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

10 Tips for Cultivating Creativity in 2010Posted by drfl on January 5th, 2010

Get up and get out of your comfort zone.

1. Use a lens that you don’t often use.  For instance, if you shoot wide-angle landscapes, try a landscape with a telephoto.  If you shoot wildlife with a telephoto, try shooting wildlife with a macro (probably smaller wildlife).
2. Use a different filter. (Physical or Photoshop)
3. Shoot from your belly.
4. Shoot in different light.  Shoot into the sun, in midday light, in diffused light, in fog.
5. Shoot a different subject.  If you normally shoot landscapes, shoot portraits, if you shoot portraits, shoot wildlife.
6. Shoot different angles.  Shoot horizontally, vertically, diagonally, up, down.
7. Shoot with minimal Depth of Field by choosing the largest aperture on the lens (i.e. f/2.8, f/4, etc.).
8. Shoot everything out of focus.
9. Photograph with a friend and look through each other’s viewfinder/screen.
10. Stop reading this and get out!

How to Get Sharp Enlargements: Breaking the Megapixel MythPosted by drfl on November 18th, 2009

Myth: More megapixels will always lead to a sharper enlarged image.

This is without a doubt the greatest myth perpetuated by the camera industry today.  Marketing tells us more megapixels=better camera.  Back in the film days there were only a few choices, 35mm, 4×5, 8×10, 110, etc. In those days, (with a few exceptions, of course) the film size DID dictate how far an enlargement could be taken.  I remember years ago taking my 35mm black and white film that I had developed in the dark room and making test strips, then enlarging it to 6×9 and then to 11×14.  The sharpness of the image would begin to break down around that point.  The three main things I had to remember in achieveing the sharpest, largest prints in those days was 1: Shoot big film. 2: Proper focus when taking the photograph and 3: A grain finder.  For those of you who don’t know what a grain finder is, well, let’s just say its the equivalent of 100% zoom in Photoshop.

So, if larger film led to sharper, larger enlargements, shouldn’t more megapixels do the same thing?  I mean after all all those technical sites speak about resolving power and lines per inch and its always better bigger - right?

Well, the answer is somewhat elusive and lies in three basic parts.

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How to Chisel More Image Detail Out Of A Photo of Mt. RushmorePosted by drfl on October 15th, 2009

There are many resources on the Internet that explain how to create a panoramic photograph utilizing mainly wide-angle lenses. In fact, I have yet to read an account of someone using anything longer than about 70mm for panos. The goal of most panos is to show an elongated landscape photograph, giving the image a width or height that is not achievable with the lenses while at the same time preventing some of the perspective issues that may arise with using an ultra wide angle.

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Greet the DayPosted by drfl on July 14th, 2009

A cool breeze blows across the cool stream.  The sounds of soft babbling as the water rushes down the rocks and into the distance, while the warm colors of morning dance upon the undersides of the clouds.  Sunlight briefly finds a small opening to illuminate the jagged peaks, creating a fire red stripe.  The day is just beginning and I am here to greet it.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d, 17-40 f/4l @ 17mm, f/13, 1.3 sec., 2-stop soft Singh-Ray Filter
Kootenay Plains, Alberta, Canada

This photograph can be viewed on my website at: http://www.journeyoflight.com/journey06/photo.asp?pictureid=GreettheDay&xmlfile=/journey06/xml/color/northwest.xml&x=27

Below the MoonPosted by drfl on July 13th, 2009

Continuing on with my “Missing the Mountains” series, today’s image was another that was hiding out in the archives.  Departing from the wide-angle, this image is one of those long lens “Landscape” photos.  I had previously processed this image and had never really liked the results, nor the composition - it seemed to “simplistic”.  This time, though my mood has changed and I feel the simplicity is what makes this image. 

Technical Details:
Canon 5d, 300 f/4l + 1.4tc, f/11, 1/250 sec.
Kootenay Plains, Alberta

This image can be viewed on my website at: http://www.journeyoflight.com/journey06/photo.asp?pictureid=BelowtheMoon&xmlfile=/journey06/xml/color/northwest.xml&x=18

Pleasing DriftsPosted by drfl on July 8th, 2009

As I continued to review some past photographs in my unofficial “Missing the Mountains” series, I came across this image I had taken last fall at the Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado.  It was a tricky exposure which required me to double-process the image.  Essentially, I first opened the image in Photoshop exposing for the foreground and then I opened it again exposing for the sky.  I copied the second image over the first creating a new layer and then blended the two together.  A basic tutorial on the technique can be found here: http://www.photoshopessentials.com/photo-effects/photo-blend/.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d, 17-40 f/4l @ 17mm, f/16, .5 sec.
Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado