Hell Has Frozen Over . . . Phone Cam Pics

So, here I stand with my tail between my legs. I've been whining about how useless phone cams are for years. In fact, I've tried unsuccessfully to find a phone that doesn't have a camera that still has what I need a phone to have. Then out of the blue I start using the phone cam on one of my phones. Then I start to use the cam on my other phone. Yes I have 2 cell phones. One is for business and the other is for personal use. They both have cams and the difference in the cams and the pics they produce is significant enough to use them both for different situations. Now, the tail between the legs part . . . I'm having a blast! Taking and posting phone cam pics to my Tumblr blog has become a daily event for me. Sometimes I post dozens of pics a day. And by doing this I have discovered the necessity for having and using a phone cam!

When I first started in the photography world I was brutally hard on myself. Every picture had to be perfect! Everything needed to be centered, it needed to be razor sharp, the coloring had to be dead on, it had to be "interesting", etc. If everything wasn't up to my ridiculous standards the picture got erased. I could just kick myself for all of the fantastic images that went into the oblivion of the recycle bin rather than being shared with the world. After five years and tens of thousands of images under my belt I have realized that just about every picture can be used in some form. Hell, I could have just photoshopped them and made them more interesting! Tee hee!

I'm certainly not saying that I'm going to throw away my dslr in favor of my Motorola Q. However, I am saying that I now see where the phone cam can fit into my world. I hope you enjoy the images!

Until we meet again!

Making Photoshop Work For You

In a past blog I spoke of my distaste for over-photoshopped photos. I explained that changing a human being's skin to fake plastic-looking almost video game quality is just wrong. Of course I meant in a purely photographic way not in a "if you use Photoshop you suck" kind of way. Photoshop is a very useful tool that can transform an ordinary photo into a very striking image.

After I became an ordained minister I wanted one of those striking images for what I was doing at the time. I got dressed in my Sunday best (sorry, I couldn't resist), grabbed a few props, snapped a pick and then set about doctoring it up with Photoshop to create that perfect image! This is what I came up with and it was relatively easy.

The more you do to set your shot up with your gear means that much less photoshopping you have to do. Also, whatever you can't produce with your gear can be taken care of with some simple photoshopping. Using photographic techniques and Photoshop can help you create images that are both cool and easy to produce.


And sometimes you can just explore Photoshop for fun and find that there are some really neat things you can do with just a few mouse clicks!


The point here is that Photoshop isn't evil and I didn't mean to make it sound that way in my previous blog post. On the contrary, Photoshop is a wonderful tool that can help save you countless hours of set up for shots and can help you create wonderful images. I guess my warning is just don't make the model's skin look fake!

Until we meet again!

Photoshop - - - Use Only When Necessary!

I spend countless hours looking at pictures on more sites than I care to recall. I'm always studying the technical aspect of the shots. I look at the lighting and try to imagine what the photographer did to achieve the effects. I look at the models to see how they're posed and try to imagine what they're thinking. But mostly I'm looking to see if the photographer has over-photoshopped the image. Call it a personal pet peeve, but, I absolutely cannot stand to see over-processed pics! To me they are no longer photographs they are digital illustrations created by graphic artists not photographers! It just makes me lose a little of my soul when I see people swoon over a digital illustrator's pictures and laud them with praise of their photographic skills. I've personally witnessed one of these lauded "photographers" hold her point and shoot camera at arm's length and take a quick snap and then spend 3 hours photoshopping it until she was happy with it. After posting she got no less than 60+ comments praising her for her photo skills. Gah!

Now, don't get me wrong! Photoshopping your pics is a must. Fixing the levels, cropping, adjusting the color a tad, are all legitimate and sometimes necessary processes that every photographer has to perform. That is no different than a film photographer doing a little adjusting in the dark room. Blemish removal isn't even what I'm talking about either. I'm talking about complete and total image manipulation resulting in something that is hardly human in the end. Skin that looks porcelain and doll-like. 15 years of wrinkles and freckles painted away in minutes. I interviewed a model who clearly looked almost twice her age in person compared to the pics in her portfolio. That's just wrong! Do that if that's your thing but don't claim to be a photographer! You're a digital illustrator!

For instance, here is a picture straight out of the camera.


And here it is after I digitally manipulated it.

To me, this is how obvious some "photographer's" pictures are over-processed and still called photographs. They just aren't, anymore than this one is!

Here is another photograph almost straight out of the camera.


The only photoshopping done on this photograph was a desaturation (black and whited), a level adjustment, and some burning to blacken out the background. Still a photograph despite some photoshopping.

I would love to post some digital manipulations of things that were once women but aren't anymore. But I don't think they or their digital illustrators would appreciate it.

The bottom line here is photography. If you are going to call yourself a photographer then work to perfect your photography skills. If you are going to be a master photoshopper then call yourself a digital illustrator and stop claiming to be a photographer!

Until we meet again!

Self-Portraits . . . The Staple Of Learning.

It's great to have a lot of models at your disposal. Firing away at the drop of a hat anytime inspiration hits you. Different outfits, different settings, different hair styles, different moods . . . Unfortunately, sometimes the only model you have to work with is yourself. But that is a good thing!

You don't have to pay yourself. You can change outfits at your whim. You're available just about anytime you need yourself.

With some hats, some clothing and a different background you can look completely different.

You've got the lights, the backgrounds, the props all right there.

With lighting you can completely transform yourself into someone else.

And sometimes even into something else.

The point here being that you don't have to have lots of models to practice your craft. You don't even really have to have a lot of expensive gear to produce really awesome pics. What you really have to have is a desire to strive to always learn more. In the world of photography there is always something new to learn. The only way to learn is to do. You can set up 1 shot and try a different lens, different lighting, different backgrounds, even different angles. And take advantage of the best model who always works for free . . . yourself!

Until we meet again!