Scoping out locations

Looking at locations for a future shoot I decided to take some scouting images. I’d say they were a little more focused and carefully done then scouting images though.  When we finally settled down on a location that really spoke to us we went to town photographing it. The light was just perfect.; mostly cloudy with hints of sun coming through. I set my white balance to cloudy and just cranked away.

This abandoned van had been here for quite some time. I actually tweet’ed with an image of it from my phone while I was birding one day. When I saw it then I immediately knew I would have to come back and set some time aside to photograph it. When we got there it was colder then I had anticipated. Being closer to the shore the winds had picked up naturally and were constantly reminding us with frigged gusts. Despite or numbing fingers we stuck it out and had fun taking photos thinking of concepts for the possible model session. When  approaching the scene I immediately knew I wanted to throw these images into Color eFex Pro. Especially with the tonal contrast filter in mind. There were so many details around and I knew Color eFex Pro would bring it out. I have been reading the beginning of my friend Josh Bradley’s book and it helped me think in exactly that fashion. Not to slobber post processing over all your images, but to think when you see a scene and even before you make that click what you will want to do in post production. I’ve only cracked the front portion of the book and I am already enjoying the style. Makes you think, doesn’t just spoon feed you so that you come out with nothing creative.

I painted in the tonal contrast filter for this one. Can you guess where?… I purposely painted it only on the graffiti. I didn’t want to do it to the surrounding area detracting the viewers eye.

I started far out first with my approach. normally when it comes to wildlife I do a similar technique. Just like photographing wildlife you take a few photos before you make your next steps. Too often when I first started I would try patiently getting closer and closer until I was finally ready to shoot…and swoosh the bird takes off. So I tend to start taking photos off the bat working the best that I can and slowly moving closer and closer as I scope out the details; which this van sure had a ton of.

Pro contrast was the filter of choice here. It all has to do with that sky.

The sky was just fantastic. At first it was a bit heavy on the clouds, but if you pointed your lens in the right direction and used a polarizer you were golden. I exposed for the highlights as the finer details of what was inside was of little importance to this photograph.

Here I used the pro contrast filter instead of tonal contrast. I felt it did a much better job with the sky and it didn’t over saturate the color of the van while making the contours extras crisp.

As I moved closer I really had so slowdown and make sure I was looking at every detail. Particularly the light. If we don’t use the light properly then what would are photographs be am I right? The task of watching the light and how it interacted with our subject was made a bit more difficult due to the changing light. Clouds would roll past the sun causing the image you saw a second ago gone the next. So while you want to take your time at first and get a feel for it don’t hesitate on taking a shot. It’s better to have taken it and not like it then to have not taken it and regret it later.

Angle was important here. As you can see the windows are filled with these fantastic phragmites  and another dormant plant with a perfect complimenting red. I wanted to shoot tall enough so that was all you see. If you look back an image or two you will notice there were other dormant trees. if I shot low enough I would have got them in there ruining the photograph. As for my approach when it comes to the position of my film plane to the subject I tend to want to be on an angle. It makes the 3D subject appear more life-like in your final 2D print. When going on an angle though keep in mind your depth of field. You wouldn’t want some parts in focus while the rest of it not.

A regular pass of the tonal contrast filter was used here. The one thing I wish I removed? (we all miss something now and then) I wish I removed the shattered mirror glass at windshield area.

So this is where I ended up. more often then not when I look back at the images I shot or the day or for a particular session I like them more and more toward the end. I find that as you get out there you are a bit rusty (especially if you don’t have the luxury of shooting every day) and you begin to fall into your groove as you try different things. This applies across all fields for me. Regardless if I am photographing an animal, a person, a sweet sixteen, a waterfall, or a landscape. So next time you are out there start large and work your way in. You never know what you may just come up with.

I used a lighter version of tonal contrast by pulling down back the sliders. Although the tonal contrast looked really cool at its normal setting I felt it was over done and unrealistic.