Masters of Photography - Carleton Watkins

Carleton Watkins (1829-1916) is considered a master photographer for his work documenting nature with stereoscopic cameras and mammoth glass plates. His work convinced Congress to pass a bill to name Yosemite as a national park, protecting Yosemite Valley from land developers. He was also among the first photographers to document the American West, moving to California in the middle of the 19th century gold rush. Watkins took photos up and down the West Coast, although staying mainly in California, from the mid 1850's to the early 1890's.

Initially, I chose Carleton Watkins because I liked how his photos portrayed the beauty of undisturbed nature. I was inspired by Carleton Watkins to understand what stereoscopic photography is. Stereoscopic views are a pair of photos of the same object that are taken from slightly different angles. When theses two photos are viewed together, they give the impression that the subject of the photos is 3D. Later in the project, I discovered that Watkins also emphasized the angle at which we view objects. which is partly the reason why he made stereoviews.


Before:

After:

This photo was inspired by Watkins's photo of a box of peaches. I didn't have that many peaches, but what I did have was a persimmon tree, so I substituted persimmons for peaches in this photo.
For edits, I had to crop out the box first, and then I made it black and white. I had to change shadows, vibrance, and blacks to -100. I also edited the clarity and highlights to +100 to make the lines between the persimmons sharper, to match the original photo by Watkins.


Watkins Photo of Peaches

Before:

After:

Watkins's stereoscopic photos of Chy Lung was taken in San Francisco. I took these photos of a building I saw in New Orleans. I edited my photos to make them black and white by changing saturation and vibrance to -100, contrast to -70, and blacks to -50.
Watkins Photo of Chy Lung & Co

Second Portrait

Subject: Travis

Location: Outside E Wing

Camera Raw Edits: -100 Vibrance, 

-0.20 exposure

Subject: Travis

Location: Outside E Wing

Camera Raw Edits: -10 Shadows, -15 Blacks

Composition Review - 3 Rules

Before:

After:

The after photo shows my 3 rules of composition, the rule of thirds, leading lines, and background. I cropped the photo so that the rock and the leaf are roughly placed at the intersections of the thirds grid. Although there are no "defined" lines, the border of the right can serve the same linear purpose. You can also see a stage further in the background. This photo also uses shallow depth of field very nicely, but that isn't one of my rules of composition.

Example of Rule of Thirds

Example of Leading Lines

Examples of Background

In the Lens blog Revisiting Unhealed Wounds in Chechnya, I decided that picture 4 (shown here) best demonstrated my three rules because the grave markers in the foreground and the group of people are roughly placed on the intersections of the rule of thirds grid. The short wall/fence serves as a leading line to draw attention to subject of the photo, which is the group of people reciting the Quran. The background is dense with fog, but you can still see tens of grave markers in the distance, as well as electricity poles, a paved road, and green flags.

First Portrait

Subject: Briant Shen

Location: Mural outside E-Wing

Camera Raw Edits: Increased exposure to +0.40 and decreased blacks to -50. 

Subject: Rose flower

Location: Outside main office

Camera Raw Edits: None

Self Portrait

Tired Monday morning...

Shallow Depth of Field

This photo shows a shallow depth of field. The foreground and subject of the photo are in focus, whereas the background is out of focus. I adjusted the shadows a little bit on Camera Raw to draw more light onto Briant's face.

3rd Photography Assignment, 1st Rule of Composition

My first rule of composition is the rule of thirds, in which the subject of the photo isn't centered, but rather slightly off set. It also captures the face of Mother Earth on the mural, which is pretty cool.


My 3 Rules of Composition are:

1. Rule of Thirds
2. Leading Lines
3. Background

2nd Photo Assignment, My Second Rule

My second rule of composition is the concept of leading lines. This photo uses lines to draw attention to the subject of the photo, which are the green stairs that stand out compared to the white walls and brown poles.

1st Photo Assignment, 3rd Rule of Composition

My third rule of composition is the rule of backgrounds. The background is used to bring focus to the subject of the image.