Quiet Observers Part I

I think they liked me!

I travel. A lot. And although a good photographer should probably be able to take good pictures anywhere, there’s something about the foreign experience that makes the eye sharper than it normally would be. Personally, I like to capture people in the everyday without being obtrusive. As you can see from the above picture, however, it doesn’t always work out that way. But that being said, let me (finally!) reveal my travel photo tips. And since I’ve never had any work published, you’ll really want to pay attention here.

Tri-X never lets me down.

Tip #1: Get Close. I really think good portraits are all in the approach. I have watched many a camera-laden westerner approach a local enthusiastically, only to be rebuffed. They don’t want to be someone’s entertainment any more than you yourself would want to be for someone else. So, a healthy dose of humility and respect- and often some cash- will often get you some really meaningful pictures. I then like to get in close to show the details of the face as much as I can. The eyes must always be in focus, even if the rest of the face is not. And I like a spontaneous pose. Usually, they’ll give you a very candid gaze, which, I think, is quite revealing.

Yes! Give me monastic!

Tip #2: Tell a Story. What is more intriguing than a snapshot of some strange event or odd ritual? I think it gives a photo some heft. Who knows what was going on in this picture, but it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that the mind will begin asking questions: Who are these people? Where was this taken? Why does one of them have a red robe? And so on.

What a poser.

Tip #3: The Kids Are All Right. At some point in our development into adults, we learn to hate getting our picture taken. Kids, however, love it. They must be bribed, of course, with candies or some such delight, and then they are happy to be in your pictures. I think they reflect the essence of different cultures better than adults, even if, ironically, they act like kids everywhere else.

Your guess is as good as mine.

Tip #4: Throw in a Little Gravitas. Quiet moments of dignity are hard to photograph. So when you see one- and it’s appropriate- snap away. I like this picture because who knows what the story is. Is that the grandmother? The mother? Surrogate? No se.

More to come.

Digitalk (kind of)

If you don't love this photo, there is something wrong with you.

I routinely get 200,000 to 300,000 hits a week (this is a complete lie), and yet I talk only about film and it’s applications. “But what about digital?”, the masses scream. Well, it so happens that today’s topic- long exposures in color- is directly applicable for those with digital cameras. Happy?

First, some background. Continuing from my last post, I left off at the point at which I figured out how to shoot (moderately) successful long exposures during the day on black and white film. I was getting great results. But, again, I wondered- how I could take this concept further? And then- what if I could do these shots in color? Yes, that was it. That was definitely something I had not seen done before. And once I had the idea, that was that.

So clearly, I couldn’t use the IR filter for color film, as the results would be beyond bizarre. Not my milieu. So I knew it had to be an ND filter of some sort. A Neutral Density (ND) filter is a filter that is significantly opaque to white light, and so the shutter speed must thus be increased (sometimes drastically) to compensate. If you’ve ever seen a picture of a waterfall or stream in which the water looks all silky, like here, then you’ve seen the ND in action. Because the light takes longer to get through, the rushing water creates this very smooth look. Observe:

Brooklyn...zuh!!

But, you may be saying to yourself, this is in the middle of the day and yet the water is smooth and the clouds in the sky are moving fast! Explain! Obviously, I didn’t use a standard ND filter, which will only add 1.5-2 stops to your shutter speed. I did a little research, and finally found the Hoya ND x400. This is an ND filter, but one that’s significantly more opaque than any standard filter. In fact, it is so much so that you have to compose your shot before you put the filter on the camera. So here’s what I figured out: when I paired a polarizer (I always use a polarizer, by the way- it makes the clouds and skies pop) with the ND x400, I could add an astounding 11 stops to the shutter speed- during the day! So, when shooting with Fuji Velvia 50 film, I would use my handy Sekonic light meter to find the correct (unfiltered) exposure, and then add 11 stops to it. So for example, if I metered a scene at f-5.6 at 1/250 seconds, I would simply increase exposure by 11 stops which would be 4 seconds. No need to worry about reciprocity failure (at least not with Velvia), the shots always come back perfect. In fact, it’s so accurate that I never have to bracket. Check it:

The sea was not angry that day, my friends.

So what does this have to do with digital, you may ask? Well, film and digital are similar in this particular exposure situation. If you own a nice digital and you want to attempt these types of shots, all you need is a polarizer, a ND x400 filter, a tripod, and a cable release. And a smile, of course. Get out there, be different, and try something new. As always (or from now on), I leave you with a parting shot:

Tempus fugit.

Yeah, I know some Latin.

Me Luv You, Long Exposure (B&W)

Faster than a speeding cloud!

In my last post (which was just epic), I mused on the values of night photography as a teaching tool for learning proper exposure. But I soon tired of shooting at night- too much alone time. I yearned to be back with the day people, so I began to wonder how I could take some of the concepts of nocturnal shooting and apply them to daytime situations. I liked experimental photography. I wanted to be different. But how?

Around this time, I happen to see the work of Denis Olivier, a French photographer. It’s really quite stunning and it impacted me greatly. He was doing a lot of interesting things, most notably (for me, anyway) long exposures during the day. So it could be done! I promptly wrote to him and asked how this was done. He was very tight-lipped, gave me very little information and was, overall, of very little help to me. He’s French, after all. This irked me considerably. Why would someone purposely guard their techniques? Are they afraid of competition? A diminishment of their own work, perhaps? Whatever the reason, I do not share in this attitude, and I am happy to tell people how I get some of the pictures I get.

I then wrote to the aforementioned Richard Rothman to ask about development times. I got a surprisingly terse reply from him as well. I decided that I was destined to do this all alone. And it was probably better this way, as the trial and error really shaped my understanding of the process. And so, after many, many failures, I finally got this picture:

Perseverance? Priceless.

For these shots, you obviously need some serious filterage. I’ll spare you the long trial-and-error story and just tell you, the combination I came up with was a polarizer and an Infrared filter, the Hoya R72. Don’t ask me how I figured it out, I just did. I would first meter the darkest area of the scene in which I wanted detail, and overexpose by 12-14 stops. You read that right. So if you metered a dark spot and it said 1/250 seconds at f-4, you would take three exposures: 16 seconds (+12 stops); 32 seconds (+13 stops); and 64 seconds (+14 stops). You would then have to cut development back big time to bring the highlights down to a manageable level. I settled on Kodak Microdol-X diluted at 1:3 at 75 degrees Fahrenheit for 11 minutes and 36 seconds. There- I just saved you hundreds of hours of trial and error. You’re welcome.

I leave you with two favorites:

It's exactly what I think Pillowland would look like.

and:

Yes, you're looking at New Jersey. Sorry about that.

Don’t be a technique-miser! Spread the wealth! Good day.

Exposed!

Starry Night

Film is a tricky thing, particularly when you are just a beginner. It seems that there are forces beyond simple chemistry at play, like two people could take the same picture with the same settings and get a completely different result. I remember shooting my first roll and then immediately ruining it in the development process. I couldn’t wind the film around the damn spool correctly (in the pitch black) and I looked on, horrified, as my negatives came out spotty and undeveloped in various areas. Totally frustrating. I thought of giving up film completely…(dramatic pause while that sinks in.) But happy ending: the answer to my winding problem was a simple change in brands on the suggestion of my teacher. I never mis-spooled a roll again. The art world collectively exhaled.

But those days of confusion are over now, and I have moved from clueless beginner to fumbling amateur. Having never shot anything other than film, I believe that I think about photography different than, say, someone who started out with a nice digital. I try to think about shots as much as I can before shooting, and in the recesses of my brain, the phrase “Zone System” bounces around from time to time. I don’t know what it means, it just bounces around. I actually think about the shadows, the highlights, the contrast, et al.

I had a very rocky relationship with exposure until I took a night photography class with a Mr. Richard Rothman. For anyone who has trouble with exposure times and shutter speeds, look into night photography, it will help clear up all your issues. Plus, it’s amazing. Observe my first (successful) night shot ever:

Damn you, airplane in left corner!

Not too terrible! What is mundane in the daylight becomes automatically interesting at night. Seriously, go to a bland spot at nighttime and take some shots. You will be surprised at the results. Beyond aesthetics, however, there are fundamental lessons to be learned shooting in the dark, as it were. So if you’re having trouble with the mechanics of photography, learn to shoot at night. Good day.

Gotham

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m in love with New York City. Unabashedly, totally, unapologetically. So, naturally, I’ve set out to document it in all it’s beauty- at least from my point of view. But it’s also a well-known fact (being, right now, revealed for the first time ever) that I have a strong distaste for street photography. There are many reasons for this, which I won’t get into now, except to say that hardly anyone can do it in a manner that is in any way captivating, interesting, or compelling. Of course, there are people out there who can do it, and do it well. But they are a select bunch. Best to leave it up to them.

So then, how does one document a city without hitting the streets? Cityscapes, of course! They are as wonderful as any panorama nature can offer up, this I believe. And yet, even cityscapes can be uninspired in the wrong hands. To insure that this is not the case with my pictures (note the arrogance), I went one step further and introduced a not oft-used technique, but one that is wonderful when done right. The tilt/shift. Observe:

Tilt/Shift Magic in Action

The Graflex I used to take this picture is old and beat up. It has many small cracks in the bellows, and light leaks are constantly ruining pictures. But every so often, I come out with a gem like this one. I accidentally scanned this negative as a color negative, hence the odd toning.

But then I was feeling a bit impish, and decided to go further and try night photography with the Graflex, something I’d never done before. Mainly because the thing is so ancient, I wasn’t sure how to keep the shutter open. The thing really is a dinosaur on regular shots, requiring about 8 steps before you can actually take a picture. Of the pictures I take, maybe 1 in 10 comes out as passable. 10%. Good times. Or huge waste of money. Either way, I got this the other night up at the reservoir in Central Park:

Weird, isn't it.

It really kind of bugged me that the right tower in the central building was out. The nerve.

So, if you suddenly enjoy tilt/shift photography, there are a few guys out there who are doing some really amazing things. One of my favorites is a guy named Olivo Barbieri. Incidentally, this is the guy that inspired me to get into this technique in the first place. Go look at his work and be in awe.

In the Beginning…

In an attempt to further push my photography down the throat of the masses, I have (on the encouragement of the mega-talented Melanie McCabe) started a photo blog. If you want to just skip to the ending, however, you can always immediately go here:

My Devianart Account

Which is much more comprehensive (but less asthetically enhanced) than my MAIN website, which can be found here:

My Very Own Website

Ideally, I’d like to feature some of my nicer pictures and talk about the techniques and most likely aggrandized stories behind them. It will satisfy the legions of questions (2) I have recieved on the body of my work. Please comment if you like, and don’t be afraid to tell me what I jerk I really am. Because I am!

By the way, Melanie’s website can be found here:

MSevenDesign

Definitely check out her work, it’s amazing. And I’m not just saying this because she’s hot.