Sunday, November 29, 2020

$400 discount on Fujifilm X100F! Cyber Monday madness!

$400 discount on Fujifilm X100F! Cyber Monday madness!  
 
(Image credit: B&H)
Fancy a fantastic, fixed-lens, film-like Fuji camera that's ideal for street, travel and everyday photography? The brilliant Fujifilm X100F has been reduced to just $899 – a $400 saving! And you also get a free 64GB memory card and camera pouch.

Fujifilm X100F: $1,299 $899
Save $400 With looks and handling like a vintage film camera, combined with a 24MP image sensor, hybrid optical / electronic viewfinder and 23mm f/2 lens, the X100F is a superb street, travel and everyday camera. And with a free 64GB card and pouch, this already amazing offer is even better!
US deal ends 25:59 EST 30 NovView Deal

The Fujifilm X100F is is a beautiful camera to use, particularly for those who enjoyed shooting with traditional film cameras before digital took over. The image quality generally is superb, the hybrid viewfinder is terrific and the shutter speed and aperture dials inspire you to engage more with these settings. The Fujifilm X100F's charm is its retro styling – but at the heart this is a professional-grade compact camera that is often used as a second camera by pro photographers, and is a perennial favorite among street shooters. It boasts a fixed 23mm f/2 wide-angle lens with an APS-C sensor boasting 24MP of resolution. The viewfinder is a hybrid affair, offering you the choice of an honest, old-school optical view or a high-resolution 2.3 million-pixel electronic viewfinder display. In all respects, the X100F promises the best of both worlds.  Share this article.

 

 

French protesters decry bill outlawing use of police images


Protesters march during a demonstration against a security law that would restrict sharing images of police, Saturday, Nov. 28, 2020 in Paris. Civil liberties groups and journalists are concerned that the measure will stymie press freedoms and allow police brutality to go undiscovered and unpunished. The cause has gained fresh impetus in recent days after footage emerged of French police officers beating up a Black man, triggering a nationwide outcry. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

PARIS (AP) — Tens of thousands of critics of a proposed security law that would restrict the filming of police officers protested across France on Saturday, and officers in Paris who were advised to behave responsibly during the demonstrations repeatedly fired tear gas to disperse rowdy protesters who set fire to France’s central bank and threw paving stones.

The mood was largely peaceful, however, as dozens of rallies took place against a provision of the law that would make it a crime to publish photos or video of on-duty police officers with the intent of harming their “physical or psychological integrity.”


Civil liberties groups, journalists, and people who have faced police abuse are concerned that the measure will stymie press freedoms and allow police brutality to go undiscovered and unpunished.

“We have to broaden the debate, and by doing that, we say that if there were no police violence, we wouldn’t have to film violent policemen,” Assa Traore, a prominent anti-brutality activist whose brother died in police custody in 2016, told The Associated Press.

She was among at least 46,000 people who packed the sprawling Republique plaza and surrounding streets carrying red union flags, French tricolor flags and homemade signs denouncing police violence, demanding media freedom or calling for the resignation of French President Emmanuel Macron or his tough-talking interior minister, Gerald Darmanin.

The crowd included journalists, journalism students, left-wing activists, migrants rights groups and citizens of varied political stripes expressing anger over what they perceive as hardening police tactics in recent years, especially since France’s yellow vest protest movement against economic hardship emerged in 2018.

Violence erupted near the end of the march as small groups of protesters pelted riot police with small rocks and paving stone. The officers retaliated with volleys of tear gas, prompting minor scuffles. Rioters then set fire to the facade of the central bank and to police barricades; in the melee fire trucks struggled to reach the site.

Macron’s government says the law is needed to protect police amid threats and attacks by a violent fringe.

But the chief editor of French newspaper Le Monde, Luc Bronner, argued at the protest that the law against publishing images of officers is unnecessary.

“There are already laws that exist to protect civil servants, including police forces when they’re targeted, and it’s legitimate – the police do a very important job,” Bronner said. “But that’s not what this is about. It’s about limiting the capacity of citizens and along with them, journalists, to document police violence when they happen.”


While journalists have been the most outspoken over the security bill, it could have an even greater impact on the efforts of non-journalists who film police during aggressive arrests, notably minorities who can try to fight police abuse and discrimination with a few seconds of cellphone video.

“There were all those protests in the summer against police violence, and this law shows the government didn’t hear us... It’s the impunity. That’s what makes us so angry,” protest participant Kenza Berkane, 26, said.

Berkane, who is French and of North African origin, described being repeatedly stopped by police for identity checks in the metro or while going to school. while white friends were allowed to pass. “We ask ourselves, when will this stop?”

The cause has gained renewed importance in recent days after footage emerged of French police officers beating up a Black man, triggering a nationwide outcry.

Macron spoke out against the video images on Friday, saying “they shame us.”

Video that surfaced Thursday showed the beating of music producer Michel Zecler, following footage of the brutal police evacuation Tuesday of migrants in a Paris plaza. The officers involved in the beating of Zecler were suspended pending an internal police investigation.

An internal letter from Paris Police Prefect Didier Lallement called on officers to use “probity, the sense of honor and ethics” when policing Saturday’s protests, which were authorized by authorities despite France’s partial virus lockdown.

Through most of the march police hung back, chatting while holding their helmets or watching silently as protesters shouted “Shame!” at them.

The crowd was overwhelmingly peaceful, but some in the unruly minority came equipped with gas masks and helmets.

Article 24 of the proposed security law criminalizes the publishing of images of police officers with the intent of causing harm. Anyone found guilty could be sentenced to up to a year in jail, and fined 45,000 euros ($53,000).

Many protesters, police and journalists have been injured during protests in recent years, including several Associated Press journalists.

Prime Minister Jean Castex announced Friday that he would appoint a commission to redraft Article 24, but he backtracked after hearing from angry lawmakers. The commission is now expected to make new proposals by early next year on the relationship between the media and police.

___

Alex Turnbull in Paris contributed to this report. Share this article.



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Saturday, November 28, 2020

5 Frames… Of my daughter a few weeks before harvest in Tirora on Fuji C200 (35mm Format / EI 200 Canon FTB QL + Canon 50mm f/1.4) – by Prabhahar Raja

 Tags: Photography for Beginners, Fujifilm, India, Photography

 

 Written by

 

Hi, I’m Prabhahar Raja from India. I see myself as a passionate photographer although my profession is nowhere related to that passion. I have been into portrait photography for a few years now with my Fujifilm XH1 but the most interesting part in my photographic journey is, I have gotten into film photography.

I have shot 6 rolls of film stocks till now with a 50 year old Canon FTB QL that I bought from a dealer in Mumbai, guided by one of my friends who is also a film photographer. The first-ever roll (Kodak gold) being the so-called intro to film, turned out to be good enough. But the encouraging part was I learnt film photography so quickly (as I consider myself).


Due to serious lockdowns, I have fewer projects to do, but that’s okay! I have my daughter as my model.

I received rolls of Fuji C200 and Kodak Portra 400 as gifts from my family (I love you guys). I was so excited to shoot with these film stocks since both are considered as some of the best film stocks out there and still in the market luckily.

I generally take inspiration from Magazine covers, dreaming to become a magazine cover photographer one day!

I took the Fuji C200 as the first roll of the day and had a great time explaining to my daughter the process of film photographs so that she does not play around deviating from our goal to shoot good portraits of her. We went to a nearby farm where it was just weeks before the harvest, a perfect time and place to test the film. Fuji C200 as I heard, is a bit of a vibrant toned film stock. So I used contrasting costumes and locations. The results were pleasing!

Every time I click a shot, my daughter comes up to me and demands me to show her the photo 🙂 Overtime I had to explain that it can’t be shown until I process it in a studio called Filmfoto Store in Bengaluru.

Experimenting with film stocks is really surprising. Currently Kodak Pro Image and ILFORD FP4 PLUS are on the way home from the same Filmfoto Store.


The rolls had a long journey, bought From USA and sent to a small city Tirora, where I live and again to Bengaluru to scan and back to Tirora as soft, hard copies — a whopping 8571 mile journey that resulted in good, surprising and encouraging photos.

I would like to share my experience of film Photography to the world! It would be great if you could share my experience.

~ Prabhahar

Want to submit your own 5 Frames...?

Go right ahead, submissions are open! Get your 5 frames featured on by submitting your 350+ word article by either using this Google form or by sending an email via the contact link at the top of the page.

This series is produced in conjunction with Hamish Gill's excellent 35mmc.com. Head on over to read the other half of these stories there.

Share your knowledge, story or project

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If you like what you're reading you can also help this personal passion project by heading on over to the EMULSIVE Patreon page and giving as little as a dollar a month. There's also print and apparel over at Society 6, currently showcasing over two dozen t-shirt designs and over a dozen unique photographs available for purchase.  Share this article.

 

Thousands protest French law restricting rights to film, photograph police

 Tags: Photography for Beginners, Police Brutality,Police Kill 

 

By
Christen McCurdy

 

Protesters holds a banner reading 'Police Mutilates, Police Kills' during a demonstration against the newly passed controversial global security law, in Paris, France Saturday. Photo by Christophe Petit Tesson/EPA-EFE 

Protesters holds a banner reading 'Police Mutilates, Police Kills' during a demonstration against the newly passed controversial global security law, in Paris, France Saturday. Photo by Christophe Petit Tesson/EPA-EFE 
 

Nov. 28 (UPI) -- French police fired tear gas at demonstrators rallying in Paris Saturday to oppose a bill that would make it a criminal offense to film or take photos of police with malevolent intent.

Opponents, who also demonstrated in Bordeaux, Lille, Montpelier, Nantes and other cities, say the bill undermines press freedom to document police brutality. 

The government has said the bill is intended to protect officers from online abuse.

Earlier this week three French police officers were suspended after security camera footage surfaced of them beating a Black music producer.

The French interior ministry said about 46,000 people gathered in Paris Saturday and most were peaceful, but small groups clashed with police, with 46 arrests made and more than 20 police injured.

The protests were organized by a collective called "Stop Loi Sécurité Globale" or Stop Global Security Law.

The coalition is composed of journalists' unions, human rights NGOs and other groups.

The group is calling for the withdrawal of several sections of the proposed law, including one they say organizes mass surveillance.

Saturday's marches also included more than 100 local elected officials from the Paris region, who announced their participation in the French weekly newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.

Lawmakers say they've amended the bill, which was backed last week by the lower house of parliament last week and which goes before the Senate in December, to ensure freedom of the press.

 

 

 

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Friday, November 27, 2020

 

Seeing squares: why shooting square format can transform your landscapes

  Tags: Photography for Beginners, Photographer, Medium Format

 

 

By Yan Zhang

 

Several years ago, a professional photographer told me he saw the world in square: he used his medium-format camera to produce square-framed images. Even if he used a 35mm full-frame DSLR, he had to visually compose the scene into a square format with his mind. As a beginner, I didn’t really understand why he was so dedicated to the square aspect ratio in his work.

But as time went on, I started to realize that the square is a powerful composition ratio, which, when applied effectively, can produce amazing images. Let’s start with the history.

The origins

Before the digital era, most medium-format cameras were made to shoot in square in terms of the aspect ratio of the frame. In fact, the first square medium format camera, Rolleiflex, was introduced in 1929.

Other well-known medium format camera manufacturers, such as Hasselblad, stuck to the square format in their film cameras for a very long time until they started to make digital medium format cameras in the early 2000s. 

Hasselblad's 500C/M, launched in 1970.
Hasselblad's 500C/M, launched in 1970.

There was a technical reason why the film medium-format cameras used the square aspect ratio. Since the design of most of these cameras made it hard to turn the cameras onto their sides to take photos, the square format was the most practical aspect ratio for photographers to use.

From a compositional viewpoint, a square format certainly has its advantages. It presents a perfect balance on all sides of the frame, which is particularly good for shooting portraits and some specific landscapes such as seascapes.

However, the square aspect ratio has never been used in 35mm SLR cameras. With the surge of digital technology, most digital medium-format camera makers, including Hasselblad, have also switched to a rectangular 3:2 aspect ratio.

Although some digital cameras have embedded aspect ratios which photographers can choose when taking photos, such as the 9:4 and 1:1 aspect ratios, the camera sensors themselves are designed for the 3:2 aspect ratio frame.

So why should you shoot square?

Lines, shapes and space

In landscape photography, square compositions are particularly useful when lines, shapes and space play prominent roles in the scene.

The famous Li River in China. The dawn light of the sky revealed the beautiful mountain silhouettes and their reflections in the river.
I shot this image in a landscape format, however later on when I processed it, I found that by cropping from the left side of the frame the image became more balanced and appealing in the “nearly” square format. Taken in low light, there are not many details revealed in the image, but the mountain silhouettes and their reflections form dominant shapes. Here, the square composition provides an elegant frame for representing this unique scenery. Canon 5D Mark II, EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM lens @ 32mm. 270s @ f5.6, ISO 400.
The famous Li River in China. The dawn light of the sky revealed the beautiful mountain silhouettes and their reflections in the river. I shot this image in a landscape format, however later on when I processed it, I found that by cropping from the left side of the frame the image became more balanced and appealing in the “nearly” square format. Taken in low light, there are not many details revealed in the image, but the mountain silhouettes and their reflections form dominant shapes. Here, the square composition provides an elegant frame for representing this unique scenery. Canon 5D Mark II, EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM lens @ 32mm. 270s @ f5.6, ISO 400.

Lines

You will likely already know that lines can play an effective role in leading the viewer’s gaze around your frame. There are a number of ways the square format can also take advantage of this. The 1:1 ratio lends itself well to subjects placed centrally, and lines can be useful for guiding your viewer right to the centre of the image.

Diagonal lines can also work well in the square format, especially if they divide the frame symmetrically. For the best results, try to form at least two leading lines from both sides pointing to the central subject or focal point.

This image was taken at Fingal Head in the Tweed Shire on the Far North Coast of NSW, near the Queensland border. A square format provides a balanced visual effect. Canon 5D Mark II, Canon EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM lens @ 17mm. 1s @ f16, ISO 100.
This image was taken at Fingal Head in the Tweed Shire on the Far North Coast of NSW, near the Queensland border. A square format provides a balanced visual effect. Canon 5D Mark II, Canon EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM lens @ 17mm. 1s @ f16, ISO 100.

Shapes

The square format can be an effective way to simplify an image, and lends itself well to minimalist subjects that emphasise shape and form, without focusing too much on subtle details. The human eye is also naturally attracted to geometric forms.

During an expedition in the Tasman Glacier in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park, New Zealand, in 2017, I took this minimalist image. Here, lines perfectly divide the two giant icy blocks into a symmetric formation when a square format is used. The original image (left) was taken using a normal 2:3 aspect ratio in portrait format, but the composition is not as powerful as the cropped frame. Nikon D810, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @ 22mm. 1/320s @ f11, ISO 100.
During an expedition in the Tasman Glacier in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park, New Zealand, in 2017, I took this minimalist image. Here, lines perfectly divide the two giant icy blocks into a symmetric formation when a square format is used. The original image (left) was taken using a normal 2:3 aspect ratio in portrait format, but the composition is not as powerful as the cropped frame. Nikon D810, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @ 22mm. 1/320s @ f11, ISO 100.

By using a square format to symmetrically balance the elements within the frame, it can make the subject much more appealing visually. And, as the width and height of a 1:1 crop are equal, the square format can also be used for displaying both horizontal and vertical subjects, such as waterfalls.

Space

Another interesting feature of the square composition is its effective way of dealing with space. This is particularly true in seascape photography. Quite often, the sky is a critical component in seascapes, and keeping a balanced portion of the sky when taking photos of the ocean is important.

The square format works best for this seascape image, which has 1/3 of the ocean and 2/3 of the sky and produces a more artistic and balanced picture – not too wide, and not too narrow. Canon 5D Mark II, Canon EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM lens @ 35mm. 256s @ f11, ISO 100.
The square format works best for this seascape image, which has 1/3 of the ocean and 2/3 of the sky and produces a more artistic and balanced picture – not too wide, and not too narrow. Canon 5D Mark II, Canon EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM lens @ 35mm. 256s @ f11, ISO 100.

Sometimes, you only need a small part of the sky in the frame – for example, 1/3 or less of the overall frame. Other times, you may need to have the sky dominate the whole scene. In both situations, you will likely find that a square composition has visual advantages over the traditional 2:3 aspect ratio in either landscape or portrait format, giving greater balance to the frame.

Capturing grand landscapes

While the square is a powerful composition format when photographers deal with lines, shapes and space in natural scenes, it is also effective when capturing “grand landscapes” such as mountains and rivers.

Instead of cropping a 2:3 aspect ratio image into a 1:1 ratio, by using a different approach, you can use the square format to capture grand, yet complicated, natural scenes that are not possible to create via a single 2:3 aspect ratio frame.

In 2019, I was lucky enough to trek to Mount Everest Base Camp. On the way, I climbed the east peak of Mount Lobuche. After summiting, I took this image looking down on base camp. I had my Nikon D850 with two lenses – a 14-24mm f/2.8 and 24-70mm f/2.8.
I wanted to take a picture including the major part of the base camp as well as the backdrop mountains. To achieve this, I had two options: One was to use the wide-angle lens 14-24mm f/2.8 at 24mm focal length. But in doing this, the main elements such as the tents and mountains appeared far and small in the frame. I decided to use my 24-70mm f/2.8 at 70mm. I took 
two successive frames: one covered the lower part with those yellow tents on the glacier, and the other covered the upper part of the mountains. Then, I combined these two shots in Photoshop and produced this square format image, which reveals sufficient details of the tents and glacier, while also emphasising the giant mountain wall in the backdrop.
In 2019, I was lucky enough to trek to Mount Everest Base Camp. On the way, I climbed the east peak of Mount Lobuche. After summiting, I took this image looking down on base camp. I had my Nikon D850 with two lenses – a 14-24mm f/2.8 and 24-70mm f/2.8. I wanted to take a picture including the major part of the base camp as well as the backdrop mountains. To achieve this, I had two options: One was to use the wide-angle lens 14-24mm f/2.8 at 24mm focal length. But in doing this, the main elements such as the tents and mountains appeared far and small in the frame. I decided to use my 24-70mm f/2.8 at 70mm. I took two successive frames: one covered the lower part with those yellow tents on the glacier, and the other covered the upper part of the mountains. Then, I combined these two shots in Photoshop and produced this square format image, which reveals sufficient details of the tents and glacier, while also emphasising the giant mountain wall in the backdrop.

You may have come to a place where there are a number of appealing natural elements you want to compose into the frame, but a single frame is not big enough to contain all of them. In this case, two shots at a 2:3 aspect ratio (usually in landscape format) can be taken separately to cover different parts of the scene, and then seamlessly integrated into one square-framed image through post-processing. I call this approach the combined square composition. You can think of it like a panorama, but with just two images.

There are at least two scenarios where this approach can be useful. The first is when you do not want to compromise on the portions of both foreground and background using a 2:3 aspect ratio frame. For example, if the foreground and the far away mountain and sky are of a similar size that you want to capture, then the combined square composition may be an ideal option.

The second is simply when you need to take a larger picture. For instance, you may find yourself in a constrained shooting position – for example, on a mountain ridge, river bank, or edge of an ocean cliff – where you are very close to the subject you want to shoot, but have little space to move around to compose.

How we view images

The square format doesn’t just affect the frame – it also changes the way a viewer looks at an image.

In the portrait format, such as this image captured at Terrace Falls, in the NSW Blue Mountains, the eye moves up and down the frame as it explores the image.

This is different to the rectangular frame, where the eye is encouraged to move from side to side, as in the image captured at New Zealand’s Fox Glacier below.

The square format, as seen below, encourages the viewer’s eye to move around the frame in a circle, and also to land right in the middle of the frame, particularly if the elements have been arranged with care.

Understanding how a viewer will look at an image is a useful tool for laying out key points of interest in your frame. In a square format, this may mean centralising your subject and avoiding placing key parts of the frame in the corners.  Share this article.


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Thursday, November 26, 2020

10 Photography ideas at home now

 

Post Quarantine Photography Ideas  (Watch this and all our videos on Youtube)


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Wednesday, November 25, 2020

How to get started in film photography

Tags: Photography for beginners, Photography, Film Photography 


How+to+get+started+in+film+photography

 

 

 

by:James Bartlett James Bartlett

Film photography has made sort of a comeback. Go on YouTube and you’ll find tons of videos about film photography, film camera reviews, film stock reviews, etc. More people are trading in their Instagram filters for disposable cameras by Fuji and Kodak; something that seemed impossible a decade ago. 

But if you want to really learn the art of film photography you need to put down the disposables. They’re bad for the environment because many of the plastic parts cannot be reused, meaning that parts will sit in landfills for generations to come.

If you’re looking for a more sustainable and fun way to dive into film photography, here’s how to get started.

First off, you need to understand that every camera is different and requires some learning, as well as weird batteries that are usually inexpensive on Amazon.

There are three main types of cameras I would recommend for people who want to get into film. Each has their own unique style of shooting, but for beginners, one is not necessarily better than the other.

I would say if you want DSLR-like features, go with a late 90s to early 2000s Canon, usually from the EOS series. They look like DSLR cameras, but they’re very user friendly. I got my Canon EOS 300 for $15 and then got a 50mm F1.8 autofocus lens for around $60.

The second kind I would look for are older SLRs from the 60s, 70s and 80s. These cameras are less user friendly, but are aesthetically pleasing and are what most people think of when  a 35mm film camera comes to mind. 

Good cameras here are the Minolta sRt101, which go for a pretty cheap price of around $30-$50, Pentax K1000, which is similar but a bit more expensive option going for around $50-$70. A Minolta X-700 is on the expensive side, coming in at about $60-$80, but you can find one for cheap. Lastly the extremely popular – which means people charge high prices for them – Canon AE-1, AE-1 Program and A-1, which can cost anywhere from $100-$175+ in some cases.

I own at least one of most of these cameras and I’ve personally never paid over $15 for any of them, so you just have to constantly look at Facebook Marketplace, flea markets, yard sales and thrift shops for the best deal. 

Make sure you’re getting a 50mm lens, usually at F2.0 or lower, if you can, and not a zoom lens because those can be poor quality. The 35mm lens is also a good focal length to start with.

The third category, besides rangefinders, are point and shoots. These are tricky because they’re usually fully electronic and can stop working for no reason. However, these are the closest experience-wise to the popular, but environmentally costly, disposable cameras.

Olympus makes great point and shoots but they’re expensive these days because YouTubers have given them clout in the film world, but it is possible to find them for cheap. 

I got my Olympus Infinity Junior for $1 at a flea market and my girlfriend got me an Olympus Stylus Zoom for $2.99 at Savers. 

I’d also recommend Canon Autoboys/Sure Shot and Nikon AF line cameras. These often have good lenses. I’d stay away from zoom lenses with point and shoots because the low light performance can be poor. If the camera says f3.5 or lower, it’s got a pretty good lens. Most point and shoots are 35mm focal length, but I do own some that are 28mm or even 38mm.

If the seller knows what they have, ask about the light meter and light seals. If they don’t know, I’d stay away from the cameras that are over $20-$25, depending on the type of camera. 

Bad light seals can lead to light leaks and blank rolls. Light meters just make it harder to shoot because it’s hard to tell if you’re getting the correct exposure. Always run a cheap test roll before you go take pictures of anything important like a big trip or wedding to make sure everything works and the photos are of good quality. I usually take test photos of my girlfriend or my dog. 

For anyone in Boston, negatives can be developed at Colortek near South Station. I think Colortek uses develop and scan, but there are good photo scanners out there that can be found on Amazon and even some mobile apps have this capability. . 

You can also mail out to get film developed from sites like thedarkroom.com. Any method is around $10 to get developed and extra to get scans. Always try to get negatives back. CVS does not give back negatives so I usually stay away from them. 

But, as a segway, CVS does sell film. I often buy Fuji Superia 400, which is abasic film sold in most CVS stores. It’s the same film stock Fuji uses in their disposables. 

Another good choice for cheap film is Kodak Colorplus 200. It’s really cheap on Amazon. I prefer to get 36 exposure rolls because I think it’s more bang for buck, but it’s a personal preference. 

A good, more expensive film stock is Kodak Portra 400 and 800, which you can buy on Amazon or at a Hunt’s Photo and Video location in the Boston area. The higher the numbers of the ISO, the better low-light performance. However, research your camera model to make sure your camera supports the higher ISO films.

In terms of how to use the cameras, I’d check out Willem Verbeek and Kingjvpes on YouTube. They have good reviews and “how to” videos and it’s so much easier to understand the process of loading, shooting and winding film if you get a visual.

Follows James on Instagram @jamesbartlettphoto.

 

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Monday, November 23, 2020

 

Love for photography leads to film career in beef industry

Young Leader Spotlight: Meet the videographer who helped bring "Guardians of the Grasslands" to life

 By

 

 

 

Photo: Ben Wilson 

When Ben Wilson was encouraged to apply for the Cattlemen’s Young Leaders program in 2017, he remembers laughing aloud.

Wilson, who is one half of Story Brokers Media House, didn’t think the program would accept a filmmaker who wasn’t a beef producer, but being chosen to participate in the mentorship program ended up making a difference in his career. Wilson was paired with Phil Braig of the Douglas Lake Cattle Company in B.C.

“I’m so glad that I did apply, though, and so grateful that I was accepted into that amazing program,” said Wilson, who lives with his family at Bashaw, Alta. “I learned a lot and made some amazing connections that helped me take my career even further in the beef industry.”

Although Wilon wasn’t raised by a farming family, he was introduced to the storytelling mediums he now uses to promote agriculture early in life. His grandfather, a pilot and eye doctor, helped to kindle his passion for photography, which he developed further in university and eventually lead him to videography.

“I do remember when my grandpa gave me his old Minolta film camera. We were looking at pictures, and he was big on having slide shows in the living room and getting out the slide projector and looking at pictures from vacations,” he recalled.

“He said to me once, ‘any good picture is even better if you put people in it.’ That’s always stuck with me, and it’s true. I’ll go back and look at travel photos from when I was in southeast Asia, and if it’s just a picture of a hillside and a bunch of palm trees, it’s pretty, but when you put a person in that picture, then it triggers the memory of being there and it’s always more impactful, I think…So I try to remember that in filmmaking, too.”


Wilson and his business partner, Sarah Wray, have recently found great success with a short documentary that has resonated within the Canadian beef industry and beyond. Guardians of the Grasslands, a film collaboration with Ducks Unlimited Canada, Nature Conservancy of Canada and the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, tells the story of the North American Grasslands, the world’s most endangered ecosystem and the vital role that Canadian beef producers play in protecting this landscape. The film has been screened around the world and to date has received six awards at film festivals across the continent.

Sharing the story of beef production’s value to Canada’s native grasslands is something Wilson feels strongly about, and he believes the industry has a huge opportunity to leverage positive land stewardship practices into ecological goods and services to benefit producers financially.


“The Canadian context of beef production is so unique and distinct from other beef industries in other parts of the world, and we really have an incredible story to tell. But we also have this incredible treasure or gift or resource or whatever you want to call it in the fact that the way beef is produced in Canada is so sustainable and so good for the earth,” he explained.

“We’re not just feeding Canadians and people in other markets in the world this amazing-quality beef, we’re also sequestering carbon, we’re also protecting water quality and protecting watersheds. We’re also helping mitigate against floods. We’re also creating habitat that is drought resistant, which is protecting all these other endangered species. We’re protecting migration corridors for wildlife by keeping cattle on the landscape. There’s all these ecological goods and services, and I think that producers deserve to benefit from that financially and economically.”

Wilson’s workdays vary greatly, from being on the road for filming and meeting with clients to storyboarding and editing footage. Wilson and Wray have now produced a few documentaries, but the majority of their business is producing social media content. One of his favourite parts of the work is seeing people’s reactions and comments after releasing a video.

“That’s probably one of the most fun parts of the job.”

Currently, Wilson is pleased with where his business is going. “I love the projects that I get to work with. I have a great business partner, I have a super supportive, understanding wife, and we’re really busy right now,” he said. In addition to continuing to learn about different film and editing techniques and upgrading his equipment, he would like to be involved in making a feature film in the near future.

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TECHNOLOGY – SHOT WITH LOVE’ industry & corporate photographer WOLFRAM SCHROLL presents his new showreel with industrial film clips on GoSee

WOLFRAM SCHROLL Showreel III

by:  Advertising NEWS

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The industrial film, according to WOLFRAM SCHROLL, brings out the aesthetics of the everyday. “Visual perception changes, and photographers become film producers. I too create film material alongside my photography. Jobs for which previously two different teams were usually booked are taken care of by the photographer alone today. I, for my part, love to film. This can range anywhere from industrial films, short clips for an elevator pitch, an industry video for presentations, social media, websites or just video material for the company archive. My films are mostly very similar to my photography, and my clients appreciate it. Plus, there’s always the practical aspect – when the photographer is there anyway,” industry photographer WOLFRAM SCHROLL tells GoSee.

“Similar to my photos, I also visualize the day-to-day routines of manufacturing companies in my industrial film productions in a unique way. The focus is mainly on the machines, whose precision, complexity and the fascinating way they work, perfectly reflect the technical innovation which we, hardly ever astonished by it anymore, take for granted today.”

Sunday, November 22, 2020

How a pandemic forced FotoFocus festival to reimagine itself for 2020

 

 Tags:  Photography for Beginners, Pandemic, FotoFocus, Photography, Mary Ellen Goeke

 

 By  

The pandemic prevented FotoFocus from celebrating its 10th anniversary and fifth Biennial in grand style last month. But instead of canceling the unique festival of photography and lens-based art that has drawn artists and visitors from around the world, the organization reimagined itself. 

“We didn’t do our in-person Biennial Week, where we bring in artists, have discussions and in-person gallery tours, and so on," said executive director Mary Ellen Goeke. "What we did do was reconfigure that in terms of the virtual world. A lot of fairs have had to cancel. But we’re in the position that we could reconfigure what we’re doing and use our funding budget in that way.”

In lieu of its 2020 Biennial, FotoFocus provided $800,000 in emergency grants to more than 100 of the region’s arts venues, academic institutions and artists. Several new photography projects were created across the city, and FotoFocus was able to support major exhibitions. Those include the just-closed “Hank Willis Thomas: All Things Being Equal” at Cincinnati Art Museum and “Marjolijn Dijkman: Earthing Discharge,” a photo collage on view in the lobby of the Contemporary Arts Center through March 21, 2021.

In the past decade, FotoFocus has collaborated with artists and venues to present and provide funding for more than 700 exhibitions and programs. The organization has brought hundreds of internationally renowned photographers to Greater Cincinnati. Courier contributorJanelle Gelfandspoke last week with Goeke about her work and how FotoFocus is navigating the pandemic.

How is FotoFocus unique from other photography festivals?  We fund and support exhibitions within the city that respond to the theme – this year, “light&” – and it’s meant to be timely. We support that through funding, and we also create a few of our own exhibitions. What’s fundamentally different is that many festivals are built around art sales, where galleries come into town and sell photography. Ours is meant to show and bring forward work from our region.

When did you realize you would not be able to present the 2020 FotoFocus Biennial as planned? We knew by April that there were issues. One involved an artist based in Australia, and he could not travel. Part of his exhibition involved a site-specific installation, and a residency in Cincinnati through the summer. That was one of our own organized exhibitions, and we knew that wasn’t going to be realized. Another was an exhibition called “Fireflies” at the CAC, that we’d partnered with. This was going to be coming from several continents with artists from around the world. For our Biennial Week, we rent venues and restaurants, we have events and lectures, and we get into spaces all around the city. It seemed more and more high risk to commit to that. 

How have you reimagined FotoFocus for the virtual world? We have produced videos and have done online conversations and virtual exhibitions. We’ve enhanced our website, so that it’s much easier to navigate. And we started a blog. We’ve solicited writers, and they’ve been writing on what’s called “The Lens.”We hired C. Jacqueline Wood as a curator for film. What she’s provided for us is the opportunity to screen films and also keep alive important films that are coming out. So, across the board, we changed a lot of what we were doing.

What was your pathway to your current position? I was always interested in art. I was one of those people who attended art classes in grade school at Cincinnati Art Museum, going on Saturday mornings to the Art Museum, and having an Art Academy student teach you. When I was in high school, we went to see a minimalist exhibition by Robert Ryman. An educator at the CAC discussed the exhibition with us in such a way that I really got it. I decided to attend the Art Academy, and majored in painting and minored in sculpture, and I received the Elizabeth Nourse Scholarship in painting. What I loved about the Art Academy in those days, it was adjacent to the Art Museum, and we had our art history classes in the auditorium and we had access to the library.

I went on to UC graduate school and worked at the Contemporary Arts Center. That’s where I met amazing artists such as Christo. It made me realize I liked the art museum experience. I moved on to the Art Museum as a registrar in 1984, and I worked on big projects involving museums from all over the country. 

Was photography something you’ve always admired? I studied photography at the Art Academy. I’d been struck by how photography and contemporary art intersected in the latter part of the 20th century, but also earlier. I was always interested in how Alfred Barr, the infamous first director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, created the first department of photography in 1929.

I did a thesis on Alfred Barr and the Museum of Modern Art. Concurrently, (photographer) Alfred Stieglitz opened An American Place gallery, blocks away, because he wanted to show his stable of American artists. I was just interested in that whole period of American history as well as art history, and how things were established. Stieglitz brought photography to an important level of fine art in the states.

How did a photography festival for Cincinnati come about?  It was the original idea of (Cincinnati photographer) Tom Schiff and James Crump, who was hired as the first dedicated curator of photography at the Art Museum in 2008. When James arrived, he and Tom Schiff discussed the idea of a photo fair or biennial. By 2010, FotoFocus was created and received its nonprofit status. I was asked to direct it, to basically lead the biennial. It was all-hands-on-deck to create the first biennial, which was realized in 2012.

How has the festival evolved since 2012, when there were 50 venues and 60,000 visitors? We had more than 90 venues and more than 220,000 visitors in 2018. We were really looking forward to this year, with the planning we had done, thinking of the interesting exhibitions and significant artists we were bringing in. We thought we could get up to maybe 275,000. We have people from Tennessee, Chicago, Indianapolis, Cleveland, and other places who come down for the Biennial Week. Normally that is in October, and that would have included 25 or 30 artists and curators being brought in to speak about the themes and exhibitions.

What are your personal highlights of FotoFocus over the past 10 years? The first year, 2012, and seeing the success and the excitement was certainly terrific. We planned some outdoor events that were rained out. But every weekend, we had a very good representation of people coming to talks. 

In 2014,Memorial Hall was our primary space. We had the Vivian Maier show, right at the time when her work was brought to the public’s view… We had an exhibition by David Benjamin Sherry, an important landscape artist based in Los Angeles. We also had Jeffrey Rosenheim, a major curator of photography at the Met, who gave a great talk at Memorial Hall on Civil War photography. He recognized there was the encased wreath that had been on the train that moved Lincoln’s casket through Cincinnati. People were so thrilled at that. And we had (American filmmaker) John Waters, who discussed his work in film and photography. 

At the 2018 Biennial, we had a great event at the Taft Museum of Art. They presented a show curated by Kevin Moore, “Paris to New York: Photographs by Eugène Atget & Berenice Abbott.” Clément Chéroux, (then-senior curator of photography at SFMOMA) came in and gave a keynote speech, and there was standing-room-only in the garden at the Taft.

What trends are you seeing today in photography? So many artists are going back and reviewing their work because they’re isolated, they’re not free to travel. So it’s almost a period of review, and a reconsideration of their work, based on what’s going on. I think there will be all sorts of new approaches to the themes. The year with Covid has brought so many things to a standstill and so many curators and artists have had to basically circumvent what they were planning to do.

What is your plan moving forward? We’re going to go forward with a biennial in 2022. We’re looking forward to as many venues coming back to us, so we can reach that 100-venue mark for 2022. We’re still hoping to do a weekend symposium in October of 2021. Our last event was in March, when we presented a film at Rhinegeist Brewery. We hope to be able to continue that but have to see what’s possible.

 

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