HDR Portraits

If you had a chance to read my previous post, then you'll no doubt recognize the subject of this photo as Capt. Jim Yergin who was featured in my shoot with The Nature Conservancy earlier this week. As soon as I had the pleasure of meeting Jim, I just knew that he would make a great subject for a duo-tone portrait. This afternoon, I happened to come across an article in the November issue of Black & White Photography Magazine on HDR Portraits. The image above is an HDR composite of three different exposures of the same photo (one 2 over, one 2 under and one properly exposed) , which were then merged in Photomatix. I then converted the image into a duo-tone in Photoshop. This technique is a very effective way to create gritty portraits if that is the sort of thing you're into. In fact, I could have pushed the contrast of this image even further if I so desired. Although I'm not a big fan of a lot of the HDR work that is currently in vogue, I really love this technique and will probably find a lot of use for it.

Happy as an Oyster

Yesterday started with a very early 4:00 am wake up call in Charleston, South Carolina. Joy Brown –Marine ecologist and oyster specialist extraordinaire– would soon be arriving to pick me up at my hotel, which was on the way to the landing in nearby McClellanville. Although bedraggled and barely functional at that hour, I was really glad to be going out to the coastal marshes to once again document the progress of The Nature Conservancy's oyster habitat restoration project. We were blessed with good weather and the great company of U.S. House of Representatives Member Anne Peterson-Hutto and local fisherman Capt. Jim Yergin who were both very tolerant of my request for "Just one more photo, please..click...click...click...this time I really mean it....click...click!"

Here are some highlights of the morning. For background on this story, visit this earlier post.
A beautiful sunrise over the marshes as Capt. Jim guides us to the installation site.
First light revealed the new oysters that had colonized the oyster castles.
The oysters quickly colonized the man-made structures.
Local fisherman like Jim Yergin need healthy marine ecosystems to keep fish populations strong.
U.S. House of Representatives Member Anne Peterson-Hutto joined us on our trip to learn more about how the project works.
Joy demonstrates how the project is mapped via GPS for Representative Peterson-Hutto.
Joy Brown, proud defender of Oysters everywhere!

e-Books and the Future of Print

I love books and it isn't just about the contents for me; I relish in the smell of the paper, the sound of a crisp page turning, and the revisiting of well-thumbed illustrations – often with undying wonder. Books bring me comfort and my night stand is always covered in various titles that I peck at over a period of months.

For the past several years I, along with my close friend Dale Cochran, have been experimenting with interactive pdfs. I give Dale credit for initially revealing the possibilities to me and together we've spent a good deal of time sharing ideas on how to make them work. The potential to create 'living brochures' is something that really intrigues me and I am surprised that this exciting possibility has yet to be fully grasped and accepted by more business and advertisers. There are also huge opportunities for educational publications –particularly in the realm of children's literature– where sound and motion can be blended into a book effectively to enhance a reader's experience. Imagine a book on the Amazon rainforest in which a page is turned only to ignite the lush sounds of a waterfall punctuated by the harsh cries of a macaw. The technology has been around for several years but only just now seems to be gaining some traction. Children are already so used to learning on-screen that I suspect they will have no issue with embracing this type of learning experience.

In spite of my enthusiasm for all of this, I still have had my doubts about the possibility of successfully selling electronic copies of highly artistic photography books. After spending several hours on the computer most days, the last thing that I want to do is be tethered to a machine for a while longer to read a book. Anyone else feel this way? Well, my doubts were put to rest after witnessing the successful sale of William Neill's "Landscapes of the Spirit" e-Book. In brief correspondence with Bill, I naively expressed my lack of faith (as I mention above) but I'm happy to report that I was proven very wrong. His beautiful e-Edition sold briskly and he has now added others to his on-line store.

When developing an e-Book, there are a couple of different approaches to take and both have their ups and downs. The first type, which until recently had been the sole source of my focus, is the interactive PDF. These documents can feature streaming video, sound and motion. They are easily developed in Adobe InDesign CS3 & 4 (in conjunction with Acrobat Pro) and look fantastic on screen. Another advantage is that the layout of these documents stays just as designed on screen and there aren't any issues with image shift or text re-wrapping. At the moment, this is definitely the best approach for artistic photography books and graphic-heavy pieces.

The second approach involves designing Digital Editions for e-Readers such as Amazon's highly popular Kindle or Barnes and Nobles' Nook. What these e-Books lack in design appeal, they regain in terms of flexibility and ease of use on various devices. In my opinion, I believe that this is the way to go for instructional books where information, and not graphics, lead the way. These can also easily be designed and exported from InDesign CS4 (and CS3).

Today I find myself in the developmental phase of two projects in which e-Books and digital editions will be highly featured. After spending several years toying with the technology and following the development of these next generation books, I'm very excited to have an opportunity to actually put my knowledge to good use and for good causes (more to come on these later). Although I don't expect printed books to ever really go away, as digital reading devices become more and more prevalent I feel certain that the old way of distributing written materials will diminish to some degree. The next few years will certainly be interesting for designers, photographers and publishers in particular.

Give Green Gifts from The Nature Conservancy

Midori Matsuyama, who is the on-line outreach director for The Nature Conservancy, sent a nice note today and asked if would mind sharing some of the organization's Green Holiday Gift Ideas with you all. TNC does a lot of good and with each purchase, you'd be supporting their vast conservation efforts around the world.

Here are few ideas if you get stuck looking for that perfect gift:

1. Adopt an Acre in the US or abroad
2. Plant Trees in the Atlantic Forest. Each tree costs just $1.00!
3. Adopt A Coral Reef
4. Help Save the Northern Jaguar
   
5. Give the Gift of Clean Water

Think of this way, you'll be doing a good thing AND avoiding a trip to the mall. What could be better?

Bits & Pieces

In lieu of a long rambling post, here are few items of note.

• I made my first foray into the world of international life-style publications this month in the new issue of Sublime Magazine. This issue features, among other interesting things, a selection of six winning images from the 2009 CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year Competition. I was lucky to be one of the chosen few winners who were represented. Thanks Laura!
• Just discovered the work of 17 year old Jaco Ottevanger today. He has some really beautiful, creative images on his website. It is so exciting to see the next generation coming in swinging!
• Really interesting post on how to create 360 panoramic photos here and several great examples here and here. With the addition of narration, these really can be powerful photographic tools, which can be used for conservation awareness.
• Check out Niall Benvie's take on the “Vivaldi-isation" of Nature Photography

Something to Chew On

Is it possible for conservation-minded nature photographers to create work with an artistic slant and still maintain good standing among their peers? More importantly, is it possible for these photographers to positively support the causes that they hold dear, without crossing the line into morally and ethically questionable territory? After all, the world is full of skeptics and any opportunity to denounce certain efforts will surely be pounced upon. These are questions that often keep me up at night.

Everyone has their viewpoints and I am certainly not the wisest in the bunch. However, it seems to me that if photographers cease to feel comfortable exploring creative ways to shed new light on the natural world and its wonders, plight and existence to the viewing public, then are we not ultimately bowing to fickle public perceptions anyway?

I can think of no other photographer that I hold in higher regard than Jim Brandenburg. He has done it all and has shot his fair share of powerful, documentary style images for National Geographic and other high-standing organizations. However, in recent years, artistically toned books such as the incredibly inspiring "Looking for the Summer," have captured the public's imagination. I would wager that this isn't due simply to the subject matter, as painful as it may be for some to admit.

And what of the Frans Lanting's and Art Wolfe's of the world? Does the work of these two goliaths of nature photography, whose work is laden with creative uses of lighting, motion blurs and the like not constitute artistry? Are these two bodies of work now rendered null because of the invention of digital photography and Photoshop? I seriously have my doubts. Besides, if anyone really wants to find out whether an image is authentic or not (like this chronically Googled, truly amazing shot by Thomas P. Peschak) they always have Snopes.

In a perfect world, everyone would be in love with nature just for what it is. The problem is that many (if not most) people simply don't see the natural world like those of us who spend our time desperately trying to show others what it is all about. We know it is amazing and vitally important but there are so many who don't...and don't care, I suspect.

How about the photo at the top of this post? I didn't anything to alter the physical nature of the scene. However, what I did do was use a warming gel on my SB900 flash to change the mood of the image. I also used a wide-angle lens, which altered the angle of the trees to some degree. Does this count as morally objectionable manipulation?

Please share your thoughts with me on this if you wouldn't mind. It would be insightful to hear how other photographers, and non-photographers for that matter, react to this issue. I am certainly still trying to find my own way through the wilderness and company would be most welcome!

Winter Blend

Although winter isn’t quite here, it is fast approaching, which sometimes makes the subject matter that I love most quite scarce. However, one thing that I can always count on when I need a pick me up is time spent in a nearby shrub swamp.

I love freshwater wetlands of all kinds but I particularly enjoying slogging through flooded fields, swamps and creeks. This is something that I share in common with author David M. Carroll. I recently spent a morning photographing sparrows and hermit thrushes, which find the shrub swamp a rich resource for food in the leaner months.

I’m always amazed at how cunning birds can be when they don’t want to be noticed and sparrows are no exception. Although there aren’t too many birds friendlier to man than sparrows –perhaps with the exception of the Kea– these small passerines are amazing at blending into their surroundings and sitting in loose vegetation mere feet from an onlooker without being detected.

There are a lot of photographers who prefer to produce tightly cropped images of birds (often employing the derogatively termed “bird-on-a-stick” approach) but I enjoy showing a bit of habitat whenever possible. I was first inspired to do this many years ago after seeing a 'small in the frame' photograph by Chris Gommersall of a male winchat perched on the end of a long stalk of grass. To my eyes it was pure poetry.

Perhaps in a less poetic photograph, the small song sparrow featured in the image above happily made its way through the grasses and frost covered leaves appearing to be quite unconcerned about my presence. I wanted to showcase its ability to cryptically blend into its surroundings while foraging. I couldn’t have asked for better company on a cold, frosty morning!