Clouds Aflame With Color

Stepping out my front door this past Friday evening to take our dog for a walk, I was dazzled by an incredible view of the sky. Pushing the confused dog back into the house, I grabbed my camera to capture the truly awesome combination of clouds and color. Like most people who own a camera I have taken my share of sunset pictures, typically shot up north, standing on a sandy beach as the sun drops below the horizon across Lake Michigan. It is God's handiwork at its finest. Then the prints come back and hmmm, it just ain't the same as being there. Many photographers try, but few succeed in capturing an awe inspiring sunset. Last weeks unusual cloud formation lit by bonfire-like color was very possibly the finest sunset I have ever witnessed. Does the photo do it justice? Probably not, but among my own sunset pictures this one stands as a favorite - and the sun isn't even in it!

For an explanation of this peculiar cloud formation and more outstanding photos check out Jonathan Schechter's Earth's Almanac blog http://earthsalmanac.blogspot.com/

Reservations No More

Art supplies ???

In my previous post I wrote about an insightful comment made by Anthony Bourdain regarding photography. Part of my original observation was how Bourdain as a chef was probably not a visual person. I quickly deleted that foolish statement when I realized that being a chef there is a very good chance he is a visual person. After all, part of being a chef is the need to make food visually appealing - right? You see when I was growing up my mother was a housewife who spent a good portion of her day cooking. The kids came home from school, Dad came home from work, and we sat down at the table and consumed the dinner she had prepared. Mom was a good cook, I enjoyed pretty much everything she made but I never thought much about the process of cooking. Even into adulthood my wife did most of the food prep and I held up my end by eating everything put in front of me. And then things changed. I became a regular viewer of the Food Network. I discovered cooking types like Alton Brown and Guy Fieri, guys I could identify with, more importantly I discovered that cooking could be a creative endeavor just like drawing, writing or photography. And an important component was making food look appealing- the whole visual thing that has been such a big part of my life. After years of blissful ignorance I have seen the light- with the right ingredients and proper technique it is possible to make an artistic statement with a frying pan.

No Reservations

In the introduction to his book No Reservations, Anthony Bourdain makes a very interesting statement about photography. If you didn't already know, Bourdain is a chef, author and world traveller. In recent years he has hosted the Travel Channel series No Reservations and the book is a companion piece to the show. During their travels, members of the TV crew shoot still photos in addition to video footage. It is these photos that make up much of the books content. When watching the show, I have always been impressed by the camera work, especially in the set-up shots leading into each segment. These shots help give the viewer a sense of time and place - no host in the scene, little or no dialogue - just a quick, usually impressive, view of the scenery. In regards to the photos Bourdain states in the intro, "Sometimes the truth about things reveals itself only when we look back at the photographs." What a great observation and what an acknowledgment of the importance photography can play in your life.

Ireland was the destination for my one and only adventure as a world traveller. My wife and I have a number of photos from that trip around our house, and I often find myself looking at this shot of downtown Killarney. It never fails to take me back to that Sunday evening walking downtown, every fourth or fifth building a pub, doors open, music and conversation spilling out. The truth revealed? It was a magic moment, in a warm friendly town, captured forever in a photo, a place I would love to return to for its simpler style of living.

What's The Angle?

Angles and lines, either man made or natural, can be a good source for interesting imagery. The photo above was taken where the Clinton River passes under Avon Road near Livernois in Rochester Hills. Initially, the vertical lines and their reflection in the river grabbed my attention. Then I noticed the even more interesting shapes on the left created by the cast shadow of the roadway above. In particular, I like the triangular shapes meeting at a point a third of the way in from the left edge. The relatively muted colors help the image by not distracting the eye from the angles and lines I wished to emphasize. At some point I plan on converting the photo to black and white which may increase the impact of the shapes even more.

From A Different Point Of View

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, your camera does not see things in quite the same way that your eyes do. Our brains do a nice job of
editing out visual distractions and zeroing in on specifics when we look at the world around us. Your camera on the other hand is much more objective. Case in point - the top image above - the flowers poking through the wrought iron garden ornament looked pretty good to my eye and I took a picture. You can see the birds beak has been lost against a dark area of the background - something my eye hadn't picked up on. Changing my perspective slightly placed the main elements of the wire bird over a contrasting, lighter area per the second photo. Voila, the bird regained his beak. It only goes to show, you can't always trust your eyes. There may be times when your camera, in its objectivity, will see things just a bit differently.

Crop It?

Typically, when I photograph something I allow myself a little bit of extra room around my subject just in case I decide later to crop the image to improve the overall composition - the photo on the left is a good example. While wandering about downtown Rochester, I spotted this ivy covered wall and took my shot. When I reviewed the image on my computer I found the pathway edge at the bottom of the image a bit distracting. A fix was easy enough to make however. In Photoshop, I cropped in to eliminate the path and to make the window slightly larger and more dominant. While I had the file open I also darkened the image for more saturated color in both the ivy and the brickwork above the window. The shot on the right has a bit more pop to it and all it took was a couple of minor tweaks. The great thing about working digitally is that both images have been saved and I can always go back to my original and re-work it again if I choose.

Photo VS Video

You will have to excuse me if I slip into curmudgeon mode here but I find myself annoyed by the current advertising from camera manufacturers touting the video capabilities of their respective DSLR cameras. Maybe I am being overly sensitive, but I think that by hyping the video option they diminish the impact still photography can have. I really don't buy the idea that a video sequence is more effective than a still photo freezing a single action. One of the great charms of photography is capturing action at it's peak - forever preserving a split second in time. People sitting together sharing photos, discussing what the image means to each of them seems like time better spent than sitting passively watching a video flow by on a monitor. Between computers, TV and video games, we already spend way too much time staring at screens. I realize companies want to sell the latest hardware, and adding more bells and whistles to their cameras may help them to reach that goal. Me, I'm a purist, I'll take still photography over videography every time.

Wandering Aimlessly

This shot of an old barber pole was taken while wandering through downtown Rochester. The red of the pole, faded to a near pink color, is repeated in the flowers and the house next door.

"Get out of the car!" This piece of advice was shared by the instructor of a photography class in answer to the question of what might help someone become a better photographer. In the coming weeks I plan on following this sound advice and will post photos taken while "wandering aimlessly". For me, wandering is best done early on a weekend morning, either on foot or on bicycle. Both options allow for stopping and observing, and hopefully capturing interesting images. Wandering can be done on a city street or on a wooded path, in summer warmth or through the snow of winter. Go when and where you will feel most inspired for picture taking. It can be time well spent learning to get the most out of your camera, as well as training your eye for composition. If nothing else, wandering aimlessly can be your chance to get out of the car and view the world from a different perspective.