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Archive 2014 · Castle Geyser

Camperjim
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Castle Geyser

I am always surprised at the small number of landscapes from Yellowstone NP. This is my third visit in 5 years and I am again overwhelmed with the beauty and variety of the scenery. Yellowstone is well-known for colorful landscapes. This was taken approaching a cloudy sunset.

Jun 29, 2014 at 07:44 PM

blueshadows
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Castle Geyser

I've visited the park many times, and your photo takes me right back. I "might" like this better as a black n' white, though—to bring out the contrasts more. Well composed, with a lot going on.

Jul 01, 2014 at 02:24 PM

Camperjim
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Castle Geyser

Blueshadows, thanks for the comments. I definitely thought about the B&W conversion but I was not sure there was much to gain. The image is almost monochromatic without processing manipulations.

It is indeed interesting to see the limited interest in Yellowstone landscapes. At least there was a single comment. The next evening the sky was intensely colored with a red/magenta sunset. I will save those images for myself or other viewers who are interested.

Jul 02, 2014 at 12:25 AM

4wmyzun5ubx
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Castle Geyser

Very good stuff.

Jul 02, 2014 at 01:20 AM

JimFox
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Castle Geyser

Camperjim wrote:
Blueshadows, thanks for the comments. I definitely thought about the B&W conversion but I was not sure there was much to gain. The image is almost monochromatic without processing manipulations.

It is indeed interesting to see the limited interest in Yellowstone landscapes. At least there was a single comment. The next evening the sky was intensely colored with a red/magenta sunset. I will save those images for myself or other viewers who are interested.

Hey Jim,

Just an honest question concerning your statement. Is the lack of interest because people aren't interested in Yellowstone, or because your photos of Yellowstone aren't interesting?

You had a couple of good looking shots a few weeks back, but these recent ones seem very flat and without life. Somewhere in your processing you made a wrong turn...

So as to your question, I wouldn't put the blame on Yellowstone...

Jim

Jul 02, 2014 at 02:01 AM

Camperjim
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Castle Geyser

Jim, it seems you are very correct, my photos are not interesting and are flat and without life.

It also seems there are few images from Yellowstone from those who have much better skills. I would love to see some great images from Yellowstone.

Jul 02, 2014 at 02:22 AM

Lee Saxon
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Castle Geyser

No, Jim (Fox), this image isn't up there with the best of the views of Yosemite in winter, but I think it's quite nice. And I think there's no question Yosemite especially gets more love than Yellowstone on the Landscape board (though Yellowstone seems less under-served on the Wildlife board).

Jul 02, 2014 at 04:40 AM

ckcarr
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Castle Geyser

Camperjim wrote:
I am always surprised at the small number of landscapes from Yellowstone NP...

Well, do something about it!
Be an innovator, not an imitator.
Go to galleries, buy a couple books, study it, find your vision and post some quality images.

God knows Utah's been beaten to death.

Jul 02, 2014 at 10:58 AM

Camperjim
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Castle Geyser

CK.. excellent advice.

Here is what I did so far. During the last 2 years I was back in NY I took 8 semester long courses in visual arts including photography at the local University. During that time, I shot almost exclusively flower photography, mostly macros. I had a specific style, vision and artist intent. I started to believe I was making a lot of progress so I bought a printer, learned the basics of fine art printing and put together a portfolio. October thru December I applied to galleries and juried competitions. I was accepted by as a registered artist at two galleries. I was accepted for exhibition in 4 juried shows. The last was a major national competition. I was one of only 2 photographers accepted. Four of my works were accepted which was the highest for any of the winners.

Now I am back trying to find my interests in landscape and travel photography. I am trying different things and looking for a new vision and style. As is readily apparent, my work does not fit too well with this forum so it is clear I am not trying to be an imitator. Thanks for the advice. Any further suggestions are welcomed.

Jul 02, 2014 at 11:58 AM

ckcarr
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Castle Geyser

Camperjim wrote:
... As is readily apparent, my work does not fit too well with this forum so it is clear I am not trying to be an imitator. Thanks for the advice. Any further suggestions are welcomed.

Well,

Being an innovator, that has upsides and downsides. Honestly, you may then have to take 10,000 different images before you get one that "works", one that gets people to go "Wow!" Especially when avoiding icons, so then it is just your imagination and light. Many, if not most, will fail.

This board has had, and has, some really good landscape photographers. So the audience can be a little jaded. If a photo is an image that's 90% there, versus a 98% image, the 90% one may get zero replies, or just a courtesy reply like "I can't believe no one replied." There's just too much good stuff always being posted.

Also, maybe I'm wrong, but my feeling about you sitting in a camper, trying to process images, in questionable light, with a laptop, isn't going to work well very often. Think about it. Almost everyone that comes out west, they collect their photographs, then they go back to their home and take their time with processing, usually on a very nice system. So when they look on a nice calibrated monitor they can separate the wheat from the chaff. And process properly.

Jul 02, 2014 at 12:15 PM

Camperjim
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Castle Geyser

Maybe I just am not trying for "wow" or what I call shock and awe. That seems to be the goal for most photography. I am sure I will find my own style eventually. In the meantime I was commenting about the limited number of images from Yellowstone. I love southern Utah but YNP is also very special.

Jul 02, 2014 at 12:42 PM

JimFox
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Castle Geyser

Camperjim wrote:
Maybe I just am not trying for "wow" or what I call shock and awe. That seems to be the goal for most photography. I am sure I will find my own style eventually. In the meantime I was commenting about the limited number of images from Yellowstone. I love southern Utah but YNP is also very special.

Craig brought up a couple of really good points, and one of them is where and when you are processing. We get shots in here occasionally that are from people processing on the road in a motel (which would be better than in a dimly lit camper) and more often than not, there are discussions about blown out areas, incorrect WB, color casts, etc... So you may be expecting too much by editing in a dimly lit camper. Perhaps you have installed some nice bright daylight balanced lights in your camper? Proper ambient light is key to good processing on any system.

The other thing is the emotions of being in a cool place. I can't tell you how many times I have been out shooting, thought I got some really killer and award winning shots taken. But when I get back home and start processing them a few weeks later after my immediate emotions have died down and I can be more objective, I end up realizing the light wasn't as good as I thought it was, I should have been standing 5 feet to my right or to my left, etc... There is a danger in processing too quickly after a shoot in that our emotions will cause us to often think shots are better than they really are.

Now as to your comment about not trying for "wow" in your photography. Think about that statement... If there isn't something in a photograph that causes a viewer to have some sense of "wow" then they are going to be bored and uninterested... For a shot to be a "wow" shot doesn't mean it has to be fake, or processed so heavily in photoshop that it no longer feels real. No, for a shot to be a "wow" shot involves the following:

Good Technique
Good Composition
Good Lighting
Good Processing

If a person is lazy in any of those areas, a photograph will no longer have "wow" or what I would rather call "impact" on the viewer. So you need to evaluate your photography and see what steps are weak or problematic for you so that the vast majority of your landscape work lacks "impact".

And last some food for thought, just like a person who is gifted at playing the trumpet may sound like a child when playing the piano no matter how much he tries. Just because we are gifted in one area of photography, doesn't mean we will be in other areas. I have seen some of your flower shots, they are really good... they have "impact". Perhaps your gifting is just in flower photography and not in Landscape photography?

Jim

Jul 02, 2014 at 01:42 PM

Camperjim
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Castle Geyser

Jim, thanks for taking the time to make detailed responses and comments. I certainly respect your abilities and your comments often are helpful. Other times we are coming from different planets and trying to communicate. The WOW factor is a good example. Call it impact if you like. I often call it tourist photography because it matches what I see in the galleries designed to sell to tourists. And, yes, to achieve those results all sorts of skilled techniques are required.

I am not looking to emulate that sort of photography. I am not sure I have a "voice" when it comes to landscapes. At one time I thought I was aiming to capture what was "special" about a place. That has turned out to be a vague concept which is a long way from an artistic vision.

I will continue to look for my voice, vision, artistic intent or whatever words we want to use. I will probably never be looking to achieve what is popular; i.e., a featured image on the FM landscape forum. Most of those I just consider to be technical achievements without soul. To be more specific, I will mention one of the contributors to this forum that most interests me. He often receives NO comments. Rick Joyce seems to have a style and vision. He posts frequently. Maybe a third of his work fails. Another third is close and a final third or less hits the mark. When he hits the mark, his images convey a unique view of the world. To me that is better than any well-crafted, Wow-impact images. I only mention Rick because he is an obvious example of someone who works to achieve something unique. There have been many others but unfortunately many of them post a couple of times and then vanish.

As photographers we need to think about our goals. There are plenty of people who can emulate Ansel Adams. Others are great at post processing and can blend images to create that great view of the foreground while looking into the sunset. Or they can create a foreground image blending with the milky way. Is that really what we want to achieve? Should we be looking for something more or worrying about the pixels and the white balance

Jul 03, 2014 at 12:07 AM


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