"Consulting the rules of composition before taking a photograph, is like consulting the laws of gravity before going for a walk." - Edward Weston "The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over."-Hunter S.Thompson
So I'm in Zeff Photo (Belmont, MA) today picking up stuff I need for the Portraiture class I started the other day. Our first homework assignment is to bring in our favorite portrait so I picked out a few of my favorites to print, including this one. Then I spent another hour and a half with salespeople getting miscellaneous stuff.
As I'm finally getting checked out the digital printer person comes over and tells me they love that shot and would like to feature it on their "customer work" board (in trade for a framed 8x10 and a discount on my printing). Pretty cool.
So I'm in Zeff Photo (Belmont, MA) today picking up stuff I need for the Portraiture class I started the other day. Our first homework assignment is to bring in our favorite portrait so I picked out a few of my favorites to print, including this one. Then I spent another hour and a half with salespeople getting miscellaneous stuff.
As I'm finally getting checked out the digital printer person comes over and tells me they love that shot and would like to feature it on their "customer work" board (in trade for a framed 8x10 and a discount on my printing). Pretty cool.
Very cool... I can see why they would lol. I'm envious about your portraiture class, I need help badly. Please pass on any vital bits of info... I'm just getting into portraits and am always self taught in everything... (stuck here in Athol). I'm looking forward to seeing some of your portraits.
Lynn
Very cool... I can see why they would lol. I'm envious about your portraiture class, I need help badly. Please pass on any vital bits of info...
The course should be really good but it sure is a hit on the pocket -- and not even so much for the tuition. I think there is only one other person in the class who is not a professional. I had to go get a lot of stuff I don't have; mostly inexpensive, but light meters are not cheap these days. I do get the ability to buy the Educational version of Photoshop CS, though, which is a heck of a nice deal.
Tips from the first class:
If you want a vignette filter, don't pay good money for it. Instead, buy a cheap photo album from CVS and rip the clear plastic part off of the page(s). Place a 35mm film cap (or something similar) on it, and from a height of about 18" do a squirt of black paint. One squirt is 1/2 stop, 2 squirts is 1 stop. Remove the cap and cut out the center and viola, you have a cheap vignette filter.
For a clear center, blurred edge filter do the same thing except use clear fingernail polish instead of paint.
The professor, Art Rainville, is apparently a pretty well known portrait artist. (The fact I don't know him is perhaps an indication of how clueless I am; Ansel Adam, Herb Ritts, and Annie Leibovitz are about my limit. :-) He's a riot, very pleasant to learn from. And it's funny to hear him talk about why he doesn't use top-dollar stuff for this kind of thing anymore.
For instance, he talked about the expensive glass soft focus filters he used to use. Well, he says, over the course of a wedding shoot if you pull it off of course you put it in your pocket. Then, when you head over to the bar for a drink and lean over to rest against the bar, you'll probably be less concerned about the blood seeping through your shirt than the fact you just shattered a $150 filter. So now he uses cheap Cokin plastic filters. They work, they're not expensive, and they don't break easily.
The course should be really good but it sure is a hit on the pocket -- and not even so much for the tuition. I think there is only one other person in the class who is not a professional. I had to go get a lot of stuff I don't have; mostly inexpensive, but light meters are not cheap these days. I do get the ability to buy the Educational version of Photoshop CS, though, which is a heck of a nice deal.
Tips from the first class:
If you want a vignette filter, don't pay good money for it. Instead, buy a cheap photo album from CVS and rip the clear plastic part off of the page(s). Place a 35mm film cap (or something similar) on it, and from a height of about 18" do a squirt of black paint. One squirt is 1/2 stop, 2 squirts is 1 stop. Remove the cap and cut out the center and viola, you have a cheap vignette filter.
For a clear center, blurred edge filter do the same thing except use clear fingernail polish instead of paint.
The professor, Art Rainville, is apparently a pretty well known portrait artist. (The fact I don't know him is perhaps an indication of how clueless I am; Ansel Adam, Herb Ritts, and Annie Leibovitz are about my limit. :-) He's a riot, very pleasant to learn from. And it's funny to hear him talk about why he doesn't use top-dollar stuff for this kind of thing anymore.
For instance, he talked about the expensive glass soft focus filters he used to use. Well, he says, over the course of a wedding shoot if you pull it off of course you put it in your pocket. Then, when you head over to the bar for a drink and lean over to rest against the bar, you'll probably be less concerned about the blood seeping through your shirt than the fact you just shattered a $150 filter. So now he uses cheap Cokin plastic filters. They work, they're not expensive, and they don't break easily.
Thank you Jim.. great stuff, I'm all ears so please if it's not a bore and a bind keep it coming.
........
................................... And it's funny to hear him talk about why he doesn't use top-dollar stuff for this kind of thing anymore.
For instance, he talked about the expensive glass soft focus filters he used to use. Well, he says, over the course of a wedding shoot if you pull it off of course you put it in your pocket. Then, when you head over to the bar for a drink and lean over to rest against the bar, you'll probably be less concerned about the blood seeping through your shirt than the fact you just shattered a $150 filter. So now he uses cheap Cokin plastic filters. They work, they're not expensive, and they don't break easily.
Sounds like a true voice of experience - I love this story!! Use what works and what you need and no more!! Great story, Jimf
Comments
"The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over."-Hunter S.Thompson
Wonderful shot!!!
Kudos.
ginette
Yea, one of my all-time favorites.
So I'm in Zeff Photo (Belmont, MA) today picking up stuff I need for the Portraiture class I started the other day. Our first homework assignment is to bring in our favorite portrait so I picked out a few of my favorites to print, including this one. Then I spent another hour and a half with salespeople getting miscellaneous stuff.
As I'm finally getting checked out the digital printer person comes over and tells me they love that shot and would like to feature it on their "customer work" board (in trade for a framed 8x10 and a discount on my printing). Pretty cool.
jimf@frostbytes.com
Lynn
The course should be really good but it sure is a hit on the pocket -- and not even so much for the tuition. I think there is only one other person in the class who is not a professional. I had to go get a lot of stuff I don't have; mostly inexpensive, but light meters are not cheap these days. I do get the ability to buy the Educational version of Photoshop CS, though, which is a heck of a nice deal.
Tips from the first class:
If you want a vignette filter, don't pay good money for it. Instead, buy a cheap photo album from CVS and rip the clear plastic part off of the page(s). Place a 35mm film cap (or something similar) on it, and from a height of about 18" do a squirt of black paint. One squirt is 1/2 stop, 2 squirts is 1 stop. Remove the cap and cut out the center and viola, you have a cheap vignette filter.
For a clear center, blurred edge filter do the same thing except use clear fingernail polish instead of paint.
The professor, Art Rainville, is apparently a pretty well known portrait artist. (The fact I don't know him is perhaps an indication of how clueless I am; Ansel Adam, Herb Ritts, and Annie Leibovitz are about my limit. :-) He's a riot, very pleasant to learn from. And it's funny to hear him talk about why he doesn't use top-dollar stuff for this kind of thing anymore.
For instance, he talked about the expensive glass soft focus filters he used to use. Well, he says, over the course of a wedding shoot if you pull it off of course you put it in your pocket. Then, when you head over to the bar for a drink and lean over to rest against the bar, you'll probably be less concerned about the blood seeping through your shirt than the fact you just shattered a $150 filter. So now he uses cheap Cokin plastic filters. They work, they're not expensive, and they don't break easily.
jimf@frostbytes.com
Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
What an opportunity - and what a great shot!
Tony Game.
http://www.candlet.plus.com/
Here's one of my sleeping babe shots... Not nearly as fun as Jim's though...