Photography

Every five years, National Trust rangers carry out a puffin census on the Farne Islands, off the northeast coast of England. The beautiful birds return to their breeding grounds on the islands, which offer excellent sources of food, few ground predators, and good protection for nesting. This count carries particular significance because the last survey in 2008, recording 36,500 pairs, indicated that numbers had fallen by a third from the 2003 census. There is also fear that the extreme weather in the past year could affect the numbers. In March, thousands of birds washed up dead due to severely cold winds, and last summer, many of the birds were flooded out of their homes. Rangers are now faced with the daunting task of counting every burrow-nesting bird, which involves reaching down to each of the underground nests to see if it is occupied. The results will be ready in July. -Leanne Burden Seidel (15 photos total)Puffins return to their summer breeding grounds on the Farne Islands in Northeast England on May 16, 2013. They are often called "sea parrots" due to their colorful beaks. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

by Lynsey Peterson. I hate nature. There. I said it. It’s like glitter—it seems like such a fun idea but no matter how careful you are, it gets all over you and 7 showers later you still find it in your hair. This is further complicated by the fact that I live in what is known around the planet as one of the most beautiful places in the world. As a photographer, it’s dreamy situation; I could photograph a family in a parking lot (and I have) and the surroundings are more beautiful than many conventional parks in the world. So most of the time I have to suck it up and schedule an immediate shower after to get the nature off me already. But every once in a while I have a client request to do a shoot in their home. This is usually because I also live in a place where it’s about 30 degrees outside for a couple months of the year. Even if you don’t ever have snow on the ground where you’re at, beyond just avoiding nature there are lots of good reasons to photograph people in their homes. People are comfortable in their homes, surrounded by their stuff. They know where the bathroom is and that if there is an emergency drink of water or fruit snack situation, it will be handled quickly and with ease. But photographing in a home, especially if you have never seen it before is usually a bit of a gamble. Lighting, space, simplifying………the fact that they neglected to mention they have a mannequin head collection in their living room……all can create hurdles. Here are some basics that will help you jump those mannequin head hurdles. Find the Light In every home, there’s natural light. You need one good window; it can be anywhere and face any direction. Ask to see the whole house, explaining that you aren’t allergic to the inevitable laundry piles that have likely been shoved into the rooms they weren’t planning on you seeing. An entire shoot can take place in a kid’s bedroom, or a kitchen, or even a bathroom (Probably. If it’s a fantastic bathroom. And if it’s that fantastic of a bathroom, by all means you’ll want to see it.) Often I end up in the master bedroom where there is likely a large window and enough space to work with. Even if you shoot with flash, you’ll need some natural light as it builds the cozy and intimate atmosphere that home shoots are all about. Incorporate their Stuff Even more than their home, people love their stuff. And in their home, you’re surrounded by it. Create beautiful interactions with children by being interested in their beloved treasures and asking questions: “What’s this?”, “How does it work?”, “What do you use it for?”, even if it’s obvious. Ask adults what their favorite thing about their home is. It could be a fantastic piece of art that easily becomes a backdrop. Or that they always pile on the sofa on Friday nights and watch movies together, giving you a setting and vibe. Use their thoughts and make them into personalized ideas for pictures that will be much more meaningful than them running around a random park. Let them Be In an outdoor setting, a photographer is often having to create moments or push for situations. By photographing someone in their home, they are already more comfortable than they would have been anywhere else. Use this to your advantage by becoming a spectator and seeing what naturally happens. Because you are the guest in this situation, instead of looking to you for direction, they are much more likely to do things they do normally, giving you an amazing opportunity to document everyday life beautifully. Creativity: it’s what’s for Breakfast Because you are likely working with tighter spaces and less options for variety, you’ll have to get creative. The trend of photojournalism in portrait photography lends itself well here. What would they normally be doing if you weren’t there? Ask and work with it. Bake cooki

by Jonathan Blaustein They say nothing is certain but death and taxes. (Whoever ever they are, that is.) To that short list, I’d add another constant: change. Take people, for instance. Each day we live, we’re that much closer to dying. But age begets wisdom, so it’s not all bad. (And growth is possible too.) Though we admittedly live in a youth-obsessed culture, I’d like to think I’m getting better at what I do. It would be sad to peak too early. Take this column, for instance. It began as a weekly synopsis of three books, a simple paragraph for each. We included a few photos taken from the photo-eye website. (No muss, no fuss.) Within a few months, though, I found myself enthralled by a special book, and the format with which you’re currently engaged was born. Gerry Johansson made a photo book so good, I just tore off into the unknown, making connections and speculations with equal fury. A year and a half has gone by. I keep writing, and you keep reading. But things change, no matter what. As of yesterday, I’ve begun to write about photography for the New York Times, as a freelance contributor to the Lens Blog. We shall see, indeed, if I can write without the crutch of the first person perspective. As of next month, you may come to read on Fridays and find the this column no longer there. In its place, you may find I’m presenting an interview with a photographer or a curator, or perhaps an exhibition review. The weekly flow will have been interrupted. Plus ça change… We can follow the trajectory from Gerry Johansson shooting some pictures in Pontiac, Michigan to me writing for the New York Times. Everything’s connected, say the Buddhists, and history ties many things together. Take Mr. Johansson’s new book, “Hattfabriken/Luckenwalde,” for instance. It opens with a set of square, black and white photographs. (As do each of his books, most likely.) The Swedish photographer is one of the most capable working today, I’d venture, and these pictures grabbed me immediately. We see a cool looking building, with prominently designed architecture. What is it? Where? As we turn the pages, we begin to notice that the photographer seems to be circling the building, as the perspective shifts slightly, picture to picture. It’s the rare artist who’s able to make the viewer feel his or her presence, standing somewhere in the world. Here, that sense was palpable. It raised my curiosity. Even more so when he finally entered the building, and it was wrecked and abandoned. From there, as we continue to flip, we find an essay written in Swedish. And then one in German. As I don’t read either language, I continued on through the narrative. There were two paintings presented, mirror images of the same building in the photographs, with a Swastika added in for good measure. (That I’m discussing Swastika art for the second time in three weeks is an odd coincidence worth mentioning.) In the subsequent English version of the essay, we learn that the paintings were made by Dick Bengtsson, a prominent Swedish postal worker-turned-artist. The building was a Hat and Cap Factory, in East Germany, designed by Erich Mendelsohn, a Jew. The architect ultimately fled Germany in the Nazi purge, and ended up helping the Allies plan bombing raids against his home country during the War. How much of this history influenced Bengtsson, and Johansson by extension? We can only speculate. Flipping onward, we see a series of photographs of Luckenwalde, the city in which the factory resides. The pictures are so, so good. I’m not sure I’ve seen anyone work a square composition like this since Robert Adams. And the light and tonal qualities are brilliant as well. Wow. Except, now that I think about it, we’re not given the name of the city yet, which is only referenced once in the previous essay anyway. So the tension slowly builds. Where is this place weR

Big internet companies ( Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple) are now in a frenzy purchase of content. The reason is that content attracts traffic and traffic is what they sell. The more content, the better. And since making content is expensive, they rely on the crowd to create the content. However, one of the internet’s dirty secret is that what the crowd sources is mostly content made by others and repurposes illegally. Take Tumblr for example. The majority of the Tumblr blogs are made of user curated content taken from other sites. They repost what they like and Tumblr makes it very easy to do so. But in the process, they steal content unlawfully. Photographs, mainly. Created by pros. via $1 billion worth of stolen content | Thoughts of a Bohemian. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Revolutionary New Website Design: HTML5 Fast, Easy to Build, Smart Phone/Pad Friendly, Multimedia Galleries and Retina Ready. Free demo (here).

Friday: 5.24.13 Design Director: Lisa Steinmeyer Photo Director: James Morris Art Director: Barbara Reyes Photo Editor: Jamie Keiter Photographer: Tom Schirmacher (click ad to see today’s visual interview ) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Revolutionary New Website Design: HTML5 Fast, Easy to Build, Smart Phone/Pad Friendly, Multimedia Galleries and Retina Ready. Free demo (here).

A cottonwood tree set against the afternoon colors of shaded sandstone walls of Zion Canyon, Utah Cottonwood Tree, Sandstone Canyon Walls. Zion National Park, Utah. October 13, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved. A cottonwood tree set against the afternoon colors of shaded sandstone walls of Zion Canyon, Utah I photographed this tree, still too soon to have fall colors, in front of the huge sandstone cliffs above the Temple of Sinawava feature at the upper end of Zion Canyon in Zion National Park. These trees grow here along the banks of the Virgin River, which makes some rather abrupt twists and turns in this portion of the canyon and flows right up against the canyon walls. I should probably write something about the colors in this photograph. I actually held this one back for some time on account of the colors – which could easily be seen to be due to overly enthusiastic post-processing on my part. That’s not the case, but there have been a few other photographs that I have made that have evoked such responses, and sometimes I’d rather not have to explain. However, in this case I will explain! :-) The entire scene is in shadow, as the very tall cliffs are along the west rim of the canyon and completely block sun from this spot for a good portion of the day. The cliff face is extensively covered with a sort of “varnish” that is commonly seen on such walls, though it is much more extensive than usual here. This material normally is quite dark, black even, and is more reflective than natural sandstone. When it is in the shade it tends to reflect the blue tones of the sky – and that is where the intense coloration of this cliff comes from. G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more. Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell. Photographs, text and other media in this RSS news feed from the G Dan Mitchell Photography blog are © copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved. This web site news feed is for personal, non-commercial use only.

This was my daughters college graduation... the b ...Brotherly Love

Last month on the Online Photo Program we gave the members the challenge of Slow Photos – where we asked them to shoot with a shutter speed of 1 second or longer. That’s tough to do! This month the photography class challenge was Fast Photos where we asked members to use a fast shutter speed to freeze any action to show implied motion in their photos. It’s also a tough challenge!! Better photos - Online Photography Program © Al G And the online programmers rose to the challenge! As usual I was impressed with the work they did and the results. We have a private Facebook group for members to share and exchange ideas – it’s nice to see people help each other grow. The Online Program Experience I don’t know any photo program offered like ours. It’s not quite a photography course… it’s more of a ‘group-exploration-of-photo-challenges.’ We offer a new photo challenge every month and support photographer’s development with: • a video lesson • course notes • photo tips • web links • equipment suggestions • support • weekly lesson by email • a Facebook based forum for members to share AND • a video critique of member’s photos to wrap things up. In all there are four weeks of programming every month. All for $30 a month, purchased as a 6 month block. Better photos - Online Photography Course - © Kevan E Member comments from May’s challenge keep coming in with praise for the program:• “Thanks so much Harry, couldn’t have done it without you and the online course.” • “I am very much enjoying the challenges and the format of what you’ve created here with the online program. For me, just the right balance of freedom to work at your own pace and structure to keep you honest and get something done.  With good advice along the way. I appreciate it, and am very happy to support it.” • “It was a tough assignment and needed a lot of elements to come together for it to work. But a great learning experience. I’m loving this and the FB group is terrific.” Better photos - Online Photography Course - Ken C • “I like the program a lot, it keeps me on track. I wouldn’t be using my camera as much if I wasn’t taking the program.” • “I am really enjoying the program. My intent when I signed up was to help me get creative, and off my butt and do some shooting. I find I’m more creative if I have a goal or deadline of some sort. Making one up didn’t work. I think the timing (a month for a challenge) and its spacing is perfect. And I enjoy seeing other’s work and getting feedback, especially the criticisms. Tough to take, but the best way to learn. I’m already looking forward to the topic for June.” Coming In June we’ll be looking at one type of story-telling with your camera. Join us! Better photos - Online Photography Course - Cathy V