composed and posted with ecto
7.30.2005
7.28.2005
7.20.2005
7.17.2005
7.15.2005
Notes From the Field; Sony DSC-T3 CyberShot
I have found a great little "walking around camera" The Sony DSC-T3, this link is really the T-33, which has superseded the T3, it is essentially the same camera. As you can see the camera is very small, but very high performance. It is a 5 megapixel with a huge LCD monitor for ease of viewing. I carry this camera with me wherever I go. Most people think it is a cell phone or a PDA when I have it in my hand. It is a great camera for "Street Photography", this is the style of photography made famous by Henri Cartier Bresson, Elliot Erwitt, et al. I know many of you are now pulling your hair out by the roots.........YES I KNOW all of the these Photo Gods used Leica cameras, the ONLY CAMERA acceptable for street photography. I am here to tell you that the camera does not matter! Heresey, yes. Reality no. The important truth is the eye and heart of the photographer, not the camera, the lens, the film, the megpaixels, software or the developer you use. Oh, the black tape on my Sony is to reduce the "Flash" factor, not the flash as in strobe, but the flash as in shiny parts, and to help make me more invisible......yeah right! I really like this camera. Most of the shots on this blog were taken with this camera. This is not a full blown review, it is my thoughts and feelings about using this camera everyday. For a complete review read this Sony test.
composed and posted with ecto
Instant Rresults ?
I have been working with digital cameras for the last several months, really enjoying all of the advantages of that "Workflow". Doing that digital work I have reacquainted myself with "Street Photography". This is a style of working that began with the advent of the small, fast camera. My list of practitioners begin with Dr. Eric Salomon and his incredible Ermanox. The invention of the Leica signaled the end of the Ermanox, and ushered in the golden era of Street Photographers, creating photojournalism as we know it.
The short list of my influences include, Henri Cartier Bresson, Elliot Erwitt, W. Eugene Smith, Robert Frank, Robert Capa and on and on. I have left so many out. But I digress, the point of this is when using the film camera, I look at the camera back to see the image! How quickly we become grooved to new methods! I often think I have missed the next picture because I am looking at the last one.
Not being shackled to the LCD allows me to shoot faster and concentrate on the action in front of the lens instead of the last image captured. This brings a flow and an "in the moment-ness" that is sometimes missing with the DSLR gear. There are many advantages to the DSLR, chief among them is the ability to immediately see the result of your exposure. This is Polaroid "effect". This difference is a classic case of the right tool for the job. Street photography, fast photography, candid photography are all places where shooting quickly and quietly is important.
There are many times when the ability to review a shot is vitally important. Studio work, landscapes, etc. Yes, I know the photographer can be disciplined and "not look" until there is a pause in the action if the DSLR is your tool of choice. I don't think film is going away for a long long time, and digital will continue to evolve. It is an exciting time to be working.
In the end it is not which camera you use, not which media you use, not which film you use, it is the eye and heart of the photographer.
composed and posted with ecto
7.13.2005
Look Out !
There is a disquieting story on NPR radio this morning. In the aftermath of the horrible actions in London, NPR is asking transit services in this country, the USA, what measures they are taking to protect our commuters. The transit authorities are asking the riding public to be aware of their neighbor's and fellow riders, watch for loose packages, people acting "strangely", whatever that means, etc. This is all well and good, but, the part that alerted me was when the San Francisco BART official was asked what they are doing he said,"to report people photographing things that would not be of interest to the general public". I know there are many reports of photographers being questions since 9/11, but I find this chilling.
7.12.2005
7.10.2005
Taking Creative License
There is wave of standards based design washing over the World Wide Web. It is being driven by the desire to create web page design that is browser independent, portable and flexible. These designs can be rapidly and easily edited and updated. These new designs are driving and being driven by the huge explosion in Blogs. There are several Blogs that brought this new design discipline to my attention, almost cool is one that I enjoy. I found a battered copy of HOW Magazine, a slick publication that is riding this design wave. They have a WEB site of course, but the paper magazine is very satisfying. In the June issue there is an article that speaks to the principle that a thing is either well designed or it is not. The article is from the authors of one of the canons of design, "Universal Principles of Design", by Lidwell, Holden and Butler. Their thinking is that you must first know the rules of design then you may break the rules of design. This is "Creative License".
"Design, like driving, adheres to basic rules of the road. But designers take creative liberties, bending those laws to suit a project. Learn these rules, excerpted from the innovative "Universal Principles of Design"........ And then break'em.
Hick's Law, The time it takes to make a decision increases as the number of alternatives increases.
This is the often heard wale of "Too Much Information". When we are overwhelmed with options and choices our decision making is bogged down and often short circuited completely. There are so many choices in the video store that we walk out picking a movie. There are countless examples. This means to keep the Blog design clean, simple and elegant. Offer the reader fewer, but higher quality choices and that reader will return again and again.
Closure, A tendency to perceive a set of individual elements as a single, recognizable pattern, rather than multiple, individual elements.
This means that people tend to see a group of individual elements as a recognizable pattern, instead of a bunch of random elements on a page. We want to see a form or shape we know so strongly we will fill in the missing information in the pattern to form the whole message. This allows designers to reduce the number of elements on a page and still communicate their ideas. As designers we can make our designs simpler, more elegant, and more interesting. We tend to "Fill in the Blanks".
Figure-Ground Relationship, Elements are perceived as either figures )objects of focus) or ground (the rest of the perceptual field)
When we look at a design, a Blog, a WEB Page, we divide that space into figure-ground elements. The figure parts are our focus, the ground parts are the background. When we design a page that directs the viewers eye to the place we want the design is stable. It receives more attention and is remembered. This can be accomplished by making the important bits pop out of the background clutter. We are working to reduce that clutter with clean design.
"Design, like driving, adheres to basic rules of the road. But designers take creative liberties, bending those laws to suit a project. Learn these rules, excerpted from the innovative "Universal Principles of Design"........ And then break'em.
Hick's Law, The time it takes to make a decision increases as the number of alternatives increases.
This is the often heard wale of "Too Much Information". When we are overwhelmed with options and choices our decision making is bogged down and often short circuited completely. There are so many choices in the video store that we walk out picking a movie. There are countless examples. This means to keep the Blog design clean, simple and elegant. Offer the reader fewer, but higher quality choices and that reader will return again and again.
Closure, A tendency to perceive a set of individual elements as a single, recognizable pattern, rather than multiple, individual elements.
This means that people tend to see a group of individual elements as a recognizable pattern, instead of a bunch of random elements on a page. We want to see a form or shape we know so strongly we will fill in the missing information in the pattern to form the whole message. This allows designers to reduce the number of elements on a page and still communicate their ideas. As designers we can make our designs simpler, more elegant, and more interesting. We tend to "Fill in the Blanks".
Figure-Ground Relationship, Elements are perceived as either figures )objects of focus) or ground (the rest of the perceptual field)
When we look at a design, a Blog, a WEB Page, we divide that space into figure-ground elements. The figure parts are our focus, the ground parts are the background. When we design a page that directs the viewers eye to the place we want the design is stable. It receives more attention and is remembered. This can be accomplished by making the important bits pop out of the background clutter. We are working to reduce that clutter with clean design.
The remaining rules to be learned and then broken are, Iconic Representation, Ockham's Razor, the Von Restorff Effect and Face-ism Ratio. These last ideas are well past the scope of this post. I found the article in NOW magazine to be thought provoking and made me look at Blog and WEB page design with a fresh eye. I believe that things are well designed or they are not. This brief exposure to these principles allow me to become a better designer and to appreciate the work and passion of other designers. Perfection is unattainable, but we can strive for it.
composed and posted with ecto
7.08.2005
7.05.2005
7.01.2005
...a disturbing experience...
This afternoon riding the bus I had a disturbing experience. The last few months I have been using a Sony DSC-T3, Cybershot digital camera for my Street Photography. This is a tiny, high performance, 5MP camera. It is smaller that a deck of cards. I use it set to a hyper-focal distance of 3m, Auto ISO, and have the flash turned off. It is a great camera, all of the shots on this blog were taken with this camera. Yes, yes, I know I can't be a real "Street Photographer" without a Leica, well, I do have a Leica M6, and have used Leica's for decades! But I digress.....the flash on the little Sony was my downfall. On the bus was a young, very young, black girl with a babe in arms......a classic urban mom and baby. I pulled the Sony out of my pocket and sneaked a picture, yes the flash fired!!!!! The first time it has ever happened with this camera. She saw the flash and asked if I had taken her picture......I did all the wrong things, I lied to her, saying no and deleting the picture. I did not make eye contact the rest of the bus ride. I insulted her and I insulted myself, I lied to her.
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