Doorway to my Dad

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. I know better...I'm a photographer..it's worth a lifetime. My father passed on recently. We were very close, having spent most of my life by him. We had walked a long way on this plane and at times I still feel his presence from another one. When it came time to place his ashes in the niche, I tried to find things to say about him that would talk about his life and what he really meant to me. Never really being at a loss for words, I couldn't find enough of them.

Looking through the many photo albums both sides of my family collected, I embarked on a journey taking me through many lifetimes, a century's worth. Some photos were high end studio portraits, individuals whose ghost remained on paper to introduce themselves to those who hadn't yet arrived ; families that would later through fate and happenstance come together and give reason to how and why  we're here; events that serve as ear markers to fill the spaces left behind in the dust of life; memories on paper, for those who forgot and  needed moments refreshed , and those who would yet come to see who came before them.

For me it was a moment refreshed , that I had completely forgotten about, buried deep by all the moments gathered after that. It sat there held by corners, framed, a frozen piece of time, a magical doorway that opened to a massive garden kept in the same condition as the day we left it and I now returned as time traveler. I sat a long time staring at it remembering that day, the things we did, where we lived, even how I felt. It was a defining moment, standing as the sum total of what my father meant to me.. the man who stood by my side all of my life and still does now,  though thick and thin, no matter what, a buddy, a sponsor, a guide...a hero.

I photographed a whole lot of people in this career and still do, paying proper attention to the world behind and in front of the camera. Behind, I am conductor, producer, director...witness. In front, I am the object or part of a moment. From behind I deliver results and walk away leaving the product of our trade and move on to the next. My judgment of my work is based by my professional standards, not by my personal emotions... but that is where the real impact of photography lies, not how I did it nor what it might mean to me but what it means to another.

Pictures say more than words. They have a life of their own superseding the ones who took them. They are keys to doorways of time spent making those who create them its locksmiths. Inside they speak. This one did to me..It spoke for all good dads, what they really mean to us who were lucky enough to have and have had them.  It now sits next to my dad, my hero, and in my heart.       

Publishing Your Own Photo Book

So  you want to publish your own photo book and you're looking at all those self publishing companies online...now what?

To start off...  color balance your monitor with a device like Spyder. There are many to pick from if you Google search it or go to a good photo dealer.I use one from Monico.  Collect your images into one folder. Gather more than you intend to use because often some images will work better with others once you see them laid out, as well as some present better as a collection of 2-4 on a page. Most printers base their price on 20 single side pages, but rest assured once you get going you will pass that amount.

Next, import the folder into a program like Light Room, or Aperture making any adjustments to them like converting into B&W. Sepias or shifting to a warmer color balance, helpful if you are trying to keep a uniform look to all of your book. Don't forget imbedding Metadata with all your info including notice of copyright. Make your images larger to start with, in case you might want to bump up the size of your book later on. I use  300ppi jpeg, maximum quality 10, 9x12 inches or 12 inches on the longest side... and assign them an sRGB profile.

If after you assign sRGB profile to what was your RGB originals and they seem a little flatter in contrast or color, here's a trick I do... In general I assign all my images with RGB profiles tweaking them to to where I want them in Photoshop or LightRoom . If later I need to re-assign them with an sRGB profile, as we need to do here, I first make a duplicate from the original keeping the original open. I then assign an sRGB to the dupe, and compare it to its original and correct it to match.

RGB Profile original

sRGB Copy..uncorrected.
If you're not sure what you have..look at the top of your image where the numbers are and go to the right..if it says sRGB, you're fine,,if it say RGB then this trick is for you.To convert it in PhotoShop go to edit/assign profile, click Working RGB: sRGB IEC61966-2.1( which is really just sRGB ) and save.

Most companies have offer their  free program, a drag and drop with various layouts. For a better crop or anything special you may want to fill on the page, it is better to create the size of the page in PhotoShop, via New Document, then add your image or images to that  document, flatten layers, save as mentioned above, making sure that is is still sRGB and dragging it into the book page as a full page.  

I used the same images for all four..Mac Book...A&I...My Pubisher...Blurb.
Well here's my opinion based on my experiences.

http://fine-art-photographers.blogspot.com/2010/09/self-publishing-photo-books.html
http://fine-art-photographers.blogspot.com/2010/10/dreamstates.html#comments

The "decisive moment"..when you find it and when it finds you

There are times when you're drawn to an image in the making. Searching to find it is one thing. Stopping to see it is another. Waiting to feel it is something different. Being there long enough is everything.

I love getting back to my roots in photography and for me that's film..B& W, and with a larger format than 35mm...this case my Blad...man do I love that camera for this. Something about looking down into that square. I once read from another photographer , can't remember who though. He said that a square somehow makes the statement that a photographer was here and deliberately made this frame , as is. For me it's a Zen moment, much needed in the world of pixels and workflows.

So here I was with a group of all kinds of photographers simply loving to do what they do. They chose the Gold Coast Train Museum in Miami,Fl to spend the day. MMM..still lifes=Blad!! Somewhere along the way, I stepped back into a time when train travel was prevalent. I remembered when I was a child living in New York and leaving for Tampa,Fl. by train to visit my grandmother, a 24 hour ride clickedy-clackedy all the way, basically sitting up..ah a time to relax between each screeching stop at the next major station.."those were the days" right?  ok so all aboard!!  

I spent a few hours shooting the exteriors of the trains deep in my Blad and into a time gone by. Somewhere during the day,needing a sun break, I stepped inside a car and back to my childhood sitting in one of those seats..summer vacation,out of the city,.. I set up the Blad on the tripod and took my time framing the scene, I thought I found the right moment..As I bent down to focus an older gentlemen came in tapping his cane..followed by his younger granddaughter..She sat down to duck..he asked..
" Am I in the picture?" I raised my head slowly, as though to receive communion ..."You are the picture" .. I asked his granddaughter to come forward ( out of the frame ) and asked the gentleman to just stay where he was and remember his travels in this car, typical of many others from that era, he did... and strike a pose, cane in hand . He was off to a time past and I was on my way back to visiting Tampa at 5 years old again..CaChunk..CaChunk...two frames, back to reality from a moment in time.

There are many moments that we find when we take the time to connect and once in while if we just take a little more time, a better moment finds us. It's an afterglow that we don't see, in this hurried world, unless we stay in the moment long enough to see it. While it doesn't always happen, when it does...like a matador's "moment of truth" you know it and it becomes yours.  

for more train images click here

How do 4 photographers say goodbye to 2009

Go shooting...

Above, Matthew Pace, Sam Notarbartolo,

Paul Morris, Robert Klemm. (photo.Paul Morris)

The dawn of a new year in a familiar place..The Florida Everglades.

Often called the River of Grass, and you will quickly know why when you are hiking in it,offers unique opportunities once you see from the inside and not from the road. The sights,sounds and smells add to the sky show while an untouched nature plays the lead.

What better place is there than to be surrounded by nature reminding us that it is a perfect world..we screw it up, but it always prevails,always. Seen on the left is Robert Klemm, shooting with his 4x5...YES
FILM!

To the right..Paul Morris..mmm is that FILM?

Left again..Sam Notarbartolo..OK digital..always one in the group.

Yours truly above,center I know I couldn't make up my mind...I like it all!!
(photo..Robert Klemm)..

Now onto the new year with a fresh start and vision....

Large Format..and the circle of Photo Life

They say life is a circle.For me it is a rectangle and a square.

I started with View Camera a very misunderstood item at the time and full of mishaps for me. It scared me.It was unsurmountable. It was in fact "OLD FASHIONED " and I was a hip photographer who wanted to be like the guy in "Blow-Up" a very cool flick.So on the shelf it went and 35mm entered my life.

When I first cranked my Nikon, I learned how to blister my thumb on the lightning speed of film advancing...a crank at a time.It became a dance with subjects and put me into a rhythm that somehow became part of the picture process.Every third crank or so, I would lower the camera while cranking to take another "two eyed" look and come back to the viewfinder with a fresher eye.

As I progressed and graduated to the Hasselblad..(AHHH)..I still love to hold it and appreciate how dam well it was made... I wound instead of cranked and more often had to look up to get the "two eyed" view before firing the shutter. Twelve exposures and it was time to change backs or reload and take advantage of a time to think..or panic, like "crap I forgot to advance to #1" or " Is this really a model?" and sometimes," do I really belong here???"


Then motors came in to my budget and wow look at me now, whirrrrrr...cachunk-cachunk..




Finally Digital came and larger cards and man the camera never leaves my one eye..I became like the Borg on Star Trek...attached to a device seeing the world in ones and zeros and moving through it with great speed. I started to fill drives adn spend endless time and money worrying how to save it all much less how to process it as well,now and God forbid, the future.

Dizzy from the spinning wheel of technology, I stepped off the merry-go-round to try and see the world stand still for a moment in hopes that my vision would clear...and I turned to an old adversary from the shelf who with age mellowed out for me...the 4x5.Its discipline has no forgiveness unless you can convince viewers that this is the new movement in the art world and you are its leader.

Under the dark cloth your view of the world becomes private, an intimate place where no one really knows what you are looking at.It becomes a space for study and second thought.Its methodical movements become a Zen experience once mastered, if that's possible, actually enjoyed, like fly fishing, and art of execution.It is a deliberate choice of view with a rewarding image that often needs no editing, and the best part is, for a future back-up....shoot an extra frame.

There is also something to be said about filing the sheets as well,holding them and viewing them..like a jeweler with his loupe..a time for thinking,admiring,relishing if you will and looking forward to the next.

Now I'm no fool...for most of my commercial work especially these days,nothing beats a digital and I DO USE ONE and like it, but lately I am returning to where I started and feel more like a photographer than a Borg and I'm meeting many others who are feeling the same. For some it's a discovery; for others it's a circle.

Tale of Two Lenses part2/Dilemma...

Besides adding to my series "DreamStates" I wanted to find an image that would go well in my new living room, this time leaning on my 24mm 1.4L Canon lense but still bringing my LensBaby along. As usual, I am once again caught between the difference in feel of each, and adding to that, as the image progressed, a new dilemma emerges,(reminds me of the darkroom days of endless printing variations!!)

Here on the let is the original view, 24mm 1.4L Canon, not much correction via Lightroom, my favorite program. Shot raw as all the images I capture..why?...so I can add more to my dilemma as time goes on.


This next one on the left was shot with the LensBaby, which makes up the bulk of my series and I am addicted to like a great drug, only a lot cheaper.
The only technical thing I can tell you is that I use the ring with the medium sized circle in it and bend the tube like I am massaging a bruise until it looks good to me. I would have been ok with either one, maybe do a test print to see it on a wall EXCEPT..Once in LightRoom the one on the right emerges with one of my presets.....now I know"what color is the living room??"
Well both ...I had to take the twelve step program to break away from the program and try to deal with just these three images..digital has no end only capped by the amount of money you can spend on hard drives. Lenses are like a painter's brushes and programs, like LightRoom, are his paints..
PS..if you ever order a LensBaby...please let them know you got the urge from me here!!
I've been trying to some sponsorship from them to continue this series and bring it to show.

I'm not an anti digital guy. I use it, I get it and I do pay for it as well. It has a good place but sometimes it sort of becomes the place and I get lost in it.

The weather was crappy, not unsual for NJ in early winter months. I was just visiting family and left the "equipment" home. What I did bring though was a 1935 Agfa box camera and a few roll of 120 TriX...yes I said it..FILM..get over it!


Always looking for a new brush to work with, this $10.00 beauty and my magnifyer glasses to see through its small finder, was all I had during my walk, 3 blocks from home. Somehow, F/stops,lenses,file endings,program settings went silent, as silent as this moment , and I was able to hear it. While I don't hold this up as a great masterpiece, from time to time it talks to me. The argument of film vs digital and all the fancy expensive equipment settles on one thing...it's not what 's in your hands, it's what's in your soul and if you listen hard enough, if you can block out the voices that break the silence of a Zen experience...you find what it's really all about...communication.