You should have been at the Grand Dell watching and listening to Andy Just and John Garcia knock out the blues. You could also be there helping me light the place to get these shots. Shooting there is a bit tricky. The number one problem, it is dark so auto focus does not work well. You have to auto focus lock on something in the same plane as your intended subject or try to manually focus. For me the latter is a bigger problem, I don't see as well in the dark as the camera. The second issue, getting the right amount of light so you don't expose like a wedding, but create the mood the place deserves.
I used two SB900's, clipped to the ceiling with pocket wizards. The stronger of the two, faced the band with a grid, the second had a small diffuser(tiny lightbox) attached to the front to give some light to the side. They were far enough away, so the light fall off created a stage scene but the flash units were powerful enough to control the color, for the most part. Once set in place, I was off and running with little regard for the light except recycling. With studio strobes, recyling is generally not an issue, but off or on camera flash is a problem. They just don't recycle fast enough for "run and gun" photography. Also if you are powering with a Quantum battery, you can burn up Nikon flash units. The SB900 will shut off if it overloads, which saves the unit, doesn't do much for the shoot. The rest of them will fire until they fry.
My next gig at the Saloon, I'm going to try bouncing the flash which I couldn't get right on Saturday afternoon before the show.
The last leg of our trip was a few days in the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy and then on to the Maasi Mara to conclude the trip with four days of amazing wildlife photography. Let's start with Lewa, a unique place where wildlife preservation is the purpose of the Conservancy. Like the rest of Kenya, there are lots of animals in Lewa, migrating across Africa, but the population most focused upon is the Rhino. Poaching is a serious problem for Rhino's and you will hear more about this on the podcast in this blog. Here is a Rhino from Lewa, that I photographed on one of several days we observed these majestic creatures.
One example of the White Rhino in Lewa
Be sure and listen to the podcast to hear about the efforts and costs in protecting these animals from extinction. Lewa has the full range of animals you see in Africa, the major difference is the extent to which The Lewa Wildlife Conservancy goes to protect the Rhino. A small army of armed police roam and watch over these creatures from poachers. With all the animals free to roam and move on, the task is daunting, but best described by Frans when he discusses the issue. In the meantime, check out http://www.lewa.org/ for more information.
Next we stopped in the Maasi Mara for four wonderful days of photography. We stayed on the Mara River at the Serian Camp(to get a glimpse watch this) , a great place with the sounds of Hippo's snorting at night. As you will hear in the podcast, the abundance of wildlife in the Mara is unbelievable. You land on a dirt road, no buildings, just your Rangerover(hopefully or you are screwed), to drive you into the bush. We did game drives twice a day, balloon rides, tracked animals, watched, saw and photograhed so much wildlife, at the end of this Safari, I had nearly 10K photographs. The Mara is truly a wildlife photographers paradise and here are just a few examples of what we photographed. The young and the old Giraffe.
The young and the old lion and going out with Jonathan Scott of The Big Cat Diaries. Jonathan went out with us one day to visit the Marsh Pride. Check out his work at http://www.jonathanangelascott.com/
The young feeding, in this case on a Zebra
The young and the old showing affection.
The handsome young posing like a "rock star"
And one of the most feared animals in Africa
The Topi looking like a sentry for predators but not really, he is staking out his territory. A common citing on the Mara
And for birders the Lilac-breasted Roller(hope I'm right), one of the prize birds of the Mara.
Also common the Gray Crown Crane, on beautiful bird with quite a mating dance.
To hear more about this place, from the perspective of others and listen to Frans and Christine talk about their work, click on the podcast embedded in this blog or click on the Maasi Episode listed in the right column.
Well this is the last of the podcasts while on the Safari, I plan on an upcoming one, talking about what I learned about the "right gear" for such an adventure in Africa. To say the least I learned a lot, but I was lucky with my choice of equipment but most of all with choosing Frans and Christine as the Safari Leaders, they are wildlife specialists, world renowned as videographers, photographers, and writers, and their explanations as well insight helped make this a trip of a lifetime. Also a special thank you to David and Patrick our guides as well as Lydia and William of Origins. All of the camps I have written about were wonderful as well as great experiences. There is so much to see, to learn about, to appreciate, that at times it is overwhelming. Africa is a wonderland of opposites, great good and evil, chaos and tranquility, but most of all change. Rwanda with a terrible past just a few short years ago is peaceful, clean, and tranquil today. The wildlife that is abundant today is struggling, no one knows what a decade will bring, or when the last wild Rhino will disappear. There is nothing profound that would do Africa justice, it is what it is, and as a westerner, I have never seen anything like it.
These images are very large, this one is over a gig, takes some computing power to process. This file crashed one computer attempting to process. Capturing the image is very straight forward, not difficult if you: level the camera- I use a leveling head which replaces the base of your tripod. Gitzo and Really Right Stuff make them for Gitzo tripods. Secondly, without writing about nodal points etc. center the lens over the center of the tripod head. Thirdly, when panning, overlap at least 20%. Fourth, put your hand over the lens before the first image and after the last image to mark the pano. Pan in one direction do not skip around. Fifth, select the images in bridge, go to Tools and select Photo Merge. Follow the dialogue, and you will have your pano if you have the computer horsepower. The technical side is straight forward, the composition, as always, is the key and tricky. One tip I left out, swing the camera completely around watching the level to make sure it stays level, and a second to look at the image and find the obvious overlaps points for each frame.
The next image is a simple reflection in a pond. Could be found anywhere, in the Fall. I'm always on the lookout for reflections, they can be cliche, but nonetheless I enjoy photographing them. What I like about this image is the color and especially the rock on the right. When I see reflections, I normally use the camera to pan around checking potential compositions. The eye picks up so much of what the camera cannot see, a reflection may appear to be stunning to your eye but the camera captures only a portion of the scene. Additionally, often the feel of the scene influences your judgement and using the camera brings the composition into focus. Tomorrow off to Frans Lanting and Santa Cruz.
What the hell does that title mean, sounds like double talk. Well it is a topic that arises often especially when opinions are being passed around on photographs. Is a blurry photograph wonderful, terrible, art, or trash. You might say, depends on the image. Or what about a blurry foreground, normally frowned upon, but.....for some it works. There are rules, like thirds, and then there are ground breakers who manage to create new standards. So how do you make sense out of all this? The short answer, I can't but Alla Tsank can help. Alla is a successful painter who judges photography and painting applications for the most prestigious art show in America-the Sausalito Art Festival. For photography, she teams up with William Vanscoy a well known photographer to evaluate the applications from some 200 photographers, and this year 20 were selected. It's a tough task, separating photographer's work for an Art Festival.
I have known Alla for several years and often discuss topics of Art with her. She is experienced, successful, attends the best Art gatherings in the US and always has something well thought out to say. So to add light to the topic question, I asked Alla what she looked for when she judged photography. The assumption is that all of the entries are by most standards great photography, so the task is to separate the best from the good. I'm not going to attempt to paraphrase her, rather you can listen to the interview, which was recorded on Hold The Eye Images Podcast Episode 12. I think you will find her insight interesting, it was certainly informative for me. Click below or Episode 12 in the Podcast Panel on the right. This broadcast can also be found in iTunes under Hold The Eye Images.
No that was not a typo, Cali Hobgood-Lemme won the top spot in photography as well as the overall "Best in Show", competing with over 275 fellow artists which includes 20 photographers. The Sausalito Art Festival is a competitive event, meaning you must apply, be judged, and get an invitation before you can enter. In the case of photography over 200 applicants attempt entry while 20 were selected in 2010. According to Festival publications the show sales are around $4 million making it one of the best if not the best show in the US. I had to a chance to interview Cali, and listen to her story as she described her work, inspiration, and techniques she used in creating these award winning images. Before you listen to this podcast, go to PhotographsbyCali.com and look at her work, it will give you a better frame of reference as she describes painting her black and white images. Again her website is: http://www.photographsbycali.com/
To listen to the interview simply click on the button below, or Episode 11 listed on the right or go to iTunes and search Hold The Eye Images, listen to Episode 11. Enjoy Cali Hobgood-Lemme
Last day of the festival, the most prestigous in the US. Artists from all over the world come to this gathering, where food, wine, and music complement the artists showings in one of the most beautiufl settings possible, Sausalito and the San Fracisco Bay. The food is just OK, but the rest is terrific. Two music stages go all day(for three days), with top flight musicians from rock icons to upcoming new artists. I'm looking forward to Marvis Staples even though the headliner is Jefferson Starship for today. So far my favorite music was Lynn Asher and Cole Tate with special guests Carlos Reyes and James Nash. If you have not heard of them, don't despair since they are local musicians who are amazing. In the world of art which includes music and photography, I'm always struck by the fine line between success and struggle. Lynn Asher et.al. show this, they are wonderful, talented, and above all extremely good musicians, yet financial success on any scale is still elusive. So what about photography?
First, the show is by invitation only. This means you apply, judges examine your work, and you are sent an invitation or rejected. I don't know how many apply etc. but any artist you talk with is pleased to be invited, if not thrilled. The art runs the gamut from furniture-wood to watercolor, 2D mixed media to fiber. In all, thirteen categories including photography. During the show, they award "Best in Show" for each of these categories which is added prestige and a money prize of $500.00. An award of 1st and 2nd are given for each of the thirteen categories. In 2009, the photography 1st prize was given to Chris Honeycutt of Pacifica Ca. and Patty Mulligan of Berkeley Ca. Second prize went to William Vanscoy of Brookings Or. This year the photography first prize went to Calli Hobgood-Lemme and second went to Kelli Knack. You can google the names adding "photography" and check out their work.Twenty photographers were invited this year. I did not count the number of artists but the Festival claims 275 artists with 20,000 original pieces of art. and 4million dollars in sales. Not bad for a 3 day gig by anyone's standards.
I have been attending for several years and while I'm no qualified judge of photography, I will give some comments. The first quality you notice is that all the photography is "eye catching", causes you stop and examine. Secondly each artist has a certain "vision" or "point of view", meaning the images follow a theme. You can see for yourself looking at the websites of the names given in this post. Finally, there is definitely unique processing involved, from wet printing to adding color to black and white. Image capture ranges from large format to digital with most being film on medium to large format. The images are not iconic scenes but created from the artist eye. In fact many could be anywhere, which gives hope to all of us. One common factor is the quality of the printing is extremely high, whether wet or digital, it all looks terrific. The images, for the most part, are simplistic, not complex, with focus for the eye. Compositions run the range, and interestingly break many "rules of traditional judging". Clearly, artist expression is the key which is no surprise, and within the boundaries of excellence, you can write your own rules.
Overall comments, clearly these photographers are photographing for festivals, competiting for the top tear. Their perspective is creating a unique body of work that will sell at these shows. Interesingly their pricing I would describe as modest compared to the rest of the show. Unframed prints are in the $90-$100 range, and limited edition large framed pieces(think Epson 9880), are for the most part in the $2000.00 range. Based on my conversations with high end painters over the years whose originals start around $7000, this show can reach $30-40K. Photographers are not in this sales category from the pricing I observed. Again, from conversatons with some of the artists, they will attend from 3-10 of these shows/year. All say this is the best show, measured in sales.
For this year, William Vanscoy and Alla Tsank were the photography judges and have agreed to an interview for Hold The Eye Images Podcasting. I'm very interested in picking their brain about photography which should be of interest to most photographers. Alla is a painter, who also judges painting for the show, William(Bill) is a photographer whose work is beautiuful. Both have websites so check them out.
I did some photography at the show with a 24/1.4, shooting at l.4, posting later. I also did a nine image pano of the SF skyline with evening haze using a 600mm. Have not had time to download, since my evenings where spent out and about. Discovered a new place the "Sea Horse" which has live music every night, reminds me of my days in Memphis with all the clubs. Another story, but never written about.
Time to pack up and head out for another day at the festival. Happy Labor Day.
In this episode of Hold The Eye Images Podcasting Nate and I talk further about the potential use of an IPAD in your photography. The top application is to show off a portfolio to someone whether a client or friend. It's beautiful screen makes your photographs look amazing and will impress even your most difficult critic. It also allows all of your PDF manuals to be stored, and for me that's all my Nikon flash units, camera manuals, photoshop reference guides, and assorted other handbooks I refer to frequently. It saves time and space especially when away from home or your office/studio. Weather, sunrise/sunset, and tide applications allow me to understand what time of day is best for my shooting so again it's a go to one source. And, the list could go on including the fun applications for airline travel etc., but I don't want to spoil all the thunder of the podcast, so enjoy.
When I'm in a gym, I work out, but tonight I spent several hours shooting Monique who is competing in a couple of weeks in a professional figure contest. This is not body building but figure and that doesn't mean glamor, it means fitness. This required lighting and I use Profoto and Elinchrom Ranger Quadra lights. Both are outstanding, the Elinchrom which performed wonderfully are also more portable. I used an Elinchrom Octabank, two 1X4 strip lights, and a softbox, but not all at the same time. Most of the shoot involved the Octabank and another softbox. I used the strip light down low when she was in a push-up position, with a grid(photo's to come but not today).
Enough technical stuff, I will write about the lighting in another blog, giving all the details, it's late but I did want to post one of the images. To say she is buffed, is an understatement. She is a professional trainer, and spokesperson for weekly videos promoting fitness. This contest requires a super human regiment of training- two and one half hours a day, plus a strict diet. It pays off as you will see in this image. More to come on the shoot, technical stuff, and fun stuff that it is very interesting. I'm writing this in hopes she will love her images; otherwise, as this image shows, she will kick my butt! AND, I barely escaped this punch, my cat like reflexes are failing me.
Unified Color's new software was made available today as a free upgrade to your existing PhotoStudio product or as a stand alone at the special introductory price of $99 through the end of July. This new version is called Expose and offers some exciting new features. Top of the heap, is the histogram that is tied to a tool set for making adjustments to your merged image. Keep in mind this image is 32 bit so small adjustments and refinements can be made with these tools. Using the cursor on the image, you can see the data in the histogram, and/or make overall adjustments with the eyedropper. Plug-ins for Lightroom and Aperture, are now included and the list goes on. This may sound a little confusing so I'm including a Podcast to assist. The conversation is with John Omvik Director of Marketing for Unified Color(and a heck of a good photographer) and was recorded today in Los Gatos California. Further, you can get tutorials at : http://www.unifiedcolor.com/tutorials.
That's the big question everyone asks after a while. Just how good is my photography? So, you enter competitions, seek the opinion of others, take workshops, classes, hang out with "good" photographers, try to figure it out for yourself, and suddenly you discover you are on a journey. I don't thing this journey has a destination. Its a long road trip, with lots of pit stops, detours, breakdowns, successes, excitement, but looking back, it always brings a smile. One day you figure out that you can distinguish between a good image and an OK one. This is not to say you suddenly wake up a good photographer, rather you recognize good photography. That's a major milestone, one in which you can judge your own images without "asking someone else". When you reach this point, its important to continue the journey, don't just suddenly stop and become the only judge and travel no further. You need to continue to push yourself, explore different techniques, get out of your comfort zone. For example, let's say you think have become a very good landscape photographer, well go down the "people detour" and work on that road. Add people photography to your arsenal, and keep going. Work on abstract, macro, wildlife, etc. keep moving trying to improve, never staying in one place.
Why do all this? You have become excellent in landscape, why worry with the rest? The simple answer is it makes no difference what type of photography you do, what improves your photography is your ability to see an image. That's right, see the image in your mind, frame it in a camera and capture it. The more you work on that skill, the better you will get at photography. Like any skill it requires exercise, stretch, and constant attention. If you do the same thing over and over, you are not improving. Pushing your eye enables you to become a better photographer, unfortunately, it does not guarantee rock star status but you will improve. When you pause for a moment and look at great photography, what you see more often than not is the ordinary expressed in a special way, that draws your attention and creates an emotion. That's not easy, takes hard work, special senses from experience, and a dash of "sensory gift" if it is to be repeated regularly. But like any special talent, you can't just pick up a camera and start taking images that tap your potential. You have to work at it, bring it out, make it second nature. And, as with everything in today's world, there is a certain technical skill that is required. You have to learn how to use the tools, so that they are second nature, you see through the camera, know intuitively the controls, make it an extension of your creative senses. All of this comes from going out and taking pictures, even if its in your back yard. Back to my point, great photographers make special images out of ordinary things, so your backyard qualifies. Once you know what a great image looks like and can distinguish good from the best, you will learn faster. Help is needed in the early stages to get your footing, competitions, workshops, classes, etc. Honestly, you should never stop this process, no matter how good you think you are, learning is not an end point. The great thing about this road trip, its fun, its memorable, creates a great legacy for your loved ones, and will keep you refreshed your entire life. There is no place you can go that you can't practice, no situation you can't take advantage of, and above all, no reason to homestead. Keep moving, regardless of your situation, taking pictures, preserving images and you will discover the answer- " How good is your photography?"- it doesn't matter.
Recent Comments