Daniel Ruf

Foggy Days

"The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work."     Emile Zola

The temperate weather in our area has brought a number of foggy days and fortunate opportunities to find the usual, unusual.  The blog image occurred at  the end of a morning shoot when the fog was actually beginning to drift upward to dissipate, but one last call occurred as I passed over this creek on the way home.

The capture was processed in Nik HDR Efex Pro and then further in Photoshop CS5 with touches using Nik Color Efex Pro 4 with its U Point technology as well as the brush tool to help strengthen the barns presence.

In the past year I think I've seen my approach softening a bit by being a little less heavy handed with different software approaches.  At the same time I've enjoyed the increased use of the creative choices available with not only Nik software, but also Topaz, Alien Skin Snap Art and Totally Rad textures.  My approach has been to use any of the aforementioned elements to enhance rather than cover up as I feel an image in need of a "band aid" is more worthy of the digital waste basket.

Of course this developing process (no pun intended) has occured over many years and has been influenced by reading, internet access and workshops and making a monumental amount of learning mistakes...bless everyone of them!

Thanks to all that frequent this site and please take the time to visit the links on the right to see the work of some real masters and friends.

My hopes are with the Baylor women's basketball team as they take up the challenge of the NCAA Final Four.  Sic 'em Bears!

My book "Places I've Been, Things I've Seen" and new book "Take What's Given" can be purchased online at-  http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1868649

For more views of my work visit;

"A Piece Of Work", Spirit Lake, Iowa  http://www.apieceofworkinc.com

Lanesboro Art Center, Lanesboro, Minnesota   www.lanesboroarts.org

BetterPhoto.com   http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Default.aspx?id=251674&mp=V

http://500px.com/pigs4u

Offerings

"I think if you shake the tree, you ought to be around when the fruit falls to pick it up."

Mary Cassatt

The last few days our part of the world has been fortunate enough to experience a few days of fog and, to paraphrase Dorcas Lane of "Larkrise To Candleford"..."Fog is my only weakness", I've been out exploring a lot of different nooks and crannies.  On the day of the blog image I found an area of ground fog, while on the road, and was pretty excited since it was a perfect background to a farmstead that I've wanted to capture for a long time.  The perfect sunrise colors made it all the better so I made a hard right turn to find a set up location to wait for the "announcement" of the colors.

The image was processed through Nik HDR Efex Pro, then Photoshop CS5 and finally some touches in Nik Color Efex Pro 4.  Color Efex provided the Tonal Contrast correction and also the use of the Split Neutral Density Grad Filter which are two favorites and with the brush tool in the software filter allows the opportunity to paint the effects on the image.  The Nik brush tools and the U-point technology are great to use for those subtle touches throughout an image.

While working on this piece it wasn't too difficult to remember past mornings on the farm...out early to start chores, then in for a hardy breakfast at about 9 a.m. and then back out 'til noon.  While the days were long and full there was always a sense of pride in the American Heartland that went with the work no matter how compelling the day.

Thanks for visiting the site and don't forget to stop to take a deep breath...Spring is here, my friend.

A big shout for the Baylor men's and women's basketball team for having won their way to the final eight of the NCAA tournaments.  We're so proud.

My book "Places I've Been, Things I've Seen" and new book "Take What's Given" can be purchased online at-  http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1868649

For more views of my work visit;

"A Piece Of Work", Spirit Lake, Iowa  http://www.apieceofworkinc.com

Lanesboro Art Center, Lanesboro, Minnesota   www.lanesboroarts.org

BetterPhoto.com   http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Default.aspx?id=251674&mp=V

http://500px.com/pigs4u

Sometimes...

  

"Passion is in all great searches and is necessary to all creative endeavors."

W. Eugene Smith

...you just have to turn around to see the image you have been looking for and in this case, on an extremely hot day at Ft. Defiance State Park, such was the case when I turned from the actual coneflowers I was shooting and found this window view staring at me.  Sometimes it's a no brainer...even if the brain is in sleep mode.

The original capture, actually two of them are below and due to the low light conditions it was 

necessary to make two captures with specific focus for the window frame and the flowers.  During the editing process the two were merged as combined layers and the flowers were then painted into the window frame areas.  After some adjustments in Photoshop CS5 for brightness and contrast the next step was to go into Nik Color Efex Pro to make additional adjustment in tonal contrast and foliage color.

The last steps included some color work in Nik Viveza using their fantastic "U-Point" technology and then doing a little "copy and paste" to rid the window frame of the obnoxious chip in the lower left.

Finally some work was done in Alien Skin's "Topaz" to give the scene a slight painterly effect for the final blog image at the top.

As I remind participants of my local workshops most subjects have at least 6 sides to explore which can give you at least 6 different lighting scenario's.  In this case, though, it was necessary for a 180 degree turn from the subject to see what was behind both me and the camera. 

Move your feet and take the time to investigate all the possibilities.

Thank you for stopping and feel free to comment.

My book "Places I've Been, Things I've Seen" can be purchased online at-

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1868649

For more views of my work visit;

"A Piece Of Work", Spirit Lake, Iowa  http://www.apieceofworkinc.com

Lanesboro Art Center, Lanesboro, Minnesota   www.lanesboroarts.org

BetterPhoto.com   http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Default.aspx?id=251674&mp=V

Subtle Artistry

"The battle for conservation will go on endlessly.  It is part of the universal warfare between right and wrong."

John Muir.

My good friend Mike Houge, www.mikehouge.typepad.com , has been keeping me informed of flower locations this spring and this past couple of weeks he and I both have been hunting for the first sightings of native Blue Flag's (Iris) in our wetlands.  As his luck would have it, he beat me to it and informed me of an area close to where I live and I finally broke away to take a look.  It was late afternoon so the slanted western sunlight was throwing a brilliant light on the area, but high winds were also in the mix.  After the capture of several images I hung around the area for a while to catch a sunset on the ponds of the Spring Run Wildlife Management Areas near Spirit Lake, Iowa.

When I got down to editing the work in Adobe Elements 8 I began to use my Nik software to deal with some separation and harsh lighting issues.  It was during this process that I was reminded that digital photography has brought a host of tools to our fingertips that we can use subtly or dramatically to create our artistry.  While I'm keenly aware that many viewers have become suspicious of the digital format and its subsequent ability to provide a palette of artistic tools for the photographer, I have learned to become somewhat "tone deaf" to these suggestions so that I can enjoy, as any other fine artists, the tools of our trade.

At any rate the above blog image is the original capture and through the use of Nik Color Efex and Viveza plug-ins I was able to, I believe, enhance the final image, and then complete the work with the use of Topaz Adjust 4 and and Alien Skin Bokeh.  

 As you can see the adjustments are subtle, but I believe I've achieved additional separation of the iris from background while "stimulating" the colors and softening the highlight areas.  Nik software, with it's U-point technology has made "nuance" a tool that allows the artist to click on an area in the image and enhance a small area easily and precisely.  In the case of this image I was able to decrease the highlight of petal areas without affecting other  areas and to enhance the saturation of the warm, golden areas of the petals, without affecting the other warm tones.

Digital photography, with all it's equipment and software tools, has opened the avenues of pre-visualization to photographers so that, while we're in the field at the tripod, we can access our mental file to decide our approach(s) at editing.  It can be both liberating and frustrating, but so is the use of the right brush at the right time.

Before I close I want to also draw your attention to a another artist that I follow during my educational journey in photography.  Anthony Vodraska is a new addition to our area of Northwest Iowa and his work and illuminating essays can be found at www. x-altartstudio.blogspot.com .  His works, and that of his wife, Anita Gilbert, are stunning, imaginative, thought provoking and varied.  Take the time for a visit.

For more views of my work visit;

"A Piece Of Work", Spirit Lake, Iowa  http://www.apieceofworkinc.com

"Art On 16th"  http://www.hankhallarton16th.com

Artisans Road Trip www.artisansroadtrip.com  

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