KAP = Fail : Back Cam = Success

KAP stands for Kite Aerial Photography, something I've been investigating  recently.  There is a site that explains in great detail the principles involved.  http://www.kaper.us/   Three things are needed. Wind, a kite, and a rig to hold and operate a camera.  Today, I made my second try at KAP.  My first attempt failed due to low wind but I was able to attach a camera to a kite line and make a picture or two....  from about eye level.  Today's failure convinced me that my kite is not sufficient for the task of lifting my 1 pound Canon G3.  The wind was fairly strong out of the north north east.  I have also made a crude Picavet rig to hold the camera.  Google it. I don't have a picture of mine, it's easier to understand if you see a picture.  The G3 has an intervalometer which was set to take a picture at one minute intervals.  Once again I was able to get my camera off the ground but only to about  shoulder height.  Here is a poor KAP example.

After I packed away my kite, I reset the intervalometer and slung the camera on my back and rode my bike home.  Here are two of the "back cam" shots that I consider successes. They are roughly the same angle and height as the KAP shot, and both KAP ( at the level I'm at) and "back cam" are chancey in that you only have so much control over the composition.  I like these because they have some interesting subject matter/composition and are what I would expect from "back cam".  I will have to get a bigger kite, improve my Picavet, and perhaps enlist a helper to get my KAP working right.

Having Fun With Corel Paintshop Photo Pro

My wife Lisa "rescued" this shelf from someone's garbage pile, and put it to good use in our yard.  Here's a before and after set.

 These are a few of the steps that I did in Corel Paintshop Photo Pro X3 to get to the finished product.
1. hot wax effect
2. perspective adjustment to straighten it up
3. crop
4. depth of field adjustment
5.  photo effect- time machine-60's (cross process)
6.  resized for printing.

Here is the final picture.  I often save versions of a picture as I work on them in case I change my mind on what I'm doing.  This keeps me from having to start all over from the beginning.  The photo/time machine effect gives the option of adding edges.

Sheboygan Visual Artists Small Works

I'm going off the usual topic - photography, to post 3 paintings I've done for SVA's Small Works Project.

"The Water Is Wide"  inspired by the view from my friends' home on Lake Alexander.


"Beach At Dusk/Changing Light"

And finally, I reworked this canvas several times and came up with "The Hill Where My Kite First Flew".  All are painted with acrylic paint, with tissue paper over the last one.

Tripod - A photographer's best friend

Here is the slide I made to illustrate what a tripod can do for you.
This was part of the presentation I did for Sheboygan Visual Artists "Art In The Gardens" workshop.

Beaten by the sun.

On July 23rd, with fellow SVA member photographer Pat Ryan, I taught workshop on outdoor and close-up photography at Bookworm Gardens. A few days before, I was there taking some pictures to use as examples for the workshop.  Here are a few slides I made trying to explain the technique needed to get a picture with the water in motion and the rest of the scene in sharp focus.

So, I challenged the workshop participants to make this shot with a tripod.

I used a tripod too.  I have to admit that I still haven't been able to get the results that I'm looking for.  The sun was out on both days making it very hard to get a long enough exposure at my lens's highest f-stop.  Some of the others had better light when a cloud came by to help out.  Using a polarizing filter, I was able to make a few shots that I put into Photoshop and tried to do an HDR merge.  The shots weren't perfectly aligned and the result is not good. So, I did my own merged shot.  Here they are, HDR automatically first and then my attempt.  I'll give it another try under different lighting conditions and post those results.  These were shot right around noon.

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Today Pat Ryan and I taught two sessions of Art In The Gardens.  We covered some photography basics for outdoor and close-up photography.  It was hot and humid but we had a good turnout and I think our presentation was helpful.  I'll post some pictures soon.

3D Cha-Cha

I came across a technique for making 3D pictures without having a multi-lens camera.  The person on whose site (I think it was Flickr) I found it, called it the 3D cha-cha.  It is done by taking two pictures of the same scene; one picture shot using your left eye to compose the picture, then without moving too much, shoot the same picture looking through the viewfindwer with your right eye.

The 3D effect is achieved by combining the photos on the computer and then viewing cross eyed as is the case with these examples or making a print that can be used with a 3D viewer.  Both photos are copyrighted by Richard Biemann 2011.

Click on the photos to get a larger view then cross your eyes.

Polaroid Blues

One of the Flickr groups that I watch is called Polaroid Blues.  Old Polaroid film tends to take on a blue cast.  I shot this a few years ago.  I call it Blue Hearts.  I didn't edit or adjust the color, just the levels.  Clarence Clemons died yesterday and I am sad.

New photo program

About a month ago I purchased Corel Paintshop Photo Pro 3x after trying a few Photoshop competitors.  I wanted to find a fairly low priced yet powerful image editing program to recommend to those who are not able to go "all in" with Photoshop.  I tried free versions of Paint.net and gimp as well.  All were a step above the basic editing programs that came with the last few computers I bought.

Here is a picture I jazzed up. 

World Wide Pinhole Day

This year since the last Sunday in April is Easter the day is extended to include any pinhole pictures taken between April 23 and May 1 2011.  Anyone in Sheboygan who wants to try it out can contact me for help in making cameras and making images.

Secrets - Light Leaks submission

I somehow found the time to print and scan one of my recent pinhole shots.  Light Leaks Magazine was seeking entries in black and white only for an upcoming issue.  The theme is "secrets".  I thought this picture would work.

Help is just an e-mail away.

Over the years, I've always been asked technical photography questions by friends and family.  When it was all film, the questions were about how to use the camera since the processing and printing were done by labs.  Now, in the digital age, there are more tools at hand and more decisions to be made that have returned more control over the final image to the photographer.  Happily, the jpeg file format seems to be firmly entrenched and widely if not universally adopted by all the various camera manufacturers and software makers.  There are numerous image editing programs available for purchase or download. 

I've noticed a trend toward less and less instructional material being included as standard practice by the camera makers.  Perhaps to save cost or assuming the consumer knows what all the icons mean the average instruction manual these days seems to be more pictures than words.  This can be very frustrating when you can't figure out how to work your camera or software.  So, we take to the internet for help and are faced with the same frustrations.  The camera maker's help site is just as lacking as the manual.   The 1,847,322 potential answer to your search question quickly lead you astray and you're back to just setting your camera on auto and doing minimal image editing.

There are unlimited ways to creatively modify or improve your pictures using photo editing programs.  If you want to go beyond taking snapshots, you'll have to know what tools and knowledge are needed.  Your camera and computer may have everything you need but what good are the tools if you don't know how to use them?

I'm here to help.  I have taught workshops in the past and will continue when the opportunity arises. But I want you to know that I do one to one consulting as well.  I'll meet with you and help you work through camera issues, general photography questions, and provide tutoring on using image editing software.  I do charge a reasonable fee for this service.  Please email me at bwlab@yahoo.com for more information.

New Studio but little time.

I'm happy to announce that I now have studio space at EBCO ArtWorks 1201 Erie Ave. Sheboygan.  I've been super busy (where was all that work in the first half of the year?) and have yet to even try taking a portrait shot there.  Perhaps someday this photographer will have time to work on his own pictures.

The latest efforts with SVA include purchase and use of a Kodak zi8 HD video camera.  I've shot a few movies to help SVA promote itself and members.  Learning new programs and new ways of using youtube, facebook etc.. takes time.

I'm pondering buying a monitor and printer calibration system (software and hardware) so that I can offer calibration services to my fellow artists. 

Studio Space

I have recently rented studio space at EBCO ArtWorks located at 1201 Erie Avenue in Sheboygan.  This will allow me to once again have indoor shooting capabilites for portraits.  I hope to increase sales of my artwork and bookings for photographing other's works.   Given the fact that Sheboygan Visual Artists holds events there every month, the exposure will be a big plus.

Summer fun

Where did July go? I've been mixing some fun summer activities in with work. I hope to have some pictures to prove that soon. Here are two. The first one is the world's tallest invisible flagpole and invisible flag. Be proud Sheboygan even if it really isn't a tourist attraction.

This one is a few of the sand casted pieces made by Shayna Illingworth and me at the Art In The Park workshop we facilitated on Aug. 7th at Lakeview Park in Sheboygan, WI for the Sheboygan Visual Artists.  The Art In The Park workshops were the culmination of the Small Works Project and gave anyone the opportunity to make and take home their own creations. 

Show at Z-Spot

I have some work hanging in a two person show with Dale Knaak at the Z-Spot Espresso and Coffee shop on Indiana Ave.  Prior to being the neatest coffee shop in town the building housed MotoPhoto, where I worked for a few years.  That's another story.  Stop in and see the show until late July.  I'll post pictures soon.

First Painting

Here is the first finished painting I've ever done.  It was painted for the Small Works Project by SVA.  I call it Mosaic Project, which was the first name given to what is now the Small Works Project.  I'm happy with it and have two other paintings started.  

My Small Works for Sheboygan Visual Artists

Clicking the title above will take you to SVA's facebook page showing the Small Works donated by mostly local but some faraway artists.  SVA is selling the work to fund art in the park projects free and open to anyone this summer in Sheboygan WI.  Here is the first piece I've made.

It's called Fragile Memories and is made with Polaroid film emulsion lift onto canvas and oil paint.
The film is really old and the exposures were made with a pinhole camera.  I went through a pack of ten trying to get a good exposure.  I didn't ever get one that wasn't overall blue.  So I decided to use these as emulsion lifts.  I had intended to use liquid emulsion for the SVA Small Works Project canvases that I took.  Three things changed my thinking. First, I got so busy tracking, photographing, and posting all the other work that time got to be a consideration.  Secondly, I never decided on an image of mine that I was sure would pack enough punch for printing on canvas.  Thirdly, after seeing so many great paintings come in I decided to take the plunge and give it a try.  So, I combined  photography with painting for this piece and then painted another canvas.  More on that later.

I'm a board member.

Not a bored member.  In April I accepted a seat on the Sheboygan Visual Artists board. of directors.  I'm happy to serve and look forward to the challenge. 

Three Bench Photographs

Here are three handcolored pinhole photographs that I made this month.
I'm entering these in the Sheboygan Visual Artists 2010 Membership Exhibition.

It's a juried show. I'll have at least one in the show and perhaps all three.  I still have a stash of Kodak Ektalure G surface paper, long ago discontinued.  It may be showing signs of aging but the surface has yet to be surpassed for handcoloring, in my opinion.  The prints were toned in Kodak Rapid Selenium toner.  All the coloring was added with colored pencils, Marshall's and Prismacolor.  The coloring is always very soft looking with the pencils as compared to using oils.  I like the control of the pencil. 
The light leaks, dust, and softness of the images is the stuff you deal with when working with pinhole cameras, well mine anyway.  I just made a new one that gives me a full image with a 4x5 film holder.  The third picture was made with it. The other two pictures were made with pinhole cameras that hold the sheet film at the back of the box instead of in a film holder.  I get more dust in those cameras.  All but one of my pinhole cameras are homemade.  The other is a throw away plastic 35mm camera that I took the lens out of and poked a hole through the shutter.  The pics are really blurry with it, but I can use roll film with it.  April 25th is world wide pinhole day!

Trying to create a lonely mood that works with the empty benches.