Read the Dan Bailey Photo Newsletter, Nov 2019 Issue
Published: Wed, 11/06/19
Hi ,
With the clocks now turned back, and the weather hovering around freezing every morning, we're officially headed towards winter. At least the fires are out, so that's a good thing. I've been traveling a bit during the past few weeks, with trips to Minnesota, a mountain bike race in Arkansas, and presentations in NYC and Seattle, but I'm home now and am looking forward to buckling down with some project ideas that have been swimming around in my head for the past few
months.
Much of that involves shooting more video lessons, and in addition to expanding my YouTube Channel and doing more Photography On The Brain lessons, I'm planning on doing a Composition Masterclass. This will be a multi-part video course that will cover a wide range of classic design and compositional concepts, but applied solely
to photography. Using a similar approach as what you see in my other videos lessons, I'll go in-depth and show you how you add these techniques to your image making repertoire and use them them to maximize your own creativity.
As I've shot over the years, I've come to recognize that so much of my shooting style revolves around these tried and true design techniques. But it's not just me. The way we see as human artists revolves largely around these ideas, and by learning to recognize exactly how they play a role in your photography, this can lead to much more proficiency when it comes to quickly analyzing your subject matter and deciding how to show it in the most compelling way. I'm
really excited about this course, so stay tuned for more details.
New Video: The 4 Ingredients for a Great Image
And, in case you missed it, check out my recent video from a couple months ago, The Science and Creativity of Using Color in Your Photography. This lesson was born from my fascination about how we humans see and respond to color, based on our own development and the rich heritage of cultural traditions that surround us.
Listen to Me on The "We Talk Photo" Podcast
I was recently a guest on the We Talk Photo Podcast, which is run by fellow X-Photographer Jack Graham and John Pedersen. They do an entertaining and informative podcast that is geared around landscape and nature photography.Jack is a good friend of mine, and so the three of us had a really fun talk and covered a wide range of topics, such as the idea and power of trusting your own creativity in the moment and shooting with a project-based mindset. And since Jack and I are both musicians, we touched on the compositional and technical similarities of photography and music. There's a lot good stuff in this one, so you can listen to the episode here.
How Technology Fosters Creativity
While this is not necessarily a "photography" article, it does highlight the fact that in all areas of life, creativity is driven in a huge way by the technological innovation of our modern world. This is a topic that I'm continually fascinated with, because I've experienced firsthand how technology not only allows me to be a better, more technically proficient photographer, it's allowed me to expand my business and do things that would have been impossible twenty years ago.Software innovations have allowed me to create things like ebooks and video courses, and get them out into the world. It makes possible for me to share my experience and knowledge with a much bigger audience, (It's allowed me to reach you, ), and it lets me do my part to help foster more creativity in the world, which in my mind, can only help make a better one for all of us.
Read How Technology Bridges Creativity with Innovation and think about how certain technological innovations have helped you with your own creativity. What advancements have allowed you to increase your ability to make images that excite you or do things that make a positive difference in your own world, or in the greater one as a whole?
Luminar 4 Launches November 18 with Some Powerful New Tools
Speaking of innovation, Luminar 4 is just around the corner, and it's coming with a host of very powerful AI tools are designed to speed up your workflow and be more creative with your processing.
The new AI Structure Tool is the one I see being most useful for outdoor and travel shooters. In many cases, making global Clarity and sharpening adjustments can add a little too much crispness to the image, which case you to lose separation between your foreground and background elements. In addition, you can also end up with unwanted halo outlines, and it doesn't always look very good if you're photographing people.
AI Structure analyzes the entire scene and applies selective sharpening and clarity to your background, while mostly leaving your main subject alone. This prevents artifacts and other weird types of distortion from over processing. And, if you apply a negative amount of AI Structure, you can do the opposite: you can regain sharpness in your foreground while softening the background a little bit more. Again, creating subtle, but effective separation between foreground and background.
I've tested out the new tool and I can attest, it does an amazing job. Normally, this would requires complex masking, but with the new slider, you can accomplish this in seconds.
Luminar 4 also has AI Portrait Enhancer tools and a new AI Sky Removal tool that works surprisingly well. The portrait tools let you get much better people photos with just a few powerful sliders. These are the same adjustments that professional retouchers often do for portrait and wedding shooters, or you have to do all that yourself... which takes time.
Normally, I don't replace the skies in my photo, but there are some occasions where swapping out for a better looking sky can making an image more marketable, or more appealing for artistic reproduction. AI Sky Removal allows you swap to the sky with any number of the included sky images, or you can import your own skies. It also matches the light, so that your foreground and sky blend together well in a natural way. It's actually pretty amazing.
I love the creative easy and efficiency of Luminar, and it's what I recommend to many photographers these days. It's worth a look, and whether you're a new user or want to upgrade from an earlier version, Luminar 4 launches on November 18. You can still preorder at the special price here.
What Exactly is Alpenglow?
Many photographers know the term Alpenglow to be the magical pink, reddish light we see on the high mountain peaks right at sunset. It's the light we all live for.
Derived form the German world Alpenglüen, this term has become synonymous with mountain photography. Different from regular sunset light, it's described as the optical phenomenon that occurs when a reddish glow appears on high mountain peaks after the sun has already set. In other words, it's created by indirect light.
However my experience shooting aerial photographs in the mountains has led me to debate whether the traditional term is entirely accurate. In this blog post I wrote last year, I discuss the Tyrolean myths that inspired the word Alpenglow, and I challenge the traditional notion of what actually causes alpenglow. Give it a read, leave a comment and let me know what you think.
November Special: Save 20% on Behind The Landscape with Discount Code BTLNOV20
Almost a year ago, I released my Behind The Landscape ebook, and it quickly became one of my most popular titles. I call it a Manual for Seeing, Composing and Processing Captivating Imagery, and in it, I take you behind the scenes during the creation of 16 of my favorite landscape images I've made in the past five years.
For each example, I walk you through the entire process and let look over my shoulder as I survey the scene, gauge the light, choose my gear, and work through the specific creative concept I had in mind for the shot. I discuss the challenges and potential problems I faced and how I solved them, and I show you the progression of shots that led from my initial idea to the final image.
I'm giving you a special price on this practical and inspiring manual. During the month of November, you can use discount code BTLNOV20 and claim your exclusive 20% discount. You can read more about Behind the Landscape here, or just go ahead and order it here and start learning from this in-depth guide. Remember to use your discount code in the shopping cart.
Thanks for Reading!
That's all for this issue, thanks so much for reading, I really appreciate your support. I hope you enjoy the rest of November and find time to get out and exercise your creative muscles a few times. Even an hour spent with the camera before or after work can produce some wonderful results.If you do get a great shot, be sure and tag me on social media or post it to my Outdoor Adventure Photography Flickr Group. And keep in touch if you ever have any questions or comments.
Until next time... Enjoy my recent posts below and take care!
-Dan Bailey
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and I’ll    |
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