Photo Challenge 10 – Photographer

Well, we come to an end after 20 weeks of the original strict Photo Challenge format. We’ve lost two contributors along the way, with a third just hanging in there.

I am benefiting creatively by shooting in styles I am not familiar with, so instead of setting formal challenges online each fortnight I’m going to change the structure into something far more casual.  Any reader wishing to suggest a theme or get involved in a challenge should feel encouraged to do so, no matter what level they believe their photographic skills are at. Whatever I receive, whether it be a photo or an idea, will inspire me to shoot for that idea, and I’ll ask that you help me by continuing to contribute your thoughts and comments.   In other words, I’m going to post whatever theme I feel like, whenever I like,  in response to whatever conversation I’ve been having either online or offline with you guys.

Sounds like fun?  Well, it does to me.

On to our theme for this particular challenge – Photographer.

Steve’s submission

My thoughts:

My camera and tripod was still out after shooting a passport photo of myself, and when I moved it out of the cinema room (my “studio”) the cats showed their usual over-curiosity. Cue “ding” noise in sync with light bulb appearing over my head.

I took three images I really liked, and had a tough time choosing one, but this is as close as it gets to a cat setting up a “still life” photo of the outdoor BBQ. It so happens that the BBQ is the one spot the two of them can jump on to see over the fence. In this case I believe Mishka may be doing some rainy day reconnaissance so she is better prepared to make an escape bid when the sun reappears.

ISO 200, F2.8, 1/60

Joepi’s Submission

Joepi says:

The battle for the best spot to get the best shot.
There were more photographers at the back just waiting for their turn. I decided to get away first before I add to the non stop clicking and excited Photographer chatter.

My thoughts: As soon as I saw this image it reminded me of an image I took of a horde of male photographers swarming around a Japanese mini-celebrity in Akihabara. It’s unlikely that you’d see this sort of photographer/subject interaction on a Melbourne street. I’m not sure if that’s because Australians don’t take street photography seriously, or because the potential subjects so often display a bad attitude towards being photographed.

Joepi exhibits excellent paparazzi skills by being in front of all the rest.

Mat’s submission:

Mat says:

I took this during an Asleep In The Park gig where there were a few other photographers roaming around. I took this at 3200 ISO because it was a pretty dark venue then as the original shot was done in bright red light I fed it threw a gentle sepia filter in dark room to make it look less like a photojournalist visiting hell. I was tempted to
lighten up the camera but then I thought the photographer is the subject here and the camera is really irrelevant. At first I was amused at the way this guy has his left eye all screwed up in a painful looking squint…until I realised that I probably do the same thing!

My thoughts: Nice image, Mat. Well composed and exposed. I’m very impressed that 3200 came out this well. Seems like I might have to upgrade my 30D to the something with a new chip after all. I’m glad you didn’t lighten up the camera.  The photographer is, and should be the subject here. Definitely makes me squint when I look at it. In fact there are days when I wonder if I’m going to get my regular focal length back in my left eye, especially after staring at a bright stage through the viewfinder for an hour. On the flip side (excuse the pun) I feel very uncomfortable when I notice he is using his right eye to focus.  That just doesn’t seem at all right to me.  Well done in bringing back the image texture. After shooting once at Revolver under those bad red lights, I’ve chosen not to go back – at least not with my camera.  Note – Tyrah Banks thinks that lump above his left eye makes him uniquely photogenic. You may wish to suggest he try out for Cycle 13.

PS – “dark room”? You going backwards in your progression and fallen into film techniques, Mat?

Next Challenge

The next challenge is to think up the next theme for the masses to go crazy about. (Sarcasm is one of the services I offer).

I have some ideas for things I’m going to post when I get the urge, but if someone wants to put a rocket under me any earlier than that, then be my guest.

Photo Challenge 9 – Seven Deadly Sins

There is a lot of scope to be particularly creative on this one, and I did think about that for my own personal submission.  However, I also felt it was important to remain true to my particular style, and moving into a more artistic world does not represent who I am as a photographer.  I don’t think there’s a lot of scope for varied interpretations of the theme itself, so it is with hope that each of the following images represents our respective photographic styles, as opposed to radical re-readings of the theme.

Steve’s submission

My thoughts:

I like to think I’m an observer of the world around me, rather than the creator of dazzling imagery, so my submission is a snapshot of something I saw a lot of in Osaka.  Part of me wanted to created a more picturesque, or visually appealing image for this theme, but I kept coming back to one part of society that truly represents the seven deadly sins.  In Melbourne it’s the Crown Casino. In Japan it’s Pachinko.  I was forbidden to take images of the machines or the patrons, so this is a sneaky snapshot taken one night just as the sliding doors were about to close behind a doomed gambling zombie. In a world of cute, tiny shops that battle to make the most of expensive real estate, Pachinko venues are large, noisy, lurid, garish and unappealing. Notice the repeated word “Get” standing out like a sore thumb. “Get more” ,”Get money”, “Get successful”, “Get happiness”.  All lies in this den of iniquity. More like “get lung cancer, liver disease and destitution”. I say “Get lost”.

• Lust – for all the things money can buy
• Gluttony – for self-punishment (you almost always lose when you gamble)
• Greed – for cold hard cash
• Sloth – both brain and body atrophy together
• Wrath – “Life is unfair”, “I never win”, “Leave me alone”, “I hate this machine”, “I hate this habit”, “I hate myself”
• Envy – Wishing you had the lifestyle of the rich and famous
• Pride – This is referring to me. I usually take no for an answer, so in this case I am proud that I was able to snatch an image of something immediately after being told not to.

There is significant noise in this image, as it was taken with my point and shoot at high ISO to capture as much light as I could.  I think my style is not at all about technical perfection, but about capturing a moment or some energy.  I hope this image does so.

ISO 800, F3.2, 1/50

Joepi’s Submission

Joepi says:

I haven’t been diving this weekend, and when I don’t dive, my thoughts end up where a girly-girl’s thoughts usually end up: SHOPPING. I realized as well how deadly it all can be. All 7 deadly sins can be committed, thought, seen or caused all in one setting. I also realized how much stuff I have in the little square space that I call my room, that I can actually do a shopping mall set up! LOL!

Now for the photography aspect: the little point and shoot was used for this one as I left my tripod in the office and I used the nifty little rotating screen on that camera to see myself as I shot the photos as I needed to see expressions and proper framing for the right message to be captured. Will having a remote and then tethering my camera to a laptop give me the same set up of a live-view on my laptop screen?

My thoughts: Brilliant! When people submit things like this it really inspires you to make more of an effort next time.  This took a lot of time, planning and effort, and the end result is well worth it.  I love the colours, the high-key backgrounds, and Joepi’s many expressions.  It made me laugh out loud, which is not something I do often.  In answer to the question about tethering and a remote – Yes. You USB the camera to your lappy, then you can either use it to view the images taken, or you can set it up to actually monitor what you are shooting. You can change settings and actually take the pics directly from the laptop.  The wired remote works fine, but you then have the problem of seeing it in your shot.  Therefore the Canon RC-5 wireless remote is the answer.

Mat’s submission:

Mat says:

I decided to be lazy this time and go with Sloth – cue obvious joke involving leaving the lens cap on and sending a completely black image. But no, not even I would stoop so low.
I’m sure some will be horrified to hear that this image was shot on a mobile phone – a Sony Ericsson w960i which has a 3.2megapixel camera which is quite capable for snapshots. The shot is taken from one of the upper levels in the Melbourne Central shopping centre and shows a security guard contemplating a spilled milkshake left behind by a very slothful person indeed. Or maybe the security guard is being slothful in that he’s using his radio to call for somebody to come and clean it up.
I played with the depth of field function in Paintshop Pro X2 and fiddled with saturation and sharpness in order to fake the tilt-shift effect that can make real things look like models. I’ll leave it up to you to decide how effective this was but I quite like the result!

For those who are interested you can see some spectacular tilt-shift shots here:

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/11/16/beautiful-examples-of-tilt-shift-photography/

My thoughts: Cool effect. I would have cropped the superflous space out and presented a landscape image letting the people themselves speak, rather than play with effects, but it does make me want to fiddle around with this technique for some fun. That said, cropping a mobile phone image would reveal the total inadequacies of this medium for presentation-quality photography.  (Don’t take that too seriously – using my point and shoot at anything higher than ISO 400, as I did for my submission, is about on a par with using a very good cameraphone).

The people do look like plastic toys, and that’s what has my attention here.  The curve on the right and mass of blur underneath is driving me nuts, and I find the subject of the image becomes insignificant to me. I also query whether this is sloth, rather than carelessness.  Today’s youth (who else but a young person would drink a milkshake whilst walking in a shopping centre) are definitely lazy, but I think they are more careless than lazy. I think sloth is a an intrinsic way of “being” rather than just how you would describe an event or action.

Katy’s submission

Katy says:

Hail, Sinners. Hope you all have enjoyed this challenge as much as I did. A feeling of utter excitement took over me as soon as I found out that the seven deadly sins were up next.

I confess that this time my head was boundlessly buzzing with ideas – some of which will be carefully hoarded still. Bear in mind that a considerable heap of images will be protected by the inherent confidentiality of my bedroom.

And just so you know, I had all seven sins photographed – too bad I had to rule the other ones out. But the depicted sin that definitely stood out from the pack was gluttony. I couldn’t just help myself when I set my eyes on that ravenous little caterpillar. I had to have it shot for one main reason: caterpillars are the most voracious feeders ever known – therefore, the perfect portrait of gluttony.

My thoughts: I would have preferred to post the other image Katy considered – the one she posted on Flickr.  I think with some tweaks it is a much better image from an artistic, creative and thematic point of view, and in my opinion represents Katy’s style better.  I think this image above shows survival or opportunity, not gluttony, and it needs some thought put into the light source, composition and background.  I wonder what sort of butterfly that little guy will turn into later?  I’d also like to put up a direct challenge from our locusts. I reckon a few of them would have something to say about the voracious feeders debate.

Next Challenge

This was the penultimate challenge for which I am going to be the organiser and collator.  I know people like to read without commenting, but I’m not getting as much out of this as I am putting in.  Even though I receive many emails and IMs from people saying how much they like the Photo Challenge, so far the cost-benefit analysis shows too much weight on the cost side.

I recently posted a link on Facebook to an article incorporating thoughts on the trend for people to write about themselves online, but not be very good at contributing to discussion. I feel like this challenge has been about me doing a lot of writing and, with the exception of some occasional comments, I’ve been unable to ignite vigorous debate or even promote educational tidbits for those of us looking for self-improvement.  I often find that the best discussion occurs behind closed doors, via email or chat programs. That’s not much help to all the readers of this blog.

I will provide a final theme and I’ll post the results up as always.  However, I am looking for volunteers to run the challenge from this point forward.  To make it happen you’ll be given editing rights and some brief training on how to use the post template.  You’ll need to be both punctual and committed.  I’ll approve the final post before publication of course, but I’d like to take a back seat on driving the challenge itself for a while.  If there are no volunteers I’ll put the challenge to rest for a while, or at least reconsider how it can be run more effectively.  I might look at tapping into an already existing online challenge, if that’s possible.  Of course I am open to input from you, the readers and contributors.

The next theme has been submitted by Mat, and it is appropriately entitled “Photographer“.

Please submit your images by midnight on Sunday March 8th (in whatever timezone you reside).