What's in your Toolbox?

We live in a wonderful time to be a photographer.  The options and creative techniques seem more than I can count.  I tend to think of these techniques like tools, and by learning new techniques you add a new tool to your toolbox. 

Several years ago I saw a lot of people online and at my camera club were shooting mirror images.  I took the time to learn the technique and tucked it away in my toolbox.  A mirror is where you take an image and flip the image so you have two halves that mirror each other.

Last year I shot this abstract image and it occurred to me that I should try creating a mirror.  I think it worked and I'm glad this technique is in my toolbox.


If you want to try this for yourself, load an image in Photoshop and duplicate the image on a second layer.  Choose the second layer and go to the Image Menu and choose Image Rotation, then choose Flip Canvas Horizontal (or vertical) and use the move tool to align the image.  From there you may need to adjust the layer opacity or masking to obtain the final result.

On The Move!

It just occurred to me the last time I blogged was almost a month ago after wrapping up our Charleston Tour.  Since then I have been super busy with our Meetup Group, and traveling the camera club lecture circuit.  No complaints, it's always a blast getting out and meeting new people who share this passion we call photography!

The image above is the latest in my Motion Abstracts Series.  I prefer a cloudy day for this type of work and of course try to keep the sky out of the image.  Even though the tree does a nice job breaking up the boring gray sky, I decided a couple Flypaper Textures were just what I needed to take the problem with the gray sky "out of the picture", so to speak.

If you want to learn more about Textures, my partner Denise regularly lectures on textures to camera clubs in the Mid-Atlantic area. Her next lecture on Textures will be at NIH Photo Club on June 14th.  If you want to check out Flypaper Textures, be sure to use our discount code to save a few bucks.

Quality vs. Quantity

I'm going to start with a question.  What is more important, quality of work or quantity of work?  What I mean by this is what if you took a week long trip and only got one portfolio quality image?  Would the trip be a failure or a success?  The answer to this question of course depends of your point of view.

Sitting on this side of the computer I have a front row seat to the internet just like you.  Now you can look at websites like 500px and generally you will see examples of stunning work from a variety of photographers.  Or if you go over to Flickr you might see someone post dozens or even hundreds of pictures from a particular trip or event.  There is no right answer to this question, its like many things in life, a matter of opinion.

As I finish my 2nd decade as a photographer, with a 20 year break between decades,  I find that I value quality.  In my mind this is the only possible choice.  When you go to a gallery or art show you see a few pieces from a particular artist at best.  Artists have always been forced to be selective when it comes to showing their work. But with the advent of the internet and nearly unlimited online storage, it takes us back to the days of sitting in front of a slide projector as your neighbor shows you 200 shots from their vacation.  Did you fall asleep before the show was over?  You have to be older than 40 to appreciate comparison.

It's not my intent to be critical of others in this space but let's think a minute.  If you post 100 pictures from a particular place or event, how many people will loose interest before looking at all of your images?  Or how many will judge your ability as a photographer not by your best image, but by your worst?  The fact is we all take lousy images.  I could show you thousands, but then you would not be inclined to return to my blog.   I think it helps if you can develop the ability to be your toughest critic.  That does not mean that you should not show your images and have pride in your work.  You should!  I think the art of photography is a journey and not a destination.  Personally I hope to be a better photographer as time progresses.  Part of that process is being critical of my work and introperspective on how I can strive to improve.

In regard to the blog image above.  It was the only worthy image from a full a day of shooting motion abstracts.   The rest were just not that good.  But my happiness with the one image far overpowers any possible disappointment with the hundreds I had taken that day that no one else will ever see.

Wild Wonderful Abstracts II

I just finished a quick edit on last weeks pictures from West Virginia.  We had a really great group of photographers and as usual West Virginia does not disappoint.  

I posted a few of my other pictures over on the Road Runner Blog.  

Wild Wonderful Abstracts

Fall is in full swing in West Virginia and our tour starts tonight.  This week I have been scouting the back roads for hidden gems and found a little known waterfall that I hope we will be able to share with our group.

The image above is one of my motion abstracts.  It was taken on the road to Dolly Sods a couple of days ago.

I will be presenting a program on abstract photography at the following camera clubs this fall.  I hope that if any of the dates and locations are convenient you will come out and see the presentation.


October 20th -  Reston Camera Club
November 12th - McLean Camera Club
November 13th - Charlotte Camera Club

July Update

I can’t believe Summer is halfway over!  I was thinking it had been weeks since I blogged, but when I checked it was just a little over a week.  I have been really busy with the Road Runner Meetup Group the last couple of weeks and time is just flying by.  Last weekend we held a Meetup at Spruce Knob West Virginia to shoot Star Trails, but mother nature did not fully cooperate.  We had thunder storms right around sunset and had to take cover for about an hour or so.  Then we were treated to nice clear skies for about an hour or so until more clouds rolled in.   

The good news is I was able to get time this weekend to work on some favorite techniques like Light Painting and Motion Blurs.   

Next up we have a tour in Iceland with a private group.  Iceland is a landscape photographers dream and I’m super excited!   We are returning to Iceland in 2015 and it's not to early to sign up! 

The Passenger Window

Last year at Nature Visions we featured Adobe Evangelist Julieanne Kost.   During one of her presentations she featured work from her “moments taken” portfolio.  To say I was blown away is a huge understatement.   I could not wait to get out and try this technique for myself, but of  course some things need to fall into place.  You need a driver and ideally you need an overcast day.  I would venture to say that if you try to do this while driving you are almost guaranteed to have a very bad and perhaps a deadly day for you or someone else. 

The technique is quite simple.  While moving forward find an object you are approaching and lock on it while panning as the vehicle moves forward.   You should expect a high failure rate but the few keepers you get can really be something special.  

Dealing with the unexpected

I don’t know about you, but I often find that I have a pre-visualization of what I am hoping to capture when I head out into the field to photograph. As my skills have progressed this approach has changed. If I’m visiting a known location a certain amount of planning is appropriate. What direction does the sun rise or set, am I looking for a certain type of light, etc? I know some photographers who insist on very detailed planning while others prefer to live in the moment. I think that currently I do a bit of both.

Case in point. Last weekend I went to Graves Mountain Lodge to watch the fireworks. I have been to this area before because it is very close to White Oak Canyon, but I had never seen the fireworks show. I was envisioning a nice silhouetted outline of the mountains to contrast with the fireworks. That is what I imagined, however, that was not the vantage point available. So rather than waste any time looking for a shot that was not available, I decided to try the abstract approach and concentrate on capturing shape and color. I used a variety of techniques but zooming seemed to yield the best results.

I try to approach a scene looking for what is “right” and not what is “wrong”. After that I just get in the moment and stop thinking and start going with the flow.

First Hint of Spring

Tonight after taking Big Duke for his 2 mile walk I decided to see what I could find in my garden. I started shooting some daffodils and crocus, but settled on this impressionistic image of a red tulip. Spring is just around the corner and I’m going to have to stop shooting so much grunge HDR and get back into flowers and landscape.

Blog picture was shot with a Lensbaby 3G.