The Anatomy of Inspiration...or how a giant yellow tube can inspire.

Anyone who knows me knows I've been building and shooting pinholes and custom cameras for quite some time.  You might also know that I have been involved with the people at Lenox Laser since winning the grand prize in their first ever pinhole competition in 2001 with a recovered type 55 shot of the Great Hall in Chicago Union Station.  That image was made with a homemade super wide-angle 4x5 camera with a Lenox pinhole.  Unfortunately that camera was dissembled and the parts used elsewhere when Polaroid Type 55 hit $100.00 a box!

But none of that really matters because I want to share how the Lenox Hi-Contrast DSLR cap came to be.  Around this time last year my friend Greg Solyar called me to see if I wanted to come and be the Keynote speaker at the Industrial Institute of Optics first  annual Pinhole Seminar in 2012.  I was honored to be asked and started preparing my presentation as soon as I got off the phone.  My talk explored how alternative forms of photography have found their way into mainstream editorial and advertising photography.  It can be viewed by clicking here if you are interested; mom watched my entire talk (all five videos) and thought they were nifty!

In preparation of the seminar, owner Joe d’Entremont and optical engineer Greg Solyar sent me the latest version of the Lenox lens cap to play with which like all of their products, is beautifully built and at the core is fitted with the very best of pinholes available.  So I set out to create a set of samples to share with the audience. 

Using a pinhole with a digital camera creates a uniquely different and look and feel than you would get shooting on a 4x5 and 8x10.  For a long time I've thought that 4x5 is the ideal format for pinhole photography largely due to its sharpness and natural fall-off on wider cameras creating a natural vignette you can almost touch and feel.  With manufactures producing less and less sheet film, professional labs waning and Fuji's pending 20% price increase hanging on is really only prolonging its demise.  Before you email a nasty-gram, I know there will always be a film shooting sec that may or may not outlive me, but the practically of shooting film is just no longer there at least for most of us.

So enter,  the completely ADD friendly lens cap pinhole.  The idea nothing new, I tried this on my first digital camera but quickly returned the parts to wherever I absconded them from once I saw the painful results.  The image overflowed with digital noise because of the early digitals cameras poor (or I like the word anemic here) ability to handle long exposures.  Coupled with its small APS sized sensor, you were left with a blurry nondescript image that did not look or feel unique in any particular way. 

This changed as todays cameras have amazing high ISO abilities and full frame sensors.  In fact the most current of Canons offerings looks too good with their superior noise suppression at high ISOs and longer exposures.  In fact, the low light ability and grain structure of the older 5d MKII complement the look of the pinhole perfectly making it my ideal choice for digital pinhole photography.

So how did the cap improve and what's this talk about the yellow pipe of inspiration?  Below is the picture that changed everything.  I was out shooting with the Lenox cap while the kids were across the way playing Gaga Ball.  I photographed various stuff in the park including the newly installed yellow piping protection layer on the outfield wall.  On a bright sunny day, I thought it should be nice and bright, a perfect subject for some dramatic images.  

It wasn’t until I printed some of the shots that I really noticed the dramatic increase in sharpness, as the pipe got right up to the camera.  Hmmmm, that's particular, it's as if I had the lens board too far away from the film plane or had focused right to the front of the camera.  

A simple solution would be to bring the lens closer to the film, play with a lens on your camera and you will see what I’m talking about.  Easy with a normal lens but a bit more challenging with a pinhole cap.

So after a glass of wine and a bit of drill pressing and super gluing, I had a completely functioning prototype that looked like the one to the right.

Here is how the much more polished (and now available) high-end Lenox version looks.  

Looking at the calendar you can still have one delivered before Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day on the 28th of April. 

Participate with a high-end Lenox cap or a Quaker oatmeal box like the one my dad built with me so many years ago but get out and enjoy some timeless lo-fi photography. When you complete your masterpiece share your work on the WWPD website here.    

Over spring break we took the very long way to St. Louis via Peer Marquette Illinois.  We had a great time at the lodge, ate ourselves silly, zip-lined and explored the area.  Here are some vacation pics shot with the new Canon 24-70 f/2.8 II.  I was really skeptical of its over 2K price tag, so look for a full review shortly.  Here is a sneak peek of some of the images, enjoy!

the Alton Bridge

The Melvin Price Lock and Dam also in Alton

I've always thought Matt Siber's Floating Logos project is cool, so here is my 'reverse-Siber' as found in a gas station along the way.

In the Ring

This past Sunday, I backed up the ring photographer at the New Traditions Riding Academy Spring Horse Show. In addition to having a great time and making some fun images, my son earned his first Blue Ribbon, go John!

i Wonder...

Hostess and Wonder Bread delivery trucks awaiting liquidation after bankruptcy filings.

Reversing the negative

Some inverted shots of fine art photographer Richard Misrach's negative images at this years SPE.

A negative (but quite positive actually) Misrach can been seen at the podium in the lower left corner.

SPE Day 1, a couple of Martins and a Richard

Martin Parr getting ready for his keynote

Martin Parr front and center

Richard Kelly

'I'm creating fiction out of reality'

'The thing that I miss about Britain when I'm away is a cup of tea and a bit of irony'

Martin Parr

Bridges, well viaducts actually...

 

Finally shot the 55 to 355 exchange I've been wanting to shoot for awhile, still lovin' the 6D!

revisiting the Sunny 16 rule

Thought that I would share a document that I just finished up that goes into detail about 
Basic Daylight Exposure (BDE) or as most know it, the Sunny 16 rule.  It is complete with 
charts, graphs and very cool old Kodak data sheet art like this one below.  

click here to read the four-page document

Enjoy!

Dirk

Happy Holidays...

...from the suburbs.

with only minutes to spare...

...before the apocalypse, I got in a couple test shots with my new Canon 6D. 

Under Watch

Here is an image I made while in St. Louis for an ongoing project about the abundance of security cameras creating reams of data of our mundane daily lives.

Remembering the Twinkie

In between worrying about the Blue Man Group's pending adaptation after losing the Twinkie (click here and go to 2:04) and screening my favorite Twinkie product placement, I remembered that a little while back the twin yellow snack cakes made their way to my macro lens and ringlite for my ongoing project Fast Foods. 

While at the time, for whatever reason, I didn't feel like the shot was as strong as the others, I would be remiss if it weren't included in the project now with all the press the little rubbery snacks are commanding.

Election day.

Reflections on Filter Photo Festival Chicago

I've spent the last couple of days reflecting about my (unfortunately limited) time I spent at the Filter Photo Festival Chicago, and I can't figure out why it had such a profound impact on me.

I think it boils down to this: photography, like no other industry, is made up of lone wolves.  While we can be quite clicky at times, in the end it is everyone for themselves.  As photographers, we live in silos.  Commercial, freelance and assignment photographers are the worst, especially in a down-turned economy.  We have a staple or mainstay of clients (or at least a single one) that we don't want to loose.  We feel that if our peers know who we are shooting for they might drop them an email or a postcard or who know what is next.

Where does that get us as a group and as a profession?  This behavior won't get us far, that much we already know.  As a Department Chairman of a Commercial Photography Program for the last eight years, I can quickly think of at least a half dozen photographers who have hung up their spurs and closed shop.  I'm happy they have turned to us to donate their once coveted equipment, but every single time I see a piece of gear, use it, or mention it to a student, I'm reminded of what a delicate balancing act our young photographers need to perform to be successful, let alone just stay afloat once they leave our relatively safe walls. 

As a second-generation photographer, I can say with 100% certainty that yesterday's solutions (heck, even today's solutions) will not work in the future.  The young photographers that are gaining a footing in what seems like quicksand share some traits.  I don't want to get off track or miss my main point so I'll just mention them and move on:

1. Passion, They ooze it, they literally live, breath and sleep photography, if you are not this passionate about photography, then get out now and find what does wake you up each morning.   There are easier ways to make a living.

2. Technical mastery of their tools, if they (still) shoot film they shoot it well and for a specific and profound reason.   They are not Lomo hipsters riding out a fad.  If they are shooting digital then they understand their particular process and workflow from concept to capture to output, nothing is happenstance or teased out in post.

3. They are social and vocal, and not just online.  They know how talk about their work and the work of others.  More importantly they do it.   They get out of the silo, come up from the basement darkroom or down from the attic workstation to go do just that...and often.

That is it; there are more similarities but I want to stop here to keep on point.

One of the many photographers I follow is documentary photographer Daniel Milnor via his blog Smogranch.  In a recent posting he spoke about brilliant multimedia artist Jeff Frost.  If you don't know his work, look it up, it's truly fascinating.  Milnor talks how his eyes have been opened by spending time with other artists, painters and sculptures and less time talking to other photographers.  He feels in doing so, it helps broaden horizons and refines insights to the world.    You don't have to run to your local arts center.  I would be happy if you got up and talked to photographers but lots of them.  Which brings me back to Filter photo...

I sat on the board of the Chicago Chapter of ASMP for eight years, I believe strongly in what ASMP stands for and how they approach the business of our industry.   Everyone in our industry should belong to a trade group or organization, if nothing else to support the ongoing lobby efforts and solid business education they provide back to the industry.  I'm a huge supporter of ASMP.   My father was the second president of ASMP in St. Louis and I literally grew up around it.  However, I mistakenly spent eight years sitting in the back room of the now defunct Lab One in search of inspiration and comradery with other like-minded individuals and all I got was pissing and moaning from my peers and elders.

It was legitimate.  Most of the bitching surrounded day rates, clients, the state of the industry, which, in all honesty was warranted.  However, for the cost of parking downtown (twice a month) and the time away from my young boys and wife I was literally looking for love in the wrong place.

So my recent feeling of euphoria and discovery all stemmed from a dinner and two lectures, that's all.  I barely scratched the surface of what Filter Photo Chicago had to offer, which is a lot.  Around the edges of each event were conversations that were rich in inspiration and full of mental and physical imagery.  Conversations, even short ones, that made you want to go grab a camera and go shoot something.

It is events like these that will cultivate your own work and help propel it and you forward.  The ability to develop projects you are passionate about and share the progress with others is the engine behind your eventual success.  And what's nice about personal work is you define what success ultimately amounts to.  Many of our favorite photographers shoot projects so personal, that the final product is never intended to be seen by others but the practice of doing so is therapeutic.

I'm writing for this reason.  I truly feel our industry needs some love and here are my thoughts, ideas and advice to jump-start our profession:

1. Participate in local and regional events, meet ups, photo walks, whatever.   Not just in photography, but film, painting, sculpting anything that seems remotely interesting.  They can be just as profound as large yearly events that are promoted to do the same.

2. Share unselfishly with other photographers and artists in your circle.  Don't underestimate the power and value that even brief conversations can do for your peers and emerging photographers for your own excitement, enthusiasm and ideas.

3. Give without an agenda. Give of your ideas and yourself to your peers and more importantly emerging photographers.  Undoubtedly they are walking a tougher road then we ever did.

4. Lastly: Shoot...and lots.  If digital has done anything, it has removed physical and financial roadblocks to practicing your craft.  So do the scales, run stairs, however you want to look at the countless hours of practice that are needed to rise in our craft.   Just get out there and do it.

And that is what Filter did for me.  It provided the canvas or the opportunity to talk to other professionals about something other then business, something more important: Passion, the very same passion that got me into this as a profession.

So if Filter Photo happens to be in your town (Chicago) then get out there and attend something.  Events are scheduled year round with the big hurrah in the fall.  If you are not in Chicago, check out your local ASMP, APA, Strobist group, whatever and attend something, anything just get out there and like Pink Floyd said so well  “All we need to do is make sure we keep talking”

Thanks for reading.

Dirk

Scene from the Metra last week

It is kinda like circular logic...
I'm taking a picture of a guy drawing a picture,
of a guy reading the paper.