Defining Photography

I love taking photographs of just about anything... But what about after the picture has been taken? Is that all there is to photography? Read on for more...

Defining Photography

Edited on 3/13/2009 at 8:55pm

I love taking photographs of just about anything. I'll take pictures of stray clouds wafting by, an old barn in a field, an animal doing something interesting (or not), people doing interesting things(or, again, not doing interesting things), etc. I enjoy taking lots of shots of bolts and nails and ordinary things, but I also enjoy taking shots of things you just don't see everyday. Sometimes a picture I took starts off as ordinary, and then transforms into the extraordinary by the time it gets uploaded.

But what about after the picture has been taken? Is that all there is to photography? Some would say that all we should do is take the picture - and do nothing more - no post-processing, no nothing - to do so is to alter - to violate - the original image. Somehow the post-processed image is less than the original. Others, however, post-process like crazy - rendering some truly mind-blowing scenes, while others try to aim for what their own eye thought it saw.

I suppose I'm planted firmly in the latter camp. Rarely does a photo make it online or in my portfolio without some sort of work. Occasionally an image is perfect out of the camera, but when it isn't - or, when I want to evoke a mood or emotion, then I resort to post-processing.

Bench with a View

Some of the post-processing work I do on a photograph is similar to what one would have done in a darkroom - adjusting, tweaking, etc., to get the result as close to the way my eyes saw a scene. For example, the blue out of the camera may not be quite blue enough, or the contrast may be off, etc. These kinds of tweaks are really just that - they do not alter the result in any significant way, except to render it as I, the photographer, saw it.

Distant Clouds

However, another type of post-processing I do is to significantly alter the image from reality. This might entail converting from color to black and white, significantly altering color balances and hues, removing items that may have actually been in the image (but were distracting), and, in extreme circumstances, totally creating a new image from the photograph that is barely comparable to the original. For example, the image above has been heavily post-processed. In reality the sky this day was bright blue, and the clouds soft and puffy - nothing as austere and contrasted as this image displays.

The first method I simply call "reality post-processing". It's just getting something to look as I remembered it. The second, though, I call "art". Photography records a moment in time, yes - but an artist can take that moment in time and further work it to create something new. Both are valid approaches to creating interesting images, in my opinion, and neither violates the original photograph.

Looking At You ("Reality Post-Processed")

Stones in a Field ("Art")

Perhaps I am, to some extent, wrong in this - perhaps I should call myself an artist instead of a photographer, but truth is - I am both - and sometimes I wish to render an image as it was, and sometimes I with to render it artistically.

Given that I post images I find interesting, I am not as beholden to a certain standard of post-processing as others - especially those in the photo-journalistic world. In that world one must be as faithful to the original scene as possible, but outside of that world, we are free to express images in any number of ways, both realistically and surrealistically.

Sunset at 50mm and Other Miscellany

Well, I finally ventured into Chicago to go to a photography store (Calumet) that I've always wanted to go check out ever since I bought my dSLR. Getting there and back in one piece was quite the adventure (miraculous, too!) but the trip was well worth it.

I ended up purchasing several items - a red leather bag by Jill-E, which is absolutely gorgeous, and has tons of space - and I also picked up the "nifty fifty" - the Canon 50mm f/1.8 II lens. I can't believe how tiny and light it is, but having no metal will do that to a lens. The focus ring is a sad thing; the older 50mm lenses had a better focus ring, but it's still serviceable (no worse than the 18-55mm kit lens' focusing ring).

But the pictures this thing can take. Wow. Far better contrast and colors than my other two lenses, and it's sharp. And fast. And of course, I had to play with it a little - as you can see from the image on the left. I found this tree on my drive home, and the colors were so beautiful that I had to stop and take a quick pic. Actually "quick" is a misnomer - I probably have twenty or thirty similar pics taken in the span of a few minutes. The only things I tinkered with were the color (the original was a very dark blue - but in playing, I moved it a little towards blue-green) and the vignette. I did adjust the "clarity" in Lightroom as well so as to bring the branches out even more.

And then there's this one. Normally I'd nuke a photo for being so blurry and having so much camera shake, but something about this photo intrigued me, in a strange artistic kind of way. So it survived deletion. Perhaps I'm the only one who would have let it survive, but somehow, it speaks to me. I don't know what it says, but it definitely speaks!

While at the store I also picked up an X-Rite i1 Display 2 to properly calibrate my monitors (instead of 'eyeing' it). For $169, it was a great price, and is working very well. The difference was immediate on both my laptops, and so it's already well worth it. And for anyone else who's looking at one - yes, it does work on Vista x64 - you just have to download the drivers from the website.

And always, for more photos and images, you can view my gallery...

March Spotlight

Here's some links I've found interesting:

Design

• "Means of Transportation" Vectors (free!)
• "People" Vectors
• RGBa Browser Support - the "a" here means "alpha" support, as in transparency.
• Beautiful Datepickers and Calendars for Web Developers - some great examples of how to make a calendar look classy.
• The Proper Way to Draw Rounded Corners" - it speaks for itself!

Photography

• Morning Sunbeams Through Forest - just absolutely gorgeous!
• Heart of Darkness - if I see a cloud like this... I'm running!
• Photography 101.5: Aperture - It's never to late to revisit the basics!

I love Geese...

Don't ask me why, but they're just so cute to me. I find it funny when they bicker at each other, and stare in awe at their flight... Continue Reading...

I love Geese

I love geese. Don't ask me why, but they're just so cute to me. I find it funny when they bicker at each other, and stare in awe at their flight. Or wonder what in the world told one set of geese to join another set, or some to depart mid-flight to go after another few passing geese. So, I thought I'd offer a "Mini Goose Gallery" of the pics I've taken of geese:

As always, view these and more in my gallery...

Introducing KSROT

I just released the code for version 1 of KSROT, a new image rotator, that when compressed is 5K, and requires no other scripts (like jQuery or Prototype). Check it out here.