Ingenious. Kevin Viol just got a new d90 that shoots video. This is a prime example how these machines are going to change the industry. His camera cost him only 1k, so he's no longer limited to a redrock lens kit or a red one camera to get this look. Of course he added some post processing, but people think that digital cameras made photography democratic, I think the d90 and 5dmarkII are both going to open a lot of doors for photographers/videographers and blur the lines between the two. Of course, as always it'll make things more complicated, add to the tool set needed to make it, and make it more competitive. In the end, it'll just keep on weeding out the mediocre and the cream will rise to the top.
I guess for me, it's exciting and inspiring. I love to learn new things and thrive on this type of change. It gives me yet one more medium to express myself in. Stay tuned for some videos by me soon. I'm going to give kevin's d90 a spin next week and see if it's right for me. Honestly, the way that video is always concept driven, that you need some serious intent and execution to go through with the hours of post processing and organization seems like a way to really take things up a notch.
My video business card from kevin viol on Vimeo.
About Me
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
"Immersion" video game players shot on video by Robbie Cooper
This is incredible. Look for the tear, its about halfway through. Moving, and makes you wonder what made this little boy shed a tear while playing a game. Did he kill or get killed? Break his old record?
Thursday, November 20, 2008
self portraits are fun
I'm up late doing ridiculous things like taking self portraits and shots of my sneakers. Whatever. I'm doing light testing which is really important in my experimentation and staying on top of my craft so when the call comes I'm ready for action.
me+vintage raybans+5AM+lights+camera= fun
I got 99 problems but my kicks aint one. Thank you creative recreation for making amazing shoes and shame on you for making me pay so much. Oh well, Alec Soth says good shoes are essential for being a successful photographer so I'm off with my 4x5 and my walking shoes this morning...
me+vintage raybans+5AM+lights+camera= fun
I got 99 problems but my kicks aint one. Thank you creative recreation for making amazing shoes and shame on you for making me pay so much. Oh well, Alec Soth says good shoes are essential for being a successful photographer so I'm off with my 4x5 and my walking shoes this morning...
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
david lam and larry johnson
So I was digging through old negs and found a couple of gems. Scanning 665 polaroid negs is interesting for a couple of reasons. First, they're very thin so they don't lay flat. Then the negative holders for medium format film are too small and 4x5 holders are too big. So I mounted them on a clear 4x5 negative with tape and scanned them. There are tons of scratches on the clear 4x5 neg, so its gives the shots lots of character and I'm kind of into the look.
This is David Lam. He was the mayor of the town i grew up in. 100 people and the cool thing about this shot is the house behind him had been in 2 separate locations. It was being torn down so his neighbor could use the space to store more Fieros.
This is Larry Johnson. He's the man with the Fieros. He was my best friend's father growing up. At one point he bought a computer to be able to analyze fieros and is now a specialist tech for that kind of car. Kind of random and I love that he looks like he never left the 50's.
I love where my parent's live in Whittier, Iowa. I really need to shoot more of the people I grew up around. Just need to find the angle so they don't think I'm being condecending- they just think I'm some big city person who looks down on their small town life at times. Really all wrong because I feel like it only informs my personality and made me what I am.
This is David Lam. He was the mayor of the town i grew up in. 100 people and the cool thing about this shot is the house behind him had been in 2 separate locations. It was being torn down so his neighbor could use the space to store more Fieros.
This is Larry Johnson. He's the man with the Fieros. He was my best friend's father growing up. At one point he bought a computer to be able to analyze fieros and is now a specialist tech for that kind of car. Kind of random and I love that he looks like he never left the 50's.
I love where my parent's live in Whittier, Iowa. I really need to shoot more of the people I grew up around. Just need to find the angle so they don't think I'm being condecending- they just think I'm some big city person who looks down on their small town life at times. Really all wrong because I feel like it only informs my personality and made me what I am.
Monday, November 17, 2008
craig's list actually gets me a real gig
So for the first time ever I've found a worth while gig on Craig's list. These are some of the shots I've done for a calendar of a few players on the Chicago Wolves hockey team. Its a fund raising effort to support a documentary film on a couple players from the team.
The idea I had about all this is to make the images at least entertaining and give some sort of visual interest to the project. I suggested just doing studio shots of the players vs multiple locations to give a bit more congruence to the project and making the logistics less of a nightmare. Its hard enough getting professional athletes to show up for something like this let alone dragging them around to a bunch of different locations. That would require some serious planning and much more time that I wouldn't have been paid for. I think it's working out.
The idea I had about all this is to make the images at least entertaining and give some sort of visual interest to the project. I suggested just doing studio shots of the players vs multiple locations to give a bit more congruence to the project and making the logistics less of a nightmare. Its hard enough getting professional athletes to show up for something like this let alone dragging them around to a bunch of different locations. That would require some serious planning and much more time that I wouldn't have been paid for. I think it's working out.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Identity
My sister had some interesting thoughts about race and the double edged sword that being color appreciative vs color blind brings about.
"Bush makes a mistake and he's just considered stupid," Snyder says. "Unfortunately, Barack Obama makes a mistake and he's black and stupid. And it's not the same in the white world."
and then later I read this
"But if we judge Obama's performance as president as "how does Obama the person perform as president?" instead of "how the black man does as president"--wouldn't that be color blind? Judging him without factoring race? So we should ignore color when judging, but when we're not we appreciate it? I'm confused."
she ends talking about culture and it being the great divider and skin just how we look, a general identifying feature.
I love the complexity around all of this. It's not simple, and when you talk through it, dig deeper you see more than maybe what your initial reaction might be to such a subject.
Then I went to the conscientious blog and read about a new photography series that doesn't differentiate between the victims and perpetrators in Rwandan genocide. Basically it comes down to showing the humanity of everyone and the fact that regular people do horrible things isn't as safe a thought as being able to visually prejudge someone. People aren't always what they appear.
The subject of identity is one that I find particularly interesting. I know I partially make clothing decisions to show what subculture I fit into, mostly. And I'm also pleasantly surprised when I find people crossing boundaries, and being inventive and accepting of different concepts of identity. I was speaking with an acquaintance of mine who happens to be black, who tap dances in a pretty modern manner-but anyways, about people trying to win people over by not being themselves and how we attach race to culture.
There were 3 white kids trying to be cool in ways that the tap dancer and the bboy friend of mine would think acceptable and it was getting kind of annoying to my friends. Purposefully changing your speech patterns because of someone's race is silly, but I hear it frequently. I know my black friends value their education and speak in a way that reflects this, while a few have a different background or have always been a part of certain subcultures and have their accent deeply ingrained. So when my friends who may not have as much formal education hear a well educated white man changing his speech pattern to sound like them, it becomes surreal. Especially in the name of cool. I guess anyone not being honest about themselves and who they are becomes glaringly obvious at times and when is aspiring to be something different acceptable and when isn't it? When is it too far? Is that possible?
"Bush makes a mistake and he's just considered stupid," Snyder says. "Unfortunately, Barack Obama makes a mistake and he's black and stupid. And it's not the same in the white world."
and then later I read this
"But if we judge Obama's performance as president as "how does Obama the person perform as president?" instead of "how the black man does as president"--wouldn't that be color blind? Judging him without factoring race? So we should ignore color when judging, but when we're not we appreciate it? I'm confused."
she ends talking about culture and it being the great divider and skin just how we look, a general identifying feature.
I love the complexity around all of this. It's not simple, and when you talk through it, dig deeper you see more than maybe what your initial reaction might be to such a subject.
Then I went to the conscientious blog and read about a new photography series that doesn't differentiate between the victims and perpetrators in Rwandan genocide. Basically it comes down to showing the humanity of everyone and the fact that regular people do horrible things isn't as safe a thought as being able to visually prejudge someone. People aren't always what they appear.
The subject of identity is one that I find particularly interesting. I know I partially make clothing decisions to show what subculture I fit into, mostly. And I'm also pleasantly surprised when I find people crossing boundaries, and being inventive and accepting of different concepts of identity. I was speaking with an acquaintance of mine who happens to be black, who tap dances in a pretty modern manner-but anyways, about people trying to win people over by not being themselves and how we attach race to culture.
There were 3 white kids trying to be cool in ways that the tap dancer and the bboy friend of mine would think acceptable and it was getting kind of annoying to my friends. Purposefully changing your speech patterns because of someone's race is silly, but I hear it frequently. I know my black friends value their education and speak in a way that reflects this, while a few have a different background or have always been a part of certain subcultures and have their accent deeply ingrained. So when my friends who may not have as much formal education hear a well educated white man changing his speech pattern to sound like them, it becomes surreal. Especially in the name of cool. I guess anyone not being honest about themselves and who they are becomes glaringly obvious at times and when is aspiring to be something different acceptable and when isn't it? When is it too far? Is that possible?
christopher anderson's advice on the magnum blog
Alec Soth asked magnum photographer's why they got into photography and what advice they have for young photographers here. I liked Christopher Anderson's advice best.
"Forget about the profession of being a photographer. First be a photographer and maybe the profession will come after. Don't be in a rush to make pay your rent with your camera. Jimi Hendrix didn't decide on the career of professional musician before he learned to play guitar. No, he loved music and and created something beautiful and that THEN became a profession. Larry Towell, for instance, was not a "professional" photographer until he was already a "famous" photographer. Make the pictures you feel compelled to make and perhaps that will lead to a career. But if you try to make the career first, you will just make shitty pictures that you don't care about."
I think that sometimes I've done things the wrong way around. I need to focus more on what I care about photographically, not try to make all my money with my camera and really just make what I consider to be beautiful pieces of art. Thanks Christopher, I was feeling this and just needed to hear it. Funny how that happens sometimes. Now just to figure out how to make the apple store hire me in the next week or so...
"Forget about the profession of being a photographer. First be a photographer and maybe the profession will come after. Don't be in a rush to make pay your rent with your camera. Jimi Hendrix didn't decide on the career of professional musician before he learned to play guitar. No, he loved music and and created something beautiful and that THEN became a profession. Larry Towell, for instance, was not a "professional" photographer until he was already a "famous" photographer. Make the pictures you feel compelled to make and perhaps that will lead to a career. But if you try to make the career first, you will just make shitty pictures that you don't care about."
I think that sometimes I've done things the wrong way around. I need to focus more on what I care about photographically, not try to make all my money with my camera and really just make what I consider to be beautiful pieces of art. Thanks Christopher, I was feeling this and just needed to hear it. Funny how that happens sometimes. Now just to figure out how to make the apple store hire me in the next week or so...
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Red announces the scarlet
Here RED announces the long awaited new lineup. They seem to be pushing through some pretty serious designs. They have the ability to really take over the professional market. The 35mm Full frame, 645 medium format and 6x17 medium format bodies are all 16 bit, AND shoot pretty amazing raw video.
The prices seem pretty reasonable for the bodies, especially when you consider the versatility of the bodies. Using the same rig to shoot video and stills is fantastic. Right now, there's nothing that quite reaches this level of versatility.
The 5d MarkII gets close and undoubtably will have great image quality for an amazing price (~$2700), but multiple lens mounts, and the insane amount of accessories for the RED cameras makes it a direct shot at the 1dsmarkIII, the 22-50 megapixel medium format backs and presents the photographer with the ability to work with video at any point during a shoot. This will only help usher on the new media changes that are starting to slowly creep in. Stronger online presence of magazines and other content providers, including advertising outlets, is pushing most still shooters to consider shooting some video. For me that's exciting. For my bank account however it isn't. That means more initial investment (lots of hard drive space, a machine that can handle real time video editing-that means a $1100 video card vs a $200 dollar one, and all kinds of expensive lighting) but a bigger payout in the end. We'll see later on what this all means. Right now with the global economy on the fritz and people being scared about the future, less is certain.
What is certain is that quality is rising of new equipment (look at this review of the Canon g10 point and shoot) while prices remain the same or drop. There will always be equipment that is the price equivalent of a luxury vehicle for top tier shooters, but its becoming even more apparent how easy it is to get by on a smaller investment, but it quickly rises for incremental increases in quality.
The prices seem pretty reasonable for the bodies, especially when you consider the versatility of the bodies. Using the same rig to shoot video and stills is fantastic. Right now, there's nothing that quite reaches this level of versatility.
The 5d MarkII gets close and undoubtably will have great image quality for an amazing price (~$2700), but multiple lens mounts, and the insane amount of accessories for the RED cameras makes it a direct shot at the 1dsmarkIII, the 22-50 megapixel medium format backs and presents the photographer with the ability to work with video at any point during a shoot. This will only help usher on the new media changes that are starting to slowly creep in. Stronger online presence of magazines and other content providers, including advertising outlets, is pushing most still shooters to consider shooting some video. For me that's exciting. For my bank account however it isn't. That means more initial investment (lots of hard drive space, a machine that can handle real time video editing-that means a $1100 video card vs a $200 dollar one, and all kinds of expensive lighting) but a bigger payout in the end. We'll see later on what this all means. Right now with the global economy on the fritz and people being scared about the future, less is certain.
What is certain is that quality is rising of new equipment (look at this review of the Canon g10 point and shoot) while prices remain the same or drop. There will always be equipment that is the price equivalent of a luxury vehicle for top tier shooters, but its becoming even more apparent how easy it is to get by on a smaller investment, but it quickly rises for incremental increases in quality.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
marshall hanbury jr.
he's a great musician putting together an album. these are a small selection of the first round of promo shots. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out and am going to the lake tommorow to shoot some more.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
adobe photoshop cs4
I got a trial version of cs4 today. Not much new except how you work the adjustment layers. Well, maybe there are some other amazing things, just that seemed the thing that directly affected my workflow. The new icon system works pretty well, just one more thing to learn that'll be second nature in no time for sure. This is a little before-after showing the tonal I do using photoshop. I've been just using Digital Photo Professional lately and just letting the files be, but once I installed cs4, I ended up staying up till 5 am futsing around.
before
after
I cloned out a distracting little tree top to the right, straightened the horizon, and brought the color back into the grass. It was much more yellow than the blue/grey morning light was showing in the original. I don't normally do that much local toning of a photograph, but sometimes we're limited by the cameras we use, even if they are top of the line. I shoot with a canon 1ds mark II and mostly a 35mm f1.4 Ef L lens. It's a great combination, but at times I find that maybe I don't quite get what I'm going for in camera. Thank goodness for Photoshop.
before
after
I cloned out a distracting little tree top to the right, straightened the horizon, and brought the color back into the grass. It was much more yellow than the blue/grey morning light was showing in the original. I don't normally do that much local toning of a photograph, but sometimes we're limited by the cameras we use, even if they are top of the line. I shoot with a canon 1ds mark II and mostly a 35mm f1.4 Ef L lens. It's a great combination, but at times I find that maybe I don't quite get what I'm going for in camera. Thank goodness for Photoshop.
Monday, November 3, 2008
My parent's wedding anniversary
I went home this last weekend to Whittier, Iowa. I love visiting my parents and the more simple life that happens in Iowa. Its about loving on each other, good food, seeing people I haven't been around in ages and I really get into the aesthetic that the environment always brings.
Here's a little photo essay that shows the trip from my perspective. I didn't bring my camera to the actual party, so the work is more about the traveling and the inbetween moments at my parent's and relative's house.
this is in reverse order...
taken from Rachel's car on the way back. I love shots taken out the window of a moving vehicle.
this is Jensen on a playground piece made to look like a tractor in lost nation, where children of the corn was filmed
this is my sister's mother in law showing what happened when she tried to get a stain out of a Packers tshirt she got at a second hand shop
this is my neice anna being held by her grandpa, my sister's inlaws
I can't talk about Iowa and not show a picture of farm equipment...that would just be wrong.
this is a shot of my cousin Gillian handing a napkin off. It looks mysterious with this light but was actually a happy funny moment...
these three top windows lead into my bedroom at my parent's house. It looks so old and creepy like this, but is actually a very warm and lovely place. My parent's didn't weed the garden that much this year
this is on the way out of Chicago by O'Hare airport
Here's a little photo essay that shows the trip from my perspective. I didn't bring my camera to the actual party, so the work is more about the traveling and the inbetween moments at my parent's and relative's house.
this is in reverse order...
taken from Rachel's car on the way back. I love shots taken out the window of a moving vehicle.
this is Jensen on a playground piece made to look like a tractor in lost nation, where children of the corn was filmed
this is my sister's mother in law showing what happened when she tried to get a stain out of a Packers tshirt she got at a second hand shop
this is my neice anna being held by her grandpa, my sister's inlaws
I can't talk about Iowa and not show a picture of farm equipment...that would just be wrong.
this is a shot of my cousin Gillian handing a napkin off. It looks mysterious with this light but was actually a happy funny moment...
these three top windows lead into my bedroom at my parent's house. It looks so old and creepy like this, but is actually a very warm and lovely place. My parent's didn't weed the garden that much this year
this is on the way out of Chicago by O'Hare airport
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