Colorless

So it looks like the fall foliage season this year will be a bust. The trees in the area of the Delaware Water Gap are still green, but turning pale. The lack of rain this fall will make it hard for the colors to appear. In a way I am not disappointed. I am trying to make my compositions stronger, not simply including brilliant color for the sake of it.

Below is a recent image from the Gap, in an area I've frequented before. One particular stream seems to yield numerous possible compositions, some I've dismissed before but as I persist I discover them over time.

Drama

Try as I may not to, I sometimes find myself getting into a photographic rut. I fear this happening again as the fall foliage season approaches (it is very late this year, due to the warm weather). It is very easy to go out and find beautiful color all over the countryside. Simply snapping photos of this color can yield many "pretty pictures", but making "pretty pictures" is just not enough. In fact when I hear the word "pretty" spoken during the shows I attend I cringe. When people see my photos simply as "pretty" then I think I have under-achieved. Anyone can create pretty pictures, but I want my portfolio to ultimately contain something a little deeper.

So in the limited time I typically have available to make images, I am more and more likely to try to think outside the "pretty" box. Maybe create a little drama. Try something a little different. In the image below I purposely grabbed my camera while heading out to work one morning, seeing the skies begin to clear from a few days of much-needed rain. I drove over to a local park and managed to catch a little drama in the skies. The image may need some more work but I am very happy to have created something that will elicit more than just the word "pretty".

What Was I Thinking

I'm starting a series of posts to delve a little deeper into particular images that I think could be somewhat instructional. I want to go through my thought process during the image-making process. Maybe this series will help you a bit in your own photographic endeavors.



I was walking in a local park this past weekend, trying to get inspired for the coming fall foliage season. I can across a tree with these very unique and interesting seed pods. It was an overcast day, with the fog slowly dissipating (which is normally a great time for nature photography) but I was concerned about the following things:
- Lighting
- Sharpness
- Background

Even before addressing these concerns I must say that these pods were mostly at or above eye level, so I would have had a very hard time setting up the camera to get a quality shot. So I immediately searched out a sample that I could remove from the tree and shoot elsewhere. I found a small branch with a series of pods, and with the last pod already open exposing the seeds.

I initially looked for a place that I could position the branch in the nice diffused light, but have a dark background, possibly a shady area below another tree. There was no wind, so that was helpful. But I couldn't really find a good place where I could secure the branch and setup my camera to make the shot.

So I decided to take the branch home and work with it there. I set it up so it angled down slightly. The background was some dark cloth, and I lit it with a large softbox. I used a good quality 50mm lens to achieve a very sharp image. I made sure the pod branch was parallel to the image plane.

I made a series of images and under such controlled conditions it was not long before I had an image I really liked. I still have the branch in case I want to try different lighting (such as back-light) or different backgrounds. But I am quite please with my first attempt.

Getting Started

As I mentioned in a previous post there are always a few people at shows that mention that they have a bunch of photographs that they might like to try to sell someday. The startup process can be very trying and very expensive if done right (it can also be done inexpensively if done right). And even if you've done a pretty good job preparing for your first show you may not see immediate results for a while. I have talked to a few first-time artists at shows that did very poorly (I must admit I also did very poorly in some of my early shows).

I don't want to list the steps getting into the art show circuit (maybe later), but I do want to list the risks and other issues that must be at least considered before starting.
- Is your work desirable to the masses? (you may have very unique, high-quality work, but if many people are mot willing to buy then you will have a difficult road)
- Do you have a substantial body of work? (10 good photos may not be enough - 20-40 would be better).
- Is your technique or style uncomplicated? (non-traditional techniques can be confusing to buyers)
- How is the current market for art? (it has been getting softer for a few years now)
- Are you willing to wait a year or two before showing a profit?
- Is your work high-quality (e.g. uncluttered, eye-catching, properly exposed and printed, etc.)
- Do you think you have identified good shows to start out with? (don't be afraid to ask other artists)

Some of these issues become less important if you are specifically targeting a high-end niche market (which I personally am not). But for many people looking to start at local art fairs these issues are very relevant.

Advice: Simplicity

Over the course of a show I get into many conversations with customers and non-customers alike. Many of these conversations are with other photographers, usually amateurs. Sometimes the discussions goes toward what it would take for someone to get starting in the art show business. Many people have a lot of potentially very good images sitting in storage, and they think about what it would take to take advantage of them and begin selling them. I give what advice I can.

During one particular conversation one woman acknowledged what I think is one of the most important aspect of image-making that many beginners pay very little, if any, attention to. And that is: Reducing Clutter (RC). Simplifying an image almost always makes it more powerful. This not only refers to framing or cropping to eliminate unwanted objects on the edges of the image, but also to the background. A bland or out-of-focus background, when appropriate, immediately puts more focus on the main subject. It can be a real challenge to achieve this. Often it takes longer lenses, careful camera positioning, manual removal of unwanted objects, and so on. The extra effort is almost always worth it.

Doylestown Show

I just completed a two-day show in Doylestown, Pa. This is a very nice show in a nice area. Today there was a bike race going right through town, and although it created traffic frustration for many (including myself) it did add a bit of excitement for a few hours today.

I met a lot of friendly people, and although I (again) got tired of hearing "Is this digital?" I also was able to connect with many people and even learn a few things along the way. I sometimes learn details about subjects I have previously photographed. As many of us do I often make photographs without really knowing much about the subject. It's helpful to learn a little history or new details about something I have enjoyed photographing.

I would say I am off to a good start show-wise for this fall. My next show is in Yardley at the end of September for Harvest Day. This is a very popular outdoor event and I hope to see some of you out there. How's this for a challenge: The first person to greet me and say you've read this blog I'll give you a special gift.

Prepping for the Fall

I am all set to attend six shows this fall:
- Doylestown (Pa)
- Yardley (Pa)
- Chestnut Hill (Pa)
- Moorestown (NJ)
- Charles Boehm middle school (Yardley, Pa)
- Archbishop Wood HS (warminster, Pa)

You can see the details at my Show Schedule page.

There's only a few weeks left before the first show, and one of those weeks will be spent in Florida with my family. I am busy making handmade frames for these shows - I am very satisfied with how they are coming out. It is time consuming to make them, but I greatly enjoy it and it is even more satisfying to see how well they come out and how my work looks in them. It will be a great improvement over the thinner wood frames I was using previously.

I think this is a nice collection of fall shows. If you do come by my space at one of these shows please let me know you've been at my website/blog - it's nice to know this online effort is worth it.

Black Eyed Susan and Daylilies

It is the middle of summer - actually more towards the end of summer - and the predominant color is ... green. But in the area near where I live there are a few types of flowers that most commonly break up the monotony. These are the daylilies and black-eyed susan. They are everywhere in fact. The daylilies are so common it boggles my mind that people pay good money to have their flower beds look so much like their neighbors.

I guess there are advantages to these apparently robust flowers. They probably don't need much water, which is a real plus in the hot, dry summers we often get. But photographically they become much too common - it can be very hard to be original with them. I do try though, and I think the image below is composed well enough to use these flowers in a setting that simply says "summer".

Tradeoffs and Compromise

Every time I go out to photograph, even for a causual shoot at local locations, I am quickly reminded that to make high-quality photographs (and by high-quality in this discussion I mean sharp, well exposed images) I often have to make compromises. Low noise with low ISO, or quicker shutter speed (and possibly a sharper image) with a higher ISO, along with its higher noise. If I catch myself without proper stabilization, such as a tripod or monopod, and the light is marginal, then I begin making judgement calls. Other factors that come into play are aperture, lens quality at certain range of use, subject matter (moving or stationary), and others.

Photography has many dimensions, and one is this mental process the photographer must go through to evaluate all of the factors that are present, some in his control and some not. A solid working knowledge of one's equipment is critical to being able to make judgement calls that just cannot wait. E.g. a deer that won't hang around much longer, sunlight that is beoming stronger by the second, water disturbance that is making its way towards your subject, and so on. This working knowledge allows one to anticipate what actions could be taken, what settings should be set, what buttons to push and dials to turn, all without spending critical seconds thinking about them.

On a slightly related note this morning I found myself out in the same sunny conditions that have been hanging around for a week or two now. I know that most of my favorite images have been made in diffused light, so I was not crazy about the lighting, but since I have only a few hours a week (if that) to photograph I often have to take what I can get. I was happy to have been able to use fast shutter speed and low ISO, and the images are very sharp as a result, but I was also slightly disppointed by the results because of the full sun, albeit low morning sun.

Critters

Every photographer has a different gameplan. Some spend their whole life photographing a narrow range of subject matter or possibly in a narrow style of processing. Some photographers work through projects - they choose a theme to photograph (a subject or style) over a period of time and devote themselves to that theme.

Some photographers are like myself. Often we go out without a clue what we are going to photograph. Of course during certain times of the year (e.g. the fall) or for certain trips the work is going to fall into a narrow range by default. But often we just grab our camera (usually in the morning or evening when the light will be agreeable) and go out to our favorite spots and start looking. True, there may be a lot of luck involved, but this method also requires a keen eye. Without a pre-determined subject or theme in mind we have to be open to any and all possibilities.

In the past I have not photographed many animals - I spent a lot of time working on scenics. But lately, for whatever reason, I have made quite a number of images of animals big and small (deer, frogs, moths, etc.) There is not a lot of color (besides green) in the summer, so I have been exploring other avenues to keep my technique sharp.

The image below is a recent product of that exploration. It took a little while for me to get the shot I was looking for, and I thank the frog for his patience.