Having been a professional photographer and always concerned
with shooting full frame or with a minimal amount of cropping, I
found many years ago that I did not use the same techniques for
taking photographs to use in my digital art work as I had when I
took photographs for strictly photographic processing. I use
multiple photographs to create my artwork. I have a movie on my
website that demonstrates the process. I basically paint with tiny
parts of an image. I call my method "Multi Image Synthesis." Thus,
I compose my images, when taking photographs, for this purpose. And
I compose them very differently than I did when I had a black and
white darkroom, before I started working on the computer. 
As
I stated, I compose my photos very differently. When I take them I
usually have a purpose in mind. I have three major categories:
Photos to use as backgrounds, photos to use as
individual elements, and photos of skies. I
work with a film scanner, the Nikon Super CoolScan 4000ED, and I
have my film developed as I shoot to insure that my cameras are
working correctly, the exposures are satisfactory, etc. I like a
film scanner for many reasons. Primarily, the color is truer
because one is working directly from a negative. Secondly, the
default output size for each 35 mm negative is about 60 MB so if
there is a small element in a negative I need, I can capture it
without losing quality. When one is on a vacation or trip, one
cannot control the weather. Fortunately, that is not usually a
problem when taking these types of photographs because all types of
lighting are useable. Since skies can make or break a picture, I
take a lot of photographs of different types of skies so I can use
them in a particular image that I am creating. Of course, I will
also address, in Photoshop, the lighting of the image as I create
it. My favorite light is soft non-directional lighting. With this
type of lighting, I can just about create anything. I use a manual
camera for all my work. I had an automatic expensive Nikon at one
point, but I prefer the manual Nikons. For me they are easier to
use. I use fast film, ASA 400, and I like Fuji film. I use
Fujicolor Press, or if I am in a bind, I will use Superia X-tra
because I can purchase it at all Wal-Mart stores. I use a small
f-stop whenever I can of f11 if possible because I want as much of
the photograph as possible to be in focus. I can pull portions out
of focus in Photoshop. If I am working with a close foreground and
a distant background, I often do not put my focus at infinity but
somewhere in between so both extremes will be in focus. That is why
I like a manual camera. To me being able to control depth of field
is very important and much easier on a manual camera. If I were
taking a lot of action shots, then, my requirements would be
different. I take a number of similar shots with different
exposures. Even though the latitude of film is great, often I
combine two negatives and thus stretch my exposure curves having
more shadow details and highlight details than I would had I just
used one negative. I, also, will take different views and
perspectives of the same shot if the background looks particularly
useful. On my recent trip to Louisiana, I took a number of
photographs of alligators to use as I developed swamp scenes. Often
I took a background shot that included the alligator and then a
close-up of the alligator from the same and different perspectives.
One type of photograph that blurs the line between a
background shot and an element shot, in my way of thinking, is one
of an object or scene whose exposure runs the gamut from very dark
to blinding white. I mentioned this in a previous paragraph, but in
this instance I am using it differently. Often I take pictures of
waterfalls. The top of the falls will be very light while the
bottom is quite dark. I have found it useful to break the falls up
into "zones" and deal with each of them separately. Then, I have
the option of putting them together without the extreme tonal
gamut. Composing in this manner, I have found allows me to keep
more detail in the various "Light Zones" of the image. The image on
the right is an approximation of a image I created a while ago with
an added sky and house (not shown). Photographing elements is easy
and can be done at any time. Sometimes I have a list with me of
objects I want to photograph for future works. Often, I just will
see something I believe is useful. The only time I use a digital
camera is when I need an object at home and want to download it
directly into the computer. My next article will describe how to
easily utilize Ansel Adams' Zone System.
Paula can be reached by e-mail if you have any questions. More reviews can be found on her two web sites: Ephemeral Visions and Perpetual Visions. Check out Paula's past Columns.
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