I am Robert Reader Sr., and it is a pleasure to welcome you to my website, Robert Reader Photography. I hope that you enjoy looking around the website which is devoted to my passion for digital photography and Photoshop and most importantly is dedicated to my enjoyment in sharing my photography with others.
www.robertreaderphotography.com
Robert Reader Photography is the product of many years of learning about art forms, mechanical and architectural structures and design. I loved to draw. My junior high school art teacher entered my work into local art contests, which I won. In high school, I enrolled in drafting courses, and further refined my art skills and use of perspective. During college, I used my drafting skills to design an athletic shoe that a major athletic gear company later produced for college track and field athletes. After college, I became a real estate broker and later a real estate appraiser. After retiring from a teaching career that spanned over four decades, I focused on developing my skills in photography. It was during this time while I took pictures of homes and other buildings, that I became interested and reacquainted with art and design and subsequently, photography as an art form. Since my early days in school, my work has evolved into photographs with three dimensional and high definition resolution effects. The subjects are varied: landscape, cityscape, an indoor Photography, a beautiful flower with a bee landing on it, and others that helped me to express myself in ways that were previously unimaginable. I like very dramatic photos and I have a fondness for colorful images and surreal photographs.
I regularly shoot with the Canon 5 D Mark ii and the Canon 50D. I use the Canon 17-40 4.L, but my primary lens for landscape is the 24 -105 1.4L lens because it has more versatility. I retouch most of my photos from PhotoShop and I take them into Camera raw or Light room for final adjustments. My work flow has evolved a great deal from PhotoShop as I do 90% of my work in PhotoShop. My first step is to process my pictures in Photomatic or Nikefex, depending on what I am looking for in photographs. I then take the original photos and merge them into Photomatic to create one photo. Using PhotoShop, I import the original files and the Photomatic blend to achieve the technique called "digital blending."
I study photography and post processing more than 20 hours a week. I study Dave Cross to understand PhotoShop and how layers work. I use Scott Kelby, Robert A. Hansen, Mark S. Johnson, Gavin Hoey and Serge Ramelli's work and commentaries to develop my own work flow. I specialize in landscape, city and interior design and some composites. I enjoy editing photographs and retouching techniques. When I take portraits or landscapes, I love to convert them into movie like posters or surreal and beautiful landscapes. What matters to me as I design my photographs is the emotional impact that I hope to convey. Do people get something out of my photography? My art continues to evolve in new and exciting directions as I realize vast opportunities and novel technologies that presents me with infinite ways to express myself.
Biography
I was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, but later as a youngster, I moved with my family to Bakersfield, California, a small rural community in Southern California. I am a product of the local public elementary, junior high and high schools in the city. In 1969, I graduated from Bakersfield Junior College where I was a member of the college's Track and Field Team. During this time, I set the National Junior College Record in the Triple Jump. The record still stands at Bakersfield Junior College. After graduation from Bakersfield Junior College, I attended Oregon State University on a Track Scholarship. In 1972, I graduated from Oregon State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Physical Education, and a Minor in Business and Health Education. I completed a Master's in Education Degree in Counseling in 1974 from Oregon State University (OSU). I was a United States All American in the Triple Jump and I set OSU's Triple Jump Record which also still stands. I am a licensed real estate broker and landscape photographer. Several of my photographs have been published in "Capture Kern County," a book about Kern County seen through the eyes and lenses of local photographers.