Nature Archives

July 10, 2011

f164, Fine Art, Nature, signature, silver, technique, travel

Trilogy of the Surf.

The-Striking-Waves-Final-Sequence-c2 — Trilogy of the Surf, by Gavin Seim. May 2011, on CA 1. Triptych print release pending. View the larger images below.

The Pacific Ocean mesmerized me as we drove, trailer in tow, along Route 1 this Spring. It’s so vast, an endless expanse peeking through the passing trees. I spotted a large pull-off along the winding highway, so we stopped for the view and a trailer break. Cyrus and I looked over the edge, seeing the waves strike against the rocks below. Soon I found myself setting up, adjusting the composition and then capturing frame after frame. I was entranced at how each and every image could be so similar and yet so different, the patterns and tones of water combining in endless ways along the rock, though all going to the same place.

Normally, I’m all about a single frame, but it was too little here. Sometimes I break my own rules, and, after a lot of consideration, I really felt this sequence worked. I spent hours finalizing which final images would go into it, and how I could best present them. Then weeks went by as I rethought, making sure I could do nothing to make it better. I’ve also made some test prints, and I plan to release it as a single triptych print and perhaps a few as three separate images (kept together, of course).

Due to the computer’s insufficiency at conveying a wide image, I’m also adding the individual frames from the sequence below so you can take in a bit more detail. Just bear in mind; they will be presented as the triptych above, not separated by themselves. I hope these waves mesmerize you as much as they do me. Enjoy…

Gav

See all three images lather and read details…

July 9, 2011

beauty, color, f164, Fine Art, journal, Nature, technique, water

The Siren of Lake Chelan – Working Underwater.

Siren of Lake Chelan-r2f — The Siren of Lake Chelan. Commissioned Portrait, Summer 2010 by Gavin Seim.

Water. Once we sink below the surface of its shimmering waves, we enter a foreign world of untold beauty. A silent land of bending light, murky depths, and unknown dangers…

Whew, did that sound enough like a nature show for you? Good, now let’s move on. Seriously, though, I working with water and I loved making portraits under it. I did it for the first–though probably not the last–time during a portrait commission for Jenaia. I learned a lot about working in the water, and we brought her home some beautiful images, but this is my favorite piece.

It took some trail and error, but my visualization was a calm ethereal portrait, and I think I managed it. I love the color hues and the way the light streams from the surface. We’re in a lake, not a pool, and it’s around 1500 feet deep, making the light fade into infinity. Just don’t drop anything that doesn’t float, or it’s gone for good. I lost a fin during the project, and once it was out of sight, there was no way I was going after it. It’s truly dark down there.

While my fin has joined the aforementioned murky depths, I’m very satisfied with this work. It taught me a lot and it helped make Jenaia’s portrait collection a real success.

For photographers. How it was made…

July 6, 2011

color, f164, journal, musings, Nature, science, technique

The River Fork… A Look at Sensor Noise and Heat.

Seim-River-Forks — River Forks, Snoqualmie National Forest, Summer 2011. Non released example image, 8 minute exposure at ISO 100.

This is for you photographers. It’s an 8 minute exposure I did just after sunset on the river. I processed it with the Velvius preset from Power Workflow3. It’s not a stunning image and that’s not why I posted it. I felt it was a good image to use to talk a bit about pixel science.

To me, what merits discussion is the noise. I’ve done images much longer than 8 minutes. The longer the exposure, the more potential for noise to be generated as the sensor heats up. But, as myself and some others have found, the warmer the environment, the worse it seems to get. It was probably in the low 70’s here in the mountains, and the warmer temperature seemed to make a great deal of difference compared to images I’ve done in cooler environments.

Look at the image and the crop section I posted below. The noise produces a banding-like effect on the frame that really reduces quality. The large color artifacts are easy enough to fix, but there’s an almost patterned, under-the-surface noise that really is a challenge. And this was with in camera long exposure reduction turned ON.

I talked about this type of noise in depth in the making of 140 Minutes of Night ( 2+ hour long exposure) and looked at techniques to deal with it, but it’s not easy to correct. When you get into bad heat noise, the plethora of noise plugins and tools we have won’t just take it away. Well, they will, but only at the cost of losing a lot of detail everywhere else. And that’s just not acceptable.

June 4, 2011

f164, musings, Nature, travel, waves

The Ocean Lines.

Endless lines with dappled light and colors, even after sunset. I think there’s a lot to learn about photography from the ocean: the patterns and lines, the way it plays the light. Never have I seen so many perfect lines as in the waves and currents. Now excuse the quality of this video as I was using only my iPhone, and it was nearly dark, but crank it up to HD, and I hope you’ll get a little of what I felt here.

This is from our Spring tour while in Pismo. I did take home some photos of the ocean that you may have seen in the archives, but the other thing I took home was awe. Maybe I just sound crazy, but my excitement was genuine. I came away with stronger concepts of line and tone. I’ve always loved water, but this challenges me to look at it even closer; to see beauty even in the smallest details of surf and learn something about light from its ever changing surface.

May 27, 2011

Cool Gadgets, Gavin Seim, Lighting, Nature, Photography Podcast, Pro Photo Show Podcast, ProPhotoShow

Pro Photo Podcast #77. Better Concepts and Evil Laughs.

Click To Listen>> Photography Podcast. PPS #77
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Today’s Host... Gavin Seim

On this shorter episode Gavin takes a look at what he learned with another month on the road. A discussion of 4×5 film, a look at learning and working conceptually, and a little practice session on evil laughs.