Thursday, November 29, 2012

Photographing China

Join me on a exciting photographic journey to CHINA in 2013 with the MPC (Minneapolis PHOTO CENTER) for two weeks. We will be aiming our lenses at one of the world's most secretive and unique countries.

Contact MPC:  http://www.mplsphotocenter.com/


Monday, November 19, 2012

Vintage Flashback


I wanted to share something that happened recently while photographing these rare Key Deer in Florida that I found quite moving.

In the darkness, wading in the mangrove swamp waiting for the deer to emerge after dusk, the quality of the light was, in film days, awful. Today, still using Nikons but trusting the capture with SanDisk Extreme IV Compact Flash Cards, I had this flashback of being a kid looking at the old wildlife photographs in National Geographic Magazines and how powerful those images were to an adventurous young kid. I wanted to be there too.

(Click on image to enlarge)



Those amazing photos captured on safari or in a swamp, in a jungle, wherever, the photogs created images of wildlife in dark conditions, often times relegated to using a huge flash, getting only one shot because the blast of light spooked the animals back into the dense darkness. You cross your fingers and pray you nailed it.

I felt that moment in the mangrove swamp. I was back, thumbing through the pages of old Nat Geo's as a youth, dreaming, wanting to explore the world this way. I felt reconnected to the medium in a whole new way, primitive, fortunate, excited. 

Once again the magic of the medium is the reason I adore this job. Coupled with the adventure and the adrenaline rush of seeing these deer at night, but also the excitement of walking away with successful photographs of them at night. Its no wonder how this simply fuels future motivations. Its the reward of why photographers do this.

It was a cool sensation. Glad to see I still enjoy this medium after all these years. As usual, its f/8 and be there!

To present the old time look, I used a vintage app to recreate the image I remember seeing with such fascination 45 years ago in the pages of a magazine.

cheers,
layne

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Nikon D800 Video

Shoot video, or not shoot video..........that is the question!

I'll be the first to say I'm one of the last to jump on board in the current video craze that has become common practice with DSLR cameras. The ease and availability of creating high resolution videos with the same camera you use to shoot editorial assignments offers compelling reasons to give it shot.

The magic happened for me when I better understood the blending of sound and visuals. The addition of audio, tight editing, and powerful video stimulates more of the senses and can add a tremendous value to the story-telling component.

Here's the trailer to the first video I shot for the North House Folk School, located in Grand Marais, Minnesota. The full length version will come out at the end of the year. I had a balst shooting the clips and quickly realized its a different machine than shooting stills. However, I see the value in both and plan on numerous additional experiments in video to better gauge my future in this medium.

I'll pen more after the full version comes out and revisit some of the joys and issues I see in this medium.

You can see the trailer here;

http://vimeo.com/52776335