DonSmith

There are a lot of questions there Drew. I personally do not change skies. I want my images to relay an emotion(s) that I felt when I captured the image. As for stacking - that is just a way to overcome the camera / lens ability to render the image either correctly exposed and/or having extreme depth-of-field. So my summary is anytime I add something to the scene that was not there in the original capture, I would list it as digitally altered - not what I saw literally; rather what I saw in my mind. As for processing of a RAW file, I see it as a necessity similar to making a print from a negative. Al Weber was a friend of mine and taught with Ansel Adams for 20 years. He told me one day at lunch that Ansel always told people he manipulated his black-and-white images. He was very fond of using a Kodak #25 Wratten filter to render his blue skies black. Moreover, he did extensive burning and dodging and kept detailed notes. A great book was released by his office manager after he passed where she showed a number of Ansel's more famous images and showed you the progression from a straight contact print all the way to finished gallery print. Included Ansel's notes. Al told me he would have been all over Photoshop because he loved to tinker... Too bad he never made it to the digital era! Lastly, IMO, there was not a color chrome film out there that truly captured an image the way our eyes see color and light. My favorite all-time film was Kodachrome 25 because it rendered a painterly look...

This is part of a workshop we do each December out at MV. Many of these people have become our friends and they are paid - we do not expect this for free - all legal and permitted by Monument Valley.

My workflow has always been: Photo Mechanic > Lightroom > Photoshop > TK8 Panel and various AI processing plugins. I hate that LR locks you into their ecosystem. In other words, if I add or delete outside of LR I am always having to go back into LR to relink image or folder. Other than that it is great and I love the new masking they have added.

I think this image needs two things done in post to strengthen it. First, I burned down everything around this cool snaking road to draw the viewer's eye to it. Especially that mountain in the background - it kept fighting my eye and drawing if off the road. I do this by using the lasso tool in PS and drawing around areas I wish to darken. Once an area is selected, I feather (for this small jpeg 100 points) then us the TAT in Curves dialog box and darken to taste. Now my eye wants to lock on the road and not be drawn to everything around it. Second, I am not a fan of big Copyrights - especially in the center of the image. Remember, your copyright if another visual element in the scene and because it is the brightest part of this scene, the eye gets drawn to it and away from the road. Always remember - the human eye will gravitate to the brightest element in the scene. Agree or disagree - in the end - it's your call.

I think this image is gorgeous and excellently processed. It could be made stronger by cropping some of the bottom and burning down the dead grass/foliage alongside the road. I did this in PS and used the burn tool at 30% and built-up the burn incrementally. I also burned just to bottom portion of the road to stop the viewer's eye from exiting the frame and to help move it back up the the center of interest which is the tractor encapsulated by this beautiful fall foliage. This image looks like a painting - so well done! Would have loved to have seen a frame of you from either a sitting position or lying down to give more emphasis to the road drawing your viewer's eye right towards the tractor - but that is neither here nor there - just something to think ab out the next time out... and hey... stay safe 🙂

I don't have one Caroline - I crop to how I see the final image appearing at it's strongest.

Greetings from Inverness, Scotland. I am here with my wife Beri and my co-partner Ron Modra to teach our Fall in Scottish Highlands workshop. We love it here - the scenery and the people! Here is an image I captured this morning of the Inverness Castle and the River Ness about 5am. I am trying to work my way through an 8-hour lag and a couple of long flights from the west coast. So what is your favorite country to photograph, or which country is on your bucket list to photograph?

My teaching partner Ron Modra (former SI staffer) does a fall workshop there - I can't make it this year but hopefully next...

Thanks for sharing that information Ben!

It was a part of a workshop we do... They were paid for posing... they made the offer to us and everything was cleared by the Park and we had paid for a permit. So not something sinister DrJoycie - I don't operate my business that way (pardon the pun) 🙂 We will be doing two workshops with them this upcoming December if you'd like to join us - we have one spot remaining!

Thanks Caroline. I am way out of my lane when it comes to portraits but even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then 🙂

I wanted my processing to have the feel of an old-west image. Took me a lot of experimenting to get there but I think I got as close as I was going to Ira.

Same here Tony...

This was part of a workshop Ron Modra and I run each December in Monument Valley Monica. These were locals and not professional models...

I am a fulltime landscape photographer and educator. Before that, I was a sports photographer and worked for the likes of Sports Illustrated, NBA Photos, San Jose Sharks (co-team photographer 28 years), and Fleer Trading Cards (14 years). My strengths in photography were action and landscape. I was a wreck when I had to capture a portrait. I finally pushed myself to learn. I still do not consider myself really good but I am a lot more comfortable. How about you? Do you try to push yourself out of your comfort zone? Here is an image of an Navajo Elder in Monument Valley. Ron Modra and I run a workshop there every December and in 2019, we were invited into this woman's Hogan at the base of the famed Left Mitten. We are going back this December and our group has been invited again... let me know if you are interested. This woman was so kind to me that I was at peace when I made this image- total respect for my subject and she had total respect for me... Wonderful experience I will never forget...

I have learned through a master cleaner how to clean my sensor and his company sells the kit! So I clean my own with no fear. Once you learn the proper way to clean and have the right tools it is not a hard task. I am leaving for Scotland this weekend and have to clean my a1 before I go. The shutter curtain is awesome but if you forget to shut it down in the field (and there is a slight delay) and change lenses dust and dirt will get on your sensor... Blowers are always the first way, then anti-static brushes (arctic butterfly) or spin the brush yourself, then last step is a wet clean. You never touch the actual sensor as there is a protective covering on all sensors.

I would be in the Smokies for sure Patrick if I lived where you do!

Thanks Caroline - the concert was excellent!

Nashville-based photographer Ron Modra and I teach a workshop in Monument Valley in December where the native local Navajos go into full Navajo traditional wear and pose in front of the amazing Mittens and Buttes. We also get invited into a traditional Hogan at the base of the Monument. Here is an example where I tried to make the image look old-fashioned: Do you like this type of photography? I find it invigorating combining the two mediums!

It is a creative act no doubt. My concern with these AI models like MidJourney is they scour the web and build and image off of others creations - with no regard to copyrights. I can see the lawsuits coming. Getty Images has ceased to accept AI creations and have taken down all images currently on their site that were AI created. As for making me a better photographer - maybe - haven't thought deeply enough regarding that question.

OK - here it is: The entire song is a metaphor for the transformative power of art... How many of you thought is was about sailing??? "Oh the canvas can do miracles, just you wait and see..."

Welcome Jenifer - beautiful images!

I bet they are pretty!

As a landscape photographer, I begin every scene at f/11 (just a little mental reminder to myself to think about depth-of -field) then I adjust as the composition dictates...

I love art museums and go as often as I can - usually in Santa Barbara and the Getty Museum in LA. It reignites my soul!