July 13, 2010

0

f164, Fine Art

Independence Day 2010:

What kid doesn’t love a holiday where exploding things is OK. I guess I’m still a kid in that sense, because 4th of July is still a favorite of mine. The independence of our nation celebrated by family, fireworks and banners. Once every few years my family pitches in and we have a big get together with a great DIY fireworks show. This was one not one of those years however, so I decided to help out on the crew of Orion Pyrotechnics for a show they were doing in Ephrata. It was neat to work on a professional show, and something that’s been on my todo list.

Technique: This image was a favorite because it’s different than most. It was made using a sigma 15mm fisheye, making it appear even lower to the ground and subtly showing the surrounding area. I applied a slight color tone from one of my presets and then did a few manual tweaks. The exposure was —-

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June 23, 2010

6

f164, Fine Art

Print Competition 2010. Midnight Seattle Went Loan:

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

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February 20, 2010

4

f164, Fine Art

Stars of Coldest Night

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.

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February 14, 2010

4

f164, Fine Art

What Lies Beyond?

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

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June 9, 2009

4

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

Midnight Seattle: Seattle WA

Midnight Seattle. Seattle WA. Jan 2009, Gavin Seim. 2010 PPA Loan Collection. 2011 PPA Magazine.

Updates

  • 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….

 

For Photographers. How it was made…

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