To post-process or not to process. . . That is the question.

Kiwi Macro. . .Taken yesterday in my studio--a three image HDR composition. 

This article was published today in England's PhotographyBLOG:
I recently read a thread on one of my favorite photo forums:  "Does anyone else dislike Post Processing for photos?"  

Great topic and conversation starter, really. . .  I think a lot of people are confused by just what defines "Photoshopping" a photograph.  Some landscapes that one comes across, my own included, often provoke such exclamations as, "That is so beautiful, it can't be real!"  

Old Orchard Beach at sunrise in November.  My husband was taking pictures that looked like this with his iPhone!  It truly WAS this beautiful. . .

 I think the goal I always have in mind when I take any photograph is to take the right photo the first time.  I never set out to take a picture thinking, "Now what I really want to do is spend a few good hours at my computer with this one!" 

But the reality is, the digital camera/photography process itself adds some noise or "grain", both color and luminance to most photos, especially the dark areas. It doesn't look naturally "pretty", as film "noise" or grain does. . . In fact, if the noise is pronounced enough, it can look like squiggly little worms when you zoom in on it.

Just plain ugly. . .

Both film and the digital process also don't seem to allow (at least in RAW format) for taking the contrasty, colorful images my eyes see.

I have read multiple sources which suggest that such film greats as Ansel Adams spent a great deal of time in his own "Photoshop" (read: the darkroom) dodging, burning and otherwise contrasting up and tweaking his lovely photographs that hang in museums and private collections all over the world to this day. So "Post Processing" or "Photoshopping" has been around for a loooong time now. Even the artsy pictorialists spent a lot of time getting their delicate, soft-focus compositions to look the way they did after the fact. . .

This photo, taken at Portland's Downtown Showdown, had a lot of noise.  If I hadn't de-noised it, it would have been unusable.  After the fact, it is one of my favorite shots of the night. 

 So, while I strive to take the right image in camera, and often come extremely close to the mark I set, I also have to de-noise my pictures and add a bit more contrast, saturation, and even brighten things up before they can be shown to anyone. And if I am turning an image into a monochrome/black & white, I obviously have to spend some time doing that. . .

Birches in new snowfall.  Taken in color and converted to monochrome in Photoshop.

 So, I guess I would say that while I won't waste my time on an image that was a piece of excrement to begin with, I will spend a little time making it look extra special after the fact, as all of the film greats and now digital greats continue to do with their own images. . .

  Yesterday morning, I was reading an interview with pro Cycling photographer, Seb Rogers in the book Sport & Action: The World's Top Photographers' Workshops by Andy Steel and there was a wonderfully explanatory quote from Seb: 

Andy Steel asks: "How much of your work is manipulated using imaging software?"

Seb Rogers responds: "It depends what you mean by manipulated. I only shoot in RAW format--never JPEG--so every single shot that goes to a client has been individually tweaked for white balance, curves, contrast, saturation, and so on. I like my images to have a fairly film-like look, with plenty of punch, so that's the way I process them. But heavy Photoshop work, such as the occasional insertion of a blue sky into a cover shot, for example, is up to the client."

I hope you've learned a little bit about the behind the scenes work that goes into many (read: most) photographers' photographs and workflow.  Please feel free to write in with questions you might have and as always, feel free to share my blog posts and website with any of your friends and relatives.

Best wishes and Happy Spring!  Cindy

The Tribe Has Spoken!

Okay--the tribe has spoken!  You have universally either avoided the subject of my tacky new logo or out and out called it for what it was!  I feel honored that so many people are reading and caring enough about my blog and work to comment!

Sometimes I get tired of the same old thing. . .  I designed a new logo just for the blog, possibly just for today, even, as I know branding is so important.  But I had fun learning how to place images within text today, and thought I would show off the probably overly-elaborate header I made in the process.  It certainly FITS well, but that doesn't necessarily mean it fits my image or my blog. . .  Anyone have any thoughts on this?  If no one likes it, I can certainly go back to ye olde logo, which was doing quite well. . . 

Let's just stick with today's pictures!  Thanks so much everyone for all of your commentary, even if it was to say how much you disliked my tacky new header!  LOL!  I appreciate all the comments and shout-outs! 

Willoughby, my friend Gloria's beautiful horse, and a friend at Photo Finish Farm.

I know, I know. . .  You can't have a photo blog post without some new photos. . .  So, in that vein: a couple of weeks ago, a longtime friend of mine, Gloria, invited me to photograph a horse-riding clinic out in Buxton at Photo Finish Farm. 

Not a particularly special photo, but sweet to me--as this is my daughter, Maya, "racing" Rio, the 1.5 year old horse who was barely moving as Maya ran at top speeds to keep up with him!  :-)

What are you doing with that thing, Lady? 

Rio, out of focus, but it captures his crazy energy very well.  He was so excited every time another horse trotted by him!

This is Rio again, looking contemplative, but I'm sure it was actually that he was contemplating his next race around the field.  This horse had boundless energy!  The other horses paid no attention him as they trotted up and down the driveway.

It was really fun to see what Gloria has been doing in regards to learning how to ride horses over the last few years, and to see how the teacher helped the riders to improve their technique and get the most from their horses.

Thanks for looking, Cindy

Learning some new portrait techniques. . .

Whimsy

Monochrome conversion of Whimsy

Contemplation

Wistful?

A little more traditional, but she didn't like this shot. . .

Got a picture of a silly smile. . . 

Our favorite from the other night's twilight shoot. . .

I have been doing a LOT of reading about portraiture lately.  I started out last month by finally sitting down and poring over Joe McNally's wonderful book, The Hot Shoe Diaries.  I ended up reading it completely TWICE, because as he explains: it really isn't so much a manual as things that have worked for him in his life as a photographer.  So he doesn't really detail each technique exactly, but after reading the book and my favorite tutorials a few times, it began to sink in.  

I purchased a small softbox (16"x16") and a light stand that I can use with my hot shoe flash, to get it off the camera and be able to have light come from other directions than simply the top of my camera, which can give a photographer more professional results.  

The technique, or Strobist information, a la David Hobby's wonderfully informative blog on off-camera flash photography, Strobist, is fairly simple once one gets the hang of it.  I know there are far more complicated lighting setups and I will definitely try those out as I learn more, but I was thrilled with the simple results I received over the last two days.  

The first set of pictures with the black background was taken yesterday afternoon, in a makeshift studio set up in my office.  The last picture was taken two nights ago at twilight, and was directly from a technique Joe McNally talks about in which one sets the camera in Tungsten White Balance to retain the deep, jewel-toned blue of the twilight sky behind the subject, and places a colored piece of plastic (in this case a Rosco Strobist Collection 1/4 CTO/Orange gel) over the flash to bring some warmth to the skin tones of the subject.  

I was very happy with the results and am interested to do more experimentation!  However, my "model" only gives me about 5-10 minutes of her time at this point, in between homework and playtime, so I don't get an awful lot of practice time.  

Hope you like the pictures!  Best wishes, Cindy

22 new food images in my StockFood Portfolio!

It's Christmas again already? 

Good news!  22 new food images of mine have been uploaded to my StockFood portfolio!  Although a bunch of them are of a seasonal nature, as you can see from the above image, there are many different kinds of pictures there, all interesting and delectable!  Stop by my portfolio and see them all and please do share the link and any of my blog posts or portfolio site with your friends and relatives. 

Best wishes, Cindy

Article about me in the Portland Examiner today!

Fresh Strawberries in a white collander, taken the day of the article!

My friend, Joe Merrill, a columnist for the Portland Examiner, writes a column on photography on a regular basis.  He came to my studio last Friday and interviewed me about what I do as part of a series he is planning on professional photographers in the area.  You can see the article here.  And you can read more of his posts here. 

Thanks Joe--it was not only a fun morning of "Photography Chat", but you did a great job on the article! 

Best wishes, Cindy

Architectural Photography

The Ross-Hall Dining Room with exceptional views of Boothbay Harbor, Maine.

On my birthday this past year, I had the chance to photograph the Ross/Hall Home, located on Westport Island, a small island near Wiscasett in Mid-Coast Maine.  It was built in 1836 as a ships chandlers. It was later owned by Civil War General James Hall, a prominent Damariscotta citizen who led the 2nd Maine battery and was instrumental in the Battle of Gettysburg. He wanted to live in a prominent home in town.

One of General Hall's daughters married a Dr.Belknap and practiced medicine in the home for many years with the third floor being the hospital. The hospital was primarily used by women for childbirth and people coming in from the islands. Eben Greenleaf who reconstructed the home was born on the third floor. Drs. Parsons and Powell also practiced there and it remained a medical office until the mid 1960's.

A granddaughter of Dr. Belknap married a Ross and the home then was used as a clothing store called "House Of Ross" for many more years until author/illustrator Barbara Cooney purchased the home and donated it to the town to be Skidompha Public Library which it remained until Carol and David Blake (the current owners) purchased it in 2002 and had it taken apart and then reconstructed in Westport as one sees it today on three acres of Atlantic waterfront property.

The long bank of floor to ceiling windows that overlooks the water was added, but the remainder of the house has been restored as it was built. The house has eight working fireplaces. The garage is an antique Cape House from a similar period that was purchased by the owners and converted to use as a garage. There are also lovely gardens in the front and on the pathway leading to the dock.

You can see the rest of the photos of this spectacular home in my portfolio gallery here The pictures are placed in the order in which one might walk through the house. I encourage you to view this gallery as a slideshow presentation by clicking on the slide show button in the upper right-hand corner.

Have a great day!  Cindy

A big thank you for all the visits and another article published

A recent shot I liked from Portland's Downtown Showdown, hosted by Oakley, Sunday River and Red Bull.

Well, I have to say that yesterday, any expectations I had for page views on my newly re-designed website were totally blown out of the water.  www.cfwphotography.com had over 8,700 visits yesterday! Thank you all!

Plus, my second article, "Why you DON'T need a tilt-shift lens" has been published in England's Photography Blog with plenty of photographic illustrations to show one how to do the technique I describe in Photoshop.  Please take a moment to check it out and if you know someone who might be interested in the technique, forward it on by all means! 

Best wishes, Cindy

www.cfwphotography.com has been re-vamped!

In Flight Over Shawnee Peak.  A recent shot taken at Super Hits Sunday.

My husband, Jon, has been re-designing my online portfolio, for the last few weeks.  It looks great, is much easier to navigate, starts out with a beautiful slideshow of some of my most popular work, and has links to Photo Quest, my StockFood gallery and my Zazzle merchandise  where you can buy cool things like iphone 3 and 4 protective covers, t-shirts, mugs, calendars, postage stamps and even mousepads, all with my photography on them to inspire you!

I hope you'll take a few minutes to browse through my newly redesigned website--it's up-to-date with my most recent work and you can even purchase prints, both traditional and metallic finish, mounted prints, canvas gallery wraps and some merchandise by clicking on the buy button above the picture being displayed in whatever gallery you are visiting. 

Click here to visit the gallery: CFW Photography and I invite you, as always, to share it or any of my blog posts with your friends and family.  You can even sign up to receive updates when I upload new work to the galleries by clicking on the "RSS-Available Feeds" button at the bottom of the home page and it will guide you through whichever way you'd like to receive them.

Thanks for looking and for all of your support and likes on my Facebook Fanpage!

Happy March!  Cindy

Cut Grapefruit Still Life

Three shots, bracketed to make the most of highlights, midtones and shadows, and combined. 

Ahhh, there's nothing like a spicy, tart and somehow still sweet red grapefruit on a winter afternoon, is there?  (Or any other time, really!)  I was about to have a snack of this, and realized that it might make a nice addition to my StockFood portfolio, so I quickly set up my camera with my favorite foodtography lens, the Pentax FA 50mm f/1.4, put it on the tripod, and took a couple of High Dynamic Range compositions of it--you can read about what the technique is by clicking on the link embedded within the words if you care to know more about it!  I like the effect, which brought out so much detail and a feeling that you could reach into the picture, grab the spoon and dig in, as I did with the real grapefruit about five minutes after the images were taken!  YUM! 

Cut Figs image featured on Toque Magazine today!

Cut Fig Still Life

Toque Magazine, an online magazine devoted to food, purchased this image from me yesterday for use in a wonderful Valentines Day article.  The article, which you can read by clicking on the hyperlink to Toque Magazine above, is called A Proust Moment for Valentines Day.  Please visit this wonderful online magazine and read the article and share it with your friends and relatives! 

Happy Valentines Day everyone! 

Best wishes,

Cindy