unbillable hours

Looking for Inspiration Elsewhere

I have mentioned in passing over the past few weeks that I've been bored with my photography. I get the feeling this is somewhat like writers' block, something that I get now and then (a particular pain in the butt when I'm trying to write a brief). My solution, of late, to finding new inspiration for photography has been to go to places and events that I don't normally go to
and just shoot away until I find something that I really like. Last weekend, I began the process with a visit to a trade expo for tattoo artists.

As I have the demeanor of a bookworm and the appearance of, well, a suburbanite lawyer, I stuck out just a tiny bit at this expo. That's all right. I had fun. The artists and their subjects - those that were getting tattoos right in the middle of the expo hall - didn't mind me being there. Plus, I think I may have gotten a few shots that pleased me.

Next weekend, thanks to Satan's
Laundromat, I've discovered that there's a program in New York City that'll probably spur me on to more photography. Entitled openhousenewyork, the program, sponsored by Target (your source for reasonably priced post-modernism), the program is designed to encourage people to visit things not normally accessable to the public.

Here's its mission statement, which explains it better:

openhousenewyork celebrates New York City's architecture and inspires civic pride through an annual program of public access to significant buildings and sites in all five boroughs.

- our mission: Promote a greater appreciation of New York City's built environment;

- Broaden public awareness by exposing diverse audiences to distinctive examples of architecture, engineering and design;

- Educate and inspire discussion of issues of excellence in design, planning and preservation;

- Showcase outstanding new work as well as buildings and structures of historic merit.

openhousenewyork, Mission Statement

Now, not all of the locations listed on the openhousenewyork website are ones that are normally closed to the public. Quite a few of them are museums and galleries that deserve special focus because they either celebrate great architecture or represent great architecture. There's a few odd examples of buildings included in the tour (i.e., the WNET building, where Channel 13 now broadcasts; the Scholastic Books headquarters) that don't seem like they belong there, but many of the sites - particularly the Hindu Temple in Queens, the Tenri Center (a Japanese art center), and TWA Terminal 5, at JFK International Airport - are striking (Terminal 5 is no no longer available for viewing). Combining this with the aforementioned Life magazine exhibit at the International Center for Photography and I should be sufficiently reinvigorated to get back into taking pictures.

For the Locals

Neat Image

I'm not one for using Photoshop extensively on my images. A lot of times, I will simply use the application to resize my images and edit out a speck of dust that I can't seem to get off of the photograph or scanner. More rarely, I'll decide to change an image from color to black and white if I think that the color version of the image is too cluttered or distracting.

One image editing tool that I have used frequently enough as to make purchasing it worthwhile is Neat Image. Neat Image is a shareware application that helps eliminate a lot of "noise" from a picture. In a few images that are coming up, I've used it when my film was underexposed, either due to my misuse of the film or the photo lab's poor development, in order to eliminate a lot of the graininess in a photo. In the past, I used it on a couple of images (example 1 , example 2, example 3, top image only in Example 3) in my Allaire (beginning here) project to give the shot a soft feel.

I've relied on Neat Image to do things that I probably could do within Photoshop. It's a more intuitive, user friendly interface. It also works as a plug-in within Photoshop, Photoshop CS, and Photoshop Elements, for those that don't want to switch between applications.

I've noticed that a lot of photographers are coming out with Photoshop plug-ins that make the application more user friendly. I think this is a good thing, although it probably points to Adobe's need to work, on its own, on Photoshop's interface and instruction manuals. Here's another one, OptikVerve Lab's Virtual Photographer. I haven't used this one, but did come across it on the Photoblogs.org group blog, a site worth checking out. I'm probably going to download and give Virtual Photographer a shot. The intent behind this application is to create Photoshop plug-ins that are particularly intelligible to film photographers (i.e., make the picture look like it was taken on ISO 1600 film when it was taken on ISO 400 film, create a tintype effect, etc.).

If there is a Wiki, there could be a Class

I crave (I can’t say that enthusiastically enough) - CRAVE - tasks or goals that help me grow as a photographer. And I was wondering if there’s anyone else out there like me. I was thinking as a community, it might be fun to have someone set a weekly lesson or task, and those interested in participating come back in a week and post links to their photographs in the comments field here. Topics could include portraiture, panning....anything. Authors might be anyone who feel they would like to write an essay or maybe just someone who wants to read up on a topic and share it with us..

I guess like a photo friday..but a 'photoblogs weekly task' that is more aimed at specifics? I’m fairly new to photography, so I’m not at all suggesting I author the tasks, I guess I’m just brainstorming.. I also don’t mean to give Brandon more stuff to do LOL…a communal effort would be required ;)

Wotcha think? Bueller?

- Jinky, at the Photoblogs.org discussion blog. Jinky's website can be found here.

I think this is a pretty interesting idea. In the comments, there are suggestions made by various people about what should constitute an appropriate weekly lesson or task.

i'm concerned that moderation would stop some people from participating "i'm not worthy". what i like about photofriday is that they take all comers, junk or not.

i like jinky's idea about tasks: portraiture, panning... elements of building better photographs, rather than subject matter, begin with a discussion, tutorial or reading.

night photography, better use of flash (the thing that makes light rather than the interface wankery), depth of field, cross processing, etc.

i'm game!

- Heather Champ (n.b., link goes to very cool shot of Chinese structure and cloudscape on Heather's site).

I like the idea of a photoblog project that goes beyond just showing pictures (i.e., 26 Things, Photo Friday, etc.), but goes to the technical and critical aspects of taking pictures. I think I would get more out of a weekly or monthly (as it takes a long time to go through film looking for satisfactory shots) project on, say, depth of field or long exposure shots.

I've been meaning, over the past month, to actually do something akin to this, except from the perspective of doing quasi-interviews (email-based interviews, really) with those photobloggers who do things that I find interesting. I would love to talk to certain photobloggers because of their skills with digital manipulation or candid photography, etc.

This goes to the utility of blogging, in general, and photoblogging in particular. Because blogging is dynamic and communal, there is the opportunity to get quick responses and links on various topics that help you learn something about a field. If this were more static, more oriented in creating a stable base of knowledge rather than ever-changing experiential knowledge, then this would be like the various wikis out there. Rather, because blogging is personal and experience oriented, it's more like seminars or colloquia. It's a way to create ad hoc, fast-developing knowledge.

Have I driven a Ford lately?

Thanks to Bob at No Traces for the link to The Hook #2. No Traces is a great site, well worth checking out. Bob's shot, Pensive, uses shading really well. I think that, someday, I'll get more into the topic, but I still feel compelled to indicate how frustrated I am with my shots of people. I need a better feel for depth of field and framing, I think.

I'm kind of limited in what I can do right now with posting, as all but three of the images I intend to use in the Sandy Hook series are sitting in my photo case in my car... which, for the past three days, has been sitting on a lift at the auto dealership. I have 112,000 miles on my car (this is no great feat in my family; my father has 280,000 miles on his van), and I don't feel like spending much on it, no matter what they say about "rusted break lines." Still, I've got, oh, two shots left until I need that photo case and mechanics' leins are no fun, so... well, I didn't want to go on vacation anyway.

As for the Lens Baby, my new addition to the collection (along with a friggin' sweet Lowepro bag that I spent far too much money on), it's great. It took a few rolls to get used to it, but I'm hooked. Now, I need to make sure that I don't over-use it.