by successfulbob | Lumix Lounge, LumixGH5, photography, photography creativity, photography software
Turning a Simple Image into Something More Complex
It’s always a push to try out new gear and push the boundaries a little bit. I was taking the Lumix GH5 out for a spin with the Leica DG Vario-Elmarit 100-400mm lens which works well for wildlife and images that need a long reach. I was curious how I could use in my everyday art photography.
Since I was out in the wetlands and the birds were not cooperating I started playing. I had already experimented with motion while making exposures to get fantastic color palettes and forms. I would never have thought that a scene with great depth of field which I’m showing down below would have started with a lens of this reach. Here’s the scene. The Wind is blowing. Grasses are swaying gently. I focused in the middle on a single blade of grass. This emphasis point made for an overall softness on the scene due to the depth of field and the foreground being way out of focus and moving. The sharp piece of grass in the middle followed by more falloff and motion and in DOF with the background grasses.
First image Straight out of Camera as a RAW File.
“OK, Bob, I don’t get it. What do you see that I don’t?”
Here you go with a little processing in Adobe Camera RAW you will start to see where I am going with this.
Added a little Saturation, Clarity, Contrast, Shadows, Highlights and Whites up and Blacks down to get to this point.
Photoshop for a little clean-up on the grass stalk that had some scratches on it with the next stop MacPhuns’ Focus CK plugin to add a bit more sharpness and color and a slight vignette. Final settings were a change of Mode to Multiply and the use of MacPhun’s Luminar to add some more color and snap. I enjoy the feeling of depth and dimension achieved by this process. I’ve got a deal below for you to get Luminar and some other goodies below!
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If you are already a MacPhun User pay only $49 when you use my coupon code or $59 if you are not already a Macphun user.
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by successfulbob | 6K photo mode, flower photography, LumixGH5, photography
Lumix GH5 Post Focus Mode
This winter and spring have been wonderfully wet in the southwest leading to one of the most wonderful flower bloom seasons in many years. With that said I have been chasing some of those blooms, especially the cactus as they are absolutely beautiful.
I’ve been testing the Lumix GH5 and the Post Focus Mode in which the camera leverages a 6K Photo Mode wherein the camera creates a short video clip using all two-hundred and twenty-five focus points. Any one of these points can be pulled as an eighteen MegaPixel file. Or a range of images choosing a set of focus points. Or even better, it will combine all of the focus points into a fully focus stacked final image. This is an amazing technology to secure a look that is not possible in a regular capture with a camera. I love leveraging this tech to create artistic images.
Let’s take a look at some of the possibilities using my cactus flower friends.
This image has been processed using all the focus points processed in-camera from front to back. This is not necessarily a good look for this particular image as to the field of focus makes too much of the image in focus.
Another image using the same Post Focus capture but processed with a range of focus points which helped to isolate the subject of the flower buds from the background. The beauty is that this can be processed as many times using different sets of focus points for very different looks. All in the camera!
Here is another image with everything in sharp focus. Depending on the story you want to tell this can be a perfect rendition of the scene with all of the thorns in sharp focus. Very prickly.
This image has all the important information in focus with the background allowed to be more soft which has a different feel even though it was from the same video capture.
More on this in a few days.
Yours in creative Photography, Bob
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by successfulbob | landscape photography, LumixGH5, wildlife photography
Sedona Wetlands – Part Two
The other day I shared some traditional images from the beautiful Sedona Wetlands off of Highway 89A on the right if you are heading to Cottonwood. Here’s some more info from the previous post.
In addition to the straight images, I like to try something just a little more creative. It can be fun to push the images to an artier level. I guess that’s a word because my Grammer checker gave me the word when I tried more arty in the sentence.
Here are some wetlands grasses that are transformed into blended shapes and colors by moving the camera up while making the exposure.
Very different effects can be created by changing the shutter speed or the speed of movement of the camera. Experiment until you get the image for which you are looking. There can be many pleasant surprises along the way.
Here’s an example of an even slower shutter speed than the image at the top of the post which allows the colors to blend into an even more abstract look.
I get a very peaceful, easy feeling (Que Eagles song) when I look at this simplified composition of some new grasses poking their heads through the water.
All images were made with the Lumix GH5 and the 100-400mm f4.0-6.3 Leica DG Vario-Elmar lens. This camera lens combo is one I am enjoying for any shooting situation that allows for a bit of distance between the subject and myself.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
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by successfulbob | bird photography, LumixGH5, photography, photography creativity, wildlife photography
Sedona Wetlands
Difficult to believe that there are wetlands in the high desert of Sedona. But, there are! And it’s becoming one of my favorite places to test out new cameras and lens combinations.
The Sedona Wetlands Preserve is approximately 27 acres in Effluent Management Area 2, located south of the Sedona Waste Water Reclamation Plant. The wetlands have six basins, with a total water surface area of approximately 12.2 acres or 9.6 million gallons. They basins are set up to have different depths of water from very shallow up to four feet which make for excellent habitat for a variety of critters. There are some thoughts for making sure all who go enjoy the experience, including the wildlife I pulled from the wetlands website.
Wildlife Viewing Etiquette
• Our viewing behavior can also harm the animals we are looking for unless we take special care.
• Please keep these considerations in mind.
• Observe from a distance, so the wildlife being watched are least disturbed.
• Never chase wildlife or pick up their young even if the parents are not visible.
• Leave feathers, eggshells, nests and even dead animals where you find them.
• Respect other viewers to avoid intruding on another person’s enjoyment.
• Limit the time you spend closely viewing any animal
I took the Lumix GH5 for a spin with the Leica DG Vario-Elmarit 100-400mm lens yesterday afternoon when I had a few minutes to work (er’ play) trying out the stabilization and handhold-ability with this combo. Remember, due to the Micro 4/3rds chip, I’m holding an 800mm equivalent lens and very comfortable with the resulting images.
This image is a severely cropped image of a Ruddy Duck which can be printed to about 18 inches square.
(see full size below)
Full-size capture of the Ruddy Duck at the Sedona Wetlands
These flowers are quite small. Using the 100-400mm lens extended all the way gives an almost macro feel to the photo. The blooms are about the size of my thumbnail.
A tiny flower puff around the scale of a fingernail. It is kind of a life amongst past life with the fading buds.
In a day or so I’ll share some more images with a bit more of an artistic flair to them. This camera and lens combination is extremely versatile.
Yours in creative Photography, Bob
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by successfulbob | people photography, photography, photography gear, photography lighting resources
Little Lighting Lesson
I was in Washington speaking to the Professional Photographers of Washington showing a quick lighting demo using a three light setup with Fiilex LED Bricks.
Subject with no light in the eyes gives a less than stellar appearance.
Once you have lights in position, it can be a very small movement of your subject to get a better image. In this case, changing the head to a slightly higher angle allowed the light to show in the eyes. Catchlights in the eyes adds a lot of life to a portrait. A small change. Big difference.
The small change in position allowed the light to leave a catch light behind for a more ‘alive’ look.
Fiilex P100
I choose the Fiilex LED’s P100 (AKA the Brick) because they fit easily in my suitcase, are battery powered (approx 2 hours battery life per charge), and have adjustable color and power. With a Color Rendering Index (CRI) of just under 90, there is a large spectrum of color available that is important to look for in LED lighting. Very versatile.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
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by successfulbob | black & white, fine art portrait, Lumix Lounge, LumixGH5, people photography, photography, photography gear
Post Processing on the Portrait of Ernst
One of the great pleasures of traveling to speak to photography groups is the fellowship with photographers. I met Ernst Ulrich Schafer while at the PPW Conference in Yakima, Washington. Ernst and I went out on an adventure and had a blast getting to know each other.
I asked Ernst to take a moment to pose for me to make a portrait. Found a decent spot for a nice lighting pattern on his face but the final portrait was completed in post-production. Here is the story of ‘The Making of Ernst”.
Final image of Ernst
Original capture. Looking for a soft split light pattern.
I looked for a background that had a little bit of a gradient and a soft shadow transition from light to dark. Accomplished but finding an overhead light block with two open sides. I placed Ernst closer to the left-hand side to make the short side of his face the lighted portion. The light coming from the other side worked as fill. If aI wanted a sharper contrast I would have moved him further left. Less contrast further right. Since we can’t move the lights in a situation like this moving the subject is the only way to go.
Process in NIK Silver FX Pro 2 with Sepia Tone. Note the difference between this image and the final at the top of the page. The white rim on the collar was removed as it was a distraction. Additional dodging and burning was done to lightly increase contrast and control some of the highlights. Check out the Layers Palette Screen Capture for more details.
If you don’t already have NIK filters be aware that they are a free download from Google. There is a great variety of filter effects available in the Suite. I often use Silver FX Pro 2 for my black and white and sepia tone conversions.
Layers Palette
Background is the original capture. Silver Efex Pro 2 is the Sepia Tone conversion. The copy Layer shows some retouching with the removal of the white collar. Layer 1 is a Soft Light Layer to burn in the sweater and add contrast to the shadow side of the face. Layer 2 is another Soft Light Layer to control some highlights and add a little sparkle to the eyes. I use the Soft Light Layer Mode to dodge and burn my images.
As you can see Adobe Photoshop with a pit stop in Adobe Camera Raw is a large part of my workflow.
Image made with the new Lumix GH5 and the 42.5mm f1.2 Nocticron lens @f1.2 1/320th sec ISO 200
Yours In Creative Photography, Bob
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