landscapes Archives

October 8, 2013

beauty, f164, journal, musings, Nature, travel, video

Day 25 – The Great Fall PHOTOGRAPHICS Road Trip Diary.

We are on the road for a month of Fall color. Not as long as the great 3 month winter tour, but no less epic for that. This time it’s yours truly Gavin Seim, my wife Sondra, our 3 kids, my brother and co-producer Nathan and his wife Allie. Yea, that means two cars and a lot of gas to pay for. So this trip has to be really good.

We’re filming the new PHOTOGRAPHICS Miniseries, making new pictorials and Super Camping around the west. (FYI you can check out our camping resource guide here). We’ve got 4×5 film, a cinema camera and the open road. We’ll bring you the play by play right here. You can also check out our travel map. Bring it on! Gav

Day 17-25 – Epic Hiking, Climbing Rock, and Death Camp

We’ve been on the move. Some very nice days in Utah. We were up as high as Ten Thousand feet near Cedar Breaks and down to Zion and one of the most amazing campsites ever. I finally got an image that did our secret view justice. Stay tuned for that. Nathan and I even hiked the Subway. 8 miles of grueling labor but the stunning scenery was more than an ample reward. The goods and footage are coming soon from that effort.

Nest we headed down through Vegas. We stayed most of the next day, but we didn’t touch the slots. We ran errands and did some rock climbing with a guy we met while looking around REI. It was really cool and we geared up a bit so we can climb on our own.

Next up was Death Valley. We camped on the ruins of an old trailer park on some BLM land just outside the park. Since it was so close we affectionately called it death camp. Desolation abounds, but so do interesting things. We spent a couple days there and now we’re moving on to Yosemite as we come into the final week on the road. Photographics is coming out beautifully and I have a selection of grand images that will make this trip well worth the effort.

Sondra Seim and kids — Sondra and the kids with me at sunset in Death valley. It’s a desolate place, but there is much beauty here.

We went climbing with an off duty promoted we met at REI. That promoted us to go out and buy some gear of out own. Good times. — We went climbing with an off duty Policeman we met at REI. That prompted us to go out and buy some gear of our own. Good times.

Zion hike, subway — Nathan rolling some stunning footage during a long hike. What a beautiful area.

Gavin Seim Shoes Tree — The shoe tree along US 50 in Utah. Apparently it’s a thing.

Gavin Seim truck — The great new sign on the tailgate. Just so people know who we are. 😉

Cedar Breaks Camping — Camped at 10,500 ft near Cedar Breaks. Neat area, but it was a bit cooler.

Day 8-16 The Wild Wandering Color: It’s been a good week. We’ve moved from Idaho, to Utah, to Nevada and Back to Utah. The color has been soothing to the busy mind and the filming we’ve been able to do in these locations is nothing short of stunning. We’ve pulled hours of footage in some of the most beautiful places on earth.

We’re catching up on email and supplies and then we’ll head into Cedar Breaks for some new views. After that, off to Zion, then down through Vegas to swing up to Death Valley and Yosemite NP. We’re about halfway through and the results are looking good.

here's a fun outtake from the filming we were doing up in the hills. Sometimes you can't help yourself. — Here’s a fun outtake from the filming we were doing up in the hills. Sometimes you can’t help yourself. You can pre-order the film here.

The secret is for the parent not to enter a situation whereby the children can see the playground from the car window. Once this happens the parent has few options for escape.

Nathan working hard as we film up on the Nebo loop.

We found wild Ephedra Viridis which makes a great tea. The kids were having a blast.

A free camp up in Great Basin National park. A little hidden gem in Nevada that's quite stunning. — A free camp up in Great Basin National park. A little hidden gem in Nevada that’s quite stunning.

Day 6 – 8. Braking Bad: We we made it down into Utah and camped at a favorite spot up by Ogden. You can see it on the maps.

Then we headed down to Salt lake area. Now along the way I realized that something as seriously wrong with the brakes on the camper. It was barely grabbing and that’s not a good feeling on those steep Utah hills. We parked at the Cabelas lot in Lehi and tore into them.

It’s taken us a few days of running for parts, but being in a big city helped. It was shot, drums scoured, magnets worn to wire. We totally replaced the entire brake system on all 4 tires and should be ready to roll in the morning with beautiful grippy brakes.

While in town I picked up some other parts for the Super Camper and ran some errands, including a trip to Picture Line in Salt Lake where I dropped them a copy of the EXposed workshop to consider carrying in the store.

We also just released a brand new image from Idaho. Check it out. Tomorrow we move on and see what the open road brings.

Side 1 torn down. It's not as hard as it look. Replaced the entire system for about $400. We're talking backing plates, drums and all. — Side 1 torn down. It’s not as hard as it look. Replaced the entire system for about $400. We’re talking backing plates, drums and all.

Day 2-5 – It’s been a great ride already. We covered a good deal of miles and made it into far Idaho (from where I live, that’s SE Idaho). We’ll head down into Utah soon. We have two vehicles in our little caravan and we have been roaming all over. We left the interstate and found some Fall color in the Idaho highlands. We went up to Craters of The Moon monument and the stunning desolation that was there. Gavin even nearly got arrested in an encounter where he filmed a traffic stop and would not back down. It actually got a lot of news coverage. Some agree, some do not. But we can all agree that there’s nothing like a great American road trip.

We have have camped out in WalMart lots for the first few nights, but now we're fining the color. This stunning free campspot up by Bigwood river in ID gave us some great views and we pulled form neat footage for PHOTOGRAPHICS. — We have camped out in WalMart lots for the first few nights, but now we’re finding the color. This stunning free camp spot up by Big Wood River in South Idaho gave us some great views and we pulled some neat footage for PHOTOGRAPHICS.

Stunning textural lava flows at Craters of The Moon.

We drove up to Creators of the Moon National Monument. It was truly a grand piece of barren desolation. But due to our lovley goverment shitting down it was closed. We managed to go back down the road and walk in from a pullout. Got some good visuals. — We drove up to Craters of the Moon National Monument. It was truly a grand piece of barren desolation. But due to our lovely government shutting down it was closed. We managed to go back down the road and walk in from a pullout. Got some good visuals.

Day 1

Loaded and ready. We did not hot the road tille about 6PM, but we drove none the less making it to a wal mart parking lot on Pendleton Oregon the first night. The secenmey will get better ;) — Loaded and ready on 10/7/11. We did not hit the road until about 6PM, but we drove none the less, making it to a Walmart parking lot in Pendleton, Oregon the first night. The scenery will get better 😉

March 16, 2013

art study, color, f164, Fine Art, journal, musings, Nature, science, signature, technique, video

The American Pictorials Project – Year 5 of 10

The 40x40 master of Sliver Moon Blues on display at an exhibit last year. — The 40×40 master of Sliver Moon Blues on display at an exhibit last year.

by Gavin Seim: It’s now year 5 of a 10 year plan to build my American Pictorialist brand one day at a time. I thought I was setting out to take photos. Turns out there was much more I was after. I discovered what I really wanted was not pictures, but furniture. Grand prints that convey the majesty of creation. That’s easier said that done, but I feel Chroma and Silver galleries look better each year.

I got my first camera about 20 years ago now. It’s been a long road. But I may see a speck of light in the tunnel. It took mew a decade or so just realize that what I’m making is not pictures but fine furniture. To begin to really find my style. Something I hope to have mostly nailed down in the next three years both in my pictorials and my American Portraits which are something I don’t intend to give up. They are separate brands, but both have similar goals. Both are furniture for the wall.

The goals are starting to become more clear thanks to teachers like Ken Whitmire, painters of the past, history itself and many others who have shared their experience along the way. I’m learning that I have to focus. I have to remember what I’m trying to produce.

There’s lots of images being made and I don’t need to compete with that. I just need to make work I release as breathtaking as is possible. I’m getting to the stage where I know if the image is Signature worthy or just a nice snapshot before I press the shutter. Understanding that line has tuned out to be critical to my process.

Teaching has pushed me as well. Producing workshops like EXposed helped me see much better. What’s next is further refinement. Being more picky in the image making process as well as in the presentation. I’ve been focusing on slowing down for a few years now. I got into film and large format. I stopped making so many images and learned to focus on one whether it was a pictorial or a portrait.

But I think it’s time to take that further. By focusing on only releasing only 6-12 new pieces each year, the time spent on each will become flexible. Refinement and stunning presentation will be my focus and it takes a great deal of time to do that to my satisfaction – If I intend to stay sane I have to release less to make them more.

In recording the new Photographics Film I have been reminded that the elements that make a great photograph are not bound by one most import, but by a series of many including space, position, line, tone and presentation. If any one of these fails the image will often fail to be a stunning work of art and simply be a photo. I won’t forget that.

I am blessed and thankful that I can take my time. I just keep trying to move forward. In doing so I believe it will be better than I ever imagined when I picked up my first camera nearly 20 years ago. I had no idea where this would lead. Perhaps I still don’t. I still have 5 years to nail down the the American Pictorial. And if I don’t make that deadline, I’ll keep working.

Gavin Seim

May 13, 2012

Gavin Seim, HDR Photography, Lighting, PPS Photography Tips, ProPhotoShow

Tone Control – Focusing Your Light

kylie_details — The Forest Pool - In this split, we see the base toneapped merge and the final edited burns, dodges and detail work side by side. Not all images are this extreme, but tone control used well will always give your image that finishing touch.

by: Gavin Seim. Tone mapping and image processing without tone control is like having a lens without focus. It’s nothing new. Good shadows & contrast make an image. Without them we often get what I call the Flickr HDR. And trust me, you don’t want that 😉

Leveraging tone to keep the subject the subject and the supporting cast, supporting, is critical. Good tone control is what separates the men from the boys in the world of imaging and we can’t talk about it too much. I think we sometimes get distracted with the latest techniques. But generally they’re not really that new. They’re just new ways of doing things people have done on film for decades. Take HDR. On film, every image you made was HDR if you managed your light and processing well.

So then HDR. It’s not a style and it’s not judged on how many images you use, or whether you tonemap in Photomatix or Nik. It’s simply the management of a high range of light. You can do that with film, layers, tonemapping, channel mixing, brushes or in the camera.

In this example of a three exposure tone mapped image, you can see how much work I had to do to reign in the tone values. A tonemapped merge shows this more than a single file would. It tends to push everything to mid tones. After which, those tones have to be managed. Either that or you have mid-tone chaos. This is one reason I often manage dynamic range manually with layers, rather than tonemapping, but both are fine as long as you have a plan.

What I’m getting at is that an image must have a subject. Just one. Everything else needs to support that and it doesn’t matter if you have a single RAW or a tonemappped HDR with loads of range. Tonal control helps the eye focus. Without that focus you’ll nearly always have an image failure.

I’ve studied tone for years now with the legendary Ken Whitmire and even more on my own. It’s taught me to see light. Not simply that there is light. But what it’s doing for me. I see a lot of potentially great images that fail without any tone control. It generally means no cohesive subject. No one is talking much about tone. But if you do it right, the viewers eye is lead right to the subject, every time, no matter how many elements are in the scene.

Using the Zone System really helps with this as it quickly teaches you to manage tones better and make things as good as they can be in camera. See this article. On the editing side often a burn & dodge, brushes, or layering of lighter and darker frames makes the diffence. The bottom line is that while there is no rule on how we control tone, it must be done if we want a focused image that draws the viewers eye and showcases our subject.

This is something I go into at great length in my Lights & Shadows workshop and my EXposed DVD. But the main thing is to keep working with it. Cameras, the latest software and the latest techniques are useful things to study. But tone control is timeless and is never superseded. Without it we can expect our images to fail or to be little more than snapshots. Every time.

Happy tones… Gavin Seim

King of the Valley by Gavin Seim - Utah — King of the Valley - Valley of the gods Utah, Spring 2012. A gentle tone controlled single exposure. See more of Gavin's American Pictorials on f164.com

October 4, 2010

f164, journal, National Park, travel

Here I stand On Top of the World (reference photo).

You can find this spot at coordinates: 37.267000, -113.176000 (view on map)

I am in awe. Tonight’s campsite is high on the Smith Mesa area overlooking Zion National Park. I believe this is the most amazing view I’ve seen in my life. You have to be here to feel the scope of it. We’re camped just a few yards from this bluff right now. No one else around, a silent expanse of dessert fading far below under watching stars.

This is just a iPhone reference photo I took as we set up camp, not a final. It was followed by a stunning sunset and I’ve made various compositions as the light changed. Is there any way to present this and fully show it’s beauty? I think probably not. With a place this amazing it’s hard to show it’s full beauty. Hoping I can nail this one… Gav

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