still life # 14 ~ it is what it is

Mason jar with water and flowers • click to embiggenI feel somewhat compelled to explain more fully my feeling about light. That is to say, just light, not "the light".

As I have stated many times, I don't chase the light. If a special / notable / spectacular light - AKA, "the light" - comes my way, I may (or not) make a picture in which "the light" has a prominent and/or featured role. Whether I make a picture or not is most often dependent upon being in the vicinity of an interesting subject which "the light" is illuminating.

That said, light, in and of itself, is one the key ingredients with which we all make pictures. In that sense, light is not unlike a piece of necessary equipment - like a camera, lens, tripod, etc. - that is part of the picture maker's kit. Like your gear, you don't leave home without it.

That said, light is, quite obviously, an obvious visual component in the pictures we make. Bright light, dim light, contrasty (hard) light, flat (soft) light, warm light, cool light, directional (side, front, back) light, mixed light sources - they all help determine both the look and the feel of our pictures. And, to that end, George Eastman was right on the money when he stated - Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light.

If one knows light, one can use it to achieve very specific results when the picture making objective demands it.

Case in point, Mason jar with water and flowers - Part of my objective in making the picture was to accurately portray the primarily muted / faded / soft colors of the decaying flowers. That quality of the subject is what initially caught my eye / attention and is what caused me to want to picture it. However, I also wanted the subject's texture to be part of the visual equation as well.

In order to achieve those results, I used a soft directional (side) light. To create the soft light I was looking for I could have used one of my lightbanks together with my studio strobe lighting equipment. Or, I could have used the artist's classic natural north light - the soft indirect light that comes through a north-facing window. The picturing results, using either light source, would be remarkably similar.

All of that said, for most of my picturing endeavors in which I am merely trying to picture what I see, the light is just light. Therefore, with my picturing objective of picturing what I see firmly planted in my head, the light that I see is always "perfect" for my picturing needs.

civilized ku # 607 ~ too hot to handle

Counter debri • click to embiggen
Counter debri processing steps • click to embiggenAs is always the case, it's too hot for me too handle here in South Jersey. That said, the phrase "too hot" in entry title above refers not to the weather but the color red on the twist tie in the accompanying picture.

A few days ago, The Cinemascapist and I were conversing about the fact that he was unable to obtain, neither in RAW conversion nor in PS processing, the orange-ish red of the after-storm clouds he had pictured. The discussion centered around the fact that neither color film nor digital sensors can capture anywhere near the full color spectrum that the human eye can see.

In a best case scenario, one might be able to come close to obtaining it by judicious after-picturing processing, that is, as long as it can be displayed on your color monitor - which, itself, can not display the the full human-eye spectrum.

Now, I mention this because, on my way to South Jersey, I spent 2 days and a night in NYC which included a trip to the candy store, AKA - B&H Photo. I needed to order some printing supplies and begin looking for a new monitor since mine - a 8-9 year old Apple Cinema display - is starting to show on-screen visible signs of giving up the ghost.

Naturally, I inquired about a replacement Apple Cinema display, whereupon I was informed that I had been using a piece-of-shit display for the past 8-9 years. Damn, I wish I had known that because, all the while that I was processing and printing really nice pictures, I never knew that the Apple display was a piece of junk.

This got me to thinking - if my display was a piece of shit, what's my printer - an Epson PRO 7800? After all, it's 1 0r 1.5 generations removed from the newest, best-est, and brightest Espon 7900?

To be absolutely certain, a new Lacie 324 will undoubtedly be able to display more and better color, contrast, and tonality than my current Apple Cinema display - just as the salesman pointed out. However, even given a new Epson 7900, I would not be able to print all of the colors nor the contrast that I can see on a Lacie 324 (most likely my choice for a replacement)- just as the salesman DID NOT point out.

Thanks to my decades of experience, I was able to jam-up the salesman on a number of his points. For example, he was quick to point out that one of the "problems" with the Apple Cinema display was the fact that it is way too saturated a display for critical color work, which, as I pointed out, was why I turned on the PhotoShop desaturate-display-20% preference option. I could have done a major jam-up on the guy on many of his points, but I was in a kindly and generous mood so I let him prattle on, gearhead-style, for as long as I could stand it and then I moved on.

FYI, the 3 pictures above illustrate - from RAW conversion to first-step PS correction to final image - how the sensor in my camera and the proper WB RAW conversion of images made thereupon results in reds (and yellows) that are a bit too red and/or too yellow - depending upon, amongst other things, subject matter and light conditions.

BTW, one of the great things about making a still life picture like the one above is that I can make the picture, run to my computer, process the image, and then go back to the still life scene and check for color variances.

You should try it some time. The results might surprise you.

civilized ku # 524 ~ see title below ...

Basil and blood • click to embiggenIf I were given over to accompanying my pictures with dotty camera-club titles - you know the type, Spring Dance, Emerald Flow, Layers of Time, Electric Rocks, Aspen Affection, The Eternal Battle, et al - I would have to title this picture something like Basil Leaf Tragedy # 1.

Please, if the mood strikes, feel free to contribute any other titles that seem to be apt.

still life # 13 ~ slice of life

Sunflower and gourds • click to embiggenSo I've been screwing around, photography-wise, for a couple of weeks now with my new 25mm f2.8 lens. In fact, it hasn't been off of my camera since I got it.

Considering that 90% or more of my picturing over the past 2-3 years has been done with a 11-22mm lens, I have had no trouble at all "seeing" with a much reduced field of view. Picturing with a normal-ish lens is what I did in my 8×10 view camera days and that MO seems to have come back to me somewhat intuitively.

My only dis-satisfaction with the lens is that I would like even more narrow DOF than its 2.8 aperture creates. Sigma makes a 24mm f1.8 lens that would probably deliver the look I am striving for .... although, I'll be perfectly honest - I'm not exactly certain what it is that I want to accomplish with this narrow DOF stuff.

I think it has something to do with "mystery".

serendipity

Milano North ~ Lake Placid, NY • click to embiggenTuesday was our anniversary and neither the wife nor I actually remembered until late in the day - the wife on her way home from dinner with the girls.

Early yesterday afternoon, the Cinemascapist called to ask if I wanted to do a food shoot later that afternoon for one of his freelance clients (for which he would pay me out of his fees). I said, "sure", and that was that.

He called a little later to say that he had told the client that I would be doing the shoot and that client said, "OK", and that a dinner and drinks for me and the wife was his treat. That sounded great because I wasn't going to let the Cinemascapist pay me out of his pocket and I could use the offer to fulfill my anniversary obligations at some point in the near future.

As I was preparing to leave for the shoot, the wife called to say that she was on her way home early from a nearby meeting and to give me time to get any strumpets out of the house before she arrived. Long story short, she accompanied me to the shoot and we had a lovely anniversary dinner.

FYI, the accompanying pictures are not what we had for dinner - they are the pictures I made for the restaurant for use on a regional dining guide cover.

still life # 12 ~ even more gourds

More gourds • click to embiggen

still life # 11 ~ simple and direct

More signs and colors of Autumn • click to embiggenIn response to yesterday's still life # 10 entry Anil Rao commented:

... in most still life photographs that I have come across, the backgrounds are very bright or very dark, and seamless, with little to no detail and the emphasis lies on the main elements that make up the composition ... [A]s a result, no matter how beautiful the subject, how perfect/suitable the light and how creative the setup, I cannot bring myself to get over the sterile studio like environment that these photographs remind me of. Still life paintings, on the other hand, often show very natural settings (like the interior of a real home for example) which allows me to really enjoy the work ...

my response: When it comes to still life pictures, I swing both ways photography-wise. As is evidenced by my decay series, I like to include "natural settings" in my still life pictures when the intent of the picture(s) calls for it. On the other hand, my emerging gourds pictures - wherein I want to illustrate the natural beauty of the gourds and just the gourds - a plain draw-no-attention-to-itself background and soft all-enveloping light seem best suited to the intent at hand.

FYI, I am not suggesting that this is the only way to do the deed. It's just the way that I see it.

still life # 10 ~ making the light

Signs and colors of Autumn • click to embiggenI have mentioned my desire to paint gourds and I intend to pursue it (at least that's the plan) but the entire endeavor is given pause by the fact that I wonder if anyone can "paint" a gourd better than nature itself?

That said, there are times when still life picturing casts quite a spell over me. As I believe I have mentioned previously, the idea of making arrangements is quite appealing to me. In addition to that aspect of making still life pictures, the idea of "making" the light is also a somewhat heady challenge.

Back in my commercial picturing heyday, I was considered as a go-to guy when a subject needed to be bathed in a "perfect" light. The range of subjects was nearly limitless - things / products, faces - both "glam" and "real", food, were just a few of the things that I was called upon to picture with "perfect" light.

Dependent upon the "thing" to be pictured and the feeling that was intended to be conveyed y the picture, there was quite a range of lighting techniques that could be applied. I always loved the challenge of getting it "right" and that is a big part of what I like about still life picturing.