Creativity Archives

Hyper Collage Photography

Ysabel Le May Hyper Collage Photography

Hyper collage photography has developed out of collage, which has long been a technique used in both art and photography. Man Ray was an early exponent of photography collage in the 1930s. Jump forward, and we are all aware of the images created using Photoshop layers to build composites. Often to create fantasy effects. Andrea Hargreaves is one of my favourite artists using this technique.

….but what is collage? The Museum of Modern Art defines a collage as: a “technique and resulting work of art in which fragments of paper and other materials are arranged and glued to a supporting surface”.

Hyper collage photography is a technique that combines multiple images that are manipulated using Photoshop. For example, Jim Kazanjian uses the technique to combine photographs of different architectural features to create fantastical buildings and landscapes.

However, what has grabbed my attention. Are photographers that are using natural phenomena to create fine art hyper collage images.

Fine Art Hyper Collage Photography

Ysabel Le May

I first came across Ysabel le May at the Saatchi Art. Where her work sells for upwards of $4000.

She is based in Texas and her art has been exhibited all over the world.

Ysabel Le May can be summed up simply: W.O.W. It stands for ‘Wonderful Other Worlds’, which she creates through the process of hypercollage.
Saatchi Art

She photographs the natural world and uses collage to piece the images together to create a fantastical depiction of nature. She calls her images baroque tableaux.

The video above demonstrates the process she uses.

Lisa Frank

Lisa Frank is an American artist who describes her work as looking to communicate those momentary flashes of connectedness with nature.

She creates tapestries and still life composites using natural materials.

It is my purpose to draw the viewer into a local world as it hasn’t been seen before.
Lisa Frank

You can follow her process here.

Cas Slagboon

Cas Slagboom is a Dutch artist. Again he uses natural objects but often combined with human figures to create a fantasy feel.

For me, photography is more than capturing the perfect moment. Every time I try to capture my astonishment with a single photo, I am disappointed. This was not what I want to see and feel. It is larger, more complex, more diffuse. I have to bring all those fragments together. In compositions in which they together tell a story that transcends my understanding. So, that every time I look at it, I can be surprised again.
Cas Slagboon

All the photographic technology we have to capture our world in images may give us idea that we really see it. ………I use modern technology to find a language that exceeds the photographic moment, so there is sufficient room for the complexity of what we call reality.
Cas Slagboon

Summary

I included the two quotes from Cas Slagboon because they sum up my own feelings. That it is difficult to capture the reality of the moment with just one photograph. I have been experimenting with the Pep Ventosa style of photography and mixing abstract and reality to capture what we really see and feel.

Hyper collage photography is just one more technique on that journey.

Misty Autumn Photography

by John Gough

One of my big obsessions with photography is to try to photograph how the mind interprets what we see rather than what the camera is pointing at. Misty Autumn photography is about looking at Autumn leaves, trees and landscapes through an ethereal, golden, opaque lens.

I wrote about photographing the Autumn colours before the season began. I was looking forward to the season and trying to get an impression of Autumn perhaps through multiple exposures. Due to the lockdowns, we are having here in the UK, I think we are seeing the seasons so much more vividly. Walking through nature has certainly maintained my sanity during these worrying months.

Glenys Garnett

My mentor through this time has been Glenys Garnett. I recently watched an RPS talk she gave about her photography. She talked about how she will frequently photograph the same patch of woodland behind her house in the pursuit of wonderful dreamy images.

As she says, working in a familiar space will force your creativity. Encouraging you to make images about how you feel, and embracing abstraction. She suggests looking at the muted colours of work by American painter, Andrew Wyeth.

Looking for soft light and a subdued palette has led me to the work of Jo Stephen.

Jo Stephen

I am drawn to using creative photographic techniques as they enable me to explore my connection to nature in a way that representational photography does not always allow. … Jo Stephen

I agree, that statement sums up so simply my view that seeing is believing but believing is what we see.

These are some of her Autumn images and some of her woodland images.

Processing Misty Autumn Photography

With thanks to Jo Stephen, this is a simple technique to get that wonderful soft lighting.

Lightroom

Expose as you would normally, bringing down the highlights and increasing shadows etc
Decrease the vibrance, clarity and saturation especially green and cyan.
Increase the saturation of key colours e.g. reds and oranges in Autumn
Add a slight vignette
Transfer to Photoshop: Photo>Edit in>Photoshop

Photoshop

Open in PS
Make a duplicate layer: Ctrl J
Add Gaussian blur to the duplicate layer: Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Move slider about half way. Apply.
Add a curves adjustment layer and just lift and tweak the top of the graph.
Add a clipping mask. Rt click the adjustment layer and select clipping mask
Move the opacity slider to around 15-30%
File>Save

Lightroom

Open in LR
Adjust to suit your style. you may want to try a profile

This is one I tried earlier………….

This is a beautiful effect which I am also going to experiment using with my Pep Ventosa and multiple exposure images.

Rankin’s 2020: Sky Arts

by John Gough

Rankin has a new show on Sky Arts, which reviews the results of a photography challenge launched in the summer to document life in 2020. In the programme, (Rankin’s 2020) Rankin demonstrates how he would tackle each assignment and with two guests reviews his images and their images.

Sky Arts is now a free-to-air channel on Freeview Channel 11.

There are six parts to the series. Each episode will focus on a different category – family, fun, self, beauty, empathy and nature.

Rankin is a renowned portrait photographer, who has now diversified into fashion, advertising and film. He is best known for working with models Kate Moss and Heidi Klum as well as photographing celebrities like Madonna, David Bowie and the Queen.

Rankin describes this project:

“Photography is my life and passion and I truly believe it has the power to reveal and connect. Now we all have cameras in our pockets, I think it’s time to use them. Rankin’s 2020 is an open call to anybody who thinks they can take a great picture. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve never taken a photograph before or you’re a professional, I want to see your view of our world. Together we can document this crazy year and make something positive out of it.”

There are now two photography based programmes on Sky Arts. I have reviewed Master of Photography, and I have watched the first episode of Rankin’s 2020. I enjoyed Rankin’s interpretation of empathy and seeing how he worked. The images submitted were also refreshing, in that they did not look like traditional photography competition entries. Many had been captured on a smartphone. They were alive, immediate and compelling.

Master of Photography: Sky Arts

by John Gough

Fantastic news. Sky Arts, the Sky channel, is now available on Freeview, Channel 11. The channel started broadcasting this week, which means that we can all now get to see one of their most popular programmes: Master of Photography. A photography competition, in which contestants compete with one another to gain the coveted title and 150,000 euros.

I watched the first episode this week, on Friday at 2pm. This was a repeat from the first series broadcast in 2016. I imagine the series is shown across the schedule. However, you will need to trawl through endless repeats of Tales of the Unexpected to find it.

The format is similar to The Apprentice, Masterchef and Bake Off. Twelve contestants battle it out each week, until one is eliminated. The judges are eminent photographers and there is a guest photographer to give advice. The series has been running for four seasons, and hopefully, they will all be repeated for Freeview viewers.

Master of Photography Season 1 Episode 1

The contestants chosen from the ‘thousands’ that applied. In this episode, spent six hours shooting on the streets of Rome. Not all the candidates were familiar with street photography, so it was fascinating to watch their different styles. No doubt they were good photographers to win through and get a place in the competition, but the judges were ‘underwhelmed’ with the results.

It may have been the difficulty of street photography. Alex Webb the Magnum street and travel photographer was on hand to give advice. Street photography is 99.8% disappointment he said.

The best bit of advice, however, was kept until the end.

Shoot for yourselves, not what you think the judges are looking for.

Autumn Multiple Exposures

by John Gough

Lately because of the COVID restrictions I have had less opportunity for street photography. I don’t want to travel on a train to London, and I have decided that pubs and restaurants are off limits for me at the moment.

So I have been looking for different outlets for my photography. My first love, landscape photography is restricted because long road trips and overnight stays are out. So it is difficult to visit the Lake District and Scotland.

So I am going to go a bit abstract.

An Impression of Autumn

It is just coming into Autumn. The most beautiful time of year IMHO. The next six weeks or so are going to be just so amazing. What I want to do is photograph the leaves and the trees and the sky and capture the mood. The feeling of darkening days, and ripe fruit. Hunkering in, log fires, smoky chimney pots, mellow mists and the foreboding of winter. I want to create an impression of the Autumn I see.

As Joel Meyerowitz says:

‘Once you have a camera in your hand you have a license to see.’

Abstract allows a creative control. Some would say too much. However, the end result is unique to you. It may be crass, but it is your kind of crass. A camera can give you the license to see, but abstraction gives you the freedom to feel and express emotion.

Multiple Exposures

One of the most accessible ways of going abstract is to find the multiple exposure function on your camera. With this, you can create stunning abstracts in camera.

There are numerous videos that go into the technicals of ‘how to’ like this one.

You take several different images. These multiple exposures are then stored in the camera and merged to create a final image. Sounds complicated and technical, but it is not that difficult. Just have a go and experiment. Take 2, 3 or more images stacked on top of one another. See what works and carry on.

The most difficult part is finding Multiple Exposure on your camera’s menu!

The example above was taken in my local park. There are three exposures. Lengthening shadows on a white wall, autumn leaves and pine needles.

I think I will print my Autumn Abstracts. Stick them on a wall and then the next six weeks will be with me all winter

To see what you can achieve with this technique. Look no further than the work of Valda Bailey If you really want to get into Multiple Exposures then the Bailey Chinnery workshops are well worthwhile.

Now let’s get out there and enjoy the Autumn.

Pep Ventosa Technique

by John Gough

Pep Ventosa is a Catalan photographer who is known for his technique of creating impressionistic looking photography by taking multiple images of a subject and blending them together.

His series ‘In the Round’ featured trees which have become the lynchpin of his work. His photography, however, is now more diverse and includes urban landscapes, streetcars and street lamps.

When talking about his work he describes how:

The process mimics how we actually see: the eyes are constantly focusing on the specific details and elements of what’s in front of them and the brain then processes that visual information making the reconstruction so we perceive the world around us.

I have curated a selection of his images here.

The Pep Ventosa Technique

Pep Ventosa uses hundreds of images to create an artwork. Is it art or is it photography? He purposefully blurs the boundaries. Look at his series ‘New Faces from the Past’

Trying to replicate the technique is not easy. As my attempt above illustrates. It is not just a process of walking around a tree, taking photographs and putting them into layers in Photoshop.

A good place to start is with the glorious Glenys Garnett

Tips to Creating a Masterpiece

The subject has to be interesting enough to be deconstructed
Maintain a reference point on the subject for all the images. For example, I used the tree trunk in the image above. A 3×3 grid in the camera viewfinder is useful.
A wide angle lens is best to allow you to get closer to the subject.
I took twenty images in the image above.
Take jpgs rather than RAW to make it easier to manipulate later. Or do as I did convert them to jpg in Lightroom. Create a similar look and feel for each image and then export to Photoshop.
To transfer from Lightroom to Photoshop in one step. Select the images to be transferred in Lightroom: Photo>Edit In>Open as Layers in Photoshop.
In the layer stack in Photoshop I used a Normal blending mode with an opacity of 20%. The blending modes and opacity, however, depend on the effect that YOU want to produce.
Try keeping the camera fixed and moving the subject see below.

Your Own Style

What is exciting about using the Pep Ventosa technique is that so much is down to trial and error, which means that your images will develop into your own style.

Glenys Garnett

by John Gough

I have long been a fan of Glenys Garnett, her creative flower photography and landscape work are an inspiration.

RPS Virtual Events

I mention this because the RPS is hosting a virtual event where Glenys will be talking about creative landscapes. It will cover:

In this 60 minute presentation Glenys Garnett will give you some overview and insight into her approach to capturing and creating landscape imagery. She will share her influences and the techniques she uses both in-camera and in Photoshop to show how she goes about creating her composite landscapes.
Glenys will also explain the tools you need to make a start in developing your own creative images.

The RPS is also running an online workshop where Glenys will be talking about Making Creative Landscape Images. It is restricted to six people only, but I have written to the RPS to try and make the recordings available.

Links to the Work of Glenys Garnett

Meantime if you want to follow Glenys and sample her wonderful creative images, find her Twitter feed. There are new wonderful photographs almost every day.

To see her work I have created a Pinterest board, but it is just a sample of her vast output.

Glenys is also very generous in sharing her techniques and knowledge. You can subscribe to her YouTube feed here.

One of the things I been practising during the lockdown is to imagine a scene and then to attempt to create it. This has been more relevant during these times because our freedom of movement has been curtailed. Choosing a location, turning up and hoping an opportunity will present itself is no longer so accessible. This has made me look inward more and create with what is available.

With this in mind, as we come out of lockdown. I am going to take time to study these tutorials on YouTube and the RPS, in the hope that I can share in some of the Glenys Garnett creative magic.

Have You Seen This ….. Martin Parr in Conversation

by John Gough

This is an interesting video of Martin Parr talking to a group of students. It is a few years old now but worth a view. It is very short.

If you are not familiar with Martin Parr’s work then this is my Pinterest Board

Three things to take away from what he says:

First take a lot of crap photographs, without taking the crap you will never get to the good.
Connect with your subject. The only difference between your photograph and that of someone else is the quality of that connection.
The connection, however, has to be so powerful that the photograph will stand on its own. Does it talk to us without you being in the room?

Here is more of his work. If you want to understand the meaning of connection then look through this book.

The Joy of Bokeh

by John Gough

May Morning / John Gough / Canon 6D

At 7 am the morning the sun was up and flashing at a near horizontal angle through the trees. The temperature was a bit fresh, but in my local country park, the opportunity to photograph wildlife, plants, flowers and trees was everywhere.

Blur were right:

…morning soup can be avoided if you take a route straight through what is known as Parklife

but for me, it was not just blur but the joy of bokeh.

Before Photography there was Watercolour

by John Gough

We are used to photography documenting our world. Where we are. What we do. How we do it. But what about before photography?

It was then that painters would use watercolour painting to document the world. These paintings, however, were often hidden away in archives, private collections, museums and art galleries. Now for the first time a UK based charity, Watercolour World has made it their mission to digitise watercolour painting and make it available to everyone.

We are creating a free online database of documentary watercolours painted before 1900. For the first time, you can explore these fascinating visual records on a world map, search for topics that are important to you, and compare watercolours from multiple collections in one place. We hope that this project will not simply preserve the watercolour record but revive it, sparking new conversations and revelations. By making history visible to more people, we can deepen our understanding of the world.

We may be used to watercolour landscape painting, but searching through the Watercolour World database it is revealing just how much social history is documented. Have a look, it is well worth a watercolour moment.