Down in Scottsdale yesterday to meet up with some photographers and deliver a family portrait. I stopped by the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art and was reminded of how powerful art can be. I had no idea what was on display but just thought I’d get a quick lift.
Wow! A different experience awaited me within those walls.
Betye Sarr has been creating art about the black experience in the United States for over 60 years. And it was a poignant reminder of how terrible we were as a people. Even to having a constant ‘put in your place’ language that started with children. One piece especially moved me deep to the core.
It was very simple.
A dress hanging from the ceiling.
Hemmed with offending words suspended above a small child’s chair with a small framed portrait of a black child.
Two spotlights.
A corner.
‘A loss of innocence.’
Detail
From ‘Loss of Innocence’ Dress detail showing the repetitive words hemmed into the dress – Tar Baby, Niggerbaby and Pickaninny.
I was moved.
From the SMOCA Description of Betye’s Show
There is a touch of alchemy to Betye Saar’s artwork: transforming the simple and mundane into powerful art. Since the 1960s, her compelling, astute and expressive works reflect on African- American identity, spirituality and the inter-connectedness between different cultures. This timely retrospective brings together recent work as well as historical pieces created over her six decade long career… more
I wonder if I will ever be able to create art that moves people as much as this installation moved me.I think we as photographers can find inspiration from many different places..
How about you? Where do you find inspiration??
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – images were captured with the Lumix LX100. I call this sweet little camera the ‘Pro’s point & shoot’. Solid magnesium body, all necessary exposure controls available on the outside on click stop dials. 24-75mm f1.7-f2.8 Leica lens.
Take an electric guitar. Acoustic guitar. A bass guitar. A small sax… and a large one. Throw in someone who knows how to play the drums. Add in a voice that is pure magic and the namesake of the band. And what do you get?
A really good time listening to Southern Soul!
What is SOUTHERN SOUL? A sweet blend of blues/gospel/americana/r&b with a splash a cayenne pepper.
Saturday night Miller and the Other Sinners performed at Sound Bites Grill and I had the fun job of photographing them for the ‘SBG Wall of Fame’. This group really rocked the house with a bluesy sound that had everyone bouncing in their seats.
Sound Bites Grill Wall of Fame image for Miller and the Other Sinners
I used two cameras for the event.
I used the Lumix GH4 with a 35-100mm Vario f2.8 lens for the individual band member captures. I generally shoot at ISO 3200 in aperture priority with a minus 2/3rds of a stop exposure compensation in RAW. This will generally get me an exposure between 1/60th & 1/100 of a second. Taking the images into Adobe Camera Raw with just a little push up of the shadows slider and a reduction of the highlights I am able to get the entire dynamic range of the scene.
The second camera is the Lumix GX8 with a wide f2.8 12-35mm Vario zoom. These images are of the whole band and used for press releases and marketing. Same basic settings on the camera. A great feature of shooting with these cameras is the Live View function as you are seeing the image as it is being captured so it’s easy to make tweaks to the settings before firing the shutter.
Marketing images are created in color but I specifically do the BW conversion myself so the best quality will be printed rather than someone at the publication just pushing the greyscale button. NIK Silver FX Pro 2 is the go-to software plug-in.
Knowing how the images are going to be used dictates how images are processed. I always try to create the best image file for the job at hand. Remember to ask questions in order to be able to provide the best product.
I’ll bet it’s the same for you and I think today’s quote might help us understand better whether we are… or not.
“A man who works with his hands is a laborer; a man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman; but a man who works with his hands and his brain and his heart is an artist.” – Louis Nizer
Am I a laborer, a craftsman or an artist?
At any one time I am one of the three. I suppose it depends on the task at hand. I always aspire to be an artist but at the very least I hope to be a solid craftsman when I make my photographs and artistic images. Sometimes I am just a laborer. And I then try to either elevate the work on the next go ’round or not to perform that particular job again.
How much of yourself do you put into your work?
Laborer? Craftsman? Artist? Which are you??
And why do you think so?
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
Louis Nizer practiced law (successfully) for the rich and famous. In addition he wrote, spoke and advised some of the most powerful people in the world… Here’s another quote that you might not know where it came from and is attributed to Nizer, “When a man points a finger at someone else, he should remember that four of his fingers are pointing at himself.”
HDR. High Dynamic Range. AKA how to jam a whole lot of light into an image the way our eye would see the scene. I’ve always been a fan. As a matter of fact I was one of the first authors to teach this when I was making videos for Software Cinema. I showed how to use this process to make landscapes and real estate scenes look their best.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have a catchy name for it. Nor did I design a software program or cause others to do so on my behalf that did most of the heavy lifting for the HDR process either… Oh well.
Five image sequence, handheld, processed in Aurora HDR software.
Even though there have been many iterations of HDR software it’s been a while since there was a new player with a different interface that included many new possible settings in and easy to understand interface and, wait for it, layers too! The new software is called Aurora and was designed by HDR travel image specialist Trey working in conjunction with Mcphun Software.
I was given the software to play with… And, I like it!
Another 5 image handheld bracket using Aurora HDR software
Same image as above processed differently from same exposures.
It gives you the ability to totally go HDR berserkers! Or, create a very natural scene with full dynamic range. Or somewhere in between so you can have the best of all worlds. An artistic, realistic representation of a scene that DOESN’T SCREAM HDR!!
All images were captured with the Panasonic Lumix GH4
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – At this time Aurora is only available for the MAC platform at the moment
The Imaging USA trade show put on by Professional Photographers of America is always a popular part of attending the annual convention, especially the first day…
This was captured hand held with the Lumix GH4 and the 7-14mm Lumix Vario f4 lens at the bottom of the escalator in the Georgia World Congress Convention Center. Time lapse was processed in camera. Then it was downloaded to Adobe Premiere Pro for some massaging. Video was smoothed out. A little color correction was applied due to the extreme lighting conditions. Titles, slides and music finished off the video.
Thanks to Eric Miller for the use of the music!
Time Lapse Video captured at Imaging USA in Atlanta, Georgia January 2016
Time Lapse can be a great way to tell a story ’cause that’s a pile of people!! Approximately 560 images, with a frame fired every 3 seconds, were captured and combined. Output at 12 frames per second in 4K video.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – See you at Imaging USA in San Antonio next year??
For infrared conversion of my cameras I use LifePixel. Infrared allows you to put an older camera to use and opens up a new time time of day for productive image creation.
Fotopro tripods are well worth checking out. You can learn about the ones I use and recommend by clicking on the Fotopro Tripods link at the top of this page. If you want to see what other tripods might fit your needs check out the Fotopro.com website. Check back with me before you buy as a Fotopro Ambassador I’m able to get you discounted pricing including complementary continental USA shipping for my followers that you won’t find through retail outlets.
Learn Photoshop in a fun environment. Aaron Nace applies the right amount of fun with easy to understand and follow tutorials. Actions and brushes are included with lessons!
Lightning, waterdroplets, sound, time-lapse, HDR sequences, smiles and much more control for your camera!
Cameras Get Smarter -
A High Speed Smart Camera Remote
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‘A loss of innocence.’
Detail
From ‘Loss of Innocence’ Dress detail showing the repetitive words hemmed into the dress – Tar Baby, Niggerbaby and Pickaninny.
