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
Blog #87 Five Reasons to Love the Fujifilm X-E3
Blog #87 Five Reasons to Love the Fujifilm X-E3
It has been said that there is really nothing new under the sun. While I partially agree with statement, the Fujifilm X-E3 mirrorless rangefinder is something of a marvel. If you have been following my blog posts, you know that I rarely rattle on about gear. In fact a recent blog post, I stated that gear really doesn’t mean much although I used a different word for much. I do believe that to make outstanding images you don’t need a lot. You can make a camera out of a shoe box and it might win you some wall space in the MOMA. This is true. However, there are basically two types of cameras, film or digital. There are many sizes, shapes, colours, and formats for film and the same is true for digital.
The mirrorless digital cameras are all the rage these days and If I have a dollar from every online post that reads “Selling all my Nikon gear, get ready, here I come Fujifilm!” I could buy that vintage Porsche that I’ve been drooling over. I’ve been a Fujifilm fan boy for some now. Basically, these cameras are the only digital ones that I own and are more than suitable for professional work. My Fujifilm progression has been fairly predicable going from the X-T1 to the X-E2s, to the X-T2, to the X-E3. I still have all of these. There are easily more than five reasons to love the new X-E3 (E3) but five is manageable number and no-one cares to read more than that anyway, so here it goes. I will tell you straight away my only complains are the following. It should have a second SD card slot, weather proofing, and a built in flash. Wait, that’s basically an X-T2 without the flash and I have one of those already. Nevermind, just read on.
- Ergonomics
So let’s say you’re shooting an event for a few hours or walking around Rome all day. You want a small, light, capable machine. The E3 can easily be that machine. Twist the 18mm f/2 Fujinon lens (also very small and compact) and you’re ready to roll.
The E3 is an improvement over the E2s as you might expect. Fujifilm removed the built in flash and performed some other black magic to actually stuff a more powerful (APS-C 1.5x cropped size) sensor in the body while making the overall case smaller AND lighter. The nip and tuck has resulted in an already pint sized powerhouse of a camera (E2s) being even smaller and lighter. In fact, an extra grip is a good idea since it gives a bit more to grab onto and prevents the nosediving that usually results from using zoom or larger lenses under hard braking. The joystick is perfect and of course in typical Fujifilm manner, all of the main controls are easy to grab and adjust while shooting. I almost never need to go more than 1-2 clicks into a menu to change a setting. It’s all just so easy peasy. Cameras are tools and each of us has our preference and dare-I-say an emotional attachment to these lightproof boxes. It’s worthy of mention that the E3 takes ALL X-mount lenses in the Fujifilm lineup and with an adapter can be made to work with ALL lenses pretty much ever made. Select the “Shoot without lens” option when using manual lenses or the camera won’t work.
2. USB Charging
Using the wire that comes with, just plug it in to the connection jack under the side panel and plug and play. No need to deal with taking the battery out, and lugging around the larger battery charger. Just don’t leave the wire in your hotel room. The downside here is that if you bend the connector the entire mother board of the camera will need to be replaced and that will be pricey.
3. Bracketing
Ok so nerd alert on this item but bracketing has been given a lot of attention on this little gem. There are film simulations that we all know about right? These include multiple black and white, color, and filter looks that the camera will spit out as JPEG images. It does a pretty good job of this but I prefer to shoot RAW and use my own presets in Lightroom for 100% control of the RAW image file data in all of their glory. Yes, I’m a control freak. Anyway, there is a function where you can shoot like one image and the camera will give you that image plus up to three film simulation images in JPEG. Then, you can decide later which one you prefer. How cool is this?
The other bracketing function is that the exposure compensation dial near your right thumb has five settings and a “C” for custom setting for making images beyond five stops in either direction. This is a really nice function for interior and landscape work where you shoot on a tripod and then combine and layer the images for essentially an HDR (High Dynamic Range) composite image.
4. Touch Screen & Viewfinder
While the E3 is late to the party insofar as touch screens go, it’s got a 3.0” 1.04m-Dot Touchscreen LCD. That’s a lot of dots! Use the screen to tell the sensor and lens where you want to focus and SNAP! In image view mode, flip back and forth just like a touch screen smartphone like we are all used to doing. It’s intuitive and super convenient. The viewfinder is a 2.36m-Dot electronic type that is so smooth and fast you will forget that you are looking at a screen. It looks and feels like something in between an SLR and the HUD from ROBOCOP . If Steve Jobs were to use this camera, he would happily remark, It just works!.
5. Sensor and Image Quality
The E3 uses a 24.3MP APS-C X-Trans CMOS III Sensor and X-Processor Pro Image Processor. While nobody other than a holder of a Masters degree in electrical engineering knows what that means, you only need to know that it has deeper pixels and more of them compared to previous generation sensors. You can be sure to count on excellent contrast, sharpness, and brilliant spot-on perfect Fujifilm color that comes from 80 years of film making heritage regarding the images from this sensor. The low light functionality has been improved as well.
The E3 is dynamite little camera perfect for professional work, travelling, and everything in between. I’m loving mine and just about wear it everyday. It’s a classic design with many up to date functions. Images are terrific and reliability and value are awhat you would expect from Fujifilm’s latest offering. It’s a welcome addition to my Fujifilm System and I expect to get some good mileage from this little E3.
Remember, the light is always right.
jhg
*Here are some sample images from the X-E3*
Lenses used in these images were: 18mm f/2, 23mm f/2, 35mm f/2, & 18-55mm f/2.8-4
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 #86 Cycles
Blog #86 Cycles
Happy New Year!
It’s “that” time of year, again. The holidays are over. New Year’s resolutions have been drafted and we all get back to work with a renewed sense of purpose and energy. We all experience cycles in our daily life. We exist in the “work week”. There are monthly, and of course annual cycles involving events, holidays, and the like.
Your creative and productive life will experience cycles as well. This is inevitable. You cannot be hyper-productive, indefinitely, no matter how much coffee you gulp down. We must all rest and put the camera down from time to time.
Life happens. Personal and life events may support or hinder the creative process. This affects your artistic/photography life. Some creatives may even go through the effort of building in times of rest such as holidays or a summer respite. I encourage you to view these natural cycles as normal. View these times as healthy cycles in the creative process.
The “down times” can be used to catch up on reading lists, paint, or you can try another creative endeavour. Creative “cross-training” might be a good exercise. Over the recent holiday while travelling I bought some paint and brushes and will take a stab at painting. I’ve always wanted to try that out so this year, I’m going to do just that. I expect to gain some insight and experience developing my compositional technique. I’m curious to see how that goes. Wish me luck!
Remember the light is always right.
Jhg
*Images below were made on a family holiday to Taipei, Taiwan*
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