SoFoBoMo "The Land"

I have finally started the Solo Ph(F)otogrpahy Book Month project and in fact I probably started one or two weeks ago. This was in part due to my uncertainty with finding a suitable photographic project that within the period of one month collect 35, hopefully reasonable images and then compile these into a photography book with or without text and graphical book design elements.

This book is from a series dated 1886. The motif of Greek warriors is raised on the front cover and the background has shinny gold sheen when held at an angle to the light. This is when they made great books. The Title above seems appropriate to my own starting of a book.


This project presents 2 challenges for me, these may not apply to you, the first is the deadline, which by itself I am not a fan of, but when there are several new elements of uncertainty, then the deadline criteria becomes a lot more serious and having backup plans helps to reduce the likelihood of failure and stress and puts more fun back into the project you are doing. The second is creating a book, not just any book but a visually stunning book, at least I hope to. Luckily it can be produced in PDF format but some of the other participants will actually take the full way to printing the book also. I will wait and pass judgment after I see the results.

The project started officially on 1 April or you could start any other day in April. Once started you had 30 days to complete the book.

The one month period is a bit of a concern as it is not always easy to develop a suitable theme that will give you 35 good images which probably means you might be shooting from 100 to 200 in total to have 35 you really like.

It is only in the last week that Ottawa has had some warm weather and the green life starting to magically appear again. Less than 2 weeks ago there were still patches of snow. This is why I wanted to start later in the month as I had not completely locked in my theme and if I went outdoors. I wanted a bit of spring greenery.

Originally, I thought about the topic of “Stairs, Spirals and Ramps”.

2400x300 pxs

I noticed that I had a few images collected of stairs and I thought it might be interesting to explore this topic in great detail. During one of my noon hour walks, I went through the downtown core to scout out good candidates and what sun angles to make these locations work well. I used my camera phone Sony Ericson K790 (see pervious article) , There were a few interesting spots, with less crowds, that would provide some interesting material. Ottawa is not an industrial city and it is difficult to find good material unless you are in commercial buildings. Even with a camera phone I was finding it awkward to take photos inside and thought that with a larger camera and tripod some establishments are just not going to let you inside.


I was keeping several other ideas in the hopper. One was the Ottawa River, which at this time of year is at maximum peak and is just plain wild. There is always a large group of kayakers that play in the big rollers off Bates’ island.



Last weekend I was visiting a friend who lives in the rural parts of southeastern Ontario. I have been going to this place since the early 70s when his parents owned the property and we and his brothers would always refer to this wilderness area as going to “The Land”.

As I rounded the gate to their property I was suddenly bathed in a soft radiant glow. Their white magnolia tree was in full bloom. The tree is about 50’ tall and has a diameter of about 20’ and is all white. No green, no other colour, except yellow of the statements, just this massive, white reflector. The fragrance was soft and delicate and just a hint of sweetness. I was encouraged to stand in the center of the magnolia tree and because of the larger branches was easy to do. It was quite an experience just standing inside. Almost heavenly, this expansive and encompassing soft white and fragrant envelope.

@15mm, F4.0, 1/640s

I darkened the sky a fair amount and as well, I added darkening to the ground and background trees. I wanted the white of the magnolia tree to radiate and one method to achieve this is to darken the objects around them.

The white wisps help to integrate the sky with the magnolia tree and by darkening the sky and reducing a little of the saturation, a good visual colour contrast is established between the white and blue of the image which are in balance.

It was at this time that I thought that this place that I have visited for almost 40 years would be a natural and perfect for a theme. I wish I had all the seasons to include but a month will have to do.

I went again this weekend to try and capture the final set from which I could select those going into the book. They live 2 hours away so it’s not always easy to get there. The nights were cool (3c- 38F) so early in the mornings it was completely bugless and I went for a journey to the highest look-out which gives you a 200ft view above the lake. It was great until about 10:00 and then it got a bit warmer and the black flies started to come out. I had finished most of my shots and thought it was a good time to leave. I would grab a few moss encrusted cedar split rails on the way back to the cabin.

There was still the late afternoon to take more. Their property is expansive and rugged. One one part there is a kilometer long beaver pond with granite cliffs along most of the sides. After an half hour of carrying a loaded backpack and tripod over the terrain as we skirted the sides beaver pond I started to sweat a bit more. If you stopped or slowed down the black files were all around in nasty swarms. I decided it was best if we (meaning me) head back to the safety of a screen-in porch. I knew I should have brought my bug head net. While it obscures your vision a little, it becomes a lifesaver when you stop to take pictures and your hands are busy with the camera and you can’t swat the little buggers.

@17mm, f5.3, 1/30s
I am not sure that I have a full set of images that are good enough and not too repetitious. It’s a fair distance to go back and also very weather dependant.

So at this point while I officially started, I am not sure if I am already into week one or two. It depends how far I go back and if I need to collect more.


Niels Henriksen

10 Best Methods to take Great Photographs

In this article, I will list tried and proven techniques to improve the photographic images you are capturing and to keep the momentum going. These are not my original ideas but a compilation of proven methods by many of the great artists and photographers who have shared with their communities.

Each theme below is unique in one perspective but is definitely tied to the other themes and is best when it is an integrated package of practices.

There is no magic solution where you perform a task and voila, you are now a better photographer.

It is only by spending time with your passion and learning about ‘you’ as the artist that improvements will accrue.


Stand in Front of Great Images

This may seem totally obvious, and really there is a lot of truth in this, but the catch is that you must believe that what you are seeing is great.

In the simplest approach, it is somewhat easy, except for travel costs and any restrictions in place within the country of visit, to stand in front of great scenes. We all know those 7 wonders of the world, the seven man-made wonders and any other list of wonders.

While these great views are breath-taking when you are standing in front of them, they have also been photographed into oblivion at least to the sense that we have seen them so often, that we take them for granted. The challenge with these wonders is how to capture some of that grandeur and majesty in a new frame/view that will allow people to see them as new wonders again.

There are all sorts of wonders around us. I love the intricate spirals created by just opening up fiddlehead ferns, the soft translucent leaf-like casing that run down the stem. The challenge is to move this object from the ordinary to the spectacular.

How To Tips
Hire the best guide money can buy (I wish).
Look at travel or geographical magazines.
Look at the winning images from competition sites such as Fred Miranda -FM , dpchallenge , Photo.net , etc.
Take a travel excursion photography course.


Understand Art and Composition

It is important to understand the works of great artists, photographers and sculpturers and how through colour or lack thereof, composition, form and contours they were able to convey the mysteries and majesties around us.

By looking at the works of great artist both past and present and not just those related to photography, you will be able understand how the artists through their chosen medium, were able to convey the emotions and feelings through their use of light and colour.

While looking through art books is useful, there is nothing quite like looking at the original works of art. Books cannot always convey the true colours and subtle tones that are contained in original art works. There is something special about the size and texture that adds to the image. I always find a well-printed image far superior to any screen display unless you are trying to over saturate the colours.



Understand Light

This is probably the most important of all and is also probably the hardest and longest to master. There are so many variables and so many subtleties that the permutations are almost unlimited. Light separates object from the background, provides focus. It can bring objects into clear focus or hide them in the background. Light can lead you in a direction or scatter you about.



Understand how light influences the scene and subject before. This can be hard light, soft light, colour of light and even the absence of light. There is no photograph without the presence of light. Even with night vision imaging the object is emitting infra-red light.

The photograph is all about light. From the intensity, angle, diffuseness and colour they all help to enhance and set apart the subject.

The types of lights all help to tell a story: from the soft wrap-around light of fashion industry; the harder light to give you more rugged manly features; the late evening warm light creating added texture due to the deeper shadows; and specular backlighting giving us the impression of what is there.

The use and control of light is all about creating contrast, which in real terms means creating lit items or edges to help differentiate the subject from the background or other objects.

Light should be a standard tool for your use and not as a preset condition to the shooting environment. What I mean by that is that when you plan to take an image, before you actually get to the location, you should already have in your mind the type of light that would make this image perfect. That way, you will either know which days and times are best to shoot images and when you get to the location, which light modifiers you might need to overcome the lighting limitations present that day.

Light can be natural as with landscapes or fully controlled as in a studio setting. More often than not it should be a mixture of both, where fill flash, reflectors or diffusers are used to provide more control and separation within elements. This should be in your standard kit along with your lens.

The human eye is able to capture an extremely wide dynamic range of tones, some 14+ stops. The Camera and its associated output devices can only record about 6-8 stops. We therefore need light-control to translate real-life scenes into images that are able to be captured by our imaging devices. We can control this blocking or diffusing light, increasing f-stop number for brightly lit parts or some fill light or reflected light for the darker shadows. With High Dynamic Range (HDR) images we now have the ability to control some of the light after images are taken.

How To Tips
When looking at an outdoor photograph, try to determine time of day and lightning conditions.
Look at the angle of shadows and the softness or hardness.
For areas with good texture what angle is the sun.
For Studio photos I recommend Strobist and Lighting Mods .

There is also a good photography reference book – Light Science & Magic, focal press.




Take B&W Photos First

When you have the time, take a digital B&W photo of your image first. This will allow you to better see the elements in the image how the light is creating depth and focus. Colour rarely makes a B&W image better. It only adds more confusion and initial punch.

Also, some images are better in B&W. By looking at the display in B&W first, you may realize that there is an area in the image which you could improve and would not show up now in colour.

How To Tips
Set your digital camera to B&W mode.
If you are a film person, buy a cheap digital with B&W display capability.
Convert some of your favourite Colour image to B&W and compare. You will develop new ways of seeing images.



I am 4th from the right

Hang Out with Artists
Originally I wanted to state ‘Hang around better Photographers’ but in actual fact every artist or photographer has the ability to give you something new, even to the most experienced photographers, while not technical can be a new way of seeing that it is unique in itself.

Occasionally do hang out with photographers who have better skills in areas you are trying to improve.

How To Tips
Join local Camera Club
Join On-line Forums
Join a Facebook local city photography group
Join or organize a photo walk-about
Take a course with a good photographer/artist with a good track record.




Undertake Projects

It is one thing to go out with no real plan in mind and shoot interesting images like flowers, buildings, landscapes etc. Over time, you will improve your ability to take better images of these subjects. To truly progress as an artist you need to have projects that challenge the way you think about your art.

It is only by exploring every facet of a subject and trying to render the feelings and impression in photographic form that you truly come to appreciate how the camera can enhance and accentuate this experience and expressions of life.

I have joined the SoFoBoMO project (Solo Ph(F)otography Book Month) which was started by Paul Butzi and began officially on April 1st and can start as late as April 31 (that’s me). For the one month period, you must have at least 35 images printed in a Book form of your choosing. This for many will just be PDF and some may actually have it printed in a book. The challenges for me are having such a tight timeframe and picking a suitable subject and then layout the pages of the book. If lucky, I may add a few corny words.

How To Tips
Have a good friend give you a project theme.
Explore in nth detail one of your favourite subject in all conditions.
Participate in one of the web projects such as Neil Creek .



Be a Critic

Learn to be a good critic. Learn how to critique the most mundane to the stellar best.
I encourage you to spend time on the many critiquing and critiquing others. The ‘Wow great image’ doesn’t quite cut it as a critique. When you do critique someone’s image spend a fair amount of time with analysis and a detailed review. Discuss what works and what areas might need improvement from your perspective.

Take these skills and objectively critique your own images, preferably after a period of time so that your own memory of the event doesn’t cloud your judgement.

Examine a shoot or series of images to better understand your shooting style, as we are all able to have at least one winner within a set. Better to focus on the images that don’t work as opposed to giving you praise for the few.

Take notes, as these over time will help you identify consistent areas to focus in order to make improvements.

Even a year or 2 later, go back over some of the series you reviewed (don’t look at previous notes) as you will find that you have improved your skills and abilities and you will be able to find new subtle areas for improvement.


How To Tips
Composition
Story
Supporting elements
Balance
Tonal range
Technical
Emotive
Focus (control of DOF or clutter)
Creativity


Learn the Capabilities and Limitations of your Equipment
You can make an image with almost any tool. How about using a stick in the sand while slowly drawing the scene in front of you. This is just a very low ISO but good grain.

A better camera and its associated equipment will not by itself make you take better images. I guess if you still have plastic lens or poor colour rendition these would be good cases.

Learning the capabilities of your camera will help you understand the types of images that are easier to record and understand which settings will need some camera adjustments from shutter to lighting. Make a review of images that did not record well and note the shutter speed, f-stop and lightning conditions so that you can identify the problems, locations and settings.


By understanding your camera, there is more time for creativity and there is less concern with how your camera is going to perform. You now know this and adjust your style as the shoot unfolds.

How To Tips
Slower shutter – tripod
Shutter Lag – pre-focus
High ISO noise - more light
No zoom – learn to position yourself closer


Buy Btter Equipment
By understanding the limitations your are having with your current camera you will now be able to focus on buying better equipment because you are focused on specific goals and problems that you are encountering and not just chasing better technology because its better. If feels great when you do get that new piece of equipment and it delivers exactly what it needs to.

How To Tips
Review your current list of limitations with your equipment.
Review the EXIF data for you images to determine if there are particular lens settings you use.
Read good equipment review forums like dpreview , Seve’s Dgicams ,
Imaging Resource , Megapixel , DC Resource



Rent the equipment, if practical, to confirm it meets your needs.



Listen to the Twinkle in your Eye

This especially applies when you are moving along (Bus, Bike, Car) and out of the corner of your eye you think you saw and interesting image.

Stop and go back, as that brief flash you caught in of the corner of your eye has a good chance of being correct. This is an area that still troubles me as too many times I do regret not going back, but I have made some improvement and I do stop more often. While its not quite 50/50, it’s still high enough with good images that I find going back like a treasure hunt. Occasionally some gems.

Going back another day may be a possibility, but I find more often this doesn’t happen and then the weather has changed. Part of what caught your eye was the light and that’s gone when you leave the scene.


Be Kind
Simply, just be kind to all those you come across in your photographic endeavours. Even those who may be giving you grief. Most people are just working for someone and you never know the day they’ve had. Some people may feel threatened by the camera and even when it’s within your rights to take a photograph, it is a lot better to be friendly and see if it can’t be worked out first.


Share you passion and knowledge with others as it helps to focus and sharpen your skills in the process.


These are just a few of the possible many ways to help you improve your ability to capture great moments.

If you read the writings of many great photographers, you will notice the same tread they all re-iterate and that is that learning never stops and it is important to give back to your community as a method to re-fresh your own skills.

If you have any thoughts on these themes are have tips please do post a comment.



Niels Henriksen

Do You Love Your Subjects ? Man on Bench

Not in the romantic sense, but spiritually or camera wise, even though I am sure many of us do have subject in the former description.

On the way to the Ottawa Busker’s Festival , I ventured through Confederation Park and I came across this gentlemen sitting on a park bench. There was something about his expression, the wildness in his face and a certain glint in his eye that I knew would capture well in the camera. I believe he is a homeless person who had his belongings in a cart with him and was probably staying in shelters at night, as he wasn’t completely dishevelled.



I did fall in love with his face and I asked politely if I could take his photo. At first he was somewhat withdrawn or apprehensive about my intentions and he did not give his permission. We spent a few minutes talking about things and told him that I thought he had a great face that would photograph well. I told him that I was with a local camera club and I like to collect photos of interesting people. When he realized my intentions were proper and that I would not portray him in a bad light, he agreed to let me capture a few images.

I do hope that the final image above does capture some of the majesty within this person, maybe a little Hemmingwayest.

A few of the other images taken are presented below and from the series you may see some other elements of his character and his natural world.



I liked the mangyness of his hair, but the darkness and clutter of the background leaves would cause this hair to be lost in all the detail and therefore a conversion to B&W image would solve this problem and might show off his expressive character better.


cropped to 8x10 format

The first B&W image is from the standard B&W setting from the new CS3 B&W settings (6 separate colour slider settings) . Since there is yellow in the both leaves and face I decided to use 2 separate B&W layers. One layer to darken the face and the other layer to lighten the foliage, to create more separation between the hair and leaves.

In the last B&W frame I cloned in parts from other leaf areas to remove the larger white sections, which are visually distracting. The final image, at beginning of article, there is lens blur applied to the foliage only. This extra softening creates more separation between the hair and background without destroying the patterns and it also helps to blend in the cloned parts better. Just a final touched up on the little white spot on the tip of the nose.

There are many interesting people and faces that we encounter as we travel about. Many of them do have goodness with their lives and we should try and capture the best ways about them. I do feel that if you have a strong passion and love of your subject, this will come across as you ask for permission to take their photograph. They will come to understand that you wish them no harm with the use of their image and therefore will be more willing to grant permission.

For photos I never offer street people money at first as I feel this would put them under undue pressure to accept. A kindly donation afterwards shows respect.



Niels Henriksen


A Photographer’s Adage

I like people for their weaknesses and faults. I get on well with ordinary people. We talk. We start with the weather, and little by little we get to the important things. When I photograph them it is not as if I were examining them with a magnifying class, like a cold and scientific observer. It's very brotherly. And it's better, isn't it, to shed some light on those people who are never in the limelight. - Robert Doisneau

Creativity – What else do you Do?

In the last few articles I have been focusing on how, as photographers, we can keep our creative juices flowing. In part, this is a result that I have been suffering from cabin fever and have not been able to get out as much as I want.

This is only a bad excuse I am telling myself, as I know there are many things I could do within the house. I am not a robot, which means that I have a chance at being creative, but your state of mind is the most important element and it needs to be excited so that your everyday chores are getting in the road of doing what you love to do.



This week the snow has been melting like water going down the drain. I can finally see bare patches of ground and in a few days I should be able to wander outside where I want to, at least with rubber boots.


You may remember a similar image in a previous blog Perth on the Tay River there is a summer image of the bridge.

Art has always been my passion, somehow getting a ‘Real Life’, probably defined by TV shows, has shaped who I am to arrive here at the age of 57. Working, learning, chasing a career, raising a family and spending time with great friends has taken up most of my time.

Creativity, which is something we all have within us and are born with, is not something that needs to be learned, but needs to be practiced and nurtured.


Watercolour – Fall sumacs in pine and birch forest

If you are a photographer, I think it is important that we have other outlets to pursue creative passions. Therefore, I thought I would show some other outlets I have, which help to shape the approach to my photographic artistic endeavours.

Take a sketchpad with you as you wonder about. This could just be at noon hour as you take a break from your job. With sketching, it is a lot easier to control the DOF as you only have to draw the parts you like. Find some interesting but very ordinary compositional elements such as flat rocks on the path with weeds growing out of the cracks as with the pen and ink drawing below.



By only drawing those parts that you find interesting you are helping yourself to see better with a camera. By Sketching it will help you to reduce the multitude of clutter within an image and how to best compose and focus the image to enhance the strong compositional elements.



I find rock and its formation interesting in its texture and patterns but extremely challenging to render into an image. As you can see with the practice page below I was trying different techniques and render round boulders by using either water bottle spray or the sponge to add texture. This is no different than when I use my camera and shoot different angles and light to best bring out the rock detail. This is probably still my largest challenge to render rocks in an interesting manner.




In the practice page below I was just using the brush for paint both round and jagged rock formations. For me rocks are not easy.



In sketching, you definitely don’t want to include every piece of the scene before you and understanding what to include will help in developing your own photographic images. This practice, in seeing less, allows you to focus on your photograph and decide which elements you will enhance with image editing software to bring forward the stronger parts with colour and contrast and to partially remove the other parts with the opposite effects.

An image is made up of many parts and with painting, learning how best to describe these parts is part of the learning experience. In the watercolour practice piece below I wanted to render the distant late fall foliage with just enough texture for the viewer to understand the element but not enough detail for realism. Similar to controlling DOF.


Last year I went to an exhibit of Renoir landscapes and after seeing his images I felt I had to quit my job right there and then (I didn’t) and pursue my painting passions. But I am getting close.

Do take the time to visit galleries as the feelings and understanding of composition, abstractness and colour will all help you to better compose an image with your camera.

If you look at the landscape paintings of the impressionist they are about everyday, almost boring landscapes that they were able to bring to life with their palettes. Studying these masters and others will help you as you travel about to also realize the great beauty in everyday life and with your camera and its multitude of settings best bring it to life in an image.




This is a 2 ½ foot ‘papier maché’ Blue Whale I am making. I used the metallic marbles for eyes and now I just need to paint it to really bring it to life. It was built using chicken wire as a frame, covered with the standard process of thin newspaper strips soaked in a mixture of water, flour and wood glue. I then used the ‘papier maché’ pulp to add the final texture and shape.


The image below ties in the discussion of art and street life. I find the street beggar just as interesting as the images in the window.



He is a gentle Ottawa regular and I did get his permission for image and donated to his living expenses.


There are signs of spring and life emerging after winter as the image below shows with the melting dirty snow and the few leaves of the covered plant struggling to find the sunshine.




At the Luminous Landscape there is a great article Balmoral Mist – Deconstructed on examining a moody photographic image and what make this a great photograph.


Also do check out 25 Ways to Jump Start Photography Inspiration 25 Ways to Jump Start Photography Inspiration




Niels Henriksen

A Photographer’s Adage

Whether a watercolor is inferior to an oil [painting], or whether a drawing, an etching, or a photograph is not as important as either, is inconsequent. To have to despise something in order to respect something else is a sign of impotence. - Paul Strand - Camera Work, 1917

What to Photograph on A Rainy Day

It always feels invigorating to go out of a photography outing on a warm sunny day, with just the right amount of clouds in the sky to create interest and at times casting interesting shadows across the landscape or as they pass over the sun, which acts as a temporary diffuser. Weather being what it is, unpredictable at best, downright miserable at other times does not always give you what you want.

While in Tokyo visiting our daughter and her husband, there were several days when it was dreary and heavily overcast with light constant rain. When almost very store is selling $1.00 umbrellas you get the feeling that there might just be many days like this.

I am truly a daylight person, as night and darkness are not my friends nor are confined spaces. With the very tiny apartment I needed to venture out before my pacing about wore through the tatami goza mat (soft reed) carpets and with such a lovely and charming city, the motivation was easy.

I always believe in carrying my camera on any walk-about and it was on such a rainy day journey that I started to notice the umbrella culture in Tokyo. Every store has an umbrella holder outside and for stores where you might leave by another door, there are umbrella stands that sheath your umbrella in a plastic cover so you don’t drip water inside.

There were so many different colours, shapes, sizes and different ways of holding them that it almost became a flower garden when looking down of the streetscape. For many people the umbrellas were fashion accessory matching in colour to their outfits.


Why is it always so easy to see the ordinary, as new and exciting in a different location and yet in our own towns see nothing? From time to time we do see things in our hometowns, but never at the same frequency when we go somewhere else and it almost becomes a forced endeavour.

This got me thinking about how to overcome this mindset and took me back in time to when I was a young child and anything could be exciting.


A Zen Moment

Pretend and Make-believe

The ability to pretend and create make-believe situations I think is one of the great losses of childhood. Not fully lost, but buried deep, because as adults we are taught that life should be real, important and perused with a stern focus and joy only obtained after serious work. Well really not that bad but I think for most of us some truth in these comments.

I think creativity is a large part imagination and also not taking yourself too seriously and with that in mind or out-of-my-mind, I will suggest an approach to hopefully help you think differently.


While we with our vehicles have spare tires notice that she has a spare umbrella


So on a Rainy Day why not pretend that;

You have only lived in a tent in the middle of the Sahara Desert and your one-day trip into a big city or countryside setting is on a rainy day. What photos would you take to show your family and friends back home?

Or pretend that you have been hired to do a shoot for a local magazine that is situated deep in the Australian outback. Or you have been hired by a lost indigenous tribe (now that is real make-believe) to show them this different location.


You might take photos of

Water running down a sewer grate
Reflections in wet pavement especially at night
Car wipers moving (slower shutter to show movement)
Water cascading off building
People with umbrellas (as with these examples)

People in rubber boots
People jumping puddles
People just plain wet

If in a more rural location, rain drops on foliage
Reflections in puddle on dirt road
View through a window with raindrops or running streaks


I know I have and I think most of you have seen images like these and I suspect that these were not all taken by Bedouins living in tents on a tourist trip. Something got them to see the special in the ordinary.

Therefore, if in a slump one day pretend that you are from somewhere completely different and shoot with new eyes. I know most of you take great photos and you just might capture an interesting way of looking at the ordinary if you can once again embrace make believe.

Therefore go out and get wet, but do take care of the camera by either keeping often under you rain jacket or buying a professional rain protector for camera or even just a simple shower cap with the elastic band.

Niels Henriksen

Photographer’s Showcase

There are so many great photographers, artists and writers that I come across that if I were to list them all in my sidebars, it might go on forever. I have therefore decided to augment the Photographer’s Adage with photographers that you might find interesting and are not already listed.

Peripheral Vision - Inner Sights by Lynda Lehmann

Lynda uses both the camera and paintbrushes to create wonderful images, but for me its her writings that really make you stop and think and reflect on life and the beauty around us. Do check out her slide show dated March 26 where there is a breathtaking collection of graphical images.


Chuck Kimmerle Photography has just a stunning collection of B&W images taken from the northern plains. It is amazing how he is able to capture a sense of wonder from what most of us might at first glance just describe as boring open spaces.

Cows can Fly

Well almost at least with the help of a giant dragon. This photo was taken inside the enclosed streets that surrounded one block near the centre of Brussels. During the summer of 2003 Brussels was having a Painted Cow festival similar to the 1999 Chicago Cows on Parade festival. Throughout the city there were many full-size fiberglass cows by painted local artist. Each artist decided on their painting scheme and some were strange and weird. Even a coupe of the artists decided to cut up their cow and then recombine the pieces into one of kind groupings. I now wish I had taken more images, but at that time I was a tourist and only had one memory card.

I now no longer worry about the amount of images I take when I travel, as I make sure that I have more than enough storage and batteries.






















The above image was edited to create and even stronger feeling of absurdity. I removed the microphone (see original below) to make it appear that the Jazz singer was waving his hand and laughing because of the flying cow. The image was also straightened and cropped with a slight increase in colour sat for the soft pink walls. I wanted the wings of the dragon to glow more and therefore the saturation and contrast was increased.

Di Booth has some interesting images of these painted cows on his web site.













Brussels has many unique statues throughout the central downtown district.

If you monitor is not set to WB of 6,000K and is also set to high contrast the blue will look a bit too strong.













With the old P&S camera I was using, I had to repair some blown gold highlights on statue. I also decided to darken and increase the blue contrast in the sky, as I wanted this complementary colour to yellow, to better balance in weight of the yellow. The sky was also darkened to keep the viewer’s gaze from leaving the scene with the normal bright shy at the edge.













I find this image interesting because, while almost perfectly symmetrical (each statue is different) around the center vertical axis, it is not till you look around that you realize that there is a missing statue in the central niche. Well it was near lunch time and I guess after a few hundred years of standing around you might get hungry.

If this image was cropped at the rooftops it would make a normal and colourful streetscape and maybe a better image, but I found the rising church spire in the background created an effect like those old “B” grade horror movies were the person grows to become a giant. Well, we each have our own strange way at looking at things.


As an artist and photographer I find the most important ingredient to growth, after learning the basic elements, is to enjoy the images you create. Do not be concerned what others think. Do learn about how you might improve it in the future from other fine photographers, but still enjoy what you create, even if others don’t.

Niels Henriksen



As a change from quoting a Photographer’s Adage, I thought this week I would highlight a fellow photo blogger A Jesse . I enjoy her writings and she has a good collection of horse images on her website. Jesse is participating in the SoFoBoMo project, which I have been debating with myself about participating, but sometimes I feel that I take on too much work. It starts 1 April and with all the snow we still have around, I am not sure I can find an interesting theme. I seem to have my own creativity rut at the moment.

Simple and Complex - A Roof Photo Project

I was reading an article from one of my favourite Bloggers George Barr at Behind The Lens who regularly produces great thought providing ideas. There was an article about what are “Meaningful Photographs” and in summary, how to find that special insight that drives you to produce great works of art. Do read it to fully appreciate the message.

In this article I will explore some ideas and with an example theme that will hopefully help shape an approach that will take you down a path of excitement and discovery.

I think as artists, who use the camera to create, it is important that we have projects that at first challenge us and then allows you to explore and develop new ways of seeing and transposing to your visions.

To truly create great works, you need to dig deep into your core. To explore that urge to create a visual emotion, because at the basic level, we, as photographic artists, present to the world our feeling about what we see.


National Art Gallery, Ottawa Canada
The softness of the cool blue sky set against the rigid lines and the red fire within.

How do you find a photography project that is right for you? I really can’t answer that for you, but may I suggest some ideas or methods that might give you a start in the right direction. In reality there is no right or wrong direction, only your journey and what you can accomplish along the way.

If you are looking for a great project idea or purpose, first start by not thinking about photography. Try to list 5 or 10 passions you have. These can be both physical items, such as trains, snowboarding, old buildings, special natural locations or it can be more internalized such as friendship, love, joy. Try to define some qualities and emotions about the subject. Not the standard terms used by media, but your impressions.

Snowboarding (my impressions as I never quite left the bunny hill)
Crazy, Fast, Wild-eyed, Scary, Acrobatic, Curves, Edgy.

This might take a week or a month to accomplish, as it is important that either a memory or feeling emerges from within the core that has defined you. From your list, one item may appear to have a special meaning for you. Select this and then decide how you would go about translating your emotions about the subject into a series of photographs. Mostly likely at first it may seem hard or even impossible. This is actually a good thing as now the journey of discovery begins. I also recommend that you keep a journal as the project mostly will take months or even years to complete and your views and impressions will change over time as you explore your theme in all its facets.

As an artist who may be presenting a project later on, this journal or diary will help you contextualize your photos to viewing audience later on. Most visitors do read the writings that go along with the images.

As an example, I am using the idea of roofs as a project. While it may seem very obscure and you might wonder what kind of meaningful project could be accomplished on this subject, it allows me to explore how you could think about this as a possible project.

This is the meaning of the title, as roofs may seem too simple to be meaningful and complex as how do you take something so boring and have people enjoy the finished works. Through these images, I will explore how a photographer might find meaningful views.

Unless you are a wildlife photographer, you might find yourself not using your zoom lens as much as you’d like. Roofs do require the use of a zoom.


Almonte, Ontario. Cropping allowed me to position the white pigeon on one of the power points to create a focal interest.

Roofs of buildings are things that most people take for granted, unless the winter snow load or water leaks make you more aware of its presence. I do not think that many people really look at all the different type of roofs and even when visiting other countries, only as a different topping on buildings with its unique broad expanse of texture and colour.

Roofs are made from many different materials and can be low-tech like mud huts with stick and grass roofs, to beautiful glass domes. They can have many colours, shapes and textures. Some are solely for protection and use standard materials, some are integral to the design of the building and becomes a work of art.











Almonte Ontario. I did remove a small structure at the peak, as I did not want the eye to be lead away from curved top. The shadows across the tiles add more depth and interest.

A photo of a roof can create a sense of place and lifestyle as with the rooftop from Paris, France below. Who could not see themselves standing on the balcony below and gazing over the bustling Paris nightlife or in the morning sitting by the window having espresso with an assortment of bread and cheeses.












Some are grander like the great roofs found around the main square of Brussels, Belgium













The one dominant feature about roofs is that there tends to be repetition of features and many lines. By focusing on small sections and their complex patterns, abstract images as with these tile roofs from Skagen, Demark can be created.






Even conversion to B&W can create very dramatic and powerful abstract images.










Taken at the entrance to the Hase temple in Kamakura just south of Tokyo, Japan

By combining 2 roofs into a scene, a story of old and new can be created as with these roofs from 700 year old farm buildings near Hillerod, Denmark. (my ancestral farm)












You can focus on historical structures, such as this old Viking long-house at the historic site near Hobro, Denmark. The roof in this photo is used to unify the image and bring all the elements together.












Or this side building that is set in the ground.














Niels Henriksen

A Photographer’s Adage

As far as I am concerned, I can only say how much I regret such an admirable discovery should have come so late ! The possibility of studying such images would have had an influence on me that I can only guess at from the usefulness which they have now, even in the little time left me for more intensive study. It is the tangible proof of nature’s own design, which we otherwise see only very feebly. - Eugene Delacroix - quoted in "French Primitive Photography", Philadelphia 1969[cited in "From today painting is dead – The Beginnings of Photography" (catalogue of exhibition in The Victoria & Albert Museum 16 March – 14 May 1972 p. 48), caption to item no. 532 showing photographs of nude models taken from an album belonging to Delacroix. The models are said to be in poses arranged by Delacroix.]

Shoot Wide – Very Wide – Pano Images

The article is about creating High-resolution panoramic images and therefore the link to the title. But first I need to go deep, very deep as I show an image taken from across the street at my neighbor’s house.

Shot at eye level (6’) but photo drama for effect






With the amount of snow we have received in the last week, combined with the amount already on the ground, I am starting to feel penned in. Getting a bit stir-crazy as it seems like this year’s winter will never end. The snow banks are getting, seriously, way too high and while normally in winter my photography is a bit constrained, this year I feel like I am chained to the house.

High-Res Panoramic Images
If you had ever had the opportunity to take large format images (4x5, 8x10) or even view them when printed very large, you will appreciate how you can almost walk into the image with its grand scale and subtle fine detail. My B&W ISO 25 - 4x5 negatives are scanned to produce an image about 12,000 x 9,600, which when printed a 240 dpi gives me a print that is 50x40 inches. When you stand in front of such a large and detailed image, it is almost like walking into the scene. You can spend a great deal of time walking around the scene with your eyes.

240 dpi is an acceptable print setting when the image has been sharpened for both printer and paper settings. Larger prints tend to be viewed further back, but with this setting people can still get as close as they like. With the software program available, it is easy to increase print size by a factor of 4. That’s huge!

My Nikon D70 (6.1mp) camera could only print (at same print res) an image that is 12.5x8.5 inches. The D200 will only give me 16x11 inches.

By using a tripod and taking overlapping images you can, with software, stitch them together to create beautiful and very large pano images. Stitching several rows can also create large format type images. There are a few basics about panos, such as camera level, constant camera settings for exposure, focus, scene stability, accurate overlap, no polarizer. The software can, within reason, take care of the film no-parallax point, but do try to get close. As always the camera settings need to be adjusted to the actual scene in front of you or creative vision.

My preferred software to stitch images together is A Autopano Pro , which cost about $150 US. (99 euros). It is hard to beat the power and functionality for that price.
http://www.autopano.net/

All panos have been set to a width of 1200. Do click on any images below for the larger version.

The image below was created using Photoshop and layers to method only to show another approach. The rest was created using Autopano pro.


Original image 10,300 x2240 or printed at 43” x 9.5” (240dpi)

For the Photoshop method, I did embed each image as a smart layer. This permits me to fine-tune the exposure for each image using Adobe Camera RAW (ACR) to best match the other images and thereby getting a smooth transition in sky tones.
















reduced to 75% of full resolution

This is one of my favourite panos below and as yet I haven’t worked it to make a print. I am just not sure where to crop the scene, if I even need to. I have visited this place so often that each element has a memory. The path, which is barely visible, at the very far right, coming through the trees and the lovely dark forms on the far left. This was taken near sunset and there is steam rising from the water, which is hard to see in this image. I know I will have to enhance this to make it more visible in the print.


Original image 11,000, 14000 or printed at 46” x 8”

Can you guess which part the below image is located. Hint: look at the log at the edge of water.













Full resolution, vibrancy added


The pano pro software uses the best stitching algorithm and will auto detect pano images in a folder and combine them to present its interpretation, also auto correct for colour and even remove ghost images (people moving) and now even HDR stitching.

For scenes with strong detail and good contrast such as buildings, a 1/3 overlap is sufficient. For a scene with fine detail such as these landscape shots, I recommend a ½ overlap.


This image was taken in early fall and I just loved the yellow colours in the field.


Original image 6,500x1,900 or printed at 27” x 8”














reduced to 50% of actual size

The high-resolution images are difficult to appreciate on a monitor, as it has nowhere near the resolution to fully view the detail and they are just begging to be printed and viewed.

Most images can be printed on 12 in. wide printer with roll-paper feed but it is more expensive to print than your normal print. If you can’t print it yourself, do find a good local printer who can handle these different formats. Some friends have had difficulty with the standard online prints trying to get the sizing right. They tend to default to standard formats.

There is even a manufacturer that makes an attachment for your DSLR to connect to the back of a 4x5 camera. With the aid of the sliding mechanical grid, you move the camera over the full glass plate in small increments, pano-stitch and voila! A 4x5 field camera image.


Solution for Hint above: The left edge of the image is almost center in the pano image.


Niels Henriksen

A photographer’s Adage

A very fine photographer asked me, "What did it feel like the first time you manipulated an image?", and I said "Do you mean the first time I shot black and white instead of color, do you mean the first time I burned the corner of a print down, do you mean the first time I 'spotted' a dust speck on my print, do you mean the first time I shot with a wide angle instead of a normal lens, I mean what are you referring to? Where does it stop?" - Dan Burkholder - From a Lenswork Digital Output workshop, 10/97.