Wounded — Karl Hinett © Bryan Adams

Wounded: The Legacy of War — Q&A with Bryan Adams

Ph.ca - I’ve been following your photography for a while and this latest work is the ‘rawest’ work of yours I’ve seen thus far. Can I ask what drew you to this subject matter?

ba: I felt compelled to do something for these guys as I was never happy that we went to war in the Middle East. I was fortunate to have meet a journalist called Caroline Froggatt who wanted to do something and she was acquainted with some of the soldiers already, so the project started from that.

Ph.ca - Why photograph wounded soldiers?

ba: I want to create photos of the time and document as many people as I could that had incurred these severe war injuries in order to raise awareness to their plight and also show people a side of the horror of war that is often concealed from everyday media. The long term idea was that perhaps it could maybe be an exhibition or maybe even a book down the road. All of that happened thankfully in part to my publisher Steidl who saw the beauty in the photos and agreed to make the “Wounded — The Legacy of War” book with me. It’s now its touring the world as an exhibition.

Wounded Mark Ormrod © Bryan Adams

Ph.ca –How long did you photograph each veteran?

ba: For an hour at the most, then we would sit and have a chat and film that, I’ve not even looked at the interview footage, it’s just archived. Sometimes these guys would stay over at my house as they had come great distances from the North of England and even Scotland to be involved and it was too much to travel there and back in a day.

Ph.ca - How long did this project take from start to finish and where were the photographs taken?

ba: schedules were always being sorted out, I suppose the whole thing took nearly 5 years, it was very on and off. Initially it wasn’t easy to find subjects that would agree to being photographed, but once a few subjects had agreed and participated, recommending their friends became normal and the word got out.

Ph.ca - All of the photographs that I’ve seen from this series highlight the veterans’ wounds, versus playing them down through posing techniques as other photographers have often done. Was the posing of the subjects a collaborative process or solely under your direction?

ba: it was all ultimately under my direction, however they were welcome to show as much as they liked and I always hoped they would show as much as possible.

I would show them what I had done with other soldiers, and usually once they saw what was going on, the shirts would come off and the wounds became very apparent.

Wounded Rory Mackenzie © Bryan Adams

Ph.ca - Did some veterans have trouble exposing their wounds so boldly?

ba: Only one as I can remember who didn’t want to take off his prosthetic limb. I never asked why.

Ph.ca - Was it an emotional/cathartic process for some veterans?

ba: I think they were curious that someone like me was doing something like this, but I’ve had a lot of positive conversations with them since and the reactions have been incredible. Too many to mention here.

Mostly to do with seeing themselves as a vehicle to help other people, the unselfishness was humbling, let me tell you.

Wounded Rick Clement © Bryan Adams

Ph.ca - Our readers will want to know - Can you describe the camera gear and the lighting gear you used to create these photographs?

ba: It’s all shot in my daylight studio using natural light which I would drape off to create the amount of light for each guy. Occasionally if the studio got too dark in the late afternoon, I would bounce a light into the wall to give me a stop or two and mix it with the daylight. There was never a direct source of light it was always diffused. I used a Mamiya RZ camera with a Phase One back.

Ph.ca - Given that the legacy of war will continue, and there will be no shortage of future wounded veterans, will you be adding to this body of work, or is this a closed project?

ba: it’s closed for now, especially now that the book is done.

Ph.ca - What additional photography projects are on the horizon?

ba: another book of subjects I’ve worked with is being planned, but it may be another year before it’s ready.

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I’d like to thank Bryan Adams for taking the time to answer this Q&A.
30 images of Bryan’s new work are on exhibit at Somerset House from 12th November 2014 – 25th January 2015. The photography book Wounded: The Legacy of War, Photography by Bryan Adams, Edited by Caroline Froggatt is available here.

Fuji X-T1

For those that want the conclusion at the beginning, I really liked the Fuji– XT1 and I’ll talk about why in a few paragraphs, but let’s get that DSLR killer thing out of the way.

Straight off the bat this is one of the best mirrorless or point and shoot digital cameras I have tested. It goes head to head to with my DSLR on many levels. That said, it cannot kill my DSLR or even lower priced DSLRs built in the past couple of years because it can’t track and capture moving subjects with the same ease. I’m NOT a sports photographer but I regularly want to shoot a bird, squirrel, fast moving dog, or running baby. For me, a DSLR killer must be able to track and capture a moving subject with the same ease and efficacy (and ratio of keepers) as a DSLR. The X-T1 cannot easily do this and admits to being unable to do this on page 68 of the manual. It’s the one big thing that’s missing for me in this (and every other mirrorless or point and shoot on the market today) camera. It does a better job at this task than all the other mirrorless or point and shoot cameras I’ve tried, but DSLRs costing the same or less money as this camera will get you sharper results with greater ease. If you accept this limitation and you have the budget for it ($2100. for the camera and lens) it’s the best non-DSLR camera that I’ve tried.

Here’s a checklist of the main things I really liked about the Fuji X-T1

1 — Solid feel and size — The Fuji  X-T1 is a solid feeling metal camera and I like that. I’m sick of plasticky feeling devices. This camera is VERY reminiscent of my old Nikon FM2 film camera in terms of shape, size and weight. One of the main advantages of this camera is that it is much smaller and weighs less than most DSLRs. The FUJI X-T1 weighs 440 grams with the camera and card. My D800E with battery and card weighs more than double (994 grams)!

Size comparison between the new Fuji XT-1 and a 30ish year old Nikon F3. Hat tip and © Wendy Kennedy for this image.

2 — Overall sharpness — Aside from sharpness on fast moving subjects, you will love the sharpness of this camera!

The XT-1 gives you lovely natural colours. Images are sharp straight out of the camera. Exif — ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/100. Note:  I did NOT try to get the birds sharp in this image, I was framing the people on the bench and the moving birds were a happy coincidence.

3 — Automatic electronic viewfinder  - You can frame your scene by looking at the back of the LCD screen or through the viewfinder. The camera ‘knows’ when you bring the viewfinder to your eye and all interior controls become instantly visible — It’s very cool.

4 — Horizon line — This appears automatically in order to let you know if your camera is parallel to the subject for distortion free images. I really like this but you can shut it off if you don’t.

5 — Shoots in RAW format, Jpeg and RAW/Jpeg

6 — Although I already ragged on the autofocus being inferior for moving subjects when compared to a DSLR, it does a better job than all other non-DSLR camera that I’ve tried. In addition it has focus points that you can move around your screen fairly easily to allow the autofocus to focus where you want. I use these focus points all the time when I’m framing a scene.

In order to assure sharp eyes (or sharp anything) I am always moving the auto-focusing square to exactly where I want the most sharpness to be. In this case, I moved it right over my boy Baci’s eye. The Fuji X-T1 does a decent job at this! (Not as fluid as most DSRs mind you, but MUCH better than most mirrorless/point and shoot cameras I’ve tried).
As an aside, this was a relatively low light shot with EXIF data at ISO 6400, f/4.7 at 1/80.

7  - Low light shooting. This camera does a killer-good job in low light!  It’s a low light maven! This image below was shot/pushed at ISO 12800. I never shoot at this ISO because normally you get tons of noise (pixelization/grain) at this speed. But look how acceptable this image is! I have even included a 100% crop of a portion of the image with shadow detail as noise is most visible in the shadows. Yes there is noise in those shadows but it’s acceptable noise, it’s not a hailstorm. Most mirrorless/point and shoot cameras (and most DSLRs) on the market today are inferior to the Fuji X-T1 with regard to their low-light and low-noise performance.

This image was shot at f/3.5 at 1/110 at ISO 12800! Look how acceptable the noise level is.

Here’s a 100% crop from the same image.

Noise is its nastiest in the shadows but look at how well the noise is handled at ISO 12800 — Very, very impressive!

X-T1 Gripes

As hinted at previously, my main gripe with the X-T1 (and every other point and shoot/mirrorless camera that I’ve tried) is that it cannot autofocus fast enough to capture fast moving objects as sharp as I like them. Here is a shot of a squirrel. I admit it’s very good for cameras in its class but my DSLR and most others I’ve tried does better.

A 100% crop detail of a squirrel. I focused on the eye for about 15 images and the eye in this image is good but it is not tack sharp. My DSLR has a much better ratio of keepers for difficult shots like these. EXIF data was ISO 800, f/5.6 @ 1/850

The main other gripe would be the price as $2100. for a mirrorless camera and lens is quite a chunk of change when DSLRs with lenses can be had for many hundreds of dollars less. That said, we should be used to paying more for devices that are physically smaller; it’s the trend across so many consumer products. To temper the price blow a bit, this camera is very versatile and can accommodate many different lenses of varying focal lengths. It’s solidly built and it seems like it will last.

In conclusion, if you have the budget for this camera you will love its size, shape, feel and its weight. The quality and sharpness of the files are superb and as long as you don’t expect tack sharp eyes from moving subjects, you will love this camera. To date, it’s the best non DSLR camera I’ve tried.

Every month on our pho­tog­ra­phy forum mem­bers nom­i­nate images that they like. Then at the end of the month I choose an excel­lent image and talk about why it rocks. The photo I choose is not nec­es­sar­ily the best one of the month. I’ve come to real­ize it’s not really log­i­cal to pit images from totally dif­fer­ent gen­res against each other. That’s why there are cat­e­gories in photo con­tests. I just choose a photo that has extremely strong ele­ments that we can learn from.

This month’s choice goes to Lizardqing for capturing Sunset on the Blue Ridge Parkway

I chose this image for several reasons:

1. Composition/Framing — This sunset image has many strong compositional elements going for it. The laying of the foreground trees, midground hills and background clouds/sky and sun works really well for me. My eye really enjoys the lines and curves in the mountains and hills. There are also no major distractions on the edges in this scene for me. My eye goes straight to the sun, then straight below it to the midground sun patch, and then it explores the rest of the photograph with delight.

2 . Exposure/lighting — The light is just plain lovely here due to the partial cloud cover. That said, shooting into the sun is often challenging and often yields underexposure. Correcting it often leaves lots of shadow noise but this image looks clean and the tones in the foreground and midground have lovely shadow detail.

3.  Colour and post processing — The colours are warm and bright in the sky but not too overdone. Sharpness works well for me and looks very natural.

For all these reasons, this is my choice for image of the month. Since we all have opinions, some members may disagree with my choice. That’s cool but THIS thread is not the place for debate over my pick, NOR is it the place to further critique the image. The purpose here is to suggest strong elements in the photo that we may learn from.

Congrats again to Lizardqing for capturing this fabulous moment!

For our next podcast I set up a photography experiment with complete strangers and I’ll share it (and other tips for photographing complete strangers) with you within a week. I give tips for cases when the subject is aware of you, and tips for when subjects are unaware that they are being photographed.

For now, if you are feeling brave try breaking your comfort level; approach complete strangers and photograph them. Tips and the actual podcast to follow next week.

Stranger meditating in Parc La Fontaine in Montreal, QC.

Today is a late fall day. Leaves had been falling for weeks, morning mists were beginning to appear, skies were a patchy blue. If I’m lucky this time of year lasts a few weeks. I love working when there are spaces in the trees and the branches contrast with the interspersed leaves. I set out to walk the edge of a river not far away. There are a variety of trees, bushes and growth, with logs, large and small stones lining the shoreline. (And the salmon are running ) I made many more than the four images shown, but these I selected because they were made standing in almost the same spot.

“A Good Day” — Image 1 by Michael Orton

Image one is the light reflected off of the leaves of a small bush , which I rendered into hundreds of shards of light with a fast camera movement and short shutter speed. When viewed at full size this image has remarkable complexity and blending . The bush was a short distance to my left.

“A Good Day” — Image 2 by Michael Orton

Image two is simply fallen leaves on a spread of medium sized round stones with the sand washed from between them. They are in the shade , and the blue comes from the reflected blue of the sky. The sky had some clouds which occasionally gave me overcast light. - 1/2 second with what I refer to as medium camera movement speed , using a somewhat oblique line and changing focal length during exposure. When I move my camera most often I do not swivel from a fixed point but move it in a similar fashion to a movie camera on a track. These stones and leaves where just to my right.

“A Good Day” — Image 3 by Michael Orton

Image three is looking across the river . You can see the sandy embankment rendered as a softened wash while the trees and their reflection remain somewhat recognizable. I used an extended oval motion at 2 seconds to retain the vertical lines.

“A Good Day” — Image 4 by Michael Orton

Image four is, yes wait for it, a photograph, and was taken standing in exactly the same spot as # 3 . Sometimes you just take what you are given and make the best of it. I took the polarizer and ND filter off, kneeled down and scooped this image from the surface of the river.The intricate, jagged lines of the reflected trees and a hint blue from the sky were to good to pass up. Handheld at 1/125.

So yes it was a good day. One that I wish every photographer could experience, because when you do, it will fuel your passion . This is what keeps us looking.

The video ” A Walk In The Palm Grove ” on our website is another good example of what can be created at one location.

There is no substitute for seeing… Michael

The preceding article is copyrighted and written by Canadian fine art landscape photographer Michael Orton. You can see more of his work at michaelortonphotography.com

Nikon AF DC 105mm f/2.0 D Lens

Let me say immediately that this specialty lens is not for everyone. It is made in my estimation for portrait, landscape or fine art photographers that love to play with selective focus and who want to be in supreme control of their bokeh. If this last sentence was confusing then you are probably not ready for this lens. But if you already love bokeh and want to play in the bokeh-olympics, this might be the finest tool available.

But Doesn’t Nikon Have Another 105mm Lens That Also Does Macro?

Yes they do and that lens is another fabulous portrait lens that does true macro. The Nikon AF-S 105 mm F2.8 Micro is a lens that I’ve owned for a number of years and it’s about 300. cheaper than the DC lens. It’s razor sharp, has Vibration Reduction (VR) and does true 1:1 Macro. If you like to do portraits as well as Macro work, get this lens instead.

But if you don’t do that much Macro and want a fabulously unique tool that is great for portraits and bokeh-play, the DC may be the better choice for an experienced photographer. The DC lens is also an f/2 lens. The f/2 is brighter in the viewfinder and always delivers more bokeh than f/2.8 all things being equal.

In terms of head to head sharpness and autofocus speed, I found the autofocus a bit faster on the Micro (Macro — Nikon calls their Macro lenses Micro just to be special) lens and I found the sharpness to be a hint sharper. The 105 DC lens is also razor sharp (but has no VR) and has very fast  autofocus, but head to head with the 105 Micro, it loses by the smallest of margins to my eye. Please be aware that I only tested this lens on 2 shoots in coldish Montreal weather which unfortunately limited my play.

How does it work?

The instruction leaflet that comes with the lens is near useless. You’ll want to play with this sucker for a while. But basically, to get good bokeh effects you need a large aperture so you’ll choose an aperture like f/2.0, f/2.8, f/4, or f/5.6. Once you set that aperture, you’ll focus on your subject. Then you’ll decide if you want to defocus what’s in front of the subject, what’s behind the subject, or not defocus at all. The defocusing simply softens the background or foreground more than it would be with other lenses. The effect is subtle and not everyone will even notice it especially novice photographers. Personally though, I love this lens and I made a mistake when I purchased the f/2.8 Macro lens. I don’t do that much macro and would have gotten more use and joy from the bokeh play offered by this lens.

From L to R — Zero defocus, defocused foreground, defocused background — Click to enlarge

The images above were shot against a giant Christmas tree. The middle image makes the foreground lights around the neck have an interesting glow due to the defocused foreground, but the eyes lost sharpness. In general I found that defocusing the foreground looked weird most of the time. To my eye the normal setting and the defocused background settings are the best looking in this set and in general. The non defocused images looked superb actually. But a lens like this is usually bought for the ability to defocus it.

Left image had no defocus. Middle Image had background defocused to f/4 but aperture was f/2.0. The image at right was shot with the 105 Macro lens at f/2.8 its widest aperture — Click to enlarge.

The reason to get the Nikon 105mm DC lens is for the (De)focus play that it offers and normally you’ll set the defocus to the same aperture you are shooting on. But you don’t have to follow that rule and when you break it, it throws the background or foreground into an even softer or dreamier state. In the set of images above, the left image shows beautiful f/2.0 bokeh with a very sharp headstone and no defocus was used. The middle image was shot at f/2.0 but the rear defocus was set to f/4 which thinned out the zone of sharpness in the foreground in this case and softened the background to an even dreamier state compared to the previous shot. For comparison purposes the shot at right was shot with the 105 Macro lens that has no defocus control. It still shows excellent sharpness in the headstone and lovely bokeh in the background, but it is limited to f/2.8 without defocus control, and so it can’t be as dreamy as the DC 105mm.

Mount Royal Cemetery in Montreal. Rear Defocus used on the Nikon 105mm DC — Click to enlarge

In summary, if you are just starting out in photography and you want an awesome fast portrait lens that also offers macro, the 105mm f/2.8 with VR is probably a better choice for you and it’s 300 dollars cheaper.  If you just love bokeh and experimentation and are a more experienced photographer that rarely uses Macro, you might well want to try the Nikon 105mm f2.0 DC lens.  It’s a one of a kind lens that will retain and go up in value in the future due to its uniqueness. I plan on adding it to my arsenal in the very near future.

I’ve tried a couple of photo accessories recently that I’d like to share with you because they make my life easier.

1 — The S&F deluxe technical belt by Lowepro.

Lowepro S&F deluxe technical belt

My wife picked this up for me recently as a gift and I’m loving it. As mentioned in previous posts and podcasts, I’m a big fan of lens pouches and I use them almost exclusively (versus carrying a camera bag) on most personal photo shoots. Usually I have 3 lenses on me and 2 of them are carried in lens pouches. Until a few weeks ago I simply clipped the pouches onto an actual belt that goes through my jeans. It works well enough but getting into the jean pockets is difficult and my wife felt I looked all dishevelled especially if I needed to wear a jacket. She was right.

I have to say, the technical belt is WAY better than clipping the pouches to a regular pants belt. It is so much more comfortable and you can see the solid back support if offers, it’s a pure joy to wear. Especially when going from shooting to the car, the whole belt comes off in a flash with the pouches firmly secured onto them. If you do need to get into your pants pockets you just slide the belt around. In addition, it looks and feels great when you have to wear a jacket. It might well be my favourite accessory of 2013. It can be purchased immediately at B&H in the USA or at the The Camera Store within about 1 week.

2 - PhotoRepublik Twin Speedlite Holder — This accessory was loaned to me for review by our sponsor The Camera Store and I find it to be an extremely well built accessory. Some of the common gripes people have with flash holding accessories are their overall ‘dinkiness’  and that the actual point of contact between the flash and the holding shoe is flimsy (read risky) and difficult to control. Good new or used flashes are at least 100–600 dollars, why would you want to attach it to a bracket with a flimsy flash shoe holder that looks like it costs less than a nickel. One careless bump into the light stand can snag the bottom part of the flash right off.

This twin flash holder is crazy solid in all respects and operates smoothly. The point of attachment to the flash as well as the whole unit (except the knobs which are still very solid) is made of steel and operates very smoothly to attach to your flash. It feels safe and that will make you feel more secure about the setup. There’s place for an umbrella holder and it tilts from front to back for easier angling of light. It’s a perfect attachment for shooting with an umbrella when when you need more punch than one flash can offer.

PhotoRepublik Twin Speedlite Holder — Comes with a  threaded mounting screw (shown in between the 2 flash holding units)

One of my greatest pet peeves on planet earth is waiting in line. Give me the best restaurant in Paris, New York or Montreal and if I have to wait more than a few minutes, I’d rather pick up a falafel or pizza slice and eat it on the go. Don’t get me wrong, I love good food, but my hate for line-waiting wins over nearly 100% of the time. Needless to say, when I went to the museum last week and saw a line of about forty people I was not happy.  My wife and I surveyed the line. She knows me (and my bad whiny behavior) with lines…so she quickly told me that it was ‘my call’ and that we could leave immediately without consequence. As we (mostly me) were making this decision, the line suddenly started to move rather quickly and a forty person wait turned to a thirty person wait. I bitched a bit but we sucked it up and waited in line.

Here’s my review. Words or pictures can’t do this show justice and I only stayed at the show 60 min. It’s a 10/10 masterpiece that needs to be experienced. Period. So long as you are not colour blind, all I can say is go see it. It’s worth a 30 minute wait. It’s worth a one hour wait which is my max for waiting for absolutely anything non life-threatening. If you are a patient person though, it’s worth waiting all day.

Take your camera because photography is 100% permitted and encouraged. This modern aspect of the exhibition also impressed me because plenty of exhibitions are still in the dark ages with regard to photography. Expect crowds but expect that the wait and bustle will be worth it. Expect to see the work of a Master.

Mantis by David Johndrow

AN: Please introduce yourself. Where do you live and work?

DJ: My name is David Johndrow and I live and work in Austin, Texas.

AN: How did you get into photography?

DJ: I studied photography while getting a film degree at the University of Texas. The first time I saw an image of something that I shot appear in the developer tray I was hooked and decided I wanted to do photography full time. I started doing commercial work after graduating—mostly doing portrait work. I supplemented my income by working as a custom printer in photo labs. I’m glad I had that experience because it forced me to put in a lot of hours in the darkroom. As I got better at making prints that were stronger, I also got better at visualizing my own work. I learned a lot from working with other peoples photographs, both good and bad.

Orb weaver spider by David Johndrow

AN: Tell us about your passion for macro.

DJ: My use of macro came out of combining my obsession with gardening with my interest in photography. For a long time I had no interest in shooting photos in my garden. It was mostly because I didn’t want to do what other photographers have done so well before. But as I spent more and more time outdoors, I started to notice the most sublimely beautiful things going on a very small scale and they looked amazing in the natural light of their own habitat. So, I began experimenting with ways to get up close and still be hand-held. I wanted to be quick and mobile. So I put extension tubes on my regular Hasselblad lens and discovered that although this set-up presented some restrictions (limited ability to focus, lower light gathering power), I liked what I saw. In fact, the forced simplicity of the set-up allowed me to focus more on the image than on the technical aspects of shooting the picture. I used the lens wide open out of necessity because the film I use is relatively slow for the shade light I like. Fortunately, it turned out that the shallow focus worked great at isolating the details of the things I was shooting. Suddenly I would get lost looking through the camera—like entering another world. Ordinary things took on an aura of grandeur and importance. I decided I would treat the subjects in nature as formal portraits and try and make them look iconic and, at the same time, retain their wildness.

AN: What is your inspiration?

DJ: Photographically, my biggest influence is Irving Penn. I love how he can make anything look elegant , from fashion models to tribal people to found objects. I love his high contrast printing style and how graphically strong his compositions are. I also like Edward Weston and Karl Blossfeld. Blossfeld was really good at showing the architecture of nature. Another influence on my art is the botanical artist Ernst Haeckel. I have reproductions of some of his drawings up in my darkroom to inspire me. He really shows the beautifully intricate designs of nature at all scales. Something about his art is wonderfully weird and psychedelic. Besides these photographic and artistic influences, I also need to mention my love of Laurens Van der Post’s stories of the bushmen of the Kalahari and how they revered the small things in nature the most.

Stinkbug by David Johndrow

AN: What do you wish to convey to your viewers?

DJ: I hope that when people look at my photographs, they get a new perspective on the things that are all around us that we sometimes take for granted. We tend to get disassociated from nature and forget what a miracle it is. I am always amazed at the new things I discover out in my garden. Things seem to appear to me as if by magic. I try to capture some of that magic to share with others. It’s a real challenge to depict something that has been photographed so many times. What I’m learning is that the ways of experiencing nature are infinite. I hope people who see my photographs come away with a greater appreciation of the beauty of common things.

AN: Can you tell us about your post processing techniques?

DJ: I like to print my images on silver gelatin, platinum/palladium or gumoil. I let the image dictate what medium I will use to express it. Although I originally capture all of my images on film, I sometimes make enlarged inter-negatives, either with my enlarger or digitally, depending on the image, so that I can make contact prints. By using alternative processes I am able to have a wider range of expression in my printing and a greater chance of the “happy accidents” that I think make photographs unique. I strive for extreme simplicity in my images. Photography, by its nature, is a reduction of information. By removing what is nonessential, images get clearer and more powerful. This is also the reason why I love working in black and white.

AN: Do you have any projects on the go?

DJ: I am now experimenting with simple photograms, bypassing the camera altogether. I’ve gotten so into it that I’ve amassed a large collection of objects that I can print just using sunlight. Of course I still work in my garden with my camera close by and keep my eyes open for the next mystery to present itself.

Toad by David Johndrow

This inter­view and accom­pa­ny­ing images was reprinted with per­mis­sion from Adore Noir.
Adore Noir is a sub­scrip­tion based online pho­tog­ra­phy mag­a­zine spe­cial­iz­ing in awe­some fine art black and white photography.

Every month on our pho­tog­ra­phy forum mem­bers nom­i­nate images that they like. Then at the end of the month I choose an excel­lent image and talk about why it rocks. The photo I choose is not nec­es­sar­ily the best one of the month. I’ve come to real­ize it’s not really log­i­cal to pit images from totally dif­fer­ent gen­res against each other. That’s why there are cat­e­gories in photo con­tests. I just choose a photo that has extremely strong ele­ments that we can learn from.

This month’s choice goes to Hillbillygirl for capturing this image from Rodeo Action

I chose this image for several reasons:

1 — Decisive moment and gesturing — This captured moment is extremely well timed and the captured gestures are superb. Look at the musculature and the angle and stretched out leg of the horse in mid–maneuver — It’s fab. The concentration on the rider is also fab.

2 — Sharpness — The sharpness here is bloody gorgeous and anyone who has tracked moving targets knows it’s not easy. A nice fast shutter speed coupled with precise focusing has frozen an intense moment. Even the kicked-up dirt in the air and on the ground is sharp — love it.

3 — Composition — Composition works really well here with the fence of spectators in the background, The Coors barrel/obstacle on the left and the intense gestures of the central main focal points.

4 — Post processing/exposure — I like the fairly realistic processing in this image with good well controlled tones in the sky and good clarity in the faces of the horse and rider.

For all these reasons, this is my choice for image of the month. Since we all have opinions, some members may disagree with my choice. That’s cool but THIS thread is not the place for debate over my pick, NOR is it the place to further critique the image. The purpose here is to suggest strong elements in the photo that we may learn from.

Congrats again to Hillbillygirl for capturing this fabulous moment!

Rodeo Action by Hillbillygirl — Click to see larger version

This year the theme of the festival is Drone — The automated image and it is guest curated by Paul Wombell. I’ve been going to this festival pretty much since it started and the exhibitions are almost always laden with experimental (less conventional) photography and themes that require reflection. If you’re looking for more conventional photography (beautiful landscapes, still lifes, street photography) you normally won’t find it at this festival.

Although Le mois de la photo is a photography festival, many exhibitions will be video based and some will feature installations. I always find a few exhibitions that I really like and will report back on my faves.  Feel free to check out the exhibitions here.

Untitled Gun Project by Greg Cohen

MK: How did you conceive this project?

GC: The project was inspired by the massacre in Newtown, CT, where I grew up. These families’ entire universe have been turned inside out and if we don’t keep this fervent conversation alive, it’s destined to become another story soon to fade away. The problem is complex, and part of it is that we’re completely desensitized to violence and killing; so I wanted to create images that are difficult to look at. If they’re disturbing, then that’s an emotion worth exploring. If they’re not disturbing, then that’s something to consider even more. Essentially this is a plea from the children… why can’t this violence stop?

Untitled Gun Project by Greg Cohen

MK: Who are these children, are they from the USA?

GC: Yes, all the children live in the US. I reached out to families who were affected emotionally by the event and who wanted to respond in some way.

Untitled Gun Project by Greg Cohen

MK: Are the guns real, where did you get them?

GC: The guns are not real. I am completely against children handling real guns. It’s against the law for kids to drive or smoke, why is it legal for them to play with guns? Frequently I hear about a kid with a gun accidentally shooting someone, and I’m never surprised. Why?  Because kids instinctively like to play, that’s what they do. And they should be playing, but instead we’re living in a world where many children are forced to grow up too fast. It’s tragic.

Untitled Gun Project by Greg Cohen

MK: Did you leave the project Untitled so people could title it for themselves?

GC: I considered a lot of titles for the project, but nothing felt right. They were either too clever and they belittled the gravity of the situation; or they seemed too limited, and cornered people in a given direction. So yes, I want people to run with it however they wish. If an appropriate title came to me, I’d use it, but nothing so far.

Untitled Gun Project by Greg Cohen

MK: How long have you been working on this project and what are its future plans?

GC: The idea to photograph children with guns began a long time ago, but originally it was a very different project and the images I had in mind were more involved. When the murder happened in Newtown, the project became clear, and I felt inspired to simplify the entire thing.

Untitled Gun Project by Greg Cohen

Monsoon by Mitch Dobrowner

AN: Please tell us about your photographic background. What led you to your path of creativity?

MD: I’m pretty much self taught. I worked in New York City for a short time as an assistant for two commercial photographers. After getting in a bunch of trouble and feeling lost in my teens my father slung me an old Argus rangefinder, with his fingers crossed! The first time I shot a roll of film and processed it I fell in love with the art. Then after seeing the images of Ansel Adams and Minor White at the age of twenty, I decided to see the American Southwest for myself. To make a long story short, I left home, quit my jobs, and left my friends and family to see the American Southwest for myself. Over the next four years I traveled cross country seven times, living out of my car, camping in the deserts and showering once in a while in a cheap motel. I was shooting pictures the entire time.

I eventually landed in Los Angeles. I managed to get a solo exhibit for Canon at their gallery on Wilshire Blvd. That exhibit was reviewed in Modern Photography, which was one of two major photography magazines at the time. My mom sent me that magazine recently. It was fun to read.

About a year later I met my wife Wendy, she is an amazing designer. Together we have three children. We also created our own design studio. During that time the tasks of running a business and raising a family took a priority to photography and I stopped taking pictures. Then in early 2005, inspired by my wife, children and friends, I picked up my cameras again.

Today photography is my way to communicate how I feel without words. When I’m out photographing things seem simple again, time slows down and the world around me gets quiet. It’s then that I’m able to focus in a manner that allows me to connect with my imagination. Those moments are how I’ve learned to still my soul; it’s my happy place. It’s about the only times where I’m alone and can hear my heart beating again. So today I see myself on a passionate mission to make up for years of lost time by creating images that help evoke how I see our world.

Shiprock Storm by Mitch Dobrowner

AN: What do you enjoy most about photographing landscapes?

MD: I’m in love with the Southwest. It’s a truly mystical and spiritual place. I find it easy to photograph. I see my work as being portraits of the rocks and their environment. I think you have to love what you decide to shoot. The images need to come from deep inside your heart. For me, I love spending time in that environment, learning about it, seeing in in different lighting and weather conditions. It may sounds strange to some, but I need to talk to the subject when I’m shooting, in my own way and with my own voice. When I get to that place I know things will happen. It’s kind of like walking into a dark room and not being able to see but the more time you spend there the more you can see. It’s then that I just enjoy sitting back and waiting for nature to show me what she’s got. I live for that.

AN: What are your influences?

MD: I love the images of Ansel Adams and Minor White. Besides my family, they provide my photographic inspiration. The first time I saw either of those photographers works I was floored. Their images left a major impact on my life and the direction it would go. Creatively I also have to include the artistic vision of Jimi Hendrix. He was an amazing artist.

AN: How did you become interested in storms?

MD: Prior to the storm series my primary focus was on landscapes, both in the Southwest and urban environments. When shooting them I always found myself seeking out nasty, unstable weather. So I always wondered what it would be like to experience the storm systems in the mid-west. So in the summer of 2009 I said — fuck it, and decided to take a trip out there. I thought that if I could find what I was visualizing in my mind it could lead to the next step in the progression of my work. I also wanted to challenge myself because I wanted to continue to grow in my art and not be seen as the next “color of the month” or “one trick pony.” I wanted to keep pushing, I directed my focus away from the Southwest for a period of time and started working on understanding the science of weather and find an experienced chaser to help me. And I did! His name is Roger Hill.

Bears Claw by Mitch Dobrowner

AN: Knowing the risks involved, what made you want to photograph storms?

MD: My imagination. I kept seeing images in my mind of what photographing a major storm would look like. As I started researching the subject I came to appreciate the science behind finding these large structured super cells. As a landscape photographer it always took skill, and a bit of luck, to be in the right place at the right time. To actively pursue these weather events just seemed like it would be a fun experiment and challenge.

AN: What is your most memorable experience while on a shoot?

MD: Probably my time at Shiprock, New Mexico, though there were others that came in at a close second, like the Valentine Nebraska storm. But Shiprock was very special to me.

I had seen images of Shiprock before, but never the image I had in my mind. Though I hadn’t seen the formation in person, Shiprock touched something deep inside me. I think it was because I knew that it is the spiritual center of the Navajo Nation, or maybe it was because it is the remnant of an ancient volcano. But this combination of history and geology ignited something inside me. So I traveled to the Four Corners area of New Mexico with my family to photograph it.

When I arrived in Farmington, New Mexico, I was totally overwhelmed by my first distant sighting of this otherworldly formation. Over the next ten days I woke up at ungodly hours to drive long distances in order to arrive at first light, and then left after sundown each day in order to catch the last light. I had to drive in the rain, over rocks, mud, snow, and sand. As we arrived in late December, the weather conditions made for moody, atmospheric photographs, it also gave me frozen fingers and toes! I spent the first eight days driving, scouting, and sitting quietly in the area that surrounds Shiprock. It also seemed like the more time I spent in the area, the more I knew that I would need to be patient despite the cold.

On the morning of the eighth day I woke up at 4:30 a.m. and got into my truck in the freezing rain and snow — with a warm cup of coffee. From Farmington, the drive to Shiprock was 50 miles one way. It was snowing, raining, dark, and freezing. The thermometer on my truck read between two and twelve degrees Fahrenheit above zero. For a few minutes I remember thinking I was nuts. As this was the fifth time in eight days that I was making this trip. My mind kept saying, “Why are you going out again when you could have stayed with your family in a warm bed? You’re an idiot. You’re not going to get anything.” But I felt driven, as I wanted to capture the image I had driven eight-hundred miles from California to get.

When I finally arrived at Shiprock that morning it was about 5:45 a.m. The sun was just coming up and the Shiprock was behind a wall of clouds. When I finally stopped and stepped out with my camera and tripod, I sank ankle deep into cold mud. But when I looked up I knew that what was about to happen in front of me was the thing I had come all this way for. For the next three hours I sat in front of Shiprock, not a soul around, it felt like we had a conversation.

My hope is that this image helps communicate what I saw and the humility I felt while
photographing this amazing structure.

AN: Please tell us about your post processing.

MD: I’d say that most of my time is spent in the pre-process stage, not post-processing. That focus makes my post process work flow pretty simple. But one thing that is important is that I stay focused on the total process because it all leads up to the quality of the final print. The way a JPG looks on my website is important but the final print represents my final vision.
I come from a film/wet darkroom background, however, I currently use a digital work flow for specific reasons, the quality of the final product being number one.

My cameras have always felt like an extension of my brain and hands when I’m out shooting. That’s because I spend time learning the tool (ie: camera) inside and out, just as I would if I was a musician playing an instrument. If you wanted to be a great guitar player you’d have to practice and learn every aspect of the guitar, right? I feel the same way about a camera. I’m also not one to buy an expensive camera and put in in auto mode and just shoot away. I trash my cameras, I treat them like paint brushes, it’s just a tool. It’s just something I use to capture a vision.

All my images are captured latent, meaning in camera. Live-view really allows me to use my camera in the same manner I use the ground glass on a view-camera. With live-view I can now see the image in the exact way I am capturing it, in black-and-white, with the camera in black-and-white mode. In the past when shooting film and using a view-camera, I always had to view the image upside down, backwards and red, green or blue (if I used filters).

During printing I perform a normal amount of dodging, burning, brightness and contrast controls on the images in Photoshop. Similar to what I would do in the wet darkroom. I print on Epson 3800 and 9800 printers with cotton rag papers.

AN: Can you give us a bit of a timeline regarding your rise in popularity. How did you go about getting noticed?

MD: It all started by submitting work to LensWork magazine. The first time I saw LensWork I had low expectations for getting published in it. I had only been shooting again for about a year, but I submitted anyway. I never expected to even hear back.

About a month later, I received and email saying I would be published in the next edition and that one of my images Church Rock would be used on the cover. To say the least I was shocked, and I jumped up and down! Since that fist portfolio was published in March of 2007 I’ve been published in LensWork two more times. A total of three times to date.

After that first LensWork edition I was contacted by the John Cleary Gallery in Houston, Texas, asking if I would like to do a solo exhibit. So my first solo show was July 2007. I still remember the email I received from Catherine Couturier, the gallery’s director. It read “we love your work and would like to put on a solo show”. What can ya say — no? That show was really well received, much better then I could have ever imagined! At the time I also had the opportunity to meet the late John Cleary. My wife and I had a wonderful time with him for the four days we spent together. What an honour. Since then I have had a total of three solo exhibits at the gallery.

After the first John Cleary exhibit I was approached by Alex Novak at Vintage/Contemporary Works — and from there things continued to happen. I count myself very lucky.

AN: You have had a lot of success in your photographic career, to what do you attribute this?

MD: I’m not so sure I’ve reached anything yet. The last five years have been really fluid, and I’d like it to stay that way. I’m thrilled that people have reacted to my work, but what is most important to me is to continue concentrating on creating new imagery. I do count myself very lucky to be in the position I’m in today, I believe that my best work is still to come.

Church Rock by Mitch Dobrowner

AN: How did you get involved with 21st Editions for your book?

MD: I was never in a rush to do a book, I always thought that things would happen when the time was right. So I never pushed it thinking that eventually the right opportunity would arise.

Then in mid-2010 I received a call from the publisher of 21st Editions — Steve Albahari. He asked a few questions and before I knew it I found the perfect publishing company to work with. For anyone not familiar with 21st Editions, the books are of the highest calibre, they’re amazing!

Working with 21st Editions has been a dream come true. They are an amazing dedicated, passionate group of craftsman. The books are all hand made and are in perfect tune with me. They are totally sensitive to each detail pertaining to the production of the books and the presentation my work. I’m a very lucky man. The first of the two books comes out in September 2011. The second book is out sometime before the end of 2011. I’m thrilled with they way they’re turning out.

AN: What advice would you give to a young fine art photographer who is dreaming of grandeur?

MD: I’d recommend reading Ansel Adams’ Print, Negative, Camera series of books. For me, it’s my bible. All the methodologies still apply, it was revolutionary thinking.

Today there are so many avenues that photographers can take to get their work shown. Just think of what avenues the master photographers of old had. They had no internet, no e-mail, very few publications, and photography only had a few people that were considered true “artists”. How did they get their imagery out there? It was quite a challenge as compared to what tools we have today. I also remember what Michael Kenna once told me when I first started: “show to everyone and anyone who is interested in your work and if the gods shine down on you, things could happen.”

My only other piece of advice is: no matter what anyone says you should always follow your gut instincts. Don’t care what people think or how they feel about your work. Do what you want to do as it’s Your art. Even if it means breaking away from what everyone else is doing. Don’t follow advice, just do it! That’s all I ever do. Breaking from the pack is a good thing.

AN: Can you tell us about any future projects?

MD: I intend to spend more time photographing storm systems and landscapes, I would eventually like to publish a few more books. I see books as being timeless, something we can leave behind for our kids, grand kids and future generations. I’m really looking forward to getting back to my landscapes project. I miss the Southwest tremendously. Utah, New Mexico and Arizona is where my heart truly is. I can feel my anticipation building as I get set to go back out. It’s a hard feeling to describe so I try to just describe it in my images.

AN: What’s your final say?

MD: The final image is all that is important.

Civilization by Mitch Dobrowner

This inter­view and accom­pa­ny­ing images was reprinted with per­mis­sion from Adore Noir.
Adore Noir is a sub­scrip­tion based online pho­tog­ra­phy mag­a­zine spe­cial­iz­ing in awe­some fine art black and white photography.

Every month on our pho­tog­ra­phy forum mem­bers nom­i­nate images that they like. Then at the end of the month I choose an excel­lent image and talk about why it rocks. The photo I choose is not nec­es­sar­ily the best one of the month. I’ve come to real­ize it’s not really log­i­cal to pit images from totally dif­fer­ent gen­res against each other. That’s why there are cat­e­gories in photo con­tests. I just choose a photo that has extremely strong ele­ments that we can learn from.

Just so it’s clear, the photo I choose is not necessarily the best one of the month. I’ve come to realize it’s not really logical to pit images from totally different genres against each other. That’s why there are categories in photo contests.

My goal is to simply choose an excellent photo and talk about why I think it rocks. This month was another crazy hard month though as the nominations from different genres were of very high quality.

This month’s choice goes to Hillbillygirl  is for capturing Air Time .

Air Time by Hillbillygirl

I chose this image for a few reasons:

1 –Decisive moment and timing — The moment captured is very exciting! The wakeboarder is parallel with the water and yet he looks perfectly calm and concentrated even though he is flying through the air.

2– Composition — I really like the framing here. The frozen wave at the bottom, the spray coming off the wakeboard at top left, the line pulling the wakeboarder at right — it’s all working well. I like that the background has gone medium soft which highlights the wakeboarder so nice aperture choice as well.

3 — Sharpness and high shutter speed — I really like that the eyes are nice and sharp. It’s a testament to good tracking skills and the use of an appropriately high shutter speed to nail this scene. The eyes are sharp enough to see and feel the concentration. The whole body gesture is wonderfully frozen.

For all these reasons, this is my choice for image of the month. Since we all have opinions, some members may disagree with my choice. That’s cool but THIS thread is not the place for debate over my pick, NOR is it the place to further critique the image. The purpose here is to suggest strong elements in the photo that we may learn from.

Congrats Hillbillygirl on this exciting capture!

Photography by Tommy Ingberg

AN: Please introduce yourself. Where do you live?

TI: My name is Tommy Ingberg. I am 32 years old and live in Upplands Väsby, just north of Stockholm, Sweden.

AN: When and how did you get into photography?

TI: I have been preoccupied with photography as long as I can remember. When I was 15 years old I got my first system camera, a Praktica with two lenses. It had no autofocus and the metering did not work. I spent endless hours experimenting and shooting as much film as I could afford. It was then I really decided that I wanted to do photography. I needed a way to express myself, and instead of playing in a band, painting or writing, I chose photography. What followed were several years of intensive photography but it was when I could afford a digital camera that I really started to develop. Thanks to the fact that I could see the result directly in the camera, the whole process of trial and error was speeded up tremendously by not having to wait for the pictures to come back from the lab.

Since then I have tried several areas of photography, portraits, concert photography, street photography, nature photography and everything in between. I can’t tell you why I chose photography, but there is something about it that really speaks to me. Even nowadays I can still feel that excitement when I know that I just captured a great picture, often when something unexpected happens in front of the camera. No matter how well you plan your shoots, there is still an element of chance involved, and I love that about photography.

AN: What sparked your interest in photo montages?

TI: I have always gravitated more towards art photography than documentary photography. When looking back at my old pictures I can see how my current style of imagery slowly but surely matured into what it is today. Subconsciously it’s been there the whole time in terms of lighting and the choice of a motive. During all the years I have photographed I have constantly been looking for my own expression, but it always felt like a piece of the puzzle was missing. It never really“clicked”. The motives I sought simply didn’t exist, at least not in reality. I could not really tell the stories I wanted to with just the camera.

About three years ago I made a series of pictures where I mixed street photography with some editing; such as cropping, selectively blurring parts of the images and adding textures to them. By crossing the line into heavy image editing I was able to tell a coherent story. Encouraged by the result I started experimenting with pure photo-montages and it was then when I allowed the images to really grow beyond the camera that the pieces fell into place, and I could refine my style further. That was a great feeling, to finally find “my” kind of expression.

Photography by Tommy Ingberg

AN: Do you plan your images in advance or is it spontaneous?

TI: For me creativity does not come easy. I can’t just sit around and wait for an idea. It is hard work and a lot of trial and error. Sometimes I can work for weeks and only produce pictures that go straight into the garbage bin, but I know that if I keep working, just keep taking pictures and making montages, I will eventually get a result I am happy with. I have found that if I keep my mind focused on creating it will eventually get the pieces together and produce a good idea for a picture. Often the good ideas appear when I take a break from the creative work and let my subconscious take over. I find this to be a good solution for all kinds of problem solving, not just creative. When I have a solid idea I start working by creating a sketch on paper, photographing the pictures I need, and make a rough first draft on the computer. Sometimes I need to do this a couple of times before I’m happy with it and proceed to make the final composite.

I’ve been photographing digitally long before I started doing montages, and since I never really throw any image files away I have a huge archive of stock images I can use in my montages. Nowadays I also shoot general stock images for use in future montages. When doing a composite, I often combine images from my archive with pictures shot specifically for the montage I’m working on. Typically I shoot my main subjects in a studio with controlled lighting, or if too large to fit in a studio, outside during an overcast day and combine them with pictures from my archive. Even though I do create spontaneous composites out of just images in my photo archive, I find that the results are often better if I shoot with a specific idea in mind.

AN: Tell us about your Reality Rearranged series.

TI: For me, surrealism is about trying to explain something abstract like a feeling or a thought, expressing the subconscious with a picture. The Reality Rearranged series is my first try atdescribing reality through surrealism. During the two and a half years I have worked on the series I have used my own inner life, thoughts and feelings as seeds to my pictures. In that sense the work is very personal, almost like a visual diary. Despite this subjectiveness in the process I hope that the work can engage the viewer in hers or his own terms. I want the viewer to produce their own questions and answers when looking at the pictures, my own interpretations are really irrelevant in this context.

AN: What feelings are you trying to convey to your viewers?

TI: My images cover a wide spectrum of emotions and basic human self-reflection that I think we all deal with. I often have a very specific feeling or thought in mind when I create an image, but I try to get some distance from it before I start working on the image, otherwise I have found that the result gets a little too straight forward and blunt. A bit of distance helps me create calmer images with more subdued emotion and commentary. I feel that an image works best if there is some ambiguity to it. I try to make my images ask questions rather than answering them. I think it is very interesting to hear different people’s interpretations of my images, even if it’s an interpretation I can’t relate to. I think one of the main characteristics of surrealism is that it forces the viewer to think.

Photography by Tommy Ingberg

AN: What inspires you?

TI: That varies. Sometimes it’s a simple object. For instance, I found this really awesome hat that inspired me to make a picture. I saw it a couple of weeks ago and had it in the back of my mind for a while before I developed an idea and today I took it home to photograph it. I read a lot and watch lots of movies and find inspiration in that. Lately I’ve also been trying to read poetry. My main source of inspiration though is music. I always listen to music and could really not imagine life without it. Despite movies, music, books and other external sources of inspiration I still feel that I need inspiration from inside myself, my life and my experiences. I need to have something to say that comes from within; otherwise there is no real point in creating. I would just be re-telling someone else’s story, creating meaningless, empty imagery.

AN: What are your influences?

TI: Since I’ve tried so many types of photography my influences have been many and diverse, from classic photography and arts, rather than from digital art. Early on it was the great masters of photography like Cartier-Bresson, Leiboviz, Erwitt, Brassai and so on — too many to name. I consumed a lot of photography and had new favourites every day. When I started doing photomontages I started to learn more about the great painters and artists from other fields, like Warhol, Picasso, Magritte, Miró and Escher. I have learned a lot by studying greatness in all fields of art including music, photography, painting, poetry or anything else. It is very humbling to look at your own work in that context.
AN: Do you have any current projects on the go?

I am still working on my Reality Rearranged series, and plan to finish it this year. I am also working on a series that I callStranger. With that series I will continue doing surrealism but with more complex stories, and with a more complex style of imagery. I have also tried to mix in more realism, and a different style drawing inspiration from pictorialism. As well I have some ideas and projects in early stages I’m working on.

AN: What is your final say?
TI: Well, I don’t feel I am in a position to give advice to anyone, I am still early in my development as an artist, but if there is anything I’ve learned so far it is that you only have one shot at life, so try to spend as much time as possible doing what you love.

Photography by Tommy Ingberg

This interview and accompanying images was reprinted with permission from Adore Noir.
Adore Noir is a subscription based online photography magazine specializing in awesome fine art black and white photography.

Every month on our pho­tog­ra­phy forum mem­bers nom­i­nate images that they like. Then at the end of the month I choose an excel­lent image and talk about why it rocks. The photo I choose is not nec­es­sar­ily the best one of the month. I’ve come to real­ize it’s not really log­i­cal to pit images from totally dif­fer­ent gen­res against each other. That’s why there are cat­e­gories in photo con­tests. I just choose a photo that has extremely strong ele­ments that we can learn from.

Just so it’s clear, the photo I choose is not necessarily the best one of the month. I’ve come to realize it’s not really logical to pit images from totally different genres against each other. That’s why there are categories in photo contests. 

My goal is to simply choose an excellent photo and talk about why I think it rocks. This month was another crazy hard month though as the nominations from different genres were of very high quality.

This month’s choice is Fostering by Mike Bons Fostering.

Fostering by Mike Bons

I chose this image for a few reasons:

1 — Focal point sharpness and decisive moment — Look at the sharpness on the eye of the baby bird, it’s just gorgeous. The timing is equally gorgeous; the hummingbird’s beak is inside the chick’s mouth and we can see a hint of a bug. The hummingbird’s legs are wonderfully frozen. Mike explains in his post that he used a ‘triggertrap’ to trigger the shutter from yards away and I just love the use of this new technology to help us make better images. I also applaud the dedication to setting this all up and waiting patiently.

2– Composition — Framing here is bang on as is the guiding of our eyes which go right to the chick. I really like the shape of the hummingbird’s blurred wings. I also like the leaves that are included at the opposite side of the frame and the free space around the hummingbird.

3 — Shutter speed — Wonderful choice of high shutter speed to get sharpness like that on the chick and the frozen hummingbird legs. The motion-blurred hummingbird wings add to this image bigtime and are a testament to how fast that little bugger flaps its wings per second.

For all these reasons, this is my choice for image of the month. Since we all have opinions, some members may disagree with my choice. That’s cool but THIS thread is not the place for debate over my pick, NOR is it the place to further critique the image. The purpose here is to suggest strong elements in the photo that we may learn from.

Congrats Mike Bons!

I’ve added a new category to the blog called Montreal art, photography and culture and I’ll use it to cover some of the cooler events in this festival city that I call home. Even if you can’t make it to Montreal’s world class festivals, hopefully this new photography blog category can turn you on to something new.

This week the world famous Montreal International Jazz festival is in town and it features hundreds of world class musical acts and street performances. The Jazz festival is one of the best festivals in our city and I attend almost every year. This year a friend of mine, Montreal Culture Guy Chris ‘Zeke’ hand, invited me to see a 30 piece Chicago Hipster marching band called Mucca Pazza. They were so fab that I saw them twice. Had I had more time I would have gone again.

This band INSTANTLY makes you smile and makes your brain release endorphins. Just try not to smile when you see them, I dare you!  Instead of taking Prozac, just watch Mucca Pazza.

The music is a jazz-based fusion to my ear and is performed extremely well —  in  ‘we do not take ourselves seriously for even a nanosecond’ disco meets the civil war costuming. The choreography is crazy fun as well with cheerleaders literally thrown into the mix. Did I say this is the most fun I’ve had at the  Montreal Jazz fest in years? Well it is!

Mucca Pazza at the Montreal Jazz fest

Mucca Pazza at the Montreal Jazz fest

Mucca Pazza at the Montreal Jazz fest

Mucca Pazza at the Montreal Jazz fest

Mucca Pazza at the Montreal Jazz fest

This year, the winning image called Gaza Burial by Paul Hansen has undergone a lot of controversy. Some are saying that the 2013 World Press photo of the year image is fake, that it is a composite image and should be disqualified. Others are saying that the image is not a composite image but is very manipulated. Another version of the same image has been discovered on Flickr which is only adding to this controversy.

World Press Photo denies that the image is a composite but agrees that it was retouched with respect to both global and local color and tone.

Welcome to the new photographic world where reality is subjectively massaged by the photographer, even in photojournalism. If you think that this should not be the case, in theory I’ll tell you that I agree with you.

I’ll also tell you that clinging to these purist notions gets you nowhere and that the vast majority of quality photographs that I see today, in any and all photography genres have been manipulated in some way.

Even classic photojournalistic images have been manipulated in the past. Tokomo Uemura in her Bath from the Minimata series by Eugene Smith was bleached for example to make the whites whiter. But that was a black and white photograph. The average person does not know how skin tones should render in black and white so these images were more subtle in their manipulation. Way easier to spot unnatural looking colours in colour photojournalism.

Photographers themselves are on the fence about what level of manipulation they feel is acceptable in Photojournalism. Even for World Press Photo the line is grey. According to one of the contest rules which I could NOT find on their site (but is repeated on many other websites),  “content of the image must not be altered. Only retouching which conforms to the currently accepted standards in the industry is allowed”.

And THAT my fellow photo lovers is the problem. “Accepted Industry standards?” Are they for real?  There AREN’T any standards anymore. They vary from news agency to news agency. Remember manipulated O.J. Simpson photos…That was nearly 20 years ago and it’s obviously still going on daily.

In this case, the answer is very very very simple. Clearly write out the standards you expect for your particular contest!!!!

Here are the two images in question. It’s likely obvious to anyone that has been shooting for a while that both of these images were massaged in photoshop. I do not think the image is a composite. But the colours of the faces in particular do not look natural. The lighting does not look natural. It has been massaged to draw attention from one element in the image to another element. Doing this actively guides the viewer’s eye.

I do this type of active guiding all the time (levelling the image, selective dodging and burning etc. ) in 99% of the images I make. I used to do it in the darkroom. It was part of my photography education — it was considered an essential part of creative photography. But I am not a photojournalist.

So what do you think? Was this photo (s) “too” manipulated?

Gaza City Burial by Paul Hansen — Nov 2012 from Hackerfactor.com

Gaza City Burial by Paul Hansen — Feb. 2013 from Hackerfactor.com

But this aperture restriction was different for me and in retrospect I can see why. It depends on what playground you hang out in. If you are mainly a portrait person, you shoot creative portraits wide open; that’s cool and fun…but it’s easier because there is already some guidance with regard to subject matter. But when you go out ‘just to shoot’ and you’ll shoot just about anything that’s visually interesting, then it gets harder.

For some crazy reason I found myself searching for scenes that I felt were worthy of what f/2.8 can do bokeh wise. I was placing this single aspect of the lens above all else and it was tainting my experience of looking for scenes to shoot. It was slowing me down and sucking from the joy of photography for pure pleasure.

So for this reason — I didn’t like this particular aperture restriction exercise even though I DO like the concept of restriction exercises in general. Maybe it’s also because I feel like I should have been able to overcome the restriction more easily. Truth is, I really didn’t feel like I had anything of value on day 1. Then life gets busy and so I took a few days and waited more patiently for scenes where a large aperture seemed more appropriate. Here are a few that I liked. These were all taken near f/2.8 (I say near because I used a couple of different lenses whose largest apertures were near f/2.8).

Vorsky — ISO 200, f/1.8, 1/100

Belle Gueule — Beer Kitteh — ISO 3200, f/2.5, 1/80

Not Recommended — ISO 200, f/2.8, 0.3

Light Trip — Palais Des Congres — Montreal — ISO 200, f/1.8, 1/2500

Past Reflections — ISO 200, F/1.8, 1/200

In Lightroom and Bridge (comes free with Photoshop) this Exif data is easy to find, the default program settings reveal this information clearly.  Not so in Photoshop where it is buried under the file menu (in Windows).

File — File info.… reveals the Exif data for any image you are working on in Photoshop. Click on the Camera Data tab to see the exposure information.

The keyboard short cut (Windows) ALT + SHIFT + CTRL +I does the same thing.
The keyboard short cut (Mac) OPTION + SHIFT + COMMAND +I does the same thing.

How to find exposure or exif data in Photoshop (This is a CS6 windows screenshot)

How to find exposure or exif data in Photoshop (This is a CS5 Mac screenshot)

Heavenly by Michael Orton

Michael has now added many brand new ICM photographs to his galleries and his new work continues to inspire me personally and professionally. What blows me away to the Nth degree is the craftsmanship of these photographs and Michael’s ability to See. Michael has inspired me to such a degree that last year upon his suggestion I started my own project called Impressionistic Cities at Night. Now I’m so addicted that I troll the streets of Montreal hunting for light. But this post is not about me, I only included the last few sentences because I can now personally attest to how difficult it is to get great results using ICM — and  it’s a bloody difficult technique to get good at.

I have been researching and checking out the work of other photographers using ICM and there are many talented artists out there. But to my eye, nobody’s work compares to Michael Orton’s ICM work in terms of impact, colour, consistency and craftsmanship.

Beginning by Michael Orton

I chose 2 photographs of Michael’s to feature in this post and Michael graciously sent me the following information about each of these photographs. Many thanks as always Michael and please keep on shooting!

Beginning by Michael Orton — “Beginning  is a small path thru the woods just below where we live . These are Alder trees and the path is paved and dry with some fallen needles on it . The light was overcast and partial polarizer was applied. I applied what I would describe as a tipping motion with one side of the camera moving less than the other. I followed the line of the dominant tree trunks leaning over the path. Too much motion and the image becomes unrecognizable ( which you know I love to do) and too little and it becomes lets say predictable.”

Heavenly by Michael Orton — “Heavenly is a grove of Almond trees in Southern California. The title pretty much says it  all, literally clouds of blossoms. The trees were laden and the ground was nearly covered. The sky was blue and clear and I knew that the camera sensor would see this blue to a certain degree in the shadows beneath the trees. This  “moment”  was amazing, I felt literally enveloped, as I walked deeper into the orchard. And the scent was, well, heavenly. I used many approaches, and as is often the case I thought of several I didn’t use when we got home and I had time to look at the images. Sometimes if I am overwhelmed by the subject this can happen. I don’t let the feeling of  “a lost image ” persist  though. It becomes “next time it will happen”. So far this has helped me to expand and tune my mindset and develop almost ever-changing responses to the subject matter I encounter. In the grove I used many”.

Pink by Barefoot

This month’s choice is Pink by Barefoot

I chose this image for several reasons:

1 — Composition — The is a very interesting and unusual composition of a gorgeous bird sleeping. I really like the curve all around the bird’s body and where the eye falls in the image. The framing is also interesting here and Barefoot has clearly ‘made this his own’. The pure black background also creates interesting negative space here.

2 — Lighting — The lovely lighting here is soft overall and reveals lovely detail in most of the bird’s plumage. That said, certain areas of the photograph are quite dark but not too dark for my eye. I really like the dramatic aspect of the light in those selective zones.

3 — Post processing — The post processing here is lovely. Making the background go to pure black doesn’t always work but it works very well here to compliment the form of the bird. I dare say that some of the darker areas in the bird’s plumage actually match the background and this works for me. The bird is rendered in desaturated tones that I find very striking and suitable to the subject and mood of the image.

For all these reasons, this is my choice for image of the month. Since we all have opinions, some members may disagree with my choice. That’s cool but THIS thread is not the place for debate over my pick, NOR is it the place to further critique the image. The purpose here is to suggest strong elements in the photo that we may learn from.

Congrats again Barefoot!

Certain filters like the polarizing filter are essential and at the time of this writing, the effect of this filter (which stays on my lens 95% of the time that I shoot outdoors in the day) is best achieved with an actual filter on the lens. Although I have seen digital-effect polarizing filters that you apply when post-processing an image, they suck when compared to the real thing. Darwin and Samantha provide awesomely clear images and explanations as to why this filter is essential, how and when to use it creatively and when not to use it. This filter is so important that a good 20% of the book is devoted to it. This section alone is worth the 10 dollars that they are charging for the e-book.

Two other kinds of essential filters that Darwin and Samantha talk about a great deal are graduated neutral density filters and neutral density filters. The purpose of graduated neutral density filters is to reduce the contrast in a scene (like a clipped sky) because when a scene is too contrasty the camera can not record all the tones even though our eye may see them. The filters are normally made of glass or plastic and are usually shaded at one end and clear at the other end. Neutral density filters are solid coloured and are mainly used to make shutter speeds longer to achieve creative blurring effects. This section of the book also has awesome (filtered and non-filtered for comparison) images and crystal clear explanations on how to use these filters.

The final section of the book is dedicated to additional filters that can add pop to your images as well as talking about technical considerations like colour casts and noise reduction.

This e-book is fab and well worth the ten dollars. The only thing I might debate in this book is calling the neutral grad filters essential. I feel they are essential only in certain very important  cases. They are essential if you want to spend less time in front of your computer post-processing your images, because your images will already have the contrast control built into the exposure. If you are already excellent at the HDR technique, (taking multiple frames of the identical image with different exposures and then blending them in software) then these filters are not essential because you can achieve a similar goal using HDR. That said, even if you know the HDR technique well, graduated neutral density filters are still useful (perhaps even essential) when the scene is contrasty and involves movement.

It may come as no surprise that I highly recommend this 65 page e-book. Darwin and Samantha are veteran photographers and teachers, write super-clearly and their pics really illustrate the creative effect these filters have. This is an easy read with an easy on the eyes design. It’s a great e-book to have with you on your smartphone or tablet for creative inspiration while in the field. It’s also a fab resource when you are thinking about which of these filters to buy.

This book can be purchased directly from Darwin and Sam’s site. 

Male RTH Hummingbird by Mike Bons

This month’s choice is Male RTH Hummingbird Mike Bons

I chose this image for several reasons:

Composition — The composition here is very pleasing. The bird’s eye lines up on right near one of the lines of the thirds which is visually interesting. The plant and the bird are captured on a diagonal which is also visually interesting. Brightness is very well handled here and I find no distractions that bother me.

Colour — What a rich pleasing colour palette used here. The colours of the bird and the flower even seem to match. Reds in the flower might be a hint too bright and oversaturated for me, but I can easily live with it.

Sharpness — I love how sharp the bird is here (especially the eye and the beak) versus the out of focus background, it totally pops.

Exposure/lighting — Again both are well handled. The combination of flash and ambient light is what is freezing the bird in mid-feeding here. I like how the bird is well lit without being ‘over-lit’ by the flash.

For all these reasons, this is my choice for image of the month. Since we all have opinions, some members may disagree with my choice. That’s cool but THIS thread is not the place for debate over my pick, NOR is it the place to further critique the image. The purpose here is to suggest strong elements in the photo that we may learn from.

Congrats again Mike Bons for capturing this little beauty.

Take the following image called Rust for example. It was created by Crashcat from our forum for our monthly assignment called - June 2012 — f16 or smaller– Shooting with a small aperture. Thx Crashcat for the use of this image.

This image was shot at ISO 1600 f/16 at 1/20 using a 105mm lens.
As we can clearly see the depth of field here is shallow and this is because there are two other factors besides the chosen aperture that influence depth of field. These factors include the distance from the object we are photographing and the focal length we use.  As we  approach an object, depth of field diminishes. The longer the lens we use the less depth of field we will have versus using a shorter one.

The image we are looking at is a macro image and so the camera is very close to the object. Had the camera been farther way, we’d see more sharpness from the top of the screw to the bottom of the screw. Not tons more sharpness mind you, but more. The side effect is that the screw wouldn’t have the magnification that it does and would look less ‘close-up’.

Had this lens been wider, we’d also see a small increase in sharpness from the top of the screw to the bottom of the screw, but again the screw’s perspective would seem smaller.

There is no easy answer here. It’s just a matter of practising and knowing what to expect.

For those that are looking for fabulous precision, feel free to use a depth of field calculator which will show you the depth of field you can expect under any shooting condition.

I’m Marko, the owner admin of the Photography.ca website. Normally when I post from the Photography.ca blog it is to publish a podcast, an image of the month or to feature photographs from different photographers. This post though is to invite you to see some new work that I have published on a new personal site called markokulik.com.

One of the reasons I started this new site is because I feel this Photography.ca website is devoted to the photography community at large and not my own personal work. But I have been shooting A LOT of personal work lately and wanted to feature the work in 1 place. In particular, I have been photographing cities at night using intentional camera movement and long exposures. You can see those images in the new gallery called Impressionistic Cities at Night. This is an ongoing project, and I will talk about and post new photos to that gallery regularly. I also intend to upload and talk about older work.

Although I almost never ask for favors.….I have a favor to ask if you enjoy my work. Please go to any page on markokulik.com and enter your email address at the top of any page to subscribe to updates. These updates will talk mainly about the work being produced and I will never sell, trade, share or pimp out your personal information in any way. You can cancel at anytime. Thanks so much in advance and here is a peek at the opening image on the site. Thanks again, Sincerely — Marko Kulik

Carré Jacques Cartier — Montréal by Marko Kulik

The Peace Bridge — At Last! by JAS_Photo

This month’s choice is (click to see the larger version of this image)  The Peace Bridge — At Last! by JAS_Photo

I chose this image for several reasons:

1 — Composition — This is a very strong composition and the bridge itself acts as a fantastic leading line. It guides our eye beautifully into the image. In addition, aside from the shape of the bridge itself, there are also other “mini-shapes” in the bridge itself as well as all around the image. These other mini-shapes add a lot of interest to the image.

2 — Tones and post processing — The bridge itself is selectively coloured in this image and I like that very much in this case. I feel it works and offers a new take on what is likely a heavily photographed piece of infra-structure. For me it suggests ‘something new’ being introduced into a city. The desaturation of the background compliments the bridge and really makes the bridge pop.

3 — Story and perspective — This bridge is still a work in progress and we can see a crane in the background that suggests this. We see the bridge “moving” toward the background which suggests to me something new being introduced to something older. The angle or perspective from which the image was taken was very well chosen to suggest this story.

For all these reasons, this is my choice for image of the month. Since we all have opinions, some members may disagree with my choice. That’s cool but THIS thread is not the place for debate over my pick, NOR is it the place to further critique the image. The purpose here is to suggest strong elements in the photo that we may learn from.

Congrats again JAS_Photo for creating this wonderful image!

Fight Club! by Lizardqing

This month’s choice is (click to see the larger version of this image) Fight Club! by Lizardqing

I chose this image for several reasons:

1 — Timing/Decisive moment. You gotta have a quick trigger finger to catch a moment like this or you will miss it. We’ve all missed fab opportunities like this, or misframed opportunities like this; good on Lizardquing for this fab capture.

2 — Composition — I really like the composition here. It is especially impressive given the speed needed to catch this image. I really like the faun at the right side as well as the position of the trees.

3 — Exposure/lighting/colour — Exposure looks very good here and could easily have been missed given the lighting. Good choice of shutter-speed to keep things fairly sharp but still reveal motion in the deers’ front legs. Lovely colour palette as well. The lighting is wonderful in this image, good on Lizardqing for being there early enough to capture.

For all these reasons, this is my choice for image of the month. Since we all have opinions, some members may disagree with my choice. That’s cool but THIS thread is not the place for debate over my pick, NOR is it the place to further critique the image. The purpose here is to suggest strong elements in the photo that we may learn from.

Congrats again Lizardqing for capturing this wonderful moment!