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86 – Inkjet paper review 2 – Museo Silver rag, Portfolio rag – Moab entrada bright

admin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 16:06:21 +0000

Photography podcast #86 is the second podcast devoted to high end inkjet papers and it reviews and discusses 3 of them. I LOVE photo papers (traditional and digital) and I just bought a new Epson 3880 inkjet to test inkjet papers with….and of course make larger prints. There’s LOADS of creative possibilities when you try new inkjet papers so I hope the review of these 3 papers is useful to many listeners/readers.

All 3 of these papers are highly recommended. Museo Silver rag is a thick (300 GSM) light cream coloured paper with a medium gloss finish and a slight texture. Museo Portfolio rag is a thick (300GSM) matte paper with a cream colour and very slight texture. Moab Entrada 300 bright is a thick (300GSM) double sided matte paper with a white colour and slight texture. Just as an FYI, if i say a paper has a cream colour, others may say on first glance, no it’s white. However, take that paper and put it beside something like regular plain white laser paper and the creamy base tone is more apparent.

Note as well that the 2 matte papers have optical brighteners in them. I also talk about ICC profiles again. Here is where they go on your computer after you download them. MAC= MAC HD > Library > ColorSync > Profiles
Windows PC= C: > Windows > System 32 > Spool > Drivers > Color

Detail from Parisian self portrait on Museo silver rag - ©Marko Kulik

Parisian self portrait on Museo silver rag - ©Marko Kulik

Detail from Reflection at Dorwin - 2009 on Museo portfolio rag - ©Marko Kulik

Reflection at Dorwin - 2009 on Museo portfolio rag - ©Marko Kulik

Detail from Parisian self portrait on Museo portfolio rag - ©Marko Kulik

Parisian self portrait on Museo portfolio rag - ©Marko Kulik

Links /resources mentioned in this podcast:

Epson 3880 at B&H
Podcast 62 – Monitor/printer calibration
Podcast 63 – I1 Extreme and ColourMunki review & printer dialogue boxes when printing.
Museo Silver rag – Buy Museo silver rag at B&H
Museo Portfolio rag – Buy Museo portfolio rag at B&H
Moab Entrada 300 bright- Buy Moab entrada bright 300 at B&H
Main assignment on our photography forum – Minimalism
Level 2 assignment on our photography forum – Sidelight to create texture in B/W

Publicphotograpgy.org – Celebrating the rights of photographers - Publicphotography.org – Flickr group – Publicphotography.org – Facebook group

Please join the Photography.ca fan page on Facebook

If you liked this podcast and want to review it on Itunes, this link gets you to the main page

My Facebook profile – Feel free to “friend” me – please just mention Photography.ca
My Twitter page – I will follow you if you follow me – Let’s connect – PLEASE email me and tell me who you are in case I don’t reciprocate because I think you are a spammer.

If you are still lurking on our forum,
feel free to join our friendly Photography forum

Thanks to Benny who posted a blog comment about our last podcast. Thanks as always to everyone that sent comments by email about our last podcast. Although ALL comments are appreciated, commenting directly in this blog is preferred. Thanks as well to all the new members of the bulletin board. Most of the links to actual the products are affiliate links that help support this site. Thanks in advance if you purchase through those links.

If you are looking at this material on any other site except Photography.ca – Please hop on over to the Photography.ca blog and podcast and get this and other photography info directly from the source. I Subscribe with iTunes I Subscribe via RSS feed I Subscribe with Google Reader ISubscribe for free to the Photography podcast – Photography.ca and get all the posts/podcasts by Email
You can download this photography podcast directly by clicking the preceding link or listen to it almost immediately with the embedded player below.

85 – Inkjet paper review 1 – German etching – Fine art Baryta by Hahnemuhle

admin — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 22:15:46 +0000

Photography podcast #85 is the first of several podcasts that will review and discuss inkjet papers. Let me say it right now, I LOVE photo papers (traditional and digital) and I just bought a new Epson 3880 inkjet to test inkjet papers with….and of course make larger prints. There’s LOADS of creative possibilities when you try new inkjet papers so I hope the review of these 2 papers (German Etching and Fineart Baryta by Hahnemuhle) is useful to many listeners/readers. Both papers are Highly recommended. German Etching (310GSM) is a textured matte creamy white paper. Fineart Baryta (325 GSM) is a glossy white paper with an ever so slight texture. Ansel Adams called the print ‘the performance’ and these days there’s tons of paper choices to get your prints to sing.

Detail from The Wanderer II on German Etching paper by Hahnemuhle - ©Marko Kulik

Detail from Steam Vents at VNP - German Etching paper by Hahnemuhle - ©Marko Kulik

Steam Vents at VNP - German Etching Marko Kulik

The Wanderer II - German Etching - © Marko Kulik

Detail from Snow Pod on Fineart Baryta from Hahnemuhle © Marko Kulik

Snow Pod on Fineart Baryta from Hahnemuhle © Marko Kulik

The Wanderer I - Fineart Baryta Hahnemuhle © Marko Kulik

Links /resources mentioned in this podcast:

Epson 3880 at B&H
Podcast 62 – Monitor/printer calibration
Podcast 63 – I1 Extreme and ColourMunki review & printer dialogue boxes when printing.
Hahnemuhle papers – Hahnemuhle ICC profiles
Hahnemuhle German Etching Paper at B&H
Hahnemuhle Fine art Baryta Paper at B&H
Comment about back button autofocus on Nikonians – Thx F8&Bthere!
Testimonials link if you’re feeling wordy

Publicphotograpgy.org – Celebrating the rights of photographers - Publicphotography.org – Flickr group – Publicphotography.org – Facebook group

Please join the Photography.ca fan page on Facebook

If you liked this podcast and want to review it on Itunes, this link gets you to the main page

If you are still lurking on our forum,
feel free to join our friendly Photography forum

Thanks to RobvE, f8&Bthere, and Richard who posted a blog comment about our last podcast. Thanks as always to everyone that sent comments by email about our last podcast. Although ALL comments are appreciated, commenting directly in this blog is preferred. Thanks as well to all the new members of the bulletin board. Most of the links to actual the products are affiliate links that help support this site. Thanks in advance if you purchase through those links.

Photography forum image of the month – June 2010

admin — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 15:31:18 +0000

Every month on our photography forum members nominate images that they like. Then at the end of the month I choose an excellent image and talk about why it rocks. The photo I choose is not necessarily the best one of the month. I’ve come to realize it’s not really logical to pit images from totally different genres against each other. That’s why there are categories in photo contests. I just choose a photo that has extremely strong elements that we can learn from.

Swirls by Edg

I chose this image for several reasons:

I love the sharpness here and overall depth of field choice here. Lovely sharp foreground flower (the focal point) at left.

The tonal quality of the flowers is very unique and well done. It’s a bit darker than I’m used to seeing, but it adds to the unique tonal quality and mood of the photograph. Gorgeous palette of pinks and reds. Great highlights in the flower at left and nice subtle highlights on the right flower as well. I like that the left flower is slightly brighter than the right.

My eye is skillfully guided around the image and rests on the focal point. This is due to some fine focal point selection and lens selection during exposure and some lovely post processing. The post processing (especially the darkening of the background) refines the overall composition here and it totally works.

If I have one small niggle, I’d clone out/burn the brightish white edge of the petal on the main left flower at lower left, but that’s it.

For all these reasons, this is my choice for image of the month. Since we all have opinions, some members may disagree with my choice. That’s cool but THIS thread is not the place for debate over my pick, NOR is it the place to further critique the image. The purpose here is to suggest strong elements in the photo that we may learn from.

Congrats again edG for creating this gorgeous image!

I’d also like to include these 3 images as honourable mentions as they also came close to being picked.

Yummmmm - I Love Pollen by Matt K.

Wading Pool by Jas Photo

Descending by Barefoot

84 – Back (rear) button autofocusing

admin — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 16:12:15 +0000

Photography podcast #84 is based on a single comment by Richard from our forum where he mentions rear-button autofocus to aid in sharpness. This technique was developed by Canon about 20 years ago but I first heard of this technique on the MPB podcast (link in shownotes – thx for finding it for me Martin!) about two and a half years ago. Basically this technique REMOVES autofocusing from the shutter release button and assigns it to a button on the back of the camera. Especially when tracking a moving subject, this is a great technique and will likely get you more keepers. It will also STOP your autofocus from tracking things that you don’t want it to.

Finger positions for rear button autofocus

Ducks - Even though ducks are entering/exiting the scene, autofocus is not lost on the central duck which I was tracking. The autofocusing cannot 'hunt' for any other duck because I am tracking and locking focus on only 1 duck.

Links /resources mentioned in this podcast:

Excellent Rear button autofocus article by Canon
Rear button autofocus discussed on the Martin Bailey Podcast
July 2010’s – Perspective and/or Leading lines assignment
Publicphotograpgy.org – Celebrating the rights of photographers - Publicphotography.org – Flickr group – Publicphotography.org – Facebook group

Please join the Photography.ca fan page on Facebook

If you liked this podcast and want to review it on Itunes, this link gets you to the main page

If you are still lurking on our forum,
feel free to join our friendly Photography forum

Thanks to Jackie Sheen, Jason and Glenn Euloth who posted a blog comment about our last podcast. Thanks as always to everyone that sent comments by email about our last podcast. Although ALL comments are appreciated, commenting directly in this blog is preferred. Thanks as well to all the new members of the bulletin board.

Photography forum image of the month – May 2010

admin — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 17:44:17 +0000

A Black & White Foray by Mad Aussie

I chose this image for several reasons:

First off, it’s a WOW image. A lot of the ‘wow’ comes from the incredible sky and the way it’s processed. It’s darkish, somewhat ominous and sets an incredible mood. Had the sky been boring, this shot would not be the same, so good on Mad Aussie for noticing the amazing sky.

The tones in this image are very nicely rendered and the higher contrast used here works extremely well to my eye. It’s very dramatic and makes me think of the Greek Myth involving Atlas. If I have one teeny niggle I’d have toned down the brighter rock just under the main boulder.

Leading lines – The rocks at lower left lead upward toward the big rock at center right which is the focal point of this image. This is NO accident and is the result of careful in-camera composition. In terms of overall composition – just friggen fab. Interesting foreground (jagged rocks) midground (boulder which is the focal point) and background (awesome sky) elements. The split between rocks and sky is also interesting and well thought out with 2/3rds sky and about 1/3rd rocks. Although we often have the discussion about the rule of thirds being a mere guideline…that rule is rocking this image

Congrats again Mad Aussie for creating this striking image!

I’d also like to include these 2 images as honourable mentions as they also came close to being picked.

Mountain Stream by Bambi

Driftwood and clouds by Michaelaw

83 – Photography 20 steps from your door

admin — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 21:47:50 +0000

Photography podcast #83 is based on a suggestion by Casil403 (Thanks Casil!) from our forum. This podcast describes the exercise of photographing whatever you want with the restriction that it must be 20 steps from your door. This restriction forces you to “see” what you are otherwise too busy to see. It’s an excellent exercise that really gets you to zero in on your sense of sight. Feel free to try this exercise for yourself and post the image somewhere and link to it in the comments for all to see. The photos below are images taken within 20 steps of my own door.

20 steps from my door by Marko Kulik

Links /resources mentioned in this podcast:

Rain cover for your DSLR and flash (at B&H)
Rain cover for your DSLR (at B&H)
June 2010’s – Motion assignment on the Photography.ca forum

Please join the Photography.ca fan page on Facebook

If you liked this podcast and want to review it on Itunes, this link gets you to the main page

If you are still lurking on our forum,
feel free to join our friendly Photography forum

Thanks to Bill Sorensen, Benny, Michael Van der Tol and Katrina Chickloski who posted a blog comment about our last podcast. Thanks as always to everyone that sent comments by email about our last podcast. Although ALL comments are appreciated, commenting directly in this blog is preferred. Thanks as well to all the new members of the bulletin board.

82 – Light-painting portraits – Interview with Patrick Rochon

admin — Thu, 20 May 2010 21:20:53 +0000

Photography podcast #82 discusses painting with light AKA light painting with master light painter Patrick Rochon. In a nutshell, light painting is (usually) the art of using portable lights like flashlights to ‘paint’ a subject in a dark environment while the shutter stays open on a tripod during a long exposure. In this podcast Patrick describes and shares some of the tips and tricks he uses to create his amazing light painted portraits. The majority of Patrick’s body of work, like the image below is non-digital, was shot on film, and has not been Photoshopped.

: Patrick Rochon – From the Butoh Dancers Series

Links /resources mentioned in this podcast:

Podcast #8 – Another podcast on light painting
Patrick Rochon on Photography.ca
Patrick Rochon’s website
10 Amazing Light Graffiti Artists and Photographers
Light painting group on Flickr
May 2010’s – Vintage assignment on the Photography.ca forum

Please join the Photography.ca fan page on Facebook

If you liked this podcast and want to review it on Itunes, this link gets you to the main page

If you are still lurking on our forum,
feel free to join our friendly Photography forum

Thanks to Jack Label who posted a blog comment about our last podcast. Thanks as always to everyone that sent comments by email about our last podcast. Although ALL comments are appreciated, commenting directly in this blog is preferred. Thanks as well to all the new members of the bulletin board.

Photography forum image of the month – April 2010

admin — Fri, 14 May 2010 17:58:52 +0000

: Some Bugs by OWLP – Click to enlarge

I chose this image for several reasons:

The eye is tack tack sharp and that’s hard to do on a subject this small, because focusing (and dof) is a challenging task at this size and distance to subject. Sharpness is lovely in many places; leg hairs, thorax, abdomen. Blurred background shows no distractions.

The subject has a definite impact on the viewer. It’s likely very creepy for many viewers, probably because of sharpness. My eye is focused on one thing, that fly.

Good composition all around which can be challenging at this size as well.

Nice highlight control on whatever the fly is resting on and the overall exposure is well handled with supplementary lighting.

Congrats again OWLP for creating this striking image!

I’d also like to include these 2 images as honourable mentions as they also came so so close to being picked.

Colorless Beauty by Kat

: Colorless Beauty by Kat – Click to enlarge

Dinner time by Richard

: Dinner time by Richard – Click to enlarge

Power At Sunrise by Mad Aussie

: Power at Sunrise by Mad Aussie – Click to enlarge

Toronto Contact Photography Festival – May 1-31 2010

admin — Mon, 10 May 2010 21:51:44 +0000

Last week I spent 2 days gallery-hopping at the Toronto Contact Photography festival. It’s always a treat to see so many photographic works being exhibited at the same time. This festival shows photography work all around the city of Toronto (from local and International artists) but it’s mostly concentrated downtown.

: Heidi Leverty – Tincarnation 13

I go to these events purely to see good photography and to get inspired. I LOVE seeing work that moves me even if it is outside what I normally consider to be ‘my’ subject matter. As with most photography festivals, the majority of the work does not appeal to me. Photography for the most part is a one frame deal and if I have to look too hard for the deeper meaning, or work to see the greatness of the shot, then for me the photograph makes me go “meh”. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE symbolism, I love images laden with themes and I love double or triple meanings in an image but SHOW it to me. Don’t embed the gold too deeply in the image, make the gold shine. Don’t make me go back to a text on mythology with an obscurely titled photograph, show me something universal that moves me now.

There were far too many exhibitions to see them all but I did see a good 20 exhibitions. I should say that I missed at least 3 shows purely because I could not find them. Herman & Audrey is a show that I would have LOVED to have seen. I drove to address the on Dufferin, in fact I planned part of my day on that show since the gallery opened at 4pm….nothing there to indicate any exhibition there folks…and no phone number either.

So here were the shows that intrigued me the most with a brief review:

- Barbara Probst – Exposures – This was a cool show; 12 cameras all set up in different locations, photograph the same scene from different angles. The resulting large scale photographs all taken at the same moment, are presented in an interesting and cohesive way. 1450 Dundas St. W – 416-537-3125

- The Skin you Love to Touch – Jodi Bieber, Lauren Greenfield, Zed Nelson – I thought this one was very intriguing showing the ’skins’ of very different people and their relation to marketing, consumerism, perception and self-perception. 80 Spadina suite 310

Ben Ng - Exposed: Pervasive Influence - Gladstone Hotel on the second floor ( a great venue at 1214 Queen St. W. with MANY exhibitions). I found Ben’s landscapes extremely well done and very striking. In particular the printing quality is just fabulous. Most of the images were hand-painted; meaning they started off as black and white images and then selected parts were hand-painted. It looked to me like they were hand-painted old school (as opposed to doing this much more easily in Photoshop) which means that you apply paint to the actual photograph.

My fave – Sometimes you’ll walk into a Gallery that is showing one main artist and other artists intrigue you even more. This is what happened at Bau-Xi Photo with their main exhibition At this Moment by Zoe Jaremus, which overall, I liked. Bau-Xi is located at 324 Dundas tel # 416-977-0400 and their gallery was my favorite stop of the entire exhibition. I discovered 2 artists there whose work struck me immediately; Heidi Leverty (whose image is featured in this post) and Anthony Redpath. Heidi’s work is AWESOME and has tremendous impact. She only had 2 (large – around 32 x40 inches) images that were exhibited but Robyn who works at the gallery showed me some additional work. Her work depicts large scale recycled materials presented in an abstract yet extremely compelling way. Anthony’s work was even larger in scale and his exhibited image Trailer Park Party (64.5 x 96 inches) is excellent and incredibly sharp. Special thanks to Robyn McCallum for the extra information she gave me.

My apologies to all the artists whose work I missed. If you are reading this and want to send me some links to your work, I’m all eyes. Special thanks to Joe Cormier who gallery-hopped (literally – he has a sore leg) with me on day 1. He also showed some fab work at this festival atMoos Gallery.

81 – Multiple exposure photography

admin — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 15:50:08 +0000

Photography podcast #81 discusses multiple exposure photography. Basically multiple exposure in photography involves getting more than one scene on a frame of film or on a single digital file in camera. Many digital and film cameras can do this but if yours cannot, I briefly describe how to do this using a graphics program (that uses layers) like Photoshop. In this podcast, I use the word serendipity quite a bit. Just in case you’re not familiar with it, it means finding/discovering something that you did not expressly seek. It’s one of my favourite words in the English language.

: Homeless in Paradise – Honolulu 2010 – by Marko Kulik

: Inside Isabelle II – by Marko Kulik

: Self Portrait – Wailea, Maui – by Marko Kulik

Links /resources mentioned in this podcast:
Master multiple exposure photographer Jerry Uelsmann
Freeman Patterson - multiple exposures (a few are on this page)
April 2010’s – Different point of view assignment on the Photography.ca forum

Please join the Photography.ca fan page on Facebook

If you liked this podcast and want to review it on Itunes, this link gets you to the main page

If you are still lurking on our forum,
feel free to join our friendly Photography forum

Thanks to Richard, SeanG, Wickeddark, Jason, MrTim, and 42 who posted a blog comment about our last podcast. Thanks as always to everyone that sent comments by email about our last podcast. Although ALL comments are appreciated, commenting directly in this blog is preferred. Thanks as well to all the new members of the bulletin board.

Multiple Exposure – Podcast teaser

admin — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 06:22:08 +0000

I’ve been playing with in camera multiple exposures quite a bit lately and I’m really enjoying it. I used to do this quite a bit back in the day with my trusty Nikon FM2 film camera. Although the anticipation factor is dead with digital, there’s still something special about doing this in-camera. I’m having some fun re-experimenting and I plan to share my rediscoveries in the next podcast.

Inside Isabelle by Marko Kulik

BTW – The submissions in this month’s photo assignment ‘different point of view’ are very creativeÃ‚Â – Thanks to all forum members for posting their fab work! Of course…if you haven’t joined, feel free to join – everyone is welcome!

Same subject different point of view

admin — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 15:44:36 +0000

This month, again, we have a very cool assignment on our photography forum.
The goal is to shoot a subject from a different point of view. We just started this assignment and already have many cool posts. Here’s one from forum member Bambi that rocks. If you are lurking on our forum – we’re a friendly bunch so feel free to register for free and let’s see your creativity.

The Dogs' view of the trail by Bambi - Click to enlarge

Photography forum image of the month Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Feb. 2010

admin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:23:06 +0000

Every month on our photography forum members nominate images that they like. Then at the end of the month I choose an excellent image and talk about why it rocks. The photo I choose is not necessarily the best one of the month. IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve come to realize itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s not really logical to pit images from totally different genres against each other. ThatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s why there are categories in photo contests. I just choose a photo that has extremely strong elements that we can learn from.

Message delivered by Michaelaw - Click for a larger version

This month’s choice Message delivered is by Michaelaw.

I chose this image for several reasons.

First off look at the great mood Michaelaw has created here. This is no accident; it’s a product of Michael’s attention to the the lighting. This mood helps create the story that ‘makes’ this shot. What IS the story? That’s up to the viewer, it’s helped by the title, but there is a story here. The bottle is without a classic paper message in it, it’s empty save for some water. Who sent it, why? Maybe the beer bottle itself IS the message – “hey I’m on a bender; that’s my message”. Maybe the shot is really about the environment and Man’s lack of concern over it. But there IS a story here, you just have to choose it for yourself.

Compositionally I like this very much. The curved patterned formations in the sand add interest to the shot. The diagonal slant of the bottle with specular edge highlights really give my eye something to cling to. The focus also works very well for me here and I’m digging the background blur. My eye is skillfully guided along the bottle toward the slanted water level collected at the bottom. At bottom of the bottle we see the sun’s reflection and it grabs you.

Exposure is handled very well here with a good range of tones and excellent highlight control.

For all these reasons, this is my choice for image of the month.

Since we all have opinions, some members may disagree with my choice. That’s cool but THIS thread is not the place for debate over my pick, NOR is it the place to further critique the image. The purpose here is to suggest strong elements in the photo that we may learn from.

Congrats again Michaelaw for creating this beautiful image!

I’d also like to include these 2 images as honourable mentions as they also came so so close to being picked.

Behind the mask by Chantelle

Day 3 – BanffÃ‚Â by casil403

February 2010 forum assignment – Photography and Song Titles

admin — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:54:47 +0000

This month we have one of the best assignments we’ve ever had in our photography forum; images that suggest a song’s title. There are already many extremely creative and well done images in this thread. If you are still lurking on the forum but have a creative idea, now would be a great time to join. Click here to register for free.

Here’s 2 images from the thread. First one is by member Bambi – Sunrise, Sunset (Fiddler on the Roof Cast). Second one is mine; Hazy Shade of Winter by Simon and Garfunkel. Who is the cutie in the frame? That’s yours truly taken in the early seventies when the song was still popular.

Sunrise Sunset by Bambi (T. Alexander-Arab)

Hazy Shade of Winter by Marko Kulik

Photography forum image of the month – Jan. 2010

admin — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:04:57 +0000

This month’s choice The Conversation is by casil403.

I chose this image for several reasons.
First and foremost, I was drawn in by the unusual angle and point of view of this shot. This angle works very well for me! I love how just above the left statue’s head the office windows are nicely lit. This gives me the feeling of a well-told story, better than the similar story told by the straight on shot seen many, many times. The story is office politics/or work talk etc.

I very much like the lines of the building’s roof and the lines created by the windows. I’m loving this interesting composition. The way that ‘roof-line’ cuts out of the scene to create an isosceles-like triangle at top left (hey I dug geometry) is fan-friggen-tastic. It adds interest to this scene and makes it dynamic.

The sky is beautifully controlled here. It adds flavour to the shot without overwhelming it in any way.

The black and white is very well controlled here and works for me with this subject matter. If I had one teeny nit, I might bring up the highlights in the statues’ faces and hand.

Thousands of people pass these statues every day and scores of tourists are likely snapping away daily… and none of them are likely to lie down on the ground or get on their knees to get this superb angle.

For all these reasons, this is my choice for image of the month.

Congrats again casil403 for creating this beautiful image!

76 – Point and shoot cameras – Review of Canon G11

admin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 21:53:21 +0000

Photography podcast #76 talks about point and shoot cameras and reviews the Canon G11. We talk about the advantages and limitations of point and shoot cameras. We also talk about the most important reason for photographers to get a point and shoot camera and that reason is NOT quality.Ã‚Â Finally I give a quick review of the Canon G11. I recommend this camera but I’m also brutal about its faults.

Image from Canon G11 - ISO 100, F-7.1, 1/100

Canon G11 manually focused at ISO 100 - Click to see the nice noise

Canon G11 manually focused at ISO 800 - Click to see lots of noise

Links /resources mentioned in this podcast:
Canon G11 at B&H (Disclosure – Aff links – helps support our site)
January’s macro or close-up assignment on the Photography.ca forum

Please join the Photography.ca fan page on Facebook
My Facebook profile – Feel free to “friend” me – please just mention Photography.ca
My Twitter page – I will follow you if you follow me – Let’s connect – PLEASE email me and tell me who you are in case I don’t reciprocate because I think you are a spammer.

If you are still lurking on our forum,
feel free to join our friendly Photography forum

Thanks to Glenn Euloth (Iguanasan), Fortytwo, Crystalb, jacklabel, Bambi, JuiCe and Yisehaq who posted a blog comment about our last podcast. Thanks as always to everyone that sent comments by email about our last podcast. Although ALL comments are appreciated, commenting directly in this blog is preferred. Thanks as well to all the new members of the bulletin board.

If you are looking at this material on any other site except Photography.ca – Please hop on over to the Photography.ca blog and podcast and get this and other photography info directly from the source. I Subscribe with iTunes I Subscribe via RSS feed I Subscribe with Google Reader I Subscribe for free to the Photography podcast – Photography.ca and get all the posts/podcasts by Email
You can download this photography podcast directly by clicking the preceding link or listen to it almost immediately with the embedded player below.

Freeman Patterson exhibition – Montreal till Nov.15/09

admin — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:52:18 +0000

If you live in or near Montreal and love artistic landscape photography you OWE it to yourself to take a drive to Dollard Des Ormeaux to see the Freeman Patterson photography exhibition.

This exhibition is AWESOME. Freeman Patterson has been shooting landscapes around the world and teaching workshops for many decades. I’ve been a major fan of his for a good twenty years and I consider him to be a modern master landscape photography artist. Everything about this exhibition screams quality. The images themselves are gorgeous and I spent a good seventy minutes looking at each and every one. The composition of each photograph is very well thought out as you would expect. Freeman is a teacher and expert at visual design and you’ll note the attention he has paid to the foreground midground and background. There’s exciting stuff going on in all 3 of those zones.Ã‚Â But everything else in the photographs work too; exposure, colour and the printing. Gorgeous printing on heavy watercolour paper that reveals great tonality from pure white to deep black with excellent shadow detail in most prints.

Freeman exhibits about 18 large sized photographs that are around 20 X 30 inches. All the prints are for sale in small limited editions. The Gallery is located in the Dollard Civic Center (across the street from Marche de L’Ouest) 12001, boulevard De Salaberry, Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Qc. H9B 2A7 (General Tel. # (514) 684-1011).Ã‚Â Look for the LIBRARY, the gallery is in the basement of the library building. Tues.-Wed. 12-4 PM, Thurs.-Fri. 2-5PM, Sat.-Sun. 1-4 PM and there are guided tours available. The gallery is closed on Nov. 11th for rememberance day.

I have seen NO publicity for this show…which is a travesty as this work is aching to be seen by photography lovers. So take a drive to the West Island and you won’t be disappointed!

The city and the people working as one – NOT

admin — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:01:19 +0000

Every photographer has subject matter that interests them more than other subject matter. For me, what gets me going the most is fine art photography and portraiture. However…..every once in a while I’ll pull out my camera to shoot different subject matter. Gotta pay those bills. This morning however I pulled out my camera because I was simply pissed off at my city. Look at what they are doing with our recycling. Does THIS look like a recycling truck?

I love Montreal. I find the city VERY progressive, tolerant, fairly clean and great place to live. My wife and I love it here. We are community minded people who believe in the environment and we ALWAYS recycle as much as we can. We wash out containers and bottles and separate papers to make it easy for the recycling crew. We used to see our recycling going into a recycling truck, where it would get sorted on the spot. As far as I know, crunched up mixed recycling in a garbage truck is NOT recycling…it’s friggin’ garbage on its way to a landfill.

Does anyone know what is going on here? I mean as much as I love to do my part, I hate wasting my time, and I hate municipal bullcrap. If my recycling is going into a landfill, then why am I wasting my friggin’ time?

73 – Landscape photography tips – improving boring landscapes

admin — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:29:29 +0000

Photography podcast #73 is all about landscape photography and how to improve your landscape photography. Many newbies and advanced amateurs consistently wonder if their landscape photography is any good. This podcast offers up a fair pile of tips to help get your landscape photography to the next level. Some of the things we talk about include; lighting for landscapes, the background and the foreground, what makes landscapes interesting, exposure and landscape photography, filters in landscape photography, tripods and post production.

Yosemite Valley, Winter 1940 by Ansel Adams

Note the points of interest in the foreground, background and midground, note the full range of tones and note how skillfully our eyes are being guided. This is no accident, it’s the result of great planning (the light) execution (exposure/filters/composition) and finishing touches (darkroom post-processing – done these days using a graphics program).

Fishing spot by Kat

Kat has a great handle on the range of tones, exposure and composition here and I really like this shot. It’s missing just a little something of interest IMO to get the big “WOW!” Perhaps if a large rock was dropped in the midground with moving ripples that would have done it…. this shot is so close it just needs a hint of something “extra”.

Fly with me…across Australia (part of a series) by Mad Aussie

This one contains the “Wow!” factor for me. Great colour, range of tones, exposure and composition. Note the reflections in the foreground, the rocks in the midground and that awesome sky in the background. I love how the midground and background seem to meld into one another.

Links /resources mentioned in this podcast:

The Ansel Adams gallery
Darwin Wiggett – Fabulous landscapes
Rule of thirds podcast
Histogram podcast
October’s “Scary-Mysterious-Halloween”Ã‚Â assignment on the Photography.ca forum
Please join the Photography.ca fan page on Facebook
My Facebook profile – Feel free to “friend” me
My Twitter page – I will follow you if you follow me (Hey that’s a Gabriel lyric) – Let’s connect

If you are still lurking on our forum,
feel free to join our friendly Photography forum

Thanks toÃ‚Â jacklabel, and Kent Wilson who posted a blog comment about our last podcast. Thanks as always to everyone that sent comments by email about our last podcast. Although ALL comments are appreciated, commenting directly in this blog is preferred. Thanks as well to all the new members of the bulletin board.

If you are looking at this material on any other site except Photography.ca – Please hop on over to the Photography.ca blog and podcast and get this and other photography info directly from the source. I Subscribe with iTunes I Subscribe via RSS feed I Subscribe with Google Reader I Subscribe for free to the Photography podcast – Photography.ca and get all the posts/podcasts by Email
You can download this photography podcast directly by clicking the preceding link or listen to it almost immediately with the embedded player below.

3 days left – Mois de la Photo – Montreal

admin — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:21:51 +0000

There are only 3 days left to visit Le Mois de la Photo (Translation: photo month) in Montreal. Le Mois de la Photo is a photography event that takes place in Montreal every second year. I’ve been going to this event regularly in Montreal for about a decade. There is always a HUGE variety of photographic styles (from photographers from around the world) in this event and most exhibitions (especially this year) are what I would call ‘alternative’.

From Hand to Mouth, 1993. Installation view, The American Center, Paris, 1995. Photo: Jeff Guess. Courtesy of the artist

The above photograph (and this is one of the many exhibitions that I personally visited) is a great example of ‘alternative photography’ andÃ‚Â thinking outside of the box. The goal of this exhibit is not simple, it requires thought; active thought. People will experience this exhibit in a personal way. Some will like it, some will hate it, and others will scratch their heads and go “Hmmmm”. Personally, I dug it big-time. I like things that are different. I like to think and feel. I’m not into McDonald’s and their freakishly annoying mainstream clown.

Here’s the ‘official website’ write-up on Guess’s exhibition:

With From Hand to Mouth (1993), a 22-metre long photographic series, Jeff Guess treats viewers to an original visual experience. The piece takes the form of a circular panorama hung from the ceiling of a darkened room. The artist assigns a particular place to viewers, who are invited to step into the centre of the installation. Without a privileged viewpoint that would make it possible to take in all the images at once, the work invites viewers to move about, to circulate. From Hand to Mouth is shown with a single, isolated photograph, Fonce Alphonse (1993).

This exhibition is just one of many that make up this year’s Mois de la photo. So get your shoes on and get out there this weekend to see the work before the exhibition is over. Bring an open mind, your brain but leave your cash at home. The exhibitions and mental stimulation are free.

Underdog photo exhibition – Montreal

admin — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 15:42:13 +0000

Yesterday I went to see the Underdog photography exhibition in Montreal. It’s a gallery specifically opened to sell beautiful prints of shelter dogs AND have dogs there at the gallery (from shelters across Montreal) that are available for adoption. The photographs are by photographer Jaime LeBlanc and they are well done indeed. All the money from the sale of the images goes to shelters. This image was taken at the exhibition yesterday with my cameraphone.

Today was supposed to be the last day until 7pm at 4922 Sherbrooke W. (514) 969 3376
BUT the response has been so amazing that they are continuing the exhibition for a short while.

Portrait without a head

admin — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 20:19:27 +0000

Do all portraits need a head or is it okay to frame or crop a photo so that it is headless? Most times I’d say, “for the love of God include the head”. Normally we connect with the subject of a portrait primarily by looking at the subject’s eyes, which reveal much about the person being photographed.

But….once you know the rules, you can try to break them to achieve a particular result. This image is a good example of a headless portrait that works IMO. If we try to analyze WHY it works, it works because the coupled elements tell a story. The Jake tattoo on the hand coupled with the suit, coupled with the Royal Monaco car actually tell a SPECIFIC story. These are all elements of the movie The Blues Brothers and both the photographer and I likely show our age by knowing this fact.

However, even if I did not catch the Blues Brothers connection, for me this shot still works. The elements are still there. The tattoo, older freckled skin, suit and older car all suggest a story. The fact that the shot is in black and white reinforce this fact. It’s up to the viewer to extract the story for themselves, but all the elements are there.

Okay then – do you agree? What do YOU think about this shot and the concept of a headless portrait?

Many thanks to 1putts of our photography forum for allowing me to use this image. Here’s the original photo.

To crop or not to crop this photograph

admin — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:47:55 +0000

Aside from taking a ‘winning shot’ myself, I love to help people get the most from their images and I try to provide daily advice to those people that post on our forum. Sometimes people take my advice and sometimes they don’t and that’s totally cool. The photographer of course decides the ultimate fate of his/her photograph.

Here is an example image that I wanted to share taken by JJelling a member of our photography forum.

When I first looked at this image, I immediately liked it. I like the environment and the exposure is very well handled here. The thing I like about the shot the most though is the expression of the girl on the right. It suggests daydreaming, vegging out orÃ‚Â pensive thought during the daily commute.Ã‚Â What I like least about this shot is the woman on the left. She’s just not doing anything that contributes to the photo, she is shot from behind and takes up a prominent position in the photograph. I wish she was not there.

My suggestion to JJelling was to simply crop her out and MAKE the shot about the girl on the right. Here’s my crop of his photograph which he graciously allowed me to do.

For me, this image tells a stronger and tighter story, it’s clearer. But what about those beautiful windows on the left that get cropped out along with the girl?Ã‚Â Although I liked those windows and the lighting, for me they needed to be sacrificed to get the strongest image possible, albeit a different image. Cropping out extraneous parts of images is a great way to guide the eye of the viewer and make the image stronger. Sometimes the resulting crop is obviously better. Other times (like in this shot perhaps) we may be less sure.

What do other people think?Ã‚Â Which shot do YOU prefer? here’s the original link to the thread.

Thanks Mad Aussie

admin — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:38:27 +0000

A short while ago a member of our photography forum, Mad Aussie, toured western Australia. During one of his shooting days, he etched out our website address on a beach. I thought that was really cool and just wanted to say thanks!

Painting with light

Marko — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:20:55 +0000

LIGHT PAINTING
Light painting has actually nothing to do with ‘painting’ per say, but rather is an artistic form of photography. To go about it, choose a subject to shoot, turn off the lights, and while holding your light source, move it around. Playing around withÃ‚Â your shutter speed will affect the outcome of the shot; a good shutter speed for this type of artistic imagery is 20-30 seconds.

Image by Marko Kulik

This is a fun way to experiment with your camera and lighting, and can produce some fabulous results. Best thing? You don’t need to have muchÃ‚Â patience for it! 20-30 minutes is all you need and you’ll get a nice handful of shots.Ã‚Â Nice idea when doing this type of exercise is to wear black clothing… otherwise you may become the focal point of your shoot!

For some tips and examples check the link in our photography forum
You can also take a listen to our painting with light podcast

A Week With A View – a day anyway :)

admin — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:57:13 +0000

A friend of mine, Chris Penn, sent me an email asking me to participate in A Week With a View whereby we choose one image a day on Flickr and blog about why we think it’s beautiful. I’ve got a nutty week ahead so I can only play today, but it ’s a great idea and I encourage people to participate.

The photo I choose is called 0253 By Cia de Foto. Click the image to see it on flickr.

For me, part of what makes an image beautiful is some type of story or the suggestion of a story. In this image the light is on but the woman looks startled. Did the light go on by itself?Ã‚Â Did the dog turn it on? What IS going on here? It’s left up to us but we are definitely engaged.

Another thing that I find beautiful (Ok it’s a bit technical but it’s my post ) is how our eye is beautifully guided. We go from light to girl to dog and go back and forth between the lit elements. Our eye does not wander because the photographer is skillfully guiding us…..and for me, it’s a thing of beauty.

and if you don’t accept that, then the startled girl is beautiful.

‘Signing’ your prints

Marko — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:31:47 +0000

When Picasso signed his paintings, he did so using his paintbrush and oils and generally placed his signature at the bottom right or left of his art pieces. So when ’signing’ a photo that you are selling/giving away, what can be done as an artist to label your work?

A nice idea is to place a simple border around the photo, and have your signature and the photo’s title 1/8 of an inch below the photo. If not opting for a border, another idea would be to keep it ‘clean’ by placing a signature in the bottom right corner of the photo itself. Keep in mind though thatÃ‚Â you want to keep the photo clear and not have your signature or border disrupt elements in the photo.

Some photographers choose to sell their photos with mats already attached, and sometimes they sign the matting and not the image. This seems silly IMO; after all the photographer created the image not the matting so why sign the matting? Also, the matting can be separated from the print and so the signature or logo can get ‘lost’.

Some clients however prefer not to have a border/signature/title ‘disrupting’ their photo. In cases as such, you may want to confirm with your client first prior to printing. As an alternate way to sign your prints, a stamp with your logo/signature on the back of the print may be a nice final touch.

For more info, feel free to check out the link on our photography forum.

Photography.ca winning member images from May 2009

admin — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:53:42 +0000

For the past few months we have added a new feature on our photography bulletin board where the Admin on Photography.ca (Me, Marko), chooses 1 photo that he thinks is great and talks about the photo. This month I teetered hard between 2 images and in the end decided that they were both winners. Wood Duck by Michaelaw and Navy ‘LST 325′ by z-06-jim were my choices for this month. (check the previous link for the explanation).

We have lots of photographs being submitted each month on our forum for critiques, assignments or just to show the photo. Choosing Michaelaw’s and z-06-jim’s photo as the Ã¢â‚¬ËœwinnersÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ took many hours of careful sifting. Given that it took so long to choose, I came across many close contenders. Seems like a waste of time just to include 1 photo so IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢d like to include 4 honourable mentions right here.

If you havenÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t joined our forum I would encourage you to do so. We are an extremely friendly bunch that share and learn daily.

HereÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s the winning photo by Michaelaw:

Wood Duck by Michaelaw

HereÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s the winning photo by z-06-jim:

Navy 'LST 325' by z-06-jim

Here are the 2 honourable mentions in no particular order:

Frog/Toad by Michaelaw

First Action Pics by casil403

67 – Orton Imagery – The Orton Effect – Interview with Michael Orton and Darwin Wiggett

admin — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:52:50 +0000

Photography podcast #67 discusses how to use Orton Imagery (AKA the Orton effect or the Orton Technique) to give your photographs an ethereal/painterly feel. This technique was invented by Michael Orton in the mid 1980’s using 2 pieces of overexposed slide film sandwiched together. The principles of this technique can also be used in graphics programs like Photoshop to achieve a similar effect. This podcast contains 2 interviews; one with Michael Orton discussingÃ‚Â the technique’s history, and one with Darwin Wiggett,Ã‚Â discussing his method for creating Orton Imagery using Photoshop and other graphics programs. Darwin’s step-by-step is outlined below and his Photoshop action is also included. Thanks a ton Michael and Darwin!!

Orton Imagery by Michael Orton - Click to enlarge

NMP2823 - Non-Orton image by Darwin Wiggett - Click to enlarge	NMP2823 - Orton image by Darwin Wiggett - Click to enlarge
NMP9058 - Orton image by Darwin Wiggett - Click to enlarge	NMP6435 - Orton image by Darwin Wiggett - Click to enlarge

Here’s how to create Orton Imagery Using Photoshop. Portion reprinted from from Orton Imagery – A Ã¢â‚¬Å“How toÃ¢â‚¬Â guide for Photographers by Darwin Wiggett. Thanks to Nature Photographers online magazine for allowing me to reprint this.

Digital Technique to Create Orton Images

Here, there are many ways to simulate an Orton slide sandwich. You can do it the same way as outlined above for slides overexposing two separate images and then in the computer stacking the images together in software and blending them. Personally, I prefer to take my existing digitized photos (either from film scans or digital camera files) and running them through the process below to see if they work as Ã¢â‚¬Å“Orton ImagesÃ¢â‚¬Â.

Here is the step-by-step recipe for making Orton images in Photoshop:

Open any image you wish to try the technique on. Make a duplicate of the image (Image>Duplicate). Close the original image.
Lighten the image as follows: Image>Apply ImageÃ¢â‚¬Â¦ then in the dialog box that comes up change the bending mode to Ã¢â‚¬Å“ScreenÃ¢â‚¬Â and the Opacity to 100%. This will give you an appropriately overexposed image.
Duplicate this overexposed image (Image>Duplicate).
Blur this second image (Filter>Blur>Gaussian BlurÃ¢â‚¬Â¦ and in the dialog box use a Radius setting of 15 to 50 pixels Ã¢â‚¬â€œ the higher the pixel setting the blurrier the photo and the more Ã¢â‚¬ËœpainterlyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ the imageÃ¢â‚¬Â¦ but you can go too far!). Experiment with different settings, for my tastes and for the size of my digital files (50-100 megabytes) a radius of about 25 pixels works perfect.
Now select the move tool from the Photoshop tool bar (or just press Ã¢â‚¬Å“vÃ¢â‚¬Â on your keyboard for quicker access to the move tool). Hold down the Ã¢â‚¬Å“shiftÃ¢â‚¬Â key and use your mouse to drag and drop the blurry image onto the sharp one (donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t let go of the shift key until after you release the mouse button or the images wonÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t be in perfect alignment).
Bring up the layers palette in Photoshop (F7 is the keyboard shortcut). Under the word Ã¢â‚¬Å“LayersÃ¢â‚¬Â in the layers palette will be a menu box of blending modes. Change the blending mode from Ã¢â‚¬Å“normalÃ¢â‚¬Â to Ã¢â‚¬Å“multiplyÃ¢â‚¬Â.
Now Ã¢â‚¬Å“flattenÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ the two layers by pressing Ã¢â‚¬Å“CTRL+EÃ¢â‚¬Â or by clicking on the sideways triangle in the layers palette to select Ã¢â‚¬Ëœflatten imageÃ¢â‚¬â„¢.

There, you now have an Orton image – if you like your new masterpiece save the file!

Dwayne Oaks from our photography forum also lists the way he uses the Orton effect using NX2 software. Thanks Dwayne.
1-use midtone (levels) slider to brighten photo (2.04)
2-select gaussian blur, set radius slider to (15.85)px and opacity to (100)%
go to blending mode and select (multiply)
3-readjust (levels) sliders if necessary
4-in the case of my work to get the muted colors just turn down
the saturation

Links /resources mentioned in this podcast:
More of Darwin Wiggett’s work on Timecatcher.com
Photographing Creative Landscapes: Simple Tools for Artistic Images and Enhanced Creativity by Michael Orton
Dances with Light by Darwin Wiggett
Download Darwin’s Orton Action
June’s low shooting angle assignment on the Photography.ca forum
See and vote on May 2009’s member images

If you are still lurking on our forum,
feel free to join our friendly Photography forum

Thanks as always to everyone that sent comments by email about our last podcast. Although ALL comments are appreciated, commenting directly in this blog is preferred. Thanks as well to all the new members of the bulletin board.

If you are looking at this material on any other site except Photography.ca – Please hop on over to the Photography.ca blog and podcast and get this and other photography info directly from the source. I Subscribe with iTunes I Subscribe via RSS feed I Subscribe with Google Reader I Subscribe for free to the Photography podcast – Photography.ca and get all the posts/podcasts by Email
You can download this photography podcast directly by clicking the preceding link or listen to it almost immediately with the embedded player below.

How to Create Sepia Tones

Marko — Mon, 18 May 2009 20:43:28 +0000

To add a certain nostalgic effect to photos, many fine art photographersÃ‚Â enjoy changing the colour of the photograph or actually toning the print to sepia. Using the darkroom to achieve your sepia effect is an option if you have the facilities available. If not, you have two other options – an in camera option on many DSLRs and good old photoshop.

Venus and Cupid by Marko Kulik - This image was printed in the darkroom and then toned in a sepia bath to get this rich brown colour.

Many digital cameras now offer you the option of taking the image in sepia (and other tones as well like blue, red, green etc.) This is quick and efficient for immediate results. It does have it’s limitations though, like losing all of the colour information in the image. This is why most photographers like to ‘play around’ with their photo in photoshop.

Photoshop not only allows the option of converting to sepia, but it further allows a whole range of brown/orange tones to choose from. Some artists prefer a more muted sepia, while others prefer it to appear more drastic. Either way, there is really a vast array of tones to choose from.

Whatever the method, just make sure of one thing – save an original copy of your photo just in case you decide that sepia wasn’t for you after all.

Here’s the link from our Photography forum