Look what I've found!

I'm starting out on a series of photographs that's very exciting for me. It is a completely a different approach. I was playing around with the idea few years ago but now I decided to explore it some more.

Canon 5d MK3

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I caught the flashing meteor just as it was about to crash on the earth… Just kidding. This was done with long exposure and deliberately moving the camera for the desired effect. The meteor is just the sun.

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Yes, it does look like an impressionistic painting. I assure you that there was no photoshop filters used. Saturation, contrast and some tinting was used to get the colors the way I like it.

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This approach is so interesting for me because even though the image looks like an abstraction, it was derived from real life. So in a way it straddles the world of your imagination and reality. Or better yet, it blurs the boundary between the two realms.

We can even take the idea further to examine, IS there a real distinction between your imagination and reality?

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On the technical aspect, it is rather simple. Long exposures that may last from 1/4 sec to 6 seconds, hand holding the camera and make the image dance by moving the camera around. The artistry is about how to move the camera according to your subject matter. Your subject matter and your vision dictates how you'll move the camera. Vertically, squiggly, trembly…

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It is not my intention to mimic painters. However, the similarities that I find between my work and the impressionist artists is the fact that maybe we are more interested in capturing the mood of the scenery as opposed to faithfully capturing the details of the subject matter.

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I'm really enjoying this project. I think I will expand it more as time goes. I like the fact that I'm challenging my own notion of what photographs should look like. Why should we be so bound by the idea of the "still" image?

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Comments

Large Format ...Slight Return

Took out my Linhof 4x5 field camera out for a spin. Tripod, cable release, focusing cloth, loupe, lightmeter, and film holders! The gang's all here. Linhof Technica III, (circa 1940's) with Fujinon 150mm 5.6 a modern lens design. Bull Run Park near Manassas VA.The camera is wonderfully made with machined aluminum with German engineering. Like Butter. Working with a 4x5 is a whole different world. It takes long to set up and there are so many things that you can screw up. "Did I cock the shutter? check focus?, meter reading, dark slide out? lock the movements?... There are like 13 different steps that you have to make to take a picture. So why do it when I can just point my 5d and shoot in easy one two steps? Reasons may vary, but I do it because of the camera movements. The tilts, swings, shifts. These cameras were made so you can technically control how the image hits the film plane. You can achieve "technically perfect" images, whatever that means.

Polaroid Negative?

I've been wanting to do color large format for awhile. When there were photo labs around the corner, it wasn't hard to do a E-6 process in a day or two. Now that process has gotten expensive and if you're doing sheet film, its even more pain. So my solution... Polaroid! well technically, it should be called "instant film" since Polaroid is trademarked term. I'm using Fuji FP 100c45. But here's the twist. I wanted a different look. If I want true colors, I wouldn't bother with the cost of 2 bucks per shot. I also was fascinated with some surface texture that I saw on polaroids. I recently came across some sites that talks about turning a polaroid into negatives. Its true that Polariod years ago did have those positive/negative film, but they've discontinued all instant film a couple of years ago. The process is simple. you take bleach and take off the black stuff on the part that you throw away. Once the black part is off, you have a negati

Boston: B&W Architecture with Leica Q2M: From a Purist Perspective.

I swear I was going to switch out my black and white ONLY Leica Q2M to a regular Q2 color camera before going to this trip. I"m glad I didn't. Oh, before I forget, take a look at my icandy slide shows . I will be making slideshows that is designed for big screen TV's. Take a look at this one: Ok, back to the topic on hand. So one of the most asked question about the Leica Q2M is, 'why limit yourself to just black and white when you can easily convert color photos to BW?' Very good question. My answer is, if you know with certainty you want the best quality BW image possible, you want the dedicated monochrome camera. Am I being a staunch purist? or is there a practical argument for it? Let's talk about it. Beacon Street Boston, MA One of many beautiful architecture on that hill. First, this camera doesn't have any moire filter on the sensor. Moire filters are on most color camera sensors to get rid of those annoying repeating patterns that loo

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