Adding depth to your image

Photographs are two dimensional by nature. The best way to add depth when composing an image is to have three zones in the image a foreground an mid-ground and a background.
I will usually have the foreground and mid-ground in focus, however the image may call for the mid-ground and background to be the focus.
This practice will cause the eye to fool the brain into thinking that there really is depth to the image therefore creating something of a 3d effect on the mind.
This is a simple technique that can really enhance your images. So next time you are out creating images keep this in mind and try it, and have fun!

Ansel Adams Quote

"In the electronic age, I am sure that scanning techniques will be developed to achieve prints of extraordinary subtlety from the original negative scores. If I could return in twenty years or so I would hope to see astounding interpretations of my most expressive images. It is true no one could print my negatives as I did, but they might well get more out of them by electronic means. Image quality is not the product of a machine but of the person who directs the machine, and there are no limits to imagination and expression."
~ Ansel Adams, An Autobiography, 1985.

Framing the subject when making images

Framing the subject of your photograph can make it more interesting. I will usually pick something from the local environment to use regardless of weather it is man made or natural.

While photographing at Tumacácori National Historical Park I was checking out a display of the park it was very interesting. But then looking out the window I found this image, it was just asking to be photographed. I did use a flash for fill light on the stucco wall, and I am please with the results.

Framing your subject also adds depth to your image which is important in 2 dimensional media. When you are making images remember to look for those elements that will add to the aesthetic value of the image.

Years ago I was visiting an uncle on the east coast. One morning it was very foggy and I grabbed my camera and tripod and headed out the door to make some images. As I passed a someone on the street they said to me “it’s not a very good day to take photographs!” My response was too say “No its a great day to make photographs”

My point here is that when you have weather rather than sunshine do not think that you should not be making images. The attached image was made early one foggy morning, and it is the fog that really makes this image stand out.
So as long as you keep your equipment dry and clean get out and make images, You find the results very pleasing.

Not always what it seems

On occasion mother nature will give us a little surprise, and when she dose we just need to be thankful.
While on Molokai on day I realized we were in for a really nice sunset. The clouds, palm trees and the sun were begging to be photographed. The image making was fast and furious on that beautiful hawaiian evening.
I came away with several very nice images that all sell very well and even years latter it is still very satisfying.
Then at an Art Fair a customer came to me and said I love this image, however your Title “Molokai Sunset “ was all wrong and did I not see the real subject in the image? I thought about it for a bit and asked what they were seeing. They responded “why it’s Puff The Magic Dragoon”. I thought wow I never looked at it that way and since that dat on all I see is Puff.
There are times when others will see a totally different image than the artist had originally intended, and this is not a bad thing, it is what make us unique.

Look closer it might be in the detail!

Sometimes when making images you really need to look for detail. In Westport Washington on the south side of the mouth of Grays Harbor there is a U.S. Coast Guard Station. Just next to the base is an area where abandoned Fishing stuff lies including an old boat near by I found this huge pile of old fishing nets, buoys and chains.

While this area itself seems rather boring I knew that by getting in close and walking around it I would be able to make at least a few good images. So armed with my tripod and a macro lens I spent the better part of a morning making images.

This image and many others we made that morning just by looking for the composition amongst the mess, one can find order in disorder.

It’s the Angle. A lot of images are made from the height of their creator, some times that is ok. I like to look at the world from all sorts of angels even if it means climbing to a height out side my comfort zone, or getting on my belly and crawling around in the dirt and rock. What ever it takes to make an interesting image. Looking at a flower from below or behind makes it more fun and creates some stunning results.

Fall Colors in Itasca State Park

Fall Colors in Itasca State Park

While climbing down from the top of the fire tower at Itasca State Park, I was looking in to the canopy of the trees and I saw this image with the amazing color. I thought wow mother nature has been good to me today!

Wow!

Wow has it been a while since my last post! Just plain got busy .......... no excuses!
It was a crazy summer, however now things have settled down to a low roar. I will make more effort to post on this blog at a more reagular intervals.

Well it is finally warmed up in Minnesota!

After what was an unusually cool spring and the weather is finally a bit more seasonal. it seems that with the cool weather this spring most wildflowers were little but late so far the lupine were beautiful and the blue flight irises are just passed their prime.
Our resident geese in our pond have raised their young and have gone wherever they go to feed and beef babies up for fall migration. The beavers have been pretty active in the pond as well knocking down a very nice couple birch trees are little disappointed about, but that's nature. Also in the area we see the white tailed deer frequently the other day and box and ago came through the yard and the buck's antlers were about to a half or 3 inches long, this time a year in Minnesota can be so full of life and fantastic watch. Oh did I mention that there is a rate population of mosquitos, I guess we have the spring rains to thank for this.
We were recently were camped at a campground on Lake where for the past several years are photographed loons and bald eagle's. When we arrived I was talking to the managers who have been there for several years and heard some very disheartening news in that someone and they're not sure who shot and killed a bald eagle. This news was absolutely horrible I soon found out that what is the eagle eye and photographing for the last several years. I sincerely hope they find the perpetrator and punish the person to the fullest extent of the law.
Some of the exciting things coming up this summer is that in early August the tall ships will be visiting the port of Duluth, in a couple weeks the delusive air-show featuring the Navy’s blue Angels will be here in the loads unfortunately we will be in Bemidji doing a show that weekend.
to take time from time to time to check our website to see what new images have been loaded up I will be uploading images frequently. Also with the website there will be some new galleries and pages, one of the pages they visit in the works is a new shopping cart so those of you who would like to order from this new site will be able to.
I would like to close this entry to my blog with a quote John Sexton once said pictures you have taken have an influence on the ones that you’re going to make that’s life!”

Cool Spring in Minnesota

We have been experiencing a very cool spring. May 28 we had a freeze warning! The trees have started to leaf out but seem to be on hold, due to the cool weather.
In our pond the resident Canadian Geese have young and the beavers have been quite active. I be building two separate blinds for the pond and hope to add a third upland one as well. Just a short post today, take care!

Cool Spring in Minnesota

We have been experiencing a very cool spring. May 28 we had a freeze warning! The trees have started to leaf out but seem to be on hold, due to the cool weather .
In our pond the resident Canadian Geese have young and the beavers have been quite active. I be building two separate blinds for the pond and hope to add a third upland one as well. Just a short post today, take care!

It's Live!

After many months of the re-design phase of my website, it has gone live.
http://www.phawkinsphoto.com/
As I said in the last entry I will be updating the site regularly so check it out often as new images will be posted as soon as they have been created. Other aspects of the site will be unveiled as the sumer progresses.

So sit back browse the site and f you have thoughts or concerns please let me know.

We’re Days away!

In a very short time I will be unavailing a totally redesigned web site!

The changes are exciting, first I will be able to update the site 24/7. New images can be loaded up almost as soon as they are created. A new blog will accompany the redesign.

The most exciting part of the new site there will be an area that current clients will be able to log onto and proof their images, thus speeding the delivery time up.

So very soon I be launching the new site. When it goes live I would invite you to stop by and check it out.

Why a new Website?

Well I will state the obvious first, the current site is four (4) years old know.

With the new site I will have total control over updating the site, If I create the greatest image I ever made I can load it up soon after it’s creation. It should greatly increase traffic and hopefully business to my site.

But wait what was wrong with the old site, basically it is old and static. Also I need to say a bit about the host of the old site.

For the life of the current site I had been happy with the host (whom I will not name here). In the last few months they have been transferring all of their hosted sites to a new platform. Ok should be smooth and easy like it always had been, wrong! After they transitioned my site things started going badly! First my e-mail just stopped working. I spent many hours over two weeks trying to resolve the issue several times I would find that they declared the issue resolved with out ever contacting me. I would again contact them and they would promise that some one would call be and no one ever did until two days ago. Finally a supervisor calls me back and we work on the problem for almost an hour and finally he admits they do not have a clue as to what is wrong. All along they inferred it was something on my end. Mysteriously later that day it started to work again sort of.

Sometimes the best solution is to totally erase the board and start from scratch, and that is what I have decided to do in this case.

By the way the phone center for Ipower is located in the Phillapeans. Whoops I’m bad I said I was not going to mention the host Ipower (I did it again).

Any how I am finished with this rant!

New Blog for Peter Hawkins Photography

Welcome to my new Blog. The old one Peter's interactive notes will be going away when the Website is redesigned which began this week. I hope to have the new site Live sometime in late May. It will have the same URL http://www.phawkinsphoto.com/ So stay tuned to this new Blog and I will keep the progress of the new site updated.