Spiderman Gives Good Photo

September 22, 2011 | Filed Under Photojournalism, Photos | Leave a Comment 

The great thing about Spiderman is that as Peter Parker he makes a living as a news photographer so he knows what photographers need. A local radio dude strikes an action pose for photographer Jesse Hlady.

Self Portraits

November 29, 2010 | Filed Under Photography, Portrait, Self portrait | Leave a Comment 

I’m a sucker for self-portraits. I like taking them and I like looking at them so I had to take a peek when I saw the Globe and  Mail was running a Share Your Self Portrait page. I kind of like the smily face finger image. If you really want to want to spend some time looking at self-portraits check out the many pages of images in the Flickr self portrait pool. You can see some pro photographer’s self portraits here at Listicles, not to mention other weird stuff. Google will supply you with nearly 6000 self portraits although not all are photography. Gizmodo has some pretty cool examples from the 168 readers who sent in images. Wikipedia will give you all the history and background you need on self portraits. Wikipedia also told me that Bob Dylan made an album called Self Portrait. If you want to get kind of creeped out, look at these photoshopped self portraits at Speckyboy. Last, and as always, certainly not least quickly check out the 638 Magnum photographers’ self portraits.

Criticism, Photo Fairs and Memory

November 16, 2010 | Filed Under From the Newspapers | Leave a Comment 

The Guardian has an excellent article by Sean O”Hagan on the work of Susie Linfield who writes about how photography receives a different kind of critical coverage from other arts, especially contemporary reportage photography.

Spring in Paris? For photographers it might be fall in Paris. The NY Times has a couple of articles on the Paris Photo Fair and an offshoot Mois de la Photo Off.

The Province has an interview with David Campion about his work ‘Memory And The Valley’ being shown during The Memory Festival.

It’s Not a Mistake If You Meant To Make It

October 26, 2010 | Filed Under Blog, Photography | Leave a Comment 

Atlanta based photographer Zack Arias had a recent blog post called Imperfect Work: Blowing it on Purpose with samples of work that was technically off but worked for the assignment he was working on. He showed images that were blurred, out of focus, had unusual focus or awkward posing.

They were all ‘wrong’ but they worked for shoot in question.

The one thing the photos are not, is mistakes.

The photographer made deliberate choices to create the an effect even if traditionally that effect has been considered an error.

It’s an important distinction to make especially for beginning photographers. You have to learn the rules before you can break them properly.

When marking students papers I’d often come across a photo that was tilted, out of focus or blurred. The out of focus or blur was usually just sloppy photography. The tilted frames though were often deliberate. The tilt usually added nothing to the image, was usually inappropriate for the assignment.  When asked why they had shot the assignment that way the most common answer was that they thought it made the photograph more interesting but they weren’t able to answer why that was so or how the tilt enhanced the image. The reality was they had seen where a photo had been tilted for an effect and it struck them as an easy solution to photographic challenge. Instead of finding a better location, pose  or lens they simply tilted the camera and there it was, an interesting photo.

It wasn’t though. It was still a failure, but now it was a tilted failure.

It’s easy to look through magazines, blogs and websites and to see lots of examples of blurred, out of focus, grainy, distorted imagery that is stunning but there is an equal amount that is just lazy or unskilled photography.

Photographers need to know not only how to create effects or looks, they need to know when they are critical for the image or assignment in question and then apply them.

Make sure when you make an error, it’s not a mistake.

I Only Miss The Photographs I Didn’t Take

October 24, 2010 | Filed Under Blog, Featured, Photography | Leave a Comment 

I think a lot about the images I didn’t take.

I’m not talking  about the images that you were unable to capture because you messed up, your exposure was off, you had the wrong lens on the camera, that sort of thing.

I’m talking about the perfect image you see in front of you as you’re rushing to the airport or another assignment that you’re late for. That perfect sun lit sky that has disappeared by the time you find a parking spot.

The other morning I was driving to work and as I stopped for a red light, took a good look at the vehicle in front of me. It was a beat up old Chevrolet pick up truck with a cowboy hat wearing driver. The driver was perfectly silhouetted through the back window by the rapidly lighting morning sky (dark blue with hints of orange). My headlights illuminated the lettering on the back tailgate without taking away from the glowing red tail lights. I saw it all, a perfect, for lack of a better description National Geographic photo, all saturated colour. It was there for a few seconds and then the light changed and we all moved on

At the next light the truck was still in front of me but the cowboy silhouette was now marred by trees in the background. I was stopped at a slightly different angle so my lights didn’t pick out the Chevrolet letters on the tail gate the same way.

That perfect picture was gone, captured only in memory, and replaced in reality by ordinary morning rush hour traffic.

Upcoming Exhibition at the JEM Gallery

September 5, 2010 | Filed Under Exhibition, Featured | 1 Comment 

I have an exhibition of photographs that document the beginning of the Vancouver punk rock world that opens next Friday September 10, 2010 at the JEM Gallery (#36 – 22 East Cordova Street)  in Vancouver. Please drop by and have a look. It’s All Just Part Of The Noise, The Birth of Vancouver Punk runs until October 3rd.

Thanks to Carola Goetze for extending the invitation to exhibit at her gallery.

Many thanks to Tony Bardach for the use of his song lyric  “It’s All Just Part Of The Noise”  in the show’s title.  For me it encapsulates a lot about that era, in that we all were there, creating, playing, listening, photographing,  simply because we liked the music. We were all just part of the noise.

Seattle Art Museum

August 22, 2010 | Filed Under Exhibition | Leave a Comment 

It’s always great to see an actual print, even if it is behind glass, that you’ve only seen as a reproduction before. This Garry Winogrand image of Diane Arbus is currently hanging at the Seattle Art Museum (SAM).  Also on exhibition were a couple of Arbus prints, a collection of Imogen Cunningham prints and an exhibition of Andy Warhol photographs. Thanks to the SAM employee who snapped this for me.

Cherry Blossoms and Residential Parking Only

March 21, 2010 | Filed Under Personal Project | Leave a Comment 

Spring is here with cherry trees in full bloom and boats still parked in yards and not out on the water.

Happy New Year 2010

January 1, 2010 | Filed Under Personal Project, Photography, Photos | Leave a Comment 

Who knows what surprises the new year will bring?

Bev Davies – 13 Photographs of DOA – Exhibition & Calendar

December 29, 2009 | Filed Under Music, Photography | 1 Comment 

The opening reception for Bev Davies’ latest exhibition and calendar will be at Vancouver’s Jem Cordova gallery (#36-22 East Cordova Street) on January 2, 1PM-5Pm. Show runs until January 13.

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