Shots and Thoughts

Photos and comments as I explore my passion for photography. Written to and for myself as a journal to track major moments and minor observations as I continue to evolve my visual art.

SF Magnum Workshop with Matt Black

Update: A nice feature of a "4am | Japan" photo over on the Magnum Photo site, thanks Matt!

Last weekend I spent two days in a Magnum Photo workshop focused on long term projects. About 36 photographers attended in SF and we had five main instructors: Matt Black, Shannon Simon, Leo Jung, Jacqueline Bates and Judy Walgren.

Matt is a well known and respected photographer (Time Magazine Instagram Photographer of the Year 2014) who is from the central valley in California. He is on a path documenting his immediate environment often including the migration of farm workers from Mexico to California and back. This has lead to a much bigger project "Geography of Poverty" where he has crossed the USA four times telling the local stories of families below the official poverty line. He is a deep guy and really committed to the narrative. Take a moment and check him out here.

Did I say committed? His trips last between 2 weeks and 2+ months, often going back multiple times. When you think, ALL IN, this is it.

Lauren Heinz from Magnum NYC was the workshop leader and organizer, the event held at SF Camerwork on Market Street. Excellent job keeping the class on schedule and the space was large, well lit and perfect for this kind of event. Lauren is working on other education classes for Magnum as they rollout new workshops.

Shannon Simon, Director of the Americas and Content Director, Magnum Photos started off the sessions discussing her view of long term projects, with a good dialouge on the operational realities of getting a project completed and published.

Matt was up next and took us though some of his portfolio as he discussed finding an authentic project and his thoughts on publishing directly to the viewers through social media.

After lunch Leo Jung and Jacqueline Bates from The California Weekend Magazine gave us a glimpse into the work and focus it took to get a new magazine published. Super cool as they have made photography and design key elements in the story telling. Check it out here.

The day ended with Judy Walgren, most recently from the SF Chronicle and now with SF start up ViewFind. She shared her career path and what it has taken to adapt as a photographer over these last 30 years. Super valuable when you think about the future and long term projects. More about ViewFind here.

We also got to participate in two 1x1 portfolio reviews on day two, I brought 20 large prints from the "4am | Japan" project. Also nice to sit in on another dozen reviews, always good to see new work in combination with top flight feedback.

First 1x1 review was with Shannon and she had asked the "why" question, resulting in a good discussion of where I am headed. She had some good insights on publishing and encouraged me to send in the book when completed. Overall she liked the project and work. She also asked what is the next project, tougher to answer.

Second review was with Matt which was also very positive. He comes from a reportage background but appreciated my "poetic" fictional project. He had some good comments about distance in my shooting and adding a few more personal touches.

Another blog post soon with specific comments and class notes. A great investment in time and my preparation helped the reviewers see my scope and focus of my project. And of course pleasing when top flight professionals dig your work.

Pro tip: With long term projects, good constructive feedback is invaluable as it is inevitable the work evolves through the shooting, editing and publishing process.

Executive Portraits

Brad joined Vanessa (@pfox35) and I at the Japantown Studio this week and we got new executive portraits for him. A delight to work with, smart guy with ambitions short and long term.

We got a good range of looks, from casual to coat and tie. White background, grey background, studio lighting, natural light, new passport shot, etc. All good, all part of my top shelf offering.

And every guy deserves a few cool shots too! Fun with these dramatic black and white looks, really a crossover to my personal work.

Pro Tip: Bring a range of wardrobe, it really helps on these portraits. Brad was open to coaching and it showed in our final shots together. Shooting tethered makes all this happen easily. And the Black Magic Tee Shirt did its job!

Leica SF Gallery Reception

Leica SF had a fun gallery reception on Friday Jan 27 for an exhibit featuring prints by Henri Cartier-Bresson. Arguably the best known early photographer using a Leica set up, also a co founder of the Mangnum Photo Agency. Most photographers have enjoyed at some point in their career.

Pro tip: I meet my friend Faran there and between the two of us we knew a lot of the people, maybe 300+ attended. The photos were all 16x20 then matted and framed, priced between $25K-$30K, maybe viewed as a steal in 50 years?

PhotoFairs San Francisco

I had a chance to attend the inaugural PhotoFair San Francisco on Friday January 27 at Fort Mason. Many prominent photo galleries were represented from NYC, London, Shanghai, Beiing, etc. It looked like the focus was to match beuatiful (expensive) work with private client art buyers. As a bonus I ran into a dear friend Debra Reabock, so sweet to meet again.

The size of the exhibit was impressive.

Pro tip: I have been focused lately on the world of PUBLISHING and this is one of many examples. Bigger is usually better. Top notch print. Beautiful frame and matte. Thinking through as a final product. These prints were interesting as each was a stand alone piece of art, different from my book sequencing approach. Photos that stand on their own. Full circle! Also the artist statement plays a role to connect the work with the intent and backstory, maybe resulting in an emotional attachment for the viewer.

Kids and Pets

Kids and pets are so fun to photograph, but can be a challenge. Rob and Max came over to the studio today and we had a great time, a delight to work with.

Pro tip: We shot on a white and grey backdrop and then went outside for another set up. Good to get a range of looks!

Joel Meyerowitz

I enjoy studying the work of master photographers, tonight it was watching video of Joel Meyerowitz a NYC street photographer. He discussed the growth and development of his own photography style with reflections from 60 years behind the camera.

I will copy from my friend Eric Kim as he summarized a striking point Joel made:

"I’m going to go on record here—when I think about my photographs, I understand that my interest all along has not been in identifying a singular thing. But in photographing the relationship between things. The unspoken relationships, the tacit relationship—all of these variables are there if you choose to see in this way. But if you choose to only make objects out of singular things you will end up shooting the arrow into the bull’s-eye all the time, and you will get copies of objects in space.”

Meyerowitz expands on the importance of relationships in his images:

“I didn’t want copies of objects—I wanted the ephemeral connections between unrelated things to vibrate. And if my pictures work at all, at their best—they are suggesting these tenuous relationships. And that fragility is what is so human about them. And I think its what is in the ‘romantic tradition’—it is a form of humanism that says we’re all part of this together. I’m not just a selector of objects.

And there are plenty photographers who are great—but only work in the object-reality frame of reference. They collect things. And I don’t see myself as a collector. That’s how I’m different from others—its not a judgment, but a sense of my own identity. For me the play is always in the potential. It’s like magnetism.”

The point that really hit home for me was the distinction of "collecting" copies of objects vs. photographing the "relationship" between objects. This is me moving from a solid/good/great portraits and snapshot photo style to a more mature view of objects/time/space and maybe even emotions. It is really the relationship vs the object.

Pro tip: I need to think then act on the above. But first maybe reflect as I have never seen this stated so clearly: "collecting" copies of objects vs. photographing the "relationship" between objects.

Holga in the House

Time for some fun! I will try shooting 120 film on my new glow in the dark Holga.

Pro tip: This is a "just for fun" camera but I think might help jump start my film goals in 2017. Google Holga cameras if you want the interesting backstory.

From Head to Heart

My friend Ruben joined in the studio this week and we spent three hours on my "4am | Japan" project. He was kind enough to review and comment on all 66 images, reviewed the marketing and pricing, timelines, etc. but the BEST part was a deep personal discussion on what I am I saying through my photography, what this specific project means and where am as an artist and photographer.

I am still processing the conversation but here are some notes I took:

What is my point of view for the project and in general for me as an artist?

How do you move a viewer from Appreciation to Attachment?

What is my personal story and how does it bridge to my work?

How do you move a viewer from Head to Heart?

Artist Personal Statement

Invitation to the viewer to join the experience (maybe via intro 4am video)

My message is unique, authentic

Pro tip: A deep meaningful conversation with Ruben, I might update this post as I reflect. The biggest take away was "how to" move the viewer from Head to Heart and my "owning" my work as an artist, from top to bottom.

John Lowell Hall, using the medium of photography to express and share his point of view.

Japantown Studios

2017 starts off with some fun in the Japantown Studio as Antonio needs a new head shot for work and social media.

Pro tip: We got a range of images but I always think a darker jacket like this works well for guys. A fun session together usually results in great shots.

Post Processing

Sometimes I get asked how much post processing I do on my photos. The answer is "not much" as I shoot a lot and don't use photoshop at all. Just a few tweaks in Lightroom, minimal if no cropping.

The above shot straight out of camera, the below after my edits.

Pro tip: My best shots require the least tweaking. Also key is to work the scene. For the above set up I shot 35 shots, interestingly like a roll of film!

A 60 year old Leica Lens

I have had fun shooting a 60 year old Leica 50mm 2.0 lens. Has a real vintage feel to the focus tab and also the images. Soft, beautiful light fall off, vignetteing, etc. Looks like film, interesting to see how much the lens impacts an image. In today's world images are expected to be razor sharp, I get that for commercial work. But this has a little wabi-sabi vibe to it which I dig. I also tried to match the post processing to the vintage feel. Shot with yellow filter. Thanks to Na for being a great model, looking good!

Pro tip: Shooting an older lens on a newer digital camera gets pretty close to the film vibe. Attached to the Leica MD and you have the same flow as film.

Winter Beach Day

In-between storms I drove over to Santa Cruz for a day of shooting. A beautiful day, the sea breeze was refreshing and it was good to get out shooting.

Pro tip: This was a good example of how pleasurable the day was outside, off the computer regardless if I got any keeper shots. Do this more, schedule it.

It's a Hose. With a Nozzle. Cool.

Right it's a hose. With a nozzle. In Black and White. Shot on Film. That makes it cool?

Pro tip: OK for 2017 let's get a little more serious about having fun with film.

Window Shopping

I saw this book store in Kyoto crammed with hundreds of used books. Bless the Japanese for still adoring printed material, including photographs. Then I waited for some one to come into the frame via reflection.

Pro tip: I took 235 shots that day as I walked around for 3-4 hours. From that I had 10 shots that were fun and just this one that really worked. The insight here is you have to take a lot of shots, at least I do!

She left quickly without looking back

One of my favorite images from my last Kyoto trip. She was in a phone booth with a textured glass partition. I got about 5 quick shots as she departed.

Pro tip: Shooting through screens, windows, dirty glass can make a shot more "open" and for me more interesting. Not seeing her face but a glimpse of her figure as she departs lets the viewer write their own unique story. This also gives a timeless feeling to the shot.

Zone Focus

With the Leica rangefinder it is all manual focus, in fact I use manual for all my settings on the Leica. This is part of the fun and challenge with shooting essentially 1950's technology. But this can be frustrating with street shots as the action is quick. I have found that zone focusing works well, although best in bright light to keep at f8 or f16. I also use ISO of 3200, delighted with a little grain.

Pro tip: This shot happened in a split second, I need to be dialed in on the camera to anticipate these moments. As I move, so does the light, thus new settings.

Three

As my photography evolves I am interested in more complex photos, thus favoring the 28mm lens as it captures the context of the photo. Odd (vs. even) count images usually have a stronger visual impact.

Pro tip: I need to step back about 3 feet as I usually go tight for the shot. Here backing up made for a more interesting shot.

Mother and Child

Just finished a fun family shoot (including kids and dogs!) and we got some super shots. Nothing beats the bond between mother and child. Although grandpa/ma and kids are pretty close.

Pro tip: Flexibility with the weather and planning for the shoot are key, having some backup ideas and locations makes good sense.

Kansas City

A quick trip to see my father in Kansas City, lucky no snow yet! We stopped in at WalMart for some shopping then lunch together. He is doing pretty well for 88.

Pro tip: Dont forget to shoot the three key images: wide, tight, real tight.

Pets Need Photos Too!

Martini is now 17 years old, still looking good for her annual holiday photo.

Pro tip: Kids, pets shoot a lot, as much as they can handle. It helped for this shot to have a dedicated pedestal to place her on. Such a sweetie!