Arthur McLean Photography

Closing shot

2010-05-22T21:57:00.002-05:00

Today was a tough day. Called my father-in-law and my brother-in-law over to help me clear out the studio. McLean Photography is no more. Oh I'll still do the occasional portrait session for someone, I just won't have a studio anymore. It was sad to see the space so empty, even though there's still some stuff left to be moved. But it was a business decision. The studio was a constant drain on the business's finances and it never really paid for itself. I loved being in that space. It always just felt right when I walked in there, but it was a struggle in the best of times. With the current economy and everyone's brother picking up a camera and becoming a "photographer" it became that much harder. With a wife and child to look after, I'm not sure I'd even had the time to take care of more business than I was getting.

I've learned a few things, and the good thing is, I'll feel more free to do the work I want to do on my terms. That's how I got noticed in the first place, not by doing cutesy portraits of 9-month-olds. I still want to shoot, and if anyone wants to do a shoot with me, get in touch. We'll make some cool images and have some fun.

Testing new layout

2010-03-29T08:52:00.006-05:00

I 'm trying out Blogger's new design and template features. I like it so far.

Here's a picture from my trip to the Kennedy Space Center to watch the launch of STS-130, the last night launch of the space shuttle.

I do wish they'd allow you to display the pictures larger. This seems to be the largest size, and obvs. there's still a lot of white space that could be filled with a larger picture. Just my two cents.

UPDATE: Apparently I'm not the only person who'd like to have bigger picture on blogger. There's lots of ways to go about doing it, but I think I'll just choose the direct way and change the html in the post as I make one. Voila - bigger pictures on my blogger blog. Easy.

Turner Visits Grandmother McLean

2010-02-21T21:02:00.002-06:00

Went to Mobile Saturday. Here's a pic of Turner at his grandma's. More pics on the new blog. Go to arthurmclean.com and hit journal.

Hello darlin..

2009-11-08T22:00:00.003-06:00

...it's been a long time.

Just some casual snaps at home the afternoon of Halloween.

Have I mentioned that Turner likes to eat?

2009-07-01T23:06:00.006-05:00

Okay, finally got the video up. Should be more coming to Bridgett's blog in the next couple of days.

Photography Class

2009-06-30T13:19:00.002-05:00

Will be teaching another photography class - probably starting late July. I'll have the start date nailed down by Monday. If you're interested in attending (it will be held in the studio in Thomasville) you can leave a comment on this post, email me or call. arthur@arthurmclean.com 334-636-1663.

Aunt Noel

2009-06-28T21:49:00.004-05:00

Turner visited his Aunt Noel in Hattiesburg this weekend. Next weekend he will take a break from socializing.

Noel's "child" Muffin.

Aunt Lynn visits from New Orleans

2009-06-25T21:40:00.003-05:00

Aunt Lynn paid Turner a visit over the weekend. Turner thought his aunt was just a hoot. He laughed all weekend at her.

This is a little snapshot of life now. Baby formula, cereal and washing bottles, haha.

Sick of looking at my baby yet?

2009-05-11T23:57:00.003-05:00

A couple more

2009-05-05T00:17:00.003-05:00

So here's the last few shots. The story behind these goes thusly...

Bridgett, Turner and I were trying to catch a moment to ourselves on the sofa Sunday evening. Bridgett was helping Turner sit upright on her lap. Turner couldn't decide if he wanted to be good or grumpy and so he vacillated back and forth on the issue, thus giving us this wonderful range of expressions. I decided to grab the camera after Bridgett mentioned doing a two-month studio shoot. The lights were low, so I had to boost the ISO all the way up, introducing quite a bit of noise, so I figured black and white was a great way to go with these, making the noise look more like film grain. Turner, of course, wouldn't stay completely still, so there's some motion blur in all of the shots, but I still think they're wonderful expressions.

"Such a serious baby!"

2009-05-03T23:04:00.001-05:00

That's what they all say. I have no idea what they're talking about...

Question of the week.

2009-03-22T23:13:00.001-05:00

Dale Chihuly or Jeff Koons? Discuss.

Baby Turner Gray McLean`

2009-03-04T11:28:00.002-06:00

Baby Turner Gray McLean is here! March 2, 2009 8 lbs. and 21 inches long.

About time

2009-02-26T23:20:00.003-06:00

It's about baby time and Bridgett and I both seem to be on pins and needles. She's been having trouble getting to sleep the last few nights and I been trying to come down with a cold. We go for the last regular doc visit Friday. We're due to check in to the hospital Sunday and we should have a baby by Monday. As always, you can read up on everything related to the baby on Bridgett's blog, link to your right.

Beautiful twilight

2009-01-29T22:33:00.003-06:00

Twilight was beautiful tonight in Thomasville. It's too bad I was working and wasn't able to get more than a quick grab shot as I headed in to cover a school board meeting. Also too bad I didn't take three more seconds to steady myself against the car for a half second exposure. "I"m steady enough to hold that at 18mm." Um, no I'm not, but it's not the worst picture ever either.

P.S. Also too bad: The movie and book likely mean someone's going to wind up here and be very disappointed when they find out this post is about neither the books or the movie. But the headline is correct for the time of day.

Last chance

2009-01-22T12:57:00.001-06:00

This is your last chance to sign up for the photography class. If we can get everyone on the same schedule, I hope to start next Tuesday and run each Tuesday for the next four weeks. We'll go from 5:30 to 7 each night.
Call if you have any questions!
636-1663

Happy New Year!

2009-01-11T23:41:00.002-06:00

Lot's going on right now. Bridgett and I went to the MoonPie drop in Mobile for New Year's. I may try to get a photo up, just to show how hard it was to see the thing from across the river.

Bridgett's been diagnosed with gestational diabetes, so she's now taking insulin every morning, watching what we eat and testing her blood sugar four times a day. Not fun stuff. Usually it clears up after the baby's born.

Got out in the fog the other night and got a couple of good ones, I think. Here they are.

BTW, I'm going to be teaching anotherin intro to photography class in T'ville starting in a week. Call me if you want in. 636-1663.

Christmas is almost here

2008-12-24T00:13:00.004-06:00

Here's a few shots from the church we attend. Every year at Christmas the church is filled with Poinsettias purchased in honor of others by members of the church. It's quite beautiful. Here's a few of them surrounding the Chrismon tree.

I've changed hosts for my event and portrait galleries that clients can use to purchase print and added a link to them on the home page. I'll be working on a few other tweaks in the coming couple of days, mostly stuff that will work better for both my clients and myself but probably won't be immediately noticeable.

It's high time I redesigned the main web site, but finding that kind of time to sit down with it has been hard to come by lately. Maybe I'll have some over the holidays. I better get it before the baby comes because my free time will shrink after that!

To all who read and stop by, I wish you a very Merry Christmas.

Feeling a little better

2008-12-15T22:13:00.002-06:00

Having had some time to digest the news, that one part of me wants to take back the terrible thing it wrote yesterday.
The rest of me is going to be hopeful that this is the right hire for Auburn. After all, even the mighty, untouchable Bama once hired a coach with a losing record one time, and he won one of those national championships they like to brag about so much.

So who knows, Chizik may be Auburn's Gene Stallings: they do share the same first name.

Gene Chizik?!?!?!?

2008-12-14T00:49:00.002-06:00

Hey, maybe I'll regret writing this post this time next year. Maybe three years from now we'll all laugh at how silly some of us were back in the winter of aught eight as Auburn wins the SEC championship and "Mean Gene the winning machine Chizik" is voted coach of the year. Maybe, just maybe.

Then again, part of me is hoping Chizik likes a certain kind of night club.

Email alert!

2008-11-21T00:32:00.001-06:00

For some reason, Yahoo has locked me out of my email account I've had there for almost 10 years. If you've tried to send me something in the past two days, I haven't gotten it. Please send your emails to arthur at the arthurmclean dot com email address.

Christmas is coming fast!

2008-11-21T00:02:00.002-06:00

Christmas is coming up soon! We're booking Christmas portaits in the studio now, so feel free to give me a call at 334-636-1663.

Also, we'll have Santa making a visit during the downtown stroll. We expect him to be in the studio from about 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. for photos. As with last year, we'll be printing the 4x6 size on the spot for your convenience and any larger sizes will be available for pickup later. So mark your calendar for Thursday, Dec. 11.

Senior Updates

2008-11-08T23:54:00.003-06:00

Hey folks,
You'd think I work three jobs or something with the way I keep this blog up to date! Oh, wait, nevermind. Anyway, here's a few seniors shoots I've done lately.

Tville football too!

2008-09-19T18:50:00.002-05:00

Thomasville is playing in Brewton tonight, so I'm staying close to home and shooting some of Marengo. Shooting high school football at night and college at day like the difference between, well, night and day. Gotta run, more later!

SOAAFPP

2008-09-13T22:41:00.005-05:00

Short for Semi-Obligatory, Annual Auburn Football Picture Post.
This one's from the Suthern Miss. game. Sorry for the lack of activity around here. I'll try to do better, I promise.
The focus is off a little on most of these. I was shooting most of the game with a cheap 2X teleconverter and it shows. Also, our very own Thomasville High School cheerleading squad got to participate in the halftime show.

Me shoot pretty one day

2008-08-21T13:20:00.002-05:00

I was told once here that I should be studying Annie Leibovitz's books to become a better photographer. Well now she has one geared just for people like me! If I have an extra $40 plus shipping one day, I'll have to get it.

Insert your own caption

2008-08-18T15:52:00.004-05:00

I love the dark ambiguity in this shot from last week. Then I run across this piece in the New York Times. (here)

Quoted:
"...change the caption and you change the meaning of the photographs. You don’t need Photoshop. That’s the disturbing part. Captions do the heavy lifting as far as deception is concerned. The pictures merely provide the window-dressing."

I know the story of/surrounding this photograph because I was there and I took it. But if I don't say anything, you get to supply your own caption.

Thomasville Theatre

2008-08-12T00:05:00.002-05:00

Here's a few shots of the Thomasville Theatre at night I did a while back. I think the tight vertical crop in black and white is the most classic and I've sold a couple of prints of it. I've offered to show the other angles I shot that night to someone who is also interested in purchasing the print, and putting them up on the blog was the fastest way to do it. I think this is also a good example of being patient and working a scene to get something that works for you.

Getting published

2008-08-08T23:15:00.003-05:00

Two Thomasville photographers got the covers of publications this year! Elizabeth Ledkins had a bride shot make the cover of Portico Magazine, and yours truly had a shot selected for the cover of this year's directory for the Alabama Press Association. We ran Elizabeth's shot in the paper this week in case you missed it. Here's mine.

Things past

2008-08-06T23:13:00.002-05:00

This is what's left of one of the Sunday School rooms at Tuskegee United Methodist Church. A beautiful building, it was wounded by the ugliness of racism in certain members of the congregation in the 1960s. Once a membership of more than 400 is now down to about 12. They meet in the fellowship hall, while much of the building slowly deteriorates around them.
Bridgett and I were there with the Grove Hill UMC youth group working with Alabama Rural Ministries a couple of weeks ago. ARM is planning to take over a number of rooms in the church for offices and visiting work crews as they come to help needy families. A number of us worked repainting some rooms and pulling up floor tiles in preparation for that day while the other groups worked on people's homes. I have more pics I'll try to get up. It's a sad state the church is in, but remnants of its former physical beauty still exist.

On a brighter note, Bridgett and I will be going for our first ultrasound Friday!

I'm gonna be a daddy

2008-07-21T15:46:00.003-05:00

Well, Bridgett and I thought it would take a little longer than this after what the doctors told her, but we showed them! The estimated due date is March 5. We're supposedly not going to find out what it is beforehand. I'll keep you updated as events progress.

Crazy days

2008-07-16T20:16:00.001-05:00

Sorry, haven't felt much like posting anything. I could just load up a ton of pics from the honeymoon in Montreal.... In fact, I think that's what I'll do. Okay, not a ton. But a few more.

Still Alive

2008-06-22T00:31:00.002-05:00

Yes, I'm still alive after getting married, honeymooning in Montreal and moving in with my wife. Here's a couple of shots from the trip, will be adding more very soon.

Set design by Mondrian?

2008-05-16T23:33:00.002-05:00

Caught this at the local high school's production of "School House Rock Live" Friday night.

Art show in North Carolina

2008-05-15T12:18:00.003-05:00

No, not me, Doni Jordan, a native of Thomasville who now lives in South Carolina. If you're in the Charlotte area. Check it out. Here's the press release on it.

STRETCH: TYPE OPENS AT QUEENS UNIVERSITY OF CHARLOTTE

An art exhibition opens at Queens University in the Max L. Jackson Gallery located in the Watkins Building in Charlotte, NC on Thursday, May 8, 2008 at 6:00pm. Titled Stretch: Type, the exhibition is a collaboration between Janette Grassi of Charlotte, NC and Doni Jordan of Columbia, SC. The show runs through June 8, 2008. The gallery is located at 1900 Selwyn Avenue, Charlotte, NC.
Grassi is an abstract expressionist painter and creates mixed media art. She studied at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Jordan creates mixed media assemblages, collages and fiber art. She received a BFA in studio art from the University of South Carolina. The exhibition is a collaborative exhibition of typography and pictorial abstraction and includes paintings, collage, gel prints and mixed media assemblages.

About Stretch:Type
After attending an art session by Peter Madden of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, during the Southeast Association for Book Art (SABA) Conference at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC, Grassi and Jordan, worked collectively to create a series of gel prints using additive and reductive processes of recognizable icons and typography. Pushing the concept further, each explored different mediums. Jordan created tomes, a collection of heavy books using metal and wooden printer's type, type trays and found objects. Grassi expanded her character series, a collection of paintings on canvas and paper and deconstructed old books to create collages on paper.

About Stretch
Grassi and Jordan, both trained as graphic designers, began creating art together in 1998 in Columbia, SC. Their first joint effort was the line, a floor to ceiling typographical installation at Vista Studios. When Grassi moved to Charlotte, NC in 2002, they continued their creative collaborations. Since 1998 they have collaborated on 20 art projects including Benchmark, a public art project in 2000 and founded Cattywampus, a creative art group of five artists which went on to win Best of Show during the 2002 Festival of Trees, a fundraiser for the Palmetto Health Children's Hospital in Columbia, SC. They stretched further when they collaborated with poet Cassie Premo Steele during an exhibition at Blue Pony Gallery in Charlotte, NC in April of 2004 and with photographer Deborah Farr during Gathering Spring, a garden art exhitibition in April of 2006. In March of 2008, they created play, a painted violin to benefit the South Carolina Philharmonic.

Getting down to the wire

2008-05-04T22:52:00.002-05:00

Well, we're only three weeks away from wedding bells. We've been so busy with getting ready for the wedding and honeymoon, work and baseball photos Bridgett and I sometimes meet ourselves coming and going. Hopefully it will all settle down soon.

For those who are coming to the reception May 31 at 2 p.m., the location is the Champion House, located at 128 W. Front St. in Thomasville, AL.

Hope to see you there!

Noisy iMacs

2008-04-16T23:55:00.002-05:00

Whew, been a rough couple of days in the salt mine this week. Bearing that in mind, I'm going to whine just a little with this post. We use iMacs at the newspaper. They're fabulous machines. We have three of the flat panel versions. About 90 percent of the time they're by far the quietest desktops I've ever used. The other 10 percent, they are the noisiest desktops I've ever used. Every time you put a CD or DVD in one of these things, it sounds like it's either going to a) take flight, b) cut down a small tree, c) scrape barnacles off an ocean liner or d) all of the above depending on the disc inserted and God only knows what other factors. It's unfathomable how a company that touts its products as the most user friendly computers on the planet can let something like that slide as it totally ruins the user experience while having to use a CD.

Back from Atlanta

2008-04-02T23:57:00.002-05:00

Hello there friends! It's been a while, I know, but I'm back. Bridgett and I went to Atlanta this past weekend and got the marriage license. I also got in a quick shoot with a ballet dancer who's trying to get some variety in her portfolio. We shot in Sandy Springs Historical Park which was alive with spring blooms. It was a beautiful location. We also barely beat the rain that afternoon but I came away with some good stuff.
Bridgett and I did some bridal portraits the weekend before in the botanical gardens in Mobile. I'll wait to post any of those here until Bridgett can put some on her blog first. I don't want to steal her thunder.
I'm working out the details on an exciting new print offer. I'll be breaking that news a little later.
We're gearing up to shoot youth baseball in T'ville; 537 kids are signed up to play on 39 teams, so it'll be a big job.
Bridgett's still on the job hunt, but it may be a blessing in disguise as she'll have some extra time to help me in the coming weeks. And everything is still a go for the reception in Thomasville on May 31, so mark your calendars now.

Chip Cooper and Whatley

2008-03-12T23:46:00.004-05:00

Chip Cooper has one key piece of advice for those who are looking to do creative projects and have them seen by the larger world: be tenacious.

At the age of 35, Cooper bought a plane ticket to New York and spent more than two weeks and a lot of good old fashioned shoe leather knocking on publishers' doors. “I literally went down the phone book,” he said.

That tenacity paid off with his first solo photography book, “Alabama Memories.”

But the trip wasn't even that easy. After landing the deal, his publishers called him back and said the pre-orders for the book didn't meet the numbers they needed and Cooper would have to find a way to come up with $50,000 to make the book a reality.

How many of us would have just given up at that point? But Cooper found investors and found a way to make the book happen.

Since then, the book deals have gotten better, and he's currently working on his fifth book now, one about Charlie Lucas, Alabama's “Tin Man.”

On the trip, he said, "I wanted to go ahead and get my rejections, I didn't want to wait until I was 50."

Obviously, that resonated with me, having just celebrated my 35th.

I sat down with him towards the tail end of the day shooting Saturday, and he told me about how early on, he'd look at Ansel Adams' stuff and get discouraged because, let's face it, most of us can't shoot like Adams. But he found his own voice. That's something I think we can't tell ourselves enough. We have to do what we are.

Cooper also discovered his strength was color. And looking at his work, there's no question that color and form play the key roles in how his images come together. To my mind, the color in his work is the vehicle for conveying the emotional content, Cooper's way of communicating what he felt when he saw what he saw.

He generously gave me some of his time to review some of my work done outside the workshop. He was complimentary and gave me some good feedback. In reviewing what I would show him, it's clear that I like to work a lot in black and white, but I also have a foot planted in the color world. I don't know if I'll have a eureka moment and focus on one or the other or if I'll keep working pretty much in both worlds, we'll have to see.

Other takeaways from the weekend were a renewed push to finish out my fort project. I'd let it languish because I felt the final images were missing something. Cooper's feedback help me nail down what I needed to do with those images. It also helped me realize I need to get cracking on the other projects that have been percolating in my head for some time now.

You can see Cooper's work at: www.chipcooper.com

I could write a lot more, but it's getting late, so I'll leave you with a few more images from the workshop in Whatley.

Learning new tricks

2008-03-11T00:13:00.002-05:00

This weekend, I attended a workshop led by photographer Chip Cooper. Had a good time hanging and shooting in Whatley here in Clarke County.
He shared a number of his techniques in photoshop, and I picked up several of them. Been playing with them tonight. I also learned some time-saving tips for my workflow. Always a good thing. Here's a few shots that made the "top 10" that Chip and his assistants picked of my work from Saturday.
I'll be writing more about my experience with Chip and the workshop tomorrow.

Three Furies

2008-02-27T21:50:00.002-06:00

So I mentioned to Ryan a while back that we needed to get together and do a shoot. So, Ryan gets the job of finding someone for us to shoot, and he informs me that we'll have three coming.
Now, when I do something like this, I like to have at least one concept I try to pull off. Ideally, it would be something that would stretch me in some way, but in the end result is the important thing. Almost as soon as he mentioned three, I thought about the three furies from Greek mythology. The most common image relating to them are the three furies attacking a couple. So, now I needed four folks. Ryan declined being the attackee, but one of the girls' boyfriends was a good sport and agreed to join in.
We had about two and a half hours to get in some headshots, do some shots at an old building in the early stages of renovation and then get back to the studio to do the furies before our time ran out. I felt like a light reminiscent of the old masters would work well for the kind of shot I wanted, but in my small studio, the light spilled around a little more than I'd like, but I still like the end result.

Fellow shooter

2008-02-24T23:21:00.002-06:00

Recent high school grad Ryan shoots a few games for the paper every now and then. I'm playing around with this different portrait technique that's a take-off of a style that seems to be going around right now. I think it works for Ryan here. He got some folks to come down and do a little modeling for us this weekend. I'll have results from that up in the next day or so.

Battle of the Monograms!

2008-02-19T22:07:00.002-06:00

We have a selection of monograms up on Bridgett's blog now. We're letting everyone vote on their favorite now, so go vote for your favorite design, and it might just show up in the reception.
Go to Bridgett's blog and vote! bridgettmtbc.blogspot.com

Gettin' older

2008-02-08T23:03:00.000-06:00

Had a birthday last Saturday and today I find out I need reading glasses. I guess all I need now is some depends and my daily glass of fiber mix.

Started shooting basketball teams last weekend too, and we wrap up shooting Saturday. There were the usual hiccups with people not showing, but overall, things went pretty smoothly. We've gotten the kinks worked out in time for the biggie, city league baseball.

The prints came down from the walls in Atlanta last weekend too. A rather disappointing show, but it got a lot of people talking at least.

Bridgett and I are steadily working to get things ready for the wedding reception. We have things pretty well worked out for the actual marriage and the honeymoon is already booked. Yeah, we have our priorities straight, haha!

Happy Mardi Gras!

2008-01-27T21:34:00.000-06:00

Bridgett and I went to the Knights of Ecor Rouge parade and Ball in Fairhope with our good friends Mike and Anna Saturday night. Here's a few um, non-standard parade pics.

Slipping through the cracks

2008-01-13T22:00:00.000-06:00

I just started reading John Szarkowski's The Photographer's Eye, and I'm already hooked at the intro! It's one of those classic photography texts that's been on my list for a while now.

Here's a couple of shots from my last trip to Atlanta in November. In all the excitement from the engagement and other stuff, I never got around to posting them, even though they were sitting in the queue to be posted up.

I really like the grass and tree shot. The light did something wonderful to the grass and I like the way it reminds me of water flowing.

Sorting through all the stuff

2008-01-06T22:15:00.001-06:00

Bridgett and I picked up a ton (I think literally) of studio stuff today from someone who couldn't use it any more and just wanted to get rid of it. It's going to take a while to sort through all of it and figure out what we're going to use and what we don't need.
Mechanical problems with our trailer made for a very long day, but we finally got it all inside and now we'll likely be sore for the next two days! If you saw someone on the side of Hwy. 10 this afternoon working a lug wrench, that was probably me!

Bellingrath Gardens in lights

2008-01-03T00:00:00.000-06:00

While I still felt decent enough to do it, Bridgett and I went to Bellingrath Gardens to see the light display they put up. It was fun, and we had a good time seeing the lights and just messing around with the camera. Here's a few selected shots.

Resolutions, no, goals

2008-01-01T23:01:00.000-06:00

I've judiciously avoided making new year's resolutions for a number of years now, but this year's a little different. And I've decided to call them goals rather than resolutions.

So, for 2008, here's my initial list of goals. It may change or get longer, but here's my initial thoughts. I wish all of you a prosperous and happy 2008 and may you attain all your goals.

Get married :)
Eat healthier.
Exercise more.
Shoot more.
Read more.
Procrastinate less.
Get to bed earlier.

Well, that's it for now. Pretty mundane, I know. But at least now the biggies are out there.

Slingin the hardware

2007-12-30T23:19:00.000-06:00

When to a wedding this weekend and the photog had three bodies with prime lenses slung around her neck. It reminded me of the old photojournalists before they all started using zooms, with three or four cameras, each with a different focal length strapped up.
Might want to see a chiropracter after that shoot!

NOLA Rising

2007-12-27T22:21:00.000-06:00

I've known Michael Dingler for over 15 years now. We were college fraternity brothers, and he's one of the few folks from college I keep in touch with. Over the years we've gone for periods of time without talking, then will come an exchange of lengthy letters, or trading of works of prose or poetry writing partnerships and even a blog along the way. Of course, there's also the occasional visit to his home of New Orleans when I get the opportunity. It's kept us in touch, maybe occasionally kept us grounded for a bit, and sometimes gotten the creative juices flowing. It's always interesting and unique when we get together, whether in person or not.

Just this week, he was the subject of a story by Chris Rose in the Times-Picayune for his ongoing project, NOLA Rising. Dingler has the story linked on his blog here.

I'm proud of him. Not for getting the notice so much, although that's nice too, and I wouldn't begrudge him one bit of it, but I'm proud of him for putting his heart into something. It can be easy to go off the tracks in the midst of so much loss, he's had his struggles, but I think he's really on the other side of it now with NOLA Rising.

I really like this project. It's whimsical, hopeful, it cries out to the universe "we exist!" I think of each little sign like a tiny little counterbalance to the enormous, sagging weight of loss, destruction and tragedy New Orleans still suffers under today. Will Dingler and his little band ever pull the scales in the opposite direction? That's not really the question. Whatever the end result is - if there even is one - is secondary to what's happening right now, in my humble opinion. It's an ongoing transfusion of color and life into a place that needs it, a place full of cares and worries that care once forgot.

So "ReX" keep following your heart brother.
IHSV
Arthur

Update Jan. 24, 2008
I just read where Dingler has gotten himself into some legal trouble for his postings on utilities poles and such. Honestly, I hadn't thought about the legality of that, though most cities do have regulations forbidding such activities. I don't know anything other than what I've recently read online, but I hope an amicable solution can be found and that Dingler can find other ways of spreading his message.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-26T20:00:00.000-06:00

And a Happy New Year!

I've pretty much been laid up on the couch for the past five days with a cold or the flu or something. Bridgett said I looked like death warmed over on Monday afternoon. Thankfully, the good Lord had me feeling better by Tuesday. I'm back at work but far from 100 percent. Just a few hours trying to get a small paper out today left me wiped out. I've been asleep as much as I've been awake since 4 p.m. today. But I feel like I'm recovering now, and hopefully things will continue to improve.

A good number of folks have mentioned to me that they're reading the blog here, and it was a good reminder that I've been remiss in not posting more frequently. That's one of my new year's resolutions for 2008.

In fact, I'm already planning a post for tomorrow. So, we're off to a good start!
Well, that's enough for now. I think it's back to the couch for me and another dose of cough syrup, yum.

Brief update

2007-12-07T01:12:00.000-06:00

Got to shoot a D300 at the 1A championship game today at Legion Field. Forget my plan of picking up a used '200, I gotta go for the '300 now. One word: WOW!

And speaking of wow, Bridgett and I did engagement pics this week. I absolutely love this one. Her beauty really jumps out in this one. The rest can be found at Bridgett's blog: http://www.bridgettmtbc.blogspot.com
Local shooter Ryan Johnson worked with us on the outdoors shots. We did the studio stuff on our own with a tripod and remote.

Go vote

2007-11-09T09:47:00.000-06:00

Bridgett has a poll up on her blog now about how we should get married. Go to: bridgettmtbc.blogspot.com and tell us what you think.

To elope or not

2007-11-06T21:45:00.000-06:00

So far, feedback seems to be running 50/50 between eloping and having an actual wedding. I think Bridgett and I are starting to lean towards eloping and having a reception when we get back. If I can figure out how to do it, I may post a poll on her blog to gauge feedback.

I'm engaged

2007-11-05T13:09:00.000-06:00

I popped the question to Bridgett over dinner in Atlanta Saturday night at Dish. And she accepted.

So now begins the deliberations on whether to elope or actually have a wedding somewhere. So far, the concensus from friends seems to favor having the actual wedding. Of course, they don't have to plan and pay for it either, haha.

Working weekends

2007-10-29T23:32:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posts. Been shooting pee wee football, doing more portrait sessions and running the newspaper. I keeps me busy but not necessarily out of trouble. Not much picture-wise I can post here, though.

I'll be heading to Atlanta soon to install some work up there and see Wesley Channell's show he doing with his aunt, a painter. Would that be considered a group show? Might have some time Saturday to head up to the mountains for some shots, but I'm just going to play that by ear and see how I'm feeling. Might head downtown instead and shoot what I find around town.

Random stuff

2007-10-11T16:57:00.001-05:00

It takes hard work

2007-09-28T22:51:00.000-05:00

I was planning to write this post any day, recapping the past month and how busy it's been. Then I read this post by Chase Jarvis and it makes what I was planning to write sound exactly like what it is: a small town newspaper man and photographer doing small town newspaper man and photographer stuff.

It reinforces to me the axiom that what you get out of something is directly proportional to what you put in it. Work, hard work, is the key to any endeavour. To quote Theodore Roosevelt: "Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." And in the realm of fashion and advertising, one needs to strike and strike and strike again while the iron (or you) is hot.

But, this is my party, and I'll write it if I want to, so here's my past month.

On August 25, we had the grand opening of the gallery and studio. It's a small space, but great location and the rent's right. I've found myself wishing for three more feet of width, but I'll take what I've got. I've realised now that my speedotron set is just too much power for digital. I figured it might work out in the bigger space than what I had to work with at home, but it's still too much. So, I'll be getting some ND gels soon.

The next week we put together the football preview for the newspaper.

The next week we put together a 108-page football program for the local high school in town. Next year, I'm giving the band boosters a much earlier deadline. They kicked the doors open this year selling ads and we almost weren't able to get it to the printer in time. But I'm happy they were able to raise so much money.

This also means Friday nights are football nights now so I'm prowling the sidelines at various locations in rural Alabama, along with the usual slate of night meetings for the various city councils and other boards we cover.

The next week we published the new chamber of commerce resource guide. I spent the night in Mobile the night before our usual paper deadline day to get the pdf'd pages to the printers first thing Wednesday morning and then hauled tail back to T'ville to finish up that week's paper.

We got the guides back in time to distribute a few hundred copies at the rural national supplier conference. The night before the conference we opened up the gallery for what was supposed to be a VIP tour of downtown and a show for the local artists - at my place and a gathering at another location. Thanks to some miscommunication, that tour never happened, however. Bridgett and I closed up a little early and crashed the party they were holding.

Everyone in town's been gaga over the chamber guide.

Shot a wedding and three portrait sessions, and I've been designing a couple of web sites for clients. Throw in a few more trips to Mobile, and I think that about covers it.

I'm nowhere near Jarvis' territory, but maybe I'm just building up my hard work stamina. I know there's more to come.

I couldn't conclude this without a shout to my girlfriend/assistant/you name it, Bridgett. She's been there every step of the way supporting and helping me. I couldn't have done it without her. Love you, baby.

Touchdown Auburn!

2007-09-24T00:11:00.001-05:00

Yeah, it was only New Mexico State, but it was good to see Auburn put some points on the board Saturday. Got a pass to shoot the game, but focus was not my friend Saturday night. Maybe I'll have another chance to redeem myself later this season. I apologize if you've come here on a dial-up connection.

CLS - When's the next step?

2007-09-13T22:12:00.000-05:00

I was planning to put together nice little graphics for this post, but it's apparent to me now, if I keep waiting to get that done, this post will never be written, and with a growing to-do list, I figured it better go ahead and get this down so I can free up that little bit of mental real estate.

About three years ago, I borrowed a friends SB-800 to try out this Nikon Creative Lighting System stuff with my D70. He was still shooting a Fuji at the time, and so the benefits of the 800 were lost on him. That night, I spent about two hours cursing Nikon's engineers, Nikon's manual writers and the manual's translators. The whole thing was completely counter-intuitive to me. And once I got it all working? Well, it weren't no great shakes in my tests. I had some unkind things to say after watching the "Speed of Light" video.
At the time, I surmised, rightly, that I could work much faster have much more control just using a slaved flash on manual. And I've worked that way ever since.

You've come a long way babe.

But that was three years ago, and if I recall correctly, the '70 was Nikon's first attempt at implementing CLS on one of its bodies.

Fast forward to this summer and I'm visiting my friend and he's upgraded to a D200 and is as curious about CLS as I was. I wasn't too keen on replicating my results from three years ago, but I figured hey, it's worth a shot. Well, boy was I surprised. The CLS controls on the D200 were intuitive! Within about thirty minutes I was changing from ttl to manual to auto modes and back and changing lighting ratios on the fly on two SB-800s, all remotely, all from the back of the D200. By the end of the night, I'd become a believer and I was even beginning to sound a little like Joe McNally "see, I just upped the key light like this from the camera, IT'S EASY!"

Nikon had made dramatic strides from the little '70 to the '200 in making the CLS system user friendly, and I was digging the results I was getting and how I could make changes on the fly right from the camera. But it hit me later, that Nikon's got a lot more potential capability on tap if they want to go there.

Consider the D70's CLS capabilities as stage 1. Consider the D200's capabilities as stage 2. Unfortunately, it looks like they didn't get to step three on the D3/D300, but Nikon might get there yet.

What's stage 3? Since you asked, I'll tell you what I think it could be.

Imagine getting to the CLS menu on the back of the camera and on the screen pops up a series of high contrast head shots, each one corresponding to a different lighting scheme, (Rembrandt lighting, "beauty" lighting, "window" lighting, etc.). The user selects a style he or she would like, chooses a lighting ratio and up next comes a little diagram showing how to set up the lights to achieve the effect. Once you get the lights set up, you hit OK, and the camera feeds the info to the commander flash, and you shoot. Bingo. Heck, Nikon could re brand some Bogen stands and swivels and a Westcott umbrella to sell as a kit to go with the next generation CLS and there you have it.

Will Nikon ever go that far? It's hard to say. For all the things they stuff into a camera nowadays, it still seems like Nikon still often takes the stance of, "you know what you're doing, so we're not going to hold your hand too much." And I don't have a problem with that, but the possibilities are intriguing.

I also wonder if it would be all that hard to build in radio transceivers into the speedlights. The actual circuitry on those little Chinese radio slaves is pretty darn small. Maybe a slightly bulkier SB-900? Now I know I'm going too far.

Finally, some dang pictures

2007-09-09T23:20:00.000-05:00

And I didn't even take most of these. From the opening of the gallery and studio.

We're now open!

2007-08-26T11:25:00.001-05:00

Held the ribbon-cutting ad grand opening last night, and we had a pretty good turnout. For the second year in a row, rain came, but left just before the festivities started. It stormed pretty heavily in some areas, so I'm guessing that didn't help our turnout.
But all in all, it was a lovely event, and everyone seemed to have a good time. I sold a few pieces and have a few more sales in the works.
Bridgett was lovely and a wonderful host as always. She deserves more credit than she got last night.
Thanks to those who traveled to get here and to all the other folks who helped pitch in. I should have some pictures up by the end of the week.

Studio and gallery opening

2007-08-21T19:54:00.001-05:00

It's been pretty slow on the blog but just the opposite in real life. Bridgett and I have been working like crazy to get a little space next to the paper set up as a part-time studio and gallery. Things are really coming along and we're in the home stretch now, with the grand opening this Saturday, August 26.
In usual McLean flair, there's still a few things left to be done this week, but we're really very far along. Everything that hangs should be hung by the end of day Wednesday. Bridgett's keeping me on track and that's a good thing.
I'll still be working at the paper, and it's still my top priority and where my meals come from, but from time to time, you'll now find me next door, shooting and working a second job so to speak.
If you're nearby, stop on in Saturday. The festivities start at 6 p.m.
Sorry no pics yet. I'll have some up soon.

Phooey

2007-08-07T23:44:00.001-05:00

Well, Barry Bonds broke Hammerin' Hank's career homerun record tonight.

Normally, I don't get too sentimental about records falling, but this is a special case.
Hank's from my hometown of Mobile, AL, and in this age it seems like everything in baseball is juiced to some degree. It just doesn't feel authentic.
Oh well, back to our regular programming.

Just call me "prof"

2007-08-07T10:36:00.000-05:00

I've been teaching an intro to photography class at the local community college this month, and so far, it's been fun and challenging. Fifteen students, all but one are adults, signed up to take the six-week class and I'm averaging an attendance of about 12 per night. Last week's class was a fun one for everybody and I have a feeling this week we'll have a lot of fun too. We'll be learning about apertures.

Lighting makes a difference

2007-07-27T11:45:00.000-05:00

I will now publicly admit to having seen the show "Design Remix" on HGTV.
And I think for anyone who's into photography, especially, lighting, the show is um, illuminating.
The show's premise, which isn't really important, says that with just paint, $50 in purchases, and the things sitting around the house the crew can totally transform a room.

But the most consistent transformation in every show is the lighting. The opening shots of the room that needs help are always shot during the day, with very flat lighting. There's really nothing interesting going on with it at all.

But once the room is made over by the show crew, another amazing transformation takes shape. Shot at night, the room is now filled with all kinds of accent lights and interesting shadows cast on the walls. Pools of light hit the ceiling and floors, everything takes on this richer sheen. Artwork on the walls suddenly have spotlights hitting them, though none were installed in the show. All the features of big interest get this little spotlight treatment. It really makes the room look rich.

The homeowners are wowed and every one's happy. But I wonder how things really look once the show crew takes down all their lights?

The storm that woke Fort Morgan's widow

2007-07-24T21:41:00.000-05:00

Attended a conference this weekend, and a nice lightning storm brewed off the beach Friday night.
Bridgett and I had a little time to have a fun shoot at Fort Morgan on our way back home. I think these images kind of work together to create a fun little story. Maybe the storm woke the long-passed widow of a Civil War soldier and she roamed the arched hallways looking for her lost lover.

So Da** Busy

2007-07-17T00:28:00.000-05:00

I'm up a lot later than I should be tonight. Getting ready to teach a class at the local college in two weeks and working on the new studio is leaving me without a lot of extra time these days. But I had to get these up. I just love how they turned out. Great emoting here. She's an actor, can't you tell?

Fun and Opportunity in Atlanta

2007-07-13T00:34:00.000-05:00

Went up to Atlanta again last weekend and this is the first moment I've had since getting back that I haven't been battling a stomach virus or dealing with work issues well into the night. But, the trip was great if not tiring. Wesley scored a great shooting location for us. We had two sets going at the same time. Having radio slaves comes in mighty handy at times like that.

I met some great folks, had a blast shooting Megan and Tisha and I'll have an opportunity to show some work for a couple of months at a high-end salon there next month. I once hated Atlanta, but - I hate to say it- it's starting to grow on me a little. Maybe I'm getting soft.

The top image here is by far the most heavily manipulated one I've done. The concept was to go for a take off of those old Russian propaganda posters. The bottom shot is from a set where we were just working to get some decent rather low-key full body shots for her acting portfolio without going too film noir with it. I'll throw in a link to David Hobby's site Strobist here. He dishes out a lot of great lighting information on using small hotshoe flashes, and this shot was done using just a couple of small hotshoe flashes in a simple setup, but I think they're effective in getting us what we wanted. Ol' David just made his site his full-time gig, so he could use a little support. Head on over and give him a little traffic. I'll probably post another really fun shot we did using the little lights in a couple of days.

There's more good stuff from the weekend, and I'll try to get a little more up soon.

Quilts are returned

2007-07-06T12:39:00.000-05:00

Well Lucinda Pettway got her quilts back. That doesn't solve the other two lawsuits filed against the Arnett family, however. And if you think the quilts were a simple matter of the family returning them, read here for a story that sounds pretty fishy to me.

Returning

2007-07-05T10:21:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday. I have a shoot Saturday and hope to have to good results to show from it next week. I seem to be getting a lot of one-offs that I haven't posted yet so I may try getting to them in the next couple of days.
Here's one from the civic center / theater project going on down at the old high school in town.

Enjoy your independence

2007-07-01T01:08:00.000-05:00

Thomasville held its annual fireworks show tonight. And it's pretty darned good for a small town, but the standard shots of it are getting old. Next year, I need to see about shooting it from the launch site.

It was all yellow

2007-06-28T10:48:00.001-05:00

More for a Thursday.

Gee's Bend Quilters file suit

2007-06-25T15:11:00.000-05:00

There's a long history of rural artists getting the shaft while their works sell for five and six figures in the rarefied art worlds they themselves will never see or understand.

In a pair of stories so far, (here and here) the Mobile Press-Register is following the developments as a couple of Gee's Bend, Ala. quilters file suit against the Arnett family in Atlanta.

If you're unaware, the women of Gee's Been have been artfully producing beautiful, mezmerizing quilts since the slave days. Using the scraps from their own tattered clothes and the cast-offs from their masters, the women created a beautiful legacy for themselves that survives to this day.

The Arnetts put the Gee's Bend quilters on the national stage to great acclaim with their quilts touring the nation and television specials popping up, to tell the story of these women. But the acclaim has come with a dark side. While some of the quilts were sold for tens of thousands of dollars, and lucrative museum and licensing deals have been signed over the quilts, the women of Gee's Bend, have seen mere pennies. Now, some are being given the runaround when they ask for their family heirloom quilts back.

And now, according to the stories in the Press-Register, the family has allegedly been going on a rights grab, getting these women, many of whom are illiterate, to sign away their rights to the quilts and designs.

Given this isn't the first time that the Arnett's have been accused of shady dealings when it comes to rural artists, I'd almost like to see the court seize their assets and search their properties for the missing quilts. They could at least do a search for the missing quilts. Of course, the women of Gee's Bend are black and poor, so you know that won't happen, and it's unlikely they'll see anything out of all of this.

Father's Day

2007-06-14T11:05:00.001-05:00

I've read about how the holiday season running from Thanksgiving to Christmas can be quite hard for people, especially those who've lost loved ones recently.
I think I have a good understanding of what that's like now. I've never wanted a “holiday” to pass more quickly than this father's day.
It's been six months since my daddy (and yes, that's what we all called him) died. And it's been difficult getting along without him.
But life goes on for the living, and so we do. And there are stretches of time when I don't think about it much. And then I'm reminded, sometimes by something small and nearly insignificant.
And it all comes back to me, the way he looked at the end, the way he never gave up and the way he stayed himself, when he was aware aware and able to communicate with us. And I feel guilty that it hadn't been on my mind, and that I wasn't suffering the loss for that period of time, had I just forgotten, just like that? No, it's not that easy, but guilt can be an unfair task master.
And now, for the past week, I get constant reminders on the television: the father's day advertisements. They're pure pablum, but that doesn't matter right now where I'm sitting, and I bet it doesn't for anyone else in the same situation.
I can't get through one without crying. Maybe next year will be better. So, for those of you who still have them, do a little something for your dad this weekend. I doesn't have to be anything fancy. In fact, I bet he doesn't want anything fancy, if he's like mine was, he'll just appreciate the thought.

Boundary lines - tension

2007-06-06T18:37:00.001-05:00

More Yellow

2007-06-05T01:20:00.000-05:00

At first this was a strongly subliminal drive or perhaps shifting of perception causing me to be drawn towards the color yellow, but I believe I am slowly beginning to grasp parts of the underlying features and emotions now.

Free Fishing

2007-05-31T23:13:00.001-05:00

Finally had some time to edit a few shots from my camping trip over the weekend. Not the most productive couple of days photographically, but the break from the rest of the world was certainly nice. No, I didn't stay here, I was camping.

By the way, Dingler will have some or his work on display Saturday, in NOLA, go here for more details.

Perceptible

2007-05-22T10:13:00.000-05:00

Seems there's a change going on in my style these days.

Buzz or leave a message

2007-05-14T22:10:00.000-05:00

This is what I saw today

2007-05-12T00:58:00.000-05:00

Somewhere, out there, is an electrician with a love of symmetry.

New Orleans again

2007-05-08T00:17:00.000-05:00

Went back to New Orleans with Bridgett this time, to hear a little jazz and kick the smoking habit. It was miserably hot and crowded at jazzfest. Still got a nice three-day start on quitting smoking, and that's a good thing. I've been battling cravings tonight, though. Hopefully those will continue to go away.
The color yellow seemed to really attract my eye this weekend. That hose shot looks sickly. I've done something wrong there, will have to take another look a the raw file, but not tonight.

Difficulties

2007-04-30T23:59:00.000-05:00

I'm finding it very difficult to go out and shoot these days. And when I have, the results have been less than thrilling. The desire is there, but there's something else going on right now that's keeping me from just getting out there and doing what I know I need to be doing. Can't put my finger on it right now. I hope it's not some form of mild depression that's seeping in.
Maybe a change of scenery and some jazz this week will change my mood/outlook/whatever.

In place of shooting, I've been doing a lot of reading of other photographers' blogs. Some are well established in the high end art world, others not, still others are just well read writers whose opinions I've come to at least appreciate, even if I don't agree.

In doing this reading, I've realized a number of things. One, I need to do more book reading, of really any kind, not just photography. I usually read in fits and starts, consuming several books in a short span, and then going without for a while, but it's been a good long while now since I've picked up a book and read it all the way through. It's certainly something I need to get back to doing. There are some other realizations that I've come to, but I'm not sharing those yet. I need more time to suss them out.

Quark doesn't like you

2007-04-20T14:54:00.000-05:00

You spend $800 on a new version of page design software, you expect it to work, but not Quark 7.

No. 1 - It doesn't play well with servers. Excuse me? This is 2007. It's inexcusable to release a program like this that doesn't work well in a networked environment. But this version doesn't. If I start a page, close it, and one of my coworkers opens to make changes, they better have a copy saved locally because it will surely disappear as soon as they close it.

No. 2 - No automatic updates. You have to check on your own to find out if there's an update, and then they make you go through this ridiculous log-in page to get the update if available. You then get the email to unlock the download. Are you serious? Even freeware is easier to update than this.

No. 3 - Lots of random crashes. Every piece of beta stage software I've ever tried was more stable than this.

If the 7.2 update just released doesn't fix all of this, the other general manager and I are going to recommend switching to InDesign. We all already have it with Creative Suite, and it has to be better than this.

Rant over.

Movie weekend

2007-04-14T22:32:00.000-05:00

It was a banner weekend for movie cliches. Watched 300 Friday night and A Love Song for Bobby Long Saturday afternoon.
I'd have to say 300 was more enjoyable in some ways. But I guess Love Song isn't the worst way to spend a rainy Saturday.
When it comes to Love Song, I guess there's probably a fair number of people who've gotten some romantic notion about moving to New Orleans just to waste away on bourbon, cigarettes and literary fantasy. Heck, even I breifly considered it while watching this movie. I say breifly, because I know what summer feels like down there. Of course, even this movie with its run-down creole house as a character in itself is a pretty sanitized version of things down in the Big Easy. Especially post Katrina.
It's too bad we don't have more fine southern actors available to play southerners in the movies. But then, that wouldn't be Hollywood.

Happy Trails

2007-04-02T23:48:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone made it through April 1 okay.
I'm back from Atlanta, and it was really good seeing some old friends. Like trips of this nature can sometimes be, it was refreshing and exhausting at the same time. Regardless, I needed a break from what's been happening the past four months, and it provided just what the doctor ordered.
Didn't shoot much at all, but I did get a little in during a short hike up Hemlock Falls Trail in north Georgia.
Here's a shot. I may post the color version a little later, because I like it too.

Sharing knowledge

2007-03-28T23:14:00.000-05:00

The internet can be a tremendous resource for photographers. If your brain is wired the right way, you can really increase your knowledge, and through application, increase your skills rather quickly.
There are lots of good, talented and successful shooters out there willing to share their knowledge with complete strangers. Which, I suppose means there is still some goodness in humankind afterall.
But, I've also noticed that many photogs aren't too willing to share actual technique. And for good reason. If you're a 'tog working in the ultra-competitive world of say advertising or fashion, and you've developed a technique that's landing you good paying gigs, well, you wouldn't be too keen on signing up at an internet forum and saying "hey, here's this cool technique that's really scoring me some great gigs! Here's exactly how I do it!" And I don't for one minute blame them. I wouldn't either.
These people got to where they are through talent, really hard work, making the right connections and really hard work. Eventually some people will reverse engineer the technique, and the better than average joes will be able to replicate it with good results. But, by then, the pros will be on to the next thing, and we'll be wondering how they're doing what they're doing now.

The photo attached is really appropos of nothing in this post, but it's gotten some very good response lately, so I attach it here to share.

It is finished.

2007-03-21T14:09:00.000-05:00

We finally wrapped up our progress edition Monday, finished the regular paper this afternoon, and I'll be helping with deliveries tonight.
Thought I'd throw a little bit of what I've been working on up before I go. Generally, I'd have about an hour total with each subject, with about 45 minutes or so of that time dedicated to the interview and the remaining 10-15 minutes to set up, take the shot, tear down and get out.
I like these in particular. I'm getting better, but it's not in my nature to work well and work fast, I usually get in a rush and don't do my best work. I'm a slower, more deliberate kind of person. That part is something that I still have to work on, but I got better at it as this project rolled on.
Most of these were done with one or two little hotshoe strobes, combined with ambient light. Sometimes I used an umbrella, sometimes a snoot and others just the regular old head with no fancy modifiers attached. I have to throw in a little plug for David Hobby's site Strobist. I'd been working on taking a little lightweight lighting kit with me on assignment before finding Stobist, but that gave me the figurative kick in the pants I needed to get on with it. Thanks Dave.
I'm getting better in general, and have a long way to go, but this is better than what I was doing, say, a year ago, and that's important. Hopefully, I'll be able to look back a year from now and see continued improvement.
Hope you like them. I hope the folks like what they see in the paper in the morning. Now it's time to deliver. I have some thoughts for future posts I'll be trying to knock out in the next few days.

My Precious

2007-03-16T01:34:00.000-05:00

Finally picked up a printer. I wanted the Epson 3800, but, as usually happens, life got in the way, so I picked up the Epson R2400 printer - a refurbished model at a screaming deal. I can't pass up a good deal. Must be the Scottish in me.
The first few prints look beautiful, as they should. I'm so happy to finally have some control over the print process, at least up to 12 inches wide.
I don't know if I'll be able to get to sleep tonight, and damn if I dont' have to work all weekend.

Salvation

2007-03-10T20:26:00.000-06:00

There's two kinds of salvation in Maplesville.
I should be back to a regular schedule in another week. Almost finished with our progress edition. Whew!

The golden age of camera design

2007-02-19T23:47:00.000-06:00

I'm not going to pretend to be an expert, but I've had the opportunity to use what most would consider to be all the major form factors of cameras out there today: tiny film and digital point and shoots, film/digital SLRs, twin lens reflexes, rangefinders, large format field and monorail cameras.

And, at this point in my life, nothing beats the modern SLR. Small cameras are pocketable, or at least small and lightweight. Medium format gear gives you bigger negatives to make bigger enlargements. Large format? Even bigger prints with even better tonality and contrast. They make you slow down, learn the economy of shooting.

But if the point is to go out there and take pictures: great pictures, bad pictures, "sharp photos of fuzzy concepts," timeless expressions of truth and/or beauty, experimental pictures, pictures that capture life in all it's passion, drama and banality, I'd rather have a modern designed SLR in my hand almost every time.

But for much of the photographic gearhead cognoscenti, today's SLR inspires about as much passion as a bowl of oatmeal. Why? Well, from a design standpoint, they're like the 4-door family car of the 1990s. They all pretty much look the same. But, form firmly follows function here, and in that, the modern SLR excels.

Ergonomically speaking, I don't know how it could get much better. The bulging hand grip may well be one of the best design decisions to come along in the evolution of the camera. Wrap the neck strap around your wrist and you can comfortably handle most SLRs with a single hand.
They're solid yet lightweight. Unless you're packing one of the big professional bodies with portrait grip, they're relatively small. Heck, put a small wide-angle lens on, say, a Nikon N80 or D40 and you have a machine capable of amazing results that's really not that much bigger than, say, a rangefinder.

Speaking strictly as a Nikon shooter on this point, the twin command wheels - once you're used to them - make manual exposure adjustments so fast and natural, it can be a little scary if one stops to think about it. To be completely fair, however, if you're lighting conditions are changing dramatically from shot to shot, the thumb wheels aren't as good as, say an aperture ring for making large-scale adjustments. But for up to about one stop in either direction, it's a snap.

Want big prints? Digital has opened the doors to the large print like no other development. You'd be amazed how large you can print even a modest 6-mega pixel image. Need even bigger, today's software offerings make it a relatively simple affair to stitch any number of images together to go as big as you'd like.

I used to buy the viewfinder black-out claim. The knock that the mirror blocks out the viewfinder image on SLRs while a picture is being taken - possibly leading to missed shots. It makes a lot of sense on paper, but in real life application, I doubt it applies to many people at all.

Electronics have made the SLR even more reliable and even more customizable. Yeah, if your battery dies you're sunk, so carry an extra battery, or make sure the one you're using on the day's shoot is fully charged. At one point or another, we've probably all been caught with our knickers down on this count, but I still feel it's a bit of a red herring. How many times have medium and large format shooters come back with blank frames because they forgot to remove the dark slide? At least the battery didn't die without having a backup on hand.

Materials science and engineering have honed the moder SLR into a fine instrument. Does one get that same transcendental je ne c'est quoi as with shooting a rangefinder, or the zen meditation of large format or the brute force of medium format? No. the SLR seems to disappear, just always there, always ready and always capable of doing the job. The job description of a great tool.

Getcha goodies fa nothin'

2007-02-15T00:31:00.000-06:00

It's been high time that I bought my own pigment ink photo printer. Obviously, that appeals to the control freak in me when it comes to my work, but it has also become increasingly difficult to get prints made with my usual sources.

I've been saving and doing quite a bit of research on the various models that would fit my budget and meet my needs. The internet's a great place to do product research.

But in doing the research on the printer and some other items, I've come across this swath of people who seem to incessantly complain about products, the "value" products and their lack of certain features. It's the trickle down model from the higher end model. Same basic capabilities but it lacks certain features of it's more expensive sibling. It's also significantly cheaper, did I mention that?

But instead of assessing these products for what they are and in terms of their own capabilities and against their competition, these folks complain and some are even indignant about the fact that printer A is not a carbon copy of big brother printer B, just with a sticker price several hundred dollars less.

It's annoying, and, tiresome when one is trying to research the strengths and weaknesses and user experiences of a particular product. I don't have the means to buy the top end product. If I really need or want something with its capabilities, all I have to do is wait until the technology trickles down and a "value" version of the same product appears a little while later. I get the general capabilities I want or need and I make the decision to live without the features (usually convenience items, or in the case of printers and cameras, speed) that are left off. If I really need what the higher end model has, I'll have to either save longer, or try to find a clean version of it on the used market.

The market in printers and cameras is so competitive now, that no company could really get away with a "value" version of a higher end model that is obviously stripped and crippled to the point that it represents no value to the user. And yet, there are those out there who seem to take offense that a company would try to bring out a product that has high capability at a lower price point and still preserves some profit margin for the company.

Yeah, I'd like a Corvette for the price of a Cavalier, but I don't get pissed at GM when it doesn't happen.

The attached photo is from a shoot this summer, converted to look like it was done with IR film in photoshop.

Shooting the day away

2007-02-11T21:03:00.000-06:00

Had a good day Friday. I lined up four interviews with environmental portraits for an upcoming special section. I used my off-camera lighting rig and it worked out well. It's not obvious, over the top lighting for most of them, but I think it means my skill is improving with not making the lighting too obvious. I like reading the strobist blog and looking at the flickr group, a lot of folks take the lighting in an obvious direction. Not that there's anything wrong with that at all, but seeing so many examples there made me want to tack into the wind, so to speak.

None of them will win any competitions, but I'm pleased with the results to date. I have about 10 more to get done by the end of the week. It's been good to get back to this kind of work. I've been out of doing this since daddy went into the hospital, and 99 percent of the stuff done for the paper lately has been pretty dull. I think my heart just wasn't in it.

The cheap-o ebay radio slave I bought worked well, although there is one set of shots, that when reviewing them on Bridge, it appears like the slaves didn't fire the flash every time. In all the other shoots for the day, they worked flawlessly. I have two sets and may pick up a third for insurance. They work well, and a set of three transmitters and receivers is still less than one Pocket Wizard unit.

I'd like to post an example, but I'm going to wait until the special section comes out in our progress edition. That's a few weeks away, but I don't want to give any sneak peeks yet.

Happy Mardi Gras

2007-02-05T23:46:00.000-06:00

Well, it's been over a week and I'm still waiting for Ritz to call and let me know my film's back. Gotta find a better way to get my b/w dev'd and scanned. Until I see the results, my little Russian rangefinder and hand-me-down Yashicamat will have to wait to see more action. Being that they're test rolls, I'm not expecting to be wowed by the images, but I still want to see what came up!

Since I was in Mobile this weekend, drove downtown to see the re-enactors and their Roman Legion encampment. I shot around and shot the parade Saturday. Not much good came of it, though I did get to hear the shutter go "click."

Here's a shot of Joe Cain, well his current-day doppelganger anyway. Who is Joe Cain? Since I'm lazy, I refer you to the following clip from wikipedia.

Joseph Stillwell Cain October 10,1832 - April 17, 1904; is largely credited with the rebirth of Mardi_Gras in Mobile, Alabama.In 1866, following the Civil War, and while Mobile was still under Union occupation, Joe Cain paraded through the streets of Mobile, using a "borrowed" coal wagon and dressed in improvised costumes depicting a fictional Chickasaw chief named Slacabamorinico. The choice was a backhanded insult to the Union forces in that the Chickasaw had never been defeated in war. Joe Cain is currently buried at Church Street Cemetery in Mobile.

Back to work

2007-01-22T23:01:00.000-06:00

It felt pretty good to get back to work today. Just wish I had a little more enthusiasm to do the job right now. It will get there.

Here's something from a self-assignment: try to take an interesting picture of a wisk. You know, what you use to beat eggs into submission. Not nearly as easy as I thought it would be. The wisk needed a little help from some tongs to get over the hump. Or, to get me over the creative hump. I could have gone abstract on it, but that was not the point of this exercise.

Dealing with loss

2007-01-19T22:15:00.000-06:00

It's been a week now since daddy died. I don't feel like I've taken the time to really let it wash over me yet. It still doesn't feel real.

There were more people at the funeral than I expected. Some showed up to pay their respects who were childhood friends of his and hadn't seen him in years. But I think that says something about who he was that they would come.

I went out to take some pictures for the first time since his passing, using an old Russian rangefinder I'd purchased for Christmas. I hope they turn out nice.

A couple of weeks ago, I started a group blog with a friend of mine, and hope to add a few more friends to it. It is called One Good Thing, and it's for us to write about one good thing we've experienced during the day. It's kind of an experiment in re-aligning our perceptions of the world around us by choosing to take a moment to focus on a positive aspect of our existence rather than on negative.
You can go here to read it: www.justonegoodthing.blogspot.com

Rest in peace

2007-01-18T00:15:00.000-06:00

They say it comes in threes.

My father died Friday, Jan. 12.
My friend Keith's father died Jan. 15

I don' t want a third one.

Life Still Gets in the Way

2007-01-07T22:09:00.001-06:00

So here I sit, my thoughts, muddied, a cast of thousands. I want to go to bed at all of 10:12 p.m. and the thought still rings through it all, "I must update the blog."

On Nov. 29 my father underwent surgery for an aortic aneurysm, and he's still in ICU today. As I write this, he's still there, hopefully sleeping, hopefully gaining strength for his push to wellness.

I've been spending about half of each week in a hospital two hours away. Trying to be there for my mother. I've been swapping out with my sisters. It's left damn little time for anything else.

But here's a few other thoughts:

I've read glowing review after glowing review of the Leica M8, the $5,000 hackers digital camera. I wonder what kind of roasting Nikon or Canon would get if they released a camera with shoddy automatic white balance and poor UV filtering. But not vaunted Leica. Hey folks, the emperor may not be naked, but he's wearing some mighty revealing lingerie.
I also now realize I must take any Reichman product review with a very very large grain of salt. It's not that I was waiting in line to buy one of these beauties, but some of the other things he's reviewed of late were of interest to me. Seems there's a double standard at play here.

After a long layoff, I picked up some b/w film, for the Yashica and a Russian rangefinder that's on the way. Now I have to decide if I want to develop myself of send it off for development and mid-range scanning. I think I'll take the easier route to start.

What is truly mid-life? What is it in the literal sense and what is it in the philosophical sense?

Life gets in the way.

2006-12-04T22:36:00.000-06:00

Been a little slow around here for a good reason. It will likely continue to be so for at least another week.