September 2008 Archives

Peachpit Press

Scientific Imaging: Visual Data and Ethics by Jerry Sedgewick

In the world of scientific research, images fall broadly into two categories: the original image and the corrected image.

The original is acquired via an imaging device without any corrections applied in software.

The corrected image, often referred to as "enhanced," is often used for presentation and publication.

The distinction is crucial when suspicions arise about content in images.

Because images are used as visual proof of experimental evidence, certain alterations to the content may be viewed as unethical./p>

Jerry Sedgewick

Vincent Laforet

Vincent Laforet - REVERIE

This video was shot with a pre-production Canon EOS 5D Mark II digital SLR.

The files used to create this video were not manipulated in any way, only re-compressed for ¼ resolution display on our website.

Canon

Platon

Platon - Service

This summer, the photographer Platon took pictures of hundreds of men and women who volunteered to serve in the military and were sent to Iraq or Afghanistan.

He followed them on their journey through training and deployment, after demobilization and in hospitals, to compile a portrait of the dedication of the armed services today.

New Yorker

David Trawin

David Trawin - The Balloon Project

I wanted to take aerial shots over the streets New York so I spent the last few months designing, building, and rethinking of ways to not only get my camera up in the air, but to make it fire some shots when it was up there. 

David Trawin

Richard Avedon

Richard Avedon - Players and contenders

Richard Avedon was not so much interested in politics as he was in power.

His portraits, taken over 50 years, present a chronicle of America.

Simon Schama, who was once one of his subjects, describes the artist at work

Guardian

Zeitgeist Films

Tierney Gearon: The Mother Project

Tierney Gearon's photographs have been called manipulative, disturbingly ambiguous, even perverse; the London police demanded that the Saatchi Gallery which first showed the offending photos of her young children take the pictures down.

Tierney has always maintained she loves her subjects deeply and understands them better than anyone else.

How could she not? They are her family.

Zeitgeist Films

Kevin Scanlon

Her exhibit at the Guggenheim opens on the 26th.

Jim

Home Views, Bound by Ice or Leather by Hilarie M. Sheets

AT the age of 9, after writing a book report on Lewis Hine's images of child laborers from the early 20th century, Catherine Opie sat her parents down and passionately announced that she wanted to be a social-documentary photographer.

Hilarie M. Sheets

Karl Struss

Karl Struss - Pastoralist Modernist

Karl Struss was one of the first photographers to employ modernist compositions in pictorialist photographs.

The exhibition features works made by Struss during the period 1909-1929, printed in 1979, and individually signed by the artist.

Robert Tat Gallery

Via APAD

Jim

What You Can't See Matters! by Chase Jarvis

A talented photographer I know recently shared with me a blow-by-blow account of how tough he was with a client who was over-noodling his vision for an advertising shoot.

"In the middle of the shoot I told them where to put it," he said, proudly.

Chase Jarvis

Packing Your Cameras & Lenses Properly : Do Not Attach Your Camera & Lens by Steven Frischling

For some reason photographers like to pack their lenses attached to their camera bodies.

For some even stranger reason photographers seem to pack their longer, heavier, lenses attached to their camera bodies.

Why do photographers pack this way?

I have no idea.

Steven Frischling

Loren Worthington

Rolling F-Stop

This photography blog is designed for photographers with disabilities.

If anyone has ever tried to find quality adaptive equipment to allow someone with a disability to take photos, then you know how little is commercially available.

So I hope to invite any and all rolling shutterbugs to contribute a biography and share with everyone the adaptions you've made to your camera, wheelchair, etc.

Loren Worthington

Ramesh Raskar/MERL

The future of photography by Colin Barras

Photography entered the digital age in the early 90s and the resulting wave of technical innovation has put cameras everywhere, from satellites to cellphones.

But bigger changes in the technology are yet to come.

Colin Barras

PicLens

8 Cool Tools for a Different Photo Viewing Experience by Palin Ningthoujam

Sometimes viewing pictures in rows and columns can be dull.

Luckily, there are a number of services dedicated to making the photo search and viewing experience more interesting.

Here are 8 resources that provide a new approach to searching and looking at pictures online.

Palin Ningthoujam

Rafael Goldchain

Rafael Goldchain - I Am My Family by Rosecrans Baldwin

Say your family isn't very good about keeping photo albums—why not create your own?

Rafael Goldchain's new book, I Am My Family features the artist transforming himself into his ancestors to understand them better.

As his press materials state, "Photographer Rafael Goldchain's Polish-Jewish ancestors emigrated to South America in the 1930s, and many others perished in Poland during the Nazi regime.

Also lost in the turmoil of war and emigration were most of the portraits of his extended family.

When Goldchain became a parent himself, he decided to make up for this lack of evidence and recreate the lost gene-rations of the past, in the present."

Rosecrans Baldwin

David Skenick and Brian Valente

Panoramas: Getting the Big Picture

What is a panorama, and why would you create one?

Although panos have been around for a long time, advances in tripod heads and software have made creating excellent panoramas much easier.

David Skenick and Brian Valente

John Isaac

Digital Exposure Tips from the Pros

Mastering exposure is every bit as important for a digital shooter as it is for a film photographer.

Routine technical choices about metering, lens aperture and shutter speed remain the basic ingredients for a well-executed photograph.

But what if you're trying to capture a forest freshly covered in snow, or photograph a close-up shot of a bee crawling on a sunflower, or compose an image of the ocean just after sunset?

Outdoor Photographer

Wayne J. Cosshall

Canon 450D/Rebel XSi Digital Camera Infrared Photography Tests by Wayne J. Cosshall

For this test series we took a 450D out into the field with a tripod, cable release and a Hoya R-72 infrared filter.

The images below illustrate the range of false color you can get with this camera.

Unfortunately the hot filter in the camera is quite strong, and so your full sun exposures lie in the 30 seconds at f4 and 100ISO area.

With an R-72 filter and this camera there is roughly a two stop exposure difference between the red channel and the green/blue channels.

Wayne J. Cosshall

David Getzschman

10 Things You Should Know About Stock Photography

If you work at your craft, and produce good work, then there is inherent value in the work.

Don't succumb to downward pricing pressure, or the ego boost of selling an image for $1.

Your pictures are good.

They are better than the average person's.

Don't sell them for less than average prices.

PhotoShelter.com

Jörg Colberg

The Pitfalls of Self-Published Books

Given all the brouhaha over self-published books (or, more accurately, books on demand) I thought I'd give it a shot myself.

I have been taking Polaroids for quite a few years now, and finding them sit in some box somewhere the other day I thought I might as well take the best ones (my personal favourites that is) and compile them into a little book, just for my own entertainment and maybe to give it away to close friends.

Jörg Colberg

Kevin P. Casey

Ken Rockwell has many articles on using older lenses.

Jim

Vintage Lenses on Digital Cameras by Russ Juskalian

ALL Shawn McCully wanted was a lens for his digital single-lens reflex camera.

Little did he know, he was searching for the holy grail of amateur photography — and hoping to do it on the cheap.

Russ Juskalian

Arthur Elgort

Oh the Outrage! Representing Poverty in India by Jim Johnson

I've not posted on the bankruptcy of fashion photography for some time.

And I thought I might let the latest round of despicable behavior go without comment.

Unfortunately, the situation is too egregious to skip over.

Jim Johnson

Lillian Bassman

Master Lillian Bassman by James Crump

Few events in the history of fashion photography rival the serendipitous reemergence of images by legendary photographer and art director Lillian Bassman in the early 1990s.

James Crump

Baron Adolphe de Meyer

Art: A Fashion History by Jean-Jaques Naudet

Fashion photographers are tastemakers and workhorses, artists and salesmen.

Their imagery reflects the culture they work in, but there is no denying their influence in shaping culture as well.

Jean-Jaques Naudet

Richard Avedon

Matthew Rolston's Inspirations: Fashion by Matthew Rolston

Are fashion photographs honest?

That depends on what you mean by honesty.

Matthew Rolston

You Don't Need a Master's Degree to Understand Photography by John Harrington

One of the common refrains I hear from my interns is that their college was a waste, and that real-world experiences far better prepare them for the world of freelance photography.

I can see their point, and understand that, to a degree, it may be true.

But that degree is still worth a great deal.

John Harrington

Six Tips for Growing Your Photography Business by Heather S. Hughes

No matter how great you are as a photographer, you have to take certain steps to attract and maintain business.

When I started photographing weddings five years ago as a sideline to my newspaper job, my marketing plan consisted of uploading photos to my Web site and waiting for the phone calls to roll in.

Since then, I've learned enough about marketing to build a full-time business.

Here are six tips for growing your business based on my experiences.

Heather S. Hughes

Yana Paskova

Isabelle Erb - At 17, Jostling for the Runway, From Behind the Lens by Susan Dominus

If it wasn't for the pizza that some vendor sold in the main tent at Bryant Park during Fashion Week a decade ago, Isabelle Erb, who turned 17 on Saturday, might never have developed an abiding interest in fashion photography.

Susan Dominus

Mark Alberhasky

Minding Your Muse by Mark Alberhasky

I've written before about the challenge of finding great subjects for photographs.

As an obstacle never completely mastered, I figure it's worthy of space as often as I can rethink it.

Mark Alberhasky

Kerry Leibowitz

Non-photographers Say the Darndest Things by Kerry Leibowitz

At various points when photographing in the field I'm sure we've all run into our share of characters.

I know I have.

In fact, I think I've run into more than my share.

Some of these folks have been photographers themselves, but for some reason, the most memorable encounters I've had in the field have been with non-photographers.

I always try to be pleasant and I'm usually happy to engage these folks, as long as I'm not deeply involved with the subject matter.

Sometimes, however, this isn't as easy as it seems.

I've compiled a diary of my favorite in-field experiences

Kerry Leibowitz

R.J. Evans

R.J. Evans - Violent Death in the Insect World: Stunning Photography

Death in the domain of the insects can be swift and cruel but retains a magnificence and beauty that is somehow at odds with the brutality of what is happening.

Take a look at this collection of awesome photographs and see whether or not you agree - but beware! This is not for the squeamish!

R.J. Evans

Leslie Alsheimer

Photoshop Toning Techniques by Leslie Alsheimer

Most traditional photographers will be familiar with the range of aesthetically pleasing toners available in the wet darkroom, as well as their ability to infuse images with subtle, and more evocative moods.

Traditional photographic prints have been toned since their beginnings for archival stability purposes and creative interpretation.

Selenium, sepia, brown, copper, gold and blue toners are but a few of the time honored chemical processes for achieving tonal variations in prints.

With the dawning of the digital age, we can now not only emulate the toning of traditional processes, but also utilize a whole new spectrum of toning possibilities never before possible; creating unique and wonderful new effects in the print-making process.

Leslie Alsheimer

Graphics.com

Photoshop Fundamentals: Create a Blueprint Effect

Tim Gasperak

Tim Gasperak - Iceland

Laura Peters

Laura Peters - Behind the Last Closed Door

Photographer Laura Peters went behind the scenes at mortuaries, funeral parlours and crematoria to find out about the 'death industry'.

Guardian

Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious

Roger Ebert - How to read a movie

I've mentioned from time to time the "shot at a time" sessions I do at film festivals and universities, sifting through a film with the help of the audience.

The e-mails I receive indicate this is perceived as some kind of esoteric exercise.

Actually, it's something anyone can do, including you, and you don't need to be an expert, because the audience, and the film itself, are your most helpful collaborators.

Roger Ebert

John Shimon & Julie Lindemann

Wisconsin Photographers Confront Portraiture

Wisconsin photographers John Shimon & Julie Lindemann make use of antique cameras, modern lens technology, artificial light, and contemporary pop culture to create portraits of the people in their native state.

This exhibition juxtaposes 43 of their original photographs and a multimedia installation with 54 portraits from the Museum's Collection (including daguerreotype portraits, as well as photographs by Alfred Stieglitz, Diane Arbus, Sally Mann, and Larry Clark, among others) to present new perspectives on one of the oldest artistic genres—portraiture.

Milwaukee Art Museum

Brittny Badger

Brittny Badger - Inner State of Things by Rosecrans Baldwin

Brittny Badger's series of disassembled appliances is a delight: a study in how the inner materials of, for example, an ordinary coffee maker can become abstract art.

It's not too far removed from what Kent Rogowski did to a bunch of stuffed animals, though geared more to the graphic design set, or those of us who love grids and graph paper.

As Badger notes below, "I am interested in the idea of viewing everyday objects from a completely different perspective."

Rosecrans Baldwin

Bohm & Marrazzo

Bohm & Marrazzo Bring Digital To Kids And Pets; Shooting Indoors And Out Requires A Flexible Approach by Jack Neubart

Twenty years in business together, the team of Bohm-Marrazzo (Montclair, New Jersey— www.bohm-marrazzo.com) comes well equipped to tackle the challenge of photographing kids and animals for their advertising clients.

Experience has taught them to incorporate these highly animated subjects into the picture to make an even more impactful statement about a product, service, or institution and appeal to the consumer on a more personal level.

They've developed this into a niche market, even though they continue to photograph people and products without these lively "accessories."

Jack Neubart

Andarge Asfaw

Also go to Ethiopia from the Heart.

Jim

Interview: A Green Photographer With His Lens on Ethiopia by Tadias Staff

When Andarge Asfaw returned to his childhood home, Ethiopia, he had not been there for 27 years.

What he experienced and photographed upon his initial return pushed him to get more involved in environmental work, and to use photography as his tool of choice.

Tadias Staff

Red Scarlet

Understanding Video: A Video Primer for Photographers

The world of image recording seems to consist of two isolated realities - video and still photography.

Though they are similar in many ways they are worlds apart in others.

But these seemingly irreconcilable worlds are converging, and I have already written on these pages about this convergence.

Nikon's announcement of the D90 in late August - the world's first DSLR with video capability - just confirms that the worlds of still photography and video are on an inevitable collision course - at last insofar as equipment goes.

Luminous Landscape

Curtis Mann

Jim

A Conversation with Curtis Mann by Jörg Colberg

If further proof was needed that it's not the tools that produce art, but the vision of the artist, Curtis Mann's work would provide a good example.

I had long wanted to talk to him about his work, and I finally got the chance to do so.

Jörg Colberg

Joel Rosen

File naming and tagging your digital photos by Joel Rosen

It may be because I am such a geek, but the whole idea of organizing and tagging my photos is a big area of concern for me.

I've actually found myself awake in the middle of the night, thinking through the pros and cons of various issues associated with my photo archives.

Yes, you should pity me.

Joel Rosen

Gabriel Mott

Also go to Light, Color, Perception, & Optics.

Jim

Color Is Relative : Art Gabriel Mott : Interpretation of Dick Nelson

When you move your mouse over the individual swatches, the background of the webpage changes to that color. As you move the mouse around to each swatch, you can see halations in the swatches.

The colors seem to change in the matrix as the background changes. The lower set of four boxes, is the same swatch set as the middle of the matrix above.

Gabriel Mott

Auguste Léon

Edwardians In Colour

Edwardians in Colour: The Wonderful World of Albert Kahn

Cenci Goepel & Jens Warnecke

Also go to Painting with Light.

Jim

Cenci Goepel & Jens Warnecke - Lightmark

BoxCameras.com

A DSLR Catechism by Dean Allen

Which lens is best to have on hand?

The one at home.

Dean Allen