Yes, there was far too much art during my quick trip to LA to squeeze into a single blog post. So here we are at Part Two, with lots of pics and commentary to cover a single completely and totally incredible collection of work.
Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me at CoproGallery
What happens when you mix two of my very favorite things? You get a really great art exhibit about the best TV show in history! Okay, technically, the exhibit on display at Santa Monica’s CoproGallery pays homage to the 20th anniversary of the 1992 film, Fire Walk With Me, released following the cancellation of Twin Peaks after its weird and wonderful two year run. The TV show was honored with a very successful exhibit of its own at Clifton’s Brookdale in 2011, and it seemed only right that the movie would get a similarly artistic treatment.
Fire Walk With Me — Martin Wittfooth
I was very much looking forward to seeing this exhibit, as Twin Peaks was most certainly one of my two favorite television shows (the other being the original Japanese version of Iron Chef), and the roster of artists submitting work included many of my favorite contemporary artists. The show is very impressive with a miniature version of the “red room” with clips of the film playing on a television, and music from the soundtrack piped into the gallery as you soak in various interpretations of the film’s characters, themes, and notable scenes.
There were tons of impressive pieces in the show, but I’ll try to touch on my favorites, one of which is Martin Wittfooth’s impressive title piece on the right, which perfectly captures a scene from the film’s title credits of a bird perched in peaceful contemplation between two distant mountain peaks. The subject matter was a perfect match for Martin’s style, and a great way to welcome visitors to the gallery.
Something In The Room — Glenn Barr
The exhibit is spread throughout the gallery space, from the entrance foyer to Copro’s two main exhibit halls. My favorite pieces were in the larger of the spaces, with new work from Chris Mars, Glenn Barr, Shag, Chris Berens, and much more. My very favorite piece was a large, ornately framed painting of Laura Palmer from Glenn Barr. I’ve always really, really liked Glenn’s work and would rate this piece amongst his very best. He does a superb job capturing the tormented spirt of the character at the center the film.
Another favorite was An Old Woman and Her Grandson by Shag, which sets two scenes from the movie in a forest of chopped trees. On the right are two of the more enigmatic characters from the film, an old woman who appears along with her grandson who wears a papier-mâché mask. On the left is classic imagery from the mysterious and otherworldly red room with Laura Palmer seated between Agent Dale Cooper and a Grecian statue. Shag has done a thoughtful job in choosing to pair these two scenes in a single painting, as there’s always been much Phd-level speculation in fan circles about the significance of these two scenes in relationship to one another.
An Old Woman and Her Grandson — Shag
One nice treat of seeing the exhibit in person is to finally get the opportunity to see the work of Chris Berens in person. I’ve followed Berens’ for many years after first being exposed to his work via online previews of his many exhibits at Seattle’s Roq la Rue Gallery, but I’d never had the opportunity to experience his ethereal layering of paint and cut paper strips up close. The technique is very impressive and brings an edgy sense of immediacy to the work that is pretty much impossible to replicate with a JPEG. I liked it lots!
Pale Moon Over Black Lake — Chris Berens
Other favorites included Chris Mars’s engaging portrait of David Lynch as Agent Gordon Cole (complete with requisite headset and cigarette), Esao Andrews’ White Horse, Nicoletta Ceccoli’s tiny acrylic demon, Lori Earley’s excellent venture into digital art, Annie Owens’ portrait of Audrey Horne, Dan Quitana’s Red Room, and Chris Buzelli’s faceless creep-out on heroin addiction, Laura.
This was one of the better group shows I’ve seen in ages, with work that has remained in my mind long after leaving Bergamot Station and heading back to San Diego. The show continues through May 12th, so if you’re anywhere at all in southern California you should head out to Santa Monica and see the show. And, of course, while you’re there, stop by the Bergamot Cafe and enjoy a steaming cup of coffee. And maybe a slice of pie.
Every now and then I like to venture away from my studio and head up to Los Angeles for a couple of days of pop culture immersion (record stores, art galleries, and rock concerts) and driving frustration (all the time in-between). Such was the case last week when I headed up to LA to see Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band at “the dump that jumps” otherwise known as the Los Angeles Sports Arena. It was a super fun time, and rest assured that I’ll have a complete concert round-up posted in the next couple of days. With the concerts consuming only three or four hours of sweaty exuberance each night, that left tons of time during the day to wander around the city visiting bookstores, music shops, and—of course—art galleries!
I took in a bunch of exhibits on this trip from Hollywood to Santa Monica, and I’m pleased to report that every stop was a feast for the eyes and an electric shock to the imagination.
Joe Sorren at La Luz de Jesus
Brothers — Joe Sorren, 2011
My first stop, as it usually is on an “art day,” was La Luz de Jesus on Hollywood Blvd, where two pretty awesome solo exhibits were on view during their closing week. The main attraction was When the Rain Comes, the latest spectacular show from Joe Sorren. Though small in total number of paintings, the half dozen or so pieces on display continue the legacy in oil that Joe has been building for the past dozen or so years. To the right is Brothers, my favorite of the new paintings and—of course—sold, as indicated by the little red dot in the corner of my photo, which sadly doesn’t do proper justice to the work. Joe’s paintings really have to be seen in person to be fully appreciated. I like the way that good gallery lighting plays off his layers of paint and glaze, so that each piece shimmers and glistens with life as you pass from one piece to the next. It’s a pretty awesome experience!
Scott Hove at La Luz de Jesus
Also at La Luz was the latest display of surreal bakery confections from the studio kitchen of Scott Hove. His latest show is titled My Own Private Apocalypse, and it’s a one room culinary school of seriously twisted cake decorations to hang on your walls and frighten parents dropping off the kiddies for a birthday party.
“My Own Private Apocalypse” exhibit — Scott Hove
What’s not to like about a cake to celebrate the…
Zombie Apocalypse — Scott Hove
Nice!
Though you’d really be hard pressed to tell the difference, Scott doesn’t really use sugary frosting to concoct his sculptured creations. The bases are made from wood and polyurethane foam, then painted with acrylics and embellished with other mixed media materials. The net effect, though, is that of a seriously disturbed baker luring unsuspecting prey in for the (last) meal of a lifetime! It’s really cool stuff!
Greg “Craola” Simkins and Johnny “KMNDZ” Rodriguez at Merry Karnowsky Gallery
Next stop on my gallery tour was the Merry Karnowsky Gallery on La Brea where I saw new solo shows from Greg Simkins and Johnny Rodriguez (sorry for using your proper names there guys… I have a moratorium on the number of quote symbols I can type in a single sentence). Both of these are strong shows, and well worth a trip into the art and furniture district for a visit. Simkins’ show Cloud Theory, in particular is very strong, with most of the work sold and, frankly, amazing. This was my first opportunity to see his elaborate paintings in person and I came away very impressed! Pretty much every piece in the show is thoughtfully composed, expertly painted, and purposefully conceived with consistent themes and clever motifs. Best, they just look really good! The paintings exhibit an inviting depth of color, and the drawings are expertly rendered. It’s no wonder at all that the show is mostly sold out (though a few do remain, so give the gallery a call!).
My favorites piece was Once They Arrive, pictured below. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any photos of the framed pieces in the gallery, as in the past I’ve been politely asked by gallery personnel to not take photos in the gallery (though opening night photos have always been allowed). In any case, I left the camera in my bag, so here are a couple of images from the gallery site for your enjoyment.
First, the 5 foot by 7 foot centerpiece of the show:
Gather Around — Greg Simkins
And… my personal favorite, Once They Arrive (16″ x 42″).
Once They Arrive — Greg Simkins
Also worth seeing at Merry Karnowsky is One Step Beyond, the solo show from Johnny Rodriguez. I enjoyed his collection of acrylic, ink, and mixed media pieces in the Square Gallery. Two pieces in particular were quite nice: Little Boy and Fat Man, which bookended one of the exhibit’s larger pieces, both of which are displayed below.
And, with that, it looks like I saw far too much art to fit into a a single post, so we’ll save the best for a post of its very own: Twin Peaks — Fire Walk With Me at Copro. Next time; so tune in!!
Last year, in the wake of a very successful and joyous celebration of Record Store Day, I wrote a summary of my adventures and exploits as I cruised around San Diego county in search of RSD exclusives. Once again, it’s time for my review, if for no better reason than to stave off the inevitable onset of Post Record Store Day Depression.
This year, I have two words that perfectly sum up this holiest of vinyl holidays:
Jayne Mansfield
What’s that? You don’t recall seeing Jayne Mansfield’s name on any of the lists of Record Store Day releases? Well, no, there sadly wasn’t a big, buxom, box set of 12″ Jayne Mansfield covers on 180 gram virgin vinyl (though, I challenge any specialty label to produce such a set!), but as I made my way into Record City on 6th Avenue in San Diego, I spotted an enticing sign just inside the door:
Well, well! Record City happens to have an excellent selection of vintage vinyl in pretty much every category you can imagine: Rock, Jazz, Blues, and all those obscure genres that happen to be a goldmine for use in my fine art photos—Vocals, Lounge, and Pop. So, after scooping up a treasure trove of brand new Records Store Day releases (which we’ll survey a bit later), I ventured off to the long aisles of waiting vinyl to begin the hunt.
Music To Remember, 1956, with Jayne Mansfield on the cover
And almost immediately, I spotted a 10″ LP with the unmistakable allure of Jayne Mansfield on the cover. Jayne was regularly featured on album covers during the 50′s and early 60′s—usually leaning forward in an oh-so suggestive way to better… uh…. Well, she leaned forward. A lot. But on this album cover, she was leaning back. And not just leaning back; she was leaning back and COVERED all the way up to her chin! Had I stumbled across a Jayne Mansfield album of Christian hymns?!?! No. Just a simple compilation of sentimental instrumental selections, so you get Jayne relaxing on a sofa wearing a frilly pink nightgown (of course suggestive in its own right).
20% off? Are you kidding? While my other Record Store Day finds and freebies will make my turntable gleefully happy for weeks to come, those slabs of rare vinyl pale in comparison to Music To Remember, which is now safely tucked away into my stacks of vintage vinyl to someday live a second life in the background of a new photograph.
In the next installment I’ll tell you about my Record Store Day shopping experiences at two of San Diego’s finest music stores, and regale you with boastful tales of exclusive new music, sampler CDs, and custom giveaway bags. Until then, enjoy these images of the used vinyl I found at Record City.
Golden Hits — Patti Page, 1960
Prisoner Of Love — Billy Eckstine, 1957
Night Mist — The George Shearing Quintent, 1958
And don’t forget… only only 362 days until Record Store Day 2013!!
I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t post new blog entries anywhere near as frequently as I would like. Ideally, I’d be blogging on a daily basis, sharing news about new photos and videos, art exhibits, great books, cool records, and posting articles that dive deep into my creative process. Trouble is… I have a difficult time churning out prose without laboring over every word, sentence and paragraph. Plus, just to make matters a little worse, I can’t… stop… writing. Simple topics—hey! I like this record!—turn into exhaustive (but still, of course, interesting) accounts worthy of a short chapter in a book.
Yes, it’s a problem, but now… a solution!
RIP Jonathan Frid—the “real” Barnabas Collins!
I now have a super cool Tumblr account where, throughout the day, you can find quick and interesting posts from me and the merry minions at Wind-up Dreams Central. Everything we post is, of course, Super Cool. Take, for instance this scary photo of the recently departed Jonathan Frid. Oh, sure… I could have dedicated a 4,000 or 5,000 word blog post on Dark Shadows (and, come to think of it, I may do that), but I could spend a week or more in Creative Writing Hell in an effort to produce a Pulitzer caliber post on campy daytime horror. Instead, as quickly as a vampire could sink his teeth into an alabaster neck… there it is on:
I hope you enjoy this foray into more frequent sharing of interesting things, and if YOU have a Tumblr, don’t be shy… feel free to reblog any of the images you find on Vintage Vinyl. We’re scouring the universe for cool finds to share with our followers, so let us know about your interesting finds!
Have you ever been to an “e-cyling event” in your community? Usually, these well-meaning events are sponsored by local high schools or community centers to help raise funds for student activities or other initiatives that benefit local causes. Basically, the event works like this: cars line up for blocks and blocks, each filled to the roof with electronic equipment that no longer serves a useful purpose. Volunteers work to unload the cars and trucks, transferring all the old TVs, computers, monitors, keyboards and electronic gizmos into Big Metal Containers to be shipped away and recycled. (Never mind that this equipment often ends up in third world countries where it is disassembled and chemically treated under health conditions that would never be acceptable in the United States…)
In any case, on the surface, the recycling of electronic equipment is a proverbial win-win! The local kids get to raise some much needed money, and homes throughout the neighborhood can finally get rid of that abominable 52″ plasma TV they bought 2 years ago, and upgrade to a 70″ model LCD. Bravo!
What a ridiculous waste.
It’s really rather shocking and sad to see how today’s electronic equipment is pretty much made to be disposable. Use it for a while… it quits working (or something even more shiny is dangled before our eyes)… toss it out and buy something new. Way back when every TV and stereo store had a repair department. Every city and even the smallest of towns had a “fixit guy” whose job it was to fix every day appliances and electronic equipment. Electric fan not working? Take it to the repair guy. TV acting strange? Take it to the repair guy. Radio sounding scratchy? Take it to the repair guy. Electronic equipment was made to be repaired, and repaired at a very reasonable price; not like today where the cost of “servicing your TV” costs nearly as much as a new model—hence, rendering what’s otherwise a perfectly good set (perhaps requiring a $19 part), disposable.
My Timex alarm clock — the ON switch is on top, on the right
Like most people, I have an alarm clock. It’s a neat little Timex with a small bedside footprint that has a pair of alarms and a bunch of other features I’d probably have to refer to the manual to fully appreciate. For many years I relied on my alarm clock to wake me up each morning at the ungodly time of 5:45 AM so I could be one of the first people into work and set a good example for all those I managed in my previous life as a High Tech Executive. Now, since I work at home taking photos of records and toys, I don’t really use the alarm, but I do appreciate two uses for my Timex: it displays the time, and it plays music. I especially like that second thing, as I can switch it on to listen to music while I read, and easily set a timer to automatically switch itself off after some period of time. Press the ON switch once for music, twice to play music for 90 minutes, three times for 60 minutes. I like to press it three times.
One day a couple of weeks ago I pressed ON three times, and nothing happened. That was odd. So I pressed it once. Still, nothing happened. I pressed the OFF button (which was stupid, because it was off). I pressed SNOOZE. I unplugged it. Plugged it back in. I pressed ON again. Nothing. I pressed RESET. Nada. I dug up the manual….
After a bit of troubleshooting I discovered that I could change the time, and work all of the buttons on the face of the clock. I could even set the alarm and the radio to come on at the appointed time. So, basically, the alarm clock worked… you just could not turn it on.
Even though I’ve had the alarm clock for 10 years, and long ago got my money’s worth from the purchase (I think it was $20 at Costco), it seemed wasteful to throw out (or e-cycle) what I viewed as a perfectly good alarm clock.
Why not fix it myself?
Fixing things really isn’t all that hard. You narrow down the problem (the ON switch appears to be broken), develop a hypothesis (hmmm… maybe it’s not making contact with a circuit board or something) , take the thing apart, and see if you can figure out how to make it work.
After removing a few small screws, the case opened right up
So, armed with a Phillips screwdriver, I went to work. The case came apart easily after removing a small handful of screws on the bottom and back. Unfortunately, this bit of dissection was not quite sufficient to get to the electronic components that worked the ON switch, which is tucked underneath the plastic top of the alarm clock, which otherwise revealed no screws. No problem; I soon found that the top was attached to the innards from the inside via a pair of small screws beneath a couple of circuit boards that no doubt operated the three buttons on the top of the alarm clock.
And out came those screws.
I now had access to the circuit board that is controlled by the top buttons, which you can see in the picture below. Each of the gold pads you see in the picture lies directly below one of the plastic buttons at the top of the unit. Yes, you see four pads—the two in the middle are both beneath the giant snooze button; I suppose to make bleary-eyed early morning stabs at the alarm a bit more accurate.
ON/OFF circuit board revealed!
The pad that works the ON switch is on the right, and as you can see from this closeup view there’s a little tiny indentation at the very center of the gold pad.
Closeup of the ON switch
I plugged in the alarm clock and pressed the indentation with the tip of my screwdriver, just as if the elongated plastic peg beneath the plastic ON button was doing the pressing. Of course, the radio did nothing. Nor had I expected it to do anything, as it was clear that the elongated plastic peg, beneath the plastic ON button, was doing its plastic-y best to strike the gold pad each and every time the button was pressed.
The problem had to be beneath the pad (or, possibly and hopefully not, along the maze of gold tracks that carry signals to other parts of the alarm clock).
I noticed that the gold pads were held in place by adhesive tape…. Seemed promising!
Closer still! The circuit point beneath the gold pad.
There, beneath the gold pad was the contact point for the ON switch. And with a touch of my screwdriver, music blared from my radio!
After a bit of examination it was clear that the gold pad and circuit were making physical contact when the ON button was pressed… they just weren’t making electrical contact. And in my experience, that usually means one thing: dirt. Sure enough, with a quick dab of denatured alcohol on the tip of a Q-Tip, I cleaned the contact, set the gold pad back on top, and pressed the pad as I’d done before.
Voila! Music!
I buttoned everything back up, put the screws back in place, set the alarm clock back onto my bedside table, and today it works perfectly!
Total cost of the operation: 20 minutes
And I saved myself an agonizing trip back to Costco to buy a replacement. There’s value in that.
Over the past few years I’ve fixed all kinds of things around my house: stereo equipment, the electric range in my kitchen, lamps, wall sconces…. When something quits working, my first inclination is to see if I can fix it myself, theorizing that: “…it worked yesterday, so there’s some logical reason why it doesn’t work today.” There’s also great satisfaction in fixing something yourself.
Just remember to always turn the power off before starting any repair!
My next project is to fix this 85 year old beast in my master bathroom:
Frightening electric wall heater that glows a fiery red when working
It stopped working a few weeks ago. But I think I can fix it.
Welcome to my third installment in this short series on how to create deep focus images using Aperture. Today we will finally get to all the gory details of dissecting differently focused photos to create a single image where every object in the frame is sharp as a proverbial tack.
Recall from Part 2 that this experiment resulted in 9 photos, each focused on a different part of the scene. From one photo to the next, at least some area of the image is perfectly sharp, while the rest of the photo may be terribly out of focus. Doesn’t it make sense that we could take just the in-focus parts, leaving out the out of focus parts, and construct a single image where everything is sharp and clear?
That’s just what we are going to do.
The Big Picture
Before we get started it’s a good idea to look at the Big Picture before diving into the details. We are basically going to constrct a jigsaw puzzle, where the “pieces” are oddly shaped portions of the nine photos we have shot. Our pieces won’t necessarily have the precision of a jigsaw, where edges align at tight, exacting borders, but they will cover every inch of the canvas and seamlessly fit together to “paint” the entire scene. Our eventual goal will be to create puzzle pieces like the one you see on the right, as transparent TIFF files that can be composited together using a third party application.
Analyzing the image and getting organized
Nine photos means nine copies of every object in the scene. For the photo we’ve been working on, Engine 316 takes a detour on the glorious path to the Hereafter, that means we have nine versions of each and every object in the scene—nine giant devil heads, nine bikini girls emerging from the earth, nine skulls atop the log cabin—but we really need only one. The sharpest one.
Every object appears in every photo — we have nine to choose from!
In preparing to slice and dice this photo into various puzzle pieces I first took a good hard look at the objects surrounding a given point of focus to determine which areas were in focus for that photo, and whether or not that object/area was in the sharpest focus across all nine images. For example, in the “puzzle piece” we examined previously, the AF point had been on the dress of the dancing girl. In examining this particular photograph, the dancing girl (of course) was in very sharp focus. And, as expected, many of the surrounding objects—those within the calculated range of acceptable focus (an inch or so)—were also at their sharpest.
A second very important consideration into building a focus stack is to understand how the objects in your scene stand in “z-order (oooo! ahhh!) relationship” to one another. That’s basically a fancy way of saying that some objects stand in front of others (e.g. the dancing girl on the right stands in front of the menacing devil). Understanding the three dimensional relationship between objects will help you plan how all these puzzle pieces will eventually be layered together.
Think of the objects in your scene as laying on a series of vertical planes or “focus layers.” The background is the farthest layer and stands farthest from your vantage point. In our example, the record album cover (Movin’ On To Victory by Tammy Faye Bakker) is farthest from the camera and—since album covers are nicely flat—is a layer all by itself. The log cabin is slightly closer to the camera, so it (and the figures atop and within) can be thought of as comprising the next closest layer. So too the large devil head which is affixed to the album cover using mounting putty. It’s a tiny bit closer to the viewer than the log cabin, and stands alongside a band of three merry devils, each roughly the same distance from the camera. So the devil head and the three musical devils make up the next closest layer. And so it goes as we inch closer and closer to our vantage point, identifying objects and areas of similar distance from where we stand as the viewer.
Why it is important to maintain background-to-foreground consistency will become more clear in a bit when it comes time to reassemble the image from all our puzzle pieces. For now, just plant the concept in your mind and hang tight!
In any case, after careful analysis of the scene and the photographs I had shot, I broke down the image into the areas you see circled below, as a means of organizing the work to come.
Breakdown of the image into similarly focused regions
I then created a folder for each area to be used as a workspace for generating the photo puzzle pieces, giving each a name like “Log Cabin” or “Devil Head” to help in identifying which objects I wanted that focus layer to include. The numbers that precede each folder name came later, after I had determined the back-to-front order of each layer. In any case, I now had a place to get to work!
Workspace folders for each differently focused area of the photo
Creating transparent focus layers using Aperture
As we saw earlier, our goal is to create transparent puzzle pieces. Strike that. We don’t actually want traditional puzzle pieces with hard edges that fit together like… well, a puzzle. What we want are pieces with soft, feathered, semi-transparent edges, so that the joining of two edges forms a nice, seamless, undetectable blend from one piece to the next. Seems like a job for Aperture’s adjustment brushes, which do an exceptionally nice job of creating soft, feathered edges.
Trouble is… Aperture lacks an “erase with transparency” brush, or any capability for exporting (or importing) images with transparency. That’s okay. With a little help, Aperture brushes can produce exactly what what we are after. The key will be to produce a mask that isolates only the in-focus portions of an image, then introduce that mask as the alpha channel of a TIFF or PNG file.
The steps for creating transparent layers using Aperture actually involve three different applications: Aperture, the Finder, and a third party graphics application that supports the creation of images with alpha channels. We’ll be going into each step in much greater depth than you see here, but a quick summary of process will help you see where we are headed:
In Aperture
Select the photo you wish to use as the source for your transparent image.
Export this image as an 8 bit TIFF to a folder on your Mac. We’ll call this your workspace.
Open an adjustment brick that you do not intend on enabling in adjustments made to this image. I use Black & White for this purpose.
Brush away the adjustment from the portions of the photo that are NOT to be included in your layer (i.e. brush away the transparent parts of the image).
Copy the mask file to the workspace folder where you’d previously exported the unaltered image.
In a third party graphics application
Details will vary from application to application, but the basic strategy looks like this:
Open the TIFF image exported from Aperture.
Add an alpha channel to this image.
Open the mask file we’d copied into our workspace folder.
Copy the mask image.
Paste the mask into the alpha channel of the TIFF image.
Save the TIFF image.
Voila! We have a transparent TIFF that shows only the portions of the photo we wish to include in our focus layer.
That’s pretty much all there is to creating a single focus layer. Later, we’ll combine all of our layers to create a single composite image with everything in focus, but first we’ll walk through the steps above to create a “focus mask,” finding the mask we’ve just created, and using that mask along with the original photo to create a transparent layer.
Creating a focus mask in Aperture
We’ll use Aperture to create the alpha channel mask for the transparency layers that will be applied to each of the photos in our focus stack. Generating a mask is really easy, as Aperture creates masks when adjustments are brushed into or away from an image. Which adjustment doesn’t really matter, as we only care about the mask Aperture generates, and we will not be enabling the adjustment after our brushing is complete.
I chose to use the Black & White adjustment brush to define my focus masks, as I don’t generally apply this adjustment to any of my photos, and the effect of the Black & White adjustment contrasts nicely with the areas you wish to mask.
Let’s go to work!
We’re going to create masked layers from each of our separately focused photographs. The first one is easy—the background layer, which doesn’t actually require a mask since it will lay behind all of the other layers, and—except for the image of the album cover—will be overlaid by all our other layers. All we have to do is:
Select the photo shot with the focus on the album cover and export it as an 8-bit TIFF image. Easy!
Let’s move on to something a little more interesting: the photo taken with the focus on the devil playing the yellow wind instrument. This mask will be used to create our “Devil Head” layer, and—as we determined earlier—will include the three musicians and the large devil head on the front of the locomotive. The mask will not include any of the imagery behind the devils, as that part of the composition will be in better focus in the previously saved background layer.
We’ll edit the devil-focus photo by adding a Black & White adjustment.
Enable the Black & White adjustment brick
Select Brush Black & White Away and use the eraser to brush over the areas of this photo you want to be shown in the final image. In other words, you are brushing black and white out of the in-focus areas of the photo. This may be counter to what you would have expected, so a picture will surely help.
Color areas in focus; black and white out of focus
The image above was exported after brushing out the areas of the photo we don’t want to include in our focus mask. The in-focus area that will form the mask is shown in color, while the portions that remain in black and white are masked out.
Wow!! That was easy! How cool!
Don’t get too excited…. This is not your garden variety brushing.
Brushing to create focus masks
The strategy for using Aperture brushes to create a focus mask is not quite the same as what you would follow to brush in an image adjustment. Typically, when applying a brushed adjustment to an object, I meticulously fill the object right up to its edge, then feather the adjustment just inside the borders. But, remember, we’re not brushing in an adjustment. We’re defining an area of the photo that contains sharp focus, and—the way the eye perceives sharpness—the region we define must include the edges of objects contained within, plus a little bit of over-brushing that will be helpful in blending this layer with those that will lie below. So…
Note!! When erasing areas for your mask, brush beyond the edges of the objects you wish to include in the focus mask!
Zooming the above image to 100% illustrates how each of the four figures has been brushed to just beyond the edges (click to view at full size). Pay special attention to the area around the devil head, where you can see soft glimpses of color beyond the edges of the object.
Zoom at 100% revealing brushing beyond edges of focused objects
Brushing beyond the edges of the target objects is further illustrated by turning on Color Overlay. Here, it is very easy to see where the black and white adjustment has been brushed away, leaving the primary objects contained inside our focus mask, plus juuuuust a little of the background.
Color Overlay view revealing over-brush regions around focused objects
Zooming even closer to 200% (the magnification level I usually choose for fine brushing) reveals the feathering that has been applied to the edges of the Black & White adjustment.
Feathering zoomed to 200%
Feathering is greatest around the large devil head, and less pronounced around the smaller, more intricately shaped objects. The more gradual the feathering, the more gradual the transparency will be for this layer when we eventually blend the masked image with the imagery that rests below.
One last view at how our devil brush has been applied; this time taking a peek at the image with Brush Strokes enabled.
Brush Strokes view
Ah ha! Looks like a mask, doesn’t it? In fact, that’s exactly what it is, and by examining the brush strokes we’re able to determine whether or not brushing is complete. Remember, we’re intending this mask to be the alpha channel that defines the transparent regions of an image layer. White regions translate to areas of transparency (i.e. out of focus areas we don’t want to see), black regions will be opaque (and in focus!), fuzzy areas will be a little of both and will blend with the layer below. Close examination of the brush strokes will quickly identify any areas that are not fully opaque or fully transparent.
Quick note about how Aperture really works!
Aperture treats the white parts of a brush mask as the area over which an adjustment will be applied, so the black portions indicate areas where an image adjustment has been erased. This is exactly opposite of what you find when looking at the alpha channel of a TIFF or PNG file that contains transparency.
Once brushing is complete, we can dig into Aperture, retrieve the mask file, and use this mask as the alpha channel for a layer that has only the in-focus parts of the photo in view.
Retrieving the mask file
Several months back I wrote an article on how to find and copy Aperture adjustment brush masks, and we’ll be relying on that article quite heavily to generate the masks we’ll need to create our focus stackable puzzle pieces. Where that post dealt with copying brushes from one adjustment to another within Aperture, here we merely want to find the brush mask file and copy that file so it can be used as the alpha channel for a transparent image file. You can read all the details here: Aperture brushes unmasked! Since writing that previous post I’ve since committed the task of locating mask files inside the Aperture Library to a Saved Search, which finds any modifications I’ve made today and sorts them by modification date. The most recent brush adjustment will always be at the top.
Saved Search for brush masks generated in the Aperture Library
There it is!
Even though this mask was created with the Black & White adjustment tool, it’s really our focus mask. And once the mask has been located we can copy the file to the workspace we’re using to build this layer of our focus stack. The Finder window below shows the contents of this folder after the mask has been moved and renamed, alongside the full color 8-bit TIFF version of the photo exported from Aperture.
Devil Head workspace folder
With both the photo and the focus mask safe and secure in our workspace folder we can combine these two files to create a single file transparent layer.
Creating the layer using GraphicConverter
I’m going to use GraphicConverter to set the focus mask as the alpha channel for our focus layer. I image other graphics packages such as Gimp, or Photoshop, could serve this purpose equally well. We just require an application that allows for the editing of image alpha channels.
The steps to add, modify, and save an alpha channel in Graphic Converter are not immediately obvious, but once you’ve gone through the process a few times it (like anything that requires computational learning) becomes second nature. We’ll go through each of the steps and illustrate the process.
Open the TIFF file (Devil Head – Full Color.tiff) exported from Aperture.
8-bit TIFF of original photo opened in GraphicConverter
With this exported copy of the original photo open, an alpha can be added.
Choose Add Alpha/Mask Chanel from the Picture → Alpha Channel menu
Here’s where things get a little tricky, as by all outward appearances there’s no change to the image you see in the window. Trust me, though, an alpha channel has been added, but we’ll need to ask GraphicConverter to show it to us.
Choose Show Alpha Channel in new Window from the Picture → Alpha Channel menu
The default alpha channel... boring!
Well now, that wasn’t very interesting, was it? Black regions indicate areas of full opacity, and in this case—immediately after adding an alpha channel to an image—the entire image is opaque. We want to change the alpha channel to reflect the focus mask we created using Aperture.
Open the focus mask (Devil Head Mask.tiff) previously created by Aperture and copied to our workspace folder.
Devil Head Mask.tiff opened in GraphicConverter
This looks much more promising! We’ll copy this image and paste it into the alpha channel of the photo we exported from Aperture.
Choose Select All from the Edit menu.
Choose Copy from the Edit menu.
Select the window that contains Devil Head – Full Color.tiff alpha channel.
Choose Paste from the Edit menu.
You would think that with the black mask now replaced, we’d be done. Not so! As things stand, GraphicConverter treats the image we’ve pasted as an opaque black and white image that sits in the alpha channel. Black is black and white is white, and there is no transparency to be had! We need to turn the opaque black and white mask into an alpha mask with transparency.
With the content of the window still fully selected (choose Select All from the Edit menu if that is not the case), choose Create Alpha/Mask Channel from Selection from the Picture → Alpha Channel menu.
Alpha channel converted to provide transparency
Now, if you switch back to the window containing the original photo exported from Aperture, you’ll see our focus layer in all its transparent glory!
Original image now transformed into a focus layer with transparency
We can now Save As this image back to our workspace folder as an 8-bit TIFF file with transparency. We’ll call it Devil Head Layer.tiff to identify it as the layer of our focus stack that has only the four figures you see above in focus. If we open this file in Preview…
Demonic puzzle pieces!!
We’ll go through the process of creating transparent focus layers for each area of focus in the original photo, generating images like the one above for each. Once all our pieces are ready, we can start assembling the composite image.
Constructing a single in-focus image
We’ll use a third party application to combine all of our focus layers into a single image that has every object in sharp focus. Lots of graphic applications are capable of this task (GraphicConverter, Photoshop, Gimp, etc), so choose the application with which you are most comfortable. Just make sure it is capable of managing several layers of VERY LARGE images. In the case of the image we’ve been working with, I ended up with 10 layers, each of which was in excess of 34 to 40MB, so the final image weighed in at close to 400MB before it was flattened into a single layer.
If you’ve ever observed the way an artist constructs an oil painting, you’ll typically see him or her first painting in the background, then layering in foreground objects from back to front as the objects move closer and closer to the vantage point of the viewer. We’re going to do the exact same thing in building a single image from all of our layered puzzle pieces. Remember, as we were brushing the original images we made sure to include detail just beyond the edges of each object. By layering from back to front we insure that the sharply focused objects of a newly applied layer will always lie in front of objects that fall behind. We’ll illustrate these benefits in a moment.
The process for combining all the layers in a third party application are fairly straightforward:
Create a new document window.
Set the canvas size to match the dimensions of the photos exported from Aperture. In our case, we’ve been working with 3888 x 2592 pixel images.
Drag a focus layer from the workspace folder and drop it onto the canvas.
Set the position of the just dropped image to the origin, (0, 0).
Do the above for each of the focus layers.
Finally, export the combined image as a single 8-bit TIFF.
Normally, we’d lay down our background layer first, then apply all other layers atop this background. It’s good practice, however, to first skip the background layer and lay down all subsequent layers, one at a time against a white background to make sure that all the oddly shaped “puzzle pieces” fit together without gaps in between. Let’s take a closer look at this process by watching a quick animation of how the layers of our sample photo fit together.
Now, a stationary look at all the layers except the background.
Overlay of all layers but the background. Any unexpected white space?
Where you see white space the background layer will show through when we assemble the entire composite image from back to front. If white space is showing where you hadn’t planned on seeing the background, it’s time to go back to the brushing drawing board and adjust your focus masks. In preparing the layers for this photo, the initial composite construction revealed slight white gaps between many of the layers; primarily along the surface and faces of the record stacks. To correct those problems I went back into Aperture to alter the Black & White adjustment brushes so that my virtual puzzle pieces would overlap and blend correctly.
In the overlaid image above, the only white spaces we see are intended to peek through to either the background album cover, or the light tent (which will be cropped out of the final composite image).
Strange but true phenomenon!
Recall a statement I wrote much earlier in this series:
…and because the objects inside the light tent don’t move (ha! we’ll see about that…) capturing the images would be simple.
Well, in assembling this photo I discovered that the objects inside the light tent did move! In particular, the little tiny Dia De Los Muertos devil on the left had moved slightly. So too had the large devil head on the left. When overlaying their layers atop the background I discovered that the edges of those figures in the background where “bleeding through” the feathered edges of the foreground layer. Why? Because I light my photos with 1,500 watts flood lights, and—even though the complete photo session lasted no more than a minute—the heat generated by that much light does not agree particularly well with vinyl records and mounting putty!
To correct these very slight problems I offset the devil head layer by one pixel to perfectly align it with the background, and I extended the focus mask around the Dia De Los Muertos figure by just a bit to obscure the offset image that had been bleeding through from the background.
As you create your own deep focus images you’ll want to similarly examine the joining points of your layers and make slight adjustments to your focus masks to achieve a seamless blend between layers.
So… how does it look?
Actually… great!! Yes, it’s a lot of work, but the results are excellent. Remember the complex puzzle piece we saw at the beginning of this post? The one with all the fine brushing around the dancing girl? Here’s a detailed look at how that layer joins to the log cabin layer that lies beneath.
Detail of the joining point between two layers at 100%
The layer blend around the dancing girl and the referee’s flag are perfect. Even at 200% magnification it’s very difficult to see where one layer ends and the next begins. Here’s a 200% zoom of the Dancing Girl layer, focusing only on the area around her outstretched left arm.
200% magnification of the Dancing Girl layer
Now, the same area of the photo after it has been layered on top of the Log Cabin layer.
Detail of the joining point between two layers at 200%
Even at 200% zoom it is very difficult to see, exactly, where one layer ends and the next begins, but objects in both layers are in sharp focus—which is exactly what we want!
Making image adjustments to focus stack images
There are (at least) two strategies that can be used in making adjustments to images created using my focus stack technique.
Individual photos can be transformed into layers (i.e. our puzzle pieces) without any adjustments, combined, then imported back into Aperture as a single TIFF image. The TIFF image can then be adjusted to create the final image.
Each photo can be separately adjusted, then transformed into a layer, with the final image composed outside Aperture.
I actually used a combination of these strategies in creating Engine 316 takes a detour on the glorious path to the Hereafter. Each of the nine original photos were given the same adjustments for Exposure, Levels, and a few other things that I knew would apply to the whole photo, independent of any single object or area. Photos were then individually adjusted where objects within that photo could benefit from specific brushed improvements (Noise Reduction, Colors, Vibrancy, Definition, Retouching, etc…). After the layers were combined, I imported the resulting TIFF file back into Aperture where the final image was cropped and a vignette was added.
The final result with everything in focus.
Engine 316 takes a detour on the glorious path to the Hereafter
I hope you’ve enjoyed this short series on how to use Aperture brushes to create deep focused images, and I hope you’re inspired to see what you can do to extend the capabilities of the tools we’ve been given to improve our photos.
Please let me know if you have questions. I’ll do my best to clarify things were I can!
[Updated 4-4-12 with a short note on focusing options]
In our previous post I presented a lot of background information about the process I use to take my photos, and a problem that arose with a recent session where the stage I had constructed exceeded the limits available to my lens to achieve satisfactory focus. To circumvent the problem I decided to experiment with focus stacking, and see if it would be possible to create a single, seamless image from a series of separately focused photographs.
Going in, I had it in my head that I would take 9 separate photos—one at each of the nine auto-focus (AF) points supported by my camera, a Canon XTi. Each of these photos would, therefore, be focused on a different area of the target scene, and (in theory) I’d be able to somehow mask and layer these images in post production to create a single image where every object would be in sharp focus.
Since I shoot my images from a camera mounted on a tripod, and because the objects inside the light tent don’t move (ha! we’ll see about that…) capturing the images would be simple. I used an aperture of f/9 for each photo, set the camera to auto exposure, and carefully reselected nothing more than the AF point from one photo to the next. While I could have chosen a larger aperture to insure even greater sharpness at the point of focus, I decided to go with the much more conservative f/9, as my lens works very nicely at that setting, and—fearful of going too shallow—I wanted a reasonable amount of depth at each AF point, which I theorized would make the post production effort to seamlessly combine the images a little more forgiving.
The image below illustrates the nine AF points as viewed through the camera’s viewfinder. You can click on the image to see a larger view and better distinguish each point of focus.
AF points using a Canon XTi (click for a larger view)
As you can see, focus points fell on:
The train in the very back
The woman standing at the base of the log cabin
The dancing girl on the right
The “lizard woman” just below and to the left of the dancing girl
The “scorpion woman” emerging from the records at the bottom center
The “snake woman” at the left center
The middle devil playing the yellow-ish horn
The leg of the woman in blue (Tammy Faye!) riding the train
The right hand of the girl emerging from the record hole at the center of the composition
Note that two of the 9 AF points fell on the record album, while none fell on any of the objects that were closest to the camera. This was an unfortunate residual effect of the stage construction and the vantage point from which I chose to shoot the photos. The points falling on the record album are on the same plane, farthest from the camera, so I’d only need one when it came time to eventually create my focus stack. The objects in the foreground that fall below the lowest AF point would be slightly more problematic.
The photo above was taken with the AF point set to the top middle, falling on the people sitting inside the train. It is worth zooming in to see how the image is focused at this point relative to other areas of the photo:
Left: Detail at AF point Right: Detail at foreground, far from AF point
At the point of focus everything is nice and sharp, while in the foreground 14 or 15 inches away from the AF point the image is unacceptably blurry. That’s okay, of course, since in post production the blurry part of the photo will be replaced by in-focus imagery from a completely different photo.
Recall that the objects in the foreground (like that very blurry “spider woman” above) did not have the good fortune of falling within any of the AF points supplied by my camera. We’ll pause momentarily while those of you with superior camera equipment snicker.
::: snicker! :::
There.
Okay, back to my nine measly AF points. To bring the “spider woman” and other foreground objects into focus I took one extra photo with the AF point on the “scorpion woman” at the bottom of the photo, though for this photo I set the aperture to f/18 to get better near focus depth.
Focus on “scorpion woman” at f/18 to bring foreground into focus
Though I’d wanted to keep the aperture constant throughout the stack of photos, I really didn’t have any choice on the foreground image, as f/9 would provide only about an inch and a quarter of acceptable focus in front of the point of focus; roughly from the face of the “scorpion woman” to the right (hidden) side of the “spider woman.” At f/18 I was able to extend the near focus to almost two and a half inches, bringing nearly everything in the foreground into an acceptable range of focus. Yes, by deviating from the aperture used in all the other photos I’d face some other challenges during post production, but I found this to be an acceptable tradeoff.
Note
It was my choice to use each of the nine AF points as the basis for my focus stack, as it suited the composition of this particular photo . You may do just as well choosing to use only two or three points of focus, depending on the conditions of the scene you are shooting. The techniques we’ll discuss in part three will work just as well with a stack of three photos as they will with a stack of 9 or 27. Also (and this did not occur to me at the time), I could have brought the extreme foreground imagery into focus my using the often ignored manual focusing controls of my camera. Tsk, tsk, tsk… I rely too much on auto this and auto that.
Stay tuned for Part Three of the series where we’ll dive headlong into the post production lunacy that is creating a single image from 9 separately shot and edited photos in Aperture.
