Since we all enjoy learning about photography it seems a natural to share what I’m learning from starting the photo a day 2009 blog (Talkington Photo Video). What is there to learn? Well, a new blogging program, new processing software and a new camera and lenses. If there’s not something there to learn then I’m definitely not paying attention!

This is pretty much the way I learn. We all have different methods for what works best for us as individuals and clearly defined goals are effective for me. “Photo a day” is perfect for that. There are a number of things on my “I’d like to do that someday” list…and that’s just when they’ll get done: someday. But, hey, announce to the world you’re going to start a project on January 1 and now there’s a greater sense of obligation, a purpose beyond my own learning.

Online photo sharing is still relatively young but it’s dramatically changed the way photographers interact. We’ve become accustomed to showing our photographs and we all enjoy receiving kudos for a nice image. The approval of others can lift us to new heights and the sharing of ideas is an incredible boon. For instance, yz (a photo blogging inspiration) suggested I print one of my abstracts really large. Hmmm, I hardly ever print large but that’s a really cool idea and it has me thinking in completely new ways. That’s one of the really enjoyable things about such a photo project (and it’s nice we’re still talking about printing in this online age…I was starting to forget about printing!).

But, when you’re trying to post 365 new photos in a row, they’re not all going to be winners. There are going to be photos that are part of a process that aren’t finished works of art, they’re just steps along the way to improving as a photographer. While it’s nice to produce work enjoyed and understood by others, sometimes you have to do like that old proverb, just put it out there and “dance like there’s no one watching”. Those are some of the most important images of all.

Trying to achieve a photo goal like this is also not just about the photographs. I realize that 365 photos aren’t just 365 photos. Hopefully, they’re also a wide range of experiences and recollections. Photography has given me many gifts in the form of personal experience.

For instance, I’ve never watched The Surgery Channel and often turn my head at blood and gore in movies. But I’ve had no problem photographing in an operating room, framing incisions and complicated procedures through the lens of a camera. The camera has done that for me.

Extreme heights are something else I’m not particularly fond of, yet I’ve leaned out the side of a plane with the door removed with no problems, all because a camera was in my hands. Go figure.

Who knows? We’re only 3 days into the new year as of this writing but I’m certain that 362 photos from now I’ll have enjoyed some new experiences as a result of photo a day. I don’t plan on hanging out of any planes in the coming year but even seeing my own neighborhood in a new way would be reward enough. Maybe it will be a year of new visions, maybe a year of refinements.

Next week in part 2 I’ll share some of the technical things I’m learning from the initial experience regarding the Olympus E520 and lenses, Pixel Post and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom!.

It seems fairly easy to present new information on a blog, the most recent posts generally appear at the top of a front page. One of the things I hope to accomplish with this design is to make the categories and older posts more accessible. So this is the first test of the new design.

I’m actually rushing to get this out because power is spotty here in Cincinnati tonight. Wind has knocked power out over half of the city and we’re being told to stay inside because of downed power lines and trees blocking streets. I’ve seen some real disasters this afternoon and cleanup will take awhile. Fortunately, my trees are still standing. Tomorrow has an early call time, we’re shooting long days every day for one of our good clients. Hopefully we’ll be able to make it there in the a.m.!

- Jim T.

Entry is open to all photographers so I had my eye on the prize..until Udi asked if I would judge the color portrait entries. Of course I will! Brian Auer of Epic Edits Weblog, Fine Art Photoblog and Photo Net Cast will be judging the black and white portraits while Udi himself will be deciding the best portrait tip. That’s three ways to land a copy of the software valued at $239.95. It would be great to see you in the entries…

Despite this belief, I still call this donut photograph my “lucky shot”. Why is it called that? It was shot in a matter of minutes, no big deal, but it gets really great response. The reason it’s called the lucky shot is because I’ve tried to identify and duplicate certain qualities about it without success. So I simply tell people I just got lucky.

One Saturday morning my stylist friend, Kate, and I had scheduled a lifestyle portfolio shoot. She pulled some things together and we met at a coffee shop with a model who was going to be the coffee shop customer. We photographed for the better part of the morning, getting some really nice photos. To be honest, though, there was nothing special about them, we didn’t break any new ground. After a while we did our round of “thank you’s” and headed back to the studio with the photo equipment.

Upon arriving back at the studio, Kate mentioned she’d also bought some donuts and Styrofoam cups and thought we might try something with those, an idea for a low budget food shot. She had to run soon and I was a little burned out but professional courtesy kept us going. We wanted to see it through.

She pulled a couple of inexpensive powdered donuts out of a box and plopped them onto our shooting table . I grabbed a cheap household clamp light and drug it over, just to see what I was doing. The intention was to get a good composition then bring in the “real photo lights”. Something messy like this also requires little brushes and tweezers to move loose elements around but we hadn’t pulled those out yet.

So I framed up the shot, took an exposure and…there it was. Done. Sure, I pushed things around a bit to satisfy my curiosity, but we liked how the household bulb brought out the delicate texture. We liked how the sugar naturally fell onto the table. A few things added up to making this $0.50 donut look pretty darn tasty. After a few minutes we called it a day.

Now a 16” x 20” print of the donut hangs in our hallway and it’s the image people stop and look at and say, “wow, that donut looks good enough to eat!”. It draws more response than photographs of expensive, delicately plated dishes. Viewers look right past the highly produced room set shots. There’s something so simple and easy to relate to that it triggers a response and viewers always choose to say something. We’ve created studio promotions to try and explore the visual ideas of the donut further, shooting additional photos to accompany it, with no great success. And that’s why this one is called the “lucky shot”. Do you have a lucky shot story?

With talk of starting a new photo project in August (some great suggestions in Friday’s comments) I’ve been thinking about what equipment to use for the project. For myself, I’m thinking film…35mm, 120 or 4″x5″? Hmmm, is there some new (used) camera that would totally spark my imagination? Camera hunting is a great excuse to start searching eBay.

Most of my camera equipment gets used on a fairly regular basis, I’m not that much of a collector. Yes, there are some odds ‘n’ ends: the Russian Iskra, the Seagull twin-lens 120 camera, a handful of manual Pentax lenses (where did those come from?) and some plastic toy cameras that don’t receive any use. Otherwise, for my personal use, I run a pretty lean ship. But from time to time the camera bug bites, about every other year, and I end up on eBay looking for something or other.

It really is a great place to locate and view vintage camera equipment. If you want a 70’s camera body or screw mount Pentax lens then it’s a cool place to start the journey. I’ve made a few purchases from Eastern Europe that have gone well, obtaining cameras that otherwise wouldn’t be available. But, overall, my experiences have been mixed.

I’ve yet to land that magical “steal”, purchasing a perfect piece at low, low cost. Yes, I’ve found a decent deal here and there but those have been offset by a sale or two that was maybe less than ideal. Those that can claim an amazing purchase on eBay might not be mentioning a few duds along the way. It seems to be a calculated risk. I like to check the seller’s rating and send them an email about the item, seeing how attentive they are. If they respond to questions then it seems more likely they’ll be there in case of any problems. I’d also insist on a reasonable return policy.

If you do buy used vintage equipment from eBay then factor in a good cleaning for whatever you purchase, lens or camera, despite what the listing says. It seems to me like the 70’s were just yesterday and I fondly remember my first Nikon FE. If that camera and lens are still somewhere in use I’m pretty sure the foam seals have deteriorated and the lens aperture blades are oily, despite my perfect memories.

So how about newer equipment? One area where I haven’t considered buying used is when it comes to digital SLRs, even those claiming to be lightly used. With prices steadily dropping (and features climbing) on new cameras I’d personally prefer to buy new. It’s worth it to start out with a clean sensor and a warranty in my book, even if it‘s a lesser camera model. Let me know if you think otherwise.

Newer, used lenses for digital cameras could be a potentially good deal but be sure to get a return policy if you test them and something’s not quite right. I’ve heard quite a few stories of lens quality inconsistencies from the same production run.

While I‘m pretty neutral on making purchases from eBay, there is one area where I find eBay to be a great asset: selling old equipment. No matter what you have gathering dust in the basement, there’s someone, somewhere, that wants it. You’ll be able to research the going rates for such equipment by looking at other eBay listings.

One of my eBay purchases included this free boat anchor

As a matter of fact, it’s probably time I gathered up some old enlargers and lenses and listed them. While local schools declined my free offer, there have to be a few bucks in sales value through eBay. I just have to be sure to pull the collected money out of PayPal before I spend it on another used camera with leaky foam seals.

If you haven’t ever sold through eBay you might want to give it a try. Start clearing out the closet and make a few bucks toward that next photo equipment purchase. If you’re looking to buy used camera gear from a dealer I’ve had good experiences with KEH Camera Brokers in Atlanta, B & H Photo in NYC and you’ll find used gear at all 29 locations when you Shop Calumet Photographic – It’s Where the Pros Go.

Well, it’s time the pinhole camera found a real home. At first I thought it might be funny to put it on eBay, just to see if the $10 spent on parts could be recovered. Then I was inspired by the One Red Paperclip guy. Ever heard of him? He started with one red paperclip and traded it away for something better, eventually trading his way up to a house, fourteen trades later.

That could be fun, I thought. How about trading away the pinhole camera for something else photographic, seeing what could eventually be worked up to? Where would it end: a disposable camera, a Kodak Brownie, a Digital SLR? Would I even get one offer? You never know until you try.

So does anyone have something photo related they‘d like to trade for a like new, handmade pinhole camera, the star of video episode 8? No limitations, all offers (if any are made) will be entertained. It even comes complete with custom tripod mount (that would be the rubber bands in the photo)…

- Jim T.

Aspiring professional and enthusiast photographers work hard to find their own particular style, a visual look that sets them apart from the crowd. Your style is like your own personal signature and it may revolve around the use of a particular lens, color palette, camera or post-production technique. Or it may be the way you communicate with your subject and the responses you elicit and capture. It may be a combination of many of these things.

Do you have a style? If you’ve ever found yourself frustrated, unable to find your own style (or voice) with photography, maybe these suggestions will be a help. After twenty-five years in professional photography I can identify a few things that have helped me get over creative humps:

1. I mentioned the word “process”. Many photographers wait for a bolt of lighting to come along, inspiring them to see the world in a completely new way. Well, it’s never happened like that for me, I’ve had to work at it, taking many little steps along the way. The photos that accompany this article were a simple experiment in soft focus one day. I grabbed a plastic sandwich bag and held it over the lens, really liking the foggy diffusion it created.

2. Working a process means trying new things and, this is very important, not fearing failure. Don’t expect things to go right every time. Remember the invention of Post-It Notes? It was a huge mistake, an adhesive that failed to stick very well. Or so it was initally thought. That failure has gone on to be a huge success. Don’t be critical when something doesn’t turn out the way you want, just try to improve upon it next time.

3. I would never knowingly copy someone else’s work and present it as my own. But for the sake of experimentation, emulating images you really like can provide great lessons. Do you see an HDR technique you really like? Try it. Is there a low key portrait you really like? Try it. These are just experiments, part of the process.

4. Everything doesn’t have to be a final, finished photograph during this process. Shoot fragments and pieces of things that interest you. One of those fragments might be a key building block to a further style.

5. This is an important one…ever hear the phrase “out of sight, out of mind’? Don’t waste your hard efforts and seeming failures by tucking them away and forgetting them. I like to keep my experimental images in a catalog where I can scan through everything when I’m looking for ideas. I may have shot something 6 months ago that was forgotten because it didn’t succeed on it’s own. But if I see it in the same catalog with something shot yesterday it might just “connect the dots” on what I’ve been after. I’ve yet to use the “sandwich bag soft focus” technique on a commercial job but the knowledge gained is always there with me.

6. And, if you haven’t figured it out, this all means shooting lots of photographs. Yep, that’s always been the biggest help to me: shoot, shoot, shoot. It’s important to look for inspiration and it’s important to buy new equipment. But if you want to develop a new style the most important thing is picking up a camera and clicking the shutter.

http://digg.com/tech_news/Fixing_the_video_is_no_longer_available_YouTube_glitch

I’m not sure what’s up, let me know if you have any insight.

Thanks,

Jim T.

thirty seven s…

volume 1 2006

By Jim Talkington

Book Preview

In 2006 I started a photo blog and decided to publish a photo a day. There was a definite purpose to this. No, it wasn’t so much to get my work seen by a bunch of people, it was so I would commit to creating new work. It was a way to force me to continually create. As a professional commercial photographer I continually photograph for clients. You might think the last thing I’d want to do is shoot on my days off. Well, I happen to love photography and it was time to explore a bit outside of the commercial studio.

The photo blog was partially inspired by Tiger Woods, Yes, it’s true and I’m not even a golfer. Tiger Woods, at the height of his career, decided to make a major change to his swing. Imagine that, the guy was already the best ever and he decided to change the way he does things, realizing there would be penalties in the short term. His game may suffer for awhile. But, in the end, he would benefit (or so he hoped). The big thing is that he realized it would take the dedication of an entire year to enact a change.

In 2006 I was trying to change my swing. My plan was to create a bunch of work without being judgmental, to just let it go where it wanted to go. Some things might work and some might not.

That visual diary, which I called 37 Seconds, is still floating around out there on the internet at 37seconds.my-expressions.com . I didn’t meet the goal of a photo every day but there are hundreds of images there. It’s a big ‘ol gob of photos that I added to off and on for awhile.

Okay, so that was the sketchbook. What were the results? What did the experience lead to? Now, a couple of years later, I realize that my year long experiment produced these rewards:

• My recent show, Forgotten America, at the Carnegie Arts Center
• A book of images from 2006 that I self-published: thirty seven seconds
• This series of images from a road trip down Highway 61 **NOTE: the gallery is still functional but the rest of the site is no longer functioning
• Publication in the B&W Magazine 2007 Single Image Contest Awards
• The sale of a few prints

At the time it seemed like a year completely dedicated to just experimenting would be a risk that might not pay off. After thinking about it, maybe it’s time to start planning another “photo a day” for 2009!