First Snow

The first snow of the winter of 2009-10
Taken December 5, 2009
Rossville, Georgia

Photo Manipulation

I receive a monthly email newsletter from the New York Institute of Photography.  This month's issue, along with tips on taking Halloween and fall photos, has an interesting article on the acceptability of digital photo manipulation.  Within that article is a link to an article by a professor at Cambridge University on photo tampering throughout history, in which we discover that the practice of altering photographs has been with us almost as long as photography itself.

Three of the photos date from the Civil War.  One is an iconic photo of Abraham Lincoln -- with Lincoln's head pasted on the body of John C. Calhoun.   Another photo is supposed to show Ulysses S. Grant in front of his troops, but was actually made from three photos -- Grant's head on Alexander McCook's body using a background shot of Confederate prisoners of war.  The third, a photo by Matthew Brady showing William T. Sherman with his subordinates, has a general that was added to the photo later.

There's a lot of interesting stuff here, including some dictators who had subordinates airbrushed out of existence, some political shenanigans, and plenty of minor manipulations that were done for editorial or artistic purposes.  One of those is the famous photo from Kent State that shows Mary Ann Vecchio screaming over the body of Jeremy Miller.  That photo was altered to remove a fence post in the background that appeared to be growing out of Ms. Vecchio's head.  The webpage even includes the latest kerfuffle, the Ralph Lauren ad that has been manipulated to the point where the model's head is bigger than her waist.

I consider myself more of a photographer than a photo editor, but I'm not a snob about it.  I usually give my photos a little touch up with a simple editing program, usually Picasa.  For example, the latest photo I posted, "Looking West," was touched up a little.  I took the photo at the Lookout Mountain Flight Park.  After an hour or two of taking shots of hang gliders, I was heading back to the car, camera in hand, when I saw the man on the launch ramp.  I raised the camera, made a quick adjustment, took a quick shot and continued walking.  I posted it to flickr, then used flickr's editing program, Picnic, to straighten the horizon a bit and play around with the color.

I've never owned or used Photoshop, but I love some of the artistic things you can do with it.  It's more of a monetary issue with me; that's a damned expensive program.  I downloaded Gimp and played around with it a bit, but couldn't figure out how to do too much with it.  If there was some sort of step-by-step guide around, I might play around with it a little more.  At this point though, I think I'd be better served to spend more time learning how to use my camera than learning how to edit.  I would welcome other view on the matter though.

So where's the line?  I'm sure there's a line there somewhere.  I believe that any manipulation, except correcting for exposure and color, is unacceptable in the field of photo journalism.  Even if your subject has a fence post growing out of her head.  Manipulation seems quite acceptable in most other photo fields.  It just drives me crazy when they get too carried away with it.

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Looking West

Ellipsis Photo Shoot: One Subject, Four Perspectives

Carly's photo shoot at Ellipsis this week is to take four shots at capturing the same subject...

EMPS #59: 1 Subject 4 Perspectives.
Just as the above photograph illustrates, choose 1 SUBJECT out in the world, any subject, and show me 4 DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES. Use lighting, or time of day, or color, or anything you can think of to help us see your subject in 4 distinctly different ways. Archived photos are fine for this one, but brand new is even better!

Here's a collage of four shots of my favorite subject, my grandson Isaiah.  The photos (going clockwise) include the very first shot I took with my new camera back in January, a jaunt up to Point Park, a photo with my wife, and dressed as the Cat in the Hat.

Ellipsis Photo Shoot: Bridges

At Ellipsis, Carly wants to see photos of bridges and walkways...

EMPS #58: Bridges and Walkways.
Let's go for a walk... shall we? Ok photographers, you know what to do, go out and find me some BRIDGES and WALKWAYS. Autumn, for most of us, is in full swing, so show me something like that, or feel free to dip into your archives and wow me with something you haven't displayed before. Lets cross the BRIDGE together... shall we?

On a little walk through Coolidge Park in Chattanooga back during the heat of the summer, I snapped a few pictures of a couple of the bridges that span the Tennessee River.  Here's a sample...



This is a view of the Walnut Street Bridge. It was built in 1890 and closed in 1978. After sitting idle for more than a decade, it was refurbished and opened as a pedestrian bridge/walkway.



The bridge comes off of a high bluff on the south side of the Tennessee River.  To reach land at a comparable elevation on the north side, the bridge has to pass over a bit of flat land.  This is a view from underneath.



This is another Chattanooga bridge.  Everyone calls it the Market Street Bridge, but its official name is the John Ross Bridge.  It is a bascule bridge, meaning that it has a section that opens up to allow river traffic to pass underneath.  Those are big counterweights on either side of the section that opens.  The Tennessee Aquarium can be seen across the river.  The Walnut Street Bridge can be seen in the background, underneath the bridge.

Round Robin Photo Challenge: In Motion

This is my first Round Robin Photo Challenge in quite a while.  The topic this time around is motion...

Let's capture objects in motion, whether it means moving the camera to keep up, or capturing the blur of movement against a static background.

This wasn't too hard.  Just go out by a nearby highway and practice panning until you get the shot(s).  I set the shutter speed fairly low (about 1/30 of a second) and got these two shots.  Because it was getting late in the evening, I had to do some basic fixes to the photos, mainly adding a little more fill light...








A complete linking list for all the participants is at the Round Robin Photo Challenge blog. Check out the other entrants and play along, if you'd like.

Flooded

The South has been getting drenched for the last week or so.  Today was particularly bad.  My hometown, Rossville, Georgia, has gotten 4 1/2 inches of rain today, about equal to the average rainfall for the entire month of September.  When that happens, the Chattanooga Creek tends to jump out of its banks.  Here are a few pics from the neighborhood...

Ellipsis Photo Shoot: Bugs

The topic of the latest Ellipsis Photo Shoot is Bugs...

EMPS #55: BUGS.
Ants, Cockroaches, Beetles, Sow Bugs, Earwigs, Pincher Bugs, Bees, Wasps, Fire Flies, Snails, Slugs, Banana Slugs, Spiders, Scorpions... no matter who you are, one of these things probably BUGS you. So, grab your cameras this week, and photograph the BUG and share it with us!

This week's photo shoot comes at an inopportune time.  I had just removed a wasp nest from the old homeplace and stupidly didn't think to take any shots of it before the removal.  And while bugs are always around, I didn't really find any interesting bugs to work with this week.  So as much as I hate to do it, it's back to the old archives for these pictures of butterflies.  Interestingly (or maybe not), these pictures come from the same trip to the Tennessee Aquarium as the last Ellipsis Photo Shoot .  Yes, they do have a Butterfly Garden there.

Ellipsis Photo Shoot: Archived Photos

At Ellipsis Carly wants to see archived photos...

EMPS #54: Archived Photos.
I have a super easy assignment for you this week... ARCHIVED PHOTOS. Here's what I want you to do. Climb into your ARCHIVES and choose a photo which you haven't displayed before and share it with us. Any subject will do, as long as it is family friendly. The only condition is that it has to be older then a month, and has not been displayed.

Extra Credit: Tell us about the photo. Where did you take it? Why did you take it? Was there something difficult about the experience?

Here's a trio of photos taken at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga back in April...



This picture of a shark swimming amongst a school of little fish seems a little odd. I don't know why it turned out like it did, but it's got sort of a cool quality to it.



I think this guy is a weedy seadragon, a close relative of the seahorse. (At least I remember them being displayed together in the same area.) Yes, this is actually a fish. He makes good use of camouflage to avoid being eaten. Let's just hope he doesn't run into a vegetarian-type fish because he looks like a floating salad.



This guy here is just too cool. You have to be when you're pink and black.

Taking pictures of fish at an aquarium is not an easy task. You're in the dark, shooting through glass. It is very hard to avoid big flash spots in your photos -- a task I failed to accomplish in the first two photos.

Lightning

"Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst." – Henri Cartier-Bresson

The first couple of thousand you take with a new camera usually suck too. Case in point, the photo below. Nothing about it is particularly good, but it is a milestone. It's the first time in years I've been able to capture lightning...

Jumping Off a Mountain

I once spent the better part of an afternoon watching people jump off the side of a mountain...

Photos taken at Lookout Mountain Flight Park

Round Robin Photo Challenge: The Old Place

The latest Round Robin Photo Challenge is The Old Place.

Show us someplace that's been around a long time, preferably 50 years or more. It can be an interior or exterior or both. The spooky Victorian mansion on the corner is fair game, or the abandoned amusement park. Or go for someplace that's really been around a long time, such as Stonehenge, a canyon or a mountain range.

This is the John Ross House, located in my hometown, Rossville, Georgia.



Although only one-eighth Cherokee, John Ross was the first elected chief of the Cherokees and fought vigorously against their removal on the Trail of Tears. The home was built along the Old Federal Road by his maternal grandfather John McDonald in 1797. In 1962 it was dismantled and rebuilt a couple of hundred yards away from its original location in this small park.

John Ross left with the Cherokees and the house became the property of a Reverend Scales. Thomas G. McFarland bought the house in 1835 and lived there with his family when the Civil War began. General Gordon Granger used the house as his headquarters before the Battle of Chickamauga. General George Thomas used it as his headquarters after the battle.

Update: In comments Carly wants to get a bit closer. Okay...






Once upon a time there was no fence, and you could walk all around the house as much as you wanted. They kept the house locked except for rare times when it was opened for tours, but you could walk through the middle and all around it. It's been a long time since I've seen it open. I'm going to have to find out who is responsible for that and when it's going to be open again.

One little tidbit about the house: It has what they call a spirit room, a room with no windows and doors. Also, while dismantling it to move it down the road, they discovered a passage that didn't seem to go anywhere. I have a theory that in those days, living on the frontier and never knowing when you might be threatened, that it might have been a good idea to have a room that no one but you knew how to get into. But it's just a theory.

Ellipsis Photo Shoot: Black & White Photography

Over at Ellipsis, Carly has the weekly photo shoot. This week the topic is B&W...

EMPS #28: BLACK & WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY.
Ok everybody, grab your camera, fire up your imagination, and show me some BLACK & WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY. The subject matter is completely up to you. Do something a little Silly, Fascinating, Spooky, Gothic, or Artsy Noir... it's completely up to you! Just make it BLACK & WHITE.

Extra Credit: Write a little about what it was like to for you to take a BLACK & WHITE photo as opposed to color.

I had intended to do more. I especially wanted to take some photos using my camera's B&W setting, but a rainy, cool weekend kept me close to home, so I've cheated a bit and applied a B&W effect to an existing color photo.

I didn't cheat much because the original photo didn't have much color, just a few hints of blue amongst the gray clouds.

This photo shows a weather change in the Chattanooga area. It's a beautiful, blue-skied, sunny day when suddenly a line of clouds comes pouring over Lookout Mountain and the weather takes a turn for the worse.

Bloggers Community Photo Challenge: Birdhouses

This is my first-ever entry in the Bloggers Community Photo Challenge. The current topic is "Birdhouses."

A local metro Chattanooga tourist attraction, Rock City, used to advertise almost exclusively by painting "See Rock City" and other slogans on barns throughout the South. Somewhere along the line, they introduced the Rock City birdhouse to spread the word.

The photo below was taken on Lookout Mountain near the upper station for the Incline Railroad, just a couple of miles or so from Rock City. The neighborhood of St. Elmo is seen in the background, down below in the valley.

Ellipsis Photo Shoot: Hit Me with Your Best Shot

Over at Ellipsis, Carly has the weekly photo shoot...

EMPS #26: HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT!
Ok, now it is your time to shine! We photographers might tackle a lot of subjects, but we all have one type of photography that is our very favorite. Landscapes, Still Life, Night photography, Portraits, Pet photography, Seascapes, Sunsets, Macro photography... it's all good. For this assignment you are welcome to look in your archives and post your best photo, or you can set the scene sometime within this week, and show off the type of photography you feel you excel at. If you do go with a shot from your archive, try to make it one you haven't posted before, I am really interested in seeing something new if possible. HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT!

Extra Credit: Write a little about your personal style as a photographer. Why do you like a particular subject? What is the most challenging aspect of photography for you?

Hmmm! After being without a camera for so long, I don't think I qualify as a "photographer" yet. And I'm far from having a "style." But I like to take photos of the natural beauty around Chattanooga. So put me down for "landscapes."

Carly wants our best shot, but something we've never posted before. A couple of weeks ago, I took a jaunt to the top of Lookout Mountain to Point Park. It was a hot, hazy day -- more appropriate for late spring or early summer than February -- leaving this photo looking washed out. But there's something about it I like...



I probably could have "fixed" it with Photoshop, but I prefer not to mess with it. I like to leave photos "as is" as much as possible. I've taken better photos with my new camera, but I've posted them before -- a sunset and Napoleons. The latter was taken during this same jaunt to Point Park.

Working with a new DSLR, the most challenging aspect is trying to figure out all the different settings to use to make the photo look right -- ISO, exposure, shutter speed, aperture, white balance, flash mode, etc., etc., etc. I'm still trying to sort it all out. I can usually take a better picture by just using a point-and-shoot mode than I can by trying to adjust everything. Hopefully that will change as time goes by.