11-17-10 – Artistic Bent

//has equipment envy.

I’m sure you know that it’s not the size of the lens that matters – what matters is how creatively you use it.

Oh, a thousand times this. The most important lens is the one attached to your head.

I agree. But I was really just making a juvenile weener joke. 😉

/my mom would be so proud.

ennuipoet, I love your HDR photo. Too bad you could not use it. I happen to be one of the ones that really likes HDR and it does have an “artistic” look to it. In fact, I’m going to stick my neck out and ask why HDR is so often ruled out. Lately, it seems, that there are a growing number of photos using techniques that change the finished product much the way HDR does. Just an observation.

Hey RangerJoe/Caemraflage: Regarding your 2010-11-17 08:12:53 PM, you say

Not photoshopped. Scan from a 35mm slide sandwich of a piece of Ektachrome and Ortho film…the original slide is contact printed to a 4×5 sheet of Kodak Ortho film, then the color positive and high-contrast B&W negative are aligned and taped together. Most colors get muted, but reds pop out through the clear BW film. Shot for my Advanced Photojournalism 622 class at OSU (advanced darkroom techniques, circa 1982…Photoshop was an actual place back then.)

Trying to understand the process here–is that a stacked exposure via negatives? (e.g. does it fall afoul of the “no stacked exposures after the fact” rule?) or is it using blank ortho film as a filter?

Blank Ortho film contact printed from the color 35mm slide…I guess it could be considered a filter. The density of the Ortho film is controlled by the dilution of the developer (Dektol, I think). Reds really pop because the Ortho film doesnt see red.

I see how it could be viewed as a “stacked exposure”, as it certainly is, since there are two physical pieces of film. One is the original, one a direct high-contrast negative.

It wasnt my intent to violate that rule…I was just going old-school.

(hey, that sorta rhymes.)

Anyhoo, the most artistic stuff I’ve shot was on film, so that’s what I went with. They’re all shots from my long and unlustrious college days, from a sheet of 35mm slides that I ran across.

Zink Princess: Random fact – Your orange flower is jewel weed, also known as touch-me-nots. You can crack open the stem and use the sap as a cure for poison Ivy.

Well then, I’ve learned something new and useful today.

Looking at pictures I took with the rented macro lens (e.g, last week’s butterfly) versus pictures taken with the 35 mm f1.8 lens (e.g, the jewel weed) makes me yearn even more for a macro lens of my own.

Lots of variety this week, which is always good to see. I am not sure I made the right choices, but there is no point trying to second guess the voters.

A few b-sides:
http://flic.kr/p/8UgV5t (shows a bare-arsed statue, so maybe NSFW if your office is very strict)
http://flic.kr/p/8UgV5F
http://flic.kr/p/8UjZoA (I like this one, I just think it was the wrong competition, and I want to retake the shot at a different time of day)
http://flic.kr/p/8UjxSs (similar to one I posted)
http://flic.kr/p/8UjZkY

ennuipoet, I love your HDR photo. Too bad you could not use it. I happen to be one of the ones that really likes HDR and it does have an “artistic” look to it. In fact, I’m going to stick my neck out and ask why HDR is so often ruled out. Lately, it seems, that there are a growing number of photos using techniques that change the finished product much the way HDR does. Just an observation.

I think it is because when people hear HDR, they think this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ennuipoet/4120221380/in/set-72157622842248524/#/photos/ennuipoet/4120221380/in/set-72157622842248524/lightbox/

and not this
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ennuipoet/4977027572/in/set-72157622842248524/#/photos/ennuipoet/4977027572/in/set-72157622842248524/lightbox/

When I first started using the technique, I went for the crazy, distorted unrealistic stuff and the realized the technique was created for overcoming technical limitations. When used to create realistic images like the second one, I think it should be considered as valid as any darkroom method to enhance exposure. But that is purely an opinion.

ETA: I should amend this statement to say that I am not advocating HDR in every theme! I think the process has a real and effective use in themes like this one, having the threads littered with overdone photoshopped crap would irk me as much as it would anyone who dislikes the process in general.