Here is another random shot I wouldn’t have caught if I hadn’t had a camera phone with me.
Tag Archives: photography
What Every Aspiring Photographer Should Know
Here’s a wonderful bit of advice for aspiring photographers from Cheryl Jacobs Nicolai at PhotoDino.
What Every Aspiring Photographer Should Know
These are my thoughts, nothing more and nothing less.
I get asked all the time, during workshops, in e-mails, in private messages, what words of wisdom I would give to a new and aspiring photographer. Here’s my answer.
- Style is a voice, not a prop or an action. If you can buy it, borrow it, download it, or steal it, it is not a style. Don’t look outward for your style; look inward.
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LOMO’s New Mystery Camera
@lomography has been all (ahem…) atwitter about a mystery camera announcement this week. The folks at Tongue in Chic seem to have blown the lid off of the announcement of the Diana Mini, a half-frame/full-frame 35mm version of the cult classic Diana plastic camera.
Miroslav Tichy, redux
Miroslav Tichy is a reclusive artist who has resided in his hometown of Kyjov, Czech Republic, for most of his life. Born in 1926, he was a painter until the late 1960s, when he started taking photos, mostly of local women sunbathing, using equipment that he built himself. The cameras are made of cardboard, bottle caps, and rubber bands. Tichy mounts his photos in his own handmade frames and enhances them with pencil markings wherever he sees fit.
Light Test
Light Test is a collection of light test snaps from photographers. Ever wonder what happens behind the scenes when they’re getting the exposure right, testing out compositions, or just blowing off steam in the middle of a long shoot?
[light-test.com via kottke.org ]
Exposure-Mat, a free light meter (no batteries required!)
I’m a big fan of the Sunny 16 Rule for determining exposure. Print film is forgiving enough that you don’t always have to get the exposure *exactly* right to get a good shot.
The”Sunny 16″ rule, paraphrased, says, “Set the shutter speed to the reciprocal of the film speed, and set the aperture to f/4 for open shade, f/5.6 for overcast, f/8 for hazy sunlight, f/11 for sunlight and f/16 for snow, water, or bright surfaces in sunlight.
Here’s a great link to a do-it-yourself paper slider exposure meter. Use one of these and you won’t need a meter for 90% of your outdoor shots on print film.
Shooting an old retro camera without a meter and guesstimating exposure is a liberating experience. I recommend it.
LOMO Double
Window Reflection, SOMA
I bought 10 rolls of expired Fuji Superia Reala 100 from the Lomographic Society. It’s been a while since I shot with Reala, but I can’t see any significant degradation in color. Maybe it’s not that expired, after all?
Zeno Place in SOMA SF, again
Another shot of Zeno Place, an alley in San Francisco fighting against modernization and gentrification.
Jukebox, Canon FTb
I’m continually amazed by the results I get with a good professional film, an old-school mechanical SLR like my Canon FTb and a 50mm prime lens. This was shot pretty close to wide-open, probably F/2.8 at the most…
Rusty Gate, Napa County
Taken on a road trip, later on I couldn’t remember exactly where I shot this!
Sidewalk LOMO series – SOMA district, San Francisco
Another sidewalk series photo from the SOMA district in San Francisco. I’ve walked the same streets and alleys in SOMA continually for 15 years and am amazed at the things I see for the first time when looking through the viewfinder.
Plates, Jingletown (Oakland) CA – Part II
Here’s a different perspective of the previous post, showing a little more scale of whatever these things are. And, my sense of scale is way off – those pallets in the background are probably 4 feet wide at least.
Plates, Jingletown (Oakland) CA
The scale of this photo is misleading. It looks like a small-ish dished plate, but they’re actually two machined plates approximately 12 feet in diameter. Taken out in Jingletown, a post-industrial/art studio/loft neighborhood nestled between Oakland and Alameda near the Oakland Estuary.
Jingletown Open Studios coincides with the Pro Arts East Bay Open Studios on June 6-7th and June 13th-14th, 2009. It’s a great way to see a mind-bogglingly wide range of artwork, meet the artists in person and support a vibrant arts community directly. Check it out!
Kitchen LOMO
No other camera can work with low light as well as a LOMO does. Load a roll of slow film, hand-hold the camera, brace it against a lamp post, hold your breath and shoot…
Barriers
I do most of my shooting with a collection of junk store plastic cameras and a freezer full of film I’m working through. Digital doesn’t compare to film – not knowing what I’m going to get until I get the roll back is delayed gratification compared to chimping on a LCD display seconds after the shot was taken.
…And what can compare to opening the envelope and seeing the print in your hands with that memory captured seemingly forever? Hold the print just right and you feel like you can reach in… Digital doesn’t do that.
Graffiti in San Francisco
More fun with the Vivitar Ultra Wide and Slim, a cheap fixed-focus, plastic-lensed camera. SOMA/San Francisco, Fuji Superia 400 film.
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