A. Cemal Ekin is a prolific blogger on all things photographic, a presenter of photographic editing techniques using Photoshop and Lightroom, and a printing enthusiast. He believes that holding a print allows one to examine it more closely to appreciate the textures on the paper and in the photograph. He is also a long-time member of PSRI. Cemal has had several gallery showing of his prints, has created a number of print on-demand photo books, and has had work published in national photographic magazines and online.

While he is very knowledgeable of photographic history, photographers, digital editing, and lighting techniques, the one weakness he has is bird identification. For him, every bird photo I show him is some kind of finch

Be sure to explore his website, www.keptlight.com, there is much find within.

A Very Happy New Year to all you photographers! May you be happy doing whatever you do – whether it be at work or for fun!

I am sure at least some of you are contemplating making a calendar for 2017. Here is a simple way to get your images into a calendar.

Go to https://www.calendarlabs.com/photo-calendar.php

Screen shot below:

I made a special folder of the 12 images I wanted to use – remember that each image cannot be more than 2MB each or it will not upload.

2MB is more than sufficient for this purpose. My 8.5 x 11 inches calendar came out gorgeous!

Simply upload images from this folder, a month at a time and print.

Don’t forget to change each month. Also before going to the next month, I saved each document (File > save as)   for future printing      (your family is quite likely to ask for prints). But remember this is web based.

If you don’t like that “Calendar generated at Calendarlabs.com“ at the bottom right, then save the document as a screen shot. Next open this in Photoshop. Select portions of this and paste on a blank document. Add your own image and refine to taste before printing. I am OK giving them the credit – after all the templates aren’t mine.

Now if you don’t want to go through all this let me know – I have done all this and saved my 12 pages as JPEGs.  You can have all these. Simply open each in PS and superimpose your image on mine (drag and drop – you can then adjust the handle bars to exactly cover my image with yours! (don’t worry , I am not offended).

If you want to be adventurous, you can go to their main website and choose from other options.

https://www.calendarlabs.com/2017-calendar-templates

Here are some of the images I used for my own calendar

https://kmzimages.zenfolio.com/2017cal

Happy shooting in 2017 – see you soon

Karl Zuzarte

  Since I am primarily a landscape photographer, the light is critical to my images.  In the wrong light or bad light, images can really fall flat…I speak from experience.

  There is a learning curve to photography, it takes time to develop an eye for good composition and a feel for lighting…it has taken me years of practice (and looking at photographs and paintings by masters of photography and art) to get somewhat proficient. But there are many days when my images fall flat and must be deleted: don’t be afraid to delete the junk! Some people never delete images until they see them on the computer, however, I will delete in camera if the composition fails when I review them on the LCD. You must be cutthroat about your images, because as good as you may be in Photoshop or Lightroom, if your shots are bad, admit it..why waste time editing something that should be deleted. Some people don’t like to shoot at the same places; that’s ridiculous…I keep going back to Beavertail or other areas on the coast because weather is always changing; even my attitude changes day to day..I might be cranky one night, but in a good mood the next: it will have an impact on how I photograph.

   Here are a few examples of what I am discussing.  The first one is taken at Ponagansett Falls in Scituate. Be patient!  This night the sky looked like a dud, but as the sun set some clouds appeared on the horizon and things began to change..These three images were all taken within a half hour of each other.

The next image is a wide angle taken at Castle Hill in Newport. I was moving around on the rocks looking for a good composition about an hour before sunset. Always try to get to your location at least an hour prior to sunset; it gives you time to scout for the best spot and do test shots. The second shot was taken as the sun was setting and the clouds and rocks formed diagonals leading to the lighthouse.

The next image was taken in the Canadian Rockies…the first mountain shot was taken without sun. It was cloudy and foggy but it was worth waiting for the sun to break through the clouds, because it burned off a lot of the cloud cover revealing the mountains in the background.

The last one is the combined use of twilight and slow shutter speed. The first ferris wheel shot was taken when it was not moving just before twilight. The second image was taken during the twilight hour when the wheel was turning.  It is obviously much more interesting. Any rides at a carnival are fascinating when photographed at night when they are in motion.

 I know a lot of photographers will tell you they shoot only at F8, the sweet spot on their lenses..that is nonsense. I shoot at F16, 18, 22…the diffraction is minimal with the newer lenses; I need to shoot at those apertures to allow light to hit the sensor a long time to get the effect I am seeking; F8 doesn’t work for me unless there is wind, then I will use it on the foreground to stop movement..also, I use every filter imaginable on my lenses: soft edge grads, hard edge grads, NDs, polarizers, reverse NDs: whatever it takes to give me what I want…

To me, the most important thing about getting an image with impact is looking at the world with awe. Nothing is jaded to me. Think of everything you see as if it were for the first time.

It is important to remember certain characteristics of the primary colors:

Red:   It is the hottest color and draws the eye more than any other color..hence, red stop signs and people wearing red coats in landscape images. If used in large amounts it can overwhelm a viewer with impact. Here is an example of the use of red to draw the eye to a certain area:

Another important thing to remember about color, especially when photographing seascapes or landscapes: warm colors advance while cool colors recede.  The result of this will give dimension to an image; here is an example:

Another important point:  yellows and oranges are warm fuzzy feeling colors; they evoke summer and sunlight …that’s why so many cereal boxes are yellow!  People like warmer images as compared to cooler images: use this to your advantage;  as an example, here is the same image with a warming filter and another as it was shot:

Remember, if you want to be more adept at using color successfully, try a project that I have done occasionally: for one week, shoot only for color.  It’s not easy..I found that using a macro lens worked well, but I have also used a 70-200mm telephoto.  The most important thing is to make an effort to understand the importance of color in your photographs.

We have all seen black and white images that are intriguing and compelling; but how can we do it?  There are a few simple rules that will help you succeed in creating a good black and white image (and it’s not a shot of a white building with black shutters!).  A good black and white image removes distractions and reduces everything to its basic elements.

There are some important points to remember when photographing an image that will be converted to black and white:

1. Dramatic color doesn’t mean a dramatic black and white image.
2. Tonal contrast is key to a good image: absolute black with tonal changes to absolute white are your best shot.
3. Form, shape and pattern are your friends.
4. Study the masters: Ansel Adams and Edward Weston; there are a couple of excellent contemporary black and white photographers:  Mitch Dobrowner and Cole Thompson..study their images for creative ideas.
5. Practice shooting in Raw+B&W jpeg; or just shoot black and white Raw: the LCD on the camera will be B&W but the image will be in color on the computer.
6. Try color conversion software; my favorite is Nik Silver Efex Pro.  There are many others by other software manufacturers; also, Photoshop has a B&W converter that works well at times…Lightroom also has a B&W converter.
7. The important thing to learn in converting to black and white is the use of the filters in the conversion software:

a red filter will lighten red and darken blue and green ( this is great for darkening skies)

a blue filter will lighten blue and darken red, yellow and orange in different amounts

Here are some examples of images converted to black and white:

The image on the left has good tonal range but very little color or drama; after converting to black and white, the sky has more definition and the whole image is stronger:

The next image has good light and shadow but something is lost in color.  By converting to black and white there is more impact. And the distraction of the red gear drawing the eye is removed.

Portraits can be stronger in black and white since any color distractions are removed:

This busker in Scotland has so much color going on that it was necessary to take away all that distraction.

Good black and white images are difficult to make and require practice:

But the results, when they work, can be amazing.

When I shoot, I don’t go looking for black and white images, ever!  I don’t practice shooting in black and white like a lot of photographers because the back of the LCD doesn’t seem to help me decide on a certain image. When I get home to review images, if there is an image with good tonal quality or strength of structure, I try a conversion.  Sometimes trying an HDR image as a black and white can produce dramatic results.  Mountains and storm skies are usually excellent for conversion since a red filter can be used to turn the sky almost black; you will feel a little buzz as you channel your inner Ansel Adams.

Do it!  What have you got to lose?