These days the line between what is real and what is fake, or altered in any way is a fuzzy one. The digital age is amazingly wonderful and has forever changed the creative art scene. Digital photography has advanced to such an extent that film is a distant memory, this has put consumers and professionals alike in a never ending circle of technological improvements.
There is a downside to this however and that is, “What is real?” As technology and ever easy to use, software becomes mainstream more and more surreal forms of art emerge. This is a very exciting time to witness the almost daily advancements but it’s not without its negatives, let me explain.
Not an event, public display or art show, in fact anytime in the presence of people viewing my pieces that I do not get comments directed at the reality and integrity of some of my images. These may be genuine questions, confusion or maybe just subtle observations. Some are downright accusatory and rude. I cannot begin to explain how frustrating it is to be told that one of my image’s is created, or photoshopped, or can’t be real when in fact I pride myself very much on just that.
Those who have a good knowledge of photography or who are familiar with my work will know that my signature seascape images are all captured in camera. That’s right, no graphic design, manipulation or advanced Photoshop. They are not digital creations or figments of my imagination. They are a true, captured photograph. The essence of which has remained the same for decades, the technology has greatly enhanced the process but fundamentally the modern digital camera is identical mechanically to those 30-40 years ago.
While I may capture the in camera image the same as they have always been done I certainly do make use of modern software to enhance the images. This enhancement varies from image to image and usually involves tonal adjustments, saturation adjustments and a touch of sharpening. All of which would have been done through various techniques in the film era as well. Never do I add or remove any kind of element that was not part of the original scene.
What I shoot with is irrelevant, I avoid the whole techno geek, gear fest orgy that consumes the digital segment. Why fall prey to marketing? Any name brand SLR camera these days is awesome – period. Lenses are critical, this is the key. If you want to blow money that is where you should spend it, look after your lenses and they will last a lifetime. Know your lenses…
Below I will show you how I capture my images from start to finish, it’s actually very simple and as mentioned above, how photographers have captured similar images for decades.
The most critical part is obviously the initial capture. With image quality as the absolute most important point I always strive for near perfection in camera as ultimately anything done post will deteriorate the final image. Therefore I follow these simple guidelines:
- Frame the shot so as to avoid cropping
- Avoid un-level horizons (to avoid cropping)
- Exposure – nail it, this is critical.
- Maximize sharpness and image quality – use a solid tripod, time release, cable release etc.
- Work the lens’s sweet spot, keep the ISO low.
One of the most important pieces of kit I use is a set of graduated neutral density filters (GND). That is a very long name for what is basically a glass filter which is partially tinted that when placed over the sky in the image helps to hold the exposure by darkening it by a set amount. This filter helps keep the difference between the dark and light parts of the scene close together to fit within the range of the sensor (which is way less than what your eyes can handle)
Ok, so here is an image that I recently captured, this is straight out of the camera as a Raw file, no adjustments made anywhere, a complete digital negative hence the very dull look (a captured JPG would look much better out of camera). The blurry motion of the water is obviously intentional and easily achieved through having a camera on a tripod to keep it steady and experimenting with various shutter speeds. Sometimes ¼ second, sometimes several seconds depending on the scene. The tripod ensures that static subjects are sharp while the slow shutter speed captures the movement of the water. This image is of Grape Bay – 1sec, f10 at ISO 100.
Once imported I apply a standard default set of adjustments, general tonal adjustment, general saturation which would bring the image to this, not bad but still could use some specific tweaking.
From this point how I proceed is different from image to image and some get more treatment than others. Here I get into very specific, localized adjustments which involves specific tonal adjustments (levels, curves, dodging and burning) select areas as well as increasing or decreasing saturation in specific parts. This can sometimes take several attempts and last a while. Once satisfied I will then prepare the file for print which would involve sharpening, resizing etc. The final result is shown below.
This is basically it, it really is simple and certainly nothing magical, or sensational about it. Practice, persistence, patience and a bit of luck is all that is needed. Obviously as with anything you can go too far with it, it’s a balancing act and one of personal judgment.
So, do my images look better than the actual scene? Sometimes, sure…. Why not? Other times there is just no medium that can replicate what nature does so easily….
by Gavin
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