Every year, a new generation of neophyte photographers become victims of nomenclature — mistakenly assuming that wide angle lenses are an ideal choice for photographing wide, scenic vistas. As an obsessive neologist, I examine how wide angle lenses are actually used, and wrestle with what designers should have named them.
On the afternoon of February 28th, in the final event of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, the Canadian men's hockey team beat the USA in a nail-biting, overtime gold medal game. If this country was a living organism, hockey would be its heart. It's a home grown sport that touches everyone who lives here. Canada is a nation of immigrants, but hockey unites us all. It's a passion that welcomes everyone and excludes nobody. It doesn't discriminate by age, nationality, religion, race, nor political view. The United Nations can only dream about this kind of harmony. When this country grants you citizenship, you must swear to uphold the principles of democracy, freedom and compassion. And this you do — through hockey.
With precipitation levels low and the temperatures high, Vancouver's cherry trees welcomed February with a display of delicate pink blossoms that, in years past, remained hidden until April. In marked contrast to most of the Northern Hemisphere, winter never arrived here, and spring has already sprung. It's a glorious time to be in Vancouver, save for one nagging little fact — we're hosting the winter Olympics.
Its inevitability has, for a decade now, been forced into my consciousness and my subconsciousness. It's become a part of my Id, my Ego, and my Super-Ego. Its costs, benefits, politics and promise have permeated local news outlets since I first moved to Vancouver at the dawn of the 21st century. "It" is the XXI Olympic Winter Games and, in four days, "it" finally arrives in my downtown neighbourhood — on the very streets that I traverse each and every day.
This photo-laden article displays several previously unpublished photos from 2009 and invites the readers to tell me what they do with their own orphaned, unpublished images. It discusses the philosophy behind the ULTRAsomething photography blog, and why I try to achieve a balance between equipment reviews and articles designed to help photographer's develop their own "soul" and style.
Those of us who photograph the human experience spend 364 days a year trying to be 'the invisible man.' But for one glorious day each calendar year, we street photographers can drop our disguise, emerge from the shadows, and proudly hold our cameras aloft. All Hallows Eve is our night. Halloween is, quite frankly, the easiest pickins a street photographer can get. It's our Labor Day, Christmas, and Thanksgiving all rolled into one.
"We humans are quick to embrace new technologies, aesthetics, techniques and trends. We are equally adept at discarding the old ones. And, while few of us would choose to live in the past, its wanton abandonment comes with a heavy price — ignorance." This article discusses why Black & White photography is still relevant.
Cameras have an odd psychological effect on me. They have a way of heightening one form of reality, while diminishing others. With my camera in hand, I'm singularly focused on creating the perfect image — one with the potential to entertain, enlighten, inform, or influence those who view it. When I'm on assignment, everything in front of me is filtered through my eyes as if it were already a photograph. Realtime is no longer time at all, but a series of contact sheets from which I'm choosing the images I want to preserve. The result is that non-photographic impulses fail to trigger proper cognition and, subsequently, adequate defenses. This is what I call "the mythical invisible shield." And this article discusses how to use it to your advantage.
In this article, I discuss why a rangefinder is ideal for street shooting and, as such, why a street photographer might actually consider a return to film.
Do you love your SLR? You must not be a "street" photographer. Do you love that little portable enthusiast camera with the faux rangefinder stylings? You, too, must not be a "street" photographer. In this, the first of a five part series, I discuss what I expect from a street photography camera, and why neither the SLR nor the enthusiast cameras have worked for me.
