BE AN ARTIST FIRST, PHOTOGRAPHER SECOND

I made a presentation to the Boulder Colorado Nature Camera Club on January 24, 2013, with this title.

I majored in art for three years at Texas Tech University. Although I did not get a degree, those three years served, and continue to serve, as the artistic foundation for my photography today. I always start my photographic process from an artist’s mindset, which forces me to quickly get into my right brain and ask myself questions like “What do I want this to look like?” “What do I feel?” “Why did I stop?” “What will my composition be?” “How do I want to interpret this?” Only after I have entertained those questions do I begin asking myself the dry, mechanical, and technical questions, like, “What f/stop will I need to achieve that?” “What shutter speed should I use?” “What exposure do I want to apply to get me what I see with my imagination?”

I don’t see with my eyes. I see with my imagination. My camera features and lenses are only the tools I use to achieve what I want. They are the means to an end, not the end. I use my right brain to create what I imagine, and then my right brain shakes hands with my left brain and says, “I have an idea. Now I need your help to help me achieve that.” The two work hand in hand. You cannot have one without the other, but it is the right brain that controls, directs, and gives my photo art life. In this particular slide show, I began with four Before-and-After images. I show what the average eyes see, then I show what my imagination created from that scenario. Here are a couple of examples:

                            BEFORE                                                AFTER

 

                 

Both of the “after” images are on my website. I use them to stress that if we only see with our eyes, we will miss a lot of great opportunities. We typically walk around waiting for something, whatever that “something” is, to hit us between the eyes and yell, “Here I am!” We have to see, not what our eyes see, as the little flowers and the lake on the left represent, but see what our imaginations can create. I prefer to see and create my artistic images in-camera, as opposed to using photo editing software. I always tell my students, create your images in camera. Use your photo editing software to fine-tune your images, not create them. But that is my style and it has served me well all these years.

After I showed fifty images to the Boulder Club, I received a lot of positive comments and several questions. One of the most common questions asked was, “If you don’t use HDR, what do you use? My answer has always been the same. I begin with determining my composition, then my depth of field, and then I use the entire range of exposure metering modes, not just matrix or evaluative metering. My favorite metering mode to create really dramatic images is spot metering, which is what I used for the image below.

So, go out there and have fun taking your artistic eye for a test drive! Visit my website for more examples, and e-mail me with any questions.

                          

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS THE "CORRECT EXPOSURE"

I go into a lot of detail and show examples in my classes on the subject of "exposure." For me, the "correct" exposure is my desired exposure. I always ask myself, "What do I want this to look like?" The answer to that question determines what I decide to do with my exposure to get the desired result.

Such was the case when I saw these great colorful tulips on a nice afternoon on Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, Colorado. It was late afternoon. Some of the tulips, the ones in the background, were already in the shadows of surrounding buildings. The tulips in the foreground were still receiving nice sunlight and thus brilliant in color. I knew from experience that the light range between the tulips in the shadows and the ones in sunlight was too great and could cause exposure issues. In this type of lighting, it is very easy to either have the foreground terribly over exposed or have the background virtually disappear into darkness.

When I applied my artistic approach to the scenario, I could imagine the front tulips being nicely and colorfully exposed and the background tulips as subtle backdrops.

So, what to do? I chose to spot meter on the tulips in the foreground, then used my exposure compensation dial to fine-tune the image. And this is the result I got. During one of my slide presentations, one of my guests made the comment, "It looks like you photographed some tulips, with a mural of tulips on a wall in the background." 

Next time you see this lighting condition, try this easy technique. Have fun with it!

    

How To Create Blurred Backgrounds

HOW DO YOU GET THOSE NICE BLURRED BACKGROUNDS?

This is just one of many techniques I teach in my "Beginning Digital Photography" class at Arapahoe Community College in the Denver area. Here are some key steps to get blurred results like in the image below of a friend's saxophone.

First, there are three factors that will determine the final effects of your blurred backgrounds.
A) The f/stop you choose-- an f/2.8-f/5.6 range works best.
B) The distance from your subject--the closer you are, the more blurred the background.
C) The distance of the nearest object behind your subject. If it is too close to  your subject, 

blurring it becomes a bit of a challenge, but f/2.8 or f/3.5 might still work. If it doesn't, then 
some careful "selective focusing" might do the trick. E-mail me if you need more information on that really cool technique!

 So, given the above information, here are the steps to get those nice blurred backgrounds.

 (for best results, use a tripod and set your focusing to manual focusing)

 1) Determine your composition
 2) Check your exposure--take some test shots
 3) Decide on your focusing point--usually, not always, right on your main/nearest subject

 4) Set desired f/stop. Take a test shot--adjust your f/stop and/or focusing point if necessary

 5) Re-take your shot

 6) And there you have it! Fun, huh?

I have several images with blurred backgrounds in my Abstracts/Close-ups page on my site.

In the image below, you can almost see where my focusing point was (approximately 1/3-1/2 from the top of my viewfinder), using a very shallow f/stop of f/2.8 in order to get really dramatic effects.

Happy Holidays From Eli

Happy Holidays From Eli

CREATING SHAPES & COLOR THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY

I consider myself an artist with a camera. One of my favorite creative outlets through my photography is to create abstracts. And, one of my favorite ways of doing this is by making the common uncommon. Here is an example I'd like to share with you.

I was with a student recently on a 1-day photo field trip. We took a break for brunch in a quaint cafe in the Colorado mountains. Before we went inside, I stopped outside on the deck and told my student that I would show her how to create total abstracts. I pointed at a collection of colorful glass-blown decorations sitting on a ledge. They all had cornucopia-type designs to them, with lots of colors and soft designs.
 

So here is how I did it. Step 1: I first decided on a piece that had a lot of natural light behind it, to bring out the colors. Step 2: I then tightened up on it, i.e., zoomed in until I pretty much filled my frame with the piece. Step 3: I changed my focusing to manual so I could have total control of my focusing points. Step 4) I focused back and forth, while at the same time changing my f/stops to create different "feels" to it. Step 5) I used my depth of field preview button to see exactly what the outcome would look like. My shutter speed was irrelevant, as I had my camera on a tripod.
 

Of the three different images I created, I liked this one the best. Try it--it's fun!

 

 

 

FOOTBALL IDIOMS AND PHOTOGRAPHY

Peyton Manning was interviewed recently after a stunning come-from-behind win. His team had won a game, but it wasn't easy. He said something to the interviewer that relates, surprisingly, to photography. He said they (the other team) had taken away part of his game plan, so "I had to take what they gave me."

A couple of weeks ago, I got up before 5:00 am to leave for Rocky Mountain National Park. What was my game plan? I was hoping for snow on the mountains (I had heard 30% chance), yellow aspens, and nice reflections in the lakes. I got none of that. Nature took away my "game plan"-- I could see that as I passed Estes Park. But, I told my friend, who had come along that day, "What I'm looking for isn't coming together for me. But, as you know, I'll find something." My friend, who has witnessed my approach to photography and my techniques many times, quickly replied, "Yep."

So, I took what nature gave me, but I had to look for it. Enjoy.
Questions about what you're looking at, or how I found this image? Visit me and write to me at www.elivega.net

 

“YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR”

A True Idiom in Photography

  

The scene was Rocky Mountain National Park, in the summer of 2012. I was In the middle of my 3-day “Finding Fine Art In Nature” photo workshop, sponsored by Rocky Mountain Nature Association.

During my workshops, we walk around a lot, talking and looking for “that shot.” I kept telling one of my students, I’ll call her Sue, “I hope we see some mushrooms.” They are hard to photograph because they grow small and don’t like crowds. Sue told me she would be on the lookout for them.

After several hours of instruction, we started walking around popular Bear Lake. All of a sudden, I saw a dark, wet area in the shadows among a grove of trees. I told Sue that it might be a likely spot for mushrooms. She walked ahead of me and yelled out, “Eli, I think I see one!” Sure enough, there were actually two little modest orange mushrooms just enjoying the coolness of the shade and nearby stream. I immediately told Sue that she should go first---she should try to photograph it first before I captured it.

I began telling Sue about the challenges she was up against. Composition, depth of field, and exposure were going to be the key elements to consider. I walked Sue through every step of the way, beginning with the most difficult part—composition. She was definitely the dedicated and committed student type—she had her tripod. I watched her spend several minutes adjusting her tripod legs, as well as her own, to get low enough to photograph the small colorful mushrooms.

I could tell she was really struggling to get down that low to find the right angle. It was extremely wet in the area, so I looked around and found a large piece of wood and took it to Sue for her to sit on. She did, and continued to twist and shout, as she committed her body to do the virtually impossible. After several minutes of watching her inch her body left, then right, then a little higher, then a little lower, I told her, “You look like a contortionist Sue.”  “I feel like one,” she jokingly responded.

When she got her shots, she asked me to look at them on her camera monitor. I complimented her on her images, and for doing what it took to get that one shot. She definitely paid for what she got.

I asked Sue to summarize that one particular lesson. She was quick with her answer, which I’ll paraphrase. “This made me realize how important it is to do whatever you have to do to get it right.” She thanked me for walking her through each required photographic step, and for being patient with her.

Sue learned that, in photography, you have to work to get what you want, but that you do get what you pay for. And she paid for it. I, on the other hand, learned that truly dedicated, committed students of photography understand that they have to go beyond just “point and shoot”. And that is what separates the “wilbes” from the “wannabes.”

Oh, and this is what I paid for that afternoon in that marsh-like spot with Sue.