Posing with your camera?
“Why do all chefs cross their arms in photos?” I photographed a corporate event in Manhattan a few weeks ago, hosted by a prominent London-based marketing group. One of the fascinating presentations (by EatBigFish) was about “Blanding” - when branding of so many companies conform to a consistent idea of what branding should look like. This slide summarized many of the themes in the presentation. And I immediately thought of how photographers do the same thing on their websites — posing with their cameras as if to prove they are photographers. It’s a crutch! As photographers we need to Read more inside...
Creating AI Art – but now what?
Creating AI Art - but now what?
I just paid for a one month subscription to Stable Diffusion AI just to check it out. My first ever foray into "creating AI Art". Here is my 3rd "creation" with AI. And here is the prompt for these 4 images: "sepia tinted black & white photo with distressed edges to the photo showing a truly beautiful woman from the 1930s wearing a hat and a long coat slightly open in the front, flaring from the wind. In the background is an out of focus scene from Manhattan with various buildings and cars and out of focus people" These images look Read more inside...Finding your niche in photography … or not
Finding your niche in photography ... or not
A photographer friend once told me that regarding my social media presence and my websites, it's not clear what I do as a photographer. I’m all over the show — portraits, weddings, headshots, corporate stuff, product photography, timelapse. He suggested that I specialize in a niche, and then make sure I stand out in that niche as the best. For example just do product photography, and be the best at products on white. Become even more specialized. Sounds like solid advice on the surface. Yet, I love the seeming randomness of what I do. Read more inside...Not quite a self-portrait
Not quite a self-portrait
One of the few portraits of myself that I immediately liked — more than the background and the starkness of the B&W processing, what draws me to this image is the pose — it’s as if I am hovering in decision. There’s an implied narrative here, even if shrouded in mystery. Not quite a self-portrait but I was involved in the setting it up of this, and the other photos in the sequence. Photo by my friend, Clayton. He used an 85mm lens. Posing by me. I kept changing my Read more inside...Photography as meditation
Photography as meditation
Since photographers don’t really have weekends to chill, I try and take a midweek “weekend day” to chill. For me, there is a certain meditative quality to just walking around, finding scenes and things to photograph. Photography in this way becomes an almost Zen-like experience -- you are focused but without the stress of concentrating. It allows for detachment, while still creating. This is also where the value of personal projects comes in. I find it hard to relax when I am truly doing nothing - I have to be involved with something. I appreciate the Read more inside...Photographing with available light only
Photographing with available light only
While photographing dancer, Anna Russell, in this side-street in New York, I noticed those splashes of light against the wall. These little pools of light were from sunlight reflecting off nearby windows. I wanted to see if we could have Anna hit one of those in mid-air. What also helped was the general direction of light in this area - it mostly came from the main road to the left of the frame, since we were shooting in a narrow street with tall buildings. The main splash of light on her was sunlight reflecting off this window of a building Read more inside...Inspiration: Be cool, be prepared, be professional
Inspiration: Be cool, be prepared, be professional. Be like SRV.
My favorite clip of Stevie Ray Vaughan in action. A guitar string breaks ... and he fluidly swaps out guitars mid-performance. If you closed your eyes, you wouldn't even know. From that I take my inspiration as a photographer. I am prepared. I am over-prepared. My back-ups have back-ups. I try and anticipate any possible worst-case situations. And should something go wrong, there isn't even a ripple on the surface. Read more inside...Portraits with vintage lenses
Portraits with vintage lenses
That crazy bokeh there is via the Mitakon Zhongyi Speedmaster 50mm f/0.95 (B&H / Amazon), taken at widest aperture, giving this wafer-thin depth of field. Even though this is a new lens, I would classify it as a classic or vintage lens. It is manual focus, and gives that delicious look to images exactly because of that DoF and bokeh. In terms of the composition, I like how the blue lights in the foreground is echoed by the same lights in the background. How this photo session with Anastasiya came about ... My friend, Parker J Read more inside...Photographer friends, we have work to do, and art to create!
Photographer friends, we have work to do, and art to create!
A quiet word to my photographer friends. I'm in various photography groups and forums, and I see a strong tendency in the more technical forums to whine about the specs of current cameras, or to bitch to-and-fro, disparaging others or other brands. My feelings about that - We should always keep in mind that our photography heroes of previous eras created masterpieces with cameras less advanced than we have now. For me, Richard Avedon immediately comes to mind. There are many others. So if you feel you're being held back Read more inside...- 1
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