New York Photography Blog

(Infrared and ‘Tonemapped’)

How this shot was done: this was early in my digital infrared days.  It wasn’t done with a modified digital camera, but by sticking an infrared filter (I don’t remember which one anymore) on the 40D and doing a fairly long exposure.  The resulting image was all RED.  I then created a profile that could be used with the ADOBE DNG profile editor app (free) that gave me a more acceptable color temp.  Still, not very good – but when I stuck it into tone-mapping – suddenly this image popped out at me.

**NOTE**

1. Print prices have gone down again.  I couldn’t sell enough of them to make the ‘outsourcing’ work.  I will still use WCI for large prints, but after several weeks of very slow business which corresponds with the price increases for outsourcing – I can see that it won’t work.

2. There are only about 8 limited editions (11 x 14) of Poet’s Walk left.  In other words, I have nearly sold 100 of them at that size.  Some people care about such things (collectors) so it just means that there won’t be any limited editions of that print at that size.

3. The black-lined grid screen for the 5D is impossible to see at night.  It’s great during the day – but disappears in the dark.  I don’t remember having that problem with the Rollei TLR or with the view camera.  Maybe they were etched into the screen differently.

4. I’ll get in touch with an Epson technician today, or at least try to.  I lost track of that problem while I buried myself in HDR and color.  Though I may have figured something out.  Will write more about it if I have solved the problem.  I do have a work around for sure.  A kludge – but it works.  But I made a change yesterday with the 7800 and I want to see if it works today.

5. As noted, even though I may not end up working in color, I can say that I have gone pretty far with HDR and especially with the tone-mapping tool which is wonderful, whether for color or b&w.  It seems like there’s always one more thing I want to try.

I’m afraid I’m falling back into my old habits.  I put the 50mm f1.4 on this morning (couldn’t sleep) and wandered around the UES in the pre-dawn hours.  The 50mm is smaller than the other lenses I’ve been using – I don’t need to worry about distortion, and I was always a 50mm f1.4 man.  The camera just seems balanced and light in my hands.  Surely quiet compared to the cameras I used when I was 15… and all in all, a very nice walking around combination.

I’m not saying that I caught any fish this morning – only that it felt right to be nestled under my favorite tree enveloped by an early mist strolling off the glimmering surface of the lake.  You don’t need to catch any fish to enjoy eating the image.

I went out on the fire-escape with tripod and did some long exposures (this is 30 seconds) tonight.  It’s a much better view than what I see looking directly out the window (back of a school).

There is a history of photographers doing shots out the window that goes back a long ways and you can even find entire books (Ruth Orkin) shot out the window.

*** One note about the ee-D grid screen for the Canon 5D: almost impossible to see at night.  This was taken at night with as I say long exposure – and there was no way I could see the grid lines which would have been helpful since I was using the 20mm f2.8.

I do need to go to Petco because the cat is in need of a new scratching board.  At least with this picture, no matter how old I get, I’ll always remember where it is – or at least where it once was.  I did have a bit of an epiphany when I was shooting this.  I was waiting for someone wearing a red jacket, and I was castigating myself – that the shot was just about the colors when it struck me: how many times have I enjoyed a black and white shot, simply because of the black and white tones.  If it was okay for black and white – why wasn’t it okay in color?  Of course I still think that if you can desaturate it and still have a “story” or a “subject” that works on it’s own where the color adds to the shot – then you do have something.  But it’s okay in the early phases to simply enjoy the colors.

But of course there ain’t no way to just get good at something without going through the dreaded learning process.  So I can stay in the comfortable world of b&w or continue my explorations so that I don’t need to answer the most asked question I get: why do you shoot in black and white?

Oh – and speaking of black and white photographs – this week – and this has never happened to me before, I actually received two pieces of mail, actual mail, not e-mail, with photographs that were printed from my site (i.e. web resolution) asking if I would be kind enough to sign the back and send it back to them (all teenagers).  And they had self addressed envelopes.   And I also got a letter with two photographs from a young person asking if I would critique the prints and answer some biographical questions.  Again – this was with snail mail.

Are you telling ;me that my signature has become worth something – or that it’s some sort of hoax.  I am so suspicious that I looked at the postmarks and they weren’t from New York which is where the tricksters mostly live.

BONUS IMAGE

Yet another way to dry and uncurl a print.  Poets Walk – hanging from my loft, with a ruler on the bottom (clipped to print) which seems to help straighten the curled paper and keeps it all safe from the cat.  My idea with stacked boxes ran into problems.  I don’t fully understand what happened but I had two ruined prints after they were sitting in the boxes which were opened at one end… namely a drop of something that was the color of the cardboard box, had dropped onto the print.  In other words, let’s say that the drying inkjet gives off vapor (that is a known fact) and over time, the vapor mixes with the cardboard and forms a new material which may drop onto the print.  It’s not a really big deal these days as I’m preparing files to be outsourced – but I still do a print once in a while if it is a rush.

• If you're on the West Coast, let me know if you have a problem reaching http://bit.ly/SsFBy (my site). One person from CA says site is down. #
• Thank you all… fellow on west coast with the problem says everything is ok now. Just one of those mysteries of webdom. DB #

Nothing special… just a straight conversion from color to b&w with one frame. 1600 ASA. Sometimes simple is better.

I think it was Ty that mentioned how Night Jogger was better in terms of the motion blur than the HDR stuff and I have to agree. But they are two different processes.  With HDR you are taking separate shots and combining them – so although each frame may have a blurred figure, when you combine them, you are going to have the streak starting in different spots.  It may be fine with rivers and such where you really can lay them on top of each other and there is no specific blurred object, but if you had shot Blurred Runner with HDR you’d get three separate images of the blurred runner.   So, for example, the blurred figures in this shot appear natural – they aren’t duplicated, or triplicated. People are used to this effect.  On the other hand – when you combine a lot of frames together – (see the lunchtime on fifth avenue shots below) you get tons of separate objects (people) in different spots, which is an interesting but more disturbing effect – unless you are into that or have been exposed (no pun intended) to the effect.  In other words, it isn’t yet part of the photographic vocabulary.

Went downtown to pick up the grid screen for the 5D. Here are a few from the trip in various forms…  now let me see if I can put that screen in.  Normally, it wouldn’t be needed, but I need help with the 28mm for shots that really do need to be carefully lined up. (cut to, ten minutes later).  Okay, I just got the ee-D screen in.  No problems.  And it is going to be very useful.  Black, very thin grid – that don’t detract from the shot – but are there when you want to carefully line up verticals and horizontals.

This is still in the experimental phase… I combined 9 shots… not necessary and I have three where there is only one guy who is motionless.  I also did a rough job with the perspective controls.  But this morning I’ll be at B&H to pick up a grid mat for the 5D.  But I think I’m onto something.  Haven’t hit the nail on the head yet but I’m a trial and error sort and when I get it – you’ll know.

While taking pictures of the Plaza Hotel, this fellow began to vogue in front of the lobby, striking the common poses that are popular these days.  I beckoned him over and asked him if he would please get out of the shot, that I was trying to get the plaza lobby, and he explained that he was trying to find work as a model.  I had him pose in some of the shots (they’ll show up later) as the only one not moving, and then asked him to stand in front of the camera and not to pose at all – but to just stand there and look directly into the lens.

One of those just about over the top HDR shots I’d better let sit a while; and am tempted to correct the converging verticals in photoshop, something I almost never do.  Well, like I say – let it have a rest.  Yes – obviously from here on in everything is 5D so I don’t need to keep repeating that (40D arrived safely with James); and Sigma lens should arrive in FL on Monday.

And just about anything that’s remotely static right now is HDR – so I’ll just tag it and not go into that much more.  The trick when you’re shooting moving stuff like horses, even these guys that are taking a break is to setup the shot and wait / hope for that second where you can squeeze in the 3 shots without horse movement.  It’s all alot of fun for me – this color phase.  You get to make so many choices – is the blue sky too blue.  Should the foreground be brought up a bit.  Bring down the blown out lights or let ‘em be.  And do it all so that it has a somewhat natural feel to it.  Tricky stuff (at least for me) compared to when I do b&w which seems to present less problems.

I think that subconsciously, and now consciously I’m working to build up a color portfolio; not so much from the selling point of view – but to get to a point where you can sit back and contemplate the portfolio as a whole – whether it has jumped into postcard territory (not that there’s anything wrong with that) or whether that certain wave of enjoyment you get comes across to others.

The real trick is not to over analyze a new path (as this one is) since you have no idea where it’s going. But together with the perspective controls in Photoshop, and with combining fewer images, I’m starting to get the idea of how this can give you the view camera feeling.. . without the weight…  but with lots of clean pixels…  I don’t quite have it all figured out yet but it feels like that’s where this is headed…

Flower Pots – HDR – 5D – Three Exposures – 28mm.