Help Me Walk "The Walk"

About the Project:

My project is to walk The French Way / Camino Frances which is the most traditional of all the pilgrims’ ways to Santiago via The Way of St. James and the best known internationally. The journey covers a distance of 780 KM (482 miles) and will take about 59 days to walk. I plan to document this pilgrimage in photographs as I go. Not only the route, but the places and people I encounter on my journey. Regular blog entries to supporters, friends and family will keep them up to date on my progress as well as provide sneak peeks of photos that may appear in the book. After finishing the journey, I will produce and publish a book containing photographs, information and my impressions of my adventures. Through these photographs, I hope to give readers who may never have the opportunity themselves, to experience and enjoy this tradition. For others, I hope to inspire them to make their own journey as well those who have already, to share and remember the experience.

Your Support:

Will help fund this project and help defray the costs of travel, accommodations, meals and other associated expenses. Once the pilgrimage is completed, funds will be used to produce, publish and distribute a book about my adventure.The route, which was established in the late 11th century, crosses the North of the Iberian Peninsula, through the Basque Country, Navarra, La Rioja, Castilla y Leon and Galicia regions of Spain.  Starting in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, at the foothills of the French Pyrenees, the French Way runs through Northern Spain, from East to West, all the way to Santiago de Compostela, in the Northwestern corner of the country.

About The Way:

Click Here for a video about El Camino de Santiago (or The Way of St. James). 

This is the pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, north west Spain, where legend has it that St. James' remains  were carried by boat from Jerusalem to northern Spain where they were buried on the site of what is now the city of Santiago de Compostela. The Way of St James has existed for over a thousand years. It was one of the most important Christian pilgrimages during medieval times. It was considered one of three pilgrimages on which a plenary indulgence could be earned (the others are the Via Francigena to Rome and the pilgrimage to Jerusalem).

There is no single route on the Way of St. James. In fact, there are a number of pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela. However, some of these routes are perhaps better known than others. Santiago is considered to be an important pilgrimage destination because of its association with James the Great. During the Middle Ages, the route was highly travelled, but the Black Plague, the Protestant Reformation and political unrest in 16th-century Europe resulted in a usage decline. By the 1980s, only a few pilgrims arrived in Santiago annually. However, since then, the route has attracted a growing number of modern-day pilgrims from around the globe. The route was declared the first European Cultural Route by the Council of Europe in October 1987; it was also named one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites in 1993.

The Modern Camino`s revival began in the 1960s thanks to the efforts of people like a local parish priest who wrote a guide on the Camino and travelled around Europe giving lectures on the subject. Although initially a pilgrimage for those with religious motivations, there are many travellers and hikers who walk the route for non-religious reasons: travel, sport, or simply walking in a beautiful but challenging landscape. Also, many consider the experience a spiritual adventure away from the stress of modern life. In 2010 (the most recent year for which data is available) 272,313 "pilgrims" completed the entire trek. Thousands more did portions of "The Way".

More About Me:

http://lonedakota.smugmug.com/Other/About-Us/17691766_PSMpW4

More About My Work:

http://lonedakota.smugmug.com/

Springfield Chair - The Back Story

 I recently posted the following photo to a group of which I am a member on Facebook. One of the comments was interested in the back story of the photo. I usually don't say that much about the photos I post, but this got me thinking it would make a good blog entry. I am WAY overdo on one anyway! Soooooooo....about the photograph itself.

© David Toczko

This is one of my favorite photographs. I was in Springfield, Kentucky covering the unveiling of a statue of Abraham Lincoln. It was an all-day event with bands and speeches....you get the idea. I took the opportunity of a break in the action to stroll down Main Street. Springfield is a quiet, friendly small town with a great downtown revitalization effort going on. As I walked and window shopped, I came upon an empty store front with this chair outside. For some reason, it immediately grabbed my attention. I loved the texture of the brick, the faded chair, the worn fabric, the iron work on the front door. As I stood there, I wondered how many folks had sat in that chair and who was the last person. What did the store sell and why did it close? What is a chair doing there anyway? Right then I had the final image in my mind, but it didn't come out of the camera this way. This is one of the photos I allowed myself to indulge in some artistic post-production work.

© David Toczko

 Here is the original image after processing the raw file in DxO Optics. The first thing you notice is that the original is a color photograph. I always shoot AND process in color rather than using the black and white option on the camera or creating a black and white when processing the RAW image. I do this for two reasons. The first is artistic. I think color images make better black and whites once converted than an original black and white. I think the saturation of the colors makes for stronger contrasts and shadows. And I have better control over the final outcome. The second reason is practical. You can always make a black and white from a color image...but not the other way around. Who knows what else I may want to do with the image....perhaps a HDR version....so start with color and go from there. I will say that I have been known to make virtual copies of images when processing the RAW images and apply black and white Film Pack effects to the copies whilst in DxO, but the original is always color. DxO has it's own set of great black and white film emulations, but I had a special look in mind.

                                                                                                          

© David Toczko

Now for the fun...ahem...artistic part! I fired up Nik Software's Silver Efex Pro, an absolutely amazing piece of software for black and white conversion in my opinion. I scrolled through the baseline presets to get a general idea what may be possible.I found something close to what I had envisioned when I took the photo and then began to tweak the settings. I was able to select from a wide variety of film emulations and adjust to my liking even farther.                               

                                                                                                      

Nice....but I want more. A little more grunge, a little more wear and tear. So back to Silver Efex. I applied another layer on top of what I had already done using a preset called "Wet Rocks". That gave me the look I was going for. I could have stopped here....and did for a while....but then the artistic devil on my shoulder said "Hey, wouldn't this look great in a sepia tone?"      

    

© David Toczko

Temptation got the better of me and off to Nik's Color Efex Pro I went in search of just the right sepia tone. With a host of options, it was easy to find just the right look I was going for. The quick preview feature Nik's software has along with a side-by-side before and after made the selection of the "Paper Toner" preset painless. A few tweaks to the preset for my personal taste and I was done. Again, the finished image that was featured at the top of the article is shown below.

© David Toczko

All images and text are copyrighted ©2011 David Toczko

Homer

© David Toczko

Sometimes the less said about a photograph, the better. Such is the case with this image I call "Homer" and I will leave you to draw your own conclusions. I will, however, give you the back story on how I came to capture this image.

I was in New York City a couple years ago and went to Washington Square Park for a day of recreational photography. While I was photographing the fountain at the center of the park, a homeless gentleman approached me and said, "Hey man, it's my birthday...take my picture". Not really knowing what to do and not wanting any trouble, I turned towards him and fired off a quick shot. As I started to turn back towards the fountain, he thanked me, saying he didn't know if he would live to see his next birthday. Well, I was overcome. I do not carry cash on the streets of New York but had stashed five dollars in my pocket in case I wanted a cup of coffee or the like while I was out. I dug into my pocket, handed him the five dollars and told him that was all the cash I had. He thanked me and walked away. I didn't get a chance to hear his story or even get his name. I resumed photographing the park and didn't give the matter any more thought.

Once I returned home, I started sorting through the hundreds of images I had taken during that week in New York and came across this photo and it stopped me dead in my tracks. I just stared at the computer screen with his image on it for what must have been a half an hour. I had to give him a name...but what? Since he was homeless on his birthday, I decided on Homer.

I have been back to New York several times since my chance encounter and have gone to that park in the hopes of seeing him. If nothing else to make sure he is alright, to tell him what an impact his photograph has had on me and others who have seen it and to hopefully learn his name and his story. So far, I have not seen him there. I will be back in New York in October and will once again go to Washington Square Park to look for Homer.

Pictures vs. Photographs (Part 2)

Now that I have you rolling around on the ground, it is time to talk about backgrounds. While a close-up always makes a nice photograph, having something in the background of the main subject can add interest and a sense of time and place to an image. Think about that family vacation. A tight head shot would look the same at Disney World as one taken at the Grand Canyon. Have the Magic Kingdom in the background and even Aunt Maude will know where it was taken. How much detail that can be discerned in the background is a function of depth of field which is a topic we can tackle in a future entry. The mantra here is that the background should compliment, not distract from, the subject.

© David Toczko

Take a moment before firing off that shot to scan the background. Is there an unsightly sign you really don't want in the shot? Are there strangers wandering about nearby that could distract the viewer? The photo above is a good example. I wanted the view through the window included to give a sense of place to the image. Scanning the background just before I released the shutter, I noticed a man and woman walking down the road. Having them in the image would pull the viewer's attention away from the chairs and the cascading sunlight to what was going on in the background. My solution? Stop...take a breath and just wait for them to walk out of the shot. Five seconds of waiting saved me untold work on the computer later.

Try to move the objects out of the shot if possible. Have your subject move slightly or you can reposition yourself to avoid getting that trash can in the family reunion photo. In a more kinetic environment, such as a wedding where you are so focused on "getting the shot", it is nice to have an assistant literally looking over your shoulder with the expressed purpose of being on the lookout for such things. Those flowers on the altar are beautiful, but pose a bride in front of them and they will appear to be growing out of her head in the final image.

Don't rely on post-production editing to do this for you unless absolutely unavoidable. How many times have you heard, "Oh, you can just Photoshop that out."? Editing background clutter takes time, a lot of time and in more cases than not, creates its own set of problems with the image. Take the before and after comparison below as an example. (You can click on the images for a larger version) There are a host of problems related to background and foreground with the first image. A woman is in the window across the street, a car is passing out of view on the street, an ashtray and traffic cone are in the foreground. What a mess! After about an hour of work in Photoshop, those issues were resolved in the second image. Take the few extra seconds when you are framing the shot and do "Pre-Production Editing".

In the real-time world, our mind focuses on the point of interest and we don't often see what may be in front of or behind that point. In the split second timelessness of a photograph, those items can ruin an otherwise wonderful image. We are working against human nature, but with time, patience and practice, this simple step can become second nature and will help create memorable photographs.

Pictures vs. Photographs (Part 1)

What's the difference between a picture and a photograph? It's difficult for me to explain the subtleties, but I know it when I see it. Over the next few entries I am going to talk about some of the things you can do to take better photographs.

In this entry I'll talk about perspective. Often times when I am out shooting I will meet other photographers. The first thing I do...I admit it...is look to see what type of camera and lenses they are using. That's a given and probably an unwritten rule (or at least a guideline) among photographers. With that formality out of the way, the next thing I look at is his/her knees. A photographer's knees should be dirty, the pants should be worn and even better if grass-stained. If this photographer with whom I have crossed paths has a dirty and/or grass stained shirt... even better!. This phenomena is due to what I like to refer to as the "Get Down" factor.

When photographing, you should "Get Down" on the subject's level. Regardless if it is a person, your family pet or some inanimate object, the perspective from which you shoot should be on the level of the subject and not from your comfortable standing position.

© David Toczko

Take the above photo of my dog Sam for example. Get in close, fill the frame with that image and get down on one knee or crouch to get eye level. It will make the image more intimate and interesting., revealing more detail and capturing the personality of the subject. This really helps when photographing animals in the wild. It may make you appear less threatening or at least less noticeable.

This photo of a baby goat was taken lying down. Yes, the grass was wet with morning dew, but it gives the viewer a better idea of scale when compared to the boards of the fence and really captures that "cuteness factor". The second photo shows dew drops on the bottom side of the rail and just how damp it was that morning. Had I taken those from a standing position I would not have been able to capture those types of details not to mention his interesting expression. You will also avoid stretching or distorting the subject, making it's head appear twice as big as the rest of it's body for example. We've all seen those types of pictures and while they may be amusing, they can be avoided. All cameras from point-and-shoot to high end DSLRs will distort an image to some degree. How much depends on the photographer just as much as the equipment. Camera lenses are capturing three dimensional images and converting them to two dimensions. They don't "see" things the way our eyes do. I'll expand on that more in a future entry.

The main point to take away is to be aware of what makes the subject you are photographing cute, or pretty or interesting and emphasize that in the image you capture. The dirt on the nose of the ground hog in the image below is yet another example. Had I taken the photo from a standing position I would not have been able to "see" that and his ears would have gotten lost in the fur of his head. His body would have blended into the grass and we would have lost that sense of scale relative to the log in the background.

© David Toczko

Wrap It Up

I recently evaluated a roll of Museo Paper's Maestro Canvas Paper and was blown away with the results using my inkjet printer. The colors reproduced were accurate and vibrant, the image seems to jump off the canvas with a three dimensional quality and the detail is amazing. Museo Maestro comes in both matte and glossy versions. For my evaluation and personal preference I printed with the glossy version. I won't bore you with all the technical mumbo jumbo about the paper here. If you want to know more, just follow the link above.

After printing the images, I had to address how I was going to mount and present them, I suppose I could have gone the traditional route of matting and framing, but this would not do them justice. My solution was a gallery wrap. While they have been common in galleries and museums for quite some time, they have grown in popularity for in-home presentation in recent years. The canvas is stretched over and around the sides of a wooden frame system leaving clean edges and corners as well as the image "revealed" on all four sides. Wraps come in a variety of sizes and thicknesses (how far they stand out from the wall) ranging from 3/4" to 4". My first attempt at wrapping was a 12"x18"x1 1/4".

(Photo Courtesy of Canvas on Demand)

Things I like about the wraps:

• The Canvas.This stuff is amazing. Not all images lend themselves to printing on canvas. Landscapes, animals and architecture look very nice on this media. Portraits would work in certain special situations such as a bridal portrait or family/group shot. While I really like how the original image appears on the canvas, special after effects can be applied to the image on the computer prior to printing that can give it the appearance of a painting.

• Lower in-place cost. A gallery wrap comes ready-to-hang. In most cases this can be a substantial savings over traditional framing.

• No special hardware required. Gallery wraps are very light weight. No need for heavy duty nails and hangers.


• Distinctive appearance. Gallery wraps provide a focal point in any room and any decor. In a traditional room setting they add a classic look and feel while in contemporary room settings they provide a clean, modern accent.


• Multiple panel displays. Images can be enlarged and printed on multiple panels. This can create a unique look on large wall spaces such as over a sofa. This also allows the collector to purchase panels one at a time if desired thus spreading their investment out over three or four purchases.

(Photo Courtesy of Canvas on Demand)

While I am not abandoning the traditional matted and framed prints, for those certain images and special applications, the gallery wrap is a great alternative.

Fog on the Mountain

This morning's foggy drive reminded me of a recent trip to Cumberland Falls. I had great plans to get up early and photograph the Falls with the rising sun in the background. Well...things don't always go according to plan. It rained the night before and the mountain was socked in with fog when I got up. Undaunted, I grabbed my camera and off I went. When I got to the Falls, the "awesome shot" I had pictured in my mind just wasn't going to happen. I waited around thinking the rising sun would burn off the fog, but to no avail. As I made my way back to where I had parked the car, I looked up river to the bridge that crosses the Cumberland river just above the Falls. There it was...the shot. The fog was lifting over the river but the mountains still obscured by the fog. I climbed down to the river's edge and fired off shot after shot trying various combinations of exposure settings. Here's one example of that morning's adventure.

This was not the shot I had planned the night before, but I have learned you have to take what Mother Nature gives you. And maybe...just maybe things will work out. Like the old saying..."When life hands you lemons...make lemonade".