by Gavin Seim: Midnight Seattle is an HDR photo I made of the Seattle Skyline. It went to the PPA International Print Competition this year and was awarded a Loan Collection merit. For those not familiar with PPA, this is a good thing. I’m told it will be be published in the international Loan collection book as well showing at Imaging USA 2011. This is the first year I’ve entered at nationals. I must confess, making the Loan Collection was on my wish list. While this is the only of my four prints that merited, I’m still a happy, thankful camper. There more details on the image itself in the original post… Gav
It made at the Snoqualmie Pass summit around midnight in mid January. The mountains were alive from the moon, which is out of frame on the right, and the lights from an active ski slope directly behind the giant snow pile on which I perched with my tripod. I’ve been studying Ansel Adams work lately, experimenting with black and white, and becoming ever fonder of what it can produce. I have not focused a lot of B&W in the past, but I’m finding it can be very compelling. When color is taken away, many distractions go with it. The monochromatic world becomes one of lines, shapes and textures that the eye can dance across like a princess in a ballroom. I also made a variation of this scene in color. Both were beautiful and it was a hard choice but in the end I really felt monotone made this something special.
I spent hours doing subtle tweaks to this. It was actually a panorama of the scene, but I ended up cropping the ends. It might of been easier had I started with a single frame, but my original vision was a panoramic multi bracket night HDR. That turned out to be the wrong approach. The extra width was distracting and in this case a multi-image HDR made the scene feel washed out and over processed. I decided to work the dynamic range from a single file.
What Lies Beyond is up to you. I like this stark scene is because it can be serene, mysterious or even creepy depending on where your own imagination takes you. I tried this many ways (simplicity can be hard to decide on) but settled on this ultra simple wide composition because it just felt right. I like a scene that leaves storytelling to your own imagination and while it may do little for some, I think there are others who will enjoy the sense the mystery.
These trees can be found throughout Central Washington, as their used to break the wind. It was a foggy morning and took advantage of it using a my 70-200 set at length and making a final image devoid of other distractions with some cleanup in the post process. Many know my work for bold details or color, but sometimes to like to take simplicity and bold composition to extremes and this fit right in with my recent study on monochrome. This will be added to my signature collection and made s at least a thirty in wall piece… Gavin
The limited edition has been released as a 40×24 classical canvas, edition of 100. $495.00. Contact Gavin for availability.
Midnight Seattle is also now available as a special open edition 24 inch print for $129.00
This image was admitted into the 2010 PPA International Loan collection. Details here.
It was published in the June 2011 issue of Professional Photographer Magazine.
When the sunlight fades, the light does not. Seattle is a spectacle to be seen, even at the strike of midnight. It’s festive colors crowned with the centerpiece that is the Space Needle. At 605 feet tall, it still stands proud and modern, though nearly fifty years old. When the view is just right and the traffic dies down, the bustling metropolis becomes a tranquil wonderland of light and color. Well, from a distance at least.
This was made at about 1AM from Kerry Park. The result is just what I hoped for from this mild winter evening. I enjoy the bold definition and tonal range, but also that the Space Needle is the primary object in the scene, complemented by the city. A gently applied dynamic range process allowed me to keep the lights and shadows in control and pull the tones of the city into a cohesive story.
Release details: Prints Available.. Order Open Edition originals above.. Signature Limited Editions are listed below and can be ordered by contacting gallery.
Released prints….
55 inch Master Original on Canvas – Limited edition of, 1 (contact the gallery)
40 inch Signature Canvas – Limited Edition of, 100 (contact the gallery)
34 inch Signature Metal – Limited Edition of, 100 (contact the gallery)
Photography is about light and how we see that light. I took these last weekend using a Lensbaby which is a selective focus manual lens (a tilt shift look, for those who know what that means). The result is a little imperfect and not as clear as the expensive lenses I often use. It’s not for everything, but used at the right time it can be effective. This flower was not at it’s prime, but because of that it stood apart from it’s nearly perfect brothers and sisters. It took my attention and in the end was my favorite of the group. Imperfect, but not unseen.
These flowers (Arrow-leaved Balsamroot I believe) are everywhere this time of year. Bringing focus on just one, instead of the many, keeps the eye on the beauty and not on the crowd, while still knowing the crowd exists. This starts in camera, but does not end there. Even in the film days photographers worked with their images to put the attention where they wanted it.
Just to illustrate the power of the edit, I’m posting one of the plain uncorrected images next to the final version below. In this case basic correction, then one of my effects and plenty of burning and dodging (lightening and darkening certain areas on the image) brought of the depth and made the flowers stand out the way I intended. For you photography lover I’ll post a before and after to show the processing… Gav
