Eat At Joe's

I Am, I Said (New York In The Rear View)

2008-05-02T00:08:00.007-04:00

WHEELING, IL - I'm sitting at my desk away from home at the Candlewood Suites. I'm a stone's throw from Chicago and twelve hours from officially becoming a resident of Illinois, mulling over the relative merits of being a dyed-in-the-wool New Yorker.....

...in the mid-West.

While I've got some good reasons for moving half way across the country, I'm feeling the same pain Neil Diamond laid down in his song, I Am, I Said. "I'm New York City born and raised and now I'm lost between two shores. LA's fine but it ain't home, New York's home but it ain't mine no more."

I've lived in the New York area all my life, made a lot of good friends there. I'll miss them all, "Making me lonelier still."

Bye-bye Fisheye | How To Evaluate Your Insurance Coverage

2008-04-21T11:08:00.021-04:00

One of my favorite, but maybe least-used, lenses is my 15mm Fisheye. I remember the day I bought it. I casually drifted in to Ken Hansen Photographic... actually, there was nothing casual about it, nobody goes from Brooklyn to Manhattan and then casually drifts into a jewelry store (which is what Kenny's place was like) on the 15th floor of a Madison Avenue office building... and dropped a little more than $925 on a lens that I knew I was going to have a hard time justifying. I had to invent all kinds of things to do with that lens to make it pay-off, and pay-off it did... in spades! I've made some of my favorite pictures with that lens and easily earned a 40x ROI.

So, when my Canon EOS-5D unexpectedly flew from my bag, with the 15mm riding up front, and took a nose dive into the carpeted floor of my sister's guest bedroom I was mildly annoyed... until I reached to retrieve it and noticed that the lens barrel had broken leaving most of the lens on the floor and the lens mount still attached to the camera. Now I was upset!

I'm certain this lens is a total loss, I don't think it can be repaired. I also still have to drive over to Canon and get my camera checked-out. If you look at the image of the broken lens you'll see it's soft in some places and not in others. The impact may well have done damage to the camera's lens mount. I'm also going to call my insurance broker and make my first claim in over 20 years of being in business.

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Top: Canon EOS-5D, 50/2.5 Canon Compact-Macro Lens EF, ISO 800

Faux Pas sover

2008-04-20T20:19:00.003-04:00

Whole Foods Market, Millburn, New Jersey - 1st Day Of Passover 2008

No comment necessary.
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Above: Canon EOS-5D, 28~105/3.5~4.5 Canon EF Ultrasonic lens, ISO 500

People We've Met: James Mansour

2008-04-19T06:58:00.001-04:00

I received an e-mail notice from Getty Images today informing me that my royalties statement for March 2008 was available on-line and I should log-in to the Getty Images Contributors web site and see if it was: a) a normal month; b) a so-so month; or, c) an I Hit The Lottery month. Well, they don't put it to you quite that way, but it can really be only one of the three. Turned out to be a fairly normal month, but there was an interesting item in there.

One of my New York City images was licensed by Sephora... you know Sephora... the mall cosmetics store, as decor. That's cool. Next time I'm buying myself some perfume or lipstick I'll cruise around and see exactly how..... okay, okay, I'm just kidding. I do not wear lipstick or perfume.

And I don't have to go into the store to find out how the image was used, either. I know the guy who likely designed the interior of those stores. And The Limited, and Express, and Victoria's Secret, and Movado, and others too numerous to mention.

James Mansour is an interior designer extraordinaire and works on high-end retail accounts. His client list is impressive and I'm not going to bore your with those details, but I have to admit to being slightly excited when the gentleman at the other end of my telephone asked me to photograph one of the hottest interior designers in the country. As a photographer, it's a real turn-on to work in an artfully designed space as opposed to, say, a run-of-the-mill office. You just know you're going to make a great picture. James Mansour, photographed for Retail Interiors magazine (UK).
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Above: Canon EOS-1N, 70~200/2.8 Canon EF L Ultrasonic lens, Fujichrome Velvia 50 film

Testing - Check, Check, Check, Hey, Hey, 1, 2

2008-04-18T07:49:00.004-04:00

Do You See What I See?

Got an e-mail from a new reader this morning (yeah!) who wants to know why I'm using only half the window, the left side. Now I have to ask: do you see what I'm seeing?

I see a blog that looks like the image below..... a column of articles on the left and a column of links on the right. Apparently, it's a Windows anomaly, which can be fixed by adjusting the Text Size in the View menu.

Additionally, there are hot links embedded in the text. The text should appear black and the links should be blue-ish. Also, sometimes the Headline is also a hot link. You'll just have to mouse over that text and see if your cursor changes into one of those little white-gloved hands.

When you click a hot link in the text, a new window should open with the referred site inside it. When you click a hot link in the Headline, your browser will redirect to the referred site and this blog will vanish (until you push your back button).

Okay, now that we're all on the same page I need to ask a favor: If you still don't see what I see, please let me know. Zap an e-mail over to joe@pobereskin.com. Thanks.

Rock on!

ASMP's Strictly Business 2 - WOW!

2008-04-17T11:24:00.014-04:00

I’ve just returned from Chicago where I attended ASMP’s Strictly Business 2 seminars. I can’t imagine that one could be an ASMP member and not know what the Strictly Business 2 seminars encompassed, but for those readers who managed to avoid the deluge of nearly daily e-mail invitations to SB2, the curriculum included: Business Basics; Copyright, Paperwork and Releases; Digital Essentials; Pricing & Negotiating; Managing Change; Negotiating Training (and more Negotiating Training); Marketing To Move Your Business Forward; Digital Workflow; Business Workflow To Bring You Profits; Taking Control Of Your Career; Is Your Website Doing All It Can To Get You Work?

I’ve always thought I had a pretty good handle on how to conduct my business, but I came home with so much new information, so many good ideas to implement, that I don’t know where to start. I’m hoping that by sharing some of what I learned with you now, I might just clarify things in my own mind so I can get going.

Now that I think about it, I realize that perhaps the most important thing I’ve learned is the importance of using PLUS Packs in my Estimating/Invoicing routine. Even though I was a beta-tester/commenter for PLUS (Picture Licensing Universal System) I must confess to being too lazy to fully implement it properly in my workflow. After attending John Harrington's seminar, Business Workflow To Bring You Profits, I’ve learned a better way, and I'm now hooked on PLUS.

While I’m speaking in acronyms, let me throw out another one that’s sure to be of increasing importance in our careers: UPDIG. There is such increased liability for photographers shooting digital images, compared to when we were all using film, that failure to learn proper digital imaging technique can actually ruin your business, especially if you’re sued by your client(s) for negligence (yes, it’s happened more than once).

In fact, the problems due to a lack of digital savvy among photographers are so widespread that many ad agencies and magazines are requesting film again. This backlash against digital imaging is largely due to the failure of photographers to understand how to use digital imaging properly. Enter UPDIG: Universal Photographic Digital Imaging Guidelines. UPDIG is an industry coalition led by ASMP in cooperation with all of the other major photographic trade organizations worldwide. In addition to the usual suspects such as ACMP, AOP, APA, ASPP, CAPIC, EP, NPPA, PACA, PPA & SAA... UPDIG is also supported by PLUS.

Are you making the connection? The use of best practices in your technical and business affairs is becoming more and more important in the digital age. I strongly encourage all of you to learn, adopt and blend these knowledge bases into your day-to-day business operations.

No discussion of the implementation of best practices in our businesses would be complete without stressing the importance of learning highly effective marketing techniques. Utilization of best practices adds value to your services, and learning to communicate that value to your prospective clients is increasingly paramount today.

Another of the priceless seminars at Strictly Business 2 was Leslie Burns-Dell’Acqua’s, Marketing To Move Your Business Forward. I believe that Leslie’s program was the most helpful, the most precious, 90 minutes I’ve ever spent in a classroom. Leslie taught each of us how to define our unique visual voice and verbalize it. Even more useful, we learned how to get the most bang for our marketing buck, whatever our budget. A virtual synopsis of Leslie’s extensive experience and expertise, and other pearls of wisdom, is available through her web site, burnsautoparts.com.

One of the things I heard, repeatedly, from SB2 Chicago attendees was this: "If I learn one more thing my brain's going to explode." ...and that was lunch time on Saturday, we still had another day and a half to go.

If/when ASMP stages Strictly Business again, we're going to need a bigger hotel. The ballroom was packed, every seat filled, standees were lining the wall in the back. And you know it's a great program when the hotel employees, like the guy who ran the projector near my seat, are paying attention to the presentation. You should have seen the look on that guy's face... he was thrilled, wonderstruck, awed and amazed. Me too!

The Strictly Business 2 programs were immensely valuable, the presenters were insanely great, but the big deal of the day was behind door number three: meeting everyone in-person!! You're just not going to get that cruising Internet blogs and web sites. Please don’t pass-up the opportunity to attend seminars like these, it’s really too important to your careers.

ASMP’s It’s Your Business seminar series, mini SB2s, are touring the Chapters constantly. You owe it to yourself to attend as many of these seminars as possible, even if you think you know well the subject being taught. You’ll be amazed at what you don’t know you don’t know, and even more amazed when you learn it.
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All above: Leica D-LUX 3, 28~112/2.8~4.9 Leitz DC Vario-Elmarit lens, ISO 100

etc, etc, eclectic

2008-04-03T07:56:00.009-04:00

eclectic
adjective
an eclectic mix of party music wide-ranging, broad-based, extensive, comprehensive, encyclopedic; varied, diverse, all-embracing, multifaceted, multifarious, heterogeneous, miscellaneous, assorted.

It's been brought to my attention that in my Blogger profile I omitted Van Morrison from my list of favorite music. Shiiiit! (as they say in Texas), I've got two iPods!

Yeah, Van Morrison too, I wasn't going to list everyone... Elvis P, Elvis C, Stones, Johnny Cash, Roseanne Cash, Hank, Hank Jr, Waylon Jennings, Shooter Jennings, Cross-Canadian Ragweed, George Jones, Beau Brummels, Steve Earle, Elton John, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Alice Cooper, Frank Sinatra, Milton Nascimento, Ray Charles, Carole King, Al Green, Aretha Franklin, Allman Bros, BTO, Bad Co, Badfinger, Bananarama, The Band, The Bangles, Beach Boys, Warren Zevon, Zombies, Dave Mason, Dave Matthews, Dave Clark, David Bowie, Deep Purple, CSN&Y, Turtles, Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, U2, Tommy James & The Shondells (I'm free-associating now), Travelling Wilburys, Temptations, Steely Dan (big-time!), Stevie Nicks, Stevie Wonder, Sly Stone (I'm on a roll), Searchers, Sheryl Crow, Sam The Sham & The Pharohs, Dixie Chicks, Donovan, Donna Summer (some), Dusty Springfield, Diana Krall, Diana Ross, Flaco Jiménez, Rodney Crowell, Animals/War, Los Lobos, Merle Haggard, Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Gary US Bonds, Gin Blossoms (!), John Hiatt, John Cougar, John Prine, John Lennon, Johnny Paycheck, Johnny Rivers, Joe Jackson, Joe Cocker, Joe Tex, Joe South, Marvelettes, Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, did I mention Joni Mitchell? Little Richard? Loggins & Messina? Weird Al Yancovic? ...I'll spare you the rest of my musical favorites.

Oh... don't forget Pink Floyd! ...or King Harvest, The Kinks, Kris Kristofferson, Zeppelin, Linkin Park, Lyle Lovett, Donovan, The Monkees, Neil Diamond, Vanilla Fudge, Van Halen, oh c'mon.

Did I mention I used to play in a band?

Boston, Billy Joe Shaver, Billy Joel, Billie Holiday, etc, etc, etc, enough already!!

My list of Favorite Movies isn't complete either.

People We've Met: G. David Low

2008-03-31T05:59:00.011-04:00

I first opened for business in February, 1986. We had a huge Grand Opening party in the studio on Valentine's Day to celebrate, but it would be another two weeks before the studio was actually finished. All the debris was shoveled into the shop area and the equipment was locked in the darkroom, the floor swept and some lights hung, the volume was turned up to ten and the party was on. I didn't make a formal count, but my two partners and I invited literally everyone we knew, and most of them came, so we're fairly confident that there were at least 400 people in our loft that night.

Two months later, the studio was open about six weeks and after shooting a few jobs and waiting for the payments to arrive, I was absolutely penniless, stone cold flat broke. While sweating over how to pay the bills, my phone rang with yet another assignment. It was a really big job and I asked for an advance to be sent overnight via FedEx. The client agreed and I began booking flights, car rentals and hotel rooms.

Perfect timing being what it is, and not being available to me, the check didn't arrive for a few days. So... trusting in G-d and American Express, I hit the road for Amarillo, embarking on the first leg of a whirlwind seventeen city tour (18 days).

A few days later I was driving through Colorado, in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, to Lockheed Martin's Denver Aerospace facility. The plant, where they manufacture missiles, rocket boosters, space shuttles and other top-secret stuff, was backed up to the mountain. A good location considering the cold war was still in high gear, you could see the Russians coming for a good thirty miles.

It seemed like everything I wanted to shoot that day was classified and I was keen for a high-tech opportunity. We turned a corner and entered a huge hangar. At the far end was a space shuttle and at my end was a mock-up of the Solar Max satellite. Between the satellite and the shuttle was David Low, an astronaut training for a mission to repair Solar Max.

"Here's a good shot," I thought I'd said to myself. I guess I actually said it aloud because my guide once again said, "Sorry, that's classified." Just then, about midway between where we were and where the shuttle was, a small door opened and a group of second graders entered with their little disposable cameras flashing like nobody's business. "Are you sure I can't shoot this?"

G. David Low, an astronaut for 12 years, flew three shuttle missions, orbiting Earth more than 540 times. His father, George M. Low, was the former NASA director who first suggested to President Kennedy in 1960 that the United States could send an astronaut to walk on the moon within 10 years. David Low passed away last week, he was 52.
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Above: Nikon F3, 300mm/f4.0 Nikkor lens, Kodachrome 64 film

People We've Met: Kay Booth

2008-03-18T06:06:00.004-04:00

Photographers should never take vacations, at least I shouldn't. Every time I do, somebody calls and tries to book me for a job during my vacation, and I end up losing out because I'm not going to be around. This happens to me all the time and at one point I was getting kind of tired of turning down work, but also resigned to my lot in life.

My wife had planned a family vacation to Acadia National Park, and we were going to meet another couple and their son in Maine and share a house for a week whilst taking in the extraordinary natural beauty of the place. Needless to say, Jan was packing our bags when the phone rang.

This time it was Syuzi Pakhchyan at Buyside magazine in San Francisco, calling to see if I could shoot a cover story for the September issue. I'd worked on about a dozen stories with Syuzi in the preceding months and I didn't want to turn her away. All she needed was a couple of portraits for the story and, here's the best part: as long as I have it delivered by mid-August that would be cool, because, she said, "I'm going on vacation next week so just get it to me by the end of the following week."

It was a Thursday and I was going on vacation the next day, Friday. I'd be back in a week and had plenty of time to shoot it and meet the deadline, so I called the subject's office to arrange the shoot for the week after our (Syuzi's & my) respective vacations.

Kay Booth is Director of Equity Research at Bear Stearns & Co in New York. The only problem was that on Saturday she was flying to London for two weeks. My plan was to wake the family at 5:00 AM and hit the road for Maine. Nobody but me really liked that plan anyway so I suggested to Kay that we shoot the pictures the following day, and I asked if that would be okay with her? To my surprise she said yes, but it would have to be really early because she was really busy. She asked me to be there at 7:30 AM.

I couldn't have planned this better if I'd thought about it for a week! The family could sleep another hour and a half... we'd get in the minivan and go to Manhattan, dump the car in a garage, they would go eat breakfast at a restaurant and I would shoot the story, double back and meet them an hour and a half later and we'd be on the road to Maine by nine.

Never heard of Kay Booth, have you? Well, she's not really famous, but she is very well-known in her field. I mean, really, if she wasn't why would she be on the cover of Buyside?

Anyway, I wanted to squeeze this in today because I shot the picture in the trading room at Bear Stearns, a company that was worth $170 a share a year ago, $30 a share on Friday afternoon and was sold to JP Morgan Chase for $2 a share yesterday. If I wait any longer.....
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Above: Canon EOS-A2, 28~105/3.5~4.5 Canon EF Ultrasonic lens, Fujichrome Provia 100 film

People We've Met: Vincent Sardi, Jr.

2008-03-17T11:59:00.003-04:00

New friends always ask me if I've ever photographed any celebrities. I think that they think that what separates guys like me from, say, wedding photographers, is that I must know some famous people. Well... I do know some famous people, at least I've met some, but let's get something straight here. I've met some famous people, but we're not best friends. This is the first in a series of pictures of people I've met (I used we in the title because I usually meet these people with my assistant at my side, hence we). Remember: I've met and photographed these people but they're not my pals, really, so don't be too impressed. I picked this portrait to be first because it was really my entry into the Environmental Portrait biz.

Vincent Sardi, Jr. I was still an assistant when I photographed Sardi. I'd been working for Ted Horowitz when one afternoon he called to say he'd been offered a job by a small restaurant trade magazine and the fee was too small for him to consider it, and he wanted to know if I would shoot it. I spoke to the editor and she was adamant about having me shoot the job on medium format film. I was a poor schmo who didn't own a medium format camera, so I called Ted back and told him he had to loan me his Hasselblads so I could shoot this. After all, he got me into it. He agreed and so I went over to his place, got the cameras and shot the portrait you see above.

I hired my friend Jim Mercer to assist me on this. We went to the restaurant, just off Times Square, and spent the morning looking around and setting up lights and stuff. At one point during the set-up I recall Sardi came in and offered us some coffee, which we accepted. The coffee came and I was busy doing this and that and the coffee was getting cold. Jim whispered in my ear that I should drink the coffee, it's likely going to be the only time I ever drink a $7.00 cup of coffee. Of course, in 1983, we'd not yet heard of Starbuck's.
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Above: Hasselblad 500C, 150/4.0 Zeiss Sonnar lens, Kodak Ektachrome 64 film

It's Snowing, It's Snowing!

2008-02-22T11:56:00.016-05:00

I woke-up this morning to find a foot and a half of snow on the ground. No surprise really. My friend Rayna warned me of this in an e-mail last night saying, "Call me tomorrow. We should be stuck in the house, with snow coming." Not that I don't trust her, I do, but it was well after midnight when I went to bed and there wasn't so much as a single snowflake to be seen anywhere.

I saw a similar forecast for Wednesday evening and it didn't snow at all. Good thing, too, because I was planning on driving the 18 miles to Manhattan to attend the New York Photogroup Salon, something I used to do monthly but haven't in a long while. I was looking forward to it. Looking forward to reconnecting face-to-face as well as to introducing my friend David Verdini to the group.

The Salon was sure to be interesting (and it was!) with presentations by Rafael Fuchs and Howard Schatz (Howard is one of my all-time favorite photographers). I was also pleased to be able to make a small contribution by identifying the proper video-out adapter for Rafael's Macbook laptop and connecting it to the digital projector.

The Salon, as expected, was as creatively stimulating as I remembered it to be. Largely the effort of Rich Pomerantz as the curator, perhaps with the help of Bill Westheimer who used to tackle that task pretty-much singlehandedly, this is an evening very well spent. It's not often that one can see and discuss the latest work of some of the best contemporary photographers of our time, as well as meet them in-person and engage in a dialog with them about their work or the business or whatever, maybe make a new friend or two. A most valuable investment of an evening once a month.

(the following images were shot in damned-near total darkness at ISO 1600, hence the noise)

I sure am glad I didn't have to drive home in the snow. I was also glad to be home early enough to see the best part of the lunar eclipse with my son, Alex, but I digress.

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Snow images: Canon EOS-5D, 70~200/2.8 Canon Zoom Lens EF L Ultrasonic, ISO 200
Salon images: Leica D-LUX 3, 28~112/2.8~4.9 Leitz DC Vario-Elmarit lens, ISO 1600

(sub)Urban Succulents

2008-02-18T07:11:00.002-05:00

Where do I start? Contrast? Jealousy? Parody? Or is it just plain flattery? Honestly, I don't know.

In terms of contrast, well, let's just say that I like Maplewood about as much as I like Chicago. Neither is my home town, but both are appealing. Jealousy? This is interesting. My friend Eliot Crowley out in California has made a series of images he calls Santa Barbara Succulents and they're beautiful. My kind of pictures, really.

Then my other friend, Mark Harmel, also in California, did something very similar. I'm not certain that he's even aware of Eliot's pictures, in fact I don't think the two know each other..... but, again, my kind of pictures!

Flattery? Parody? I want to make pictures like that too, but I don't have a cactus garden handy. I do have a back yard..... well, I call it a back yard but it's really an alley.

I live in the urban part of a New York suburb, right in the center of the village, on the third floor of an apartment building on the main street. I'm, technically, in a leafy burb but in reality I live smack in the middle of an urban jungle. So I have an alley in the back of my building ("where the people congregate in shame") and rather than beautiful plants I have old screens, broken gates, decaying brick, etc, etc.

Even though I'm scenically challenged, I want to make images of succulents too, so I've taken the liberty of reinterpreting the art form with a decidedly ce-ment point of view.
(sub)Urban Succulents.

Urban decay, decrepit structures, peeling paint, dirty floor mats from the restaurant kitchen, discarded ice cubes laced with cigarette butts, too many parked cars, body parts. We've got it all here in Maplewood, and we've got it all stashed in the alley behind my place.
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All above: Canon EOS-5D, 50/2.5 Canon Compact-Macro Lens EF, ISO 100

My Kind Of Town, Chicago Is.....

2008-02-04T20:48:00.000-05:00

Being a native New Yorker, the following compliment doesn't come easily for me, but: I love Chicago! I mean, let's face it, I'm from New York, the Big Apple. New York is big time, it's the big Kahuna of cities. New York City is open all night with 24 hour everything. A guy like me can get used to that (in-fact, I have!). But I love Chicago!!

I spent the past weekend in Chicagoland, something I do pretty regularly these days. And this wasn't any old weekend, oh no, it was Super Bowl weekend. And Sunday morning, right after my breakfast phone call, still at Sandy's Restaurant in Highwood, I was predicting (okay, bragging) to the gambling crowd that the NY Giants would win the Super Bowl! Man, they all thought I was nuts!!

Anyway, I had a great weekend!!! Too bad I had to come home.

You see, the more time I spend in Chicago the more I like it! As Sammy Cahn wrote...
"And each time I leave, Chicago is
Tuggin' my sleeve, Chicago is
The Wrigley Building, Chicago is
The Union Stockyard, Chicago is
One town that won't let you down
It's my kind of town"

Of course, each time I leave I seem to exit Chicago differently. That's because Chicago traffic is murder. Chicagoans say that there's really only two seasons, Winter & Construction, and that leads to confusion on the highway. This morning I took I-94 East to I-80 East, another new route.

Getting there was no small feat either. I arrived in the middle of a big snow storm. Maybe not the biggest they've ever seen, but it was big enough to make my life misreable. It dumped eight inches of snow right in the middle of I-294. Hey, for all I know, it didn't snow anywhere else in the vicinity that day, but it made the last twenty minutes a two hour ride! I spent thirteen hours behind the wheel of a twelve hour drive. Clear weather & smooth sailing for eight hundred miles, but as soon as I turned North out of Indiana... bam! Big snow!!

And it didn't let up. It snowed all weekend. It was still snowing last night. You find a taxi in the middle of a Chicago snow storm!

Yeah, but Chicago's great! It's sometimes called America's Second City, but it's really a first class place. Chicago has lots of attractions and a lot that attracts me. And where else can you... what other major city can you go to, and stroll around all day and night, without anyone asking you for money?
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All above: Leica D-LUX 3, 28~112/2.8~4.9 Leitz DC Vario-Elmarit lens, ISO 100

Bored At The Meeting? Not!

2008-01-25T06:31:00.000-05:00

The ASMP New Jersey Chapter board of directors met at Ellen Denuto's house last night. You may wonder what it is we do at these meetings. We discuss upcoming programs, old business, new business, the business (we can't help it), etc, etc. Here are some of the people involved...

Ellen Denuto, Vice-President, on the pending sale of Getty Images.

Dennis Connors, Director, discussing an upcoming program he's producing about digital video.

Bill Cress, Director, who coined the phrase that serves as our trademark, "Membership Doesn't Cost, It Pays!" discussing our upcoming membership drive.

David Verdini, General Member, on the upcoming Apple Aperture program he's producing.

Tom Stillman, Recording Secretary, put down his pen to talk about the upcoming chapter election.

Not pictured: Kimberlee Piper, Director; Suzanne Poor, Director; Sergio Burani, General Member; Rich Green, General Member; Joe P, the Prez (I was making the pictures).
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All above: Leica D-LUX 3, 28~112/2.8~4.9 Leitz DC Vario-Elmarit lens, ISO 1600

Parting Shot - 2007

2007-12-31T06:54:00.000-05:00

Flag Decal On Forklift, Truckstop, Niles, Michigan

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Above: Canon EOS-5D, 28~105/3.5~4.5 Canon EF Ultrasonic lens, ISO 100

Highpretension Is A Disease?

2007-12-31T06:17:00.000-05:00

In the aftermath of the recent dust-up over Richard Prince's exhibit at the Guggenheim Museum I found myself at the Whitney Museum, just a few blocks away, viewing, "Danny Lyon: Montage, Film, and Still Photography."

If you're not aware of the controversy over the Prince exhibit you should click the link to the NY Times article about it. In a nutshell, he's copied another photographer's (Jim Krantz's) work as seen in a cigarette ad, enlarged it to mammoth proportion and hung it on the wall of a major museum. His other "appropriations" have sold in galleries for more than $1.5 million each.

I'll tell you: that's really art! No, not the picture on the wall, but being able to copy something and sell it for more than a million dollars, is the art of pretension, and pretension is the currency of the art world.

Anyway, there I was at the Whitney, and Danny Lyon's photography had been a big influence on my photography during my formative years. His art is unpretentious (or so I thought) so seeing his exhibit was a high point of my weekend... until I discovered one of his lesser-known images. It was a very small image, nicely framed, and had one of those little ID tags next to it.

You've seen those tags. They tell you what the title is and then the medium. Typical to see something like "gelatin silver print," a/k/a plain old black and white print. What I saw, the thing that ruined it for me, was: "Internal Dye Diffusion Transfer Print." English translation: SX-70 picture.

I think this is the beginning of a new affliction I'm calling highpretension. And, hey... as soon as I can cultivate a suitable amount of grandiloquence, I'm going to be a millionaire!

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Above: Polaroid SX-70 Alpha, 116mm/f8.0 lens, Polaroid SX-70 Instant Film

Nobody's Perfect

2007-12-29T12:10:00.000-05:00

I've been known to be a pack-rat all my adult life, I save everything..... well, not literally, I do get rid of some stuff but I've been tempted to save everything. Needless to say, I've come under some small amount of criticism for this practice, but not lately.

Of all the stuff I'm tempted to save, and this is in addition to all the cool souvenirs I've collected over a lifetime making pictures, the most notable are old articles of clothing. There's a couple of shirts I've had since 1995, for example, that still look good and that are so comfortable I'm loathe to discard them. My favorite things to save, however, are old shoes.

I have big feet (I'm a big guy) and finding comfortable shoes is a big problem. I could drink three black cherry sodas contemplating the liquidation of a pair of shoes... that's how long it takes... but I've found that the perfect way to save things is simply to photograph them and save the picture, then discard the item. This is especially helpful when you're talking about old shoes. Nobody (but me) really wants to save old shoes.

The other day I was talking to my friend Dave Johnson about Polaroid. I happened to mention that I liked to shoot with Polachrome and Polapan instant films, when they were available, and that made me nostalgic and I started pulling old instant slides out of the file and scanning them as a preservation method. One of my favorite Polapan images is the one above, a picture of a particular pair of old Puma basketball shoes I was deeply fond of.

Just thought I'd share it with you.

--
Above: Nikon F3, 10.5cm/f2.5 Nikkor lens, Polapan film

Back Me Up, Scotty

2007-12-27T05:25:00.000-05:00

Editor's Note: This entry was written November 2, 2007 for the current issue of Exposure, the quarterly magazine of ASMP New Jersey Chapter.

There’s no doubt in my mind that I’m a true professional when it comes to my work as a photographer. I take excessive pains to be certain that whatever picture I’m commissioned to make gets made and delivered as expected, “no IFs, ANDs or BUTs.” I learned professionalism during my apprenticeship at the feet of several masters, and my favorite lesson is the one that could have been the most catastrophic failure had it not been for a back-up.

In May of 1980 I was first assistant to Klaus Lucka, a photographer who was shooting a major ad campaign for Raleigh Lights (cigarettes). The ads revolved around a truck driver and were photographed against the dramatic and magnificent backdrop of Washington’s North Cascade Pass. The mountain locations were exceptionally beautiful and we were well into the execution of a finely crafted campaign which involved three weeks of location shooting.

One Sunday morning, about a third of the way through the shoot, we allowed ourselves the luxury of sleeping-in rather than our usual 4:30 AM call, but it was not to be. I was, somewhat rudely, awakened by a loud and urgent-sounding pounding at my motel room’s door just before eight o’clock. I hurried to the door and opened it, fully expecting to find that my idea of sleeping-in and Klaus’s idea of sleeping-in were not in synch. But instead of seeing an impatient, frowning photographer at my door I looked out upon a parking lot, empty save for all the cars in their places. I stood in the doorway, in my underwear, surveying a surreally quiet, peaceful, serene motel parking lot with nobody in-sight. Despite the fact that I was mostly naked I stood there a minute, trying to decide if I’d been dreaming or if I actually heard something. I went back to bed.

Just about the time I fell asleep, and it wasn’t long, I heard the pounding on my door again. I got out of bed once more and went to answer the door again. This time, everyone in the motel was standing in their doorway in their underwear. What was that noise?

That noise was the sound of a volcano erupting 300 miles away. Mt. Saint Helens had blown her top and our plan for that Sunday morning was to head in the eruption’s direction for another week of shooting.

Unwillingly wide awake, we all headed for the restaurant and, over a breakfast of blueberry pancakes, a very nervous account manager was losing his composure in the face of impending disaster. We had purchased a new, custom-painted in the brand’s colors, Kenworth tractor and a gleaming white Frauhauf trailer (about $160,000 +/-). We were one high-priced photographer, two assistants, two stylists, three models, a real truck driver (to drive the tractor-trailer), art director, account manager, brand manager, a couple other tobacco company execs, five other vehicles, wardrobe, props, etc, etc. All that investment was at risk. The account manager was about to come completely and totally unglued right there at the breakfast table and he was looking toward Klaus for a viable solution.

Klaus calmly looked at the second assistant, Mark Scott (now a photographer in Los Angeles), who had also been the location scout and he said, “Mark, get the alternate location files from the car, we’ll go east instead of west.” Klaus had a back-up... priceless!

I approach every job I do the same way. I make sure there’s always some other way to make whatever picture I’m supposed to make. Failure is not an option. I always have a back-up.

Being generally fastidious, having a back-up is a pre-occupation of mine. When someone sends me out, at great expense, to make a picture it’s likely that their job as well as my good reputation is on the line. I won’t allow myself to fail, I always deliver. Not one of my clients has ever been disappointed.

Back in the here-and-now, I’ve disappointed myself: I failed to have an adequate back-up in place for some critical business data. What went wrong?

By the time you read this it’s likely to be old news, but Apple had just released it’s latest version of the Macintosh operating system, code named “Leopard.” I like to be at the leading edge of technology so I went to the Apple Store at Short Hills and bought a five-pack of upgrades for all my computers. I took it back to my office and prepared to install the new software.

The first step in upgrading a computer’s operating system is to insure the integrity of your data by first making a back-up of your computer's hard drive. It’s a best practice. In fact, you should always have a recent back-up of your important data, typically once a week.

I sat at my desk and set-up the copying of data files to an external hard drive. I went into the kitchen for a black cherry soda and, though I was only gone for a minute, when I returned something was terribly wrong. The little colored pinwheel icon was spinning but the progress bar was not expanding. Something had stalled.

I clicked on the “stop” button, figured I’d start over. I reselected my files, dragged them into the folder I wanted to transfer to and again the pinwheel spun and nothing happened.

I restarted the computer, heard the tone, saw the Apple logo, got the spinning wheel icon and breathed a sigh of relief, everything seemed to be okay. The good feeling didn’t last very long. The pinwheel kept spinning and spinning and the computer never restarted.

The next step was a no-brainer. I took my computer to the Apple Store and had the Apple Genius run a diagnostic test. The result: my computer's hard drive was toast... well-done... burned to a crispy crunch. My precious data was unrecoverable.

The bad news: I hadn’t done a comprehensive back-up since June and I spent the better part of that week’s downtime re-entering data... and Photoshop still isn’t working properly.

The good news: Leopard has a feature called Time Machine which automatically backs-up your data, I’ll never (?) be in that situation again. It’s embarrassing for a guy who takes pride in being professional. It’s like standing in a motel parking lot in your underwear.

--
Above: Nikon F, 20/4.0 Nikkor lens, Kodachrome 25 film

Another Christmas Dinner

2007-12-25T07:09:00.000-05:00

I'd like to start, today, by wishing all of my Christian friends a Happy Christmas. For most, this Christmas will be topped-off by a really wonderful dinner with family. A veritable feast with traditional foods and everyone goes home stuffed to the gills and ready to make a New Year's Resolution to lose a few pounds, most likely those pounds gained tonight.

A great dinner has to start with great ingredients. In the past year I've become a convert to organic foods. It just seems logical to me that organically grown food is healthier and so I've been shopping at local farmer's markets.

As I'm not making a Christmas dinner tonight, I thought I'd reminisce about Thanksgiving Dinner, the last special holiday meal I've enjoyed with my family. We all went over to my brother Stu's house to tie-on the old feed bag with the whole family, and everyone cooked something and brought it along. My contribution was a sweet potato casserole (with pineapple chunks and topped with apple butter) and roasted carrots and fresh garlic... and it was made with all organic ingredients.

Most of the farmer's markets around here are parking lot affairs where the local farmers come around and set up tables with their goods, and by Thanksgiving these makeshift markets are already gone as most operate from May to October. I suppose I could have gone to the local Whole Foods (supermarket chain) but Thanksgiving Dinner, like Christmas Dinner, has to be somewhat special so I felt compelled to seek out a more enticing venue.

As luck would have it, a good friend of mine mentioned that she knew of an organic farm in Orange County (New York) that she likes and so we hit the road and drove 65 miles to shop at Blooming Hill Farm in Blooming Grove, New York.

Wow! That's a great farm!!

We not only managed to buy everything we needed for our respective dinners, I bought all kinds of stuff to use later in the week and we had lunch at their cafe, too... made a whole day of it. I haven't had so much fun grocery shopping in a long time.

You know, all the men in my family are real good cooks (even my ten and fourteen year-old boys know their way around a stove). My little brother, Dave, can bake as well and his job was cakes and pies for dessert. I'm here to tell you that there's not much that compares to a large family dinner and I've made my New Year's Resolution already... last month!

Anyway, another great feed with the family and, naturally, there are pictures to go with it. I hope you all enjoy your dinner tonight, wherever and with whomever, your holiday or not, and please don't forget to give thanks for all the things we're fortunate enough to enjoy.

--
All above: Canon EOS-5D, 28~105/3.5~4.5 Canon EF Ultrasonic lens, ISO 100

Pay The Writers!

2007-12-16T18:41:00.000-05:00

CHICAGO IL -
I see the screenwriters are still on strike, they went out a few months ago in protest over the studios' refusal to pay for Internet broadcast rights, etc, etc. My friend Mark Beckelman sent me a video at the outset which really pointedly sums-up the writers' complaint, even though it was made some time before the current issue was thrust into the fore by the strike.

The video is an interview with a writer, Harlan Ellison, who's written scores of screenplays and some 70+ novels and other stories. In this video Ellison carps about Warner Brothers' refusal to pay him for an interview that they wanted to distribute..... well, I'll let him tell it.

The most interesting part, for me, is that if you substitute the word photographer for the word writer, you'd have hit on one of my pet peeves.

As the writers' strike is no longer front-page news, here's a little bit to remind you that we're all in the same boat. Pay the writers!

Long Time, No See

2007-12-13T21:07:00.001-05:00

When we last saw our hero it was near about the end of September and he was en route to Chicagoland by car when, somewhere in Michigan, just after sunrise, along US Hwy 12 (westbound) his right front tire blew out causing a slight delay.....

Yes, I was driving to Chicago. I'd left home just around 6:30 PM the night before and I was making really good time. I crossed the Indiana border from Ohio and was headed west on I-90 when I had a great idea: exit the interstate and cruise north to US 12 and take it west. There has to be something a bit more scenic than the Indiana Toll Road. I was right.

It was minutes before sunrise as I drove north from Indiana into Michigan. I'd stopped to size up a cornfield just east of Edwardsburg and pulled off the road. Looking around for a decent image I decided to continue driving. A u-turn from the unpaved shoulder back onto the roadway and I inadvertently nicked the inside sidewall on the sharp edge of the concrete. Must have been a s l o w leak because it was about a half hour later, just east of Niles, Michigan, that another motorist at a traffic light was wildly gesturing at my right front wheel.

I crossed the intersection, pulled over, looked at the wheel and...

Just the week before, in preparation for this road trip, I took my car in for a wheel alignment and tires. Turned out that it was a wheel alignment, tires and a brake job. About $500 more than I'd been prepared to spend.

Fortunately (for me), September had been a good month. There was plenty of money in the checking account and it didn't hurt too bad but I was thinking: by the end of the month, roughly another ten days, I needed to get my car inspected and I knew my mechanic was going to tell me I needed shock absorbers. Didn't want to know what that would cost! Also knew that if I spent more money on the car it would be a good idea to paint it. Didn't want to know what that would cost, either!

I bought a new tire from the guys in the truck stop, continued on to Chicago (and back). Upon arrival at home I drove straight in to Wyman Ford and bought.....

In the three months since the detour I haven't written much here. It doesn't mean I don't have anything to say, just that I've been pre-occupied with a number of things.

Stay tuned, you'll get it all..... soon.

2007-09-11T00:40:00.000-04:00

This Day In History, 2001 (#2)

2007-09-10T06:57:00.001-04:00

Generally speaking, I'm not one to hold a grudge, but this I'll never forget!..... and I have enough pictures of the twin towers to post a different one every September 10th until long after Osama bin Laden is executed!.

Weird Science

2007-09-05T07:15:00.000-04:00

Every so often I'll post a picture here that's not necessarily one of my best, but otherwise significant. This is one of those. Chalk it up to a proud dad moment if you must.....

"Dad, Dad, wanna see a great experiment?" My son Alex blasted through the back door as he came home from school last Friday afternoon, completely buzzed about an experiment he'd seen in his fourth grade science class. "I need you to fill a Zip-loc bag full of water and I need a very sharp pencil," he continued, excitedly.

"Is this going to be messy," I asked? (I have lots of experience with science projects)

"Daaaaaaad, it's so cool!"

The experiment they'd done in science was really a lesson in the properties of water pressure. It's really great to see him excited about school, so I filled a gallon size Zip-loc with water and we went out in the back yard and Alex poked the sharpened pencil s l o w l y through one side of the bag, and then, just as slowly, through the other side of the bag. The water pressure sealed the holes and kept the bag from leaking.

Yes, I thought this was as cool as my nine year-old did (maybe I'm just a bit of a child, too?), and it wasn't very long before I ran off to get my camera. Needless to say, by the time I returned with the camera the bag was on the ground and the water was too, apparently a one gallon bag was too large and too heavy for Alex to hold for too long with wet, slippery hands.

A couple of minutes later we'd tried again with a sandwich size Zip-loc and it wasn't very much longer before Alex had rounded-up every pencil in the house, sharpened them, and began trying the experiment with multiple pencils. The exercise proved safe enough that we'd move indoors, to the kitchen, and continued there. These images were made with available (late afternoon) light through the kitchen window... not far from the sink.

--
Both above: Canon EOS-5D, 28~105/3.5~4.5 Canon EF Ultrasonic lens, ISO 200

False Profit - A Modern Outrage

2007-08-28T11:03:00.000-04:00

Chicago, Aug. 28 - Just when you think it's safe to get out of town (nothing ever happens the last week of August) the entire world melts down around you. With spotty Internet access to boot, it makes the blogging life that much more difficult. So I'm on vacation and one of the biggest blunders in marketing history, right behind new Coke and the 300 page iPhone invoice from AT&T, Modern Postcard, one of our most popular suppliers, offered its customers a new service...

"Modern Postcard Partners with iStockphoto.com! SAVE BIG on over 2 million, royalty-free stock images from iStockphoto. As a Modern Postcard customer, you're entitled to free images, free credits and a 10% discount on any iStockphoto credit bundle over $20. So, skip the expensive photo shoot and create direct mailers with high quality images from iStockphoto.com!"

Skip the expensive photo shoot??? Hey, wait a minute, don't you know who your customers are?????

I think it's fair to say that the bulk of Modern Postcard's customer base is made up of photographers (and illustrators) who print promotional materials specifically to sell high-end creative services... you know, expensive photo shoots! Now, Modern wants to promote us out of business!

I've been a Modern customer for years. The last project I did with them was to create a line of customized Signature Series gift cards (see sample, above right) which I was all set to expand into other, mass-marketable, imagery. Needless to say, I'm looking for another printer.

I'm not the only one. There are many, many disaffected and now former Modern Postcard customers. From what I've read through my e-mail In Box, they've received the proverbial ton of e-mails themselves, and that flood of e-mails caused them to apologize. I don't think it worked.

"Call me a cynic, but does anyone else read [their] 'apology' as ringing more than a bit hollow" asked Ken Hawkins, a photographer from Altanta? "MP doesn't distance themselves from their partnership with iStockphoto, they merely state that they've sent their latest marketing ploy to the wrong target audience. If Modern Postcard actually wants to have that strong relationship with the artistic community they crow about, they should rethink their profiteering association with microstock schemes."

Ken's note epitomizes the response from across the professional photography community. Modern Postcard got so much e-mail on this gaffe that they've, according to an unverified story on PDN's Newswire this morning, canceled their association with iStockphoto.

And to think that I almost missed all the excitement. Good thing I'm not vacationing in remote, exotic Ubetya.

-----

EPILOGUE: This just in from ASMP National Headquarters.....

After conversations with ASMP and other associations, and due to an overwhelming negative response from ASMP members and other photographers, Modern Postcard has decided to sever their newly formed relationship with iStockphoto®. We thank Modern for responding quickly and with consideration for their important photographer client base.

Also, we thank all of you who participated in this grass roots effort.

In their press release Modern writes:

“We recognize the challenges that face professional photographers today,” states Steve Hoffman, president of Modern Postcard. “It is our intent to support the entire photographic community as well as the other businesses we serve by developing solutions that benefit both.” The company will explore appropriate solutions in conjunction with the industry, including establishing an active steering committee comprised of trade groups, photographers and other industry leadership.

Discussions have already begun with ASMP in this regard.

-----

So, does this mean they're off the hook for their egregious behavior? I wouldn't count on it. The handwriting's on the wall, Modern Postcard cares little for their core customers. I'll bet they find another way to partner with a similar organization and next time they simply won't be so stupid as to e-mail us about it.