October 2008 Archives

New York Times

Also go to Scanning Negatives & Slides.

Jim

Turning Old Slides and Negatives Into Digital Memories by Azadeh Ensha

Preserving memories made in the digital age is easy and inexpensive.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about that pile of slides and negatives from your 1984 Halloween party.

Azadeh Ensha

Corinne May Botz

Corinne May Botz - Haunted House

The photographs were taken in houses throughout the United States where ghosts were reported.

They explore the home and its associated history of domesticity, gender and sexuality.

The project was inspired by ghost stories told by Victorian female authors.

Corinne May Botz

THEIR CIRCULAR LIFE

Also go to 5.5 - Take a Picture Out of Your Window.

Jim

THEIR CIRCULAR LIFE

David Rokeby

David Rokeby - Installations : Machine for Taking Time (2001-4)

Melvin Sokolsky

The Imagined Spaces of Melvin Sokolsky by Lynne Eodice

Melvin Sokolsky is one of the most creative advertising and commercial photographers of our time.

He was born and raised in Manhattan's Lower East Side, and as a youth living in this neighborhood during the prewar era, he enjoyed reading books and visiting museums.

This inspired him and he began imagining elaborate sets and images even before he had a camera to capture them.

Lynne Eodice

PconoRecord.com

Photographers keep grinning as they shoot through School Picture Day season by Gretchen Murray

As much as we'd like to forget the glasses, orthodontics, cowlicks and acne — all parts of the progression to adulthood — it seems those are the quirky reminders that end up preserved on film, the legacies of School Picture Day.

Gretchen Murray

Jeff Scher

Jeff Scher - Remains to Be Seen

Kodak

Spooky Photography

Stephanie Shimerdla

Stephanie Shimerdla - Halloween Photoshop Custom Shapes

Caleb Charland

Caleb Charland

Mike Golembewski

Mike Golembewski - The Scanner Photography Project

Several years ago, I built my first homemade digital camera.

The idea was simple - I would take an ordinary flatbed scanner, and use it in place of photo paper with a large format camera.

Mike Golembewski

Not Credited

Literature Without Words by Douglas Cruickshank

After living for so long in the world of words—as a writer and editor—stepping back into the sphere of photography, as I have in recent years, has been invigorating.

I've not only been making pictures, I've been spending a lot of time looking at the work of other photographers.

Douglas Cruickshank

Cornell Capa

Also go to Cornell Capa.

Jim

'I was there' by Geoff Dyer

Robert Capa's 1936 photograph The Falling Soldier shows the moment of a republican soldier's death in the Spanish civil war.

Or so it was claimed and widely believed.

Then doubts began to circulate.

Perhaps the picture was posed, fake.

Capa's biographer, Richard Whelan, has gnawed away at this issue for decades.

The explanation put forward by him in the catalogue accompanying an exhibition at the Barbican is that, during an informal truce, a group of soldiers simulated a bit of a battle charge for the benefit of the camera.

Fearing a genuine attack was being mounted, enemy troops opened fire.

The trigger was pulled, the camera clicked simultaneously - and a man died.

Make-believe became tragically real.

Geoff Dyer

words on photography

Also go to Meyerowitz.

Jim

Joel Meyerowitz

I talked with Brent Phelps yesterday about the missing crux in my thesis.

The issue of influences and where I am placing myself in the medium came up.

I started going on and on about how my work started with humanism and is moving toward American photography, like what Joel Meyerowitz did back in the day when he plugged into color.

He had his Leica and Kodachrome. I have digital camera and 24mm f1.4 lens.

This choice is obvious for me, like the Leica was for him.

Tom Leininger

Judith Joy Ross

Protest the War - Judith Joy Ross by Stan B.

These reflective portraits are the absolute epitome of simplicity and directness, subtlety and power by one of portraiture's most gifted practitioners.

Stan B.

Jesse Chehak

Jesse Chehak - Western Views by Nicole Pasulka

Though urbanites and smug "East-Coasters" often forget, the American wilderness is breathtaking.

Jesse Chehak's photos reveal the natural beauty in the country's western hills, valleys, mountains, and streams.

But as Chehak's work reminds us, the wild, untamed vistas of the West are more than picturesque, they're also historical records.

Nicole Pasulka

The Politics of the Retouched Headshot BY Virginia Postrel

Last week, Fox News set off a short-lived controversy when it attacked Newsweek for not retouching the magazine's larger-than-life cover photo of Sarah Palin.

Calling the headshot "ridiculously unfair to her," anchor Megyn Kelly declared that "any respectable magazine should be doing a little retouching."

Virginia Postrel

Inspired Reading by Derek Punsalan

Please recommend a book that you have found particularly inspiring or meaningful to your development as a creative person?

Derek Punsalan

CameraBag

CameraBag, an iPhone App

After years of making quality 3D modeling software, we at Nevercenter are branching out to our friends in 2D!

Dramatically and easily enhance photos from your built-in iPhone camera or iPhone/iPod Touch photo library using CameraBag's advanced filters that emulate several different camera and film styles, giving your photos an old-school, cinematic appeal.

Photography is all about mood, and using the right camera can turn a throwaway photo into an all-time favorite.

CameraBag

Doug Menuez

Via APAD

Jim

On Chaos, Fear, Survival & Luck: Longevity Is the Answer by Doug Menuez

We are like swimmers lost on a vast, dark sea.

Lightning streaks out from a distant storm to show us a direction and off we go, furiously slashing the waves toward the light and hopefully land.

Too soon, darkness settles back down around us and we lose our way again.

Occasionally, we lose our faith in ourselves.

Doug Menuez

Schaden

A New History of Photography by Ken Schles

Schles' "new history" includes the likes of August Sander, William Henry Fox Talbot, William Klein, Bruce Davidson, Helen Levitt, Joel Peter Witkin, Man Ray, Robert Capa, Bill Brandt, William Eggleston, Diane Arbus, Michael Schmidt, Berenice Abbott, Paul Outerbridge, Frederick Sommer, Julia Margaret Cameron and around 90 others.

The difference is that all of the images were actually made by Schles himself.

Mr. Whiskets

Chronicle Books

Also go to Night Photography.

Jim

Troy Paiva - Review: "Night Vision: The Art of Urban Exploration" by Andy Frazer

Many night photographers credit Troy Paiva's light painting work as their introduction to night photography.

Troy has been shooting abandoned towns and salvage yards under moon-lit skies for over nineteen years.

Andy Frazer

Carleton Watkins

Also go to Watkins.

Jim

Dialogue among Giants: Carleton Watkins and the Rise of Photography in California

In 1850, at the age of 20, Carleton Watkins is believed to have arrived in California from New York via South America.

He embarked on a life in photography that began auspiciously during the gold rush (which started in 1849) and ended abruptly with the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire that destroyed his negatives.

In between those historic moments, Watkins witnessed an era in which a recurring theme was the enormity of all things in the West.

He photographed the expansive western landscape with its miles of coastline, vast natural resources, colossal trees, and the monoliths of the Yosemite Valley using an oversize mammoth-plate camera.

Getty Museum

Joel Leivick

Via gmtPlus9 (-15)

Jim

In the Garden - Photographs by Joel Leivick

Scott Nichols Gallery is proud to announce an exhibition of work by photographer Joel Leivick.

Leivick works within the tradition of great landscape photography and this latest body of work explores the theme of beauty in chaos.

Although seemingly dense and tangled, the repetition of plant forms in these photographs invites a state of contemplation in the realm of the garden.

His large format photographs contain a unique combination of documentation, abstraction, and conceptual interpretation.

Scott Nichols Gallery

Olive Pierce

Via gmtPlus9 (-15)

Jim

Olive Pierce: Forty Years of Photographs (1963-2003)

A Maine resident and lifelong political activist, Olive Pierce's photographs reflect the spirit of community.

This retrospective of black and white gelatin silver prints includes images that document life in Cambridge, Massachusetts as well as Maine fishing communities.

Images of Iraqi citizens under US economic sanctions in 1999 and photographs of Maine citizens demonstrating for and against the war in 2003, make the connection between the local and global community.

Duke University Libraries

Webist Media

Also go to High-speed Photography.

Jim

7 Spectacularly Skilled High-Speed Photographers by Delana

High-speed photography is a fascinating way to capture the images that we don't often get to see.

So many amazing things happen in the blink of an eye - moving too quickly for us to see more than a blur and the aftermath.

Using clever equipment and quick shutters, these talented photographers freeze time and illuminate one single critical moment.

If they time it just right, high-speed photographers can catch a moment of impact, explosion, or surprising movement - and it makes for incredible art.

Delana

National Geographic

Interview: Sam Abell and The Life of a Photograph by Conor Risch

And as I said that, I thought, that should be the title of the next book I do.

It would be a sequel to the book that I've done, and it's a subject that I care about a lot—where photographs come from.

Sam Abell

/>

Jim Shaughnessy

Golden Age of Trains in Black and White by Keith Axline

Photographer Jim Shaughnessy first turned his lens on trains in 1946 at age 13.

Over the following 20 years, he chased trains around New England and Canada, documenting the fall of steam engines and the rise of diesel locomotives — all in gorgeous black and white.

Keith Axline

U. S. Geological Survey Photographic Library

U. S. Geological Survey Photographic Library

This site is designed to provide free viewing and downloading of the entire USGS photographic collection.

U. S. Geological Survey Photographic Library

AutoHotkey

Also go to AutoHotkey.

Jim

Program Your Own Keyboard Shortcuts by David A. Karp

Pressing buttons isn't particularly good for you.

Jane Jetson knew it as early as 1962, and your friendly neighborhood orthopedic surgeon would be hard-pressed to argue with her today.

Problem is, you can't very well answer your daily deluge of e-mails without typing, and as if to add insult to injury, odds are you're pretty much typing the same thing again and again.

David A. Karp

Ian Plant

Surviving the Family Photo Vacation by Ian Plant

Ah, the family vacation—time for some fun in the sun, for grilling hot dogs, playing volleyball, and building castles in the sand.

Or so it is for most people.

For the serious nature photographer (whether a working pro or a weekend warrior, the family vacation can be a time of anxiety and dread.

Family doesn't always understand your obsession with getting "the shot," and marital and familial friction often results when you scamper off to chase the light.

Ian Plant

Joseph Rossbach

Also go to Fall Foliage.

Jim

8 Essential Tips For Autumn Color by Joseph Rossbach

This may sound quite obvious, but being in the right location when the color is at or near peak is essential in coming back with the great autumn images.

No matter where you are shooting, there is bound to be a website or fall color hotline with foliage updates and weather reports.

When I am planning a trip I always begin checking the color forecast about 3 weeks in advance.

I like to look at the progression of color and weather patterns to have an idea of where and what I will shoot when I get on location.

Joseph Rossbach

Simon Roberts

Also go to Deleting & Sorting.

Jim

Editing by Simon Roberts

In the meantime, I thought it might be interesting to briefly outline how I normally edit my work.

I'll do this using my first book, Motherland, as a case study.

I've also pulled out some quotes from other photographers who discuss their approach to editing.

Simon Roberts

Art Sinsabaugh

Also go to Art Sinsabaugh.

Jim

American Horizons: The Photographs of Art Sinsabaugh

Art Sinsabaugh (1924-1983) is an artist ripe for rediscovery.

After having trained and taught at Chicago's renowned Institute of Design, he made his artistic breakthrough in the early 1960s with a giant 12 x 20-inch "banquet" camera that allowed him to marry a 19th-century panoramic vision with mid-20th-century formalism.

He was a landscape photographer in the broadest sense: He photographed spaces—both rural and urban—that we inhabit.

Sinsabaugh's remarkable photographs capture a richly nuanced sense of place and the ever-changing face of the American environment.

Haverford College

candylab.com

Get a face on real M&Ms.

Jim

M&Ms - Candy Lab

RawWorkflow.com

Free Instant JPEG From Raw Utility

Rita Bernstein - Dolls

Rita Bernstein - Dolls

Cindy Sherman

Cindy Sherman - Doll Clothes (1975)

One of the First Cindy Sherman's super-8 film,"Doll Clothes" has not been viewed since 1975, the year it was made.

It comically crosses Duchamp's Nude Descending a Staircase with animated paper dolls in a sly, funny and clever precursor to the concerns that became signature elements in Sherman's remarkable body of photographic work.

UbuWeb

Mario De Stefano

PHOTOS: Best Science Images of 2008 Announced

Mario De Stefano of the Second University of Naples, Italy, captured this miniscule "jungle" from the Mediterranean Sea with a scanning electron microscope.

National Geographic Society

Chicago Tribune

Stroll the White City

Chicago rose from the ashes of fire to host the 19th century's greatest fair, the Columbian Exposition.

Chicago Tribune

Jim Zuckerman

Also go to Jim Zuckerman.

Jim

The "Poison Dart Frog" Challenge; The Ring Flash (And A Little Bit O' Photoshop) Solution by Jim Zuckerman

I recently had the opportunity to photograph poison dart frogs, and I was excited to do so because these unique creatures have brilliant colors and are endlessly fascinating.

While they make for amazing pictures, they also present significant technical challenges.

I had to do some thoughtful planning before I attempted to shoot them.

I started out by buying several tropical plants and flowers at a nursery to use as props, then sat down to consider the technical issues.

Jim Zuckerman

David Stubbs

Also go to Moon Photography.

Jim

David Stubbs - Moontime

Zack Arias

White Seamless Tutorial :: Part 1 :: Gear & Space by Zack Arias

Richard Avedon, Herb Ritts, and countless other great photographers have rocked the white background for decades.

I recently went to a huge bookstore here in Atlanta and counted the number of magazine covers shot with a simple white background like we are going to investigate here.

87 COVERS SHOT ON WHITE OR A VARIATION OF A WHITE BACKGROUND.

Eighty-seven magazine covers at one book store.

Its everywhere and it is everywhere because it is simple and effective and makes your subjects pop.

Zack Arias

Maria Poll & Joakim Kaminsky

Maria Poll & Joakim Kaminsky - Reflecting time

Maria and Joakim went to the Norwegian mountains and fjords to investigate light and time.

With them they had 100 reflectors. This is what happened.

Kjellgren Kaminsky Architecture

Film in Focus

What Photographers See

Obviously film and photography are close relatives; both use film—or used to—and a camera to capture the world.

But the way they tell stories makes all the difference.

The absolute singularity and stasis of a photograph freezes a moment in time, while a film flows through time, demanding we use our memory as much as our eyes to see the story.

So to see what photographers sees we asked five acclaimed photographers to tell us the five films that have influenced them most.

Film in Focus

Nick Veasey

Also go to X-ray Photography.

Jim

Nick Veasey: X-Ray Photographer by Brian Fichtner

Nick Veaseyy calls himself the original x-ray nerd.

Having spent over a decade obsessively chronicling thousands of objects through x-ray photography, it's an appropriate label.

While our society is taught to concern itself with the alluring surface of things, Veasey uses industrial x-ray machines to peel back those upper layers, often revealing a far more beautiful, and complex, underside.

Having produced the largest x-ray photograph ever—a Boeing 777 that required over 500 separate x-rays of individual elements—one would think Veasey had reached his summit.

As the slideshow and interview below reveals, he's only just getting started.

Brian Fichtner