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Behind the Lens is a new series that allows you to learn a bit more about your favorite FYP Writers.  While we know your enjoy their articles, sometimes you just want to know what makes them tick!  We are pleased to provide that insight for you.

Hugh Walker is an amateur photographer who lives on the beautiful island paradise of Barbados with his wife, Cheryl and 14 year old daughter, Giselle. Photography is a family affair for the Walkers; Hugh’s wife and daughter being award winning photographers, having both won numerous medals and special prizes at the annual Barbados National Independence Festival of Creative Arts. As Hugh put it: “We have a healthy family competition going on and so far I am losing to the ladies”. However, Hugh is not to be outdone by the family, having won silver and gold medals as well and special prizes in Architectural, and Black & White photography.

Hugh has a passion for landscape photography and one of his greatest dreams is to have the opportunity to travel to exotic locations and be exposed to a wide variety of landscape scenarios. In late 2010 he took one such memorable trip to the Grand Canyon. His comment about the trip being “The temperature was about 5 degrees below zero and there is this guy from the Caribbean, with an insane smile on his face, shooting everything in sight an loving it! It was a dream come true”.

Besides landscape photography he has dabbled a bit with portrait photography. Hugh is however drawn to architecture and abstract photography. There is something about the lines of a building that intrigues him. Each building has a character that has been developed through the design elements used by the architect, and he loves to try to find it and demonstrate it in an artistic manner.

Hugh loves to create images that are dramatic in nature; his point of view is that “We see the ordinary every day in our lives and I strongly believe that the images we create should not be ordinary, but should attempt to take the viewer to another place”. Hugh embraces colour, but loves black and white. His initial exposure to photography was in the era of film and the wet dark room . “Black & white was the medium we used because we could not afford to process colour, because of the cost of the chemicals and papers. We had full control of the black and white process, from developing to printing”. Today he embraces the digital tools, especially Adobe Lightroom and the Nik suite of plugins. His favorite tool is Nick Silver Effects Pro which he finds is best at black and white conversion.

When it comes to equipment Hugh has a foot in both of the major camps. He shoots both Nikon and Canon. Some may think this is strange but he finds that both have their weakness and strengths and that being slavishly tied to one system does not fit his profile. Favorite lens are the Canon 100mm f 2.8 L macro, and 70 -200 f2.8l and the Nikon 16-85 VR . Favorite software products are Adobe Lightroom and Nik Silver Effects Pro.

Hugh’s work can be found online at his portfolio site  http://Art4life.zenfolio.com

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[Editor's note:  Photographs in this post contain a degree of nudity and maybe considered NSFW.]

This month we interview Fine Art and Editorial Photographer D. Yee, who is currently based in New York City and works freelance. He uses photography as a continuation of his works in figurative drawing and painting, and through it he experiments with his admiration for the human condition.

FYP: Tell us a little about yourself

D. Yee: I lived in the metro areas of New York for most of my life. Apart from photography, I continue to paint and draw as my other alternative to visual work involving human figures and stories. World travel is one of my favorite activities whenever I get/make the opportunity to.

FYP: Have you had formal training in photography?

D. Yee: No proper training as in classes or school. I’m mostly self taught and had worked with a photographer for a summer some years ago. Studying photographs and photo essays are also ways of learning and discovery.

FYP: Where do you see yourself in five years time?

D. Yee: That’s what I asked myself five years ago this time. So, for the next five years, maybe I see myself finally putting together a book of strong (and I mean very strong) collection of work, live and work abroad. Or, simply to have seen more of the world than I have now.

FYP: What is the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome in your photographic career?

D. Yee: Projecting my most honest tone of voice and vision in my work. Whether or not it appeals to others. I’m sure this is something one comes into conflict with, especially when you start out. You want to produce work you want to feel accepted by a mass public. If you can find pleasure in this go for it. For me, when I took into consideration what may appeal to others I found myself feeling bland and quite empty. I don’t often listen to what people want to see unless it’s a commercial job (even with that, I try to inject my aesthetic – stand for your artistic voice).

FYP: Who is your favourite artist?

D. Yee: I have quite a few, but I’ll randomly pick one now: Guy Bourdin.

FYP: Where do you find your inspiration?

D. Yee: In the most unexpected places. It could be from a silent walk to the most absurd moments/subject matter. I try to keep my senses open.

FYP: What are your favourite techniques or methods?

D. Yee: I tend to I draw out an idea before I decide to go forth with a photograph (if it’s a production). For my street work, it’s just a lot of aimless wandering and patience while framing each moment as if I’m shooting the film that I see before me.

FYP: How much emphasis do you put on post-production?

D. Yee: Depends on the situation and project. Half and half? Or less. I’m mostly concerned about color temperature in a photograph when it comes to this stage.

FYP: What genre would you most like to experiment in?

D. Yee: Cinema. Motion storytelling.

FYP: If you could photograph anyone/anywhere in the world, who/where would you photograph?

D. Yee: I would like to shoot a short film (or stills) on a beautiful baron landscape of individuals (and nudes) adorned in some kind of strange and beautiful fashion. It’d be based on a short story I have had in the back of my mind for the last six years. Just haven’t found the right time and place to do so.

FYP: Have you got any hints or tips to share with aspiring photographers?

D. Yee: Realize that photography is a soul-sucking job, but being persistent and passionate about it helps. And, most importantly, don’t always follow the stream even though we’ll fall into it once in a while. Go explore and take a creative risk once in a while. Make the best of yourself. You live once.

FYP: What is your favourite way to de-stress?

D. Yee: One of my de-stressors is thrashing/dancing to my favorite bass-thumping dance tracks. Drawing/painting or a long walk would be my more quiet alternative.

FYP: Thanks for sharing, D. Yee, and good luck with the future!

Contact Info:

Facebook

Flickr

Website

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I have a confession to make: I am mildly obsessed with just about anything that is of an abnormal scale/size. This includes (but is not limited to) dogs that are of the “giant” or teeny-tiny variety like newfoundlands or teacup and micro sized dogs, or furniture that is impossibly huge or ridiculously small like the giant adirondack chair located DC or the mini 1950s style playball chair that is just the right size for my three-year old daughter.  Also included in my mild obsession? Train sets and dollhouses.

This image was taken with my Android phone and the phone app Pixlr-o-matic as reviewed by my fellow writer David Pringle some weeks ago. It is a snippet of the amazing train set display done at the science center in Pittsburgh every year around this time. Hard to believe but this was maybe 1/10th of the whole set up!

This is another image taken with the same phone app as the above image. This one I tweaked slightly though to make it appear as if it truly is one taken from way back when it historically could have been taken with regard to the part of the train set (the coal miners camps) that is pictured.

So what does this have to do with photography? (Since that IS what we are here for, right?) Well, it’s got a LOT to do with photography. Why? Because there just happens to be a type of photography that goes right to the heart of my love for these miniature views of life. Say “hello” to Tilt-shift photography.

Ever heard of tilt-shift photography? It’s not hugely popular by it’s name because it is so much more easily recognizable by the way it looks. Here are some classic examples of tilt-shift photography. (If these aren’t enough to convince you of the coolness factor of tilt-shifting check out this flickr group devoted entirely to it.)

Kind of amazing to behold isn’t it? It is because of the “magic” that is the tilt-shift lens that makes it all possible. A tilt-shift lens achieves this fake miniaturized effect by using a selective focus on one portion of the frame of an image.  The lens is designed such that it can be bent (or rather tilted) to an angle relative to the image plane (within the camera body) which then shifts the orientation of the plane of focus of one part of the image so that it is sharply focused in juxtaposition with the rest of the image. (The Scheimpflug principle is the reason why it happens this way.)  Is what I just incredibly difficult to follow understand? Well, whether or not you followed it or not doesn’t matter anyway because we can just agree that it looks REALLY cool and that’s the point of this to begin with.

Anyway, can you believe that these pictures would be correctly proportioned if they were only taken with a standard lens and not a tilt-shift lens? Too bad the whole world of tilt-shift photography is so cost prohibitive because of how pricey the lenses are. (Too many of them are in the range of closer to a thousand dollars at least.) Even things like lens babies (an alternative to the actual lenses) still cost a pretty penny enough that it’s hard to justify such an expensive to satisfy an unreasonably obsession like what I have. Let’s not dwell on seemingly impossible dreams here though, okay? I have an incredibly cost effective approach to tilt-shifting. Guess what! You can “fake” the tilt-shift effect with a very quick and simple photoshop tutorial. Check it out in this completely do-able tilt-shift photography tutorial for photoshop that will walk you through the steps of taking an image you already have and digitally rendering it with some tilt-shift magic.

Something else you can do if you don’t have photoshop. How about using lenses you already have?  You can always use what you got and do a little Freelensing a la the legendary Ryan Brenizer.  Be forewarned though! This method and technique is NOT something for the faint of heart or unsteady of hand since it requires you do to something exactly like taking the lens off of your camera body mid-shutter hit and then physically holding it in a bit of a hover in just the right way in front of your camera body. Does it sound a bit challenging? Well. It is. Trust me! (I’ve tried it with less than stellar results.)  However, I’m sure that it is something that you certainly could master with decent practice so that’s why I even mention it here and now.

And last but not least, you can always give the Tilt-shift maker a whirl. I mention this last only because it requires the bare minimum of effort and why work smarter when you can work harder? All you’ll need is a photograph of your choice and then you just point-click and *voila* you’ve got a tilt-shift image with hardly any fuss.

Have I made you a fan of tilt-shift photography?  Please share your best tilt-shift efforts via the comment section below. If you still aren’t convinced of all of its awesomeness and as yet refuse to join the ranks of its fandom, well (I assure you) I am more than enough of a fan to make up for whomever still doesn’t like this the biggest little images there ever could be in the photographic medium.

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After a successful retro-themed contest for October, we decided to go back to Mother Nature for November’s contest.  The winner for our FYP November Photography Contest is… *drum roll*… Boris Frkovic! Congratulations Boris!  We hope you enjoy your annual 500px.com account and as promised, today’s Indie Spotlight segment would showcase Boris’ winning pictures.

Hailing from Croatia, one of the most beautiful country in Europe, Boris spends most of his time photographing some of mother nature’s greatest creations.  He enjoys flocks of birds, ocean waves, and the sound of wind blowing all the while capturing them with his trusted Pentax K200 camera coupled with a Tamron 10-24 lense.

Boris loves to photograph nature, especially water (rivers, lakes and ocean) because he finds the water and reflections in water give the photos a special charm

Aside from his Pentax, Boris’ default photography equipment include the use of a tripod and a wired shutter release.  Most of his work is comprised using HDR because according to him, current cameras ‘see’ less than what our eyes can see – camera sensors can only see dynamic range of approximately 5 stops whereas the human eye can see 9-10 stops. So the only way to show others what he really sees is through HDR.

To make his HDR photos look more realistic, Boris uses a technique that he invented, which is similar to the Orton effect.  Boris prefers to shoot in RAW format before tone mapping in Photomatix.  The final stop is Adobe Photoshop where he makes final adjustments.

When processing, Boris will always export his final creations as TIFF format because there is no loss of quality. His own HDR processing technique involves three overexposed photos layered on top of each other while choosing ‘Multiply’ as his blending mode and image opacity set to about 75%.

Boris’s techniques make the HDR photos look more realistic and lifelike.  He believes that to photograph and produce a great HDR, one must understand the basic concept of shooting with this technology – True HDR are made from multiple (differently) exposed photos while pseudo HDR is made from just one photo.  It is also very important to use a tripod and a remote trigger for this method.

It is important not to have any part of the photo overexposed if you’re going to shoot for pseudo HDR (because overexposed parts are permanently lost).  Boris suggest that you use pseudo HDR method for scenes with movement

Boris admires the work of ‘Sunrise@Dawn’, Olga Shiropaeva, Mario Moreno, Dave Cox, Jorge Maia, Omid Golzar, Alfred Forns, Alisdair Miller, and a number of other great photographers.

Eventually, he would like to try some different styles of photography such as IR, night stars, panning, and black card among others.

Boris can be found online via his Google+ profile as well as:

http://500px.com/borisfrkovic

http://www.pixoto.com/borisfrkovic

http://www.flickr.com/photos/borisfrkovic/

http://borisfrkovic.blog.com/

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Knight by roblfc18

There is a feeling, an aura if you will that revolves around a black & white photograph that cannot be expressed by words alone.  Our eyes play the critic, and they alone soak in the full impact that this type of photograph has on an individual, which I feel partially explains the resurgence of this medium over the past few years.   Add the digital revolution to the equation, and you have an entire new breed of photographers, creating amazing and breathtaking images that would have made Mr. Adams proud.

Empty Space Square by ruioliveira

Gouda by Chopen

Although not a new medium, HDR or “High Dynamic Range Imaging,” is still one of the new kids on the block when talking photo enhancement.   As a photographer who shoots black and white, I have embraced this medium with open arms, and when “executed correctly,” it can take the qualities of a photograph, be it emotional or aesthetic, to an entire new level.   I purposely placed quotations around “executed correctly” because it seems that too many HDR photographs both color and black and white, are completely ruined due to “overkill.”   As with any new technology, we tend to push it to the limit because we can, however, subtle is king when it comes to a great photograph, and HDR is no exception.

Palermo Cathedral by GabOrcinus

Quebec City Old Town by ilpavone2004

To create a stunning black and white photograph, we must always start with a stunning color photograph.   As we all know, a true black and white photograph is not 100% black, so we must tweak the tones and squeeze out just the right amount of saturation until the photograph is ready to be transformed from a cocoon to a butterfly.

Next, it is time to bring our photograph into the tool of choice to begin making adjustments that will ultimately bring our photograph to life.   I liken my experience to the movie Frankenstein when the doctor announces to the world that he has created life by screaming, “It’s alive, It’s alive!” You may have a tiny smile on your face as you read this, but if you think about it, the transformation from a flat photograph to an HDR photograph is not far from breathing life into an otherwise dull image.  This is not to say that black and white photos that do not have this technique applied are dull, just different, more vibrant.

Stephanie by biozz-d3bkne2

The Shining by holala830

You do not need special software to create an HDR photograph, however, it will take you much longer and will most likely cause frustration should you decide to go this route.   There are many procedures that go into an HDR photograph, so you are better off using specialized software that can provide the “grunt work” so you can concentrate on your masterpiece.  The procedures used are beyond the scope of this article, however, I have included a list of software applications below that will accomplish this task, not break the bank, and get you on your way. I have also provided links to samples, tutorials, tips, and techniques.

University Hall by KanteForce

With this information in mind, remember, there is no book, website, sample, tip or a tutorial that can replace what you have envisioned as the result, so I challenge you to learn the basic concepts and dive in, headfirst.  You may hit your head on the bottom of the pool a few times, but once you have a basic grasp on the tools and learn to be subtle, you will be diving with the best of them.

HDR Apps:

Photomatix – The first HDR application I used. A nice price if you stick with the lite version.

NIK Software HDRefex Pro – Pricey, however, slowly becoming a favorite.

Dynamic Photo – A very inexpensive yet robust application

GIMP – A FREE photo editing tool that does HDR – See here!

Oloneo – The most expensive out of the bunch, but definitely worth every penny.

HDR Resources, Tips, and Techniques:

Stuck In Customs – The home of Trey Radcliff, an HDR pioneer.

HDR Soft – Indexed list of HDR resources

HDR1 – Not as organized as the others, but another great list of HDR resources

Examples of finished Black & White HDR:

Black & White HDR Flickr Pool
Google Images of Black & White HDR
HDR Creme

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Bill Gerrard is our contest winner of the FYP October Photography Contest, congratulations Bill!  I addition to being featured in our Indie Spotlight Bill also won an annual 500px.com account.  Here is Bill’s winning image.

Bill is an eclectic photographer from  Northern Utah in the United States, but he has also recently lived in Las Vegas, Nevada and Southern California.  Bill’s favorite subjects to shoot are landscapes, automotive, architecture, events and portraiture.

Bill’s primary camera is the Canon EOS 5D but he usually has his Canon PowerShot S90 in his pocket for those moments that he is unable to have his SLR.   A true photographer is rarely without his camera and Bill finds that for a point and shoot camera, the Canon S90 produces quality images, while it lacks the control afforded by the 5D the image is far better than no image at all.  Bill’s stalwart lens is his  Canon 24-105mm f/4L.  He finds that  it gives him a nice range for anything from landscapes to portraits.

Bill admittedly says that his workflow is rather quite simple.  The majority of his work (landscapes, automotive, events) is captured in natural light.  He uses artificial light sparingly for portraiture and special effects in which one of his favorite techniques to use is “dragging the shutter”, dragging the shutter shows motion and then freezes the subject matter with second curtain flash, here is a video link to explain the technique.

After Bill has captured his images he then loads them into Adobe Lightroom and usually apply some presets to give the image some pop or special toning (vintage, etc.).  He then processes some of those images with the Topaz Adjust feature, many of his automotive images are processed in Topaz giving them that HDR like look, on the rare occasion he loads an image into  Adobe Photoshop but that is only when the image requires  special attention.

Bill has an extensive list of places he’d like to photograph for  for landscape photography, however with his growing interest in photographing people, he has an interest in mixing people with his landscapes in interesting ways. He has already experimented with this technique had hopes to do many more.

Bill has started a process of discovery in which he experiments more with post processing techniques that give his images a vintage or yesteryear look, or even a grungy or more atmospheric look. There are a lot of presets available for Lightroom that make this easy, or that give a base or idea to start with. He suggests experimenting with Lightroom in this way. Download some of the free presets and see what creative processing can do to an image.

Bill has one of those motivational pictures of a basketball court that says “You’ll always miss 100% of the shots you don’t take” and he takes this advice to heart.  Bill advises  “No matter what kind of camera you have, get out and start shooting.  The more photos you take the better the photographer you will become.”

Bill discovered  his love of automotive photography completely by accident.  He had always admired the old wooden bodied automobiles that were manufactured in the early 1900’s affectionately known as “woodies”.  One summer at the local county fair, his wife purchased a really cool photograph of a group of these woodies lined up in an old warehouse.  While completing the purchase his wife mentioned to the photographer that her husband Bill  liked woodies and the photographer suggested that she advise him to attend a woodie show coming up the next month near their hometown.  It was slated be the biggest gathering of wooden bodied cars in the world.

While had had never done any type of automotive photography before, Bill jumped in with both feet when he got there; he was in heaven.  Everywhere he looked there were these beautiful wooden cars and he started shooting right away.  He was awed by the wood grain, being a photographer he appreciated the craftsmanship. he admired the reflections in the chrome and lacquered surfaces.  Bill found that everywhere he turned there was an image waiting to be captured.  This love of woodies was further cemented when he post processed his photographs with the previously mentioned Topaz Adjust technique that he was taught by Rick Sammon.

Bill has a few photographers whose work he really admires.  He is inspired by Art Wolfe’s landscape and people photography, in fact Bills says that Art’s work has inspired him to visit some of the places where he has captured some of his best images.  He also appreciates  John Telford’s work in photographing and documenting historic buildings of worship has inspired much of his architecture photography.  Not leaving out the old pioneers, he was initially first inspired to landscape photography through the work of  Ansel Adams.

One of the styles that Bill has on his bucket list to try is light painting .  He is in awe of the quality of the photographs being produced now and seeks to join a group of local photographers who get together on a regular basis to experiment with the technique, he admires the light orbs they create using steel wool and other objects in the execution of the technique.

Bill has also created a few images mixing people or wildlife photography with landscape photography wants to spend more time exploring that genre.

You may view more of Bill’s work at his website where he has images for sale, on his Facebook page and he has just started populating his 500px.com presence.

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Do you carry your camera every day?  Do you take photos every day?  “Yes” was my answer to both of the questions in 2009.  On January 1, 2009, I started my own 365 project; for those of you that don’t know the 365 project, you take a photo a day (thought next year in light of the leap year it will be a 366 project), then upload and share it on the Internet.  You can shoot anything: self-portraits, skyscapes, landscapes, seascapes, still life subjects, food photography, or wherever your interest take you.  You can stick to one theme for the entire year and build your skill in that arena or you can shoot variety of things you encounter in your daily life.

On January 1st,  2009, I started shooting and sharing a photo every day.  The theme I chose was “My Tokyo.”  I wanted to share with my audience what I saw in my daily life. I don’t remember why I started the project now, but it may have been because I wanted to try something new with a newly purchased point-and-shoot camera or  I may have gotten inspiration from people who had been engaged in their own 365’s at the time.

Did I finish my project successfully?  Yes, at the end of the year I had taken and shared a photograph each and every day.  I kept shooting what I saw around Tokyo, trying to give the people who visited my photo stream on Flickr a virtual tour of my city and my life;  It was really hard.  When I had to work late, I shot a stuffed animal at home before going to bed.  On one stormy night, I had to make do with the bottle caps of Coca Cola for my daily photograph.  Some results were not very creative at all, but I learned something with every single click, regardless of the difficulties I encountered through the year, my 365 project has made what I am as a photographer.

I started the project in Kabukicho, Shinjuku, and ended in the same place.

There were countless reasons I could have given up the project, but I stuck to it.  Why?  I’ll share the reasons for my successful completion of my 365 project here.

I Always Had My Camera in My Bag or Pocket

I used a point-and-shoot cameras for the entire project; either a Panasonic’s Lumix DMC-FX35 or a DMC-LX3.  Everyone suggested to me that I should, “Carry your camera all the time”  to successfully complete the project and there’s no denying that is probably the single greatest suggestion towards my success.  Photo opportunities are everywhere, there may be a nice subject right in front of you right at this moment if you look around.  While the performances of small cameras may not as good as large DSLRs,  I didn’t want to carry a large heavy camera with me all the time because I was not a pro photographer and my goal was not to strengthen my arm muscles and in order to compete in an arm-wrestling match.  My goal was quite simply to take a new photograph each and every day!

Don’t pass interesting subject matter without clicking.

I Didn’t Push Myself Too Hard Artistically, But DID Think All the Time

I always wanted to shoot “wow” photos.  Breathtaking sunsets, flowers with morning dews, etc, etc , but such moment didn’t often come for me.  Except for weekends, the time I was able to spend on photography was limited to before work, at lunchtime, or after work; so I often had to wander around after dark or rummaging through my house trying to find a subject that I wanted to capture.

I was most depressed when I shot this …

Another problem I had to surmount and was the distance from my home to my workplace.  It is approximately 3km and takes only about 15 minutes by bike, such a short distance provides limited subject matter to shoot when you consider taking 365 photographs over the course of a year.  I shot this and that and  this and that, at times it seemed like there was nothing left to shoot halfway through the project.  So I decided to explore angles, distance and everything I could think of with the same subject old matter.  The photos I took didn’t have the “wow” factor,  in fact they may not have been artistic at all, but because of this, I was able to improve my composition skills immensely.

This is the slide I see every day, it’s the only thing that looks interesting on the way to work. I have no idea how many times I took photos in this tiny park.

Crowd-sourcing Support

One of the reasons I shoot photos is that I want to share my take on Tokyo with the people all around the world.  Luckily I had a few on-line friends when I started the project and the more visitors and comments I received, the more motivated I got.  I had a lot of visitors every day, and all of them were looking forward to my updates, or at least so I thought.  Some of my friends were also very vocal in their support, they browsed through my photos from time to time, gave me their feedback and praise.  The viewer feed back was so inspiring for me that the chances of dropping the project became slimmer and slimmer.

This is the photo that was viewed most. I was happy when my efforts paid off.

In order to capture my viewers interest there’s one thing I did when uploading photos on the Internet.  I always added a short passage expressing what I saw, felt, or thought of the photo, however,  I was mindful not to make the passage to long as I didn’t want to bore my viewers.  When I thought the photo was not good enough to encourage people leave comments, I took pains to write something even more enchanting to hook viewers.

Photo Buddies

Some Flickr friends of mine visited Tokyo, and we sometimes went photo-shooting together.  Seeing them taking photos was really inspiring for me, I gained many tips that  that expanded my vision.  Of course I tried to imitate the ways they shot even though they had large DSLRs while my compact camera was as small as a cigarette case.

A friend from Vancouver loved cats. He took cats, and I took them. They are not cats actually, but my camera was not good at capturing real cats :P

Another friend from Austin was really good at capturing night lights, so I tried to do the same thing with my point-and-shoot camera.

If you are ready to start planning your own 365 project and you want to find friends/support on-line, joining the 365 Project website is a good place to start.  There are also many inspiring  groups on Flickr, and daily themes circulating on Google+.  Eric Leslie has lists themes shown here on his website.  Now are you inspired sufficiently to want to start your own 365 project in 2012?  In next month’s article, I’ll write about the things I tried during in 2009 and hopefully give you even more catalyst to embark on your own 365 project.

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[Editor's note: This post contains artistic nudity that some may consider, NSFW]

Each Monday, we’ll highlight one indie photographer whose body of work deserves special recognition. Please enjoy their photography here, and make it a point to enjoy the rest of their work on their website.

El Descanso

Last year I had the pleasure of interviewing this weeks guest, Mónica Cifuentes, on my now defunct photography podcast.  Showcasing Mónica on this weeks Indie Spotlight is like finding money in the back pocket of your favorite jeans.  You didn’t know it existed, however, regardless of the amount, there is always that rush of excitement.

Mónica Cifuentes Vargas hails from La Calera, which is nestled in beautiful Colombia, South America.  My initial attraction to her work was the individuality of each photo, and the fact that they were not pigeon-holed into any one genre.  Her main camera, which she has been using for the past five years, is a Canon EOS Rebel XT, and although not her favorite lens, Mónica relies the standard Canon 18-55mm lens which she find useful working with portraits and landscapes.  The zoom feature is versatile, and it was used for the photos showcased on this page.  I also shoot with an 18-55mm, and concur, this is a great lens.

camino y niebla

Redemption Song

Regardless of what she may be shooting, Mónica will always seek out natural light as it reveals the true photograph.  RAW is the format of choice, and her post process workflow includes Adobe Lightroom 3 for temperature and minor defects that may have occurred during the capture as well as the built in filters to emphasize tones or produce effects.  Although Adobe Photoshop CS5 is also part of her arsenal, it is used sparingly for deeper corrections and effects.

Ocaso

El Portal de la Tormenta

When it comes to one particular subject that Mónica enjoys shooting, she is hesitant to choose just one as we are surrounded by so many beautiful subjects on a dialy basis.  Her one regret is that she doesn’t carry her camera with her more often.  She sees so much inspiration in nature, and considers some of the most simple subjects to be the most complex.

Mi Viejo Cacharrito

Mariposa y ortiga

Mónica embraces the internet for inspiration, to meet fellow photographers, and help her define her own style, however, she warns that specialized sites that cater to photographers should be used with care, especially if just starting out.  When you post to these types of sites, the criticism will come, and ​often harsh at times, which can discourage the beginner.  This is not to say that you should steer clear of aforementioed sites, as critisicm can help you grow as a photographer, however, you must be able to accept all forms of criticism, good or bad, and use it as a learning tool.

Lourdes

Macondo

​Several years ago, Mónica stumbled upon HDR photography without even realizing it.  It happened during a complex lighting situation, and she wound up experimenting and blended the images in Photoshop.  She has never purchased specialized HDR software, and to this day she continues to manually produce all of her HDR work.

Just Opened

Eden

​Hengki Koentjoro and Zhang Jingna are two photographers that Mónica admires not only for their photographic talent, but also their diverse styles.​​

​Lastly, looking toward the future, she would like to try 360 degree panoramic photography, perferably at night.  Capturing what happens in the dark is particularly intersting to her.  So far she has not come across any photographers who have tried this style.

You can find Mónica Cifuentes out and about on Twitter, DeviantART, and her personal site.

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The Assignment

Recently I had a brochure design assignment, since my major clients are big corporations, I have designed tons of corporate brochures and literature.  This brochure was  for a partitioning system.  Sounds boring, right? That was what I thought too, just another product brochure.  However, with a little creativity, it turned out to be one of my best designs!

You may wonder why I’m talking about a design job on Fuel Your Photography.   Photography, in fact, played a huge part in this brochure.  I didn’t shoot this job myself because it was this client was referred by one of my favorite photographers!  It is rare, but it happens.  So all the photos shown here were shot by Graham Uden, a photographer from England, the same guy that we hired for the airport project!

The client who designed and produced the partitioning system is a German company.  Well, you know Germans, everything is so accurate, refined, meticulously calculated to a precise zero point zero zero zero something!  Their products, of course, are of very high quality.  Think Leica, think Zeiss!  They wanted a high end brochure for their system that they could proudly present to their high end customers.  I thought to myself, should I go on the safe  route and make a brochure all about refinements and quality, like all the other high end product brochures?   No, that would be just another brochure and less fun.  I wanted my work to tell a story, making the product looks sexy and the brochure more attractive rather than just some great interior and product shots.  After a several brainstorming sessions and quite a few late nights, we came up with some ideas and the client accepted our concept of “a feminine approach”.  How you ask, a partitioning system and a feminine approach?  How was I going to pull this off, have a pole dancer behind the partitions? Of course not… I won’t get too much into the design process that may bore you, so let us just focus on the photography.

Casting/Pre-Production

After the concept was approved we began preparations to shoot the images necessary to bring the concept to fruition.  First things first, the model played a very important role to bring out the emotion we wished to achieve.  We needed to very carefully choose the model to fit the sensuousness we were planning to bring to the product.  We originally scoured for talent from Germany as we considered the manufacturer might want to match the product with a German model, so we made a few calls to model agencies and arranged some casting sessions. However, the client thought the German faces were to angular for their product. They, finally, selected a model from the Czech Republic.

In further collaboration with the photographer and the stylist.  We scouted the client’s showroom in order to get a feel for the product and how it looked in actuality.  Graham, the photographer, came up with more ideas on where we should shoot, what we can do and how the lighting should be.  The stylist was able to get a feel for the image we wanted to portray and select the necessary clothes for the shoot.  We went through the layout page by page until everyone was satisfied that they new exactly what their task was and then prepared for the shooting day.

The Shooting Day

Early morning, at the shooting location, everyone was busy.  We only had one day for the model shooting, a lots to shoot, it was absolutely necessary to get everything right, thank goodness for careful planning.  While the makeup artist and the hair stylist were busy working on the model, the photographer and his assistants were setting up their equipment.  My designers and I  were discussing some final changes in the photo layout.  When the model was ready, we had a small meeting and went through the rundown again to make sure everyone was completely clear on their tasks so that everything could run on schedule.  We first produced the shots that required natural light and things went very smoothly thanks to the careful planning.  The model was great, poses were better than we expected, we were so thrilled with the models performance that we keep shooting till evening.

The Brochure

In the first three pages, we only used mood shots that seemed unrelated to the product. We didn’t even shown the face of the model and the only close-up was frame of the partitioning system.  Yes, we did it intentionally.  In fact, almost the entire first half of this brochure was carefully constructed as a teaser, to build up the suspense and arouse interests.

We asked the products designer to machine two miniatures of the main frame. Then we used it like jewelry on the model. The reason we did that was to give the impression to the readers, that it is a very delicate product, it is on it’s own an art form.

Continuing the mystery theme, we used the blinds of the system and lightings to create specific moods.  Readers can only see through the blinds to have a glimpse of the silhouette in the first shot. That shot was exclusively natural light from the windows.  The second shot involved a bit of action so the brochure viewers did not feel as though it was stagnant but that something was actually happening and they were encouraged to tag along on this path of discovery.   Mind you we were at the same time, showing some of the characteristics of the product in these shots.

Now you see her! Her eyes were full of speculation, expecting something… Did you notice that the colors became more vibrant, are you prepared for more?

BOOM! Now here comes more action, her beautiful dance looks as though she is celebrating the launch of this unique partitioning system!  She was a natural dancer and a very professional model, we didn’t even have music, she created her own tempo in her head and danced beautifully, simply stunning.  The models professionalism  made this great shot!  In case you are curious, we used only one key light that shone directly in front of her all other light was ambient.

The models performance was so outstanding that  we changed the center spread layout, to what you see above, after her outstanding dance.  We love this page that mixed her beautiful postures with photos of the product.  The teaser ends here, the formal introduction of the product follows.

After another double pages spread (not shown here) the bosses talked candidly about their product. Cool themed shots, right?  This was not by co-incidence, we asked them all to dress in black. That’s what art direction is for!

Now, of course we need to present the product how it’s functions.  A few pages like these were used to show how the product functions in an office.  Still, we tried to stylize these interior shots.  We very carefully considered angles and the placement of lighting in order to create this futuristic look.  On the technical side all these wide angle images are shot are using a Zeiss Distagon T*18mm/F3.5 on a Nikon D3x body.

The rest of the brochure was much more technical, explaining how the whole system worked, the materials used…etc.  We still tried to make every single shot looks cool.

The collaboration of client/product from Germany, manufacturing in China, photographer from United Kingdom, model from the Czech Republic, and, of course, me the Creative Director from Hong Kong was very successful.  In the end, everyone was happy and this brochure won me an international design award.  Did I successfully make a cold product sexy?  I’d love to hear your comments below.

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Each Monday, we’ll highlight one indie photographer whose body of work deserves special recognition.  Please enjoy their photography here, and make it a point to enjoy the rest of their work on their website.

With the Webosphere a buzz with “love it, hate it” chatter regarding HDR photography, it seems fitting to feature an Indie who embraces this technology.  Dominique Palombieri hails from San Francisco, CA, and much like The Story of the Three Bears, his HDR landscape photography is neither too hot nor too cold, it is just right.

Dominique captures these beautifully detailed photographs using a Canon EOS 5D mkII, mounted with a Canon 24-105mm f4 IS L lens.  When asked why he chose this lens, Dominique explains that this lens is wide enough for landscape and the long focal length is also useful to isolate a subject in the landscape.

When I came across Dominique’s portfolio, I spent more time than usual studying each photo as they are all unique, however, as unique as each one may be, they are very much the same. It is this formula of uniqueness and style that defines an artist.  During my research, I was impressed by Dominique’s clear-cut and minimal workflow, and equally impressed with the HDR software that he uses during post process; a refreshing change to the industry standard that is pounded into our heads daily.

Dominique shoots entirely with natural light and uses Adobe Lightroom exclusively to develop his pictures.  For the HDR treatment he uses Oloneo, returning to Lightroom for final editing.  Not only is this a minimal workflow, but also reinforces the fact that you do not need multiple pieces of software to create a beautiful image.

Continuing my research, I was intrigued with other forms of photography Dominique might consider adding to his portfolio.   I never know what to expect when asking this question, but Dominique delivered.  He told me that he would love to shoot volcano eruptions, like you see on the islands.  Dominique admires and respects the power of mother nature, and the visual beauty she has to offer, and states that he finds the beautiful light produced from the lava to be especially stimulating.  Although Dominique likes to keep his workflow as simple as possible, he did offer up some advice that he feels is often overlooked, which is the use of a Graduated Neutral Density  (GND) filter.

I couldn’t agree more.  This is something I have been meaning to add to my gear bag for quite some time, as I have seen the difference it can make to a photograph.

Mental note to self; Add a GND to my list of wants.

Dominique is inspired by the likes of Ansel Adams, Rodney Lough Jr, and Peter Lik, and likewise, I am inspired by the likes of Dominique Palombieri.  Pretty cool the way that works out?

He would also like to try some new photography techniques and genres including but not limited to outdoor portraits.  Naturally, he would maintain his trademark landscape style, which would make for some gorgeous photographs.  If you would like to see more of Dominique’s work, you can find him out and about on Google Plus, Flickr, 500px, and last, but surely not least, on Twitter.

I would like to thank Dominique for sharing a piece of his photographic world with The Indie Spotlight and Fuel Your Photography!

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[ Hailing from Tokyo, Japan, the latest addition to our team is cityscape and arcitecture photographer Takahiro Yamamoto. He's got a very clever eye and has wonderful techniques to share, so I'm very excited to introduce him to you all! I hope you love the articles he posts as much as I enjoyed them! ]

Shinjuku, Tokyo

I’m not talking about sushi, nor about hot rodding your car. I’m talking about rolling landscapes. Yes. Landscapes! See the image above, you can easily roll landscapes, with your iPhone and you can do it as well as Uri Geller bends spoons.

Rolling Shutter Will Show You a New Horizon

You may have heard of “rolling shutter,” a novel method of acquiring images. Most digital cameras have the type of shutter that records the image line by line. The whole image shown in the frame is not recorded in an instant as global shutters do. So there’s a time lag between the top and the bottom, or the two sides of the image you shoot.

I have seen some photos on the Internet which capture propellers of aircraft, or a fast moving train. There also exists a YouTube video of the motion of guitar strings captured by an iPhone 4 placed inside the guitar. Those results looks so interesting. I experienced this myself when I was on a moving train. I was aiming to shoot the landscape outside and on viewing the capture I realized that the landscape was streaming like the ones in some animations. The building, trees and everything was leaning forward.

After I got off the train, I tried rolling my camera and saw what the view would look like. I walked to the shopping area I often visit, rolling my camera and capturing the rolling landscape, for the whole day. It fascinated me! It was difficult to take what I intended at first. Actually, it took more than two weeks to get neat results consistently.

The Brighter the Place is, The Better Result You’ll Get

I’m going to share with you the how-to tips I have discovered so far. After you read these tips, you will definitely want to go out and try your phone’s camera. This technique will work on iPhone 3G, 3GS, and 4. If you have android or other phones, try this out anyway, and let me know what results you get. Most of the phone cameras should have a rolling shutter, so I think you will be able to get the same kind of results.

OK. Here’s how to do it.

1. Go out on a sunny day. The brightness gives you a clear rolling image. Even in dark places, the images can be rolled but you will end up with some (camera motion) blur.

In darker places, you’ll get this kind of blur. Of course you can do this intentionally.

2. Find a subject consisting of straight lines. I love to shoot architecture with this technique. It looks the most surrealistic when things that should be stand straight are rolled. You almost feel as though you are a psychic.

You feel as though you are a psychic when you succeed in rolling straight building like this.

3. Roll your camera fast when clicking! Don’t hesitate. You might get weird looks by people around you but remember, you are an artist. Artists are always thought of as weird or strange more or less. But I won’t share the image of how I look here :-p

4. Click the shutter button right before you start to roll your camera. There’s a time lag between your clicking the button and your camera’s capturing, so the best shutter release timing is just before you start to roll your camera. Or maybe you can keep rolling your camera right and left, and shoot randomly. This way you’ll look weirder or sillier but who cares?

Clockwise or Counter-Clockwise?

Here are some results I got for this article. I went out to Ginza, one of the busiest areas in Tokyo, and shot some in one of the main streets, which is transformed into a vehicle free street on weekends. The first one is the normal version. I didn’t roll my camera. See? This kind of images are the ones most people get with their phone cameras.

And the left one below was taken by rolling my camera clockwise. The right one,　counter-clockwise. You always have to check how the landscape is being rolled. It affects the result immensely as you can see.

Which Camera App to Use?

What camera app should you use to do this silly dance? Basically you can use any app you like. As for me, I like to use Camera+. It takes time in starting up, but one of the good things about this popular app is that you can set the focus and the exposure on different spots. In bright sunshine, the main object in the frame often gets darker than you want, so this function is so useful. But as I mentioned, you can use any of your favorites. The rolling shutter gives the same effect no matter what you use.

The square indicates the focal point, the circle the exposure point. You can set them separately on Camera+.

Be As Creative As You Want

There are many apps that extend your creativity. The filters and effects in those apps can be added instantly to the images you have taken. What I often use is the combination of the “Clarity” scene mode and the “Ansel” film effect in Camera+. “Clarity” will expand the dynamic range of your images, and “Ansel” converts your images into black and white with high contrast. All the black and white images on this page were processed that way. Here’s the link to my Google+ album, “Rolling Tokyo,” which contains my attempts to roll the landscapes in Tokyo. Please have a look when you have time.

OK, now it’s your turn to try rolling your neighborhood. Go shooting and upload your photos on the Internet and add the URL to the images in the comment section to share your results, if you’d like. Have a great day!

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[ Editor's Note: You haven't had enough of new writers, have you? Good! Because here's another one! Dylan Patrick is a photographer who hails from NYC and has maintained his own business since graduating in 2006. He's shot everything from headshots to landscapes and has a unique perspective on the business. I hope you enjoy! ]

A couple years ago a good friend of mine asked if I would be able to shoot some cocktails for the Empire Hotel here in New York City.  Little did I know what I was in for.  Of course I said yes, agreed to a fairly cheap, but decent rate as there was only 10 cocktails or so and I didn’t have to do much – just shoot away.  Having a bartending background as well, I thought it would be a fun opportunity to explore the world of hospitality photography, and perhaps get a market going for myself to compliment my other area’s of focus like my headshot, portrait, and landscape business.  I have to tell you it was the best decision I’ve made.

Now I knew absolutely nothing about shooting cocktails much less shooting hotels or anything else of that nature, but I dove in headfirst and came out smiling.   I’ve spent years behind a bar and have a very good appreciation for what photography brings to the service industry.  Hospitality is constantly in need of great photography of just about everything.  They want details, cocktails, hotel rooms, lobbies, meeting rooms, specialty events, bars, clubs, kitchens, food, and the list goes on.

Growing up I always had a appreciation for architecture, spaces, and symmetry (still some of my favorite things to photograph) and this played a crucial role in bringing composition, symmetry and details into one frame, in addition to giving that frame the emotion that draws customers in.  Don’t get me wrong – I’m not a master of this.  I’m constantly learning, making mistakes, learning from them, and figuring out better ways to do things.  I never want to feel like I have mastered photography in any way.

So, back to the Empire job.  These cocktails were made for Fashion Week, and the Empire Hotel sits right across the street from Lincoln Center where they hold Fashion Week twice a year.  The hotel, I learned a bit later, is owned by a large hospitality company that owns about 8 other hotels…lucky me.  So when the images went to corporate, they loved them, the PR firm they use loved them, and that right there got me “in”.  The next thing I know the PR company is calling me to shoot holiday cocktails for the Empire, and the hospitality company wants me to shoot one of their other hotels.

The first hotel I shot was a bit of a daunting experience.  There is a lot to shoot, and a bit of a compulsive attention to detail is a must.  Now before I go much further, most hospitality photography is pretty heavily processed in post-production, but it is still essential to get a lot right when you are there or you will pay for it later when your eyes pop out of your head from staring at a computer screen while spending what feels like days retouching.

So lets start with the rooms, easily the part that takes the most time.  Basically I walk into a room and look at everything very carefully, and then I prop the camera up (tripod is a must for most things) and start to find the pleasing compositions the room has to offer.  Then once I’ve found an angle or two, or three, depending on the room, I start looking for things that you don’t want to see.  I walk around fluff pillows and then straighten them as much as I can to avoid wrinkles, same with the beds.  This can be just as easy as rubbing your hands over it.  On some shoots the hotel will put staff members with you to be constantly ironing and starching things, but either way you will still have wrinkles to deal with in post.  I will often bracket exposures as well because you do NOT want to have to go back.  Hotels usually take rooms out of inventory for the shoot, so you want to make sure you get everything right first time!

Some technical stuff here.  Part of the reason I bracket is the same reason HDR is such a big craze.  People want to see as much as possible, so that means you have a couple options.  If you have a room that has a great view and you want to capture that, as well as what the room looks like, you can do a few things:

1. You can wait for the perfect time of day and try to get it in one shot, and do a little post work on it later (this is a good option for some rooms, and not for others it really depends on which way the room is facing, how much light comes in etc…)
2. You can bracket exposures to get the full dynamic range, then grab the ones you want and blend the exposures in Photoshop using layer masks.

Note: I probably do this the most as it provides greater flexibility, however it’s a bit more post work. Also notice that I DIDN’T say use an auto HDR program – this is just personal taste. I find when it comes to hotel rooms automated HDR programs loose some clarity and oversaturate things that shouldn’t be, they also have the potential to make things look kind of dirty.  Exposure blending (dodging/burning) in the film days is pretty much equivalent to what the concept of HDR is now.  Using Photoshop and doing it manually provides the best results for any HDR in my mind, but that’s just me and I’ll have to save that for another article J

3.  You can light the room with strobes or continuous lights so that you can shoot at a faster shutter speed (I do this as well with strobes from time to time, but it can require gelling lights so you aren’t mixing drastically different light sources and color.)

The lobbies, terraces and outdoor spaces tend to be a bit easier to capture.  Along with capturing nice wide (but not too wide – you don’t want to bend walls) shots you also want to capture intimate details and design elements, this gives the hotel things to use on brochures, websites etc.  It’s also very important to get vertical shots as well as horizontal, often verticals work well for sidebars, on websites, and pamphlets, etc.  Also look up other photographers and see what they are doing and incorporate elements to your own unique style and vision.

Now I see some of you out their raising your hands saying “That’s great Dylan, but I don’t live in NYC, where there are tons of beautiful hotels to solicit!”  I come from a very small town in Idaho, but they have some nice bars, restaurants, bed and breakfasts, spa’s, even those tourist rental places where you go to rent canoes, or jet ski’s, or any number of other things.  These are all service oriented places, that chances are, could use some good photography.  Sometimes the best way is to check places out, see which ones have websites, and then check out how their websites look.  I’ve also done a couple jobs for little to no pay, just to get in the door with one place.  Often times they will use you again and again, as well as tell others within their given industry – restaurants, and bars especially.

I may have to make this part one of a two part series, as there is a lot that can be talked about, but hopefully it has given you some things to think about.  If this area is something you have never done before, like it was with me, don’t let that stop you from trying because you just never know what could happen from it. The more you know how to do, and do well, the more marketable you are.  While we are all constantly learning and growing as photographers, find those weaknesses and make them strengths, learn from mistakes and you would be surprised at the pictures you can make.  Thanks for reading, more to come!

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Dance For Peace by zcs41

Throughout the ages, there has been a multitude of secret societies. The Freemasons, The Illuminati, and The Knights Templar to name a few. In this article, I would like to add another to the list.

Enter DeviantART.

DeviantART is a platform that allows emerging and established artists to exhibit, promote, and share their works within a peer community dedicated to the arts. Touting 80,000 uploads a day and over 2500 categories, DeviantART is poised to become the next photo sharing phenomenon, with a wicked, or shall I say, “deviant” twist.

So how does DeviantART fit into the “secret society” category?

Like the groups listed above, you might have heard of them from reading books or television programs, however, do you truly know their origins?

I stumbled on DeviantART seven years ago, and it was as if I had unearthed the Holy Grail of pure unadulterated artists. I still consider the DeviantART community to be one of the best-kept secrets on the web; It is what keeps me coming back daily.

Lost Words by tinkerblah

Crack Of Life by sara_nmt

There is no way to describe the mystery and intrigue that shrouds this community, but I will do my best to give a brief overview from my perspective. The only “true” way to experience DeviantART is to become a Deviant.

Domestic Stranger by chryssalis

When you first enter DeviantART, it can be intimidating to say the least, but in a good way. From beautiful, erotic, and disturbing, to peaceful and haunting, there is something for everyone and it will keep you coming back for more. I will go so far as to call DeviantART an addiction, however, it is one addiction for which treatment is not an option, at least not for me.

Untitled III by CountessBloody

Through the darkest of times by mjkam11

Immature Little Owl by ultra violet

It would take pages upon pages to outline everything I love about this community, but for the sake of time, and my own sanity, I will make a feeble attempt to showcase some of my favorite attractions.

Critiques:

When you upload a photo to your gallery, you are presented with a multitude of options. Having your work critiqued is an option, which I like, because not everyone is interested in having their work put under a magnifying glass. Yes, the community can still comment on your work if you allow it, however, if you ask for a critique, be prepared, for critiques you shall receive.

This is a perfect example of what sets this community apart from others. During the seven years that I have been a member, I cannot recall a rude or obnoxious critique. The main reason for this is the caliber of people, and I do not mean that they are world renown critics, but rather, they are honest and to the point. This is not to say that all critiques are warm and fuzzy, quite the contrary. However, they are honest, and 95% of the time you will walk away learning a thing or two.

Collections:

I love to collect stuff, especially swords, books, and of course photography. DeviantART has collections, or “favorites” as they are called on the site, which I liken to collecting baseball cards. When you come across a photograph that you like, you simply add it to your collection. Create virtual shoeboxes, or categories if you will, and simply drag the photo into the appropriate spot.

As you can see I have quite the collection under my virtual bed.

My collections on DeviantART

Journals:

When you become a member of the DeviantART community, part of your home page includes a journal. I suppose you could call them blogs, but unlike their squeaky clean counter part, deviant journals have an aura about them that are unique to the site.

Whether you use the journal feature to raise money for a showing, or just muse about your favorite artist, they come in all shapes and sizes. My favorite journals are the monthly features, which have become quite popular. Members choose a theme, collect their favorite images, and post the results as a visual representation.

A journal featuring melancholy photography

There are no prizes or awards, however, being recognized by your fellow peers is priceless.

Galleries:

Ah yes the galleries, or portfolios as we tend to call them, are the nucleus of the DevianART community. A collection of work laid out like a virtual museum for visitors to roam the halls and admire the beautiful work. As you view the art, depending on the artist’ privacy settings, you may have the option to download a high resolution image. The popular option is to purchase a print from the DeviantART store.

DeviantART print options

The store allows you to choose everything from mounting options to the frame, and the pricing is very reasonable. You can also have your favorite art put on a mouse pad, coaster, or mug, which I find to be a bit cheesy, but to each their own.

DeviantWATCH:

Another way to keep up with your favorite artist or category is the DeviatWATCH. Suppose you love sepia photography? The process is simple, find a group for a specific photographic genre (there are plenty to choose from) and begin following or “watching” them. When you log onto your account, you are presented with everything you are currently watching.

A sample of a DeviantWATCH "Stack"

One click and you are viewing the latest and greatest from that group.

A word of caution, it is very easy to get caught up in watching everything that interests you, which will result in thousands, yes thousands, of updated galleries. I learned this the hard way, and narrowed my watches down to groups that meet a wide variety of art while still giving me a daily dose of what I crave. As a side note, you can subscribe to RSS feeds of the groups you are watching.

The Llama Badge:

The Llama Badge

Probably the most mysterious feature of DeviantART is the almighty Llama badge. It took me a while to figure out what this little icon was all about, but eventually I was enlightened. Think of a Llama badge as a gift from your peers to show appreciation of your work. There is no monetary value nor can you collect them for future purchases, but like the critique, the acknowledgment from fellow peers is priceless and the little llama dude is kinda cute!

These are merely a handful of features, and I have barely scraped the surface of DeviantART.

251 by klaic

Silent Screams by zcs41

The best analogy I have come up with to describe this incredible community, is to compare it to the archeologist that discovers a buried civilization. It takes years to study, and there is always something exciting and new around every corner. But don’t take my word for it. Head to the DeviantART community and see for yourself.

You will learn quickly why I compare DeviantART to a secret society, and if you get lost, fret not, for there is always a fellow deviant not far behind to guide you on the journey.

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Highgate Cemetery by Jez92

When you mention cemetery photography to someone, you will most likely experience one of two reactions. The first is, “Hey man, don’t talk about cemeteries, they totally creep me out!” The second is “What the hell is wrong with you! Don’t you have any respect for the deceased?” My normal reply is to say nothing while sporting a blank stare. This will usually be enough to freak them out and ultimately end the conversation.

This technique can also be used for pesky car salesman, religious fanatics, and of course in-laws.

But I digress.

There is an entire community that thrives on cemeteries and their beauty. There are those who travel thousands of miles to practice Gravestone Rubbing, and those who merely appreciate the beauty that can be found in death. Then there are those of us who travel wherever our camera take us to photograph the beauty, mystery, and sometimes unsettling cemeteries across the globe.  There are plenty of techniques to photographing cemeteries, however, the views expressed in this article are my own. I encourage you to add any technique or practice by submitting a comment below.

Friends by Bryan J Zimmerman

Although I am not one to ask for permission, mostly because there is never anyone around representing the cemetery, it is probably a good idea to ask before taking any photographs, especially if it is an older cemetery. I have never had any problems in my area, but it is always a good idea to check. The other option is to just go for it; If confronted then deal with the situation. Groundsmen are normally more concerned with individuals actually touching the stones.

In this article I would like to put aside ISO and Focal Points and focus on what should happen before the shot, which I think is more important than the shot itself.

Every cemetery, every plot, and every headstone has a story to tell. Although not always evident, if you sit long enough, taking in the aura of the grave site, you will eventually grab a glimpse into the life that lies beyond the dirt and stone. It is this story that sets the stage as to how you will photograph the scene.

With that in mind it is time to set up the shot. I like to conceptualize the shot before I take it as shown below. The inscription on these particular stones read, “loving mother and father,” which immediately made me think of lovers. The stones were positioned perfectly to finish the story -  Two young lovers lying in a grassy field or on the hood of a 1955 Chevy, holding hands, staring at the stars, and dreaming of the future.

Lovers by Bryan J Zimmerman

The thought caused the hair on my arms to stand straight on top of the goosebumps like a regiment of soldiers saluting their leader. It was that moment that I knew I had something special and proceeded to take the shot. Although the photography itself is important, it’s the story that must come first, otherwise, you are just taking “another” cemetery photo, and we all know there are enough of those to go around ten fold.

Earlier in the article I used the word unsettling. As much as I enjoy the stories like the one above that has a happy overtone, there are the stones that bear the markings an infant or child’s grave. There is a story for these precious souls as well, however, not as easy to decipher. Although the time was short for these children, I have to trust that it was for reasons beyond out comprehension. Perhaps they would have been at the mercy of a pedophile, murderer, or an abusive parent.

Baby's Grave by Serenity In Demise

As sad as it is to see these grave sites, it does my heart well to know they will never suffer any pain.

Before moving forward I would like to touch on color vs Black & white. Although there is nothing wrong with a color photo of a grave site, nothing brings out the raw emotion like black and white. I may be biased since black and white is my passion, however, when I look at my photographs and the accompanying stories, color does not do them the justice they deserve. This is not to say color does not have its place, it all depends on the story.

Contemplation by Gryffingirl77

If you already shoot cemeteries think about the story behind the shot, and for those who are hesitant to step foot in a cemetery for whatever reason, remember, every stone, every inscription has a story to tell. Try not to think of the location, but rather the “precious souls immortalized in granite,” and I think you may have a change of heart.

"Death Is Blind" by RedNihao

I set up a special Flickr group for you to upload your cemetery photos and share the stories behind them. Although you can submit previous photos you have taken, I encourage you to go out and find that special story and capture it as you see it. You may be surprised with the outcome. The Flickr group is at http://www.flickr.com/groups/cemeteryfyp/

Make sure you catch my April podcast which will also focus on cemetery photography. You can find the podcast at http://www.lensfetish.com/category/lens-fetish-lounge-podcast/

Additional Resources:

Cemetery Seeker: http://www.cemeteryseeker.com/

Graves, Tombs, and Cemetery Discussion Group on Flickr: http://bit.ly/ho848M

Google cemetery Images: http://bit.ly/g9CTU0

Dark Destiny – London’s Magnificent Seven Cemeteries: http://www.darkdestiny.us/

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This weekends photo focus is the streets. Street photography is a genre full of images from everyday life that catch the small things and beautiful moments that constantly occur around us. Like the very first image suggests, street photography is all about stopping, thinking and watching. Although sometimes a difficult and sometimes scary genre to experiment in, the images can be very rewarding and exciting!

"Stop and think" by miqulski

"Steps" by apostolos

"No title 32" by ESafian

"Passengers" by miqulski

"Dog from the street" by MotyPest

"Street: The modern man's march" by takemetoanotherplace

"Ferrara" by MisterKey

"Deux mondes" by autre-chose

"Why I am" by ikopuz

"Old people n lines" by grandspammer

"White light" by veftnie

"The Passenger" by nullermanden

Each Friday we will post a Weekend Photo Focus (also hash tagged on Twitter as #weekendphotofocus) on a certain subject, something to spark your creativity. An empty weekend for a photographer, is like an empty canvas, we could always use something to do when we have nothing planned right? So with this in mind we created this series, one that will get you out doing what you love. The premise is simple: snap some photos over the weekend dealing with the weekends focus, and if you send them to us, or Tweet them to us, we will post them for others to see. Having a focus will help us as artists & photographers see things that we might not always see, make us take a shot at something we might otherwise have not. In seeing other photogs chase after the same focus, it can only breed even more creativity in our own work.

At the weekends close, we will follow up our weekend focus, with what we found on the Web (including some of the photos sent from you) that falls in line with our focus. We hope you join in the fun and help us spread the creativity.

example of a tweet to us:

@fuelphotography One more submission for this week’s #weekendphotofocus, New Life & Spring: http://bit.ly/aY1oC7