In 1994 I was introduced to 35mm single lens reflex cameras with the Pentax K-1000, an inexpensive amateur device that required no batteries unless you wanted to take advantage of the exposure meter in the viewfinder. The K-1000 was assigned to me in journalism class during my sophomore year in high school. Before then I had used a little plastic point and shoot 110 film camera whose brand and designation I can no longer recall. It may have been a Kodak 104 Instamatic, but I’m not too sure about that. Regardless, I had never used an SLR until high school and the little bugger changed my life.
The next year, I was asked to take over the photography department while the journalism supervisor dealt with the reporters. I was then responsible for teaching use of the cameras, dark room technique and basic photography etiquette to my peers and upperclassmen students alike. And I was good at it. The kids learned a lot and their photographs got better as the semester trolled along.
My senior year, the school upgraded to Canon EOS Rebels. Gone were the days of K-mount fully manual, heavy metal cameras. Now, you could have a fully automatic experience with little photographic insight in a plastic, lightweight camera with an on board flash. These new auto focus cameras needed batteries and the consumer-class zoom kit lenses weren’t as sharp, fast or precise as the Pentax’s 50mm primes, but the Rebel did auto forward the film.
After graduation, I signed up for a Discover Card on my way out of an English class my first semester of college. One of the first things I ever purchased on a credit card was a Canon Rebel XS-II kit along with a Canon case from Best Buy. The setup worked fine for several years until one day the curtain stopped working. I never sent it in for repair and because of my hectic work schedule, I silently walked away from photography.
In 2002, after shooting some short films and getting my schedule in order, I decided to pick up a Canon PowerShot G3. I figured digital was the way to go for an uninterested consumer like myself and that’s because years ago I swore that I’d never go digital anyway. But that was also when I swore I’d never leave photography.
The G3 worked great as I started to feel the pull back to photography. In 2003, I figured I would stay digital and move up toward the SLRs again: this time I got the Canon 300D Digital Rebel. The Rebel worked great until I dropped it after one of my first model shoots (in fact, I think it was my second model shoot ever) in 2004. The damage to my Rebel was an excuse to upgrade to the Canon EOS 20D which I still use in 2008.
I have no idea how many shutter cycles I’ve actuated on my 20D. Considering it’s four years old, it may have something around 40,000 cycles on it. Regardless, it’s a great little camera and I love it to death. Even when I upgrade to the 5D or 5D Mark II in the fall I’ll still keep my little 20D around as a backup body. In fact, the 20D has been so good to me, I haven’t been concerned with camera bodies at all for years, focusing instead on purchasing awesome Canon L lenses. Because remember: a camera body is just a light-tight box with a hole in it. Image quality and control is all about the glass in front of the body.
This year, however, I’ve decided to apply what I’ve learned about photography back into 35mm film. One of those “if only I knew then what I know now” paradoxes. Except this time, I’m going completely old school and am currently bidding on Canon FD-mount manual cameras and lenses on ebay. If all goes well, I should have two Canon AT-1 bodies and two fast Canon FD prime lenses, a Vivitar flash and some JC Penney 80-200mm zoom…all for about $120 after shipping.
Then I’m going to pick up all this unused Kodak T-Max 400 film (I somehow forgot to give back to the school in 1997) and some newer consumer snapshot film and…see what develops. It also helps that I now own a Sekonic light meter which will definitely come in handy.
So, that’s a little history of my photographic journey. I can’t wait to see what happens and share it with you. But right now, I have to get ready for another model shoot. Cheers!
I got a new toy today: the Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS. I got it as a replacement to my SD1000 which got ruined at a pool party some months back. Anyway, I got the bug and I got it because, again, I can’t take my SLR everywhere. It’s interesting to note that out of all the big, expensive Digital SLR, 35mm SLR, medium format and specialty equipment I own, that this little pocket camera is the only gear that features Image Stabilization. Hmm. So I played with the 1100 a bit just now before I went to bed and I must say I like it just fine. Night!
Ana likes when I’m mean. Being a girl, she frequently fishes for compliments from other human beings with statements like "I feel fat", etc. Not one to fall for such obvious bait I agreed with her, prompting the above response and a few giggles.
I shoot digital, so having a light meter isn’t really all that necessary since I can just pop a few test shots and eyeball the exposure off the polaroid back. Of course the results are absolutely hit-and-miss. So I’ve decided to become properly scientific and get a damn light meter.
The Sekonic L-358 Flash Master is perfect for what I want since it is relatively inexpensive, durable, fires my PocketWizard-ed lights wirelessly (with the optional trigger), is easy to use, has tons of functionality and even meters for video, which I also use. Now I’m nailing every exposure. And I can really see the difference when the workflow moves into Photoshop.
Behind my new tool is a blue/gray sheet of 10×24 foot muslin from Adorama Belle Drape held up by a Photoflex ProDuty backdrop support system. All of these tools I purchased with my government-issued economic stimulus check. Thanks, IRS!
I finished up an impromptu probono photoshoot with Regina this evening. I missed Battlestar Galactica, however I’m catching the repeat right now with a Little Caesars Hot-N-Ready pizza and some Landshark beer. I just saw Adama and Tigh beat the living shit out of each other…which was cool…and I’m glowing over the first-time use of my new gear: a new Photoflex ProDuty backdrop system and a Sekonic L-358 light meter. Everything worked great and I’m greatly anticipating going over the photos tomorrow before I run off to shoot some more Edinburg Landsharks football. Speaking of Landsharks: ssssip!
Hunting for characters on the streets of New York City with Magnum Photographer Bruce Gilden. Visit WNYC’s Streetshots for more videos and a chance to share your own street photographs.
iPhone users click here to watch the video.
Hey, everyone! Go check out my new photoblog at photoblog.impossiblefx.com. It doesn’t replace the main site, but I am a photographer after all. I’ll be adding lots more photographs to the archives (I have a little more than a hundred more to add), and then I’ll, of course, be updating it with new stuff as the days go on. I am seriously tempted to do a “photo-a-day” kind of thing with it, too. Seriously tempted.
So go ahead and check out my new photoblog. I’ll wait. :)
I got my stimulus check last week and I’ve been sitting on it; debating what to spend it on or if I should spend it at all. But it is, after all, an economic stimulus check designed to make we Americans rabid consumers again, so I decided to spend it — albeit on something useful.
I had $600 at my disposal. All of my bills and living expenses are taken care of by my regular 9 to 5 income, so it’s not like I needed the check to cover them. What about that animation software I was eying a few months back? Do I really need a new hobby? No. So scratch that. What about photo gear? That Sigma 30mm f/1.4 looks pretty sweet. But I am saving up for a Canon 35mm f/1.4L and when I go full frame, the Sigma won’t fit the body, and it may not work with other bodies I may use. And it’s also a little ugly compared to the Canons, so no to that.
So what’s something I’ve been needing that I’ve merely been getting by without it? Well, what about my studio stuff? My backdrop is a couple of bedsheets attached by pants hangers to wood ceiling trim, and suspended from bendable microphone stands. It works quite well, actually; but it’s only giving me a wall of white that’s 6×8′, is heavy and not portable at all. It also gives me a floor of only 8′ deep and, because it’s bedsheets, is fragile as hell and crumples way more than a proper muslin backdrop would.
But would muslin be the way to go? I think so. Sure paper is cheaper but it also ships expensively. And I also don’t really need super perfect solid backgrounds. And when I do, it’s only because it came with the flat wall that I’m shooting the model against. I’m more interested in a draped muslin background, like a regular gray, but deep. And I also need a support system that won’t break apart when I get crazy with it and take it with me to a shoot for some reason.
The Photoflex ProDuty background support system was exactly what I needed and at a decent enough price. It’s 12′ across by 11′ tall and will support a lot more than what a muslin backdrop weighs. So I’m buying that as well as a nice 10×24′ blue gray backdrop. It’s dark enough to go completely black without too much effort and light enough to still render neutral against figures that I’ll be shooting for my book and other projects. The brand I got was from Adorama and it’s also pretty cheap, but not useless. So if this one works out I’ll buy more: one in white and one in black.
I then went back to AlienBees and bought a honeycomb grid for my softbox to help me control that thing’s light. For the rest of the stimulus check I had enough left over to finally buy a light meter so I got the Sekonic L-358 Flash Master I always wanted. It works for both photo and video and comes with a transmitter so I can pop my PocketWizard-triggered strobes whilst I meter. Sweetness.
So that’s the stuff I decided to get with my stimulus check. All are things I needed, all will pay for themselves pretty quick and are all portable and efficient like everything else I buy.
Wanna know the secret to great photo processing?
Well, here it is: capture a great photo first.
Great photos are 90% great lighting. The other 10% is an oscillating mixture of subject greatness and camera angle greatness. But if you have a great angle on a great subject but the lighting sucks then your photo is only great by 10%, which isn’t great at all.
But how do you take a great photo? After setting up the lights to taste (that includes controlling the sun if you are so inclined), the rest is flat out stupid luck. That’s it.
Then the post-processing is easy: just sharpen it up a bit, make the shadows not so contrasty while keeping the photo from looking milky, smooth out the skin a bit without losing the natural texture, remove any dust bunnies and straighten up the background if it needs it. Takes a few minutes, really. Well, less than an hour.
You can speed things up considerably with a little product called LucisArt, but it won’t save a crappy picture. In fact, you could even ruin a decent picture by applying too much of this plugin.
So that’s the secret. Learn how to use light — both found and artificial — practice composition and be awesome with your subject. After that, modifying your stuff in Photoshop is easy.
Returning to the celebration last night I set up a single monolight off in the corner to be my “flash” during the presentation and father-daughter dance. It worked well, however I am quite sick of that song “Butterfly Kisses” and its use at an event other than a wedding. Whatever; I got some great shots of the little chick cryiing so, woo-hoo.
Asthe night went on I noticed a woman dancing by herself. I would look over and make eye contact with her a few times as she smiled back. Eventually she sat down to rest and we continued to eye each other. When she got up again she grabbed me by the arm and pulled me to the dance floor.
“Let’s dance,” she said. And dance we did, camera sheathed below my arm as I led her across the dance floor.
“Are you married,” she asked.
“No. Are you?”
“I’m divorced. Two years.”
It turns out she’s 36, her 15 year old daughter and the birthday girl are best friends and that’s how she wound up being at the event. When I started making her dizzy with all the spinning I confessed I didn’t do a lot of dancing at social occasions. She said I was getting better. By the end of the night my camera gear was back in my car and I was on the dance floor with her for three more songs. She likes the booming, rapping, gettin’ jiggy wit it music. And I was more than fine with her gettin’ jiggy wit me. Before we went our separate ways I got her phone number and formally introduced myself to her.
Her name is Cindy and I think I’ll give her a call sometime.
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