October 4, 2024

In a world where we are told to focus on Ai tools, noise levels, and new sensors, they often fail to teach us photography itself and of course how to use light and shadow.

I’m always bringing us back to shadows because shadows are the only way we see beautiful light. Stop using the exposure slider and fix your photos.

Come to the next Shadow Hackers this will all come togethor. You can also try the free Filmist Pack or the new PowerFlow 8 to see these exposure methods in action.

A great score is not better just because it’s loud. There’s a time to use volume, and exposure, like I show in the speed editing video of PW8. But volume with balance is just gain.

The grand canyon with 4×5 Velvia film

All of these are EQ sliders. They increase gains to specific parts allowing you to create the separation you want. Even simple sliders like blacks or whites can work. But avoid contrast sliders as I explained in Stop Using Contrast.

A different kind of exposure balance using the shadow from PowerFlow 8 presets

This is the absolute best time to decide on light and dark tonalities overall. Because in the camera you get real exposure. You’re using aperture and shutter to help create the feeling you want. Then you can perfect it with good edits like an F Curve.

Once you start thinking this way and hacking Shadow. The real wizardry begins.

Gavin Seim

Agfa Vista 400 from filmist and a little white slidert. You can download some free Filmist 2 presets.

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May 30, 2024

Pro Photography Podcast
Pro Photography Podcast
Pro Photography Podcast #210 | Your Photos should have FEELING
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Photography Podcast Host: Gavin Seim.

In today’s podcast we have to face more Ai reality and my counter to it is quickly becoming pictorialism and learning from it for a digital Ai era.

Leave a comment below, or talk about this week’s episode here on the Shadow Hunter Facebook group. Also, don’t miss the next Shadow Hackers Online Workshop for Free.

What Pictorialism is teaching me about feeling photos!

See my pictorialist actions and the video.

More detail is not better but shadow and emotion always win. That is not to say our photo should be blurry ar least for now reason.

We looked at some pictorialism style and did some edits in last week’s workshop I did on creating pictorial photography.

Watch the Pictorialism workshop I just hosted.

See my latest video. How much do you charge per photo?

I also mentioned Filmist and Elegance 4 Speed Masks.

Skit fo what Facebook is like in 2024

Model dies after being sucked into train.

Instagram marking real photo as Ai

ASMP Calls out Adobe

Pro Photography Podcast Picks of the Week

Buy a vintage 50mm 1.4 lens and an adapter

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May 12, 2024

Pictorialism is about emotion over perfection and famous pictorialists like Stegliz, Coburn, Hamilton and many more helped create the fine art world of photography we know today!

That’s why I dig in to create Pictorialist Actions. A PS editing add-on focused on making amazing pictorialist edits. There are lots more samples, info, and videos on the pictorialist page.

You can get Pictorialist here as well as see more samples and video.

A while back I started studying pictorialism. These photos are from early-era to iconic portrait photographers like David Hamilton. I had wanted something like this for years on digital.

So we made it and it was not easy. Today I made you a hands-on training workshop on how to create photography pictorialism in Photoshop using these new actions and why it’s so good.

photography pictorailism and editing in photoshop

At this level. The answer is a definitive no. Sure we can use clarity and shoot like pictorialists in camera. But deep edits like this are not what RAW editors do.

Of course, don’t need my actions to create these high-depth photography pictorialism edits on your photos. You do need layers, a deep understanding of blurs and blending modes, and tools that are well outside of Lightroom or C1.

Yes, you can do amazing things in raw editors. if you’ve used my Filmist presets or my Elegance Ai Speed-masks you have seen just so far we can fo in modern RAW editors. It’s amazing.

Creating pictorialism in photography is more. Yes, it starts with a camera and you can shoot in a pictorialist style for sure. But getting this kind of control needs layers and nuance.

Stop being afraid of Photoshop. That’s why I made today’s video to show you that complex things like this can be easy.

Orton effect photography pictorailism.

Do photography and pictorialism differ?

Yes because when in the darkroom or on digital, pictures-based editing is about not perfect perfect or always accurate. But it’s also not Ai fakery. You use editing and techniques in camera and post to convey a more emotionally complex image. But not always a sharper one.

It’s a delicate balance and that’s why Pictorialist actions are really mind-blowing. They create a balance that you can then adjust quickly to fit your vision.

You can edit and mix and blur and create photography that is both real but also fine art and emotion. Pisctsorism reinforces the idea the idea that artistic editing is OK. But the edits are real. They are working with a real scene from camera to print and showing your vision.

photography pictorailism alfred Stegliz style editing

And I think we need that right now.

Nealy every image you see going viral online is fake. But as a pictorialist you can say, I’m creating something dramatic but it’s real. And people need real in these sterile times.

It can be deeply creative and atmospheric. But it’s all based on real-world and you as the photographer view it as a slice of time.

Go try editing like a pictorialist and see the magic that ensues. And of course, if you want to make it even better try my Pictorialist actions. They’re guaranteed!

David Hamilton style effects using pictorialist actions
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January 4, 2024

Pro Photography Podcast
Pro Photography Podcast
Pro Photography Podcast #208 | Are new cameras worth it?
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Photography Podcast Host: Gavin Seim.

Leave a comment below, or talk about this week’s episode right here on the Shadow Hunter Facebook group. Also, don’t miss the next Shadow Hackers Online Workshop for Free.

On this week’s Pro Photography Podcast… Should you buy a new camera?

Check out the new Filmist 2 film presets because the film looks in them and real and I’ve been working for months to finish them.

Fimlist free film presets and styles - Pro photo podcast

Your phone camera is getting Ai and noise is not a bad thing in real photos so do you need a new camera body? Because they are expensive now.

Videos and other important things mentioned on this show.

Check out the new Filmist 2 film presets because the film looks in them and real and I’ve been working for months to finish them.

Your phone camera is getting Ai and noise is not a bad thing in real photos so do you need a new camera body? Because they are expensive now.

Check out Elegance Speed Mask presets and Gav’s other products on the homepage.

Peo PhotographyPodcast Pick of the Week

Godox TT 350 compact flash

Also, check out the FlashQ 20II

and the SmallRig mini arm clamp is what I keep in my bag.

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September 22, 2023

We’re always talking about high dynamic range. But today’s videos are a keystone much like our = STOP using contrast from the last Masters Made Easy video. LoFi photography is actually fundamental to understanding your photos.

No LoFi Photography is not just a lomo camera or a filter on Instagram. It’s just as important to shadow hunting as the High Dynamic Range techniques as I explained in my recent video.

Many photographers no longer edit Low Dynamic Range.

You’ll find some free presets to make this easier inside my Film presets sampler and the Silver Black and White preset Sampler. Also there are some powerful LoFi tools in my Emulsion Photoshop Actions.

LoFi Photography goes way deeper than people think.

LoFi Photography is often played as low quality, pinhole camera, etc. While those can be included, it’s a really low dynamic range technique and it’s important when you plan a shoot.

I know I say it all the time but this LoFi photography fits in with Shadow Hacking 101 so make sure you come to a Shadow Hackers online photo workshop.

LoFi photos take what everyone else throwing out and it often creates better photos. You don’t need to do all LoFi or all HDR. A lot of photos fall in between. But don’t be afraid to push the methods I show in the video to refine your style.

Reverse the things they teach you in LoFi photography

We’re almost universally taught to push sliders right in the digital world. A more is more kind of approach. That’s why most photos look so bad and even good photographers are ediuting to death. We went deeper into this in my post about how to ground your edits by using filmic presets.

I’ve been doing this since the start of digital. I’ve watched the influencers and experts nearly always selling the same ideas and repeating ourselves because they came from film and all the digital stuff was new and like candy. Candy sometimes lacks perspective.

Slowly that’s changing as digital matures and photographers realize that we still have a lot to learn from the past.

Stop speaking in just digitally.

We live in an analog world. The advent of Ai photography is reminding us just how fake everything has become and that the real world is often more magical. LoFi photography is not every part of the puzzle. But you nee to know it.

You can still do amazing complex edits. But by knowing all the tools in your box you have control. Yes, your capture can be HDR and your final LDR, or vice versa. When you know to hunt shadows and look for the atmosphere and life in photos everything starts to change. There’s not just one way and you need to know them all to master this. The good news is, it’s not that complex.

Stay tuned for more in the Masters Made Easy series.

Gavin Seim

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