“Mama, don’t take my Kodachrome away”

Growing up in the 60’s and 70’s I saw my father spend more than a few winter evenings going thru his slide pictures. He put together several slide shows for the local historical society of pictures he had taken in our community. Trips to Gettysburg, Mystic Seaport and the Cape were preserved on transparencies.

I don’t know what happened to the projector but I still have the carousels of slides. I was once a scrawny kid. I have the slides to prove it. He shot mostly Ektachrome. With the ascendancy of digital photography has come the decline of film. Here’s an AP article on the fading (no pun intended) of Kodachrome.

Is the rich-hued Kodachrome era fading to black? – Boston.com.

I love the advantages of digital but it isn’t film. I grew up holding a slide to the light to see the colors glow on the transparency.

Cropping is your Friend

Among the advantages of digital photography is the control you have over the final product.  I refer to the digital darkroom. The computer, software and printer you use to process your photos. The best place to get it “right” is the moment you click the shutter release.  When that doesn’t happen digital technology comes in handy.
As an amateur photographer Film was a delayed satisfaction technology. I couldn’t be sure of what I had until the pictures came back from the lab. Plus the picture was out of my control once I turned the film into the lab. Not too mention I had to get them all printed to know what I had.
A digital darkroom eliminates that. You can quickly see what you got “right”. What you didn’t and what you can improve. One of those improvements you can make is cropping. I’ve been a Lightroom fan since 1.0 Beta. A feature of Lightroom is the ability to create virtual copies of a photo that exist only in Lightroom. This allows you to manipulate a photo in multiple ways without affecting the original photo. COOL!

Here’s how I used cropping  to explore an image and see it in different ways.

The first photo is from the 4th of July Fireworks show over Maunalua Bay this year. This is the original crop out of the camera.  I like it because it gives you a sense of depth with the red color reflecting off the water. Plus there is the house lights along the base of Koko Head.

Fourth of July Fireworks at Maunalua Bay,Oahu

In Lightroom I created additional versions and cropped tighter each time. The second one pulls you into the photo while still maintaining a sense of depth.

Second Crop

The Third and Fourth versions completely divorces it from any visual references.

Third Crop

During each of these crops I maintained the original aspect ratio.

Fourth Crop

In this final photo I unlocked the crop and adjusted it to taste.

Fifth Crop

Which is “best”? If you care to, vote for your favorite by leaving a comment.

Balancing Act

Taking a picture is a matter of finding the right balance of elements. The right balance of light/dark, highlight/shadow, balancing complimentary colors. The composition of the picture is a matter of balance. Finding the most important part and placing it in the most effective place within the picture. It’s an AHA! moment when you get them all right.

When I took up photography, beyond point and shoot, in the days of film. The photography books I read provided advice for balancing. Using the right film speed, using neutral density and/or color filters, and bracketing. While I never developed my own film. I’m sure that required a balance of chemicals, paper and time.

Digital cameras make balancing “easier”. With HDR “High Dynamic Range”, bracketing an image with multiple exposures and then blending them together on a computer creates a better balanced image.
My Sony a700 comes with a feature called DRO (D-Range Optimizer) which tries to do the same thing within the camera. It won’t be long before camera sensors will be capturing in image without the need for bracketing. They will reproduce how our eyes “see”. “WYSIWYG” will come to photography.

At that point we’ll start using all those filter to create images we don’t normally see!

Hang Glider flying above Makapuu Beach