Tag: creativity

Changing Perspectives

One thing I admire is craftsmanship – the ability to create something beautiful and / or useful – and that mastery of tools to create that item.  By making the decision to understand the photographic software I am using in greater depth, the computer and programs are shifting from just things to play with to make a photograph look better to creative tools in the creative process.  Granted, the physical task is not the same as working in a darkroom – and not as fun. But by plumbing the depths of different software, I am finding a creative outlet I haven’t had before.  Really strange this new mindset . . .

To learn anything, to master anything, to go beyond mastery into artistry, takes time, talent, inspiration, patience, accidents, tangents.  I can honestly say that this change in perspectives occurred when I took the picture below further than I ever conceived possible . . .

Fern Leaf - Original

I chose this photo because I like the shadows cast by the fern. I thought initially it would be good in black and white, which I think is something I will eventually do, but I just grabbed it at random to use as a photo in a follow-along of an OnOne Perfect Photo Suite video lesson.

I have never used textures to process an image, but a post by Brian Matiash featuring a picture I really liked, tweaked my interest to the point I looked up this video.  Step by step, I followed Liz, choosing the ferns, importing some textures, working with her as she moved along.  I really didn’t think too much about making a picture I liked, I thought about learning more about Perfect Photo Suite.  Well . . . I did learn more about the program, but I also learned that I really could get something I liked that was not horrifically ugly.

Fern Leaf

I had fun, and better, discovered that I could find a sense of creative satisfaction sitting at a computer working on a photo.

Oh, here it is in black and white . . .

Fern Leaf - B&W

Lies

Wish You Were Here 2

There is the purist in me that says a photograph should never be changed from what the camera took. To change it means I cannot take a picture in the first place.

Another part of me that realizes there is such creative potential in photography – especially digital photography. And, in some situations, it is the only thing that makes a dismal photo worth looking at. For me, color and contrast are always attractive. Together, both change mood, season, emotion, focal points.

Wish You Were Here

Today, I went out to the local botanical garden around noon. There was not the least bit of interesting light, only shadows. I wanted to see what a new lens could do, and was too lazy to get out when the light is particularly nice (meaning get dressed and out the door before 7 a.m.!). The intention was to see how well the V1 does creating panoramic pictures on manual focus – important to learn as the camera is highly automated. A couple came out okay, but they were truly boring to the eye. So, color manipulation and such – the art of post processing.

Creativity or lying?

One Thing Leads to Another . . .

Watercolors

After finishing the sweater a few weeks ago, something shifted. Doing things with my hands, and completing a project, flipped a switch. I’ve been putzing with knitting, playing with photography, spending time doing post-processing, but it really is not the same as starting and finishing a project. My creative world has become increasingly more narrow as I have focused on photography.

Photography is more comfortable now. I think I “get it” at times. That is satisfying – but it is never as satisfying as creative projects seen from beginning to end. The fact is, I am not a photographer at heart, but the most satisfaction comes from a photo when it reflects something of how I see the world. What that is in photography seems to be snippets of things, the casual portrait, or a good landscape. I am curious as to how understanding photography will affect other creative parts of my life.

Paint brushes are like knitting needles – they are held in the hand, moved and manipulated. Color knitting is something I love – magpie eyes! – and color has been in my head for weeks. Suddenly, greens must be more intense, and red has allure like it has not in some time. Sumi-e and brushes are wonderful, but color is winning now – paint brush to hand, colors on the palette.

 

Group Activity

Personally, I find too many group activities overwhelming.  Too many people.  Too much stimulus.  Too much to distract from the focus of the group.  Certainly, lots can be learned from seeing what others do, but too much can also be lost in the mix.  I am a definite introvert, and while I like people, I prefer them in small doses . . . unless its a despotic situation, and I am the despot!

Anyway, one thing rather nice about the internet is the fact you can belong to some kind of group activity, but not be overwhelmed with others.  I like a number of flickr groups for this reason – photographers with similar interests, occasional comments, groups with a focal theme and good postings.  These are groups I can check in with, and check out of, and no one gets hurt feelings.

Fugue 4

One I am finding particularly enjoyable is “Our Daily Challenge, 2” – the second group formed as an offshoot of the first.  Highly original and creative photos emerge from a daily challenge.  Themes for the day have included Distorted, Runs or Running, Hidden, and so on.  What the photographer does can be staged, spontaneous, an impetus and go out and shoot something familiar but with a different skew. This puts a creative push behind photography.

Today’s theme is Distorted.  I could putz with software and create special effects, I could destroy something and have a distorted item to snap.  Instead, I have a zoom lens that creeps.  It moves along and can be rather frustrating.  But this is what made my theme for Distorted – the blur from the creep.  So I simply moved the lens in-and-out, using a small f/stop to have a longer exposure.  I was very, very pleased with the results.  (No, I am not the first person in the world to do this.)  The pleasure lies in the pattern repetition, somewhat recognizable in some of the pictures, and hinted at in others:  Fugue.