The Scene

Banff National Park in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, Canada, is loaded with spectacular scenery. People who enjoy seeing or photographing scenic beauty should think about having a long visit there. If you are interested in seeing more photographs from this park, visit the gallery named "Western Canada" at my website

http://www.RandallRBreseePhoto.com

The town of Banff lies inside the park and is a source for food, fuel and lodging as well as a convenient location to launch photographic adventures. The Minnewanka Loop Road just outside of Banff town-site takes visitors to Johnson Lake where scenery offers good photographs in any season.

I drove the Minnewanka Loop one day to have a look at Johnson Lake. I left my camera and tripod in the car but had a viewing frame on a string around my neck as I walked to the water's edge to hunt for a potential photograph. A viewing frame provides an inexpensive and convenient way to locate and refine compositions without a camera.

The function of a viewing frame is to help photographers visually isolate subject matter. This is especially useful when photographing large complex subjects like landscapes. I first learned about viewing frames through Ansel Adam's writings where he explained that one can be made quickly by cutting a hole through cardboard with proportions that are the same as your camera format (e.g. 2 1/4 x 2 1/4, 4 x 5 or 5 x 7). I often find myself in difficult weather while photographing so I purchased a viewing frame with the hole cut through plastic rather than cardboard. I shoot 4inch x 5inch film so the hole in my frame is proportional to 4x5 and measures approximately 1 1/8 inch x 1 3/8inch. Since I shoot black & white, a yellow filter is mounted in the hole of my frame to render scenes nearly monochromatic to help visualize them in black & white more easily.

The key to the usefulness of a viewing frame is its simplicity. It allows the photographer to climb over rocks, wade in water or run up a steep hill to "try out" various camera locations without carrying a camera. Once a camera position is located, the viewing frame can help refine a composition quickly.

The convenience of carrying a nearly weightless viewing frame rather than a heavy camera and tripod isn't the biggest advantage of a viewing frame. Its greatest value is helping the photographer make better compositions. Looking through a hole in cardboard (or plastic) rather than the viewfinder of a camera allows the photographer to concentrate on composing an image without being distracted by lens focus or buttons and knobs of a camera. As simple as it sounds, freeing the mind to more readily see what lies in front of you is a very powerful thing.

It is fair to say that I probably would not have captured the photograph discussed in today's blog if I had not used a viewing frame.

Composition

While standing on the bank of Johnson Lake, my eyes saw an enormous scene that included water, trees, mountains, haze and a haphazard array of clouds in the sky. The scene was beautiful but a strong photographic composition did not stand out to me. Next, I placed the viewing frame a foot or so in front of my eyes and scanned the scene again. While moving the frame through the landscape, it isolated an area which included the end of a single long cloud.

The composition jilted me with its combination of top-bottom symmetry and left-right asymmetry. While looking at the landscape without the frame, it didn't occur to me to include only a small part of a single cloud in a photograph. The frame isolated the cloud from the big landscape to create an exciting composition.

The composition I saw through the viewing frame created one of those “oooo” moments that sent me scrambling back to the car for my tripod and camera bag as fast as I could.

Using a large tripod-mounted view camera definitely takes more time than using a small hand-held camera. Fortunately, the clouds were barely moving so I thought I had a chance to acquire a photograph before the scene changed appreciably.

Experience told me that a 210 mm lens was appropriate so I rapidly attached it to the camera and composed an image which looked nearly the same as the composition I saw through the viewing frame. I took a brief moment to refine the composition in the camera to emphasize the theme of the photograph - a combination of top-bottom symmetry and left-right asymmetry. I locked all camera controls and paused to take another brief look at the scene.

The bright cloud was the key to this photograph and I decided to use a medium yellow contrast filter with black and white film. I expected the filter to strengthen structures within the cloud, darken the blue sky to separate the cloud from the sky better and reduce the haze somewhat to make the mountains feel more solid.

I nervously took another quick look at the cloud and was amazed that it had not moved appreciably since I first saw it. I was encouraged but thought I should hurry as much as possible before the scene changed. I retrieved the yellow filter from my camera bag and held it over my light meter to acquire light meter readings from the scene directly through the filter.

Since I needed to hurry, I acquired readings from only two key areas of the scene - the darkest and brightest areas that required at least some detail in the image. I placed dark shadows of the dark trees on Zone II (very dark with little detail) and that caused the brightest areas of the cloud to fall on Zone VIII (very bright with little detail).

The cloud was key to the photograph and required more than a little detail so I marked the negative for N-1 development. Reducing negative development time from "Normal" to "Normal minus one zone" would move the brightest parts of the cloud from Zone VIII (very bright with little detail) to Zone VII (bright with some detail).

I glanced at the scene again and saw water moving slowly on the surface of the lake so I looked at the many exposure choices provided by the light meter and selected a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the water movement. The exposure selected was 1/8 sec at f/32-45 (read as half way between f/32 and f/45). I hastily attached the yellow filter to the camera lens, inserted a film holder in the back of the camera and exposed one sheet of 4inch x 5inch black & white film.

Scanning/Editing/Printing

The preview image for the 4inch x 5inch negative on my drum scanner seemed a bit heavy and looked like it could benefit from more detail in the trees. Consequently, I opened a Curve in the scanner and bent it slightly to brighten dark and midtone areas of the image. Then, I instructed the scanner to acquire a high resolution digital file with my usual resolution of 5,000 ppi and 16-bit pixel depth.

The image looked pretty good in PhotoShop. There were plenty of details in the dark tree areas and the bright cloud areas. I thought the top-bottom symmetry and left-right asymmetry were both quite strong. I was especially pleased at how the cloud contributed to both symmetry and asymmetry. Overall, the image possessed a powerfully awkward yet delicate mood.

I opened Levels and Curve layers in PhotoShop and made quick adjustments to nudge tones slightly closer to where I wanted them.

Next, I concentrated on darkening and lightening local image areas using PhotoShop's Burn and Dodge tools. The original image layer (image from the scanner) was copied, renamed “Retouch” and inserted directly above the original layer to contain the burn and dodge edits.

The yellow filter used during exposure at the scene helped darken the blue sky but the upper left sky area remained too bright. PhotoShop's Burn tool was used to slightly darken the left half of the sky to level sky tones a bit. This pushed viewer's eyes lower and to the right.

I dodged portions of the cloud in the sky to increase its luminosity and achieve more tonal separation from other scene components. The cloud's reflection in the water also is an important image component. We know that any reflection is less bright than the original object so I usually render reflections slightly darker than the reflecting object. However, that was not done for the cloud because both cloud areas (cloud in sky and reflection in lake) needed to contribute to luminosity on the right side of the image to strengthen left-right asymmetry. Consequently, the cloud's reflection was burned to similar tonal values as the cloud in the sky.

The large rock in the lower left quadrant was dodged to increase its presence. The top of the rock was brightened more aggressively than its sides to strengthen the feeling of bright sunlight at the scene.

Next, my attention was turned to the dark trees which enter the image from the left. The trees needed more visual life but it was important for the darkest tones of this tree group to remain dark to anchor the image tonally. On the other hand, mid and light tones of the trees could be brightened to increase tonal vitality. Fortunately, PhotoShop's Dodge tool provides a Range Menu to target shadows, midtones or highlights individually during dodging.

I opened the Range Menu and selected “Midtones” before dodging the dark tree group. When finished, the Range Menu was opened again and “Highlights” were selected before dodging some of the areas again. These actions caused the darkest tones to remain dark whereas mid and bright tones were lightened so the tonal vitality of the tree group was improved. When I was satisfied with the dark group of trees, I brightened their reflection in the lake similarly.

Attention was directed next to the group of trees which enter the image from the right. This tree group was bathed in direct sunlight at the scene and I brightened the trees slightly in the image to strengthen the feeling of sunlight. Reflections in the lake from this tree group were brightened similarly. I thought that increasing the presence of sunlight in this tree group was important because of its location between the cloud in the sky and the cloud's reflection in the water. That is, left-right asymmetry was strengthened by increasing the presence of light on the right side of the image as much as possible.

Additional attention was directed to the right half of the photograph. Numerous small areas near the image center were brightened to visually separate the top and bottom halves of the image more clearly. Areas included two thin lines in the water, brush at water's edge below the tree group which enters the image from the right, brush at water's edge below the tree group to the right of image center, and the grassy bank at the center of the image. These actions helped articulate the top-bottom symmetry line better and also strengthened left-right asymmetry by increasing the presence of light on the right side of the image.

Sunlight streaked across a narrow portion of the tree group to the right of the image centerline. The Dodging tool was used to brighten the streak and its reflection in the lake to further increase the presence of sunlight in the right side of the image.

Finally, the low, broad dark hump directly above the light streak was darkened slightly to add a bit more depth.

I have printed this image to several different sizes and it looks best to me at a moderate size (e.g. 16inch x 20inch). Although I am happy with the photograph, I don't feel I have found the best paper for printing the image. Ah, the paper chase continues!

Summary

The theme of this photograph is a landscape scene which possesses a combination of top-bottom symmetry and left-right asymmetry. I think the image is strong and has a clean look that is appropriate for the sun drenched landscape I saw from the bank of Johnson Lake.  

Any comments you might have about the image, the photographic approach used for it, its composition, or image workup will be appreciated. For a larger view of the photograph, visit my website at

and click on the Galleries tab, look in the “Western Canada” gallery and then click on the image itself (Johnson Lake).

Randall R Bresee

During their historic transcontinental journey through the western USA in the early 1800's, Lewis and Clark described the Columbia River as “incredible.” Much of­ the scenery they saw has been covered by water from hydroelectric dams but the river continues to drain an enormous land area and remains the largest waterway in western North America. 

I have always been fascinated by Lewis and Clark's journey and wanted to take a firsthand look at the river which impressed them so strongly. I had an opportunity to visit the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area with my camera a few years ago and was delighted to see that, in spite of numerous dams, the area remains an incredible waterway that is loaded with natural beauty.

Several small gorges feed the river and my favorite is the subject of today's blog - Oneonta Gorge. Most visitors to Oneonta Gorge hike to its far end to visit a waterfall. I focused my attention on the nearest end of the gorge where the chasm is sculpted by gorgeous land shapes and bathed by soft sunlight. I was moved most by the lush light which gently descends to the bottom of the gorge to produce opulent plant growth so I decided to acquire a black and white photograph with this theme.

Composition

Developing front-to-back depth in this photograph was important in order to provide a sense that the gorge continues far beyond the camera's view. Consequently, a 210 mm lens (150 mm is “normal” for a 4inch x 5inch camera) was placed on my camera and the tripod was positioned directly in front of a pile of logs which were jammed across the gorge. Including the log pile in this photograph anchored the near foreground and definitely helped communicate front-to-back image depth.

Communicating top-to-bottom deepness in the gorge and developing clear recognition that light descends from high above also was important. I was fortunate that the log pile helped communicate top-to-bottom depth in the photograph. Logs in the pile look much larger than the single log which spans the chasm high above so logs on the creek floor helped viewers sense that the single log above was indeed far away.

The large logs resting quietly on the creek floor also amplify the feeling that the log high above has only a tenuous grip on the gorge walls. Tension such as this usually is good in photographs. 

The dominant theme of this photograph was lush light descending into the chasm so it was important for viewers to feel the presence of light as much as possible. When scenes require a strong presence of light, I often select an exposure which places tonal values slightly higher (brighter) on the tonal scale than usual.

I acquired a few light meter readings from the scene and placed the dark foliage of the near right wall on Zone IV (slightly darker than middle gray with well-separated texture) rather than Zone III (dark with good texture). I was happy when my light meter showed that the brightest light at the top of the chasm fell on Zone VII (bright with some detail) and other important areas of the scene fell suitably high on the tonal scale. Consequently, I marked the exposure record for normal (N) film development.

The air in the gorge was still so I was free to use any shutter speed that I desired. I selected an exposure of 1/2 sec with an f-stop of f/32 to obtain plenty of depth-of-field since it was important to emphasize details in the trees, ferns and small plants. One negative was exposed and I was confident that the scene was exposed properly and sharp focus was achieved from front-to-back and top-to-bottom.

Scanning/Editing/Printing

The image from my 4inch x 5inch black and white negative looked good on the drum scanner display so I instructed the scanner to acquire a high resolution digital file with my usual resolution of 5,000 ppi and 16-bit pixel depth. I opened the image file in PhotoShop and spent some time looking at it.

I was happy to see that the camera position at the scene had been good, image tones were good and the photograph was sharply focused throughout the scene. Next, I turned my attention to developing a list of editing goals.

The theme of lush light and especially its descent down the gorge walls needed to be emphasized. The log pile in the foreground needed to be drawn forward to enhance front-to-back depth. The viewer needed to be drawn toward the back of the gorge more strongly. Finally, the opulence of plants needed to be emphasized, if possible.

A Levels Adjustment Layer was opened first and pixels in the image were seen to occupy all gray levels of the histogram (a scale of 0 to 255). I moved the white slider of PhotoShop's histogram from 255 to 244 to lighten bright areas of the image. This added more “energy” to bright areas and increased the presence of sunlight at the top of the gorge.

Next, a Curve Adjustment Layer was opened to brighten dark image areas. Pure black pixels (gray level of 0) and pixels brighter than 154 were not changed but other pixels with gray levels darker than 155 were brightened by bending the 2-154 curve section upward. Pixels with a gray level of 43 were brightened most (brightened to 65) whereas both ends of the curve section were brightened least. For example, pixels with a gray level of 2 were brightened only to 3 and pixels with a gray level of 154 were brightened only to 155. Brightening dark pixels in this manner increased the presence of light in the gorge interior.

Next, front-to-back image depth was strengthened by drawing foreground areas forward. I employed a simple technique that I use fairly commonly for this purpose which simply involves increasing the texture of a few select scene areas closest to the camera.

A Brightness/Contrast Adjustment Layer was opened and PhotoShop's Magnetic Lasso tool was used to select the nearest hill face on both sides of the gorge as well as the large log pile in the center. Contrast in the selected areas was increased moderately and brightness was decreased a little (to keep bright pixels from becoming too bright). Increasing the texture of areas closest to the camera strengthens the perception that those areas are located closer to the viewer because the brain interprets the ability to see more details in the areas as evidence that they are closer. 

The previous Brightness/Contrast adjustment increased the texture of foreground logs but a test print showed that the logs did not feel “solid” enough so an adjustment was performed to remedy this. Another Levels Adjustment Layer was opened and PhotoShop's Magnetic Lasso tool was used to select the foreground logs. Pixel gray levels for the logs were modified by moving the black slider of PhotoShop's histogram from a gray level of 0 to 2 to slightly increase the number of pixels which were totally black. Similarly, the white slider was moved from 255 to 226 to slightly increase the number of pixels which were totally white. These adjustments enhanced the log's structure and made them feel more solid.

Lastly, I strengthened the presence of sunlight on the gorge walls and creek bed. The original image layer (image from the scanner) was copied, renamed “Retouch” and inserted directly above the original layer. PhotoShop's Dodge tool was used to manually brighten some areas of the gorge walls near the center of the gorge to emphasize light which bounced off of the walls as it descended into the gorge.

Brightening small areas of the creek bed and the larger triangle area just above the creek bed helps draw viewers toward the back of the gorge. These edits seemed to be quite effective at inviting viewers to walk into the gorge beyond the camera's view.

Another area was dodged because of its influence on front-to-back depth. The gorge walls are basically vertical except on the right side close to the camera. Here, a nearly horizontal ledge-like portion of the wall just above the log jam curls clockwise while moving away from the camera before climbing up the wall. Brightening the sunlit areas of this ledge draws more viewer attention to it and helps strengthen front-to-back depth.

The two large plant clumps near the top right corner of the image also were dodged slightly to lift viewer's eyes to the top of the crevasse toward the important log which spans the gorge.

I have printed this image to several different sizes and it looks best to me when printed fairly large because the image contains many floral details that are not visible in small prints. These details help communicate the opulence of plants and strengthen the feeling that soft, lush light reaches into the bottom of the gorge.

Summary

The subject of this photograph is lush light which gently descends into Oneonta Gorge to produce opulent plant growth. I believe that prints of the photograph do justice to the scene. 

Any comments you might have about the image, the photographic approach used for it, its composition, or image workup will be appreciated. For a larger view of this photograph, visit my website at

http://www.RandallRBreseePhoto.com

and click on the Galleries tab, look in the “Western USA” gallery and then click on the image itself (Oneonta Gorge). Small details in the ferns and other plants are important to this image and they can be seen more clearly in a larger image displayed on my website.

Randall R Bresee

Image Evaluation

My overall impression of the cropped image from the scanner was that it was good technically and contained many interesting geometric shapes. However, my eyes seemed to wander aimlessly through the image so it was clear that eye movement needed more “purpose.” I concluded that the image could be strengthened with simple editing actions.

Before editing beyond simple cropping, I usually spend some time looking at the image on my largest computer display to develop an overall editing goal and identify editing actions required to achieve the goal.

When composing photographs at scenes I normally try to identify a dominant image element for each photograph. Once I have time to study photographs on the computer display at home I refine my notion of a photograph's dominant image element. This has proven to be invaluable for articulating an overall editing goal and often helps identify the need for specific editing actions which might not be obvious.

The photograph discussed today was a bit unusual because I thought it contained two (rather than one) dominant image elements. Both were composed of the same material (ice), illuminated by the same light (indirect skylight) and located the same distance from the camera. However, they differed greatly in terms of geometric shape.

One group of objects consisted of straight icicles which were uniformly aligned in the vertical direction and terminated in fine, sharp points. The icicles were geometrically simple and uniform in shape. The other group of objects consisted of wonderfully complex ice “shelves” which varied greatly in shape. In contrast to icicles, ice shelves were thick, curved and tilted at various angles from the horizontal direction.

When I was at the scene making this exposure I identified the dominant image element to be the straight, uniform icicles. I deliberately included ice shelves in the composition but only to support the icicle structures. When evaluating the image on a computer display at home, however, I realized that an opportunity existed to contrast the geometry of two distinctly different objects (icicles and ice shelves) in the photograph.

I liked this idea and defined my overall editing goal to be differentiating and contrasting the icicles and ice shelves. I suspected that this approach would have the greatest impact if neither group of objects dominated the other so I made a note to give the two objects relatively equal strength. These thoughts provided a definite direction to editing.

As I continued to evaluate the image the need to perform several other editing tasks became apparent. While making the exposure at the scene, I recognized that the subject was physically shallow front-to-back so I made a note to look for editing opportunities to “deepen” the image.

I noted that the image would benefit from having plenty of light to make the ice feel clean and bright.

I made a note to look for ways to help the ice look colder and harder.

Lastly, I thought that image edges were too distracting since they pulled my eyes off of the photograph so I made a note to strengthen viewer eye movement through the image.

This completed my image evaluation. An overall editing goal was articulated and specific editing actions were identified to achieve the goal. Now, I was ready to begin editing.

Levels Adjustment

I typically begin editing with a simple global Levels adjustment to reduce the amount of subsequent editing that is needed. A Levels adjustment layer was opened for the cropped image from the scanner and it showed that pixel gray levels ranged from 10 to 255 on a scale of 0 to 255.

The darkest pixels of the image exhibited a gray level of 10 so no pure black pixels were present in the image. Consequently, the first Levels adjustment to be explored was movement of the black slider and it quickly became apparent that the image was strengthened by moving the slider from 0 to a gray level of 32. This adjustment added visual weight to the dark recesses in the ice and seemed to add depth to the relatively flat wall of ice. Of course, some details were lost in the darkest areas since image pixels with gray levels from 10 to 32 were now rendered pure black. However, the areas that became pure black were small and the advantage from achieving greater image depth exceeded the loss of structural detail in the areas.

Quite a few pixels were very bright and some were pure white (255). Pixels near the bright end of the gray level histogram actually looked a bit too bright so no change was made to the bright Levels slider. In fact, I made a note to slightly darken the near-white pixels later using a Curve adjustment.

The result of the Levels edit is shown below.

The Levels adjustment increased image contrast because the range of pixel gray levels was changed from 10-255 to 0-255. The loss of structural detail in the darkest image areas was inconsequential since the areas were small. Strengthening the dark areas caused the photograph to appear to have more front-to-back depth and caused the icicles feel slightly sharper and harder.

On the other hand, the image felt heavier and this needed to be addressed with a curve adjustment. A Curve adjustment also could be used to slightly darken the near-white pixels

Curve Adjustment

A Curve adjustment layer was opened and placed directly above the Levels adjustment layer. Different curve modifications were made for dark, bright and midtone pixels.

For the dark image regions, it was desirable to reduce image heaviness while preserving the “crispness” which resulted from the Levels adjustment. This was accomplished by preserving pure blacks in the image but slightly brightening other dark tones. That is, pure black and nearly pure black pixels (0-5) were not changed but the curve was bent upward for other dark pixels (6-150). Pixels near the midpoint of the 6-150 range were brightened most (as much as 12 gray levels) whereas pixels near both ends of the range were brightened least (1-2 gray levels).

For the bright image regions, it was desirable to darken the brightest pixels without reducing the feeling of bright light that is characteristic of ice. This was accomplished by preserving pure whites in the image but slightly darkening other bright pixels. That is, pure white pixels (255) were not changed but the curve was bent downward for other bright pixels (187-254). The brightest pixels in this range (near 254) were darkened most (as much as 16 gray levels) whereas pixels near the darkest end of the range (near 187) were darkened least (1-2 gray levels).

For pixels in the intermediate image regions (151-186), the curve was not changed.

The result of the curve adjustment is shown below.

The Curve adjustment reduced heaviness in the image and caused the ice to feel more like it is the result of interconnected ice rather than a collection of individual icicles and ice shelves.

Local Retouching

The original cropped image from the scanner was copied, named “Retouch” and inserted directly above the original image layer. All of the following retouching was performed in this layer.

The first retouching task was aimed at reducing the visual weight of areas which pull viewer's eyes off the image. For example, the small triangular bright area located at the lower left corner of the previous image was burned (darkened) to match surrounding pixels. Similarly, numerous areas near the corners and edges of the image were burned or dodged (brightened) to reduce their visual weight. These actions improved viewer eye movement through the image substantially. They also further strengthened the feeling that the photograph was interconnected ice rather than individual icicles and ice shelves.

The image required quite a bit of additional retouching to further improve viewer eye movement, enhance ice structure, and render icicles and ice shelves equally strong.

Large sections were dodged or burned to encourage the eye to visit the whole canvas. That is, an effort was made to more-or-less even out the visual “energy” of different image areas.

Next, individual ice objects were dodged or burned so the icicles and ice shelves would possess similar visual strength. In particular, rounded tops on ice shelves and bright vertical lines on icicles were edited to distribute visual energy over the ice more evenly.

This image required a lot of local retouching but it was very beneficial. The effects of retouching can be seen by comparing the retouched image shown below with the previous image.

It is clear that viewer eye movement was improved substantially. Retouching allows the eye to travel easily over the entire canvas.

Viewer's eyes have a tendency to return to the center of the photograph. This occurs because the center contains a large dark area which contrasts with prominent bright icicles and ice shelves located near the dark area. I think that locating this contrast close to the image center helps anchor eye movement within the image more effectively than locating it elsewhere in the image.

I am very happy with the way retouching distributed energy over all sections of the canvas. To me, this makes the photograph sparkle with a look of clean ice as it did at the scene when the negative was exposed.

Comparing the original scanned image to the final retouched image shows that the visual strength of the ice shelves was increased more than icicles. This was done to achieve similar visual strengths for the two elements to facilitate contrast between them. The overall effect for me was a photograph that is considerably more interesting since it contrasts the geometrically simple icicles (thin, uniformly straight, aligned vertically) and the geometrically complex ice shelves (thick, nonuniform, curved, aligned at various angles from the horizon).

Printing

I seldom sharpen images globally during editing and prefer to sharpen during printing instead (I print through QImage). This approach makes sense to me since the amount of sharpening that is appropriate for most images depends on print size. Sharpening during printing allows me to store a single image file and then perform the appropriate amount of sharpening to each print regardless of its size.

As I make test prints during image editing, the amount of sharpening is varied to help determine the appropriate amounts needed. Only modest sharpening is performed while printing most images but more aggressive sharpening was used when printing today's image. Sharpening enhanced the fine, sharp points at the end of icicles. It also helped icicles look more solid because sharpening strengthened the thin bright lines that highlight each side of individual icicles. Unfortunately, these effects can't be shown in this blog because sharpening is only applied while printing.

Please remember that all edits are much more obvious when viewing a large print than when viewing a tiny image displayed on the web. As has been said by many people for many years, there is no substitute for seeing an original work of art!

I have printed this photograph at several different sizes and it looks good at nearly any size. My personal favorite print size for this image is approximately 25 inch x 22 inch since this size shows an impressive amount of detail and the icicles look razor sharp.

Summary

This blog post discusses PhotoShop edits for an image introduced in the previous blog. Even though I was very happy with image capture at the scene, extensive editing was performed to strengthen the image. The effects of editing are shown in several images. 

Any comments you might have about the image, techniques used for editing or the results of editing will be appreciated. For a larger view of this photograph, visit my website at

www.RandallRBreseePhoto.com

and click on the Galleries tab. Look in the Smoky Mountains gallery and then click on the image itself (Wall of Icicles). It may be necessary to click on the image twice to view it at its largest size.

Randall R Bresee

Introduction

This post will discuss exposure records - logs that contain key information about photographic exposures. Information is power and exposure records provide details which help ferret out technical problems encountered in the field and help photographers master their craft.

Exposure records can take many forms. I shoot black & white film with a view camera and began using 3inch x 5inch paper records purchased from Zone VI Studios many years ago. These were inexpensive and contained blank spaces to record information that most film and view camera users need. I don't know where to purchase similar records today so I print my own 3inch x 5inch pages using simple software and a computer.

I use a small plastic (i.e. water resistant) notebook made for 3inch x 5inch pages to organize the records when I am in the field. The notebook has two sleeves and I keep blank exposure records in one sleeve and used records in the other. An ink pen can be secured in the notebook so everything is in one compact location which fits nicely in a camera bag or trouser pocket.

My record system fits my needs but there are many ways to implement an exposure logging system. I suspect that some of the newer digital cameras automatically record limited exposure information. That is a good start but many things impact a photograph and photographers may benefit from a separate record system that is more informative.

Many photographers today might be tempted to record exposure information temporarily in a digital communication device such as a cell phone. However, one should remember that exposure records are archives of information that probably will be useful for many years so it is important to implement a system that is immune to technical advances through time. That's why I rely on a simple pen and paper. Another reason I prefer the low tech approach is that I often travel to locations where cellular communication is limited but I know that pen and paper will always work.

In today's post, I will discuss an exposure record for a scene that was photographed in November 2010. I'll show you the actual record which I made at the scene and discuss its use to evaluate my photographic performance.

This blog may help photographers appreciate the value of recording photographic information at the scene and may lead some to develop a useful way to implement a version of an exposure record for themselves. Many people undoubtedly will find that having information will lead to more thoughtful evaluations of the decisions they make at scenes during image acquisition. In turn, they also may find that these evaluations help them grow as photographers.

My Exposure Record

One of my 3inch x 5inch paper exposure records was scanned and is shown below. My records were devised for black & white film exposed in a view camera using Zone System controls. The record contains blank lines to record Zone System information, identify contrast filters and other information which is necessary to evaluate my photography.

The information in this exposure record was written in about one minute because I was in a hurry. Exposures sometimes can be so rushed that I expose the film and then record information for it immediately afterward.

However, I prefer to take my time recording information prior to exposing the film because it gives me an opportunity to think about what I'm doing in a deliberate, structured manner. As I record the f-stop, for example, I ask myself if I have chosen the best value for it and consider the use of other f-stops. I also question choices for shutter speed, zone placements and other items listed on the paper. This process of thinking about each of the items on my exposure record often results in changes which strengthen photographs. 

The top line of each exposure record contains a title for the photograph as well as the location of the scene and date of exposure. For the record shown above the subject was icicles that appeared on Clingmans Dome Road in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park during November of 2010.

After developing films, I match each sheet of film with its exposure record and write an identifying number on the lower right corner of the exposure record and negative sleeve. I use the common two-part numbering system that includes the year the negative was exposed and a number for the individual negative. The number on the record shown above (10-15) indicates that the negative was recorded during 2010 and was the fifteenth negative I recorded that year.

The identification number for each negative is unique and remains with the negative forever. This makes it easy to locate proof sheets, computer files and printing data for each negative and avoids confusing a negative with others if I return to a scene to record additional negatives.

A numbering system also invites one to step back and take a broad look at what has been accomplished photographically. I occasionally look at the number and location of exposures I have made in recent years to determine if my goals for fieldwork have been reached. The record above indicates that few negatives were exposed during 2010 because only 15 exposures were recorded by November. However, I am reminded that most of my photography time during 2010 was devoted to setting up new digital printing equipment and learning to use it rather than exposing new negatives.

The lower right corner of my exposure record contains a large blank area that I can use for several things. For most images, I scribble a quick sketch of the scene to facilitate matching negatives with exposure records later. This is especially useful when I return from a long trip and have many negatives to sort.

I also use the large blank area to make notations about things that I want to remember. For example, I might note that the movement of clouds across the sky was extremely fast to remind me to look closely at the sharpness of clouds when I evaluate the image later. Similarly, I may note that the camera lens was tilted a particularly large amount if I believe that it might affect the image badly. These comments can be quite helpful later when evaluating my technique.

Additional lines in the exposure record are available to record the lens, contrast filter, f-stop and shutter speed that were used for the exposure. For the scene discussed today, no contrast filter was used.

Of special importance are zone placements of specific scene areas and two areas were noted for the photograph discussed today. Dark rock areas were placed on Zone II and the brightest icicle features fell on Zones V - V.5 (read as 5 to 5.5). These will be discussed in more detail later.

Evaluating My Exposure Decisions

After a negative is scanned, it's image is displayed on my largest computer monitor. I relax and spend some time looking at the digital image and evaluate each decision that was made at the scene by comparing the displayed image to its exposure record. The evaluation process is facilitated by alternating views of the whole image with smaller image areas that are substantially enlarged.

The negative that corresponds to the exposure record above was scanned and the image obtained directly from the scanner is shown below without editing.

First, I examine the image for major technical defects. A seemingly endless number of things can ruin an otherwise good photograph so I work to identify and eliminate as many as I can. For example, defects might result from light leaks, scratches or dirt on negatives and erroneous exposures from a bad shutter. No problems were apparent for this image so I concluded that my camera was sound, the 25 year old film holder which held this negative was still light tight, no scratches were introduced on the film by handling and the negative was kept relatively dirt free. I gave myself an A for equipment and film handling.

Next, I ask myself if the best lens was used for the photograph. When at this particular scene, I thought the image might benefit from using a shorter focal length lens to boost depth in the relatively flat subject. A slightly wide angle lens (e.g. 150 mm) might have strengthened the presence of numerous layers of icicles formed on the rock wall. However, the icicles were located about three feet from the edge of the road and traffic on the road was fast so I could not safely position the camera in the middle of the road where a shorter lens needed to be located. Instead, I selected a slightly longer lens (210 mm) and positioned the camera on the far shoulder of the road.

I like this image and think it is strong but I'll have to admit that I wonder how much stronger it would have been if a shorter lens had been used. I gave myself a C- for lens selection because I did not acquire the optimum image for the scene. I scolded myself and vowed to try harder next time.

A color-managed computer system is necessary if contrast and tonal values are evaluated while viewing an image on the computer monitor. That is, the image on the monitor must be pretty close to what is obtained during printing or an evaluation has limited use. Fortunately, my color management system works pretty well.

My overall impression of image contrast was that it was excellent. The image had the feeling which I envisaged at the scene and no areas lacked structural detail. This meant that my decision to expand image contrast two f-stops by developing the negative N+2 was correct in this case. I gave myself an A for overall image contrast.

Next, I looked at image tones more carefully. The exposure record noted that Zone placements were recorded for two scene areas. Wet rock behind the ice was placed on Zone II (very dark tones with slight detail) whereas the brightest icicle features fell on the middle gray tones of Zones V - V.5 (Zones 5 to 5.5). The goal of N+2 development was to render the brightest icicle features much more brightly in the negative but it also was important to retain good texture in these areas.

Developing the negative N+2 was supposed to move the brightest icicle tones closer to Zones VII -VII.5 (Zones 7 to 7.5) which are light gray with plenty of detail. Evaluating the unedited image on the computer monitor indicated that my initial zonal placement of these areas and two zone contrast expansion worked quite well. Dark rock areas retained an appropriate amount of detail and bright icicle areas were rendered suitably bright with good detail. My goal of producing an image which did not require large tonal adjustments during editing was achieved. I gave myself an A for tonal rendition.

When I enlarged the image on the monitor, it was evident that focus was sharp from corner-to-corner. This indicated that focus was handled correctly at the scene. I can't flatter myself much, however, because obtaining sharp focus was easy for this photograph. That is, the scene was flat and motionless, a small f-stop could be used (f/32-45), a relatively fast shutter speed could be used (1/8 sec) and a heavy wooden tripod was used. I gave myself an A for focus although it was gravy.

Long-term Benefits of Exposure Records

I have recorded an exposure record for nearly every negative that I have exposed for many years. This archive of information has provided me with a structured way to evaluate key technical decisions that are made at scenes and has proven to be instrumental in improving my photography.

Exposure records provide information that is needed to identify numerous technical problems. Photography has always been fraught with equipment problems and implementing a system that helps eliminate problems quickly can be worth a lot. All of us probably have taken what we knew would be a great photograph but the image was unusable because of a technical problem. This unfortunate experience occurs less frequently for me since information is available to identify problems fast.

Evaluating one's performance is key to improving nearly anything. Taking the time to evaluate photography technique allows the photographer to benefit from experience more and gain greater mastery of the craft. In its most simple terms, exposure information helps identify exactly what was done in a certain situation so a similar effect can be achieved later. For example, I now can quickly glance at moving water and make a pretty good guess of the shutter speed needed to achieve a certain effect for the water.

Evaluating technical information develops confidence in one's technique. This can save both time and money. For example, I normally expose only a single negative at scenes because I know the consequence of my exposure choices. The exceptions to this are scenes which have fast enough movement that I an uncertain the movement was captured properly in only one exposure.

The real prize of evaluating exposure information is achieving technical mastery of the craft so photographers can better capture their photographic vision and focus more on the artistry of their work. That is a big prize indeed.

Summary

Information is power and exposure records provide information that helps ferret out technical problems and improve one's craft. In turn, photographers can capture their photographic vision better and focus more freely on the artistic effects desired for a photograph.

I hope this blog has helped readers appreciate the value of having information and encourages the adoption of some version of an exposure record. Most photographers can quickly record enough information to provide a thoughtful evaluation of the decisions they make at scenes during image acquisition. Once exposure information is recorded, photographers may be surprised at how valuable it can be. 

Any comments you might have about this post will be appreciated.

Randall R Bresee

The Scene

The natural bridge over the Kicking Horse River is a spectacular example of the power of moving water. The considerable volume of the river descends into a large hole which the water cut through rock to continue flowing downstream. A thick rock ledge remaining above the hole has served as a natural bridge over the river for many hundreds of years.

For me, the obvious theme of a photograph at this location should be the enormous volume of river water descending ferociously into the hole. Another thematic element came into play however.

I often try to include things in photographs which are important but may not be obviously tangible at a scene. As I admired the natural bridge, I felt that I could sense spirits of early people who crossed the river for hundreds of years. Their well-worn footpath (on the right) provided me with a way to include the presence of these early people in my photograph.

Composition

A slightly wide-angle 120 mm lens (150 mm is “normal” for a 4inch x 5inch camera) was selected and the camera was pointed directly at the big hole. Then I turned the camera left to capture the full width of the river reflecting plenty of sunlight from it's surface to draw viewer attention to the large volume of water in the river. Finally, the camera was carefully turned toward the right until the footpath was included in the image.

I acquired a few light meter readings from the scene and placed the darkest tree shadows on Zones I-II (nearly black – very dark with slight detail). This caused the sunlit trees and sunlit rocks to fall on Zone V (middle gray), sunlit sand to fall on Zone VII (light gray with plenty of detail) and sunlit whitewater to fall on Zones IX-X (nearly white without detail - pure white with no detail).

The sunlit whitewater clearly needed considerable detail in the image since the dominant subject of the photograph was water descending into the hole. Consequently, I marked the negative for N-2 development to darken the sunlit whitewater two f-stops to Zones VII-VIII (light gray with plenty of detail - bright with slight detail).

A shutter speed of 1/125 sec was selected to more-or-less freeze the splashing water and this shutter speed required an f-stop of f/16. I was concerned that f/16 would not provide sharp focus through the whole scene so I tilted the lens slightly forward to reposition the slice of sharp focus closer to where it was needed in the scene.

I usually spend some time watching movements at a scene before exposing film in an effort to determine if rhythms exist that can be used to “time” the exposure. Water flow into the hole at this scene, however, was far too fast and chaotic to time its movement so I based shutter release on only two areas of water.

One area was the wall of water in the foreground that pushed toward the near bank at relatively slow speed. The wall was important because it was surprisingly thick and could help anchor the foreground in the photograph. At the last moment, I lowered the camera somewhat to emphasize the foreground wall more and help create a feeling of depth in the image.

The other area was the water splash near the edge of the hole to the left of rocks which extended into the river from the right. I thought this relatively small but energetic splash might help draw visual attention to the enormous amount of energy that was spent in the hole pushing water downstream.

My plan for timing the shutter release was to wait until a nice, thick wall of relatively slow moving water began to push toward the bank and then shift my eyes to the near edge of the hole. I would release the shutter when the energetic splash at the edge of the hole reached its apex. Basing shutter release only on these two areas was a practical but effective way to deal with the problem of timing lots of complex water movement at the scene.

I normally expose only a single negative at each scene but two black and white negatives were exposed here to be certain that I captured water movement properly.

Scanning/Editing/Printing

Previewing the 4inch x 5inch film on my drum scanner indicated that the negative was pretty good. I instructed the scanner to acquire a high resolution digital file at my usual resolution of 5,000 ppi and 16-bit pixel depth.

I usually open an image file in PhotoShop and display it as large as possible on my big monitor to spend time thinking about the image before beginning editing.

I was happy to see that the camera position at the scene had been quite good. Facing the sun to illuminate the river's surface and then turning the camera toward the right to capture the footpath worked out well. The bright sunlit water seemed to draw visual attention initially upstream to the enormous volume of water carried by the river. Then the energetic descent of water into the hole seemed to pull the eye to the chaos of the hole and eventually further right to the footpath which rested peacefully near the right edge of the image. I thought the foreground was visually interesting and provided considerable depth to the photograph.

Unfortunately, I noticed one technical error that resulted from carelessness during exposure. When I viewed the image on the ground glass of my view camera at the scene, I didn't notice that tree tops in the upper left corner of the image lacked sharp focus. To avoid focus errors such as this I use magnifying eyeglasses to scan every bit of the ground glass for problems but apparently I missed the focus problem in this negative. Fortunately, the error was not large enough to ruin the negative and was small enough to ignore.

Overall, I was pleased with the photograph and believed that it had good potential. I developed a general plan for strengthening the image with PhotoShop and began my editing work.

Image areas which needed editing most were the dark areas of shaded trees. These were brightened locally using PhotoShop's Dodge tool with the “shadows” option selected for the tool's range.

Next, a global curve edit was performed. A curve adjustment layer was opened and the image was sampled to identify gray levels which corresponded to areas of sunlit trees and sunlit rocks. The areas were brightened moderately by bending a narrow portion of the curve upward for the sampled gray levels. Brighter areas of the curve (whitewater) and darker areas of the curve (shadows) were not changed. This edit substantially increased the feeling of sunlight at the scene.

Several small areas were brightened locally using PhotoShop's Dodge tool. One side of the mist cloud above the hole was brightened very slightly to add more energy to the hole. The footpath on the far right was brightened to increase its presence. Sunlit portions of some rocks were brightened very slightly. Finally, a few highlights on sunlit branches of trees were brightened moderately.

Next, the image foreground was strengthened. PhotoShop's Magnetic Lasso tool was used to select the whole foreground including shadows on the sand where the wall of water blocked direct sunlight. A Curve adjustment layer was opened for the selection and the straight line curve was converted to an S shape by bending the curve downward for darker tones and upward for brighter tones.

This adjustment increased contrast in the foreground considerably by darkening dark tones and lightening bright tones. In particular, the shadow below the entire length of the water wall was strengthened and sand was brightened near the left half of the wall where sunlight reflected off the wall. Increasing contrast in these areas directed considerably more visual attention to the wall of water. The texture of sand and gravel in the foreground also became better defined.

Next, the foreground was tweaked using PhotoShop's Burn and Dodge tools. A few shadowed areas under the water wall were darkened more to draw additional attention to the wall. A few bright areas of sand next to the left half of the wall where sunlight reflected off the wall were brightened more to further emphasize the wall.

All of these foreground edits strengthened the foreground considerably. This was important because a strong foreground generally enhances the feeling of depth in landscape photographs.

It is worth noting that the water in this image remained completely untouched during editing. Obtaining good light meter readings at the scene and darkening bright tonal values of the water using N-2 film development worked quite well. Without these actions the sunlit water would block, shadows would block or both would block and the negative would have been unusable.

I record an exposure record for every negative that I expose. The record contains information about light meter readings, zone placements, development instructions and many other important details. This information has proven to be invaluable for improving my photographic technique. As soon as I have test prints available I examine each test print and exposure record to evaluate my technique.

For the photograph discussed today, the evaluation indicated that I should have placed shadowed areas one half an f-stop higher and then reduced film development time by an additional one half an f-stop (to N-2.5). This change would have have brightened the dark shaded tree areas and produced a slightly stronger image. Reducing negative development times substantially to achieve fairly large contrast reductions often affects darker tones as well as brighter tones. Sometimes I forget to take that into account as I did here.

I have printed this image to several different sizes and it looks great at nearly any size. The image contains much detail that is not visible in smaller prints so larger prints look more impressive than smaller prints to me.

Summary

The subject of this photograph is the entire volume of the entire Kicking Horse River descending ferociously into a large hole to form a natural bridge that was used for many hundreds of years as a crossing. I believe the image does justice to the subject matter.

Any comments you might have about the image, the photographic approach used for it, its composition, or image workup will be appreciated. For a larger view of this photograph, visit my website at

http://www.RandallRBreseePhoto.com

and click on the Galleries tab, look in the “Western Canada” gallery and then click on the image itself (Natural Bridge Over Kicking Horse River). More details can be seen in a larger image displayed on my website but it may be necessary to click on the image twice to view its largest size.

Randall R Bresee

The Scene

I discussed a photo of a door located at Gibson Greenhouses in the last blog post and today we will discuss another image acquired at the greenhouse complex. Today's image along with six other photographs from the complex can be seen at

http://www.RandallRBreseePhoto.com

by clicking on the “Galleries” tab at the top and then clicking on the “Gibson Greenhouses” image to view small thumbnails of all seven photos. Move the cursor over a thumbnail and then click to view a larger image.

I generally work very deliberately to incorporate important scene attributes into a photograph, including things that are abstract. In my photograph “Athabasca Indians Keeping Watch,” for example, I tried to visually develop a feeling that native Indian spirits were present at the scene.

The dominant scene attribute for today's post was very concrete and visually obvious. A greenhouse is designed to allow an impressive amount of light to pass through its walls and roof and the specific goal of today's image was to produce a print which conveyed the feeling of an enormous amount of light falling onto a greenhouse wall.

Composition

When I arrived at the greenhouse, the wall was fully illuminated by direct sunlight except for shadows produced by vertical pipes. This seemed like an excellent opportunity to capture an impressive amount of light but I decided that a uniformly illuminated wall provided a limited sense of bright light even though the light was very strong. I thought strong sunlight could be sensed by the human brain more readily if it was compared with light that is not as strong. Contrasting bright, direct sunlight with soft, indirect light ought to allow the eye and mind to provide meaning to the bright sunlight more readily.

I decided to wait until the shadow from the roof overhang high on the wall moved lower to add contrasting light to the wall and I returned an hour later to find the shadow from the overhang stretching nicely down the wall. The wall's lower region was illuminated brightly by direct sunlight whereas its upper region was shadowed by the roof overhang and illuminated only indirectly by the blue sky. This contrast seemed to more effectively communicate a sense of bright light than earlier when the wall was illuminated nearly uniformly by bright sunlight.

Two compositional decisions were quickly made. First, I decided to hurry so an image could be acquired before the shadow from the roof overhang moved low enough to reach the concrete blocks. I wanted to position the line of contrast (direct versus indirect illumination) on the textured glass panes of the wall. A position located precariously close to the concrete blocks was selected to add tension to the image. 

Second, the wall was flat physically so I decided to prominently incorporate one of the gutter pipes in the composition. The wall was seriously flat between the pipes and a pipe provided the best opportunity to add much needed depth to the image.

I knew the photograph would benefit by using a slightly wide-angle lens because it would allow me to get closer to the subject and “pull” the pipe out of the wall better to emphasize depth. I selected a 120 mm lens for my 4inch x 5inch camera (a “normal” lens for a 4x5 is 150 mm) and set up the camera quite low to the ground so approximately half of the scene was illuminated by direct sunlight and half was illuminated only indirectly by blue sky. I hoped that dividing the image nearly in half would direct attention toward the interface between harsh sunlight and soft shadows.

The ground glass of my view camera showed that textures illuminated acutely by direct sunlight contrasted nicely with soft shadows illuminated indirectly by blue sky. I felt the composition would effectively communicate the enormous presence of bright sunlight in the image and I was excited by what I saw on the ground glass.

My light meter indicated that the exposure would be straightforward. The darkest wood frames surrounding the glass panes (located slightly above the concrete blocks) were placed on Zones I-II (nearly black with no texture – very dark with slight texture) to form a solid visual “anchor” for the image. The brightest areas of the scene were located on small sections of the curved pipe which reflected sunlight strongly and those areas fell on Zone VIII-IX (very bright with slight texture – nearly white with no texture). Since I wanted the feeling of strong sunlight to dominate the image and the brightest areas of the pipe were small, placing the brightest areas quite high on the exposure scale was fine and normal film development was appropriate.

My light meter is a one degree spot meter which can sample small areas of a scene. A spot meter was indispensable for measuring the brightness of this scene and determining the appropriate exposure for it.

The cloudless sky provided plenty of light so a sheet of Tri-X black & white film (ASA 320) was exposed for 1/30 sec at f/32-45 (read as half way between f/32 and f/45). I was excited and hoped the photograph captured the feeling of bright light flooding the wall that I experienced.

Scanning/Editing/Printing

I scanned the 4inch x 5inch black & white negative with a drum scanner by capturing 5,000 ppi with 16-bit pixel depth. The scan was straightforward and no adjustments were needed during scanning.

Editing the image in PhotoShop was easy. I began with a global curve modification (i.e. the curve for the whole image was adjusted). Dark pixels of the image were darkened by bending the dark section of the curve downward. Bright pixels were brightened by bending the bright section of the curve upward except for the brightest pixels of the photo (gray levels brighter than 238) which were not altered.

The global curve modification strengthened the image but I remained surprised that the texture of the glass panes was weaker in the image than what I recalled at the scene. I realized the glass was weak on film because so much light filled the inside of the greenhouse that the dark and middle tones of the panes were brighter than I anticipated. It was clear that their dark and middle image tones needed darkening to achieve adequate texture.

I used PhotoShop's Magnetic Lasso tool to select shaded areas in the upper half of the photo and modified the curve for the selected areas. The curve was bent downward substantially for dark tones, bent downward less for midtones and bent downward only slightly for bright tones so darker pixels were darkened progressively more than brighter pixels. This strengthened the texture of the glass considerably and added some “weight” to the wood frames around the glass panes.

Local retouching using PhotoShop's Burn and Dodge tools was performed next. A few large shadowed areas of the concrete blocks were so dark that they pulled the viewer's eyes off of the glass panes. Those areas were lightened by dodgeing to reduce their weight and help keep viewer's eyes on the textured glass. This was important because a key editing goal was to contrast bright, sunlit areas with soft, shadowed areas and the interface between these two areas was located on the glass panes above the concrete blocks.

Next, I wanted to direct viewer attention more strongly to the interface between bright sunlit areas and soft, shadowed areas. This was accomplished by increasing contrast at the interface in a way that could be viewed loosely as edge enhancement on a macro level. Shadowed areas near the interface were burned slightly darker whereas sunlit areas near the interface were dodged slightly brighter. This emphasized the interface in a way that is similar to enhancing edges during image sharpening by darkening and brightening pixels at the edges. My edit was applied manually with local burning and dodgeing over areas that included several hundred pixels on both sides of the interface but its effect was analogous to edge enhancement using ordinary image sharpening. Comparing my edited and unedited images showed that the edit increased contrast at the interface and effectively pulled viewer's eyes toward the interface.

Small sunlit portions of the pipe were brightened by dodgeing to enhance the feeling of blazing sunlight reflecting off of the pipe. Light also was added to the pipe's shadow on the concrete blocks to further increase the feeling of strong light in the lower half of the photograph. Several small areas of the concrete blocks also were brightened by dodgeing to strengthen the feeling of strong, bright sunlight.

Finally, I identified a few small areas of high contrast near edges of the photograph that pulled the viewer's eyes off of the image. The contrast in these areas was reduced by burning and/or dodgeing.

Today's image feels right to me when printed to a small size that can be held in the hand (e.g. 11 inch x 14 inch).

Summary

The subject of this photograph was the presence of an enormous amount of sunlight falling on a greenhouse wall. For me, the final image successfully captured the feeling of bright light flooding the wall which I experienced at the scene. Any comments you might have about the image, the photographic approach used for it, its composition, or image workup will be appreciated.

Randall R Bresee

Some photographers think they need to visit unusual locations far away to get great photographs but opportunity often sits next door waiting to be recognized. While driving on the road in front of our house, I often glanced at a building complex called “Gibson Greenhouses” that is located a few blocks away. Since a greenhouse is designed to allow plenty of light to pass through its walls and roof I thought the buildings might contain some photo opportunities.

I contacted the owner and explained that my goal was to wander around his buildings in hope that I would find something to photograph. Fortunately, he was kind enough to grant me access and I scheduled a visit in the early afternoon so I could see the buildings change as the sun moved westward through the sky.

I loaded a dozen sheets of film thinking that twelve exposures would be more than enough for the afternoon but I was shocked by the large number of scenes with beautiful light and fantastic textures that I saw. I began shooting shortly after I arrived, one exposure per scene, and ran out of film after about three and a half hours. I clearly had underestimated the beauty that had been resting quietly a few blocks from my home.

I worked-up nine good images that exhibit a strong presence of light and have posted seven on my website so far. You may enjoy taking a look at them if you have time. Visit

http://www.RandallRBreseePhoto.com

and click on the “Galleries” tab at the top and then click on the image displayed for the “Gibson Greenhouses” gallery to view small thumbnails of all seven photos. Move the cursor over the first thumbnail to view a larger thumbnail and then click to view a larger image. After viewing the image, click “Next” to cycle through the other six images at large size.

Composition

The image discussed today is a metal door which was painted countless times through the years and developed a wonderful texture of cracked paint. A glass pane within the door and panes surrounding the door revealed plants bathed by soft light inside the building. I thought the softly textured, luminous environment inside the building contrasted well with the hard, textured metal door. An image was composed which identified the door as the dominant object but included enough glass for the viewer to glimpse what was on the other side of the door.

Everything on the near side of the door was in full shade and I normally would have emphasized the door's texture by increasing film development time to expand image contrast on the film. However, that couldn't be done in this case because everything on the other side of the door was bathed in soft but bright light and expanding film contrast would have caused those objects to become too bright and loose important detail.

I knew exposure was critical for this scene and I carefully took several readings with a good light meter. The wide band of dark rust surrounding the glass pane in the door was placed on Zone III (dark with good texture) to preserve image detail in this important area. The brightest areas seen through the glass panes fell on Zone VII (bright with good texture) so normal film development (rather than increased development) was proper to retain important detail in both dark and bright image areas.

A sheet of Tri-X film (ASA 320) was exposed for 1/15 sec at f/22 & 1/3 (read as f  “twenty two and one third”). I was excited about the photograph and hoped it would capture the wonderful texture of the door and allow the viewer to imagine opening the door to reveal plants bathed by soft light inside the building.

Scanning/Editing/Printing

I scanned my 4inch x 5inch black & white negative with a drum scanner by capturing 5,000 ppi with 16-bit pixel depth. No adjustments were necessary during scanning so I was satisfied with the exposure and development choices that were made in the field.

As usual, I spent some time studying the image and developing a goal for image editing. I planned to show the wonderful texture of the door and convey the feeling that it led into a building which was filled with plants that were bathed by lots of soft sunlight. To achieve this goal, the door texture needed strengthening, the panes of glass needed softening and a feeling of “entry” into the building was necessary.

Normally my first edit step involves exploring an image globally using the PhotoShop Levels tool but this was not a good choice here since one part of the image (the door) needed a contrast increase whereas another part of the image (the glass panes) needed a contrast decrease. Since PhotoShop's Curve tool provides more refined tonal adjustments it was more useful for exploring this image. That is, curve adjustment was a more effective way to achieve my editing goal since dark tones/midtones of the door (which need strengthening) and the brightest tones of the glass panes (which need softening) could be adjusted independently. I explored the image with many curve adjustments and finally settled on a somewhat complicated curve modification.

First, I moved the black point of the curve about 6 gray levels (on an 8-bit tonal scale of 256 gray levels) to strengthen (i.e. darken) the darkest tones in the image. Then, I selected the dark half of the tonal scale on the curve and bent the curve downward to further strengthen (i.e. darken) the dark tones. These adjustments strengthened texture considerably by increasing contrast within the door, its frame and the concrete blocks. The door began to "feel" like it was a heavy metal door.

Next, I selected the bright half of the tonal scale on the curve and bent the curve upward to brighten the lightest tones. This further increased contrast within the door frame and concrete blocks. Variations in paint color within the door became quite evident so the door's texture was strengthened considerably. On the other hand, the brightest tones in the glass panes became too bright so the light lost its softness and became too harsh and some plant details were lost. This needed to be fixed in the next step.

I turned my attention to softening the bright panes of glass. Beginning with a gray level of 234 (out of 256) the bright end of the curve was bent sharply downward to darken only the brightest tones of the image. This reduced illumination harshness, softened the light considerably and developed more plant textures. The presence of plants bathed by soft light inside the building was strengthened.

Next, a few areas were retouched locally using PhotoShop's Burn and Dodge tools. The most important area was the door handle since it had an important psychological affect on viewers. Recall that one editing objective for this image was to strengthen the feeling that the door provided access to a building which was filled with plants and sunlight. Since the door handle is used to open the door, it deserved attention.

I used the Dodge tool to brighten the rectangular plate of the door handle until its tones were similar to those of the rectangular glass in the center of the door. Since the glass provided visual “entry” into the building, linking it tonally with the door handle strengthened the feeling that the door provided entry into the greenhouse building. I was surprised at how well this edit worked.

I like this image because it contrasts sharpness with softness and invites the viewer to open the hard metal door with his imagination to view the softness inside the greenhouse.

I use photo techniques in my work that allow large prints of high technical quality to be produced because many of my images depict enormous and detailed landscapes which simply look more impressive when printed large. The image discussed today, however, feels right to me when printed to a small size that can be held in the hand (e.g. 11 inch x 14 inch).

Summary

The subject of this photograph is a wonderfully textured door that provides entry into a greenhouse which contains plants that are bathed by lots of soft sunlight. I believe the final image does justice to the subject.

Any comments you might have about the image, the photographic approach used for it, its composition, or image workup will be appreciated. For a larger view of the photograph, visit the website at

http://www.RandallRBreseePhoto.com

Randall R Bresee

The Scene

While working as a university professor, I had limited time for personal photography so I often combined photography excursions with work-related travel by using vacation days when work was finished. An opportunity to do this occurred during a consulting trip to Switzerland one late October.

I traveled to Zurich in northern Switzerland to work for three days and informed my Swiss coworkers that I planned to photograph mountain scenery for eight days after our work was completed. They enthusiastically provided much information about various locations and emphasized driving south into the mountains that border Switzerland and Italy. They cautioned that heavy snow in the mountains normally made travel more difficult by late October but I was fortunate that winter had not yet arrived.

I left my Swiss friends and eagerly departed for the mountains. The scenery was beautiful and I captured numerous wonderful photographs while winding through southern Switzerland and northern Italy.

When I crossed into Italy the first time I thought the light somehow became more luminous and full. The beauty of the light caused me to think that it may be partly responsible for Italy producing so many great artists. I wound down a two-lane mountain road near the border and decided to photograph a tree in the beautiful light. There were no places to pull off the road and my enthusiasm led me to risk getting in trouble by pulling only slightly onto the tiny shoulder. My parked car blocked most of one lane but I thought little harm would be done since I had seen few cars on the road.

I had barely set up my big view camera when I spotted a small car coming down the mountain. As it approached, I noticed that it was a police car and a sick feeling developed in my stomach. All but the two right tires of my car rested on the roadway and I had visions of being jailed in a foreign country where I could not speak their language. I continued working as the car slowly made its way toward me. When it arrived at my stopping place, I was delighted to see the policeman smile and continue driving as he waved hello. This caused me to think that such tolerance for "bending the rules a bit" helps Italy produce so many great artists.

While capturing many fine images during my visit to Switzerland and Italy I remembered my Swiss friends warning me that heavy snow might fall at any time so I tried to be ready to escape the mountainous terrain quickly if winter weather arrived. There was little hint of snow until the last morning of my trip when I woke in a tiny Swiss town that was surrounded by mountains to see enormous snowflakes falling from the sky. Snow had already begun to accumulate and I feared that it might prevent me from returning to the airport for my flight home.

My returning flight to Tennessee departed later that day and it was necessary to be on the flight since I had classes to teach the following day. I packed as rapidly as possible and ran to the car in an attempt to hurry over the mountain pass before it was closed by the snow. I drove north to work my way up the mountain but was disheartened to see cars stopped on the road to put chains on their tires. It didn't take long before I couldn't proceed much farther without getting stuck in the snow so I turned onto a different road in hopes that the snow had not reached that high pass yet. However, it too was impassable.

I thought that I was in trouble. I had pushed my boss pretty hard to get permission to spend so much time on my trip and knew that she would not tolerate me returning to work late. The snow had already become so deep that I had visions of not returning to work until it melted in the spring.

When I arrived back in town I saw a road sign which showed a railroad flatcar with automobiles driving up a ramp onto it. An arrow pointed down a road to the right so I turned and saw a railroad station a few blocks away. I learned that a train departed daily for a short trip through a mountain tunnel to emerge safely on the other side where a multi-lane freeway would easily get me to the airport. The train was scheduled to depart in two hours and I happily purchased a ticket for the car and me. I was relieved that I wouldn't have to worry about loosing my job after all...

Composition

I had already photographed much scenery during my trip when I arrived after sunset at a hotel in a Swiss mountain village called Klosters. I had been photographing for several days and went straight to bed a tired man.

I arose at sunrise and anxiously walked to the car in anticipation of another day of great mountain photography. I loaded my things into the trunk and slid into the drivers seat. While starting the car, I looked straight ahead to see an extremely beautiful concrete retaining wall only one foot in front of my vehicle. I hadn't noticed the wall when I arrived after dark the previous night so I paused to admire it before deciding that it needed to be photographed.

The wall was old and covered with wet stains, cracks and mineral deposits. Early morning blue sky illuminated the wall with light that was not bright but provided enough directional illumination (from above) to avoid a flat image. I took a few readings with a light meter and realized the light was fine since the brightness range of the wall was quite good. Dark wet areas were placed on Zone II (very dark with slight detail) and the bright mineral deposits fell on Zone VII (very light with good detail) so normal film exposure and development were appropriate.

I selected a slightly long lens (210 mm) to include an interesting area of the wall in the image without showing other structures because I wanted to prevent viewers from placing the image in a meaningful physical context. Thus, the image was to be a “straight” photograph of a wonderfully textured building structure that was without context so the image would be somewhat abstract. One sheet of Tri-X film (ASA 320) was exposed for 0.5 sec at f/16.

I was excited about the image and hoped the exposure was good. On the flight home, I reviewed exposure records for the things I had photographed and chuckled because my favorite photograph from an area full of natural beauty was a black & white photograph of an old concrete retaining wall in the hotel parking lot!

Scanning/Editing/Printing

I scanned the 4inch x 5inch negative with a drum scanner by capturing 5,000 ppi with 16-bit pixel depth. Tones on the negative were good so it was unnecessary to make any adjustments during scanning. The digital image viewed on a computer monitor was quite similar to my vision of the retaining wall so I was pleased with the exposure and development choices that were made at the scene.

My editing goal was to produce enough dark, broody tones and enough crisp, bright tones to lend an abstract feel to the concrete wall. Minor levels and curve adjustments were used to obtain these tones globally.

A few local areas were burned (darkened) and dodged (brightened) to produce better eye movement through the image. Specifically, areas near image edges were burned to push the eye inward from the edges and bright mineral deposits near the center of the image were dodged to pull the eye toward the center. The large cross-shaped mineral deposit near the center of the image was a key feature. Most of the cross was brightened but the disjointed line that falls vertically all of the way to the bottom edge of the image was progressively darkened as it approached the edge. Comparison of a pre-edit test print to a post-edit test print showed that these edits were important for managing viewer eye movement effectively.

I have printed this image at several different sizes and it looks especially good at a fairly large size (e.g. 27 inch x 21 inch) because the large print size seems to add to the abstract nature of the image. This is especially evident when the print is hung on a wall and surrounded by similarly sized landscape prints since many viewers initially believe it is an areal landscape image.

Summary

The subject of this photograph was a simple concrete retaining wall. The image was composed and edited to be a rather abstract representation of the wall. Any comments you might have about the image, the photographic approach used for it, its composition, or image workup will be appreciated. For a larger view of the photograph, visit the website at

www.RandallRBreseePhoto.com

and click on the Galleries tab, click on the “Abstract Photos” gallery and then click on the image itself (Concrete Retaining Wall). It may be necessary to click on the image twice to view it at its largest size.

Randall R Bresee