Here's Summer...

Music Festivals have long been the bench mark for a British Summer, it’s not just a hint that the cold dark long days are gone for another four months it’s also an exciting time for us to get out the summer wardrobe, don the shades put some sun screen on and purchase the obligatory two man festival tent, that comes with enough space to stash the dirty clothes and half empty crate of beer (you can never have enough beer), into, while you let your half pissed girlfriend squat on your aching shoulders for what seems like an eternity.

However you don’t mind that if only for a day or so, except the girlfriend is developing an addiction to the half baked half raw horse quality burger, that seems to offer sustenance and soak up the cider, beer or what ever she drinks these days. No you don’t mind at all, that’s not the real reason you’re here, you’re here for the banter, and most importantly the music.

It’s the music that drives us to these locations each year, year in year out. Though it’s all worth it, you will get to see some over sized Texan Blondie, whose airbags came as standard as a bench mark for those oil rich country folk, who admire some Li’l Ol’ sweetheart sporting the whitest glint of a smile, in that tight Barbie Ranch Girl outfit.

No you don’t mind at all, because when England fail to meet their mark in the ever so boring World Cup Tournament; you know you have the perfect excuse to go travelling to the other side of the country and get totally muddied and yet surprisingly happy that you are wearing those Wellington Boots from George at ASDA with the pattern or motif on the side, that helps guide you to a similar looking tent.

Though in all honesty apart from packing some spare underwear, lip balm and a few necessary bottles of water and a tube of toothpaste, to freshen your alcohol infused morning breath, what else is on offer at a festival? 

Some more girls

Well the answer may not surprise you at all; it seems to go with the territory not cigarettes but drugs. It seems that every festival has them despite the organisers paying huge sums of money for the Donkey-Kong lookalike security with the invisible rugs under their arms.

Yes it seems that certain contraband works it way through, yes illegally purchased cigarettes are high on the list as well as drugs or legal highs as they are known these days.

They seem to be a wholly excepted part of the culture these days when paying homage to the latest sounds or sounds that make a one off comeback. Then you have differing forms of festivals there is the all-rounder sell out which is Glastonbury, next up we have the super club festival that offer the discerning dance music enthusiast a whole new series of sub-genres breaking down into splinter groups which are derived as thus hard, harder, hard and loud, harder and louder and where are my ear muffs ‘cos my ears are bleeding.

Then we have one off events that hope to make it back the following year if the council permits, and of course these offer very little to the seasoned festival goer.

Which brings me to my case in point about a new kind of festival, which is currently breaking Britain today. This festival is generally about another cultures’ beliefs, this being a Hindi festival. 

Peace Out

 The Holi or Sanskrit festival is a festival of colours or festival of love. Bringing in new life and a new spring in the Hindi calendar. It is not supposed to be a drinking, dance music festival, by tradition though music of the Indian traditional kind is played.

So when you decide to try this festival out your going on the pretence on what has happened at other festivals, though to be honest this just isn’t any other dance music festival, you are advised to wear white, the reasoning behind this is so that the colours which come in perfectly packaged sachets of coloured corn flour powder, are able to establish your undeniable origin.

It may seem like harmless fun, but you realise that when people from other parts of the world namely New Zealand are wearing what can be best described as a highly fluorescent snorkeling face mask and breather you begin to feel quite alarmingly discontent.

Though if am honest with myself I am thinking this could be the latest dance music festival fashion statement and in reality I haven’t got anything to worry about in the slightest, I keep telling myself it will all be okay. 

Holi One

The other negative aspect about this was the apparent singular stage, which was reminiscent of the Kaaba Stone in Mecca. Did I just cross over onto another plain…had I transgressed into another world of religious wonder…err no.

Over the tannoy of the loudspeaker system, I could clearly hear the common expletive ‘fuck’; this would not be considered as being diversely sensitive and respectful to another person beliefs.

Then my thoughts seem to focus on the ever-growing small crowd, which is trying in vain to avoid the now light shower of rain normally, experienced in April. We are perched under a small marquee barely big enough to cover a hundred people let alone the 2,000 souls who have updated their social media status by you guessed it employing the universally known liking symbol into their daily language, that and employing the old scissors / peace symbol gesture, which is meant to imply peace or so they think.

To myself it means something of a sexual or gang land nature, next time you see that gesture with the hands just remember that seemingly similarity to either holding a gun or pleasuring your girlfriend, you will definitely think more laterally.

The girls outnumbered me

The positive side to all of this was the overwhelming gathering of female to male ratio, the guys were outnumbered 6/1 at one point then that increased as the day wore on. So what does that mean in the demographics? This particular event was more appealing to a female audience then male? Quite possibly the musical taste was not to every one’s delight, though I recognised a few tunes, I mainly concentrated on capturing images of the people at the event.

They were a great bunch, and after a few beers more and more of those females were approaching my stealth like gait, in the hope of getting a ‘groupie snap’, I duly obliged some of these ladies were quite full on, which in retrospect did make me smile the reason was simple, I love confident women. I like that a woman can be confident and be happy in the surroundings where she may be.

This was getting interesting now, because it seemed that what we all came for, was beginning to take place in a field of sorts. The irony of it all was a security guard played by non other than a Yorkshire man dressed as a gardener, acting like a security guard played by a Liverpudlian resembling cricketer Phil Tufnell.

The scene was becoming more outrageous as the day wore on, we began to get in to a rhythm of every two hours it was powder time! Or Holi One time, though I did overhear a few blokes exclaiming Holi Shit! Holi Shit!  Every time our compère hostess called us up, yes the girl who actually served me merchandise was the one who actually graced the stage to implore us to get to our feet, colourful powder in one hand; Altern8 mask in the other.

It was dreadful to the extreme the powder hardly being ejected into the air as the ‘girly throw’ barely made it past gravity, instead nonchalantly people did the task while supping a beer or guzzling the wine from a bottle, and emptying the contents of said colourful sachet into ones face.

Hardly the elegant manner in which I hoped the powder would be ejected, still none the less; all had a great time. I began to favour this event due to the proximity of the event to the place of my childhood; we were after all partying in Stanley Park, Liverpool.

This sort of made all the effort all the more worth it, I was smiling wryly and realising that I would have to make my way home with others against a setting sun, covered head to toe in coloured corn flour, in the name of Holi One!

Using Any Light source

What light source do you prefer to use? 

They're many light sources we can use as a photographer, some of these methods can be implemented  outdoors too, especially if you are shooting with a crew or other students.  This list can be used for all situations and they can be combined too. 

If say for example your a street photographer and you have been asked to shoot a friend or family members wedding or particular event and they want to mark that event with a series of shots, what do you go for?

You can be as creative as you want; take a look at this example: natural light source. The higher perspective ensures the shadow created by the natural light is equal to the subject standing vertically it is perpendicular to the subject and so a shadow is cast as a right angle. 

The shadow side of the person is the defining side and also the slimming side, so when shooting a model against window light, turn the body away and turn the face toward the light. The model female or male will automatically look slimmer by definition by playing 'with' the light and the shadow.

So you can imagine how the model would look if he or she were facing the window the light would fill the features on the face or torso and make the shape look fuller, so by turning the subject slightly away from the light and turning face back slightly you emphasise more definition.

I have compiled the list for you below, what I will do is make a shot list from this list and show these examples for you to learn from along with corresponding lighting diagram.

The list:

• Artificial Light } Off/On Camera flash / LED / Candle Light / Head-torch etc
• Back Light } Continuous Light / Sunlight / Car Headlights 
• Candle Light
• Continuous Light
• LED } Video / Bicycle Lights / Car Headlights 
• Off Camera Flash
• On Camera Flash 
• Open Shade
• Sunlight / Natural Light
• Translucent / Reflectors Diffusers
• Video Light
• Window Light  

So we can see that they're many light sources for photography in a studio which could be set up for indoor or outdoor use. Question is which suits your style of photography best, well if you're a street photographer than you could play with the shadows under bridges, or high rise buildings. Street photographers will make the best use of the light they have which is in abundance, the light from the sun. 

©Ray K. Metzker

Another aspect to this is the fact that at different times of the day, the sun will give greater shadows at certain points, so you could shoot in the style of Harry Callahan or Ray K. Metzker.  Here is a shot from Ray K. Metzker to give you an idea of what he could do with the light he had. It's pretty awesome when you realise this is street photography, no soft box or off camera flash here. 

So what about shooting outdoors with an off camera flash? Well we know of a couple of photographers who do just that, one Bruce Gilden is a definite who almost exclusively captures the unique perspective of people in everyday places, 

particularly on the streets of New York. 

Another photographer is British born Dougie Wallace, a prolific photographer who enjoys getting up just as close as Gilden to his subjects, though to be honest Glasweegee , as he is also known loves capturing the characteristics of his subjects with vibrant colour and also at night. This unique take on urban life, is at first startling to the relative newcomer, however when one looks closer, you begin to see those subtle hints at what makes us human. 

We begin to see ourselves in a new light, and talking of light we should look at ourselves under studio light. After all, that is the sole topic of this post to look at varying light sources.  Let us look at a light source such as a redhead, or continous light source. Redhead so called because that is the light that the head is actually red. Where as a blonde is so called because of the yellowish light it emits, blondes are generally more powerful as much as 2000 watts, the bigger sister if you will. 

You can create many styles of portraiture using both lights, the only piece that will need regular maintenance is the buld itself, and the fuse. The downside to using these incandescent lights is the fact that they do get HOT! So hot that it can be a hindrance, to working with them for too long a time period. So the alternative is flourescent lights, a cooler light and so too is the light that is emitted from them. 

Fluorescent lights have the big advantage over incandescents of not being significantly hot.  Modern fluorescents can be purchased with bulbs which match either incandescent light or daylight.  Since most units have at least 2 bulbs and often more, the loss of a bulb doesn’t necessarily put it out of action.  A 220W fluorescent (which is claimed to be the equivalent of a 100W incandescent) costs in the area of £500. 

©David Rothwell Photography
All Rights Reserved

This image was captured just using a single light source I iused a redhead on this shot, I was for intents and purposes recreating a similar style to that of the late photographer Herb Ritts Okay my subject has a top hat, of sorts and the photograph of the actor Jim Carrey in Herb Ritts photograph is not wearing a hat at all. 

What this photograph says is that the personality of the individual is shining through onto lens. I like using redheads though because they're extremely portable, they are great lights to work with. 

They can produce a strong bright light to create a strong shadow such as the one in this example if only using a single light. 

I will be posting on this subject more on using light, but before I do go one resource on the net, which is synonymous with the subject and one source I follow myself is Strobist.

Until the next time 

David 

Master Photographer's

Though am using that title, a lot of people will think I am talking about the past masters whom I have mentioned before such as Aleksandr Rodchenko or Robert Doisneau, no I am talking about a little known photographer, whom I happened to have had the opportunity of viewing their work.

This photographer is all about playing with the shadows and the light, using the emphasis on shadow to exploit the light, much the same way as Lee Friedlander used everyday objects to frame his subject matter.

Ray K. Metzker is one of photography's greatest innovators he uses black & white photography to its greatest potential, okay admittedly we have spoken about those photographer's who used colour to exploit shapes, light, tones and composition to great effect. However when you look at the work of Ray Metzker, he certainly makes you think outside the box in much the same way as Rodchenko thought about geometry, shapes and composition.

After all photography was always thought of as an art form by those who had gone before (Edward Steichen) to put a name to one who vehemently always championed that cause for photography to be recognised as an art form.

When I first viewed the work of Ray Metzker, I then understood the lesser liked handle "street photography", as opposed to social documentary. Granted there are those who refuse to accept that term or classification of this photographic art form. Some feel it is not right, however look at the work of Ray K. Metzker then think otherwise.

©Ray K. Metzker

His work is not so much social documentary but an exercise in why we should all look at the world, from a different perspective; his framing is incredible. Yes, he is using multiple exposures, he is manipulating the negative, and he is creating art from several elements of his own works, to create another.

I found his work truly inspiring, then it struck me, where have I seen this style in composition before?

The answer lead me back to Henri Cartier-Bresson I was not in the least dumbstruck, in fact I could see why. The reason I could, was actually through another photographer, namely Harry Callahan another multiple exposure aficionado.

©Harry Callahan

That then got me thinking looking at his work and almost recognising the elements of a  Henri Cartier-Bresson photograph. I realised that studying photography was not just about reading techniques or how to do this or that, it is also about learning to see what is in the photograph. Here we can that the play on the double exposure is a truly unique aspect to Harry Callahan's photographic interpretation of a row of buildings.

I had seen this compositional imprint before as I had said earlier, which tells me something about myself, that is to say am beginning to recognise those key elements of composition from certain photographers, and were their inspiration comes from or who they draw their inspiration from in particular.

Reading the signs

So there it is for all to see, once we do see then we will begin to see it in everything day things, you look at the world from a new perspective, as though you were being born to a new world, where what had gone before was nothing as it seemed. You begin to see differently. 

©Henri Cartier-Bresson

In this early photograph from Henri Cartier-Bresson, look at the centre of the frame, in fact all the way through the middle of the photograph we see the zig-zag cutting through the photograph in much the same way that Callahan has applied his double exposure in his work. 

Shapes and linear aspect in composition can really make your photography sing to the viewer. You can now get an idea of how to interpret these shapes or shadows into your own work. So I decided to shoot a roll of ISO 400 BW Film in my local city centre, keeping my eyes open for shadows or some kind of play on light that was available, I managed to find a few photographs that I may possibly use multiple exposure in creating a montage of photographs with multiple negatives. 

I will post them when I have collated enough images am happy with to post for such a post on this blog. 

©David Rothwell Photography

I find it really useful to ignore some social media sites in favour of a couple of books or exhibitions showcasing some very interesting and educational photographic work. Sometimes I swap and change my film moving from Ilford to Agfa film. I find Agfa film is great for pushing, the very fine grain film, which am sure is ADOX film repackaged (Don't quote me on that). Has a very tight grain structure, and so this makes for some great experimentation in camera. Of course when pushing or pulling film, then develop the whole roll as so. 

In this frame we can see I used the light reflected in the shop window to frame the figure or silhouette in the background, also the guy in the left of the frame with his leg angled towards the ground forces you to view the linear rays of light, he also acts as an anchor in the frame, with his shape seemingly breaking up this very linear composition. 

Another aspect to my photography is this, I enjoy watching videos on the subject, rather namely numerous videos on the art of photography. This show is born of the passion of one Ted Forbes a passionate photographer who enjoys shooting black & white, and incorporating the work of master photographers, such as Vivian Maier. 

Conclusion

So by viewing the work of master photographers, we begin to see hints to who inspired whom, and repitition in patterns, composition, linear, curves, shapes, tone etc.

May be you could try iimplementing some styles or influences of other photographers into your own work, not be a copycat but to give you some idea, of what it is like to photograph in a certain way. 

Until the next time, 

David 

Street Photography Techniques

Colour features in a lot street photography, since the colour medium began in the early 1930s, photographers were not quick to accept that quickly, however three main photographers began to use this medium and lead the way as pioneers of that format. 

©Saul Leiter

Photographers like of those pioneering the medium, William Eggleston, Fred Herzog and Saul Leiter. Yes, there were others too that would eventually follow in their footsteps. However these main three were pushing the envelope on composition, that would incorporate abstract, linear, shapes, texture and in the case of Eggleston the subject matter itself, would become his landmark identifier. 

In the case of Leiter, we see a lot of the subject matter being a singularity, a single colour influence such as his work ‘Pink Umbrella’ one of a series of works centred on an inanimate object sometimes within a pattern perspective or as a stand-alone piece. Leiter went on to produce some of his outstanding works from an abstract perspective, they really are inspiring works of art, that make you feel connected to the subject matter.

Looking at a person standing outside a steamy window during the rainfall, or a traffic signal or even a person sitting in a car, as Eggleston has also captured someone in that similar style.

All three photographers have created profound timeless pieces, one such piece I wanted to share with you was this incredible mass of colour created by Fred Herzog. 

The reason for this is simply because to me, the work is like no other photographer I have seen before, the colour and the layering involved really does make you think, laterally. The works are like puzzles, the reason for this during this era; 1950s, 60s most photographers who were shooting models were still using monochromatic film, for advertising purposes. 

Colour features in magazines were quite pricey, and if this was not in your budget then black and white photography was still the way to go unless, colour was called for. Hence the style of photography of Eggleston, the subjects may not have been composed in such a dramatic aspect like a typical model shoot. 

These were undoubtedly the reasons why these colour aficionados were truly inspiring, masters of colour photography, they quite literally saturated you in colour.

©Fred Herzog / Equinox Gallery

  

The layers of orange in this composition are resplendent of a sunburst that is so striking, the colour literally jumps out at you. The other aspect to the photograph is how Herzog leads your eye into the photograph, the anchor point is the orange store point and the triangle imposed using the windows, then your eyes move down and towards the fore of the photograph. 

The blue store front, forces your eyes to the left, incredible viewing but this is how Herzog wants you to view the photograph. 

Intelligent composition, I am sure you'll agree. Though the photograph does not depict every colour of the rainbow, it does cover a broad range, and this is what keeps your interest in the work. 

It takes me back to those early days of colour flip charts you remember as a child with the numbers, this is how I perceive the work. 

It is well worth remembering that point too, it is important to know how a photograph makes you or others feel. Eggleston is known taking or rather making photographs of the banal. Most of his photographs have a deep understanding of his origin, his place of being and his very existence. 

For an outsider such as myself or you who is not native to the area of Memphis, then the place may seem rather boring, that is obvious. However for someone who thrives on the unoriginal style of photography, then photographing the obvious is beautifully banal. 



What I mean by that statement is be mindful of your own style and technique, develop your own style; and do so with the utmost confidence. After all we are all on a learning curve, there are no rosettes for following someone elses' style, so work on your own, be influenced by these past masters and create something anew which is original in execution, as it is with the passion you have to create it. 

©David Rothwell Photography

The image here is something which has been photographed by myself and yet done with the passion, and influence of all three afore mentioned photographers. That is to say it has been captured with the belief that this is art.  The photograph shows a damp day, road works, vibrant colour of red, and amidst the dark and dank interior of the truck, we see the lush green colour of artificial turf and then the punctum in all of this is the yellow glow of the petals of the Daffodils placed atop the artificial turf. 

Why was this? I spotted this scene walking down towards another objective, and from the corner of my peripheral vision; I glanced this deep yellow of those petals. Whilst the empty fluid container mirrors the white graffiti signage in the deep red wall, this was a mass of beautiful colour. 

I had learned that when exclusively shooting in black and white, then when you begin to notice that certain colours, will make for a better monochromatic photograph, the colours begin to 'pop'.  I shot this on digital using my Canon EOS 60D not my usual camera for shooting street photography granted, though I was happy to get the shot by all accounts. 

I feel this photograph makes a bold statement to probably many critics out there, it looks like a boring photograph, yet it is quite banal, and by that definition it is original in its concept, I took one shot of this scene, no more was needed. 

That being said was there any other way of improving this photograph? Not from my perspective, the vehicle was about to move, I only had one chance to get this right, the photograph is very much in focus, the exposure is maybe half a stop under for what it should be. 

That works for me though, otherwise the dark and dank truck interior being too bright, may detract from the bright yellow petals, and thus the emphasis on those flowers is lost. 

So whenever you are out walking the street, keep your eyes open for the less exciting, banal shots. They may seem like a boring photograph, but you never know, that is what the art world may be crying out for. 

Until the next time...

David 

Street Photography Techniques

Layering

I posted a subject for street photographer's that all street photographer's should be implementing into their own work, the technique of layering. As the technique should suggest we are not talking photoshop here, we are talking about layering in the photograph, within the frame.

We use subjects at differing points within the frame to do this layering, so for example by using shapes too, such as circles, ovals, lines and triangles we can make points in the photograph 'pop'.

©Susan Sermoneta 2013

We want the viewer to have an interest in the photograph, and we want the photograph to be a photograph not just a picture. Here is a link to a couple of examples I have shot myself in the examples shown on my gallery page, we can see how shapes and lines play an important part in composition.

Here is another photograph which shows how shapes, lines etc can play an enormous part in street photography. In this shot we see how the NYC Photographer Susan Sermoneta has used the imposed constructed linear lines to frame and shape the photograph, with the subject matter being almost entirely in the lower third of the frame. The colour too has played an important part in the photograph the overhead lamp acting as an anchor point forces the viewer to see the person descending the stairwell in the photograph.

Colour

Colour or color depending on which side of the pond you are from, plays an important part in the layering technique street photographer's use today, however before colour was introduced circa early 1930s by Kodak Photographers used monochromatic film, so photographers were careful what they shot and became much more dependent on framing and compositing an image to be able to make a photograph. 

So here is another example of linear photography within street photography not too dissimilar from the  photograph shown above, I have used the linear technique that should make the photograph interesting. 

©David Rothwell Photography 2014

The lines take you the right of the frame, and that is were the main interest lies. This being a monochromatic shot, I have used the framed pictures on the left of the frame to lead you into and around the photograph, the people act as an anchor point to force your eyes back and out of the frame. 

The angle makes the photograph very interesting too, I am shooting from a higher perspective, rather than just a shot from eye level horizon. 

One photographer who I have mentioned before who shoots black & white photography, and uses a particular technique in layering that frames the subjects and makes them 'pop' more effectively. 

Lee Friedlander

A fantastic photographer who developed a very unique style of framing subjects to make his works much more interesting and abstract. His works inspired other photographers including Garry Winogrand

What Friedlander does is to make the photographer become open to suggestion; to interpret the subject and make it his own, and then transcend the medium to make it evolve. Abstract painting had been a movement in the 1930s with surrealist painters like Dali, Picasso and Man Ray.

Lee Friedlander makes the viewer not just look but listen, that is how I perceive his work. The tempo in the composition is often changing, forcing the viewer to move across the frame and learn what is being said, and force you to question what is being conveyed by the photographer.

An exceptional photographer who for the most part enjoyed shooting photographs from the hip, or the car or even a hotel room. Many lessons can be learned form the afore mentioned photographer's their individual styles differ, but the passion for life on the street far outweighs anything shot in the studio.

With Street photography comes the harsh reality that not everyone will like your work, not everyone will understand the message being conveyed or what the photographer wants you to see, so it is important to make your work interesting using various techniques or a combination of those techniques, to do that is view photographer's works at galleries or even better the books they have created themselves.

If you like certain photographer's then take a closer look at their work, how do they frame the works, how do they convey a message, do they use colour? Do they use colour, what shapes, tempo etc.

This is what you should be looking for when viewing other photographer's works, so if you follow photojournalism or street photography, take a closer look at the method they employ.

So if you live in a city have a look what's happening at your local museum or gallery to see what works are currently being exhibited. One thing I almost try to do when shooting street is to keep an eye out for other street photographer's; what are they shooting, etc. I tend to stay away from someone using a telephoto lens such as 55-200mm or 70-300mm this is not what street photography is about.

I have seen some photographer's just using a small compact camera, this I love because it forces you to get in closer. You have to concentrate on framing the subject matter, someone who uses a zoom/telephoto lens just wants to stay away from their subject matter, not get involved and to be honest using that focal length flattens the photograph.

©David Rothwell Photography 2013

It is a bit like being a stalker not very nice at all, using a wide angle forces you to engage with your subject matter, strike up conversation, get in close, they will warm to you.

The example left shows how warming, the subject was she had spotted me, I had actually smiled back and turned around as I passed through them in conversation, I just about face and captured this. The symmetry in the hands is almost identical to her friends in the foreground.

What I like about this photograph is the sudden burst of colour just left of centre, then we have guy just farther left of frame, this is what makes the photograph a little more interesting, he is asking what is going on? This is by all accounts a very tight composition, but that is what street photographers aim for.

Framing

So we have touched on briefly an American photographer who used framing to such an extent to make his work more abstract, more out there. Always be on the look out for the strange coincidences of gestures especially the hands. This sort of brings me on to another point, be mindful of your own hands too. 

When using primes it's easy to suddenly play with the aperture ring, or the focusing ring on the lens. Always be alert to sudden jerky movements for example a person passing by, or bumped into by a woman pushing a pram or a child running into your legs. 

I try to use linear objects to frame my subjects or you could try using people themselves for framing and that way you would also be implementing layering into your work.

©David Rothwell Photography 2014

In this example we can see how the person in the foreground forces your eyes to follow the line through the photograph, even the shopping trolleys in the far right of the frame offer the viewer the direction in which to go.

My only complaint about this is how the subjects are stretched across the frame, for myself personally I would have liked this a lot tighter.

So by that lesson we can focus on crowds to capture, post christmas shopping we don't see many crowds out there.

So be wise in what you capture.

Master Photographers

Saul Leiter was one of many early photographers who was also a painter, he learned his compositional craft at the easel with a brush and knife. Colleagues later urging him to get into photography, he was like William Eggleston a colourist.

He extensively used black & white film when he first got into photography and for most of his commercial work used that medium. However for much of his personal work, he shows an interest in colour. He uses the colour with such intellect that the photographs seemingly pop out like a montage, some offer a surreal view of the world, and give the viewer an abstract perspective.

Subtle nuances of red and yellow feature highly in his works, some of the works show shop fronts beings used as reflectors to create such pieces. Something of which inspired Lee Friedlander with his unique framing technique, though most of his works are extensively shot in monochrome.

Sadly this great past master of photography passed away, a week shy of his ninetieth birthday last November (2013). A year before his death though a film maker namely Tomas Leach created a warm and intimate view into this fascinating photographer, the film was titled In No Great Hurry and shows the aspiring artist how this photographer operated, his vision, and how his works inform and set a major bench mark for aspiring colourists using that medium of film.

I have read the reviews of the film, and I was very impressed in the way that the film has been received.

Reviews from New York Times and the Jewish Week online, so read the reviews of the film, I am sure you will be impressed by the films reception.

©Saul Leiter

For now though let's discuss more of his work, Leiter had his own unique perspective on Manhattan. It shows greatly how this photographer was thinking literally outside the box, one such photograph is that most people will relate to is that of the singular colour of red in the photograph 'Red Umbrella' Circa 1958.  It shows amazing skill with colour to be able to single out a scene and compose a truly inspirational piece which is timeless.

Leiter had learnt how to isolate colour in this medium and to frame the photograph with the colour. This piece is a fantastic example of his early colour works, however when you move forward the pieces became much more avant garde, and the framing much more abstract.

The works would feature much more complex compositional points of interest; working with linear, shapes, curves and depth of field. Something of which some street photographers try to imitate with people, not so much colour but certainly using people in interesting positions to anchor a part of the frame.

This is what every street photographer should be aiming for, I myself should be doing this to such a great extent. I like playing with shapes, and perhaps this is one project I should begin to work on. Playing with shapes is certainly one aspect of Saul Leiter, to learn from.

I have posted a link to the pages of interest, so that you too can investigate and hopefully learn from and inject that learning curve into your own interpretation of street photography. One thing I have learned is that everyone is different, we all have our own unique way of seeing the world.

Saul Leiter has his perspective, and created magnificent and intriguing timeless pieces for us all to enjoy for generations to come.

Until the next time, bye for now.

David

500px Prime and the unacceptable 30% commission rate

Welcome once again to another interesting post on A Click A Day, many photographer's out there who may be starting out in this competitive but fickle world of art and reproduction, are wondering where best to upload my photographic works, what are the benefits of the sites out there?

I know some of you use Photoshelter to publish your work some of you use the site because of the SEO tools and their Beam platform. SEO tools are important for search engine optimisation to market your works out there by using certain key phrases, so that people such as illustrators or graphic designers who don't have the time to produce a photograph can search through a plethora of photographs that cover certain subject matter, and if that work has a certain working license such as creative commons, can be used for those purposes by another.

The other aspect about Photoshelter is they offer a secure cloud storage, in context this is a great idea however, in practice it is not. The reason why is how secure is their storage, are the servers they use always going to run okay? Are they backed up on a disc elsewhere thousands of miles away in a secret shed in an Antarctica? Probably not but you get the idea, I always use a back-up drive for my works, to be sure.

Redbubble

I have used Redbubble myself for some time, I have sold works through the site, have I seen any commission? No not at all, the reason for this is the item purchased, were bought as a small item rather than the photographic work itself. Which quite frankly pissed me off a bit, someone likes the work, but they do not want to commit to purchasing a bigger piece. One that could fill say a 16"x20" frame would be nice. The commission is like Getty Images fairly low roughly 20-30 percent commission.  

The Pros

What I do like about Redbubble is the fact that you can turn your work into illustration which can be placed upon other media, such as a T-shirt, a Hoodie great for this time of year. They also make stickers, which to be honest I couldn't see my street works being sold as a sticker. I like things big, in fact the bigger the better. That is why when I print my stuff I use proper photographic paper, it is the only way to make a work that is great become much better. 

Presentation is key in this business, so if the work is presented in such a style that I make an investment of $50 - $250 to get the work printed I want a greater return on my investment. My investment is key to my success, which brings me to another point of view and another website community. 

The Cons

A great photo community should be a creative hub, one that defines itself by sharing ideas, intellect and passion for the art. One that offers great advice to up and coming artists and one that should stick together and fight for what they believe in. 

The site I am referring to is 500px don't get me wrong it is a large hub of creativity featuring some of the worlds best unknown photographers, though some do very well from it. 

Recently 500px decided to launch a new way of purchasing / selling photographic works on the site, they opted to give this new service a title Prime. Not too sure if this in relation to priming the user for another service they could be launching at a later date or if this is transformer based, if you pardon the pun. 

In reality though it does seem the latter, and like some gargantuan mechanical fist, laden with the very negative news of the hypocritical rate of commission for selling your photographs of offering the user 30% commission just smacks of disrespect to the very users, for which the site should be truly thankful to its success. Have decided to throw down a gauntlet, that gauntlet though has been met with some very strong opposition (myself included). 

I have decided to post a link to the site and the comments, if you are a member you can get involved and post your comment too. Comment on this

If you would like to go farther you can get in touch with Dustin on the site: 500px/Prime 

Photographers are not here to only receive 30% commission of their work, this is wrong on so many levels. Which does lead me to the point of how and why Magnum Photos was set up by those past master photographers, who put up a fight against the editors who were cropping their works for publication. So the message in their respective photographs would be misconstrued, or the interpretation was wrong. 

Magnum photos was set up for that very purpose, by photographers for photographers, it may be once again, that we now find the 'digital set' perhaps taking stock of what they want from the photography world, and how the media should be used. 

Until the next time, 

David