Enticing the Light » Shedding Light

Shedding Light on Kerrick James

Miserere — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 05:05:31 +0000

by Peter Zack and Miserere

Today we have Kerrick James, who has been an accomplished travel, landscape and adventure photographer for many years. His work has been published in over 200 book and magazine covers of publications such as National Geographic Adventure, Sunset, Islands, Arizona Highways, Elle Decor, Alaska Airlines, Outdoor Photographer, Sky, Las Vegas Life, Virtuoso Life and too many others to list. He is also one of the 4 official Pentaxians sponsored by Pentax in the USA. He’s so rarely home, we’re fortunate to have him give us a few moments to share some insights into his career and work. He’s been very generous to send us large image files, so be sure to click on the photos below to see them big.

Kerrick, thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions for our Shedding Light series. Given how much you travel for work, do you actually pay rent anywhere? It seems you are always on the go and living in a suitcase.

I do pay a mortgage in Arizona, and actually get to sleep there sometimes! Most years I travel at least 180 days and could be gone more but I think you have to balance work with family or else all you have left at the end of the line is…work. I love photography but I love family too.

Could you list a few of the places you’ve been to and a few you would like to still visit or return to. What places have been the most special and why?

This always ranks as one of the most popular questions for me to be asked, and I enjoy answering it as I get to relive some great places and memories. Outside my home territory of the American Southwest I have always loved Alaska, Hawaii and Mexico, and have shot each numerous times. But I would have to say that I dream of returning to Patagonia and the Atacama Desert in Chile, the South Island of New Zealand, and Australia.

Let’s talk gear a bit. Landscape photographers historically often shot medium and even large format film cameras. In fact my favourite for several years was the Pentax 67. I know you’ve had some time with the new Pentax 645D. Have you used it in your work yet and can you give us a few highlights or thoughts about it?

I shot the 67 and the 67II for many years and still have two 67II bodies and a big complement of lenses. I always tried to use the big 67 camera whenever possible, although I was quite happy to shoot 35mm for sports, wildlife and people in travel images. The 6×7 format was very successful for me, and when the 645D was announced for real, I knew it would be a perfect comparison to 67/Velvia quality. I was the first pro to get to test it in the USA and immediately took it up to Northern Arizona to shoot the same iconic locations I had shot for years with the 67. t’s a superb field camera, rugged, weather sealed, quite easy to use, not terribly heavy, hand-holdable if necessary, with amazing image quality, and I can use my 67 glass with the Pentax 67-to-645 adapter. After testing it, I’m glad I have little Velvia left in my fridge, and I’m not buying more. I made two 30X40 inch test prints of Monument Valley images and they exceed anything I have printed from 67 at the same size. [Ed. note: I have seen these prints and can attest to their high quality, beyond what I could have printed from an APS-C file.] In truth, they look like 4X5 prints, handled very well. And you can use old 645 film lenses too. Just stop down enough and use a tripod. The color palette is exceptional, tonal scale excellent, fabulous detail and resolution. Yes, I want and will get one in 2011!

What focal lengths do you most often shoot? It’s my impression that many amateurs will have a bag (or 2) of lenses that they “must have” and yet most pros will often shoot with only 2-4 lenses at most. Do you often travel light and use a few favourite lenses for most of your work?

For the Pentax 67, I own and use the 35mm Fisheye, 45mm, 55-100mm zoom, 135 Macro, 200mm, 300mm ED, and the 1.4 and 2X converters. Mostly I used the 45mm wide angle and the 55-100mm zoom, a really fine performer. For the APS-C cameras, K10D, K20D, K-7 and K-5, I have lenses from 10mm to 600mm, plus 1.4 and 2X Pentax TC’s; too many to list, but on assignment I would typically carry 5 or 6 lenses. If wildlife or sports were in the mix then I’d carry my long glass, but I always carry wide lenses!

Pentax’s DSLR line does not feature a model with a Full Frame (24x36mm) sensor, which is the format of choice for the majority of professional photographers. Have you ever been tempted to “go Full Frame”, and how have you coped with the alleged limitations of the APS-C (16x24mm) sensor format?

This might be a surprise to some, but I have no interest or real need to go to Full Frame. I shoot both editorial magazine and commercial assignments with my K-7 and now with the K-5, and as both Getty and Corbis take those files from me without complaint, I am happy. Among other issues, I like having light and rugged camera bodies and lenses. While I’m strong enough to carry the Pentax 67 system, and have done so for many years, its not a bad thing to be able to travel light(er) when I need to do so. And, the new Pentax 645D blows away any of the Full Frame bodies for quality!

Stepping back in time, what got you interested in photography and when did you begin shooting? Was there a shot you took early on that made you realize this was the path you wanted your life to take? Do you remember the shot and can you discuss it?

I was chiefly intrigued by landscape photography in high school and early on in college, and then began to shoot people and really expand my horizons. Working people into the landscape really made my career take off, but there’s not one seminal image that made me say “I want to shoot for the rest of my life”. I simply knew that for me, photography was the perfect blend of visual, intellectual and physical challenges, and an art form of endless fascination. There’s nothing I’ve ever experienced that has brought me the thrills and growth I’ve made in this medium. I’ve sacrificed much for love of Photography, but it has been more than worth it. I’ve never looked back since I made my choice.

What elements do you look for to create a successful photograph? Is it the time of day? Certain things you think are essential?

It all begins with light, and what you can do with great or meaningful light, but honestly, in the end its all about emotion, emotions that arise from taking or viewing an image. Making a super image is a buzz, a high, and recognizing and blending graphic elements, light, tonality, timing, gesture, everything you can steal from a 3D world and render into a 2D document, well…what could be better?

I see you also teach seminars; did you attend classes or seminars when you were starting in Photography or are you completely self taught?

I was self taught in high school, growing up in a house of cameras, but studied photography as an art media in college, at Arizona State in Tempe, Arizona. I’ve always been a bit of a teacher, and like to share knowledge, so being asked to teach photo workshops was a natural for me, although a surprise when it happened about ten years ago.

A lot of people enjoy shooting landscapes, what inspires you and what has influenced your work over the years? Do you have any favourite shots you’d like to share with us? If you were to offer one or two tips to our readers, what would you consider to be the most important things to look for or consider?

Early on I looked at masters like Eliot Porter and Ansel Adams, and later learned from viewing David Muench, Carr Clifton and Galen Rowell. One tip would be to watch carefully when storms are going off. Stormlight is my favorite because of its inherent drama, and I try to anticipate the path of the light so I can be in the right place when it breaks. Rainbows are a special interest of mine, even here in the desert Southwest!

Another tip is to shoot every variation you can imagine when the light is great. Don’t shoot just a few images and think you’ve nailed it. And also, don’t forget to slow down and enjoy the moment, as it will never be the same again for you.

With all the interesting places you’ve visited, I’d love to hear a story or two that stands out. I suspect you’ve seen some very unique things in your travels.

I’ve been lucky enough to shoot double rainbows over the Mittens of Monument Valley, the Green Flash over the Pacific in Hawaii and other places too, eighteen red cloaked climbers on the summit of Mt. McKinley (from a plane thank God), dozens of male gray whales from the air in Bahia Magdalena, shot from a 600 feet high parasail in New Zealand… These and a thousand memories of times and images are always swirling in my head, and greedily I want more.

I know you named a cave that you were the first to photograph professionally. Tell us how that happened.

In 1994 I was scouting along the Colorado River north of Lake Havasu City for a new guidebook to the American Southwest. I saw a group of kayakers putting into the river and got myself invited to join them on a one day exploration of Black Canyon. This is the canyon where the Hoover Dam was built in the early 1930’s and it was just being opened up to public access from the dam road for recreation. We kayaked and canoed downriver until we dipped into a tiny cave. I took a photo with a fisheye zoom lens that seems to expand interior space. A few days later I showed this image to the photo editor of Arizona Highways Magazine, who assigned me on the spot to shoot a story on the opening of Black Canyon to the public. I needed to caption all my images for the editor, and our group of kayakers had marveled at the rich green color of this water in the flooded cave; late in the day, low angle sunlight bounces off the cave floor up through the clear Colorado River water and it seemed that we all took turns being suspended over an emerald crystal. So I captioned it Emerald Cave for the story, and the name seems to found acceptance. I still receive, and answer, queries from people around the world about this magical space, and how to find it. The image below was the cover of the July 2007 issue of Popular Photography, who had commissioned me to shoot the Emerald Cave as part of an article on high ISO photography.

Do you always carry a camera with you? I ask this because sometimes I find that just spending time away from civilization and soaking in my surroundings can revitalize my vision. Do you do anything like that to try and look at the place you’re in a little differently?

No not always, although I do feel partially undressed without one, and I never ever want to be caught cameraless when the magic is happening. It is important to see and feel the environment and connect with it, and get your ideas sorted out. But serendipity always rules over pre-planning. Seize the moment and make the day!

What if any other art forms interest you? How do they influence your work?

I do look at other art; painting, drawing, sketches. Photography is just a technically potent means and method of ‘painting with light’, and ideas can be universal among mediums. We are visual beings first and foremost, as I’m fond of telling my writer friends.

Since a lot of your work has been published, are you shooting for the magazine cover or are you shooting what you like and then submitting it for possible publication, or are you shooting ‘on assignment’ for certain shots a publisher wants?

When out in the field, or shooting in the city, whether on an assignment or shooting for my own stock, I always think of covers. Covers are a particular challenge to create, and to land a prestigious cover is a special thrill. I have always shot more verticals than horizontals anyway. I do always shoot to the parameters suggested by the photo editor, and then try to go beyond those boundaries. I like to surprise photo editors with a new take on a subject, and find ways to satisfy myself as well as the client. Its work, but a better ‘job’ would be hard to find!

The Photography business is changing even as we speak. What would you do differently today if you were starting out in this line of work? What advice would you give a young enthusiastic photographer who wanted to make a career out of travel and adventure Photography?

First I would advise taking a vow of poverty for the first few years of being in business! Second I would say ‘learn to write!’ Even if you don’t write and illustrate travel features as I do, you need to write well to pitch for projects, maybe to blog, to write emails that people want to read. Third, look at pictures in the media constantly and learn to make images better than what are currently in vogue. Finally, get serious. We’re in a communications business, and we provide both a service and a product. If you don’t treat this as a real business you’ll never make a living at it.

The current economic crisis has hit some segments of the Photography industry especially hard. For example, wedding and events photographers are seeing their business taken over by “uncle Freds” and “mums with cams”; is the travel and adventure segment also being hit? With the ubiquity of DSLRs these days, are you finding your clients are more likely to source their travel photos from Flickr rather than hire you to travel somewhere to take them?

I think this ‘recession/depression’ has hit all segments of photography—stock, assignment, workshops, everything. Even other photographers like to shoot travel imagery and always have. Now there is a glut of “acceptable” travel material available from worldwide sources, and many of these source just want the photo credit. They aren’t trying to sell enough images to make a decent living, and don’t actually know what their work could be worth, or perhaps even care to find out. Microstock, royalty free images, agency volume deals…it’s been a fast race to the bottom for the last decade. In the past, even when assignment work was slow for me, I could always count on stock being a baseline for my business. That is no longer the case. And yes, real bonifide assignments are few and far between now, a handful a year when I once did 25 editorial shoots in just one year for one client alone.

Kerrick we appreciate the time you’ve given us today and would like to have a second part to this interview some day. We’ve only touched on the landscape work and there’s much more to your portfolio that would require another full interview to explore. Thank you for your time and I hope we can take this up again some other day.

Its my pleasure to share ideas and pictures with your audience. So many fine teachers shared with me over the years and its a treat to give something back. Travel well, and see before you shoot!

Please visit Kerrick’s website to see more of his work, or follow his occasionally updated blog. Kerrick teaches numerous workshops throughout the year and is also available for private one-on-one photo instruction on location in the American West and Pacific Rim; see his website for details.

All Photos: ©Kerrick James.

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Shedding Light on Gianni Galassi

Miserere — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 04:05:01 +0000

by Miserere

Gianni Galassi’s PhotoGraphia was October 2010′s F-BoM. We hop on our Vespa and brave the crazy Roman traffic to find Gianni and ask him a few questions. A lot of hand gestures are sure to be involved.

Ciao Gianni! Grazie mille per parlare con noi. Why don’t we start off with the easy stuff (and stick to English!), like telling us how you got started in Photography and how long you’ve been practising.

When I was a child I was green with envy because of that mysterious and gorgeous device hanging from my uncle’s neck (it was a Rolleicord). The few times he allowed me to look through the viewfinder I was so excited that eventually my parents gave me a Ferrania Eura for my birthday. I was five or six and I wasn’t even able to put film inside it. But I started learning how to guesstimate focus and get a decent framing. By the way, I lost track of the Eura, whereas my uncle’s Rollei now sits in my cameras closet. So to answer your question, I started taking snapshots exactly 50 years ago, but my first “aware” photographs go back to when I was 14.

The next obvious question is to ask how you arrived at your current Photographic style. What would you call your genre, Square Contrastivism maybe?

Well, I never bothered looking for a proper name for my photographic style, but if you agree I’ll adopt yours, which is clever, learned, thorough and concise. How did I get there? The process took my entire life, of course. Looking back to my older works, I can recognize in retrospect the traces of what I do now. Have I been aware I was following this path since the beginning? Hell, no. I wish I had. But what makes a beginner a beginner is exactly this anxiety-inducing unawareness. It was deeply frustrating sometimes, as creativity is a tough thing to get hold of. Especially when you are in your twenties. Now I am definitely a happier photographer than I was at that time. Generally speaking, I am a happier man.

By all means, adopt the term, I’ll be honoured! Looking through your exhibition catalogue, Square, I enjoyed not only the images, but the evolution that I saw taking place before my eyes as I flipped the pages. Your first images from 2005-06 are more literal, and I feel maybe tentative, as if you were timid and unsure of where you were going. By 2008 the images are bold and self-assured and I feel your artistic vision is crystal clear. Am I imagining this?

On the contrary, you are making a point here. Until 2007, the year of my EXTRALIGHT exhibition, I was still concerned about codes. That is, notwithstanding my strong interest for the new aesthetic territories I was exploring, I was afraid to stray too much from the realm of what we usually consider “photography”. So there was a certain restraint, a sort of stylistic chasteness, in my images most of the times. For the same reason I still captioned my photographs according to the classic what-where-when pattern. Now I got rid of all this, along with other redundant elements within the image.

When and how did you arrive at the square format?

When I was a commercial photographer I primarily shot on rectangular 4×5 inch sheet film and sometimes on rectangular 24×36 mm film. Rectangular frame made me feel at home. This is why I hated when my customers asked me for 6×6 cm negatives or transparencies. Square frame made me feel lost. When shooting my Hasselblad or Rolleiflex I really became clumsy. Getting a well balanced and geometrically organized setting without the comfort of the rectangle turned out to be almost impossible to me. Until the day I stumbled upon Flickr, the online photo community whose members can post their rectangular photographs (landscape or portrait) into an invisible square grid. Soon I realized that if I wanted to take advantage of the whole available area inside that grid, so that my photographs would appear bigger, I’d have to post square ones. And I did. I have been editing square photographs for about four years now. My third last exhibition bore the word SQUARE as its title, and BLACK&BLUE, the one I did in Venice this summer, was exclusively made of square photographs as well. In short, this discovery of mine (big deal!, you’ll say) is the result of a technical feature/limitation.

Your photographs, though mostly abstract, rely heavily on urban subjects. You concentrate on Rome, your hometown, but do you ever purposely go elsewhere looking for new inspiration?

Devoting much of my time to photography, sometimes I randomly catch a good shot, sometimes I roam aimlessly all over my city (or wherever I happen to be) and find my subjects serendipitously. In other words, my locations can be deliberately selected, or found by chance. Anyway I made a habit of noting down anything interesting I see, so that I can come back under more favorable lighting conditions. And I always—I mean ALWAYS—have a camera with me. Furthermore, I always get out alone. Following me during my photo wanderings would be a torture for anyone. Although my wife and I always take into account the photographic value of the places we visit, I don’t travel purposely. But about one third of my photographs have been taken out of Rome.

Do you take other types of photos or do you dedicate yourself exclusively to your Square Contrastivism?

I have been working on merchant ships and wharfs for the last five years, taking photographs in Europe and North-Africa. But those files are sitting almost unexploited in my hard disk for the time being, as I’m not so interested in a literal portrayal of those subjects. Therefore I’m experimenting new ways to build a body of work about ships, based on a strong visual concept. The concept is clear enough to me: a celebration of bigness, metal and engineering. The trouble is that this idea should translate into an actual technique sooner or later. Which is not easy at all, if you have standards. It’s a trial-and-error-and-thinking-and-retrial process. But it’s not frustrating at all. It’s stimulating, exciting sometimes. Meanwhile my working on Square Contrastivism (hey, I’m already familiar with this definition) goes on. In my effort to get rid of any superfluous element, I’m going more abstract lately. And experimenting with split compositions. I’m also seeing a lot of early 20^th century paintings; they are very inspirational. Photography has more debts with contemporary art than we usually think.

Most urban photographers rely on their trusty legs to get around while photographing, but you use a bicycle to get around. Having experienced the traffic of Rome, I find this insane from a self-preservation point of view, but I also wonder how it is you spot subjects while cycling, an activity that takes a lot more concentration than walking.

That’s what I wonder too. As a matter of fact, Rome is the only Middle-East capital devoid of a European district. On the other hand, more than camera, the choice of vehicle is crucial. We are speaking of a badly managed urban environment here. That’s why I even sold my car six months ago. In heavy traffic, a car is a calamity, and parking is a hassle. Despite a couple of motorcycles sleeping in my garage, when it comes to photography I prefer my bicycle. I actually think a bicycle is the best photographer’s companion. You don’t have to wear a helmet—at least in my country—you can easily go against traffic or cross pedestrian areas, and you can stop wherever and whenever you want, in order to survey your location or get the best shooting point. If it wasn’t for my bicycle, most of my best photographs wouldn’t even exist. The EXIF data should include a “means of transport” field. It’s a crucial information. But you are right: bicycling and shooting at the same time would be a risky business no matter the place, and doing it in Rome is insanely dangerous. Yet there are more dangers at issue. A man with a camera is never welcome in the surroundings of a factory or of a building site, especially in a country of crooks like Italy. At various times I have been roughly approached by people who looked like having something to hide. That’s why I always carry a couple of my books when I’m out shooting; they help me demonstrate that I’m not a journalist looking for a scoop, and make a handy gift to soften even the toughest watchdog.

Now we come to the nearly obligatory gear section. You are somewhat atypical in your choice of equipment in that you prefer small-sensor zoom cameras, and lately you’ve been using micro-4/3 too. Did your square photographs evolve with your taste in cameras and did one influence the other?

Yes and yes. After ditching DSLRs three years ago I switched to compact cameras. I was looking for a lighter, smaller and unobtrusive tool like the film M Leicas I was familiar with, but the first digital M, the M8, apart from its insane price, was so disappointing that I resold it one month later. This is why I started trying alternatives. So came the Canon G10, an almost perfect camera I’m still very fond of: its ergonomics remind me of my old Lecica CL (one of my favorite cameras ever) and low-ISO image quality is really stunning. Later, after the launch of the Micro Four Thirds system, I decided that a Panasonic GF1 with three lenses (20mm, 14-45mm and 14-140mm) would be a reliable substitute to my old Nikon APS-C equipment. Last year I also bought a pocketable Panasonic TZ-65, and I’m now getting familiar with the Canon S95, another gem. As you can see, I gradually gave up optical viewfinders, and I learned framing through the rear LCD screen. Doing this, I found again my old view camera ways, with the advantage of an un-reversed image, which improved my ability to geometrically compose before shooting. Moreover, thanks to the LCD’s adjustable brightness, I can pre-visualize the contrast and closed shadows that mark out my stile. As for the square format, I never use the 1:1 option available, for instance, in the GF1, as I need more image on the sides to correct vertical perspective in Photoshop. 4:3 is the ratio I use the most.

You’ve been quite outspoken in your blog about your perfect camera. Could you explain it again for those of our readers who aren’t familiar with your blog? And could you tell us on a scale of 0 to 10 how likely you think it is that this ideal camera will ever be made?

My dream camera should be, more or less, like this:

Body and ergonomics: like the Canon G series, except for the mode dial, which should be replaced by a programmable shutter-speed/aperture dial, and the viewfinder, which should be electronic (1,5 million dots) and located at the left corner, like in Leica M bodies.
12–15 megapixel backlit sensor, 1/1,7” or a little bigger: firmware and image processor are getting better every day; IMHO the future is not in the so called “full frame” (“full” as to what?) but in the development of smaller and better chips.
Fully configurable buttons and dials via Panasonic or Nikon styled menus; forget Canon crappy menus; this configuration should be done once and for all, whereas everyday shooting options should mainly be operated through the physical interface (buttons and dials).
Fixed 25-300mm equivalent lens, self-collapsing and self-capping; lateral color aberration and geometric distortion should be firmware corrected in-camera.
B (bulb) shutter mode.
Video and flash: I don’t care, as I never use either.

Being an optimist and a lucky man, I think the chances a manufacturer will sell a camera like this in the next three years are at least 6 over 10.

Ha ha ha, how precise of you, a 60% chance. I think it’s more like 10%, but I’m a cynical realist! Now back to your Photography. Your images are unabashedly postprocessed; do you know exactly what you want to do to an image when you take the photo, or is there some experimenting on the computer once you see the initial image on the screen?

I hate having too many files to manage, so I never press the shutter button if I don’t have a precise idea of the image that will come out of that capture. On the other hand I never stop experimenting, and sometimes, during post-processing, I find new unexpected ways to interpret my shot and consequently render my photograph. For instance, I’m experimenting with daylight long exposures lately. I don’t know whether results will come or not, but I’m sure I’ll learn something which will end up improving my more usual style. A successful photograph is the result of a process that is non-linear and full of mistakes and rejects: it’s all in there.

You cite Lucien Hervé and El Lissitzky as two major influences, and it’s eerie to look at their art because it’s quite clear that if the two had a baby, it would be you! Did you consciously set out to create a blend of these two artists’ work or was it a subconscious thing?

If you ask me if I deliberately tried to follow the same paths of the artists I admire, the answer is no. When it comes to art, one becomes aware of his/her debts only at the end of a process. Nonetheless there are masters whose work has always moved something inside me. More often painters than photographers, I must say. Last month I visited the Guggenheim Collection in Venice for the umpteenth time. There is a room where I always stand in deep emotion, where my favorite Sironi and De Chirico paintings are displayed side by side.

That’s a good point, that influences only become apparent after the fact and are not something purposeful. Do you plan on continuing with this style for the foreseeable future or is this just “a phase”? If so, where do you see yourself photographically in 5 years?

Well, I think I’m dealing with a contradiction here: creativity is an evolutionary process, yet I have the strange feeling that I always take the same photograph. As for the future, I don’t know exactly where I will be in 5 years, but I’m reasonably sure that I’ll be more far away from literal photography than I am now: not an easy task, but a fascinating and exciting quest. “Less is more” is my guiding mantra.

Thank you so much for your time, Gianni. Can I give you a call next time I’m in Rome? Maybe I can hitch a ride on the back of your bicycle.

You will be welcome. The final destination of our ride will be a good restaurant, I promise.

PS: I was going to ask Gianni one last question about his exhibits and what goes on behind the scenes, but I saw that shortly after I sent him my interview questions he wrote a post about it which is probably more in-depth than any answer he could have given me, so I direct you to his article Knowledge if you wish to learn about the intricacies of exhibiting, Gianni Galassi style.

All photos: ©Gianni Galassi.

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Shedding Light on John Mireles

Peter Zack — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 04:05:52 +0000

by Peter Zack

For this month’s Shedding Light series, we’re fortunate to have John Mireles, founder of John Mireles Photography. He’s an accomplished wedding, portrait, fashion and advertising photographer with a studio in San Diego, a staff of 4 and 20 years experience in photography. John’s shot everything from big-budget advertising jobs to high-end weddings to family portraits along with countless personal projects. He also lectures and writes on creative and business topics pertaining to photography.

Thanks for agreeing to chat with us, John! We really appreciate you taking some time from a busy and hectic schedule. Why don’t we start off finding out how you started your path to photography as a career? What drew you in this direction?

There’s many ways for me to tell this story. I sort of like this version of it though. I found my first camera while climbing in Joshua Tree. Just a little point and shoot. A couple of years later, I was hiking up near Mt. Baker in Washington. Gorgeous mountain with big glaciers all over. I walked into a hiker’s cabin mid way up the trail and sitting on the table was an SLR camera.

I’d never owned one – way too much money for this broke college student who put all his money into climbing trips. This SLR was just sitting on the table all by itself. I decided not to take it thinking that the owner would probably come back for it. Later, I realized I was an idiot. I should have taken the camera and turned it in or something. I vowed that if I ever found another camera, I’d take it.

About two years later, I turned the corner to approach a climb on a climbing trip to in San Diego (I was going to school in Santa Barbara at the time). Sitting on a rock at the base of the climb – all by itself – was a Canon AE1 SLR camera. Remembering my pledge, I kept this camera. I used it to document my climbing adventures and later used it in my first camera class. It got me started down the road I still follow.

I’m not a big believer in “meant to be” but I often wonder whether some larger force was at work pointing me the way. By the way, I never found another camera again.

How would you describe your style of shooting? Looking through your images, it’s wide ranging. Some series seem to focus on the emotions of the subject, others are almost devoid of people. If you were to pick any place and any subject for a day, where would you go and what would you shoot?

My style? I dunno. I really try to create work that reflects who I am as a person. I’m not an uncomplicated individual so I guess my work reflects my own ever-changing moods and persona.

I’d like to think that my style is honest. Authentic. I don’t like gimmicks. I don’t like the contrived or the trite.

Picking a specific subject and place would be hard for me. There’s so much I love to do. I love big advertising projects with models, sets and a big crew. Lots of money on the line. There’s a lot of pressure and no room for error, but I freakin’ revel in it. Doing some big-ass production out in the desert is cool. Something with beautiful women doing something subversive is always fine with me.

You abandoned the old blog for a number of reasons. How has the new blog been easier to manage and keep going? I think a lot of photographers have grand plans for an inspired blog and soon after a few posts, it withers and fades away. How has the new blog been easier and how has it evolved since you started the first one?

My old blog was a blogger one. It was just a hassle to keep updated due to the clunkiness of the interface. I now use a custom WordPress site that’s a lot easier to update. Just the little things of taking extra motions or time to upload a photo makes the whole process almost undoable. My current site definitely works better than the old – though it’s not perfect.

I don’t blog as much as I used to. I used to try to blog every wedding and every shoot. I just don’t care that much any more.

What inspires you to pick up a camera and shoot for personal or non-paid work? What keeps your work photography fresh and new?

My inspiration comes from deep within. I have this need to express myself through my work. If I go too long without shooting something that I’m passionate about, I start to go through withdrawals.

Beyond that, I love telling stories. Whether it’s through a longer term project like my Italy photos or just one shot as I’ve done with some of my conceptual work, I think you’ll see some sort of story-telling element in what I do. Right now, I’m starting work on photographing outrigger canoeing in southern California. I have a whole book worked out in my head. I’m capturing the action right now, but I’ll also be shooting a lot of portraits. I want to share the experience from both an in-your-face action standpoint and from that of a more contemplative, still portrait.

As much as I like doing client work, it’s the personal work that gets me going. I don’t understand how so many photographers can just shoot weddings all the time and never do personal work. Actually, I understand it – but think it’s a terrible idea.

Too many photographers forget why they started shooting and get sucked into paying the bills. They just get burned out and then struggle to make a living because what they’re shooting is crap. When there’s no passion behind the work, the results eventually become stale and the business goes down hill. Personal work is essential to maintaining a successful business (and happy life) over the long term.

For my month long stay in Florence, Italy I created different assignments for myself every day. Street photos, landscapes, negative space, night time streetscapes, art, environmental portraits, color, were all different themes that I followed with my work.

You are quoted as saying: “I’m passionate about creating work that I love. The thing I hate most is work that’s boring. I’d rather you hate my work than be bored by it. At least if you hate the work, you’re somehow moved by it emotionally. That’s the key to the deal for me – getting an emotional response from you the viewer.” So do you shoot for yourself or the viewer? I feel some photographers shoot for what they think will look good to the prospective viewer. Does that matter to you?

Well, there’s a little bit of both. Sometimes, you’re shooting for the client. Doing the safe stuff. Other times, I swing for the fences and do the work that I love. Usually, when I’m doing work that I love, the client will love it too.

It’s a challenge though with portrait and wedding work. With commercial work, I’m photographing a model or a subject who is not involved with making decisions about the final image. With portrait and wedding clients, you’ve got to make them look good, otherwise, they’re not going to be happy.

Still, I shoot what I want. Sometimes I don’t even show the results to the client because I know they’re not going to like it. Sometimes, the work is just too extreme. Or it’s unflattering.

For example, my favorite newborn shots are those with the mom and the baby. Mom already thinks she looks terrible since she just put her body through hell giving birth. Then there’s that moment where she’s visibly tired. Beat. Not flattering at all, but such a real, powerful moment. No way a mom will go for that shot (maybe years later), but I love getting it.

I’m not stupid though. I make sure to get what the client needs. Usually, it’s the same as what I’m doing. But if what I have in mind is too unconventional, I start out safe and then push it. (Push it real good.) Ultimately, I shoot for me and figure that if I like it, the client will too.

This question comes from personal curiosity and what ‘look’ you are trying to present. I’m a real fan of your unique processing style. The slight sepia B&W’s, the heavy contrast versions and so on. Looking through your recent Anacapa Challenge Outrigger Canoe Race series and many of the Italy photos, I notice some fairly heavy vignetting added. How do you feel that adds to an image?

My processing style has actually changed quite a bit lately. I started using Lightroom for my Italy trip and what a huge difference that’s made in my ability to work efficiently with large numbers of images. Plus, I’m getting better results (usually) than I ever got in Photoshop. (Not that PS isn’t great. For my complex compositing and such, there’s no substitute for PS.) If you’re not using Lightroom to process your images, you’re spending way too much time on them.

For my outrigger canoe images, I’ve gone with a sort of toy camera look because I think that’s what works for them. There’s a number of photographers shooting the sport – all their images are bright colors. I want something different and a little unexpected. I think the treatment creates a certain moodiness that communicates a feeling that the viewer may not have expected. Besides, this summer has been very overcast down at the ocean so there’s not a lot of color to work with anyhow.

For anyone interested, the effect I’m using for the canoe shots is my Toy Camera preset available in the Toolkit Preset Kit on the Photographer’s Toolkit website.

With my Italy shots, I went with a very heavy contrast black and white look. It just seemed to work. I love punchy black and white. You mentioned my heavy vignetting, but I actually don’t like a heavy vignette much of the time. Too often it’s just a gimmick.

Your primary income and photographic work is Weddings and Portraits. How do you feel the other things you shoot influence that work? Do you find ‘recreational shooting’ has a big impact on your paid work? I notice you play the guitar. Any other interests that influence your photography?

Guitar playing has had a huge influence in how I approach photography. I was just talking to photographer Jay Reilly about this today. Most photographers think that the way to improve is to buy more and better gear. “Ooh! If I just had that 85 1.2 lens, I’d get great shots.” “My stuff would be so much better if I had that new D3x camera with a 24mm 1.4!”

That’s just bullshit. The only way to become a better photographer is to shoot and shoot and shoot. If I pick up some $5,000 Martin steel string guitar [Martin is the Leica of acoustic guitars —Ed. note], I’m going to suck just as badly as I do playing my cheapo guitar. Practicing for guitar really has helped me to appreciate just how important practice is. The only way for me to improve as a guitar player is practice. Same with photography.

In general, I think the more new experiences I have, the more experience I have to draw from and use in my work. I try to run about an hour a day through various neighborhoods. I see so much cool stuff on my runs that I can use in my photography. I’ll see something that would either work as a cool location or it sparks an idea in my head. Traveling is great for the same reasons.

Nowadays, photographers spend so much time behind their computers that they never get out. They spend their time looking at blogs and seeing what everyone else is doing. If they’d get off their asses and actually participate in the world, who knows? Perhaps more photographers would see the world in unique ways and not be reduced to just copying whatever the latest supposed rock star photographer is doing.

Could you pick one favourite photo from your personal photography and one from your work. Once chosen, can you tell us why these are favourites. What do they say to you?

Celebrating the 4th of July

This shot of twenty-somethings celebrating the 4th of July is one of my favorites. I love the composition. The decisive moment. The mid-century suburban architecture. The crowd. It’s quintessentially American and So Cal beach culture. In thirty years, people can look at this image and marvel at life in the 2000’s.

Portrait of a Cowboy

I shot this portrait of a cowboy while on assignment for an ad client. I arrived on location a couple of days early because I knew that there was the potential for some great shots. The location was a working cattle ranch in the front range of Colorado. The ranch hand was a great guy and I knew I wanted a portrait of him. I set this shot up by myself since my assistants hadn’t yet arrived with all the gear – there’s three lights here: the sun, a Profoto Giant Reflector and a head with a grid.

The shot was not on the shot list for the actual shoot, but the client ended up paying me extra to use it because they loved it. I like it because it tells a story. Plus, there’s an American flag. There’s a certain Americana that underlies much of my work.

In the Food Line

This image of a child and baby in a food line is part of a series of images for the San Diego Food Bank. I decided to veer away from my traditional, more photojournalistic available light/black and white style and add some production value to the shots. I used a Profoto 7B portable power pack with a beauty dish to light my subjects.

I love the contrast between the trash cans and the baby. The look of the little girl. There’s something wrong with this moment, this shot. There’s also a certain poignancy to the child’s look that draws in the viewer.

First Dance

Moments after I captured this moment, I turned to my wife who was assisting on this wedding in Puerto Vallarta, and mumbled, “I just took the best shot of my wedding photography career.” Whether that was true or not, I like this shot because of the different elements that I pulled together here. Getting the peak of action of the girl jumping. The bride and groom in their first dance. The old Spanish style hacienda. It’s a great story and a wonderful document of the day.

I saw the kid jumping from the other side of the fountain. I ran over to this side and got the camera as low as I could to emphasize the height of the kid. It took me a few tries, but I got the shot I wanted.

A lot of your wedding photographs have the look as if you were the second shooter. Getting angles on the people when they are looking away from the camera. How do you get so many great images and why do you think these work better than a ‘standard portrait’?

First, thanks for the compliment. I’m blushing. How do I get great images? Hard work. I’m constantly trying to break out of the obvious and surprise people with something they didn’t expect to see. I love combining elements that are in plain sight, but that nobody else thinks to connect.

Again, this goes back to practice. I have this theory that the more you practice, the more time slows down. Where the beginner can barely focus the shot when a moment occurs, I can adjust my exposure, compose, focus, recompose, and so on to really nail the shot. Time is moving so fast for the beginner – where for me it moves slower. I have more time to think about all the elements in the shot because I’m so fluent with the medium.

Also, I tell my clients that no matter how great I think I am, none of that matters if I’m not willing to do the hard work that it takes to get the shot. I bust my ass and I’m always thinking ahead. I know my gear and the process so well that I don’t screw up either.

Someone asked about my postprocessing after seeing some of my work. For that particular batch of images, I only used Adobe camera raw and that was it. It’s just that I know how to expose my stupid camera and work with the light at hand. While other folks are guessing and praying they’ll get the results they want, I just nail it. Nailing it just looks good.

You’re a big fan of Lightroom for your paid work. You’ve even developed a set of Presets for the program. Would you take a moment to tell us a bit about these and why they are a bit different?

Finally, a softball question! I’ve never used anyone else’s presets or actions. Doug Boutwell (a friend and former occasional second shooter for me) offered to give me his Totally Rad actions, but I never wanted my work to look like everyone else’s so I passed. I did load up Parker Pfister’s (another friend – we give each other hell in between singing the theme from Smokey and the Bandit together) and got an idea of what I liked and didn’t like.

I don’t have a preset for everything under the sun. The more time I spend searching for a preset is time lost. When dealing with hundreds of images, seconds add up. Having presets to adjust exposure or simple contrast is pretty much a waste. It’s easier and more accurate to just adjust that on your own instead of having a bunch of exposure adjustment presets which then forces you to scroll more for the ones you do want. More scrolling equals more time.

I also wanted to create meaningful effects that work in the real world. For example, my Overcast Pop preset brightens the subject up, gets the colors to pop a little but then brings down the sky so it doesn’t blow out. Or my Getting Ready B&W that is designed for the lousy lighting and challenging skin tones you find when the bride is getting ready in some closet sized room in the back of a church. Basically, I created presets that I would use. Pretty much everything I’m doing now utilizes the same presets that I sell.

I invite anyone who’s finds what I have to say interesting or informative to sign up for my Photographer’s Business Coach newsletter on the The Photographer’s Toolkit website. I also have archived issues on the site as well as my Lookbook posing guides and contracts for use in your photography business.

John, thanks for giving us some of your valuable time. It’s certainly been an education for me and I hope our readers. We appreciate you sharing some insights into your work and inspirations.

Thanks. it’s been fun!

Please take a moment to visit John’s sites: John Mireles Photography, John’s blog, Ventana, and last but not least, some great presets for Lightroom and other great resources on his other site The Photographer’s Toolkit

Cheers and good shooting!
–Peter Zack

All Photos: ©John Mireles.

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Shedding Light on Haje Jan Kamps

Miserere — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 05:15:49 +0000

by Miserere

Haje Jan Kamps from PhotoCritic was July 2009′s F-BoM. We put on our clogs, buy a dozen tulips, and head off to enjoy some gouda with Haje while getting a few answers to our questions.

Thanks for agreeing to chat with us, Haje! Why don’t we start off finding out how you ended up in the U.K., passing through Norway, after starting off in Holland (where you were born)? (But first, tell us how to pronounce your name!)

My name is pronounced like “Higher” but without the last R. Or perhaps like “Hiya”, the greeting commonly used in Liverpool, much to my confusion when I lived there. My globetrotting ways are entirely unglamorous, actually – I was born in the Netherlands, but was dragged off to Norway when I was 5 years old or so. My dad’s a petroleum engineer, so he goes where the oil lives – my parents have done a lot of moving about, including stints in India and Trinidad. Without us, sadly, but it’s great for going on holiday, of course!

I ended up in England by accident, actually. At the time about 10 years ago, I was working part-time in a petrol station, with aspirations of being a writer. Petrol station work is intensely boring, but that meant I had a lot of time to spend in my own head, coming up with characters, plots, etc. I genuinely planned to just continue doing that: Writing the Next Great Novel, and working at a petrol station. My parents – but my mum especially – wasn’t particularly enthralled by that idea, and proposed I’d go to University.

I was going to Folkehøgskole at the time, and met someone who became a good friend, who was from the UK. Around the same time as the discussions with my parents about uni were taking place, he was filling in his uni forms, and that gave me an idea. I went to my parents and said “Ok, then, I’ll go to uni… But only if I can go to the UK”. I had expected them to turn it down, but they were rather enthusiastic about it, actually (quite obvious, in retrospect, with their globetrotting ways), and so I applied, got accepted, moved to Liverpool… and now I’m still in the UK!

How many photos do you take with your iPhone each day, and how long will it take you to start a blog about it?

At least 5 on average, I think, but I doubt I’ll be blogging about it specifically. I have done a couple of posts about the iPhone’s photography capabilities, of course, one with 100 great examples of iPhone photos, and an interview with the fantastic Sion Fullana, about how he manages to get such great results. Ultimately, however, the iPhone has a pretty rubbish camera, and while you can do pretty cool stuff with it, it’s never going to be a huge part of my photographic aspirations. It’s great for always having a camera in your pocket, however, and I do use my iPhone to show off my portfolio of photos to potential clients.

Tell us about your stint making money as a photographer. Would you go back to that?

Never. In my more inebriated moments, I liken it to prostitution. Sex, like photography, is amazing and great, but only when you’re in the mood – as soon as people start paying you for it, there are demands for quality, and you have to take photos to a deadline, not when you feel an irrepressible urge to go take pictures. To be honest, I hated it with a passion.

The problem is that when I’m working at my most creative, only one out of a thousand photos comes out well: I’m experimenting, playing, having fun, and learning all at once. Some times, I can spend hours shooting and never walk away with a single shot that I’m happy with. It’s still worth it, because I’ll have a deeper understanding of photography and why some things work and others don’t, but I challenge you to have that conversation with the bride… “Yeah, I know I took 6,000 photos at your wedding, but none of them were any good, so you can’t have any pictures”. It just wouldn’t work.

In a commercial setting, as a commercial photographer, 0.1% hit rate is completely unacceptable. You need closer to 10% – or better. Much better. As a result, you drop your creativity, and use the techniques and tricks that you know are effective. The problem is that you’re falling into cliches, and just doing the same old thing again and again. It’s dreadfully boring, but what’s worse is that you end up not taking pictures for fun anymore.

I have a lot of respect for commercial photographers, they deliver amazing work… It’s just not what I’m cut out to do

I feel the same way; once you’re paid to do something, and have to do it on somebody else’s terms, I just cannot imagine it being fun anymore. And speaking of jobs, you recently quit yours. How do you pay the rent?

I’m a writer! Currently, I’m working on several exciting books about photography—a ghost-writing project, and another book which will be published in my own name. I can’t go into details about either book, but I’ll announce the latter in due course, of course In addition to book writing, I take on other writing tasks for various agencies, and I do the occasional job from Elance.com.

How cool! Maybe you’ll send a copy over to EtL HQ so I can review it (ahem, ahem)…

In my F-BoM post I highlighted my amazement at the amount of time you seem to have on your hands. Are you the most organised person in the World? How do you do it? I’ve been thinking of getting a divorce so I can free up some time for the blog…

Well, considering it has taken me 6 months to get back to you on this interview, I guess that answers your own question I think my thing is just that I’m like a heat-seeking missile: I find something that excites me, and I go after it like a blood hound until it is completed. When I’m in ‘Ooh! Excited!’ mode, I can go for 20 hours a day without sleeping and with a minimum of food and drink, fuelled by excitement and adrenaline. That’s generally how Things Get Done in Haje-world

Is there a particular style of photography you like? Looking at your Flickr page I see a bit of everything. You seem like a jack of all trades.

I like photography on two levels: On one side, photography is a fantastic technical achievement: If you stop to think how incredible it is that we can use electronics, pieces of metal and chunks of glass to capture light… It sounds like science fiction! But I also really enjoy the artistic side of photography. It’s doable, to be documentary and very literal in your photography (“this is a picture of a bench”, “This is a picture of a goose”), but it’s also possible to go beyond that, and create or capture scenes which have an inherent artistic quality.

My photographic style is whimsical at best, but I do enjoy a challenge, I think that’s why my Flickr stream comes across as rather ADD Having said that, my two favourite photo styles are concert photography and street photography.

That would explain your latest book, Put Another Dime in the Jukebox, a how-to on photographing live music.

What is the goal you set yourself when you started your blog, and how has that goal evolved?

My very first post on the blog was about how to create a macro extension tube out of a pringles can. That post went insane, got me on Slashdot, Digg, StumbleUpon and Reddit, got me commissions from Make Magazine, and eventually was the reason that my first book was commissioned, too.

The blog started off being about DIY things to do with photography, but I eventually realised that I wanted to cast my net wider. It’s my blog, after all, and I can write about whatever I want. These days, the strapline to the blog is ‘Doing cool stuff with photography’, which is a pretty decent description. I write about fun techniques, photography ideas, things that inspire me, and all that. I try to avoid writing about equipment, because those posts are so quickly ‘old news’, and I don’t want Photocritic to be a news-driven site at all. That’s partially why the articles aren’t dated (you can find a date when something was published, but you’ll have to search around a little). That’s not a coincidence; basically, I’m hoping to write in such a way that an article written today is valid next week, next month, and next year, too. That way, I’m building up a reasonably big portfolio of articles that are worth reading whenever you fancy exploring and learning new things about photography.

The idea of a timeless article is how I tackle my Philosophical Ramblings, but sometimes I do get excited about photo news and just have to share it. Or give people my opinion, which they never ask for. Maybe you are a better human being, Haje

How do you find themes to write about?

The themes tend to find me, I think—an idea that pops into my head, a question in a comment on one of my posts, or a statement someone makes on Facebook of Twitter that makes me think… And if I feel I have something to contribute, I’ll write about it.

Do you think there’s anything new to discuss in Photography? People fixate on the equipment, but the principles driving Photography as Art are still the same they were a century ago. Is there anything new to say?

I really don’t care about equipment, it’s the least important aspect of photography… I still think that people are doing a lot of amazing things with photos, though, and I like the idea of collaboration, inspiration, and learning that the Internet offers people. I understand your question, and no, I doubt there has been much ‘new’ that hasn’t been done before. But just because there isn’t much new to say, there are always different ways of saying them, and I’d love to think that I have a way of explaining things that people can understand.

Now you need to live up to your blog’s title: What makes a good photo?

I did a post a while ago titled how to win a photography contest, which explains a lot of the things I feel strongly about. Basically, a good photo has vision, passion, and tells a story. It doesn’t have to be technically perfect, but if it isn’t, there has to be a damn good reason for it. A great photo does something unusual, makes you think, and challenges the way you look at the world. A truly great photo does all of these things and makes it seem as if time slows down. What you are looking at echoes something that speaks to you strongly. I’m sad to say I’ve never yet taken a truly great photo

Great photos are overrated—I take about one a day, and look where I am. I know it’s hard to choose, but show me a photograph you took that you’re very proud of.

I’m proud of a lot of my concert photos, and I think there are some gems among my street photography work as well. If I had to pick one, however, it would have to be a street-photo style photo I took in Vietnam last year (see below). I brought a Canon EOS 450D and a 50mm f/1.4 with me—and nothing else—for 3 weeks, and the resulting limitations were a challenge… But it also means that you eventually know your equipment extremely well. You don’t have to fuss about with changing lenses (I didn’t bring any others), lighting equipment (I didn’t bring any), Tripods (again… Didn’t have one) etc. It becomes a very pure experience, and when you occasionally get a good shot, boy does it feel amazing.

I have to agree, that is a winning portrait…even if it’s not B&W

After touring Scandinavia, where will you go next with your yellow motorbike? Let me know if you make a stop in Boston!

I would love to, but my yellow motorbike has gone to pastures new, I’m afraid. I wrote it off in a roundabout a couple of months ago, by parking it unceremoniously into the side of a peoplecarrier (what Americans would call a minivan, I believe). There’s nothing left of the bike, and I escaped with a slightly squashed knee, luckily! I’m waiting for my insurance money, and hopefully I’ll be able to buy another bike for new adventures!

Oh no! That’s so sad, although I’m glad you’re OK.

Has anyone told you that with a beard you look a bit like Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi?

Haha, no that’s a first, thank you

What inspires you to pick up a camera and shoot?

You know, I honestly have absolutely no idea. Sometimes months go by without touching my camera, other times I just can’t put it down. It varies a lot, but it depends on what I am doing, I suppose. I was working on a book in the Netherlands over Christmas, and had left my camera at home – I got the urge to take photos, and it was hideous to not have my camera in arm’s reach…

Thanks, Haje! We wish you the best of luck in your freelance future. And please keep your blog running with Dutch efficiency

Thank you!

All photos: ©Haje Jan Kamps.

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Shedding Light on David duChemin

Miserere — Mon, 18 May 2009 05:15:33 +0000

by Miserere

David is the one with the beard. OK, the one with the beard and sunglasses.

David duChemin from Pixelated Image was May’s F-BoM. Traversing the whole of the American continent we find ourselves in Vancouver, Canada, ready to bombard David with questions. So here we go!

Do you speak English with a Quebecois accent?

No I don’t. Was raised by a British mother and had a British accent until I was about 6 or 7.

I know it’s early in the interview, but I don’t want you to think this is a walk in the park, so tell me, which is your favourite photograph that you’ve taken, and why?

That changes from day to day. I’ll often go through stages and prefer one image over another, then realize I’m in a rut and prefer something totally different. Right this moment it’s still an image I shot in Boudhanath, the Tibetan side of Kathmandu. It’s a motion blur shot in front of a prayer wheel and currently it’s on the front page of my website. I like the memory it brings to mind. I love Kathmandu; it feels like home to me.

You took a rather strange path to becoming a photographer, as you relate in this story. You got a degree in Theology, and then did the obvious thing: You became a professional comedian. After a little over a decade on stage you (finally) admitted that what you really wanted to be when you grew up was a photographer. So, to sum up your life up until now, can you tell us a joke involving God and photography?

If my life could be summed up with a joke about God and photography I’d need more than a sense of humour to deal with that. So, reluctantly, no. But you’re right, my path has been a winding one.

Who is your favourite stand-up comedian? I’ve always loved stand-up, and for a time daydreamed that I could do it. When I told my family and friends I wanted to be a stand-up comedian they started laughing, and that’s a good start, right? As for my favourite comedian, it has to be George Carlin, although recently I’ve been digging Louis C.K. George was an avid pianist while Louis is a photographer (and a Leicaphile, no less). Do you think there is something about comedy that attracts artistic, creative types?

My favourite comedian at the moment is Brian Regan. He’s intelligent, plays a great character, and does a clean routine that kills me over and over. Eddie Izzard runs a close second. Dane Cook is dead last. But what’s funny to one is not what’s funny to another—much like perceiving art in a photograph. To one person it’s art and speaks to them, to another just a snapshot. Does comedy attract creative types? Of course, it’s a creative field.

I love this Eddie Izzard routine, especially the ducks! Did all those years on stage use up all your comedy? I ask because when I look at the work in your online portfolio I do not sense any humour. I’m not saying your images are depressing or sad, but they mostly tug at my heart strings rather than making me laugh.

No, they didn’t. But the things I find funny now differ greatly. There’s a very thin line between comedy and tragedy. These days the stories I tell are a much better balance of the two than the relatively shallow comedy I performed.

I have the same view on working as a photographer that you did in the past: If photography is something I have to do, then it will lose its appeal and the passion will dry up. I imagine you have a different opinion now, but I still have to ask: How do you keep the fire alive when you know you have to pay the bills with your photography, whether you like it or not?

I know this’ll sound profoundly idealistic but I simply don’t shoot projects I don’t want to. I wouldn’t write a book I didn’t want to, or perform a routine I didn’t want to. Life is too short and while I’m saying that from the position of one who’s not living close to the survival line, I know that if I shot work I had no passion for the work would suffer. So I guess I keep the fire alive by not putting water on it. I don’t think my opinion on the need for passion in my work has changed at all. The difference, from the days I opted not to shoot for a living is that I didn’t know then what stories I wanted to tell. Now I do and it’s a joy to do it.

As I mentioned in my F-BoM post, you use the words
Passion, Vision, and Dreams very often in your posts. Could you give us a quick definition of what each of them means to you personally in respect to Photography?

Not a simple or quick one, no. It took me a whole chapter in Within The Frame to wrap my words around vision and I’m still not sure I nailed it. The closest I could come is to say that your vision is not only what you see but how you see it and includes the things about which you are passionate. For me that’s the people, places, and cultures of this planet, but more specifically the poor and the excluded.

Following on from this question, I have one from Ian Furniss, who heeded my request for questions on David’s forum. I paraphrase, because Ian’s initial question was quite long, but I think this is the substance of it: He also notes you talk a lot about vision, and wants to know if by vision you mean the capability to “see” pretty pictures, or if it’s a vision that guides you in a path of inner, self discovery.

It’s both, Ian. I think the more you know yourself, and your own journey, the more capable you are of seeing with an enlarge heart, mind, or eyes. It’s also the ability to see ugliness, injustice, expressions of faith or hunger, etc. Photographic vision isn’t just saying “Here’s what I see” it’s about interpretation, saying “here’s how I think or feel about what I see.”

Of all the countries you’ve visited, which did you like the most as a tourist (i.e., imagining you hadn’t been a photographer)? And as a photographer?

I can’t imagine going anywhere without my camera and as a tourist. The thought of it makes me curl into a fetal position and whimper. But if I HAD to, probably Bali or somewhere I could just relax, go snorkelling or sailing. As a photographer, I would love to return to Mongolia. Or Ethiopia.

I ask these questions because I want to know whether you can disengage your Photography Superpowers Do you always carry a camera with you?

No, I’m pretty OK with just walking around without the thing, but even then I use my iPhone a lot. There are times I regret that, but I do have a life, though not an exciting one, without my cameras.

My wife has been a supporter of World Vision for almost a decade, and I’m sure we’ve seen your photos in their publications. I always considered the photography they used to be much better than that of other charities, and often wondered whether one of the higher-ups was a photography fan, or just somebody who recognised the power of photography. How did you become involved with World Vision, and how deep is your collaboration with them?

My participation with World Vision is only now going into it’s fourth year. I think their ethics and mine intersect at a lot of points which makes it a pretty great working relationship. I shoot almost exclusively for their Christmas Gift Catalogue and got the gig through an agency that collaborates with WV in it’s creation. I haven’t even met the higher-ups but I spend a lot of time with field staff and I love them.

Do you have a special affinity for children? Do you think the fact that you have, or don’t have, children influences your photography?

I’ve worked with children in some capacity since I was a teenager. My wife and I have no kids and that gives me more freedom to do the work I do but I think that’s irrelevant to the work I do.

You use both monochrome and colour in your photography. Do you decide ahead of time whether a particular photograph will be colour or monochrome, or is that something you figure out in the digital darkroom?

Sometimes both, but usually it’s not much of a decision. I see an image in a certain way and then do what needs to be done in post-production to bring into alignment with that. Sometimes, on rare occasions, both a monotone or duotone image and a colour image will express my vision equally and then it’s a matter of staring at them until one resonates with me a little more, and that be for all kinds of reasons.

If I am a good boy for the rest of the year and finish my vegetables every dinnertime, will you take me with you to Ladakh next year? Please…?

We’d be happy to consider you, but all the brussell’s sprouts in the world won’t get you to the front of the line. Matt Brandon and I plan these on a year-to-year basis and while I’m sure we’ll do Ladakh again in 2010, we’ll only be making those choices after this year’s tour with Ami Vitale is done.

You have a book, Within the Frame: The Journey of Photographic Vision, that started shipping a few short days ago. Again, that word: Vision. Please tell us what you hoped to accomplish when writing this book, and what you left out that might make its way into another book.

Mostly I wanted to write a book that would do for other photographers what books like Freeman Patterson’s books did for me when I was just beginning. I see the shelves full of how-to books but their perilously thin when it comes to books about why we do what we do and how that drives our choice of technique with visual language. I think it’s a book with a healthy connection between theory and practice, information and inspiration. I left lots out and have more books coming, but I’ll let my publisher let the cat out of the bag later this year when the next one is released. But the next couple will follow different themes than Within The Frame does.

Thank you for your time, David. I wish you the best of luck with your book, and we look forward to the next one!

All photos: ©David duChemin.

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Shedding Light on Marc Langille

Peter Zack — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 10:15:17 +0000

by Peter Zack

Today we have an interview with Marc Langille, avid wildlife photographer whose wonderful work can be seen here. He resides in NW Arkansas.

Marc, can you give us a little background? Where you’re from, your work and what inspired you to get started in photography. What inspires you today?

I was born in Montreal, then moved the Maritime Provinces during my childhood. I lived in or near Ottawa from the time I was 11 years old. I originally became involved in photography after retiring from elite amateur endurance sports so I could still be involved with the sport in some fashion. The second roll of 35mm film I ever shot ended having a travel image published in Photo Life magazine. It was a national contest with roughly 15,000 entries. I also had two more images published that year—one in a newspaper for an article on a local athlete, and another in a full page shot in a sporting publication. I seek inspiration from both competitions as well as the constant challenges that photography can bring to me, often on a daily basis.

Since then I’ve been fortunate enough that people believe my images are worthy of being printed for their private collections and in books, or an online selection. What inspires me a lot is the challenge of nature/wildlife photography, because unlike a studio, you often have very little control over the environment (light/weather) that your photos are captured.

I also enjoy introducing newcomers to digital photography—this is a favourite of mine and I teach classes at Bedfords Camera & Video. There are other venues, and I hope to take them off the backburner at some point.

What photographers have influenced your work or approach to photography?

Art Morris, Jason Edwards and Chase Jarvis are some of my favourites. Arthur Morris is considered one of the best photographers in birding photography during the realm of film. Jason Edwards because his imagery for National Geographic is simple yet stunning. I am not sure if he continues to shoot a film Pentax system or has moved to digital. He is often somewhere in the middle of the wilds. Chase Jarvis because of his very diverse portfolio of both commercial and nature images, and he is the current president of the Blue Earth Alliance.

You’ve entered some work at a museum project. Can you tell us what it is and what type of shots you have submitted?

I am working with Taylor Studios in IL. They are museum exhibit designers/fabricators and are in the initial stages of the Prairie Grove Battlefield museum’s project design. I am initially supplying approx. 200 images for placeholders and part of the selection process. The museum contains the historical and documentary information surrounding the American Civil War battle that occurred on Dec. 7th, 1862 between the armies of the Confederacy and the Union. It is a unique battlefield in that it is one of the most intact Civil War battlefields, yet one of the few that is run by the state. This means that on even years, the Civil War Re-enactments (CWR) are run on the first weekend in December. I have photographed those events since 2006. I have taken a large number of battle and camp life images during those events.

What’s your favourite personal shot? Care to share it with us?

War Eagle Mill and Falls and Misty Morning—Devils Den are two of my favorite landscape shots. It’s the first image to load on my website home page slide show. Misty Morning holds a special place because it’s one of the first landscape images I ever took.

If you were to pick one quote, what would it be and why is it important to you?

I guess my own motto: “The camera is only a tool: the image is the product of your mind and vision.” I chose this quote simply because I’ve always believed that the photographer is the ultimate part of the equation.

The Valley Land Fund “South Texas Shootout” was a challenging competition, what difficulties did you face and do you have any interesting stories from the event?

A 7 month drought and high temps were the significant obstacles, and in another way the biggest boon. The behaviour of the animals obviously included regular visits to watering holes, so that helped you track their movements to some degree. A big issue was the fact that I was completely new to the area, and basically a rookie bird photographer. Ensuring I correctly identified the birds when submitting was another consideration. I had to spend a good amount of time observing and sometimes documenting wildlife movement to get a better handle on where the best photo opportunities were was a constant challenge. The dust/sand and wind were constant considerations on the camera equipment. Luckily some of the gear used was weather sealed (Pentax), so that really gave me peace of mind!

Interesting stories…
The classic conundrum:

I am also one of the few people in North America to ever touch a living Nilgai (Indian antelope). An older bull was startled when I came into an open area on the ranch owner’s property while driving the SUV. The Eland ran, but the Nilgai started running in an awkward fashion and then suddenly lost it’s balance or control and fell over in the scrub. I waited for a minute, and it never regained it’s footing. I could not see anything. Finally I donned my kevlar rattlesnake gaiters and walked over to where I thought it went down. I had my camera with me, and I decided at that point against taking any photos. I didn’t want any reminders of what I had done, albeit unintentionally. It had been startled and went down due to my intrusion, so I had affected the outcome of its life.

Of course the ranch owners would tell me to leave the animal alone and let nature take its course. They would not treat a wild wounded or sick animal—too much risk of captive myopathy. Note: captive myopathy results from a “high stress-level” experienced by animals that have been captured and transported. Elevated stress levels lead to a lower immune defence system, decreased appetite and subsequent illness. Most of the animals that die due to this phenomenon do so within approximately three months after they are released.

By that time (5 minutes after the fall), vultures were circling overhead. With no cell service on the phone I was using and no other options, I wondered “what have I done?” Obviously I felt terrible for inadvertently causing the situation! Two times it bleated in stress/anxiety at my proximity. So I squatted down and quietly spoke calming words and eventually stroked it on the head between its horns. By then it seemed to figure out that I was not a predator seeking to kill it. A few minutes went by and I suspect it started to calm down (only calling out once more). Finally I got my hands under its shoulder and rolled the 500+ pound animal to a sitting upright position with its legs underneath it. This obviously incurred some risk, since I had no certainty as to what it might do. However, I suspected it was an older animal, since the muscle mass on the hindquarters showed some signs of atrophy.

The Nilgai easily pushed up on its forelegs, and with some definite effort, got up on its rear legs. Then it trotted off… that was a very good feeling. At least then I knew I could go away from the scene with a clean conscience. Some people might argue I am tampering with the course of nature and yet I was the cause of its fall. I did not wish to be the cause of its death. Normally I would let nature take its course, and the animal was not in its natural habitat.

Wow, quite a story and an experience few if any of us will ever have.

So, if you were to have lunch with anyone famous, who would you want to spend that hour with?

To be honest, no one really came to mind right away! There are several, yet I would really like to have lunch with Howard Buffett (Howard is the eldest son of Warren Buffett). He is very business savvy and could help the cause of conservation efforts with more fundraising, enlisting even more effort, etc. I’d like to be involved in several of them and/or bring forward more opportunities through the use of photography for conservation.

Howard Buffett serves or has served on the National Geographic Council, World Wildlife Fund National Council, Cougar Fund, Platte River Whooping Crane Trust Advisory Committee, Illinois and Nebraska Chapters of the Nature Conservancy, Ecotrust, De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Trust, and the Africa Foundation. Buffett founded the Nature Conservation Trust, a non-profit Trust in South Africa to support cheetah conservation, the International Cheetah Conservation Foundation, and was a Founding Director of The Cougar Fund. In 2007, Buffett was named an Ambassador Against Hunger by the United Nations World Food Programme.

If you were to pick one thing: what is your favourite or ‘must have’ accessory other than lenses and cameras?

Tripod…

You have been doing some teaching as well. Do you have a formal background in Photography or is everything self taught?

I have a formal education in other arts (painting, drawing) and technical related work—mechanical and architectural drafting (by hand), plus the health sciences. From a purely photographic perspective, I am completely self-taught and have taken several specific classes/workshops in my area. Those are primarily in portraiture, studio lighting, etc.

What challenges do you find the students face when getting started? What are the most common mistakes they make?

In order of most common challenges:
1. Understanding their camera’s functions.
2. Understanding light and reflectivity.
3. Understanding how aperture, F-stop and ISO/ASA sensitivity all work together.
4. Metering with the camera.

Most common mistakes: over/under exposure of an image or unintentionally blurred images.

What advice would you offer your students to improve their photography the most?

This is a shortened summary from a post on my blog:
1. Study, read and learn often—it’s a lifelong journey.
2. Master your tools.
3. Critique your work well.
4. Practice, practice, practice.
5. Learn from your mistakes.

Marc, I see that you also do some charity and non-profit work. Care to tell us a little about those projects?

Well, it certainly is something beyond the realm of what most folks think of when you mention the word “photography”. I am going to lead a hands-on workshop to help the local Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Program. This includes both the nurses and police officers.

Forensic photography (sometimes referred to as forensic imaging or crime scene photography) is the art of producing an accurate reproduction of a crime scene or an accident scene for the benefit of a court or to aid in the investigation. Often fill flash or incorrect lighting situation will wash out the bruising and/or color. Other extremely sensitive issues are respect for the assault victim, minimizing their discomfort by unintentionally getting too close, etc. As you can imagine, forensic photography is extremely important for the evidence to be presented in court. I am looking forward to working with them and hopefully help the attendees bring justice to those offenders.

Other areas of activity are image donations for charitable causes. In the past, it has included the Botanical Gardens of the Ozarks, KUAF radio and a memorial fund for young photography students. A drunk driver tragically killed the young woman while she was engaged in her studies in St. Louis. Peter, both you and another photographer were kind enough to also donate an image to the memorial fund – it is important we recognize your donation here too!

So Marc, the South Texas Shootout sounded like hard work but fun. Some great images came from that. Do you have any new projects on the horizon?

I have entered a contest, called “Name Your Dream Assignment”. It’s an opportunity to detail your greatest photo assignment ever, get friends and neighbors to vote on it. The ideas with the top 20 votes are sent to the judging panel. It’s 70% for the idea, and 30% on your portfolio.

I’ve had a lifelong desire to have a positive impact on the effect of worldwide misuse and overuse of our natural resources, specifically deforestation, fresh water supplies, waste management and non-renewable fuel dependency. That would be my dream project.

Editorial note: The contest can be found here if you’d like to vote for Marc. The contest is sponsored by Microsoft and Lenovo.

Wow, you’re going to be busy if that comes through. Any other projects you’re involved in right now?

I am not sure if I will be doing any exhibits in the near future, although the museum project is hopefully a green light for selection. I suspect those images (if used) will not be finalized and fabricated into the exhibit displays until 2010. Currently I am in the process of selecting 200 images for Taylor Studios. They will be used as placeholders during the design process and are candidates for the final exhibit.

Any published work coming?

Upcoming book: obviously 4 images will be published this year (2009) in the upcoming Valley Land Fund nature conservation book. They are accepting pre-orders now. The book commencement will be in September in McAllen, TX. They are 1st in class – Butterflies, 2nd in class – Spiders and Arachnids, and two 3rd in class – Wading Birds plus Mustelids & Raccoons. These were among almost 1500 image submissions for the contest. The book is a coffee table style format, hardcover.

Print: a staff member of a new bilingual (English/Spanish) magazine to supply landscape images for their travel section has approached me. The magazine is tentatively due to be released in the summer of 2009.

I am now working with Wimberley Professional Services to test, evaluate and give feedback when new or significant upgrades occur in their product line. They are very generous in allowing true field testing of their products. They invited me to come on board, and it’s a great honor to be involved with the best in the business! They are renowned for their gimbal heads, which are used for super-telephoto lens support.

Perhaps someday I can be considered for the ILCP – International League of Conservation Photographers. You have to be serious about conservation efforts to be allowed in to this membership.

Marc, we really appreciate the time you’ve given us today to hear some of your stories, insights and share some photography with us. I admit to owning some your calendars and even the out of date ones still hang on the wall! Looking forward to seeing your submissions in the Valley Land Fund nature conservation book. Good luck with all your endeavours in the future.

Thanks and I always enjoy discussing photography, it’s been fun doing this.

Visit Marc Langille’s web site here for more great images.

Cheers and good shooting –Peter Zack

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Shedding Light on Carrie Sandoval

Miserere — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 17:22:04 +0000

by Miserere

Carrie Sandoval from Captured by Carrie was March’s F-BoM. We invaded her baby space in San Diego to have a little chat about tree branches, 50mm lenses and, you guessed it, babies.

Carrie at work
(photo by Brittany Woodall)

Hi Carrie! Thank you for joining us at EtL for this interview. I am very glad to be talking to you because there are so many things about baby photography that I don’t know, and it seems to me like this is a small niche with very few photographers focusing on this type of work. In fact, you are the only one that I am familiar with.

It’s very common for parents to get into photography when their first baby is born, but not that many end up making a career out of it. Tell us how you went from photographing your first child documenting his growing up, to making Art with other people’s babies. When did you realise you could make this more than a hobby?

I think the difference for me is that I have a history in art. I have always been crazy about drawing, painting, play dough, you name it… since I was 2 years old. So, for me, it was completely natural to pick up the hobby with a vengeance! I guess I was always wanting to improve and at one point, I knew my kids were tired of being my only models!

Are you a full-time photographer, or is this something you do on the side?

I am full time Mom and part time photographer… although my husband will say I spend more than part of my time with it! Perhaps somewhere in between? I feel like I have a great balance.

A supporting partner is always an asset! You now have 4 children (including a set of twins). Did your photography improve with every birth?

Unfortunately, I didn’t get serious until my twins (now 6 years old) were 10 months old, so all I have are snap shots of them as newborns. I was definitely hooked on newborns by the time my youngest (now 2.5 years) was born, so I would say I improved leaps and bounds with her birth!

Where do you get the ideas for your props? Did you test drive them on your babies first?

Most props (bowls, baskets, etc) are my inspiration, as I am always on the look out for them at flea markets, antique shops and ebay. But other ideas, such as most of my hanging poses, were sketched out long before I tried them. I know Anne Geddes suspended babies long ago, but I was never really fond of the ones in which the face was not showing (reminded me of taking out garbage!). The branch added an “on the tree top” theme and I became very fond of the idea. Brittany [Atlanta based baby photographer Brittany Woodall, Ed. note] and I practised on a few dolls and when my twin niece and nephew were born last August, we gave it a go on live babies. It worked like a charm and it is now requested very often by my clients. It’s a lot of fun trying to make it different every time. When I have a new idea and I don’t happen to have a niece and nephew due to be born, I will have a casting call so that I can try it out with out any worries before trying it out during a real session.

I really like the babies hanging from the branch, that’s so sweet. But when do you plan to introduce a stork? You could train it to hold the cloth basket in its beak, no?

HAHA, funny! May be a little too cliquey for me! Although… I have a fabulous idea for another branch shot. It will have to wait for the right client, the right place and right time. It’s a doozey!

You like to photograph babies when they’re less than 10 days old, why is this?

Babies are much more pliable and sleepy the younger that they are… sort of like they are “recovering” from birth. Because most of my galleries depict a peacefully curled up baby, I really urge clients to try to come as soon as they can. Of course, this isn’t always possible and I have had successful sessions with babies as “old” as 4-5 weeks old!

Here’s a question that will help both baby photographers and new parents who aren’t getting enough sleep: How do you get them to stay asleep during a shoot? (The babies, not the parents.)

Well, I think what I do works like a charm because quite often the parents tell me that they themselves are having a hard time staying awake! Keep the room (almost unbearably) warm. Run white noise to drown out chatter and most of all, the loud shutter of my camera. Those are the main keys. Then there are little things like stroking their foreheads and keeping them swaddled until they are in a deep slumber.

You know, that would put me to sleep to!

OK, pick one on a baby: Feet or bottom?

Feet. For sure.

I knew you’d say that, there are so many baby feet photos in your portfolio!

Now tell me, how can babies fold up so well? I can barely touch my toes…

The same way they are able to fit inside a uterus.

Yeah, I guess that makes sense…

I mentioned in my March F-BoM post that one of the reasons your photography strikes a cord with me is because I have photographs of myself when I was a baby, and not only do I enjoy looking at them, they also make my mother happy. Now that your kids are old enough, and I’m sure they’ve seen the photos you took of them, do they tell you what their feeling are about those pics?

Although my first 3 children’s photos are snap shots, they absolutely love looking through their baby albums. I would say they thumb through them at least once a month! I’d say they like them. Which reminds me… I need to update albums with recent pictures!

What about you? Do you look at those photos and just drool with pride at your babies, or do you think “that composition could have been better, that exposure is off”, etc.?

I don’t really critique my snapshots, because there is no point in it. I am very happy to have them, though. I do have one picture of my son (now eight) where the flash didn’t fire. At the time, I adored the picture (actually, I still do) and I didn’t know why. After studying the picture over and over (I suppose with pride!), I realized that the flash had not fired and by pure luck, I had been close to a well lit window. Part of what I loved about the photo was the soft natural light. That was the very first “self taught” lesson that sparked my interest (although I didn’t buy my DSLR until 2 years later, when my twins were 10 months old).

Let’s talk a bit about equipment then. You like to keep it real simple and classic by using a full-frame digital camera with a 50mm f/1.4 lens; how did you progress towards this setup, and do you ever use anything else?

My first DSLR was the Nikon D100. At the time, an awesome camera. I quickly learned that the cheap lens that was sold with it was doing my camera no justice. I studied online photography forums and quickly was turned on to the 50mm. I still love it to this day… and yes, I can tell the difference between the 1.4 and the 1.8. It’s faster and sturdier… and sharper. I use the 50 the most because it’s a great length for newborns–head and shoulders and full body. For extreme close ups, I use the 105mm micro. I also have an 85mm 1.4 and 28mm 1.4 in my bag, but they rarely get used. It’s a shame because the bokeh that comes with the 85mm is insane… I would most likely use that with older kids outdoors, though.

You also like shooting in natural, available light; have you experimented with flashes, or have you simply always done it like that because if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it?

Yes! I have been tempted by strobes and bouncing flash. I love to experiment… but I have always come back to the simplicity of natural light. It is most definitely my “thang”.

A quick tip, if you want to continue to use natural light, don’t move to New England! You’d only be able to work a few months out of the year. What do you have in San Diego, like 6 cloudy days a year?

[ INSERT plug for the D3 HERE ] Hehe… seriously, the camera handles high ISO noise beautifully! Hey, we have May Gray and June Gloom here! Although… I am quite grateful for our sunny weather.

Continuing with the equipment, let’s go on to postproduction. What software do you use? And how do you convert to monochrome? I love the tones you bring to the table; sometimes soft, sometimes hard…it seems like you do whatever it takes to make the baby look good, which is interesting because many photographers these days have “a look” and they use it on all their subjects, whether it works or not. I’d say your look is “frickin cute babies”.

Equipment: Mac Pro, 30″ cinema display, and Photoshop.

I think I disappoint a lot of people when I tell them that beautiful tones are much easier to achieve with lighting than any postproduction technique. I swear! I shoot in RAW, usually correcting white balance (because I lack a good eye for color, haha!) and that’s it. I am very old school with my conversions. I use Channel mixer, then dodge and burn to taste… very reminiscent of the dark room! I treat each image individually and hand craft each one. I love working in Photoshop!

I’m glad you’re a proponent of using your craft before the shot rather than later. Like I said here, you can fix it in later in Photoshop is one of the major pitfalls beginning photographers fall into.

Have you taken any photography courses? Looking at your photography I get the nice feeling that you’re not trying to show off and that you don’t even care that much about your equipment or technique so long as the subject is captured in the best possible way. And please, take this as a compliment! Too many photographers are so obsessed about their equipment that they forget they’re actually meant to take photos with it!

Like I said previously, I’ve always been artsy. I have a bachelor of fine arts in Graphic Design. As a requirement, I had to take Photography 101 in college, but was not really impressed with myself. I think the curriculum was too broad and that is why I was not inspired until I had my children.

Compliment taken. I am very proud of my 50mm. I have a very fond memory of photographing a family on the beach during peak holiday season. The beach was bustling with long lenses and there was me with my little old 50mm… I was indeed proud!

You’re preaching to the choir, Carrie, I love my 50/1.4 too! I call it my American Express lens, because I never leave home without it.

Enough about equipment, and let’s get back to babies. Babies are cute, but Carrie Sandoval makes them even cuter. What’s your secret? Can you give parent-photographers some tricks that they might be able to try at home?

Seriously… shoot a LOT of them. This past year, over 90% of my subjects have been newborns or babies. I love them. And rather than doing the same things and become bored, I am always pushing myself to think of a new way to photograph them. I have quite a few ideas that I need to get out of my head. I hope I never run out!

As for making them look as “cute” as possible, just keep in mind what I have said above. Lighting… move them around until you see soft, flattering shadows. Make sure they are happy… full bellies, soothed, WARM and comfortable (most of my babies are curled up in a bean bag). Clean their faces (although, I love photographing dirty big kids!).

Thank you so much for your time, Carrie. It’s been a pleasure having you on EtL and we hope to see those cute photos popping up on your blog regularly. If anyone wants to hire Carrie for a session, you can contact her through her site, or you can also check out her other site with Brittany Woodall, baby as art.

We wish you the best of luck in the future, Carrie, and I want to remind you that if you start using a stork in your shoots, you have to tell everyone it was my idea.

You got it, Mis. Your questions were a lot of fun!

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Shedding Light on Gordon Lewis

Miserere — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 05:15:58 +0000

by Miserere

Gordon Lewis from Shutterfinger was February’s F-BoM. We caught up with him in “sunny” Pennsylvania to chat about Photography, vintage cars and being a Dad.

Gordon, thanks for letting us grill you! Let’s get the basics over with: How did you get started in photography?

My father was a graphic arts photolab technician. Although he wasn’t an avid photographer himself, the fact that he would often come home with prints he had made triggered my interest in photography. Other important influences were a teacher I had in middle school, who taught me how to use a 4×5 Speed Graphic press camera. In high school I had a teacher from England named Colin Sprang, who taught me how to develop and print. Once I got confident in the darkroom I was on my way.

Why did you stop being a pro photographer?

I was never a full time pro photographer. I did it more as a side-line. I’ve always earned the majority of my income as a writer. That said, when I moved from Los Angeles to Philadelphia I discovered that I’d have to start from scratch to build up a photography clientele. With a wife and three kids to help support, I put paid photography on the back burner and concentrated on writing.

I have to ask: How old are you exactly…?

As of today, I’m 56 years and 40 days old.

I really like your blog, Gordon, but I have a small problem: When I read it I hear a stern internal voice that sounds a lot like Stanley, from The Office (American edition). Could this be because of your bio photo? Man, I feel like you’re looking at me saying hey Mis, did you forget to put film in the camera again? Are you really that grumpy, or is it all in my mind?

It must be all in your mind, dude. I’m one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet, and if anyone tells you different I’ll kick his ass. [Ed. note: Gordon sent me the photo at the beginning of this article as proof, and although I've looked for evidence of Photoshop retouching, I cannot find any. I think he is actually smiling!]

You have a very direct writing style on your blog: no frills, no shrills. In contrast, your photography is often very colourful. How do you explain this discrepancy?

My work may be colorful, but at its best it’s also stripped of non-essentials, just like my writing. I also have a substantial amount of work that’s in B&W, so in my opinion there’s not much discrepancy.

Good point! Continuing with your photography style (and related to my previous question): you like shapes and shadows, abstract forms, elements that I would normally associate with B&W photography. While you do shoot B&W, you often take these photos in colour, which always shocks me as I would have converted them to monochrome. You’re like a colour B&W photographer Any comments, sir?

That’s a pretty astute observation. I often do convert my color photos into B&W, but I’m not fanatical about it. Generally speaking, if it looks good in color I see no need to convert it to B&W, especially since my printer (an Epson SP R800) does such a poor job of monochrome printing.

Do you do all your own printing? I’ve debated getting a printer, but given my low volume of prints I just use an online printing service. Would you advise me against this?

I do all my own color printing but I prefer to have a online lab do my black and white prints. An inkjet printer capable of printing B&W to my standard would cost at least $800 and I don’t have that kind of money right now. If you aren’t doing much printing then an online printing service is certainly more economical than buying and using an inkjet printer. Printer manufacturers make their money on the cartridges, not the printers, so high-volume printing can get quite expensive. On the other hand, having your own printer is undeniable faster and more convenient, assuming you know how to get the best out of it.

You’re married and have three very cute kids, although I’ll bet they’re a handful. How do you juggle the responsibilities of your job, fatherhood and being a husband with your passion for photography?

That’s easy: My family is my priority. Photography comes second, at best. That said, I take a lot of pictures of my kids, family vacations, relatives, etc.

I’ve often thought of having kids just so I could get some willing models. My wife is very camera-shy so I figure if I can get them young and teach them the camera is a good thing…but I digress! You recently became a victim of the failing global economy. How are you handling this unfortunate situation? Is it affecting your photography? I find that if I’m going through a difficult time I often forget about photography almost completely.

I’m still looking for full-time employment as an instructional designer but pursuing freelance assignments in the meantime. So far, I’m having a lot more luck with the freelance work. One of the contracts I’m working on is developing three Speedlite flash tutorials for Canon’s Digital Learning Center website. Also, as you know, I’m still doing my blog, so I’m still finding ways to keep photography in the mix.

That’s pretty cool, you’re writing for the Big C; I couldn’t imagine a better person for the job. But this brings me to the subject of gear, which you only touch on briefly in your blog. I know you bought an Olympus for a trip to London (and then you gave it up), but apart from that I have no idea what cameras you like most. So tell us what your favourite film and digital cameras are.

I don’t write much about gear because I don’t want to give it more attention than I think it deserves. Aside from specific advantages that apply only in specific situations, one camera is just as good as another in the hands of a skilled photographer. That said, I do my digital shooting with a Canon EOS 30D and my film shooting with a Canon EOS 1n or EOS Elan 7.

When I’m in an old school street-shooting mood I pull out one of my manual focus film bodies. Of these, my favorite is a Nikon FM3A, followed by an Olympus OM-1 and a Pentax ME. All three are small, lightweight, and inconspicuous. People seldom notice me shooting with them. Even if they do, once they discover that there’s no screen on the back they look at me with pity and continue on their way.

I like your choices—three classics. The OM-1 is reputed to have the best viewfinder of any 35mm camera ever. So how many rolls of film do you shoot a month? And which film do you prefer?

It depends. When the weather is good I might shoot 4-6 rolls per month for a few months in a row. When the weather sucks I often won’t shoot any film at all.

My favorite B&W films are Fuji Neopan 400 and Ilford Delta 100, depending on how much light is available. My favorite color neg film is Fuji Reala 100. I don’t shoot much transparency film any more, but when I did my favorite was Fujichrome Provia 100F.

You mention Zen very often; are you a practitioner? If I may be so bold, I do find a certain Zen-like quality in some of your photos, in the sense that they reflect quietude and invite introspection.

I have studied Zen and still practice Zen meditation. I’m not affiliated with any of the local Zendos or Roshis, however, so I wouldn’t say that I’m a practitioner in the formal sense.

Onto sunnier matters. Why do you like classic cars so much, and if you like them that much, why did you move from California to Pennsylvania?

Classic cars are fun to look at. They have a design aesthetic that speaks to a certain time and cultural values. Some have an ageless cool that transfers to the owner. As much as I hated to have to leave the land of cool rides, California’s public schools rank 47th in the nation. Pennsylvania’s public schools rank 10th. Since I couldn’t afford to send three kids to private school, and since I have relatives on the East Coast, the choice was clear.

Let’s talk formats. You still like shooting film, so give me three good reasons why you enjoy film, and another three why you enjoy digital.

Film:

I grew up using film. I know how my favorite films will perform in any given situation.
The film cameras I use have fewer bells and whistles than digital cameras. For me, this allows for a more direct and intuitive interface.
I don’t have to worry about backing up my film photographs or buying more hard drive space. I just file it and I’m done.

Digital:

You have more control over how you can process the image—for better or for worse.
You can immediately tell what a shot looks like and whether it was correctly exposed.
It’s easier to upload photos to a blog or someone else.

FWIW, I tested one of the first consumer digital cameras ever introduced: the LogiTech FotoMan, introduced in 1990.

Wow… While we don’t have Gordon’s review, you can read this to get an idea of what the prehistory of digital photography was like. How things have changed…

To finish up our chat, tell me what photographers you admire and have been inspired by?

The photographers whose work most inspires me are Elliott Erwitt, Ralph Gibson, Art Kane, Mary Ellen Mark, Diane Arbus, Albert Watson, Robert Frank, and Anthony Barboza, just to name a few. You’re not too bad either.

Oh stop it, Gordon… Flattery will get you everywhere!

It’s been a pleasure having you on EtL—I will see you on your blog, and I hope our readers will too. We wish you the best of luck in your future endeavours.

Thank you. Given today’s economy I can use all the help I can get.

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Shedding Light on Dan Phelps, from A LEGO a Day

Miserere — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 08:15:25 +0000

Going for a drive…

A few days ago we inaugurated F-BoM (Featured Blog of the Month), with January’s “trophy” going to Dan Phelps, curator of the blog A LEGO a Day. Today we bring you an interview with the man behind the camera in front of the LEGO.

Hi Dan! Can you tell us a bit about yourself? What do you do in real life? How did you first get interested in and involved with photography?

I’m 27, and a 5th grade science teacher in Virginia. It’s my second full year teaching, and it’s a great time. I love working with children of this age. THey are so much fun, and love to learn. When I’m not grading papers, I’m either snapping pictures, watching my plethora of favorite TV shows (sci-fi geek: LOST, Stargate, Battlestar Galactica, Futurama, an of course 24!), wasting life on the internet, or out and about with friends. I love to camp, hike, bike, and rock out to some classic rock.
I’ve always liked photography, even as a child. But I never really thought about doing it a lot than just on things like vacation. When I got my first point & shoot camera a few years ago, it allowed me to do some more creative things – digital helps a lot that way. But it wasn’t until last year when I had the money to finally take the D-SLR plunge – and I’m so glad I did. I think it’s a great outlet for my creative side. I love to think of ideas, and capture interesting objects in interesting ways.

How did you get the idea to start a 365 blog using LEGO? Did you want to start a photo blog and were looking for a theme, or had you already been photographing LEGO and wanted a public outlet?

I’d actually taken a few LEGO photos previously – it was just for fun. But as I started talking to more people who were into photography, I came across this 365 idea. Of course I said to myself ‘hey, i should do that.’ But so many people do self-portraits, or random pictures. And I figured, well, I love taking pictures of these LEGO mini-figs, I might as well roll with that. It definitely adds a different dimension to it I think, and allows for a broader audience perhaps.

There seems to be a huge LEGO following amongst adults, especially those with cameras Searching for “LEGO” in Google Images returns over 3.5 million hits. Despite all this, I am not aware of any other 365 LEGO blog out there, are you? Could you be the only one?

I doubt it. Well, I may be alone in the 365 aspect, but I know there are countless people out there doing fantastic things with LEGO. Search YouTube for parody videos, search Flickr for LEGO, and you will uncover an insurmountable number of different ideas…and 95% of them are totally worth looking at too.

There is a guy on Flickr that recreates famous photographs with LEGO, have you seen them?

Yup. I came across Balakov’s photos about a year ago or so. He was kind of an inspiration to make me try my best at this 365 project. His photos are fantasticly planned, and shot. I admire his dedication to detail, and seeing some famous photos redone in LEGO are the kind of thing that make you laugh – but in a good way. I like coming up with original ideas though – and he certainly does too.

I admire people who keep a 365 blog; it’s a challenge to take a photo every day. But I admire you even more because you actually have to set up the figures and create a story; you can’t just point the camera at a tree or at your face and call it a day. Where do you get the ideas for the scenes and how long do you spend between preparation, photographing and posting?

It’s tough some days…and especially with school in session. Some ideas I think of prior, and take time to work out the details. Some my friends have. And some days I just look around my apartment, or outside to see what I see. I need a little inspiration. There are definitely days when you can tell I was too tired, or too rushed, and just banged something out quick and easy. And there are others when you can tell I had time to sit down and put stuff together. I really have no plan. I do have a couple ideas jotted down on a sticky note as back-ups – and some are ideas I know I want to do. When something comes to me, I make sure I write it down because I have a mind like a sieve. But luckily, I haven’t skipped a day yet. I don’t always get to post every day, but I make sure that picture was taken on that day.

Do you carry your LEGO and camera with you everywhere you go?

No. Only sometimes when I know I am going to be somewhere I can snap something quick and easy. It’s too much of a hassle to lug around the equipment, and if you’re out with people, just a bit rude. If I am going on a walk with the intent of taking a picture, then, naturally. Otherwise, they are all at home!

Has your girlfriend left you yet? Has she given you the ultimatum?: It’s the LEGO or me, you choose!

Ha, not yet. She’s been very supportive, and helpful. She’s also a lover of photography – and has been doing it much more in depth for a lot longer than I have. So she has a lot of tips and tricks for when it comes to taking the shots. I also like to make her laugh, and it’s a good feeling when she sits down and views my recent work and gets a kick out of it.

What camera equipment do you use? (Camera, lenses, lights..)

My d-SLR is a Pentax K100D Super. I rarely use the kit lens (18-55mm Pentax). But I am in love with my Tamron 28-75mm F/2.8 lens. It basically stays on my camera 24/7. For some of the more macro/closeups I use a cheap Quantaray 70-300mm F/4-5.6 – it came free with the camera. I’m currently saving up to buy a wicked nice zoom/macro lens. I also have a Pentax 50mm F/1.4 Prime lens – I don’t use it often for my LEGO, but I use it a lot for other things. I just got a Metz 48-AF flash unit for Christmas, so that will be helpful too. And then there’s my little Canon Powershot A95. I take that with me for travelling shots.

It’s clear that you don’t need expensive equipment to create great photographs; just a big imagination and a determined index finger. Have you learned anything new about photography since you started this project?

Oh yeah. Lots of little tricks about depth of field, focusing, lighting, and composition. This has been challenging to figure out what exactly I can do with my camera and a lens.

How has this venture affected your “normal” photography? Do you now find you have trouble taking pictures of anything taller than an inch?

Ha ha. No, not so much. What I like about this is that it’s actually letting my take photos every day. When I’m teaching and school is in session, I barely have time for anything – let alone photography. I’d only be able to do it on weekends, and vacations – and the summer. But at least this way I can still pick up the camera every day for a little while. Plus, all the little tricks I have learned so far I can apply to regular photography.

I’ve read that there might be a coffee book in the works, is this true?

I’d like to make a coffee-table type picture book yes. But, well, it’s up to LEGO and a publishing company really. I’m in no mood to be sued for copyright violations! I’d also like to see individual prints of each of the photos for anyone who wants that kind of thing – but again – copyright. While others are selling their photos that include LEGO without permission, I prefer to cover my ass!

I’m no lawyer, so I don’t know what you can and cannot do with photographs including LEGO (although I do think you can sell prints); I hope you iron out the details as there are a few of your photos that I wouldn’t mind hanging on my wall.

What’s going to happen on May 31st 2009 when you put up your last picture? Is there going to be a huge void in your life or will you feel liberated from the tyranny of a-photo-a-day?

It will definitely be nice to not have that nagging feeling in the back of my head. I’m sure in some ways I will miss it, but in other ways I will enjoy just being able to relax, and take photos at my leisure again.

Have you thought of taking your love of LEGO further? Nathan Sawaya is a New York artist that creates sculptures out of LEGo bricks. Would you consider something like that?

While I like to say I’m creative – I don’t feel like I’m super-creative. Also…patience is not one of my virtues (funny saying that as a teacher, eh?) I don’t have the resources either! My LEGO collection is actually pretty small comparatively. I think I’ll stick to pictures for now.

I have to ask: You’re 27; what is it about LEGO that attracts you 20 years after you should have stopped playing with it?

LEGO is awesome. It fulfils the desire to imagine, create, build, and destroy. Plus, LEGO is basically something almost everyone can relate to. It’s instantly recognizable. And, most of all, you can be 45 or 85, and it’s OK to build a LEGO set…because building is not playing!

Ha ha ha, that’s a good way to look at it. I might try to convince my wife that messing around with photos on Photoshop for hours isn’t really playing

Thank you for chatting with us Dan, it was a pleasure to have you as our first F-BoM. I will continue to look forward every day to the new adventures of your LEGO buddies and I wish you the best in the future, both in Life and Photography.

My pleasure, Mis. And thanks for the attention!

Hey, thank you!

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