photography

On Camera Reviews

Waiting For Another

Om Malik, on the cruddy quality of camera reviews:

All I want to know from reviews is how it feels in hand, the pictures it makes and what is the actual performance from a daily usage stand point. The sensor size, the sensor type and what kind of processors mean absolutely nothing — what matters is the photos.

Even more helpful: give me a year-out view, after you’ve spent some quality time with the camera, and really tested its capabilities.

What would make me love it more than what I already have? What are the limits of its use? Where have you taken it, and what did you see?

A few of the big photo sites take a stab at this philosophy, but I value reviews from individual photographers more than any review-heavy site.

(via CJ Chilvers)

, , ,

Jon + Amanda

As I’ve said, I don’t do weddings unless (a) I know you and (b) I like you.

That’s why I was happy to capture Jon and Amanda’s wedding a few weeks ago. Amanda and Jon are family, and their small wedding in my dad’s backyard was intimate and lovely.

Photography can be an awesome gift to give – longer lasting than cash or a toaster oven. Don’t be stingy with it.

, ,

For Every Season

Thoughts That Steer Us

Matt Thomas has great things to say about accepting and adjusting to seasons:

More and more, I try to live in harmony with the seasons, not the clock.

Here in the Midwest, we’re experts at seasons. And I definitely pick projects and to-do items that reflect the time of year. Winter? Get outside and shovel, and a few photographer interviews. Spring? Yard work and thinking ahead to summer projects. Fall? Finish up projects, enjoy a shit ton of apple cider, try roasting some acorns, etc.

Maybe I’m a creature of habit, but the seasonal routines are very comforting for me.

Start the crockpots full of chili, folks. It’s autumn.

(via Austin Kleon)

, , , ,

Shop and Enjoy

Wind-Blown Sunrise

With the release of my new book (thanks for all the kind comments, by the way), this might be a good time to mention that my photo print store is open – even if I don’t give it much love.

I’m on Society6. They make the whole process easy, and give you lots of good options at a reasonable price.

Photography isn’t about making money to me. It’s about making work and sharing work. I get requests often enough that my store becomes an easy way for people to buy my pictures.

Shop, and enjoy. And if there’s anything that’s not up there that you wish was, please let me know.

,

Lost and Found

Go Through the Changes

My Canonet is missing.

It could be stolen, or it could be lost. But it’s gone. The camera, and a roll of film with 20-ish exposures from my 365 project.

What a bummer.

That means most of September is missing. Maybe a bit of late August. Lots of sunrises and foggy mornings – those magical times when photography is so fun this time of year. The light changing, the leaves falling, the hot days and cool evenings.

It could be that I left my little rangefinder in my front seat, and then left the car unlocked overnight, a prime opportunity for a wayward thief. Or it could be that me, the absent-minded photographer, left the camera sitting somewhere out of sight, waiting to be discovered again.

The point is that I can’t leave the 365 half finished. No, I’ll load a roll of Lomo into my Olympus and keep going, and try not to pine for those lost photos from earlier this month.

Lost, or found, I have to keep going.

, , ,

New Routines

Settling into the new house, here six months after moving in, means doing things in different ways than before.

Mowing the lawn? It takes half as long now. My commute? About 20 minutes shorter. Moving into town, we have time in the morning to let the kids sleep in a bit before taking the boy to school.

We take walks like we used to, just around a more suburban setting. We play out in the yard, as always, it’s just that the yard is not as big.

Little things, here in there, that I’m still getting used to.

, ,

Photo Book Now Available: #abandoned

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I made a thing.

Seeing as how my musicians portrait project is on hiatus, I’m releasing my new photobook, #abandoned, a collection of urbex and abandoned photography from the past few years, all taken on my iPhone.

Better to ship something than nothing, right?

#abandoned is a simple 8″ square softcover book that includes 30 images of abandoned houses, factories, and farms – mainly in south central Michigan.

Although I’ve largely retired from urbex photography, I felt like I had a few more projects in me. One of them was to make a photobook of all my urbex adventures, but keep it to mobile photography. I’ve made plenty of photos using my “big” camera, but my iPhone is always with me, even when my DSLR isn’t. The photos are all of high enough quality to make a modest book. On Instagram, I’ve had a few people ask me to make something like #abandoned, so here it is.

I wanted to keep it simple and affordable, so I’ve posted the book on MagCloud for order. It’s $15.

My style, such as it is, comes in large part from my explorations in abandoned properties. There came a point where I was both shooting urbex locations and developing my creative voice. I feel like a lot of these photos come from that combination of recklessness and light chasing, and are a good representation of the kind of work I do now.

Order your copy today, and please let me know what you think.

, , , , ,

«< 25 26 27 28 29 >»