Three Pictures of Three Crosses

25 05 2012

I have had a pretty exciting day. I just got done with about 3 hours of shooting and I’ve got a lot of great stuff you’ll be seeing for the next few days. Another cause for excitement is I am getting very close to the 20,000 view mark thanks to all of you. I’m hoping the next 1100 or so views I need will come in over the weekend and I’ll get to celebrate with a special post. For tonight, I want to share a few pictures from the first location I shot at today.

This wasn’t my first picture. I wanted to share this one first though because this one made a nice overview shot. The crosses aren’t the focus here, instead they are just a supporting element. The front wall is the focus here, you’ll find out something funny about that wall shortly.

Here’s the funny thing. I hopped up on that wall for this picture. The cars passing behind me got a big kick out of the show I was putting on. This shot is one I think of as a 50/50 shot. About half the picture is the subject and the foreground and the other half is the sky. When I’m working with a wide angle lens, I like to catch a lot of the sky in it every now and then. This picture does break one of my rules (I always try to break at least one any given day) it doesn’t have a hero. The great thing about wide angle lenses is they can get away with this. When you get a lot of sky and a vibrant foreground, you can let the overall image be the hero.

For the final shot I got in closer and framed up the closest cross in about the center of the frame. I liked this shot but I still wanted a little more, that’s why I went from here and shot for another two and a half hours.

I hope you enjoyed the blog today. I always love to hear from you in the comments section below. Another exciting announcement is that I got my 1000th email subscriber today. If you haven’t already, I would love for you to subscribe. Of course you can check me out on Facebook and Twitter. If you’re interested in writing a guest post or if you would like me to write something for your blog or website shoot an email to arleyseth@gmail.com.

Thanks again for visiting! Have a great weekend and God Bless!


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Categories : Shootabouts

Replacing Color For a New Mood (Photoshop)

25 05 2012

Today I will finally be doing another tutorial of sorts. This one is fairly specific to Photoshop but I’m sure there are ways to do it in many other software’s as well. If you are trying to decide if you need Photoshop, you probably don’t. There are much cheaper photo editing software’s you should start out with. The first time I opened PS I was completely lost. It took me many tutorials and failed experiments to learn my way around but it is well worth it. That being said, it is the most advanced photo editing software there is and it can do things nothing else can. If you’re a serious established photographer or if you have the money and are willing to spend some time learning it, go for it. I love it and I couldn’t imagine not having it. (Here’s an affiliate link so if you decide to buy it, you can support the blog when you do.)

One important thing to remember when you use any editor is that it’s not made to make a bad picture good. Sometimes you can use it to correct your own mistakes, but you really aren’t getting everything you should out of your hard work if you start with a crummy picture. The above picture was one of my favorites but I wanted to play around with it and see if I could make it something more.

Photoshop does a nifty trick called “Replace Color.” You can find it under Image>Adjustments. This will open a dialogue box where you can select the color, or colors you want to affect, then change their hue, saturation and brightness. Many effects in Photoshop can be attained at least two or three different ways. You can do this one manually with layer masking and selective color but this is the easiest way. I selected the blues in the sky and water, changed the hue slightly and pushed them darker to make the details pop.

Next I did the same thing with the wood but I pushed it very dark to give it an almost painted look.

This step was pretty tricky. I did a few things here. The trees looked a little neon so I used the brush tool with the darken color to get them a little more natural. The biggest step here was transforming the image so I could get a clean crop on it. I didn’t like the wood post on the left side But I couldn’t crop it out without losing part of the sign. I used the Free Transform>Perspective tool to drag the bottom of the image to the right and straighten the sign post, then I used the distort tool in the upper left to get enough image inside the rectangle for a good crop.

Finally, I realized the image was getting a little too dark so I adjusted the exposure slightly. I also spent a little more time taking care of the white spots in the wood that were bothering me. Overall, most of the changes were subtle and served only to enhance the original image.

I hope you enjoyed today’s tutorial. Feel free to re-blog if you think your readers would enjoy this. Please comment, I love hearing from all of you! Happy Friday everyone, have a great weekend!

 


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Categories : Training

The Mystery Lies Beneath The Surface

24 05 2012

Sometimes as I’m driving, something catches my eye. I stop and take a few snaps but it just isn’t what I thought it would be. One of the things I’ve learned through trial and error is that everything doesn’t naturally make a good picture. I’ve found out though, the worse that first picture is, the more I want to capture something closer to my vision.

Today I used something I haven’t used much since I started shootabout, my 17-35 lens. For those of you less in tune with how lenses are rated, this is basically a really wide lens. Wider lenses give a lot more distortion than a 50mm, one of my primary lenses for this blog. The reason for that is long and complicated but it basically deals with the perceived distance from the lens to the subject. If you’re using a wide angle lens, you’ll get much closer, as you get closer, the relative distance from you to the front of your subject vs the relative distance from you to the back of your subject is much larger than if you use a medium zoom lens. That’s why good portraits are shot with longer lenses. If the relative distance from you to the tip of your subjects nose is drastically closer than the relative distance from you to your subjects cheek, you can get a Pinocchio effect. If however you’re taking pictures of a building for instance, you can use this creatively.

That first shot didn’t turn out to be everything I hoped so I decided to try one from a bit closer focusing on one wall of the building. One of the most important things in photography, possibly the most important aside from light, is your perspective. Perspective is what makes you a photographer. Anyone can take a picture of anything. It’s how you take the picture that defines you. You won’t get it right the first time, don’t get discouraged, learn to move around and try a new angle to get what you want. Well, this still wasn’t quite doing it for me but I noticed something, there was a little gap between the wood door and the wall.

Turns out this old abandoned building has a torn up roof and a little forest growing inside. This I like. It’s a peek into a window to an entirely different side of this building. The building by itself is great but when you mix it with some mystery, then the picture starts communicating emotion. You see the door and the wall but you see something more lies within, something strange and unusual. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, the door is stuck. I couldn’t see any more of what was inside this building. It’s a mystery. A world I may never get to explore, except with my imagination.

I hope you’re as curious as I am. Now that I have a taste of the mystery I may show back up with a ladder and try to get a few shots from above looking down. I suppose I should figure out who the building belongs to first though!

Stay tuned for more pictures tomorrow (hopefully.) I promise I’ll get a few more of those tutorials you keep asking about put together soon. Like me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter if you want to keep up with what’s going on. Please comment, it’s the highlight of my day to read and respond to your feedback. If you think your followers would enjoy this or any other post on shootabout feel free to reblog me. Thanks for visiting and God Bless! -Arley


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Categories : Shootabouts

The Indigenous People of Nascar

23 05 2012

You probably didn’t peg me as a Nascar fan did you? Well, in all honesty, I’m not. That’s why you won’t be seeing any live action racing shots here today but rather the real live fans of the last great redneck frontier. These aren’t the sort of folks I’ve met at art exhibits, pageants, or the local Starbucks. This is a completely different breed from what most of you have ever met.

I feel it prudent to say two very important things. 1: I have utmost respect for the right of freedom of expression. Please do not take anything I say as derogatory towards this subset of southern culture. I assure you all comments are made in good fun, I am after all technically part of this culture myself. :) 2: To all my friends across the sea, I promise we aren’t all like this :)

If you are regular visitor here on Shootabout, you’ve probably realized this post is going to have a little more fun and a little less art than most of my content. I think it’s important to be careful not to take yourself so seriously that you can’t have a laugh every now and then. You can see the photographer above may have taken this a step or two too far.

More Beer Cans than brain cells

What’s more american than cheap beer cans hanging off of your nipples. There’s really nothing left to say here.

Innovation

Appreciation

What is your college degree doing for you? Maybe it’s time to transfer to Clemson University? :)

Speaking of Clemson, here’s my dad trolling a Clemson fan with his USC hat (USC is Clemson’s arch rival.)

I promise my next post will be inspiring and evocative but every now and then you just have to let loose and have a good laugh. I hope you have enjoyed this break from the usual pace. I always look forward to reading all your comments. Catch me on my social network, Facebook and Twitter links are up there somewhere. Don’t forget to share or reblog if you enjoyed today’s post. I’m getting a bit of traffic from StumbledUpon so if you use it I would love for you to like this page. Have a great day and God Bless you.

Oh yeah, here’s a few for the road.

No way could I have posed a better shot

He’s had a very busy schedule today, time for a nap

If I had a dollar for every shirtless guy drinking a beer I saw, I could retire

Normally I cull the blurry shots but I couldn’t let this one go

Epic sombrero hat

Who wants free sake?

‘Murica

So where do you go from here? Try checking out Annabelle. She’s primarily an artist and her photo post from earlier today was going to be her only photography post ever, I guess I convinced her to give it another shot. Give that new post some love and tell her Arley said hello :)


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Categories : Shootabouts

Wordless Wednesday

23 05 2012

DJ Coach K “Spinning the Wheels”


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Categories : Uncategorized

Art in Construction

22 05 2012

I’ve always found construction beautiful. Not only because my father is in the building materials industry and it kept the lights on, but also because it is fascinating to see the way things come together under the surface. Yesterday I was fortunate enough to stumble upon a construction crew working on a new concessions stand for the football field beside portable row. My most striking observation of the afternoon was simply that for something new to be built, something old had to be torn down.

Breaking Down the Old Stand

I felt like I was getting back to my roots doing such editorial styled work. (I started out in photography taking pictures for a local web based news paper.) What I really like about this image is the variety of color. I liked the way the grey of the old building is contrasted by the red saw horse, the blue trash can, the yellow backhoe and the green trees. The image only appealed more after I took a second look at it on my computer.

Tools of the Trade

I knew as soon as I saw this saw I wanted to get close and low. If you know what you’re looking at, the outlines of the grey portables in the background are distinguishable. I really like the variety of background colors between the teeth of the saw. The rust adds a little character to the blade. Modern can be beautiful but it just doesn’t speak to you the same way age does. I focused on the uppermost part of the blade to draw your eyes up to the brightest part of the image. This shot is almost therapeutic for me, it’s a relaxing picture to let your eyes wander over.

The King of Construction

This dapper fellow reluctantly gave me a smile. He was introduced to me only as the king of construction. This is a fairly straightforward snapshot. A picture like this leans more heavily on the subject and their level of mystique than it does on composition or any other typical photography rules. My only advice for capturing this sort of shot is be ready, and be friendly. Street pictures of people are tricky, not just because you have to have timing and an interesting subject, but also because you have to be careful not to make anyone angry. If you’re a photographer in America, you legally have the right to take a picture of almost anyone or anything in a public place, but that doesn’t stop a big burly guy from taking a swing at you (and your camera.) I’ve found though that nearly every questioning glare, is easily diffused with a smile. :)

Thats it for today, I have laundry to finish and lots of blogs to catch up with. I hope you enjoyed todays entry and I would love to hear your feedback in the comments section below. First time visitor? Don’t forget to follow the blog to keep up with new posts via email notification. Social links for Facebook and Twitter are up there somewhere. If you want to help me out, tell your friends about the blog. Stumble, tweet, press me, the whole nine yards. The more the merrier. :)

Thanks for visiting and God Bless!


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Categories : Shootabouts

Rebirth

21 05 2012

To those of you who followed me closely until I dropped off the face of the earth a month and a half ago, but love me enough to show up again when they saw the new post email, I sincerely thank you for bearing with me. I offer no excuses and ask no forgiveness.

Me (left) and My Nieces and Nephews

The brief explanation I owe you is after having my wisdom teeth removed and my work schedule intensify with a huge shift of responsibility onto my shoulders, most of my evenings have been spent with my family, my church, or my bed. To my most devoted followers and friends, Mona, Mary, Andra, Victoria and others, thank you for continuing to share and inspire with your photography and writing. You all coaxed me out of hiding helped encourage me to pick up the camera after work and do what I love again. To those of you who are here for the first time, I assure you such a lull in content shall not be the norm moving forward and you are well welcome company in this circle of friends and photographers.

Today after work I started a load of laundry and decided an appropriate theme for my return from absence would be rebirth… My Junior year of high school, we found out parts of our building were “unsafe.” Over the course of a tumultuous weekend our community and neighboring schools came together  to create a portable school in our Award Winning Band’s practice field. It wasn’t an ideal situation, but we made it work.

Portable Row

Above is a look at the portable row today. It’s a nearly stifling environment, one teacher went so far to describe it as our camp of concentration. Naturally, I hate to look at the dismal grey rows of buildings so I found the part that caught my eye and did what I do best, I got in close :)

This was hanging outside one of the buildings. I really liked the contrast of green on the otherwise grey background. My f/stop was very low, f/1.4, so the sun and the sky gave me a nice white glow to fade into the deep blue sky in the upper left. I thought about playing with this in Photoshop for a while, but maybe I’ll do a tutorial on that in the next post. This is the image exactly as it came out of my camera.

I got my fill of the old site and moved over to the edge of the new construction. It’s been nearly 5 years since we moved into the practice field and the new building is finally a reality. Of course you can’t tell in the above image. :) I ran my f/stop up to a fast f/1.4 and my shutter speed up to a quick 1/8000th of a second to get the DoF (depth of field) and brightness I wanted in this. I love an artistic shot of nature in the midst of an urbanscape or a construction site.

The building is a lot closer than it looked isn’t it? With my f/stop down to f/16 we can see the new building a lot better but the plant is definitely still the hero of this shot. A few fluffy clouds in the background add a lot to this image but you probably didn’t notice them until I said something. Some elements of a photograph appeal to us more sub-consciously than consciously. The same is true in the advertising world (yes I’m on a Mad Men kick along with the rest of the young male in a desk job populace.)

Finally here’s a look at the front lawn of the new school. I definitely prefer sprinkler row over portable row.

I hope you’ve enjoyed a slightly more local peek into my photography experiences. I appreciate you visiting and hope I get to hear from you all. I live for your feedback so feel free to fill my comments section with your thoughts. I do my very best to respond to all of them. If you think your reader’s would enjoy this or any post you are always more than welcome to press me. Social links for FB and Twitter are around here somewhere. :)

God bless you all and have a wonderful week! -Arley


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Categories : Shootabouts

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