Photography 24/7 » Inspiration

Photo Critique No. 7 – “Stop to Admire the Grass”

Thomas — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 09:55:27 +0000

This image was submitted by Jaci from USA.

It was taken with a Kodak EasyShare M753 on its black and white setting. There was no editing done to the shot although Jaci points out that she thinks she might try to lighten the area around her eyes eventually.

Original image by Jaci

When I look at this picture the first thoughts that come to my mind are thoughts of lovely warm summers and a child’s innocence and beauty.

Clearly it’s a warm summer day judging by what the girl is wearing and how comfortable she looks. She is certainly also radiating beauty and innocence in this capture by Jaci.

Now that I am father of two beautiful girls myself (which has happened after I started this blog) I also connect with this picture as a parent. I know it sounds corny, but once you have experienced the birth of your own child and it’s first few years of life, you look at other children differently as well and particularly children of similar age to your own.

In the case of Jaci’s daughter here who is 3, she is the same age as my own oldest daughter, so there is a very instant connection to the subject for me as the viewer of the image. Perhaps that makes my view of the image slightly biased.

In terms of composition the subject is placed very much in the center of the frame which breaks with the rule of thirds and it works beautifully in my opinion.

Subject is centered in the frame

There is slight diagonal line to the subject’s body which seems to balance the centered composition and gives the image the dynamic that it needs for this composition. The flow of the dress and its diagonal lines also supports this idea and brings energy to the image.

The picnic rug gives us a clue about the setting and why the girl is sitting at this spot – the result of a nice summer outing with mum and dad perhaps.

However from a compositional viewpoint I wish the picnic rug was either folded out a bit more or not there at all. As it is now it is “merging” slightly with the girls dress and it complicates the idea of nice simple lines a little bit.

It looks like there are some clipped highlights as well as shadows without details but that doesn’t bother me at all. In fact I think there’s quite a pleasing range of tones in the image, or perhaps rather quite a pleasing contrast between light and dark.

The photo looks unposed and I think Jaci has captured a beautiful candid moment here. The unposed nature of the photo also rhymes really well with the beautiful natural setting. This could very well have been a matter of pressing the shutter at just the right time. Moments a often fleeting and that’s where still photography can have its powerful impact.

Improving the Image?

Now, if I start looking at how I could improve this image there are only really a few minor details that come my mind.

I would like to see if I could separate the subject a bit more from the background tonally and then remove a few bright distractions in the grass as well as the flower bud just above her head. In addition to this I have darkened the bottom two corners a tiny bit as well.

Notes for improving the image

My main effort to separate the subject from the background comes from a few local Curves adjustments that have lightened up the subject’s face and upper body. I have also followed Jaci’s own suggestion and lightened the area just around the eyes a little bit also via a local Curves adjustment layer.

As you will see from the before and after comparison below the changes are quite quite subtle, but they all work in tandem to strengthen the overall impact of the photograph.

Before and After

There are of course other things you could consider as well such as perhaps toning the image slightly. If I went down this path I would probably choose a warm tone to enchance the idea of warm summers. You could also consider applying a soft effect for a more dreamy look.

However I like the image as a straight black and white and all in all I think Jaci has come away with a winner. She can be both proud and happy to have captured such a wonderful moment of her daughter. Well done!

Final image

Thank you to Jaci for submitting this image to the free image critique at Photography 24/7.

If you liked this article, you may also like these:

Chasing Reflections by Eli Reinholdtsen

Thomas — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:28:08 +0000

The team at Craft & Vision has released a new eBook and this one I’ve really been looking forward to with great anticipation!

I have reviewed some of the previous releases from Craft & Vision over the past couple of months in these posts:

The Craft & Vision eBooks are fantastic because they represent such awesome value at just $5 each for beautifully designed eBooks. And if you buy around the release dates of new books you can usually pick up a 20% discount making them just $4 each (you can hardly buy a large latte for that kind of money!)

The new photography eBook released today is the third in the series ‘The Print & The Process’ and is titled Chasing Reflections by Eli Reinholdtsen.

Eli Reinholdtsen is a creative photographer who, through her unique and skillful approach to reflections, captures moments and juxtapositions that are truly an art form at its finest.

Reinholdtsen digs deep and shares tangible ways to scout, setup, and shoot complex and magical photographs that push the envelope of visual poetry. Her playful descriptions aren’t shy of digging deep into the techniques required to capture movement, timing and contrast.

Quiet frankly this book is almost worth its price just for the cover shot!

It’s an amazing photograph. It’s the type of image you can come back to again and again and it sets the tone for the rest of the book.

As the title indicates this book is all about reflections. I must admit I personally have a soft spot for reflection images. Therefore I’ve also looked forward to this release and I wasn’t disappointed.

The book is divided into the following sections:

Introduction (The Premise)
Photographs – 37 pages with one reflection image per page (The Print)
Subjects, technique and tips (The Process)
Thumbnails of each of image including technical settings and a brief of discussion of how each image was created.

Overall the 37 reflection photographs included in this book are dazzling and above all very inspiring. As with any large body of work though, you’re likely to like some of the images better than others, particularly because Reinholdtsen spoils us with such a varied selection of images.

Personally I think the selection of images could have been edited just a tiny bit tighter with two or three images letting the rest of the group down a little bit. When that’s said though I still find the overwhelming majority of the images incredibly inspiring and very well executed. As you’ll learn if you buy the book, some of these images have taken hours if not days to plan requiring a good amount of patience.

“I can walk around town for days on end with my camera. If I find a good backdrop with great light I can easily wait for an hour or so for the ‘right’ person to pass by and complete the image” Reinholdtsen writes.

In ‘The Process’ section of the book Reinholdtsen discusses her creative process and generously shares tips and techniques on how you can create powerful reflection images including topics like:

Combining images
Good light for reflection images (this one might surprise you)
Mannequins and posters
Layering technique
Depth of field
Angle of shooting
Focus issues

You’ll also learn how the human form is a very powerful element in reflection images. For someone who tends to often leave the human form out of my images, this was an important lesson in itself. I find myself drawn to many of the images in this book where there is a strong presence of the human form.

I find this book to be an excellent – and very inspiring – resource on reflection images specifically. It’s a book I know I’ll return to again and again for inspiration.

You’ll notice that many of the images in Chasing Reflections are images where Reinholdtsen takes you on a small visual journey. The layered information contained in many of the images means that you can spend quite a bit of time with each image and discover new details or connections each time you return to an image. This is what is particularly wonderful about so many of Reinholdtsen’s images in this eBook.

At just $5 there really isn’t too much else to say than buy it. You won’t be disappointed!

If you liked this article, you may also like these:

The Magic of Black and White

Thomas — Thu, 27 May 2010 10:00:17 +0000

Today Andrew S. Gibson publishes part two of his ‘The Magic of Black and White’ two-part eBook series which is available through Craft & Vision.

The Magic of Black & White

Part one of Andew S. Gibson’s ‘The Magic of Black and White’ series is about ‘the vision’ and looks at the process of seeing and capturing in monochrome. It includes subjects like ‘The Art of Black & White’ and ‘Learning To See In Monochrome’ and focuses on the many compositional elements relating to black and white photography.

The Magic of Black and White (Vision) is an excellent introduction to black and white photography, covering a wide range of subjects and is illustrated with many of Andrew’s beautiful black and white photographs over a total of 60 pages.

It’s a great eBook which, I think, can serve as a good source of inspiration for photographers of any skill level.

The Magic of Black and White – Part Two – Craft

Part two of ‘The Magic of Black and White’ series is about ‘the craft’. This second book focuses on the craft of converting your captured image into black and white in the digital darkroom. It looks at the tools needed to turn a colour digital negative into a spectacular-looking black and white image using the software of the digital darkroom, specifically Adobe Photoshop.

‘The Magic of Black and White’ part two is a 51 page downloadable PDF.

The layout has been forced into a landscape format to make viewing on the iPad even better. Using a good PDF reader like GoodReader, this eBook retains the rich layouts found in all of the other eBooks created by Craft & Vision as well as allowing non-iPad users the same great experience they’ve always had.

The Magic of Black and White (Craft) sells for the usual and ridiculously low price of USD$5.00.

Special offer for the early bird:

For the first few days only, if you use the promotional code MAGIC4 when you checkout, you can have the latest eBook for only USD$4.00 OR you can use the code MAGIC20 to get 20% off when you buy 5 or more books from the Craft & Vision collection.

These codes expire at 11:59pm PST June 1, 2010 – so don’t delay!

If you liked this article, you may also like these:

15 Fine Flickr Examples of Abstract Photography

Thomas — Wed, 26 May 2010 09:00:05 +0000

Following on from the interview with abstract photographer Lester Hayes yesterday I thought it would be relevant with an instalment of 15 Fine Flickrs focused on abstract photography.

Curated from just under 1500 photos the following 15 images by 15 different talented photographers display some absolutely beautiful abstract qualities which I hope you will enjoy.

My hope with the 15 Fine Flickr series is that you take some inspiration away from them and in this case I hope you will be inspired to go out and do some abstract photography. It’s not as easy to do successfully as some might think…

Fine Flickr by NMCIL ortiz domney

Fine Flickr by See-ming Lee

Fine Flickr by mikeyexists

Fine Flickr by David Paul Ohmer

Fine Flickr by ana loncar

Fine Flickr by future15pic

Fine Flickr by flash200

Fine Flickr by Michael in San Diego, California

Fine Flickr by Urban Hafner

Fine Flickr by NyTrate

Fine Flickr by Alan Tippins

Fine Flickr by Sarabbit

Fine Flickr by deqalb

Fine Flickr by The artist (formerly) known as Gene

Fine Flickr by Kevin Pelletier

If you would like to leave a comment to any of the above images you’re of course most welcome to do so in the comment box below, or you can click on any of the images and leave a comment directly for the photographer on their respective flickr account.

If you liked this article, you may also like these:

Mini Profile: Eva Polak

Thomas — Sun, 16 May 2010 11:39:36 +0000

Part of living a photographic life and developing your photography often comes from finding seeds of inspiration amongst your peers. In essence this is how creativity works; one idea leads to another and a little seed blossoms into its own unique flower. The mini profiles at Photography 24/7 is a new content series which aims to uncover creative and talented photographers that you may not have come across before, and with the hope that you come away with a little seed of inspiration.

Eva Polak

Meet Eva Polak from Auckland in New Zealand.

Eva is passionate about impressionist photography. It is a style that seeks to capture a feeling or experience rather than to achieve an accurate representation. As a traditional photographer Eva first found that a really difficult concept to grasp, but when she attended a workshop called The Art of Impressionist Photography this all changed.

Eva saw images stripped of all unnecessary detail was immediately fascinated and excited, finding the images extremely evocative. Eva has since gone on to create an amazing body of work of ‘impressionist photographs’ and even teaches her own workshops about this alternative approach to traditional photography.

1. You are passionate about ‘impressionist photography’ – how did you come across this style of photography and what attracted you to it?

I was introduced to impressionist photography in October 2007. I was attending a workshop called The Art of Impressionist Photography where I saw images stripped of all unnecessary detail. Just simple shapes, textures and colours that sent my mind into a realm of wonder and discovery.

With this style of photography I feel complete freedom to explore fugitive effects of light.

2. Can you give other photographers who might want to explore this type of photography a few basic starting points? And while you shoot a variety of subjects using this technique do you find certain subjects suit this technique better than others?

This style is highly experimental, so set your camera to shutter priority mode, choose a shutter speed of 1/10s, experiment and have fun.

Between Dreams by Eva Polak

3. How do you stay creative and come up with new ideas or projects? Can you share some thoughts about your creative process?

I have fun, listen to music, watch movies, go to a gallery and read books. Inspiration comes from many different sources. I try to keep my mind open and spontaneously react to what’s around me.

4. You have an upcoming exhibition “Tides of Light” in Devonport, New Zealand. Can you tell us a little bit about how that came to fruition?

This is my personal journey through Auckland’s west coast, the land of ever-changing colour and light. To show the subtle moods and hidden emotions of a place where land, meets sea, meets sky, from dawn to dusk, from spring to winter.

Birch Tree by Eva Polak

5. If you could travel to any destination tomorrow, where would you go and what would you like to photograph?

Western Australia to photograph display of spring wildflowers.

6. If one of your photographer friends was in a bit of a creative-rut and was looking for a quick fix, and you were asked to recommend a photography accessory and/or a photography book which you think could open up his or her vision, what would you suggest?

To have some fun. There is also one book called The war of art: break through the blocks and win your inner creative battles by Steven Pressfield.

Land of Gentleness by Eva Polak

[Thomas: Thank you Eva for participating in this mini profile and sharing your work.]

You can view more of Eva’s work on her website: www.evapolak.com

If you liked this article, you may also like these:

Vision Is Better. Free the Mind, Free the Camera.

Thomas — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 19:30:46 +0000

Recently I wrote a mini review of David DuChemin’s Ten which was David’s first, very popular eBook.

I highly recommend ’Ten’. Save a latte and go and get it. I believe it’s still his most popular eBook to date.

However that might be about to change.

David has just released a brand new eBook titled Vision Is Better – and it’s absolutely fantastic!

I have to warn you though. You could have read this whole book already…

Over the past 5 years David duChemin has been writing about the photographic life on the Pixelated Image blog. Vision Is Better is a compilation of the 50 most popular articles from the Pixelated Image blog, covering a range of topics, all of which share one common theme – the photographic life and craft.

Becoming a better photographer is not only a matter of learning which buttons to press and in which direction to point your camera. It’s a matter of knowing why to do those things, where to look for inspiration, how to handle the distractions, and how to avoid getting sucked in by the lesser concerns.

If you like David’s writing (and it’s hard not to) and you want more of it, well then this is an awesome deal. It’s worth the money many times over. You get 116 pages for US$5.00. But it’s not about the quantity really, this book is just as big – if not bigger - on quality.

The book is beautifully designed as you can see from these excerpts. It includes 50 of David’s most inspiring articles in a great-looking offline portable format (PDF). Read it on your desktop, laptop or put it on your new iPad and read it wherever your iPad takes you… (if you have one of those fancy devices).

Vision Is Better is a 116 page downloadable PDF ebook and costs US$5.00.

If you liked this article, you may also like these:

Ten Ways to Improve Your Craft. None of Them Involve Buying Gear

Thomas — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 06:48:30 +0000

Ten Ways To Improve Your Craft Without Buying Gear is a 32 page PDF eBook by photographer David duChemin and it’s all about becoming a better photographer.

While much of the online education about photography is full of fluff TEN has received enthusiastic reception all over the world for being passionate, insightful, and full of real-world wisdom for creating compelling photographs.

David duChemin is an international cultural and humanitarian photographer, and the author of the best-selling Within The Frame and VisionMongers.

David’s popular photography blog, Pixelatedimage.com/blog is a connecting point for photographers all over the world who together celebrate a common mantra: Gear is Good, Vision is Better.

The TEN eBook presents excellent value and is a great source of inspiration for photographers of all levels. David writes in a down-to-earth and very engaging way which makes this book a great and easy read.

It should come as no surprise that the book is organised into 10 inspirational sections all of which are designed to improve your craft without you spending a cent on new gear:

1. Get Pickier
2. Better Contrast Makes Better Stories
3. Change My Perspective By Changing Yours
4. Create Depth
5. Get Balanced
6. Pay Attention to the Moment
7. Look to the Light
8. Use the Best Lens
9. Expose for Aesthetics
10. Put a Great Foreground in Front of a Great Background

In addition to the ten main chapters this fantastic eBook also includes several creative exercises which are sure to get your creative juices flowing (should you need to get them flowing).

Originally meant to be priced at $10, TEN remains priced at just $5 as David never had the heart to raise the price!

Ten is available via the Craft & Vision website along with several other great Ebook titles all of which, in fact, are priced at just $5 per title.

Talk about value for money… $5.00, that’s about the price for a tall latte these days!

Save a latte, get an eBook.

If you liked this article, you may also like these:

15 Fine Flickr Examples of Long Exposure Photography

Thomas — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 05:24:54 +0000

After sifting through 71 pages of long exposure photography on flickr (that’s a total 1420 images!) I’m pleased to present another instalment of 15 Fine Flickr Examples.

There is an incredible amount of long exposure images of car light trails around – both good ones and bad ones. As fun as it is to make long exposures of car light trails at night, it has also become somewhat of a cliche within this genre of photography, and so in my search for long exposure images for this series I tried for the most part to steer clear of the car light trails.

I hope the following set of images by 15 different talented and creative photographers will inspire you to slow down your shutter speed and experiment with long exposure photography.

If you’re new to the world of long exposure photography I can highly recommend either The Complete Guide to Night and Low-Light Photography by Lee Frost or Night and Low-Light Photography by Jill Waterman.

For now, though, you can just sit back, sip your coffee and enjoy 15 fine flickr examples of long exposure photography.

Photo by brentbat

Photo by Mike.Hanlon

Photo by Nikolai O.

Photo by Michael Keen

Photo by Majii1

Photo by mikebaird

Photo by Paul Alsop

Photo by SpeakerX

Photo by John Wardell (netinho)

Photo by Touzeen Hussain

Photo by Jesper Egelund

Photo by mugley

Photo by Insight Imaging: John A Ryan Photography

Photo by CowGummy

Photo by karlequin

If you liked this article, you may also like these:

One Sunday – Three Different Lensbaby Infrareds

Thomas — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 12:57:21 +0000

This week-end I found a lot of inspiration in a blog post by Ibarionex Perello titled Just Shoot Something and I think it’s something that will resonate with most photographers, so go take a look for yourself, specially if you’re a little low on inspiration.

In the last few days I have been concentrating on using my Lensbaby on my dedicated infrared Canon 20D which I had converted to infrared by the folks from LifePixel.

I haven’t had any particular subjects in mind that I have been wanting to shoot, so I have just brought the camera with my whenever I could and in the spirit of just shooting something I have just made some photographs along the way.

Here are three infrared Lensbaby images that were all shot today.

An Abstract Extract

I took this picture at one of the local playgrounds in the harsh midday light. I think it was the simplicity of the scene along with shape and form that attracted me to take this picture. I have given the image a rich brown tone simply because it seemed to work well for this image.

Palm Fronds

Palm fronds in bright sunlight work well for infrared photography. Here I have isolated one palm frond and framed it by two lower out-of-focus fronds. It’s all then then set off against an almost pitch black sky which has only been marginally darkened in Photoshop compared to the original RAW file. For this image I chose to convert the image to a black and white infrared image.

Lensbaby Infrared Texture Overlay

Yes, I know, I’m really mixing it up in this third image; Lensbaby, infrared and texture overlays!

Don’t ask me why I did it, I just thought I would try something else. Call it playing around which I think is an important endeavour for any creative activity. Playing around sometimes leads to nothing, other times it might lead to your next big project.

In this third image I used three different background textures: the fur of a mountain goat, a piece of grey cardboard with cutting marks on it and then a photo of a brick wall. These textures were then simply blended into the infrared image of the backlit leaves using blending modes in Photoshop.

Just shooting something keeps you in shape, it helps stimulate your mind and it helps keep your vision sharp. It doesn’t matter that you might not produce a Pullitzer Prize winner shot. The important part is to just shoot something.

If you liked this article, you may also like these:

Interview with Ibarionex R. Perello

Thomas — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 02:30:42 +0000

Ibarionex is a photographer, writer and educator with nearly 20 years of experience in the photo industry. His images and articles have been published in magazines such as Digital Photo Pro, Shutterbug and Outdoor Photographer. He currently teaches at The Art Center College of Design and BetterPhoto.com. He is the host and producer of the popular podcast, The Candid Frame. Ibarionex lives in Los Angeles, California.

Ibarionex and I live on the opposite sides of the world, so I have never met Ibarionex in person, yet I feel like I know him. He comes across as a kind and generous man.

I do know for certain that he is deeply passionate about photography and sharing his knowledge about photography with others.

You only have to listen to one of his podcasts at The Candid Frame to realise that this is a kind and generous man behind the microphone. His voice is soft and velvety, and it somehow transcends kindness and generosity. It’s the kind of voice that belongs to a gentleman, the kind of man who holds the door for a lady.

Ibarionex’ passion for photography – and his generosity – is very much reflected in his work on The Candid Frame podcast (and in this interview as I’m sure you’ll notice). The Candid Frame spans three years now and it’s a completely free resource for photographers who want to listen to top quality photography content. The show features a wide variety of individual photographers and focuses on the creative side of photography rather than on the equipment and technical side of photography.

The Candid Frame makes Ibarionex a master contributor to the international photo community and thanks to the internet he is reaching out to photographers all over the world with a listenership that has grown into the thousands.

If you don’t already know The Candid Frame I’d highly recommend that you go and check it out. It’s an awesome and hugely inspiring photography podcast.

Of course Ibarionex is not all about The Candid Frame only. He is a tremendously talented photographer in his own right and you can view some his beautiful work on his website and blog referred to with links in this interview.

It’s time to make yourself a good cup of coffee and just sit back and relax while you enjoy this interview with Ibarionex R. Perello.

1. Ibarionex, first of all thank you for taking the time for this interview! You’re slowly closing in on 100 really interesting photographer interviews at The Candid Frame after close to three years of doing this. It’s my understanding that The Candid Frame is a labour of love project for you for which many of us are very grateful. How did you get the idea to The Candid Frame and what has kept you going with it for the past three years?

At the time I was the associate editor for Outdoor Photographer, PC Photo and Digital Photo Pro magazines and one of the things that I really enjoyed writing were the profile articles on photographers. These were the most interesting to write and I always enjoyed having the opportunity to talk to great photographers about their craft. I had also started listening to podcasts and began to listening to any and all revolving around photography.

However, I quickly grew frustrated that the shows I was listening to seemed to focus more on equipment and photography. I realized that I knew how to interview people and I had access to photographers and had the passion to make it happen and so I did.

It took me a short time to learn the basics of recording and editing audio and uploading them for distribution as a podcast. I’m still a work in progress when it comes to audio production, but I think the content of the show, particularly the emphasis on why and how photographers make their images, provides a great source of inspiration to the thousands of people who listen to the podcast.

2. You have interviewed a diverse group of photographers over the years and each photographer has of course had their own interesting stories to tell. However, are there any particularly fascinating stories or anecdotes that have stuck with you from your interviews over the years that you can share with us here?

I take away so much from every photographer that I have the opportunity I interview. I’m often very selfish in terms of why I choose someone. It’s often spurred by what I feel I myself want to learn, which will help my own work or career. Thankfully, it seems to be something that really resonates with everyone who listens to the show.

But I think my favorite interview has to be with Joel Meyerowitz, a legendary photographer and one of my favorites. That interview came about by chance while I was visiting a photographer friend of mine who mentioned he was attending a signing by Joel that night. I changed my plans for the evening and went and after the event approached Joel about appearing on the show. His time was limited but he said I could come by his hotel the next morning.

By grace and luck, he was less than 10 minutes from my office near Santa Monica and we sat pool side and had one of the most enlightening and inspiring conversations I’ve ever had about photography. The man opens his mouth and gems come out. If people only listen to one show, I think it’s the episode with Joel Meyerowitz. It’s one I’m very proud of.

3. Have you got any future plans for The Candid Frame that you can share here? New directions, new format? Are you likely to be able to continue the podcasts in the years ahead?

I celebrate three years in February and I have no intention of slowing down. The opportunity to interview and speaking with both legendary and emerging photographers really feed my soul and my passion for photography. I can’t imagine not doing the show. So, I’ll likely be buried with a mic in one hand and a camera in another.

This year, the focus of the show was “living a photographic life”, which was meant to reveal how different photographers define that for themselves. It’s been an interesting focus. Next year, I’m dedicating the year to personal projects, primarily long term projects that the photographers have chosen dedicate themselves to. Some will be published work, but others will likely be work that is extremely personal as well.

It will provide me an opportunity to delve a little more into individual photographs and the stories behind them, something that the show hasn’t done a lot to date.

Besides that I’m looking into making some changes to the site and further improve the audio.

4. Shooting with Alas is another relatively new project of yours – can you tell us a little bit about what that’s about as well as your involvement with Alas Media?

Alas Media is a multi-media company which I started with several friends. We produce a variety of content for numerous companies in the form of videos, websites, graphics and photography. We also have a division which is dedicated to education and regularly speaks on conferences around the world about the role of technology (computers, video, and photography) in the classroom.

As I had access to a top-notching video production crew, I came up with the idea of producing a video podcast. As with The Candid Frame, I looked at most of the video podcasts about photography and wasn’t impressed by what I saw. So, I came up with the idea for Shooting with Alas, which would be an instructional podcast about photography. The difference was that I would focus on telling the story of an interesting subject. So, each episode focusing on a particularly technique or product and how I use it to resolve a particularly photographic challenge. I think the last two episodes are representative and where we want to go with show. Video is much more of a challenge though because there is so much more to do to produce a show, but I’m hoping that beginning in November, we’ll be able to produce a show once a month.

5. You have interviewed many fine photographers, but you’re obviously a very fine and accomplished photographer in your own right as well as a great writer and educator. How do share your time and passion between photography, writing and educating today?

I teach photography through BetterPhoto, an online photography school which it’s been my pleasure to be associated with. I teach several classes there including a class called “Portrait Photography Using Available Light” and a new course, I call the “Pursuit of Light” which allows me to share how I see and use light for many of my images.

I am also an adjunct professor at the Art Center College of Design. I periodically still write freelance articles for magazines and do some photographic workshops such as the one that I was doing recently in New York City, this past Halloween weekend.

I love sharing what I know about photography. There is something that is very special about sharing my passion and knowledge of image-making. Besides the magic that happens when I make what I know to be a great photograph, there is something very unique about seeing the look in a photographer’s eye when they’ve realized that they’ve learned something that will really change not only the way they shoot, but the way they see. That’s what I like to emphasize. If I can help you refine the way you see, I can help you to become a better photographer. There’s no greater gift that one photographer can give another.

6. In ‘Shooting with Alas’ you show us examples of how to photograph using both natural light and flash with stunning results. Are you taking on commissioned portraits and commercial work as part of your photography business?

It’s where I want to take my business. Most of my work has not revolved around portraiture and people photography, though most of my personal work certainly has. In the last few months, I’ve been promoting my approach to photographing people to my clients and hope to make it a larger portion of my business. I recently produced a pro-bono project for the Boys and Girls Club of Hollywood, which is where I learned photography. I produced these images of the children and staff, which emphasized the relationships that are developed and nurtured there. It’s was my way of giving back and provided me the opportunity to shoot in the way that I love. I had full creative control and the results were something that both I and they were thrilled with. It was portraiture mixed in with sort of documentary style, which I want to do more of.

I’m not much of a studio photographer and see myself more of a street-shooter. I love just being thrown out there and seeing what I can make happen with the camera. Creating opportunities where I can get paid well for that, well, that’s the challenge, but I’m hopeful that given time and a good dose of persistence, I can make it happen.

7. On your website www.ibarionex.com you have a very beautiful portfolio of ‘Writers & Poets’. How did this project come into being?

I had always wanted to photograph people in a more formal portrait setting, but was incredibly shy about doing so. I had a lot of anxiety about it. I was in a writing fellowship and eventually got up the nerve to ask some of my fellow writers whether I could make their photographs. I made them and at the end of the program, I shared these 13×19 prints with them.

One of the writer’s husbands was a gallery owner who offered to exhibit me in his new gallery. I told him that I had only those few images and he said, “Well, shoot some more.” He told me the gallery was opening the next month. My first reaction was to say no, but then I thought better of it and agreed. So within a span of 30 days, I produced over 25 portraits of established writers and poets based in Southern California including legendary writers such as Hubert Selby.

It was crazy. I was shooting every weekend, sometimes as many as five different subjects on a single day. I had no crew and no assistants. It was just me, a camera and a reflector. It was exhausting for gratifying. I printed the images on an Epson inkjet printer that Epson was kind enough to lend to me for the project. It was my first one-person show and it was a real thrill to see people in the gallery admiring work that I had created in a very short time span. It was hectic and crazy to produce that many portraits in such a finite time, but I’m so glad I did. I got me over my fear of photographing people.

8. Looking through your ’Writers & Poets’ portfolio is strikes me that in many of the images your subjects are very closely connected to the setting from a design point of view. It makes these images very complete, and gives them both depth and mood but also adds to the story about your subject. Do you plan these settings prior to a shoot, or do you work out the setting on the spot depending on weather, the colours of your subject’s clothing etc? Can you share some tips on selecting a setting for portrait work?

There was no planning involved beyond my scheduling a time to meet the photographers in their homes. Often times, it was the first time I had met them. As soon as I would arrive, I would begin talking to my subject explaining what I was doing and why. But at the same time, I was looking around the house trying to find both a great source of light and setting for the image. I was multi-tasking like a fiend. Once I found the location, I would position my subject but continue my dialog with them. So, as I began shooting, it became a natural progression of our conversation. I would keep them focused on me and our talk rather than the camera. It allowed me to capture them in a pretty natural state, without the stiffness and formality of a lot of other portraiture. I often shot them as I found them, rarely asking them to change their clothes or outfit. It was always a little nerve wrecking not knowing what I was going to do before hand, but once I found what would work, I just got into the groove and made my images. I was often in and out within 45 minutes.

In terms of a tip, that’s easy. Pay attention first to the light and then your background. Those two things alone can and will transform your portraits.

9. You also have a very striking portfolio titled ‘Commute LA’ which is very documentary in nature and in black and white. How did you get the idea to this project and can you tell us a little bit about what sort of equipment you used for this series as well as how you went about shooting these photos?

I live in Altadena, California which is just north of Pasadena, home of the Rose Bowl. At the time, I was working in Brentwood which is about 30 miles away. In a car, the commute was brutal. It could take anywhere between 2.5 – 3 hours round-trip to go to and from work. I finally burned out on driving and chose to take public transportation for a while. It added more time to my commute, but I was grateful to not have to be behind the wheel. I could read, listen to music, even nap on occasion.

After a few weeks, I decided to start making images of my commute. It was more something else for me to do rather than a project that I intended anything with. So, I began shooting using an Olympus Camedia 5050, but I would also use other cameras that I might have been testing for review for a magazine article, but I think the great majority were with the Olympus.

The social dynamic on a bus or a subway is an interesting one. People are in much closer physical proximity to each other than they would ever be in a normal situation, but there is a mental distance that’s appreciably greater that is happening. Everyone is in their own world, despite the fact that they may be in direct physical contact with another human being. It’s a strange dynamic and I found it fascinating to try and document. I was often shooting when the bus was at stop, because getting a sharp picture while in motion could be pretty difficult.

10. Your website www.ibarionex.com features mostly your portrait work and documentary work, but you obviously shoot a large variety of images which can be seen on your blog www.lafotoboy.blogspot.com including a large number of simplistic or minimalistic type images with a very strong sense of design and excellent use of colour, lines, light and shadow. Can you talk a little bit about the work shown on your blog?

My blog is more representative of my personal work, which is the street photography that I have focused on. I always have my camera with me. I never leave my house without it. So, the images on my blog demonstrate the way I see the world with my camera. I began the blog as a “shoot an image a day” project about four years ago. It really helped get my past a “shooting block” I had when I wasn’t making as many personal photographs as I would have liked. But the work on my blog has kind of captured my progression as a photographer particularly when it comes to my approach to using light, gesture and color (an expression made famous by photographer, Jay Maisel).

Shooting every day really opened my eyes to what was “photo-worthy”. Sometimes, I only had 15 minutes to make an image and I would find myself considering photographing things I would ignored before. It really helped to teach me that if I allow myself to be led by the light, rather than making judgments about the worthiness of a photographic subject, I could discover an amazing world that otherwise would have been invisible to me. Suddenly, anything and everything could become a remarkable photograph.

11. We all have ups and downs in photography and I know the creative process of photography interest you a lot. What advice can you give to someone who is lacking photographic inspiration and needs to get their creative juices flowing again?

Just get out of the house and be willing to make bad photographs. If you give yourself permission to do that, the pressure is off to be perfect every time you raise the camera to your eye. What’s important is the process, the processing of seeing and making the photographs. It’s called an “artistic practice” for a reason. You have to do it over and over and over again to get any good at it. Remember, all photographers, even the greatest among us, make mostly bad photographs. The key is they became great only by showing the good ones. But you have to make tens of thousands, hundred of thousands of images in order to learn to become a better photographer. Books and videos and even podcasts are great inspiration, but it’s only when you out there doing it which will make any difference whatsoever on your skills as a photographer.

12. Finally, I haven’t quite yet developed a traditional ending question for my interviews, but in YOUR case I would like to ask you this, if you were to recommend ONE photographer for other people to explore and discover, who would that be for you and why?

Hmmm, I wonder where you got that question from? I would suggest discovering Harry Callahan, a photographer who is often more known among photographers, but not the general public. He documented both his family and was also a great street photographer. He was a great influence on photographers who were to become more famous for similar work in the sixties and seventies. It’s a great reminder that great photographs are a result of the way you see rather than the equipment you are using. He didn’t have the benefit of today’s digital technologies, but rather slower speed films and manual cameras, but the images, by any measure are remarkable and inspiring, even 50 years later.

[Note by Thomas: I personally own the book Harry Callahan: The Photographer at Work which is a truly beautiful photography book featuring many of Callahan's stunningly beautiful images. A great recommendation.]

If you have been inspired by Ibarionex please note that he has also produced a DVD titled “Digital Photography – Available Light and Flash” which is available for purchase through the Alas Media website.

In this DVD Ibarionex teaches you how to use simply techniques of seeing and controlling light to transform your digital photographs.

For more details simply follow the title link above or click on the image on the left which will take you to Alas Media where you can also view a trailer from the DVD.

If you liked this article, you may also like these:

Photographing Impermanence

Thomas — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:49:43 +0000

It’s been too long since I took some time out for photography – even just 20 minutes to make new images. In fact it’s been more than four weeks since I made my little Lensbaby Sees Red, Infrared series. That is way too long, but work has had me bogged down!

I start getting agitated when I go for too long without creating new images. Who said anything about an addiction?

The other day I had a good exchange of e-mails with a photography friend from the blogoshere – Trond Haugerud – who is in similar situation as me (and many other people I’m sure).

We are trying to juggle work, young children, partners, social lives and photography all while surfing around the internet as well! Oh yeah, and Trond is squeezing in a phd as well.

Anyway, we arrived at the conclusion that we were both trying to do all the things we did before we had kids. We agreed that it was time to look at how we could prioritize things better in order to get photography back on top of the list of things to do regularly.

Photography is important stuff. No one wants an agitated husband or wife running around the house pulling out their hair, do they!?

Impermanence #01

Today I found a large fig leaf on the concrete ground just outside our warehouse and office. It was an unusual place to find a huge fig leaf as we are located on the upper level of a large business complex where no trees grow nearby. It must have blown up there after the stormy night we had in Sydney last night.

The leaf was incredibly beautiful. Stunning colours, an almost leather-like texture, attractive lines and intricate veins.

Well, it was beautiful to my eyes, some might have not even glanced at it. Some might have found it ugly. Others might have thought it less than perfect. But it was love at first sight for me.

I picked the leaf up and took it with me inside. Instinctively I knew I would want to photograph it later. It would be a photograph of impermanence.

Impermanence #02

The term impermanence is often also interchanged with the term wabi-sabi.

Wabi-sabi represents a comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience. The phrase comes from the two words wabi and sabi. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete”.

This is a very intriguing concept and if you want to study the idea of wabi-sabi in more details I recommend that you pick up Leonard Koren’s book Wabi-Sabi: for Artists, Designers, Poets and Philosophers. It’s an excellent read.

Impermanence #03

The Canadian photographer Richard Martin has also writen an excellent article on the topic of wabi-sabi in the Canadian photography magazine Photo Life relatively recently, and he also displays some excellent Wabi-sabi images in his Metal Works gallery on his website.

Another photography friend from the blogoshere – Scott Crane – also displays some incredibly beautiful and creative wabi-sabi images on his photoblog The Oswegan which is well worth a visit.

Impermanence #04

Anyway, back to the leaf story.

I barely greeted Myriam and Laura as I walked in the door just past six o’clock. Thanks to daylight savings I still had a good 30 minutes of reasonably bright light although the light was already starting to fade. I was determined to satisfy my urge and make some photographs, plus it was overcast and therefore a perfect day to make some leaf studies.

I grabbed my relatively new Canon 5DMKII which has seen much too little use since I got it in exchange for my Hasseblad XPAN II. I fitted my 100mm macro lens on it, got the tripod (which was dusty!) and stepped out on the balcony and got into it straight away.

Impermanence #05

I entered the beautiful world of macro photography for about 20 minutes, and though quite a short time, it was enough of a burst to at at least quench the immediate thirst. But when you are really thirsty and have a glass of water, you feel like a second glass shortly after the first one! Note to self: make more time to make images.

Impermanence #06

As you can see above I have made several different images of just the one leaf. In total I made 16 images and six of them are included with this rambling.

There is little doubt that investing even just a little bit of time in your subject is one of the easiest ways to become more creative. Look deeper and you shall find.

I hope these images have inspired you to look for impermanence and photograph it. Find some beauty in the imperfect.

As any photographer I enjoy feedback. I aspire to make an interactive website. So please feel free to chime in with a comment. What do you think about the concept of impermanence. Do you look for subjects that might be less than perfect seen with ‘traditional’ eyes? Do you have a favourite among the six images displayed above? I’d love to hear from you.

If you liked this article, you may also like these:

Interview with Tony Sweet

Thomas — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:55:38 +0000

Tony Sweet is one of my all time personal favourite photographers and he has been a huge inspiration for me when it comes to image design. When you view his images you will notice that each one of them are meticulously composed with careful attention to detail.

I have been fortunate enough to be able attend two of Tony’s online photography classes a couple of years ago: Image Design: Revealing Your Personal Vision and Fine Art Flower Photography which he still teaches over at BetterPhoto.com and I can highly recommend both of these two courses. Tony’s teaching style is straight to the point, yet very caring and encouraging all while he shares a wealth of knowledge with his students.

I’m very grateful that Tony was kind enough to take the time for this interview in between conducting on location workshops, teaching online photography classes, writing magazine articles and running his general nature photography business!

So, get yourself a good cup of coffee, sit back and enjoy this in depth interview with Master Photographer Tony Sweet.

After 20 years as a professional jazz artist, Tony Sweet changed careers and directed his creative juices towards nature photography. Tony is a ‘Nikon Legend Behind the Lens’, a member of ‘Team Nik’ (NikSoftware) and a ‘Lensbaby Guru’. His fine art prints are exhibited in private and corporate collections throughout the United States, and he is represented by The Getty Picture Agency. Today, Tony’s work is published on greeting cards, calendars, post cards, posters, annual reports, catalogs and various electronic mediums.

1. Tony, first of all thank you very much for taking the time for this interview! For those who might not know you, could you describe your style of photography and perhaps also briefly touch on the moment when you first realised you would make photography a career path?

It’s very difficult for one to describe ones own style of photography. In general, I look for color and graphic interest in most cases, however I’ve recently began looking for more sparse subjects for black and white renderings. We are all in a constant state of flux in any creative endeavor. Despite how people love to pigeon hole photographers styles, there really is only two kinds of photography: good and bad. Initially, I began photographing musicians in night clubs and portraits in my house in Cincinnati. When my first mentor, Tony Gayhart, showed me a nature slide, I decided immediately to pursue this as a career path. I also immediately swapped all of my fast, low light glass for lenses better suited for nature photography (20mm, 35-70mm, 80-200mm, and 105mm macro).

2. You have referred to Pat O’Hara and Tony Gayhart as your mentors and influence, but if you look back in the history of photography what other photographer’s work do you admire and why?

When getting started, I read all the books by John Shaw, Galen Rowell, Rod Planck, Larry West, John Netherton, Jim Zuckerman, Freeman Patterson, and Pat O’hara. I just read everything that I could get my hands on. The styles that appealed to my innate sense of design and photographic viscera were Freeman’s and Pat’s. After years of learning from reading the aforementioned authors to get a firm foundation, I began gravitating to the more impressionist, non representational photography, exemplified by Freeman, Pat and others.

3. A photographer’s day and week can be long! I know that you are often up extremely early, work through the day and often also shoot again around sunset. How do you manage your shooting time, admin work and personal life and get some rest at the same time?

Fortunately, I love every aspect of this business now. Interestingly, digital photography and software expertise has grown together and have inextricably merged to where some software expertise is essential in modern photography. Time management is more a function of how facile one is on the computer and in various software. The faster one can get through image editing and optimization, the better. I know what and where I like to photograph, so I’m not guessing as much and, therefore more effectively managing my shooting time, especially before and after workshops. I also can get by with little sleep, which has it’s drawbacks, but does enable me to get a lot done. Personal life?? Sure, I try to play music once a week with friends when home. I also try to get in a few poker games a year with old friends. Sue and I work and travel together. [Note: Tony's better half Sue aka Susan Milestone is an equally amazing nature photographer with some incredible work as well].

4. As a teacher and instructor you are known to be ‘positive, enthusiastic, generous, encouraging, approachable and energetic’. What motivates you to teach photography as passionately as you do?

Quite simply, I love sharing information and like working with people. As I think back on my life, I’ve always been a teacher, regardless of profession (musician, magician, photographer).

5. Can you talk a little bit about how you challenge yourself creatively and how you choose your subjects (or do they choose you)?

Without getting too abstract, I don’t really challenge myself, per se, but function in the moment, not unlike playing jazz music. I rely on my subconscious to perceive a subject area. Once that happens, I look a bit closer for specific subjects. My challenge is keeping up on creative software use by practicing as often as I can.

6. A great deal of your work is made on the East Coast of the US and is often somewhat more intimate nature and landscape images. However you have recently also been shooting more grand landscapes in areas like the Badlands and I know you have also recently completed another long road trip. How do you feel about photographing in new locations versus much more familiar locations to you like the Smokies for example? And do you approach the grand landscapes differently than the more intimate landscapes?

It takes a while to get past the snap shot stage at new locations and to be able to move to the more personal and more abstract stage. This is why I love revisiting the same locations year after year, not to get the same shots, but to shoot deeper and deeper, getting images that were unattainable on initial visits. When first visiting a new site, I go to the visitor’s center to look at books and post cards to see what’s there and get to locations at pre dawn and/or late afternoon for the after glow, like everyone else. The more we return to an area, the more and deeper we “see.”

7. You have embraced HDR photography and even produced an instructional DVD on the subject. You tend to lean up against the more ‘super real’ images. What captivates you about HDR and do you see a commercial market for it?

HDR is not new, being around since about 1937, but it’s new to the general photographic world. And the world has been flooded with a lot of HDR images, good and bad. I find that HDR is essential to get some scenes to work and can be another way to interpret a scene in a new, fresh way. Commercial market? Many video games have HDR style backdrops, architectural photographers use HDR (paying careful attention to processing the scene to record it as it is), stock photography (although the super real look is not a favorite, yet), and of course for book and article illustrations.

8. We all get stuck in a creative rut sometimes. What advice can you give to someone who is lacking inspiration and needs to get their creative juices flowing again?

Go to a new place
Use a Lensbaby
Try HDR, even on a single image!
Try camera movement / multiple exposures
Use a fisheye lens

9. I think it’s fair to say you have been successful in the stock photography market. How important is stock photography to your business today and what’s your thoughts on the emerging microstock photography market?

For snap shot life style photography, stock will remain viable for a time, but it’s on the way to a whole new paradigm. The younger generation are populating the stock agencies and with that comes the younger approach. The Getty stock agency is trolling for images and may have purchased at least a part of Flickr! So, anyone who adequately key words their images on Flickr has a chance of being approached for an image sale by Getty. However, I wouldn’t get my hopes up as stock prices have plummeted in recent years to the point of no longer being a substantial part of our income, dwindling more each year.

10. How about fine art prints? I know you have recently purchased an Epson 7900 printer, do you produce a lot of fine art prints? Are fine art prints an important part of your business? Are you represented by any art galleries? Do you work with interior designers?

Our business plan is to enter the print market in the coming year. We have a couple of print agents and interior designers we have worked with and will be taking portfolios around to galleries looking for representation during our winter break, in addition to limited web sales.

11. To me some of your stock photography images could as well be fine art prints. How do you make the distinction between a stock image and a fine art image, or do you also offer fine art prints of your stock images? Is any of your fine art prints offered in limited editions?

I’m not sure what fine art is, but I do a little research for stock and noticed the more abstract, movement / blur images and extreme macros / conceptual images are viable. These types of images can be seen as being “fine art.” In general, I just send in what I like and let the agency pick what they like. But, please remember that for a great many photographers, stock is no longer a viable source of income.

12. Finally, what was the most recent photography book you bought for yourself?

I buy photography books all the time, the most recent being, “Badlands of the High Plains” by Chuck Haney.

—————————————————————————————————————————————

Tony Sweet teaches several online classes at BetterPhoto.com and conducts his “Visual Artistry” photography and digital printing workshops from March through October throughout the continental United States and Canada.

Tony has also produced several really excellent books and DVDs which can be purchased from the store on his website or at Amazon.com.

I’m also very excited to announce here on Photography 24/7 that Tony Sweet has just released a new DVD titled “Visual Artistry: The Art of Pre-Visualizing in Modern Digital Photography” (it’s literally being pressed as this interview goes live).

Shot in the springtime, Tony works in a variety of locations from historic downtown Charleston and Drayton Hall, to the magical landscapes of Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. Visual Artistry is filled with compositional techniques, tips and tricks from Tony s many years as a professional photographer and workshop leader.

You can purchase the new DVD directly from Tony Sweet’s website or at Amazon.com.

I own all of Tony’s DVDs and have watched them several times and find them a good source of photographic inspiration each time, so check them out if they are not already in your DVD library.

You can watch a small video in clip from Tony’s Visual Literacy DVD in this previous post: Tony Sweet Nature Portfolio.

If you liked this article, you may also like these:

15 Fine Flickr Examples of Lensbaby Images

Thomas — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 01:10:21 +0000

There is an incredible amount of excellent, creative photography to be viewed on flickr. It’s simply mind boggling to think about all the creative talent that’s out there.

Today I looked through hundreds and hundreds of different Lensbaby shots on flickr with the intention to make another ’15 Fine Flickrs’ compilation. There were many beautiful images so it wasn’t easy just picking 15.

As I looked through the Lensbaby pool of images on flickr, however, there were also quite a few images that lacked zing. These images were plain or even downright boring. They fell short of including any of the three key ingredients that make up a good photograph. It was as if these images were preoccupied with the ‘effect’ of the Lensbaby and forgot all about good photographic craft.

As with any photographic tool (or technique) it’s important not to let oneself be swept away by the tool (or the technique) itself. It’s important to apply good photographic craft regardless of the tool (or technique). To me good photographic craft include one or more of the following three key ingredients for a good photograph:

1. Beautiful light
2. Strong design
3. Action or Mood

Irrespective of your photographic tool (or technique) always try to capture your subject in beautiful light.

Never compromise on strong and powerful image design as this is essential to keep the viewer’s attention regardless of how amazing your ‘effect’ is. In other words follow your usual instinct when it comes to composition and don’t let the ‘effect’ distract your image design. A poorly composed image with a stunning ‘effect’ doesn’t make a great photograph.

Action or mood are elements that can really elevate an image to greatness. If you can create an image where your subject is captured in beautiful light and then arranged within the frame with a strong sense of design and then add action or mood to your image, then you have a keeper for the top drawer.

So without further ado here are 15 fine flickr examples of Lensbaby images that include at least one of the above mentioned key ingredients for a good photograph.

Please enjoy, and if you have time click on any of the images to view more of the individual photographer’s flickr photos.

Photo by sparktography

Photo by rahuldlucca

Photo by daekxus

Photo by mike.wilson

Photo by silicapathways

Photo by schallkoerper (ronald)

Photo by minato

Photo by elenaerda

Photo by Laura Burlton

Photo by john curley

Photo by Kit_Z

Photo by aopho

Photo by thespeak

Photo by Myxi

Photo by Stephen Poff

As you can see you can create some beautiful effects with the Lensbaby (and its accessories) but remember to always apply good photographic craft and not let yourself be overwhelmed by the effect of a photographic tool or technique. The photographers above have all combined good photographic craft with the Lensbaby with stunning results.

Personally I started out with the Muse and then later purchased the Composer when it was released. If I was to purchase my Lensbaby today I would go straight for the Composer because of its ease of use. It’s definitely a fun tool to have in your gear bag.

You can check out all the details on the Lensbaby website.

If you liked this article, you may also like these:

15 Fine Flickr Examples of Creative Autumn Photographs

Thomas — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:09:24 +0000

If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere you’re in middle of autumn (or fall if you’re in North America) and it’s time to get out and make some photographs.

The pursuit of the colours of autumn is one of the most thrilling things you can do within the genre of outdoor ad nature photography. There are several good reasons for this:

You’re out under the open sky in one of the finest seasons of the year.
The air is often crisp and clear and the light is just beautiful, so even if you don’t come home with a masterpiece the fresh air will have cleared your mind.
You have one of the year’s most beautiful colour palettes available to you to light-paint with.
The shifting combinations of color and weather offers very rich picture opportunities.

To help get your creative juices flowing I have compiled a list of 15 fine flickr examples of creative autumn photographs which I hope you will enjoy:

Photo by Denis Collette

Photo by Charlotte L. Riser

Photo by Fulla T

Photo by stukinha

Photo by Caro Wallis

Photo by dhammza

Photo by aha42

Photo by Art Rock (Hennie)

Photo by Kristine K.

Photo by (le)doo (analogique Man)

Photo by _rivera

Photo by Bob Jagendorf

Photo by onkel wart

Photo by moriza

Photo by Libertinus

I hope you enjoyed this flickr autumn inspiration series of images.

If you want even more inspiration I’d encourage you to visit some of the talented photographers who have created the above images. Clicking their images will take you took their flickr account where you can view more of each photographer’s work.

Until next post, keep warm if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, and try not to think too much about those of us who will be sipping cold white wine on the balcony in shorts and t-shirt.

If you liked this article, you may also like these:

A Few Wise Words

Thomas — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:01:32 +0000

I like to carry one of the legendary Moleskine notebooks with me as often as I can, so that I can make a note of anything worthy making a note of as and when I come across it.

The Moleskine notebooks are available at most good bookstores or you can get them online over at Chronicle Books.

So today I thought I would just take a minute to share a couple of quotes I’ve scribbled down in recent days.

1. First, something I simply heard on TV the other day:

Don’t become a brand, become an artist.

2. Ansel Adams about abstract photography (and please forgive me, this is loosely noted down based on my memory from a recent interview I watched with him):

There is no such thing as an abstract photograph, only extracts of reality.

3. And a few suggested answers from Ansel Adams to the question:

What is a photograph?

- An interpretation of reality
- A document or a representation
- An interpretation or a statement of feeling of a scene

4. And these fine words I read in a photo magazine (I forget which one) the other day:

Good photographic art makes feelings visible, purely and simply.

5. And finally another great quote from Ansel Adams, something which many of us can relate to in these tumultuous and testing times:

The best picture is around the corner, just like prosperity.

Have you come across any wise words or quotes recently? Share your favourite quotes or wise words in the comments to this post. I’d love to hear from you.

If you liked this article, you may also like these:

August Snaps 31 August

Thomas — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 10:51:00 +0000

“Kissed by the Wind.”

There’s an English proverb that goes something like “all good things must come to an end” and so it is with my August Snaps Project. Today was the last day of what has been both a challenging and creative month filled with photography every day.

I made more than 1400 images with my Canon G9 throughout the month of August which translates into an average of just under 50 images per day. The purpose of the project was not necessarily to create master pieces every day, but rather to challenge myself creatively and to practice my vision. However I’m still surprised about what the Canon G9 is capable of producing in terms of creative image making and I’m actually very pleased with most of the select images I have published here at Photography 24/7 throughout August.

I only made 27 images today and I had a couple to select from in the end. However the image above, I thought, represent me the most and the type of images I really enjoy making.

I processed today’s image in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 and used the Split Toning panel to give it a subtle pink tone which almost reminds me of a hand-coloured image.

That’s it folks!

I might take a little break for a day or two (not only has it been challenging to make images every day, but it has been almost equally challenging to blog about them every day), so if you don’t see any new posts the next day or two, it’s because I have put my feet up to watch a movie!

In closing I can highly recommend investing in a serious compact camera if you don’t already have one. It makes for a great photographic companion and you will be surprised how much you can do with these small beasts. You will (most likely) find yourself photographing a little bit different to how you use your SLR camera. There is a certain sense of freedom using a small, unobtrusive camera (and leaving the tripod behind most of the time – I did use a tripod on a few occassion).

Now is as great time as any to get yourself a serious compact camera and my personal recommendation would be the brand new Canon G11 which you can pre-order at: Amazon.com, B&H Photo or Adorama.

Have fun!

Thanks for following the project.

If you liked this article, you may also like these:

August Snaps 30 August

Thomas — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 09:24:22 +0000

“Tie-dye.”

Tie-dying is accomplished by folding clothing material into a pattern, and binding it with string or rubber bands before dipping it into a dye bath. It became fashionable in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of the hippie style. It was popularized in the United States by musicians such as John Sebastian and Janis Joplin.

Today’s image resembles the tie-dye look to my eyes, and in the name of full disclosure I should admit that I also pushed it in this direction by creating a mirror-flip both horizontally and vertically of the original image. This is the first time I have tried my hand at this particular technique, so my August Snaps Project has also pushed in new directions when it comes to post-processing. I have to say August has been a really fun month photographically.

While tie-dye is what the image looks to me, it is in fact a soft focus image of a Clevia plant in full bloom.

In total I made 33 pictures today out which 10 pictures were variations on the tie-dye theme.

There is just one more day left of my personal challenge to carry a compact camera with every day with the intention to make daily images. It has certainly been a challenging month, but also fun and very rewarding creatively. I hope you have enjoyed following the project so far.

If you liked this article, you may also like these:

August Snaps 29 August

Thomas — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 11:20:28 +0000

“Cup Thru’ Bottle.”

A slightly different image today although it is abstract which I have made before in this August Snaps Project. As the title hints, however, it is simply my daugter’s sippy cup taken through a green bottle while we were having lunch. Yes, you can have fun all day long when you carry a compact camera with you everywhere!

Out of the 61 images I made today this was the image that somehow spoke out to me. However I also happen to like abstract photography quite a lot and of course the red and green colours work well together.

I should note that I didn’t make this image with my ‘new’ Polaroid SX-70, it is indeed a snap shot from my Canon G9, but in celebration of my recent aquisition I decided to give it a Polaroid look just to spice things up a little bit creatively.

I created the Polaroid frame very easily using the PhotoFrame Pro 4 Plugin and then I applied a vintage look using the PhotoTools 2 Pro Plugin. I topped things off by hand writing the title on the ‘Polaroid.

If you don’t already own onOne Software’s plug-ins go and check out their website and read about their products: www.ononesoftware.com and remember that you can get a 20% discount on any or all of their plugins simply by using the coupon code 24SEVEN.

If you liked this article, you may also like these:

August Snaps 28 August

Thomas — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 11:22:22 +0000

“Frozen Leaf.”

I got the idea for this image through an article I had cut out and kept in one of my many inspiration files. However it is several months ago since I froze this leaf and my wife has asked me several times what I was doing with this leaf in the freezer? Well, today was the day. I finally set out to photograph it.

I had made a few snap shots on my way back from picking up my new Polaroid SX-70 at the post office. I had three parcels waiting for me at the post office today. One was the camera, and the two others were several packs of Polaroid 600 film which I put in the fridge straight away with my other film stock. I will get in trouble for this as I’m now claiming about 40% of the top shelf in the fridge for film as you can see here:

Oh well…

I wasn’t particularly pleased with the snap shots I made on my way back from the post office. I think I was too excited to get back home and play with the Polaroid SX-70. When I got home I unpacked my parcels and started experimenting with a still life of a bowl of fruit using the Polaroid SX-70. I just wanted to figure out how it worked although I’m still waiting for my neutral density filters which will allow me to use the faster (and cheaper, errrrh I mean less expensive) Polaroid 600 film without battling overexposure on most images.

It is one sleek camera, the design is simply outstanding. It is just a beautiful camera which I’m really pleased I have bought. Sorry, I’m getting side tracked here. Anyway, so I proceeded to also make some snap shots of the still life set-up which turned out allright, but still not quite what I wanted.

Then I remembered the leaf in the freezer and proceeded to set things up on the kitchen counter. I had to block out any direct artifical light as it glared on the ice and the leaf itself, so I shaded the frozen leaf with some folded pieces of white paper and put the camera on a tripod and shot 15 different exposures from above (it was through this process I figured things out with the papers etc. as I went along).

The end result is what you see above. I processed the image entirely in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.

In total I made 40 images today.

Subscribe to this website in a reader

Subscribe to this website via email:

If you liked this article, you may also like these:

August Snaps 27 August

Thomas — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:29:40 +0000

“Light Magic.”

Photography is about light, right?

This was quite a fun image to make. It was made at my main work place where I have the chance to watch how the light changes in this particular area depending on how high or how low the sun is in the sky. It is most interesting when the sun is high in the sky. This is in fact a ramp leading up to the upstairs warehouses and offices in the business complex our business is located in, but obviously I have made a fairly dark interpretation of the ramp area. Familarity with the location came in handy today.

Since there wasn’t really any colour in the image anyway I converted it to black and white.

I’d be interested to hear what you think about this image?

In total I made 44 pictures today.

There is only a few more days left of my August Snaps Project now, time just flies when you’re having fun! I do look forward to shooting with my new Canon 5D MKII in in the coming months though as well as with my new Polaroid SX-70.

If you liked this article, you may also like these:

August Snaps 26 August

Thomas — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:39:40 +0000

“Leaves and Wall.”

As I planned my day today I knew I was going to make a second attempt at this image. I had photographed this particular scene when I made “Penny’s Picture” on the 3 August. Since I returned to the same location today I thought I would have another go as I really like the textures and the red and green colours in this scene.

I made five different variations on the scene and in the end it was a choice between this and a horizontal composition. I chose the vertical version because I like the variation in the top half of the wall between right and left and this didn’t show in the horizontal version.

I used onOne Software’s PhotoFrame 4 Pro Edition plugin to create the frame around the photo. You can get 20% off PhotoFrame 4 Pro Edition by using the coupon 24SEVEN during the check out process when you purchase plugins over at onOne Software.

Today result in a total of just 27 images.

If you liked this article, you may also like these:

August Snaps 25 August

Thomas — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 11:22:40 +0000

“In the Depth of Dark.”

The title hints at when I made my photo today…after dark. It was a busy day today and I didn’t have a chance to shoot until I arrived home at around 6pm which was after the last light of the day.

I went out for a little walk close to home. When I noticed this flower I immediately previsualized the end result. While this image was shot at ISO 1600 it was still a four second exposure, so as you can appreciate it was well and truly dark. I knew that my Canon G9 would produce a lot of noise at ISO 1600, too much noise for an acceptable colour file, so I knew straight away that I would convert the image to black and white and use the noise to my advantage to create some ‘film grain’ which I feel adds some mood to the image.

I processed the image entirely in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 so this is where the conversion to black and white was done. I used the Split Toning panel in Lightroom to add a little bit of warmth to the highlights and to a lesser extent also the shadows.

In total I made 32 photos today where 12 of these were of the flower in the dark.

If you liked this article, you may also like these:

August Snaps 24 August

Thomas — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 12:14:03 +0000

“Spring Rain.”

After more than a week with really beautiful weather here in Sydney the afternoon brought some grey skies and rain and I captured this image from inside my car in the late afternoon as I parked my car to go and pick my daughter up after work.

I have seen better examples of these types of images, but all I could find to put behind the rain drops were some green trees. There is something about rain on a window that I really like, it creates an instant mood, but ideally I would like to put a slightly more interesting subject in the background, but I just didn’t have enough time to do this today.

I made a total of 31 images today which included a few different subjects, but out of the bunch this was still the image I liked the best. Feel freel to let me know what you think.

If you liked this article, you may also like these:

August Snaps 23 August

Thomas — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 12:03:55 +0000

“Moon Power.”

Allright, allright, not exactly the most inventive title, I admit, but I feel a little unsinspired with regards to titles tonight. Today I’m about 3/4 way through my August Snaps project. It’s been a lot of fun shooting with my compact camera and I would encourage you to consider a serious compact camera if you don’t already have one. My personal recommendation would be the brand new Canon G11 which you can pre-order at: Amazon.com, BH Photo or Adorama.

August Snaps is not all snaps though. It is very rare that I see a scene, frame it up, shoot it and then walk away with a good image. For all of the images in this project I have typically always ‘worked’ the situation to a certain extent (sometimes more than others) which means spending a bit of time trying different angles, different points of view and indeed different compositions.

Today I made 14 different images of the power lines and power pole incorporating the moon in different ways in the various images. It just so happens that this was the last image in the series and the one I happened to like the best (eventhough I had several others with the moon lined up in a similar way as in this one).

‘Working the scene’ or ‘working your subject’ is far from a novel tip, nevertheless it’s a very good one. If you’re new to photography one of the easiest ways to improve your images is to spend more time shooting what you’re shooting. When you think you’re done, push yourself to try a few more different angles, points of view or compositions. Move left, step to the right a little, crouch down or elevate yourself to a higher vantage point if you can. Not only could this extra time spent result in just the right image, but the process of editing your images for subtle differences will also teach you a lot about what works and what doesn’t.

Today I made a total of 22 images and as mentioned 14 of these were of this particular scene.

If you liked this article, you may also like these:

August Snaps 22 August

Thomas — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 09:51:35 +0000

“Mosaic.”

This was one of the first images I made today, so effectively it is what could be termed as a ‘warm up’ image as also discussed here. While I’m not entirely sure why, I really like the mosaic look of this brick wall reflected in the water in the late afternoon sunlight. It’s simple, yet quite complex at the same time.

The image was created with my Canon G9 which has since been succeeded by the Canon G10, and as just unveiled by Canon in the last few days now also by the brand new Canon G11.

Serious compact cameras are a lot of fun and a great addition to your SLR kit (or indeed for when you don’t want to bring your SLR kit). Pre-order the brand new Canon G11 today at: Amazon.com, BH Photo or Adorama.

I finished with a relatively small total of 29 images today.

If you liked this article, you may also like these:

August Snaps 21 August

Thomas — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 12:36:16 +0000

“Agave Layers.”

Admittedly there is not a lot to keep the viewers attention in this image. There is no real focal point, no real place for the eyes to go to for a little rest. It’s probably not the type of image you look at for ages.

Nevertheless I quite like the image and chose it as today’s pick. I find Agave plants outrageously beautiful and I’m always enthralled by their beautiful luminous edges. I have photographed Agave plants before and here is one other such attempt at capturing its alluring beauty.

I used Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 to process the image and convert it to black and white.

In total I made 33 photos today.

If you liked this article, you may also like these:

August Snaps 20 August

Thomas — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 10:13:29 +0000

“55.”

There is not too much to say about today’s image other than I like the various rectangular shapes (helped along by the half-finished white paint) from a design stand point as well as the yellow against the red and brown tones. I have walked past this particular scene many times and so today I decided to frame it up and make a couple of images this morning.

I used onOne Software’s PhotoFrame 4 Pro Edition plugin to create the frame around the photo. It’s one of my favourite plugins from onOne Software. You can get 20% off PhotoFrame 4 Pro Edition by using the coupon 24SEVEN during the check out process when you purchase plugins over at onOne Software.

I made a total of 25 photos today.

If you liked this article, you may also like these:

Pete Turner: Empowered by Color

Thomas — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 03:21:17 +0000

Bold color and striking compositions are at the core of Pete Turner’s extraordinary vision. Critic A.D. Coleman wrote of Turner’s work, “A dramatist’s sense of event, intense and saturated coloration, and a distinct if indescribable otherness are omnipresent in Turner’s images.”

In 1959, an expedition from Capetown to Cairo was a turning point in Turner’s career. In 1967, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York exhibited “The Giraffe” from a 1964 expedition. A controversial image for the time, the giraffe, silhouetted against a brilliant red sky, illustrated his growing interest in treating color as a graphic element. A master colorist, he broke all the rules in a pre-computer era.

Watch this video to learn more about Pete Turner and view some of his outstanding imagery:

You may also want to consider a couple Pete Turner’s books (I own “The Color of Jazz” myself and it’s a beautiful book filled with many Turner’s great images):

The Color of Jazz

African Journey

If you liked this article, you may also like these:

August Snaps 19 August

Thomas — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 11:27:19 +0000

“Self-Portait.”

Little did I know I would be flirting with self-portraits during this August challenge, but nevertheless that is what I found myself doing yesterday and again today. Self-portraits are hardly my usually choice of subject! Self-portraiture is a whole genre in and of itself. For example you may have heard about Rebekka Gudleifsdottir from Iceland who rose to stardom on flickr as a result of her amazing and creative self-portraits.

When I mentioned I was shooting a mirror at the car park in my post yesterday I was in fact shooting myself in the mirror.

Today I decided to try my hand at a few more self-portrait mirror shots and decided this was the photo I liked the best from today, perhaps because it also represents something I would not normally shoot, but it’s a lot of fun and very refreshing to try something new.

In total I took 66 photos today.

If you liked this article, you may also like these:

August Snaps 18 August

Thomas — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:02:06 +0000

“Straight Ahead Into Emptiness.”

As glorious a day as yesterday was, as bad a day I have had today. I shall not bore you with all the details of what went wrong, but suffice to say that it didn’t help when the parking attendant at the parking lot where I had parked started making comments about me taking pictures! Sure, I looked a little suspicious lurking around a car park at 10pm at night with a camera, but I just wasn’t in the mood for it today.

While I know it’s generally a lot better an approach to just relax about these people in so-called authority and be nice and polite, I barked right back at him! “What does it look like I’m doing?” (with a camera held up to my eye?)

“Are you photographing the mirror?” the parking attendant asked completely dumbfounded.

“Yes, I’m photographing the mirror!”

I moved on when the parking attendant gulped up some sort of laughter.

10 mintes later I was photographing what was quite a cool looking piece of machinery near one of the boom gates when an intercom sounded nearby. It was the dumbfounded parking attendant again! Talk about big brother! I ignored him at first. I could’t believe it, but then he continued carrying on:

“Wot rrr u doin naaw?” a robotic sounding voice asked, although there was still no mistaking it for the dumbfounded parking attendant.

“I’m taking pictures as I told you before, mate.”

“U rrr fotograffing the hole carrr park. We hav it on CCTV. Wot for?”

“For the sake of art, my friend. For art.”

I just couldn’t be bothered with this character. In the end I walked over to my car and finished up for the day.

In total I made 38 images today.

I have converted today’s image to black and white in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 and then added some film grain and gold toning using onOne Software’s PhotoTools 2.0 Pro Plugin.

Use the coupon code 24SEVEN to get a 20% discount on any of onOne Software’s plugins when you check out.