Traveling the Journey of Light | Photoblog Thoughts, feelings, and techniques behind the photography of Derrald Farnsworth-Livingston

Marketing Photography, Part III: The Art of Keywording PhotographsPosted by drfl on July 27th, 2010

In my May 12th post, “Everybody Loves Keywording Photographs” I mentioned that keywording photographs is usually a tedious albeit necessary exercise to help categorize photographs and allow others to find them via your website or search engines on the Internet.  During the past two months I have revamped my website with the focus on expanding my already existing keywords and made some notes.  Today, I’m going to give some tips on what you should do to maximize the your the keywords associated with your photography.  For this exercise, I will be using the image above, “Mist and Melancholy” to help illustrate what keywords should be associated with this image.

While answering each of the 11 questions below, we need to keep four things in mind.  Primarily, we will want to be as specific as possible.  If something has a proper name, it should be used.  Secondly, we will want to explore as many synonyms as possible within each question.  Thirdly, if the plural of the subject differs significantly in spelling we will want to make note of that as well.  Lastly, spell check everything!  A mispelled word will rarely help in searches.

Keep in mind that if your keywords are too vague or inaccurate people will not think that your keywording is reliable and will be frustrated when they do not find the image they need.  Additionally, we want to use only the terms the majority of individuals would use when searching.  It is possible to go too far in keywording and have obscure words which few people would actually use.   Using such terms reduces the effectiveness of the words that you have chosen to describe the photograph. 

The questions come after the jump - be sure to click on “Read the rest of the entry”!

Read the rest of this entry »

5 Arguments Against “Is That REALLY How You Saw It?” - #2: Are You Super-Dynamic?Posted by admin on June 10th, 2010

One of the most frustrating issues with photography comes with attempting to capture images with large dynamic range of light. When one looks at such a scene, like a person in front of a sunset, our eyes can pick up both the individual and the colors in the sky. When we photograph the scene, though, either the person is illuminated and the sky is washed out or the person is in the dark with the colors of the sunset are readily visible. Our eyes can effectively pick up about 10-12 stops of light while photography at its best picks up about 6.

Gradient of Roughly 5 Stops (Not to Exact Scientific Scale, for Illustration Purposes Only)

Gradient of Roughly 10 Stops (Not to Exact Scientific Scale, for Illustration Purposes Only)

Over the years various methods have been employed to alleviate this problem: Neutral Density Filters, Blending, HDR Software, Fill Flash. Curiously, even though our eyes can see these levels of light, when applied to photographs these images sometimes appear what many consider to be “unnatural”. As a result, this is one of the areas that viewers complain that a photograph could not have been how the artist actually witnessed the scene.

So, why does the viewing audience believe these images to be manipulated? Partly due to years of conditioning, people take photos and without these techniques their results fall short. Partly due to an overuse of some of these technologies. Lastly, partly due to using these technologies in situations or images that do not warrant them. I have seen many photographers pull out their Neutral Grad filters in situations when they are not needed, simply because they are so used to using them to hold back the sky. It is not always necessary! Meter first!

Of course, the end result is to capture the scene as one sees it, the side effect is creating an image that the viewing public believes is unrealistic, even though it may be more realistic!

Mass Believability? - 5 I shouldn’t be able to see those tree trunks!

Technical Details:
Canon 5D Mark II, 17-40 f/4l @ 17mm, f/18, .4 sec., 3-Stop Hard Neutral Grad
Black Hills, South Dakota

Gosling Week - Day 2Posted by drfl on May 25th, 2010

No collection of goslings would be complete without their former home. Here, the remnants of a Canada Goose egg lies on the forest floor.  The former occupant, however, is nowhere to be seen!

Technical Details:
Canon 5D Mark II, 70-200 f/4l @ f/5.6, 1/320 sec.
Schramm State Recreation Area, Nebraska

365 Day Projects - Can You Do It?Posted by drfl on May 20th, 2010

Many have taken on the challenge of a 365-day project, or the task of capturing a new image every day of the year (I guess that would make it a 366-day project in leap years!). While I have never attempted the full 365 days, I do admit, the assignment has intrigued me. The positives these people cite for such an endeavor are to quickly expand their abilities and creative ventures. Given the task of forcing a photograph a day, one must become imaginative and the images should be varied or else the task become repetitive and boring and hard to maintain. Those that do it successfully create some unique and interesting work while steadily improving their skills.

From my shorter experiences with such an assignment and from what I’ve studied from others I have put together a few tips that I believe will help make your 365 project a success, that is if to are up to the challenge.

1. Always carry a camera. Seems logical enough. I suggest obtaining a good point-and-shot or getting clothes with really big pockets.
2. Try cycling between portraiture, nature, street, wildlife, etc. The more varied types of photography, the better. Who knows, you may find out you like noir photography!
3. Take a walk in the park, I find exercise often helps me to gain creativity and lose weight.
4. Search out abstractions and patterns, in this instance repetition and repetition may be welcomed.
5. Study other’s work, let their images soak into your subconscious.
6. Plan ahead, if there is a day that does not look promising for a photograph, take a self-portrait.
7. Not feeling well? Don’t force it, creativity improves with physical wellness.
8. If just beginning, try a photo a week, this will help show how you handle the project. If it doesn’t work out the first time, don’t feel bad, try again when you are ready.

So get out there and shoot! After today, you only have 364 more to go!

Technical Details:
Canon 5D Mark II, 70-200 f/4l @ 200mm, f/4, 1/125 sec.
Dame’s Rocket, Schramm State Recreation Area, Nebraska

Announcing “The Quiet Beauty of Nebraska”Posted by drfl on November 2nd, 2009

For the past few weeks I have been putting the final touches on my book “The Quiet Beauty of Nebraska”.  I’ve neglected my blog and some other duties, but I am finally ready to make it available.  Comprised of over 40 photographs from across the state of Nebraska, this book focuses on the scenic landscape, nature, and native wildlife that I have travelled far and wide to capture. 

To see a preview of the book and/or purchase, please take a look, it would make a great gift for the upcoming holiday season!
 

The Quiet Beau…

By Derrald Farnsworth…

Book Preview

I Said Hello, GoodbyePosted by drfl on October 19th, 2009

Autumn is my favorite season, fresh apple cider is at hand, warm colors abound, orange pumpkins are everywhere, and bowls are filled with small candies.  The only downside I ever see to fall is that it means it’s going to be cold and bad driving weather and shorter days are ahead.  In Nebraska fall begins to gear up in early October and goes into full swing by mid-month followed by a hurried decline by November.  Unfortunately, this year we were just moving into fall when we received record snowfall across the state.  For one day we had some beautiful snow covered scenes.  The days immediately following were reminiscent of November scenes.  I did, however, manage to briefly make it out for a few images during the snowfall.  Over the next couple of days I will share the few images that showcase the my celebration and lamentation of the shortest fall I have ever witnessed.

And yes, I did just totally rip off a Phil Collins song title for the title of this post and image, but it fit so well!

Technical Details:
Canon 5d Mark II, 17-40 f/4l @ 28mm, f/9, 1/125 sec.
Schramm SRA, Nebraska

This photograph can be viewed on my website at: I Said Hello, Goodbye - A Forest Path at Schramm SRA, Nebraska