Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Photo Portfolio Review

Popular Photography magazine offered to review up to 10 photos for $100, so I sent 10 and 100. Here's the review I got back from Laurence ChenChen is a contributing editor and photographer who writes each month's Creative Thinking column for Popular Photography magazine. He received an MA in Photography from Ohio University and was an adjunct professor at Seattle Pacific University. (www.laurencechen.com). 

Because you’ve indicated in the questionnaire that you’re interested in many styles or subject matter, it’s not clear where you intend to go with your imagery, so I hope these comments are somewhat helpful, if only to show you how someone else puts language to your work. Thanks again for sharing and I wish you well in your visual explorations.
(Note: His review also included advice on marketing photos, some creative devices to try and some photographers to check out.)

Great use of the super-wide, fisheye lens, although I find it odd that the camel’s feet are in focus but the grass is not, particularly on the left side. And then there’s that tuft of grass around the front right hoof… Some post-processing here to help make the animal pop out? If so, I think you need to blend the focus fall-off more smoothly as this looks fake. Anyway, a nice composition with the head, eye and teeth against a sparse plain. The complementary mood and color sets a nice tone.



My eye is drawn to the tree trunk first and it’s a little blown out on my monitor. With nothing there as a pay-off, I next settle on the burst of color in the red and green leaves. Nice quiet composition, great light, and subtle beauty. The curves of the trunks in the lower right really appeal to me, along with the understated initials carved in the opposite trees. A quiet scene worth investigating.



One of my favorite types of photographs is the winter landscape with bright colors against blue skies and clouds. Lovely pop of color although it appears a bit enhanced compared to the shaded red rocks in the middle background. Otherwise a classic composition and lighting. Probably would make a great poster or large print to command someone’s living room wall.
(Note: The colors in this January shot were a bit dull, so I boosted the orange and blue in ColorEfex to be closer to a deep sunset shot I had taken in October.)




One of your more interesting shots to my eye: The way the blurred branches and leaves paint a swath of color around the focal point, and the leading lines and balance of the Japanese (?) bell in the background all work beautifully. The texture of the roof lines also complements the texture of the branch/leaf lines too.
(Note: I touched up some blown-out spots on a couple of leaves in Photoshop, but this is otherwise as shot.)
 

Ah, dreamy landscape conquered by man’s creations. Your compositions are classically strong with visual centers following the rule of thirds. Nice pop of color here, and the turbines help make it all feel “modern.” I wish there were a bit more drama with the lone train engine as the scene is a bit static, but that’s another nitpick.



This shot would be a great illustration in a magazine for oil rigs and/or farming. Unlike the train shot I just mentioned, the blurred motion of the oil rig against the sunset is what makes the shot, along with the clouds and overall silhouette. The negative space on top is perfect for headline, dek and other magazine dressings.




This shot unfortunately appears almost totally blown out on my monitor. I can see your classic composition at work, however, and the tranquility of the scene. Hard to say anything about the mood given the almost white scene, unfortunately.




Image number eight is a well-framed snapshot. If you were to consider something like it for stock sales, you would probably need morning or afternoon light, and the goat would need to be doing something besides resting; something interactive with something in the environment.




The piano tuner is another classically composed shot, straight-forward and literal. I would prefer more separation between the lamp in the background and the man’s head. Light is flattering and the backlight a nice way of adding some drama to the scene. This is a competent newspaper feature story kind of photo. I am indifferent to the color toning you’ve chosen.



A clean sports photo but lacking in drama or tension: an editor once told me a good sports shot has two faces and a ball. Well, cycling lacks the ball aspect but regardless it’s one of the more difficult sports to photograph if one seeks to capture the energy and motion that is cycling (spoken as a cyclist). What’s missing here is more context to give the rider an environment that suggests his story. Perhaps that is the thing I could suggest you think about as you improve: how to see elements in your framing that suggest a story or a relationship. Your technical skills with static (non-moving) subjects don’t seem to be lacking, so finding ways of seeing that involve the visual subject with its foreground/background might be a challenge that would interest you.\


Postscript: I sent an email to PopPhoto thanking them for the fine review. They asked if they could quote me in an upcoming ad and email blast. I said, Sure. Today I (and thousands of others) received this: 



Friday, March 9, 2012

Salt Lake City Trax Day and Night

Here are some pictures of the sights around the Salt Lake City Trax trains, a couple during the day and some at night.
This mural is on the west side of the tracks at 3030 South. 



I took this on Sunday morning. When I arrived, several UTA maintenance trucks were parked along the cement barrier at the end of the street, and a gate in the fence was open. Five or six workers came through the gate, and I mentioned that they had a large crew. One guy said, "Yeah, next Sunday is switch inspection." The switch at the end of the street looked freshly painted. 



I think the man in the mural is Polynesian. 



Stupid Trax Workers
Randy and I came back Monday to take some night photos with the trains streaking past the mural. This was the last picture I got, because some persnickety train drivers possibly complained to someone, and two maintenance workers in two pickup trucks zoomed down our dead-end street with their high-beam headlights and bright rooftop lights flashing (similar to police lights but white). At first I thought they were transit police, especially after one cop kicked me off a cement barrier near 53rd South a few weeks ago, "Because every train driver is going to call me and tell me that someone is about to jump in front of the train," even though 20 feet of dirt and weeds separated me and a heavy chain-link fence that separated people and the tracks.  

The maintenance workers on Monday told us that my little built-in camera flash (Randy didn't use his) was blinding the train drivers (as if these workers' lights weren't 60 times brighter* and shining at the trains while they yacked at us--and the trains themselves have three blinding headlights that the drivers face all night long). 

Despite their ridiculous complaint, we apologized and started packing up our cameras and tripods, but one worker wasn't satisfied. He gave me three or four lectures about how dangerous we were making life for the Trax people. Right, like they're going to swerve the trains off the tracks because of a little flash. I continued to put my camera away and didn't respond to his rants. Then he said, "We have you blocked in, and the transit authorities are on their way." 

It's true that their trucks had us blocked in. It wasn't true that transit police were coming, because we hadn't done anything illegal. These bozos also had no authority to be holding us against our will. Can you see a lawsuit against UTA? I could. And so could the second worker. He convinced the first worker that they should leave about that time. So they did. 

The workers also didn't realize the danger they put themselves in while trying to be big-shot authorities. Because that part of South Salt Lake at night is not the safest part of town, I had a 9mm semiauto handgun in my jacket pocket. When the workers first approached us, they walked down the passenger side of my SUV to talk to Randy. They never even saw me as I was walking up the driver's side to talk to them. I ended up behind them, which startled the ranter. They were lucky we were just a couple of guys taking pictures. 

I sent a complaint to UTA that night. 

*I calculated later that my camera's max output was about 102 lumens at the trains' distance, and the two trucks were putting out about 6,208 lumens.



An indoor soccer game next to the Trax station at 13th South. 



A building-side mural next to the Trax station on 13th South. 



Incoming train (no flash used here).