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Home » Blog » Inspiration Creativity » MEETING YOUR ARTISTIC PURPOSE – THE CREATION OF FLUID TIME III

April 10, 2014 by Julia Anna Gospodarou

MEETING YOUR ARTISTIC PURPOSE – THE CREATION OF FLUID TIME III

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Fluid Time III - Two Worlds © Julia Anna Gospodarou

Fluid Time III – Two Worlds © Julia Anna Gospodarou

About meeting your artistic purpose. How I created Fluid Time III – Two Worlds and how to be your own self in photography

Hancock Tower, Chicago – Architects SOM

This is the 3rd part of my (en)Visionographic Chicago Story, shot during my workshop in Chicago. This is one of the tallest (344 m), most impressive and fascinating buildings of the Windy City, and one of the best subjects to shot for my LE Tilt-Shift Blur series.

My photography/art advice for the day:


 

***(beep) the rest!

If you feel that you are right, then you are.

(pardon the language)


You can read much more about this in my Guide to Vision™ and in my book FROM BASICS TO FINE ART – B&W Photography

What is The Guide to Vision? it is a set of 35 rules that I created, on how to discover your vision and personal style, inspired from more than 20 years experience I have in working with art, architecture and photography and also from the experience of many great artists of all times that were in the same spot before me.


You are the source of everything you create, do never forget this!


 

How to find your own style in photography

So, don’t try to copy, don’t try to emulate, it will not be “You” and it will be obvious it is not you. Just have a look around you and you will see who is expressing his own self in his work and words and who is just following.

There is nothing bad about being inspired, but do not stop there, you will lose yourself as an artist, you will miss your creative purpose. You may have just one chance to do this because life is short, it’s not just a cliché. Meeting your artistic purpose is also a question of recognizing the way you need to go and just following your path.

On the other hand, if you do believe in what you do, don’t care what others say, what others do, just do your thing. Follow your instincts and they will get you there eventually. Trust your logic and feelings and transform them into images, this is what art is about, being true to your beliefs and finding a way to put them out there for the world to see them. If you do this, you accomplished your mission in front of yourself. Even if no one but you understands the message. Be patient and go on, the others will understand too eventually. And if they don’t, then you shouldn’t care. Not many really understood van Gogh before he became mainstream, which was unfortunately after he died, yet he was one of the most important artists of all times.

You need to educate your public so they can understand you, do it without fear of not being understood. The history of art will understand you and this is what counts, not if X or Y understands or accepts what you want to say.

And don’t forget, this is a tough world, the world of art.

Especially once you reach a certain level of exposure. As an artist, you are by default exposed since you show your most inner self in your art. You couldn’t do your job if you weren’t, but that makes you vulnerable: of being critiqued, of being envied, of unscrupulous people using your work or taking advantage of your ideas without giving you credit, of being scrutinized all the time. I’m talking from experience here, mine and others’. But it shouldn’t scare you, it’s normal. And you should keep in mind that true value and talent, plus hard work will always prevail, will always be rewarded. So, trust in yourself and your art, go on doing what you do and don’t care about anything else!


You are the one who counts, because you have the vision that will become that masterpiece you have in mind… you are the creator of your “Mona Lisa”


Analyzing the series Fluid Time

The spark of inspiration

I started the Fluid Time series to put in practice an idea I had in my mind in a latent form and without really realizing it (as it always happens with true inspiration, it comes slowly…) for a couple of years already, and that came to me when I saw Cole Thompson‘s series “The Fountainhead”, for which he, in his turn, had gotten the idea to create it after reading the homonym book by Ayn Rand, book about an architect trying to find his vision and wondering if he will be understood. Even if this is not the most well-known series of Cole Thompson, for me it is his best. I think it’s there where you can see the whole artist Cole Thompson, more than in any other of his works. Just personal opinion, maybe I’m biased because I’m an architecture devourer, but I can feel these things and I know what I’m seeing.

To get back to my work, what I do in my series is different but in a way I try to do the same, to distort reality in order to find the truth. The way Cole is creating the images in this series is very interesting, I won’t insist now on the technique, but you can go read this interview with Cole Thompson and you will see what it is about.
What I try to do in this series is to use a tool that is not very much used in architectural photography because many say it denies architectural photography:

 

His Majesty, The Tilt-Shift Blur!

 

As a side note, this essential guide to the tilt-shift lens will help you understand how to work with this outstanding lens.

Ask whoever you want, they will say architectural photography has to be sharp. Well, I don’t care! It might have to be, but not for me. For me, it has to be what my vision says, and my vision says that in order to discover the truth, I need to cover everything with a veil of blur and leave only a small opening to guess what is inside.

Discovering “your” truth through looking at the world in a different way

Most of the times the truth, real truth, is not obvious. You need to go back to the beginnings to find it or you need to look at everything in a different way. This is what I do here: I go back to the beginnings (before architecture “had” to be sharp) and I try to look at things in a different way (trying to look at the unseen and unsaid things, instead of the apparent, so I can find the “real truth”, the real meaning). It’s an existentialist process for me and it gives me what nothing else could give me.

This is why I love photography with such a passion. Because I’m selfish! I need it and it helps me! It helps me get to know the world and my own self, it helps me have access to worlds that no one else can have access to, because they are mine and this is the only key to open those spaces, those worlds. I can’t do this as an architect, this is why I need both, photography and architecture, they complete each other and keep me in balance with the world.

Too much philosophy?…

Well, you know by now that if you came on my site, you will have to hear my philosophy. You took the risk, so here we are! Just pour yourself a nice cup of coffee or a glass of wine and let’s talk. The world lives in images but it lives in words too. So let’s use them! That’s why all this philosophy…

But this philosophy is just because I believe what I preach. When I talk about Vision, about (en)Visionography™, this is what I’m taking about. When I talk about the spark that art awakes in us, the need it gives birth to, the need to create, to put your soul and thoughts out there into your images, this is what I mean. When I talk about not caring about what they say – the way I started this post, this is what I mean: ***(beep) everything else! You are the one who counts, when it comes about your art. Do not give that to anyone else, because this is who you are. Stick to it and it will get you where you need to be. Forget about complicated notions and fancy interpretations, they are all fake, pretentious and shallow. They are for people with no feelings and real ideas.

What is real is simple and it shines by itself. What is real is what you have inside and not what you find outside. Use it and you will find the truth, YOUR truth!

And finally, a few Technical Facts about the image:

Technical Data

– Technique: T/S LE = Tilt + Shift + Long Exposure
– Camera settings: 393.0 sec. @ f/6.3, ISO 100
– Shot with Canon 5D MK3 & TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II
– T/S settings – 8.5 degrees oblique tilt at 45 degrees rotation, 12mm shift (rise)
– Filters: 10+6 stops Formatt Hitech Filters ProStop IRND

If you want to learn more about long exposure photography you can read my Long Exposure Photography Extensive Tutorial that is a complete guide to this fascinating technique, and you can also purchase my video tutorial Long Exposure, Architecture, Fine Art Photography – Creating (en)Visionography that comes with my 50-page eBook “Advanced Black and White Processing” where I present in detail my workflow for black and white photography and long exposure photography.

Black and White Processing with Photography Drawing (PhtD)

– LR5, PS CS6, Topaz B&W Effects 2+Topaz DeNoise 5 + Topaz Detail 3

I have to say that Topaz DeNoise did a great job in removing the noise from this image. I’m really happy with how it worked in this case, I was even wondering if I should process the image or not since it had quite a bit of noise, before I passed it through Topaz DeNoise.

I processed this image, just as I do with all the rest by using the method of Photography Drawing™, that I’m explaining in the post at the link and even further in From Basics to Fine Art – the Book, especially applied here to tilt-shift images.

This method is all about learning to see the volumes and learning how to show them so they look real, even when they are surreal. It’s tricky, I know it, that’s why I like it, but it’s very logical if you understand it. If you want to see how I do it, just read my Photography Drawing (PhtD) method. This method is very simple, like all great things, and it’s based on the principles of classical drawing in B&W that I practiced for years and I use in my architectural work too. If you are an architect or someone who knows about drawing you will know exactly what I mean.

You can read some more about this subject in the article I wrote about the 15 steps I follow when creating an image with Photography Drawing.

Topaz Labs 15% Discount for my students and followers

Topaz Labs was so kind to not only feature my work so many times and participate in my workshops, but they also gave me a discount code for my students and followers who are reading this blog and want to use the best software available in their post-processing work. You can use my special code JULIAG  to get  15% discount for any of the Topaz plugins, separately or the whole collection. You can use the code by ordering at this link. Enjoy!

 

FURTHER STUDY RESOURCES – FINE ART BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY, ARCHITECTURE, LONG EXPOSURE

You can find more resources about fine art black and white photography, (en)Visionography, long exposure photography and architectural photography in my extensive collection of photography tutorials. To receive my future tutorials directly via email you can subscribe to my website.

More about how to create fine art photography, from vision to processing and the final image you can read in my book From Basics to Fine Art – Black and White Photography, with co-author Joel Tjintjelaar and in my video tutorial Long Exposure, Architecture, Fine Art Photography - Creating (en)Visionography a hands-on tutorial accompanied by an eBook presenting my processing workflow, or attend one of my workshops.

Julia Anna Gospodarou - (en)Visionographer

Julia Anna Gospodarou Fine Art black and white photographer Julia Anna Gospodarou is an internationally acclaimed photographer, architect with a Master degree, author and highly sought-after educator, teaching workshops and lecturing around the world. Founder of (en)Visionography™ and creator of Photography Drawing™, author of the best-selling book From Basics to Fine Art - Black and White Photography , with high distinctions in the most important photography competitions worldwide (International Photography Awards IPA Photographer of the Year, World Photography Awards SWPA and Hasselblad Masters finalist, as well as 80+ more awards), widely published internationally in books and magazines, Julia is passionate about the art in photography and striving to spread it into the world.
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juliaannagospodarou

Internationally acclaimed Photographer|Architect|Author|Educator|Founder of (en)Visionography™|FormattHitech GlobalAmbassador|Fineart Prints|Workshops

Julia Anna Gospodarou
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_VIPA 2021 Jury_ I have the honor to be part of th _VIPA 2021 Jury_
I have the honor to be part of the jury in the VIPA 2021 Visions International Photo Awards that has just been launched.

I am warmly inviting you all to submit your images to the contest and I wish you good luck to win one or more of the awards. 

Exceptionally, this year the competition will be free as a gesture to help the photography community that was so hard hit by the pandemic. The jury is volunteering and we are all happy to provide our work pro bono to keep the photography community alive and give the chance for exposure to more photographers.

Looking forward to seeing your images. Good luck! 

https://vipacontest.com/

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Delighted to have won the Best of Nation Award for Delighted to have won the Best of Nation Award for Greece and be a Top 10 finalist in Commercial Category at WPC World Photographic Cup 2021.

I haven’t entered in photography contests for the past years after I had the honor to win the Photographer of the Year award at IPA International Photography Awards in 2016, but this was different. It was teamwork, and we represented Greece with my fellow photographers at one of the most distinguished international competitions, which makes me even happier to have been awarded. 
We are still waiting for the team awards. Wish us luck so Greece wins. And keep an eye on this space to find out the final results. 

For now, you can enjoy the finalist images at this link https://www.worldphotographiccup.org/wpc_gallery/finalists-2021/

Go Greece! 

Nikos Siamos Akis Douzlatzis Anna Pantelia Prokopis Manousopoulos Babis Tsoukias John Makris Nik Pekridis 

#worldphotographiccup #photographyawards #commercial #fineartphotography #blackandwhitephotography #architecturephotography #oculusnewyork #juliaannagospodarou
Fluid Time V – Aligning Paths The 5th image in m Fluid Time V – Aligning Paths
The 5th image in my Fluid Time series, shot in Chicago in 2013. 
You can find limited edition prints of this and more images at www.juliaannagospodarou.com 
I’m quite fond of this image, and I remember how much fun I had playing with the camera and the geometry to get a dynamic shot of the convergence of these 2 buildings. The image was shot with the 24 m TS lens of a Canon full frame. 
The particularity of this image is that I wanted to emphasize the composition's dynamism even more by using selective focus with the tilt function of the TS lens. One of the challenges was to place the area of focus in the right spot, given that focusing with the tilt function of TS lens is entirely different than the way we regularly focus. It took quite a bit of work and patience to get it right but it was worth it. 
This is one thing you need to have when working with the TS lens, patience. And the second is the desire to think out of the box and play with your gear. I just love doing that. 

#architecture #architecturephotography #architecturelovers #cityview #chicago #chicagophotography #skyscraper #longexposure #longexposurephotography #formatthitech #ndfilters #tiltshift #tiltshiftlens #blackandwhite #blackandwhitephotography #fineartphotography #mono #monochromatic #monochrome #limitededitionprints #Insta_bw #instadaily #architecturelovers #archdaily #photoshop #juliaannagospodarou #envisionography #photographydrawing
Fluid Time IV – Stopping Time This is the 4th im Fluid Time IV – Stopping Time
This is the 4th image in my 2013 Fluid Time series and it shows one of the iconic historical buildings in Chicago, the Wrigley Building. Finished in 1924 and built in the Spanish Colonial Revival style, it was one of the first highrises built in the area. 
Here too, I used the tilt function of the tilt-shift lens, as in all the images in the series, and it was actually a quite challenging image to shoot because of the intensity of the effect I needed, which wasn’t easy to create. But the more challenging, the more I love it. Easy images are boring, isn’t it? As everything that is too easy. :) 
You can find limited edition prints of this and more images at www.juliaannagospodarou.com 

#architecture #architecturephotography #architecturelovers #cityview #chicago #chicagophotography #wrigleybuilding #skyscraper #longexposure #longexposurephotography #formatthitech #ndfilters #tiltshift #tiltshiftlens #blackandwhite #blackandwhitephotography #fineartphotography #mono #monochromatic #monochrome #limitededitionprints #Insta_bw #instadaily #architecturelovers #archdaily #photoshop #juliaannagospodarou #envisionography #photographydrawing
Fluid Time III – Two Worlds The third image in m Fluid Time III – Two Worlds
The third image in my 2013 Fluid Time series. This is one of the most interesting buildings in Chicago, the Hancock Center. One of the things I love about this building, in terms of architectural design is that the structural frame of the building is placed exteriorly and not at the interior as usually, and it is visible on the façade. For those who are wondering, this x-braced reinforcement system allows for larger open spaces in the interior of the building which is why it is ideal for an office building like this, and it also allows for rising taller structures. When it was built, in 1965, the Hancock Center was meant to be the second taller building in the world. 
Like all the images in the series, here too, I used the tilt function of the tilt-shift lens, to focus on the relation between the 2 buildings – hence the title: Two Worlds. 
You can find limited edition prints of this and more images at www.juliaannagospodarou.com 

#architecture #architecturephotography #architecturelovers #cityview #chicago #chicagophotography #hancockcenter #skyscraper #longexposure #longexposurephotography #formatthitech #ndfilters #tiltshift #tiltshiftlens #blackandwhite #blackandwhitephotography #fineartphotography #mono #monochromatic #monochrome #limitededitionprints #Insta_bw #instadaily #architecturelovers #archdaily #photoshop #juliaannagospodarou #envisionography #photographydrawing
Fluid Time II – Utopian Connections Second in my Fluid Time II – Utopian Connections
Second in my 2013 Fluid Time series, this image shows the Prudential Plaza Tower in Chicago, flanked by the Prudential Plaza One building and the Aon Center.
Here I used again the tilt function of the tilt-shift lens, as I did in all the images in this series, to isolate different planes of focus in order to create depth. 
There are three things that you can use to create depth: composition, selective depth of field, and selective work with light. All 3 of them are just as powerful if used right. 
I’m working right now on finalizing a video course about creating B&W photography where I will get into a lot of details about these aspects and many more. If you are interested, keep an eye on this space and I’ll be back with more about it very soon. 
You can find limited edition prints of this and more images at www.juliaannagospodarou.com 

#architecture #architecturephotography #architecturelovers #cityview #chicago #chicagophotography #prudentialplaza #aoncenter #longexposure #longexposurephotography #formatthitech #ndfilters #tiltshift #tiltshiftlens #blackandwhite #blackandwhitephotography #fineartphotography #mono #monochromatic #monochrome #limitededitionprints #Insta_bw #instadaily #architecturelovers #archdaily #photoshop #juliaannagospodarou #envisionography #photographydrawing
Fluid Time I – Parallel Realities One of my favo Fluid Time I – Parallel Realities
One of my favorite series, shot in 2013 in Chicago – one of my favorite cities. In this series, I worked with the tilt function of the tilt-shift lens to create selective focus, a technique that gained traction among fine art photographers after that. Which is one of the reasons why I consider this one of my most important series. I believe what we do becomes even more valuable if we can not only express ourselves through photography, but we can also inspire others. 
You can find limited edition prints of this and more images at www.juliaannagospodarou.com
Have a great weekend, everyone! 

#architecture #architecturephotography #architecturelovers #cityview #chicago #chicagophotography #millenniumpark #pritzkerpavilion #longexposure #longexposurephotography #formatthitech #ndfilters #tiltshift #tiltshiftlens #blackandwhite #blackandwhitephotography #fineartphotography #mono #monochromatic #monochrome #limitededitionprints #Insta_bw #instadaily #architecturelovers #archdaily #photoshop #juliaannagospodarou #envisionography #photographydrawing
Happy New Year 2021! Wishing a wonderful new year Happy New Year 2021! 
Wishing a wonderful new year to everyone, filled with much love, peace, and inspiration. 
Yours truly.
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