I pondered this image for a while, trying to decide on a suitable title,  doorway and bird cages?    No that doesn't do it for me,  never mind,  I just like the picture so here it is.    Taken during my China 1999 trip,  from memory this shot was taken in the town of Kaifeng.   In this neighbourhood it was common for people to have bird cages outside their homes,  these cages and the doorway alongside caught my eye.   Not sure whether I was initially aware, or not,  of the men sitting inside,  but their presence and their acknowledgement of the camera helps make the image.   In post processing,  I needed to lighten the building interior to even up the tones a little,  otherwise very little has been done to the original image.     

   Pentax SF7 with 28-80mm zoom,  original capture on colour negative film.

Metadata.

    This image,  as explained above,  was taken back in 1999 on film and as a result, whilst I can confidently say which camera and lens was used,  I can't say what the camera settings were,  nor can I be entirely sure what date the photo was taken.    Fortunately I'm in the practice of keeping a diary whilst travelling and so can be reasonably clear on where the image was taken.  

     Now in the digital age we have another advantage over film,  metadata.   With a digital file we can go back to the metadata which is recorded with the image and have a detailed record,  time and date, camera and lens used,  focal length, aperture, shutter speed etc.   The details aren't critical in our enjoyment of the final image.  To the viewer,  does it matter that the shot was taken with an ABC model camera or a XYZ model camera?   Hardly,  but some of the details can be instructive if we're trying to improve our technique.   What shutter speed is sufficient to freeze subject movement for example,  or alternatively give a pleasing blur effect with moving subjects if that's what your after.   (Go back and have a look at some of my running wildebeest shots from the Tanzania series as an example)

    Completing my exploration of this image,  today I present the third approach.    Having concentrated attention on what I regard as the most interesting element in the scene through cropping and selective blurring and sharpening (see previous blog entry dated 21st June, 09)  I now decided on a toned monochrome effect.   In the previous two entries I discussed those things that influence the way we see images and the factors that shape our vision of the world,  our photographic vision if you will.   Among the things that influence us are our personal experiences and recollections.    We are of course also influenced by the media,  both electronic and printed,  recent and historical. 

   I recall several years ago visiting Vietnam,  it was at a time when tourism into that country was only just starting up.   Whilst there I saw a series of news photographs taken in the 1950s and 1960's which documented that turbulent and violent era.   The images in black and white had discoloured with time taking on a yellowish brown tone.   The photos spoke of another time,  firstly of course because of the subject matter and its historical value,  but also because of the way in which it was presented.   The presentation of those images was determined by the limitations of the technology of that time,  but fortunately we can now mimic that effect quite easily,  via digital processing.

   Looking at the image of the youth with the cart,  I felt this was a scene that could have been played out 10 years ago (as it in fact was) or 50 or 60 years ago.   Influenced by those pictures from the 50s and 60s,  I went with the toned monochrome effect aiming for a slightly grainy and contrasty look.   I was tempted to take the "aged photograph" look even further by exaggerating the grain further and perhaps giving the image a more distressed look but decided to settle on what you see here.       

The second approach shown above was further processed to arrive at the image at left.     A different approach to processing and presenting the image has arrived at something with a very different feel to it.       If it weren't for the signature brush with the year of processing included,  the subject matter and the style of presentation means the image could be from a decade ago or 5 or 6 decades ago.

      So what does this exercise prove?    That there are numerous ways to see a particular scene and there are numerous approaches that can be adopted,  both at the time,  and as shown here,  after the event via our processing options.   All of these things are driven by our own individual sense of how we see and view things,  our individual vision or photographic approach.   KD

   Following on from my last entry and the concept that one image could be viewed several ways,  I present today's version,  the second approach.   

   The first approach was to present the image with only slight cropping but showing the numerous elements that were present,  the background traffic both motorised and pedal powered,  the trees and the flags hanging from them.   The image works OK but is a bit busy.   I found myself asking "what's the point of the picture?"  "what's the key to it?"   To answer these questions,  I first answered another one.   "What was it that caught my eye in the first place and prompted me to take the picture?"   The answer to all these questions is the presence of the youth with his coal cart.

   It seems to me that there is a story here.   The posture,  the expression,  looking out of frame,  distracted.   The cart laden with coal requires either an animal,  such as a donkey,  or more likely a vehicle to tow it,  but where's the vehicle?    Is that the story?   The vehicle's been taken off the road for repairs?   He's minding the cart till his employer (his father?) returns with the repaired vehicle?   Whatever the story,  I've adopted the approach that everything else in the frame is just incidental and drawing attention away from what's important here.

   To focus in on what I see as the essence of the image,  I've cropped tightly to eliminate the extraneous.    I want the image to be about the youth and the coal cart.   To concentrate the viewer's attention further I have selectively blurred and sharpened the image.   I made a selection of the youth and the cart and added sharpening to those elements.   I then applied a blurring to everything else.         

The first approach (above) was to show the image as a broad street scene with numerous elements.    But the image is busy,  there's a lot going on in the frame.    My second approach is to concentrate attention on what I think is the real story.

A third approach.  

     Is this the end of the exercise?   No.    In my previous entry I spoke about what influences the way we look at things and what shapes our photographic vision,  our photographic approach.   Among those things are educational and cultural factors,  but also there is personal experience.    Therein lies a clue to my third approach.    KD.

    Another shot from my China 1999 trip this time taken in the street in Kaifeng.   Not a great shot by any means,  but as I was processing the image in Photoshop,  I got to a certain point and realized that one image could lend itself to multiple approaches.   In other words,  there are numerous ways of presenting an image,  more than one way to skin a cat as they say!   (Apologies to the many pet owners among my readers.  Please note,  it's an old saying, not one that I just made up for effect!)  

    The choices to be made,  the direction to follow as regards processing and presentation,  are really a fairly personal thing and there is no strict right way or wrong way to go.   Our thoughts on this,  our own personal vision if you like, are shaped by many things.    Simple personal preferences,  some people love bright,  bold colours whilst others prefer more subdued tones,  you can see that in people's choice of clothing styles or tastes in home decor.   For some people,  photography is about the here and now and let's make it vibrant,  for some it's about a sense of nostalgia and maybe revisiting old processes or effects.  

    We're influenced in how we look at images by our education,  learning to read from left to right and from the top of the page to the bottom,  this then is the way our eyes tend to scan the photograph.   If you've studied Hebrew,  you may well "scan" the image differently based on that.   Our response to an image,  and the elements comprising it,  are influenced by cultural factors as well.   A white dress in western society may be associated with weddings and/or purity,  whilst in other cultures it may be associated with burials and grieving.  

    Your vision or personal aesthetic can be influenced by your current state of mind.   Famously Van Gogh's paintings went through distinct stylistic phases according to his state of mind with some of his celebrated works being produced from the depths of his mental illness.    

    Finally we're influenced by our own personal life experiences,  making our "vision" or "aesthetic",  as individual as we are.   

    I invite you to study today's picture and ask yourself,  "how would I chose to present this image?   What changes,  if any,  would I make?"   For the purpose of the exercise,  I'll assume that your first response isn't to declare it a waste of time and throw it in the bin. (smile)   

     In the days ahead I'll post one or two variations of this image, some different "approaches" based on my own personal way of looking at the image and what I personally think works,  or at least,  what works for me.   What I come up with might be entirely different to what you may like,  or what you may have chosen,  but that's the point of this discussion.   As I progress with these different approaches,  I'll endeavour to explain my thoughts,  or rationale,  the what and how,  but perhaps more importantly, the why?      

The original "raw" image is shown left.  Taken on 35mm colour negative film with the Pentax SF7 and the 28-80mm zoom lens towards the wider end of the zoom range.    My first approach to processing and presenting this shot is shown far left.         As can be seen I have slightly cropped the left edge of the frame to remove the distracting element there,  in the process I've excluded the left most flag near the top of frame,  but I can live with that.        I've also cropped in from the bottom of frame excluding some of the featureless foreground.          Following this I used;   a levels adjustment layer to set the white point and lighten the image.   a curves adjustment layer to lighten the midtones and highlights whilst adding some contrast to the darker values.   and a colour balance adjustment layer to correct what I perceived as a slight green cast.          This resulting image,  the 1st approach,  I think works OK as is,  but I'll now use that as the basis for further exploration!    The results in the days ahead may or may not surprise you!

Just for a laugh. 

    If you're like me,  you probably remember the music and music videos of the 80's pretty well.    Some of it was good,  some of it not,  and some of it was in retrospect just plain over the top.    Thankfully there is no shortage of people who are prepared to revisit some of these music videos and rework them for comic effect.   The following link is to one of the funniest things I seen online in quite a while,  Bonnie Tyler fans take cover....  "mullet with headlights"     enjoy KD.

     Continuing to retrace my steps through China,  among the places visited was the Northern Pagoda in Suzhou.   The pagoda dates from the 17th century and offers some good views over the city.  It's part of a temple complex dating back 1700 years, parts of the complex have been destroyed or damaged and rebuilt numerous times over the centuries.

     Original capture on colour negative film with Pentax SF7 and 28-80mm lens.

Recent website update.

      As indicated in my blog post on Friday,  I've prepared an essay regards my Photoshop processing of the image "The Flute Player" which is now published on my main site under the Essays and Articles link.   For those who are interested in how to optimise photographs using Photoshop,  you should find it of value.  

(link:   The Flute Player, Master of the Nets, Suzhou)   

     Unusually for me I actually published it ahead of my stated schedule,  that's got to be a first!   Thanks to those who've already provided some positive feedback.

Copyright Issues. 

     Copyright and the internet,  what a can of worms this has become.   Copyright of course applies to the internet just as it does to any other creative endeavour,  whether it be publishing a novel, distributing a movie or television show, writing a song,  releasing a music recording, etc, etc.   The problem these days is that with computers and the internet,  copying other people's material and abusing the author's rights can be done with a simple mouse click.   It's so easy that people don't think about it and in fact start to believe that they have a right to copy such material and use it as they like.   Indeed some would contend that once something's on the web,  it's in the "public domain" and is therefore fair game.  This view is incorrect on any reading of copyright laws.    I mention this issue after stumbling across this article on the web,  I stole your images,  put them back or I'll call my lawyer    It's apparently a true story and worth reading simply to illustrate the extent to which some peoples' perceptions about copyright have been corrupted by the ease of access.

     In a nutshell the story relates to a shameless copyright infringer threatening to take legal action because his opportunity to infringe has disappeared.  The offender talks of going to his lawyer to commence proceedings!    Hopefully he did go to his lawyer and hopefully his lawyer explained the position using the word "copyright" and the expression "you moron" in the same sentence. 

      There are numerous elements to the "copyright and the internet" issue and I'll share some further thoughts on the subject at a later date,  I think it's worth exploring.

cheers KD

   A real quick unscheduled entry just to let folks know that the essay which I referred to in my previous blog entry is now available at my main site.   It gives a detailed account of my Photoshop processing of the "Master of the Nets" flute player image and includes numerous tips and hints for those using and/or learning about digital processing of photos.  There is a discussion of adjustment layers,  masking,  localized effects,  colour enhancement etc, etc, etc.   It follows a step by step format so you can see the effect of each step in the process. 

                            FROM THIS.........................................TO..............................THIS

Check it out and let me know what your thoughts or impressions are,  thanks,  KD           link....PhotoshopCS3_example_flute_player

    One of the places I visited during my trip to China in 1999 was the town of Suzhou.   Established over 2500 years ago the town is famous for silk production, its gardens and, according to legend is home to the most beautiful women in China.   (In hindsight,  maybe I should've stayed there longer....!   but I digress)   One of the things to see there is the "Master of the Nets" garden and pavilion.   In the evening musicians perform with traditional instruments and there are also displays of dancing.  

    Today's image,  as you can see,  is of one of the musicians performing on a balcony.   Taken on colour negative film,  the scanned image needed plenty of work in Photoshop to get an acceptable final result.   Consider the scene,  photograph taken with flash but at a distance which is right at the limit of the flash's range so minimal flash effect,  man in very light coloured clothing surrounded by masses of very dark,  almost black timber and the only light sources in the image are the barely perceptible overhead lanterns. 

The scan from the colour negative original.   Dark,  no shadow detail visible,  little colour,  ouch.    Not the way I recall the scene.        The image would require brightening,  contrast, and colour adjustments both to the overall image and also localised effects in order to arrive at a presentable image.     I'm in the process of putting together a detailed essay regarding the processing steps for those that are interested.   I hope to have it online in a few days time and I'll provide a link in the blog when it's ready.

        Original capture on colour negative film with Pentax SF7 and 28-80mm zoom lens.

      From my China 1999 trip,  this night shot shows some of the urban development that's occurred in Shanghai.   Shanghai has a colourful history with heavy foreign involvement (read exploitation) throughout the 19th century.   Most of the development occurred on one side of the Huangpu River whilst the Pudong district on the opposite side of the river was left as farmland,  rice fields.   From 1990 onwards there has been an incredible amount of building and construction work done there,  by the time of my visit it was claimed that the Pudong district had half as much office space as Singapore,  all built in less than a decade.

     This shot was obviously taken late in the evening and as a result the contrast range is enormous.   If I were to return there today I'd probably aim to get the same (or similar) shot, but earlier in the evening whilst there is still some colour in the sky.    None-the-less I think it gives an impression of the rate of development and change that was,  and is,  occurring there.

      Technically the shot has had very little by way of post processing,  the colours are very much as scanned from the film and the only real adjustment was a lens correction in Photoshop to counter distortions introduced by the lens being used at the wide angle end of its zoom range and pointed slightly upwards to get the tops of the buildings.

       Pentax SF7 35mm film camera with 28-80mm zoom,  original capture on colour negative film.

   Lingyin Si,  loosely translated to Temple of the Soul's Retreat or Temple of Inspired Seclusion is a popular attraction on the outskirts of Hangzhou.   It was originally built in 326AD but over the years has been destroyed and restored 16 times.   The location consists of a series of Buddha statues and carvings large and small.  

    In the first shot a hapless tourist (yours truly) is included to give a sense of scale (and to satisfy the wishes of family who insist on seeing at least one or two shots of me at the locations I've visited).   The shot was taken for me handheld by a fellow traveller who was acting on specific instructions.    I've found that it's not good enough to hand someone a camera and ask "would you mind taking my picture for me?"    Whenever I've done that I've inevitably been disappointed.    Legs get chopped off,  I got partially decapitated on one occasion.   I generally frame the shot very carefully,  visualizing exactly where I'm going to be in the frame,  set all the camera functions including zoom and focus and then hand the camera over.  My instructions then typically follow,  I'd like you to stand just here and don't point the camera directly at me,  but line up the focusing spot in the middle of the viewfinder with (in this case) the bent elbow of that statue there.   You don't have to adjust anything just push the shutter button which is here.  

     This of course was done with a 35mm film camera so I never really knew how it turned out until I got home and viewed the print.   These days with digital I can review the shot on the spot and reshoot it if there's a problem.   Ah digital!!!   LCD screen for immediate feedback and shoot as many frames as you like without any care about processing costs...bliss.

All images originally captured on 35mm colour negative film with Pentax SF7 and 28-80mm zoom lens.

Blurb.com Update.

         Blurb have announced the release of BookSmart 2.0, an updated version of their book authoring software.  It appears that there are some fairly significant improvements over the previous version.  The new version apparently includes flexible containers which enable the user to control the "size, location, layers and content type of all elements on the page".   It also boasts,  "new tool bars, gridlines for quick visual guidance, and the ability to save designed pages as custom layouts".   Blurb also claim improved image and text handling with faster loading and caching of images.   I haven't to this point had a chance to play,  I mean work,  with the new program,  but if it lives up to the promise of faster and more flexible image handling that will be welcome.  

        At the same time they've introduced a new book size/format option with a 12 inch square format now available.    For further details check www.blurb.com.

        Those considering self publishing via blurb.com may wish to read my essay relating to my "Blurb book experience" for an insight and a few valuable pointers.   For those wishing to know more,  click on the following link,  Tanzania, a Photographic Collection  to see a 15 page PDF preview my book published through Blurb.

Twitter.com.

        With all the publicity and noise about Twitter I've decided to dip my toe in the water so to speak and sign on.   I'm not really convinced it has any real value but I'm prepared to give it a try,  even if just for a month or so.   It operates around the question of "what are you doing?"   It seems to me that this may encourage people with too much time on their hands to sit in front of the computer and share such meaningful stuff as "I'm making myself a cup of coffee" or "I'm about to feed my goldfish" etc.   I hope that it can be a little more useful than that but we'll see.   If anyone has any experience with Twitter, or is currently on the system,  I'd love to hear from you.   If you wish to connect with me,  my user name is KD_in_Aus,  try this link to my profile and of course let me know "what you're doing".

     Following on from my previous entry,  another shot taken early on a foggy morning by the West Lake, Hangzhou.   An exercise in simplicity this one.  A single, coloured,  autumn leaf floats on the lake surface in an otherwise almost monochrome image.   Monochrome doesn't necessarily mean black and white!   In this case,  with the exception of the leaf,  the "mono" chrome,  or single colour is a cyan/blue.    Digitally,  I gave a slight boost to the colour of the leaf,  a slight dodge and burn,  and some selective sharpening.  This is a case where digital imaging technology has enabled me to present an image as I visualized it when I originally lifted the camera to my eye. 

Original capture on colour negative film. Pentax SF7 with 28-80mm zoom lens.    Exposure details not recorded but lens at 28mm and small aperture for maximum depth of field.