Paying Tribute to the Elders

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David duChemin lists “study the masters” as one of the best ways to improve your photography.  Well, I’ve been trying to bone up on some portrait work and there is one Elder (or master) that really makes the subject pop.  Dan Winters really has a way with painting light and color on a subject.  He champions smooth lights – a silky feel – an angelic feeling to his work.  His lighting is not over-the-top flash work as I sometimes feel that “strobist”-types like.  It’s a bit more calming.

He has hundreds of photos on his website including a few of my favorites:

woman in dress in water

Christopher Walken

man smoking with Rottweiler

woman in black dress

Most of these have more background and a larger sense of place.  Many of his images lack that quality – being pure headshots.  So in learning from this elder, I have also learned that I want to engage the environment because I believe the environment creates the person.  For instance, the outstanding portrait of C. Walken would only be better if he had included environment. The other 3 contain strong elements of place.  Something I think is integral to any good portrait.

Watch/Listen to Dan get spiritual here.  He’s got a way with words too – sensibility over style.

Mammoth rock climber Peter Chapman bouldering on the "East Side"

A Sense of Lightness

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Morse Mountain Preserve, Maine

Morse Mountain Preserve, Maine = Black = Heavy

So I’ve always enjoyed black in photos.  That ultimate contrast color that often plays nicely with lots of white – which seems to be the most common color of webpages nowadays.  Certain functions also cater towards increasing black, I found the “clarity” slider in Lightroom, for instance, tends to increase the prominence of darker shades, lines, thus increasing “shadows”.

Black is great but it is heavy.  It can be overdone.  It can weigh on a photo like an anvil.  Heavy.

So here’s heavy on top of light (think of oil on water).  This is Sitka Spruce from Maine’s Morse Mountain Preserve – the southern range limit of this species.  Isn’t it amazing how one feels very serious, and the second photo much lighter – almost lively-er.

So I started thinking about the work I do – botanical photography – and I wanted to revisit whites.  White is a light color.  It adds nicely to many smaller forbes, grasses, smaller and lighter plants.  Then I came across a really special site – Angie Seckinger’s A Macro Journey.  Please do visit it.  Her triptychs are amazing.  Her eye is precise and well tuned.   She’s also a phenomenally nice person immediately asking how she could help my non-profit – Golden Hour Restoration Institute.

So here’s my thanks to Angie – and a resurrection of a sense of lightness.

stumbling onward

a whisper of fall

Thinking Double – Brett and Ali's Wedding

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I attended a wonderful wedding in Guerneville, Sonoma County, over the Labor Day weekend.  Two friends, Brett and Ali, were getting married and it was truly a wonderful wedding weekend.  I was only an “attendee”, but I clicked some 700 shots that weekend.

So knowing they had an outstanding photographer (Paul C. Miller) with a great vibe, I was in great shape to do whatever I wanted! Yay!

I decided to shoot the classic portrait arrangements that Paul set up – and got some great results from a slightly different angle.  Also, more of a taste of photojournalism.

Then I also got to do a bit of photojournalism type shooting on my own.

After taking a look at the photos and the elements, I decided to try to combine a couple in double and triple exposures using Photoshop Elements 8, and final color balance with Lightroom 2.7.

Here’s what I came up with – a taste of non-traditional in the traditional wedding.

Great times – Thanks Brett and Ali for such an amazing weekend.  I feel lucky to have been a part of it!

 

Log into and order prints of the full set here.

The Photowalk Experience – Sutro Baths, SF, CA

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Taste of Sutro bath ruins fading into the Pacific Ocean

So I went on my first official, organized photowalk to the Sutro Baths site in San Francisco, CA.  It was slightly overwhelming to be walking around with some 50 other (hunched over with gear) photogs.  It was intimidating because of the sheer number of creative minds, but also because of the “interactive nature” of the event.  Often I find that I like to shoot in search of solitude and peace, so you might say “then maybe a photowalk with 50 photographers isn’t the best choice for you”.  Good point, and yes, I didn’t think of that until I got there 🙂

I found myself awed by the pure energy and excitement of the moody day and the hungry photogs.  I think it took me some 30 minutes just to take my camera out of my bag.  I loved watching all the little human forms crawl over the ruins like ants on some fresh Ritz cracker crumbs.  Lots of perspectives, lots of just pure – well, shooting photos.  I found that I probably changed lenses as often as anyone.  I found myself also enjoying watching everyone as I noticed they were all focused on the task of taking photos.  I can’t say how much I recommend this experience – for the social, and the technical aspects.  Thanks for hosting us Jim Goldstein for organizing and leading this most excellent experience.  Check out the photos from the entire group here.

I’ll be posting a few photos from this event on Flickr (see sidebar).  The above photo is one long exposure I took there.  Processed with Lightroom (LR2.7) with an emphasis of blues and whites (my blue and white preset).

Introduction

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Hi there,

My name is Lech Naumovich and I’m a photographer currently living in the Bay Area of California. Please check this site for updates and new projects I’ll be talking about.  The main website is found at www.lechphoto.com

Thanks for your visit.

Sincerely,

Lech