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365 Project: A Photo a Day

June 15, 2012 by spike

In order to motivate myself to spend more time with cameras, I’ve decided, somewhat on a whim, to begin the “365 Project.” Each day for a year, I will take at least one photograph digitally, develop them through post-processing using Lightroom and Photoshop, and publish them in a set on Flickr.

This will give me an excuse to try new lighting techniques and, in some cases but not frequently, use post-processing effects to add a touch of creativity. I’m a big fan of realistic looking photographs rather than adding fake aged-print or cross-processed looks, so if I do add some effects, I’ll try to stay faithful to the content of the image.

Here are some of my favorites so far.

The R Factor at Rider University

March 20, 2012 by spike

As part of my Photographic Essay course at the Arts Council of Princeton, I was tasked with creating a set of photographs with an underlying theme or narrative. I was looking for a topic somewhat esoteric, but my creative mind just wasn’t functioning well during this particular time frame. I narrowed my choices down to something related to the Delaware and Raritan Canal or a singing competition show supported by Reid Sound at Rider University. Even after starting with the latter, I kept an open mind and prepared to take the photographic essay in a different direction to protect against the possibility that I could not spam the entire event from start to finish with enough images to tell some sort of story.

The event moved forward, and I committed myself to the project. “The R Factor” mimicked the popular television show “The X Factor.” More than twenty student performers from the university auditioned for a chance to make the final performance. I started with these auditions, taking photographs to document the progress of some of the performers as well of the event itself.

The photography presented the usual challenges. Stages and auditoriums are dark locations, and a spotlight can easily throw off metering. I pumped up the ISO to compensate for the lighting. In the hallways where performers were waiting and warming up before the final performance, the fluorescent lighting played with the color balance.

There is a good amount of talent on the Rider University campus. The R Factor did a great job of showcasing some of the school’s best performers. Here are a few images from the events; more photographs are available on Flickr, many of which were not included in the essay. A slideshow of the essay follows these photos.

After the jump, I present a slideshow representing the photographic essay in its current form. The essay as a whole is relatively successful, telling the story of the event, although I did not use any text for narrative.

High Technology for Low Fidelity

June 5, 2011 by spike

I avoided cameraphones for a while. I’d rather have a device that worked exceptionally well as a phone without a lens than a mediocre phone that takes mediocre, low-resolution digital photographs. Eventually, I relented and purchased the original Motorola DROID. The phone comes with a mediocre camera, bust most of that mediocrity can be hidden using applications that process the photograph. There is a subset of applications that attempt to mimic the classic toy-camera look.

Plastic “toy” cameras, like the Holga and Diana, incorporate unpredictability into the art of photography. In general, photographers seek to control everything about their images, particularly lighting and composition. Much of this is left to chance when using toy cameras. Their imprecise construction allowed light to leak onto the film, adding streaks of color or light at locations. Focusing is imprecise, and vignetting is a virtue to be appreciated, not avoided.

Modern apps like those available for the Android operating system and the iPhone allow precise customization over these random imperfections, but that takes the fun out this particular type of art. Even when choosing a “random” setting in these applications, you are left with the knowledge that the image is a lie. The phone, despite not being the best digital camera available, is capable of better photographs. Real plastic Holgas and Dianas produce these images as a result of the only type of image processing they are capable of — the photograph you take is their best work. They are low-fidelity, not just “slumming it.”

The problem today is that despite the fact that these toy cameras can be found for just about $20, it’s still less expensive in the long run to fake the look with your phone, a decide you might have anyway. The costs of buying and developing film add up quickly. The cameras once designed as an affordable option for kids is now out of reach for many photographers. One can’t forget that with digital photography, photographers have the luxury of instant review and retake.

With the added complication of processing film, I’ve only been slowly working with my Holga so far. Amy shot the first roll (black and white) with the Diana today; it will be a few days before I see the resulting negatives. Here is a selection from the Holga. More are available in the Toy Camera set on Flickr. I should point out that the pattern of white dots seems to be a result of the developing process. I’ll speak to the lab about this when I go to pick up the next rolls of film they’re currently developing. Keep reading for some of my recent photographs using the Holga.

Sourland Mountain, Somerset County

May 9, 2011 by spike

On Sunday, I spent the afternoon walking around Sourland Mountain Preserve in Somerset County, New Jersey. This was my first time at the location, and the entrance is not far from where I live. I’m not sure how many miles I walked while at the preserve, but I spent some time walking up and down part of the mountain, mostly in a clearing. I also spent some time walking trails amongst the trees. A pond nearby was populated with three families of geese, and two of these families included a number of goslings.

Most people think New Jersey is flat. Much of New Jersey is, but the state does have its share of hills and mountains, and Sourland Mountain is a great example. As I climbed higher, I could see the houses of Hillsborough in the distance.

I brought my Canon 1D Mark III with me. On hand was a Canon 70-200mm f/4L and the original 2x extender I borrowed from a friend. In addition to this combination, I shot with the Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 and briefly with the Canon 50mm f/1.4. The preserve is a great location, and I’d like to come back for portraiture.

The full gallery is on Flickr, and I’ve included a few more photographs after the jump.

Lighting and Photography Class

April 8, 2011 by spike

A week before this past Tuesday, I attended the penultimate session of my latest photography class. The class concentrated on lighting, and it was perfect timing for me. Lighting was the missing piece in my skill set — well, besides the need to improve my artistic eye. We invited a model to the class in order to practice our lighting technique for portraits. While my classmates spent a lot of time snapping photos with 35mm cameras, my process was much slower because I was using the Mamiya RZ67 for the most part.

I started the session with the Polaroid back to test the exposure before switching to the 120 medium format film. I also got a few shots in using the Canon 1D Mark III. (It’s wonderful that I was able to find all of this equipment used. The only piece of equipment I purchased new was the Sigma 24-70mm lens I mentioned earlier.) Out of everything, the Polaroid “test shots” turned out the best, despite losing one exposure when I removed the back before replacing the dark slide. With the Polaroid back on, I also tried shooting with the f-stop halfway between f/22 and f/32, and that didn’t work so well. It resulted in the shutter not opening much at all, which you can see in the most underexposed shot in the group.

It’s interesting how, despite using the same settings, the Kodak Ektar film responded completely differently to the light on the seamless backdrop.

The next class starts in May, but I think I’ll be taking a break from classes until at least the fall. I need to spend more time shooting.

Here is the full set on Flickr, and if you continue reading this article, you’ll see a gallery of just the Polaroids and one 6×7.

Where is Today’s Counterculture in Music?

March 29, 2011 by spike

Sir Bob Geldof was Craig Ferguson’s guest on The Late Late Show last night. I watched the interview earlier today. Craig had seen Bob perform with the Boomtown Rats in 1977, at a time and in a location featuring social unrest. Young people, particularly young musicians, had an opportunity to react to popular culture and its musical interpretation (disco, pop) with punk music. Throughout the twentieth century, after the technology for performing and recording music became accessible, the younger generation used it to rebel against the status quo. Punk rock, and particularly the thoughtful punk rockers like Bob Geldof and John Lydon, shaped this counterculture.

In the interview, Bob and Craig agree that we are experiencing a formative period in history, one that will be viewed by historians centuries in the future. Thanks to social unrest throughout the world, money flowing into emerging markets, and dominant global power shifting away from the United States, society may be at a tipping point. I don’t think anyone can properly identify what history will choose to focus on until well after the fact, but assuming it’s true, where is today’s counterculture? Specifically, where is the music that can be identified as representative of today’s social change? Why does no one have anything to say about this?

Commercialism is quick to latch onto anything new these days, and that may be why none of today’s music seems revolutionary. A counterculture is commercialized so quickly — take hip-hop, for example — that it doesn’t have time to stand for something and no longer means anything. With artists concerned about making a living in this country, there isn’t a lot of opportunity to do something untested. Maybe we need to start looking elsewhere to find the next social movement to become representative of a generation, perhaps the Middle East, north Africa, or China.

Bob mentions how terrible the popular music was at that time, and there had to be a change. Today’s pop music should generate the same sort of reaction, but where are today’s music rebels? Watch the interview with Bob Geldof after the break.

Catherine Short de Arce at The Grand

March 27, 2011 by spike

Last Tuesday, I ventured back into my college state of Delaware for the first time in many years. After broadcasting a request for models among my friends on Facebook several months ago, one of the gracious responses was from Catherine Short de Arce, a friend of mine from the University of Delaware. Cathy was a vocal music major when we attended, and she followed this passion and is now a successful opera singer. At the bottom of this post, I’ve included one of her recordings.

We scheduled the photo shoot in Wilmington’s Grand Opera House, a great venue for dramatic images featuring an opera singer. The Sarah Bernhardt room, where we set up and shot almost all of the photographs, was a perfect location. Cathy came fully prepared with a team to help with her hair and make-up, as well as a representative from the department store Boscov’s to help with the various outfits provided by the store.

This was my first attempt bringing my portable equipment on location. I traveled with a Canon 1D Mark III, with an XTi for emergency back-up, and two Bowens Gemini monolights with umbrellas. For lenses, I brought a Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro, and Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 IF EX DG HSM AF, but used the 24-70mm almost exclusively. I also had a variety of accessories to help with the shoot, like PocketWizards for triggering the strobes and a white/silver reflector.

I learned quite a bit from the seven hours I spent at the Grand Opera House. Here are a few of my take-aways.

The details are important. Some problems, like a fire alarm on the wall, can’t always be cropped out of the frame. I need to keep my eyes open. Even a piece of tape to hold fabric on a couch can ruin a shot.
I need to watch angles and proportions when using wider angles. On camera, it could look like an interesting perspective, but once I can really look at the image, I might be distracted by feet or hands in the corner of the frame.
It’s important for the model to feel at ease. I probably could have done more to help Cathy feel comfortable and relax.

Post-processing is an important part of modern photography. Film purists often don’t like PhotoShop because they believe the skill of a photographer is in getting the best picture in camera. It’s always good to strive for getting the best capture, but even the best film photographers worked creatively with chemicals and dodged and burned the exposure when printing. In PhotoShop, I take the time to reduce the appearance of shiny skin, make sure there is the level of contrast I expect, and make sure the colors most accurately reflect the colors as seen by human eyes — all things even the best digital sensor doesn’t do well.

Update! I have finished finalizing the photographs from this shoot. You can see a select set of photographs in my portfolio, and here’s a slideshow. Following the slideshow are a few photographs from the shoot prior to processing.

Back to City Streets With TheGoodLife

January 29, 2011 by spike

I found myself trekking through the snow back to East Windsor last night to listen to TheGoodLife and relax with my friends. With the blessing of Bryan Douglas, keyboardist extraordinaire, I brought my new-but-used Canon 1D Mark III for its first legitimate shoot. (While I did resolve to have two shoots a month, the weather in January has been foiling my plans.) The night was not without challenges.

As I mentioned last time I wrote about TheGoodLife at City Streets, this cafe-slash-bar is not the best location for producing flattering photographs, particularly when colored spotlights flash unpredictably. I have found, however, that my own flash will overpower the spotlights, even when the flash is bounced off the ceiling. It’s this bounce that helped product some of the better photographs from the night.

I stayed only for the first set this time, and managed to produce about twenty images that I consider publishable. I’m including a selection here, and the rest are available in this Flickr set.

In previous shoots, with the Canon Digital Rebel XTi, I got the best images by setting the aperture to f/1.4 to allow the fastest shutter speeds at a high ISO, leaving off a flash entirely. I didn’t feel I was getting the same results with the 1D Mark III last night, so I opted to mount a flash on the camera, the Canon 430EX Speedlite Flash. In a more perfect setting, I would have positioned the flash differently, but to increase maneuverability in a crowded bar with drunk dancers dangerously close, I kept it simple by mounting the flash directly on the hot shoe. The most flattering images came from bouncing the flash off the ceiling.

Of course, I’d prefer not to use a flash at all if there were any chance it would distract the performers.

A few non-flash shots were acceptable, as well, but the 1D Mark III did not want to grab focus as easily as the XTi, making non-flash shooting slow.

Some post-processing work was required. For the non-flash shots, I adjusted the white balance and improved the color levels. For the flash shots, not much color correction was necessary, but I did a little work to remove the “shiny skin” effect. One of the most difficult aspects of photographing a singer is trying to avoid making someone appear as if they are preparing to eat the microphone. I’ll have to try to convince Reid Sound to provide the singers with wireless headset microphones.

All shots were taken with the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 lens. Continue reading this article to see a selection of the photographs.

Dar Williams in Princeton

January 9, 2011 by spike

Amy and I visited Nassau Presbyterian Church to see Dar Williams to perform in support of the thirtieth anniversary of Isles, Inc. Isles is a non-profit community development organization with a mission to foster sustainability. I’ve been enjoying Dar’s singing and songwriting since 1995 or so. Her songs were frequently played on WXPN 88.5 and I quickly became a fan.

I first saw Dar live at the Columbia Folk Festival in Columbia, Pennsylvania, on June 15, 1996. (Thank you to Internet Archive Wayback Machine for helping me figure that out!) For those unfamiliar with Dar Williams, she is easily the best contemporary singer-songwriter, with poetry rivaling Bob Dylan and intricate music, complex for “folk” but with simple chord progressions that are only obvious after the fact. Most importantly, Dar understands how to connect with an audience, and as a result, has a strong community of devoted fans. I returned to visit Dar’s performances several times each year through 2002.

In those last few years, Dar Williams came to Princeton, New Jersey several times to perform at the Nassau Presbyterian Church in support of the Coalition for Peace Action and Isles, Inc. During one of these concerts, I met Dar again back stage. We’ve met a few times, and almost every time Dar has mentioned that she recognized me — even, strangely enough, the time we met after that first concert in 1996. Here’s a photograph I snapped with my first digital camera in 2000.

Now, more about last night’s interesting performance.

EMI and Pink Floyd Together for Five More Years

January 6, 2011 by spike

Pink Floyd will never die, even if Roger “Syd” Barrett and Rick Wright have already left this planet. The Pink Floyd musical business entity, which I imagine still has David Gilmour making the decisions, has agreed to partner with with music company, EMI, for another five years. Yes, EMI describes itself as a “music company,” which seems to encompass production, but in Pink Floyd’s case, all that’s left may well be distribution. The four continuing members of Pink Floyd since Syd left assembled and performed together for the last time for Live 8, which amazingly is now five years in the past.

If EMI believes there is still money to be made on the Pink Floyd brand, let’s hope it will be with something fresh. There will be no new Pink Floyd music, even if David Gilmour does manage to spit out a new album. EMI will probably take the safe route and simply remaster the released albums yet again and package a new “best of” compilation. Another Dark Side of the Moon release, or perhaps Blu-ray remasters of already-released concert videos, would be welcome and commercially successful. What I — and possibly many fans — would like to see is the release of high quality recordings of some of Pink Floyd’s more interesting works.

The Man and the Journey