Playing with my iPhone at the Zubke's house.
The Man In the Mirror
in people
people
Emily
in people, Photography
This is a photo that I took a few years ago and used as a retouching demonstration for my Studio Photography class. It takes about 20 minutes per portrait to do the things I think need to be done, though I have Photoshop actions and filters that would do some of the same things in seconds. But while I think automation is generally good, the personal, discretionary touch of the photographer is usually better.A general retouching philosophy of mine is to avoid the temptation to "Photoshop" a photo too much. I told my students that I think that when the retouching is finished, the "real person" should remain. Skin texture, teeth color, beauty marks and scars are part of who we are. This photo of Emily is a fairly low resolution copy, but I think the an 8x10 print of this picture would reveal the "real" Emily.Canon 5dII 1/640s f/3.5 ISO400 135mm Canon 70-200 2.8 Lens
Window Seat (iPhoneography)
in people, Photography
When I travel, I am as captivated by looking at the scenery as any other tourist. But if the situation allows it, I also like to take photos of people looking at the scenery. I guess I'm a bit of a voyeur in that sense.In this case, I was on a plane flying over the Grand Canyon on an amazingly clear day. I must have taken 50 photos with my iPhone before I noticed a young girl in the window seat ahead of me who was also captivated by what we were seeing 30,000 feet below us.And so I snapped this photo.
Twentieth Century Classroom
in people
In the early part of the last decade of the twentieth century the overhead projector was pretty high tech for me. Having students present in my AP European History class was something I allowed from time to time. But I generally was the center of the classroom. I call that teachercentrism.I was looking for something else when I found this today. I remember the photo and I remember taking it. I was using Tri-X Pan film - thus the grain. The only light in this photo is the bulb from the overhead and I think I am lucky I got good exposure on the student's face and on the screen.But where are the pictures in his presentation?
Fairy Tale
This is not your every day walk in the park; it's Brian and Katie walking in the park. Overdressed? I don't think so.
Minneapolis Moline
in people
Being a city kid, I hadn't paid much attention to tractors but I'm not surprised that, just as there is with makes of cars, there is tremendous brand loyalty to certain kinds of tractors.If you asked Carl Tesch, diesel instructor at Lake Area Technical Institute, which tractor was best, I'm sure he would say, "Minneapolis Moline." Evidence of this is that he's got a multitude of them on his farm north of Watertown.Last night we were invited to his place for a gathering of several past and present LATI instructors and he let my wife, Deb, drive one. I'm not sure that she had ever driven a tractor solo but she seems to look like she's done this before. Maybe in another life?Check back tomorrow for a post about our cuisine at the gathering: it's called "pitchfork fondue."
Captain & Crew
in people
The captain is Scott, who is standing in the back of this photo. The driver and driver's supervisor are the famous BZ and CZ. We are cruising on Okoboji in Iowa and though BZ looks confident at the helm, I think it had been a while since he had driven a boat.
The Princess Bride, Part II
This is another example of serendipity in a photo shoot. In the days before my photo session with Brian and Katie, I had imagined some of the photos I would like to take. Unfortunately, few of those worked the way I had planned.But I did manage to take a photo or two that were totally impromptu. One has already appeared here. And now here's another. I was getting my camera ready for something and one of our many assistants held out Katie's veil to straiten it and this is what I saw. I said, "Hold it!" and Katie stuck a pose.I rarely use on-camera flash but this photo needed it, since strong sunlight was coming from behind the subject.
Portrait of the Artist With A Grey Beard
in people
Once a year (when I'm traveling in Europe) I quit shaving for a week or two. And then I take a self portrait. Narcissism? I don't think so. Rembrandt did 90 self-portraits. And I'm certainly no Rembrandt.
The Girls of Rothenburg
This was a nearly candid photo but one girl spotted my camera and acted uncharacteristically -- she smiled at me! This is not normal dress for children in this town; it just happened that on the evening we were there, There was a dress rehearsal for a pending religious pageant. Rothenburg, by the way, is in Germany and is a wonderfully preserved walled medieval city.
Princess Bride
This is Katie, of course. This was one of my warm-up photos in the bridal shoot we did. There's nothing about this that says "bride" but I like the portrait anyway.The lighting here is very simple - she is sitting in the opening of the doorway leading to our deck, which, in the late afternoon, is in shadow but which is open to perfect, soft ambient skylight. One of my many assistants was holding a white reflector below the frame of this photo. (I don't actually have many assistants but Katie had a retinue, including a sister, a cousin and her mother.)The light was beautiful and so was Katie.
Runaway Bride
My son, Brian, and my daughter-in-law, Katie, came to town yesterday for a photo session. They were married almost a year and a half ago but they weren't altogether satisfied with the photos they got on the day of their wedding. And so we spent 4 or 5 hours doing a variety of fun things.This photo is one of the last photos I took and it was totally unplanned. Katie wanted to run in her beautiful wedding dress and so, as she ran into the setting sun, I snapped a few photos. This is one of my favorites from the whole day.