around the net 26: links to photo inspiration
Today’s around the ‘net is a search for photo inspiration. I’ve been looking for interesting photos and bookmarking a few sites, creating an online scrapbook to help think about possible new approaches to my own personal photography. I thought it might be interesting to share a few of these interesting finds:
This image on the J.R. Photoblog has a really nice treatment. The photo edges are framed and vignetted to black, an effect I really like for the right subject. An even cooler thing is that J.R. placed the photograph on a black page, which helps it float in an ethereal way. This has me thinking about interesting ways to present photos online, possibly working to help them merge and integrate into the web pages / backgrounds somehow.
Paolo Micheli is undoubtedly a master of HDR photography and that alone should recommend get-a-glimpse.com. Looking further I really like the simulated mat and signature around each presented photo. An image that especially caught my attention is this mysterious image incorporating a reflection of some sort. It has a cubist quality and has me thinking about possible ways to create cubist photographs.
This recent image on Kenny Weng’s moodaholic has a very cinematic quality (as does all of his work). It inspired me to think in a few different ways. The image is largely chromatic but uses an obvious splash of color in the lower right. This is a wonderful use of color. The wide format (is it 16:9?) is also a refreshing change to the standard SLR formats and lends a cinematic quality. I want to start thinking more in terms of different image formats from 16:9 to square instead of my usual “no cropping of an image” for personal work.
I’ve also searched for ways to recreate vintage photographs and am on to something I’m excited about. Pictured is a low-budget Chinese 120 camera called a Great Wall (better camera images here) that I picked up without a lens. When I find really inexpensive single element lenses (a fancy phrase for a magnifying glass) I pick them up for possible DIY camera projects. Pictured here (pardon the late night snapshot) are a set of eye loupes, all of differing focal lengths, from the local Harbor Freight Tool store. Five loupes for just $2.99! These loupes have tons of potential as misty, dreamy, single-element lenses! Now to figure out how to adapt them to this camera and my DSLR.
Shifting gears a bit: if you’re working on your photo business over the weekend you might find inspiration from The Wedding Photographer’s Guide to Blogging posted on PDN Online, it‘s a good read.
And if you’re working on your photos this weekend I’ll mention that Adobe is now shipping CS4. If you want to give it a test run (or try out any Adobe software, for that matter) you can always download a free 30 day trial from Adobe worldwide or the Adobe Europe Store
.
Well, it finally feels like autumn here in the Midwest and it feels good…it’s football weather! Take care and I’ll see you next week…
- Jim T.
Great set of links you collected here. Unfortunately the wedding photographers guide to blogging link is dead
Sorry, it’s now up again
Hey Jim,
Nice camera! (Great Wall), u made me wanna get one of those
Mamiya RB67 is too expensive.
Hi Jim
Photos of abandoned places are always a bit scary to me but at the same time they can be really inspiring. The idea shown on J.R. Photoblog where shapes are coming out from the dark is really nice and I will certainly have to try it out.
Cubism, wow, I haven’t thought about it for a while and I have to say it’s very interesting. I remember, when I was on a trip to Oslo I shot some reflections of buildings on cars, it had some abstract style but I could never find reflecting surfaces with sharp edges to get that real cubism style.
Oh and thanks for that guide. I have read a few now but this one has nice, in-depth view.
Waiting for more, cya
Hi Jim:
Nice site, been hanging around for a while, learning a lot! Thanks for this…
One of the things that brought me new inspiration was TTV (through the viewfinder), take a look at Russ Morris site: http://www.russmorris.com/ttv/index.html.
Even if you end up not taking the picture through the viewfinder of an old camera, just looking through it might give you a totally different perspective of the subject, give it a try… I’ve got myself an old Kodak Duaflex, clean it up a bit and voila! totally different perspective!
keep on the excellent blog, thanks!
Hi Al, thanks for the link, I really like the “Duaflex look”. I have an old one around here somewhere that needs dusted off!
Hey Jim. We should talk about homemade lenses and such. I’ve done a fair amount of that, mostly for my large format camera (but other things as well). I haven’t combined homemade lenses with digital much, mostly because I hate getting my sensor dirty.
You can see some stuff on my LF flickr set.
Hi Jim,
I spent this morning looking at a lot of your videos and enjoyed it hugely.
I love the stick in a can. Really nice to see that no nonsense approach to lighting.
A lot of really good stuff.
On the subject of concave mirrors for spot lighting have a look at girl’s compact mirrors.
You normally get a flat mirror and a concave one together for a couple of your dollars. I use them quite a bit.
I would like to see a video of you shooting food.
Regards
Tim/fabfoodpix.com
Hey Jim, I just found your blog today, and I’ve seen so many interesting things on it. The most interesting to me is that you live in the ‘nati and have a studio at the Pendelton. I’ve been to several final Fridays and take painting classes there. It’s a very cool space, if I were freelance, I would definitely want a space there. Anyway, I’d be very interested in finding out what you come up with as far as building a lens. I’ve been trying to make something that works fairly well for some time now…no such luck yet. I too have old lenses and random glass waiting to become a lens. I’m new to the whole photography career thing, technically I’ve only been pro for 6 months, and I really would like to know where I could look for information on local workshops and classes. My company offers tuition reimbursement and I’d be interested in where I could find out about workshops like the one you recently mentioned. Anyway, best of luck to you and the Pendelton studio.
Matt, your camera creations are great! You’re doing a number of things I’ve wanted to do for some time so it’s really cool to see. I think I came across your Flickr site and bookmarked it back before I even started prophotolife. I have this pile of 30 enlarging lenses that need a home, I’m happy to donate a lens to one of your projects, just name the focal length (from 50mm to 300mm).
In December I’ll be visiting my friend and food photographer Teri Campbell’s studio for a tour. The video camera will be coming along for the trip so I’ll definitely share it with readers.
Hey Adam, welcome to the blog. My studio is in Blue Ash at the moment but we’ll be moving to Essex Studios in just a couple of weeks. It’s very similar to the Pendleton but Essex is located in Walnut Hills / Clifton. I’m sure we’ll run into each other at an opening sooner or later, be sure to say “hi” if you recognize me. I’ve always wanted to conduct workshops but time just isn’t allowing it at the moment. I’ll try to come up with some local resources and will let you know.
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