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Photography Resolutions for 2011

Asher Kelman

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
We are at the time when no matter what brand of camera one has, uses film or digital gear, we have to face the reality that in the end, prints are going to require attention beforehand. This can be a creative and rewarding experience. However, it should not be a black hole for time to be sucked into, just because we didn't prepare well.

So, for the coming year I plan to

  1. always use a tripod and panorama setup for my stitched architecture images.
  2. spend more effort before shooting to get the ratio of light right on the floor as well as the b.g.
  3. schedule with a makeup artist and hair stylist, so that nothing is fixed in post
  4. borrow the best gowns and shoes for the ladies, so they are celebrated fully!
  5. show the energy of the musicians more than the beauty that's obvious in their form.
  6. not to make pictures that are superficial but governed by ideas as well as form.


What are your resolutions?


Asher
 
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C

Cody White

Member
Mine are to get the courage up to shoot more models this year, and to understand the effects of lighting better.
Also to start thinking far outside the box on different angles and views of people.
 
M

Mike Shimwell

New member
Asher Kelman said:
We are at the time when no matter what brand of camera one has, uses film or digital gear, we have to face the reality that in the end, prints are going to require attention beforehand. This can be a creative and rewarding experience. However, it should not be a black hole for time to be sucked into, just because we didn't prepare well.

So, for the coming year I plan to

  1. always use a tripod and panorama setup for my stitched architecture images.
  2. spend more effort before shooting to get the ratio of light right on the floor as well as the b.g.
  3. schedule with a makeup artist and hair stylist, so that nothing is fixed in post
  4. borrow the best gowns and shoes for the ladies, so they are celebrated fully!
  5. show the energy of the musicians more than the beauty that's obvious in their form.
  6. not to make pictures that are superficial and not governed by ideas as well as form.


What are your resolutions?


Asher
Click to expand...



My resolutions are 18Mp, 21Mp and 99Mp;)

I resolve to have fun with my picture making and not to get bogged down by pressure to photograph or to perform...
 
S

Sandrine Bascouert

Member
Mine would be to achieve my training in Photoshop, maybe have a degree at some point (maybe an ACE). Apart from that, having enough money to buy a DSRL again and photography like if I was about to die :) . Settle down somewhere and have my books around me in a proper set of bookshelves. To a long distance, I would like to work in the same environment than Bert Monroy, I mean the shed at the end of the garden where the studio is. The path of rough stone that lead to the shed, all that sort of things.


http://www.bertmonroy.com/

You can see the place in the book Photorealist techniques

an explanation: Artist Hidaway


I know it sounds weird, but it's nice to have a place of one's own, where you can accumulate your stuff accordingly to your taste.
 
Cem_Usakligil

Cem_Usakligil

Well-known member
Hi Asher,

Asher Kelman said:
We are at the time when no matter what brand of camera one has, uses film or digital gear, we have to face the reality that in the end, prints are going to require attention beforehand. This can be a creative and rewarding experience. However, it should not be a black hole for time to be sucked into, just because we didn't prepare well.

So, for the coming year I plan to

  1. always use a tripod and panorama setup for my stitched architecture images.
  2. spend more effort before shooting to get the ratio of light right on the floor as well as the b.g.
  3. schedule with a makeup artist and hair stylist, so that nothing is fixed in post
  4. borrow the best gowns and shoes for the ladies, so they are celebrated fully!
  5. show the energy of the musicians more than the beauty that's obvious in their form.
  6. not to make pictures that are superficial and not governed by ideas as well as form.
What are your resolutions?


Asher
Click to expand...
These are all good resolutions and it surely will help you achieve better results if you can execute them. But, and a big but, I would like to warn you of the pitfalls associated with them. I have been setting the standards higher and higher for myself in the past few years (different resolutions but similar goals), but look where it has gotten me to. What I am trying to say is that, please do not lose the joy of taking photographs because of any perfectionist demands you may feel obliged to fulfill. Just enjoy your impromptu photography as much as your meticulously planned and executed shots. Have fun no matter what.

Cheers,
 
G

Georg R. Baumann

Inactive
Paying much more attention to your own footing and potentially dangerous situations while goofing alone on wind swept cliffs.

ovs_opf_XI-1.jpg
 
Cem_Usakligil

Cem_Usakligil

Well-known member
Georg R. Baumann said:
Paying much more attention to your own footing and potentially dangerous situations while goofing alone on wind swept cliffs.

ovs_opf_XI-1.jpg
Click to expand...
Sounds like a good strategy to me, especially if we want to keep on enjoying these kinds of pictures in the future. I can almost smell the fresh breeze coming from the see and hear the waves crush on the rocky shores. This is a great place to wind down on the first day of the new year.

Cheers,
 
G

Georg R. Baumann

Inactive
Cem_Usakligil said:
Sounds like a good strategy to me, especially if we want to keep on enjoying these kinds of pictures in the future. I can almost smell the fresh breeze coming from the see and hear the waves crush on the rocky shores. This is a great place to wind down on the first day of the new year.

Cheers,
Click to expand...

'Corrán Binne' - or 'Hollow in the Hills', shot from close where the tower from napoleonic times is still standing. It is a conservation and protected heritage area. Not too high, but drops somewhat 600 ft down there. When storms batter this place, you will find it close to impossible to stay on your feet, waves can crush as high as 300 ft up.

The place is better known to tourists as Horn Head.

It is just that I often find myself taking risks, that on a second thought I would not advise anyone else to do, so I really try to keep within these boundaries myself in the future, which will be a struggle to be honest. LOL
 
Asher Kelman

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Cem_Usakligil said:
What I am trying to say is that, please do not lose the joy of taking photographs because of any perfectionist demands you may feel obliged to fulfill. Just enjoy your impromptu photography as much as your meticulously planned and executed shots. Have fun no matter what.
Click to expand...

Exactly, Cem!

Without the joy, (and BTW, there's an extra dollop from everyone here), the drive gets tested. My issue is that shortcuts in the best technique have meant many, many, far to many "all-nighters" just to deliver "good" pictures. I discovered, for example, that spending an extra 10 minutes to set up the tripod, correct for parallax and use my 8mm lens for a sketch to survey position choices and then stitch each in 50 seconds each to pick by best choice and finally do the high resolution picture with the 24 mm T/S means everything stitches perfectly. The issue for me is that shooting in good conditions seems "good enough" but really means requiring so much time in post! Of course, there's a great satisfaction in having the skill to routinely correct "good-enough" to "great", but it burns one out. That's what I've faced: many shoots, huge amount of processing. By being perfectionist and making the best practices routine up front, one can be liberated.

Now this is separate from spontaneous fun work. I just go with the moment and do not require the same precisions. In these, however, all the magic is in that moment. In studio the magic is in the moment too, but the file for CMYK printing is far more demanding to deliver with pride.

I'm super-fortunate to have constant positive feedback from so many about my work as it's in a community of 2,000 that receives my work. It's unusual to have such a circumstance and I always hope to earn that response.

Money would be good too! :)

Asher
 
S

scott kirkpatrick

Member
photgraphic resolutions

As someone else pointed out, in my case 10 M, 18 M, and 39 M, each with their own best use.

personal resolutions --
1) make a book from my construction site photography in time for the building's completion
2 ) get out more, and shoot more loosely
3) get out more and shoot more precisely
4) make my pictures relevant to the people who are in them, starting by making it possible for them to see the results

happy new year, everyone

scott
 
Cem_Usakligil

Cem_Usakligil

Well-known member
Sandrine Bascouert said:
I see that just John and me have down to earth expectations (alongside more philosophical ones) :)
Click to expand...
Well it depends on what you define as being "down to earth", doesn't it? I have listed mine in the infamous thread elsewhere so I did not repeat them here. Suffice it to say that my primary objective is similar to John's #1. Only, in my case I still need one of those before I hope I'll be able to keep it (please provide no explicit replies to this particular issue or use PM instead).

Cheers,
 
S

Sandrine Bascouert

Member
Bring people eggs to eat and then and only then, they will be able to argue whenever egg or hen came first. (looks like one of Eric Cantona's famous cryptic sentences, but it's just mine).

One of the things that I am reluctant to talk about is I will need to find a "day" job in order to stay in GB...There is two big problems...

1- I really don't know what to do. There's apparently no question of being employed in a retouching company, because I simply don't have enough experience (still learning) and I don't feel like good enough to do it. (Whatever I might say elsewhere).

2- I really feel the people here are worrying about their own future. And I feel myself in the same position as Algerians in 70's France (stealing job from the natives) I know it's absurd, But I can't help it.
I could bend my shoulders and take any job (call centre stuffs, things like that) But I don't feel confident enough with my English. It's really about self confidence, I know.
I used to work here, but it was in better days for the nation's economy, it wasn't the same thing.

That said, I said it all, I feel quite ashamed for so many reasons.
Sorry for talking about me again...
 
Doug Kerr

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
Hi, Sandrine,

Sandrine Bascouert said:
Bring people eggs to eat and then and only then, they will be able to argue whenever egg or hen came first. (looks like one of Eric Cantona's famous cryptic sentences, but it's just mine).
Click to expand...
It is said that to an embryologist, a hen is just an egg's way of getting another egg.

Best regards,

Doug
 
S

Sandrine Bascouert

Member
Doug Kerr said:
Hi, Sandrine,



There is no shame in recognizing the complex dilemma (in any era) of what to do for a living, nor in sharing your thoughts with your friends here.

Best regards,

Doug
Click to expand...

I said that in a minute of depressed feelings
I was about to delete it few hours ago, but I had no access to the PC.
I didn't want to spoil the atmosphere :)
 
S

Sandrine Bascouert

Member
It is said that to an embryologist, a hen is just an egg's way of getting another egg.
Click to expand...

The only person I know who used to discuss about these things (eggs and hens and how to breed them) was a very sad person as well as a psychopath. He (not him alone) caused the death of millions.

EDIT: why am I talking about that? forget it :)
 
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