Saturday, March 28, 2009
Saul Leiter
I love this photograph for a number of reasons. The use of a bright and vivid yellow in the background really brings the foreground into a much more dynamic perspective. The way the figure transfroms from a person into what appears to be a painting is just magnificant. This photograph has a lot of painterly qualitys that I find visually appealing. His entire is rather spectacular. Take a minute to view his work. You might need more than a minute if you keep going back to look at the ones you like the most, like I am doing.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Denis Darzacq
It was through Lensculture and a friend of mine, who happens to be an extremely talented illustrator, I came across the photographer Denis Darzacq Darzacq has some intense portraits. He photographs dancers in the most unique of ways as they are perfoming for him. The video below shows how he makes his photographs as the people are in motion. His work is very surreal and gives the apperance that the dancers are not even dancing, but existing in a supernatural way with in the space they are being photographed. Take a moment to watch.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Shutter Count: Do you know how many miles your camera as on it?
Download Preview Extractor V1.6
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Holyoke: Some news and photographs.
Back in January I posted this photograph. It took only a few hours before it was recognized as a semi-iconic image that shows a part of Holyoke’s history. Today I delivered this photograph matted and framed to a friend of mine who will be submitting it for a silent auction at the 50th Anniversary of Wistariahurst.
I made these two photographs on my way through Holyoke this evening. I was on my way to drop off the print for the auction and saw the shadows playing against the wall. It is minimalistic in most aspects.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Holyoke’s Parade: One Photo and a story to tell.
I have a profound respect for the photographers that came before me. The older generation has a lot to teach us. I do not know who this photographer is, but I saw him at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Holyoke this past Sunday. He was walking down High St making photographs of the parade and some of the people that were overly eager to interact with the parade and the photographers shooting the parade.
I spent some time with my friend Peter from Rambling Van Dog who was very eager to photograph the parade and some of the people that were out to enjoy the parade. Peter even managed to grab a few photographs of the Holyoke Police Department responding to a person in the crowd that had a firearms in his possession. I spotted the police responding and was unable to make a good photograph from the position I was standing in. But I was very pleased to see Peter’s shot, which displayed the moment as it unfolded. For me the parade was a day to enjoy and relax, and not really focus to much on what was happening, in a photographers perspective. I had to leave a little early to go see a family member. That was cut short which gave me a chance to go back to the parade and see it from a different perspective.
A thanks goes out to Peter and Brendan Ciecko.
A creative break
Yesterday me and my business partner took a few hours out of our day to make a few purchase at a local camera store, grab some lunch, and then took a walk through some farm land we had yet to explore. We found an abundant amount of abandoned couches, television sets, and Christmas trees. We explored the area and realized the area had some potential. It was cold, the landscape looked seemingly familiar, (even though it was our first time here, it reminded me of so many other pieces of farm land) I still saw some interesting photographs in the land. Here is what I was able to produce.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Update: A new beginning.
PDN and Getty Images: Annie Leibovitz makes more news.
Thursday March 19th Getty Images announces that Leibovitz has signed on to their list of photographers. This must seem like good news for Leibovitz. Hopefully this will help her straighten out the financial issues.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Not my typical subject matter.
I do not usually shoot architecture unless I am asked to. Or if a client needs their buildings photographed. But a project a few months ago led to me creating these.
These photographs are a combination of multiple bracketed shots. They were constructed with the principals of HDR (High Dynamic Range) in mind.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
No Cable Release? No Problem: Quick Tip
Here is a quick little tip/idea. Say you forget your cable release or you do not have one. Or you ran out in such a hurry you forgot your wireless remote. Don't sweat it! Here is a quick little idea to get around it. The only issue is if you need to set the camera to bulb mode, you wont be able to perform this function. But if you are using any other shutter speed before bulb mode you will be all set. So here goes. Say you found a nice landscape shot or need to make a longer exposure, but you do not have a cable release. What do you do to eliminate and reduce the camera shake? First, make sure you have a good sturdy tripod. Then you simply set your camera to the self timer mode. Once you have determined the correct settings, locked in the focus, set your camera’s self timer. Press the shutter and make the exposure. Thus eliminating any form of shake while your camera is set on the tripod. And reducing the need to worry about your cable release. I hope this idea was something useful to you. Some times when you forget your camera accessories you need to do a little improvising.
Holyoke Has Beauty: Landscape Photographs
For two years now I have returned to this spot to make photographs. Last year I was a bit early. There was still a great deal of snow and ice. But this year I made it at the right time. The water was flowing fast and hard as it runs off of Mt. Tom. There is still some snow and ice melting creating water run offs all over the Mountain. Here are a few photographs from a nice little, hidden place I found.
Summer 2008
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Over the Charles
I made this photograph a few weeks back. I really enjoyed shooting and working on a few projects in Cambridge and Boston.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Dying practices: Photograms an almost non existant process.
Photograms are a dying process. As the photography medium progresses forward with technology and the ever expanding digital era, traditional photograms are almost non existant. One process I have seen that is replacing photograms in the analog darkroom, is using a flat bed scanner and creating a digital photogram. Even this is still a process some people do not think of, know of, or care to produce. Thus leaving some people left to dominate the process. As basic as the ideas are, you can still produce some amazing pieces.
Give it a try! You wont be disappointed.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Landscape Photographs: Holyoke’s Hidden Secrets.
When I am not photographing people, I can be found photographing places that have meaning to me. As I was explaining to my friend, as we were walking through the snowy, mud covered trails of Mt. Tom, it is days like this that I almost prefer to shoot in, instead of sunny days. Shooting landscapes for me is a break and a relief from the work I can be found doing on a day to day basis. It is not every day that I have the ability to get out and make a photograph of a foggy tree, or a partially frozen over lake. Taking a break to make a photograph like the ones here, is a visually poetic break from the stress of every day life.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Holyoke: A day in the fog.
Today was a some what rainy day. I took a little walk, with one of my photographer friends, around one of the lakes at Mt Tom. The fog was thick in some parts and created a wonderful mood. Here is just one of the many I have from today. More to come later.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Brought to my attention...
Regards,
Jeffrey Byrnes
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Two Years: How much change have you seen?
Have you ever asked yourself, “What has happened in the past year, or two years?” If you can not think of to many major changes or have seen to many major changes that should indicate your life is just steadily going about. Not that that is a bad thing, but some times changes can be seen in small ways. For example, the last two years for me, have changed drastically.
Here is a visual example: Two years ago I made this black and white photograph. Yesterday I made the color photograph. The black and white one was shot using Tri X 400 speed black and white film. The color photograph was made using my D-SLR. In the past two years this old u boat has been moved, tipped over, and repositioned. And since having made this photograph, I have gone from one SLR, to a collection of cameras ranging from my Holgas, to 35mm film SLR’s to my D-SLR equipped with a few lenses and an SB600. For me the last two years have changed quite a lot. Some good changes, some not so good changes. After look at Lenshare for another example. Lenshare fits into the two year change. A very positive change, I might add.
This next photograph also represents a change. It was almost exactly two years ago that I stepped into this section of Open Square in Holyoke.
There was an exhibit up by a few students from Holyoke Community College. They had been give use of the space in conjunction with some arrangements the school had with Open Square. Since then, the students no longer have a working space in this building. But, the space still exists as literally, just space. It is a good location and the space has unlimited potential to a creative individual. Since that time I had been in the space, I have since gone on to finish school with a degree in Photography. It was also this same building, another with that I had gone on to meet an Editor who gave me my first chance to be published as a photographer. So, the past two years have brought for a number of very impacting changes, like I said above, some good, some not so good. But then there are the few changes that were great.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
So you want to buy a Holga: Where to start.
If you are serious about purcahsing the Holga, there are a few things you will need to know. The Holga is a sensitve piece of equipment. It is not just a camera you drop your film into and your on your way to making outstanding photographs. No, not even close. The Holga takes some work, dedication, passion, and the love you would have for a woman. Well, maybe not that much attention. But there are a few things you need to do prior to shooting with your Holga. Here is a great site that shows you everything you need to know on how to Modify your Holga. In addition to that site there is also this site. Holga Mods site 2
Holga cameras are classifyed and typically labeled under Lomography. For me I take using a Holga very seriously. If I was to be shooting with a Mamiya or Hasselblad, my Holga sits in the same class as these cameras. But, though my opinion is my opinion, not always shared by the vast majority of people who shoot with Holgas, none the less, you can find them being sold through here, Lomographic Society International Dont be scared that this site is infact internatnional. You can make a purchase and it will ship from within the U.S. I have confirmed this with Lomo Society International.
Here are just a few of the many Holgas that exsist.
Holga with a Polaroid back
Holga 120 s
Holga 120 n
Holga 35mm
Holga 35mm PinHole
How to load film into your Holga.
How to remove film from your Holga
New Addition to Lenshare
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Lap top case: A tool to have for the traveling pro.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Holyoke: Through the lens of a Holga.
I shot these back in the fall months of 2008. I forget what made me go out and shoot these. But at the time I had a reason. These photographs are part of a larger collective body of work.