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Rich Burroughs: One of the challenges of working with models is that the best ones are...

Thu, 16 May 2013 23:10:49 -0600

Rich Burroughs: One of the challenges of working with models is that the best ones are...:

One of the challenges of working with models is that the best ones are in demand and you have to give them some reason to want to shoot with you. That may be money, or they might like your work enough to want to make some art together. Or it may be that you can get the images published, or you…

Mike Larremore: Style & Consistency

Fri, 10 May 2013 00:28:46 -0600

Mike Larremore: Style & Consistency:

mikelarremore:

May 2, 2013

Zack S:
Dear Mike,

I know that you use social media more for brand development/name recognition than for individual interaction, but, if you don’t mind, after your critique stream today I did have a question. (If you do mind, then whatever.)

My stuff would very clearly fit…

"I wonder how many photographers now have been scared off making something substantial and topical..."

Thu, 09 May 2013 12:50:55 -0600

“I wonder how many photographers now have been scared off making something substantial and topical because of the agonizing over what it is suitable and not suitable to portray - an agonizing that is almost entirely negative in its outlook. The agonizing should rather be over how something can be portrayed, a positive agonizing that gets the story told to its best effect”

- from Colin Pantall’s blog post, Susan Sontag Scares Photographers

In this recent post Colin makes an interesting point about how we define what might be a suitable way to approach particularly “sensitive” topics. He arrives at this distinction on foot of a remark made by David Goldblatt (seen here in conversation with Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin) to the effect that the expectations of critical writers like Susan Sontag prevent photographers from really engaging with the world. As quoted above, Colin’s interpretation of this notion seems to me the best way of dealing with what is to some extent a reactionary (if not unwarranted) opinion.

Even speaking as an admirer, Sontag’s book on this subject is highly uneven and its influence on how pictures are actually made must be, at best, negligible. But there is little doubt that “engaged” photography can unconsciously reproduce those structures of oppression it nominally seeks to undermine, all without ever coming to fully understand, or even to acknowledge, that they exist. The issue here should be with photography itself and its own history of high-minded voyeurism, which takes any kind of vulnerability as fair game for its predatory gaze, at least when safely insulated by a thick coating of “socially concerned” rhetoric.

Although Goldblatt’s own work is virtually unimpeachable, he is in the minority of photographers who, when dealing with these topics, can claim the moral high-ground; history was on his side. So while there is a sense in which Sontag does go too far in her hand-wringing about this - photography is still possible, after all - to imagine it can also show us a transparent “social reality” is a trap that most photographers seem only too willing to be caught in. Any chance we have to question our own engrained positions (as both viewers and image-makers) should be enthusiastically welcomed.

(via theincoherentlight)

Creating A Successful Photography Portfolio

Sat, 04 May 2013 11:51:28 -0600

Creating A Successful Photography Portfolio:

This week PhotoShelter releasedÂ Creating A Successful Photography Portfolio, a free downloadable PDF filled with information from some of the top marketing consultants and photo editors in the industry.

"There is something arbitrary about the decision making that a photographer engages in. What I mean..."

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 12:08:14 -0600

“

There is something arbitrary about the decision making that a photographer engages in. What I mean by that is this: I can get out of the car and stand by the edge of the highway and take a picture that looks like a totally natural landscape, untouched by the hand of man. I could move back six inches and include the guardrail in the picture and the meaning of the picture changes dramatically. There is a marginal point where I can stand here and it’s one picture or I can stand there and it’s a different picture. And this decision, of what is the meaning of what’s in the rectangle is entirely my decision. It sounds wrong, because I didn’t create the landscape, but that decision so drastically alters the meaning that the weight of the decision becomes very interesting.

The same thing with portraits, facial expressions flow in time, the picture takes the face out of the flow of time. As I’m looking at you, facial expressions are passing by in the time that we’re sitting here, I know that I can take a picture now, or a second later, a half second earlier, and have a different meaning. People could make different judgments, even though those judgments are really not about you, they’re about this image of you.

”

- Stephen Shore (via patrickjoust)

"I’m just interested in good photographs. I’m not a documentarist. I’m not trying to document..."

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 13:03:35 -0600

““I’m just interested in good photographs. I’m not a documentarist. I’m not trying to document anything. It’s more about deciphering and transforming. I make what you might call real-life photographs.””

- Tom Wood (via photographsonthebrain)

"The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera."

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 01:49:25 -0600

“The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.”

- Dorothea Lange (via vcferry)

clientsfromhell: This applies to a lot of freelancer and...

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 00:58:54 -0600

clientsfromhell:

This applies to a lot of freelancer and creative professional work.

"I’m on a public street, this is America, I can take pictures."

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 21:18:36 -0600

““I’m on a public street, this is America, I can take pictures.””

- Can You Take a Photograph Anywhere? - NYTimes.com (via richburroughsphoto)

"It’s time to realize that social-networking sites come with only one guarantee: You’re going to..."

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 19:59:56 -0600

“It’s time to realize that social-networking sites come with only one guarantee: You’re going to spend a lot of time on them—time that you could have spent on your own photography.”

- Jörg Colberg (via Nina Perlman)

: Tips for concert photography? Please share! :)

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 13:09:50 -0600

: Tips for concert photography? Please share! :):

brianvanwyk:

That’s a super broad question. I’ll just focus on exposing for the average gig.

If it’s dark, which is probably will be, bump your ISO as high as you need to - if it’s noisy turn it black and white, throw more grain on, and call it classic. An out of focus or poorly blurred shot is worthless…

"The only problem with all these words is that they are just that. The musings of Susan Sontag make..."

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 18:12:52 -0600

“The only problem with all these words is that they are just that. The musings of Susan Sontag make for a great reference for an essay, but essentially she pulled these words up out of a hat. They required no research or evidence. Similarly all the claims that have been made for photography are just that - words with very little reference to reality, with no evidence to back them up. These pictures are exploitative? Are they? How are they exploitative? In what way, with what outcome? These pictures will raise awareness? Will they? How? Who for? And is that a good thing? And if it is, why is it a good thing?”

- Colin Pantall (via conscientious)

"I do not direct the sitter – the only thing I try is to help him over his fears and inhibitions. I..."

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 20:15:19 -0600

“I do not direct the sitter – the only thing I try is to help him over his fears and inhibitions. I try to capture what I feel reflects something of his inner life. The main goal for me is not to impose my own ideas of the subject, but rather to get at the psychological truth of the subject and present it in a valid form, a graphic form – but I would always sacrifice design for content.”

-
Philippe Halsman - saying about his portraits. , The picture history of photography: From the earliest beginnings to the present day by Peter Pollack , ISBN: 0500271011 , Page: 141

(via shuttergoclick)

Anon: I just started shooting film and really only know digital—What’s the best approach to...

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 01:29:00 -0600

Anon: I just started shooting film and really only know digital—What’s the best approach to scanning photos for a beginner? Should I get negatives and scan those? Or scan the prints? Thanks, man.

Evan Tetreault: the best way to learn (and get the best scan) is to scan the actual negatives. never scan prints unless they’re ones you’ve made in the dark room at at least an 8x10 size (and only if you’re presenting the scans on the web in this case).

"When I ask to photograph someone, it is because I love the way they look and I think I make that..."

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 19:06:15 -0600

“When I ask to photograph someone, it is because I love the way they look and I think I make that clear. I’m paying them a tremendous compliment. What I’m saying is, I want to take you home with me and look at you for the rest of my life. - Amy Arbus - On the question: “How do you get cooperation from your subjects for such wonderful portraits?”

-
Interview with Amy Arbus - Revealing Human Nature Through Portrait Photography.

(via shuttergoclick)

There's No Place Like Your Mouth: So You Wanna Freelance Model Outside of the US

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 13:57:00 -0600

There's No Place Like Your Mouth: So You Wanna Freelance Model Outside of the US:

*This is a informational post for freelance, nude models based on my personal experience. Your trip may vary, but this is what I’ve learned so far.*

So you’re a freelance nudie model like me. Yay! You have a good portfolio and want to branch out and/or travel abroad while trying to make some money at the same time. What do you need to know? I’ll tell you!

First and foremost, try to avoid buying your own ticket if possible. It’s pricey out of pocket (we’re talking around $1000-$1200), and I’m not one for that kind of gamble unless you have at least twice that amount already booked. Which is hard, because you want to buy your ticket many months in advance and most photographers also have busy lives and cannot set a date that far. So. My ticket was paid for by a photographer who approached me about “trade shoot for flight,” It’s tough to have to wait for people to come to you, but I prefer it. I then split the cost of another round trip ticket so that my boyfriend could also come with me. Partially for security purposes (although he did not escort me to shoots), and partially because 3 weeks away would suck.

I don’t know if this was a fluke or what, but traveling from the US (PHL —> Chicago) to England (Heathrow) on a Thursday night meant the flight and the arriving airport were EMPTY. I think it was just our flight coming in, which was amazing. I flew American Airlines out there and they had delicious meals served twice. My flight back to the States was supposed to be with AA, but because of a flight cancellation I took British Airways back which had even better food but was more crowded.

You will be asked at customs where you are staying, so be prepared to have that information. I always say I’m going for personal pleasure or fun, because the majority of the time I will indeed be traveling, site-seeing, and shopping/spending money in their wonderful country (emphasize that point).

London - There’s really no other way to say this. London was AWFUL for booking work. Apparently nude model rates are about half of ours, and if you ask for the standard $100 hour you will be met with a big fat rejection. So. Either you suck it up and work for less, or you do things different. A popular option is a “studio day,” which needs to be booked well in advance and requires you contacting a studio that does them, setting a day, and then local photographers pay a fee to come and shoot you and you get that money at the end of the day. I also recommend joining PureStorm.com, which is the where the majority of the UK photographers network, in addition to posting on ModelMayhem.com. I would recommend joining at least 3 months ahead of time, and listing London as your location, and then stating in your bio that you are a US-based model traveling to the city on X days.

London is also very expensive to get around, and to eat. I stayed outside of the city proper with friends and took the train in which was about £14 roundtrip (roughly $20). I don’t know how much hotels would be be but I gather very expensive. Not many Motel 6s or Super 8s hanging about. (There are national parks in the north of the country, but I can’t speak to those.) On the plus side, the trains are efficient and run late. And the shopping is great (people in London have the best style), as is the general art/museum/culture (they have been a country for, oh, hundreds of years longer than us). Gotta say though, the food is seriously lacking, and in that they conform to the stereotype. No good beer to be found, the cider is the highest alcohol content available if that tells you anything. The meat pastries are good, but the pizza is scary (what was up with that pepperoni???) and the fish & chips take-away I had were bleh. I did have excellent Indian take-away, and the unpasteurized milk & cheese are things I dearly miss.

I took the EuroStar from London to Paris and it was great, very simple, £49.50 per person one way. There was free wifi at St. Pancreas station.

Paris - Much better for work! The French appreciate beauty, nudity, and take their off-work time seriously. I booked a bunch of shoots just using MM, both in Paris and in Toulon. Downtown Paris is obviously expensive, but I found what must have been the cheapest hotel in the world right outside the city in Villepante/Parc de Expositions near CDG airport called the Premiere Classe. For 3 people (they had a 3 bed room, go figure) it was $400 for 9 nights. It may not be as much of a steal if you are traveling alone, but it’s worth looking into. There is a free breakfast that is decent, and the wifi is free. Drawbacks are the TINY bathroom, which seriously had a shower the size of an airline bathroom, the large & unwashed family hanging out in the lobby for days, the fact that the metro/RER stops running here after 11pm, and it’s in basically an office park with no food around. The one place to get food is the Speed Rabbit, and let me tell you the French understand pizza even less than the English. Those flavors just did NOT belong together.

The metro is however much cheaper and French people do love to tell you how to avoid paying (jumping turnstiles, going through the one-way gates after a certain hour). The bus system is also excellent, and when the metro stopped running to our hotel after 11 we were able to get on one at the last stop that took us right back to our hotel. For step-by-step directions to and from shoots, use http://ratp.fr/. There is an English version of the site and I would look up everywhere I needed to go in the morning, then put it in the calendar in my phone so I could refer to it as need. You can buy the Paris Visite Zone 1-5, 3 day or 7 day ticket but they only work from certain days to certain days, NOT 3 or 7 days from when you buy it. It is best for commuters. So I just bought two, one way Ile-de-France tickets each day and it was just as good and ultimately cheaper.

For traveling between cities, I used the fast TGV trains (http://www.sncf.com/). Note on these: you need to PRINT OUT A PAPER TICKET to get on. So you’ll need access to a printer or buy it there. Having it on phone/email does not work as they need to scan it. Also, double check what city you’re going to! There are 3 train stations in Paris and they do not all go to the same cities. Example: Gare de Lyon goes to Toulon, whereas Gare de Montparnasse goes to Toulouse.

Berlin - I tried to book work there via MM, but only got one bite so I decided to skip it. I’ve heard nothing but great things about the art and youth there, and apparently it would have been the cheapest of the cities to stay in, but I couldn’t find a cheap Ryan air flight there when I needed, or a cheap train. http://www.ryanair.com/en is the best way to get in between European cities for cheap, but you do have to pay lots of little fees like checked bags etc.

Australia - TBA, I’m traveling there (hopefully) next March! What I have learned so far is that there is LOTS of work to be had, especially glamor and art nude work, but pretty much no one will buy you a ticket ahead of time. Which makes sense since the cheapest ones I can find on any website will run you $1800-$2000 each roundtrip. So it is one where I’ll eventually have to bite the bullet and buy it myself, then hustle my butt off to book as much as possible. Note that their seasons are the opposite of ours, and that the country is large so the weather varies in each part. The best times to go are February and March, when it’s still warm but hasn’t turned into rain yet (April). I would be focusing on the eastern coast, mainly Sydney and Melbourne (with a flight in between), and hopefully staying with friends in both places. Not sure about car rental, but I think that is something that I will have to invest in unless I can do a “trade shooting for driving my ass around” deal. The best site for networking there is AusModels.com

Brussels - TBA, I’m traveling there this summer!

Notes about money, currency & exchanging. I went through the trouble of converting my rates into all the local currencies when I posted about my trip on ModelMayhem and when emailing. I shouldn’t have bothered. If at all possible, have photographers pay you in USD (or via a card reader like Square if you have it and an iPhone) because you will get FUCKED on the exchange rate fee coming back and will lose serious cash. You will have to convert some money while you are there for cash-only businesses, but my advice is to pay for everything you can with a card. NOTE that you MUST call your bank and tell them where you will be traveling and when so that they don’t freeze your card thinking it’s been stolen. Also, make sure the merchants you buy from charge you in the local currency or else you’ll get fucked over by having to pay for the item twice- once in local, once in USD.

Notes about phones and communication. I have an iPhone, and there’s this amazing little app called Line2 that gives you a second number (of your choosing!) as well as the ability to text message for $9.99 a month. You can call, text etc. anywhere in the world without using any of your data plan AND while your phone is one airplane mode (which it would have to be if you don’t want to get the most ridiculous AT&T charges). The only catch is that it only works via wireless. So if you’re in your hotel that has free wifi, it’s perfect for calling home and setting up shoots. If, however, you are stuck in the wrong Mediterranean city and have no way of contacting the photographer to let them know this and you have to beg a local hotel to use their internet connection (true story), you realize that this is a flawed plan. Especially since the supposed “oh everywhere in Europe has free/easy wifi” is a myth. So next time I go abroad I plan to get a prepaid phone once I’m there and just use that. I’ll update after I’ve tried that.

Cold Weather Pictures: How to Use Your Camera in Cold Weather (NYIP)

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 01:27:00 -0600

Cold Weather Pictures: How to Use Your Camera in Cold Weather (NYIP):

via The New York Institute of Photography:

‘Tis the season, and we’re getting lots of letters from NYI students and other Northern Hemisphere Web visitors about taking cold weather pictures, particularly since a good portion of the U.S. is currently under a deep freeze. There are lots of great photo opportunities out there whether your idea of a good time is ice fishing, snow shoeing or just plain walking in the winter wonderland. You just need to get out there and follow a few important winter photo tips.

The letters we get reveal that the proper steps for winter camera protection are often confused in people’s minds. Here’s an e-mail we got recently from a photographer in Ontario, Canada, that is typical: “I am happily snapping away, but having a bit of a problem keeping my camera warm and unfrozen in our cold, blustery weather. If I carry it bundled under my coat, should I keep it in a plastic bag (I read about this somewhere) to prevent condensation? Any other suggestions for camera protection?”

Okay. You asked. Here are the facts and the answers to all the basic camera tips regarding cold weather.

You Press the Button. Kodak Used to Do the Rest. - Technology Review

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:55:40 -0600

You Press the Button. Kodak Used to Do the Rest. - Technology Review:

Kodak in many ways led early development in digital photography. The company introduced the first megapixel sensor in 1986, and the QuickTake camera launched by Apple in 1994 had to a large extent been developed by Kodak. It looked like a pair of binoculars, stored 32 photos, and could be connected to a personal computer.

…

But the industry landscape was completely different in the digital era. Barriers to entry were significantly lowered and the industry was flooded by entrants with a background in consumer electronics, such as Casio, Samsung, and Hewlett-Packard, not to mention Japanese camera manufacturers including Canon, Nikon, and Olympus. Large parts of Kodak’s competence base related to chemistry and film manufacturing were rendered obsolete. The vertical integration that had previously been a core asset to Kodak lost its value. Digital cameras became a commodity business with low margins. The problem facing Kodak wasn’t just that film profits had died but that those revenues could not be replaced.

Exploring the Forgotten

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:04:34 -0600

Exploring the Forgotten:

There’s something about a forgotten space that holds a definite appeal for many people, be it the look into the lives of those who have gone before us, the raw emotion evoked by an abandoned locale, or simply just the thrill of the forbidden, of being somewhere one really should not be.

Anon: how do you edit around flash lit photos? and how do you shoot in the sunlight - thanks! Brian...

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 16:05:00 -0600

Anon: how do you edit around flash lit photos? and how do you shoot in the sunlight - thanks!

Brian Van Wyk: You shouldn’t try to edit around things. A good edit starts with a solid exposure. Make sure you bounce the flash off of walls, or ceilings… or a bounce card if needs be… If you have no options… at least try to muffle it with a milk bottle or a napkin.. or anything.. Anything at all.. The “Deer in Headlights” look should be reserved for American Apparel models and antelope. As for the sun, try putting them in the shade. If you’re going to have hard shadows in the face - embrace it. Nothing should look like a mistake. You have “full control” over how you light your pictures.