My Favorite Subjects

Everyone has their favorite subjects to photograph. For some it's
nature, for others the cityscape. Our favorite photography subject
says a lot about who we are as a person, what peaks our interest and
what grabs our attention. Even diverse photographers will often have a
consistent theme to their work throughout changing subject matter.
When I look though my photographs over the past few years, I am struck
by the amount of photos I have of my two favorite subjects: my two
dogs! I am constantly trying to capture their lovely little
personalities in my photographs. For every nice picture I have of
them, I have ten that didn't work because they looked away or stopped
doing the things they were doing as soon as I approached them with a
camera. I've found a few tricks that helps me with my guys; here are a
few:

1. Try to take the photograph from your pet's point of view; instead
of standing and angling your camera down at your pets, try and get on
your hands and knees or even your belly.
2. Take photographs using natural light. Their fur stays truer to
their natural coloring, and you don't have to use a flash, which can
upset some pets (My doggies don't like it).
3. Stay positive and upbeat, give lots of praise and pets. If your pet
is getting bored or frustrated give them a break; it's hard to capture
their personality when they are not in a good mood.
4. When possible, remove collars and leashes to get a pic of your pet
au naturel. This ONLY applies when you are in a securely fenced area
and there is no chance of your pet getting loose. It is not worth the
risk to your pet's well being to do so otherwise.

When I look as my photos of my dogs through the years, I can see the
passage of time. I can see my little guy passing through his puppy
stage, his scruffy  adolescence with freakishly large paws and no
grace to speak of. I see my little girl in all the silly sweaters and
costumes I've made her wear. I see my house become a home, and us
become a family.

Mid Winter Inspiration

The few good shots I have of snow seem to be from film.I find winter to be a really hard time to photograph. Don't get me wrong- I think it can be a beautiful season, in fact, it's been my favorite for as long as I can remember. It just doesn't grab me and scream "get out your camera" like the other seasons.

For one, I'm bad at photographing snow. I could probably remedy that with practice and a search online for tips, but then the second reason comes barreling out at me- winter makes me lazy. Unless you are super human, you probably get that feeling too. Short days, long nights, cold, slush... It's the perfect mix to make me wish I could hibernate for most of the winter months.

I can't just waste the winter, though, as tempting as it sometimes seems. Instead I try my best to find a little inspiration where I can. A google search sometimes helps, and this time I found something to share with all of you; a website called sh1ft.org

If you are tired of the same old photo project, then you might find something new here. They've got project ideas such as "a day in the life", "26 things" and "quick snap". All the ideas are great, and as a bonus, people share links to their blog, flickr etc. Sharing our progress makes it easier to obtain our goals! Plus, it's fun to see the different things other people come up with.

Do you think you'll be participating in any of these? Or do you have a project of your own that you're working on? Drop us a comment with a link, photo, or suggestion, we'd love to see what everyone is up to!

Camera Obscura- A Rainy Day Project Revisited

In early 2010, long before I worked at the store full time, Erin posted a blog about camera obscura. 

I had been keeping up with APS on facebook for some time and I found this post particularly intriguing, especially the part about the matchbox pinhole camera. I followed the links and decided to build one for myself and test it out.  I know the blog was written some time ago, but I’ve been sitting on the pictures I took without sharing them with anyone so I figured why not do it now.

Here are some shots I took that I liked best.  The exposure times ranged from one-second to 2 hours.  One thing I noticed was where the author indicated to make the pinhole very small, they meant really small.  I thought my pinhole was tinier than they recommended, but smaller still would have given a sharper image.

Regardless of the results I had a good time building the camera and using it.  I strongly recommend trying pinhole photography and I plan on doing it again soon.  Below are some photos I took with my matchbox camera with the exposure times written below each image.

1 second exposure

10 minute exposure

 10 minute exposure, I held as still as I could

10 second exposure

 

 10 second exposure

 10 second exposure

Roughly 2 hour exposure

Anoter 10 minute exposure, I blundered taking the film out, but still kind of liked the photo.

Photographer's Profile: Martin Parr

Martin Parr (b. 1952) is a British photo journalist and documentary photographer whose CV includes 80 exhibitions and 50 published books. First recognized for his black and white work, he switched to colour in the mid-80's. The Last Resort (1986), Parr's photo essay documenting a shabby seaside resort in New Brighton, was berated by some critics as "cruel" and lauded by others as a stunning satire.

In the early 90's Parr pointed his camera at English suburbia in Signs of the Times: A Portrait of the Nation's Tastes(1992). In this series he reveals the kitschy, dismally mundane interiors of the British middle class which brought the same observations from audiences as his previous work. These images, while sometimes verging on the depressing, reveal Parr's dry humour towards his native country. This sentiment is visible throughout his other works. Bored Couples (1993) is a classic example as well as his collections Boring Photographs (2000) and Boring Postcards (2000).

Ring-flashes, macro lenses and highly saturated colours also help to magnify the garishness of his subject matter. Not that he hasn't turned the camera on himself. Autoportrait (2000) offers up all the tourist portraits that Parr posed for on his travels around the world. These "self-portraits" are teeming with irony but also reveal a certain fondness for the tackiness of it all. Personally I'd like to think that Parr's photographs are not meant to be a vicious attack on modern British culture but maybe a just gentle poking-fun.

"Parr's work brings photojournalism into the realm of art, and his special gift lies in his ability to focus  an unflinching eye on everyday life in all its banal absurdity and pretension." -Robert Ayers, ARTINFO

To see more of Martin Parr's work visit his website www.martinparr.com or his blog http://www.martinparr.com/blog/

Valentines Day is Coming!

Here's another great idea!