Gallery
Here is a sampler of some of my photos. I wish I could show you more, but I only get 10MB of space.
Road Hogs
Untitled
Hedgehog Cactus Flowers
Digital Photography
I am an unabashed supporter of digital photography. But some people don't want to include it in photography at all (...at least in camera clubs in the 90's). But that resistance is fading as more and more photographers try it.
Digital can be nothing more than a different way of capturing an image. However, it's also a tremendously powerful tool. What seems to frighten some traditionalists is the power the computer has at manipulating images - the ability to create a moment instead of capturing it. I agree with that to a point, especially in areas like nature and photo journalism, where manipulation is not allowed. But photography is much more than just capturing a moment. I start creating as soon as I put a filter on the camera.
My opinion? PhotoShop doesn't really invent anything that I couldn't do in the darkroom, given enough time and money. It's just a better way of doing it. And if it's better, embrace it.
Rainbow in Bloom
I have several variations of this image on my site - it's one of my favorites. It particular variation is a good example of the power of PhotoShop. The trick is to work the image as two separate files, the flowers in color and the background in B&W, then combine them.
First I digitized masks around each flower and saved it.
Next I changed mode to grayscale, posterized and texturized it a bit (...which is hard to see at this resolution), changed the mode back to RGB, and saved it under a different name.
In the original file, I used the masks to independently change the hue of each flower, then applied a Poster-Edges filter. Then using all 4 masks as a selection, I copied the flowers (to the cut & paste buffer). Then I opened the grayscale image, changed mode back to RGB, and pasted the color flowers into it (...making sure they lined up with the flowers that were there).
Beacon
Uses manually digitized masks to create the red areas and yellow glowing edge.
Take-Off
Another example of montaging and filters, with the added twist that it is a posterization of a B&W negative. First, I digitized a mask around the plane (...it is a real good idea to always archive a copy of the original with the mask so you can use it for other ideas). Then I posterized it using the technique on my Posterization page. Next I turned it back to RGB and montaged in the sky (...which also has a creative filter applied to it) and added the jets.
Corn Off the Cob
Same technique as the previous picture - a posterization and a montage. The only difference is it took me 45 minutes to digitize a mask around the damn cornstalk.
B1, Balloons 2
Just a montage and a creative filter. Digitizing around balloons and jets is a lot easier than cornstalks.
The End