RichEskinPhoto.com: Nature, Fine Art and Conservation Photography

Quotes

“Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try.” -— Yoda

“If you are a photographer who works with life, then you have to put yourself into the territory where that imagery and your thoughts might coalesce, because you need the vital lesson that first key image provides. Not the first image, but the first key image, the one that unlocks the door. The one you stumble over. It might surprise you by coming in from left field, taking things in a completely different direction, but that’s the beauty of working with the world, with the moments that time hurls your way. It’s a collaborative dance between the artist and life itself, so embrace the partnership. Often the world’s complexity is far more interesting than your concepts. If you can have the humility to admit that, you’ll do well.” — Paul Graham

“I know when a body of work is finished when the charge drops, and the thing that pulled you along is no longer there. You can feel yourself lose your connection to the narrative. At this point, the story has been told and is now in danger of repeating itself. It’s about knowing when that time has come and having the courage to let it go.” — Sian Davey

Links
Photoessays/Bodies of Work
— Ecuadorian Photographers, Johis Alarcon For me, these images are a mixed bag: some are too cryptic or had to interpret, others quite good images of family and culture.
— Owen McCarter: Student film photo award

Post-Processing
— New quick actions in PS including blur background
— Automatic color correcton This could be helpful for your Thanksgiving photos that are too yellow from normal household lighting.
— Blake Rudis: Masking in Camera Raw vs Photoshop

Field and Studio
— Photographing horse jumping A bit more than I would like about the camera, but also good recommendations on positioning yourself, shutter speed, focal length and f/stop.

Miscellaneous
— John Sexton on Polaroid film
— Ted Forbes talks about film
— All you need to know about USB ports
— Stock photography certainly isn’t what it used to be, but can still be an opportunity to sell your images. This is an interesting presentation, with some real earnings numbers.

The pandemic has transformed many things in our lives from masking to traveling, to socializing. One of the more obvious physical changes is that many NY restaurants have created outdoor dining venues each in their own way. A few examples below:

Quotes

“You are not offering testimony to the existence of something, you are bringing something into existence—something that did not exist before, and that would not exist if it were not for you.” — Guy Tal

“Your perceived failure can become the catalyst for profound reinvention.” -– Conan O’Brien

“When someone tells me “no,” it doesn’t mean I can’t do it, it simply means I can’t do it with them.” -— Karen E. Quinones Miller”

Links
Photoessays/Bodies of Work
— When the sun meets the fog
— Magda Biernat I find the fathom images most interesting.
— Lydia Panas: Sleeping Beauty

Post-Processing
— Colin Smith shows how to use the new “colorize” neural filter in PS

Field and Studio
— Ted Forbes: On exposure
— Alistair Benn on Expressive photography

Miscellaneous
— The commercial images of Ansel Adams
— Sean Tucker: the amazing dog photography of Ben Burfitt

New York City, East River, early Thanksgiving day, 2021

The Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, NYC.

Quotes

“The more time you make for whatever you’re photographing, the more possibilities you have.” — David DuChemin

“The beauty is that through disappointment you can gain clarity, and with clarity comes conviction and true originality.” — Conan O’Brien

“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” -— Stephen King

Links

Post-Processing
— Colin Smith: advanced masks in Camera raw

Field and Studio
— Erez Marom: Originality in landscape photography Interesting discussion.
— Lindsay Adler: Create the look of sunlight in the studio
— Simon Baxter: Empathy and awareness of what is around you is the key to better images I think the important part starts around3:45
— Photographing from a car with a bean bag.

Miscellaneous
— 80,000 image timelapse of the sun over a month You may not want to watch the entire 45 minutes, but it is pretty cool.
— Richard Avedon: Darkness and Light Thanks to Steve D.

Quotes

“I crop for the benefit of the pictures. The world just does not fit conveniently into the format of a 35mm camera.” — W. Eugene Smith

“Inspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it.” — Madeleine L’Engle

“Do your thing and don’t care if they like it.” -– Tina Fey

Links
Photoessays/Bodies of Work
— Judith Joy Ross portraits
— Rashid Haq: Art & Science I found some of these images to be quite disturbing. You need to read the article to understand.
— Bremner Benedict: Hidden waters I don’t find the images particularly artful, but it is an interesting ecological story.
— Benjamin Dimmitt: Primitive Florida Excellent BW landscapes. Images are paired, showing the impact of climate change and environmental degradation.

Post-Processing
— Unmesh Dinda: New features in Photoshop 2022
— Unmesh: New depth blur filter in Ps

Field and Studio
— Sean Tucker: It’s not all about single images
— Nigel Danson: Better thoughts on composition Balance, Flow, Energy and Depth

Miscellaneous
— Development of digital photography
— But Beatiful – The photographs of Robert Adams

Sleeping out at Patterson Park.

Hollywood in New York: Health, Wellness and Pleasure

Quotes

“Discovering the truth about ourselves is a lifetime’s work, but it’s worth the effort.” — Fred Rogers

“You only struggle because you’re ready to grow but aren’t willing to let go.” -– Drew Gerald

“This is the same problem I have with digital photography. The potential is always remarkable. But the medium never settles. Each year there is a better camera to buy and new software to download. The user never has time to become comfortable with the tool. Consequently too much of the work is merely about the technology. . . For good work to develop the technology needs to become as stable and functional as a typewriter.” — Alec Soth

Links
Photoessays/Bodies of Work
— 1 year, 1 town, 1 lens German street photography and music; no text or speech.
— Stephanie Shih: Still life Not really into still life myself, but these are well done and I know someone out there will appreciate them.
— I think these are some of the most artful wildlife photos I have ever seen.
— Koo Bohnchang: Silent weapons Both an interesting project and consistently exceptional minimalist images.

Post-Processing
— Colin Smith: Photoshop update

Field and Studio
— Photographing mushrooms Thanks to Steve O.
— Newfoundland I really want to get up there when the pandemic is fully over
— Creating dreamy, ethereal light.
— Bayou Josh: American dipper and gorgeous Idaho scenery

Miscellaneous
— Photobooks

Fall in New England, near Shelburne Falls in northwestern Massachusetts.

Shellburne Falls on the Deerfield Rivere in W. Mass.

Quotes

“I would advise anyone who aspires to a writing career that before developing his talent he would be wise to develop a thick hide.” -— Harper Lee

“You must keep sending work out; you must never let a manuscript do nothing but eat its head off in a drawer. You send that work out again and again, while you’re working on another one. If you have talent, you will receive some measure of success — but only if you persist.” — Isaac Asimov

“By the time I was fourteen the nail in my wall would no longer support the weight of the rejection slips impaled upon it. I replaced the nail with a spike and went on writing.” — Stephen King

Links
Photoessays/Bodies of Work
-Haunting/scary images
-Walker Evans
-Han Sungpil Not sure why, but I found Sungpil’s images very interesting.
-Hwang Gyutae The first two images didn’t do much for me, but the street images, especially the girl with the noodles and the boy catching snow, were exceptional.

Post-Processing
-MattK: Photoshop update New selection tool to select “objects” with one click; new neural filters; select sky is now available in ACR in addition to LR & PS.
-Julianne Kost: New masking features in the LR update

Miscellaneous
-PS will get a “prepare as an NFT” option by November Possible source of income?
-Finding the better YouTube photography channels
-The real secrets about how professional photographers create great images
-The photo book as an art form

Second try. Last week I posted an image of this gas pump taken with a wide angle. This week I tried a telephoto. Still don’t think it is exactly right– but better. It seems to be leaning, which is very possible, but the walls of the structure are straight. Tried perspective control, but that messed up other parts of the image. Which do you prefer?

Dining Room of the Dancing Bear Inn. Both images used the Vintage 01 Adobe profile.

Quotes

“Art without content is like sex without intimacy: technically sufficient, but emotionally empty.” -– Judy Chicago

“You will either step forward into growth, or you will step backward into safety.” — Abraham Maslow

“I love my rejection slips. They show me I try.” -— Sylvia Plath

Links
Photoessays/Bodies of Work
-Hannah Kozak: He threw the last punch too hard Tragic story

Field/Studio
-Searching for the British red squirrel Good example of photo project. Also some good views of British countryside. Interesting note that if you put down whole nuts the squirrels immediately leave to cache them, but if you leave pieces, they stay and eat them and you have more time for pictures.

Miscellany
-The first of a multi-part article on building a photo-editing PC Eventually you will need to replace your current computer. This will help you understand what factors may be important, even if you don’t want to build your own computer, if photo-editing is something you spend time on.
-Alec Soth reviews two books in an ongoing series on “Pictures and Words” Soth does a really good job on these and shows the images very effectively; his reviews always go back to basic photographic philosophy
-Sean Tucker: Get small and tell the truth

Saw this old timey gas pump; liked the blue against the red.

Mohawk Trail in a light rain.

The Flower Bridge, Shelburne Falls, MA

Quotes

“The herculean task of a photographer is to capture a momentary frame as beautiful in reality, as it would be in a dream.” -– Ansel Adams

“A creator needs only one enthusiast to justify him.” -– Man Ray

“Great art is if you can’t stop thinking about it, then it becomes a memory.” -– Damien Hirst

Links
Photoessays/Bodies of Work
– Interesting photoessay on the Inuit peoples
– Sharing indigenous culture through photography
– If you go all the plants will die I included this, in part, because it is reminiscent of my current book project on “Senescence.”

Post-processing
– MattK: Getting the best fall colors

Field/Studio
– Tom Heaton: How does the scene look three months later?
– Great bird shots with amusing dialog
– Simon Baxter: Photography with one man and his dog Simon has a great eye for woodland compositions and his images seem to come from a fantasy time. It is also fun to watch Meg.

Miscellany
– BW street photography award winners For my camera club friends who participate in competitions, I suggest you view the work of Australian Sam Ferris who took 2nd place. Camera club judges would almost certainly throw his work out as being too busy and with blocked up shadows. But it is great work if you approach it from an artistic rather than technical point of view. If a judge doesn’t like your submission, remember it is only one person’s opinion.
– Daido Moriyama on vision and motivation, context and information
– Street photography tips

Hibiscus and Coneflower from my “n progress book “Senescence.”

Quotes

“Novice photographers . . . who react to a photograph with ‘I would have done it differently’ miss the chance to learn from this more useful question: ‘I wonder why that much more seasoned photographer made that particular choice?'” — David DuChemin

“He captures light by painting its slow diminishment…” — Linda Pastan

“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

Links
Photoessays/Bodies of Work
– Albarran Cabrera Interesting images done with alternative techniques.

Post-processing

– Photographic toning with gradient maps
– Adobe is adding masking to Camera Raw and Lightroom in an October 26 upgrade

Field/Studio
– Ted Forbes: Composition
– Shooting black and white from Moscow to Beijing
– Seascapes and the importance of shutter speed Also a bit about the “Giant’s Causeway;” fabulous seascapes.

Miscellany
– Comedy wildlife photo awards Make time for this one just because it’s fun.
– Eve Arnold, Berenice Abbott and Robert Adams
– The very beginning of photography Really well done, and explains the egos, financial stakes and convergence of methods.
– Two landscape photographers who transport their viewers with their images

Joe Pye Weed. Pollinators love it.

Quotes

“We all have different gifts, so we all have different ways of saying to the world who we are.” — Fred Rogers

“. . . being an artist means you’ll always be a little insecure and a little unsure because you don’t know where you’re going a lot of the time — every act of creation is new.” — Etal Adnan

“They thought I was a surrealist, but I wasn’t. I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality.” -– Frida Kahlo

Links
Photoessays/Bodies of Work
– Vanishing Cuba
– Osamu James Nakagawa: the Cycle of Life

Post-processing
– More ways to crop than you probably know

Field/Studio
– Tom Heaton: Fog, mist and inspiration in the Lake Country
– Nature photography

Images from the Charles Steet Promenade this Saturday

It isn’t everyday that you can stand in the middle of Charles St. to take a picture.

The weather was very pleasant, but a seat in the shade while waiting for friends was also very nice.

There was some great music.

A geat day to see the sights of Mount Vernon.

After a while your feet could get tired and it was nice to just sit and watch.

To keep us all safe, some areas were off limits to cars.

A great day in Baltimore with some friends.

Quotes

“The worst enemy to creativity is self doubt.” — Sylvia Plath

“In art as in love, instinct is enough.” — Anatole France

“The imitator dooms himself to hopeless mediocrity.” — The Divinity College Address, Ralph Waldo Emerson

Links
Photoessays/Bodies of Work
– Lora Webb Nichols worked in the first part of the 20th Century in Encampment, Wyoming documenting small town/frontier life in a mining community as part of that community. Interesting work.
– New York City in the rain
– Gorgeous Pt-Pd portraits in the context of preserving indigenous cultures
– Philadelphia’s Eastern State Penitentiary
– Portraits of farmers

Post-processing
– All about curves Curves are one of the most powerful tools for image editing and can be used to control overall luminosity, contrast and color, and with masks you have local control of those aspects of your image.

Miscellany
– About Lenses: Visual Signature
– Customizing your signature, watermark or a font in PS
– NFTs (Non-fungible Tokens)
– Nikon’s Small World Competition These images are always incredible.

Stopped by Patterson Park on Sunday morning. I had never been there so I thought to check it out. I hadn’t realized what a huge park it is. It seemed like half the dogs in Baltimore were being walked. Any way, I saw this soccer game in progress and gave it try. I liked the symmetry of the legs on this one and call it “soccer two step.”

Amateur soccer at Patterson Park, Baltimore.

Poised for the kick. Light was awful at 9:45 AM on a bright sunny day. Unfortunately the second player from the left over lapped the kicker, but I liked the kicker’s pose.

Quotes

“You find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it.” -– Winnie the Pooh, “The House at Pooh Corner” (A.A. Milne)

“Originality thrives in seclusion, free of outside influences beating upon us to cripple the creative mind. Be alone — that is the secret of invention: be alone, that is when ideas are born.” -– Nikola Tesla

“… procrastination is simply fear of failure in disguise.” — Anon.

Links
Photoessays/Bodies of Work
– Quinn A very interesting project approach
– Fisherwomen Another interesting, multi-faceted study with deep preparation. I particularly liked the hand portraits.
– Someone’s daughter About women in the criminal justice system.
– Ellen Jantzen: Midwest Dreaming Interesting images and use of color
– Judith Joy Ross: Portrait photographer

Post-processing
– Simplify time blending with the Lighten blend mode
– Creating a powerful highlight mask

Field/Studio
– Protest photography

Miscellany
– The Life Work of George Tice
– Empathy in documentary photography As usual, Sean Tucker has a thoughtful topic to make you think.

Morning in Washington Square Park, NY

Quotes

“Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.” — Mary Oliver

Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving. -– Terry Pratchett

“The things that make me different are the things that make me me.” –- Piglet’s song, You’re the One and Only One, “Welcome to Pooh Corner” (A.A. Milne)

Links
Photoessays/Bodies of Work
– Ana Casas Broda

Post-processing
– Simple way to remove halos and selection fringes in PS
– Cropping in PS
– Separating tone and color for LUTS for better control.
– 21 New features of PS in 21 minutes
– Add light with the reflected gradient

Field/Studio
– 3 tips for long-exposure photography
– Finding images in the forest in the summer

Miscellany
– Stephen King on writing Much of this also applies to photography
– How to finish a body of work

Two Clematis flowers in their final stages from a book I am working on called “Senescence.”

Clematis

Quotes

“I would look at those images and think of the possibilities. “What would it take to make photographs like that?”, I wondered.” — David DuChemin

“A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you, the less you know.” -– Diane Arbus

“Originality is neither a matter of inventiveness nor method, it is the essence of personality.” -– Edward Hopper

Links
Photoessays/Bodies of Work
– A photograph a day
– Another Western Interesting historical perspective.
– Michelle Moy Interesting use of color
– Ukraine Interesting take on street vs documentary photogaphy.

Post-processing
– Recompose any image in PS using content aware fill

Field/Studio
– Understanding “Visual weight” can help to create more compelling compositions
– Motion blur photography

Miscellany
– How photography became art

Leopard frog. This handsome prince confronted me on a trail at Gunpowder State Park/Masemore Rd. We parted amically.

Bleeding hearts from the backyard.