One of the great things about the latest digital printing technologies are all of the new materials that are available to print on. Not limited to just traditional paper, there are many options to display photographs in unique, interesting, and affordable ways. I pay very close attention to this area of the industry, and when I heard about PhotoTex mural material from Lexjet, I ordered a few rolls right away. I knew it would provide opportunities for current and future customers that want a great looking and easy to install presentation in their homes or offices.

I’ve had great success with PhotoTex, notably in a local coffee shop in my hometown of Beacon, NY, and most recently in a dental office that wanted to bring the feel of the Hudson River into their rather sterile environment. After helping Dr. Ricardo Rios, the owner of Middle Hope Family Dental, chose an appropriate image for his main exam room (which was challenging due to an existing window), I printed the image in three separate pieces to cover the entire 12 1/2 floor wide wall.

When printing the mural, I overlap each piece slightly to avoid an unsightly seam, and add an alignment mark at the top and bottom to make sure the finished piece looks even and natural. Finally, I setup a time when the office was closed, and installed it being careful to align each piece perfectly. PhotoTex is extremely easy to work with since it has an adhesive backing which is strong, but allows for repositioning and doesn’t damage the wall when removed.

The finished mural looks great, and patients have expressed approval, especially in terms of making them feel more relaxed and comfortable. I only wish I had installed the mural before I had my wisdom too extracted a few weeks ago!

I’m really excited about promoting these types of installations, especially in healthcare environments where I’ve always believed nature can promote  healthy mental and physical well being. When the nature is local and familiar to the community, it is that much more effective.

Looking at my visitor statistics for the blog this past year, I thought that it might be useful to make a list of the most popular articles of 2009. I am so grateful that many of you have found something useful or helpful in my writings about photography, technology, nature, and my passion for the beauty around us in our everyday lives. I’m certainly motivated to continue to bring you more positive and helpful content in 2010, and look forward to getting your feedback and hearing from all of you as often as possible. Thanks for all of your positive comments, and for making this a great year on the Beyond the Lens Blog.

Here are the top 10 articles of 2009.

1. Lightroom Plugins
2. LightRoom Plugins – Update
3. Realistic HDR Photography
4. The Birth of Modern Landscape Photography
5. Adobe Lightroom Resources
6. Photography Field Kit – 2009
7. Photographing the Walkway Over The Hudson
8. New Video: Exploring Bannerman Castle
9. Fall Photography Guide To The Hudson Valley
10. The Formula For Luck

Columbia County Farm - preserved by Scenic Hudson

Welcome to a new feature  - guest bloggers! In the coming months I plan to have a variety of guests that can contribute to our understanding of photography, nature, our environment, and anything else that goes Beyond the Lens. I am honored and tremendously grateful to welcome my first guest, Ned Sullivan, President of Scenic Hudson, the leading environmental organization dedicated to the Hudson Valley. Many of the hiking trails, mountain top vistas, and Hudson River shorelines that I enjoy and photograph extensively are the result of the conservation work they have done over that past 40 years. Thank you Ned, and stay tuned for more exciting guests in the future.

Just about every museum in America features Hudson River School paintings, and one of the great joys for me is encountering canvases depicting landscapes that have been protected by Scenic Hudson.  I get a particular thrill out of 19th-century views of Storm King Mountain – the northwest  gateway of the Hudson Highlands that our founders saved from a massive power plant.  Paintings by George Inness often provide windows on the spiritual dimensions in nature – the greatest lure for me in the outdoors. Frederic Church is master of  magisterial panoramic vistas of the Catskill Mountains visible from Olana, his home and studio near Hudson. Scenic Hudson has preserved more than 1,200 acres of farms and forests prominent in the foreground of these sublime works.

Scene on the Catskill Creek - Frederic Church

Scenic Hudson conserves places like these – and creates parks so people have access to them – because they’re irreplaceable national treasures, an essential part of our heritage, and we want to ensure artists always will be able to capture their magic.

We’ve seen firsthand how the Hudson River and its shores continue to be a powerful source of inspiration – for young and old.  The art contest for youngsters Scenic Hudson sponsored in 2007 drew hundreds of works that vividly and imaginatively caught the essence of the river and our parks as only a child could. Last year, the 2,500 images entered in our photography competition not only showcased the valley’s beauty in all lights and seasons, but highlighted its fragility and the urgency to step up our work.

We’re doing just that through our campaign to Save the Land That Matters Most – the most ambitious land-protection initiative in Hudson Valley history. Launched in 2007 to provide a lasting commemoration of the Quadricentennial of Henry Hudson’s 1609 voyage of discovery, this historic partnership with fellow land trusts, governments, businesses and individuals seeks to protect 65,000 acres of the utmost scenic, ecological and agricultural importance. These lands not only are the key to creating economically vibrant communities, but they ensure we have clear air and water and healthy local food supplies. They supply habitat for 85 percent of our state’s wildlife species. And just as important, they make us feel good, they nourish our soul.

Robert Rodriguez Jr plays an essential role in our campaign and its ongoing success. Since the outset, he’s been chronicling the landscapes we’ve conserved. Better than any amount of words, his stunning images of rocky shorelines, rolling meadows, primeval marshlands and unforgettable views convey why we couldn’t let these properties fall prey to developers’ bulldozers.

One of the goals of Saving the Land That Matters Most is to provide more places to connect with the valley’s natural splendor. Earlier this month, Scenic Hudson broke ground on our newest park. Located in Columbia County’s Town of Stockport, Harrier Hill Park affords spectacular panoramic views of the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains and excellent opportunities for watching the myriad bird species attracted to adjacent grasslands. It also provides a crucial link for a trail that will offer five miles of hiking through this and other nearby protected lands. I invite you to the park’s grand opening this fall – and to all of our free, fun events. You can find more information about these here.

Writing about landscapes like those admired from Harrier Hill Park, Thomas Cole, the founder of the Hudson River School, wrote: “Nature has spread for us a rich and delightful banquet.” Scenic Hudson is committed to ensuring that people will always be able to savor the Hudson Valley’s never-ending feast.

Over the years I’ve had my fair (or as I see it unfair) share of failures, whether working in the music industry or photography. There probably isn’t a day that goes by when I’m in the field where I don’t fail at some point or another, often repeatedly. This is most evident in the editing stage when I return from a shoot and import my images into Lightroom, my current cataloging software of choice.

My normal workflow starts with reviewing all of the images and rating anything that I like on a basic level with 1 star. Any image that doesn’t get at least 1 star may get one at at a later date, but I’d rather make some decisions right away in order to maintain some efficiency. I only delete images that are technically deficient (out of focus, water on the lens, etc.). I may give an image 1 star for reasons other than the obvious, an example being it provides a reference I can use in a future visit to a location. If the image is valuable in any way, it gets 1 star. Next I use a filter to show only those with 1 star, and start the process again, but this time looking for images with more potential and aesthetic qualities I like. These now get 2 stars. At this point I usually take a break to refresh my mind, and may wait a few minutes to a few hours or days before revisiting the two star images again.

Often I’ll make a slideshow in Lightroom with the two star images and review them looking for something that really attracts me, moves me in some way, or perhaps really reminds me of what the location felt like at the moment I made the photograph. If I am fortunate, these I mark with three stars, and now I ‘m down to a very few select images. Very often I’m down to nothing, since I just wasn’t motivated to hit the “3″ key, and as I say, it’s “back out a 5 AM again.” Selecting the 4 star images (if one exists), is where the really hard work and fun begins. These are the images that I will spend time with specifically to make a fine art print and sell either online, at a gallery or art show. These are the real keepers, the ones that express my vision, my personal way of seeing, without explanations or doubts. This means it is the best work I can produce at the moment, and I am willing to accept whatever accolades or criticism it generates without any regrets of showing it in the first place. This has taken me many, many, years to understand, with failures and disappointments along the way. But the process has also given me the self-confidence that is so important when making decisions about one’s creative efforts.

There is nothing wrong with asking for advice or seeking opinions from others you trust. I do it all the time. But only after you have been your own critic and edited your work down to the very best you can produce. This is my mantra, the single creative principle I have tenaciously followed without compromise. If I have a nagging feeling in my gut, or any doubt about an image, it gets demoted right away. I need the clarity and confidence that I am presenting my best work – I sleep better that way. Equally important is the confidence in knowing that regardless of whether or not I agree with someone else’s judgement, I am happy with the perception they have made of my presentation, professionalism, and humility. Truth and respect go hand in hand.

When working on a commercial assignment, editing is even more important when there are deadlines to be met. Almost perfect just doesn’t cut it, and the thought of submitting something I feel isn’t my best is not an option for me. I have made mistakes in this area, but I’ve learned valuable lessons in both judgement and discipline.

Perhaps I am too hard on myself or strive to achieve that which seems so often out of reach. Critical editing seems to magnify the failures and reinforce the belief that I am not succeeding in some way. But the truth is quite the opposite and I realized long ago the failure is part of the journey that has helped me arrive at the truly creative and inspiring work. That keeps the creative juices flowing, keeps me motivated, and helps me remember why I love what I do. And I believe judicious and uncompromising editing has helped me grow faster as a photographer than any other aspect I can think of.

“If you limit your choices to only what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is a compromise.” – Robert Fritz

I really enjoy photographing lighthouses, especially because they really challenge me to “see” beyond the ordinary, and hopefully take me to that edge of creativity where real growth occurs. There isn’t a lighthouse in existence that hasn’t been photographed countless times, so it can be difficult to find a unique perspective- an interpretation that goes beyond the literal. Certainly it’s all been done before, you might say, but we each have our own way of seeing the world. And if we bring our personal experiences into the process of choosing a particular composition over another, then no two images are exactly alike.

The Esopus Lighthouse on the Hudson is unique in that it sits in the middle of the river and is completely surrounded by water. This has always intrigued me, and I’ve struggled with how to convey the remote feel of the lighthouse, while at the same time giving a sense of the surrounding area.

“A good photograph is a metaphor that’s reminiscent of something else” -Chris Orwig

While these two images are very similar in terms of their angle to the lighthouse, they are vastly different in terms of what they convey, and how I’ve tried to place the lighthouse within the context of the landscape. In the color image, my goal was to give a sense of the remote, floating, almost isolated feel of the island. Having a foggy day, which helped mute the colors and contrast, was critical to this effect. In addition, I waited until just the right time when the fog had cleared the lighthouse in order to make it feel very clear and very present; a beacon out of confusion, something to grasp on to, both visually and metaphorically.

In the second image, I’ve tried to achieve the same result, but in quite a different manner. The strong, dark, and very heavy shapes and lines make a very graphic, almost unorganized statement that seems to dominate the image. But out of that, again the lighthouse brings some temporary order, a place to rest the eye on something familiar, even if just for a moment, until the dark shapes again demand attention. Musically, the first is light, airy, and very melodic, while the second dark, foreboding, but steady and definitely very rhythmic.

Both of these images are also somewhat different from my typical work, but risk and failure is part of the process, and I’m more than willing to fail in order to learn.

I hope these examples are helpful in your quest to both understand the process I follow, and also inspire you to “see” more than what is obvious at first. Thanks as always for your time, and please share the blog with someone who may enjoy reading it.

]]> http://robertrodriguezjr.com/2009/03/11/getting-past-the-obvious-photograph/feed/ 2 http://robertrodriguezjr.com/2009/02/05/lightroom-plugins/ http://robertrodriguezjr.com/2009/02/05/lightroom-plugins/#comments Thu, 05 Feb 2009 13:11:45 +0000 RR Jr http://robertrodriguezjr.com/wp/2009/02/05/lightroom-plugins/

Borders and watermark added using Mogrify

There are some very useful plugins available for Lightroom, and I’ve tried a good share of them. Here are some of the ones I’ve been using regularly and recommend:

• Photographer’s ToolBox: this suite of 3 plugins (Mogrify, Enfuse, Transporter) offer some great extra capabilities that I find I use quite often, including options for adding borders and text annotations to images on export, blending different exposures together for greater dynamic range, and the ability to work with metadata in more advanced ways. These plugins are donationware, meaning you can try them for free, but are asked to “donate” some amount to unlock their full capabilities.
• OnOne Software: offers free PhotoPresets that give you a large and useful variety of presets for the Develop module. I mostly use these as starting points to get ideas about how I might develop an image, including whether it would work in black and white.
• Photomatix Pro: for anyone working with HDR Photography (which I will be giving a workshop for this year), Photomatix Pro software is the standard, and it includes a plugin which allows you to work with images from within Lightroom. This is a huge convenience and time saver, and also helps keep your images better organized, which can often get out of control in HDR and all of the multiple exposures.
• SlideshowPro: a really great plugin for creating beautiful Flash slideshows within Lightroom that can then be exported for the web. I use this plugin to run the Student Gallery on the main website, and it is one of my favorites for sharing your images.

There are many others, and as I find them useful in my work, I’ll add them to this list in an updated posting. If you use any I haven’t mentioned, please let me know. Thanks for reading!

UPDATE- Here’s a new article with updates to this list.

Highlands Light

When I first became serious about landscape photography, I read all kinds of books on the subject, both technical and aesthetic. I wanted to learn as much as I could about it, including the history of the early landscape photographers, and how they practiced their craft. I read many books on Ansel Adams alone, including his autobiography, and all of his well known instructional books including the trilogy “The Camera”, “The Negative”, and “The Print”. I also looked at and read many books by contemporary photographers including greats such as David Muench, Art Wolfe, Galen Rowell, and William Neil.

I wanted to know how they got started, what equipment they used, and how they were able to sustain a career as artists. I was both intimidated and inspired by what I read, and still continue to re-read many of these books today for inspiration and motivation. And I continue to see their great photography in different ways as I learn and develop as a photographer myself. Learning is a passion for me, and it seems the more I learn about landscape photography, the more I realize I have yet to learn.

However, it seems today as though there is a complete saturation of information available via the internet, books, and videos on photography and the technology that surrounds it. You can literally take a workshop from one of the worlds top photographers right from the comfort of your own living room. From a convenience standpoint, this is really amazing, and allows much greater access to information that a few years ago would have been much harder to come by.

Yet sometimes I feel there is a disconnect between the knowledge and the actual practice of photography. While I became extremely knowledgeable about landscape photography, it wasn’t until I started to use the info I had acquired that it really started to make sense to me. The only way to really internalize concepts is to practice them, preferably on a daily basis. I learned this the hard way in my earlier years as I started to push my own limits with my camera, and realized I wasn’t capturing what I wanted due to lack of real-world practice.

I made a commitment to learn my gear until it became second nature, and this included not only the camera, but any other accessories I used on a daily basis. I became intimately familiar with my lenses, their strengths and weaknesses, and which would be best for what I wanted to achieve. All of the reviews I read only got me as far as a purchase, the rest was application in the field, which sometimes wasn’t consistent with what I had read in the review.

In order to achieve my goal, which was to capture and convey my feelings about a landscape, it depended on not letting the equipment get in the way. Only then did I really start to “see” more, and the camera took on less of a role in the overall mental process of capturing an expressive photograph.

The digital camera is a fantastic tool, and I continue to learn as much as I can about the technology and what it can offer. But getting out there and experimenting with it’s features, having fun, and making it a regular practice is the only way to really become fluent in the language of photography. I have grown tired of the endless websites offering specs, analysis, comparisons, ratings, and ultimately recommendations based on this information. It is certainly valuable , but ultimately your own expression and vision is what is going to make a difference. Knowledge is great, but practical knowledge is even greater. At least that has been my own personal experience.

What do you think?

January’s Question of the Month comes from Isaias Colon from Middletown, NY who asks:

“Can you recommend any photo/hiking guide books to the Hudson Valley?”

This is a question I have dealt with myself, and over the years I’ve  come to rely on a handful of resources for information on the best hiking trails in the Hudson Valley which often will yield great photo opportunities. Obviously, there are many great places to photograph without needing to hike, but I find more dramatic scenes when I get out into the woods. Here are a few recommendations to get you going.

Books:

• 50 Hikes in the Lower Hudson Valley – well written with good trail descriptions – all of the classic hikes are here both easy and difficult
• AMC’s Best Day Hikes in the Catskills and Hudson Valley – another personal favorite with an emphasis on longer and more challenging hikes. Includes many of the classic Catskill hikes such as the Escarpment Trail which leads to the site of the historic Catskill Mountain House, and famous landmarks where Thomas Cole painted may of his landscapes.
• Moon Hudson River Valley – not so much a hiking guide, but an all around great book for places to find photo opportunities in the valley
• Best Hikes With Children in the Catskills and Hudson River Valley – if you have children you want to introduce to hiking (Bryce has been hiking with me since he was 2), this is a good resource for where to go.
• Scenes & Walks in the Northern Shawangunks – I have several books on the Shawangunks, but this remains my favorite – great illustrations, lots of information on the geography, geology, and history of the region. Plus all of the great trails are described in detail. Great for both the hiker and photographer who wants to explore this area.

Websites:

• Scenic Hudson – download trailmaps for over 25 parks, many of which have extensive trails that lead to fantastic views of the Hudson River. In addition, there are several “Park Quest” guides containing information and maps that will guide you on a quest to learn about the history and wildlife of a particular park. You can also see many of my park photographs on their website which should give you a good idea of the opportunities available.
• Photograph America – a photography specific resource for locations all over the US including the Hudson Valley – highly recommended.

Finally, I am working on my own photo guide to the Hudson Valley that will be  comprised of a series of high-definition videos and an e-book – I’ll have more details in the near future, but here is short preview.

Hope that helps, and I welcome your comments and any other suggestions! Keep the questions coming.

As a landscape photographer, you are always at the mercy of nature and its unpredictability, especially when it comes to weather. It is able to completely transform the mood and feel of a place, even when you think you have seen it all. I enjoy this challenge as it reminds me of my days as a performing musician, and improvising was a skill I practiced endlessly in order to gain confidence and improve my musical abilities.

I do the same in photography, trying to adapt my way of seeing so that I’m not looking for the same types of images, but instead allowing myself to be open to new ideas in unfamiliar situations. So often it’s easy to fall into a routine in terms of composition, color choices, or favoring certain techniques or visual cues. For me it always comes down to how a place feels, what is it about it that intrigues me and what do I want to say or convey in the image to others. While I might usually like high contrast, skies with lots of interesting clouds, and exciting colors, working with what you have at any given moment, and adapting the right mental attitude about the situation is key for me, and more important than the camera I’m using or how many lenses I have available.

I’ve been asked what is my favorite lens, and I honestly don’t have one. First, it depends on the situation and what I’m trying to accomplish, and second, my favorite is the one I have on the camera the moment something exciting and dramatic is happening in front of me. I could say my standard lens is my Canon 17-40mm wide angle, but I often find myself improvising when either I don’t have time to change the lens, or only brought one with me (which I often do more than I care to admit).

This was the case when I made this image, having only brought my 70-200mm zoom lens on a hike up to the summit of Mt Beacon on a rainy, foggy morning. I do this as an exercise in order to really get to know a particular lens, and also to focus more on “seeing” and less on the gear and its tendency to get in the way. When I found this scene, I wished I had brought a wider lens, but realized I would have to improvise and compose a much “tighter” view of the trees, which I think is what makes the image stronger. Had I used a wider lens, perhaps it would have been too ambiguous, often a sign of a weak image.

One of the phrases I repeat to students in my workshops is “if you can’t state what an image is about in a single phrase or sentence, then it’s too busy”. I first heard about this idea from a great book by Brenda Tharp, and it has stuck with me ever since, always in the back of my mind when I’m photographing. It was certainly on my mind this particular morning, and I tried to apply it as I worked to get just the right balance of trees, ground, and fog.

Mysterious yet familiar, this is what I felt and tried to capture, opposing ideas, yet so clear to me that moment.

]]> http://robertrodriguezjr.com/2008/11/11/how-important-is-improvisation-in-landscape-photography/feed/ 2 http://robertrodriguezjr.com/2008/10/08/are-there-any-secrets-to-nature-photography/ http://robertrodriguezjr.com/2008/10/08/are-there-any-secrets-to-nature-photography/#comments Thu, 09 Oct 2008 03:42:13 +0000 RR Jr http://robertrodriguezjr.com/wp/2008/10/08/humility-and-teaching-in-photography/

At a recent art show this summer, I was talking to another photographer that had been in the business for a while, and I went into some lengthy explanations about some of my techniques. He thanked me, but quickly advised me not to give away my “trade” secrets so easily. I responded that I believed there were no real secrets in photography, and that I had learned much of my photography from others who had shared their knowledge. He disagreed stating that I deserved to keep my hard earned knowledge to myself, and let others follow the same path. Our conversation ended, and he went on his way to other booths in the show.

Yet I couldn’t stop thinking about what he had said, a sentiment I have heard so often from other photographers in general, and I found myself deep in thought about the whole issue. On a sudden impulse, I left my booth and started walking in the same direction he had taken because I wanted to share one more thought with him. I spotted him just ahead, quickly approached him, and when he recognized me, I said “You know, I just had to tell you, you were right, there are secrets in photography. Do you know what the secret is? “Humility.” He thought about it for a moment and then smiled, not expecting what I had just shared with him. We parted ways once again, and I returned to my booth, realizing I had learned something about myself and why I enjoy sharing both my photography and my “secrets”.

Catskill Sunset

What does humility have to do with photography you might ask? Landscape photography is an extremely demanding and competitive profession, fraught with both physical and mental challenges. Insecurity and self-doubt is always a constant distraction (I refuse to allow it to be more than that), and a healthy dose of blind ambition is necessary. It is getting more and more difficult as technology levels the playing field and makes the same amazing tools available to both amateurs and pros.

I also realize that what I do for a living is a tremendous privilege, a fortunate situation that I have worked very hard at achieving, and continue to work at each and every day. It is through dedication and perseverance that I am able to enjoy my passion, not through some secret or hidden knowledge. At the core of my “passion” is a reverence for nature, its boundless beauty, and its ability to make me feel both alive, present, and insignificant at the same time. Conveying that in a photograph is a humbling experience when you realize it is a) an immense challenge, and b) much more than just the sum of equipment, techniques, and guarded trade secrets.

The same scene can be interpreted a million different ways, so when someone reacts positively to my particular version, I know not to take that for granted. So I don’t conceal my locations, or camera settings, or processing “secrets”, because that would then become more important than the moment itself when the light is just perfect, and the feeling is worth remembering.

Perhaps this is why I enjoy teaching workshops as much as I do. Explaining a particular technique, pointing out my favorite views, answering questions, and seeing students lost in the moment is personally gratifying, and the easiest part of my job.

Mt Beacon Firetower