57 Reasons To Love Photography

http://blog.photoshelter.com/2012/12/57-reasons-to-love-photography-in-2012/?fb_action_ids=10200300466893620&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%2210200300466893620%22%3A380313442055140%7D&action_type_map=%7B%2210200300466893620%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=[]

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/

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

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

The Magic Of Chance

If you live in the northern latitudes, 47º North or higher, spotting an occasional Aurora is not uncommon. And, with the aide of online alerts from websites like Spaceweather.com, your chances increase substantially.

As a newspaper delivery boy growing up in Anchorage, Alaska I frequently witnessed the northern lights. My papers had to be delivered before 6:00 a.m. and in the constant state of darkness in the winter months, conditions were ideal for aurora spotting.

Two things I remembered most about those days; One, I relished the idea of being the first one making fresh tracks in the new snowfalls, and second, how many people were up watching the aurora. It amazed me how they knew they were out. How did they know? This was usually 4:00-5:00 a.m.. What in the world were these people doing up that early?  I never figured that out. Now, I just assume they were all nutty photographers!

That magic chance of being able to witness stunning natural phenomena like the aurora borealis have never been lost on me. Each and every time they impress the mind. I can only imagine, before technology explained the reasons, how early humans in the North must have hypothesized about the glowing night skies. I can easily see the stream of stories, gods, spirits, being created as the night explodes into color and movement.

Earlier this month, while teaching a photography workshop with the Mentor Series Ultimate Photo Adventure (http://www.mentorseries.com/) along with Lucas Gilman (http://www.lucasgilman.com/) in ICELAND, a huge solar flare from the sun had occurred and alerts from Spaceweather.com reached my inbox.

I was stoked. YES..........everyone on the Trek would have the experience to witness and photograph the Northern Lights in Iceland. What a thrill, right?  WRONG!

Each night we painstakingly watched weather patterns push thick cloud cover over our giant movie screen in the sky. When it did clear, Lucas, Michelle Cast and I set our clocks on the hour, every hour, to check the skies for a glimmer of dancing colorful curtains only to awake tired and after a few days exhausted. It just wasn't mean to be. Geez, we got everything else Iceland has to offer, glaciers, puffins, lava, wind, sheep, vodka, and a great trip. But, no aurora.

I stayed on an extra week with friends from Minneapolis who joined me after the workshop. We too, had great hopes the aurora would dance. Same situation repeated itself. Clouds, rain, sleep, ect., prevented us from photographing one of nature's most thrilling displays.

On our very last night in Iceland we were celebrating with shots of that famous Iceland Vodka, Reyka, in the hotel lobby in Selfoss. About midnight we wandered off to our rooms. One last peek out the window I said to myself. "You can't win if you don't enter" right?

The smile across my face almost hurt it came on so fast. I raced down the hall to knock on the door, "get your tripods, cameras and warm jacket....the aurora is out!"

Off we went.

As is common with the aurora, you never know what you'll get. This night, the northern lights started out dim then built to a dancing show of glimmering colors and light all around us.

In the darkness, all I could hear was "holy cow," friggin eh," "holy shit," "OMG," and so on. The excitement set off a hilarious audio track screaming out in the blackness.

Once everyone settled down and captured something, I suggested as long as they are out, let's try a different location. After all, power lines, and roads could be seen in the first shooting spree. Well, this set off a whole new round of panic. I got such a chuckle outta these guys so excited, like kids in a candy store, to get more images.

Just south of Selfoss towards Reykjavik, we found a good dark landscape filled with blackness, no light pollution to speak of, and one small farm house that actually added to the scene. We leaped outta the van, jammed the tripods into the soft dirt road and aimed our lenses skyward. Just as our shutters begin to open and our eyes adjusted to the ambient light around us, we heard some sounds. As our eyes continued to adjust, we realized there were seven horses only 15 yards away watching us....and laughing at us I'm sure.

As we quickly searched for areas of darkness and something in the foreground to use in our pictures, I spotted a series of giant crosses off the Ring Road. I had no idea what it was but the concept of creating something very different with the glowing skies pounded my brain.

"OK, after this, let's go back to that spot. It's only a quarter mile or so back towards Selfoss" I begged.

We went back and found the crosses. We were at first, slightly disturbed by the scene. We grabbed a few images and then chased off to yet another potential location. The next morning we learned what the crosses were all about. It was a memorial set up to remember those who had died in car accidents on the Ring Road between Selfoss and Reykjavik.

We continued to photograph until 2:00 a.m. in the morning. We got aurora photos. We were pleased. Perhaps we didn't end up in the ideal place we had dreamed of.....with a lake or volcano in the foreground, but we got it.

That magical chance of taking one last look before bedtime and then beating the pavement to get out there and capture the northern lights.

In photography, more often than not, its "f/8 and be there."

cheers,
layne

More Iceland images from this trip; 

Above, a wonderful example of columnar geology 

along the North Atlantic coast.

Below, an aerial example of the great floodplains flowing towards

the sea from Iceland's largest glacier, Vatnajokull.

ICELAND-FIRE & ICE

The visual tug photographers feel on where to travel next for a shoot is a good place to be. I'd much rather be in this position than wondering where and what I explore next. We all have favorite places to go. Those locations that consistently produce memorable moments, visual rewards that motivate us to return. Let's face it, if we are not gifted images that mean something to us, its tough to return to them.

I had such a wonderful time covering Burning Man in the Nevada desert that I really wanted to make it an annual event. It is a remarkable and challenging place to make photographs. It is rapidly becoming one of the nation's most iconic alternative adventures anywhere. And, the beauty of Burning Man is how it is so different each year. Its tough not to make powerful photographs on the playa.

But, the call of the wild also possesses a powerful pull to photograph Iceland......for the sixth time, so I'll miss Burning Man this year. I have always been moved by the landscape of Iceland. The ecosystem seems to change dramatically every 50 kilometers. Iceland is a landscape that is alive. The land of fire & ice energizes the shooter. The weather is always challenging and the winds can simply piss you off after a while. But, its worth it.

So, off to Iceland we go. Stay tuned for a visual report in a few weeks of this marvelous island in the
North Atlantic.

More iPhone Chatter.....

I am constantly amazed with the rise of the iPhone imagery being created today. This was sent to me by a good friend, a fellow shooter, and thought I'd pass it along.

Enjoy!
layne
_____________________________


Most of story from Wired link. 
Writer is JAKOB SCHILLER

http://storyboard.tumblr.com/post/27479079539/capturing-libya-through-a-hipstamatic-lens-to

http://www.bjp-online.com/british-journal-of-photography/news-analysis/2194232/what-will-the-hipstamatic-foundation-for-photojournalism-do-for-the-industry

http://www.wired.com/rawfile/2012/07/instagram-debate/?fb_action_ids=4318831205816&fb_source=timeline_og&action_object_map=%7B%224318831205816%22%3A10150943406706906%7D&action_type_map=%7B%224318831205816%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map&pid=3136

For a lot of professional photographers, iPhone photography is kind of like masturbating. They do it all the time, but they’re too embarrassed to talk about it.

And that’s a shame because the debate over whether iPhone and/or Instagram photos are real photography is stale and pointless. As pointless as whether one needs to use a certain type of camera or lens to make a photo worth looking at.

We’ve moved beyond the argument about slapping a filter on something and calling it art. Everyone knows that if it’s piss-poor, it’s gonna stay that way with or without a filter. Before that there were doomsayers about toning and Photoshop. Instagram is no different. At Raw File we’ve always respected a good photo, regardless of what it’s shot on.

Last week, however, there was some movement towards openness and professional pride in these unique tools.

Sports Illustrated decided to run six — yes SIX — pages of iPhone photos by the famed sports photographer Brad Mangin (most of us would kill for one).

Meanwhile Ben Lowy, a photographer we have great respect for, started publishing his iPhone photos from Libya (shot with his very own Hipstamatic lens) on Storyboard.

Photo: Ben Lowy

iPhone photography is here to stay. And not only

that. Photographers like Mangin and Lowy are proving, in real time, that this kind of photography has value and contributes to the richness of the contemporary photographic world.

If you don’t want to use these tools (the haters call them “gimmicks”), that’s fine. But when great photographers are producing interesting work, we should all be cheering that they’re out there, using their cameras, recording the world and contributing to the visual narrative that enriches everyone who sees it.

Just like that zoom lens in your bag, or just like that tripod in your car, photographers are using the iPhone as a new way to tell stories, capture moments and make compelling photos.

But enough from me. Here’s what Mangin and Lowy have to say about using the iPhone and Instagram.

“I started looking at everything with a fresh set of eyes from the moment I walked onto the fields in Oakland and San Francisco about three hours before each game,” writes Mangin on his blog about his iPhone and SI‘s decision to publish the photos. “It was like I was a newborn photographer seeing things for the first time.”

Photo: Ben Lowy

How many of you have had points in your careers where you’ve desperately needed a new way to see things? A new angle to approach the story? For many people that’s a daily battle, and if the iPhone pushes you to make better pictures because you’re seeing things differently, that’s great.

Here’s Lowy from the Tumblr blog:

What can you capture on an iPhone that you can’t on a regular camera?
The tool itself is a lot smaller and inconspicuous and can be a bit more subtle. I think it engenders a greater sense of intimacy with subjects because you’re not putting a big camera in their face.