Some people disagree with our choice to leave Gary Jr. at home by himself, but Elaine and I can’t imagine what could go wrong.
A highpoint in my career…
Not only did I (finally) get a photo featured on Catalog Living, but that’s my son playing the role of Gary Jr.
(Source: plowhearth.com)
A few weeks ago I spent probably too much time fiddling with CSS to add a little delicious.com links widget to the right side of this blog (surely by now I’ve earned one of these). It only shows bookmarks that I have tagged as of interest for this blog and will mostly feature photography and design related sites and pages. I thought I’d give it a little call-out here because, for now, the widget is below the fold on all but the largest screens.
Anyone who has worked with me in the past few years is probably familiar with my assistant, Matt. A while ago, while re-organizing old archives into a Lightroom catalog I got the clever idea to pull out any light-check, stand-in photos featuring Matt and put them together into a photo book as commemorative thank-you. I’m pleased with the results and the book is a fun look back on our work together. The cover worked out especially well. The image is perfect and I was so glad to find a great hand-drawn block font [Cul De Sac].
I don’t have much experience with other on-demand photo book services, but my experience with iPhoto was great. Sure, the template based layout is limited and somewhat inflexible, but the benefit is that I was able to throw this book together pretty quickly. The structure of the iPhoto templates saved me from myself by not letting me noodle around too much with picture boxes and crops, but gave me plenty of options to put together a nice looking layout. Print quality is very good considering that this is an on-demand book. Color and contrast are great and the photos hold up well to all but the closest scrutiny.
(click the image to view a larger version of the background photo)
Yesterday I let myself play a little bit and acted on a self-portrait idea that’s been kicking around in my head for a few months. What was supposed to be a quick setup to test the concept ended up producing a final image.
I first got the idea for this picture when I found and signed up for About.me (an online service that allows users to set up a simple, clean bio page linking to various web sites and services). I really like the simple but flexible formatting template that About.me has created. The variety of profiles featured in their directory demonstrate the possibility of great creative diversity within a limited structure.
Part one, making the picture:
This photo was made by composing a scene with a 4x5 view camera and then using a second camera to photograph the ground glass, composing loosely enough to see the 4x5 camera and some of the out of focus background. The final image is rotated 180 degrees to make the ground glass image upright and as a result the camera appears upside-down.
What you see is the combination of three exposures. For the first two, I draped a black cloth over the space between the two cameras to avoid ambient light contaminating the ground glass image. This is just like the classic image of the photographer ducking under the black cloth behind a big view camera. The first exposure was the main scene lit entirely by strobes. This was necessary because the image projected on the ground glass was far to dim to capture a portrait with ambient light alone - the long exposure would have left me a blurry mess. The second exposure was a longer exposure of the scene to allow the cool late-afternoon window light to burn in a bit. The third exposure was taken without the black cloth and adjusted to properly expose the 4x5 camera body and the surrounding scene. These three shots were easily merged in Photoshop with little other manipulation beyond the usual dodge-and-burn adjustments.
Part two, the concept:
Everything about this photograph relates to the idea of what a successful self-portrait should be and a desire to go beyond an obvious solution. I like to see pictures of people in their creative spaces and wanted to take that approach for my photo.
Right now, for me that place is this corner of my unfinished garage. I made the workbench out of plywood salvaged from some unneeded storage cabinets I took down to free up this space. I do need to insulate and finish the walls so I can use my workshop all year - the winter is too cold and the summer too hot. But I like the character of the rough space and am reluctant to simply hang drywall in there.
I don’t think that just taking a picture of me with a camera would be a successful self-portrait. So much of how I work is about the process of making images so I like that this portrait kind of tells the story of it’s own making, but in a way that I feel is balanced with just being a decent and interesting picture. Plus, I am such a tinkerer and at home in the workshop - and all of that stuff informs my work as a photographer. I like the way the image in the ground glass ended up being bookended by lighting equipment on one side and a drill press on the other. It wasn’t intentional or planned, but it worked out well.
And, yes - working with the view camera made me want to load up some film holders…
A while ago I posted details about my iMac workstation. Just yesterday I found the Aero for the iMac by Tethertools.
Here’s a quick photo comparison:
I should be clear that I do not accuse or suspect Tethertools of copying my idea. I think this is most likely a clear case of form following function and the Tethertools table is born out of an existing product line.
I have been giving serious thought to updating my tabletop to not look like a hardware store hack and selling it on a limited basis. As a result I am interested to see this product on the market. Not much more to say about this — but I do welcome feedback if anyone is interested.
Not bad Mr. Mann, but let me just fix that image a bit for you…
Like this:
Or, maybe this…
I’ll have my egregious vignetting badge in no time.
Appropriatist Keychain
Never understood the appeal of the Giant Fucking Keyring.
It’s like wearing a t-shirt that says, “Let’s both pretend my pecan-sized cocklette is handsome and wide.”
Pecans ain’t wide, beer is good, and sparse images rule.
I really enjoy getting Cook’s Illustrated magazine because they describe in detail the process of trial and error that goes into creating a recipe. That insight about how ingredients work or don’t work doesn’t just apply to the related dish, but lends knowledge and insight that informs so many other meals I will prepare.
Which is why I was so happy to discover Julieanne Kost’s recent, and ongoing series of blog posts about blend modes in Photoshop. Each blog post addresses an individual group of blend modes as they are logically divided in Photoshop’s interface. Without getting too technical, Julieanne does a great job of giving a quick, clear description of what each blend mode is going to do to your pixels — and follows up with a series of images to demonstrate.
I’ve made extensive use of blend modes in the past, but just like a recent Cook’s Illustrated sugar cookie recipe’s description of what baking soda and baking powder each do for a recipe and how they work together will help me far beyond just cookies, Julieanne’s posts will help me work smarter and explore new options down the road.
Good stuff.
Here’s a link to the first post in the series and you can follow Julieanne on Twitter. Be sure to browse the rest of her blog - it’s full of great tips for Photoshop and Lightroom.
Extracted from an email written by Dave Eggers over a decade ago:
The thing is, I really like saying yes. I like new things, projects, plans, getting people together and doing something, trying something, even when it’s corny or stupid. I am not good at saying no. And I do not get along with people who say no. When you die, and it really could be this afternoon, under the same bus wheels I’ll stick my head if need be, you will not be happy about having said no. You will be kicking your ass about all the no’s you’ve said. No to that opportunity, or no to that trip to Nova Scotia or no to that night out, or no to that project or no to that person who wants to be naked with you but you worry about what your friends will say.
No is for wimps. No is for pussies. No is to live small and embittered, cherishing the opportunities you missed because they might have sent the wrong message.
…
What matters is that you do good work. What matters is that you produce things that are true and will stand. What matters is that the Flaming Lips’s new album is ravishing and I’ve listened to it a thousand times already, sometimes for days on end, and it enriches me and makes me want to save people. What matters is that it will stand forever, long after any narrow-hearted curmudgeons have forgotten their appearance on goddamn 90210. What matters is not the perception, nor the fashion, not who’s up and who’s down, but what someone has done and if they meant it. What matters is that you want to see and make and do, on as grand a scale as you want, regardless of what the tiny voices of tiny people say. Do not be critics, you people, I beg you. I was a critic and I wish I could take it all back because it came from a smelly and ignorant place in me, and spoke with a voice that was all rage and envy. Do not dismiss a book until you have written one, and do not dismiss a movie until you have made one, and do not dismiss a person until you have met them. It is a fuckload of work to be open-minded and generous and understanding and forgiving and accepting, but Christ, that is what matters. What matters is saying yes.
This blog has been quiet lately due to a busier than expected summer (whew!). However, today I am packing for an intense 3-day project in western Pennsylvania and will be taking notes for an upcoming post about using the iPad as a photographer’s production tool. Not trying to process photos on it or anything (yet) but expect to use the iPad more as a digital clipboard to keep shot list, layouts, schedules, etc. Because the days will be long and the schedule very tight, I am curious to see if any digital option can prove to be more useful than hardcopy printouts.
More to follow…
Update: I know, I know. It’s been a long time with no follow-up post. With iOS4.2 about to land any day now, I will work with some of the new features and wrap up my experiences in the coming weeks…
