From neural radiances to zoom pinholes, from curved medium format sensors to synecdoche, from ocoloy to dodgy processing, from Richard Gere to the Italian catholic church, from street photography to astrophoto marathons, from marine biology to Nike, and more …
Stone lion
Technology, that most frustrating of enablers has taken its toll on my mood, this week 😉 The dev framework used by DS will no longer be supported, from June onwards. So that’s an unwanted redesign job waiting for me. And the API connection between the website forms (see bottom of this page) and the email provider that stores the lists of subscribers has been broken for weeks, as has been my will to look into it. That’s now corrected, however, and hopefully works.
If anyone you know hasn’t subscribed to DS and is willing to give it a try, now’s the moment to send them a link to this page for a test 😉 Thanks in advance.
Whether you are a religious person or not, it’s really difficult to watch those photographs without feeling a deep sense of loss. So much work and devotion lost to entropy. Individually, each photograph would be anecdotal. As a series, they create a crushing reminder of mortality of all things, and how nature both gives birth and destroys everything.
What happens when you view two images side by side (see in past WeekLinksPhoto)? Moving beyond the mere “magic of stereoscopy”, Ian Jackson not only questions the idea of “decisive moment” but also provokes ideas of parallel events where no correlation exists.
“Women Street Photographers also function as a vital community for those working today, and in recent years, the project has grown from an Instagram account to an artist residency and book collecting a small portion of images.” Brilliant.
Strictly speaking, this is more technical than creative. But, it’s still a very exciting type of one-nigh series to embark on. Usually, amateur astronomers do it visually to test their observational skills and their gear. But it can be as exciting photographically. Would anyone be interested in this as a DS challenge? We could put together our photographs to complete it?
Sarah van Rij has a very geometrical perception of the street, yet manages to blend in a lot of enigmatic storytelling and sensitivity. The resulting images do take you on a journey.
From nano-diamond car batteries lasting 90 years on one charge, to (other) car batteries that charge in 9 seconds, a dyson headset that also filters the air you breathe, and more, this week has felt like it was April 1st every day. And now, a larger medium format, curved sensor, 200mp camera from Sony. Real shame it ain’t CCD! (note: the video shows a Mamiya 7. That camera and that sensor? Oh deary me, I’m feeling faint 😉 )
One of YouTube’s most successful and influential pros finds it underwhelming, in some respects (mainly price). But it’s not all bad (mainly quality). Apple’s usual blend, then 🙂 Viewers with a keen eye will notice the video is made with a Red Raptor, my dream camera. Hhhhhh
Now that’s thinking out of the box. The soft look isn’t for everyone, but those images have no distortion. Imagine big panoramas stitched from multiple images that minimise the diffusion but retain the softness. Yum.
When NVIDIA read Lad’s closing post on creating 3D in photography, they were obviously inspired to go further. And they have, using neural radiance fields (what a name, right? 🙂 ) Cool video and explanations inside.
A Must Read article, by Michael Rubin. The training, for me, would be to understand what subjects can be reduced to a detail and still be recognized. Here’s something cool for the weekend.
Emotions trigger our desire to photograph, but can also trap us in a attachement that viewers can’t relate to, thereby leading to weak images. This video provides ideas to avoid this.
Far too many photographers use far too complex techniques, often peddled by others with a vested commercial interest in making them public. While those may occasionally produce great result, they often hide why they work behind a fancy set of layers. The before and after shots in this video highlight just how much can be done through the simplest of techniques. Once again, I can not recommend Ansel Adam’s books too highly as the only tuition you’ll need to make great photographs.
Here’s one more way to help refugees, if buying prints wasn’t tempting enough. Pay $21 to attend this mobile photography webinar and the proceeds will go to a refugee camp in Bulgaria. The webinar airs on April 8, 2022, 5:30 PM EST.
Sure, why not celebrate the thing that inflicted 3:2 on the photographic world? And now, I can hear incoming Leica helicopters 😉 Sorry guys, I love love love love love your lenses (and the M11, drat!). 3:2, however, was an unnecessary touch of bland pragmatism that few would miss.
Unsurprisingly, quite a few Pretty Women in there (sorry). Joke aside, the interesting aspect of the video is Gere’s appreciation for photography and his understanding of it, thanks to his work with (cine) cameras, and close relationship with great photographers of the time. For the same money, would you prefer those prints or that ancient camera? No brainer for me …
A friend of mine heads important oceanographic missions at the bottom of the Mediterranean. For the first time, they are bringing down a robot whose sole purpose is to make pretty pictures. The reason why so many people are inspired by astronomy is because of the lovely photographs made by the Hubble space telescope. Dear Susan Sontag might not approve, but science struggles to find funding without pretty imagery. This marine biologist tells a similar story.
Jungle mangle
It’s easy to get miffed at the complexity of tech, particularly when you’re a content creator, and not a developer. It’s easy to point out the inevitable entropic disruptions between separate providers of said tech. But, reading this page, I hope you – as I – also marvel of what tech does for us, day after day, making our lives simpler, more exciting and more creative.
Here’s looking at you, tech.
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Sorry to hear of your tech issues – they’re a pain – we all need a 16 year old in the family, who wants a career as a computer nerd. I had one on the payroll once, for Lord know what reason! He never used to finish anything – I think he thought that made him indispensable – as I found myself finishing of more and more of his unfinished jobs, I found it had the opposite effect – when I could do it all anyway, I sacked him. You of course won’t have that option – you’ll have to keep sorting it all.
Empathy is a tricky one – for heaps of different reasons. One of the foremost is the way it unsettles people – handling that is a tricky one.
Being a Leo, I love the lion, of course – sadly neglected, but still recognisable. Is it real? – or just a form in the bush that resembles a lion?
The decline of the church in Italy parallels its decline in all sorts of places. Notably Ireland – where it has ceased to be the “established church”, ceased to be recognised in the constitution, and in very many places the congregation of worshippers actually going to church has dropped by up to 95%, making it untenable to keep the building maintained or open. In many cases it is extremely sad – because these buildings house treasures going back hundreds or thousands of years. In one (in Aquilea, near Udine), I saw a mosaic floor dating from c. 313AD.
I love the suggestion in the article on astro, about “doing the Messier Marathon” – where it says that one of the things you need (apart from camera, tripod – right weather & lighting conditions – etc) is “A good supply of hot coffee”!
For me, the standout is the article on Ernst Haas – and developing “The Photographic Eye”. Until then, going out and buying equipment is really rather pointless – why do it, before you even know what you’re looking at, what you’re seeing, what you’re trying to capture? The answer that is we need to do both – but we can take the foot off the accelerator on “equipment purchase”, while we “learn” instead.
Pete, the lion is a rock in the hills, nearby. From head on, it looks like a hippo. In fact, it is called the hippo rock. But from the side, I feel resembles a lion more, or a sea lion.
Yes, it’s very sad to see those churches disappear. It’s a real shame that they aren’t being maintained for the sake of it, they could be seen as a cultural asset, not just a religious building. When all we have left are malls, we’ll sure regret those fantastic little churches and chapels.
Messier Marathons are really cool. I’ve never been able to complete one visually as you need stamina, a great site and a far better knowledge of the skies than mine. But, photographically, it would be very doable. Particularly as a group.
Ernst Haas was a genius of the best type. A contagious genius.
Sorry to hear about your tech troubles. I used to work in IT, but I’ve recovered now.
Some excellent links this week. Quite an inspirational bunch. That Ernst Haas piece sure puts crispy-clean sharpness-centric photography in its place. Truly, I need to concentrate less on getting it right and more on seeing it right.
Some great images in the Women Street Photographers’ Exhibition article. There’s some skewed horizons and funky processing and it works a treat. Note to self, loosen up.
One camera one lens pretty much sums up my photography. I recently moved sideways from fixed 35mm(equivalent) to mirrorless with a 35mm lens. Maybe later this year, I’ll go wild and get a second lens – though as Pete mentioned, why buy more equipment when the current is all I’ll need to get out there and hopefully improve my image taking.
The video on The Danger of Emotion in Photography . . . nice video, and I’ve been guilty of getting attached to subpar photos because of when they were taken. The attachment fades after revisiting a few time and realising that the photoshop pixies will not magically transform my efforts into a decent image. Some of the high contrast b&w images he uses as examples(of good emotion in photos) seem to have a bit of synecdoche about them.
I’m not sure about the high contrast b&w shots. Viewed in small groups, they can be grand, but after looking through many of them it begins to feel a bit formulaic. They are Insta-friendly though, no doubt about that.
I am sure about synecdoche and will try to include it more, especially on locations that have failed to shine with the wider shots.
The decline of Italian churches. Sad to see them disappearing, some beautiful design and artwork that won’t be repeated. I do find it comforting to see how nature moves in and reclaims the space, it’s just a shame that it’s not the big-box modern retail buildings that are falling apart and getting reclaimed.
I’ve replied to most of those points in the comment above (in reply to Pete) but will add that I find the concept of OCOLOY very freeing. 2 lenses is OK. Then we get progressively into FOMO territory, where the search for shooting envelope gets the better of our personal style. I use a 35 for 90% of my shots. On holiday, I’ll go with 24/65. And that’s about it. Another lens in my home is a macro that doesn’t see much light but gets used for occasional purposes that other lenses cannot duplicate. But mainly, I’m either out with one lens or 2. Just like you.
LOL – when I first bought a digi camera, it came with an 18-140 kit zoom. When I traded up to newer, better digi cams, I kept that lens – all the while accumulating a selection of other lenses that I use for various different types of photography. But the kit zoom still came in handy for a lot of “general purpose” work.
And most recently, I was shooting with it only yesterday, plugged into my D500, to get a few nice interior shots to post on Google Guide, to promote my local butcher. Well & truly sharp enough, good tones, extremely versatile, and although the max aperture isn’t huge, that’s not an issue when you don’t want to shoot at F/0.9 anyway!
For some who adores his Otus’s to say this might sound rather funny – but I have to say it’s been the best “value for money”, since I first switched to digi!
Sorry to hear of your tech issues – they’re a pain – we all need a 16 year old in the family, who wants a career as a computer nerd. I had one on the payroll once, for Lord know what reason! He never used to finish anything – I think he thought that made him indispensable – as I found myself finishing of more and more of his unfinished jobs, I found it had the opposite effect – when I could do it all anyway, I sacked him. You of course won’t have that option – you’ll have to keep sorting it all.
Empathy is a tricky one – for heaps of different reasons. One of the foremost is the way it unsettles people – handling that is a tricky one.
Being a Leo, I love the lion, of course – sadly neglected, but still recognisable. Is it real? – or just a form in the bush that resembles a lion?
The decline of the church in Italy parallels its decline in all sorts of places. Notably Ireland – where it has ceased to be the “established church”, ceased to be recognised in the constitution, and in very many places the congregation of worshippers actually going to church has dropped by up to 95%, making it untenable to keep the building maintained or open. In many cases it is extremely sad – because these buildings house treasures going back hundreds or thousands of years. In one (in Aquilea, near Udine), I saw a mosaic floor dating from c. 313AD.
I love the suggestion in the article on astro, about “doing the Messier Marathon” – where it says that one of the things you need (apart from camera, tripod – right weather & lighting conditions – etc) is “A good supply of hot coffee”!
For me, the standout is the article on Ernst Haas – and developing “The Photographic Eye”. Until then, going out and buying equipment is really rather pointless – why do it, before you even know what you’re looking at, what you’re seeing, what you’re trying to capture? The answer that is we need to do both – but we can take the foot off the accelerator on “equipment purchase”, while we “learn” instead.
Pete, the lion is a rock in the hills, nearby. From head on, it looks like a hippo. In fact, it is called the hippo rock. But from the side, I feel resembles a lion more, or a sea lion.
Yes, it’s very sad to see those churches disappear. It’s a real shame that they aren’t being maintained for the sake of it, they could be seen as a cultural asset, not just a religious building. When all we have left are malls, we’ll sure regret those fantastic little churches and chapels.
Messier Marathons are really cool. I’ve never been able to complete one visually as you need stamina, a great site and a far better knowledge of the skies than mine. But, photographically, it would be very doable. Particularly as a group.
Ernst Haas was a genius of the best type. A contagious genius.
Sorry to hear about your tech troubles. I used to work in IT, but I’ve recovered now.
Some excellent links this week. Quite an inspirational bunch. That Ernst Haas piece sure puts crispy-clean sharpness-centric photography in its place. Truly, I need to concentrate less on getting it right and more on seeing it right.
Some great images in the Women Street Photographers’ Exhibition article. There’s some skewed horizons and funky processing and it works a treat. Note to self, loosen up.
One camera one lens pretty much sums up my photography. I recently moved sideways from fixed 35mm(equivalent) to mirrorless with a 35mm lens. Maybe later this year, I’ll go wild and get a second lens – though as Pete mentioned, why buy more equipment when the current is all I’ll need to get out there and hopefully improve my image taking.
The video on The Danger of Emotion in Photography . . . nice video, and I’ve been guilty of getting attached to subpar photos because of when they were taken. The attachment fades after revisiting a few time and realising that the photoshop pixies will not magically transform my efforts into a decent image. Some of the high contrast b&w images he uses as examples(of good emotion in photos) seem to have a bit of synecdoche about them.
I’m not sure about the high contrast b&w shots. Viewed in small groups, they can be grand, but after looking through many of them it begins to feel a bit formulaic. They are Insta-friendly though, no doubt about that.
I am sure about synecdoche and will try to include it more, especially on locations that have failed to shine with the wider shots.
The decline of Italian churches. Sad to see them disappearing, some beautiful design and artwork that won’t be repeated. I do find it comforting to see how nature moves in and reclaims the space, it’s just a shame that it’s not the big-box modern retail buildings that are falling apart and getting reclaimed.
Cheers
Thank you Mer 🙂
I’ve replied to most of those points in the comment above (in reply to Pete) but will add that I find the concept of OCOLOY very freeing. 2 lenses is OK. Then we get progressively into FOMO territory, where the search for shooting envelope gets the better of our personal style. I use a 35 for 90% of my shots. On holiday, I’ll go with 24/65. And that’s about it. Another lens in my home is a macro that doesn’t see much light but gets used for occasional purposes that other lenses cannot duplicate. But mainly, I’m either out with one lens or 2. Just like you.
Cheers
LOL – when I first bought a digi camera, it came with an 18-140 kit zoom. When I traded up to newer, better digi cams, I kept that lens – all the while accumulating a selection of other lenses that I use for various different types of photography. But the kit zoom still came in handy for a lot of “general purpose” work.
And most recently, I was shooting with it only yesterday, plugged into my D500, to get a few nice interior shots to post on Google Guide, to promote my local butcher. Well & truly sharp enough, good tones, extremely versatile, and although the max aperture isn’t huge, that’s not an issue when you don’t want to shoot at F/0.9 anyway!
For some who adores his Otus’s to say this might sound rather funny – but I have to say it’s been the best “value for money”, since I first switched to digi!