AT wasn't long enough

I really liked the shots I got for my last analogue assignment, so I thought I'd throw some up here.

And, it only took me a week, but I went through my Nygard pictures...fashion isn't really my thing, so I didn't get that many keepers.

-Mitch

IS3 - A look at Dave Hill

So I chose a technique used by one of my favorite photographers, Dave Hill.  This technique has also been used by a Canadian photographer Jill Greenberg.  I chose these three photos, partly due to the fact that they were some of the most readily available.  Both Dave and Jill have flash websites, and saving images is challenging.  All three of these images show these artist's intense understanding of their lighting equipments and setups.

I find their style of photography very interesting  as the subject looks painted, even unrealistic.  The secret has been closely guarded by both photographers, though both swear that their technique lies in lighting as opposed to post-processing.  Which holds the potential to be true, as in an interview Dave references that he uses upward of 8 lights at any given shoot.  However for those of us with a much more limited budget there is hope in post-processing!

I found several tutorials for getting the "Dave Hill Look" here's links to a couple of them:

Lightroom Tutorial

Photoshop Tutorial

I also came upon an interview with Dave Hill where he talks about his approach to photography:

The interview

And finally an ongoing chat about Dave Hill on the strobist group at flickr.com:

Tips on Dave Hill

Links to photographers sites:

Dave Hill

Jill Greenberg

-Mitch

One of my favorite sites

By far my favorite site is:
Photography On The Net

This website has had it all for me. Their user base is primarily Canon shooters, though there are a few Nikon users that pop up from time to time.

In all my time on that site I have never had a question go unanswered, the users are generally really friendly, helpful people offering assistance regardless of how ridiculous some of the questions can get.

Like I said before, especially for Canon shooters, this site really has everything. The top portion of the forum being dedicated to the full range of Canon Digital Cameras, to Canon compatible lenses, to flash and studio lighting, all the way to accessories. This site has helped me choose piece of gear that I have bought up to this date. I've found the Lens forum to be of the most use lately, with such a wide spanning user database they have compiled example images from most, if not all of the current Canon compatible lens line-up.

Beyond gear reviews the forums host a photo sharing section ranging through any form of photography you could imagine. Beyond that section they have a section giving tips and tricks in many different facets of photography, from post-processing techniques, to presenting your images.

I've been on this site nearly 2 years now and I only feel like I've scratched the surface of some of the knowledge that is available here.

-Mitch

Creative Imaging

So I chose to use what I know best for my CI assignment, my car.  More specifically the dash/steering wheel.  It got to be pretty tough to actually get the 100 images, by the time I hit about 80ish shots I started shooting from the hip.  Switched the camera into Program, and fired a couple shots without checking the viewfinder.  Surprisingly enough they turned out really well, at least for this assignment.

Before falling into desperation and shooting from the hip, I had a few vaguely planned shots.  This being my favorite of the day, subject blur right?  I've been trying to get this shot done well since I consumed by my automotive passions.

-Mitch

IS - Lines

I felt that this assignment was a challenge for me as I tried to force myself to try some more abstract shots, some I felt worked well, others, not so much.  I hope that I can get another chance to shoot more abstract work in the future.

The Nygard shoot was interesting to see pro photogs at work, just the way these guys knew exactly where to be, and when.  Besides that, their gear was enough to make any student jealous.  It was a pretty intense night of shooting, and great practice for using flash.

-Mitch

Photography and Car Accidents

I suppose my photographic ventures started when I was young.  My mom had a film SLR that I would spend hours shooting with, no matter how underexposed, or out of focus my pictures were, I thought they were the greatest things the world had seen (far from the truth...but a kid can dream).  Throughout high school it seemed like the teachers were not only teaching us math, english, and sciences, but also that creativity is a very unlikely path for a career.  So, for a few years photography went on the shelf while I did the 'career building' course.  In my last two years of high school I lost faith in the by-the-book courses and started playing with cameras again.  After two years of university and hobby photography I found out about PrairieView and now here I am.  With hopes that this school will offer me a much more interesting future than a business degree at the U of M would.

I really want to learn composition, as right now I feel I am to reliant on the power of photoshop to help me crop and recompose where I may have missed my target, as well as learning the business side of photography.

Since everything is kind of a secret right now since we don't really know each other 

I could take the easy way out.  Like saying my secret is I'm turning the big 2-0 on the 23rd.  But that would be too easy.  My secret would be, I've had a near death experience.  Not to say I saw a white light or I was mortally wounded and saved by modern medicine.  No, more so that by freak chance the conditions were in my favor.  April 4th, 2008 at about 10 p.m. I rolled 

my car, right around the corner of Bishop Grandin and St. Anne's.  Pretty simple accident really, sports car taken out of winter storage too soon.  It was sleeting, I came off of St. Anne's onto Bishop as I was coming into 3rd gear the rear of my car swung around sending me towards the curb (left hand side) of the road.  What I did not realize, until I hit it. Is that beyond that curb, is a ditch.  One that sent my car up into the air to topple a couple of times to land on it's roof.  Now, here's the 'miracle', 'coincidence', whatever you want to call it.  I narrowly missed landing on a cement bike path, which would have had much more impact than the grass already did on the roof of my car.  Attending EMT's told me that had I landed about 2 feet back from where I had...I would most likely not be typing this.

However, fortunately everything went my way.  I actually walked away from that accident with nothing more than a few small cuts from crawling out of the car, and a minor concussion.  Now I'm lucky enough to be here at PrairieView so I can meet all of you fantasticly geeky photography people just like myself!

-Mitch

(if any of you morbid folk are interested, I still got pictures of the car at the MPI wrecking yard)

I am really interested in landscape photography first and foremost. I love being able to capture places that people aren't always able to get to. It's an escape to be able to go out and just shoot. I'm also really trying to get into urban/photojournalistic photography as that is the ultimate goal for me. Being able to get people aware of what is happening in their community as opposed to what makes it onto the evening news, is what I really hope to get to eventually.

Photo by: Duncan McNairnay