Monday, March 18, 2024

My Post-Processing Technique

Ridgeway Baptist Church, Fannin County, Georgia. Built in 1865.

For 35 years most of my photographs were made with slide film. Shooting slides will teach you to get it right in the camera, because if you get it wrong, there isn't much you can do about it. One stop of underexposure can be corrected, but slides overexposed by a stop or more are usually a dead loss unless you're trying for some kind of ethereal effect. I work at metering accurately and getting the exposure right in the camera, because if I do that, there isn't much left to do in post-processing. 

Digital files are different from film, of course, but even so, many of the same principles apply. My goal is always to do as little post-processing as possible. Here's how I work with digital files:

1. I have two major folders titled Professional Photography and Personal Photography. Under each major folder are many sub-folders titled by subject. I upload the files into my computer and into the major folders, creating new folders and sub-folders as necessary. Since I have my camera set to shoot both RAW and jpeg files simultaneously, each folder will contain both types of files. I edit the files and delete any I don't want to keep.

2. I then move the folder into a program called ACDSee and separate the RAW files from the jpegs by telling the program to sort the files by type. I move each type of file into sub-folders labeled, strangely enough, RAW and OoC (Out of Camera) Jpegs. I primarily work with jpegs, but keep the RAW files as backup. If a file is too poorly exposed or too off-color to be corrected as a jpeg, it can usually be corrected in the RAW conversion software (I use Capture One) and output as a jpeg, which goes into another sub-folder labeled Processed Jpegs.

3. If the jpeg files need any further work, I open them in Photoshop. I have a very old version (CS-2), but it does everything I need it to do.

My primary tool in Photoshop is Curves. With Curves, I can make small corrections in exposure and color balance. If a file needs more correction than I can make in Curves, I should have corrected it in the RAW conversion software before it got to this point.

Other tools I use frequently in Photoshop are the Brush tool and the Crop tool. The Brush tool enables me to darken or lighten specific areas of the picture, just like burning and dodging in the darkroom. The Crop tool, obviously, is used to crop the picture to best effect when I didn't (or couldn't) get it framed just right in the camera.

One other tool I use on most of my photographs is an Unsharp Masking enhancement that improves the internal contrast of a file without affecting the very lightest and darkest areas. To use it, open a file, click on Filter/Sharpen/Unsharp Mask. Set the Amount to 20%, the Radius to 60 pixels, and the Threshold to 0. It adds a bit of sparkle, and I think you'll like the effect on most of your files. I have it set up as a preset so I can apply it easily and quickly when I want to. 

So that's basically what I do. It isn't very complicated, and it gives me files I'm happy with. My guiding principal is to do only what could have been done in a darkroom. YMMV.

Ridgeway Baptist Church before post-processing.

Here's the way the church looked before processing in Photoshop. What did I do? First, the church was about a stop too light, so I darkened it using Curves. The gravel at the bottom, the left side, the roof, and the foliage in the upper left were still too bright, so I used the Brush tool set to 30% to burn them in and used the Unsharp Mask preset to add a bit of mid-tone contrast. Finally, I lightened the sign a bit with the Brush tool and used the Select tool to isolate the sign and applied the Unsharp Mask tool to just the sign to make it more readable. That's all. Most of what I did could have been done in a darkroom.

I bought my first digital camera, a Canon 10D, in 2003. At a price of $3,000, I had to sell some very good film cameras in order to buy it. And then, at the age of 63, I began teaching myself Photoshop. I didn't like it much then and I don't like it much now. And I am terminally sick of learning new software! That's why I don't upgrade software unless I have to. And since I can do what I want to do with what I have, why bother? (End of rant.)

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.50 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail me a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography   film photography    slide film   Capture One    Photoshop     ACDSee     Canon EOS 10D           Photoshop techniques     Fannin County, Georgia

Thursday, March 14, 2024

The Three Most Important Skills in Photography

Bottoms Up! Berry College campus, 1981.

My friend and fellow photographer and photo-blogger Dennis Mook has written a post in which he suggests that the most important skills in photography today are the ability to set up the camera properly and proficiency in using software. You can read his blog here

In fact, if you're interested in photography you should read his blog regularly. He's an accomplished photographer with a great eye and lives in an area where there are many photo-subjects that appeal to me. I often find myself thinking "I wish I had made that shot!"

I greatly respect Dennis, and it is with respect that I disagree with him about the most important skills in photography today. I believe the most important skills in photography are three, and that they are the same they have always been since the dawning of the art.

They are selection, composition, and exposure.

Select. Choose a subject. Whatever it may be. Whatever appeals to you for any reason, whether scene, object, or person. Nothing happens until you choose a subject. Although you could, of course, just point your camera at random and pick your subject out of the medley afterwards. It's been done. In fact, that's what most street photography I see looks like. But even that is choosing a subject.

Compose. Arrange your viewfinder frame around your chosen subject in the way that most appeals to you. Notice that I didn't say "arrange your subject within the frame." You can only do that if the subject is mobile and will move, or can be moved, at your direction. If it's not, you have to arrange the frame around the subject. Also, composition includes preliminary thoughts about depth of field. Should it be shallow or deep?

Expose. Set the aperture to provide the depth of field you choose, whether shallow or deep. Choose a shutter speed that works with the aperture to give proper exposure, whether you wish to stop action or to let it blur. Select an ISO (we used to call it film speed) that will cover your aperture and shutter speed settings. Then take the picture. 

This is all much simpler and quicker than it sounds. If you're out looking for pictures, you will probably already have your aperture, shutter speed, and ISO set within range so that few or no adjustments need to be made as you bring the camera to your eye.

Yes, the camera can do all your exposure settings for you automatically. But do you want it to? The camera makers tell us that they design the camera to do all the exposure settings for us so that we can concentrate on the subject without thinking about technical details. That's a lie. Making decisions about technical details is an integral part of the creative picture-making process. As the great Fritz Henle, master of the Rolleiflex, said, "...seeing pictures is always tied up with technique...it is important to decide things like sharpness or unsharpness and not let them happen accidentally. It is equally important to command the techniques that get the effects you want."

So, do I do any post-processing of my pictures? Yes I do. But  my goal is always to get it right in the camera and spend as little time as possible on the computer. We'll talk about my post-processing techniques next time.

About the picture: The picture of the swans on the pond on the campus of Berry College was a quick grab-shot made while I was working on a book about the city of Rome, Georgia.  Loaded with Ektachrome film and with the 85mm Zuiko f2 lens attached, my Olympus OM camera was set for the prevailing light conditions. All I had to do was raise the camera to my eye, compose the photo, and shoot. I usually try to apply the "rule of thirds" to my compositions when appropriate, and in this case I did place the swans about a third of the way from the right edge of the frame. However, instead of placing them a third of the way up from the bottom, I placed them in the center because I felt the reflections at the bottom of the picture were an important part of the composition.

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.50 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail me a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography     travel     Rome, Georgia     Berry College   swans     Olympus OM film cameras     Olympus  Zuiko lenses    Ektachrome film    photography techniques

Monday, March 11, 2024

Some F.O.R.D Favorites from the West

 

A 1932 Studebaker marks the original alignment of Route 66. 

I think I'll post a few more of my favorite Found On Road Dead photos, then we'll move on to some technical/aesthetic photography subjects.

On our RV trip west in 2018, one of  the many interesting places we visited was the Petrified Forest National Park. (You can read the entire series of 19 posts beginning here.)

At the point where the original alignment of U.S. Highway 66 -the historic Route 66, fabled in songs and movies -- crosses the park road, I found something unique for my Found on Road Dead: An Anthology of Abandoned Automobiles book project. It was the weathered hulk of a 1932 Studebaker, marking the route used by millions of Los Angeles-Chicago travelers from 1926 to 1958.

Heading East.

 1959 Edsel. U.S. Highway 89, Utah. 

 Here's another one from our trip west: A 1959 Edsel, found in a junkyard along U.S. Highway 89 not far from Bryce Canyon National Park. I have a special affinity for Edsels, because Louise's mother drove one for years. When we first started dating I was car-less, so some of our first dates were in an Edsel like this one. 

We had a good visit with Louise's older sister in Orlando and were able also to see a few friends, but, sorry to say, I didn't get any blogging done. 

Photos: All photos in this post were made with a Fuji X-Pro1 and the Fujinon XF 27mm f2.8 lens. A combination that never fails to give great results, and that I should use much more often than I do. 

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.50 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail me a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography     travel     old cars     Utah     U.S. Highway 89     Route 66     Petrified Forest National Park     Fuji X-Pro1     Fujinon XF 27mm lens    1959 Edsel     1932 Studebaker   

Monday, March 4, 2024

More F.O.R.D.

Late 1930s Hudson Terraplane near Silverville, Indiana.

I thought this would be a good time to post a few more  selections from my Found On Road Dead collection, otherwise known as "An Anthology of Abandoned Automobiles." (Notice how I included the AAA in there?)

The top picture is a rare find: a late 1930's Hudson Terraplane moldering away on the edge of some  woods near the nearly extinct village of Silverville in Lawrence County, Indiana, just a few miles from the farm where I grew up. The Terraplane was considered to have very advanced streamlining for its day. I photographed it in 2014 with an Olympus E-M5 digital camera fitted with a Panasonic Lumix G.Vario II 14-140mm lens. (Probably the handiest lens I've ever owned.)

1947(?) Ford pickup, Keith Road, Catoosa County, Georgia.

The old Ford pickup was photographed along Keith Road in north Georgia's Catoosa County. I have no record of the date, but it would have been in the late 1970s. I think this was a 1947 Ford, but it may have been earlier. The camera was probably a Nikkormat with a 28mm Tamron f2.5 lens. (Can't be totally sure, since this was around the time I switched from Nikon to Olympus.) I am pretty sure the film was Kodachrome 64.

1970s Chevy pickup, Meriwether County, Georgia.

I found the old Chevy pickup rusting its life away on Georgia Highway 109 Spur in Meriwether County in west central Georgia in 2010 and photographed it with a Canon 5D Classic and the Canon EF 24-85mm lens. I hope you like my old cars and trucks.

Louise and I will be going to Florida next week to visit friends, and most especially, her 94-year-old sister, who still lives by herself. I'm not sure how much time I will have to work on the blog, so if you don't hear from me, don't worry. I'm well and having fun.

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.50 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail me a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography     film photography    travel`   Georgia     Indiana     Olympus E-M5 digital camera     Panasonic Lumix G.Vario II 14-140mm lens     Nikkormat film camera     28mm Tamron f2.5 lens     Kodachrome 64 film     Canon 5D Classic     Canon EF 24-85mm lens

Friday, March 1, 2024

Found On Road Dead

 Abandoned Thunderbird, Frick's Gap Road, Walker County, Georgia.

In keeping with my penchant for photographing old and abandoned things, I've been collecting photographs of abandoned cars for more than 30 years. I'd like to do a book of them, but who knows if that will happen? I'm not sure it would even be possible, because some years ago I lost Travel Notebook #3, which covered my travels from about 1999 to around 2012 and contained all my information about locations, etc. 

Notebooks #1 and #2 have Rock City barns info and also have notes about the old cars I came across while working on the barn project, but I photographed a lot of cars in the first decade of this century for which I have no records. 

"White Trash." U.S. Highway 27, Rhea County, Tennessee.

The abandoned early '70s Thunderbird was photographed on a friend's farm in northwest Georgia's McLemore Cove. I'm not sure what year it was, but I think they sold the place before 2000. Also, the photo was made on black & white film, which I did not use after 2003. 

The second photo I call "White Trash." I don't mean that as a reflection on the people who once lived there; just that, through whatever circumstances, their possessions had been left to crumble away into trash. Very likely some old person had died or been taken to a nursing home, leaving their house and car to rot and rust away. You see this a lot in rural areas. 

This photo was made while I was working on the Rock City Barns book; probably in 1995, so I would have been using a Canon EOS A2 camera. I most likely used the same camera for the Thunderbird photo and the flower truck below.

Flower Truck. Maui, Hawaii.

The early '50s Ford "Flower Truck" was photographed while on a trip to Hawaii in 1996. I think we were on Maui at the time. We were on vacation, so I didn't keep a travel notebook. That was a lapse on my part, because a serious photographer is never really off duty.

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.50 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail me a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography    travel`    Hawaii    Maui    black and white film     Canon EOS A2 camera     old cars

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Georgia Small Towns: Washington

Built in 1904 in an architectural style known as Richardsonian Romanesque, the
  Wilkes County Courthouse is surely the funkiest in Georgia.

Washington, a small city in northeast Georgia, had a population of only 3,754 people in the 2020 census. Yet the town has an unusually distinguished history. It also has what is probably the funkiest courthouse in the state.

Washington was first settled in 1774 with the name Heard's Fort, and was for a brief time during the Revolutionary War the capital of Georgia. Of greater note, however, is the fact that the final cabinet meeting of Jefferson Davis' Confederate government took place here, and it was here in Washington on May 5, 1865  that the Confederacy was officially dissolved. 

Built in 1814, the Robert Toombs House is an Historical Site

Although Madison is better known for its antebellum homes, Washington and Wilkes County actually have the most such houses in Georgia -- more than a hundred.

The  1793 Liberty Inn is believed to be the oldest original house in Washington.

 

The Fitzpatrick Hotel is located on the courthouse square.

Although the Fitzpatrick Hotel was built in 1898, it fell on hard times and was closed for more than 50 years. It has now been fully restored and features 17 luxurious rooms furnished in Victorian period furniture.

Stop by the Visitors' Center at 22B West Square near the courthouse and pick up a map to guide you on a fascinating walking or driving tour. You could easily spend a lot of time in Washington. And while you're here, experience something unique: visit the old-fashioned soda fountain and lunch counter at the Fievet Pharmacy at 115 East Robert Toombs Avenue. They're open 8 a.m.–4:40 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m.–2 p.m. on Saturday, serving breakfast, burgers, sandwiches, salads, milkshakes, and sodas.

(Adapted from my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia.)

Photos: The courthouse, Robert Toombs House, and the Fitzpatrick Hotel were all photographed with a Canon EOS 6D camera and the Canon EF 28-105mm lens. For the Liberty Inn photo I used an Olympus E-M5 with the Panasonic Lumix 14-140mm G-Vario lens.

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.50 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail me a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography    travel   Washington, Georgia     Wilkes County     Fitzpatrick Hotel     Robert Toombs Historic Site    Canon EOS 6D     Canon EF 28-105 lens     Olympus E-M5     Panasonic Lumix 14-140mm G-Vario lens

Monday, February 26, 2024

Rocky Top to Miami: U.S. Heritage Highway 441

Rocky Top. The northern end of U.S. Highway 441. Not very exciting, huh?

The strung-out little northeastern Tennessee village of Rocky Top is not the beginning of U.S. 441, but the end. The highway actually began in Florida as a spur off U.S. 41 to connect Ocala and Orlando,  and was gradually extended north and south to its present length of 937 miles. Its southern terminus is in downtown Miami.

But we'll start at Rocky Top, because that's closest to where I am. From here, 441 heads south, crosses over Norris Dam, and passes through downtown Knoxville before turning east and then south through the tourist havens of Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, climbing to more than 5,000 feet at Newfound Gap in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park as it crosses over into North Carolina. 

A "lost" Rock City barn on U.S. 441 near Dillsboro, North Carolina.

Considered one of the most scenic highways in the United States, 441 continues south into northeast Georgia, passing over 1000-feet deep Tallulah Gorge on its way.

Tallulah Gorge is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Georgia.

Avoiding Atlanta and Macon, U.S. 441 connects east central Georgia cities such as Athens, Madison, Milledgeville, Dublin, and Douglas before crossing into Florida, first to Lake City, then on to Gainesville.

 Andalusia Farm near Milledgeville, home of writer Flannery O'Conner.

From Ocala through Orlando, U.S. Highway 441 achieves its greatest prominence as the historic Orange Blossom Trail, its original route.

South of Kissimmee, 441 skirts the eastern side of Lake Okeechobee, then heads for Lake Worth on the Atlantic coast. From there, it follows the coastline south to its end (or maybe its beginning) in Miami. I've driven many sections of U.S. Highway 441 and I'd like to drive it from end to end someday. But that probably won't happen. I will most likely run out of life before I run out of places I want to go. 

Photos: The U.S. 441 sign at Rocky Top was photographed with a Fuji X-H1 camera and the Fujicron 16-80mm f4 lens. An Olympus E-PL1 with the 14-42 mm Zuiko lens was used for the Rock City barn photo. For the picture of Tallulah Gorge, I used an Olympus OMD E-M5 with a Panasonic 14-140mm Vario-G lens. Andalusia Farm was photographed with a Fuji X-H1 and a Fujicron XC 16-50mm lens.

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.50 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail me a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography    travel   U.S. Highway 441     Great Smoky Mountains National Park     Rock City barns     Tallulah Gorge   Andalusia Farm    Fuji X-H1 camera      Fujicron XF16-80mm lens     Fujicron XC16-50mm lens     Olympus E-PL1    14-42 mm Zuiko lens     Olympus OMD E-M5     Panasonic 14-140mm Vario-G lens