Vermont
November 12th, 2009
I’m in Vermont for a family visit. When I come up here I’ve been photographing this one farm for several years in various light and weather. There’s something about the way this farmhouse looks that just draws me to it. I’ve posted some of my earlier photos of it on here before.
The above photo was taken mid-morning today. The one below, right as the sun was setting. Tomorrow I hope to try a shot at sun up. There should be frost on the ground then.
Of course, you all know that to do a photo like this this it’s important to find just the right camera position and to be able to repeat that placing of the camera. I don’t mind minor variations in the crop and composition, but the point of view needs to be pretty much the same. I’ve walked all over the place and tried many different camera positions before settling on this one. It happens to be that I shoot these out the living room window of my mother-in-law’s house. That’s the only place that gives me the right elevation to clear a bunch of obstructions. I’ve tried walking closer, but there is a serious slope between my mother-in-law’s house and this farm, so moving closer destroys the composition. So I’ve just had to settle for shooting from the comfort of the living room. That will make the dawn photo tomorrow a bit easier than if I had to go hiking.
I’m on a dial-up connection up here. My mother-in-law hasn’t joined the world of the internet. So I won’t be on here much until we return home next week. But meanwhile, enjoy the sights of Vermont.
Art Walk
November 8th, 2009
Friday was the “First Friday” Art Walk in Dayton. It was also the night for the closing reception for the Creative Soul of Dayton art show where I had a couple prints on display. With that show ending my prints needed to be picked up either right after the closing reception on Friday or sometime Saturday. So I decided it was a good night to wander around the art walk with some friends.
Above are Fen and _G_ and a lovely new model I’ve started working with recently, Ophidian Marie. I shot this at my studio before we headed out for the evening. I was actually testing a new light modifier that I just purchased. I’m very pleased with the results.
We went to dinner where Gary M met up with us and then to several galleries, ending up at the Creative Soul exhibit in the old Armory at Sixth and Patterson.
_G_ was quite impressed to see that they had hidden my photo of her at Ash Cave in a corner and said she felt she should hide in the corner too:
My other print in the show, “Brooke In A Stream,” was in a bit more prominent location. So we got Gary to take this shot of the four of us there:
At 10 p.m. the closing reception ended and I took my prints off the wall and headed back to the studio. All in all a very pleasant evening. No print sales, of course, but that seems to be the norm this year.Fall
November 4th, 2009
Waterfall, that is. After Angie and I did our Fall Colors shot we went to a nearby waterfall where I’ve shot a number of times. In the past something has always prevented me from getting the shot I was after. Sometimes the light was wrong. The waterfall faces south, so if there is any direct sunlight it is on the waterfall all day and the trees produce mottled sun and shadow that can be very unattractive, not to mention being beyond the ability of the camera to hold detail at both ends. The waterfall is seasonal, coming pretty close to drying up when there hasn’t been rain for a while. So other photos have not worked well because there just wasn’t enough water.
But this time everything fell into place. The cloud cover was perfect for just the right level of contrast. It’s very unusual for there to be this much water here at the end of October, but this fall has been far from usual as far as weather goes, so the water flow was about the best I’ve seen in this spot.
And, fortunately, I had the beautiful and talented Angie with me to add just the right extra element to the scene that it needs for my eye to feel it’s complete.
So, there you have it. Thanks Angie.
I finished the shooting for the Fall Dance Concert at Ohio University last night. So, today’s task is editing. I should soon have some of those photos to share here.
Fall Colors
November 2nd, 2009
I’ve been trying to get something with the fall colors this year, but the leaves just haven’t cooperated around here. They pretty much turned brown and fell off the trees. The colorful days were few. On my trip up to Detroit and Chicago I saw fantastic colors on the trees, but I wasn’t shooting on that trip, so I didn’t get to take advantage of them.
But by hunting around I was able to find a few places where the leaves still had some color after they had hit the ground. Wonderful Angie is pretty much always available when I need her, so on a relatively warm day we set out to find and capture something with the colors. I think this one did about as well as was possible this year.
I’m in the middle of working on the dance concert at OU. Have to take off in a bit for an evening of shooting. Hope to have some new dance work to share in a few days.
Wishing You A Spooky Halloween
October 30th, 2009
There’s Theda getting familiar with a very lucky Death. Just wanted to share something in keeping with the season. The trick or treaters, including that cute little boy in the last post, will be coming by looking for candy tomorrow night. I don’t think they’ll get any treats like Death did when he came calling on Theda, though.
I’ve seen half of the dance pieces that I’ll be photographing next week. Sunday I’ll watch the rest. Then Monday and Tuesday will be shooting days. I watch the lighting rehearsals, get familiar with each piece and take notes on the best exposures for each piece…and often for different parts of each piece if there is much change in the light levels. Lighting rehearsals are slow, but they offer a good opportunity to get to know what’s involved in a dance. I’ve blogged before about what I consider the necessity to know what’s happening when I shoot dance…not to just shoot it like a basketball game. I try to understand each piece and work to capture something of what the piece is about in my photos. It’s impossible to do that, but it provides my goal and direction for what I try to do.
Monday and Tuesday will be technical rehearsals. I’ll get to shoot each piece each night. Sometimes at a tech rehearsal they will run a piece more than once to get any technical kinks worked out. So it gives me plenty of opportunity to work to get just what I want. I would prefer to shoot the dress rehearsals, but at OU there is an audience for their dress rehearsals…usually classes from local elementary, middle and high schools. It’s rude and disruptive to photograph when there is an audience, so I won’t do it…and the school of dance agrees with me and doesn’t allow photography at those rehearsals anyway.
Maybe one of these days digital cameras will get to the place that they won’t be so noticeable during a performance. I see some developments recently that could get us to that point. There’s really no reason cameras have to be so noisy. There’s really no reason we need single lens reflexes with a noisy mirror flopping up and down. If I had a camera with a bright viewfinder (not through the lens), excellent auto focus, and high ISO performance like the latest pro Nikons…well that would be the perfect dance camera. With usable 6400 ISO and a short f/2.8 zoom…something in the 35-90 range (in full frame 35mm terms…I could get by with my 80-200 if nothing else was available) I’d be able to just go to the back of the performance space and shoot without anyone even noticing.
I have hopes that I’ll live to see a camera that will do what I want for dance photos. The Leica M9 isn’t it because it isn’t auto focus. I’ve shot dance with my Leica M2. It’s possible, but focus is a major challenge. I just did zone focusing and only used my wide angle lenses on the Leica for shots of the whole stage back in those days. I know better than to think I could get away with using the M9 for the main dance camera. I’ve actually been watching the new mini 4/3 cameras thinking one of them might provide what I’m looking for. They don’t seem to be there yet, but maybe in their next generation they will get there.
Compared to what we had to work with back in the 1970s when I started photographing dance using Tri-X pushed in Acufine…well the current crop of digital cameras are just fantastic. But we always want at least a little bit more, don’t we.
Grandson
October 27th, 2009
My grandson, Titus, came by my studio over the weekend to get his photo taken. He’s about one year and one month old. I think he’s pretty cute and a delightful little boy. But, hey, I’m not prejudiced or anything. I think this one does a pretty good job of catching his personality and mischievous energy.
I haven’t been doing much else with photos in recent days. Just sticking close to home and working on other things the past few days. Tomorrow I’ll be heading down to Athens to start the process of photographing a dance concert. That will involve four trips to Athens, two to watch the dances and two to photograph them. I missed the spring concert that I usually photograph because it happened while I was on the trip to Glacier National Park. So I’m looking forward to getting back to shooting some dance.
I’ve added some lighting do-dads to the studio that are particularly suited to shooting studio dance things, so I’m hoping to get some good dancers to make the trip to my studio soon for some shooting. This upcoming concert is usually where I see who the outstanding dancers are in this year’s crop of seniors, so I’ll probably have someone to shoot soon.
Smile!
October 24th, 2009
First, just let me say before it is too late: Today is United Nations Day. In observance of the day I did nothing.
My friend Wolf has just published a pretty wonderful book. That’s the cover up above. I recommend you go check it out here. Here are a couple samples of Wolf’s work from the book:
I think you’ll find this book to be a very enjoyable experience. Wolf’s blog is pretty fun to follow too.
I made it to Chicago and back with a load of roof tile that almost matches what I have on the roof now. Style is the same. Color is close, but not an exact match. But, when you are dealing with 100-year-old salvaged tile you have to be a bit flexible, I guess.Another View of Angie
October 21st, 2009
This photo is more along the line of what I usually shoot with Angie. She is lovely and a very good model. And she is willing to get cold and wet and dirty for me. We shot this photo this morning at a little waterfall where we’ve shot several times in the past. I’ve been trying to get some shots with fall colors, but the trees around here just aren’t putting on much of a show this year. At least it has warmed up a bit from the frigid temperatures we’ve been having.
I have some travel to do over the next couple days and may not be on line much. I’ll be dropping some prints off at the River’s Edge Gallery in suburban Detroit where they will be part of their permanent collection and available for sale.
Then I’ll visit with some friends up that way and spend the night near Chicago. On Friday I’ll be picking up a bunch of old roof tile from a place south of Chicago. They have tile that match the ones on the roof of my house. I’ve been looking for replacement tile for a year so I can repair damage done when the neighbor’s tree fell onto my house during Hurricane Ike. It will be good to finally get that problem taken care of.
I hope to be doing some more shooting…most likely in the studio or other indoor locations…next week. And I have lots of other recent stuff to share when I get time. But it’s looking like outdoor shooting is done for this year, at least until I travel somewhere warm.
Enough of the lawsuit stuff
October 16th, 2009
OK…I left that last post on top for long enough. Time to get on with life. I expect to be involved in that lawsuit for the next year or two, but that doesn’t mean I won’t still be shooting.
So, here’s something different. I do occasionally shoot things other than nudes. I always make the offer to my models to shoot anything they want for their own use, for portfolios or whatever. Angie has been a great model for me for some time now. She’s always available for me to try out new ideas and lighting methods. She’s been willing to get cold and wet and dirty for outdoor shoots in bad weather. And she’s been willing to be the subject for some of my more off-the-wall ideas.
So, when Angie said she’d like to have some more commercial photos for her portfolio I was happy to shoot some things for her. And, since I’m always interested in color, this setting (and the setting sun) struck a chord with me. Of course I think I’d like it better without the dress, but that’s not really an option in this location, so I’ll settle for this.
I have some new lighting stuff that I’ve been experimenting with in the studio. Some of that will begin to show up here soon. And, don’t be worried…most of those photos include nude models.
2257A Lawsuit
October 8th, 2009
Free Speech Coalition et al v. Holder has been filed in federal court in Philadelphia . A news release about the lawsuit is here: http://www.freespeechcoalition.com/
My reaction to the law has been to restrict my photography to work that clearly falls outside the scope of this law. This has meant removing award-winning photos from display on the internet and has also resulted in not being able to successfully complete some new projects because the restrictions just made it impossible to produce effective work. I’m frustrated and very angry that my constitutional rights are being violated by this ill-considered law. It’s bad law that needs to be eliminated.
I’m participating in this lawsuit because I think it really matters, not just to me but to any photographer or other artist who works with the nude. If you do that kind of work and you think the law doesn’t affect you, I suspect you could be mistaken. If you photograph or draw or paint any nudes, if you photograph any bondage or BDSM scenes, even with the model fully clothed, then it is likely that you have produced at least some work that could be considered to fall under 2257A.
The law requires that you keep detailed, cross-referenced records of all the models you work with for those images. You also must publish a statement of where those records are maintained with each publication (including on the web) of any of those images. And those records must be available for unannounced inspection by federal agents at least 20 hours a week, every week. That’s right, if you maintain the records yourself you not only must publish your address, but you also can never go on vacation because you have to be there 20 hours every week in case an inspector wants to visit unannounced. Oh…and during that inspection they are permitted to look around for anything that they might consider a violation of any law, not just 2257A. So you have effectively given up your constitutional protection against warrantless searches.
If this concerns you, it should. If you think you could be affected by 2257A you should look into the details of it. The best way I know to do that is by reading the book Stephen Haynes wrote about the law. You can find it here: http://www.shaynes.com/2257_Book/index.htm
As the lawsuit progresses I plan to do updates here on my blog. So stay tuned for future developments.
