Archive for the ‘General’ Category
Irina Kirsch photographer
Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010Irina Kirsch is a co-owner of AI Visions. She graduated from the International Academy of Photography in Moscow, Russia. She has worked in Europe and the United States and was also a featured photographer in Tryst. Her work is beautiful and emotional and you can see samples of her work in this gallery at Tryst. Samples can also be found on flickr. I have included some select favorites from her Flickr nature collection.
Defining depth of field
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010Depth of field (DoF) in photography can be elusive. It is about defining a boundary of focus around your subject(s) to capture the essence of your image. It is easy to see but hard to master.
When looking at a photo DoF involves subject distance from lens, focal point and aperture size. It is related to the amount of the subject that is in sharp focus.
A good way to visualize this is to imagine a vertical plane parallel to where you are standing. Then rotate the object and the plane to the side so you can see them from the side.
Now make a determination how far in front of and behind the subject you want to get. That front and rear limit is the depth of field. By the way the vertical plane is called the focal plane, the plane where you focus the camera.
In the photo above you can see that the depth of field is infinite. Meaning that everything in front of and behind the house is in sharp focus. The focal plane is the house.
Photo lamination as an alternative to traditional framing
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010Photo lamination is an alternative to traditional framing. Laminate your photo to keep out dust, air and molds. Preserves a photo much better than traditional wood and glass framing. It is not well known but worth considering.
Lamination supplies can be found at your local Target. You can buy prefinished wood or finish the wood yourself.
A good example to laminate your photo is to first layer behind the photo acid-free paper. Then behind that a thin piece of wood to give structure. The wood can be of any shape. Layer all together and laminate. Then you can hang it up your wall, preserved forever.
You can be creative by mounting the laminated photo on a larger piece of polished wood to give it a more elegant look.
Welcome to Renise Black Photography
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010My work and interests are creative and fine art photography. It is very exciting to me to see a well-constructed, powerful photo. My style of photography is called BWC (black-white-color) which is a combination of color and black and white photography. I find that BWC creates an impact and contrast to a photo. For samples visit my photoblog.
Creative fine art photography
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010Dictionary.com defines these words as …
Creative – resulting from originality of thought, expression, etc
Fine – of superior or best quality
Art – the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance
In photography the same rules as regular art apply but with a twist. The work that is created is not drawn or painted. It is captured. It is captured as the photographer’s interpretation of the object or location. It is subjective. Creative fine art photography can be staged or natural. The more recent trend is to be staged. Meaning the photographer places the people or objects at the location and position they desire then capture the image.
What does it take to be a creative fine art photographer? Well it requires
- Mastery of tools – camera, lenses, settings, etc
- Technical knowledge – understand depth of field, shutter speed, etc
- Mastery of techniques – using filters, editing software, etc
Without these three components, a photographer who wants to be an artist will struggle. Being a creative fine art photographer is not about getting lucky, it is about seeing something with your eye and feeling compelled to capture it.
Say cheese … click
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010That is too often times heard when taking pictures. Perfectly okay in its own right but sometimes does not do justice to the subject. A smile, although pleasant, changes the person’s natural features quite a bit. In some ways it obscures the natural lines in the person’s face. If you have had your fill of “say cheese” then do what I do, which is to just not use the phrase and tell the person specifically that you want their natural expression and faces.
Girl looking up at the camera (not smiling)
Especially in children, they are so programmed to smile that often I find that once I put them in front of the camera they automatically smile. I then have to direct them to be natural, which takes some work by them . It is almost a Pavlovian response today to see a camera pointed at you to smile. Once they get the hang of not smiling then the photo shoot can begin.
Having the subject not smile means that I can get a lot of off center shots of their faces that are highly expressive. This opens the door to high and low angle shots, shots offset to the right or left and creative lighting, even on toddlers and babies. The result are these very interesting and fascinating photos of faces that make you keep looking for more.
Mayflower & Classic Car
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009This is a demonstration of merging two images together to make them appear as one. They were separate pictures. The first of the Mayflower was taken by me many years ago during the winter at Martha’s Vineyard. The second is of a classic car in a parade which I attended recently. This is a service I offer – the ability to merge two different pictures together or remove features from images that you do not like. A great way to have fun with your pictures and make old photos fresh again from a new perspective. Maybe it is time to dust off those old photos and revive them again. To see the full size version visit my photoblog.
