by successfulbob | architectural photography, photography, photography education, success education
Light rain misted the Atlanta restaurant my friends brought me to see. I ran outside and took a few moments getting my hair wet to photograph the brick building from several angles and went back in to laughter, swapping stories, enjoying food and downing a Guiness or two.
Original capture. Obviously the light under the overcast, rainy day was pretty flat.
Back in the office I downloaded the image and went to work to give the image an old world painterly quality.
Here’s the finished art piece I sent.
Send an email to the owner with a copy of the image and receive this response, “Oh my GOD!!!! I will call you – I want to talk to you about this as soon as possible – when is a good time to catch you by phone? Let me know the best number to reach you…….
Best, AK”
A few attempts at communication and all was quiet… for a year.
Back to Atlanta for some PPA biz and I made a canvas of the image to take to AK and the sale was made. We are working on some details right now but she wants to use the image as the restaurant’s signature image for marketing on the web, in the restaurant, on menus and T-Shirts.
Two questions for you… Do you do work on speck? And, do you follow through?
By the way, the owner didn’t think I was being pushy for continuing to follow up. She thanked me profusely!
by successfulbob | architectural photography, black & white, Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge
I kept on walking in spite of the chill night. My black Adobe fleece wrapped tight. Hands alternating buried in the kangaroo pouch on the front trying to keep warm yet continue to have the camera at the ready. Still I walked because scenes like the ones below kept crying out to be immortalized in ones and zeros.
OK maybe a little over-dramatic but when the brain goes into creative mode you start to see beauty in the mundane things you pass every day. Photos captured with the Panasonic Lumix GX7
Light raking down from above add shadows from the peeling paint. Shadows create form and depth. From above it’s a bit like a horror show or impending doom coming your way. Any how it adds interest for me.
LUMIX G VARIO 35-100/F2.8
I liked the juxtaposition of the New Yorker sign tied together with the top of the iconic Empire State Building.
LUMIX G VARIO 35-100/F2.8
Sometime you just gotta look down and fire the camera even if you think it was a mistake. Was it??
LUMIX G VARIO 12-35/F2.8
by successfulbob | architectural photography, black & white, fine art photography, Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge, panorama, photography
The air had a tinge of exhaust. People were hustling up and down the street like they had somewhere to go. The street was gritty with the remnants of the millions of feet hat had passed this way and that over the years.
And to a small town guy like me, it was almost sensory overload. I guess that’s why I made a lot of my images in high contrast black and white. To capture the scene yet simplify. It just felt right…. Here are a few images. Let me now what you think.
Panoramic image of fellow Lumix Luminary Suzette Allen on the deck behind Javitts Convention Center New York City made with in camera stitching.. Images on this page created with the Lumix GX7.
Almost everywhere you turn there are great combinations of beautiful lines, forms and tones when simplified to Black and White
Traffic zooming by. You can almost feel the breeze of the taxis going by. Listen… Did she yell, “TAXI !!“??
by successfulbob | architectural photography, Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge, photography, photography - art quote, photography education
Pablo Picasso jumped out at me when I was poking through my quotes files when looking for a subject to chat about today… And note that it is being released on time and not a day late. Seems that you want your Sunday photo/art quote on Sundays.
“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” Pablo Picasso
Pablo brings up a very interesting point of view and I agree 100%. Now I don’t necessarily like all of Picasso’s creations, but he does make me see things in a different light. Which brings me to the idea your camera doesn’t see as your eye does. The pupil expands and contracts when viewing shadows or bright areas in a scene. It happens so fast and automatically most are not even aware of it. Why does this matter? Well our job as a photographers is to translate a three dimensional scene with luminance values that can’t fit on the paper we are printing into a two dimensional space… and make it look as our eye sees it. That’s why it’s important to know how the camera sees and be the translator.
Many photographers say, “I only shoot natural light!” or I would never put a filter on my lens, that’s cheating!” I actually remember saying similar things when I was first creating images – before I really started to understand a camera and lens’s limitations in reproducing the scene in front of me. Until you understand that supplemental light helps to tame the dynamic range of a scene or that filters were created to answer challenges of being able to ‘fit’ all the light into a finite printing space you will have difficulty creating images that share what you see.
HDR photography, when done properly, is one of the ultimate ways of taming the dynamic range of a scene. There are some images that have the ‘look’ that makes you say, “That’s an HDR.” Those aren’t the images I’m talking about. I’m talking about the images that you go, “WOW!” Because the scene is presented so realistically you can’t believe how beautiful it is.
The next time you come across a scene you believe will make a wonderful image think it through and make sure others see your vision and not just what a camera may happen to capture.
Do you see what I do? My excitement came from the juxtaposition of the four different architectural styles and nature all in one place at one time… Or do you see something else?
Panasonic Lumix GX7 Lumix G Vario 35-100 f2.8 51mm 102 35mm equivalent 1/50 sec. F13 ISO 500
Image © Bob Coates Photography
by successfulbob | architectural photography, black & white, Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge, photography, photography education
Having attended the PhotoPlus Expo in New York I had a chance to wander around the city making photos and seeing what my Lumix GX7 can do. The Impressive Art setting with the color balance set to black and white adds a purely graphic feel to the captured images. I’m not sure why, but it is a look that I am really enjoying. The high contrast, slight ghosting works well for me and it’s hard to replicate the out of camera look in post production. Let me know what you think…
Photographed with a single light coming down from the ceiling. One of the dancers from the Bar-Top Bandits was the model for this. The costume, the light and the art setting all work together. 1/25 sec; f/2.8; ISO 3200 LUMIX G VARIO 12-35/F2.8 lens
This was the view out my hotel window. I like all the shapes and forms from the architecture. 1/80 sec; f/2.8; ISO 200 LUMIX G VARIO 35-100/F2.8 at 35mm
In the Javitts Convention Center looking up. Very graphic! 1/500 sec; f/5.6; ISO 200 LUMIX G VARIO 12-35/F2.8 at 12mm 
Using a slightly different art setting in camera to distinguish the difference between the old and new. Brick buildings in the foreground and the Empire State Building in the background. 1/500 sec; f/5.6; ISO 200 LUMIX G VARIO 12-35/F2.8 12mm Impressive Art setting with the color WB cranked all the way up. This has a illustrative feel.
by successfulbob | architectural photography, black & white, Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge, photography
Here are some more from the La Posada Resort photographed with the Lumix GX7 using the Impressive Art setting which is then tweaked to Black & White in camera…
Wine on the bar. The Ravens Wood Zinfandel is quite tasty by the way…
Archway with chair
Photographed this chess set a bunch. Black white contrast light… Fun!
This is almost an infrared look of the changing leaves. I increased the exposure on this by about 1 1/2 stops.
