It took me 20 years to find this because no one taught it until now.
In this primer on shadow hacking I’m going to share was I found. If you follow my work you have seen me shift focus to shadow over light. Not to say ignore light, but that there so much focusing on the light has only caused us to learn half of what makes great photos.
Not signed up for my Shadow-Hackers LIVE class? Sign up it here.
Should you lift or drop shadows? Push or pull exposure. How do we bend the shadow in new ways and why doe sit matter. Today I’ll show you some examples and if you attend my Shadow Hackers hackers class you’ll be ahead of the curve for watching this.
Look for where your shadows are broken and stop photographing light.
I hope this is coming across. I promise that if you start looking to photograph shadow, it’s going to change how you use to light your camera and what kind of results you get. Try this and see for yourself.
Gavin Seim
Things I used to edit with today… My new Elegance Speed Masks… seimeffects.com/elegance Filmist, get my free presets… seimeffects.com/filmist/ Lumist actions… seimeffects.com/lumist BlackRoom actions… seimeffects.com/blackroom Natural HDR4… seimeffects.com/dynamic
by Ansel Adams – Tom Kobayashi at Japanese-American Internment at Manzanar, California, 1943. Follow the image link for more and some nice direct scans vs print scans.
by Gavin Seim: Ansel is one of my favorite pictorialists, though he did some beautiful portraits as well (check out this link for some cool ones you may not have seen before). I go on binges of searching, perusing books and trying to find overlooked snippets that offer ideas to refine my work. I was up around 2AM recently doing this and I stumbled across a little gem I had not seen before. The final interview of Ansel Adams by Milton Estrerow.
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“Two months ago, I spent two afternoons interviewing Ansel Adams at his home in Carmel, California. It was one of the most memorable experiences I have ever had. He was warm, brilliant, imaginative, sensitive, funny. We talked about everything from music to Georgia O’Keeffe to the glories of Point Lobos to how to unload my camera. I had planned to return to Carmel for further sessions, but he died on April 22. Following are excerpts from his last interview.
Summer 1984
MILTON ESTEROW
Who among contemporary photographers do you admire?
I like Joel Meyerowitz for color. I think he has superior color sense. Mary Ellen Mark is tremendous. The trouble is that a great deal of new photography seems sort of experimental, without any great motive. I feel very bleak about a lot of it. So many don’t care about craft. I like Olivia Parker. Don Worth is good, and Nicholas Nixon. George Tice is very subtle. Bill Clift, yes, he’s something. Roy DeCarava is very important…
Here’s a free excerpt from my EXposed Series looking at the Zone System. It’s a segment from CH3 that will whet your whistle on using the Zone System on digital to change how you use the light and make exposures. It works wounders.
If you crave more just head over to https://seimeffects.com/exposed. because the complete series has lots more on mastering the Zone System and everything else related to your exposures. It really will change how you see light.
New download /DVD workshop takes photographers on a cinematic journey across America and passionately teaches how to see and photograph light like never before.
Soap Lake, WA (August 14, 2012) – Seim Effects Photo Tools announces today the release of the new workshop by award-winning photographer Gavin Seim – EXposed, a film about seeing and photographing light. Produced over months, while traveling across America. EXposed documents experience and techniques inspired by the masters and refined for the digital age.
DOWNLOAD PRESS KIT
Includes full release, image samples and review information.
EXposed teaches photographers how to not only photograph light, but how to truly see it. EXposed is an informative entertaining 4-hour journey following Gavin as he travels around the United States of America with a Camper and a passion for light, hunting perfection and showcasing the importance of understanding the quality, range and tones of light and its impact on our photography. Gavin has compiled 15 years of study into what has become a simple and breathtaking study of light.
Weddings, Portraits, Landscape, Digital, Film. It doesn’t matter. EXposed is not a workshop about the latest fads or gadgets. It’s a workshop about light. Because that’s what really counts. EXposed is a cinematic journey that will teach photographers how to make better exposures. A completely unique workshop about exposure, light, the power of the Zone System, dynamic range and perfect tone control.
“My heart went into creating this workshop and I can’t express how proud I am of the outcome. With all the discussions in photography today, it’s surprising how little we talk about the art and science of exposure and proper tone control,” said Gavin Seim, photographer and owner of Seim Effects. “Making great photographs involves more than just clicking, buying new software, or pushing buttons. It’s something that goes deeper and mastering it requires practice and understanding of light and tone in subtle ways.”
Through 4 hours of educational materials about using light contained in 14 organized chapters that photographers can view and review at their own pace, EXposed teaches:
Core concepts to understanding exposure
Using the Zone System
Visualizing: Really seeing light
Dynamic Range and what it means for every image
Long Exposure and the secrets to hidden beauty
Finishing images, Burning, Dodging
Metering and tone placement
Seeing and directing light
Ratios and lighting tools
EXposed is available now. And until August 31, 2012 the instant HD digital download price is just $89 (a $10 discount) and the DVD plus instant digital download price is just $99 (a $20 discount). For more information and the trailer please visit: www.exposedworkshop.com.
About Seim Effects Photo Tools
Gavin Seim, owner of Seim Effects Photo Tools, is an internationally recognized photographer, renowned for his experience with creative workflow, the digital darkroom and time tested techniques. He has a passion for creating easy-to-use software tools and educating photographers of all skill levels to be more efficient, creative and profitable.
Gavin Seim’s software presets for Lightroom include the new Silver Shadows 2, Power Workflow 3, and Color Fantasies. His Photoshop tools include Hollywood Effects 2, Creative Essentials, and Naked Elements. Also available is LightFlow, a powerful Aperture Presets collection.
Note: Press materials and image samples can be downloaded from the Seim Effects website: https://seimeffects.com/press . For editorial review copies please contact: effects@seimstudios.com
Today Gavin goes in depth on light, zones, meters and making images come out the way we want them, every time. Foregoing long errata and going straight to analysis of using light and Zone to control the results of our images. Lets jump in.
New download /DVD workshop takes photographers on a cinematic journey across America and passionately teaches how to see and photograph light like never before.
