by successfulbob | black & white, graphic design, landscape photography, Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge, photography, photography education
I really enjoy the use of this preset on my Lumix GX7.
It’s called Impressive Art. It adds a slight glow to hard contrast lines, saturates and shifts colors and punches up the contrast. I’ve used this with success as is on a few videos for a totally different look. (take a peek at video here)
But my favorite way of using this setting was suggested by my fellow Lumix Luminaries to use Impressive Art but adjust output to Black and White. It gives a very graphic look to the image. I like it and have already used this setting to generate happy clients for my biz.
Here are a few from the canal in Lewes, Delaware. I was enjoying an evening Dogfish IPA at the bar and was attracted to the shadows, lines and reflections on the water… I couldn’t just sit there!
Reflections
Shadows and Line.
Shadows, Line, Reflections.
When using the presets on the camera make sure that you are capturing in jpeg. If you just shoot RAW you will see only the hint of what you thought you were capturing as the camera jpeg disappears when you download it. For the best of both worlds choose to capture in RAW + jpeg. Then you will have the camera settings but also access to all the information presented to the camera so you can do your own processing
by successfulbob | landscape photography, Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge, photography, photography education
Mirrors are funny critters… They will lie to you as you look at them thinking, “Wow, I look good!” Whoops! wrong blog post. Back to our regularly scheduled conversation…
The focus point in a mirror is on a totally different plane than the frame that contains it. Been caught by the, photographed the bride in the mirror and found either the subject you wanted to have in focus in the glass or the surrounding area surprisingly out of focus?
Here a possible work-around when you would like to have everything in focus but don’t have time to get on a tripod with a really small aperture. And even if you had time to do that you still might not have enough DOF to make it work. This is an extreme example with several focus points in play. The background which has the sign telling us where we are. The side view mirror on the car. The side view mirror. And the convex utility mirror for helping to keep the driver out of accidents. All are important to telling the story I want to share so I made an exposure for each of those individual surfaces then blended them together in Adobe Photoshop. Here’s the result…
The assembled photo with all the pertinent information in focus. Bell Rock Vista in Sedona, Arizona.
Here are the raw captures before assembly.
Photographed with the Lumix GX7 and the 35-100 f2.8 Vario Lens while focusing through the range of the scene.
Now how about that bride shot with mom reflected in the mirror and crying???
If you have any questions don’t hesitate to give me a shout or comment on this post.
Yours in Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | black & white, fine art photography, landscape photography, Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge, marketing, people photography, photography, photography education, photography gear
SUCK it UP!!
If you aren’t participating in image competition I feel you are missing a huge piece of the education puzzle in becoming a better more successful photographer. Almost every photographer I’ve seen who gets in the game, submits images, attends the judging and listens to the critiques has shown amazing progress in the depth of their work.
It also doesn’t hurt that you can win awards, work toward your PPA degrees and talk photography with a bunch of like minded people. If you wait until you think you are ready for imaging competition you are missing the boat because this is how you get better, not by waiting until you think you are ‘good enough’. If you need some help in getting started, get in touch and I’ll point you in the right direction.
And, as Paul Harvey used to say, “Here’s the ‘Rest of the Story”.
In addition to the education I received by being immersed in imaging competition last weekend I managed to score a few awards.
‘Street Portrait – ‘Doc” First Place Masters Portrait
Camera info – Lumix GX7 35-100 2.8 @47mm exp 1/160, f2.8, ISO 200 square in-camera crop
Captured on the 2nd day I had the Lumix GX7 in my hands in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I saw Doc and asked if he’d mind if I made his image after chatting with him for a bit. It was nice to be introduced to him by my friend & fellow photographer Dennis Chamberlain. He told me Doc was quite the character and he was right. I asked Doc to move to put him in some good light.
‘Art of the Saxophone’ earned First Place Masters Illustrative Image – AZPPA Loan Collection and the American Society of Photographers Award (ASP) captured with the Lumix GX7.
Photographing some live music in nearby Cottonwood, Arizona and I spied this Sax on stage. Photographed it with the thought of creating an art piece. Even though I floated the sax in the scene it was the other instruments that help tell the story and add depth to the piece. The look was accomplished using multiple texture images, blend modes, masks, layers and color enhancements. It’s one of the programs I give. See if one is happening near you here. If you have a photo group and would like me to speak get in touch. Depending on the size of your group Panasonic will pick up most or all of the tab.
‘Committed’ – Awarded 2nd Place Masters IllustrativeCamera and gear info – Lumix GX7 7-14 f4 @12mm exp 1/6 sec, f4, ISO 3200 Seven shot bracket.
camera mounted on Culmann Germany carbon fiber tri-pod Magnasit 532C
Check out the tattoo of the Cathedral Basilica of St Francis of Assisi from Santa Fe, New Mexico on this young man’s back. I was photographing the Cathedral around 10 PM and he walked by working on setting up for the Indian Market the next day and he said, “I have a tattoo of that on my back.” I asked if he had a minute to spare and could I make his photograph. I bracketed the image with 7 stops automatically with the Lumix GX7. Got off only two bursts because I had him for about 30 seconds before he was called back to his duties.
Guardsman’s Pass, Utah scored an 80 for a merit
Camera – Lumix GX7 35-100 f2.8 @42mm exp 1/640 sec, f7.1, ISO 640 (set by camera panorama mode)
This rounded out my image case. This was the first use of the in-camera panorama from the Lumix GX7. I love this feature! That doesn’t mean I don’t also make my panos the old fashioned way with multiple exposures and stitching them together when I want a larger file to work with but this is a great feature.
Managed to make it into the AZPPA Top Ten for the 14th time in 15 years. This information is being compiled into a press release. Check here for more information on how get the most from your marketing.
Til next time. Yours in Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | fine art photography, fine art portrait, landscape photography, musician photography, photography, photography education
Chills! They wandered up and down my spine when I saw this video.
This presentation is based on images from the Professional Photographers of America Loan and General collections from the International Print Competition 2013. Awards were presented at the convention held in Phoenix this past week. I proud to have several images included…
When you watch this video crank up the music and make sure you go full screen for the most impact!
In this competition I entered two print cases of four images each. In total I received three general collection merits and four Loan Collection images. I’m proud to be in PPA and a member since 1998 to continue to pursue exellence in imaging so my clients get the very best I can offer. As far as I am concerned when you stop learning your imaging skills start to deteriorate.
by successfulbob | landscape photography, Lumix GH3, Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge, photography, photography education, photography gear
Maybe it was because I hadn’t had my morning shower yet…
The Sandhill Cranes came right up to check me out as I was photographing them…
Shows the importance of having multiple cameras with different lenses on hand even if you think you know what you will be photographing. I thought all my imaging would be of birds in the middle of the pond called Palmer Lake or flying away from said water. Had I not had the second body/lens combo I would have missed a cool opportunity.
Sandhill Crane in pond Sarasota, Florida.
Sandhill Cranes in flight and in silhouette.
Sandhill Cranes in the Morning mist.
On the Lumix GH3 I had the F3.5-5.6 100-300mm (200-600 35mm equiv) lens and on the Lumix GX7 had the f 2.8 35-100mm (70-200 35mm equiv).
by successfulbob | black & white, landscape photography, Lumix GX7, photography, photography education
There’s a small lurch as the wheels slowly begin to turn and the view out the window begins to change. Traveling on a train is great entertainment especially when rolling through Sycamore Canyon on board the Verde Canyon Railroad. Red rocks slide by as do glimpses of water flowing gently through the winding creek bed.
Verde Valley Railroad train. Illustrative Art setting pushed to black and white with the white balance setting.
And best yet, I get to play with more settings on my Lumix GX7 as we squeal and clatter along the rails to Perkinsville and back. The more I play with this computer, and yes it is a powerful computer in my mind, the more I like it. Didn’t realize I would enjoy the soft… or the dynamic black and white. I already know I like the in-camera panoramic stitching. (but I don’t use it on this trip because it’s hard to stitch while on a moving platform… or is it?? something I’ll have to experiment with in the future!)
The semi-abandoned train station in Perkinsville.
Because I have this time to mess about with picture settings and play the ‘Let’s see what happens if I do this’ game. I’m finding new looks that I want to program in the camera. It is becoming an another tool in my artistic arsenal to share images. I encourage you, no matter what camera you own to go in and play with the settings so you can find and learn the full capabilities at your disposal.
Pushing and playing to learn new ways to artistic expression with the Lumix camera.
