I've had enough to keep myself busy this week. Today I fixed a broken gate to the backyard. I also retouched ten really nice portraits I did on location for a law firm, just before the pandemic reared its ugly head in the U.S. I made my own lunch. I said, "yes, yes, yes!" when someone e-mailed and asked me if I'd like to bid on a nice video project we might do in August. I talked my friend, Joe, off the financial ledge for the second time this week ( a bad time, I think, to sell everything and buy an RV).
The house is stocked and the bills are paid but the one thing that's driving me a bit nuts is not being able to call a friend and set up a play date for taking portraits. I have all these great cameras and lenses just burning a hole in my camera bag and I can't really leave the neighborhood to point them at people and get them to smile. Can't have them in the studio either...
I did have fun retouching today and I do have a suggestion that should be in compliance with our current social distancing rules while being a breath of fresh air.
On the retouching: I photographed individual attorneys in an office that had a great view out the window of one of the offices looking out to the central Texas hill country. I lit each attorney as well as I could and tried my best to create lighting that would suggest a connection between interior and exterior. I also worked hard (but somewhat unsuccessfully) to keep a reflection of me and my camera out of the big window. But the new selection tools in P.S. make fixing that a breeze.
I shot the files with a Lumix S1R and the 24-105mm lens, mostly at 105mm. Knowing how well the camera's raw files handle the shadow areas, and how well they respond to the shadow sliders in post, I purposely underexposed the images by about two thirds of a stop which gave me a good degree of safety in terms of preserving highlights and the look outside the window. I used a variety of Godox flashes to light the subjects and the interiors and they all worked perfectly with the little remote controller/trigger in the hot shoe of my camera.
I brought them into PhotoShop via the raw converter and did the big lifting of exposure correction in the raw panel. I also did some rough cropping and a lot of color correction before opening the files into PhotoShop. It's my philosophy to do as much correction as possible in the raw files and then pray for forgiveness in the application.
Today I did a split of the controls between PhotoShop and Luminar 4.0. I used Luminar as a plug-in so I could take advantage of its sky replacement feature to add a bit of glamor to the view outside the window. I've found Luminar to be pretty good as a sky replacer and general tweaking tool; even more so since I found the control that lets me put the cloudscapes and imported skies controllably out of focus with yet another slider. At some point the haze of boredom crept in and I started using a second Luminar control that allows you to add stuff to sky backgrounds you've put into files. I knew I had gone way too far when I put an eagle in the sky just over the shoulder of a younger lawyer. I laughed at myself but I made a copy of the file to share with him, just for fun.
Some of the controls in Luminar are very useful and I'm happy the program handles raw files.
I delivered an assortment of Jpegs, .PSDs and Tiffs to my clients at the end of the day and finally had the feeling that I'm getting something done while working at home.
On the first sunny day this week I'd had enough of walking through the various wings of the house, and looking out over the "estate." I got in my car and went for a medicinal drive. All the windows were sealed tight and all of the outside air comes in through a HEPA filter. I brought my own coffee so I'd never have to stop. I drove west and headed for Johnson City.
It was a beautiful day to drive through central Texas. The wildflowers are starting to bloom and, because of all the rain we've had, along with the mild temperatures, everything was lush and green. And the sky! With most people just hanging out in their homes the roads are essentially empty and there's no pollution or yellow haze at the horizon. The skies were the kind of luxurious blue that I remember from driving the Devil's Backbone highway in my youth.
I looped through Johnson City and the headed South to Blanco, Texas. Of course absolutely nothing but gas stations was open. But the empty roads, the forty thousand foot sky, and the splashes of roadside color were amazing. It was almost like moving through a living painting.
I never took a camera off the passenger seat to take a photograph. There were no people. But when I got home a couple of hours later I felt lighter, happier and less anxious. It was a good process. No one was hurt in its undertaking.
**************
How far are we taking our family commitment to social distancing? Well, we usually order pizza on Thursdays (a ritual left over from Ben's school years...) and I usually call in my order and then go pick it up. Today I went online to make my order and I pulled up short. There was no longer the option to drive over to the pizza place and pick up our order myself. Our only option was delivery.
I filled out all the order stuff online and paid for it with a credit card. I added a generous tip for the driver. But then Belinda asked me how I was going to deal with the box. Multiple people will have touched the pizza box by the time the pie make its way to me.
We actually had a quick meeting and worked out a plan. I would accept the box from the delivery guy and bring it to the welcome mat at the front door. I would then open the box and spread out the sides of the box. Belinda would bring our big, wooden pizza peel to the door and slide it under the pizza while being very careful not to touch the edges of the box. It worked! Once she had the pizza securely in the house I took the box to our recycling bin and tossed it in. Then I stepped into the open door of the house and drenched my hands with the sanitizer on the ledge near the door. Then I went into the kitchen and washed for 23 seconds with soap and lots of attention to every square centimeter of my hands.
Then we ate good pizza.
Life. It's a process.
How are you handling this day-to-day stuff?
18 comments:
How long of a lens do you own? Portraits could still be a thing!
(not a VERY responsible thing, but, you know, FAIRLY safe)
Well I'll be doing a drive tomorrow morning, sunroof open the whole time. Fresh air is still a good thing and I'm not worried about Coronavirus being dumped on me through the hole in the roof. I'll be in the country anyway. I have some fantastic country roads pretty close to me (I live way out in the burbs, pretty close to farmland). Spring is here finally after a long and dreary winter so it's time. I'll probably go for a bike ride when I get back from my drive. I haven't been out of the house since Sunday, which was only to do groceries quickly and get back home. I'm starting to see toilet paper back on the shelves but no paper towels, and no eggs. Why no eggs? Our take out night is Friday but I'm not sure how I will handle it yet. That will be tomorrow's dilemma for the day. I've also been reading, which I usually don't have a lot of time for, and I must say it's wonderful.
Sounds like you are taking this very seriously. This will not be as bad as politicians are fearing. There has been some very bad modeling, already Imperial college in London is looking at revising from 2M to 20k, New York is behind their curve etc. Oxford researchers seen to think half of the UK might have already been infected which would change the predictions dramatically.
We are in a very interesting time, Sweden hasn't self isolated is any way like we have and is not seeing the disaster, neither has Australia... In a week things will be a lot clearer as we get more real data and less modeling.
I have finished my work (architectural photography) and have been told we cannot shoot for 8 weeks. Irony is we work without anyone around.
So we sit at home trying out new recipes. Wrestling a sourdough starter into life is a roller coaster of delight/panic/despair.
Playing with the dog, reading books and wondering if I can really retire on what I have saved.
I am also waiting to see what hoops of fire I need to leap through to access this alleged bounty that we have billed our descendants for.
Here in Southern part of California, Los Angeles has had one child death. About 40% of the COVID19 infections are in the 20 to 45 cohort. Didn't someone say that the young were not at risk?
Bars, restaurants and gun shops are closed. Los Angeles Times says: "L.A. County reports 9 new coronavirus-related deaths as cases explode to more than 1,200" Apparently Los Angeles is different than London.
Beautiful portrait.
Trying our best to socially distance - a bit like yourselves I'm leaving the post in a little pile to decontaminate. Ventured out yesterday for the first time in a week to get food from the supermarket.
Plenty of stock, people, in the main, staying 6ft apart.
Spending time in the garden. Fortunately, rainy Cardiff is going through a sunny spell.
Keep safe.
Mark
Roger Cicala over at LensRentals has a realistic-sounding approach to keep shooting -- keep your hands off other people's gear and their hands off yours. Let stuff that others have handled sit for a day or three. The mail and packages are safe as they have been enroute for days. His operation seems to be up and running, with a little separation, gloves and lots of hand-washing.
Linda and I drove out to Burnet and Inks Lake on Sunday afternoon. The rain let up and we enjoyed some beautiful views and flowers. I was surprised that in Burnet the bluebonnets were already past their prime, but the paint brushes were big and bold.
It was great to get out and enjoy some space!
Tom
The large art museum that has been my employer just announced that it will “furlough” staff until they need them to return to the building later in the year. So, no pay and no word yet as to whether we will have health coverage during this period. My “modeling” so far is pretty unsophisticated; it consists of thinking of the two people I knew who have already died from this disease. Whatever...
"I brought my own coffee so I'd never have to stop." Well, if I drank enough coffee I'd for sure have to stop, if you know what I mean.
I go for nice long walks in our very open and scenic city parks. People are being very careful about social distancing themselves. Our provincial and National Parks are shut down. You can drive through them but you can not stop for anything more than gas. To comment on modelling is a waste of time. Those that don't get it will never get it and continue to live in their wonderful world of denial.
This is from an email i got from Aubrey Clayton who is a mathematician living in Boston. He teaches logic and philosophy of probability at the Harvard Extension School.
"In other countries, the spread of coronavirus may be approaching its peak, but in the U.S. we are still firmly in the exponential growth period. The problem with exponential growth is that it means most of the change is always in the recent past. Since March 1, the number of confirmed cases in the U.S. has increased by about 30 percent each day, a rate that, if held constant, would imply that roughly 84 percent of all cases will always have arisen in the last week, regardless of how big the epidemic gets. Consider what this means. Nearly everything that has happened in the COVID-19 crisis has happened in the last week. But everything is happening faster every day—so guess what? A week from now, the same will be true: Nearly everything that has happened will have happened in the last week. Everything will accelerate, and we’ll struggle to adapt. If we continue reacting too late, as we have, it will only slow down when the virus starts to run out of new people to infect."
I am still having lots of fun in my darkroom. What a great way to spend a few hours. Printing, enjoying a good drink (or two) and music.
Take care Kirk, love to both you and Belinda.
Eric
Supposedly I'm catching up on photo processing and beginning to work through my "archive," actually a jumbled box of old hard drives and far too many CDs.
But in fact I'm spending way too much time on Facebook and social media -- in a perverse way I've been more social the last few days than in my usual life, at least in terms of number of friends contacted and time spent in conversation.
I had been open to outdoor portrait sessions and had a couple booked, but those all cancelled when the Covid-19 case numbers began rising here in the Panhandle -- some by my choice, some by the client. I expect I'll be doing a lot of still lifes and cat pics the next few weeks.
Take care and keep safe
Mike Mundy, Lots of wide open spaces in Texas and, as you know, we've had a few droughts. Sometimes you just need to stop and water the wildflowers. I think of it as "giving back..."
I have a couple of rainy day projects that have turned into Social Isolation projects. I just finished scanning a subset of slides dating from 1978-2009 (when I went fully digital).
Going for a trail run tomorrow with our running group. We're experimenting with virtual runs -- do your own run and post it online. Pictures, too.
DavidB
You're lucky to be allowed to drive, Kirk; here in the UK police are pulling random vehicles over to ask 'is your journey really necessary?' If you can't justify it you get a £60 fine, although if you pay soon it's £30. We are told that 'stay home' means exactly that. Exercise must start at your front door, not after a car journey. Reasons? You might have an accident, putting more pressure on emergency services. There's a name for this kind of thinking but I can't remember what it is.
Hi Andy, I'm so sorry to hear that. Telling Texans they can not drive is tantamount to a declaration of full scale war. Too much area to cover. Too few things close by. We'll all get through this.
Israel (and some European countries) are down to a new rule of staying within 100m of home except for food or medicine trips. So I was delighted to get a WhatsApp from our daughter, who had found a dirt path and wildflowers on a hillside just under 100 m from her apartment.
Hi Andy,
Have you actually been pulled over and fined? There is a lot of attention in the press here about the powers that police have been given to deal with the emergency, including those you mention. However there is also a lot of attention on how the police are being asked to take a consistent approach nationally, relying on good sense, positive public relations and only using powers as a last resort. Some police areas here haven’t stopped a single motorist yet. Yes the powers are there if needed, but it’s not a case of citizens being stopped and fined left, right and centre.
Thanks also Kirk. Your blog is a little island of sanity at the moment!
All the best,
Don
U.K.
Post a Comment
We Moderate Comments, Yours might not appear right after you hit return. Be patient; I'm usually pretty quick on getting comments up there. Try not to hit return again and again.... If you disagree with something I've written please do so civilly. Be nice or see your comments fly into the void. Anonymous posters are not given special privileges or dispensation. If technology alone requires you to be anonymous your comments will likely pass through moderation if you "sign" them. A new note: Don't tell me how to write or how to blog! I can't make you comment but I don't want to wade through spam!
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.