'Filters" and Presets

I was on Facebook this morning and came across an app that was advertising “filters” to create an old film style look to your images. I’m not going to name the app because it doesn’t matter for my purpose. I clicked to learn more and discovered it was an app for your phone that simply applied filters from what I could see. I don’t use the camera on my phone so I didn’t look much further but it got me thinking.

I’ve commented on this sort of thing before. In today’s world many people want instant gratification with everything in general, but also in their photography. They want everything to be easy, they don’t appreciate working for something special. Take a picture, apply a filter and done!

Maybe I”m a dinosaur but I enjoy the act of editing my photographs, I find it a relaxing process and in the end I have achieved something that I can be proud of. As a lightroom user, I recognize that it can create that very same look and many more according to your tastes and styles. Once you create that look, you can easily save those settings as a preset and from that point on, you have a one click “filter” and you never had to purchase any further app to do it.

I always encourage people to explore and learn to draw your own vision out of your work. Don’t just click a button and call it done. Learn what you like and how to get there, you will be far more proud of your photographs.

Make Art For You First

The bottom line is, if you don’t connect with your work because you’re trying to satisfy some other formula, you are doing it wrong. I’ve finally gotten away from that way of thinking. I used to worry a lot about what others would think.That way of thinking is completely destructive to creativity. I no longer try to satisfy anyone but me.

Judges in a competition always want to see detail in shadows for instance. They lose their minds if they can’t see it, they can’t handle mystery in an image. I have heard comments to this issue a lot over the years. I heard it just recently regarding an image I am placing in an exhibition. I like shadows, I learned when shooting live music that shadows have to be shadows sometimes, and I like it.

Re-imagining Reality

If anyone has been following me recently, you know that I am now diving deeply into high profile black and white imagery. I am loving it, I find the absence of colour refreshing. Re-imagining reality.

2 Types of Photographers

I made this statement in a Facebook group and got flamed. I truly have come to the conclusion that there are two main types of photographers. There are creative ones and there are technical ones. Some argued that they are both but I tend to think they are not looking closely enough. Out of the photographers I know, if the person is super creative, they usually don’t bother themselves with the technical side of things. They can do what they do extremely well, but they have no idea about the how or the why.

The thing many creatives have in common is that they look at their gear as tools and care very little about the technical details of what they are using. Many of them know what they need to know to accomplish their particular work, but they just don’t care further than that. They don’t spend their time wondering if lens A is better than Lens B, they are too busy just creating.

I’m the nerd that researches every potential piece of gear to death before buying, making sure that I procure the best possible gear. I waste so much time learning and reading that I don’t even have time to shoot. How unproductive is that? I have made a few decisions lately that I am hoping will get me out shooting more and spending less time reading about it…..or watching YouTube videos as it were. I am making a real effort to spend much less time diving into technical mumbo jumbo and more creating some art.

The image below is actually a very old image but it has been my most popular image. It is Breakwater Park in Kingston long before the renovations that we see today. It isn’t a true monochrome but it’s close and I have decided to pursue this type of thing more. I really appreciate the idea of capturing images with little if any colour. It opens up so much for the viewer.

Foggy Morning

Before and After

When photographing live events such as concerts, we like to compose the perfect shot all the time yet the reality is we can’t. Live stages are usually cluttered with lots of stuff like mic stands, amps, lights, monitors and assorted other distractions. When we are learning composition in photography, we learn that items that don’t help the image hurt it. This is often the case in concert photography too.

A friend who also shoots live music recently posted some of her work with before and after shots to illustrate how some of her work is edited. It got me to thinking about my own work and I got looking around at some photos that might be better images if they had a bit of help. After all, photography is art, right?

Some people are purists and feel that photos should never be altered. That subject is often debated in photography circles but my personal feeling is that my work is my art and I can do whatever I wish to make it my own creation. Another factor that I hear a lot is that some people who don’t wish to spend time at a computer processing. I actually enjoy my time processing images, watching them take shape from raw data to art.

The above images are Max Kermen of Arkells with some simple edits that I feel makes it a much stronger image and really, the biggest change is just simply removing a mic stand and a person. Both of these items were a distraction in the frame. The smoke was added just for a bit of interest in the new negative space that I created.

I would love to hear any thoughts you may have. Feel free to leave a message.