Stroll Through Spring
A view of the patio of the Richmond Hill Inn, which was destroyed by fire in 2009. I had been there as part of an assignment for an Arts & Crafts course dur...
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A view of the patio of the Richmond Hill Inn, which was destroyed by fire in 2009. I had been there as part of an assignment for an Arts & Crafts course during the spring of my Junior year at UNC-Asheville, and following the disaster have preserved my shots of the location to preserve its beauty.
Photo © Jeffrey DeCristofaro 2007.
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Photo © Jeffrey DeCristofaro 2007.
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May, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This was a view of the gardens behind the Richmond Hill Inn in Asheville, North Carolina during the spring of April 2007. I had gone there as part of a assignment for a UNC-Asheville arts and crafts course I was taking as a junior undergrad. The cherry blossoms at this time had fully bloomed and were about to drop off. Two years later the entire estate was tragically destroyed in a fire (the cause of which is unknown) - this photo, along with several others I had taken, are now all that remain of the historic location and my experiences there. I have already submitted them to Ramsey Library as part of its City of Asheville historic preservation program and still have the original files intact.Time
This was during the early afternoon - the sun was directly overhead.Lighting
I prefer to use natural lighting, which is easier to adjust in post-processing. Also, natural lighting works particularly well in fully-developed seasonal settings, with the exception of winter - it helps to capture the colors just right while maintaining the original properties of the objects caught on-camera. I can use artificial lighting for studio settings, but even then I would like to make it look like natural lighting was used so the photo doesn't look artificial to begin with. I also prefer natural settings to studios - outdoor panoramic and portrait shots allow for the proper balance of lighting with foreground, background and subject details.Equipment
Kodak CX7430 Zoom Digital Camera. This shot was taken long before I moved to point-and-shoot and professional-type DSLR Hi-Def equipment.Inspiration
I like pictures that have the composition and poetry of canvas paintings, particularly the ones I used to learn about from reading in school, or from going to art and art history museums, so I made it a rule to shoot like I was painting - properly balanced composition, lighting, focus, etc. Also, when shooting I like to try to find a shot that needs minimal post processing, as though I were a painter who was doing the proper brush strokes on a canvas and had to get it right the first time, with minimal touch-ups over botched spots.Editing
Merely toned the highlights down to enhance both foreground and background details.In my camera bag
Before, when I took this photo, I had to have one camera in a small blue pack worn around my shoulder, with extra cards and disposable batteries. Now that I am moving up to pro-level, I like to have my Nikon D7100 with three lenses. extra cards ranging from 32 to 64 GB each, microfiber cloths, my point-and-shoot Canon SX40 camera for back-up (whenever I have to use my Nikon for video while shooting stills or have to shoot stills using two cameras simultaneously), a tripod, and extra batteries along with charger. I also make it a rule to have a far-shooting lens (55-300mm) attached to my camera, so that if I saw something far away while driving, I could stop and shoot without having to change lenses.Feedback
Don't shoot, paint! What really makes a photo stand out is if it has the qualities of the canvas paintings of all pre-photography eras, particularly the works of the old Masters. You need to have good lighting, composition, timing... and no shortage of detail in your photography! Once you see something that stands out from the rest, and can capture it in a way that makes the scene stand out from other photos, you have to try to keep the original captured shot as you found it, with minor or no adjustment to the original image as a challenge in your craft.
