Mesa Rise, Canyonlands

I’m in Moab Utah for another 5 days leading the Spring in Arches Photo Workshop. So far it’s been a fantastic experience for me, with a great group of passionate photographers. We’re visiting Arches, Canyonlands, Dead Horse State Park, and a special  canyon in the area with beautiful running creek. Days are long, starting at 4:30am and we’re not in bed until 10pm, but the inspiration and magic of the area keeps us going.

I’ll be sharing more photos from students and stories in the coming weeks…

Canyon Tree

Canon 1DS Mk III, 1/50 sec @f/8, ISO 200, 153mm

“I do not invent the picture, on the contrary, I find it already there in nature; I just have to free it” – Vincent Van Gogh

"Dangerous Eyes" - ©Peter Geller Photography

Fellow photographer, student, and friend Peter Geller has a show this month at RiverWinds gallery in my hometown of Beacon, NY. Peter photographs many different subjects, but his wildlife images are particularly striking and look great in print. I had a chance to stop by the gallery this week and check out his latest work. It’s always great to see local photographers that I know personally and have also had the privilege of having as students getting their work out there and seen by others. As I and many others have said so many times, a large part of becoming successful is showing up, and Peter is doing exactly that with both his enthusiasm for wildlife and his presentation.

If you’re in town, be sure to stop by the gallery and check it out.

The May 2012 Free Desktop Wallpaper is now available for download. Spring is here, and I love to find small landscapes in nature that create their own perspective and feel, and help convey what it felt like to experience a particular moment.

As always, come closer to nature in Acadia National Park, Maine.

1920 x 1200
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Instructions:

First determine your screen size. Your Current Resolution Is:

Then click on the link for the correct size. When the image opens in a new browser window, right click on the image and select “Set as Wallpaper” (on a Mac, select “Use Image as Desktop Picture”).

In this episode of the Beyond the Lens Video Podcast, I review a couple of products I really like and use regularly. The GuraGear Kiboko 22L+ backpack, which is my go to bag for most of my outings, and some quick release adapters from Xume which really simplify the whole hassle of adding and removing circular filters on your lenses. Check out the in-depth reviews and field tests in the video – thanks for watching!

A week after I recorded this episode, GuraGear sent me a letter stating that they were recalling some Kiboko 22L’s due to some quality issues with the stitching of the shoulder straps. Although I had never noticed any problems, my bag was affected and they sent me a brand new replacement bag free of charge. A big thank you to GuraGear for great service and support!

“Hudson Valley Trail, New York”

In landscape photography we often discuss the many different ingredients that go into making a successful image. Things like composition, color, mood, light, and of course subject. And while these are all essential parts, the aspect I think is underestimated and not talked about enough is the relationships between these elements.

• How does the subject interact with the rest of the composition? Is the main “character” easily defined? Imagine a movie where you couldn’t tell who the main character was, or a song that did not have a recognizable melody. How quickly would you lose interest?

• How does the color influence the balance and design of the image? Saturated color is great, but only when a harmonious relationship exists with some other part of the composition, otherwise it loses its ability to convey a strong message other than “here’s a lot of color”.

• Are the tonalities balanced in a way that leads the eye in a meaningful way? Light is a powerful force in our search for evocative landscapes, but are you controlling the light through careful composition, and removing what may be distracting?

These questions are all based on relationships and how we use them in landscape photography. I’ll be covering these ideas in-depth in an upcoming article, but for now think about these concepts the next time you are out with your camera. Even simple things like using a longer focal length can have a dramatic impact on your ability to create stronger relationships. Avoid the temptation to capture it all, and use 70, 80, or even a 100mm focal length to narrow down your field of view and work with basic shapes, lines, and color. This will help you recognize relationships much easier, and your images will gain clarity because of it.

“We photograph something for two reasons: for what it is, and for what else it is.” – Minor White

Photo: Bill Urbin, National Park Service

This weekend I gave the keynote presentation at the Community Photo Workshop program at the Roosevelt-Vanderbilt Historic Site in Hyde Park, NY, part of the National Park Service. While I forgot to announce it here, I did mention it on my Facebook page and also via the last newsletter, so apologies to those who did not know about it. Life can get rather busy at times as I’m sure you can all understand. You can subscribe here for future announcements and updates.
My slideshow presentation, “Beauty Within – The Journey of Landscape Photography” is one that I have given many times in the past, though I continually tweak and refine it as I learn and grow as a photographer and human being. It basically summarizes my philosophy and approach to why I do what I do, and how this  has driven my creative life since I can remember.

Seeking beauty in nature, having a singular passion for subject and light, and focusing on mastering the language of photography in order to tell a story that resonates and imparts as much emotion as possible with the viewer; these are many of the things that keep me inspired year after year. They also keep me up late at night with thoughts of failure. These are lofty goals for sure, yet we progress and move along our chosen path moment by moment and image by image. If you ask yourself why you’re taking a picture each time you press the shutter, you will gain confidence and clarity, and discover the real possibility that you can develop a unique vision, even when it seems like the most impossible thing to do. I know, as I too struggle with the questions, challenges, and failures that are inevitable when you push yourself outside the comfort zone.

“Do one thing everyday that scares you” – Elanor Roosevelt

I’m also keenly aware of the potential influence I can have on others, and this motivates me to make a difference, and challenge others in a positive way. Inspiring someone to see the world with a different perspective is a feeling I really can’t describe, and regardless of whether I have actually done this or not is irrelevant, what is important for me is the awareness that this is what matters. All of this may seem rather idealistic, as I have thought many times, yet when someone comes up to me after a talk and tells me I have inspired them, or given them a new perspective, or simply made them feel better about their photography. that is quite powerful and real in my mind.

I continue to be influenced and inspired by so many great photographers and artists, past and present, so it is with much honesty and humbleness that I begin all of my talks with the statement that I am nothing more than a passionate student. And for me, there is no greater teacher than nature and its infinite subtlety, beauty, and ability to inspire us to reach for something greater than ourselves.

“When the student is ready,the master appears.” – Zen Saying

Annapolis River Marsh, Nova Scotia

“A great photographer’s power is the product of light and composition. This might be called the photographer’s voice. Repeating the composition of another, even if the light is different, pointlessly repeats what has already been ‘said’. It is mere mimicry. Photographer’s should strive for their own voice, strive to say something genuinely different about the place in their own way.” – David Ward

Choosing the right paper for your prints can be overwhelming these days given all of the choices available, and especially critical with large print sizes. Recently I had to make 17 large prints for two corporate customers, NYU Langone Medical Center in NYC, and Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville, a suburb of NYC. I strive to provide the best possible product and experience for all of my customers, (which for me means going way beyond what is expected, and choosing the best materials and tools available) so I thought I would share some info on my paper choices and printing workflow. For my large format printing, I’m using my workhorse Canon iPF8100 printer which is still going strong after 3 years of regular use. I replaced one of the print heads 4 months ago, and Canon replaced a faulty circuit board last year under warranty. Other than that, it has worked great and ink usage is extremely good. meaning it is very efficient.

I printed mostly out of Lightroom 4, and a few images were printed out of Photoshop CS5. This was because a small number of images were captured on an older camera with less resolution, so I used Alien Skin Blowup 3 to enlarge them, and it was just easier to print out of Photoshop at that point. I used custom ICC profiles for all papers which I create using my X-Rite i1 Photo Pro spectrophotometer.

"Mt Beacon Light" - 40" x 60" Canson Platine

The 40″ x 60″ print above was printed on Canson Platine Fiber Rag 310. Why did I choose Platine? Simple, I love the texture, dmax and detail. Dmax is a measure of the deepest black tone a printer/ink/paper combination can reproduce, and this is important for both shadow definition and contrast. For this particular image my goal was to preserve shadow depth and create as much contrast as possible to really make the sunlight jump off the paper. I also wanted to maintain as much detail as possible, which is a key part of the image, and again Platine really does a great job of conveying that detail to the viewer. Platine also has a very nice texture which adds just a bit of depth and dimension to an otherwise flat print.

Proper camera technique really helps with making a print this large from a 35mm camera – low ISO, tripod, mirror lockup, optimal f stop and focal length for the lens, and optimal post processing. So camera settings are: ISO 200, f/8 @1/60th sec, 24mm. (That’s my iPhone with the same image for a size reference

"Nature Patterns" - 37" x 54" Canson Rag Photographique 310

"Autumn's Play" - 40" x 60" Canson Rag Photographique

20" x 60" Panoramas - Canson Rag Photographique

All of the above prints were made on Canson Rag Photographique 310, another favorite paper of mine but for different reasons. In this case I chose Rag Photographique for its beautiful matte finish and very smooth texture. I wanted more of a watercolor look, which really brings out the colors and creates more of a painterly effect, which I think helps convey the feel of the images as I originally conceived them. Of course dmax is still very important, and while not as high as Platine, Rag Photographique still delivers very nice blacks and rich contrast. The key of course is very careful soft-proofing and testing using small proofs to make sure the image is optimized for the paper. This is where the latest Lightroom 4 really helps with its ability to not only soft-proof, but also create print specific files for each paper you use. All of these prints were adjusted slightly for the paper, and this is really critical to maximizing your prints.

Above is the new soft-proofing feature in Lightroom 4 where you can preview the original image on the left and the adjusted “soft-proof” virtual copy on the right. Lightroom even renames the virtual copy with the name of the paper profile so you know which paper this proof is meant for – very cool. The adjustments I make to the virtual copy are only for printing, the original remains unchanged, and no need to create additional files on my hard drive – it is all generated from one RAW file.

Once the prints are permanently installed,  I’ll post photos of the installations once I get a chance to visit the locations. Stay tuned for some upcoming video tutorials on paper selection and soft-proofing in Lightroom 4.