The Photographer Selfportrait Cliché

(done right)

Fake Vignettes: and Why they Suck

ok!, it's time to insult some peopleeeeee!, and you know... who am I to criticize someone elses work?, well im the motherfucker owner of this blog so ill write whatever I want.

so lets get staaaaaaaarted!

Vignetting

this one botters me soooo much, sometimes i like it, sometimes I don't I think it has something to do with my emotional state, but that sounds like a bunch of new age crap. so overall I dont like it.

Why dont I like them?

its simple, my first lessons on photography where these, vigneting is a form of lens distortion and its common on cheap lenses and unpropper technique, It is a common ERROR in photography, now, im paraphrasing here, dont remember exactly where I read this, but ever since then, I have had this repulsion towards vigneting... its just... EWW

Also, because its commonly known as the desperate effect, to make things look better (and it sometimes works), when done properly

WHY DOES IT LOOK COOL!? (at least to most of people)

well its actually pretty basic, yet mysterious, it has to do with composition, most people think its because of color, and that couldnt be more wrong.

"Filling the Frame" it's one of the most forgotten rules of composition in photography, and that means to use your surroundings, objects, the sun, etc. To create some sort of frame to the focal point of the image. Its actually a pretty complicated thing to explain, I didnt get it until MONTHS after reading that. Its just very abstract, but when you get it, you see things more clearly.

basically vignetting its an easy solution for this frame filling.

its not my job to teach you that in here, so, make sure you look for this technique trust me its GOLD.

Why does it look GOOD?

When done propperly, the vignette adds quality to the image, enhances the look and style of the photo and makes it look a bit more dramatic, and of course the "filling the frame issue"

However this effect looks good only on certain styles of photography, most comonly High end Fashion, Strobist, and the Band promo photography

Why does it look BAD?

Finnally the fun part of this post, it looks bad, because this effects makes the photographer look cheap...

Thats rigth, remember, vignetting its a camera defect, just like chromatic aberration and exsccesive noise, getting rid of this problems makes a photograph nice and clean, high quality stuff. (NOTE:vintage effect does not apply here, neither glares, these defects are meant to be artistic, not perfect)

1 -It looks bad because most of the time has no artistic reason to use it.

Most photoshoppers use it to save a crappy photo from the recycle bin. They think it looks good, because SOMETIMES it looks good, that is, when doesnt look fake, and helps the Image achieve this higher and advance perspective of the atmosphere.

this photo from brent riggs explaints it better

"I applied an elongated vignette to give a corner to corner lighting effect. No technical reason, just trying to make the overal composition a little more interesting visually."

2 -It looks bad because its not aplied properly!"

this one is paainful to watch!, sometimes people loves it so much that they apply it to images in wich there is no way a vignette could have gotten there in the first place, IT LOOKS FAKE!

what do you get when things look fake?, it makes you look like a try hard; you're not good enough photographer so you try to compensate with magic bullets that doesnt exist, and this happens in every aspect of human behavior, sadly.

its physically impossible the have dark areas when the sky is overexposed, ligth does NOT behave this way and its not possible to be the lens since the vignette its not perfectly rounded.

this photo is from our flickr friend hanswatkins and he explains it is indeed, a fake vignette.

Almost no one knows that vignetting its not necesarily just darkening the corners, it can be the opposite, by lightening some areas.



3 -It looks bad because you're doing it wrong!

Most techniques teach users to use a new white layer in wich they darken the corners to finnally set the layer in multiply, getting rid of the white and leaving only the dark color. THIS IS WRONG!. this happens only when the lens its not built correctly, or you put a lot of filters on top of the lens, light oriented vignettes affect the way ligth behaves, changes its properties, and colors, not just paint brush dark in the corners, because light is NEVER black.

this image from miwo76 shows no real reason why would there be a vignette in the sky
and also, sky vignetting affects the sky color making it look more saturated, not just closer to black.

So, the correct way of doing it, is using the overlay blending mode not multiply!. and please make sure you dont use white, use 50% gray...



4 -It looks bad because its too strong!

I really dont need to explain this one, just keep it simple, gentle, and ligth. everytime you vignette someting youre destroying detail!, whats the point in taking photos if your going to hide them behind 3 inches of pure black.

the DOs

One sided Vignette



un-even vignette



Atmospheric vignette

Ligth Vignette/glare

500px: Behold the Boss of Flickr

7 amazing characteristics of 500px that Flickr doesnt have.

Seriously, I've used flickr for about 3 years now, and all of sudden I stumbled uppon this weird page.

hey! dont get me wrong, Im loving it!

it's weird how now I can see how f-ugly flickr is these days... and I remember back then, when it was even uglier, omg!. But, oh well, it was the only good page supporting photographers, and hell!, there are amazing talents there.

But lets get to the point.

1.- Incredibly easy portfolio making.

just a few clicks away to have a custom page with all the features important in a photogallery, you can create Collections (fashion, portrait, music, etc) have a Bio and a Contact tab, and you can even configure you gallery to be part of your own domain. Its cool if you dont have a domain, 500px, will give you one under the its domain, like this.

http://ivanbeoulve.500px.com/

Make sure to check it out, to see how fast Images load, wich is REALLY a big deal when looking at pictures. also you can see its pretty simple, good for avoiding distractions, its adds free, and the domain just adds a "500px" on it. And if you dont like it there are other themes for you to choose.

2- A Like System.

this one is GREAT, I mean everyone uses facebook, and "like" becomes some cool "I dont give a damn", "I digg it", " I hear ya" thing, and when it comes to photos, weeeell. you sometimes thinka photo is cool, yet not cool enough to favourite it, and when you're too lazy to comment on it, this Like now becomes the perfect choice for users, and makes the community a lot more participative.


3.- Built-in Blog

Well this isnt that cool, It lacks several text editing tools to be complete, you can add images to your posts, but it comes very useful to those who like to write and develop their personalities, not just some photos.

4.- Rating system

Goodbye Interestingness, hello "Lower bound of Wilson score confidence interval for a Bernoulli parameter"

well theres is this equation:

in wich the variables are completely uknown to me, because the motherfuckers explain it in Russian, who the fuck explains things in fucking russian?!.

But I hope soon some brave russian spoken photographer could translate it to us, the thing is that is not a "secret" like interestingness, and also the rating system has little to do with anything, wich means, there will be no more people TRYING to cheat on this equation, because its just a fucking number, It wont make you famous. Its just a rating for christ sake...

5.- Editors' Choice

This one is tricky, I preffer it this way, because sometimes Interestingness gets tricked by some random weird photos, from an asian girl who uses flickr like facebook and has 15 000 comments on it, and im not kidding that shit happens often. no offense to the serious asian community you guys are great!

6.- Who needs friends?
.
well we all, but theres is this shift I personallly dont like. we are all followers now, this follower thingy, sounds kinda lame, dont you think?, I mean I like your photographs and all that stuff, but hell!, Im not following you any-fucking-where... But, thats just personal taste...

7.- Really Talented Community

Another cool shit is that everywhere I look, theres a stunning photograph, makes you think theres only real pros in there!. Seriously, never seen a bad picture, EVER!
and im not saying you CANT upload bad photos... people just dont... wich is amazing, HUGE time saver, lol.

Anyways, Im reaally thinking into moving my portfolio to that webpage, and let flickr be my second hand photogallery page. Its just that I have so many friends over there :c

yeah, I think flickr will die soon, if they dont keep up with amazing system like this one here.

Featured Photographer: Holy Mountain

As I said on another featured photographer post, I do not know this guy at all
I just think his photography is really cool.

YET, I'm not here to talk about his photography, but about the fucking lifestyle photography brings him.

Why?

Because this is my Blog thats why!, ok, take it easy... nah, the reason I'm doing this is because I think photographers live in a very different way than other people, the thing is, those people simply don't notice because they don't have the experience we as photographers live, and theres no one out there screaming how good it is, unlike musicians.

Many people think of photographers as the tipical 40 year old wedding guy, that has three big fat cameras hanging from his neck, khaki shorts with a lot of bags, a vest with a lot of bags too, and really ugly shoes.

and yeah most photographers are like that, I call them... well I dont have a smart-funny-insulting name for them yet, but ill think of one I promise...

But Im getting of topic!... this guy is not that kind of photographer AT ALL. Imagine the life of a Rockstar, but instead of music, we are talking about photos here, THATS the kind of lifestyle I live in, and many people dont get it!, not even believe its possible, this guy does too (in a different manner). and I think people in general should start looking at photographers this way

Because I mean, the pros, the fucking REAL pros, have even cooler lifestyles than many Musicians or actors (man, I should make a post about that shit esclusively... some day :p)


SOO to start this revolution I thought about this guy, (congrats man, you're my guinea pig :D)

Holy Mountain

The name is Demian Becerra, and he calls his photo site Holy Mountain, why? no freaking idea. but its cool. And yes its the guy surrounded by all those hotties there, you jealous? (h)

I stumbled uppon this guy's photos back in 2009 I think. I ended there because I was looking for a picture of the DJ Le Castlevania in action, and the ones on the net back then were not that cool, only his.

wow I can't belive I remember that!

anyway... back then I was interested more in other photography style, and I categorized this guy quickly as some other average photographer. but now im on track again for good.

Location

He's based In San Francisco, California, USA. somewhere around there...

Not far from home, I was once there when I was younger, and it was really nice, nice wheather and shit. and its just like the Inception movie, there's a train in the middle of the fucking street!.

I wont go ahead to say he's famous, Because I really dont know, what I do know its that its a very sociable guy, by the look of his pictures. and hell, take a look at his pictures! its like ugly people doesn't exist at those parties xD

Bio

Demian Becerra, the force behind Holy Mountain Photography, first grew into his love for taking pictures as an adolescent, filled with vision and a need to do something fresh and unique. As a teenager, Becerra took many hands-on photography courses, developing his own photographs in the dark room, blah blah blah blah BLAH...

seriously dude, its weird to speak about yourself in third person...
(unless its part of an article of some sort, in wich case It's cool)

oh but he's with another hottie again, be jealous everyone.

Just accept it bro, you wish you were there.

Anyhow, thats the kind of shit WE photographers should be promoting, fucking awesome lifestyle, because, think about it, when you get asked by someone; what do you do?, and you answer, oh im a freelance photographer, chances are they are already picturing you on your shorts and vest...

oooh snap!, you'd be better by saying nothing at all.

its another thing to say fashion photographer, that shit is GOLD with people trust me (ohhh... I know), but you really have to have GREAT photos to say that, otherwise it will backfire HARD.

BUT not everyone likes Fashion photography, or Music, or entertaining, or any of the other cool sides of photography, so if you are on that boring side of photography like news, and wedding, please... JUST LIE!

and finnally to say goodbye, congrats to this dude, who is rocking his way up in photography in a very cool and interesnting manner!
i'd definitely hire this guy for MY wedding LOL,

kudos man!

This is awesomeness



















Contact Holy Mountain

http://www.holymountainphotography.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/holymountain/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Holy-Mountain/


Make sure you check his gallery before going out, it'll put you in the mood (h)

Featured Photographer: Laura Ferreira

Honestly this is because I kinda have a crush on this girl :$


Now I dont know her or anything I just think shes amazing, and its kinda of like a platonic love of some sort. The Incredibly succesful woman with a little bit of character on her own, added the fact shes into art, and photography, and shes also kinda cute.

Laura Ferreira

She got my attention one day, it was this post about a female photographer cursing around some other photographer who supposedly had stolen her photos, and he was using them in his sites like they were his.

She called him ART THIEF. this is a pretty hardcore accusation young lady!

this issue was years ago, and somehow the name of such artist got stuck in my mind.
so i searched for the issue once again and yeah I was rigth.

Chad Munro, I don't know that guy either, neither do I know his photography, but I remember seeing one of laura's pictures in his main page, and that was it, Laura says everything is cool now, but maaan, that guy got so busted! it made me laugh so hard that after that, I started looking at this girl's photographs like ones of a real pro.

I mean who would steal her photographs if she wasn't a pro anyway?
and by "pro" I mean someone who is fucking amazing. not just the average professional photographer of your cousin's wedding...

Bio

oh, by the way, she's only 25 years old, 4 years more than me (I've always liked them older :D)
so I figured out maybe when im 25 i'll make shit as cool as hers. but who knows.

She says shes self taughted photographer and I kinda believe that, Photography isn't that hard at all, its learning what the tools are for, the utilization of those tools is what is pretty hardcore, not to mention social skills, so yeah, I agree here with Laura to not let yourself be limited by not having a photography teacher, probably they are not good at it, so they became teachers.

HEY! im just saaaaaaying!

Location

she's from somewhere around... there...

A republic formed by many Islands Called Trinidad y Tobago, which one she lives on?
have no fucking clue (maybe I should have done some propper research or something...)

It's funny because all of this time I tought she was from somewhere near netherlands or some shit, lol, shes actually not far from home, anyway, never been there so I dont know if its a beautiful place, but im gonna lie to you and say it is. so yeah make sure you go on vacations there or something.

Oh! but look at that!, from that photo I can assume its some kind of fairy tale-magical resort where ligth behaves extremely weird, buildings dance so they always apear blurry on photographs and little particles float around annoying the hell out of you.

Or maybe that photoshop, but naaaah, im sure shes all oldschool photography (and yes im being extremely sarcastic for some reason)

Oh and by the way, if you are looking for me to talk about her photography you can skip this whole shit, this post is about her, not her photography. at least it's my perception of her.

Around the World

well this is difficult to explain, you see, photographer are only famous around other photographers and people into the industry, and since the industry she's in is so competitive and with highly jealously guarded secrets, its hard to say if shes on top of the fame or not, certainly shes famous, and she seems to handle that fame with care.

from what I know, women are often mistreated and underestimated by many people, and a lot more if they see a beatiful woman, theres is this thing about pretty people that makes people think they are not as intelligent as not-pretty people... but heck thats another thing.
and i dont want to start judging people, so the point is that this girl, is smart enough to not let herself be eaten by all those sharks out there, and believe they are HUNGRY, now im not saying she had a tough time in his carrer, but the odds says she did at some point, and for that I admire her.

she is, as of this time, my favorite photographer, and you can see that my photography and hers are completely different, color speaking, and maybe thats because I dont like copycats, and hell she has to deal with many!, so why just be another annoying photog guy to my favorite photographer?

Lastly I addore the way she has managed to pull her carreer to a cartain fiel, most of her photographs are shots from female models, that vari from surreal, high end, to fashion, always with her unique style, and let me tell you, I've been working with non-pro female models, and its HARD!, its FUN too, but let me tell you that social skills are way more important at the time of taking a good shot.

this photos where taken from her behind the scenes album on facebook, and its beatiful to see that side of the photograph...


oooh man I think I'm in love with this woman :p

Contact Laura Ferreira

Facebook Page / Website/Blog / deviantArt / Twitter / Prints
/ Flickr