civilized ku # 623 ~ A MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT
Thursday, August 12, 2010 at 03:15PM 
On the way to get a cup a coffee ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggenAs has been noted quite a number of times,The Landscapist is not a blog for the gearheads nor the technophiles of the picture world. That is not about to change, but ....
....Thanks to a comment on civilized ku # 607 ~ too hot to handle from Mark Meyer (Mark M's treatment of color in his work ain't too shabby either), who stated ...
The treatment of color in your work is exceptional.
... I got to thinkin' that, with a lifetime of experience under my belt, re: making and printing color pictures, it's really a bit of a waste that I haven't made any real effort to pass that knowledge and experience on to very many picture makers. To be certain, when asked, I always gladly provide whatever help and information is called for. Over the past few years here on The Landscapist I been in receipt of many behind-the-scenes emails requesting info on various picture making aspects and have tried to respond to all of them.
That said, I am launching a new (but limited) feature here on The Landscapist -
Once or twice a week, I will field and answer a question or two about the technical aspects of picturing making/processing/printing.
That said, I have little interest in discussing gear. What I would like to encourage are discussions about how a picture was made from the exposure and processing point of view - the very thing that makes the treatment of color in my work exceptional.
One of the best criticisms I ever received about my pictures is that they don't look as if much processing work, AKA - RAW Developer and Photoshop, was performed on them. The comment was NOT meant as a compliment but, in fact, I took as such because I want my pictures to look natural and not all processed to hell and back again.
To that end, I use a wide variety of picture making and processing techniques - blended exposures (manual, not auto or HDR), local contrast and color adjustment, WB adjustments, layer blending, local hue and saturation adjustments, to name just a few.
The truth is, it takes a lot of processing to make a picture look natural and my reason for wanting my pictures to look natural was best stated by Robert Adams:
...only pictures that look as if they had been easily made can convincingly suggest that beauty is commonplace.
So, pick a picture, any picture about which you have a question or two - especially one that might relate to your own picturing making - and then ask away.
Reader Comments (3)
OK, here goes. No particular picture, but one aspect of your work that appeals to me is that the color has density, a density that makes things look like real things. Without underexposing or darkening pictures you achieve this density. I like that and it's part of my own work - when working in color I prefer a certain density, or weight, to the image, perhaps along the lines of a high contrast, slightly dark B&W picture. Though I'm not sure "density" is the right word. How do you achieve that in your work?
You also appear to be keenly aware of light and play it to your advantage. I suppose that may play into the color work too.
Do you find Photoshop essential? Along the way I lost my serial numbers and basically let my copies of Photoshop "expire," but I have been reconsidering it. (I hope that Photoshop does not count as gear!)
Mark, this is a major announcement indeed!
You mentioned a few weeks back that you were writing an article on how you conceived & postprocessed a particular image (was it the beer glass and drinking straw one?). Is this article still in the pipeline?
I notice that your images generally have a certain "look" to them. Some of it's obvious: square frame, dark border, edge blur, SLR (and now 4/3rds) image quality. But there's also a certain tone / palette to the colour. How much of this comes during composition time vs postprocess time?
Your comment "it takes a lot of processing to make a picture look natural" intrigues me. I have my own [albeit] small toolkit of editing techniques (the latest being dodge and burn) but I can see you work at another level.
I presume you have a certain image workflow (from conception to printing). Perhaps you can outline this workflow then provide details as / when you desire (or people ask).
[I know these questions are more technically orientated, but it's a simpler place to start.]
This announcement IS good news. I'm staying tuned...