How does this photographer achieve such results?

[MrEd31]

I was wondering how this photographer has created such impressive tonality and drama in her photographs. I know that she has used red and orange filters in her photographs, but i've never quite been able to bring such power to a print.

Does this have to do with the use of a medium format camera or a large format camera?

Does this have to do with a lot of burning and dodging to polish the image?
I have trouble understanding or being able to successfully burn or dodge when printing.

thanx

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=299816

 

[ksmattfish]

Much of the drama in in her mind's eye; she has quite a knack for composition. Beyond that it's also obvious that she has a lot of skill. And then there is being in the right place at the right time; these are fairly dramatic locations.

She uses both red/orange filters to increase cloud/sky contrast, and wide angle lenses to create dramatic sweeping views with maximum DOF.

She is using a Pentax 67 and a 4x5 field camera. Medium and large format can certainly produce wonderful detail and tonality. The large cameras also tend to slow the photographer down; sometimes this results in a more thorough exploration of the subject.

 

[Sharkbait]

Some of em look like IR filters, to me.

 

[terri]

They are all very beautiful. It's wonderful that she can get to these locations and that she knows what she's doing. You gotta tip your hat. :thumbsup:

 

[jack]

The large cameras also tend to slow the photographer down; sometimes this results in a more thorough exploration of the subject.

slow shutter-speeds, nicely apertured to give that DOF,
red / orange filters, and ii'll wager, a grad ND filter.
- there seems good available-light , as well as great scenery,
but the light is nicely limited to give these result. excellent choice
of time of day.

excellent choice of film too.

what do you think ?

 

[Kent Frost]

Some of em look like IR filters, to me.

Well, there's really no such thing as an "IR" filter. Only IR film with different colored filters. In either case, she didn't use IR film here, it was mostly all Kodak Tri-X 320 in a Pentax 6x7.

Great stuff.

 

[voodoocat]

Lighting is why these photos are so dramatic (obviously she knew how to capture it). Often times you'll see photographers waiting out for the perfect lighting. if they don't get it due to some clouds they go home with out a picture.

 

[ksmattfish]

Lighting is why these photos are so dramatic (obviously she knew how to capture it). Often times you'll see photographers waiting out for the perfect lighting. if they don't get it due to some clouds they go home with out a picture.

Good point. Patience is a skill many photographers overlook.

 

[MrEd31]

Kent Frost,

There is in fact such a thing as an Infrared filter. R72 filters are for when you want to do true black-and-white infra-red photography. They are extremely dark (much darker than a Red 25A filter), letting only infra-red radiation of 720 nanometers or above reach the infra-red film. Since an R72 is so dark, it usually requires longer exposure times, so we recommend using a tripod in conjunction with this filter. It is very dark in color and prevents the visible spectrum from passing through. A photographer must focus and then put the infrared filter over his lens. The photographer must also make a slight change in the focus, because the filter scews focusing. They are pretty expensive, but very available...

http://www.freestylephoto.biz/sc_prod.php?cat_id=1904&pid=4322

 

[drlynn]

Kent Frost,

There is in fact such a thing as an Infrared filter. R72 filters are for when you want to do true black-and-white infra-red photography. They are extremely dark (much darker than a Red 25A filter), letting only infra-red radiation of 720 nanometers or above reach the infra-red film. Since an R72 is so dark, it usually requires longer exposure times, so we recommend using a tripod in conjunction with this filter. It is very dark in color and prevents the visible spectrum from passing through. A photographer must focus and then put the infrared filter over his lens. The photographer must also make a slight change in the focus, because the filter scews focusing. They are pretty expensive, but very available...

http://www.freestylephoto.biz/sc_prod.php?cat_id=1904&pid=4322

Don't these filters only work with IR film, tho? I think that is the point Kent was making. There is no filter that will pop onto the front of your camera to "make" IR images on just any film.

 

[Face]

i think besides how she took the picture, part of the greatness of the picture is how she printed. the contrast is really good, with white whites, dark darks, and very good dodging and burning (i'm geussing) to bring the picture together. a great negative doesn't automatically make a great picture.