Thursday, May 27, 2010

Panoramas and more…

Every photographer has that one very special person that is your biggest fan. It could be a friend, a relative, a significant other. It could even be your 79 year old grandmother. However, there really is one person that out weighs the rest of the people you know, who admires your photography. Traditionally, from what I have seen, spouses and significant others tend to be the biggest fans. I have quite a few friends, clients, relatives that like my photographs. The clients love them, or they wouldnt keep coming back, but there is one person. One person that just admires my work to the point that it makes a difference in my life, shooting, and way I perceive what I am viewing in life and around me. On Sunday, in addition to what I wrote below, I had a chance to stop and make a few panos that exist because I want you to see the moments I see that make me think about you.

I made these for you. The moments like these that I see, are the moments I want to share with you. It is places like this, moments like these, that have made me stop and think about you.

 

Field facing tom copy

 Field and fence copy

 

  This past Sunday was the 2nd of two Sundays that was pretty adventurous in terms of getting out and finding a few places to make photographs. Two of the 3 projects I am working on requires me to get out of the studio and shoot. In doing so I have managed to find myself in some pretty awesome places. You can read a more in depth article about the first Sunday Here on Holyokeinphotos.com 

This past Sunday has brought me a very good opportunity for our studio. Just this week, we found out that we will be getting an influx of unexpected portraits this summer. So the space that I had found on Sunday has subsequently became a temporary second studio for our business. Click here to see our studio True Resolution While making a few photographs outside the building, I was approached by the two owners. They were very inquisitive as to what I was shooting and why. After a brief introduction, they showed me the interior space, a set of windows I needed for the major of the two projects I have going. Saturated: A Colorful Photographic Exhibition of Contemporary Holyoke Below you will find the images I made of this building. There are a few panoramas I have made from that space and a few made from later in the evening.

The windows you see as an installation piece are no longer standing and the space is going to be cleaned up and utilized as a second studio. We are excited to be shooting in this new space and having a fresh look to our portraits. Our current studio will continue to serve as a smaller space to shoot in, do all our editing, and a place to meet our clients, while this new space will give us a more dynamic space in which to shoot.

 Interior View with windows

View of city hall

Interior View

 

DSC_0620 DSC_0621 DSC_0624  DSC_0549 DSC_0551 DSC_0554 DSC_0559 DSC_0561 DSC_0568DSC_0548  DSC_0578 DSC_0579 DSC_0586-2 DSC_0592 DSC_0571

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Polaroid: Looking back.

During a web crawl for some cool things to share here on Lenshare, I came across an good read on the Boston Hearld website. MIT was given the first Polaroid camera ever invented. You can read the Article Here: MIT gets 1st Polaroid camera.  Being a photographer, I feel like a fool for admitting this, (especially considering I come from MA and lived in Cambridge last year) but I was unaware that the first instant camera was invented in Cambridge. I am sure there are quite a few individuals who did not know this. But, regardless, being so close to the epicenter of such a profound intention, you would think one would know this. Considering I have studied the History of Photography. Currently, there are a few of the first Polaroid cameras ever invented sitting in an undisclosed antique store awaiting my eager purchase. I have a plan to revitalize said camera and use it on some commercial shoots we are booking. I wont say the nature of these shoots, as it is a surprise to the client. But in the spirit of MIT receiving something of immense value to the Cambridge Community, as Cambridge is home to some prolific inventions/inventors, I have gone ahead an pulled together some interesting links for you to read. This will open up the history of Polaroid for you and give you a comprehensive knowledge of where the camera came from.

If you are from my generation, you may remember this camera. My grand mother used to have one and always made sure to have film around where ever she took it. As a child, now this must have been a precursor to future, I was always so damn curious and interested in playing with it. Granted, my parents of course had a “real” film camera and always had that around, this just seemed so much cooler to play with. It really is a shame that as a company, Polaroid failed. Fuji currently has the rights to produced the beloved film. There are a few cameras out there being sold that still use Polaroid film, or the equivalent of. If you are a contemporary fine arts photographer and know what a Holga is, then you maybe aware of and or using a Holga with a Polaroid back. The average cost of the back is $129.00. The cameras range from  $30-$100 depending on the model you are interested in purchasing. I own three Holga cameras and use them frequently in some of my work. I have yet to acquire the Polaroid back. I am anxious for them to produce a Holga digi upgrade! If you get a chance to play with the original land camera, named after its inventor, I suggest doing so. It was a mile stone for photography and opened up the medium to what we now have today, Digital Photography.

 

 

  

Links about Polaroid Cameras and Film

 

Wired: Polaroid Camera

 

Polaroid on Wiki

 

Historical Cameras dot blogspot

 

Polaroid on: The Art News Paper

 

Polaroid Film Reinvented