Steep Learning Curve

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It is easy to downplay the learning curve required with scanner photography.  Certainly there are the the mechanics of the process, starting witht he scan itself: getting the scanner set up properly, adjusting any color profiles and capture settings, and even an occasional driver conflict. Once captured there’s another batch of expertise that needs to be developed for editing the images: how to Spot Heal, clone, mastering opacity when painting around the edges of the flowers to make the background black. Lots of pieces that need to come together.

Those elements can be learned through reading of help screens or online tutorials. Much more challenging is the artistic elements of the process. I had some early success with captures, one of my first images, Shibumi, taking best in show at a local art exhibit, but I have to confess that much of it was a happy accident. The flower stalk with the interesting curve at the top was the result of a storm knocking the flower down (and making it eligible for cutting without incurring familial wrath!). The image would be much less visually interesting without that little difference at the tip. I certainly didn’t plan this, no great vision on my part conceived the full result before laying petal to platen glass, but I love the result anyway.

So it seems that the video world has at least as steep and quite likely a substantially longer learning curve.  I thought I’d take a crack at a “live” demo of how to do a scan, buying a bunch of flowers at the local supermarket since dreary November means nothing at all suitable from outside.  Set the camera up on a tripod, hit record, say my piece.  No problem!

Today I looked at the results and the learning curve is setting in.  The lighting was no where near good enough, leaving me and the room with a decidedly orange tint.  Sound quality was only so-so, but I knew I was going to have to live with that given that my camera doesn’t support an external microphone.  Retaking the demo with better lighting would fix the first issue and ensuring I was loud and clear enough for the mic would make the second issue containable, but then I dipped my toe into the editing water.  Ego, meet Learning Curve – and watch out for the whiplash.  Downloaded some editing software and, even without the myriad special effects and transitions available, I’m going to have to invest some time to piece the result together to make it half-way decent.

Well, that’s a good Christmas break project I guess!

The Never-Ceases-to-Amaze Internet

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The contentious election brought into focus again the tremendous power of the internet for connecting people to ideas – good or bad, right or wrong.  The information available is both amazing and overwhelming at the same time, though unfortunately largely unfiltered and truly the “drinking from the fire hose” metaphor applies.  The internet can only deliver, it can’t help one gauge whether the information is right or wrong, up or down, helping or hurting — that remains left to each of us.

I have to hope that the good in this ever-growing information flood outweighs the evil:: the good in enabling researchers to quickly share research and ideas, old acquaintances to reconnect and maybe become old friends, a student to stumble on an inspiration for a career, helpiong struggling entrepreneurs to spread their clever and useful ideas and on and on in countless examples.

I know I shouldn’t but I still keep letting myself get caught by surprise at the scope of use of this information flood.  Several years ago a put together a short “video” about scanner photography and posted it to YouTube:

I haven’t promoted it in the slightest, and haven’t put out any updates with recent works.  So I was surprised to find that this little infinitesimal corner of the internet has garnered over 12,000 views.  OK, so it has a way to go to catch the latest Adele or OK-Go video, but still was way more than I would have guessed.

I recently purchased a “traditional” camera — traditional as compared to using a scanner, but not film — and have been dipping my toe back into the picture world after having pretty much been out of it for 20+ years, likely about the last time I had a film SLR camera.  Since then has been a couple of point-and-shoot consumer digital cameras, so getting back into the world of shutter speeds and ISO and apertures has been a bit of a learning curve.  Another layer higher on that curve is that it includes video capabilities so it got me to thinking about adding another video or two to my extensive (one) YouTube channel, diving a bit deeper into the techniques and inspirations behind how I approach any new scans.

No promises: having anything materialize in the video department will depending on how many pounds the camera adds to me!  But who knows, maybe something crazy will happen while capturing a scan and it will “go viral”!

Fallout

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Usually at this time of year the brilliant red and orange maple leaves are scrambling over each other to climb onto the scanner glass for a chance to be captured like in Fall Leaf Collage II or Seasonings.  OK, maybe I help them a little bit.  This year hasn’t been the case.  Walking through our front lawn this morning I couldn’t find a single leaf that wasn’t at least partially shredded — not by wind or a long summer’s wear and tear but from this year’s gypsy moth and winter moth infestations.  Most of the leaves had at least a third that had been munched away, a result of this double-pronged attack.  Our neighborhood was hit less than many, but still plenty of fallout.

The prolonged drought this year also may have been a factor.  The peppered oblong leaves in Seasonings (spirea?) were disappointing this year, still with their spots but with nowhere near the color.  I can’t say for sure the dry spell is the cause but whatever the reason they didn’t have the glimmer of past years.

The oncoming winter gives an opportunity for plants to regroup and sprout forth anew in the spring, and hopefully a wetter spring will attenuate the recent growth in the gypsy moth population next year, giving the fungus that attacks them a better chance at control.

Until then, I’ll have to stick with the flower captures I made this year and perhaps rely on some store-bought posies once in a while.

Perspectives

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Buying a new car that is a bit uncommon can make lots of that model suddenly appear on the road.  Well, not really – it is just that they catch your eye because you have one and are more familiar with the look and style of your new wheels.  Your frame of reference shapes your view of the world and helps capture your attention.

The same is true with scanography.  Whenever I see an interesting new flower I’m immediately thinking of how to capture it on the scanner glass – solo, or in a collage? What would go well with it?  (Doesn’t matter that the flower in question is probably in someone’s front garden and isn’t going to come anywhere near my scanner.)

I recently splurged and bought a DSLR camera, opting for the Canon EOS Rebel T6, looking to dip my toes back into the “real” photography world again.  The trigger event was an upcoming trip to Iceland (which was an absolute delight – chock full of mountains and waterfalls and geothermal areas and glaciers) and I knew I would want something better than our 10-year old point-and-shoot to document the visit. Cameras have come a long way since my last SLR (film – blush) so there was a lot to learn, but I was able to capture some decent pics. This is one of my favorites, taken from within a glacier cave:

Blue Grotto

Blue Grotto

What I did’t quite expect from buying this camera is the change in perspective it would bring.  Now even just driving to or from work (a rather “un-scenic” route) I still find myself looking at trees or clouds and wondering how or if I could get a halfway decent shot out of it.

And then I step back in my thoughts and chastise myself: how can any picture of our puny little hills and tiny, casual brooks even remotely compare to the volcanic cones, rushing rivers and dramatic waterfalls stashed all around Iceland?  Who would want to look at such boring local pics?

Don’t get me wrong, I love New England, with it’s nearby ocean, autumn leaves, lakes and ponds to kayak in and pretty darn good skiing.  I guess I’ll need to learn a photographer’s eye, find the unusual angle or unique lighting even in our a bit more mundane world.

Or I could head back to Iceland at the first opportunity…