An aspect of digital photography that I quite dislike is everything is the same size; and now with Instagram, everything is becoming the same square aspect-ratio. How boring and monotonous, every photo being the same size and aspect-ratio. What a loss, the ability to express any additional meaning by the print size. If you go… Continue reading Size Matters
Category Archives: Articles
Bag Review: Synapse 25
My review of the Tom Bihn Synapse 25 backpack. The Synapse is a flexible backpack that works well for local day-to-day use, and is just as great for meetups and longer trips. The backpack is sturdy and strong, the materials are high quality and feels like it can withstand just about any abuse. I brought it as… Continue reading Bag Review: Synapse 25
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Our first visit to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, we were quite hopefully for the cherry blossoms. However, we were either a week or two earlier, or maybe winter overstayed its welcome. There were only a couple cherry trees blooming, it must be amazing when the the full garden is in bloom. The magnolias did their… Continue reading Brooklyn Botanic Garden
The Reduction Print
Reduction printing is a method for creating a multi-color print. Compared to using multiple blocks, one for each color; the reduction method uses the same block carving away as you go. This method is also called a Suicide Print, since you carve away each layer, the act of creation is an equal act of destruction.… Continue reading The Reduction Print
Mission Santa Clara de Asís
My recent linocut block print is of the Santa Clara Mission, here is a look at the entire process for creating the print. Tricky to measure how much time it took, I'd say several hours over a few weeks, I'm not sitting down and doing it all in one session. Source Material. I started with… Continue reading Mission Santa Clara de Asís
MLK Dream Print
As mentioned in my previous post, I've started working on block prints, specifically linoleum cuts, or linocuts for short. Here is a look at the process I used to create the Dream print I published today. It takes a bit more than a photo, all together the print probably took 5+ hours over a week.… Continue reading MLK Dream Print
A New Old Medium
Once a month a parent leads an art lesson for my daughter's first grade class. We trade off who runs the lessons with other parents assisting, in December it was my turn to lead a lesson on print making with foam blocks. During my run through of the lesson at home our results were just… Continue reading A New Old Medium
Fuji-X Film Simulations
One of the great things about using Fujifilm X-Series cameras is the wonderful film simulations, they are also one of the worst things. There are a handful of films each with different highlight, shadow, and color tweaks that can be applied to each. So with the various combination of settings, you can quickly be overwhelmed.… Continue reading Fuji-X Film Simulations
Instagram and Image Size
My most recent series of photos were a set of black and white shots I took from my trip to Barcelona. Reviewing and selecting the photos I use my desktop computer which is a nice bright high resolution 27″ monitor. My typical process is to make several passes through the photos giving stars and filtering… Continue reading Instagram and Image Size
Export direct from Lightroom to WordPress
A new plugin released today adds to Lightroom the ability to export straight to your WordPress Media Library. A handy feature which saves the hassle of exporting to your desktop and then uploading to your site. It works directly with WordPress.com, for a self-hosted site, it requires the Jetpack plug-in. Usage Steps Download Lightroom to… Continue reading Export direct from Lightroom to WordPress
Fujifilm X-Pro2 Tips
Here are a couple of tips for using the Fuji X-Pro2, the tips might apply to your camera even if not the XP2. Hand Grip Base Plate One of my favorite accessories for the X-Pro2 is the metal hand grip, which also comes with a metal base plate. The hand grip improves the handling of… Continue reading Fujifilm X-Pro2 Tips
The Label of Art & Artists
In his book Orbiting the Giant Hairball, Gordon MacKenzie tells the following story when he goes around to schools to teach and what happens when he asks the children “Are you an artist?” When asked to the 1st grade class, they would all enthusiastically raise their hands, proud to be artists. In 2nd grade, only… Continue reading The Label of Art & Artists
Does the camera make a difference?
I love gear, old cameras are great. They are beautiful objects by themselves, there is something about the high precision and craftsmanship. Its like old watches or cars, both I can really appreciate the design and craftsmanship. However, I have no desire to collect either, and not just because they are more expensive, or in… Continue reading Does the camera make a difference?
The Open Road by David Campany
A review of the photography book The Open Road by David Campany. The book is gorgeous, a beautiful red color, plus the titles and design throughout is wonderful. The Open Road is large, measuring over 12″ x 10″ and 336 pages. If you know the size of Magnum Contacts Sheets book its the same size,… Continue reading The Open Road by David Campany
Olympus Trip 35, a fun camera
The Olympus Trip 35 is a fixed lens 35mm rangefinder camera, it is a fun little camera. The camera was made in the 60’s as a travel camera and still is perfect for trips. It has a great lens and is easy to use, and that’s about all of its features. The camera is simple,… Continue reading Olympus Trip 35, a fun camera
Own Your Domain, Own Your Content
It’s never been easier to publish photos online, that’s what makes it so hard. Believe it or not, at one point finding a place to upload and host a photo was a challenge. Services have definitely addressed the need, now there are so many options to publishing photos that it quickly becomes overwhelming, this is… Continue reading Own Your Domain, Own Your Content
Cameras, Art, and the History of Photography
A bit of a rambling essay on photography, art, enthusiasts, history, and what the hell is going on with digital; and yes it’s probably all just justification for me to get a new camera. In the early days the hero shot – the single amazing photo was what photographers strived for. Large and medium format… Continue reading Cameras, Art, and the History of Photography
Yashica FR-1 – Dad’s Camera
My Dad was cleaning out some of his old camera gear and gave me his Yashica FR-1, a camera from the late 70’s; our family camera he took pictures of me and my brothers when we were kids. It has a pretty sweet Yashica ML 55mm f/1.2 lens; though unfortunately I didn’t realize until afterwards… Continue reading Yashica FR-1 – Dad’s Camera
Calculating an Exposure
No light meter? No problem! Announcing, Light WTF, a mobile web app used to calculate your exposure. The site includes a general exposure calculator, as well as specialty calculators for Pinhole Exposures and Moonlight Exposures. Please try them out and let me know any feedback. I find them quite useful when using old manual film… Continue reading Calculating an Exposure
Consistency in Photography
As I was putting together a second set of photos for my El Camino Real series, I noticed lots of minor variances and inconsistencies comparing newer photos with the first set. This highlighted a challenge I, and likely many others, have in photography: maintaining a level of consistency throughout a project as you work on… Continue reading Consistency in Photography
What camera should I buy?
“What camera should I buy?” is by far the most common question I get asked. So to gather my thoughts together, here is my definitive and opinionated answer. Do you need a new camera? Let’s get this out of the way first, the real answer is that if you already have a camera, or even… Continue reading What camera should I buy?
Bronica ETRSi 645
The Bronica ETRSi 645 is a great budget friendly medium format camera system, a great deal in the film world. The Bronica is a high quality camera and fantastic lenses that can deliver amazing results. It doesn’t have the hype and lore of a Hasselblad, nor the cost, but can almost match it in picture… Continue reading Bronica ETRSi 645
South of Market, Janet Delaney
South of Market is a photography book focusing on a San Francisco neighborhood during a time of urban renewal during the 1970’s and 80’s. This review covers the exhibition catalog that accompanied the de Young exhibit. The original hardcover book is sold out and now quite expensive. Janet Delaney is a photographer who moved to… Continue reading South of Market, Janet Delaney
Nikon F6: A camera of great substance
The Nikon F6 just might be the greatest film camera ever made, practically perfect for a primary film camera and here’s my reasons why. The F6 is equivalent to a top-of-the-line digital camera, it just uses film as its medium. We can leave the debate of film vs. digital for another day. Let’s just assume… Continue reading Nikon F6: A camera of great substance
Manufactured Landscapes, Edward Burtynsky
Manufactured Landscapes is the first major retrospective of Edward Burtynsky’s work, published in 2003. The book is a beautiful collection of several series that he has created, these are Railcuts, Mines and Tailings, Quarries, Urban Mines, Oil Fields and Refineries, and Shipbreaking. Burtynsky creates amazing photos of large scale projects, and landscapes; looking at the… Continue reading Manufactured Landscapes, Edward Burtynsky
Color Film Tests
The results of testing out various film stocks to see what they look like and how they shoot. I tried to shot all photos consistently, all taken with Nikon F6 camera with auto exposure and matrix-metering, no exposure compensation. The majority are shot with Nikon 50mm f/1.8 lens, though I might of used a 50mm… Continue reading Color Film Tests
Uncommon Places, Stephen Shore
Uncommon Places is a book by Stephen Shore, originally published in 1982 from a series of photos he shot during multiple road trips across North America. He revisited the work in 2004, expanding the 49 plates in the first edition to 156 images that in his words more accurately reflected the breadth of the project.… Continue reading Uncommon Places, Stephen Shore
Interval Shooting at Night
There are numerous ways to do photography at night, for the majority of my night photography I’ve simply done single long exposure shots. So all the light would be captured on film or on the sensor in a single shot. If you are using a high ISO and wide shutter, you end up with a… Continue reading Interval Shooting at Night
Exif Data for Analog Film
One of the great benefits of using Lightroom is the ability to sort photos based off exif data. I can filter by camera or lens pretty easily for digital cameras which automatically attach exif data to each photo. For analog photography, it’s not quite that easy. I send my film out to get developed and… Continue reading Exif Data for Analog Film
The Tripod Ballhead and Mirrorless Camera
The oft given benefit of mirrorless cameras like my Fuji X-T1 is the size and weight of the camera. It delivers great performance and image quality while being much smaller and lighter, so you are more likely to carry it around and no neck pain. Additionally, with a smaller camera the entire system and support accessories can… Continue reading The Tripod Ballhead and Mirrorless Camera
Composition, Elements and Framing
The above photo looks like an interesting story. Why is she hiding from her upset father? Is that really her father, how much trouble is she going to get into when he finds her? What did she do to upset him? However, the above stories would all be wrong. The power of cropping the image… Continue reading Composition, Elements and Framing
Photography Fundamentals
Getting into photography can be intimidating with all the jargon and technical terms. Your camera itself is pretty intimidating with the dials, menus and buttons galore. This guide is to explain some of the fundamentals and help improve your photography. Photography: Light and Time Photography is all about recording light, which is exactly the definition… Continue reading Photography Fundamentals