ABSTRACT PHOTOGRAPHY TUTORIAL – Using A Cheese Grater

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In this Visual Art Photography tutorial Ray Scott shows you that a common kitchen tool such as a cheese grater can be used to make an interesting photograph. Making what could be considered a surreal picture couldn’t be easier with him using Adobe Photoshop CS6 and Color Efex Pro 4 from the Nik Collection from Google. Macro photography with abstract overtones is what happens in this tutorial. It’s photography 101 and more.

When in studio or in the field Ray uses Canon gear. This is a choice he made years ago knowing that he was buying into a system that he could grow into. His go to camera is the Canon EOS 6D with the second camera being a Canon 5D. Lenses used are all L series f/4 except for the 50mm macro with extender. 16-35mm f/4L, 24-105mm f/4L, and 70-200mm f/4L round out the kit which is carried about with either a Lowepro Urban Reporter 250 messenger bag for city shooting or a Lowepro Sling Bag for landscape field work. While Ray does more camera handholding than before due to the image stabilization capabilities of his various lenses, he still is a believer in using his Manfrotto carbon fibre tripod. It’s light and it is sturdy.

Ray is a firm believer in exposing himself to as much photography and its history as possible. By looking at other people’s photos, he has gained a big appreciation of what this medium has to offer. Ray doesn’t think that “copying” someone else’s style is a good thing but rather feels that exposing oneself to others work can work as a teaching and inspirational tool. With this in mind, Ray has amassed a list of favorite photographers that he uses for inspiration. Some of these artistic photographers are Galen Rowell, Ansel Adams, Frans Lanting, Annie Leibovitz, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, Freeman Patterson, William Neil and Richard Avedon.

One of the playlists on this channel is called “neighbourhood photographer” which covers tutorials shot in neighbourhood areas. It’s always a challenge to see different things of interest when you’ve been to an area many times yet this is the best way to create good images. You need to return to familiar locations many times. To do so, Ray often drives by car to an area but when he really wants to cover ground yet see things more clearly, he uses his bicycle…bike…and explores the given place.

Whether shooting landscape, macro, portrait or abstract images, Ray always tries to be aware of his surroundings to capture the best pictures possible. Part of this workflow means he is very aware of composition and uses various tips, such as the rule of thirds, as a good starting point in composing. He also likes to break rules from time to time to add new effects to his photos. Being aware of angles, shadows, shapes, lines, textures and colours goes a long way to making good pictures. He is also a big believer in “getting out there” and shooting as much as possible as it is the only way to improve and flex one’s imagination. His message is it doesn’t matter if you do your photography in the city, suburbs country, mountains or by the sea, just make sure you do it and follow your artistic passion.

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13 Comments
  1. B2AK music gallery says

    Fantastic

  2. Lisa Longo says

    just found your channel and I love it!

  3. Diana Ludwigs says

    I love the result and would also like to try it. I am relatively new to photography and would like to know how the setup was? How does one shot the grater and where is the blanket. I would appreciate your response. thanks.

  4. Isaac Moscovich says

    Awesome! Thank you!

  5. Brett and Evalien Sutcliffe says

    Is it possible to achieve a similar effect(s) in real time photography without the computer programs (i.e. through experimentation, with reflection of colors & other physical extras) when taking the photo?

  6. Asad Naeem says

    This man gets old he's gonna sound like Morgan Freeman. 😂 loved the video

  7. Mauricio Hernández says

    that's not an ugly blanket, that's a "zarape", which is a mexican traditional blanket.

  8. Rrrose Carbinela says

    It's a serape from Mexico or Guatemala. I don't think it's ugly. 🙂

  9. Mohammad Abdulshakur says

    You have some crazy ideas man! Love them! 👌

  10. GENO says

    You have some great instructional videos……..that's how I see it!

  11. PhilipReesMelody says

    As a painter, it would be fun to create stuff like this and use it to inspire new work. I like the blanket btw.

  12. E.L. Bl/Du says

    Oh I  DO LOVE that idea!  That blanket would work very well for oil and water light painting!  Are you in photoshop with the google add on?  Or just in google with the plug in "Pro 4"  (I just got a big girl computer and trying to sort it all out)

  13. burstmyballoon says

    I like that blanket

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