Quick Quotes: Dennis Keeley

While in the car this morning, I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts.......Ibarionex Perello's The Candid Frame. In the latest installation, he interviews Dennis Keeley, a photographer and educator who serves as chair of the Photography and Imaging Department at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.

During the interview, Mr. Keeley made a statement that, while not entirely profound in the same sense as some of my prior "Quick Quotes", nonetheless captured my attention and made me think about the nuances of what he was saying. The topic of discussion was the democratization of photography and the fact that there has been an unprecedented proliferation of cameras. In many countries, huge portions of the populace are walking around with cameras most of the time, in the form of cell phones with integrated digital cameras, enabling them to take photographs of anything and everything. During the course of the discussion about the multitude of images being created on a daily basis Keeley notes that today:

"Image is more important than reality."

On the surface, this can certainly be taken as a comment about today's society. However, it became much more intriguing to me as a comment about the content of the photographic image and how that integrates with today's society.

I have posted about The Candid Frame before, and it continues to prove to be, in my opinion, one of the most unique, worthwhile, and enlightening photography podcasts out there.

Ramblings About Uncertainty

I continue to think about (and be plagued by) the whole issue of 'greatest hit images' versus images that serve as part of a 'self-contained' project. I have posted about this before and, almost assuredly, will do so again in the future, as it continues to be a source of confusion and uncertainty for me.

The issue, in brief, concerns the use of images that are related as a project in some way, as compared to what one might consider a collection of their best images. The obvious example I have in mind is my Twin Jewels Project, which I have written about before. It is a project that seems to pull me in two directions since, on the one hand, I want very much to complete and 'market' it, in terms of having it shown but, on the other hand, the images simply aren't my 'best' work because the beauty of the locale is quite subtle. If one took ten of my best shots of this particular location and mixed them in with ten of what I consider to be my best landscape images (taken around the country), I suspect that most people would be able to fairly accurately divide them into two separate piles. If one has not had many local area showings, wouldn't it be preferable to have their best work shown? On the other hand there is certainly something to be said for work from one location that is coherent and would also have local interest because the parks are nearby? See.....back and forth, back and forth, while at the same time I continue working on the project because I know it is something that I want to and should do.

Let me give an example that consists of two images, the prints of which I just completed. As individual 'stand-alone' images, I don't find them particularly compelling but they do convey a feeling about the location where they were taken; at least that was my intention.


I will sometimes post images on a photo review and critique forum or two, and did so with these two shots. Neither of the images received much attention or garnered any notice. Only one comment was made , and that person felt the image was mediocre. To be fair, I am not at all sure that I would have paid much attention to them as 'stand-alone' postings on a critique site either. But how do they fare as part of a larger project aimed at depicting one location or area? Should they be judged as if they were one lone picture on a wall looking for 'stardome' or judged in another fashion, as part of a greater whole and as an image of a location that will never be particularly grand by 'grand landscape' standards. How can one tell if an image is effective as part of a greater whole? I know that when reading LensWork, for example, I see portfolios that hold together extremely well but I know that I would not be excited about many of the images if viewed singly and out of context of the greater project. And how does one reconcile this with a desire to have the project shown on 'gallery walls', if you will, if they don't stand up as individual pieces of art?

Rocks And Mist
Copyright Howard Grill

Walking Into Winter
Copyright Howard Grill

So, in this, more than any other posting, I really am searching for people's comments as to how to reconcile these issues. Any 'answers' to the above questions would be appreciated. Any honest comments about how these two images relate to the answers and if they seem like they would be expressive as part of a greater project (or do they not convey any feel at all?.....I was aiming for a sense of tranquility with the first and a cold sense of endless winter with the second) would be appreciated. I think it would help me and probably also make for some worthwhile discussion.

OK, I better post this before I decide not to....

Tony Kuyper's Updated Luminosity And Saturation Mask Actions

I have previously written a post about Tony Kuyper's incredibly useful Luminosity Mask Actions. No need to rewrite about how good they are, if you have tried them out you already know. But it is worth mentioning that he has updated them. The tutorial and updated actions can be found here.

In addition, he has now developed actions with an associated tutorial for generating saturation masks, aimed at providing fine control over the saturation of very carefully targeted colors. They are available here. I have just downloaded them but have not yet had the chance to use them in earnest. However, if they are anywhere near the quality of his luminosity masks they will undoubtedly be very useful indeed.

Once again Tony, thanks for making these tutorials and actions available to all!

How Big Is It?

If there is an overriding presence of anything in the parks that make up my 'Twin Jewels Project', it is water. Lots of water. Creeks, rivers, lakes, waterfalls....you name it. Nothing on a grand scale, mind you, but one of the purposes of the project is to depict the beauty that can be found in these parks, independent of their scale and without trying to make a comparison to what can be found elsewhere.

"Veils"
Copyright Howard Grill

This waterfall really caught my eye. One of the nice things about photographing without anything clearly demarcating scale, is that the subject is removed from it's context. To me this has all the beauty and elegance of a twenty or thirty foot falls, even though, in reality, it is really quite small. I guess that is one part of what this project is all about....showing that there is beauty all around us that need not be on a 'grand' scale.

Rejuvination!

I was feeling very bogged down and concerned that my photography was getting a bit repetitive.....and thus took a break, delving into Holga/Diana and pinhole imaging. It was time well taken. Making images with those cameras is truly an enjoyable experience, and I plan to continue photographing with them. But, most of all, it has allowed me to feel quite rejuvenated. So I am once again turning attention to my 'Twin Jewels Project'. As I think about my progress with this project, I realize that it has slowed for many reasons....and I found it useful to think about and enumerate them as part of a photographic process of 'self discovery', if it can be termed that.

After self-examination, I can recognize the following reasons for delay:

1) Concern (? fear) that the images are just not good enough. Concern that I would have put in a great deal of time/effort/expense and, in the end, it would have not been a worthwhile or successful endeavor.

2) Concern that by working on making the prints for this project (it takes me a while to make a print I am happy with) I am spending time that I otherwise could use to make prints from my multitude of backlogged images from past workshops, which, as individual prints, would likely be more powerful than any single print from this project. The corollary is fear that by showing the project I might get judged by criteria which assumes that this is my best work, as opposed to my best work from this one particular location (ie, a variant of the 'project vs greatest hits' issue).

3) Concern (?fear) that, once completed, there would be no venue to show the work.

4) Revisiting work. After I have completed a print, I will frequently return to it and decide that it would look better a bit warmer toned, a bit cooler toned, a bit more/less saturated....you get the idea.

5) Desire to go back on location and improve on particular shots (shooting close to home can, I guess, be a detriment as well as a benefit).

6) Desire to shoot specific locations within the parks that I have not yet had the chance to go to.

I have taken time to think these issues over, revisit some thoughts generated by reading the superb book 'Art and Fear', and have even spent some time (re)listening to some of the Brooks Jensen LensWork podcasts on the subject, which I find quite motivational.

The time thus spent has been quite helpful, and I have come to some conclusions and decisions.

First of all, I must produce a finished version of this project. If it ends up having no venue for presentation, so be it (though as part of the thinking process I have some ideas which I think could come to fruition in this regard). However, unless I finish it I will never know how it might have turned out and never feel comfortable, or perhaps even confident enough, to move on to the next project. Whether it is successful, of course, depends on the yardstick used for measure, and independent of it's success there is no question in my mind that the endeavor will be worthwhile.

Secondly, I must 'let go' of the artwork. While my 'revisitation' of the images and the improvements that I might make to them could well prove beneficial to any one given image, they are clearly, by significantly impeding progress, detrimental to the project as a whole . Once I consider an image finished, it is not to be revisited until all the images are completed and efforts are being made to obtain a venue to show them.

Thirdly, I will not go back to purposefully reshoot images that have already been made, though it seems reasonable to try to capture them in a different season etc. There are also one or two more locations that I would like to try to capture.

Finally, I will need to give up at least some of the time that I would spend out photographing in order to work on the prints.

I have some ideas for different projects, but will not even think about working on those images until this project is complete. I am, however, going on a workshop to the Smokies in October and will take a break for that.

As a result, I have taken the bull by the horn, so to speak. I have, literally, close to a thousand images from the parks (granted some of them are bracketing, different focus and apertures etc...I tend to take a lot of images from one spot) and, prior to this, had been picking out images for printing one at a time. Since my last post, I have gathered them all together in Lightroom and 'brutally' edited them down to probably 60 or so that I think might be included. Are they all wonderful stand alone images....no, but I think they do nicely depict the personality of these parks as part of a themed project. I probably have 10 or so completed previously and would like to end up with 40-45 images in the project. I have started to work on them in earnest.

In the coming days/weeks I will post other images that I have completed or am completing as part of the project. I am also giving thought to an "Artist's Statement" to help pull it all together.

It turns out to have been quite helpful to really sit down and be brutally honest with myself about where I am going with this and how it is progressing. There are probably multiple times throughout everyone's artistic career that a session like this can be helpful!

Fixing Photoshop CS3 Crashes When Saving Files

A few weeks ago, I wrote about a quick 'trick' I had discovered on the internet that would allow Photoshop CS3 to be installed under Windows XP SP1 (CS3 will normally abort the installation unless SP2 is in place) using a registry hack. I initially thought that CS3 was working perfectly, but ultimately found a few unexpected problems of the large variety.

First, I found that Bridge CS3 would stall and get sluggish....but that didn't worry me too much as Adobe, on their own website, has official knowledge base papers reporting the problems with Bridge CS3 and very large files, such as the ones I tend to have. I just used Bridge CS2, which has never given me a problem generating thumbnails from large files. Again, I was sure this had nothing to do with the aforementioned 'trick' installation, as the problem was reported on the internet as well as receiving official Adobe mention.

However, I soon discovered that Photoshop CS3 would freeze and crash the system whenever I attempted to save a file, even though it would function perfectly normally in every other way. I would have reported this as a blog post to 'rebut' the installation trick, except that it made absolutely no sense that the problem should be related to the installation and, additionally, I had received messages from others that had used the registry hack to successfully install CS3 under XP SP1 and were having no problems.

After wasting a good bit of time trying to figure out what was wrong, I initially uninstalled CS3. However, after spending another good bit of time Googling the problem, I discovered that I was far from the only person with this rather 'fatal' problem.....and those other folks had not done the installation hack. This was a reported problem under both Windows and Mac for some people.

But the fix was so simple that just thinking about the time previously spent was maddening. I reinstalled CS3, did the 1 second fix......and......it works perfectly. No more problem with saving files.

So what is the fix? Apparently there can be problems on both Windows and Mac with the new form of Version Cue. If you want to use Version Cue to allow multiple workgroups to work on a file, I did find a somewhat complicated fix, which can be found here. However, unless you use Version Cue (which few people seemingly do), the easy fix is simply to disable Version Cue in the Photoshop CS3 Preferences dialogue.

Yup, that's it. I simply unchecked the 'Enable Version Cue' option in the preferences and no more problems whatsoever! I don't know if anyone reading this will also have this problem, but I thought that posting the fix somewhere searchable, such as this blog, was worthwhile if it helped someone else resolve what is truly a very frustrating problem.

Different Techniques; Different Aesthetics

The other day, I was showing a close friend of mine one of my pinhole camera images that I had recently taken. As I was doing so, he asked me an interesting question. He was interested in why, if I want to produce and show my best work, would I bother making images with a lensless camera which were clearly not going to be as sharp and free of distortion as images made with my expensive digital SLR? Indeed, a very interesting question.

There is no doubt that the pinhole images are not tack sharp (though the depth of field is infinite). They definitely ‘suffer’ from distortion and light falloff at the edges of the frame. With no viewfinder, composition tends to not be as perfect as one might like. And on top of it all, it takes time and expense to develop the film and scan the shots that one wants to keep. Why go to all that trouble? To be honest, I am not entirely sure why I do it.

Nonetheless, I do know several reasons why I am attracted to the modality, though, from a logical standpoint, I am not sure they completely ‘justify’ the time commitment. In the end, and as in most endeavors such as this, considerable weight has to be given to the fact that I just find it enjoyable.

So what do I like about it?

There are always two sides to the same coin. While a pinhole image is not tack sharp, there is a beauty to the gentle softness that is inherent to this type of photograph. While the image does have distortion and light falloff at the edges, there is a uniqueness and timeless quality to that look that I find attractive.

Perhaps most importantly, pinhole photography is a medium unto itself and therefore can not and should not be compared to lens camera photography. It has its own unique look and aesthetic. Trying to compare sharpness and distortion between pinhole and lens cameras is akin, I think, to asking why one would paint with watercolors instead of the enhanced reality attainable with oils. They are different and each have their own aesthetic. An exceptional watercolor portrays a different ‘reality’ than an exceptional oil painting; neither can be deemed ‘better’ than the other.

Finally, when I started dabbling with pinhole imaging, I was feeling a bit ‘burnt out’ from the creative standpoint. After getting a bit involved with both pinhole and toy camera photography, I felt rather rejuvenated and once again excited about digital. So now, when I go out shooting, I often go both high and low tech, as the added weight of the pinhole camera and a few rolls of film is negligible.

As to the image that I had been showing my friend……it is a shot of Ohiopyle Falls in Ohiopyle State Park, which I have previously written about in my post entitled ‘Western Pennsylvania’s Secrets’.

The Power Of Ohiopyle Falls
Copyright Howard Grill

In this particular instance I far prefer the above pinhole image to the shot taken with my digital camera:

Copyright Howard Grill

By the way, if anyone should get the itch to try this type of imaging there are two wonderful and incredibly receptive on-line communities dedicated to ‘lo-fi photography’. They can be found at f295 and at the toycamera.com forums.

Addenda: Here is an interesting thread I ran across on the f295 forum entitled 'Why Pinhole? Why You? Why Now?' that deals with some of the issues I noted above.

Shooting Locally

In my post entitled 'Western Pennsylvania's Secrets', I mentioned the benefits of photographing in one's own area and the advantages that one has as a 'native', as opposed to a visiting, photographer. Specifically, when one lives in an area, the locale can be photographed throughout all the seasons, in many different weather conditions, and at various times of the day. As I was looking through some photos I had taken and was considering for inclusion in my 'Twin Jewels Project', I ran across one that I thought really exemplified this advantage.

This particular location is usually quite non-descript and very ordinary appearing. It is on the edge of a small body of water that is out in the open and which, on most days, is illuminated by very harsh light and is, overall, not particularly appealing. Nonetheless, every time I would drive by it I kept having the nagging feeling that it should be appealing. It just never seemed to reach what I thought it had the potential to be, at least from a photographic standpoint.

I was out photographing quite early on one foggy morning and wondered what the fog might do for the location and decided to drive by and take a quick peek. Not only was there fog, but the whole area was warmed by filtered light from the rising sun giving it a nice warm, yet contrasty feel.....so I pulled out the camera and tripod and gave it a whirl.

Foggy Morning
Copyright Howard Grill

For the adventurous, it can be difficult to return to the same location many times over. But it can be worth it.

Quick Quotes: Robert Frank

"When people look at my pictures, I want them to feel the way they do when they want to read a line of a poem twice."

Robert Frank, 1951

Simple and direct. A perfect description. I don't think it could be stated more eloquently.

Western Pennsylvania's Secrets

Western Pennsylvania has many beautiful natural areas that are known locally, but, surprisingly, do not seem to have much recognition outside the state. I suspect that part of the reason is that these locations tend to be relatively small in size and are not 'national' parks. In addition, the beauty in this area of the country is generally of a 'quiet' kind. We have mountains, but they are not vast and towering ranges. We have rivers, but generally not massive and powerful ones. We have canyons that are grand but not Grand.

The interesting thing is that this is probably true of, well, almost anywhere! Which is why it is a good idea to spend time exploring, as they say, "right outside your front door". Areas close by are easy to get to again and again, and the more often one goes, the more experience and knowledge can be had with a location under many weather conditions and seasons. That is an advantage that a 'native' has when photographing an area, as compared to a visitor.

So, without further ado, here is just one of Western Pennsylvania's 'secrets'.....Ohiopyle State Park.

Cucumber Falls
Ohiopyle State Park

Cucumber Falls
Ohiopyle State Park

Rock Abstract
Ohiopyle State Park

Images All Copyright Howard Grill

Classic Tales

So far, all of my posts have been purely about photography which, of course, seems entirely reasonable given that this is a photography blog. However, on occasion, I do run across something non-photographic that I think would be of interest to people who take some of their precious time to read this blog. I don't mean that at all facetiously......time is a very valuable and limited commodity and I am honored that people would take some of what little they have to spare to come my way and read what I have to say and look at what I have to show.

At any rate, over the last few weeks I have come across something that is art related (but not the photographic arts) and which I have enjoyed very much. Perhaps you might like it as well. I am referring to The Classic Tales Podcast. This podcast can be subscribed to via i-Tunes, but I will give you the link to the primary website as well as to the podcast episode download site. For this podcast, BJ Harrison regularly reads an unabridged classic short story that runs anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes in length. Mr. Harrison is an artist; a sculptor, a painter, an actor and, as it turns out, quite an accomplished storyteller as well. He uses his voice to play all the parts in any given story and is an absolute joy to listen to.

In addition to the free podcasts, Mr. Harrison has just come out with his first audiobook, reading Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island" in its unabridged, seven hour entirety. Sounds like a long time doesn't it? While I had initially purchased the $9.99 audiobook to listen to (via my i-Pod) during the frequent one hour rides I have to take to Ohio for work, I soon found that I couldn't stop listening and also had it on for every five or ten minute ride I needed to take around my neighborhood. Seven hours never went by so fast, and I honestly wished it went on much longer. He gives such life and personality to the characters that you feel you know each and every one (not, of course, to take anything away from Robert Louis Stevenson). He does the greatest Long John Silver you could ever imagine.

I have no connection in any way with Mr. Harrison, I just very much enjoy what he has done. Give the podcast a shot (I particularly like 'The Lost Phoebe' by Theodore Dreiser). Tell me what you think. If you like it you will certainly also enjoy "Treasure Island", which I think is even better than any of the podcast readings.

Hope nobody minded the brief departure from photography!

Pinhole Imaging: Motion And Softness

There is something very elemental about pinhole imaging. Nothing between the light and the film itself. I am finding that composition using a camera with no viewfinder and a wide angle of view isn't as easy as one might think. I had some shots from an overlook that kept including a portion of the safety railing. In this shot, I had one tripod leg over the railing and resting on a rock, while the other two legs (and myself) were behind the railing.

The two aspects of pinhole that seem inherent are the infinite depth of field with an associated softness to the image, both related to the pinhole, and the portrayal of motion related to the long exposure times. I think that finding subject matter that plays into and benefits from these qualities are going to be important in producing good images with the pinhole camera.

Pinhole Image
Copyright Howard Grill

Experimenting With Long Shutter Speeds

I went out to photograph a bit this morning with an aim towards experimenting. I wanted to try out a new 'gadget' that I just purchased (though, given the {over}price, I hardly think it could be called a mere gadget).

I am speaking of the Singh-Ray Vari ND Variable Neutral Density Filter. This rather unique filter lets you 'dial in' a neutral density 'strength' of up to 8 stops. Today, I gave it a whirl with flowing water. This image is shot at f16 with a 1 minute exposure using the filter dialed up pretty near to its max:

Copyright Howard Grill

This, of course, was a quick first time out and a very obvious use for nature imaging. If you think about it, lots of possible ideas come to mind: water with swirling autumn leaves, snow, rain, imprssionistic blowing flowers, urban images with ghostlike moving people, cars, trains etc, smeared out clouds, surf ...the more I think the more ideas I come up with.

As I use it I will post some more examples.....I just think it is going to turn out to be a device that one can use to get some really creative effects.

Look Ma.........No Lens

The childlike playfulness of this post's title was chosen with just that feeling in mind. Because that was what it was like to watch my first pinhole images come off the developing reel ...... and even more so getting the first glimpse of the positive images after the rapid prescan.

A sort of amazement that it could actually work.....pictures with no lens, who are you kidding.? Sure, I know the physics of it and had seen other pinhole shots, but they seemed so foreign compared to anything else that I had done. So when making various exposures with my Zero Image pinhole camera, I half expected nothing to be there when I developed the film. But lo and behold, when I pulled that filmstrip off the reel there it was:

Boardwalk
Copyright Howard Grill

Sure it required a bit of contrast adjustment etc. after scanning, but the information was all there. Now, I am not saying this is necessarily the most dynamic image in the world; it was meant as a 'proof of concept', at least to me. So, yes, it really does work! And, yes, it really was fun! Go ahead and give it a try, you might like it. My prior post lists lots of pinhole resources.

Pinhole Photography Resources

Pinhole photography also fits into what might be considered the 'alternative camera' niche, albeit a different niche than the plastic lensed 'toy cameras'. Having developed some interest in toy cameras, I felt compelled to look into pinhole photography as well. If I found the idea of taking pictures with a cheap plastic lens interesting, what could be more interesting than no lens at all? Talk about going back to the origins of the medium!

I have not tried pinhole photography just yet (though I have a camera) but am looking forward to giving it a whirl. If only there were time to experiment with everything I might like to.

First off, here is a very nice article about the history of pinhole photography and then some. A very nice Pinhole FAQ is also available on-line.

Here is a link to "Pinhole Resource Online", a really excellent source of information by well-known pinhole photographer Eric Renner.




It is also the source of the now defunct Pinhole Journal (back issues still available....I just bought a few but haven't yet received them).





Mr. Renner has also authored one of the classic books on pinhole photography entitled "Pinhole Photography: Rediscovering A Historic Technique", which is available from Amazon or from the Pinhole Resource website itself.

There is a website called Pinhole Visions that will keep you up to date on pinhole photography events.

By the way, I have recently discovered that one of the premier pinhole photography groups, f295, was born right here in Pittsburgh and has a yearly symposium that I am going to try to attend. The next one is scheduled for May 29 - June 1, 2008. Their website has a pinhole discussion forum.

So where do you go to get a pinhole camera? If you Google pinhole camera or buy any of the previously mentioned books you will get umpteen plans for how to make one yourself. However, for me, the process of making a camera was not as important as the making of images, so I went and bought one. There are lots of places to purchase them, with film sizes ranging from 35mm all the way up to 8x10 sheet film.

I personally bought mine from Zero Image (I purchased the 6x9 multi format version). Though it was shipped from Hong Kong, it reached me in only about three days....VERY impressive! The camera itself is literally a work of art with very impressive craftsmanship. I am very much looking forward to using it.

By the way, Randy of Holgamods, which I mentioned in my post about Holga resources, also sells pinhole lenscaps to fit Holgas and many digital cameras as well.

There is plenty of time, by the way, to get 'pinhole educated' in time for Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day, which is held each year on the last Sunday in April.

Finally, even though this is a pinhole resource post, I will end it with another Holga image I recently took.

Copyright Howard Grill

First Holga Shots

Since I have been posting about Holga and alternative camera images, I though I should probably post an image or two of my own. I am just learning about the Holga's idiosyncrasies and the aesthetic, so I need to say that I don't think these are particularly accomplished or dynamic Holga images, as they are from my first few rolls of film that I have put through the camera. I present them merely as an example of the type of results that the Holga gives. I hope to have some better examples in the future.

I have to say, I think the camera / film imparts a very 1940's look to the images and that urban type images will benefit from this particular 'retro' type of appearance.

"Cityscape"

"Wiener World"
Images Copyright Howard Grill

With the next post I will delve into some pinhole photography resources and then back to 'regular' photography for awhile.

Holga Resources

I previously mentioned that I would like to have a post or two devoted to resources for Holga and toy cameras, as well as for pinhole photography.

Lets start with Holga and toy cameras.



Despite the fact that it was just published in 2006, Michelle Bates' book "Plastic Cameras Toying With Creativity" has become the bible of toy camera information. If you have any interest in this type of photography at all, don't even waste time thinking about it, simply get this book. Here is a link to Michelle Bates' website that has multiple sources for purchasing the book.

Here is a great interview with Michelle. Here we have another, though I haven't quite had the time to listen to this second one yet.




Here is another book that looks quite interesting. I purchased it, but can't say much about it yet, as I have not yet received it. It looks like it will be quite good and I'm looking forward to reading it. More information about its contents and how to purchase it can be found here.

Freestyle Photographic Supplies also put out a very nice Holga manual available for free download.

In addition, Toycamera.com is a great resource for toy cameras including forums, articles and galleries. The folks that run that website also put out a terrific magazine (and I am not sure there are any others out there) devoted solely to toy and alternative cameras called Light Leaks. I recently subscribed and received my first issue and was really blown away by the quality. If I were to try to make a comparison, I would say it is like the JPG Magazine of toy cameras. Definitely worth a subscription if this type of imaging appeals to you.

OK, so let's say you are interested....where do you go to buy your Holga. There is always e-bay. Another alternative is Freestyle Photographic Supplies who, I believe, may be the actual importers of Holgas into the USA (I think I remember reading that, but can't remember where, so I am not entirely certain it is true).

However, those would be second choices for me. I can, without any hesitation whatsoever, suggest that you should purchase your Holga from Randy at Holgamods.com. Randy can, at an extremely reasonable price, sell you a brand new Holga which has been modified in any number of different ways, including the ability to have two functional apertures, velcro to make sure the back stays on etc....all really useful stuff (see more at his website). More importantly, he provides customer service unlike anything I have seen before. I only purchased two Holgas from him, so it isn't like I am a megacustomer. I had a few questions and e-mailed him and in all instances he responded within minutes. Not only that, on two occasions I e-mailed him questions and he said the answer required some explanation and asked if it would be OK to call....needless to say, after sending him my number, I received a call within minutes providing a detailed answer to my question. You just can't find service like that anywhere else.

Anyway, I hope this is a good starting point for resources about toy cameras for anyone that might be interested. Though they are called 'toy cameras', they have a very appealing aesthetic all their own with many artists choosing to work with them exclusively, so don't be put off by the word 'toy'. There have been entire shows devoted to work done only with these types of cameras. Recently, there has been absolutely wonderful work done by Perry Dilbeck that was shot entirely with a Holga and was published not too long ago in LensWork. That work has recently been released in a book entitled "The Last Harvest: Truck Farmers In The Deep South", seen here, and available on Amazon.com or directly from the photographer:



For my next post, I will talk about some resources for pinhole camera photography.

Hi Tech / Lo Tech

Lately, it has been a bit difficult to get excited about going out to take photos. I think it is a combination of factors. I mostly take nature photographs and this is a time of year that things appear, well, just a bit stagnant.....lots of green.....and the 'good' light tends to be gone fairly early in the morning making a VERY early rise necessary if you need to drive an hour or so to get to where you want to take photographs. I don't mean to insinuate that you can't make great photos this time of year, it is just that at times I get the urge to do something just a bit different in the summer.

In 'poking around' the internet, one of the things that I have found that has really intrigued me is the aesthetic of toy camera and pinhole photography. This is definitely something very different from the attempt at perfectly composed image with critical sharpness and controlled depth of field and exposure that I have aimed for with my 1Ds MkII. The toy camera and pinhole images have a very 'dreamy' and ethereal quality to them that is really something special. Not necessarily better, just different.

When I show examples of such images that I have found on the internet to people (I don't have my own images scanned yet), the response seems to be very interesting. People either 'get it' or they don't. 'Gettting it' doesn't even necessitate liking it, it is just understanding that there is a special aesthetic to the images. I am not implying there is something wrong with not 'getting it', but I do find the clear demarcation between people interesting.

To see what I mean, just go to photo.net and search the site for Holga discussions. It is clear that some folks like the aesthetic, some don't....and some don't get it at all. They just interject into the discussion the question of why, if someone wanted to try medium format, they wouldn't buy a 'real medium format camera' that can be had cheaply on e-bay and learn on a quality camera; they can't understand why someone would want to embrace the softness and the vignetting that are among the marks of images made with these cameras. Really, reading the threads is quite interesting.

In addition to adding a Holga toy camera and a pinhole camera to my kit, I have even bought the basic developing tools for black and white film and have started developing the negatives in my basement; just like I did in high-school. The next step will be to scan some images and see what I come up with in terms of producing prints.

By the way, I would like to thank Billie Mercer and Joe Reifer for their words of encouragement and advice by e-mail. Billie also has her own wonderful Holga image galleries, of which this is one.

Over the next several posts I would like to develop a short list of resources so that anyone interested can get a little background information about the whole toy camera and pinhole camera mystique.

Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix - 2007

I had the opportunity to attend the annual Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix this weekend. For those unfamiliar with the event, it is an outdoor car festival extraordinaire. We are talking acres of historic and rare cars as well as contemporary offerings. In addition, the vintage race cars actually compete on a course that winds through Schenley Park. It really is a fantastic event, even for someone like me, who is not a 'car person'.

It is said that one can learn a lot about their interests and 'style' by looking over their images as a whole. When I look over the shots I took this weekend I recognize that my focus at the show was not the races or even whole cars, but, rather, abstract images composed of the lines and shapes of the cars. I am not at all sure what that says about me, but it seems fairly consistent over the years I have attended this event.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of the weekend was watching my two youngest children set up their lemonade stand, as we live only a few blocks from the Grand Prix and there is a good deal of foot traffic leading to the event. Suffice it to say that no one could walk past our house without being urged by the kids to buy lemonade. The funniest part was when I returned to find the seven year old out manning the stand by herself. When I asked her where her older brother was she said sarcastically (while making little quote signs with the second and third fingers of each hand) "He said I should keep selling while he goes on 'TV break' ".

Here are some offerings from this years Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix:

Eyes

Stingray

Front Grill

Hood Painting

Body Abstract
Images Copyright Howard Grill

Capture The Moment

Back in March, I wrote a blog post entitled "The Power Of The Still Frame". In that piece, I talked about the emotional impact of an individual photograph and its ability to freeze time, convey a message, and make a lasting impression. As part of that post, I included four photographs as examples of what I was referring to. Oddly enough, this past weekend I was able to view three out of these four images. Not only that, I was able to view every Pulitzer Prize winning photograph from 1942 (the year of the award's inception) to the present. "How?", you ask. By attending a magnificent exhibit at The Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, PA entitled "Capture The Moment: The Pulitzer Prize Photographs". The exhibit is a traveling one, so it may well also be coming to a city somewhere near you.

Imagine seeing wall size photographs that take you through history along with information about each and every image. I am not talking about technical information, but, rather, a description of what was going on, a description of the photographers feelings, a description of how the photo came to be......mostly in the photographers own words. I don't believe there could be a better way to understand and connect with each image. And, like it or not, you will connect, and it's not all pleasant. In fact, most of it is unpleasant, to say the least. Remember, these are journaistic images.

Executions, accidents, war......you will be reminded of just how terribly violent a species we can be. You will be brought back to events from your youth and, once rechallenged with these events, think about their meaning again and again. Prepare to have your emotions dragged around. You can't walk through the exhibit without getting tearful several times. It is perhaps futile for me to try to describe the feeling of viewing photo after photo of the events that have shaped our culture, our history and our lives. Multiple reviews in newspapers and on-line will undoubtedly do this better than I possibly could.

Besides the intense experience of viewing the photos and trying to digest it all, there was another message that came through to me from a purely photographic viewpoint.......and by stating it I by no means want to detract from the emotional experience of the exhibit. It is just that everyone attending will understand the emotion, but perhaps not everyone attending will think about this: many of the images are less than technically perfect. Some lack perfect focus, some have suboptimal depth of field, some would have been better presented with longer focal lengths so that the subject would not have to be circled to draw your attention.......but they all captured more than just a mere moment or event; in a fraction of a second they captured the very essence of events that have defined who we were, who we are, and where we seem to be heading.

If you live in Western Pennsylvania, or if the exhibit comes to a city near wherever you might be, you really owe it to yourself to take the time to have a look.