Lately I’ve been looking at things a little differently. I’ve been making some more abstract images of late. This is from a waterfall in Forest Mills, Ontario.We went driving all over the countryside and found this place.
Photo of the Week #193
There is something happening among photographers that I can’t understand. There seems to be a feeling of competition among some people and I don’t see how it is productive. In the concert photography world, I have crossed paths with people who actually treat other photographers in negative ways. I saw a performer wear a T-shirt that read, “Ego Kills Talent” and for the most part, I would agree.
I have heard photographers speak negatively of other photographers, I have also been refused advice because the person felt he shouldn’t advise me for free. I was recently told by a female photographer about her experiences dealing with men in the concert photography world.
All of this stuff is extremely disappointing. I think that we all should work together, celebrate each other’s good fortune and share knowledge openly. And it shouldn’t even have to be said, but there should be no issues with women in the field, that is just wrong.
I’m not saying this is the norm, most people I have worked with are totally great people, it’s like everything else though. Good and bad exist everywhere.
Photo of the Week #192
Haven’t posted a music shot in some time. This is Nita Strauss, from Alice Cooper’s band. This is where shooting a band more than once helps me. I get to know who to watch and what to watch for. I love this shot, I put it into my portfolio.
Photo of the Week #191 - A New Toy
Everyone likes new gear, right? I’m not one to lust after the newest camera body at all, I’m pretty happy with what I have. New bodies brag up all their new features but the truth is that other than better high ISO capabilities, they are currently catering more to the video crowd. Both my bodies are working well for me. That said, how about lenses? Lenses are a bit more specialized, they are the key piece of gear that go the furthest to help you get the shots you’re looking for. All my lenses are pro level lenses, f2.8 or faster because that’s what I needed for shooting weddings, then live music. It would be hard to shoot music with anything other than a 2.8 lens in anything other than the best lighting. Sometimes in concert photography, you are shooting from FOH, (The sound board) usually located at the rear of the venue, far removed from the photo pit. I’ve made do with a 70-200/2.8 and a rather large crop up to now but the other day, I pulled the trigger on a new toy. The Nikon AF-S 200-5— ED VR and I don’t think I’ve ever been more pleased with a new lens. It is sharp, scary sharp in fact. This photo of the woodpecker below is at 500mm but what I’m also impressed with is that it’s only 1/125th of a second. The VR is so good in this lens, I can shoot that slow at 500mm and get a tack sharp subject. The rule of thumb dictates that for that focal length, I really should have been at a minimum of 1/500th of a second to achieve a sharp shot. I am extremely impressed that a lens of this ilk can still be hand-held. It is a workout to carry it around but considering the specialized work this lens will be doing, I won’t be too bothered about that.
Photo of the Week #190
Competition in photography is a much debated topic. Some people like it and others don’t. The image above is heavily processed and entered in the “Creative Experimental” catagory in our club comp. In this image, I isolated the woman on her own layer. There was actually a friend walking with her but I removed her to make it look more lonely. I then did my blurring of the beach and water, then replaced the woman with composition in mind and I made her shadow for more realism. Lastly, I took the image back to Lightroom for finishing contrast and colour adjustments. In total, I’m guessing maybe two hours of work.
Below is a judge’s comment that I received on this image.
“the empty space, the soft colors and lone figure to show perspective is really well done. a very moody image that is nicely composed. this category though requires more experimental work than just blurring lines or panning a camera for higher scoring.”
At first, I was confused, how could this judge not recognize the work that I’d done? The reality though is that I still got 24 out of a possible 30 as a mark…….not too bad at all really. The bottom line is that I do my art for me first. If others like what I do, of course it makes me feel good but if you do something creative to please others, you will often lose interest in it eventually. I love this image and I put a lot of thought into it so that’s the most important thing to me.