The delivery of artwork from artist to the client's wall has certainly changed, thanks to the Internet. While the experience of going to a gallery and seeing the work before you purchase it is part of the enjoyment of buying art, we are witnessing an explosion in choice online.
If you're willing to forgo the person-to-person experience and trust what you see on a computer screen, you can buy fine art ranging from classic posters, reproductions of the old masters, photographic images and even original sculpture and paintings from contemporary artists. A number of companies have evolved to serve this market, including Fine Art America, Imagekind and Saatchi Online. Most of the time, the risk of buying art online is mitigated by very good return policies.
As a photographer, I want to create compelling images, but don't want the hassle and expense of colour management, printing and shipping worldwide. That's why I've revamped my photographic prints website to include simple-to-follow links to print fulfillment sites like Fine Art America and Imagekind. Not only will they supply you with canvasses and archival paper prints in a wide variety of sizes, but they will frame them, if you wish, using materials of your choosing. Fine Art America also offers greeting cards, made from any image in my galleries.
For local buyers who prefer to deal with me directly, or prefer a hand-signed print, I work with a local facility where I can monitor print quality. Ordering and payment is still handled online, though, via the secure e-commerce feature on my Photoshelter website.
Save some money and time (unless you love going to galleries, of course). Try exploring the vast array of fine art options online!
Wednesday, 18 July 2012
Monday, 30 April 2012
Getting Exposure Right
For those of you who attended one of my beginner digital photography courses, you may recall me harping on about the camera's metering always trying to achieve 18% grey average exposure.
So what does that mean, really? Well, if you were to examine the histogram (that funny looking graph on your camera's LCD screen) for a picture you just took, 18% grey falls smack dab in the middle. When your camera evaluates the light in the scene before you take the shot, it measures the light over several points in the scene and makes a decision about the settings required to make the average value of the exposure fall at the middle of the histogram. This is called evaluative (Canon) or matrix (Nikon) metering.
The reason for this is to try to ensure that the shadow and highlight areas of the scene remain within the left and right ends of the histogram to prevent loss of detail. Remember, the left end of the histogram represents the darkest shadow detail that the camera can capture, while the right end represents the brightest highlight it can handle. If the histogram is not centred, and the graph is rammed against one end or the other, then chances are you've lost some detail. In short, the best histogram is one whose graph trails off smoothly at both ends, barely touching the sides.
There are times when this brainwork by the camera can do a disservice, however. If you're shooting a scene that's 90% snow or white sand, for example, the camera will try to average the exposure to 18% grey. That means your snow or sand comes out a dull grey because it dominates the exposure, and the camera wants to expose it to mid-grey. Not only that, but if there is some deep shadow detail in that remaining 10% of the scene, it may be pushed against the left end of the histogram and be lost.
Knowing this, camera manufacturers provide an exposure compensation button, pictured below. Typically, you push and hold this button while you turn the command wheel and read the exposure compensation on the LCD screen. In the snow scene example, you may need to overexpose (+) by 1 to 2 stops. Now you're ready to take the shot and check the resultant histogram to see if the white end of the graph ends up close to, but not touching, the right end of the histogram. If not, adjust the exposure compensation and try again.
Remember, most cameras do not reset exposure compensation to zero after you turn off the camera. Reset it manually to ensure you don't wreck the next day's shoot.
You can also use the camera's other metering modes, such as partial or spot, to meter the light only in the very centre of the scene. A typical use for these is where you are taking a picture of someone who has a strong backlight directly behind them. Evaluative or matrix metering would read the backlight and most likely make the face very dark. You could use exposure compensation in this scenario, but partial or spot metering will do the same thing by measuring the light reflected from the face (assuming you centre it in the viewfinder) and make it mid-grey. Again, in these metering modes, the camera takes what it measures and tries to average the exposure to 18% (mid) grey.
As with exposure compensation, don't forget to reset the metering to evaluative or matrix when you're finished with partial or spot metering.
So what does that mean, really? Well, if you were to examine the histogram (that funny looking graph on your camera's LCD screen) for a picture you just took, 18% grey falls smack dab in the middle. When your camera evaluates the light in the scene before you take the shot, it measures the light over several points in the scene and makes a decision about the settings required to make the average value of the exposure fall at the middle of the histogram. This is called evaluative (Canon) or matrix (Nikon) metering.
The reason for this is to try to ensure that the shadow and highlight areas of the scene remain within the left and right ends of the histogram to prevent loss of detail. Remember, the left end of the histogram represents the darkest shadow detail that the camera can capture, while the right end represents the brightest highlight it can handle. If the histogram is not centred, and the graph is rammed against one end or the other, then chances are you've lost some detail. In short, the best histogram is one whose graph trails off smoothly at both ends, barely touching the sides.
There are times when this brainwork by the camera can do a disservice, however. If you're shooting a scene that's 90% snow or white sand, for example, the camera will try to average the exposure to 18% grey. That means your snow or sand comes out a dull grey because it dominates the exposure, and the camera wants to expose it to mid-grey. Not only that, but if there is some deep shadow detail in that remaining 10% of the scene, it may be pushed against the left end of the histogram and be lost.
Knowing this, camera manufacturers provide an exposure compensation button, pictured below. Typically, you push and hold this button while you turn the command wheel and read the exposure compensation on the LCD screen. In the snow scene example, you may need to overexpose (+) by 1 to 2 stops. Now you're ready to take the shot and check the resultant histogram to see if the white end of the graph ends up close to, but not touching, the right end of the histogram. If not, adjust the exposure compensation and try again.
Remember, most cameras do not reset exposure compensation to zero after you turn off the camera. Reset it manually to ensure you don't wreck the next day's shoot.
You can also use the camera's other metering modes, such as partial or spot, to meter the light only in the very centre of the scene. A typical use for these is where you are taking a picture of someone who has a strong backlight directly behind them. Evaluative or matrix metering would read the backlight and most likely make the face very dark. You could use exposure compensation in this scenario, but partial or spot metering will do the same thing by measuring the light reflected from the face (assuming you centre it in the viewfinder) and make it mid-grey. Again, in these metering modes, the camera takes what it measures and tries to average the exposure to 18% (mid) grey.
As with exposure compensation, don't forget to reset the metering to evaluative or matrix when you're finished with partial or spot metering.
Monday, 5 December 2011
Winter Photo Opportunities
Now, winter isn't my favourite season, but it does bring with it some opportunities.
Take the accompanying photo, for instance. Sometimes here in northern climes we can get fog even in the middle of winter. Not being a meteorologist, I'm guessing that it occurs when warmer, moist air descends on a cold surface. I refer to it as ice fog, because it results in ice crystals or hoar frost forming. The formations are as intricate as snowflakes. For a closeup look, go to www.realworldphoto.com and type 'hoar frost crystals' in the search box.
On a bigger scale, the photographic magic occurs when trees get covered with it. It's like a sugar frosting. Hence the fruit tree image.
Winter presents some challenges to the photographer, particularly when out in the early hours as the sun rises and the temperature is still low. Frostbite is a possibility, particularly when trying to operate delicate camera switches with bare hands. Batteries can also pooch out early, particularly if they weren't fully charged before setting out. But when you capture the sparkle on the snow, the warm early sun and a glowing red barn on one image, it makes it all worth while.
Take the accompanying photo, for instance. Sometimes here in northern climes we can get fog even in the middle of winter. Not being a meteorologist, I'm guessing that it occurs when warmer, moist air descends on a cold surface. I refer to it as ice fog, because it results in ice crystals or hoar frost forming. The formations are as intricate as snowflakes. For a closeup look, go to www.realworldphoto.com and type 'hoar frost crystals' in the search box.
On a bigger scale, the photographic magic occurs when trees get covered with it. It's like a sugar frosting. Hence the fruit tree image.
Winter presents some challenges to the photographer, particularly when out in the early hours as the sun rises and the temperature is still low. Frostbite is a possibility, particularly when trying to operate delicate camera switches with bare hands. Batteries can also pooch out early, particularly if they weren't fully charged before setting out. But when you capture the sparkle on the snow, the warm early sun and a glowing red barn on one image, it makes it all worth while.
Saturday, 19 November 2011
Crazy Composite
I've always had this scene in my mind whenever I've heard the song 'Crazy River' by Robbie Robertson, so I decided to build a composite image of my interpretation.
First, I shot an empty field toward sunset. Easy peasy. Because I wanted to give it a Louisiana bayou atmosphere, I figured it needed a big lazy moon. No problem - I had one on a slide. And stars came from a time exposure I shot weeks earlier. A bit of artistic license led to the meteor (or comet if you wish).
Robbie called for an abandoned '59 Chevy. Fat chance finding one of those, so I ordered a scale diecast model for $10 on Ebay. A bit of watercolour paint dabbed on it emulated the rust. To make it look like the car battery had been fiddled with to make the car radio work (so the occupant could listen to Little Willie John), I propped up the hood and lit up a yellow LED on the front seat to make it look like the dash was illuminated. A strobe with a blue filter emulated moonlight along the car's side.
The occupant lying in the back seat had to be created. I've never hired a model and wasn't about to for a personal project, so I was it. With a remote shutter trigger in hand, and side lit by an orange-filtered strobe, I became Robbie's character.
Using lots of layers and layer masks in Photoshop®, I built my composite using the field as a background. A deep blue photo filter layer converted the daylight field to a nighttime field. The masks were used for making the grass appear to be growing around the car and placing the appropriate parts of my body in the back seat. The burn tool added the car's shadow onto the grass. Matching the car to the surroundings was probably the trickiest part, involving a lot of edge smoothing using that layer's mask.
It took many hours to create, but was a great learning experience. One takeaway on big projects like this is to save your work as different (layered) files as you progress, so that you can always go back and rebuild if you really mess up.
Friday, 18 November 2011
Framing the Night Sky
Taking photos that include stars and other heavenly objects obviously involves a stable tripod, no wind and a clear night sky. It also doesn't hurt to gain permission (as I did) to enter property that gives you a unique vantage point from which to photograph.
There are a number of 'dark sky' locations available throughout North America that give you this access for free, but I wanted to include an obvious icon in my shots - an observatory. As luck would have it, a full moon was scheduled to come up that night. Just as it peeked over the horizon, I took a 4 minute exposure at f/8, using only the moon to illuminate the dome.
Over that time period, the stars left long streaks as the earth rotated. I decided that I wanted the stars to appear as short streaks in this shot to make the constellations more recognizable, so I 'cheated' by cloning out part of the trails in Photoshop® (yes - every one of them - and there were lots). That way, the Big Dipper (Ursa Major) is clearly visible, and points the way to Polaris (the North Star) in the upper right corner.
Using the same observatory, I've also made similar shots without the aid of Old Man Moon, but rather a flash with red filter fired off several times during a time exposure. These can be seen at http://bit.ly/p6g9VK
Friday, 26 August 2011
Guide Numbers and Watt-Seconds
Whenever I think about hauling lighting equipment to a location, the question comes up: Should I take a.c. strobes, extension cords and power bars, or will a couple of hot-shoe flashes, umbrellas and stands do it? Hmmmm...I know what I'd prefer.
The trouble is, hot-shoe flash output is (usually) expressed in Guide Numbers (GN) while strobes are rated in Watt-seconds. Sadly, there is no easy way to relate the two, so I made a quick setup to measure the output of each. I've always assumed that a 150 Watt-second strobe would blow away a flash in terms of light output, but I was about to be surprised.
Now, we should start with definitions. GN is the product of the distance of the flash to the subject and the f stop being used at a particular ISO setting (or film speed). Example: I set my flash meter at a sensitivity of 100 ISO and placed it at 10 feet from the flash. I fired the flash and read the f stop it was recommending. For a flash rated at GN 80 (ft - ISO 100), you would read f/8 on the meter (f/8 x 10 ft). Indeed, my Sigma EF 500 came in close at f/7.6 (hence a GN of 76).
Next, I set up the 150 Watt-second strobe at the same location as the flash, set it for full power, and blasted away. Here's the surprise: it read f/7.9 on the light meter, meaning its GN equivalent is 79, which is barely better than the Sigma. Admittedly, there are a couple of variables here. One is that the light meter is older and uncalibrated, and the Sigma's batteries may not have been at peak voltage. The point, however, is that on a relative basis you can determine how your strobe/flash sources compare. This is particularly helpful when the manufacturer of the flash doesn't provide the GN.
So GN is a measure of the amount of light available for proper exposure of a subject at a particular combination of distance from the flash and camera aperture setting, on a camera set at a particular ISO sensitivity. On the other hand, Watt-seconds are a measure of the electrical energy expended in the strobe tube (Watts are the rate at which energy is used, so multiplying by time gives energy used over that time period). This measure doesn't take into account the conversion efficiency of the tube from electrical energy to light energy, or the effect of the reflector behind it. Hence, GN and Watt-seconds can't be related mathematically.
Bottom line: measure the output of each with a flash meter so you know how they relate. Similarly, if you double the Watt-seconds you can expect the guide number to double, since it should add another stop to the flash meter reading.
Then, you write your results down, as I did, so that confusion doesn't ensue.
The trouble is, hot-shoe flash output is (usually) expressed in Guide Numbers (GN) while strobes are rated in Watt-seconds. Sadly, there is no easy way to relate the two, so I made a quick setup to measure the output of each. I've always assumed that a 150 Watt-second strobe would blow away a flash in terms of light output, but I was about to be surprised.
Now, we should start with definitions. GN is the product of the distance of the flash to the subject and the f stop being used at a particular ISO setting (or film speed). Example: I set my flash meter at a sensitivity of 100 ISO and placed it at 10 feet from the flash. I fired the flash and read the f stop it was recommending. For a flash rated at GN 80 (ft - ISO 100), you would read f/8 on the meter (f/8 x 10 ft). Indeed, my Sigma EF 500 came in close at f/7.6 (hence a GN of 76).
Next, I set up the 150 Watt-second strobe at the same location as the flash, set it for full power, and blasted away. Here's the surprise: it read f/7.9 on the light meter, meaning its GN equivalent is 79, which is barely better than the Sigma. Admittedly, there are a couple of variables here. One is that the light meter is older and uncalibrated, and the Sigma's batteries may not have been at peak voltage. The point, however, is that on a relative basis you can determine how your strobe/flash sources compare. This is particularly helpful when the manufacturer of the flash doesn't provide the GN.
So GN is a measure of the amount of light available for proper exposure of a subject at a particular combination of distance from the flash and camera aperture setting, on a camera set at a particular ISO sensitivity. On the other hand, Watt-seconds are a measure of the electrical energy expended in the strobe tube (Watts are the rate at which energy is used, so multiplying by time gives energy used over that time period). This measure doesn't take into account the conversion efficiency of the tube from electrical energy to light energy, or the effect of the reflector behind it. Hence, GN and Watt-seconds can't be related mathematically.
Bottom line: measure the output of each with a flash meter so you know how they relate. Similarly, if you double the Watt-seconds you can expect the guide number to double, since it should add another stop to the flash meter reading.
Then, you write your results down, as I did, so that confusion doesn't ensue.
Friday, 8 July 2011
A Fine Mess
When it comes right down to it, I'm a bit lazy when it comes to scouting out new locations for my still photography.
By pointing to an unknown spot on a map and getting in the car to drive there on the hope that I'll find a photographic treasure is a bit chancy. What if the time of year or day are not right, and what if the place turns out to be boring, or worse yet, a dump?
Sometimes, though, a dump turns into that photographic treasure. And, sometimes, someone else arranges it for you so you don't have to find it for yourself. Sweet.
This happened back in May when I found out that an abandoned factory was being opened up to photographers for the day. It was the Massey Ferguson tractor plant in Brantford, Ontario, which hasn't been used since the 80s. Now, calling it a dump is a bit harsh, but after all, the buildings and the grounds were in a state of extreme neglect. So much so that the fire department inspected the premises earlier in the week and decided to make building interiors off-limits to photographers.
Most of the time, we strive to photograph scenes that are pristine. Yet, having the opportunity to capture decay, grime and a depressing industrial atmosphere is strangely inspirational.
A Fine Mess - Images by Gordon Wood
By pointing to an unknown spot on a map and getting in the car to drive there on the hope that I'll find a photographic treasure is a bit chancy. What if the time of year or day are not right, and what if the place turns out to be boring, or worse yet, a dump?
Sometimes, though, a dump turns into that photographic treasure. And, sometimes, someone else arranges it for you so you don't have to find it for yourself. Sweet.
This happened back in May when I found out that an abandoned factory was being opened up to photographers for the day. It was the Massey Ferguson tractor plant in Brantford, Ontario, which hasn't been used since the 80s. Now, calling it a dump is a bit harsh, but after all, the buildings and the grounds were in a state of extreme neglect. So much so that the fire department inspected the premises earlier in the week and decided to make building interiors off-limits to photographers.
Most of the time, we strive to photograph scenes that are pristine. Yet, having the opportunity to capture decay, grime and a depressing industrial atmosphere is strangely inspirational.
A Fine Mess - Images by Gordon Wood
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