The Power Of The Still Frame

I think it is quite interesting that even in this high tech, rapidly moving society in which we live, still images, not movies or video, seem to come to mind when we think about historic events. At least that is the case for me. As examples what I am referring to, what images come to mind when you think about the following events?

The Kent State Shootings :

Photo By John Filo

The Vietnam War:

Photo By Eddie Adams

Photo By Nick Ut

Tiananmen Square:


Etc, etc, etc. I think it is fascinating that while most of the world would rather go to a movie than look at still images, when asked to recall major events I think people are still most affected by single photographs. Certainly there were film clips made of all these events, but that is not what sticks in our minds. The only exception I can think of offhand is the Kennedy assasination and the Magruder film. However, the reason for that may be the subsequent use of the film as forensic evidence and its use to try to suggest second assasins and the like.

The ability of the single frame to freeze time, convey emotion, and to stick with us is, to me, a truly amazing phenomenon and testimony to the potential power of a photograph. Despite being 'old' technology, the single image has not been displaced by movies or video. The true challenge is for each of us to discover how to harness the power that can be had in a single frame. And I suspect that method is going to be quite different for each of us. Nonetheless, it is clearly the goal to which we all aspire.

The Twin Jewels Project

In several prior blog posts, I have talked about the importance of working on a discreet photographic project. I have been continuing to shoot, as I have for several years, in two nearby local parks (hence the name Twin Jewels). I also mentioned that the photographic portion of my New Years resolution was to try to edit down my images from these two locations and end up with 30-40 large prints. Because I tend to be a perfectionist when it comes to printing, and since I have somewhat limited free time, it can take me several weeks to bring an image from RAW format to a final print that I am happy with; one that I think expresses the feeling that I was aiming for.

As the project progresses, I thought that I would post the images that I think can ‘make the cut’, with perhaps a few words about them, how I came to take them, and what I was hoping to express with them. Any comments or feedback as to the success of the images would, of course, be appreciated, and even moreso any comments about the failings of the images or why they miss the mark.

I have used three of the images in earlier posts but will repost these and discuss them from the point of view of the project. The blog entries with these images will be sporadic, and I somehow doubt that the project will be completed within the year, but I am trying. I have 6 or 7 images printed so far.

"Fluidity"
Copyright Howard Grill

I took this photograph because I was struck by the static “V” shape in the presence of the water’s motion as well as the contrast between the smoothness of the water going over the edge and the tumultuousness of the water once it hit the bottom. I was also drawn to the abstract, almost science fiction-like appearance, of the water involuting into the triangle shape in the center of the image. To me, the photograph seemed to work best as a presentation of abstract shapes and motion, but in its initial state still lacked impact. Here in Western Pennsylvania there are not very many bright blue winter days and thus the water often looks quite drab. Changing the hue and saturation of the water seemed to give the image the impact and emotion it needed, though it is clearly not an accurate representation of how the water looked at the time the image was captured.

This presentation is a crop of the initial photograph (the original can be seen below). In the original, the "V" was off center, but working with the image I felt it was much stronger with the "V" bull's eye in the center. I think this is one of those occasions where the rule was meant to be broken.

Copyright Howard Grill

For comparison, here is the exact same shot, (a few seconds later as I didn't want to erase my stored ACR setings) but with only the default Camera RAW auto settings applied. I show this not to demonstrate how Photoshop can arbitrarily alter an image, but, rather, to allow a comparison between the actual capture and the final expression of what I had in mind.

Celestial Nights

Great photography shows you subjects you might well be familiar with, but presents them in a way that you hadn’t seen before; it allows you to think about things from a new perspective. In this regard the work of Edward Weston and Josef Sudek immediately come to my mind. Then there is photography that shows you things that you can’t see because of the physical limitations of the human eye. Infrared photography, astrophotography and prolonged exposures come to mind. Evaluating these type of images is a bit harder, because one has to overcome that initial ‘wow’ factor that occurs when viewing something that has previously remained invisible. But merely removing the cloak of invisiblility is not sufficient to make a photograph exceptional. One has to assess what is left when the ‘gimmick’ is removed. Are you still being shown something in a new way? Does it make you think about the image and the subject? Does it move you?

Israeli photographer Neil Folberg does all those things in his monograph entitled Celestial Nights: Visions Of An Ancient Land. Using multiple exposures, as well as various film types, he captures a landscape that is ever-present, but unseen at any one time. The photographs give you that initial ‘wow’ from visualizing in a single frame what can not be physically seen at once, but, as one looks, the images go much deeper. I could try to explain the images in my own words, but it would not match the eloquent description by the photographer himself, who said that "In landscape I see a revelation of how pure spirituality has descended into physical existence ... These are the scenes, on the human edge of the cosmos, that I am showing in these photographs." Also on the mark is an excerpt from, of all places, Astronomy Magazine in June of 2002 (unfortunately I can not find the article in its entirety anywhere on the internet), where it was written that "The genius of these images is not in the revelation of any new truth, but in the expression of unsolvable equations. We are shown both realms of the visible universe, Earth and sky."

This is a book that one can sit down with for long periods of time. Some time ago it was said, I believe by Minor White, that to begin to understand a photograph one should start by looking at it for at least 30 minutes. The images in this book merit that type of time commitment.

When I started this blog I had decided not to use any photographs without permission. I e-mailed Mr. Folberg to ask to use a low resolution image, but did not receive a response and don't know if he actually received the e-mail, since it went to a gallery. Having at least made the attempt, not receiving a response, and with the suspicion that all is well with the use of one or two images in a review, I am posting two images from the book that I downloaded from the internet in order to whet one's interest.

Above Images Copyright Neil Folberg

More images from the monograph can be seen either here or directly on Mr. Folbergs website here , by clicking on ‘Books’ at the top and then “View Photographs” under Celestial Nights in the left frame.

The book is available through Amazon here.

Photo Marketing

I heard something that was quite useful and interesting yesterday on Jeff Curto’s Camera Position podcast. I thought it might also be useful to others and so I am posting the information.

If you have an interest in marketing your photographs, the last 13 minutes of the Camera Position podcast #46 entitled “Passion and Profession” is quite interesting. Actually, as I have mentioned previously, every Camera Position episode is worth listening to. After hearing the podcast, I was intrigued enough to purchase Mary Virginia Swanson’s book and will ultimately report back as to how useful I feel it is.

To listen to the podcast go to the Camera Position website here and scroll down to Episode #46, where the file can be listened to.

Humor

I thought that midweek would be a good time to bring up the subject of humor in photography; something to help us make it to the weekend. A good laugh is healthy. However, when it comes to photography most people are usually pretty serious. Nonetheless, we still like to grab a shot if we see something funny. But unlike our ‘serious’ photography, most of these shots stay unseen and without an audience. I can understand why, as it would seem to detract from the ‘professionalism’ of serious artists. But we don’t have to be totally serious all the time.

I was surprised that when I Googled humorous photographs I came up with tons of ‘hits’, but perusing through them I found that they were mostly all the expected rude humor or stock photo sites, where the images really weren’t all that funny. I did find this site, which was pretty funny, at least as far as statues go. When I looked through my images, I really couldn’t find all that many that were funny either. I did find this one, which I remember made me smile at the time I took it, but now it really doesn’t do a whole lot for me either.

Copyright Howard Grill

I was thinking it might be fun if folks that were reading this blog e-mailed me some of their funny shots, if they have any, and I could post them as a blog entry. I thought it might just be interesting to ‘put it out there’. If I don’t get any I won’t post any. If you send one I would certainly post it with a copyright notice, unless you would prefer to remain anonymous so as not to detract from your serious photography. Likewise, if you know of any websites with humorous photographs please comment or e-mail and I will post them.

Let’s see what happens!

Swamp Oil

It doesn't occur all that frequently that I run across something involving nature photography that I have absolutely never heard of before in any way whatsoever. Recently, on several other blogs that I read, I was drawn to some gorgeous abstract images that, as it turned out, were photographs of swamp oil. Now here was something totally new to me, so I had to read on. I also thought it would be great information to share with others who might not be familiar with it.

First, though, take a look at these marvelous images by Mike Moats and Mark Graf, here and here . Reading their blog entries, one learns that the colors in the photographs are not able to be seen by the unaided eye, and that the light must be polarized in order to make the colors visible.

The shapes and colors in the images are caused by swamp oil, which apparently is an oil that seeps into water from decaying plant matter.

Never having heard of it, I certainly have never seen or photographed it, but it is something that I am definitely going to be keeping an eye open for in the future. It certainly makes for some intriguing photographs. Thanks to Mike and Mark for posting the information about this phenomenon. Check out their blogs called Mike Moats and Notes From The Woods.

Different Doesn’t Necessarily Mean Better

Before I start this post, let me say up front that I have absolutely nothing against good contemporary photography. Though it is not what I ‘do’, I enjoy looking at the work of many photographers of this genre.

However, what disturbs me a bit is the idea that goes along the lines of “how many pictures of pretty (fill in the blank) do we need?”, as if all the expressive landscapes, florals, abstracts etc that the world needs have already been taken; as if there were no talent or further individuality to be expressed by these genres. This logic then frequently leads to the idea that to be ‘good’, to be expressive, one needs to make images that are different. Fair enough, but this generally seems to translate not into ‘different viewpoint’ ,‘different message’, or ‘different way of personal expression’ but just into different, as in something that no one has taken a series of pictures of before. That, it seems to some people, can be used to define images as art.

The case that comes to my mind first is that which was dealt with in a LensWork podcast several months back. This particular instance was a photo book, whose title I can no longer remember, that featured a photographer who made images of herself publicly urinating in cities across the US. I have seen entire displays of images of cars covered with paper advertisements, pictures of garbage, sequential purposeful double exposures with no apparent editing and, in my mind, no clear abstract coherence. You get the idea…shows, displays, books that seem purely based on the concept that the images have merit simply because they are of things that people don’t usually take pictures of.

I don’t know, maybe I am just old fashioned, maybe I am just too old, or maybe I just don’t ‘get it’. Like I said, I do enjoy many contemporary style photographers, I just think that there is a lot of ‘junk’ out there that is masquerading as meritorious contemporary work.

OK, I will get off the soapbox now!

By the way, the list of photography magazines that people have recommended has been updated, complete with links to all the publications. It can be found here.

Recommended Photography Magazines

Given some of the great recommendations and comments that have been posted in response to this entry about photography magazines, I thought it would be worthwhile to put up a list, in one location, of the recommendations people have made for photography magazines worth looking into. With the title of this post being "Recommended Photography Magazines", it will be easy for anyone to find and one that I will edit; adding further interesting recommendations as they come in.

So here goes:

Adiemus and Latoga recommended JPG Magazine,
Chris recommended American Photo, but with some reservations,
David recommended Photographica (Japanese language, available at Amazon Japan, which is linked)
Gary recommended B&W Magazine and Photo Life,
George recommended Phot'Art International and Black and White Photography,
Howard recommended Photo Life, Nature's Best and has hopes for CameraArts,
Mark recommended Digital PhotoPro, and
Everyone recommends LensWork

I will add more to the list if people make further recommendations. Again, I would like to complile a list of photography magazines, published in any country, that are more focused on creativity and actual images as opposed to techniques and equipment.

Photo Life

It seems to me that there is a relative dearth of top quality photographic magazines available, at least in the US. Sure, there are plenty of magazines around for the following:

relative beginners (I’m not saying these aren’t important),
reading about digital/Photoshop techniques,
that serve as a forum for the presentation of advertisements,
rehashing the same type of articles year in and out.

However, there aren’t many that deal with the more creative, artistic side of photography. At least that is my opinion.

I have already mentioned LensWork, which, again, in my opinion, is the single magazine I would subscribe to if I were limited to just one. In a prior post, I had mentioned that I recently subscribed to CameraArts. Thus far I have only received one issue, but I did enjoy it and have high hopes for future issues as well.

There are two other magazines that I enjoy and strike me as worthwhile, and I though that I would mention one of them.

PhotoLife is a Canadian photography magazine that I subscribe to. Though there are occasional technique and equipment review articles, they tend to be brief and to the point. The remaining articles and portfolios I find to be very worthwhile. The magazine’s focus is rather broad and can range from ‘traditional’ subjects such as landscape photography to more contemporary photographic topics. It really provides a nice overview of what is going on in many different photographic ‘realms’ at the current time.

It is a magazine that I enjoy getting; the details and more information can be found here.

I also thought it might be interesting to ask if anyone else could recommend magazines (from any country) that they have found worthwhile……a link to the magazine site would also be great if you have one. It might enable myself and anyone reading here to find out about magazines that we don’t know about and might enjoy looking into!

I guess if I am asking others to make recommendations I will also have to throw into the list the second magazine of the two I mentioned above. Its scope is much more limited than the others and focused solely on nature and wildlife photography. The website for Nature's Best can be found here. Definitely worthwhile if you enjoy nature photography.

The LensWork Podcast

Brooks Jensen, the editor of LensWork magazine, puts out a wonderful podcast, usually several times a week. If you are familiar with the magazine, (and if you aren’t, see my post here) then you know what the LensWork philosophy and mission is. That same philosophy, which is to say the discussion of the creative aspects of photography, carries through to the podcast as well.

Unlike some of the others I have previously reviewed, the LensWork podcasts are fairly short, usually only 3-6 minutes min length. They are quite focused and to the point. Most importantly, they are extraordinarily insightful and though provoking. In addition, Brooks has a great ‘announcer’s voice’ which is a pleasure to listen to. In short, the podcasts are simply a pleasure to hear and offer a lot to think about. If you have not yet had the chance to experience them you really owe it to yourself to check them out here.

Administrative Note: I have been able to make daily entries since I started this blog just over 2 months ago. I have many ideas for upcoming posts, but feel as if I don’t want to dilute the quality of the postings by feeling absolutely compelled to post on a daily basis. Needless to say, it does entail time and energy to prepare them. I would much rather write something of interest and that is well thought out than try to simply ensure that there is a daily blog entry. Though they might not be daily, I do plan for them to be very frequent (perhaps even daily at times). I surely hope that this will not deter folks from checking back in frequently!

Stumbling

I recently ran across, well, I am not sure exactly what to call it……a toolbar, a utility, a plug-in….but whatever one calls it, it is certainly a lot of fun. “It” is StumbleUpon, which can be found here.

The free software inserts into your web-browser as a toolbar and when you click on the “Stumble” button you get transported to a random website. Wait, before you run away in disgust saying that the last thing you need is a visit to a random website.......I haven’t yet told you the best part. The software is customizable so that you can have it search for specific subjects of which, yes, photography is a choice. You can limit the ‘stumbling’ to a single topic or a group of topics. So, if I tell StumbleUpon to limit itself to photography it brings me to random photography related sites. I have found lots of very cool websites that I never would have known about and which I have enjoyed visiting. Sites like this one......really, check it out.

Enjoy your stumbling!

When Accidents Happen

I think photographic “accidents” usually end up being quite interesting. Though my initial response when one occurs is frequently a bit of anger, it often turns out that some accidents should be welcomed. The results are never able to be anticipated and often turn out to be a wonderful surprise.

What type of accidents am I referring to? For sure, not the ones where the wind blows your tripod over or your new 25-600 f1.8 VR IS lens goes tumbling down the side of a hill. I am referring to accidents where unanticipated interference occurs. You are all set up to take a shot and a gust of wind blows the trees or flowers and you end up with an unexpected impressionistic shot. Perhaps a person walks into the frame or a boat comes along while you’re shooting a body of water.

Here is an accident that occurred to me. I was on a workshop at the Oregon Coast and was photographing a lighthouse from a parking lot. The shot was nice, but probably never going to be a ‘winner’ because the community had stopped turning on the light in the lighthouse. It turns out (at least this is what I was told, I don't know if it is really true) that there really is no longer a need for lighthouses these days, as boats have GPS guidance systems and the captain knows where they are even in the dark. The lighthouse, I am told, ended up being lit only for tourist purposes and since the town had little in the way of revenue they were no longer turning it on.

But, while I was taking the shot, another car pulled into the parking lot with its headlights on. My initial reaction was mild displeasure at ruining my shot for the moment, but I took it anyway. To be honest, I rather like the resultant warm light on the stones, which is from the cars headlights. In fact, I like it more than the straight shot that I took after the headlights were turned off.

Coquille River Lighthouse
Copyright Howard Grill

Maybe putting ourselves into a position where ‘an accident is bound to happen’ isn’t such a bad idea after all......

Non-Canon Lenses On Canon (Or Nikon) Cameras

About a year or two ago, I wrote an article for Michael Johnston’s newsletter, The 37^th Frame, which ultimately morphed into The Online Photographer, about using non-Canon lenses on Canon full frame dSLRs. The article resides on my website, as it is too long to put up as a blog post. Nonetheless, I thought that it might prove interesting to some people and thought that, as today’s post, I would put up a link to it. The article can be read here.

Though it specifically addresses Canon cameras, which is what I use, my understanding is that the article would be directly applicable to Nikon cameras as well. The only exception would be that a Contax to Nikon adapter would obviously be required, as opposed to one made for adapting Contax to Canon.

In addition, Joe Reifer, in his excellent blog entitled Words, wrote a review about using Olympus Zuiko lenses on full frame Canon cameras. That can be read here.

Photoshop And The Creative Process, Part II

This is Part II of this topic. If you haven’t already had the opportunity to read Part I, I invite you to do so here.

As I was thinking about this issue, the following occurred to me. Have any of these Photoshop ‘gurus’ ever claimed to be fine art photographers extraordinaire? Have they ever published fine art books of their images. For the most part, the answer to this is a resounding NO. In my mind, most don’t really claim to be fine art photographers. They are ‘software people’. The few that are fine art photographers are well worth paying close attention to.

Along the same lines, is Photoshop, the software, about photography? Well, sure, but only to an extent. Adobe never claimed it was only meant for photographers. It isn’t a program for photographers; it is a program for artists, of which photographers are but one subset. It is there for graphic artists, digital artists, layout designers etc.

I am not so sure that we should be complaining about the craziness surrounding the program (and, certainly, it can get pretty nutty), rather, I think it is the job of the photographer not to stop “tricks” from being developed, but to be wise enough to sort through, learn about, and adapt the techniques that are useful for one’s own vision. I am not so sure I need to be concerned that there are folks coming up with a million and one techniques that I, and perhaps even no one else, might ever have a use for.

Besides, who ultimately knows what one’s vision might become and what trick, while useless today, might ultimately become an important vehicle for our own expression? History is filled with discoveries and ideas whose use only became apparent at a later date. I have not been involved with the creative arts long enough to know if a seemingly unimportant or inapplicable aspect of Photoshop has ever ultimately been found to have a useful photographic application, though my guess would be that it probably has.

My feeling is let’s not lambaste those whose jobs are to develop, push, or impress using Photoshop. Instead, let’s be selective enough to sort out what is integral in achieving our vision and learn to use those tools to their utmost potential. No one says we have to listen to the snake oil salesman. If we fork over our money, perhaps it is our own fault.

Photoshop And The Creative Process, Part 1

I recently subscribed to CameraArts magazine without really knowing too much about the publication. A few weeks ago I received my first issue, and one of the first articles I read was an editorial authored by George DeWolfe entitled “The Master Print: The Photoshop Medicine Show” (CameraArts, January/February 2007). After finishing the article, I immediately knew two things:

i) that subscribing to the magazine was a good decision and

ii) that I wanted to write a blog post about that particular article.

Writing about the article, however, turned out to be much more difficult than I had anticipated. The reason for this is that I have changed my opinion about it several times and, in fact, it still seems difficult for me to sort out my feelings on the topic. I actually scrapped the idea of writing this post, but have come back to it with the realization that if I have trouble sorting it out in my own mind, then it would probably be interesting to others and hopefully make for some thought provoking commentary. I would certainly be interested in hearing peoples’ opinions.

Before I get further into this, I do, however, want to make a few things clear. First off, I have a deep respect for Mr. DeWolfe, even if I don’t necessarily agree with him 100%. I can only aspire to be as accomplished an artist and photographer as he is. In fact, I own his book entitled “George DeWolfe’s Digital Photography Fine Print Workshop”. Secondly, I e-mailed Tom Gibbons, the assistant editor of CameraArts, who encouraged me to write about the DeWolfe editorial, even if I didn’t totally agree with what was said. He even went further, agreeing to post DeWolfe’s entire article on line so that that readers of this blog could have a look at it for themselves…….thanks Tom.

The reason I was so sure that it was wise to have subscribed to Camera Arts is that you just have to respect a magazine that will print something that is non-mainstream and, in fact, potentially inflammatory to a large number of people who reside in the mainstream.

OK, OK, I have beat around the bush long enough. What is this all about?

Mr. DeWolfe’s thesis is essentially that a whole “cottage industry” has grown up around Photoshop to extol the virtues and abilities of the software, to the point where the creative process is pushed aside and the ‘tricks’ have become what is important. These tricks are then used with the ultimate goal of selling books, software and other miscellaneous items. The real problem is that these tricks have been developed as an end in and of themselves, not as solutions to a creative problem. He implies that in order to sell Photoshop paraphernalia the cart is allowed to come before the horse; a technique in search of a use is born.

He certainly comes out with gloves on and ‘swinging’ when he states that, in regards to Photoshop, “Unfortunately, there are those who spend much of their time talking too much about it, and they are (unnamed of course) the focus (target) of this article.” From what follows, it is clear he is speaking of the NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals) and the so-called Photoshop gurus. The annual Photoshop trade show is likened to the “selling of snake oil”.

The specific issue called into question is that these ‘gurus’ are really software people and not photographers. Their goal is to come up with tricks that Photoshop can do and essentially sell the trick and move on, whether or not the technique has a creatively useful application. Soon, the ultimate goal of making creative and emotionally stirring images is forgotten or made secondary in the minds of these gurus. DeWolfe feels that the true goal of Photoshop should be to enable the photographer to take their images, their art, and “make it human, making it match what the eye sees.”

Ultimately, he states that “Photoshop is a necessary evil in the photographer’s arsenal of tools today. It is a bloated application that contains much more than you need to make a masterpiece. As a point in fact, very few tools are needed to make a masterpiece, only the ones that you absolutely need to get the job done and no more. Keeping Photoshop simple and its use maintained with clarity should be a photographer’s mission in life. Lightroom, the new Adobe application for photographers, is making a decent dent in this problem, and I applaud its simplicity and workflow ease.”

When I first finished reading DeWolfe’s article, my initial response was “Bravo, someone has finally said what needs to be said!” Of course, I felt, everything that he states is true, and no one until now has had the guts to come right out and say it. I mean how many Photoshop ‘how to’ books, tutorials, and podcasts are really necessary?

However, upon thinking about these issues further, I am not so sure that I still agree with my initial gut response. I would like to wait until tomorrow to finish this post and talk about my current thoughts regarding this issue. In the meantime, I am hoping that anyone that might be interested will click over to the pdf file that Tom Gibbons at CameraArts has so graciously provided and give it a read…..perhaps take the opportunity to think about it overnight. I would be interested in hearing what others think about the editorial.

The article can be accessed by clicking here and then clicking on the title of the article (“The Master Print: The Photoshop Medicine Show) that is listed under ‘Web Exclusives’.

By the way, while you are over at the CameraArts website, it might be interesting for you poke around and see what else they have to offer. Take a look at the magazine and consider subscribing. As I mentioned, I have only received one issue so far, but look at what that one issue has led me to do……….TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW

Luminosity

My blog bias, if you will, has been to not focus on Photoshop techniques. However, every so often a little Photoshop tidbit or tutorial comes along that I feel is so worthwhile that it would be a shame not to share it. This is the case with a recent tutorial on luminosity masking that comes complete with downloadable Photoshop actions.

First, I have to give credit to Mark Graf for finding the tutorial and posting a link to it on his blog called Notes From The Woods. His post with the specific information about the tutorial can be found here. The tutorial itself can be found here.

The tutorial explains the utility and basics of luminosity masking far better than I could in a single post. The uniqueness of this particular tutorial is the included set of downloadable actions with instructions for their use. More importantly, the actions allow one to easily generate not only a standard luminosity mask, but also masks that are ‘ultra-directed’ to the brightest highlights, the darkest shadows and everything in between. This allows one to generate luminosity based selections that are automatically feathered and which allow fine control over the entire tonal range of an image.

I plan to use the actions frequently. I think they are a real find and appreciate Mark having pointed them out and Tony Kuyper for having developed them and for making them available at no charge.

ADMINISTRATIVE NOTE: I want to take the opportunity to let people know that tomorrow and Saturday I plan to have a two part post that actually took me several weeks of thinking about before I could sit down and write it. It is a response, of sorts, to a recent editorial in a major photographic magazine. I contacted the assistant editor of the magazine who has been remarkably responsive and open enough to want to spur on discussion about photographic topics..…so much so that he has agreed to make available, on-line, the full text of the original article so that readers of this blog can think about it and chime in with their own opinion. So please visit again tomorrow as I really think this will be interesting!

By the way (and the podcasters say this almost every week, so I feel that I can say it on occasion as well), if you enjoy this blog and find it something worth taking the time to read, I would certainly appreciate it if you would pass the URL on to someone else you know who might also find it worthwhile.

The Patchwork Project

One of the nice things about having a blog is that you get to ‘meet’ (internet style) some interesting folks that either write comments or e-mail you. Such was the case yesterday when Mike Bartolotta posted a comment and when we subsequently followed up with a few e-mails.

Now, “Bart”, as he apparently calls himself, has defined for himself a most interesting photographic project. He currently hails from Rochester, New York. What he has done is to…….well, never mind, why don’t I just let him explain it with a quote taken directly from The Patchwork Project website:

“The concept is quite simple. For no better reason than to take photos for the love of photography, I am setting out on a quest to capture unique and distinct images of the city of Rochester, New York. Using a map of the area, I divided the city and surrounding towns into one square mile sections. Over the next few weeks and months, I will choose a random section and go out to shoot photos, documenting the city I live in.

Initially, I am starting this project on my own. My hope is that as things start to get going, I will meet other local photographers who are interested in the project and willing to participate. Every photographer involved will photograph the same randomly picked “square” or section of the city during a designated time frame. The beauty of this concept is that, although we are all taking pictures of the same area, every photographer has a different eye and style, so no two photos will be alike.

In the end, the goal is to have a unique portrait of Rochester, its architecture, natural wonders, people, residential & commercial neighborhoods, waterways, parks, and everything else in between.

If you are interested in taking part in the endeavor, please visit the contact page and drop me a line. I welcome photographers of all skill level (I am no professional by any means), and I would love to have more people involved.

NOTE: I also feel it necessary to say that although I would like to, I cannot take credit for this idea. During one of my many Internet searches, I stumbled across the “Portland Grid Project”. Esssentially a photography group in Portland, OR has been doing this since the mid 1990's and has amassed over 20,000 photos of their city. After browsing their site for a while I realized what a great idea this was…so, I thought, "why not me and why not Rochester!"

I found this to be a fascinating and unique idea (the fact that it has been done in Portland notwithstanding); unique enough that I knew I wanted to make a blog post out of the concept so that a few more people might see what Bart is up to. Initially, I was going to wait until there were more than one or two photos up on the project site so that those who were interested could get a sense of how the project was progressing as well as getting a view of Rochester. But then I thought that it would be even more interesting to look into the project now, while it is still just a framework that is starting to come together, without knowing how things will start to move, in order to watch the project in evolution. No matter how it turns out I think the concept is fantastic.

Bart, if things go well, I would think that this is the sort of project that the local government or an area gallery might well be interested in showing to a wider audience. Good luck. I know that I, for one, will be following with interest.

Meanwhile, if anyone else out there is currently living in Rochester, why not drop Bart a line and get involved.

I think I will be checking out The Portland Grid Project website as well!.

Bill Jay

Bill Jay is a writer and educator in the field of photography. He was the founder of the Program of Photographic Studies at The University of Arizona, where he taught for 25 years. He has written extensively on the history of photography and photographic criticism. His essays are a pleasure to read and comprise, as a collection, a veritable course in photographic history.

Personally, once I start reading one of his pieces, I find that I can’t put it down until I have finished it. If you are familiar with the End Notes from LensWork you also know that he has a brand of cynical humor that is second to none. This is also evident in his collection of essays.

Bill has made available for download, via his website, a huge portion of his rather extensive writings. Trust me, this will keep you busy for months. The essays can be found here.

While you are on his website, don’t miss his collection of portraits that he has made of other photographers.

Bill, if you are out there, thanks for making this collection of your writings available on the internet!

Breaking Taboos

In a post several days ago, I was looking for assistance in taking better photographs of Trillium. In that post, I mentioned that as part of my query I was breaking a taboo by purposefully showing poorer images, the ones that I would never display, to an audience. There is even an old saying about this that goes something along the lines of “The difference between an amateur and a professional is that the professional never shows you the shots that didn’t make it”. I was thinking about this issue some more, and feel even more strongly that it can be a wise decision to show your poorer images, it just depends on the venue and purpose.

For example, I would never display images that I thought didn’t quite make the cut. I would never want to make a show out of them. But I think that there is a good deal to be learned by examining these shots that ‘didn’t make it’.

For one, and this is probably the most obvious reason, it gives an opportunity to request input from others about improving aspects of an image that you think have failed. Sometimes you can go around in circles missing obvious, or not so obvious, solutions that are more apparent to someone who might think about things just a bit differently from you. Secondly, it gives an opportunity to receive feedback about which aspects of an image work well and which don’t.

However, there is yet another reason. While this may be the most obscure, I also think it is quite important. It allows others to learn from you. It allows others to experience the creation of an image through your eyes. This is perhaps best illustrated with an example.

I have always been moved by the iconic image “Migrant Mother” by Dorothea Lange. Most people have seen this image (and my understanding is that there are no copyright concerns with the use of these images):

"Migrant Mother"

Dorothea Lange

However, many people do not realize that “Migrant Mother” was but one in a series of images that Dorothea Lange had taken on that particular occasion. The other images from the sequence include the following:

Images By Dorothea Lange
http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/list/128_migm.html

Had Lange destroyed the negatives from the images above, we may well have lost an opportunity to better understand how she approached her subject. Seeing the other images raises various issues that are useful to think about. Why did she take the entire sequence? Was she ultimately working her way in, knowing that the images she was taking up until “Migrant Mother” was just ‘exercise’? How did she think about framing the image? Did one image ‘lead her’ into the other? Was the final choice of image as apparent to her as it seems to us now?

Imagine what could be learned if we were able to look over the shoulder of photographers that are more accomplished than us, no matter what our individual level of expertise is, and watch the editing process of another image maker.

I believe that polite but very objective feedback regarding one’s images is important for growth. As long as it is clear that the venue is discussion and learning and that the audience is not “The” audience, I think it can be a very positive experience to discuss one’s failures. Through that discussion, other photographers besides ones self might end up benefiting as well.

Laptop vs Calibrated Desktop

Well, I returned home safely from the fencing tournament and took a quick look at the fencing images that I had posted while away using my uncalibrated laptop. So, I see that, in actuality, they have quite a strong green cast and are somewhat underexposed....I guess that is what happens when one is away and using uncalibrated equipment. My apologies if they were a little rough to look at, I thought it would be a good idea to post them from the tournament itself.

Anyway, I think I have an interesting post planned for tomorrow for any Dorothea Lange fans out there (and, really, who isn't?)!

Fencing III

A few more images from the fencing tournament that I have been posting about for the last two days. My last post has a bit more explanation about how a fencing tournament works....

Copyright Howard Grill

The armorers work at fixing a foil that has malfunctioned.

Copyright Howard Grill

Scoring is done with a combination of electronics and referees.

Copyright Howard Grill

Fast, graceful, and exhilirating...........

Fencing II

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, since I am away for the weekend at a fencing tournament with one of my sons, I thought that I would post some of the images I have been taking at the tournament in order to give people a bit of a 'flavor' of what it is like to be at an event of this sort.

First, a quick disclaimer. I am away with an uncalibrated laptop, so these images are by no means adjusted...they are meant to convey an experience as opposed to an artistic statement. So, here we go:

The Armorer
Copyright Howard Grill

Every tournament has an armorer present. His or her job is twofold. First, they test and authorize each piece of equipment used in the tournament to ensure that they pass very rigorous safety standards. Second, they are on site to assist in the repair of equipment that breaks or malfunctions during the bouts.

Waiting
Copyright Howard Grill

There tends to be significant downtime between the direct elimination bouts......waiting for your turn to fence a bout that either allows you to continue in the competition or eliminates you....

Scoring A Touch
Copyright Howard Grill

Competitions consist of all the contestants being divided into pools of 5-7 fencers with the pools being balanced in fencer ability based on national rankings. The fencers in each pool all have a turn to fence a 5 point, or touch, match with each other fencer in the pool. The fencers are then ranked based on their performance in the pools (number of wins and losses, how many points they have scored, how many points have been scored against them) and then they advance to the 15 point direct elimination bouts. During these bouts the top ranked fencer of the day faces the bottom ranked fencer, the second best faces the second from the bottom, and so on. Ultimately, the top performing fencers face each other for first, second and third place.

A few more shots tomorrow, though I will be spending most of the day driving home. Then back to some more philosophical thoughts on Monday!

Fencing

One of my son’s is a competitive fencer. Yup, that’s right….Zorro, The Three Musketeers, you got it. I knew absolutely nothing about the sport before he decided he wanted to take it up four or five years ago. At this point, he really has become quite good at it; good enough to compete on a national level. Now, generally speaking, I really am not much of a sports person (though, living in Pittsburgh, I do love those Steeler games), but, I have to say, I find fencing fascinating, graceful, and exciting. There is a good reason that the sport has been nicknamed ‘physical chess’. Because it is such an eclectic sport, at least in the USA (I understand it is much more popular and mainstream in Europe), there is a rather interesting subculture surrounding it.

When I go to some of the competitions, I bring my camera. However, I am generally not looking for action shots (and besides, the lighting for such shots tends to be pretty poor). I tend to go for the abstracts and the intentional motion blurs. I also like to use a photojournalistic approach to try and capture the ‘flavor’ of what it is like to be at a fencing competition.

Helmets
Copyright Howard Grill

At any rate, this coming weekend I am taking my son to The Arnold Fencing Classic in Columbus, Ohio, organized by none other than The Arnold (Schwarzenegger). It actually is more like a yearly fun meet than an intense competition, but I am going to take a camera. My thought is that there are probably relatively few folks out there that are familiar with such competitions and that it might be interesting to post some of the images to try and convey what it is like.

Thus far I have managed to post to the blog on a daily basis and plan to continue over this weekend as well, hopefully with some fencing images. There are, of course, probably still some hotels around that don’t provide internet connectivity….I am assuming that the one that I will be in won’t be part of that ‘elite’ group, but I guess one can never be sure!

G-L-O-R-I-A

G-L-O-R-I-A, Glooooooriah…can’t you just hear Van Morrison belting out that song? Well, since I would like to intermittently post about other blogs and websites that I have enjoyed, I am going to talk about another Gloria. I just couldn’t help myself with that opening, as every time I think of her name I just can’t get that song out of my head!

Well, if you don’t already know of her, let me introduce you to a different Gloria, and quite a unique one at that. Gloria Hopkins is that rare breed of person who excels in more than one artistic endeavor. She is a painter, a photographer, and a writer.

I have never met Gloria in person, but you really feel as if you know her from her blog entries, which run the gamut from the artistic to the personal, and from her images.

Copyright Gloria Hopkins

This is one of my favorite photographs of hers, and one which won an award from Nature’s Best magazine. She has kindly given me permission to use it in this post. For me, it works not only as an image of reality, that is to say of a gorgeous valley, but even moreso as an abstract composition of lines and color.

Check out her paintings as well, which she is currently devoting a major portion of her time to.

Finally, she has written a superb series on photographic composition that is well worth a careful read.

Enjoy!