If you have followed my work for any length of time, you know that I enjoy moving my work into a more painting-based look. I have taken a term I heard from Julianne Kost and adopted it for my new business. “Lens Based Artist.” I have decided to start promoting my more art based images and have begun gallery representation and selling my work as art.
More on that in future posts. (things are starting to take off. YAY!)
Back to Blackwater images and the post-processing. Here are a few photos of which I have played using the PhotoSynthesis process I have been working on over the years.
Geese in Flight. Love the wing positions and pattern of the birds in the sky.
I worked on this image on the plane while en route back to Arizona from my speaking engagement in Maryland where the images were captured. My seatmate was fascinated by the process, and I talked him through my thinking as I worked on the photo. There are several layers of multiple images blended using Adobe Photoshop’s blend Modes and masks. The geese in flight created their art with all the different wing positions. I was able to capture their flight using the **Lumix GH5 and the Leica 100-400mm lens. The reach of this lens with the stabilization in the camera are making captures such as this easier than ever.
Great Blue Heron on the shoreline.
After working on the piece and adding layers of textures, I pulled the image into Skylum’s Focus CK (part of the Creative Kit or available as a stand-alone) to add a bit of selective sharpness to the subject and vignette and slight blurring to the rest of the image. I use this tool in the Macro setting quite often. I could do the same thing directly in Photoshop, but it would take much more time and many more steps to accomplish the same thing. Plugins are very handy. I decide whether to purchase plugins based on how often I perform specific techniques. When I find the plugin saves me the time or makes it possible for me to do something I would not be able to accomplish otherwise, I buy.
I don’t think any of these images are ‘ready for prime time’ as yet. I think of them as sketches testing ideas and pointing to the direction I wish to go.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
** I’ll be using the Lumix G9 in the future for most of my wildlife shooting. Designed with the stills photographer in mind, it adds 6 1/2 stops of handholdabilty (GH5 has 5) along with a better grip and button design for still photographers.
Sedona on-air personality Tom Taback and Bob Coates (That’s me!) recording a program for later playback
Twenty minutes of conversation with Tom about photography, cameras, my recent travels teaching, and art. Tech Talk is on KAZM radio Wednesdays. I had the opportunity to share ideas about new technology in photography. Fun show! Listen now.
I was off teaching outside of Columbus, Ohio in Dublin this past weekend. These days when I travel for business, I try to schedule some time for doing some photography on either side of the event. Weather doesn’t always work out for the best as plans are made in advance! But you take what you can get.
I was planning on photographing the Columbus skyline from the bridge at night with the river reflection. There were recent floods which left the banks mud-stained, the wind was blowing about twenty mph and, the skies were less than desirable. Other than that it was excellent! ; )>
The nasty weather didn’t stop me from making a few images from the area. I got to the Main Street Bridge and did the best I could. I’m still testing the Lumix G9 and its 80MP capabilities, and it impresses me.
This is a panoramic crop from an 80MP file. After cropping, the photo is ~ ten inches by thirty-six inches at 300dpi. A file size I could print to approximately seventy inches wide with no problem.
Lens 12x60mm Leica f2.8-4.0
This is a tiny section of the skyline cropped to give you an idea of the detail.
I thought it might be fun to try and get the bridge in the foreground with the city in the background through the supports.
This was made using the 8mm f3.5 fisheye lens.
Crop section of moving car. The repetition is due to the multiple captures being made to create the 80MP file.
This image shows that capturing a moving subject during the exposure is not such a great idea. Or is it? I’m thinking about some creative possibilities in making a scene be devoid of people. Or just giving the hint of people in a scene. What about water photographed with a slow shutter speed?
I’ll be playing (er I mean working with) this large MP capture feature and let you know how it works out. If you’ve got any thoughts, ideas or examples of your testing, this feature, let me know.
Panasonic recently released the Lumix G9 as the stills flagship camera. Just received mine and I am exploring new features. Here is an exciting treat that will get you some serious megapixels. It’s called High-Resolution Mode. You can double or quadruple the 20 MP files size. That is correct. The G9 can serve up an eighty Megapixel file.
Below you’ll see my first test shot using the red rocks of Sedona. It doesn’t hurt to live in a place with some beautiful scenery. ; )>
Pictured below is Courthouse Butte in the Village of Oak Creek where the red rocks begin.
Above a RAW file straight out of the camera (SOOC) with no processing in Adobe Camera RAW. (ACR)
The image after a little massaging in ACR. Adjustment were made of highlights, shadows, blacks and whites, saturation and vibrance. All settings were changed sparingly, but that led to quite an excellent rendering of the scene.
Here is the final image after a trip into Luminar 2018 software for a little image enhancement. Settings were adjusted (gently) for clarity, saturation, contrast, highlights, shadows and polarizing filter.
I wasn’t sure how much of much of a difference there would be with the added megapixels. There was a huge difference. With that number of pixels to work with, there is a lot of ‘headroom’ when making adjustments. The base file opens with an approximately 235 MB. That is twenty-six by thirty-six-inch file at 300ppi native. And it looks gorgeous.
You might ask, “How is this possible, Bob?” Here’s how. The camera makes eight exposures while off-setting each capture by one-half pixel then uses that info to render the larger file. Of course, that can be a drawback. You won’t be photographing moving subjects with an 80 MP files size. But… I will be trying that. I see possibilties of artistic captures with moving water, trees in the wind, people moving, or disappearing, in a scene.
I’ll report back with my testing in future posts.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
Photographed with the Lumix G9 and the Leica12-60mm f2.8-4 lens
While in Maryland presenting some photography programs to MDPPA I found some extra time to go in search of wildlife. I had the pleasure of spending a couple of days with Chris Paulis as he took us to the wildlife refuge from Columbia a couple of hours away in Cambridge, Maryland.
You can check the first post where I shared some large avian creatures AKA the Great Blue Herons. Today I am going to show the world of ducks that we were able to find. There were lots of Northern Shovelers which show quite beautiful plumage. If you don’t know better, it’s relatively easy to mistake their feather patterns for Mallards. Since both were hanging around you can check out the similarities and the differences.
Onward to the duck photos!
These guys tended to stay right on the edge of being able to get beautiful photos. Male Northern Shoveler.
Both Chris and I were using Panasonic Lumix cameras, He had the Lumix G9, and I had the Lumix GH5. We both used the Lumix G Leica 100-400mm f4.5-6.3 lens. Having that reach at full extension (800mm 35mm FF equivalent) made it possible for us to capture many of the shots that would otherwise have been more humdrum. The five-axis image stabilization enabled hand holding even fully extended. It makes a huge difference in the tracking the ever-changing movement of our subjects.
The reflection of the sunset light on the water warms this photo of a male Mallard.
Male Mallard duck in flight.
If at all possible I try to capture images that include behavior. Taken just after leaving the water droplets fall helping to add more detail to the story.
This photo is one of my favorite images from the day. A couple of Northern Shoveler ducks take to the air.
It was a great day, so I probably have one or two more posts to share from our refuge adventure.
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.
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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!
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Geese in Flight. Love the wing positions and pattern of the birds in the sky.
Heron in Flight – All images are © Bob Coates Photography – All Rights Reserved
