Just going through the archive and I found some outtakes from a HDR study which failed horribly, but the images on there own are quite nice. So I took it to B&W as is my thing right now.
On a side note, HDR looks great on the web but generally looks horrible printed. Just a FYI to all the Flickr folk out there.
More of the Desaturated Studies I have been doing. I really enjoy those yellow trees peaking out.
A compositional study.
Though it was interesting to see these next to each other.
Here is a pic from this weekend up in Eagle Creek. Not quite a full B&W but I thought the hint of color is adding a lot of interest. It was also shot at high ISO which is adding some nice texture.
This also is the first post where I am consolidating the blogs to here. So no more Photoblog on it's own. I think having both of them in one should make it more interesting.
Drifting in Deep Waters Curated by James Luckett
Hmm, I seem to have missed this since it was a show in September, but I really like Jame's selection of photographs. There is a consistent tone and "stillness" to these images which I enjoy.
Modern fine art is a democratic milieu, offering a space and a semi-mystical aura to any loosely-defined perception presented by anyone anywhere who is interested in that place and that aura. And what medium to better occupy that space than photography, the most democratic and ubiquitous visual medium in the world, perhaps ever? Indeed, photographic prints, matted and framed, are quickly becoming a dominant sector of the art market, in both volume and gross sales, while on the Internet, every photographer has a direct and immediate international platform to display his or her creations. And yet why is it that such an egalitarian medium, and such an open discourse and market for fine art, have come together in such a way that fine art photography is so frequently dull and distasteful, so paralyzed by moribund subjects and forms?
I just spent almost en entire day discussion with my good friend why I hate Fine Art Photography so much. So it's nice to see someone a bit smarter then I write something on exactly this.
In his years as an executive at Blue Note records, Francis Wolff repeatedly called upon his earlier training as a Photographer to document a veritable pantheon of American musical wizardry. Here, in the first of three installments, is a sampling of that fearsome chronicle:
Found this over at If Charlie Parker Was a Gunslinger,There'd Be a Whole Lot of Dead Copycats and it just kind of drives home my thoughts about the timeless beauty of B&W imagery. The tones and intensity of these pictures puts 90% of band photography to shame. Look at that pic of Max Roach! That is classic cool.
Profiles of Creative Pros - The Life of a Photoshop Artist/Model | Adobe TV
Meet the new creative class, the retoucher / model! Looking to save money on your next budget? Look no further!
So I have been held to the grind stone here for a full summer. House, wedding and work, where did the summer go? With Fall finally coming around, hiding behind this summer heat, I am starting to think about shooting again. I am being drawn toward black and white work for the first time in 15 years and it's refreshing. Looking around and imagining how something would look is making me want to reach for the camera again.Something about black and white is timeless as opposed to color where your color palette very much defines a time period. It is also more meditative and "still" to me. The simplicity of a range of tones, the cleanness. Yeah, I need to explore a bit there.
Cameron Davidson and the Abstract Aerial.
One of my clients did a interview for the Induro blog. He like to hang out of helicopters with big gyroscopic camera mounts.
I'll stick to the dark basement myself!
Photography is about the art of seeing the everyday as the new. Everyone can see and more and more with today's technology anyone can take a picture. But the best photographs make you think, "I have never looked at that like this before." So keep looking.
A client of mine got 6 Honorable mentions and a third place at The International Photography Awards for 2009. On a side note, why yes, we did do the retouching. Thanks for asking!
LOL!
Lament for a Dying Field - Photojournalism - NYTimes.com
“The business model is not working today,” she said. “So without some changes, it won’t work tomorrow.”“The problem is that news photography is finished,” Ms. Riant said. “Gamma wants to go back to magazines and newsmagazines. We will stop covering daily news events to more deeply cover issues.”
The print world is changing dramatically, possibly dying, but something will come out of all of this. Crisis breeds opportunity. The first person to figure it all out will do very well.
Robb Long Imaging: My work on Project Runway Season 6
Here you can see a shot I did for Robb Long who is now running a blog as well. 3 part composite with a background swap if I remember correctly....
"For me, vision is an intelligent form of thought."
-Andreas Gursky
onOne Software - DSLR Remote for Canon DSLR Cameras & iPhone
DSLR Camera Remote is the next-generation cable release for your Canon EOS DSLR camera. Just connect your camera to a WiFi enabled computer and the DSLR Camera Remote software enables you to use your Apple iPhone or iPod touch to wirelessly adjust cameras settings, fire the shutter, review images, even get a live viewfinder preview. DSLR Camera Remote is a must-have for remote shooting applications like high or low angles, self portraits and children. With its advanced timers it makes remote monitoring a snap. No internet connection required!
I am so giving this a try.....
Thanks Brantlea!
So I received my Mini TTi and Flex TT5 yesterday and have been testing and testing and testing. Here are some pretty exciting results all shot at 1/8000th of a second! I am using Profoto ComPact-R 300r's with the Flex TT5 plugged into one of those with the Mini on top of a Canon 5d Mark 2 to trigger it all. Then just for kicks I put up my old Vivitar 283's with some old 1970's era Wein slaves in the mix as well. As you can see from the behind the fan shot, all are being captured at 1/8000th of a sec. Feel free to check out the files and see for yourself if you don't trust my screen shots. They are also on the Pixelrust Photostream as well if you want more data. There does seem to be a touch of fall off on the camera right side of the frame but nothing that is a deal breaker.
I was chatting with the esteemed and accomplished photographer Mike Powell (they won't know I'm lying Mike!) and his thoughts on it are that the gear I am using is crappy (thanks Mike you jerk!) which means the flash duration is way longer then with good gear. So the actual strobes themselves are probably at around 1/500-1/800th of a second in duration which makes it easier for the Pocket Wizards to be in the sweet spot during the shutter release at 1/8000th. Go go crappy gear!
Also, this fan is called "Finga Choppa!" for good reason. This little guy moves at a good clip.
Also, these are test pics man, cut me some slack on the crappy lighting!
Click on the pics to see them bigger.
[gallery link="file"]
I have been doing HDR work for some time now, but after this weekends studies I thought I post some of my thoughts on it. Here are some screen grabs of a side by side comparison between a 'conservative' use of Photomatrix and one done with hand masking. Photomatrix is on the left.
Notice how on the overall view you may be fooled into thinking this actually looks good? Notice all the artifacting in the views at 100%? To me, that is ugly as hell and not something I am into. Plus, the HDR appears smeary because of the slight breeze at the time. The plants move and the software can not cope with that. But this also brings up why I think HDR is such a blight upon Flickr. No one prints their HDR shots. They process the shit out of them in Photoshop and then post them with no intention of printing.
Of course, I could be dating myself by saying I print my work. For all I know, that is a very old timey concept.