Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Night Test in Raleigh
















While parking the car on a side street in Raleigh a few weeks ago, I saw this old building and knew it would be a great location for a night shoot. I asked my friend Chandler if he wanted to go with me, firstly as a bodyguard, I didn't know the neighborhood, and I get so involved in shooting, I don't pay attention to what's going on around me. Once in LA I almost had my camera stolen that way) and secondly because he's been interested in learning stuff in photography and previously helped me while I shot a Civil War re-enactment at night. As an afterthought, we talked about having him be in the photos, and he came up with the suit and hat. (He's an actor when not a newly sworn-in lawyer.) I asked him if he had an old chair around, and he found a really nice one in the basement of his family house. The intention for this shoot was to practice adding extra light to the long exposures by way of hand held strobes, in this case using an SB-800. Usually I use only available light and occasionally "paint" with a flashlight. For the top 2 photos, I popped the strobe, which was set on TTL, two times, then added a warming gel for the figure, popped one time, then switched to a blue gel, ran around to the side and popped it twice to get the wall. The tree branches got a few pops without a gel. The photo of the figure in the pool of light was just a find.....it was there. I added a strobe pop for the foreground of the leaves and single white crepe myrtle flower. For the portrait, after the strobing, Chandler continued to sit while the camera stayed open for about another 35 or so seconds gathering more ambient night light. (I don't use a stop watch, which is probably stupid. I like to just count heartbeats til I get to around 54 to 72 based on how dark it is. Shooting digitally, I can also see what's averaging after you shoot a test frame to get into the ballpark) The sharpness of the face was compromised, but the alternative choice of shooting him separately lit only by strobe on another frame and merging him into the shot, would have resulted in a slightly unnatural juxtaposition, my photographer friend Scott in DC said when I called him about the problem. I'll probably try it next time, though, just to see what it looks like. Maybe someone has figured out how to successfully get a figure sharp in a very long exposure. Hopefully, someone can explain how to do it....or maybe it's just what happens, and you live with it. On some level, it keeps the photo more honest, since you get to see that the person was moving slightly from breathing! Hmmm, that's a nifty rationalization....or an art critic's way of interpreting.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Shots Magazine - "Dreams"

Shots Magazine, the independent reader-supported black and white photography magazine publishing since 1986, accepted two of my images for their autumn 2008 issue, "Dreams." The Birdcage, shot in color, is one of the images in my series "Lifting the Veil of Night." The second photo, Man with Barbells by the Sea" is one of a toy camera collection of images shot over many years. This one happened probably in the mid-90's sometime while helping a friend do a piece for her portfolio at a small stretch of beach, north of Los Angeles.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Woman with cell phone

While shopping at Trader Joe's today I saw this woman with her red cell phone tucked into her head wrap. It went through my mind whether I should ask her if I might photograph her, or just grab the G9 from my handbag and go for the moment. I went for it with heart racing, thinking she'd be pissed off if she caught me. When I do this sort of kamikaze act, which is more often than asking and ruining the moment at hand, I realize my visual ruthlessness. Shoot first and talk your way out of it if caught. She didn't notice me. Unfortunately, I didn't get a sharp image, since I was a bit too much in a hurry. I find it a really fine line in these situations to balance taking the time to get the best shot undetected with getting it at all.

Downtown Raleigh Twilight



Last Saturday evening I was in Raleigh, roaming around the Glenwood Ave. area with my friend when we heard some rock music wafting from a block or two down past the railroad tracks, so off we went to find the source. The music wasn't much to speak of, but I was taken by the blue lights that were bathing a gated electrical station . Out came the Canon G9, (my best inanimate friend,) and into the zone I went. My portable tripod was in my car which was in the garage at home, so anything nailed down was the next best thing. Poles work too, if you can wedge the camera against it and lean in with your arm....anyway, these were my favorite images; many others were just not sharp. The plan is to return another evening to the scene later at night with the tripod and Nikon 200 when the rock music crowd control paraphernalia is no longer cluttering up much of the area.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008


Yeah, mission accomplished.....my first photo posting. This is my grandchild Roman, who has just recently discovered his tongue, using it to explore everything within reach.

First foray into blogging

Instead of working on putting together whatever it takes to get headshots and portraits going to make some money, I've gotten sidetracked today with finally starting this blog. The plan is to keep track of the process of what I'm doing as a fine art photographer as well as little forays into whatever is going on in my little teapot. Hopefully, I'll figure out how to add photographs into the postings or why else would I do this.....we'll see how that goes.