Virginia Media

Shooting with a purpose

2012-01-02T07:14:00.000-08:00

It's great to just wander around in the world taking photos as you go. Once in a while you happen to be in the right place at the right time to get an interesting shot. However, I find that those opportunities are rare. To me, the point of photography is more communicating a message than just making pretty pictures. Don't get me wrong, I like pretty pictures. Love 'em, in fact. But I suppose the journalist in me is always looking for something else going on. The image should pull you into the story and make you wonder what is going on - maybe fill in the blanks for yourself. Take this series of shots, for example.

My daughter and her husband were visiting yesterday, and at some point decided to break out the instruments and play a little music. Guitar and banjo, in the old time style. They are both good musicians and it's great to hear them play together, particularly when they are working on an original composition, like they were when I took these shots.

Now, I was really just playing around with my Olympus PEN camera with a Nikon 50mm lens, shooting totally manual, and I decided to use one of the built-in art processes and get some grainy black and white shots. But when I looked at the proofs, I decided I would string them together like this to try to communicate a little bit of what making music is about. You can begin to understand a little when you look at this arrangement. It's fun and it's work. Music demands some precision, and of course skill, but the point is to have fun creating something ephemerically beautiful. You weave a tapestry of auditory color that hangs in the air for a moment and then exists only in your memory. And when it's over, both the performer and the listener walk away a little richer.

Olympus PEN E-P3 review

2011-12-31T09:16:00.000-08:00

I recently purchased an Olympus PEN E-P3 mirrorless micro four-thirds (m43) camera to carry around with me. I know most of my photographer friends use DSLRs now, as do I, but there are times when I have needed a decent camera with me and did not have the ability to lug all that DSLR equipment. See the photo for my reasoning...

As you can see, the D300 with grip and 17-55 f/2.8 is a monster compared to the PEN with it's pancake 17 mm f/2.8. The PEN is not a shirt-pocket camera, but I can pretty much carry it wherever I go and get good photos with it.

There are a number of m43 cameras out there. Prior to purchasing the PEN, I tried a Fuji x100, for example. I absolutely loved the retro styling (it resembles the Leica M9) and many of the features, but the cost ($1200) combined with the inability to change lenses (the X100 has a 35 mm) just made it a no-go.

I also compared a number of other cameras in the m43 world, and finally decided the PEN was approximately equivalent to all of them for the price, and with a suitable adapter, I can attach most of my old Nikon film camera lenses (see photo).

This shows my old Nikon 50mm f/1.8 attached to the PEN. It's a great combination and the quality is fantastic. The 17 mm lens (35 mm equivalent) is ok - perfectly serviceable, but the quality of the Nikon is clearly superior. The 50mm converts to 100mm so it's a perfect portrait lens.

So how is the quality of the images out of the PEN? Very good. The sensor is 12.3 mp but of a previous generation build, so it's a little noisy in high ISO operation. There are a lot of comparison reviews floating around on the web, so check those out for extreme pixel peeping. Your mileage may vary.

I will give one comparison to demonstrate a practical head-to-head in an actual photo situation. I was writing an article about a local business with some neat new technology and I had to get a quick shot to go with the copy. I loaded up my D300 with SB800 flash and I also brought along my PEN so I could determine if it was good enough to use professionally if I didn't have the larger rig with me. Below is a comparison shot of the two images I took.

D300 image SOOC, jpg, 1/160, f/5.0, ISO 400, 20mm (30mm eq)

PEN image SOOC, jpg, 1/60, f/2.8, ISO 500, 17mm (35mm eq)

The D300 shot was taken with flash while the PEN was not. Both shots are directly from the camera converted from raw to jpg using Adobe Camera Raw without any processing. The Nikon image is wider because the PEN at full sensor is in the 4:3 proportion. I used 160 shutter on the D300 so I could set the white balance to flash and eliminate contributions from the overhead fluorescent lights.

So, in my opinion, either of these images is useable with only minor sharpening and contrast adjustment that I do in post. In fact, I sent both of them to the editor and let him decide which one to use. The PEN is no replacement for a quality DSLR, but quality and practicality make it a very nice tool to have in the bag, and definitely is a lower-cost option for those who would like to move up from a point and shoot to something with more flexibility.

I won't go into all the cool features of the PEN camera controls. But most importantly, I can shoot raw and I can shoot fully manual. There is no optical viewfinder (you have to use the nice live view screen), but I can tell you the touch to focus aspects of the control are a dream. There is no need to focus lock and recompose a shot - just touch the area of the screen where you want the focus to be, and the camera takes a photo. Done.

For about the same price, you can now apparently buy a Panasonic Lumix GX1 which is a very similar camera, but which has slightly better high ISO performance and a 16 mp sensor. I think either of these cameras is worthy to be in the bag with your gear, and unless you need the high IQ of a D3 or 5D Mark II, you can make great photos with these mirrorless cameras. In fact, I would go so far as to suggest that the next generation of pro cameras will dispense with the bulky and expensive pentaprism optical finders and look more like the Leica M9.

Stagg Bowl Again!

2010-12-13T12:13:00.000-08:00

Once again this year, Virginia Media Services will be providing photography of the game for the Old Dominion Athletic Council. We had to miss it last year due to the gigantic freak snowstorm that blocked I-81 for most of two days, just as the Virginia Tech students were trying to get home for the holidays. Here's a link to a photo from the game held in 2008. The same two teams, Mount Union and UW-Whitewater, seem to end up in the championship every year, and 2010 is no exception. Here's another action shot from the game. Here's a small fan, and here's another sort of participant.

Weather will be cold but otherwise not too bad. Come to the game!

Texture application

2010-11-20T07:01:00.000-08:00

Here is an example of taking a poor photo and dressing it up with some judicious cropping and application of texture. The image on the right was taken at dusk using a point-and-shoot camera. The colors are muted and there is a lot of noise in the photo due to the low light conditions. I cropped to move the boat out of the exact center of the frame, and to use the cluster of flowers on the left as a balance. There was not much tonal variety in the original shot, and the application of texture, while warming the image, did not improve the tonality. I really liked the dark moodiness of the edited photo, but the boat was pretty much lost in the background so I applied a mask to increase the level and bring it up a little, and also added a slight warming tone over just the boat. It helped separate the boat from the background without totally spoiling the mood. You can see a larger version of the final processed image here. The other version is a watercolor conversion of the same image, just to see how it would be different. I like it, but it loses some of the dark spookiness.

Photo to art conversion

2010-08-08T05:53:00.000-07:00

Final 'artistic' version

Original Point-and-Shoot photo

While I would normally use a more sophisticated technique to convert photos to photoshop painting, I set this one up for a friend who did not own the full Photoshop program to demonstrate what is possible using PS Elements and some textures. The process starts with the key step of simplifying the photo to remove tiny details. A low-res point-and-shoot image is often ideal. Use a blurring technique to remove the details if possible, but at the very least resize the image to a low resolution - around 72 dpi is fine. Next apply a combination of filter effects which should at least include a watercolor effect. Then obtain a 'watercolor texture' and apply it to the image to render the paint stroke effects. Finally, apply a texture overlay of watercolor paper, etc., to give it an authentic presentation. I always wanted to paint, but never had any talent in that direction. Digital image processing programs such as PS Elements can almost make you look like a painter. See more on the flickr page http://www.flickr.com/photos/vamedia/

PR shots demonstrate crop and texture

2010-08-07T14:38:00.000-07:00

Original Shot unedited

Final Shot

Here is a sample of a PR image taken for Brian Muller, local bluegrass and jazz musician. Two processes were performed on the original shot. First, the image was cropped to convert the original digital frame to an 8" x 10" format for use in promotions and to tighten the focus on the musician. The shots in the studio are generally left a little wide so that I can crop to suit during post-production. Second, I added a little texture overlay to the image which warmed it slightly and created a little more flatness while simultaneously smoothing and vignetting the backdrop. There is a slight loss of contrast in the result, but for printing purposes, that is often desirable.

Social Media: A tool, not THE tool

2010-04-02T09:45:00.001-07:00

It's been truly amazing to see how social media marketing has risen in prominence over the past few years. First, MySpace started a trend and then FaceBook opened up to public users instead of being restricted to .edu email addresses. That's when the floodgates opened.

Savvy marketing folks, and especially those self-proclaimed SM gurus who got ahead of the curve, began to explore the rules and push the envelope of the new channel. Once it was enough to have a good website, but now the website is probably the third thing the potential customer will see with your name on it, the first being your tweets and the second being your FaceBook page.

I don't think this situation is inherently good or bad -it's just a result of the continuing development of the now almost universal (except in China) online experience. But I already see abuses, if we can call them that, by the so-called gurus who lure internet advertising novices into their chatty lair with horror stories of how company x went out of business because they didn't tweet.

For example, I have personally seen one of these self-ordained SM priests visit the following atrocity on their clients. They think it's all about traffic, so naturally they have learned some tricks to increasing it. They set up multiple websites with blogs, and then set up multiple Twitter accounts. Finally, they set up a network of other SM 'experts' and they begin to engage in a giant twitter party.

First, the 'guru' will write a blog about something useless, full of irrelevant links to unrelated sites, some of which belong to the guru. Then the guru will tweet about the blog using twitter account 1. Then the same guru will retweet using twitter account 2. Then guru will get back on account 1 and thank account 2 for the retweet, after which account 2 replies, don't mention it, etc. This can go on for ten cycles or more, and eventually branches out to other 'gurus' who have clandestine agreements with guru1 for mutual assured retweeting.

I gotta tell you, when I see this sort of thing going on, I know one thing for sure: the object of the original blog post, presumably a customer paying for the SM exposure using guru1, has nothing to say, and nothing to sell me. If this is the best they can do with advertising, then I will never purchase their products.

I know this seems a bit harsh, but it's still about return-on-investment, and many companies' marketing directors are now emerging from their traditional PR caves and asking what all the money they are paying to the SM zen masters is getting them.

Two links if you want to do it right. First, read this blog post from a guy in the business, who gets it. Then, check out the website of this online marketing company, RYP Marketing.

The 'RYP' in the name stands for "Raise Your Profits". That's what I'm talkin' about!

Watercolor photo conversion

2010-03-08T11:23:00.001-08:00

Here is another watercolor painting conversion of a bridal shot. Original photo is by Kurt Grosshans. While it is a nice photo, the art conversion really needs a tighter crop. After some significant thought, I chose a crop that may seem a little odd at first glance. The original photo is interesting, but not easy to convert into the watercolor effect because of the scale, and I was not really sure what the pose was trying to convey. However, the tight crop seems to have a bit more movement in it, and it shows the effect of the brush strokes better than the longer view would have. I intentionally cut off part of the model and left a little extra black background on the left side. This allows the potential for either a tighter crop toward the face, or space for text down the left side of the frame.

Photo exhibition

2010-03-03T07:12:00.000-08:00

Woo-hoo! Artist reception this Saturday, March 6, from 1-3 pm in the Coffee Depot in Christiansburg. Come see photos from Kirk Carter, Bob Abraham and Michael Miller; meet and talk with the artists. More details to be found here.

CD Launch Party features Va Media photos

2010-02-28T04:49:00.000-08:00

The local old-time string band Old Sledge will have a launch party for their new CD today from 5 to 8 pm at the Palisades restaurant in Eggleston. Here is a link to the MySpace page for the band, and here is a link to the webpage for the Palisades. The album cover features an interior shot of the band on location in an abandoned building in Eggleston.

VCOM Missions Poster

2010-02-13T17:14:00.000-08:00

This photo was actually taken by one of the Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) staff who traveled to Honduras to help out in the clinics. The pose was good, and the image was in focus and not too noisy, but it was pretty dark so I had to add a few lightening layers before final sharpening. I overlaid a couple of textures to focus attention and add some richness to the image before adding the text.

Photo exhibition

2010-01-29T07:36:00.000-08:00

VaMedia photos are now on display at the Coffee Depot in downtown Christiansburg, along with works of other local photographers. Be sure to check them out.

Vamedia photos being used by band

2010-01-11T07:39:00.000-08:00

Shots from a photoshoot we recently did for a local band have begun to appear in their advertising materials. Here is a link to their MySpace page, on which you can find some of the shots. Click on the 'pics' link to see more of their selections. A few have been posted to the flickr page here.

For Kurt

2009-12-19T15:49:00.000-08:00

Here is the sequence of events for the one photo, but I used the same technique and texture for the others. The original image is actually very interesting, with the instruments shown. But the composition bothered me. I think it was the perspective of both window frames, as well as the large amount of white space in the window on the left. So I cropped a little, but still I was not satisfied, so I decided to make the image in the mirror the focal point instead of the banjo. Besides, that image in the mirror is just spectacular, in my opinion. So I cropped in very close to put the emphasis there. Then I just used successive layers to adjust the relative tone of the different sections of the photo, and I finally put a texture layer over it (multiply blending with adjustments to the brightness, contrast and opacity of the texture layer). Somewhere along the line I applied some sharpening. That's it.

another before and after art conversion

2009-12-13T16:13:00.000-08:00

Here I added a different background to the painted image because the original background from the photo was distracting. After simplifying the image and using brushes to make the painting emulation, I added a blotchy background using a special watercolor brush and a sampled color from the image, underneath the painting. Of course, a texture was added using various blending modes to finish off the effect.

More art from photography

2009-12-09T21:08:00.001-08:00

Accidentally posted this one on the wrong blog, so reposting it here. This is another art conversion using art brushes on a photograph I took at a wedding rehearsal. First had to simplify the image some to remove a bit of the detail, then used several layers and brushes to create the watercolor effect before adding a texture and a border. The final version with a border is on the flickr site.

Photos become art

2009-11-30T06:14:00.000-08:00

Here is another photo to art conversion. Original photo on the left, converted on the right. Here I had to lighten the background quite a bit before doing the painting. Also, had to do a little freehand touch up after using the art brushes to get better plane separation in a couple of places. Fun

Textures

2009-11-22T05:58:00.000-08:00

Some interesting effects can be constructed by pulling parts of images out of photos and then layering them with various textures. In this case, I found a photo of an old sheet music booklet on flickr and decided to construct something reminiscent of an old photo card with it. I grabbed the image of a pretty girl from a wedding shot I took last summer, converted both the texture and the girl to B&W, colored it sepia, then layered them together with the appropriate blending. I think it still needs some work, but it showed me the concept was workable.

Wedding Art

2009-10-20T21:25:00.001-07:00

Sometimes a shot can be saved by converting it to another format. In this case, I was shooting with available light under mixed incandescent and fluorescent conditions, and I had kept the ISO down to minimize noise. The lens was at f/2.8 so the depth of field was also minimal. In the photo, the bride's face was not really in sharp focus, so I decided to convert the photo to digital art. See the result on the flickr page.

original photo

2009-10-09T16:31:00.001-07:00

This is the original photo

punching up photos

2009-10-09T06:50:00.000-07:00

Did you ever wonder why some photos just don't seem to have the same crispness and balance of color saturation and contrast that you remember in the original scene? Digital photos often suffer from a sort of built-in compression in comparison to the old color slide films. But it is possible to restore the photos so the remembered scene through some judicious post-processing. The photo here, which is also featured on the flickr page, has been restored to reality through a multiple layer process that increases contrast and bumps up the dynamic range. I don't have the original on hand, but I will post it as soon as I can.

Local Event Photography

2009-10-04T13:36:00.000-07:00

Local festivals are great spots to capture some interesting candid photos. These shots were taken at a local pumpkin festival in Riner, Virginia. The fall colors are great for photography.

Low-fi camera shots

2009-08-24T10:51:00.001-07:00

While on vacation at Myrtle Beach I decided to explore the possibilities of a low-fi camera using my iPhone. The camera is not great, but it's interesting to shoot with. There isn't much you can do with the photos except use them the way you take them - like the old film cameras. I normally take a shot with an eye to post-processing later. But the low fidelity of a mobile phone camera pretty much excludes this possibility. So you have to think about what you are shooting. The cool thing about the camera is that it somehow seems to have a large depth of field, again like the old cameras, or maybe a pinhole camera. Makes it interesting. See the shots on the flickr page.

Wedding shots

2009-08-10T05:15:00.000-07:00

Have been doing some wedding photography lately. It's a lot of fun but definitely some work. I really like the post processing. One image is a bride-window shot that I worked up for a client to match a photo taken of her mother when she was married. The flower girl-ring bearer shot was pretty popular and should be published soon. The other bride-window shot was meant to be more of a modeling pose, but the location and timing did not allow me to find a better setting.

Kilchurn Castle watercolor

2009-07-23T05:26:00.000-07:00

Another in the series of castle photos that are being turned into digital watercolor paintings. This is Kilchurn Castle on Loch Awe, near Inverary, as seen from the south across the lake. Like Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness, this castle lies in ruins, having been abandoned in 1760. It was a Campbell stronghold from the 1500s until about 1690 when Fort William was established by the government as the main barracks for troops in the area.

I used basically the same technique to convert the photo to the digital painting, although due to the different colors in each shot, some adjustment in the process is required to obtain a pleasing effect.

Loch Castle

2009-07-22T07:36:00.000-07:00

Another image to art conversion. This photo was taken out of the car window while driving by at about 60 mph. It's just a snapshot, and not a very good one at that. But after some rotation and cropping and special treatment, it turns into something nicer. Check out the larger version on the flickr page.

Duart Castle Digital Watercolor

2009-07-21T08:02:00.001-07:00

The lower image is a digital watercolor of a photograph of Duart Castle, on the island of Mull in Scotland. It was cropped from the larger image (top) that was pretty washed out due to my having to shoot into the sun from the deck of the ferry to Craignure. I played around with it a lot trying to save the colors, but I just couldn't get enough contrast without ruining the photo, so I decided to convert it into a painting instead. I was trying to achieve that look of an old painting that you sometimes see in an art book or something. Don't know if I succeeded or not, but I like the final result.

Barak Obama wearing a kilt

2009-07-13T11:39:00.000-07:00

Is something you will probably never see, but look here for another story featuring men in dresses.

Grandfather mountain games

2009-07-13T10:42:00.000-07:00

See the blog on New River Journal and some pics on Flickr for info about the Highland Games this past weekend.

Edinburgh Schoolgirl

2009-07-08T08:30:00.000-07:00

This is a random shot I got walking back to the hotel near James Heriot's School in Edinburgh. You probably remember that Heriot wrote the "All Creatures Great and Small" books.

Anyway, it was actually kinda late in the afternoon-evening when I walked by the school. Summer in Scotland means long days and twilight nights. I don't know why this girl was apparently standing in front of the school waiting for a ride at this time of day. It had to be after seven local time.

I saw her ahead as we turned the corner, and decided to try to get a candid shot of her. I set my lens to 18 mm and just pushed the shutter release as I walked by. The original image is a bit wider than this, but has an extraneous person in the frame that I had to crop out. I liked the angle of the shot, however, so I preserved it in the final cut. I also applied some softening. The image on Flickr is found here.

Photography services web page

2009-07-08T05:56:00.001-07:00

My photography portal is located at http://sites.google.com/site/newriverphotography/

digital art

2009-07-08T05:34:00.000-07:00

I have been playing around some lately with digital art. I am not an artist by any means, by which I mean I can't draw. But with digital tools I can at least experiment with filters and techniques that make photographs look more like paintings.

This is a photo I took recently of a girl at a family reunion. The image on the bottomis the original photo and the one on the topis the processed image. I'm not totally happy with the processing, but it is a pleasing effect. I think the hand has too much detail, but I like the way the face turned out almost flat.

Iona

2009-06-13T07:20:00.000-07:00

This is an image taken inside the abbey at Iona, in Scotland. The island of Iona is only 3 miles long and about a mile wide, and the total population is about 100. It's an eerie place. Far north and west in Scotland, and desolate. But it has apparently been a spiritual place throughout history. The Druids worshipped here, and it is the site of Columba's base for his missionary trips into Scotland beginning in the sixth century. The nunnery is in ruins, but the abbey has been restored. A cold wind blows off the ocean so that even on the brightest summer day, you must pull your coat around you.

Scotland scenics

2009-06-10T05:30:00.000-07:00

Just got back from the trip to the UK and am processing a couple of thousand photos. Many snapshots, but also some stock photos. This posterized image of a little girl on the street worked pretty well, and other shots are posted on the flickr page here.

Bluegrass in Christiansburg

2009-05-20T11:00:00.000-07:00

Way Downtown, local bluegrass band, holds a free public jam on the first and third Tuesdays from 7 until 10 pm at the Coffee Depot in downtown Christiansburg.

Art shot

2009-05-16T22:53:00.000-07:00

Working on photo-to-graphic art conversions such as the photo shown here, which started with a full-frame color file. This one's ready to go now. Will work well for ad layout.

2009-05-11T11:53:00.000-07:00

Artisan Trails Brochure

2009-05-06T09:30:00.000-07:00

VaMedia is providing photo-graphy for a new tourism brochure being prepared for the Virginia Artisan Trails group, to highlight the Galax/Carroll County area. Here is the photo with a link to the original. This photo is the property of Michael Miller and Virginia Media Services, and may not be used without express written permission.

VT Football

2009-04-20T05:35:00.000-07:00

VaMedia probably won't be covering the spring game at VT on Saturday. VaMedia has covered the spring game and regular games, including sitting in the booth with Mike Burnop and Bill Roth, and also having interview and photo sessions with the ESPN College Gameday broadcasters Lee Courso, Kirk Herbstreit, andChris Fowler. But this year we didn't request media credentials, so we probably won't make a sideline appearance. But you never know. We did take a few shots at this week's practice scrimmage, which was pretty exciting as these things go. Here are a couple of shots and a link to a few more.

Market penetration

2009-04-17T04:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we were informed that a local business had become dissatisfied with the advertising design services they were getting from the Roanoke Times and had decided to pull their account and give the work to VaMedia. We'll post more details here and on the web page as we get the appropriate permissions.

In Remembrance April 16 2007

2009-04-16T08:30:00.000-07:00

VA Media provides graphics for local trio

2009-04-13T05:48:00.000-07:00

VA Media has provided graphics for the Triple-B Trio, a local swing-jazz ensemble. The band has been playing at a number of local venues and is now looking to expand their footprint in the local music scene. The graphics, processed from original photos of the group, are being used for their promotional CD and flyer.

Virginia Media photos used by University of Wisconsin

2009-04-08T06:32:00.001-07:00

Virginia Media Services photos of the 2008 NCAA Division III girls softball championships have been picked up by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater for use in advertising their games in the 2009 season. Examples of two of the posters are included above. William Thomas, the designer, requested use of the images to help improve the visual impact of his ads.

The images were shot in May, 2008 in Salem, Virginia as part of Virginia Media's coverage of the championships for the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. VaMedia will also be covering the championships in 2009 for ODAC.

New Media Source

2009-04-07T20:16:00.000-07:00

Virginia Media Services has been established to provide graphic design, photography, writing and photojournalism services for New River Valley companies. Check our starter website at www.virginia-media.com