you know i don't look good in pictures

Some people just do not like having their picture taken and my wife's grandmother is one of them. We were visiting over Thanksgiving and I wanted to get some shots of her and her husband since they are photographed so infrequently. I took some shots of my wife's grandfather and he didn't seem to mind much. I turned the camera to grandma and she gave me this arm wave and said "you know I don't look good in pictures".

That was such a funny phrase to me. I had no idea that she didn't look good in pictures. At 87 I think she looks great all the time so an instant in time should be equally appealing, but she was convinced that I knew it wasn't so. She immediately got up from her chair and went inside far far away from me.

I didn't point my camera at her again for the rest of my visit. She did pose with the entire family as my wife's cousin took a few shots. At least we will have that. The more I think of it I think this photograph captures her spirit quite nicely.

My approach to photographing people is normally to make sure we both are aware I am shooting and give them the opportunity to protest. In some cases we may need to be a bit more discreet.

what makes me uncomfortable

The very few regular readers (thanks ma!) of my blog will know that I have grown a bit of an attachment towards homeless people I meet while doing street photography.  The reasons for this attraction is still unknown to me but what I hope I am doing through my photography is representing them in an honest but respectful way.  Time will tell whether I can do something meaningful but until then I will keep photographing people that strike me as interesting regardless of where they live.

I met Jack Sparrow in Deland, Florida over the Thanksgiving holiday.  He found me walking the streets trying to find something interesting to shoot.  As I walked by he asked me for a cigarette and I told him I couldn't help him and kept moving along.  I came back by about 15 minutes later and this time he asked me for $2 and change to buy some cigarettes.  A slight change of tack but I still resisted and launched upon my soapbox.  I told him that I would have been more likely to give him a few bucks to get something to drink before I would give him money for cigarettes.

This seemed to get his interest...that is my interest in him made him much more animated.  We talked about me being from Atlanta and being in Deland for the holidays.  He told me where he and his friends found a place to sleep where the cops won't find them.  We had a good conversation for several minutes.  I asked him who popped him in the eye because he had a nice shiner.  He laughed and avoided the topic.  His reluctance was probably his way to say that I can get only so close to his life on the streets but some things are better left alone.  

I told him he could have the $5 that I had in my pocket on two conditions.  First, he can't buy any cigarettes with the money.  Second, he had to let me take his picture so I can get his shiner.  Neither were tough for him to agree to.  I took several shots and thanked him.

As I walked away he called to me to come back.  He had a joke that he wanted to tell me that I really do not remember.  As he told the story he got out of his seat and approached me.  As it went on he reached out and tried to grab both of my arms.  I simply said "man, don't touch me".  I had encouraged him to befriend me in a way by talking openly with him and when he did it became too much.  That is a bit disappointing to me.  I hope he remembered me positively as he enjoyed every one of those marlboros.

technology, photography and competition

I attended a presentation by Hasselblad where they were talking about their newest H3DII DSLR system. I wanted to go because I love using Hasselblad equipment and I dream of having one with digital capabilities. Is there a value proposition by having this technology when the 35mm leaders have done an amazing job of innovating with their technology? I cannot possibly answer this question. The thing I think I really came away with is the medium format camera may be a way for the professional photographer to differentiate himself in a very crowded field.

Medium format is an expensive proposition when you are talking digital. A new Hasselblad system can cost $30,000 for top of the line stuff. This is a huge barrier to entry for the photographer trying to make a living. Is it worth it? I am convinced that medium format does have its advantages...bigger pixels and bigger sensors. Today more and more people are walking around with digital SLRs so showing up to a job with a camera that can't be confused with your grandmother's camera is probably another advantage.

Phenomenal pictures are a must in the world of professional photography and any camera can give you the opportunity to create them. But if you can gain an edge by having top notch equipment that tells your client that you are serious I can only imagine that increases their confidence in your abilities. Finding an advantage is key in a competitive world and Hasselblad believes they give it to you.

environmental portraits

I introduced Kristin on these pages a few days ago. She asked me to take a picture of her to give to her parents for Christmas. I wanted to share the results of that shoot.

We agreed that we wanted to do a shot of her with some scenery in the background to give it context of being in Atlanta. We went to Centennial Olympic Park because I thought there would be a lot of locations that we could make a nice portrait. The weather was cooperative but it became much cloudier as we went along making getting good lighting a bit more difficult. I would have preferred to have some additional lighting with me but I did not.

We found a spot in the grass that had CNN in the background along with some wonderfully colored trees and we thought this would be a nice environmental location. This is not my favorite shot of the day, but I think it does demonstrate how a good environment can make a portrait much more interesting.

Environmental portraits are a personal favorite of mine for this reason. Having a tight shot with nice light or colors as a background is good but placing a subject in a lively environment that adds to the story is personally more rewarding. I do find it much more challenging as well.

lead with a gift

I wrote an entry about a chess master that I met in downtown Atlanta a couple months ago.  I wanted to go back and find him so I could give him a print of one of the shots I took.  I ended up printing four of them and taking them all.

As I approached the place where these guys play chess I saw him instantly.  He was standing and watching the games that were being played.  I entered his conversation by saying "excuse me".  He turned and seemed a bit irritated that I asked for a moment of his time.  I told him I took a few pictures of him a while back and I wanted to give him a few prints.  He instantly warmed up and obviously recalled our last interaction.  I pulled them out one by one and he reacted positively to each one.  After the third photo he said how come you didn't get my face and I pulled out this one.  He said, "now we're talkin'"  This one was clearly his favorite.

We talked for a while and I was able to learn more about this man whose name I still don't know.  We talked about politics, religion, chess, and eduction to name a few topics we covered.  At one point someone was taking pictures of the group from a distance.  He reacted to it and turned his back toward him.  I pressed him about this and he said he did 20 years (original sentence was life plus 20) because of a camera.  This was ironic to me.  I gave this man a few dollars and he let me take his picture without any knowledge of my intentions while he had a deep understandable resentment towards cameras.  The other thing that struck me as funny was that he clearly committed a crime worthy of a serious sentence.

Originally I had wanted to take some more pictures of this chess master, but I decided that I wouldn't ask this time.  I gave a gift to him and asked nothing in return.  I think next time I see him at the park playing chess I will be welcomed.

intuition

I took this shot a couple months ago. I was walking with some friends through a park in Savannah where we came upon a party that was being thrown for a woman's birthday. I did not feel compelled to shoot much of the people at the party, but did manage a few. It was strange to me that I did not have the energy for people that I had earlier in the day. I think the reason for that was due to the energy that was being created by my friend Gordon and the birthday girl. I was unaware of their connection at the time but I am sure it was the reason for me being a bit on the outside looking in. I encourage you to read Gordon's story because the synchronicities are eerie. Like Gordon says Savannah is an odd place.

I found myself taking pictures of the ice sculpture and the tea lights that were hanging from the tree. In particular these tea lights were pretty interesting to me. I took a few shots and this one was one of my favorites because of the impact the depth of field makes in this image. The first light is rather clear considering the high ISO. The second light is just a light source and you cannot make out the glass. The third and fourth lights begins to fade away but are still present. I enjoy examining these transitions. If there were even more lights hanging the effect could have been even more pronounced.

The composition of this shot is quite intentional. Some may not like the fact that I cut the closest light right down the middle. I considered cropping it out but I thought that the scene lost its grounding. No reference for the viewer. Some may actually prefer the lack of grounding but I didn't. What I failed to do is to include the entire light. I do not have any shots of that. I am not sure that I would have liked that any better but if I shot it then I would have been given a choice. I do this a lot as I tend to trust my intuition for a shot and move on. I like to rely on my intuition in my photography because I believe that intuition relies on energy and can often be the best guide. That being said, nothing prevents me from shooting intuitively then shooting analytically, but my first shots are usually my favorites.

kristin

I have not posted in a few days and had been sporadic for a while before that. I am not really sure why this is but I was thinking about the fact that the level of discontent in the equity markets has been significant. I tend to bring my work home and it can certainly affect my creativity as well as other things in my life. I find this ironic to a certain extent because isn't that why we amateurs puruse photography or other hobbies in our personal life? Absolutely!!! I need to take more pictures when the market is declining not less.

Tonight I had the opportunity to take a few pictures and I had a good time doing it. This is Kristin. She has asked me to take her picture as a gift to her mother for Christmas. I have only known her for about a week so I am still trying to figure out her looks and how best to photograph her. This picture is not part of the shoot that we are planning but I wanted to post a picture of her so you can get an idea of what I have to work with.

Kristin is from Sweden so you might possibly conclude that in addition to her blonde hair she has blue eyes. I want to capture this in the shots we take so color is a must for the closer shots. Being here in the US temporarily and her mother in Sweden makes me want to capture part of her temporary surrounding. I thought we would go downtown to Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta and take some shots with the park, fountains, and buildings as a backdrop. I see the pictues that I want to take and will hopefully be able to execute them consistent with this vision but certainly everything will not go as planned (my recent Christmas card shoot of my kids is a friendly reminder of that....we will try again this weekend).

What I am hoping to accomplish is to create a few shots that make her say "Wow". The pictures that I took of Kristin along with others I have seen of her exhibit a similar look. Very pretty, very consistent, but very much the same. I hope that wow comes because we caught her in a way that she has never seen before. I will update you on what happens and post a result or two.

I am working harder on previsualizing my shots. I think it helps the creative process as well as make the shoot more efficient. When situations do not go your way there are times you need to abandon these preconceived ideas but for the most part I think it helps the process.

what have I created?

I was killing some time with my oldest son and I wanted to go outside and take some pictures. At 3 1/2 years old he wasn't really that interested in my idea so I had to come up with plan b. I pulled out my Canon Powershot and offered to show him how to use it. That got him going and 202 pictures later I think I created a budding photographer.

He created some cool abstracts, interesting portraits and documented some things that I would have never thought to shoot. Most interesting to me was a project that he thought of himself. He took a picture of our mailbox then turned to me and told me that he wanted to take a picture of all of his friends mailboxes. So, we walked up and down the street and took pictures of many of the mailboxes on our street. His compositions were pretty good and I offered no help along the way. He was pleased with the results and so was I.

Photographers are often best served if they approach their photography with a project in mind. It helps the creative process and keeps you focused. I am certain I am making too much of his decision to approach his photography as a project. I hope the creative process comes easy to him and his brother. It will be a major advantage over their old dad. Only time will tell, but my son reminded me that I need to work on more projects with my photography.

He dropped my camera only a couple times. Now the memory card door isn't closing but it is still working fine. I have already decided this camera is gone and it will be inoperable by the time he tires of it, but that is fine. If he can keep teaching me to be a better photographer it is worth it.

if a photograph were a movie

Sometimes it wouldn't work. But this scene as a point in time works for me because it looks like this little girl posed for me to show off her Halloween costume. Nothing could be further from the truth. As soon as I pressed the shutter she ran away and I didn't see her the rest of the night. I love the tilt of her head as if to show off her tarheel. Her deep blue eyes and blonde hair are so nice against the green background. It looks like I had a plan.

Photography is wonderful in its ability to stop time. In this particular case stopping time was necessary to tell an interesting story. At other times, stopping time with a photograph can increase the impact to the viewer by creating an emotional reaction that a movie may not be able to convey. My attraction to photography is that it is a different way to view the world. Our eyes only see constant motion and cannot process one frame at a time. In essence, a photograph allows us to slow down and enjoy details that are often overlooked in our nonstop world.

what do you shoot?

I went to Tybee Island to shoot a sunrise with some other photographers. When we arrived we set up our tripods and got ready for that first light. I shot for a while but soon found myself wanting to shoot the other photographers that I was with. I had spent the better part of 5 days shooting people and realizing how much I enjoyed that interaction. So, I went up to my friends and began shooting. I tried to stay out of their way because most were interested in shooting the sunrise.

I found Harry with Nick in the background working some of the waves as they arrived on shore. I enjoy this shot because it shows Harry working very intently with his shutter release in hand. I am not sure whether Harry even knew I was doing this, but at this point I am sure he wouldn't have been surprised that someone was pointing a camera at him. At this workshop we spent together we shot each other so frequently it became comfortable and expected.

I wanted to show this shot because I was talking with a friend about what we like to shoot. My friend said he is becoming more interested in shooting people and less interested in traditional landscapes. We both agreed that shooting people in beautiful landscapes is a great idea. I think this shot meets this description and will be a souce of future projects for me when the opportunity presents itself.

If we take what we like to shoot a little bit further I am intrigued by what your favorite project would be if you could shoot anything? Would it be shooting landscapes in Tibet, a celebrity event in Hollywood, or a big time commercial shoot? For me I would enjoy shooting Scarlett Johansson for a day (nothing wrong with dreaming big). I am interested in documentary style photography so this project would not be a stylistic photo shoot in a studio setting. Instead it would allow me to shoot her naturally in a natural setting hopefully conveying her personality. I definitely appreciate some of the masterful shots of people like Scarlett Johansson in studio, but I believe that many fall short of capturing the true personality because they appear too staged.

This idea came to me while looking at a photo of Robert Redford at his home in Utah. He was leaning back in a chair that appeared to be set up on a wall overlooking his glorious view. The shot attempted to look normal and laid back, but the chair looked awkward in its location. This photographer might have only had a few minutes with Mr. Redford and did what he could but imagine what he could have done with an entire day. That is interesting to me.

If anyone can put in a good word with Scarlett I would apprciate it. What would your dream day in photography look like?

congratulations brent

I wish that I had a picture for this post but unfortunately I do not. Brent Lorenzen and I went to high school together and swam together. We got back in touch with one another and competed in our first Ironman together. Brent is an incredible athlete and always has been one of the hardest working guys I know. He manages to race as a professional triathlete despite the fact that he is a full time medical school student. That in itself amazes me.

Brent raced at Ironman Florida yesterday and had a great day until the last 10k of the marathon where he says he blew up. He finished 12th overall with a time of 8:43. It is hard to comprehend how good this is if you are not familiar with the sport. He swam 2.4 miles in 50 minutes, then rode 112 miles at 24 MPH, then topped it off with a 3:04 marathon (7 minute pace). These numbers are hard for me to comprehend and I have raced Ironman. I wish I could run a 3:04 marathon on fresh legs but never in an Ironman.

The most impressive part of Brent's race was that he suffered a bout of shingles just weeks before the race. He wasn't planning on racing and then he began to feel better so he decided to give it a shot. I am sure he is glad he did.

Brent is an inspiration. He is pursuing his dreams and that is admirable. Congratulations Brent and best of luck in Australia in 4 weeks!!!

Racing Ironman is a life altering experience....for me it is just a matter of time before I get back.

the self portrait

I have been taking more and more pictures of myself. Being a photographer I am normally the one taking pictures of others and tend to be left out of pictures. An occasional self-portrait is a good way to document that I was here. One advantage of the self-portrait is that I can control what I look like.

I am constantly looking for ways to get a self-portrait. In this image I simply noticed a mirror on the ceiling of an elevator at a museum that I took my sons to. I cannot say that this is a fantastic photograph. It may have been a bit better if my youngest son had been looking up, but that was a difficult request. I think the self-portrait is more than capturing an image of yourself. I think that the process of taking the self-portrait is more important. Taking pictures of someone requires a level of trust and understanding. Many people are not very comfortable with a camera pointing at them and the self-portrait process helps me remember what I am putting others through. I believe that it helps me be a better photographer.

chess master

I took this shot in downtown Atlanta. Street photography has opened up my eyes to the world around me and encouraged me to continue to explore in different ways. I have thought about approaching these men who play chess in a park so this day I thought I would see what it was all about.

I was fortunate enough to meet a chess master of the streets. In this case there were about 10 guys sitting around playing chess. I asked someone if they minded if I shot while they played. They did. Another gentleman was standing by watching and said "you can't expect to take pictures for free". He was convinced I was making money despite my insistence. I said what does it take and apparently $10 was the number. I told him no thanks.

We continued to chat for a while. He was homeless and been playing chess in this spot for about 10 years. I was a bit surprised he was homeless, but I felt it wasn't something he thought I should feel bad about. He said he liked the freedom of living in the streets. I had to take this guys picture, so I offered $5 and he agreed. He wanted the shot while he was playing on his board. I was fine with that. He sat down and this is what I got. I shot for several minutes until he said "that's a lot of pictures for $5". I told him I was done and thanked him. He took me for $6. Check mate!!!

I am planning on going out this weeked to do some street shots and I am going to go back to this park to see if I can find this chess master. I want to take him a print of this picture and thank him for allowing me to get some shots that made an memorable impact on me. Who knows what else I might find.

the witches of wildwood

Halloween 2007 was a smashing success. My kids had a great time. My oldest son ran from house to house looking for treats until his legs gave out and needed to be carried home. My younger son went with the flow as he is known to do. For the past several years my mom, wife, sister and aunt meet at my house coming from as far as Seattle to dress for the Halloween festivities. This year they were witches. Witches seemed a good choice for them and I will leave it at that.