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.
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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.
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.
Julieanne Kost – Adobe Photoshop Evangelist – Part One
One of my heroes, Kost, has been an inspiration from the first time I saw her give a presentation on Photoshop.
Knowledgeable, talented, giving, humble, and funny she is. I highly recommend that anytime she is giving a program near you, just go. You will be entertained as you learn tips and tricks in processing images with an incredibly powerful software program.
Let’s turn this over to Ms. Kost and start with her artist statement featuring her personal artistic work. In the future, we’ll revisit Kost featuring other facets of her work.
“In my work, I combine a passion for photography, a mastery of digital imaging techniques and knowledge gained from a degree in psychology, to construct a world similar enough to appear familiar, yet obviously, an interpretation of the physical reality that surrounds us.
Although the images are highly personal representations of my dreams and personal reality, they are abstract enough to allow individual interpretation (based on each individual’s history and life experiences). I hope to engage the viewer with the image to allow them to leave the reality that they hold true and explore, even if only for an instant, and venture into the visual placeholder of my thoughts and dreams. Over the past 20 years I have created libraries of individual elements ranging from photographs of textures and landscapes, to scans of found objects, to encaustic paintings and charcoal drawings. Although these ingredients are not an end in and of themselves, they are waiting to take their position as a component of a larger message. The common thread is that each individual element must evoke an emotional response. What that response might be (positive or negative, comforting or confrontational) is not important at the creation stage, because how the image will be used at that point is not clear. I draw from these libraries to build images and communicate my message.
Because the components are created at different times in different locations, I find that my work falls somewhere between the more traditional photographic practice of capturing a single decisive moment and the time compression techniques used to tell a story in cinematography. In my images, I create imaginary scenes layering elements together that are unconstrained by linear time and physical location. By choosing elements that work together to form a cohesive message, I am able to create a composite image more powerful than it’s individual parts.
The interactive process of selecting and assembling images is one of the most challenging and thought provoking parts of my creative exploration. Although overall, the images may appear serene and calm, the act of creation is anything but passive. I begin with a concept in mind, yet I may not know exactly how the pieces will fit together at the end. As the image takes on its own life, I often allow myself to explore additional directions, sometimes finding that the final image only faintly resembles the one first imagined.
From a technical standpoint, I feel that a computer is not merely a shortcut for what is possible with a camera, but instead it allows me to discover what is possible in no other medium. However, with the digital realm being so forgiving and offering so many options for exploration, that discipline becomes part of the challenge. The paint is never dry, the exposure is never fixed, and the print is never final -all components can be done differently at any point. Here the art form is knowing when to stop and realizing when you’ve said what you set out to say.”
Named one of Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business,” Julieanne Kost is a Principal Evangelist at Adobe Systems, responsible for fostering relationships with customers through meaningful and inspirational Photoshop and Lightroom instruction. As a highly sought-after speaker for the industry-standard Digital Imaging franchise, she devises and presents motivating and educational training sessions, sharing original techniques and tutorials worldwide — via live events, Adobe.com, her own website (jkost.com) and blog (blogs.adobe.com/jkost). She is also the author of “Passenger Seat—Creating a photographic project from conception through execution in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom” and “Window Seat — The Art of Digital Photography and Creative Thinking”, (I have an autographed copy: Ed) an accomplished photographer and fine artist, and creator and host of the popular Photoshop CC Essential Training, Adobe Camera Raw Essential Training, and the Art of Photoshop Compositing for Lynda.com.
Kost is well-known for her unique approach to instruction, infusing practical tips and tricks with an equal amount of humor and creativity that keeps audiences entertained and engaged. She often serves as a guest lecturer at distinguished photography workshops, industry events, and leading educational institutions around the world. She’s a contributing columnist and author for a variety of print and online publications and has created over 500 instructional videos as the host of Adobe’s “The Complete Picture” featuring Lightroom and Photoshop, serves as producer and instructor of the “Lightroom Getting Started” and “What’s New in Lightroom,” training courses, as well as the “Revitalize your Workflow with Lightroom” seminar on CreativeLive.
Kost has been recognized for her outstanding service and contributions to the professional photographic industry, winning the Gerhard Bakker Award from the Professional Photographers of America, the Honorary Educational Associate Award from the American Society of Photographers and was inducted to the Photoshop Hall of Fame by the National Association of Photoshop Professionals.
The combination of her passion for photography, mastery of digital imaging techniques and her degree in psychology, makes her photographic and fine artwork familiar, yet surreal with inventive and mysterious worlds where things are not quite as they seem. Her work has been exhibited numerous times and featured on Behance.net, PetaPixel.com, thisiscolossal.com, photographyserved.com, and Photoshop.com.
Kost holds an AA in Fine Art Photography and a BS in Psychology.
Happy Independence Day! Fireworks lined my frying pan yesterday with a sizzle and a pop in anticipation of the holiday.
Everybody likes bacon.
Almost.
For those that don’t, you can leave the post now unless you want to follow along and see how you pull a still photograph from a video clip shot with the Lumix GX8.
4K video bacon frying (you can almost smell it MMMM)
Now this was not a commercial photo shoot. I just grabbed my camera while I was frying up some Smithfield Farms bacon so it was a handheld grab using 4K Photo Mode. The Photo Mode sets the video so you can pull still images from the video without the problem of ‘rolling shutter’. Rolling shutter is what would happen if you tried to pull a still from ‘normal’ video where you are trying to absolutely smooth video. Because the video capture is 4K, four times the size of HD video, it’s possible to pull an 8MP still frame. That’s good for a twenty-inch size print.
Bacon photograph
When choosing the above still frame I was able to step through the video one frame at a time deciding on the best grease bubbles formed from the heat as the bacon browned. I uploaded the MP4 video to Adobe Premiere Pro played the video until I was close to the image for which I was looking. Then I was able to quickly step through individual frames using the arrow keys. Once the frame is selected a simple push of the camera icon saves the image out as a still. Easy as that. You could also easily save the image out using the back of the camera but I prefer using the larger screen to make my decisions.
There are a number of Lumix cameras that have the 4K Photo Mode including the Lumix G7, GH4, LX100, FZ1000, and more.
If portraiture is your genre then showing people at their best is your work. That means you need to be very good at lighting the form to flatter, right? It means being great at photoshop and retouching is an important part of your work, correct? Having the right equipment and knowing the proper settings, that must be most important, right?
While all of the things listed above have merit and are part of the equation. I think if you have Mr. Newton’s quote in mind as the main part of the job then you are probably doing pretty well.
“My job as a portrait photographer is to seduce, amuse and entertain.” – Helmut Newton
I’ve found in the past that if I don’t connect with my subject the final portrait is usually less than stellar. It was when I found this quote from Helmut that I found the words for what my true job is as a portrait photographer. Sometimes just having the words makes all the difference in a career.
I find that it can be interesting to find out about the lives of those photographers that have come before and inspire. Helmut led a VERY interesting life. Born in Berlin, and forced out of Germany to Australia, then spending time in Paris, London, Monte Carlo, and in the United States iPasadenana, California.
Check out some imagery* from Newton. He made some very powerful portraits. While don’t suggest that your images move in the sexually charged direction that much of Newton’s work entailed, you can learn a lot for his lighting patterns and the connection he made with his subjects, You know that people are comfortable in front of his lens.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
* Caution: If you are offended by the human form, AKA nudity, you won’t want to follow this link.
We talk of lighting on a regular basis as photographers. I wish to reinforce the suggestion I have heard over the years that we study cinematic films to learn and see lighting scenarios and patterns. This lighting magic happens with people moving through scenes not just still images.
Marco Polo Poster – Netflix
If you are a PPA member and participate in imaging competition you know how difficult it can be to create a single Merit Image. And even more difficult to have an image selected for the PPA Loan Collection. I challenge you to watch this series and see how many Merit images appear during each episode. Go one step further and decide based on composition and lighting how many images are created during each episode that would be judged into the PPA Loan Collection. It is a fabulous exercise in moving your imagery to the next level.
If you would like to take this study to the next level you can turn the sound off and pay close attention to just the visual information coming your way. View and absorb. See if you can figure out how the lighting effects were achieved. Take some note. Gather ideas.
Let me know how you make out.
Have any suggestions for other films to study? Sare them here,
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
* There is nudity and some sexual content in this production
Earth Day Photography – Landscape Photography Magazine
Landscape Photography Magazine put out a call to photography artists to create an image of sunrise on Earth Day of this year. The image I created was accepted into the curated collection gathered from that day. Here is my entry as it appears in the Landscape Photography Magazine Earth day PDF. Download your copy for free & get a 60% off deal on a new subscription. If you are a landscape photographer I know you’ll love this. (disclosure: I am not an affiliate of LPM magazine. Just think they do a great job!)
Earth Day Photo – Capture Lumix FZ1000 25-400mm f2.8-4.0 @f8 Multiple Exposures ISO 800
Text from image follows below
“I was traveling and thought I’d miss out on the sunrise opportunity. Arrived at the airport gate and saw this east facing view. Major problems to overcome were minimizing the reflections on the thick plate glass & taming the wide density range of the scene. Used my arm to block as many of the reflections as possible and removed a few of the larger reflections in post-production. I captured a 7 stop exposure and processed 6 images in Aurora HDR *. Managed to hold the camera steady by bracing against the window frame. Timed the shot to capture the movement of the luggage cart.”
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
*Until July 5th there is a Fireworks Bundle available from MacPhun
Special Bundle price: $99 – Over $300 in Savings
Creative Kit 2016 – 6 Powerful photography apps
Creating Powerful Photos of Fireworks – Video Training from PhotoFocus
8 Intensify presets and 3 Noiseless Presets created especially for fireworks images
PhotoBulk app by Eltima Software – Resize photos and add watermarks
Uplet app by Eltima Software – Upload photos from your Mac to Instagram
Who doesn’t like photographing fireworks? It’s a blast if you’ll excuse the expression.
Ever been disappointed when you returned from session photographing the incendiary display? (I have in the past) Part of the problem is fireworks contains lots of challenges for the photographer and if you don’t study up previous to your shoot on proper techniques you set yourself up for failure.
Even if you’ve had success in the past it’s wise to review because we don’t get very many opportunities to practice.
This is a composite I put together for fun. (first fireworks image I could put my hands on to illustrate this post)
This was imaged during a trip to Chicago. The skyline was to the left and the fireworks were to the right from my vantage point. I took a bit of creative license with this.
SHOOTING FIREWORKS – CREATIVE KIT PROMOTION
Available: Now through July 5
Key Features:
Special Bundle price: $99 – Over $300 in Savings
Creative Kit 2016 – 6 Powerful photography apps
Creating Powerful Photos of Fireworks – Video Training from PhotoFocus
8 Intensify presets and 3 Noiseless Presets created especially for fireworks images
PhotoBulk app by Eltima Software – Resize photos and add watermarks
Uplet app by Eltima Software – Post photos from your Mac to Instagram
Lumix LX100. Built on a solid magnesium body with all necessary controls on the exterior of the body with machined knurled knobs or solid switches. Fast f1.7-2.8, 24-75mm, Leica DC zoom lens. While this camera is only 12.8 MP, it has 4K video and Photo Mode which enables printing of images pulled from still frames. Features are coming out the wazoo of this camera including several ways to capture HDR images, bracket your aspect ratio, bracket white balance, 11 frames per second burst rate, and more.
Here’s an image I created from a three-stop bracket of the red rocks. The frames were processed in Aurora HDR software from MacPhun.
Red Rocks of Sedona, Arizona – High Dynamic Range (HDR) Photo
Here’s the three stop bracket. Images Straight Out of Camera (SOOC) Middle exposure was 1/160th sec f8 ISO 200 34mm (FF equivalent 75mm)
I’m liking the Aurora HDR software as it has LOTS of controls for processing the image without having the ‘HDR halos’ and other problems I always associated with using software to process multiple exposures. There are many presets for getting into the ballpark of the image you would like to create. You can still go HDR crazy if you want to push it that way. It’s up to you.
Aurora HDR software window. There are many more controls available by scrolling the right-hand panel. There are also a plethora of presets with the ability to create and save more of your own.
I feel we are living in a time of unlimited creativity. Between the new camera capabilities and software options imaging is moving into a whole new world. Yes, it’s easier for the average person to obtain a correctly exposed image. But, for those of us who have been working photographers for a long time, we can leverage that knowledge and push the tools to give us more possibilities for creating images with solid depth and dimension.
For photographers that are looking for a new and improved HDR photo editing experience, MacPhun is offering a very special competitive upgrade price, and some very special bonuses when they switch to Aurora HDR Pro from their current software.
Key Features:
*Special Competitive upgrade price: $79.99 $20 Savings
Exclusive live webinar with Trey Ratcliff
20 Minute Deep Dive Aurora HDR tutorial with Trey
Jeff Carlson HDR ebook
A collection of full resolution textures from Flypaper textures
How to HDR video training with Matt Suess
*competitive upgrade pricing requires screenshot of their existing HDR app to qualify, qualifying competitive upgrade apps include but are not limited to: Photomatix, Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, HDR Efex Pro, and many more
One of the original, and leader of French Romantic painters, Eugene Delacroix was quite the prolific artist. That may be an understatement.
That may be an understatement.
I recommend you take a few minutes and head over to the Wikipedia page and view the gallery images there. Be aware that the gallery is only a small sampling of his work. Then poke around the web for more.
“Bob, why should I be studying this painter’s work? I’m a photographer!” The simple answer is that photography is rooted in art. Composition, color, ad the assembly of subject matter is all part of both arts. Delacroix was a master at the use of color and its effects upon a scene and how it interacted with his subjects.
The simple answer is that photography is rooted in art. Composition, color, and the assembly of subject matter is all part of both arts. Delacroix was a master at the use of color and its effects upon a scene and how it interacted with his subjects.
I believe the study of his work, and other artist’s paintings, can inform your work and move it to a new level.
“The artist who aims at perfection in everything achieves it in nothing.” Eugene Delacroix
At the very least we can take Delacroix’s words to heart as in the quote above. These words can pertain to the art we create as well as in our marketing and business. I know of many photographers who spend so much time trying to reach perfection on a piece of art, or a business campaign for that matter, that they hardly ever show their work or move on to the next business idea. They frustrate themselves and deprive the world of their creations.
I remember being in art class as a high school student tearing up art, that according to my instructor Henri Yost, was perfectly wonderful. Had I taken some time away from the work and not felt the need to be ‘perfect’ I might have shared some fine work.
Self Portrait – Eugene Delacroix 1867
Note the color harmony and the sometimes bold, sometimes subtle, brush strokes. The sharper strokes and lines attract more attention, the softer brush strokes work as supporting characters. This kind of study has led me to sharpen parts of my photo images selectively to help lead the viewers attention where I want her/his eye to go.
What other lessons can be gleaned from study of the master artists that came before us??
For infrared conversion of my cameras I use LifePixel. Infrared allows you to put an older camera to use and opens up a new time time of day for productive image creation.
Learn Photoshop in a fun environment. Aaron Nace applies the right amount of fun with easy to understand and follow tutorials. Actions and brushes are included with lessons!
Best embroidery ever. Give Queensboro a try, get a $20 instant credit to get started by clicking on the logo! They specialize in great quality custom logo apparel and promotional products with the best customer service.
Platypod has become a great resource for being creative in getting your camera gear easily into unusual places. As an Platypod Pro I get to work/play with the gear even before it comes out. Head over to Platypod, subscribe to the newsletter and you will get special discounts reserved only for subscribers.
PPA.com/Advocacy
Understand Small Claims Relief for Visual Artists
Learn About the Action Plan
Join the Grassroots Action Team
Take Action!
