RichEskinPhoto.com: Nature, Fine Art and Conservation Photography

Quotes

“Optimism is a perfectly legitimate response to failure.” — Stephen King

“Am I good enough? Yes, I am.” -— Michelle Obama

“Your life is already a miracle of chance waiting for you to shape its destiny.” -— Toni Morrison

Links
Photoessays/Bodies of Work
— Sarah Hadley: Story lines
— Vibrant Green: Drone photography in Poland
— Through the eyes of Ukrainian refugees
— War Diary: From a basement in Kyiv This one is powerful.

Post-Processing
— Sean Tucker: Shaping the light in your portraits

Field and Studio
— Street photography tips
— Marc Koegel: BW Landscapes Marc uses a monochrome medium format camera, and the images are striking. He also has an interesting approach and philosophy about his photography.

Miscellaneous
— A photo book: Lost and found
— Denis Brihat: An ecologist before his time.
— City anonymity I don’t generally like out of focus or blurry images, but these work with concept.

For the next few weeks I am going to try something new. I will present some images that I thought at the time I took them, that I saw something special, but looking back, I ended up not capturing it effectively.

For the first image of cypress trees taken in 2018 at the newly established Congaree National Park in South Carolina, I was trying to capture the depth, density and mystery of the cypress trees, so I set my f-stop at f/2.8 on a 70-200 mm lens at 150 mm focal length thinking that the out of focus foreground would give that impression. Instead, now I find it is just distracting. I think I would have a better image if I either (1) set the f-stop to f/11 or higher and increased my ISO OR (2) did a stacked focus set so that everything was in focus. What do you think?

For this picture of a small house snuggled at the base of a huge live oak, I think the basic premise was good. It is uncommon to see a scene like this. One thing that could have been better is to come back at a different time of day. The bright sky and highlights of the branches could have been diminished earlier or later. A polarizer might have helped as well. The cropped BW is I think an improvement on the color image because it removes the worst of the excessive highlights. The image was made with a 24-120 at 24 mm, f/4.5, 1/100 sec, ISO 125. I wonder if the image would have been improved with a wider angle lens (I have a 14 mm) that would have let me get closer and still include the whole tree, while diminishing the bright foreground. What do you think?

Quotes

“I photograph everything that surprises me. If nothing surprises me, I photograph nothing. It’s still a surprise when I go back to my negatives.” — Graciela Iturbide

“I took the pictures in this book so that nostalgia could never color my past. I wanted to make a record of my life that nobody could revise: not a safe, clean version, but instead, an account of what things really looked like and felt like and smelled like. I don’t think I could, at this age and in this body now, live the life that I lived then. It took a certain level of fearlessness, a wildness, quick changes—of clothes, of friends, of lovers, of cities.

Photography has been redemptive for me, it’s helped me chart my descents and my reconstruction. ” — Nan Goldin on her book “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency”

Links
Photoessays/Bodies of Work
— How Ukrainian photographers are covering the war
— Children of Togo
— Graciela Iturbide: Photography is a living matter

Post-Processing
— MattK reviews tips and tricks with layers
— Piximperfect: Removing jpg artifacts quickly and easily

Field and Studio
— Alister Benn talks about shooting in flat light and how to process afterward. Scottish coast during stormy weather.
— Street photography tips
— Monochrome landscapes

Miscellaneous
— Rowland Scherman: The day Bob Dylan became Bob Dylan
— Ted Forbes talks about layering in constructing your compositions

This is probably my favorite image of the whole trip. I was standing hip deep in snow as I took it. Shade from the hillside and the trees maintained the snow until late May. I feel like I got the shutter speed exactly right to blur the moving water, but not turn it into milk.

Stehekin is a small community and each spring they held a pot-luck community picnic, and I was invited. It was a beautiful day and everyone was having a good time. . .

When tragedy struck. A float plane, bringing five people back to Stehekin for the picnic, over-turned in Lake Chelan. The Stehekin school superintendent and a doctor did not survive.
These two articles provide more details.

Two of the five people on board died. Apparently the wheels were down which should not happen for a water landing. I felt so bad for the community that what began as such a positive, happy day ended with sadness and loss.

My residency was almost over and I had to get back for my son’s graduation, so I left 3 days later.

Quotes

“But the bottom line is that if we don’t define ourselves and our desires, someone else will. . . . the biggest issue with my type of work (or really any photography) is consent. If the most erotic explicit imagery is done with joy and consent, it’s a lot less objectifying than, say, Winogrand stealing images of women on the street without their consent.” — Renee Jacobs

“You must be imaginative, strong-hearted. You must try things that may not work, and you must not let anyone define your limits because of where you come from. Your only limit is your soul.” — Auguste Gusteau, “Ratatouille”

“A hunch is creativity trying to tell you something.” — Frank Capra

Links
Photoessays/Bodies of Work
— Arthur Drooker: Light on the land
— Exhibition: Pairs and Diptychs Lots of images, many very well-done. Interesting idea for a project.
— John Bernhard: Diptych Another in the Lenscratch diptych series. Some of these are very interesting pairings–a few I don’t get.
— Roger Kasparian: The birth of the swingin’ 60s
— Queens of country life Portraits of French “peasants” all born in the first half of the last century. Interesting series.
— Renee Jacobs: Sensual and provocative images in Paris Note: This article has nudity.

Field and Studio
— Tom Heaton: Photographing in the White Desert of Egypt Never heard of this place.

Miscellaneous
— Evan Benally Atwood: Native American views on gender
— Ted Forbes talks about inspiration
— Sean Tucker: Finding your visual voice

The story of the North Cascades residency continues. I tried several times to climb part way up Rainbow Falls to get a better view of the upper part of the falls. It was May and the snow melt really made for a very strong flow. It was also too steep and there was too much spray on the camera and the lens to get a better image. This was the best image from the foot of the falls. Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to get back a week later to see if the flow was still strong, but somewhat milder.

Rainbow Falls.

One of things I liked best about the residency was finding natural things, flower, fungi, bears, birds that I never seen before. These mission bells were new to me. As I printed images, I would post 5 x 7s in the visitors center.

I was proud of myself for getting this image from the Lakeshore Trail that included the flowers in the foreground as the sun came up over the mountains behind me to light the mountains of the opposite shore.

Quotes

“I am not a documentarian; I make photographs that reflect an experience, perhaps a mood or an impression. I don’t presume to photograph the ‘spirit of a place’ (if such a thing exists) as much as I hope to photograph my encounter of it.” — David DuChemin in “Savannah”

“We want to go down the paths our idols walked down, but the thing that we forget is that they didn’t walk down paths, because those paths weren’t there yet. They created them.” — Hank Green, author

“When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life.” -— Jean Shinoda Bolen, psychiatrist

Links
Photoessays/Bodies of Work
— Gloria Baker Feinstein: A search for beauty and serenity
— Gregory Crewson: Post-industrial America
— James Van Der Zee: A portrait of Harlem
— Debe Arlook: Surrealistic landscapes

Field and Studio
— Cool water drop images
— Negative space in landscape photography
— Know when to press the shutter to capture the decisive moment

Miscellaneous
— Bayou Josh muses on whether it is the picture or the story
— What gear to take and how to get it on the plane

If you remain interested in the story of my North Cascades residency, a contemporaneous diary and imagery is available at my old blogspot blog. The newest posts are at the top, so you have to scroll down and then scroll up to keep the time sequence.

The kitchen in the Imus cabin was certainly not fancy, but was entirely functional and pleasant.

Kitchen in Imus cabin.

On a day-to-day basis the landscape was fairly dramatic.

North Cascades Artist-In-Residence

There was an old log school house that was maintained, but no longer used.

Old Stehekin school.

Quotes

“The formula for doing a good job in photography is to think like a poet.” — Imogen Cunningham

“I don’t want no drummer. I set the tempo.” -– Bessie Smith

“No teacher, preacher, parent, friend
Or wise man can decide
What’s right for you — just listen to
The voice that speaks inside.” — Shel Silverstein “The Voice” from “Falling Up”

Links
Photoessays/Bodies of Work
— Sun City
— Turkish “drifters” This is about a group of young men who drive to show off.
— Arlene Gottfried I was equivocal about including this link, but the story is interesting.
— NY Street life 1982

Post-Processing
— Sean Tucker: Enhancing eyes in your portraits

Field and Studio
— Learning to do street photography
— Bayou Josh just got a new camera for bird photography (Quite)a bit tongue-in-cheek, but some very good bird photography

Miscellaneous
— Eve Arnold
— Simon Baxter: Look back to find inspiration and creativity
— India

Continuing the tale of my artist residency in the North Cascades from last week: I was assigned to the Imus Cabin. I have no idea who Imus was, but I had his cabin all to myself. This is the glorious view from the front porch.

View from Imus cabin.

North Cascades Artist-In-Residence

Quotes

“You don’t start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it’s good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That’s why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence.” -— Octavia E. Butler

“Imagination is a force that can actually manifest a reality. Don’t put limitations on yourself. Others will do that for you.” — James Cameron

“Creativity is an energy. It’s a precious energy, and it’s something to be protected. A lot of people take for granted that they’re a creative person, but I know from experience, feeling it in myself, it is a magic; it is an energy. And it can’t be taken for granted.” -— Ava DuVernay

Links
Photoessays/Bodies of Work
— Architecture of North Korea
— Robert Cumming: Playfully pushing the boundaries of image and narrative

Post-Processing
— Better hair selection
— Sean Tucker: Natural skin editing for portraits

Field and Studio
— Lindsay Adler: Creative white balance and tint to enhance your images
— Macro subjects for winter

Miscellaneous
— Changes in lens design will follow use of mirrorless cameras
— Duane Michals and his father Very interesting. Actually written by Duane Michals, with photographs and Michals’ captions.
— Convergence of writing and photography A topic currently of particular interest to me.
— Blake Rudis: Artistic vision The first 7:30 has some good discussion. Then he talks about an upcoming free, three-part seminar on the topic. I almost didn’t include this link because of the ad, but Blake is pretty good and the seminar is free.

Our feathered friends are having a difficult time. This past summer there was disease going around that caused many bird deaths with eye infections and other problems. People have their yards sprayed with insecticide if they even think they saw a mosquito, damaging not only the insect populatons, but decreasing food sources for birds as well. Continuing loss of habitat and climate change also are a burden on bird populations. When snow covers the ground and makes seeds harder to find, we should do what we can, like stocking bird feeders, to help maintain bird populations.

Nuthatch

Female goldfinch, winter plumage.

Red-bellied woodpecker

Quotes

“There is no such thing as rule-governed creativity.” — Frank Herbert

“Everyone looks at what I am looking at, but no one sees what I see.” — Félicité Lamennais (From Cole Thompson’s newsletter)

“I think doing something creative is the most important thing to me, and I think it’s probably just good for the soul for anyone, whatever it is … I think everyone needs to create something.” -— Ricky Gervais

Links
Photoessays/Bodies of Work
— Pittsburgh
— Underwater photography

Post-Processing
— Jesus Remirez: An hour on blending modes

Field and Studio
— Tom Heaton: Scottish shoreline but Tom also discusses some subtlties of composition and his mistakes.
— Get lucky with your photography

Miscellaneous
— 7 tips on improving your photography
— Robert Mapplethorpe
— Why should photographers buy photo books?

My New Year’s Resolution: Do a much better job of keywording and titling my images.

As the snow melts, thinking of Sherwood Garden tulips in the spring.

Great egret (randomly chosen image from 2021).

Reminder: Check that the date in your camera has updated to 2022, and if you didn’t do it in the fall, check that you are on the correct daylight savings time.

Quotes

“I want to kick-start your imagination and let you discover the places it can take you.” — Terry Brooks

“A hunch is creativity trying to tell you something.” -— Frank Capra

“That’s the way I work: I try to imagine what I would like to see.” -— Sofia Coppola

Links
Photoessays/Bodies of Work
— Julie Hamel: Altered negatives I haven’t seen anything like this before. To me it seems reminiscent of a combination of pinhole camera, photogram and collage.
— Sara Cuce: Memory of the eyes Somewhat surreal representation of what it feels like to be “in between.”

Field and Studio
— Making the best use of shadows
— Understanding the histogram to get perfect exposures.
— Simon Baxter: Interpreting the scene At the beginning of the video I appreciate the way he discusses composing the image. Also an example of “hair ice” a very unusual occurrence.
— Lindsay Adler vs Dani Diamond : Artificial vs natural light

Miscellaneous
— Tom Heaton: How many good images should you get in year?
— Paul Miguel: My best nature images of the year

“I’m not just seeing the world differently; I’m seeing myself differently. I’m seeing new possibilities. If that’s what you need in 2022, I wish that for you as well. Maybe it’s time to shake things up. Maybe it’s time to create a body of work that’s different from anything you’ve done before. To be a different kind of photographer than the one you’ve become so comfortable with. Maybe the way to make more photographs in 2022, if your options have to remain limited due to the pandemic, is to make different photographs. I have a feeling it is for me.” — David DuChemin

This might be a good time to look back over the images you have taken during 2021 to ask yourself if you are satisfied, and if not, what you could do differently in 2022.

— Alistair Benn talks about great landscape photography using the work of Galen Rowell and Marc Adamus as a source
— Richard Benson at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Quotes

“Recently, photogrpahy has become almost as widely practiced an amusement as sex and dancing–which means that, like every mass art form, photography is not practiced by most people as an art. It is mainly a social rite, a defense against anxiety, and a tool of power.” — Susan Sontag in “On Photography” [I add personally, that if you accept this premise, it has been greatly magnified by cell phone photography since the book was written in 1973.]

“Success is sometimes the outcome of a whole string of failures.” — Vincent van Gogh

“I’ve tended to use my imagination to confront reality, rather than escape it.” -— Michael Moorcock

Links

Post-Processing
— Exporting, file settings and sizing Followup to a link from last week.
— Color matching when compositing
— Adding shine to jewelry

Field and Studio
— Taking street photos at night
— Getting better sunrise images

Miscellaneous
— Hiro (Yasuhiro Wakabayashi) died this past August A protege of Richard Avedon, he was the only photographer on contract to Harper’s Bazaar. He was known for elegant use of bold colors, unusual lighting and perspectives, and surprising juxtaposition of elements.
— Tonalism
— Photobooks
— Beginner’s guide to street photography etiquette

When I updated PHP for WordPress, I apparently lost access to the the gallery software used for my website (as opposed to my blog). However, I have just added a new project to Adobe’s “MyPortfolio” which comes free with Adobe’s photography package. So this week, instead of including a couple of images, I refer you to my “MyPortfolio” website, in particular the page for “Senescence” that I just posted.

Quotes

“First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you’re inspired or not. Habit will help you finish and polish your stories. Inspiration won’t. Habit is persistence in practice.” — Octavia E. Butler

“A person without imagination is like a teabag without hot water.” -— Alan Fletcher, acclaimed British graphic designer

“I like an empty wall because I can imagine what I like on it.” -— Georgia O’Keeffe

Links
Photoessays/Bodies of Work
— R.J. Kern: The Unchosen Ones Interesting concept, well-done.

Post-Processing
— Jim Welninski: Understanding the channel mixer This is pretty technical.
— Blake Rudis: Avoiding excessive saturation
— Sean Tucker: Choosing between Black & white and color

Field and Studio
— Alec Soth: A Pound of Pictures How Soth approaches a new project
— Paul Miguel: Solving some common autofocus problems
— What to do when visiting a new place to photograph wildlife

Miscellaneous
— Alec Soth analyzes “American Pictures” by Jacob Holdt Soth always does an amazing job of going deep into the book, the images and the underlying issues. Note there is some nudity.
— Sharing your photos: file formats, resolution and color space This article has lots of good basic information
— The cost of film isn’t going up as much as you might think Well-written article with general applicability

A little jazz goin’ down this summer at the Guiness Open Gate Festival.

An assortment of architectural styles on Charles St.