Wednesday 6 January 2016
Thursday 22 October 2015
THE BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY SERIES; ARCHETYPAL IMAGES
'Time: The Dawn Of' by Michael G. O'Brien |
There seems to be something in black and white images that allows them to channel archetypal images that strike chords deep within us. These images can go beyond personal meanings to express something more universal. When I saw these people paddling out on the water with their rudimentary boards I felt connected with my ancestors who had done this since humanity's beginnings.
To process this image I used Analogue Efex from Nik software. I find that this gives me options that expand my ability to finish RAW file of an image the way I 'saw' it originally at time of exposure.
Sunday 27 September 2015
THE BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY SERIES: IMAGINATION IS OUR ONLY LIMIT
photo by Tokihiro Satō |
I believe that IMAGINATION IS THE ONLY LIMIT when it comes to what can be expressed or accomplished with black and white photography. Many thanks to those who are following this series....I hope it contains some things of interest and look forward to feedback and suggestions for another series and /or a workshop.
Speaking of unlimited imagination, today I discovered the sublime work of Japanese photographer Tokihiro Satō (see photo) whose imagination seems to be without limits.
John L. Tran said the following about Tokihiro in The Japan Times:
“Leaving the city and
the sea behind, later works in the “Photo-Respiration” series center around
snow and trees, and Sato hints that while in the forest producing these images
he empathized with the pantheism of Shinto and the act of worshipping natural
objects. Indeed it’s hard to imagine an artist from a culture other than
Japan’s producing this particular blend of technical precision, intimation of
the spiritual, and loving regard of the natural world that can be seen in these
images.”
Saturday 26 September 2015
THE BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY SERIES: INFRARED PHOTOGRAPHY
BLACK AND WHITE
INFRARED PHOTOGRAPHY
Infrared photographs have
a very special look and feel. By rendering skies black, foliage and stone
white, these images possess strong contrast, pronounced grain and a distinct
dreamy appearance that puts them in a category of their own.
Back in the day we
used the legendary Kodak High-Speed Infrared Film / HIE which is now
discontinued. It was notoriously fussy to work with (especially while on the
road) and it was difficult to lay one's hands on a steady supply. The results,
below, made it all worthwhile.
This tradition of
infrared photography is now carried on with modified DSLR cameras.
all photos ©Michael G. O'Brien 2001
Salvador da Bahia and
Olinda, Brazil
Friday 25 September 2015
THE BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY SERIES: HOW TO SEE THE DRAMATIC POTENTIAL IN A SCENE
From the LAKESHORE SERIES photo ©Michael O'Brien Aug 2015 |
Once you are fluent in the use of your camera
and software it allows you to interpret scenes as intended. To be fluent with a camera means having command of the exposure, and other relevant, controls so that you're able to 'see' the potential in a scene then set up quickly for an exposure. Understanding the
DRAMATIC POTENTIAL in a scene helps lead us to the photograph we want to
create.
This fluency comes from regular practice, experience and experimentation.
This fluency comes from regular practice, experience and experimentation.
Friday 18 September 2015
THE BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY SERIES: HOW TO READ PHOTOGRAPHS
UNTITLED, STANLEY PARK, VANCOUVER, B.C.
photo by Michael O'Brien
|
When we look at a color image, the PSYCHOLOGY OF COLOUR
plays a big role in our READING of that photo i.e. our personal, cultural and
unconscious associations to the colours in the palette of that photograph. Since these associations to colour are absent in B&W pictures such as this one: we are free to take a much different reading of the photograph. For instance, for me, the
green leaves would have worked well against the clear blue sky in colour, but
what would the image be saying? In B&W the mass and weight of this tree come
to the forefront, so does it's prolific output of leaves. I can almost hear
this tree breath. None of this comes through in the colour version.
Saturday 12 September 2015
THE BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY SERIES: GEOMETRY AND PATTERNS IN NATURE
From the series 'Beneath The Surface'
©MICHAEL O'BRIEN
click here to see series
|
Playing with GEOMETRY and
PATTERNS is fun with black and white photography. It exercises the creative
muscles while helping us see the shapes and patterns underlying all forms.
Additionally, this strengthens our compositions of any subject matter, even
when we make color photographs.
THE BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY SERIES: THE ART OF B&W CONVERSIONS IN THE CREATIVE PROCESS
Before B-W conversion from the EARTH WATER SKY series ©Michael O'Brien click here to see the series |
After B-W conversion from the EARTH WATER SKY series ©Michael O'Brien click here to see the series |
CONVERTING a color RAW file into a black and white file is much like an alchemical process. It can be as laborious or simple as you want it to be. Countless books have been written on the subject yet practicing with a few simple tools will suffice to produce strong B&W photographs. I will be covering this approach in my workshop.
At the moment, my
preferred software for CONVERSIONS is Lightroom, Photoshop, and Silver Efex. I
can spend anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours developing an image in the POST
PROCESSING stage; it depends on the image and what needs to be done to reach my
final vision for that image.
This can be an important step in the CREATIVE
PROCESS and helps us develop our ability to see the potential that resides in a
scene and in a RAW file made of that scene.
Below is an example of what Silver
Efex can do with an image; left is the unprocessed RAW file in color - right is
the finished image after processing in Silver Efex. We'll be teaching these
techniques in our upcoming October workshop - 'Black and White Digital
Photography' - details to come.
Friday 11 September 2015
THE BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY SERIES: ARCHITECTURE
ARCHITECTURE is rendered well in black and white. The way this medium emphasizes tone, shape and texture makes it a perfect way to photograph structures and their details.
NEW YORK CITY
all photos ©Michael O'Brien 2015
GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL, NYC ©Michael O'Brien 2015 |
GENERAL GRANT MEMORIAL, NYC ©Michael O'Brien 2015 |
MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN, NYC ©Michael O'Brien 2015 |
57th and LEX, NYC ©Michael O'Brien 2015 |
DETAIL FROM THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY, NYC ©Michael O'Brien 2015 |
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