Artistic Photography
What is "Artistic" Photography?
A friend of mine was "challenged" on Facebook to post an "artistic" photograph every day for ten (10) days. Dave is a retired sports photographer (see
Interview with Sports Photographer Dave Schofield) and I love seeing his sports photos but he is also an accomplished landscape and travel photographer. His artisitic photos encouraged me to start doing the same, leading me to this blog post.
A quick search presented the following:
"First and foremost, artistic photography has to be transformational, not merely representational. While you might happen to capture an incredible scene on your way to work, your photo can’t be considered art unless it has been changed in some way by your intelligence and thought process."
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The article goes on to say that this doesn't mean the image has to be manipulated or set up - it could be the act of "framing" the subject of the image or your choice of exposure. I tend to agree with this assessment, for the most part. The author of the article brings up some interesting points and I would recommend reading it (after you finish here, of course!) and have included a link below.
Moth Orchid
This beautiful blossom was found in the greenhouse at Deep Cut Gardens in Middletown. I had some time to spare before a meeting one day and decided to explore the greenhouse; about the only place at the park I wasn't very familiar with. Usually I will sit among the trees on the terraced grounds leading to the Rose Parterre but this day was a bit chilly and I wanted to see what was in the greenhouse.
I was initially drawn to the orchid's shimmering white petals with the yellow column; it is quite a stunning plant. I wanted a nice, tight shot and made a few images from different perspectives. When I got home I was happy with the color image but also thought it looked good in black & white. I took a closer look at the image when I was looking for an "artistic" image for Facebook. I started doing some creative editing using Lightroom and Silver Efex 2 Pro resulting in the final image presented here.
You can see another example of a Moth Orchid, this one in red, on my Instagram feed -
here.
White Tulip
The white tulip is the only color image in this post, although, it is almost monochromatic. This image comes from an April 2012 trip to Deep Cut Gardens; at the time the parking lot had a median strip that served as a flower bed - the tulip was in that bed. I stopped at the park on my way home from work - it was still a couple hours from sunset but the sun was still fairly low in the sky. I was able to achieve the black background by metering, and exposing for, the brightest part of the white petals and setting the aperture "wide open" at f/5.6.
As usual, I checked the image on the back of the camera and was happy but it wasn't until I got home that I got the full effect. The background was darker than I expected but I was most happy about the hint of red in the background. The red streaks in the white flower, in addition to the blurred red tulip in the background, gave a nice accent to an otherwise monochromatic image.
Sunset @ Manasquan Reservoir
I know, a black & white sunset is insanity! Right? Well, for the most part sunsets (or sunrises) feature beautiful, multi-colored skies and, maybe, a lovely body of water. I cannot argue with that but I think the
right sunset can be far more dramatic and awe-inspiring in monochrome. That is the case with this sunset, captured at Manasquan Reservoir in Howell. I was shooting a series of long exposures because there was a bit of a wind, the clouds were moving at a decent pace but I mostly wanted to smooth out the water. I was happy with the color version (you can see it
here) but when I converted it to black & white and did some editing I thought it was much more dramatic.
I like using long exposures for sunsets because it takes something we all know quite well and makes it somewhat foreign to us. We cannot "see" a long exposure with our naked eyes, it is only something we can experience thru photography. I tend to use faster shutter speeds for sunrise because I am typically at the beach and the ocean waves can give some rather unpredicable results.
Moravian Cemetery - Hope, New Jersey
Raise your hand if you are a fan of the original
Friday the 13th movie! Keep them raised if you recognize this scene from the movie. This is where Annie gets dropped off by the trucker before she heads down the road to Camp Crystal Lake. I have been wanting to visit this cemetery for years but never got the chance. This past October I finally got there. We had spent a few days in Pennsylvania, coming home thru "The Gap" and I realized remembered we weren't too far away. It was one of those days where we had nowhere to be and all day to get there so I set the GPS and headed back in time. We actually passed right by it without knowing.
The road is rather busy and there is no room to park so I pulled into the church parking lot, crossed the street and set the camera up on the corner. I have to admit, it was rather creepy being there and a level of uneasiness came over me. I was happy with the resulting image but it wasn't until I created the sepia-toned image shown here that I felt I had really captured the mood. You can see both the sepia and color image
here. I am hoping to get back to capture a full moon over the gate and may even venture out on a Friday the 13th - unfortunately, the next full moon to fall on a Friday the 13th is 13 August 2049 and I will probably end up missing it.
Ocean Long Exposure
Remember a couple paragraphs ago I said I don't usually shoot long exposures at the ocean? Here is one of the exceptions. I purposely set out to shoot long exposures at the beach and headed to Spring Lake where I knew there were drainage pipes leading into the water. The pipes are held in place with pilings on either side. This location is the second of two that I visited that day. Since I was rather new at ocean long exposures I shot a lot and a variety of shutters speeds ranging from the five (5) seconds shown here to more than four (4) minutes. What I discovered was that there wasn't much difference in the resulting images. I found the black & white to be more dramatic than the color, especially since it seems to disappear into a vast nothingness.
So....
I have many other examples of what I consider to be "artisitic" images - you can find them in my Instagram feed (@Valencia32Photo), my Facebook page (JoeValenciaPhotography), and my Portfolio. Let me know what you think of the images here and tell me of some of your experiences in the field.
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Technical information:
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i (crop sensor - 1.6 factor)
Lens #1: Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
Lens #2: Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS
Tripod: MeFOTO Roadtrip Classic
ISO 100
All focal lengths are as-recorded - the full-frame equivalent in parenthesis.
Shutter tripped with wired shutter release.
Notes
1. Quote taken from WHAT IS ARTISTIC PHOTOGRAPHY? on WallArtPrints.com
