paintography Archives - Page 2 of 3

July 12, 2016July 13, 2016

Reflection Study

I drive by this pond quite a lot and this morning I happen to have my camera. As I passed I thought to turn around and get a picture. I’ve taken this before but no two days are alike and indeed it came out quite different.

This is a continuation of a study of reflections I’ve been doing. The study is to capture or produce reflections to add interest to an image.

I never get tired of reflections. In some cases they can be more compelling from than their source, at the very least they enhance it. Reflections resonate with us for reasons we can only guess. Perhaps it is a hint to how we perceive world.

more reflections

I used another photo of clouds and combined it for the sky. This is an example of using textures to enhance the flat section of an image.

I’ll continue posting these them in the days and weeks ahead as I continue to explore both real and artificial reflections in my images.

June 27, 2016

Water Pier Cloud

This is the pier in Venice Florida on a cloudy afternoon. It’s the best pier around so when I come here I shoot it from as many angles. In most cases I have the pier pointing out to sea from the left or right of the frame. In this case I’ve take a more direct angle by having it bisect the water and clouds. This is an angle I like very much, especially when shot with a telephoto lens. As you can see I’m not exactly head on, rather I’m on the beach angling out, but the perspective of the telephoto lens has it appearing rather flat.

Piers and bridges are a major source of inspiration for me. I have no idea why that is. Maybe it’s because they are objects that interact with bodies of water. If I lived in the mountains I’d be shooting waterfalls and lakes but in Florida it’s rivers, ponds and seasides.

Images from Venice Florida

The final toning of this image was created with a Trey Ratcliff Lightroom preset called “She Finally Awoke”. I’m a big fan of Trey’s presets which I use for inspiration when starting an image. But in this case I used it when finishing and I didn’t change the preset one bit. That’s unusual for me but in this case it worked exactly the way I wanted it to. Anyway, that’s a little behind the scenes info on some of the aspects of how I created the image. There is a lot more but for now that’s the short version.

June 22, 2016June 22, 2016

At a Deeper Level

I took this early one morning at the fishing pier in Sarasota. This is a long exposure that I’ve manipulated to enhance the water and the reflections. As you can see in my gallery I create images as much from may camera as my minds eye. I’m not so interested in documenting a scene, rather using the camera and my techniques as a canvas for my imagination. This is perfect example of that.

The idea is that I try to bring my own expressions to an image. I do it mostly for myself because its creative and I get great enjoyment from it. As I create each new image I discover a part of myself in it. So each image is a part of me and as I share it we connect through a part of my imagination. In this way we might just be communicating at a deeper level than through other means.

 the florida gallery

Sometimes it takes a lot of effort, other times no so much. Ideas for images come to me either as I take them or later as I think about them. Regardless, it’s free flowing, there are no rules or guidelines, just me playing with images all of the time. Even when I’m not engaged in creating images I’m still thinking about them. That’s what I call an upward spiral of art and creativity. I can think far worse things to be immersed in.

June 19, 2016

Lost in Reverie

This is the Sunshine Skyway Bridge as it leads into Tampa Bay from the Gulf of Mexico. I was standing in my hometown of Palmetto about six miles away when I took this. I used a tripod to steady it since it was dusk and the light was fairly dim. The final image is composed of several parts combined into one. It’s an artistic rendering of the bridge as I imagine it. I do a lot of that with my photography, especially as I visit sites and scenes I’ve shot many times before. You might think I get bored from going to the same places time after time. On the contrary, it’s just the opposite; it fuels a desire to become more creative which in turn opens up all kinds of possibilities.

At times I take pictures just for the raw material of a creative rendering such as this. When I sit down to create the image I use a lot of different tools in the same way a painter uses a brush and pigments. I can spend hours on an project, working away hour after hour lost in creative reverie. Then at some point, I run into a wall and put it aside. Then when I look at it later I may start up again. And so it goes until I’m done.

more unusual images from the gallery

On the one hand I’m never really done with an image like this yet on the other I have to draw a line somewhere. It can be hard to let go sometimes. I’ve walked away from this image several times only to come back and have another go at it. But for now this is it, I’ve drawn the line and I’m off to my next project.

June 9, 2016June 9, 2016

Lady in Repose

Another perspective the Ringling bridge from last weekend. I was in another section of the city taking photos and headed home. But then I had one last idea and stopped near the theater for this perspective. I have a collection of images of this bridge in the gallery. I suppose the same would be true of the Golden Gate if I lived in the San Francisco area. For me it’s this bridge in Sarasota.

You never know how a picture will turn out when you first take it. I have two distinct personalities when it comes to photography. One loves to take photos and gets carried away when I’m out shooting, I can a ton of bad shots. The other is a little more thoughtful and comes to the forefront when I download the images onto my computer. He basically filters out all the shots that don’t make the grade. All that said, I almost cut this one but decided to work with it a little, this is the result. So my two photographic personalities are not at all cut-and-dry, there’s a lot of give-and-take.

more images of the Ringling Bridge in Sarasota from the gallery

Selecting photos I’ve shot is very subjective. Someone else might select entirely different images, and to tell the truth I might also depending on my mood. In any case, this image is all about the shape of the bridge and the monochrome treatment is all about accentuating that shape. My idea for this image of the bridge is like a lovely lady in repose.

June 6, 2016June 6, 2016

Off-season at the Beach

Last week I met my friend at St Petes beach here in Florida. The thing that struck me was how empty it was. It seems like just a few weeks ago we were knee deep in spring break and the beaches where super crowded. Now that it’s warm up north most of the visitors have gone so beaches are just sitting empty.

In a way it reminds me of the best time of year to go to Disney World. Years ago I went the week after school started. You get all the same attractions without the lines or crowds. The park is still geared up for the crowds so you get amazing service as well. It’s the same here at the beach, the hotels are in top form so you can pretty much have your cake and eat it too.

More beach images from the gallery

My friend had a room up on the fifth-floor overlooking the beach and I was blown away at how few people I could see from that vantage. Yes, I was there in the evening, but still, what a beautiful sight. Later we sat down at an outdoor restaurant by the water and just before sunset we got up to grab a few pictures. Rather that shoot into the sun, I looked the other way to catch the warm colors against the yellow concession stands. Anyway, aside from the odd tropical storm in summer, this is the place to be and right now is the time to be here.

June 3, 2016June 3, 2016

A Place to Daydream

I just had a conversation with a fellow photographer and while we have differences in how we approach our craft, we’re both working to bring more simplicity to our images. That’s easier said that done. Any direction we turn there are dozens of things to fill up our field of vision. How often would we describe our surroundings as an aesthetic of simplicity; for most of us, rarely if ever.

So I look for vignettes of simplicity within a frame of my surrounding. A vignette is a subset of my field of view, the whole scene broke into little rectangles. That’s how I find simplicity. Another way to put it is we just need to keep reducing our scope until simplicity emerges from the clutter.

other fine art images from the gallery

So when we simplify something, it becomes more accessible as an idea. It becomes an archetype of sorts and then our imaginations can begin to fill in. For me this is the essence of art, to hold attention and evoke imagination. When we look at a scene and we are drawn in, we are daydreaming inside that scene. And what better way to appreciate something than to daydream inside of it.

May 12, 2016

Rainbows in the Night

The Ringling bridge in Sarasota is a favorite subject of mine and finding a new perspective is a fun challenge. This fifteen-second long exposure was taken from a mile away. I used a tripod and manual focusing to make sure the details were as sharp as could be. If you zoom in you can almost see into the windows of the buildings more than a mile away.

I geek out about technical aspects of photography, I’m easily impressed by how sharp an image is or how may megapixels it has, but it shouldn’t end there. The image also needs to be something I like. That part is subjective, but I have a little trick to help me figure that part out. I look at a thumbnail of the image and if it catches my attention then it might be worthwhile.

I think that a small image can help me decide if I like it DESPITE all the technical geekiness that I love so much. In other words, it short-circuits the left brain and goes straight to the right. If the image is not interesting enough to want to get a closer look, then it’s probably not that interesting up close.

More Ringling Bridge images from the gallery

That’s my little tip for the day. It generally works but as with everything there are exceptions. So what do I see when I look at this in a thumbnail? Rainbows in the night. Now you can go zoom in a geek out at the detail.

May 4, 2016

Two Worlds

I think the reason I gravitate to these types of images has to do with an idea. I imagine an ethereal world that coexists with the one we’re in. If more than one radio frequency can exist in the same place, perhaps it applies to other things as well. Images like this are like focusing an imaginary lens on a world nearly adjacent to our own. The image has parts of this world and parts in the next, a peek through the veil.

When I took this I was on approach to the ferry pier at Fort DeSoto Park. I sat at the front of the boat as we returned from Egmont Key. My idea was to capture the pier from the perspective of the water, yet I wasn’t quite satisfied with the result. That’s when my right brain took over and I imagined a world just out of vision yet overlapping with this.

some of my favorite images from the gallery

I suppose another reason I gravitate towards images like this is the theme of simplicity. I’ve been posting about that recently. Living in a complex world I long for simplicity, so when I let go of critical thinking for a moment I gravitate to a more relaxed place. In that world the water is smoother and the clouds flowing. It’s a world that surely exists my mind, and for all I know, beyond that.

March 24, 2016March 24, 2016

One Foot in Another World

This is the cargo dock in Vancouver Harbour. I’m standing at Canada Place facing east towards Burnaby. Half of this photo is a painting of sorts. I’m not really a painter but all of the reflections are my own doing, an example of an idea I get and then working to bring it out. I do it for no other reason than I get a enjoyment from it. The waters of Vancouver Harbour are not nearly this glassy, but that doesn’t stop me from imagining what it would look like if they were.

Other “paintography” images from the gallery

This looks almost like a lake with fresh water. But then there would not be such big cargo docs. Mr. Rational says things don’t make sense and deconstructs the scene. However in the world of my imagination I get to mix things up a bit and play what-if scenarios.

In fact the waters of this bay are really clean, especially for a port with so much shipping. It’s not uncommon to see otters and seals swimming about. Compared to other port cities this is probably one of the cleanest. Maybe that’s where I got the idea from. I’ll take it up notch and make it appear like a lake. One thing is for sure, this is the only image like this you’ll see because it has one foot in reality and one in my imagination.