Blast from the past

Here is a blast from the past!
A promotional photo I did in the 1980's for CKVU TV in Vancouver.
The show was called "Acting Crazy" with host Wayne Cox.
As I was scanning it for the post I was thinking how long it actually took me to get the image originally. It's shot on film so I had to get the B&W film processed ( one day ) and then get it back to the TV station so that the promo people could look at it,( another day ). They look at the contact sheets and pick the shot they wanted then I took it back to my darkroom and printed up ten 5X7's to send out to the media. At least another day gone.
With today's cameras and Wi-Fi you can shoot the image and have the image out to the media in about five minutes!
I love looking at my old images but I don't miss the time and trouble involved in getting the images.

Toronto Star Masterclass

I thought I would pass along a link from the Toronto Star and their Masterclass series. If you want to know how we  ( I say we as photographers and as I've had images over the years in this newspaper, although I do not work for the paper ) make some of the images that the Toronto Star runs.
You're never too old to learn a thing or two.

http://www.thestar.com/photos/masterglass.html

Work station blues

Last week I was working for The Canadian Press and Environment Canada at the Globe Conference in Vancouver.

But that is not what I would like to talk about today.

I would like to touch on a little known issue to most people who do not work in the photography business.

It's called "Photo gear envy"!

I like most of my counterparts in the business try to keep up with the newest trends and photo equipment that is required in our line of work. And that's not an easy thing today with the blistering pace of the constantly changing photo equipment market. 

Case in point, my work station. As I waited for my images to be sent to Toronto I started to look around at other photographers equipment and realized that even though my cameras, lenses and laptop are perfectly fine and do the job they are intended to do, I was starting to think about upgrading. 

What is he or she using?

How much do I spend?

Do I change camera makers?

Is their's better than mine?

Where can I get lunch in this building? Oops, not part of my rant. 

I shoot Canon and to change my equipment over completely to another camera maker would just cost too much. 

Constantly upgrading in small increments in my opinion is the answer.  

The days of when a film camera would last you 10 years have long since passed into the digital age. Buying new equipment on a one or two year cycle and constantly upgrading is now a fact of life.

Even though I'm a Canon shooter this new Panasonic looks pretty enticing. 

Twelve frames a second, 4K video, fastest auto-focus,

 Wi-fi transfer and control, half the weight of my equipment. Hmmm!

Keep your head down in your computer Michael and stop thinking about "Gear Envy".

A new twist on ownership

Visit the link for the video.

http://petapixel.com/2014/01/29/funny-video-puts-slightly-creepy-spin-asking-someone-take-picture/

A word to the wise moving forward

With the loss of jobs in the photography business I'm seeing more and more stories like this turning up. It only stands to reason that there would be a push back.

 http://photothisandthat.co.uk/2014/02/02/a-note-to-editors-publishers-and-newspaper-owners/

Dinosaurs among us?

Here is a great article on the state of photography and those of us over the age of 50. New photographers coming into the press world are more concerned with the final image and what it has to say, and could care less about the camera equipment it took to get it.

And that's the way it should be!

Case in point. I teach photography for a company out of Calgary, www.learnphotographycanada.ca/. Mostly I teach a Digital 1 course in Vancouver to students just starting out and who want a better understanding of their cameras and the basics of photography itself. What I'm finding is students are thinking about photography in terms of their iphone, Samsung or mirror-less camera. As a teacher I have to find new ways of teaching photography and not be stuck in the old tried and true (or not) ways!

Past articles on my blog have touched on this before. The press world is changing.  I don't want the image in my mirror looking back at me to resemble the proverbial dinosaur.


 http://visualsciencelab.blogspot.ca/2013/10/the-graying-of-traditional-photography.html

Instagram and just good photography

Over the past year Instagram has become one of the most powerful players in the way for a company or just your average person to get their life on the web.
Along with Flickr, Instagram brings the viewer an insight into the daily interests and goings on. If your interest is photography ( like me ) it's an enjoyable process, it's fun. Here is one of my Intagram sites started last month. My company Instagram site is coming soon.

                                http://instagram.com/gripandgrin2013

But this is not just reserved for your average person to enjoy, it's also now a very important way for leaders of countries to give an insight into the political process.
Pete Souza, one of the best political photographers in the world is the photographer for the President of the United States. His Instagram site is fun as well as very revealing. His photography is top notch.

                                http://instagram.com/petesouza

On the other hand the photography ( in my opinion ) for Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada is ordinary and lacking in creativity. It's just plain boring. Some Media types might say, tongue in cheek, that the images match the Prime Ministers personality but that is very subjective. I'm not sure if it's the official PM's photographer shooting the images or just a handler for the PM with a their camera-phone but in my opinion Mr. Harper's office should have a look at Pete Souza. The PM's Instagram site has just over 500 followers as apposed to over 77000 followers for Pete Souza. Numbers aren't everything but when your site is lacking, it's usually the quality of the images. The PM's site will never have Justin Bieber numbers but I think they can do better than 500 followers in a country of thirty-five Million people.

                              http://instagram.com/pmstephenharper


Also on a related topic see the story below:

http://petapixel.com/2012/10/11/ncaa-bans-college-coaches-from-using-instagram-to-recruit-athletes/