A Purer Photo (Photography Series)

Dennis Doyle "Ancient Bristlecone Pine"

A couple of days ago I stumbled across a photographer that had me reeling in amazement over his work. It seriously is not often I find a photographer that has such amazing work that it stops me in my tracks and makes me think about what i am doing with my photos. I contacted the photographer and asked about a specific shot that had won an award for non manipulated landscape. not only had he been in the top 6 but he had 3 images in the top 6. Pretty impressive I would say. That photographer is Dennis Doyle

Now before I start getting flamed by some of my fellow Photoshop users and those who know how much post processing I put into my shots, I want to say, my position on Photoshop and the plug ins has not changed. An awesome photo is an awesome photo regardless of how it was finished, although I will admit I prefer solid compositions over composites with the exception of HDR and panorama where the shots are all taken with in a few seconds of each other.

That said, after seeing some of these amazing shots it has caused me to think about what I enjoy about photography. Is it the experience, the creation after the editing, or the photo itself. And for me I would have to say it is a little of each. I love to see what I can create from a RAW file and how close to what I perceived during the moment I can translate through an image. I love the experiences and the sharing of those experiences with all of you. The closer I can capture in camera means less editing and more time in the field, it is important to me to get it as close as possible in camera. We all know that our cameras have flaws when translating our feelings, our perceptions, or even the full spectrum of colors we seen in the shot. Simply our cameras do not see as we do. They record light. that's it. So it is up to us to control how and when that camera sees light as well as how that light is interpreted. That's photography!

Dennis Doyle "Lassen Park"

As digital artists we have become accustomed to photographing a scene and then diving into software to make the image stand up and do tricks. Be it with mock filters (which really do a good job) or by completely changing the image as a whole. Many of you know I love my Nik Software plug ins for Lr and Ps. I have tried many others and for me there is no equal. So what about getting it right in camera? Is that the lost art? did it die with film? Yes I just said it. Film is now the niche market. Ansel Adams believed in a purer form of photography later in life. Is the pure photography of today even close to that of his time? I do not believe so. Like most things it has evolved to include filters but has omitted dodge and burn during processing on a large scale which was often done by even purists during the processing stages of film.

Dennis is one of those people who has taken a purer approach to photography. Maybe not in all of his works but there are quite a few in his portfolio that were done in camera using just ND's and polyester gel filters. Personally, I love the way these images were made and how they turned out. It shows a true craftsman that has taken the time to learn the craft. His combination of long exposures and filters makes for some of the most compelling images I have seen in some time. 

Dennis Doyle "The Waterfall"

While it is my opinion that using software to fine tune your images is a good thing, specially in portraiture, it has come to my attention that in many ways a purer form of photography would be a lot more satisfying to myself. Yes I use ND's now but not on the same scale as I should be. Also with the many options in ND filters there is a filter for nearly every situation. I actually have a variable ND as well as a 2 stop graduated ND filter. I personally would rather lug around the Lee System but for the money I will look to other avenues for now.

So why should you consider a purer form of photography? More time shooting and less time behind a computer? A different perspective to an old art form? Just to push yourself to learn a new way of looking at your subjects and maybe spark your photography in new directions? what ever the reason I hope you take a moment to visit his Facebook page and look at his work.

As always I hope you have enjoyed this blog. It is not meant to be a tutorial but rather to inspire new ideas in your photography. Thanks to Dennis Doyle over at Ducilla Photography for sharing his images and his thought process with me over the last few days.