Tag Archives: Oregon Aviation Historical Society

The Importance of Unusual Angles

01 Wednesday Apr 2015

Posted by in Shooting

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If you want your photographs to be great, they need a little something to separate them, at least a little bit, from the way we usually experience the world.

One way to achieve this is from unusual angles. Walking up to a subject and photographing it from a normal standing height, will tend to lend a snapshot quality to the image (of course there are many other things you can do to counter this.) An easy way to give your photo some extra punch is drop down to your knees or all the way to the ground. Admittedly, sometimes you’re down on your belly in places you’d rather not do that, but the resulting photographs are worth it.

A little more difficult is to go high. The positive effect on the imagery is a big part of why drones have become such a thing lately. Other approaches are to have a ladder with you. The high angle does take more planning, as you can’t just get up high without some technological means to get you up there. This is one reason there is less high angle photography in my archives, but I now include some in most of my production shoots, although low angle fits my aesthetic better.

Now get out there and place your camera in a more interesting spot than the pedestrian view.

Take a look at my aviation portfolio.

Jim Wright Memorial Stearman Fly In

01 Monday Sep 2014

Posted by in History, Shooting

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I’ve heard about this event for several years now, but hadn’t been able to make it. Since the Oregon Aviation Historical Society is where I’m doing the majority of the research on my book project, I was determined to make it this year.

It was well worth the trip. Wildfires in the Northwest prevented some of the pilots from making it, so there weren’t as many planes to look at as hoped. Still there was a good selection of planes to look at. Furthermore, the smoky haze in the early morning air did make the sky look kind of ugly, but the light on the planes was amazing for photography. Smoke can actually make for beautiful light, if it doesn’t get too thick.

The atmosphere was casual and friendly. One of the best parts of the event was conversation with friendly folks.

All in all, I’d say this was an event I intend to make in the years going forward. I hope next year the weather will allow more pilots to get through.

Click on the link get a closer look at my images of the 36th Annual Jim Wright Memorial Stearman Fly-In, or take a look at my aviation portfolio.

Wings and Wheels at Oregon Aviation Historical Society

20 Sunday Jul 2014

Posted by in Locations

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In working on my book, I’ve been doing a great deal of research at the Oregon Aviation Historical Society, located in Cottage Grove. It is a friendly little museum, dedicated to the preservation of Oregon’s unique aviation heritage.

Thus, I happened to get advance warning on a new event they were planning. It took place on June 28 and was titled 1st Annual Cottage Grove Wings & Wheels. The general idea was to have a plane displayed alongside a car of roughly the same time period. This concept sounded intriguing to me and I was anxious to see the display.

The event was planned quickly with roughly one month of preparation. Thus, expectations were modest. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of the staff, however, the event exceeded all expectations. There was a good number of airplanes and cars, lots of friendly people, good food, and everything went smoothly. The only negative in my experience was the uncontrollable factor of the temperature. It got quite warm; the most popular food item at the event was root beer floats.

As the event, was so much fun in its first year and every expectation is that it should be better next year, I expect it will be an absolutely incredible event in 2015. Make sure you watch for notice of this event and put it on your calendar. A good way to do this is to sign up for the mailing list at Oregon Aviation Historical Society.

Take a closer look at my photos from the 1st Annual Cottage Grove Wings & Wheels, my Aviation Portfolio, or Automotive Portfolio.

Finding My Style

03 Thursday Jul 2014

Posted by in Post, Shooting

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One of the main things anyone interested in photography as a business hears is to find your style. This is something very difficult to do, because creative people can be scared to have all their images look stylistically similar. So for a long time I struggled with how to do that.

The process started with going to an ASMP event called Portfolio Perfect. I paid close attention to the response of my reviewer. He certainly had a bigger response to my edgy, in your face, exaggerated detail, and exaggerated perspective photos. He even made mention that the other photos I showed him look like they were done by someone else.

Next, I looked at what I like. I certainly do tend to like photos with that edgy, larger than life Hollywood movie hero look.

Finally, I looked at what other photographers I know, shooting in the same areas and genres are doing. I looked at what I like about their images, what others like about their images, and finally what I don’t like about their images.

Finally, I decided on a style that would define most of what I do. Not every photo I shoot fits this mold, but the majority does.  This style starts by shooting in tight to my subjects with a wide angle lens when possible. I am also drawn to dramatic skies and backlighting as part of this style.

In post processing I will tend towards a wide dynamic range as well as high local contrast, while still maintaining a photographic look.

To this end, in Lightroom I developed two presets for my work. Both have high contrast, the highlights are brought down to around -80 and shadows up to around +80. Clarity is high with a setting around +40 on one preset and +60 on the other. The big difference between the two presets is saturation levels, one is very desaturated and the other I increased Vibrance to +30, with the high contrast that makes the colors pop. I prefer to use the low saturation preset with things like military vehicles or silver vehicles where I want to minimize color contamination and use the vibrant preset for everything else.

When desired this style can be further augmented in Photoshop and Color Efex Pro4. One way I do this is apply a glow to most of the photo, but Tonal Contrast to my subject.

To see my new style in action, take a look at the Shuffle and Boeing 40 departure gallery, the Wings and Wheels gallery, my Aviation Portfolio, or my Automotive Portfolio.