Daniel Ruf

Thaw

         "Cherish your human connections: your relationships with friends and family." Joseph Brodsky

    Wishing all my followers a belated wonderful Christmas and prosperous new year.  Nothing is quite so fun as experiencing the joys of Christmas and then turning the leaf to a new year.  Where does the time fly?

    The blog image is from the north end of Spirit Lake, near Mini Wakan State Park in Iowa, and takes in the consequences of an unusual winter thaw...a little hiccup in the season that included these "blocks" of broken ice floating casually on the waters surface.  A little unusual for this early winter season, but not unwelcome when we know that there is still winter "seasoning" to come.

The sunrise, drifting cloud formations and reflections on the water and ice are a little much for me to pass up as I set up the tripod and my Canon 5D Mark II for this vertical shot.  It was a choice between a vertical format showing the many pieces of fractured ice or showing the expansive cloud formation and sunrise.  I chose the clouds as it would not have seemed right to cut off the the huge diagonal line of the cloud and blue sky, especially considering I could include the "repeating" diagonal with the ice in the lower right of the image.

The editing was done in Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) as I'm finding it using this editing option doesn't seem to intensify the noise problems as so many other HDR editing programs tend to do.  I followed that with some work in NIK Color Efex Pro as I could paint in a little more detail in the textures of the foreground ice pads, without affecting the rest of the image softness.  This option along with the U-Point technology of the NIK products make it a go to plug in when working with a lot of my work.

                  

 

When I converted the color image into a black and white using the NIK Silver Efex Pro plug in I noticed a scene of more intensity and punch as well as the sun's rays along the horizon.  

Thank you all for joining me here and have a great Christmas season and 2016.

"Sic 'em Bears" Playing the University of North Carolina in the Russell Athletic Bowl, Dec. 29......"SIC 'EM BEARS".

For more views of my work visit;

http://500px.com

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

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

Summer Wind Gallery, Arnolds Park, Iowa

Punch

"Quality is not an act, it's a habit."  Aristotle

As mentioned in the previous blog post I just got back from a  trip to the southwestern parts of the U.S. and one of the stops was in Prescott.  Previous to this stop there had been a "drought" of clouds and I had tired of cropping out blue sky.  In Prescott the clouds finally started to appear and I was again reminded the important roll of these puffy forms play in a composition and, of course, the break up of the blue.  Their beauty is an added bonus as well.

My initial interest in this scene was not only the unique rock formations, but also the white lines running through the rock caused by a geological epoch before my time.  The early morning light along with the feathered clouds really added some punch to the scene making this too good to pass up.  The exposures were made with an HDR edit in mind, which was done with NIK HDR Efex Pro with other editing done in NIK Viveza to locally adjust color, contrast, etc.

After finishing I realized that this was image would be well suited for a black and white conversion which I accomplished with NIK Silver Efex Pro.

 

With some minor local adjustments to the shadow areas I think this rendition is a stronger representative of the original largely due to increased strength of the lighting on the scene.

One of the things I like most about digital photography is the options present to make these kinds of changes with the original capture in the editing process.  In the film days I had two cameras, each carrying different films which had its own complications.

As an instructive side note to new digital photographers, it's a good idea to always make a color capture as it might turn out to be the best option.  One can always make an in camera black and white capture as well or make a conversion during the editing process while still saving the original color edition.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a good weekend.

"Sic 'em Bears". 

For more views of my work visit;

http://500px.com/pigs4u

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

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

Side Street Gallery, Arnolds Park, Iowa  www.okobojiimages.com

 

Arrived

“Spring won’t let me stay in this house any longer!  I must get out and breathe the air deeply again.”

Gustav Mahler

Spring has found its way to Northwest Iowa and with it the joys of being out among the living again.  The cows are calving, the wild flowers blooming and birds are building nests for the next brood.  The sky seems a little bluer and the air pungent with the odor of a warming soil.  Every road has new photographic adventure around the corner, as is the case with the blog image…a wrong turn developed into the right turn.

Calving time, back roads and country farms are what this shot is all about.  The few clouds in the sky allow for some crossing shadows to give added depth the the scene and “character” to the skyline.  Shot with my Canon 5D Mark II and multiple images processed as an HDR in Photomatix.  Further editing was done in NIK Viveza using their fabulous Upoint technology and that was about it.  The selective editing that Upoint allows one to do is one of the high points of NIK products (I’m not making any money saying this).  The fact that Google has taken over NIK…not so fabulous IMO (I might not make any friends saying that).

My 2014 round of classes in beginning photography started last night at the Pearson Lakes Art Center and in a couple of weeks I will re-install my work in A Piece Of Work (APOW) in downtown Spirit Lake.  It will be nice to have work back in the gallery in time for the May First Friday.  I have classes scheduled for Saturday's in May at APOW as well.

Enjoy your Friday and the possibilities the weekend has to offer.  Breathe that fresh air!

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/

Winter’s Grip

“Photography is more than a medium for factual communication of ideas.  It is a creative art.”  Ansel Adams

Northwest Iowa finds itself in winter’s grip and due to yesterdays blizzard like conditions the reception for my photography exhibit at the Pearson Lakes Art Center was pushed to tonight, Friday, January 17.  Having lived in Iowa since 1982 winter postponements have become less unusual and more a fact of winter’s fickle tendencies. 

The blog image is a good look at the present Iowa landscape…little snow, cold temps and cloud laced sky.  While this scene portrays a sense of winter’s beauty it does also give me pause for two reasons.  One, that the Iowa landscape is very short on precipitation for this year and for agricultural success in 2014, there needs to be a “wet trend” to fill the water table.  That’s the farmer speaking.

The other relates to the barn deep in the background of this image.  As of a couple of months ago, this barn is now flat.  It is disheartening to me as this is a place I often come for landscapes of an eastern view.  Many dawns and cloud laden skies have been shot of this location and the barn scene provided a nice background anchor point for the eyes.  What’s worse is that to the left, out of view in this capture, is another often photographed location that has changed with the recent razing of some farm buildings and large silo’s.

It is with regret that both problems exist, but the latter is one that can’t be altered as small farms give way to larger operations with modern facilities for efficiency.  Life does go on.

The image was processed as a 3 shot HDR in NIK HDR Efex Pro, further processed in Photoshop CS 6 and followed with some minimal work in NIK Viveza and NIK Color Efex Pro using the fabulous “U Point” technology.

Thanks for joining me here and hope that winter is revealing amazing views to wander through.

Sic “Em Bears.

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

www.facebook.com

Personal Challenge

“It’s lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believe in myself.”   Muhammad Ali

This past week was a flurry of activity for getting out often to catch the fading Fall color before it’s gone.  I spent quite some time down in Ft. Defiance State Park doing several camera blurs (check in next week for results), but one night, after having realized that I did more looking up than down during the photographic process, I planned on concentrating more on the forest floor.  The next morning came and with it a gently rain/mist which was enough reason to get into the truck and drive.

Of course the lighting was excellent since low light really brings out the color saturation in an image and then there was not only the droplets of water on the leaves, but also the sheen of wetness.  My intent was to find a still life that was complete and didn’t involve my “messing” with nature to try to improve…as  that seldom seems to work.  Due to that it took a while of stumbling around, back tracking, moving this way and that, but finally I spied some standout red leaves poking up from the forest floor.

The blog image is the result without a human hand involved, except of course with the camera.  The line of red going from the upper right to lower left wsa the real attraction that started the wheels turning.  I used Photoshop CS6 to process and then used the u-point technology of NIK software in Viveza to adjust the color, highlights and darks to my satisfaction.  Then some work in NIK Color Efex Pro to add an edge vignette and also adjust the color balance of the scene.

After completing this self assignment I couldn’t take my eyes off the floor of the valley and I hope the exercise more cognizant of all dimensions that I’m walking through.  After all beauty is not just what we’re walking toward, but all around us, including at our feet and mine are size 12 so not easily missed.

Thank you all for coming to my blog and please feel free to comment on this or any other of my blog posts.  Enjoy the Fall as it is slipping fast in our area with frost predicted for tomorrow.  FROST?  I feel another assignment coming….a good frost image!

Go Baylor...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

Summer Memories

     "Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things that escape those who only dream at night."
                                                                   Edgar Allan Poe

My days have been spent rambling through work of this past year in search of any "diamonds in the rough" so that I can continue to keep myself busy and out of trouble.  Our location in Iowa is still suffering under a winter drought and the shortage of snow has made for a dull boy.  While this doesn't mean that I'm not getting out on a regular basis, it does mean that I'm suffering under my own creative drought at present.

The blog picture is from a local area that I often work, especially when clouds are in abundance and last summer proved to be the summer of beautiful skies.  This is a five stitch HDR pano that was first processed in NIK HDR Efex 2 and then put together through the pano program in Photoshop CS5 and finally tweaked through the use of NIK's Color Efex Pro 4 and Viveza.  Both of these programs are really helpful as then not only contain the U-Point technology of NIK software, but also allow the artist to use a brush system to apply effects locally.

Never give up looking at previous captures as many times, in our haste to process and develope captures that we initially knew were destined to meet the printer, we often times miss those quiet jewels on the first pass...and second.

Thanks to all that take the time to visit this site and please feel free to comment.

Go Baylor...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

Details, Details, Details

                                 "The principle of art is to pause, not bypass."   Jerzy Kosinski

Ft. Wilkins is located near Copper Harbor on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and is a well preserved fortified structure of the 1800's.  As many of you regular viewers know I'm a fan of still life work and take any opportunity to photograph still life's when they arrive.  Such is the case in this room of Ft. Wilkins when I was there a few weeks ago.  The outside lighting was overcast so the interior of this particular room was much softer, the colors richer and the contrast levels much lower.  All critical elements in photography, but especially most still life work.

I was using my Nikon D300s and I still captured this scene as a 5 shot HDR with processing done in Nik HDR Efex Pro 2, which is a much improved edition from their first intro HDR software.  Later I did some minor adjustments in Nik Color Efex Color Efex Pro with special use of the U-point technology to pin point adaptive changes.  As a final touch I added a texture layer from my Totally Rad texture software which served to brighten certain areas and also add a light texture quality to the image.

While this particular day was quite gloomy it was a prime opportinity to fulfill my hunger for still life work and to brush up on the local history of the area.

Thank you for stopping by and feel free to make a note in the comment section of this blog space and also to visit the blog spots listed on the right side of this commentary.

Go Baylor...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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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