Monday, March 9, 2009

Photo Upgrade


This week I'm trying to get a whole bunch of paint related things completed for a grant that I am applying for. The Grant is for a five week stay at a painters dream location and I cant say where because one of the stipulations of the grant is that I can't advertise it. With the deadline approaching fast I find myself in a sink or swim situation. Writing of artist statement. why I deserve this grant, quality photos of work on a CD in certain size and format. (I'm not even sure what a format is) also bother somebody for a recommendation letter. Luckily I have had some much needed help from a friend with writing critique and great advice in general on all points related. (Thank You CP) One of the things I have found myself sinking with since I started this blog has been my photo skills, but now (because I have to) I am really gonna try to focus on photographing my work properly or at least learning how..?. So please if you have been reading my blog for awhile or have looked back at older posts, let me hear you opinion on the photo work going forward from here. As for the Grant, I will let you know here if get it or not, Wish me luck! Quote: "Give your viewers something more than decoration. Give them something that will raise their level of vision. Let them see a new beauty through your eyes." Henry Hensche..

8 comments:

Mark Bridges said...

Good luck with the grant. Like we don't know who CP is. I just read a long post on artist statements. Did you see it?

Mark Bridges said...

Here's one http://EmptyEasel.com/?s=artist+statements

Christine Mercer-Vernon said...

hey dan, good luck, i hope you get it! as for photos, lighting and putting your camera on a tripod make all the difference. do you have photoshop or some photo editing program you can adjust them in.

i photo mine then spend probably 15-30 minutes adjusting color and exposure to get a good match. i've got a cropping/straightening demo on my blog, link at bottom, and i'm working on one to go up this week on tips/tricks for adjusting exposure and correcting spot dark/light areas. i rarely take a photo and have it be a dead on representation of a painting.

don't hesitate to ask if you have any photoshop questions to get your photos adjusted. there's also a link on my blog all the way at the bottom on the right on how to build a small photo box where you can control the light and eliminate glare. i built one i use for small paintings and it works great. i use my husbands halogen shop light, which is insanely bright and never get a glare.

http://mercervernon.blogspot.com/2008/12/tips-tricks-how-to-straighten-painting.html

Unknown said...

All the best in your grant application. If you can get me on the judging panel I will ensure, in the most objective fashion, that you get it. As to photography the best advice I had was to photograph outside in natural light, out of direct sunlight then ensure that the plane of the film/ sensor in the camera is parallel to the canvas. Once you have the original file you can tweak colour and framing in Photoshop. The better the original file the less work needs to be done on it.

Daniel Corey said...

Hi Mark, Thank you for the well wishes and the link, and yeah I figured that most of the blog world would figure out it was Colin (there your outed) but you were the first Mark, :)

Thank you Christine, I just started using a tripod, and yes I have a Nikon Program that came with my wifes D-40 camera and it seems to do all, but I have not been using it (except the cropping) as I didn't want to "lie" about my paintings but I can see that maybe using it to match the effect of seeing it live isn't really bad thing to do at all. Thank you for the link also, I will have no excuse in the future..?.

Thank you Mick! I will try to get you on the board of all things that I'm going for! hahaha Thanks for the tips and continued support, Dan

Anonymous said...

Dan,

The photo in this post is already a huge improvement. Looking good. And Photoshop is useful for lying, but it's more useful for trying to tell the truth about the colors in a painting. Never feel bad about using it if you're just trying to make the digi pic look MORE like the painting.

We're all wishing the best for you.

Daniel Corey said...

Hey CP, Thanks alot for the well wishes they really help so much, and I will be using the edit program from this day forward and only for good!

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