Archive for category photographers
How the big boys do it
Posted by Michal in advice, photographers on 25/06/2010
Have you backed up your pictures recently? Oh, you don’t bother? You’ll do it next week? You’ve got some on a USB stick? Riiiiight….
Got a few minutes? Then see how Chase Jarvis makes sure ALL his images and videos are backed-up and secure forever.
Impressive stuff. There is more advice on how to back up on his blog.
The story beyond the still
Posted by Michal in photographers, video on 18/03/2010
Just came across a fantastic HD video contest on Vimeo, called The Story Beyond the Still.
It’s sponsored by Canon and the winner can get either Canon 7D or 5D Mark II, there are also other prizes like Canon lenses or a trip to shoot a short film with one of the judges, and the author of the video which opens the series, Vincent Laforet.
So what is it all about?
It’s the first ever user-generated HD Video Contest where photographers become filmmakers, and we all see beyond the still. Last month the contest kicked off when Canon asked photographer, Vincent Laforet, to interpret a still by telling the story that lived beyond it using the Canon EOS 7D.
And here is his video:
And now the story continues. More from the site:
It was the first chapter of seven, ending with a still photograph of its own for the Vimeo community to then interpret. After 112 entries, Josh Thacker was chosen as the very first winner and now, once again the question is posed to you, what do you see beyond this still?
There are six more chapters to come, so really plenty of time to get creative and submit something equally intriguing. Among the judges is the brilliant Phillip Bloom, whose stunning HD videos are always beautifully shot and edited.
If you fancy submitting your video, there are only 4 days left to send the third chapter.
Five days, four cameras, one beautiful video
Posted by Michal in photographers, video on 08/02/2010
London photography from the upper deck
Posted by Michal in inspiration, photographers, photography on 03/01/2010
Every now and then I’ll be chatting to photographers who inspire me or do something unusual with their cameras. This is my first quick chat with a London-based photographer, Przemek Wajerowicz, who some time ago set out to create a project called From the Upper Deck.
Here he talks to me about in more detail about his project and the inspiration behind it:
The project started soon after I arrived in London in 2005. I’m a street photography fan and From the Upper Deck is weird version of street photography. The view from double-decker buses fascinated me from the moment I arrived in London. I’ve always taken pictures from buses, sadly I lost the very early ones when my hard drive died some time ago. (Three low-res images survived here http://plfoto.com/730749/zdjecie.html http://plfoto.com/765776/zdjecie.html http://plfoto.com/777852/zdjecie.html – these were my first pictures from the upper deck.)
After a while the whole idea grew into a project and in 2007 I decided to ride every bus route in London from the first to the last stop. The following year I started my photo blog.
What camera are you using? Do you stick to just one lens or do you change them?
Currently I’m using Canon 5D and a Canon 50mm f 1.8 lens. The 5D allows me to take good quality pictures at very short intervals, which is a great bonus when photographing the street from a moving bus. Plus it’s a full-frame camera too. 99% of all my pictures were taken with the 50mm lens. In my opinion the 50mm focal length manages the task best and is ideal for me. And besides the 50mm is like cheap wine. Why is cheap wine is good? Because it’s cheap and good.
I agree, I love my 50mm f1.8 lens. Incredible quality for such low price. Which aspect of this project do you find difficult, what’s the biggest challenge for you?
I don’t look at it this way. It’s difficult to say what the most difficult thing is. Most things about taking pictures are exciting. The most boring – and therefore the most difficult aspect – is not getting lost in all the information: when and where I’ve been, which route I’ve covered… All that admin stuff (two spreadsheets, calendar) is very ungrateful, but I need to remember where and when I’ve visited. The biggest challenge is getting on every single double-decker route in London from the beginning to the end.
Have you ever met with a negative reaction? Or do people prefer to pose for pics?
Usually people don’t see me. But when they do, they react in various ways – they’re surprised, they smile, they seem reluctant. But there has never been a negative reaction – maybe just surprise. Here are some examples:
http://www.ftud.net/p/494
http://www.ftud.net/p/87
http://www.ftud.net/p/357
Has this project changed the way you perceive London and its inhabitants?
No, although I’ve seen places I never knew existed, mainly on the outskirts of London – places like Purley, Biggin Hill or Hillingdon.
How was the project received by other photographers and the general poblic?
I think the feedback was positive. The project was picked up by the BBC website and other blogs/online publications, including a prominent German site I never knew existed 
How many routes have you got left to cover and how are you planning to cover those without double-decker buses?
I don’t know exactly how many as not all of them have double-deckers. I think I’ll simply ignore those.
What’s the next step for the project?
The main aim is to publish an album then to re-edit and rebuilt the website to allow for easier picture browsing.
You can follow Przemek on Twitter and check his site www.ftud.net
All images © Przemek Wajerowicz, used with author’s permission
Chase Jarvis – photographer of the year
Posted by Michal in photographers, photography on 07/12/2009
I’ve been away – hence the silence – but even while travelling (and taking pictures on my ‘grown-up’ camera) I couldn’t help reaching for my iPhone and taking a few pictures here and there.
Not because the camera is great, but because of the Best Camera application, which is simply fantastic.
I’ll write about the application itself more in the next few days, but today I just want to mention Chase Jarvis, the guy behind this application.
Today a prominent American photographer, blogger and podcaster Scott Bourne announced Chase Jarvis Photographer of the Year 2009. And I think that this is a well-deserved title. I would possibly modify it to Photographer-Innovator of the Year.
So why does Chase deserve the title? Here’s Scott:
His work is as different from anything I’ve ever seen as it can be. And I admit to sometimes being unsettled by it. Sometimes I don’t get it. Most of the time, I’m blown away by it. But even the unsettling stuff and the stuff I don’t get are very valid reasons to recognize the work. Chase is never satisfied with the conventional or with good enough. He doesn’t rest until he gets what he wants. And he has VERY big vision. It’s probably the key to much of his success. He shoots like a five-year-old. And I mean that as a compliment. There’s an old saying. All children are born artists. The key is to keeping them that way. In the case of Chase Jarvis, it worked. He works with freedom and abandon that is empowering.
And to understand what Scott means you must have a good browse through Chase’s portfolio. Yes, the words ‘different’ and ‘unsettling’ are fully justified. Great man, great photographer, great shots.
Oh, and did I mention The Best Camera…?
Thinking outside the Wall
Posted by Michal in inspiration, photographers, photography on 16/11/2009
Today I read a blog post by one of my favourite news photographers, Leon Neal, who describes his experience on an assignment in Berlin, working for the local AFP bureau covering the Berlin Wall celebrations.
His blog shows just why you should – if possible – get off the beaten track to capture the real spirit of the moment.
The main event (in this case the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall) produced a number of similarly looking images from the Branderburg Gate area. We’ve seen the giant domino shots and the fireworks in all papers and on all websites last week.
Leon however recorded the ‘extra-curricular’ activities – people walking across the line marking the former site of the Wall, old Trabants taking tourists along the route of the former wall, kids chasing giant bubbles or people crowded on the bridge which years ago was the original gateway to the West.
And this is the exciting bit. Photographing a major event is always thrilling, but you also run the risk of producing images which are similar to everyone else’s.
The best Glastonbury shots I’ve seen didn’t feature a single musician or a stage, but gave me a brilliant idea of what it’s like to be there. The most amazing New York martahon shots I’ve seen didn’t show the usual masses of people, but featured single runners photographed with a flash on a bridge.
I find such pictures much more interesting, particularly when, as Leon says, what you see on TV never really gives you the full picture:
While dignitaries, leaders and celebrities congratulated each other on their success in ending Communism, the public were kept at a safe distance, behind twin layers of security barriers. While I totally understand the need for this during the speeches by Sarkozy, Merkel, Medvedev and the rest of the political heavyweights, once they were tucked up in their bunkers again, the public should have been allowed in to celebrate in their own way, under the famous gates. As is the way with nearly all of this kind of event in current times, the whole evening left the feeling that it was created to be enjoyed at home on tv, with the spectators that did make the effort used as a backdrop for the cameras.
Read the rest of his post and see his brilliant pictures here.
Image © abhijeet.rane via Flickr, used under Creative Comons licence
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