by successfulbob | black & white, infrared photography, landscape photography, people photography, photography education
Infrared Photography – Some Members
of Infamous Mopar AZ Chapter Car Club in Sedona
You never know who you might run into when you are out photographing clouds. While I was catching some infrared photos at Bell Rock Vista in the Village of Oak Creek in Sedona, three pretty cool cars started backing into spaces right behind me. When I realized they were lining up to take photos of their cars I moved out of their frame.
We started to chat, and it turns out we have a lot in common. They are members of the Infamous AZ Chapter Mopar Car Club, and I once had a cat I named Mopar because of the way she purred. OK, I have a weird sense of humor, but you get used to it I think. I believe all people are connected in one way or another.
Since the cars were lined up, I captured some photos with my infrared set-up. (see this post on processing infrared files from this session)
Here are a couple of captures.
Three couples from the INfamous Mopar AZ Chapter
The three couples I met while photographing with my infrared Lumix G6 camera at Bell Rock Vista. This image was processed in the same way as was described in the other post.
Cars from the Infamous Mopar Car Club AZ Chapter in front of Courthouse Butte in the VOC, Sedona
Straight out of Camera (SOOC)
This image was processed in a different manner from the on above. I started with the RAW file. In infrared converted cameras, the RAW image will have a severe magenta cast.
ACR Palette with settings
First stop was into Adobe Camera RAW for initial processing. Settings were to move the Temperature Slider all the way to Blue. The Tint Slider all the way to Green. Exposure boosted 1/3 stop. Contrast increased. Highlights were lowered, and Shadows raised. Whites bumped up a bit, and Blacks brought down. A small amount of Clarity was added, and Vibrance was lowered. 
Adobe Photoshop Layers Palette
The Background Layer shows how the image comes out of Adobe Camera RAW with the processing shown. It is quite a Sepia tone which cold be OK but not the look for which I was going Above that is a Black & White Adjustment Layer. Next up, is the Layer generated by a trip to NIK Silver FX Pro 2. (available free of charge from Google) It created the full black & white conversion. I added some structure, grain, and controlled the intensity of the black and white. There’s a Layer Mask to allow some of the original image to show through without the processing from NIK. Above that is a Layer in Soft Light Mode for dodging and burning. The top Layer is a Curves Layer to allow some selective lightening of the image to bring some extra attention to the cars.
I think these infrared images would look great printed on metal.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
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by successfulbob | photography, photography creativity, photography education, tuesday painterly photo art
Tuesday Painterly Photo Art
John Hartman, M.Photog.Cr, CPP, A-ASP, EA-ASP
Jealous.
If I have one word to share about John that would be it. I am jealous of his ability to absorb information and ideas about photography and photographic arts and then find a way to earn income from it. John has been sharing his photography and business knowledge for over thirty years and he’s still breaking new ground on a regular basis.
Throughout his 42-year professional career, this Wisconsin-based photographer has made it his life and business mission to find out what everyone is doing and then doing something different. One of his recent personal projects has been mastering the art, science, and business of the technique of painting with light. Exposing dozens or sometimes hundreds of separate shots with continuous LED lights and then blending them together in Photoshop, a light painted photograph simply looks like no other image.
All images in this post are © John Hartman. Light painted art.
Before Light painting
Once the process was mastered, he began testing the commercial viability of this new product. Clients have responded enthusiastically, resulting in commissions that include images up to 10 feet long and sales that often reach into five figures. Subjects include automobiles, jewelry, food, architecture, motorcycles, musical instruments, farm tractors and aircraft. His clients include corporations, collectors, hobbyists, enthusiasts and others who own and appreciate the finer things of life.
Light Painted Fire Truck in station 
Single Capture of firehouse
One of his light paintings of a Ferrari F12 Berlinetta was chosen as a Grand Imaging Award finalist at Imaging USA in 2015, and was also included in the 2015 World Cup Photographic Competition.
Interestingly, nearly 100% of John’s light painting clients are males, who are proud of their ‘babies’ and are willing to invest whatever it takes for a unique image for their office, home, garage or man cave.
Motorcycle Garage Light Painting 
You got it. This is before!
“The process of painting with light is neither simple nor intuitive,” says Hartman. “The high skill level required ensures the look will remain unique and will not be bastardized or diluted by a set of actions or plug-ins. The photographer willing to invest the time and effort required to become proficient in light painting can develop and retain 100% of that lucrative business in their market area.”
Violin & case Light Painting
The violin looks just a wee bit different in the before image
John is currently experimenting with an unmanned aircraft vehicle (a drone) using a mounted LED to light paint larger subjects such as buildings, landscapes and large vehicles such as farm implements and fire trucks.
You can see a short video showing him light painting a 1957 Lincoln Continental Mark II here.
Photographers have taken notice of John’s work, and requests to learn his process have resulted in a four-city tour titled The John Hartman Light Painting Workshop, to be held in his hometown of Stevens Point, WI, as well as in Pittsburgh, Seattle, and Sedona, AZ (hosted by Bob Coates). Click here for more information.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
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by successfulbob | black & white, HDR photography, infrared photography, landscape photography, Lumix G6, Lumix Lounge, photography creativity
Infrared Photography Panorama Style
“The sailing clouds went by, like ships upon the sea.” — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Clouds scudding across the azure skies. Words can take you to some beautiful places but as the Chinese say, a picture is worth a thousand words. That’s why I keep an eye peeled on the sky. When the clouds start racing, or even lumbering through the red-rock country of Sedona I grab a camera because interest is added to the scene.
Even if it’s mid-day, I grab a camera and head outdoors. My camera of choice for these times is infrared. I enjoy the high contrast black and white rendering of clouds rendered against a deep dark sky. A Lumix G6 was converted by LifePixel and it has expanded my shooting times as infrared shines when it’s time to put the camera up for regular color photography. I used the Kit lens that came with the camera and was pleasantly surprised at the solid quality of the captures. (G Vario 14-42mm f3.5-5.6) It makes for a super light-weight combo.
Bell Rock Vista in Sedona – Infrared Panoramic image with Courthouse Butte
I tend to try to push the envelope and experiment when I’m on self-assignment. In yesterday’s adventure, it was to add panorama to infrared. It took quite a bit more work. I’ll let you be the judge to see if it was worth it.
Five images overlapping by about 40% were captured. With the camera set to black & white, three exposures one stop apart were saved in jpeg format to ensure detail in highlight and shadow areas once they were processed. Each set of three images were treated in Aurora HDR software.
Screenshot of images used before processing
Each of the final five images was loaded into Adobe Photoshop to process the panorama. Whoops! That was an unusual fail. Could be the handheld capture caused some extra deformity in the files. Usually, I can depend on Photoshop to render a solid panorama but with this set of images, there was way too much distortion in the resulting output. (I’ll experiment with these files again when I have some more time and see if different rendering intent might be of help) I couldn’t find my AutoPano Pro software on this computer so I resorted to having Photoshop load all the files into Layers and added my own Masks blending the images together by hand. It’s good to remember the ‘Old School’ methods when the automatic software options aren’t there for you.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – Another cloud description I enjoy. “Clouds hastening like messengers through heaven.” —John Hall Wheelock
PPS – Cloud quotes referenced in this post were found in The Free Dictionary by Farlex. I’m book-marking that page for future reference!
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by successfulbob | Lumix GX8, Lumix Lounge, musician photography, photographer of musicians, photography, photography - art quote, photography creativity, photography education
Sunday Photo/Art Quote – Yogi Berra
A major league baseball manager, Yogi Berra, was a font of excellent one-liners that more than stated the obvious.
The one I wish to share with you today can easily be applied to the arts. Yes, while it’s obvious, sometimes we need reminders of just that. And Yogi was a pro at that!
“You can observe a lot by watching.” Yogi Berra
The reason I bring this up today is the quote jumped out at me after returning from a guitar concert under the stars last night by Anthony Mazella at The Collective in Sedona. Anthony is a world class musician who creates magical times with his guitar.
As always I carry my camera. Lately, I’ve been trying to follow Yogi’s advice although I didn’t realize it was coming from him. I’ve been trying to be more aware of light. Paying attention to it. And trying to capture more of it in challenging situations.
I used the Lumix GX8 with a 35-100mm f2.8 Vario lens. While Anthony filled my head with his music, I kept myself aware of the changing light as the sun dropped below the horizon. The lights in the area began their illuminating dance through the venue. And I recorded.
Here are a few of those captures.
Shadow, color, composition, shape, and form were the things that caught my eye
A glance up and this silhouette appeared. I watched for a few moments, and the little girl was moving in and out of the frame I waited until she was moving out to capture this. The play of the complementary colors was a bonus.
Of course, the star of the show couldn’t be left out. The blue, purple and magenta lights added some serious color to the warm toned brickwork.
Had I not been aware and keeping my eyes peeled for an opportunity to see I might have missed these little vignettes of light and color. So remember Yogi’s advice, “You can observe a lot by watching.”
Yours in creative Photography, Bob
PS – Here are 50 Yogisms gathered in an article by USA Today. It’s a fun read.
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by successfulbob | fine art photography, landscape photography, Lumix GX8, Lumix Lounge, photography, photography education
Playing with Images
What do you do for fun?
I find myself playing with my photography images in Photoshop.
This is where I test out new ideas, explore possibilities, and have a bit of a romp through Adobe Photoshop’s Blending Modes just to see what I might discover.
A Juniper tree was the subject. Depth, dimension, and color were the objectives.
Here are some results.
Here’s one that’s good fun but a bit over the top of in saturation. If you don’t push the boundaries, you don’t know how far to go.
Easing up the saturation through changing blend modes makes this an entirely different image.
Adding the moon changes things once again
Here’re a few tweaks to the moon addition. Gives it a bit more life.
If I were doing this as more than an exercise or decided that I wanted to make this into an art piece for printing, I would have spent much more time on making selections and blending the various textures and layers together. Play doesn’t always have to have a pay-off more than a new feel for the tools with which you are working.
Lessons learned in this session. Be careful with selections from the beginning of the process. Verify before moving too far along in the project. Once a mask is made and reused throughout the process any mistakes will be magnified. Ultimately, having had this session I will save time and frustration in the future.
Initial image was captured with the Lumix G7 with a 20mm f1.7 lens. The moon photograph was created with the Lumix GH2 handheld with a 100-300mm lens extended to 600mm equivalent. I keep lots of reference files of textures and various elements on hand to help in the art process. I think of my texture images as an artist would their paint & set of brushes.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
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by successfulbob | architectural photography, black & white, Lumix GX8, photography, photography creativity, photography gear
Processing Black & White Photography
Ansel said it.
He likened great photography to a concert. The Print is the performance. The capture is merely the score.
OK. Maybe I paraphrased a little bit but the idea is there. And the word ‘merely’ is undercutting the value of the capture. But, by virtue of the camera only having one opening it can only see so much density in a single exposure. How we process the image is a huge part of the success or failure of the photo.
We now have some technological advantages over Adams with software that allows up to combine multiple images t different exposures to expand the amount of information we can have in a single file. We can build up density and exposure in a picture without resorting to chemistry changes as Adams did. In addition to Curves and Levels, we now have the ability to add luminance masks to target very specific tones within the photo. Sharpening can be selectively applied throughout the image to help move a viewer’s attention through the image. And more. We are in a golden age of photography should we choose to follow the possibilities.
I was attending a little courtyard guitar concert at Tlaqapaque in Sedona and just happened to have a camera with me. (imagine that!) Here are a couple grabs where the image definitely has more power in black and white.
Tlaqapaque detail. Mexican shopping Village in Sedona, AZ
Images processed in Adobe Camera RAW & Nik Silver FX Pro 2 (You can get this software plugin for free)
Original capture
Images captured with Lumix GX8 with 14-140mm f3.5-5.8 lens
Portals within portals within portals add depth and dimension to an image
Original capture
I’ll be doing a more in-depth blog post on black and white processing on LifePixel’s website. You can look for it early next week.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
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by successfulbob | photography, photography education, photography marketing, success education, tuesday painterly photo art
Tuesday Painterly Photo Art
John Chandler, CPP & Teresa Chandler
I first saw some of Chandler’s images while judging for Professional Photographers of America. I was not aware of them at the time bu the imagery stayed with me. When I saw a Facebook post, I tracked down the website and saw more interesting imagery so I asked John if he would share some thoughts and ideas on photographic art.
I turn today’s post over to the Chandlers.
The Start
John and Teresa Chandler established Chandler Studios in 2002. Their concept was to combine John’s skills in Photography with Teresa’s skills in Oil and Pastel painting. This came at the same time Photography, as a profession, was in the “Chrysalis” phase transitioning from film to digital. Their transition was not difficult. The digital revolution kicked their business forward. This is a result of John shooting transparency film underwater for 35 years. For them to get his transparencies into a print market they had to become proficient at slide scanning and preparing the image for printing in a very young, and rapidly advancing world of Photoshop. In the 90’s Teresa had the same challenge with her oil and pastel portraits. John would photograph her portraits with transparency film and she would then color-correct each scan until she was satisfied that it was a near exact copy before printing. This early experience in Photoshop, experience with transparencies and their collective ability to review, correct, prepare and produce a printed image using Photoshop prepared them well for the digital revolution. And all of this had to be done while they were living in Japan!
“Dancing with Degas” © Teresa Chandler Accepted into the IPC 2015 Loan Collection.
In this image, Teresa took an image captured in the Studio during a High School Senior’s session. Using both Photoshop and Corel Teresa created this image. Her experience with painting in oils gives her a superior ability to “feel” light and textures needed to make an image like this. Corel gives her capacity to interpret the electronic brushes and then make the strokes necessary for the image to succeed.
The Team
John is the Photographer and Teresa is the finisher, and together they are Chandler Studios. They have been married for 39 years. John is a Certified Professional Photographer (CPP). Both are driven by the annual Print Competitions in their State Affiliate as well as the International Print Competition of PPA. Teresa has had three of her images in the PPA Loan Collection while John has only enjoyed one image in the General Collection. But both are avid competitors, and both are working toward Masters in Photography and Art.
Thoughts on progressing
Education is the KEY TO SUCCESS. This digital world is simply not something that will suddenly dawn on most people. You cannot “Fake it, till you Make it.” Anyone who wants to move forward in terms of sales, creativity and ability must take the time and resources necessary to get a first class education in Photography. We work in Portraits so most of our education comes from Photographers who are not only at the peak of their career but are also proven teachers. Passion is simply NOT ENOUGH. Passion plus education equals ability. We learned early in our careers that Passion does not make an artist. While passion may drive you (and drive you crazy) it does not give you ability. Education and the experience that comes with it will gives the ability to create the images that are driven by passion.
“Steampunk Rocker” © Teresa Chandler. This composite began in the Studio and then was transformed in the computer by Teresa who used Photoshop to composite and Corel to finish giving the image its texture and contrast.
Mentorship
Can YouTube and Creative Live do this for you? Well, we think that videos can be an element, but not the only element. We feel you need to have “Hands On” kinetic learning to make the leaps needed to compete in today’s fast-changing market(s). Video learning combined with a mentor can be powerful tools needed to improve your ability. There are more workshops available today than ever before so that means that photographers have to choose wisely and ensure the workshop will move them forward and not just be a social event. We recommend a new photographer actively seek a mentor who can recommend workshops for them and guide them. This will certainly save that photographer a significant amount of money. We chose workshops with Joseph and Louise Simone, Richard Sturdivant, Tim Kelly, and most recently John Gladman. These workshops are not inexpensive. We consider them an investment in our Studio. We have also learned that cutting corners is just a waste of money.
Focus on your product.
Focus on what you are wanting to produce and then produce it. Practice your skills daily. If we could say that a hundred times in this short discussion we would. Practice every day! We are in the process of re-branding our efforts in Chandler Studios by developing two new products. One is called Vintage Couture that focuses on retro PINUP. This is our approach to producing a product akin to boudoir (sexy) but still something our client can show their mom!
This is image was selected to be in the 2015 General Collection. This is titled simply “Oops!” It was produced for a client who loved it.
Sandlot is our most recent image and shows another product that we are producing for our clients. We call these “Illustrative” Portraits our SANDLOT collection. This product is focused on the youth sector providing our clients a retro look in the Rockwell genre. © John Chandler
Conclusion
So that’s it. We have had a focus on Family Photography but we are now giving that a bit of a twist to give our products just a bit more. We firmly believe that education and professional affiliation is a path to success in this vocation we enjoy so much.
Our website is Chandler-Studios.com Our Vintage Couture can be on our website and at https://www.facebook.com/ChandlerVintagePINUP Our SANDLOT products are featured on our website and at: https://www.facebook.com/Sandlot-Portraits-1095078590564124
Hope you got as much out of the Chandlers sharing how they are pushing the digital envelope in their business as I have.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
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by successfulbob | inspiration, photography - art quote, photography education
Sunday Photo/Art Quote – Steve McCurry
Camera as a passport.
A very interesting thought.
I hadn’t thought of my camera as a way to witness and become part of events, but now that I look back over the years I was exposed to many opportunities I wouldn’t have had in another line of work.
An iconic photojournalist who traveled the world documenting life in many cultures Steve McCurry created many images I’m sure you know. Magazine articles, covers and books too numerous to count are among his output with his camera. The quote below sparked today’s post.
“My life is shaped by the urgent need to wander and observe, and my camera is my passport.”
— Steve McCurry
While I did not have the need to wander quite as much as McCurry, I have moved around the world a little bit. I came to photography relatively late in life a camera led me to experiences, adventures and the ability to set up shop in a new place when my wife tired of the constant threat of hurricanes when we lived in the Caribbean.
Some highlights that come to mind.
Professional Photographers of America cover by yours truly
Aerial photography with my first magazine cover shot while hanging out of a helicopter flying on its side so that the downdraft would not interfere with the Rolex Regatta sailboat race below.
Photographing President Clinton when he made a trip to St, Thomas in the US Virgin Islands.
Documenting the wedding memories of hundreds of couples.
Being behind the scenes with entertainers and performers.
My camera doesn’t have quite as many passport stamps as McCurry’s as yet, but I know that it will take me to more places in the future.
What a great thought.
Where has your camera taken you? Share here if you get a moment.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | photography
Help Protect Visual Artist’s Copyright
All visual artists PPA needs your help now!
(you do not have to be a PPA member)
PPA.com/Advocacy
Historic once-in-a-generation change is coming to Copyright law in the U.S. Professional Photographers of America (PPA) has been at the forefront of this issue for a decade and it’s now time for YOU to get involved!
PPA has been working with legislators along with other visual arts organizations to get this legislation done. You can join the GRASSROOTS ACTION TEAM to help support a Copyright Small Claims option to better protect visual artists.
Learn about the issue, sign up and share with other visual artists.
Every Voice Counts!
Understand Small Claims Relief for Visual Artists
Learn About the Action Plan
Join the Grassroots Action Team
Take Action!
I’m already signed up and urge you to do the same. Please share this information with all visual artists. You do not have to be a PPA member to be on the Grassroots Action Team.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | graphic design, inspiration, Lumix GX8, Lumix Lounge, photography
Cliff Castle Casino Fireworks Photography
Fireworks! Always beautiful and fun to view.
And, interesting to photograph.
These were taken Sunday night July 3rd with a LumixGX8 and 7-14mm f4.0 Vario lens. Settings f8 ISO 200 for five seconds.
Single five-second exposure
This burst was one of my favorite captures for the evening
Composite image with the Casino, which was behind me and the fireworks in front of me.
Fireworks composite image.
There’s a secret o create composite fireworks images. Develop each image to be it’s best. Drag and drop the images one above another as Layers. The secret is to change the Blend Mode of the Layer to Screen. The mathematics behind Screen mode makes all the dark area of the sky to disappear only allowing the light from the image to register. (Bonus tip: if the fireworks burst is not as bright was you wish to make a copy of the layer and the lighted areas will become brighter. Too bright? Lower the opacity to taste) The next move is to place the bursts where you would like them using the Transform tool. Once the photos have been rearranged, there will be areas that need to be masked out. Adding a Layer mask and painting with black will conceal the unwanted information on the Layer.
File this post away for the next time you get ready to photograph fireworks.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
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