You've all seen them Those typical baseball team portraits (or any sport for that matter). Kids looking at the camera, shoulders slumped, fake smiles from ear to ear. My kids got 'em too. I set out to do something different. To exemplify girls softball. Immortalize the sport. Capture the spirit. It could be any team, anywhere. It is every team, everywhere. It is anonymous, yet synonymous. It shows passion, excitement, teamwork.

No fake smiles here!

What is a Photographer?

Nearly everyone carries a camera everywhere they go. Camera phones. PDA's. Point and shoots. I can't help but take offense to hear them tout themselves as "Photographers". I wish their was a line of distinction. Just because one can put on a band-aid does not make them a Doctor. Use a calculator and you're an accountant?

Being a Photographer encompasses an array of skills including Technical, Aesthetic, Compositional, and an intimate understanding of Light. If photographing people, add in Communication. If photographing moving subjects let's not forget Reflexes. Today's Photographer also better be Computer Savvy to master complex editing, retouching, compositing, and archiving of their work. Let's not forget Business Skills. You can take the best pictures in the world but if no-one sees them you'd best find an alternate source of income.

The sheer volume of images being taken by consumers in today's market makes success in Photography far more difficult than in years past. The sad part is that consumers are taking far worse photographs today than they did a quarter-century ago. When film was the medium people were more passionate about photography, and there was a very tangible cost attached every time a shutter was released. You had to want it. The camera's and film were of exceptional quality, and the resulting images much more vibrant than the digital mud of consumer camera's people accept as the norm today. People don't take the time to create a pleasing image, and to make it even worse subsequently don't understand how to improve upon the results in digital post-production.

Photography is an art. Those of us who practice the art take our work very seriously. We don't take pictures, we create images. We translate what everyone else sees into our personal vision because we don't see things the way everyone else does. We use technology the way a painter uses a brush, the way a sculptor uses clay.

We have style.

End of an Aira

I know, you're thinking I can't spell. It's a reference to BC Place Stadium in Vancouver which, until last week sported the World's largest air supported roof. Over 10 acres of fiberglass reinforced fabric.

The roof was deflated last week and construction will now begin on a new retractable design. The Stay Puffed Marshmallow Roof no longer graces the Vancouver skyline.

So what? For people who make their living from photography in this city the implications are huge. Every photograph taken of our skyline since 1983 (27 years for the math-challenged) is now dated. Imagine the number of images that encompasses. Expo 86, Vancouver 2010. Millions, I safely assume. Few building projects have such a profound effect. One Wall Center, The Shangri-La Hotel, Science World, The Vancouver Trade and Convention Center. For professional Image Makers who rely on their stock images for income it means that they must re-shoot constantly to stay current as our city evolves.

When we see the city on a daily basis the changes evolve slowly. With some building projects taking several years to complete their significance is lost to the eye. It is only when we view photographs that the changes become punctuated. As I write this, I look across the room at an eight foot long shot of the Vancouver skyline taken six years ago and realize it's already dated. Looks like I've got more work to do!

The One That Got Away

As I rode the rails of my commuter train this morning I saw a beautiful picture. The waters of the usually turbulent Pitt River were still, offering reflections of distant mountains and shorelines that were near perfect. I have crossed over that rail bridge a thousand times, but never before seen it that way.

With the sun low in the sky and the train traveling at 50 miles per hour, the structure of the rail bridge and the safety glass window, it was not a picture that could be made. Even if I had cranked up the ISO on the D3 to allow a blazing shutter speed, shielded the glass to cut reflections, and timed the shot perfectly to avoid the iron struts of the bridge, I could not have got the shot. Certainly, I could have made a clear and sharp image, but not the image I was seeing with my eyes.

I have learned that sometimes a moment is meant to be appreciated in it's pure form; that a camera is an intrusion. I would have been disappointed by the result had I tried. Instead, I appreciated the moment for what it was, and when I close my eyes I still see it.

I have had many of these moments over the years, pictures recorded only in my mind. Some so profound that I can still see them clearly though they happened long ago.

One of the most important things for a photographer to learn is when not to go for the camera, just to appreciate and remember.

Today, I have only that memory to share.

Logo Madness

Today I set about designing a new Logo for the website. Every time I design it's an exercise in frustration. Problem is that there are no limits. 16.8 million colors. Any size, Any shape. Four million images to choose from. A logo is supposed to say something about the company, but what is it that I want to say?

Something Artsy, but not too artsy. Don't want to alienate anyone. Can't use something too sexy because inevitably someone will complain about that. Not something too conservative because I'm not.

I settled on an image of the City of Vancouver that has been very successful for me. It speaks of where I call home, where I work, where I play. It makes a great backdrop and it's sexy without being too sexy so no-one will call and complain but it's not too conservative either.

Okay, got the picture. Then what? How about a little DKNY influence - the city within the text. It needed more so I dropped in the complete background image and de-saturated it, dropped the contrast, and voila! The city is continuous in the image, flowing through the text.

Several hours later.....

 

and Tomorrow is another day. Cheers!