Blog #92 Moving Pictures
Blog #92 Moving Pictures
Moving pictures is not a reference to the Canadian rock band RUSH amazing 1981 album. However, this is photography blog so this entry will be about this thing called video. Early on in the 20th century when film was made into longer reels and recorded continuously, there was the birth of the movie, or quite literally, moving pictures. Early silent films were 16 to 24 frames per second (fps). By the 1920s when sound started to be paired with the moving pictures, the industry standard adopted around 24 fps. These days, video streams at 24, 30, 60 fps, or way higher for slow-motion with butter smooth performance. Frame rates of 120 or 240 fps are pretty much baked into every smartphone these days. This is absolutely amazing!
I love to make photos, usually on film cameras. I develop and process the images myself. I do very little post-processing as a rule. Maybe a 10% crop, heal a few spots, adjust the exposure, lift the shadows, punch the contrast, add a touch of vignette, and voila! I’m on to the next one. With Lightroom and Presets at our disposal, we can streamline our workflow to a matter of minutes.
Video for me until recently has been elusive, complicated, and downright scary. I just don’t have the hours and hours necessary to post process the stuff. I was careful to never say never and it’s a good thing I didn’t. Recently, I had the opportunity to shoot a music video for the absolutely fantastic group of talented gentleman Metro Vocal Group (MVG). They were planning to do a special tribute in black-and-white and they really liked my black-and-white work so they invited me to shoot a music video with them. I accepted the challenge. I approached the scenes from a still photography perspective in terms of composition and lighting, which proved to be a good approach, for the most part. Best of all, MVG was going to do all of the post processing. This was going to be really important since the sound was at least as important as the video piece.
Making a music video is hard work! The day of the shoot was like eight hours. All of that will be compressed down to three-a-half-minutes. It was a really terrific experience and I gained a new found appreciation for videographers. I brought three lights and MVG loaned me a Sony full frame mirrorless to play with before the shoot. I am really curious about the result and looking forward to the final cut. Links will be shared later.
I would encourage any film or still photographer to shoot some video, even shorts, to get a new feel for a similar medium. As a visual artist, expanding your horizons us usually a good thing.
The light is always right.
jhg
*Images here were made Behind the Scenes on an iPhone or Nikon FE with black and white film. Thanks to AnnMarie for the photos that I’m in.**
Casual Photophile Tip & Techniques No. 001 The Subject is the Subject
The Inspired Eye Photography Magazine Issue #40 (full interview)
Hong Kong Free Press: HKFP Lens
Blog #25 Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark[room].
Blog #47 Composition, Composition, and More Composition
Blog #65 Summer is for Travel (Hanoi)
Blog #67 Risks, Rules, & Restrictions
Blog #68 Photography is a Gift
Blog #72 Living the Creative Life
Blog #91 Blah, Blah, Blog.
Blog #91 Blah, Blah, Blog.
WTF? No, I’m not starting this week’s blog with a rant. Rather, as I’m approaching my 100th [triple-digit] post, I’m reflecting on the function or purpose my photography blog. Maybe you’re writing one or thinking about writing a blog yourself. Perhaps reading mine will tilt you in one direction or another. Thank you, by the way, for following me on my creative journey.
A blog is a term that comes from weblog that is basically an informal online [web] discussion about a topic or topics.
What’s The Function of a blog? WTF? There are about five functions that I can identify and will share with you below.
1. DOCUMENT
As I develop my creative self and photography I find it beneficial to write down and share my experiences. The activity of blogging is akin to putting down professional or creative “breadcrumbs”. Reading old blogs, I can see from whence I came and that gives me a sense of accomplishment along my creative journey.
2. ORGANIZE
Blogging can be instrumental in organising my activities, goals, and general approach to photography. The practice of writing for an audience albeit small and reserved, forces me to develop a plan, push forward, and define my focus as a photographer.
3. REFLECTION
Writing for an audience and recording my trials and tribulations inherent in the creative process allows for constant reflection. Reflection can benefit the creative process through avoidance of repetition. We must constantly re-invent ourselves to stay “current”. All artists must struggle with this in their own way.
4. SHARE
I share experiences to inform and inspire. At the risk of sounding cliché, I do get inspired by other photography blogs and therefore I write and share in the hopes that my experiences and words will have a similar influential affect on others. It’s a process of give and take for me, ultimately.
5. BRANDING
Full disclosure, blogging is a way to stay current, keep in the public “conversation” or conscience and to provide a safe and stable platform to share my images on my own terms. Although my professional work is limited to events, portraits, and food I share other types of images here such as travel, street/social documentary, personal projects, and series. I can present a small series of 5-20 images that otherwise might not work elsewhere.
So, there it is! Go Blah, Blah, Blog yourself. Even if you don’t share your blog, you can view the process as a diary of sorts that can be used to avail of most of the five points above. If you do decide to blog, blog often like at least weekly. You’ll be glad that you did.
The light is always right.
jhg
*Images below were made on the beach in the Philippines in December of 2017 with a Nikon FM2, 35mm f/2 lens, a roll of Kodak Trix 400, hand developed at home with Bergger Berspeed and scanned using an Epson Perfection V600 Photo scanner at 2400dpi*
*****
Casual Photophile Tip & Techniques No. 001 The Subject is the Subject
The Inspired Eye Photography Magazine Issue #40 (full interview)
Hong Kong Free Press: HKFP Lens
Blog #25 Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark[room].
Blog #47 Composition, Composition, and More Composition
Blog #65 Summer is for Travel (Hanoi)
Blog #67 Risks, Rules, & Restrictions
Blog #68 Photography is a Gift
Blog #72 Living the Creative Life
Blog #90 Restrictions, Revisited.
Blog #90 Restrictions, Revisited.
So photographer friends Mike & Kirill and I decided to start another one year project as if we have all the time in the world. We’re truly obsessed. Instead of a Project 365, this will be a Project 52. We shoot [constantly] and edit/post/comment once per week for a year. Images are posted on our Project 365 page on Facebook. If you are interested in being invited to this closed group page, message me and I’ll add you.
The interesting byproduct of the exercise was that we all decided to impose rules onto ourselves. I have written about restrictions in a previous blog and how there can be advantages to this [Blog #69].
Mike is doing an airport project, while Kirill is making self-portraits every week for a year. My self-imposed restrictions are to shoot people, in color, with an iPhone in square format. This runs counter to my usual 35mm black and white film sort of “default” photography mode.
We’re excited to be working on this project and I think that the themes should work well. What’s your project this year? Got resolutions? How about taking a class or workshop? Whatever you’re doing to improve your photography, do it well and do it often.
Good luck to you and good luck to us!
The light is always right.
jhg
*Images here are original iPhone shots in square format that were early rejects from my Project 52.*
Casual Photophile Tip & Techniques No. 001 The Subject is the Subject
The Inspired Eye Photography Magazine Issue #40 (full interview)
Hong Kong Free Press: HKFP Lens
Blog #47 Composition, Composition, and More Composition
Blog #65 Summer is for Travel (Hanoi)
Blog #67 Risks, Rules, & Restrictions
Blog #68 Photography is a Gift
Blog #72 Living the Creative Life
Blog #89 Branding
Blog #89 Branding
Back in the day, a photographer simply needed to make images, and give them to a newspaper or magazine to get published and to get paid. They ran around with a rock-solid SLR, a few lenses, and of course lots and lots of film.
Social media, the internet, and even Photoshop did not exist [although images were edited frequently in the darkroom]. Life was analogue. Analogue is usually equated with slow-paced, and for good reason.
Today, to get your work out there, you need to know fundamentals about business, social media, marketing, and branding. In fact, professionals spend most of their time dealing with these activities and shooting will actually be a smaller part of what they do.
Do you want to be a professional photographer? If you love taking pictures, proceed with caution. You can have a full time gig and still shoot, anywhere, anytime, and on your own terms. The stereotype of the pro being flown to exotic locations with a gaggle of assistants, 5-6 digit pay checks, and a Leica for each day of the week is pretty much a pipe dream.
These days, professional photographers need to learn to market their “brand”. A brand is a look or style that a photographer uses when presenting their work. A brand can be viewed as an asset or something unique and valuable to that photographer. Branding “experts” will encourage you to:
- Know Your Audience and deliver content to that audience that is consistent.
- Define your own brand in the world or the world will define your brand for you.
- Be Consistent!
- Stay True To Your Brand
So what does all of this really mean? Well, it depends on your professional goals and aspirations. If you’re expecting to “go pro” then you need to take a deep dive into the rabbit hole of branding. If you’re content shooting here and there, on holiday, and weekends, then so be it. Amateurs do what they do for the pure joy and love of the craft. Whatever you decide, you should enjoy the process. Either way, best of luck in 2018!
The light is always right.
Jhg
**Images in this blog are mine from an original series on Intimicy in the City"**
Casual Photophile Tip & Techniques No. 001 The Subject is the Subject
The Inspired Eye Photography Magazine Issue #40 (full interview)
Hong Kong Free Press: HKFP Lens
Blog #47 Composition, Composition, and More Composition
Blog #65 Summer is for Travel (Hanoi)
Blog #67 Risks, Rules, & Restrictions
Blog #68 Photography is a Gift
Blog #72 Living the Creative Life
Blog #88 Photo Contests: To Judge or To Be Judged?
Blog #88 Photo Contests: To Judge or be Judged?
Photography is a funny business. Countless aspiring artists are throwing their work (and hard earned greenbacks) at contest after contest. I’ve fallen victim to this practice in the past myself. Desperate for critique, in the name of self-improvement, the neophyte will do anything to get eyes on their work. But whose eyes? Is all critique equal and valid? I think not. I have been fortunate enough to have an image chosen for a project on National Geographic by an editor so I'm not just being sour grapes. Also, Nat Geo does not charge for their assignments.
Perhaps you’ve read about how “likes” (👍🏼) are actually hurting your creative process. You should not really care if others like your image, per se. What you ultimately need to know is whether or not the image “works” and why. Social media rarely [if ever] provides proper, informed critique.
Friend and photographer Mike and I started a Facebook page titled “Just Critique” to attempt to fill this void of valuable critique with our work. We welcome other photographers to join the page. The rule is simple, post one, critique one.
In February, I will host a free (one-time) workshop with Shutter Alliance . The workshop will be very small to accommodate a critique session component. There will be a one hour presentation (mostly on composition), some time for some street photography, then we’re back indoors to dump images into Lightroom for a critique on your best three. We will discuss, in a public forum, what works, what doesn’t and equally as important why.
People learn through consequences. Critique by informed people aimed at constructive criticism will be a valuable process that most of us don’t get enough of. So we’re judged and then we judge, both judge and jury. Case closed.
The light is always right.
Jhg
**Images below were shot recently with 35mm & medium format (120) film & an iPhone. I was aiming to do some architectural, cityscape images. Shooting anything is good practice, therapeutic, and plain old fun.**
Casual Photophile Tip & Techniques No. 001 The Subject is the Subject
The Inspired Eye Photography Magazine Issue #40 (full interview)
Hong Kong Free Press: HKFP Lens
Blog #47 Composition, Composition, and More Composition
Blog #65 Summer is for Travel (Hanoi)
Blog #67 Risks, Rules, & Restrictions
Blog #68 Photography is a Gift
Blog #72 Living the Creative Life