It was a quick drive out to catch the final full moon of the year. It rose as an mellow orange orb over the frozen plains.
Happy new year!
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Having good gear and finding great locations are critical elements in creating great photos. But without good composition, crossing the line from snapshot to art is impossible. Composition is the first place in the photography process where creativity comes in to play. There are guidelines to composing photos, it’s a good idea to read about the rule of thirds. Ok, once you understand the rule of thirds, try to forget it. The idea is not to have a strict structure for your compositions, but an understanding that placement interesting elements in certain areas makes better photos.
In the example photo above, I have composed the image to be centered on the width of the room. The four corners happen to converge where the rule of thirds suggests, but there are also interesting elements within each of the sections. The photo at the head of the post does not follow the conventions described in the rule of thirds. The scene is interesting on its own, the key is capturing a natural HDR. There are many different, interesting ways to compose this image. But composition needs to be at the front of your mind while you are shooting or you may not get the results you want. Some people find it difficult to separate their minds from their surroundings while on location. A trick I use is to imagine (when I look thru the eye piece) that I am looking straight down at a table with a photo on it, a photo that someone else took. Then I adjust the photo until it looks like something I would see framed in a museum. This is how I separate myself from the scene, to step outside myself to see it for what it is. If you can find a way to separate yourself from the scene, you will be much more creative in your composition. Thereby, more likely to “move” people with your photos. 
I won’t spend any time detailing where, how, or when. To me, these are some of the best shots I have ever taken.
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[singlepic id=729 w=320 h=240 float=center] Sunday was a fantastic day for shooting. The weather was beautiful and I was anxious to get some good shots. I went shooting Friday, but it was one of those days where absolutely nothing was in sync. No new locations, boring sky, and very little motivation meant a long day of driving and nothing to show for it. On Sunday, I stumbled across two places that I had visited early in the spring but had not been back to. The light was great and there was plenty of color, shadows, reflected light, and contrast to make things really interesting. It was one of the rare times where everything clicks and the time flies by. After an hour at the first location, I made my way north past Siebert, Colorado to the second location. This property is one of the most interesting , it is very close to the end of its existence as a standing structure. This house was once occupied, then it languished for years, and by this time next year, or maybe two, it will be gone. Rubble behind a stand of trees. [singlepic id=732 w=320 h=240 float=center] Two things strike me when I am at a location like this. The lack of permanence of things, or more precisely, the illusion of permanence we assign to things. It only takes forgetting about something to destroy it. The other thing that strikes me is the power of nature. Throughout this spring and summer, I witnessed the power of nature in it’s most impressive form, scary ass storms. But the more subtle power, the more powerful power , if you will allow it, is the capacity the earth has to refresh itself. In 100 years, only people that know what they are looking for will know that this place existed. Very few things we build will be able to survive this ultimate fate. The final location of the day was a fantastic abandoned farm on the outskirts of the little town of Arriba, Colorado. This tricky location is easily reached if you get off the highway at Arriba, but if you miss that exit, it is a round trip of 30 miles to return. I have missed it more times than I can count, and I rarely double back to a location. Must. Move. Forward. I was determined on this day to capture this farm at sunset, so I drove along the country roads until the time was right, listening to music, pondering things that need pondering. Mental maintenance, I guess. I arrived at the farm with about 15 minutes of sunlight remaining. The low sun poked through the pane-less windows, bathing the inside of the colorfully painted rooms with a very special kind of natural light. I spent the rest of the daylight in that zone where the camera is just an extension of the brain. [singlepic id=740 w=320 h=240 float=center] The final 15 minutes of the shortest day of this year at a place like this. A fitting end to my time in Colorado. More daylight the next day, and a new season of adventure in a new place. I am very excited about the future and a brand new path. For me, this is what life is all about. Here are the shots from this day: [imagebrowser id=29]
Stucco Shack, Eastern ColoradoThis is one a shot from one of my first trips to the plains, taken on Hwy 385 near Cheyenne Wells, Colorado. I had no idea how many abandoned places there actually were and this find seemed particularly lucky. Over the summer I would discover dozens of other places, some much more dramatic. But this location will always be one of my favorites simply because it was one of the first.
 A long way around. Summer, 2009Taken southeast of Limon, Colorado, at this location. This storm system eventually grew so large that I had to take a 150 mile detour to avoid getting nailed by it. I didn’t get back to Denver until 1am. The storm cells were powerful and fast, you can see a small funnel poking down near the horizon from the leading edge of this cell.
I had three great opportunities to shoot while in Seattle for an xmas party. The weather was cold and clear, with dramatic skies each night. This is the first batch of edits, I like them best. [nggallery id=27]  The idea of me rating my own photos and then explaining why they are great seems a little silly. This is an exercise in shameless self indulgence, and I feel fine. The list of top shots will probably be less about the photos than it is about the experience of getting them. This shot was taken during the heat of the summer. There were severe storms almost every day in eastern Colorado, and I found this scene after frantically fleeing a storm that blew up around me. After the chaos of the storm, this quiet moment was particularly poignant. Ok, so it’s not true tilt shift photography. But, with the right photograph and a deft touch with Photoshop, you will be able to create a great photo with the same effect. The idea is make a true to life scene look as if it were done as a miniature model. View the slideshow below to see examples of simulated tilt shift photography. A screencast tutorial will guide you through the steps. The PhotoThe photos that make the most effective tilt shift photos are ones that have a wide depth of field (everything in the frame is in focus) with a downward perspective. Photos with a lateral perspective or that have a narrow depth of field are not good candidates for the tilt shift process. The ProcessThe process to convert a standard photo into a convincing tilt shift is very simple. It takes a bit of practice to apply the mask in a way that is effective, but it is certainly within the grasp of anyone with a little bit of patience. Follow the short screencast below to see the step by step process. Tutorial: Tilt Shift via Photoshop from rudy lopez on Vimeo. This is the final part of the HDR tutorial, covering the processing and data management aspects of creating an HDR image. The process is better understood when presented in a way that follows a standard workflow, so I have created a few screencasts that will follow my regular process. Screencast 1: Generating an HDR imageHDR tutorial 1 of 3: Generating an HDR from rudy lopez on Vimeo. Screencast 2: Processing and Data ManagementHDR Tutorial 2 of 3: Processing and Data Management from rudy lopez on Vimeo. Screencast 3: Editing and ExportHDR Tutorial 3 of 3: Editing and Exporting from rudy lopez on Vimeo.
It is important to remember that the key to success is practice, practice, practice. The more you shoot, the better you will like your results. If you have any questions, please comment and I will respond quickly.
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Copyright © 2012 Rudy Lopez Photography - All Rights Reserved |
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