Share the Love
If you’re a disciple avid fan of Chase Jarvis, as I am, you’ve probably heard about CreativeLive already. If not, allow me fill you in. CreativeLive is a new platform for providing high-quality teaching for a very low price. Or free.
Here’s how it works. Classes are made available worldwide via a LIVE streaming feed. They’re taught by some big names and heavy-hitters from multiple industries. I’m talking Zack Arias, David duChemin, Vincent Laforet, and the list goes on. Topics not only including photography, but also film, graphic design, web design, programming…even watercolor. For free! And if you are unable to make time to watch the entire session, videos of the entire session are made available for a pretty reasonable price. So check that out.
I managed to catch a good chunk of a session a couple weeks ago by Vincent Laforet (if you don’t recognize that name, watch this video, and it may start ringin’ some bells). At the end of his teaching Chase dropped by and they tag-teamed a Q&A. Unbelievably good. Mr. Laforet said something that stuck with me. I’ll paraphrase:
With the present state of immense quantities of information available at our fingertips, it’s sometimes very difficult to find the right stuff. It’s often challenging to find quality resources that are relevant, valuable, and engaging. As such, one of the greatest gifts you can give people is to become a curator of information. If you find something worth sharing, then do so. Become a channel through which useful knowledge is passed on to those who need it.
Definitely not Vincent’s exact words, but absolutely his sentiments. I plan to act on his excellent advice. Beyond serving as a platform for sharing my personal work, I want to begin using this blog as a hub for sharing information.
To start, I would certainly recommend heading over to CreativeLive. More to come soon.
Classic Cars and Conversations
I’m fascinated by how the passing of time changes our perspective on things. A prime example of this is found in classic automobiles. Think of cars like the Challenger, Chevelle, and Camaro. Model A’ and ’57 Chevy. Studebaker and Bel Aire. These autos are now incredibly valuable, almost like works of art. But when my grandpa was growing up, they were like our Honda Civics right now. That’s just a super intriguing thought.
I love going to summer car shows and checking out all the sweet rides, meticulously detailed, chrome glimmering like a living creature. Moving works of art, because for me the aesthetics are equally as interesting as the massive motors that contain countless raging horses.
Another thing I’ve found at car shows is that a camera is great at initiating conversation. Most of the owners have put massive amounts of time and money into their car, and when they see someone taking photos, well, it’s an instant icebreaker. My favorite are the old-timers who have owned the car for years, with hands as gnarled as the fenders are silky-smooth, and a profound understanding of every part of the machine. Always a pleasure to talk with them.
And now for some photos images (I know, that’s what you were really waiting for!). These were taken last weekend at a car show outside Goodfellas in Pekin, IL.
Thanks for reading. Hope you have a great weekend!
I’m a Winner!
About a week ago, as I was getting my daily dose of blog action, reading some of the blogs I follow, the X-Equals blog grabbed my eye. (The X-Equals site is a great photography resource, especially for Adobe Lightroom related topics and free LR presets.)
I saw they were running something called the “RAW Challenge”. The premise was to take a photo they provided and then edit it however seen fit, then submit the final image. The only catch was that all editing had to be done inside Lightroom.
I almost passed on the opportunity to enter the challenge. But I’m a huge fan of Adobe Lightroom, so I thought, “heck, why not?!” I ended up spending, well, a pretty solid chunk of last Thursday processing the image. Then I submitted my final and crossed my fingers. Didn’t really think much of it until I got an email last night:
Whoa!
You won 1st Place in the X-Equals RAW Challenge!
I may as well have scored the winning penalty kick in the final game of the World Cup. Yeah, I was pretty excited. It was late at night, and I think I woke up everyone in the house (sorry guys…heh). I won some pretty awesome prizes too. A ton of rockin’ presets, a print of the NY skyline.
You can check out the entire X-Equals blog entry here. You’ll find editors comments about my entry, and a summary of the workflow I followed to achieve the look of the final image.
I woke up this morning still totally stoked!
Elementary, My Dear Reader
For those of you who haven’t seen the new Sherlock Holmes movie, I would highly recommend it. The movie itself is quite good, and Robert Downey Jr. turns in a stellar performance with a different, fresh approach to the character of Holmes. He is reason enough to see the movie, in addition to an equally good Watson played by Jude Law.
But if you’re interested in the visual arts, the end credits are easily as appealing as the narrative they follow. I saw this film in theaters, and sat spellbound through the entirety of the credits. They’re mindblowing.
I was absolutely thrilled when I found this article on the excellent website Graphic-Exchange.com (definitely take a look around the site after you read the article).
It’s a Q & A with Danny Yount, the creative director at Prologue Film, the company who created the end credit sequence. Please, do yourself a favor. Watch the following video to see the credits in all their glory. Then head over and read the article. You’ll be glad you did.
Scrapyards and Sunglasses
Last weekend kicked off the first Peirao Group event of the season. If you’re not familiar with the Peirao Group, well, you should be! The Peirao Group was founded by David Price of Black Olive Photographic. We’re a group of photographers with varying levels of experience, from hobbyist to pro, who get together on a monthly basis to hone our skills and share techniques.
The location for April was in the warehouse district of downtown Peoria, IL. There are a surprising number of fantastic photo spots in the downtown area if you know where to look.
If you’re a photographer or model near the Central Illinois area, you should consider joining our group on Facebook. You can stay current on all the Peirao events via our fanpage there. Also, I want to give huge props to the models who came out for this shoot. You guys rock!
Without further ado, here are some of my shots from the day. You can see the rest on my Facebook gallery.
-Ben
Best Laid Plans…
I recently had the privilege of capturing some headshots for my good buddy Anthony King. The King Man is a talented actor, plus an expert set builder and all around lover of life (let me know if you want his number for a casting call). Having a quality subject definitely makes a photograhers job exponentially easier.
We had a brief session of creative brainstorming, and decided that some nearby woods would afford the type of photographic environment we were looking for. But as luck (read: glaring oversight of recent rain leading to swamp-like conditions) would have it, things…well…didn’t quite work out. [Props to Michael Cruse who graciously served as my able-bodied assistant, defending the lights against a stiff breeze, and even letting me clean up my bloody knee (don’t ask, it was muddy) with his shirt].
Driving back from the woods, we decided to stop at a rugged, stained concrete wall I had spotted earlier. The images from that location happened to be the best of the session. I hadn’t hugged any trees in a while, though, so I guess our trek into the timber wasn’t a total loss.
The only way to handle things not going as planned is to roll with it. Sometimes, if you’re really lucky, you may just end up creating something even better than you initially imagined. Although having your subconscious on the lookout for Plan B (and Plan C, Plan D…) definitely doesn’t hurt.
Signs of Life
Although Spring doesn’t officially start for two more days, there are signs of it everywhere. I woke up this morning to birds singing outside my window!
Yesterday was such a beautiful day, I absolutely had to get outside. I decided to take the dog for a little stroll, which for me obviously meant taking the camera for a stroll too.
One thing that consistently amazes me is the way that life can come from something that has seemed dead for so long. (I’m pretty sure there’s a great spiritual truth just below the surface of that statement). Overnight, there are delicate blossoms appearing from the ground, pushing bravely through the remnants of last years leaves still plastered to the grass.
[click the images for a larger view]
If it’s not quite warm yet in your neck of the woods, let these photos bring you hope! (And if you can identify the flowers in the final image, let me know; I’m curious, but not much of a botanist.)
Raising the Flag
A show of hands, please, from everyone who has seen this image.
Your hand should be up right now.
That photograph is surely one of the most iconic, recognizable images in American history, captured by Marine photographer Joe Rosenthal. According to the AP website,
“It has been called the greatest photograph of all time. It may well be the most widely reproduced. It served as the symbol for the Seventh War Loan Drive, for which it was plastered on 3.5 million posters. It was used on a postage stamp and on the cover of countless magazines and newspapers. It served as the model for the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Va., a symbol forever of the valor and sacrifices of the U.S. Marines.”
Yet, the story behind it’s capture seems rather unknown (at least to me). I just read about it recently, and thought I’d share. It’s especially fascinating from a photographer’s viewpoint. [Of note: we just passed the anniversary of this photo. It was taken Feb. 23, 1945]
On the day the image was taken, Rosenthal, with two other Marine photographers, had just reached the summit of Mt. Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima. He saw several Marines preparing to raise the flag on an old piece of Japanese water pipe. Deciding he needed a better vantage point, he put his camera down and began piling up rocks to stand on. In the process, he almost missed the shot entirely. As the Marines hoisted the flag upwards, he grabbed his camera and took a single shot without using the viewfinder. Here is his own description:
“Here the ground sloped down toward the center of the volcanic crater, and I found that the ground line was in my way. I put my Speed Graphic down and quickly piled up some stones and a Jap sandbag to raise me about two feet (I am only 5 feet 5 inches tall) and I picked up the camera and climbed up on the pile. I decided on a lens setting between f-8 and f-11, and set the speed at 1-400th of a second.
At this point, 1st Lt. Harold G. Shrier … stepped between me and the men getting ready to raise the flag. When he moved away, Genaust came across in front of me with his movie camera and then took a position about three feet to my right. ‘I’m not in your way, Joe?’ he called.
‘No,’ I shouted, ‘and there it goes.’
“Out of the corner of my eye, I had seen the men start the flag up. I swung my camera and shot the scene. That is how the picture was taken, and when you take a picture like that, you don’t come away saying you got a great shot. You don’t know.”
Now, some may chalk it up merely to luck, or perhaps serendipity, or maybe even fate. I believe there was something much more tangible that contributed to that incredible photograph, and I feel that Rosenthal was being much too modest in his account. He had working in his favor the combined influence of countless photos he had taken before.
First, he knew ahead of time what aperture and shutter speed he would need. And second, he was able to capture that iconic shot subconsciously, on reflex, without thinking. When he picked up the camera it was no longer just an assembly of glass and steel, but rather an extension of his own hands, hardwired into his brain.
So I guess the takeaway is…go out and take some photos. Practice with different lighting and composition and weather conditions. It’s not a guarantee that your images will become a permanent part of American history, but it will give you a better chance of capturing spontaneous moments that only happen once.
The Long Winter
Snow, Everywhere.
As I’m sure anyone near central IL would tell you, winter this year has felt like two winters. I almost can’t remember what it’s like to go outside and feel, you know, warm.
But, as we all know, spring is coming…sooner or later…I hope. And in the meantime, all this snow has made for some really wonderful photo opportunities.
While I’m eulogizing on snow, I will say that if you live in the city one of the absolute coolest things is going outside at midnight while the snow is falling…and just listening. All the typical sounds of urban life become muffled. It’s incredibly peaceful, almost surreal. Highly recommended. (The first image in this set was taken during one such midnight excursion.)
The Old Guy’s Got Game
One of the (many) things to love about dogs is their sheer enthusiasm for life. While the first thing out of the mouths of us humans is “NOO. Not more snow to shovel!?”
But not this fella. He sheds his years and relives his puppy days.
That’s it for now. Hope you all have a great weekend!
Happy Birthday!
Today is my birthday! (“Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me…” ahem, sorry).
With that in mind, I thought it immensely fitting to choose today to announce the birthday of…(drumroll, please)…this blog!
I hope to use this as an outlet to share my recent photographic endeavors, along with occasional thoughts on topics like music, philosophy, culture, or just life in general.
I’m incredibly stoked about this new opportunity, and I hope you’re equally as excited!
So here’s to brand-new potential! Should be a pretty great ride.
