Photography

Background.

Photography. Where to start? I always remember having some sort of a camera or another. The first one I really remember was an old disc film based camera back in the day. Next up I remember making a pinhole camera out of cardboard in Jr. High School in shop class, was quite fun and I really enjoyed it. Had a film SLR for awhile, I think it was a Nikon, not sure…

Then I moved on to digital point and shoots. - Canon Powershot A20 and A70s. Being in computers, it made sense and the lure of digital photography was too much. Sometimes I think it was a mistake, I have some good shots composition wise, but through the ones I had, I never really used the cameras to the full capabilities - and I lost a lot of my knowledge I’d gained from using film.

Enter November 2007… my first digital SLR, and current camera, the Canon Digital Rebel XTi (400D). I love it. It’s opened up photography for me again in ways I couldn’t imagine and beyond…

I don’t really have a specific style… I don’t know if that is a good thing or a bad thing, I just like to try different things and experiment with my camera and Photoshop - see what I can do with the camera and with post-processing. That being said, I give my best effort to getting the composition, framing and lighting right in camera and most of my photos are post-processed for clarity and perhaps minor color and curves adjustments. However, certain photos I will post-process to the max with techniques like HDR (high dynamic range) Imaging and simulating cross-processing.

Flickr.

I didn’t get a Flickr account until I knew I was getting a DSLR. I’ve met a lot of great people on Flickr - not only is it a great place to store and share photos, it’s a great place to make friends and discuss photography. I’ve met some cool people through my threesixtyfive project, and hooked up with a few local photographers through some of the local groups. I love the amount of variety on Flickr, it’s awesome and inspiring to see so much great photography from different places and from different perspectives.

Projects.

I am currently undertaking a few projects, I find they keep me focused and force me to shoot every single day. This is one of the ways I can think of that will help me on my journey to become a better photographer.

threesixtyfive : a year long journey inspired by music - This is my self-portrait project. I have tasked myself with taking a self-portrait every day for 365 days in a row, 366 if you count the leap year day this year. In addition, I’ve gone one step further and forced myself to take each shot in relation to a song or music. Some days it helps, some days it makes the project more of a challenge.

fiftytwoweeks - I’m doing two of these. First I started doing 365 projects of both my kids, but I realized very quickly it was going to be to much work trying to do three 365 projects in the same year. In March of this year, I decided to try again, this time tasking myself with taking one photo a week of Jaden and Avalee - hence fiftytwoweeks.

Edmontonians - Just recently I became very inspired and interested in street photography. Street photography entails taking photos in public, usually with people in the context of every day living. Wikipedia defines it as “a type of documentary photography that features subjects in candid situations within public places such as streets, parks, beaches, malls, political conventions, and other settings”. It’s a bit exciting, and a bit of an adrenaline rush at the same time. I feel this is an important project as it captures a human moment at a very specific point in time, and once I gather enough, could some day lend light to what daily life was like in my area in this era.

Through the Viewfinder - This is a technique that requires taking an older twin lens reflex camera, such as a Kodak Duaflex, and shooting with a newer camera through the viewfinder of the old camera. It creates an image that is imperfect, usually square in shape with round edges, complete with scratches, dust and possibly even bubbles that are located inside the viewfinder of the older camera. I recently aquired a Kodak Duaflex I and have built a light blocking tunnel contraption based on the experimentation and plans (PDF) provided by Russ Morris. I really like the look this technique gives and when done right, it’s very difficult to tell when a photo might have been taken.

TtV meets street - Recently I experimented in combining street photography with TtV. I must say, I really like the results - not only is it easier to take street photos with the TtV setup, the look and feel of the photos adds to what might otherwise be a plain and uninteresting street photo.

Other minor projects that I am undertaking are photographing textures for others to use in their compositions and post-processing, historical and abandoned buildings and nameplates in Edmonton, capturing various graffiti and tags around town, and various assignment type projects through Flickr groups and the Digital Photography School forums.

Gear.

My current gear consists of:

Canon Digital Rebel XTi (400D)
Canon EFS 18-55mm lens
Canon Zoom EF 75-300mm 1:4-5.6 III lens
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens
Kodak Duaflex I TLR
argus Seventy-five TLR
Kodak Brownie Hawkeye
Nikon FG Film SLR