Noise is Not Evil–More Examples

In my last post “Noise is Not Evil” I made the case that noise can be used as an important artistic element of your photography and is not the evil scourge many seem to believe.  My view is in contrast to those in the photography world who appear to be obsessed with the idea that we should only accept what the best of today’s digital cameras are capable of.  In other words, new versions of cameras are increasingly capable of shooting high ISO, low light, and low noise photographs – this group of people believe because we can effectively eliminate noise in many circumstances , we should accept nothing less.  “They” are the people who believe noise is evil.

I don’t intend on pressing my case here, but thought to provide a few more examples of noisy photographs that work.

Today’s shots include a bike on the streets of Abu Dhabi, the Pentagon from the air, a man waiting at JFK, and finally, the beaches in Aqaba Jordan.

Have fun and go make some great photography.

Craig

Noise is Not Evil

There are many people in the photography world that would have you believe that noise in a photograph is and undesired evil.  I disagree.  To put it simply, noise is the digital revolution’s equivalent to film grain.  Why was grain in film considered acceptable, an artistic choice, and even desirable in many cases?  Yet the noise in digital photography is considered a technical flaw?

I will concede that noise is not a characteristic one should routinely pursue.  But there are unquestionably times when noise not only fails to distract, but actually offers a desirable artistic element to the photograph.

Each of the photos I offer here as examples contained noise when shot.  I then leverage the noise through sharpening, increasing contrast, and addition of grain in post processing.  The noise/grain in each of the shots plays a different role, but I believe the noise works well in all.

If you want to consider avoiding noise as one of “the rules” of photography, fine.  And just like any other “rule”{ in photography, it is OK to break the rules as long as you know the rule and break it with intention and purpose.

Have fun, and go make some great photography.

Craig

Disney with an iPhone

I am in Florida spending a Holiday vacation with my family.  Normally, this means I pack along all the camera gear and make everyone wait while I take photos.  This trip I decided to take on a new challenge.  The challenge is to get some good photography using only my iPhone.


While traveling, I am taking a little break from the blog, but found a few minutes with my cigar and glass of wine to throw this up as a tease for a future post.  These shots, and those I will show later, are all iPhone shots.


Enjoy your holidays, and go make some great photography.
Craig

Rafeek Alewah – Stand-in for Omar Sharif in Lawrence of Arabia

Every once in a while, happy coincidences happen.  I will tell you of one such happy coincidence.  As I write this post, I am on my last night in Jordan before returning to the U.S.  During this trip to Jordan, a friend of mine (Nour Kabariti) sent a random note suggesting I visit a souvenir shop in Aqaba.  Nour is wonderful at sending these little tidbits and each one has turned into a great adventure…so of course I took her advice and visited the shop (and greatly appreciate the random recommendations).

First of all, let me tell you that Aqaba is a wonderful place.  It is a seaside resort town on the Red Sea, is relatively modest in the grand scheme of resort towns, and is therefore not overwhelming and thoroughly enjoyable.  Being a seaside hamlet, seafood is the cuisine of choice.  And the best seafood in Aqaba comes from the Ali Baba restaurant.  Nour directed me to the souvenir shop of Rafeek Alewah immediately adjacent to the Ali Baba (where I dine most evenings).

Upon my visit to the souvenir shop of Rafeek Alewah, I was treated to a great experience.  Rafeek was the stand-in for Omar Sharif in the 1962 filming of Lawrence of Arabia.  In this role, the 27 year old Rafeek was filmed in many of the non-speaking, or distant roles of Omar Sharif.  Although IMDB and many of the other internet movie sites have no mention of Rafeek, the photographs posted in his shop are a testament to his role.

Rafeek is an animated an engaging character.  If you have the opportunity to visit Aqaba, Jordan, I recommend visiting his shop – after enjoying a wonderful dinner at the Ali Baba.

To reinforce the idea that the best camera is the one you have with you, all of the photographs in this post were taken with my iPhone.  You will not always have your expensive DSLR with you, but that does not mean your photography should suffer.

Have fun, and go make some great photography!

Craig

More Wins on “The Best Camera”

A couple of weeks ago I went into the DC Superior Court to respond to a generous invitation for jury duty.  Nearly everyone I know receiving similarly gracious invitations has relaxed in the jury waiting room for a couple of hours, and are then dismissed.  Me? I get the distinct pleasure of being impaneled on the jury of a 2nd degree murder case.  The timing was horrible, but the entertainment value was top notch.  It was great theater! 
But better than reality show live entertainment is not the point of my story.  The relevance of jury duty to this blog entry is all the healthy amount of dead time during the jury selection process and the regular/lengthy breaks during the trial.  With all this time, I decided to clear my backlog of iPhone photos waiting for editing and submission to the web site “The Best Camera.”  If you want to see way too much of my iphone photography, go here.

With all this time on my hands, I rapidly worked through my queue of photos and submitted roughly 40 photos over the course of the week.  The two featured in this post were selected as “best of the hour.”  Honestly, I have no clue why.  I have much better iPhone photography…but I guess that is the point – on The Best Camera, you don’t get to vote for your own photography.
Stay tuned over the next couple of days; I hope to do a little rapid fire posting.
Have fun, and go make some great photography!
Craig

The Best Camera – Win number 2

I cheat on the love of my life…and I hate to think what my Canon 5D would think if it knew I were photographing with my iPhone.  This is not my first confession of this transgression – three other posts about my infidelity with my iPhone can be found by following this link.
This entry revisits the iPhone because for the second time, my peers on “The Best Camera” recognized one of my photographs (the one featured at the top of this post).  I don’t take this too seriously, because I don’t take my iPhone photography too seriously.  In other words, I generally don’t plan a day of shooting with my iPhone.  However, because it is always with me, I take quite a few photographs with my iPhone and send most of them to “The Best Camera".”  Mostly, these are random things that catch my attention and do not represent any form of intention…just things I see.
You can see more of my iPhone photography on my portfolio on thebestcamera.com.
Have fun and go make some great photography…with whatever camera you happen to have with you.
Craig

Finally a Win!

In October I posted an entry about The Best Camera.  The post focused on the iPhone application called “The Best Camera” and my budding obsession with iPhone photography.

As a refresher, the basics of The Best Camera are:

1. Take a photograph with the iPhone
2. Process the photograph using The Best Camera app (although many people seem to be straying and using any number of apps for editing).
3. Use the app’s interface to submit the photo to The Best Camera website (and post it to twitter, facebook, and/or save the edited photo to your iPhone library).
4. Hope the other users of The Best Camera like your work and view/vote for your photography.  Photographs with the most votes (apparently the number of views takes care of tie breaking) are selected as hourly, daily and monthly “best photos.”

The very cool, and sometimes frustrating thing about the process of voting and selecting the best photos is that it is completely democratized….either you get votes and views from your peers, or not.  This is very cool because your success in this head-to-head full contact photography battle is completely dependent on how your peers assess your photography.

The frustrating aspects include:  a) I don’t always agree with my peers (ha…big surprise), b) every time you submit a photograph, it is like entering a new contest (for that hour) with a bunch of very talented cohorts, c) success is a relative issue…my best shot may have been submitted during the same hour as someone else’s totally rocking shot (oh well, better luck next time).

So here are a few words about the shots featured in this post.  The first photograph was my one and only hourly winner.  The rest are not…including those featured in my previous entry - The Best Camera.

Arguably, my shot that was selected as the best in that hour is not the best iPhone photograph I have produced.  That is Ok.  The fun comes in the challenge of making good photography with a very limited piece of gear.  I will keep trying.  If nothing else, it is entertaining.



Have fun and go make some great photography!
Craig

Etihad Airlines Rocks – Delta Airlines Not so Much

I am sitting in “The Lounge” at JFK airport in New York waiting to board my Etihad flight to Abu Dhabi.  I have not even boarded the plane, and I know from experience that I will have a completely pleasurable experience.  The service will be 5 star.  The four course meal (that I get to choose from 2 to 5 options per course) will be splendid.  The wine list will cause me to take note for a future purchase.  The very comfortable seat will play a large role in helping me get a solid 7 hours of sleep.  I look forward to this flight even though it is nearly 12 hours in the air.

So I’m guessing that you are now wondering why I am writing about airlines on my photography blog.  There is only one reason – therapy.  I will not totally abandon you – I will connect my rant with some aviation related photography, but the bottom line is that I feel a deeply compelling need to express my heartfelt displeasure with Delta Airlines.  Don’t misunderstand me, there are plenty of other U.S. carriers that deserve similar ridicule, but today we will focus on Delta.

Delta sucks, but German does not.  My one positive experience of the day with Delta involved a little man named German (hey Delta guys…pay attention and show some love to German).  My completely exhausting experience was interrupted momentarily by German who did a yeoman's job of helping me at check in.  The Delta kiosks choke when it comes to international connections…German fixed it with a smile on his face.  Thanks German.

The girl at the gate said I had to check my legally sized carry-on.  I politely challenged her by informing her it had several thousands of dollars of photography equipment in it.  She replied that it was not her problem and that I had no choice but to check the luggage.  There are options…but she could not be bothered.  I have yet to determine if there was any damage.  I conceded thinking that an upgrade to the 5D MKII would not be a bad idea.

Then we get to the plane.  I can’t stand up.  I don’t fit in the seat (nor would anyone above 5’10”).  And the flight attendant has a serious attitude.  Yup, you guessed it.  I picked the commuter route from hell, with La Diabla telling me my feet are too big and are blocking the aisle…no shit!  Build an airplane designed for adults!  And if you Delta suits are listening, it was flight 6736 from Washington Regan to JFK on 6 November.  You can do better…anyone could.

I could go on, and on, and on.  But I’m sure I would be telling you nothing new.  And seriously, I have flown military air in a jump seat that was a better experience!  Oh!!! breaking  news!!!  My wife just got off the phone with her parents who arrived moments ago in Arizona on a Delta Airlines flight…unfortunately their luggage did not make it.  Coincidence?  Conspiracy?  Incompetence? 
I hope you enjoyed the photography, and thanks for the patient and sympathetic ear.  I will shortly be embarking the Etihad flight and the world will regain some order.  Thank you Etihad!
And for the record…Delta Airlines has not paid me to document their ineptitude.  And likewise, Etihad has not paid me to flatter their well deserved reputation (but my ears are open!!!).
By the way…all the photographs featured in this post were taken with my iPhone.  I am not yet sure if my Canon 5D still functions, nor if the glass is intact on my 70-200 2.8L IS (Hey Delta - $2500 and $1800 respectively!)
Have fun, and go make some great photography!
Craig

Tilt Shift Photography

I have been very busy lately with travel and a number of events that have kept me from posting at my normal pace.  The up side is that the travel involved a whole bunch of photography that will soon make it to the blog.  I continue to explore HDR, and I think you will like the results.

This post is focused (or unfocused) on tilt shift photography.  Tilt shift photography refers to a form of photography that uses a unique lens that allows movement of the lens on two planes; rotation of the lens relative to the image plane (tilt) and movement of the lens parallel to the image plane (shift).  The result is control of where the focal plane lies within the composition.

This type of lens and technique is often used to create a “miniature” effect.  In other words, the control of focus gives the appearance that you are looking at a miniaturized version of the scene.

I have to admit that I do not own a tilt and shift lens.  They are very specialized, and the return on investment for such a specialized lens cannot be justified by most photographers.  Fortunately there are techniques to achieve the effect in post processing.

The photographs featured in this post were taken with my iPhone (see my prior post on creativity with the iPhone – The Best Camera), using an application called Tilt Shift Generator in combination with The Best Camera app.  If you are challenging yourself to make great photographs with your iPhone, I highly recommend this app.  You can see more of my iPhone photography on the Best Camera site.
Go make some great photography!
Craig

The Best Camera

Chase Jarvis recently launched a trifecta of cool.  On the same day, he released a new book, an iPhone app, and a new website.  He released a photography book “The Best Camera is the One That’s With You,” using photography entirely taken on and edited on his iPhone (using an app he developed). Adding to all this is the website devoted to iPhone photography.

I have not seen the book, but Scott Bourne at Photofocus posted a great (and short) review of The Best Camera is the One That’s With You.

The app, Best Camera, is great.  It allows you to take photography, edit it with a series of stackable filters, then simultaneously or individually send the photograph to The Best Camera website, Facebook, Twitter, an e-mail address, and save it to your camera roll.

Sending photography to the Best Camera website is a great deal of fun because when you go to the site, there is a live feed of all the photographs coming in, and there is some very nice work being submitted.  Additionally, there is some mysterious process that evaluates these shots, votes for them, and results in the best shot for the hour, day and month.  Chase promises to further democratize this by opening procedures for the voting process.

So all this is very cool from the perspective of making an iphone even more fun and useful, further democratizing photography, and adding some credibitlity to 800 by 800 pixel photography.  However, the real value of this bow wave of photographic activity is the creative challenge.

As you have likely seen in my recent posts, I like to challenge myself through imposing some form of constraint (use only a 50mm, shoot everything out of focus, shoot only on a specific theme, etc.).  Like the constraints I have written about, the iPhone is another creativity catalyst.  Limited size, limited resolution, limited light sensitivity, no manual control over exposure, and limited ability to process (although I am confident Chase will progressively add new filters and controls for post processing!) all become challenges to making compelling photography.

At the moment I am having at least as much fun with my iphone as I am with my Canon 5D.  By the way, all the photography in this entry was taken on my iPhone and processed in the Best Camera iPhone app.
To see more iPhone photography, visit the Best Camera website, and to see more of my iPhone photography, see Craig Corl on the Best Camera.
Go make some great photography.
Craig