The Tao Of Photography, by Philippe Gross and S.I. Shapiro

Without knowing anything about Tao or Taoism, I read the description and reviews of this book on Amazon and decided to order it. I was mainly interested in the book as a means to inspire my photographic vision and enthusiasm, which had kind of been in a slump of late, and I chose this one over a few others mainly because of price and positive reviews.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’m no lighting expert by any stretch, but I do have an analytical mind and just wanted to share two images that I happened to come across on Flickr, as random examples. These are by different photographers but both apparently staged outdoor portraits. One with natural lighting only, and the other with the aid of artificial lighting.

Naruto

Originally uploaded by Walter P.

I saw the first image (above) and what went through my mind is how cool it’d be to have the chance to photograph beautiful women in costumes in an outdoor setting like this. The next thought that crossed my mind was a reminder of how challenging outdoor portrait photography can be if the lighting gods are against you.

Read the rest of this entry »

I just had to post this link to an article about lens sharpness on The Luminous Landscape. Ouch! The truth hurts… or sometimes it’s just plain funny.

Anyhow, great article by Michael Reichmann.

Sharp.

Originally uploaded by J.Rabold

There were two images from J.Rabold’s long exposure on the dock submissions to the Flickr group that I liked, and had a difficult time choosing between. But in the end this one won out because I think the ghosted dog is cool and I like the long shadows thrown by the backlit figure. Very interesting images and good work J. Rabold!