December 2009

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Words I like…

December 25, 2009 in influences, philosophy, quotes | No comments

Some fuel for the creative person’s fire…

“Only the mediocre are always at their best.”
–Jean Giraudoux (via here)

“The WAY you SEE is WHAT you are hired for as a photographer. Seeing photographs is just one facet of the business, and if you want to make money at photography, you must build a business around it.”
–Nick Onken (via here)

“I never have taken a picture I’ve intended. They’re always better or worse.”
–Diane Arbus (via here)

“I’m sick of not having the courage to be an absolute nobody.”
–Salinger (via here)

Excitement, anticipation, a new adventure

December 17, 2009 in behind the scenes, random, recent shoots | No comments

selfportraitinwire

Self-portrait in wire. December 2009.

PART 1.
Here’s a preview of a project I’ve just embarked on. As usual, it starts with an idea. Then the idea is picked at and probed — I like to think of this as the discovery phase — and refined. This one’s a self-portrait via wire. Where will this work take me? Will I deliberately fashion the wire to look like something? Or will I twist and turn it at random, pushing myself to make something out of whatever appears before me? Probably the later, though I’m not entirely sure. Yet. The important part is that I’ll go somewhere, and be the better for it.

PART 2.
I’m excited not only about this project but also about the future. I’ve got a lot of work to add to my online portfolio, and some reorganizing because of that. I’ve always been fond of organization and order. Of the narrative kind, I mean. The order and positioning of photographs is no exception. I like to work and rework the order until it feels just right — and to me, that “feel” is very important. Hopefully it is to you, too, as viewers and/or artists of any sort.

Simplicity and flexibility

December 11, 2009 in influences, philosophy, quotes | No comments

Some key words from photographer Dan Winters in an audio interview floating around the photo blogosphere:

“It can be incredibly simple. It’s not, you know, the latest light-shaping tool from Profoto that’s making this picture. It’s the idea of you looking at what’s going on, being aware of what’s going on, and kind of making decisions based on looking at it … having a real ability to look at the light.”

Published: Electric Eye Neon

December 9, 2009 in behind the scenes, published, recent shoots | No comments

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I photographed Electric Eye Neon sign company’s owners in their workshop last month for The Bay View Compass. The photo above ran in the paper, and below are a few more frames. Above, Marj Inman, Electric Eye co-owner, heats glass tubing so it’s bendable. (The big flame lasts for less than a second; after the initial flareup it’s a low blue glow just above the surface.)

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Assorted tools and pieces of glass piping as seen on one of their worktables.

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Electric Eye has made signs for lots of the area’s prominent businesses, including WMSE radio.

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They love what they do and see it as an art, but it’s also about commerce.

Frozen moments

December 2, 2009 in behind the scenes, published, recent shoots | No comments

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I’m super stoked (to use a dated word) about a photo I captured the other night at Bay View’s Cactus Club.

While a projector chaotically splashed the stage/band with colors and images, everything aligned and I caught this shot of Canyons of Static guitarist Ross Severson sneaking a sip of water. It goes back to something I mentioned a few weeks ago: You make your own luck. You put yourself in the right place so at the right time your instincts and reflexes can take over to capture that glimmer of a moment that wasn’t there a second earlier and won’t be there a second later.

I gravitate toward these images when I’m shooting for myself or on assignment. I find these moments fascinating, and I suspect it’s a combination of my background as a newspaper reporter/editor working under intense deadline pressure and as a photographer/participant in extreme sports, where the pressure is high for about a dozen variables — the lighting (natural and artificial), the angle, the timing, the subject’s positioning and expression, etc. — to all be spot on at the moment you click the shutter.

I like to work my butt off — to sweat — for my photographs. Of course, there’s a different kind of satisfaction that comes with snagging the money shot on an assignment when, say, your subject only has a few minutes to spend with you. (More on that in this previous post.)