October 19th, 2006
For two years, Danny Goldfield has been working on a beautiful project in which he aims to photograph one child from every country in the world, but each of them is a resident of New York City. His photographs are lovely and the project itself is a lovely exploration of cultures from around the world and their commonalities living in perhaps the only city in which this endeavour could be completed.
See the project at nychildren.org and a video on the project here.
June 29th, 2006
Photographers of Getty Images have been busy at the World Cup and have been posting their photos and experiences on the Getty Images Sports Blog. The page provides some interesting insight into what it’s like to shoot such a major event and also features the occasional useful tip from some of the better sports photographers in the world.
June 26th, 2006
DIY Photography has an article that explores photographer’s rights and their sense of respect for their subjects.
The question of photographer’s rights is frequently a tricky issue as a travel photographer where local laws and customs are frequently unknown to you, but as this article mentions, erring on the side of being respectful is a good tactic. Unfortunately, sometimes you won’t always know the proper way to be respectful.
As an example, while shooting the morning precession in Luang Prabang, Laos, I watched a photographer break every rule for shooting the monks and their daily ritual. A little reading beforehand or talking to any of the enthusiastic novices in the area would have told this photographer what was acceptable behaviour and what was not. In fact, at most of the temples in the city, there are signs posted that list the guidelines for photography, so I truly don’t think this photographer could have even used ignorance as his excuse.
He’s an example of someone who probably knew the rules and chose not to exercise much respect. I’m more forgiving of those who err out of ignorance in such cases - it can be difficult to keep track of who wants to be treated how. But wherever you go, with the first English-speaking local you find, just ask about local attitudes towards photography and you’ll be well on your way to being able to treat others as they would have you treat them.
The point being that common sense is the foundation of the respect you may have for your subjects, but frequently, you may need to do some research to discover just what respect means for different people.
June 19th, 2006
The Orlando Sentinel has an interview with Carl Purcell that explores the life of the 77-year-old travel photographer. He has visited 99 countries and been published in just about every major travel publication and has earned my respect for the knowledge he has gained and subsequently shared with his peers.
June 17th, 2006
If you have a free afternoon and you’re looking to practice both your portraiture and your people skills, you may consider having a look at photojojo’s guide to impromptu street photos. Just grab some poster board and a handful of small rewards for your subjects and you are on your way to meeting new people and getting some fun shots.
With the summer season upon us, you may be lucky enough to have an air show appearing somewhere in your region in the near future. Digitaldarell.com has a detailed guide to shooting air shows that will help you to capture all the action. The only thing I would add is that you shouldn’t forget to point your camera at the events on the ground from time to time. You may find yourself able to get some interesting shots of the planes or their pilots when you take a break from craning your neck upwards.
The gravity-defying MonsterPod looks like it would not only be a fun toy but also a practical addition to the camera bag of anyone looking to support their compact camera or external flash in a bizarre location. This small, red camera support has a strange, morphing underside that allows it to stick to most surfaces and hold a 10 ounce camera or flash. Weird, but potentially-useful stuff. For $30, it might be worth it just to see how the thing works.
Lastly, iView has updated its MediaPro photo management software to version 3.1.1.
June 15th, 2006
Six photographers in California are poised to set two new world records: the world’s largest photograph and the world’s largest camera. Constructed using an air hangar, this gargantuan pinhole camera will be used to produce a panoramic image of the landscape on the outside of the hangar.
The photographers are using a nearly 31-by-111 foot piece of white fabric covered in 20 gallons of light-sensitive emulsion as the “negative.”
I’m genuinely curious to see how the photo will look when completed. It will take ten days for the exposure to be completed, so the results will surely be unique for more than just their size.
June 11th, 2006
The International Herald Tribune has an optimistic article at the future of digital cameras. They take a look at the rapid development that has occurred during the rise of the digital camera and examine what’s possible if a similar rate of development continues.
I agree with the article that much development is yet to come with digital camera technology, but perhaps the optimism in the piece might be a little too enthusiastic. While I do believe that megapixels will continue to multiply inside cameras, I suspect sensor developers will shift their focus away from higher megapixel numbers. After all, the smaller photo sites required for additional pixels have the tendency to reduce image quality. Though I do believe we will continue to see the numbers rise, I just wouldn’t put too much faith in them rises as quickly as the author suggests.
Instead, I believe camera manufacturers will shift more of their focus to improving the quality of the images. The article does discuss this as well, but I do think this is where the immediate future in camera development lies. Professional photographers now seem relatively content with the size of their images - they now strive for ever greater quality. Higher dynamic range and better high ISO performance are a couple of the refinements that are at the top of photographers’ wish lists.
As for me, I think one of the refinements they should work on is cutting the prices of this new technology. I want to play with these fun toys too!
June 10th, 2006
The winners of the International Color Awards were announced on May 7, but as far as I’m concerned, inspiring images are allowed to make the news a month late. The images of both the winners and nominees are viewable here.
Categories include abstract, nature, photojournalism, advertising and much more. Both the amateur and professional galleries feature outstanding work.
June 10th, 2006
The Strobist has deviated slightly from the usual tasty buffet of good lighting articles and served up a delicious article that discusses layers of interest in photographs
From the article:
“Top to bottom, left to right, front to back,” The Washington Post’s Mike Williamson told me once. That’s the standard. Fill the frame. Make it work. Make someone want to stay there a while.
Usually, the more layers of interest I can pull off in a photo - and still have it “work” - the happier I am.
The layers of interest discussed here are the elements of a photo that tell a story. They are the details in a photo that make viewers step in closer to have a better look at what you have captured.
Creating a depth of interest, however, a tricky balance. There is a temptation to include more compositional elements in the hopes that they may create additional interest in the photo, but this can often lead to clutter. This is why creating such images is so difficult: the details must compliment and add to the subject, not compete with it.
June 9th, 2006
More than once a day, I wonder if I am working my way into the right business. As though the travel photography market wasn’t already terribly competitive, the rise of crowdsourcing has made the business that much less profitable for professionals.
This Wired article on crowdsourcing explores the issue of micro stock photography’s role in the diminishing profits of professional stock shooters. This is a central issue right now in the world of stock photography and I have often witnessed heated debates on message boards when the the two sides have met.
Good discussion on the issue can be found at the site of author of the above article (Jeff Howe): crowdsourcing.com. In particular, a good discussion can be found in the comments of the site’s mission statement.
As a professional photographer, I have a bias against the micro-stock sites, but it’s not merely because of the smaller profits for the pro shooters. Just as outsourcing tends to have an exploitative side to it with third-world citizens being paid a pittance for their work, the crowdsourcers, in this case the amateur photographer, gets a similar pittance. Hobbyists are content with $1 sale and the knowledge that their image has been used by someone else. What many of them either don’t know or don’t care about is that their images could fetch much higher prices for similar uses.
The amateurs, however, do not rely on the income generated by their photos. Their day jobs pay the bills. Extra dollars from micro-stock sales are a happy bonus. Too bad there seems to be so many cases where these bonuses are snatched from the hands of the professional photographers whose livelihood depends on traditional sales.
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