Study Group 9

Fred Drury

Bill Thompson
Brian Swinyard
Chuck Milber
Fred Drury
John Larson
Shaikh Amin

Mayra Pau
 

June      Image - " Old Desoto"

How I did it -This grunge Desoto sits in a farm field in Door County, Wisconsin. I shot it this past winter with thoughts in the back of my head regarding the coming demise of the traditional car makers in the US. I think the 'illustrative' HDR technique used was perhaps appropriate in this case.

Comments
Bill Thompson I think HDR was appropriate, because the snow and bare branches represent the demise of auto makers.
Brian Swinyard There is a wonderful rusty granularity to this picture Fred that is quite appealing. I love the contrast and saturated colours in the car bodywork. The texture of the foreground makes us question whether the car is standing in snow or water; this is good as it engages with the viewer. Compositionally, I would like to have seen the car on more of a diagonal from bottom left into the picture.
Chuck Milber Yes it does. The HDR technique is wonderful. It gives you the total information throughout the image. It gives us that texture and clarity.
John Larson I like the look of this image, but I am confused. I thought HDR was used to make an image that has a better balance of shadows/highlights. It looks to me that some other filter was used to obtain this effect.
???? Nevertheless I do like it.
Shaikh Amin Your HDR technique is fantastic which I learned from your diary in PSA Journal. Results you produced of this image is excellent.
Mayra Pau I like the technic used on this work, it sure does illustrate the point and tells the story of what is happening.
 
Member Biography
Fred Drury
I started making images shortly after graduating from McGills University in Montreal, Canada when I attended its World Fair, EXPO67. My first SLR was an Olympus OM-1, which I used to document many of the mining and construction operations I visited in my work providing technical support to explosives users throughout North America. I eventually switched to Nikon, starting out with an 8008, then an N90 and eventually an F5.
In the 80’s my wife and I both became SCUBA certified and shortly thereafter I bought my first underwater camera, a Nikonos V. Within a couple of years, underwater photography became my passion. In the early 90’s, I was an early-adopter of the Nikonos RS system … the first full-function 35mm SLR made for use underwater (not in a housing). I used this system to photograph coral reefs and their inhabitants in all of the world’s tropical seas. In the mid-90’s, following the sale of my business, I was invited to join the senior management team of the purchaser who was based in Oslo, Norway. Traveling internationally to its operations, especially those in southern Asia and Australia, provided lots of opportunities to dive and photograph in exotic locations. I regularly shared my underwater images at the annual conference of Our World Underwater, the major dive-expo here in the US Midwest (i.e. Chicago). My work was recognized with local, national and international awards, including a first prize in the annual Papua New Guinea Photo Contest.

Following my retirement in 1998, I became a member of the faculty at the College of DuPage, in Glen Ellyn, IL teaching underwater photography. I also began to lecture on the subject of Color Management, which I’d been very much forced into learning as I sought for quality inkjet reproductions of my images. In those ‘early days’, inkjet prints were certainly not noted for their archival properties, nor were the printer manufacturers interested in the ‘photo print’ market. For example, I found it pretty much impossible to find anyone at Epson who would admit to knowing anything about a printer profile.

My teaching activities have expanded. In addition to underwater photography, I now instruct advanced Photoshop. I also teach a variety of Photoshop and Digital classes at The Morton Arboretum. I am a regular presenter at regional ‘Camera Club Council’ events in Michigan (SWMCCC) and Massachusetts (NECCC). At the PSA conference this year, I conducted a Photoshop seminar and presented a program entitled ‘Profiling Digital Projectors for International Competitions’.

My images, both underwater and surface, are in galleries here in the Chicago area as well as in Door County, Wisconsin. The Shedd Aquarium has used more than 30 of my images in the ‘Wild Reef’ exhibit. I do all of my own printing on an Epson 7600. ‘Markland Imaging’, my studio operation, prints editions for area artists and provides additional services including slides, cards, matting and framing. I have just added one of the new Canon iPF5000 printers and I’m looking forward to seeing how it performs. My current computer is a Dell Precision 670 workstation (PC).

Over the past five years I have gradually transitioned from film to digital. I began using a D100 and housing for my underwater macro work in 2003 and found the experience ‘liberating’. Being able to check a histogram and know that I’d ‘nailed’ the underwater exposure was a great relief compared to the bracketing necessary with film. Liberating too was no longer being constrained by the 36 exposure limitation of film. The results were a very pleasant surprise … I found I consistently was able to achieve better images with digital than had ever been possible with film … images were just plain sharper!

This spring I made the big switch from Nikon to Canon for my above water work. I sold my underwater RS equipment and invested in a Canon 1DS Mkll, and I’ve been most happy with the results. Lately, I’ve been making a lot of HDR images and I’m excited about how this method helps me obtain increased shadow detail.

Having been a practicing engineer for more than 40 years, I’m very much enjoying creating new challenges for the right side of my brain. I look forward to sharing my images and my thoughts on image-making with the group.

'You can view my images at our Markland website at www.marklandimaging.com'