White River Gallery

Lost Valley Trail

I went on my first hike since the accident this past week.  It was great to be back outside and enjoy some fresh air.  I ended up hiking about 4 miles over the past three days.

Vero Beach, Florida

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Smith Creek Cascade

I have found it worthwhile to revisit my images after some time has passed.   The emotional side of the experience is gone allowing me to view them with an open mind similar to my audience.  My recent blog posts are images that were captured almost a year ago.  At the time, I processed a few of them, came up with a keeper or two and left the rest for later.  A lot has happened in the past year, mostly good but some not so good.  As a student of photography I review hundreds if not thousands of images a month.  That is a lot of exposure and perspective in a years time which improves my ability to visualize and appreciate quality images.

As digital photographers we capture the negatives and then perform all the image corrections ourselves. Previously these corrections were handled by seasoned lab technicians. These techs routinely processed thousands of images a week so matching that skill set is a tall order. We must constantly improve our own level of expertise while striving to learn new methods for processing the digital negatives we capture. The tools we use in that endeavor are also constantly changing and improving. For example, the main software I use to convert digital negatives or raw files is Capture One published by Phase One. Arguably the best raw imaging tool on the market, they just released an upgrade with some fantastic new features.   These new features for handling noise, color cast and lens correction are substantial enough that I am re-processing many of my images from scratch.  The rest of my digital workflow has also evolved over the year with new techniques and plug-ins that substantially improve image quality and realism.

Taken individually each element of this process may seem incremental but combined they have enough impact to make the re-process effort worthwhile. This image of Smith Creek was a favorite of mine shot last spring. I spent a fair amount of time and effort on the first image yet I feel this version is substantially improved. The image has more depth, color seems natural, there is less noise in the shadows and the light more closely matches the misty conditions I encountered.  Personally; my goal in photography is to artfully present subjects with a level of detail, color and clarity that matches closely what I saw when the image was captured. If you view one of my images I hope it is realistic enough to transport you emotionally to the moment I experienced. Only through constantly improving my vision and technique will I have any chance of realizing that goal.

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