Snapshots are Slapshots

You have done it.  Stood over a birthday cake to take a photo of it for posterity.  Snapshots like that are like amateur documentaries.  Where is the art in it?  You wanna be a photographer?  Then constantly remember what I've said about this: "Take the photograph that nobody else sees."  Get low and close.  Do something different.  Now for the record- I took one of those lame shots of this cake too ;)  Sometimes you just gotta do it for the other people involved.  Get YOUR photos too though.

Flightless Dragon - camera color adjust

Ever wonder what all the settings do on your camera?  Ever wonder how they work and what they actually change?  PLAY WITH IT!  Haven't I said that before?  You must learn the range of capabilities your own camera has.  Your creativity will grow ten fold when you learn to manipulate your tool (the camera).  Here is a poor unfortunate dragonfly that didn't choose a clear path one evening last week.  I was driving in light rain in the low country of South Carolina.  He got the smackdown from my Jeep grill.  At any rate...  I snapped off these photos in late afternoon lighting.  The first has the camera set to "auto" in the color mode field.  The second photo is taken with the "cool" choice and the third on... you guessed it- "warm."  As you can see- it alters natural coloring of the subject and manipulates the ambient lighting.  This can change mood in many cases. PS- don't forget to change your camera settings back to default to you start off correctly the next time.

Apologies...

I was busy this week preparing for several weeks away from home.  This weekend I have been ill and just haven't felt up to speed.  Thanks for the well wishes. I'll bounce back and post again soon.  Hang tight.

JAS.

Here is a sample image comparison. The first image was taken in "sepia" mode using the conversion algorithms inherent to the Panasonic Lumic DMC-FC18. The second image was taken in full color and converted using the Google Picasa tool. There have been no adjustments to clarity, contrast or coloring. This goes to show what I have been saying. You must know your tools and how to use them. Some aplications and variations work in some cases. Other tools work better for different effects. When you are procesing images in your head, the camera or at your workstation... make sure you know whether a screwdriver or a hammer is the right one to use.

Sepia Shrooms

I was out hiking this past weekend and found myself 5900 ft. up in a cloud bank hovering over Grandfather Mountain, NC, USA.  This would put an interesting spin of my photo excursion.  I had already decided I would make settings on my camera to capture images in sepia tone. I know I know... software can make that conversion back at home.  But I wanted to do two things. First, work my eye on contrast and form and exclude color from the mix.  Secondly, make some comparisons between my cameras setting for sepia and the software package I use for processing.  I'll post the comparison in a few days after I work it over for review.  In the meantime- take a gander at the smurf houses I found.  I am always amazed a the underside of mushrooms... the delicate nature of them is fabulous in structure and design.  It can change your perspective on it all.

White House Postcard

I took the same lame photograph of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. that 683 people take everyday.  What a common "snapshot" this is.  I wanted to change it some, "modernize" it if you will with fancy auto adjusters, color enhancers, white balancers and paint brushes to create my own masterpiece.  I'm still poking around software features of the digital darkroom and realize photographs may not always end up as printed photographs.  They may be paintings in the end.

JP-7

Sometimes a work morphs and grows over time.  This is a collection of photographs I pieced together for album artwork for Joel Port's release "Captain Kirk and the Beauty Queen."  Literally thousands of images were reviewed and selected for the "photogrids" used on the album pages.  This is a variant portion of one of the panels.  Manipulation the presentation changes the reception.  Different moods, different goals, different times.

Station 22.5

Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, United States

Artistic license is so available these days in digital darkrooms.  Manipulating images to achieve a desired outcome has always been apart of photography.  Although previous it was executed with chemicals baths, enlargers and treated papers.  Now we have the freedom to play with our work right on our desktops.

Live @ Rams Head

www.joelportrock.com
"Captian Kirk and his Beauty Queen"

Two Inch Unbrella

DOF: The Grain Plain

Flora is not my only macro love affair.  I also care deeply for wood grain.  Weathered wood, aged by the elements, grayed by exposure and the passing of time.  There is a story in every grain.  A detail and experience from a beautiful yesterday.  a pure natural beauty.  The fine detail and contrast of xylem carries impact and presence of days gone by...

Ladybugs for Avery

I was looking Avery's photoblog and she posted some ladybugs.  I took that as curious happenstance as I myself snapped off some frames this afternoon of a ladybug in my Gerbera Daisies.  This is what I saw.  Thanks Avery for the inspiration.  (scope out her photoblog too http://averyandphotography.blogspot.com/   )

Renegades and Panty Raids

Here we are again back with King Jimmy James. This is in a series of promotional portraits I did for the musicians.  When taking portrait you are aware of the product and it's use.  We worked here to capture some rockstar attitude and finesse with an edge.  Jimmy crashes the skins with monkey arms... and that s a GREAT THING!

Iced Tea Please

Sitting at dinner I found myself looking at layers of ice and liquid from a different perspective.  It is amazing how light is colored, bent and transformed be the simplest material.  Capturing these changes in light is challenge is some photography.  Sometimes it works, other times you just have to drink it.

Play With Your Food

Ever wonder how they make food look so good in commercial and advertisements?  There are times you get into a meal that looks to good to be true.  This one also tasted to good to be true.