Daniel Ruf

Entering From Stage Right!

"Great Photography is about depth of feeling not depth of field." Peter Adams

I've spent a lot of mornings waiting for a sunrises, not knowing for sure what the outcome will be, but always with hope for a surprise. There have been a few occasions when Mother Nature adds a significant tune that I wasn't expecting, such as the duck showing up with perfect timing. I'll take these circumstances any way I can get them.

Just when I posted the above blog image I noticed a distraction that I missed in the processing of this image. That distraction would be that buoy left of center. Rather than replace or correct the infraction I thought I'd use it as a lesson.

The change is subtle, but the duck is now the center attraction as opposed to the confusion of the buoy near the horizon. It may be a little thing to many, but removal of distractions either by changing the camera position or software editing is essential to make the story clear and without distractions. It's always a good idea to check the edges of an image for little distractions as well. I use Photoshop CC in most of my work and a Canon 5D Mark IV, which I still love. Lightroom is the first order of editing and Photoshop does the rest, including clean up. I used Topaz AI Denoise to rid the picture of the noise as I had to use a high ISO to achieve the shutter speed to stop the ducks movement. With that being said it's necessary to realize that using multiple editing processes takes a certain bit of balance in the handling. No matter the choice of editing processes used they all seem to leave "artifacts" if not used with a light hand. It's taken me a long time to learn this and, at times, it seems I'm still learning.

Thanks for visiting and enjoy the beautiful Spring weather

Places to see more of Daniel's work:

Pearson Lakes Art Center - lakesart.org 

Arts On Grand - artsongrand.org

 

Rainy Days

"My hand is an extension of the thinking process-the creative process."  Tadao Ando

it was a rainy dreary day when I decided to get out for some "wet" work...puddles and such, all while visiting some regular stops along the way.  In the process, as is usually the case, I was fortunate to find a couple of surprises one of which is the subject of today's blog post.

While I take every precaution to keep my equipment dry with several types of camera rain gear, I don't find many of them to be enjoyable to work with or around. It always seems that a flap is in the way or the material begins to "crawl" down in front of the lens no matter how many fasteners are available.  It was the main reason I was hesitant to just hop out amongst the raindrops, especially during downpours.  In this case I didn't melt nor did my camera, but a quick drying off session was necessary when I finished.

There were numerous intrusions in this scene including fenceposts, another dock, various items along the rock wall and background paraphenalia.  All required either good camera placement or editing during post processing.

The first attraction...the boat; the second...rock wall; the third...rain drops on the water, and finally the vertical reflections.  Because of the subdued lighting the colors were more saturated which really helped bring the grass area into play.

The scene was captured with Canon 5D Mrk II at an ISO of 1600 (rare for this ol' boy), but the noice was reduced in Topaz DeNoise with other editing done in NIK Color Efex and Viveza software.  I also applied a texture to enhance the color of the water as well as reflections and darken the outside edges.  I take care to use texture adjustments delicately...most of the time.

Scenes like this, even with the rain, are reflecting and comforting, in my opinion, and also act as a diversion from standard seasonal photography.  They rank right up there with chasing fog and snowflakes.

Thanks for joining me and feel free to comment.

Sic “Em Bears. Go Baylor!

For more views of my work visit;

Arts On Grand, Spencer, Iowa http://www.artsongrand.org/

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

http://500px.com/pigs4u

http://www.flickr.com/photos/19338959@N06/

Playing Around

"An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail."   Edwin Land

There are a couple of folks in our town that have taken to erecting a tepee on their land, which has become an attraction to me.  I noticed the one above late last fall and made sure I made tracks through the area in case the structure went up again.  It took me a couple of visits before I had a sky that worked well and this particular image is from a late evening when brooding clouds were about.

Several years ago my wife and I worked on an indian reservation in Arizona and this tepee was a reminder of the many friends we made and the interesting culture that we lived at the time.  The elder Native America women were always adorned with yards of turquoise jewelry and colorful garments when they made their way to town.  We had dinner with a few families and were even able to watch as one of our friends mother wove a rug that we later purchased.

The blog image was processed in Photoshop CS5 with some noise reduction done in Topaz DeNoise 5 and then a couple of textures added with Totally Rad software.

Summer is upon us and I'm preparing for 3 different "art in the parks" that are fast approaching.  I hope all of you that visit this blog are having an enjoyable summer with famly and friends.  I don't know about you, but to me it just seems like the days are flying by. 

Sic 'em Bears!

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