March 4, 2012

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beauty, f164, Fine Art, infrared, journal, line, National Park, Nature, signature, silver, technique, travel

The Skinny Kid – Joshua Tree NP

The Skinny Kid by Gavin Seim. Joshua Tree NP, Feb 2012

The family and I camped down on the flatland’s and took a nice drive into Joshua Tree that day. It was warm, but got cooler in the highlands and the choice to wear shorts turned out less than ideal. So the family was back in the car warming up after hiking and I ventured out near Skull Rock, finding this skinny little Joshua Tree standing alone, everyone ignoring it’s simplicity.

The Skinny Kid grew on me and soon I was experimenting with angles and ideas for how to best showcase what he had to offer. In the end this simple black and white scene struck me. A starkness of line. A cast shadow showing that his reach extends beyond his size. This tree has a perfect vantage. He gets to watch over this rocky landscape without distraction and reign as King of it’s trees.

Release details: Prints available. Contact the gallery. Learn more about prices. Available prints…

 

For Photographers. How it was made…

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January 13, 2012

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Gavin Seim, HDR Photography, Lighting, ProPhotoShow

Stunning HDR Time Lapses – Using Robotics.

A photo of Tanguy's motion control rig. More below.

by Gavin Seim: As an HDR nerd and teacher I’m not easy to impress. But this did it. Tanguy Louvigny. did this really stunning sequence of HDR time lapses and really nailed it on various levels. First, as an dynamic range guy, I really admire how the process he used in Photomatix is balanced and didn’t go for that way over the top tonemap process.

Next he managed the motion using his own rig made with Tetrix robotics, and controlled it with Mindstorms Brick (actually a Lego product), then programmed it in Robot C. Impressive indeed. You can see more photos of his rig here.

His result for all this was a really stunning body of time lapse work. I hope to look closer at the system that he used for his rig. It seems there’s some possibilities there. You can also read a bit more on picturecorrect as they did a little interview asking Tanguy some detail questions.

All in all it’s quite impressive. Watch the video below and check out his site. And since we’re on the HDR topic, I’ll throw in a shameless plug  and add that if you want to learn more about capturing and processing HDR, check out my HDR Magic video training series... Gav

Here’s a forest series he did using the same setup.

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December 14, 2011

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f164, science, silver, technique

Dynamic & Tonal Range in the RAW File.

Right cut. Original RAW file desaturated in LR. Left cut, same file with the Dynamic Silver III preset from Silver Shadows 2 applied in LR.

Just a few quick observations today. One reason I stay in a RAW as long as possible is that quality and dynamic tonal control is at it’s highest on an original RAW file. Once we leave that environment, we can certainly still work with tonal values, but we throw away some of that precious information.

On the right is a sharpened and desaturated original file from Sunset’s Hidden Falls. On the left, the same file with nothing more than applying Dynamic Silver III from my new Silver Shadows 2 toolkit. This effect pulls out dynamic range without flattening the shadow and contrast too much. It could also be done manually of course.

Once I have the dynamic range under control, then I’ll move on to external edits as needed. I don’t hesitate to go into Photoshop (though I try to stay in 16bit mode) for detail work. I did plenty of that on the final version of this). But getting my basic tonal range managed before I leave the RAW file behind gives me better results and helps me maintain that quality as high as possible for my wall prints. It’s a better wokflow and a better image.

Gav

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November 13, 2011

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

The Artist’s Sunset – Oregon Coast

Artists Sunset – Ken Whitmire in Pacific City Oregon. Fall 2011 by Gavin Seim.

It was one of those Sunsets. The ones with stunning clouds and radiant colors that seem to last forever. Like a great song that keeps on playing. I was on a road trip to the Oregon Coast with Ken Whitmire, the renown portraitist. Ken was working with a family on the beach in Pacific City and I assisted, while getting images and video for a project we were working on.

About halfway through Ken was on his ladder, having this family of five walk down the beach. I just stood back and watched. A bit envious of the amazing portraits he was going to take home. It was a stunning evening. I took in the incredible ocean landscape with some awe. In between video clips, I decided to go vertical and try to illustrate Ken as the working professional in his environment. I hoped for a sort of memorable feel that that artists and photographers could relate to.

This has been really well received. I admit, I did not realize it would strike such a chord, but I’m glad it did. To me this says something about creative craftsmanship and taking your time. It reminds us to take the extra steps up that ladder to make an image Great. That’s what Ken Whitmire has done for over fifty years and I’m glad I got to be  a small part of that.

Our road trip was a memorable one in more ways than one. In fact by brother and I wrote a short short story about this trip. You can read that here on the Brothers Seim blog.

Release details: Prints available. Contact the studio. Learn more about prices. Available prints…

 

For photographers. How it was made…

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August 25, 2011

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lightroom, news, ProPhotoShow, tips, video, workshop

Introducing HDR Magic. Gavin Seim’s New HDR Video Series.

I have something new for you all that I’m really excited about. HDR and dynamic range is something I became passionate about years back. Since then it’s become more than a “look”. It’s become a way for me to better understand and manage light on every level. I think understanding dynamic range is an everyday essential for the serious photographer. It goes deep.

People have been asking for a recorded segment on HDR for years now. I’ve finally got a collection finished. And it’s more than basic HDR. Enter, HDR Magic. Over 2 hours of fully downloadable HD videos where I show you how I make HDR images and manage dynamic range. Their divided into sections, looking at every aspect, from bold HDR to gentle dynamic pushing and pulling. And going forward I plan to refine the set even further and send out free updates.

Head over to the HDR page for all the details and and the first video. It’s time to see light in a new light. I think you’ll enjoy them… Gav

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