
“You can take a good picture of anything. A bad one, too.” Willaim Eggleston
I share this idea with many people when I tell them I am a photographer and live in Sedona, Arizona. I almost always get this comment. “Oh, Sedona that’s a great place to be a photographer!” I always reply that yes Sedona is a beautiful place it’s not what makes for good photography. I’ve seen plenty of crappy photos of Cathedral Rock and I’ve seen some exquisite photographs of peppers and other ‘non-beautiful’ subjects.
We photograph the light. We photograph the shadows. We do it with composition and thought on color and juxtaposition of subjects within the scene.
I leave you with this thought. Are you taking (making) a good picture today?
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
