Monthly Archives: February 2011
It’s Been 7 Years
Dear Dad,
Today marks the seventh anniversary of your death. To say that I miss you would be an understatement. I think about you an awful lot. I really miss talking to you and spending time doing things together. I really miss seeing you and Christina together. I thank you for all you did with and for her as she grew. You were a great Grandpa to her and I can’t thank you enough for all you endured to spend more time with her. Your strength was something I always knew I could count on. I will never forget how safe I always felt when I was with you. Nor will I forget the lessons you taught me, in your own way, of what it means to be a man, think for yourself, find your own answers in life and to take care of your family. I can’t believe it has been seven years. Time goes by so quickly. You are gone, but definitely not forgotten.
I love you, Dad.
Mark
Please read my blog entry from last year at this same time.
This is a picture taken in May, 2003 of my daughter with her “Papa”
Until next time,
Mark
Posted in Mark's Thoughts, Photography
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HDR Images s’il vous plait
I have gotten many requests to expand on my post about HDR images. Some requested more image examples. Some requested seeing the images used to make an HDR image. Some thought that HDR was cheating and that utilizing HDR was not really photography. I had one message that said Ansel Adams would never use something like HDR as his images were genius right out of camera. Some just thought the process was cool.
To all who dropped me an email, I thank you. I will try my best to deliver what you asked for. It makes me feel that the words I shoehorn into a post are not for nothing. It is a bit of a rush knowing people read what I write and occasionally feel the need to post a comment or send me an email. Far too many visitors come to my blog, stay a while reading, and leave.
I want people to comment on my posts. If you agree with my written words, let me now. If you disagree, let me know. If you feel the need to add something, please do so via your comments. I only ask that comments you make be original and on topic. My spam filter is really good. It does an excellent job at ferreting out the good from the bad. Besides, all comments are held pending approval. If a comment is deemed inappropriate, lacking relevance or just plain spam. It will never see the light of day on my blog.
I also ask that you use the comments link to “communicate” and not send emails directly to me. I know it can seem daunting to actually leave a comment for others to see and possibly judge you from it. As Nike says, “Just Do It“. Post your comment. It gets easier and you won’t feel so self conscious after you post a few. It also makes it easier on me as I can reference your comment in my entries and not have to summarize an email sent to me. It also allows others to reply to your comment and this creates a dialog.
On to bigger and better things. I am going to try and answer questions and show you examples of HDR images and the process involved.
I will show and describe the process of “blending” several images together and “creating” on final image. The basic concept of HDR is taking multiple images, each exposed to capture different elements of a subject, and then manipulating the images to arrive at your final product. I typically will take 5 images of the same subject. The first image is “properly exposed” according to the in-camera metering. 4 subsequent exposures are made with them being 2 f-stops over-exposed, 1 f-stops over-exposed, 1 f-stop under-exposed and 2 f-stops under-exposed.
This is what you get:
You then use any of the various software packages that can “do” HDR imaging. The HDR capabilities in the latest version of Photoshop do a very good job and most people use it. There are a number of stand alone software applications and plugins available also. After processing the 5 images, you are left with an image that is usually very close, if not imperceptible, from what you actually viewed when looking at the subject with your naked eye.
This is a quick HDR’d image of the above 5 images:
Depending on your monitor, this may look great and you are able to see into the shadows under the seats, the definition of each brick in the wall, etc. or it may just look like the “Properly Exposed” image from above. I could have spent a considerable amount of time tweeking things to really bring out all the details, but felt I had done enough to give you an idea of what HDR can do.
As far as cheating goes, I don’t see outputting an HDR image as cheating. Cheating would indicate that there are a set of imaging laws one must follow or risk having a hand chopped off. Maybe some secret photographic ninjas will visit you one night as you are HDR’ing yet another image and you might disappear, never to be seen or heard from again. I feel that I have committed no sins when utilizing HDR techniques to get a final image I like.
What about Ansel Adams never using some technique like HDR, and just printing images as they were when they came out of the camera. It may surprise a few people, but Ansel always utilized post-capture processing and various darkroom techniques on his images. Ansel would create special effects by varying the exposure and developing time. He would also dodge and burn to create more depth to his images. Ansel got very upset with a gallery owner that wanted to print one of his images and make it the size to fill a wall. The gallery guy slapped Ansel’s negative in an enlarger and made a print. When Ansel saw the end result, he became furious because he always took his time and used techniques to create images like we are familiar with. The image the gallery owner made was flat and lacked emotion.
If you want to create surreal images, HDR techniques can be pushed to extremes. You can use a single image in most HDR software packages and arrive at some attention grabbing final images. These images can never be mistaken for real or non-manipulated pictures.
Here is an original of a Leopard:
Same Leopard with HDR techniques applied:
An old car:
Same old car with HDR:
Maybe you like every over the top HDR image made, maybe you only like some, maybe you hate all of them. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Until next time,
Mark
Posted in Photography, Photography Technique
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Follow up to “Images for Real Estate Listings & HDR”
Amazing what talking about real estate imaging and HDR photos will do for a guy’s blog. I have had over 625,000 visits (a slight exaggeration) to my blog in the last several days and almost all are to my previous entry, “Images for Real Estate Listings & HDR“. Seems that some Realtors, or those who are fans of Realtors, agreed with me that there are tons of hideous images floating around out there of people’s homes. Also heard from Realtors that shared horror stories of clients that lived in pigsties, but felt very strongly that their homes were in better shape and cleaner than most homes out there so they felt no need to clean house or even tidy up a bit.
To protect the innocent, no names will be mentioned in the following story. The following may not have even happened in Omaha, it might have occurred in Virginia. It might even be cobbled together from several experiences or situations. It might just be fictional. I just can’t be sure, my memory gets fuzzy from time to time.
A nice Realtor hires a young real estate photog who is a real up and comer. Newbie photog is warned about property he is going to shoot. Seems homeowner and his wife don’t care for one another any longer. Hubby gets bright idea that driving wife out of home could be to his advantage in divorce settlement.
He rationalizes that if she leaves the marital abode, he will be awarded said abode because he can claim she abandoned the property, leaving him all by himself to look after the house. He refuses to bathe, shave, shower, or brush his teeth. He also decides to not do any laundry, dishes, or vacuuming. Wife stands her ground and refuses to leave. Seeing he won’t get his way, he begrudgingly agrees to sell house. He hasn’t given up yet, and decides to stay in the house while such things as Realtor and buyer visits take place and Open Houses occur. He also decides it is a good idea to hang out while the aforementioned young and impressionable photographer takes marketing images of the house.
For those wondering, marketing images are those used by Realtors to market your house. They are the photos displayed in MLS listings, realty websites and home informational sheets. They are quite important, especially in this day and age of the Internet where most house hunting occurs. Most houses visited by buyers have already been seen by the buyer because of the Internet listings.
Homeowner refuses to vacate a room the real estate photographer is trying to shoot. Photog skips room and continues to next room to shoot. Homeowner follows and proceeds to plop down near middle of room. Photog goes to next room and once again is followed and homeowner occupies that room. Photog gets frustrated and has pow wow with Realtor. It is decided to shoot anything and everything whether homeowner is in picture or not.
I usually The photog usually shoots anywhere from 30 to over 100 shots of a property depending on size and level of grandeur. I shot The photog shot over 250 images that day. Many with the homeowner in them. The beauty of knowing how to retouch photos is that you can take a bit of this image, some of that one, etc. and produce some Frankensteined end result that looks great. The one thing that the newbie photog remembers most is stepping on something that stabbed through his sock and into the bottom of his foot. It was a very large crescent moon shaped toenail. No doubt the homeowner had decided to cut his toenails and let them fly wherever in his psyops campaign to drive his spouse from “his home”.
And people think us photographers just stand behind the camera and press the shutter, or as it is frequently called, “the button”. We don’t have to know anything other than pressing the button. I wish it was that simple.
Until next time,
Mark
Posted in Humor, Mark's Thoughts
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Images for Real Estate Listings & HDR
Shortly after my family relocated from Northern Virginia to Omaha, Nebraska, I was driving around gathering info on what real estate agents in Omaha do to market a house. I was interested in providing photographic services to local Realtors and was curious what sorts of pictures they were using. By “what sorts”, I mean were they using professional real estate photographers, someone who had some pro level equipment but had never shot real estate images, or were they shooting the houses they listed themselves. In Virginia, almost all agents utilized pros to shoot properties who would then provide finished images to the agent for marketing purposes. Omaha didn’t do things this way. Most agents took the marketing photos themselves. It was quite obvious the agents were doing the photography and it left me feeling bad for sellers who were having their houses marketed with these images.
I asked several agents for the opportunity to handle the photography side of things, which would free them up to devote more time to handling the business side of things for their current listings. It would also give them the time to secure more listings or deal with more clients looking to buy. I was told time and time again that the photos they were taking were just fine and they didn’t see a need for my services. It is the old mindset of, “What I do for a living takes a trained professional, but a monkey with a camera can bang out a few pictures of the houses I am selling, so no, I don’t see the need to hire you”. It seems very curious to me that Realtors always insist that a seller use their services and expertise, but they don’t see that hiring a professional real estate photographer should be utilized also.
I have seen so many terrible images taken of houses that it makes me cringe worse than fingernails on a chalkboard. I always love the image of the Realtor reflected in the bathroom mirror, glass shower door or a window. Also love the images of unmade beds, unflushed toilets with the lid up, or the nice older lady sleeping in a chair. I am also a huge fan of the worthless image of the toilet and a small sliver of sink. Is this a full bathroom, maybe a half bath or is it a powder room? I just can’t tell. Perhaps it would be good to show as much of the room as you can so potential buyers can get an idea of the layout and size. My all time favorite images are those that are badly out of focus. These shots are completely worthless and of no value to the home seller or the buyer. If I was selling my house and the agent attempted to use images like the ones described above, we would be having a serious discussion.
As I have stated, I find it interesting for Realtors to be offended or shocked if a home seller attempts to make a go at selling their home themselves; but yet they go to Best Buy, purchase a point & shoot camera for $150 or so, and snap away instead of hiring a professional photographer. To hear them, anyone trying to do a For Sale By Owner (FSBO) deal is completely out of their league and making a huge mistake. These FSBO people are doomed to fail because they don’t possess the skills and knowledge to do a deal and might expose themselves to a potential lawsuit. Realtors always insist that using one of their own is the wise choice because they are educated professionals that know what they are doing. Again, I find it interesting that almost every realtor feels they are capable of producing better images than a professional real estate photographer. I have occasionally seen some very well done photography examples from Realtors, but not many. Check out these links to see some of the “impressive” marketing images Realtors around the country have used. Page #1, Page #2
A new trend I am seeing is the improper use of High Dynamic Range (HDR) images in real estate. Borrowing Wikipedia’s definition of HDR: HDR “is a set of techniques that allow a greater dynamic range of luminance between the lightest and darkest areas of an image than current standard digital imaging techniques or photographic methods. This wide dynamic range allows HDR images to more accurately represent the range of intensity levels found in real scenes, ranging from direct sunlight to faint starlight“.
My definition is: HDR mimics the human eye’s ability to see highlight and shadow tones in one image. A camera can only deal with a narrow range of what’s visible in any given image. If the scene you are taking a picture of has bright areas and very dark areas, when you take a single picture, and you expose for capturing the brighter areas, this causes the dark areas to go so dark (under-exposed) that you lose detail. Conversely, exposing to capture the dark areas cause the highlights to go so bright (Over-exposed) that most if not all detail is lost also.
HDR takes several pictures that have been exposed for capturing specific tonal ranges, and combines them producing one final image. This final image is then adjusted via imaging software such as Photoshop. This image, if done properly, is similar to what the naked eye sees when viewing the subject of the image. I hope I am doing a decent enough job of describing this so you understand what I am trying to convey.
When done properly, HDR images can be really interesting and occasionally breathtaking. The website Stuck in Customs is full of HDR photos that are done very well. When HDR is utilized by someone who doesn’t fully understand how to achieve realistic looking images, things go bad real quick. This is an image I did using HDR that combines 5 images of the same subject.
HDR is used to achieve a final image that is representative of what I saw when looking at the Barn and trees. Depending on your monitor and personal tastes, this next image may or may not appeal to you. I have combined the same 5 images I used for the above image, but I really cranked up the HDR and it produces a surreal image.
This is nowhere near what I saw. Looks pretty cool, but not realistic. Imagine looking at house listings on the web and seeing each and every marketing image that is way overdone and bordering on obnoxious. It grows old real quick and it is not the way I would want my house marketed to potential buyers.
Until next time,
Mark
Posted in Mark's Thoughts, Photography, Photography Technique, Photoshop Technique
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Picking a high school and the weather
It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve had a moment or two to scratch my back side. In between school activities and the weather, I have not had the energy to put an entry together. Omaha area schools were cancelled Tuesday and Wednesday of this week due to the cold, snow and windy conditions. Nice mini break for my daughter. However, the weather also kept my wife at home to log in to her work remotely. With everyone home, it felt like a weekend and as such, I didn’t get much of anything accomplished.
Interesting thing they are doing here in the Omaha metro area with schools. They allow anyone, anywhere to apply to any of the schools in the Learning Community. Basically, the Learning Community consists of a number of school districts. Due to the ability to possibly attend any of these schools, it makes it very interesting when deciding where a student should apply. Diversity is the intended goal of allowing students to apply to any school. Almost all the schools are looking for students of a particular socioeconomic and/or racial make-up. We visited four Omaha Public School high schools. Gathered quite a bit of propaganda from each school detailing why students should attend their school.
Then you spend a great deal of time sifting through what you were told at the open houses and the myriad of paper based information and testimonials from each public school as well as any private schools you are looking at. This process leaves your head spinning and you continuously wonder aloud if a particular school is where you want your child to go. Are you making the best decision to further your child’s education and prepare them for college and beyond. Things were so much easier when I attended high school…Let’s see, you live here, so you will be attending Herndon High School. End of story…None of the complete craziness I just experienced. My wife, daughter and I sat down and weighed the pros and cons of each and every school and I know the final decision we arrived at is the undeniably correct one.
Then the weather started up. Had a few unseasonably warm days and then…BAM! The Snow Miser paid us a visit. Temperatures dropped like a lead balloon and schools were closed. Not much fun trying to take pictures when the snow is blowing all around you and you can’t feel your face or fingers. Best to stay in the house and keep warm. My biggest fun was when I went out and fired up the snow-blower to clear the driveway and sidewalk. Was out there for a good while and it looked awesome when I was done. I felt really good having taken care of that as the drifts in front of our family cars were 2 feet or more. My elation came crashing down a few hours later when my wife informed me that the wind had undone my work. Insult was added to injury when she also informed me that the snow drifts were even higher than they initially were. Oh well. Felt like Charlie Brown right after Lucy pulls the football away as he tries to kick it.
Was able to get out and snap a few pics before and after the storm came. Came upon this old barn while out driving around. I love old barns and buildings.
A little later in my excursion, I remembered a pioneer wagon I had seen a few times and headed out to capture it in the snow. Thought this one would look pretty cool in black & white.
As my wife and I headed back towards our house, we passed an old abandoned house that I have wanted to photograph for a long time. Traffic never allowed me to pull over and capture a few snaps. Traffic was non-existent so I pulled over and finally got it.
Here is a picture of the ice that had accumulated on the trees. It is hard to see, but I can testify that the tree branches are coated in ice.
I thought the berries were pretty cool in this pic. Everything was turning various shades of gray as dusk approached and these berries were the only color I saw. I thought it was cool how the ice reflected the color of the berries and took on a red hue as a result.
Until next time,
Mark
Posted in Mark's Thoughts, Photography
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