115. Framed - August 23-29, 2015
Deron-
Sorry for the delay, but I didn't shoot this until this morning, then uploading, viewing, deciding, cropping and emailing at Starbucks, I was stopped by an Asian fella who saw my Minnesota Twins hat. Turns out he's from Fairibault and a HUGE Minnesota sports fan. That's awesome, and all, but I couldn't help but think of the movie Fargo, as he had that Minnesota "don'tcha know" accent.
Anywho, it's 6:45 AM and this is my good friend, Luis "The Mexicutioner" Castro framing another friend, Nick "The Beast" Gleissner, before our 80 mile, 9,500 ft of climbing, ride up to Onyx Summit.
Quick little story; About 5 or 6 years ago, Nick was diagnosed with a tumor at the base of his brain. With tons of chemotherapy he is now in remission, but not before the steroids he was pumped full of bloated his body and stretched his skin, where he is now covered in stretch marks... those stretch marks may as well be racing stripes, because his dad started him on a tricycle to get him mobile, then he was able to graduate to a bicycle... long story short, he recently represented the USA in paracycling. The kid is an amazing story!
Sorry for the delay, but I didn't shoot this until this morning, then uploading, viewing, deciding, cropping and emailing at Starbucks, I was stopped by an Asian fella who saw my Minnesota Twins hat. Turns out he's from Fairibault and a HUGE Minnesota sports fan. That's awesome, and all, but I couldn't help but think of the movie Fargo, as he had that Minnesota "don'tcha know" accent.
Anywho, it's 6:45 AM and this is my good friend, Luis "The Mexicutioner" Castro framing another friend, Nick "The Beast" Gleissner, before our 80 mile, 9,500 ft of climbing, ride up to Onyx Summit.
Quick little story; About 5 or 6 years ago, Nick was diagnosed with a tumor at the base of his brain. With tons of chemotherapy he is now in remission, but not before the steroids he was pumped full of bloated his body and stretched his skin, where he is now covered in stretch marks... those stretch marks may as well be racing stripes, because his dad started him on a tricycle to get him mobile, then he was able to graduate to a bicycle... long story short, he recently represented the USA in paracycling. The kid is an amazing story!
Kevin-
Framed was a wonderful WPOTM theme, though rather than showing off great photographic skill I decided to show off talent in selecting (coercing) the perfect subject! This is my friend Ted Singer, whom I have known since we met working back in our Best Buy days. I have been fortunate to photograph Ted a number of times over the years and he always comes up with great poses and facial expressions. This time was no exception. I had ideas But knew that Ted would have even more. The one thing that was consistent is just Ted and a frame. Ted posed with a few different frames and each shot I captured was a unique take. It was hard to select the pose to go with. But in the end I chose this one, and will send a separate email with some of the others.
Nikon D4s, handheld, 85mm f1.4 Nikkor lens. ISO 100, f/8 @ 1/250th of a second (flash sync). Two studio strobes, one in a giant softbox as the key light, and one as a hair light from behind.
Should this one be titled the Attack of the Killer Frame?
Framed was a wonderful WPOTM theme, though rather than showing off great photographic skill I decided to show off talent in selecting (coercing) the perfect subject! This is my friend Ted Singer, whom I have known since we met working back in our Best Buy days. I have been fortunate to photograph Ted a number of times over the years and he always comes up with great poses and facial expressions. This time was no exception. I had ideas But knew that Ted would have even more. The one thing that was consistent is just Ted and a frame. Ted posed with a few different frames and each shot I captured was a unique take. It was hard to select the pose to go with. But in the end I chose this one, and will send a separate email with some of the others.
Nikon D4s, handheld, 85mm f1.4 Nikkor lens. ISO 100, f/8 @ 1/250th of a second (flash sync). Two studio strobes, one in a giant softbox as the key light, and one as a hair light from behind.
Should this one be titled the Attack of the Killer Frame?
Paul-
I was on the UNL campus for a Tai Chi Chuan event last Sunday walking home around sunset. I was thinking about an idea I had for this week’s theme that involved a shot of several tangled angled spangled frames I have about the house. (An abstract kind of shot so avant-garde it couldn’t help but make me look like I knew what I was doing.) As I was mused over this, I walked by the Sheldon Fine Art Museum, designed by the word famous architect Ieoh Ming Pei. I was struck what a graceful interpretation of the theme and great lighting I might be able to capture. The stone arches that frame the front are identical to the arches in the back, but the angle of the shot and time of day play some great tricks to make it more than just a staid shot of a building. I love this picture.
And I’m not submitting it.
One of you—oh, hell maybe all of you by this point—have rightfully observed that I don’t submit many pictures with people in them. It’s not that people (as kindred animals and an enduring subject for any artist) don’t interest me. They do. Quite a bit.
Though for the relative majority, varying degrees of less than quite a bit.
And for the relative minority, significantly more than quite a bit. (Let’s keep this to ourselves, shall we?)
Anyway, in response to a perception that I don’t “do” people, I have submitted this. I loved how this sculpture embodied the theme. And, fortuitously for everyone, there just happens to be a person playing a central role in it.
Since this is my favorite piece of statuary on the campus of the University of Nebraska—which has more than 30 permanent pieces scattered about for schnockered students to trip over at night—and is my second favorite in the city. Here’s a little about the piece and when I shot it.
The piece is called Sandy: in Defined Space. It was created by sculpture Richard Miller and appeared on campus as part of a traveling exhibition in 1970. The student body went crazy over the thing. They loved it. They collectively had to have it. And so, as the piece was being lowered into a truck for its next showing, they started raising money—in whatever way students this in 1970s—and eventually pulled in $12,000 to buy it. (I have no idea how many semolians that is in adjusted 2015 dollars, but let’s assume it is a lavish amount…stock market crash notwithstanding.) Incidentally, the name of the model who posed to capture this woman framed in bronze died with the artist. Her identity will always be a mystery.
As was the case with the museum, the summer sun at that time of day didn’t seem to illuminate things so much as infuse them with their own, internal light. You see this only in the late summer—there’s nuanced, molten golden and verdant green aura to things as the day ends. It paints you as much as your surroundings. You can feel it. But it’s a fleeting thing; a partitioned few minutes that doesn’t fit phrases like “Sundown,” “Dusk,” or “Eventide.” It’s an off-the-clock moment of uncorked summer magic. I felt it when I was taking this picture. So much so that, as I mentioned below, I had to take some steps with my camera to ensure everything else around the sculpture wasn’t just as captivating. I know this sounds like a nonsensical blend of poor prose and even worse subjective expression, but to me such moments are real. Perhaps you’ve noticed something akin to it in another season, at another time, in different moment of receptivity.
Our story so far: Shot at 1/80 sec.; f/7.1; aperture priority; ISO1000; 21 focus point metering mode; 18-55mm lens set at 32mm; white balanced for daylight; and hand-held. I dropped the saturation level on the green a bit (exactly the opposite of what I did last week for “Contrast”) so the near-emerald brilliance of the trees at sunset would compete too much with the subject. In retrospect, I wish I had stood back a little more and dropped the DOF so the background wasn’t so distinct. Shoot and learn, right? Still, I’m pleased with the result. And the woman? She was quite satisfied with it too, saying it made her feel less boxed in.
I was on the UNL campus for a Tai Chi Chuan event last Sunday walking home around sunset. I was thinking about an idea I had for this week’s theme that involved a shot of several tangled angled spangled frames I have about the house. (An abstract kind of shot so avant-garde it couldn’t help but make me look like I knew what I was doing.) As I was mused over this, I walked by the Sheldon Fine Art Museum, designed by the word famous architect Ieoh Ming Pei. I was struck what a graceful interpretation of the theme and great lighting I might be able to capture. The stone arches that frame the front are identical to the arches in the back, but the angle of the shot and time of day play some great tricks to make it more than just a staid shot of a building. I love this picture.
And I’m not submitting it.
One of you—oh, hell maybe all of you by this point—have rightfully observed that I don’t submit many pictures with people in them. It’s not that people (as kindred animals and an enduring subject for any artist) don’t interest me. They do. Quite a bit.
Though for the relative majority, varying degrees of less than quite a bit.
And for the relative minority, significantly more than quite a bit. (Let’s keep this to ourselves, shall we?)
Anyway, in response to a perception that I don’t “do” people, I have submitted this. I loved how this sculpture embodied the theme. And, fortuitously for everyone, there just happens to be a person playing a central role in it.
Since this is my favorite piece of statuary on the campus of the University of Nebraska—which has more than 30 permanent pieces scattered about for schnockered students to trip over at night—and is my second favorite in the city. Here’s a little about the piece and when I shot it.
The piece is called Sandy: in Defined Space. It was created by sculpture Richard Miller and appeared on campus as part of a traveling exhibition in 1970. The student body went crazy over the thing. They loved it. They collectively had to have it. And so, as the piece was being lowered into a truck for its next showing, they started raising money—in whatever way students this in 1970s—and eventually pulled in $12,000 to buy it. (I have no idea how many semolians that is in adjusted 2015 dollars, but let’s assume it is a lavish amount…stock market crash notwithstanding.) Incidentally, the name of the model who posed to capture this woman framed in bronze died with the artist. Her identity will always be a mystery.
As was the case with the museum, the summer sun at that time of day didn’t seem to illuminate things so much as infuse them with their own, internal light. You see this only in the late summer—there’s nuanced, molten golden and verdant green aura to things as the day ends. It paints you as much as your surroundings. You can feel it. But it’s a fleeting thing; a partitioned few minutes that doesn’t fit phrases like “Sundown,” “Dusk,” or “Eventide.” It’s an off-the-clock moment of uncorked summer magic. I felt it when I was taking this picture. So much so that, as I mentioned below, I had to take some steps with my camera to ensure everything else around the sculpture wasn’t just as captivating. I know this sounds like a nonsensical blend of poor prose and even worse subjective expression, but to me such moments are real. Perhaps you’ve noticed something akin to it in another season, at another time, in different moment of receptivity.
Our story so far: Shot at 1/80 sec.; f/7.1; aperture priority; ISO1000; 21 focus point metering mode; 18-55mm lens set at 32mm; white balanced for daylight; and hand-held. I dropped the saturation level on the green a bit (exactly the opposite of what I did last week for “Contrast”) so the near-emerald brilliance of the trees at sunset would compete too much with the subject. In retrospect, I wish I had stood back a little more and dropped the DOF so the background wasn’t so distinct. Shoot and learn, right? Still, I’m pleased with the result. And the woman? She was quite satisfied with it too, saying it made her feel less boxed in.
Jerry-
I started out very simply, with a photo of framed photos and finally strayed to my chosen shot, the subjects within the windows of the light rail train by the U of M. Early morning seemed to be best, with a dark exterior and a bright interior lighting up the subjects. It would have been fun to capture some drama rather than texting, bored, commuters - but that would have taken more time than I wanted to spend. Imagine if I had caught a young couple, perhaps kissing or hugging, or having a spat! Or a street type person flipping me off from the safety of the train.
This was taken with the D750 and 80-400 zoom at 400mm. 1/250 @ f5.6, ISO 12,800.
I started out very simply, with a photo of framed photos and finally strayed to my chosen shot, the subjects within the windows of the light rail train by the U of M. Early morning seemed to be best, with a dark exterior and a bright interior lighting up the subjects. It would have been fun to capture some drama rather than texting, bored, commuters - but that would have taken more time than I wanted to spend. Imagine if I had caught a young couple, perhaps kissing or hugging, or having a spat! Or a street type person flipping me off from the safety of the train.
This was taken with the D750 and 80-400 zoom at 400mm. 1/250 @ f5.6, ISO 12,800.
Don-
I had played with this picture for the WPOTM subject "wire" but was not
happy with the results. When "Framed" came up I thought I would give
the barb wire another try.
I shot this in the morning on a ladder and used the Byrosnoot thingie
to lighten the center. In Photoshop I left the frame in color and b&w the
rest of it. f/2.8, 1/200, 32 mm and Byro attachment to the flash.
I had played with this picture for the WPOTM subject "wire" but was not
happy with the results. When "Framed" came up I thought I would give
the barb wire another try.
I shot this in the morning on a ladder and used the Byrosnoot thingie
to lighten the center. In Photoshop I left the frame in color and b&w the
rest of it. f/2.8, 1/200, 32 mm and Byro attachment to the flash.
Byron-
It is an interesting challenge to have the subject lit in an interesting way and then hold the frame square to the camera and yet compose the subject properly within the frame. I will have to spend more time on this.
ISO 100, 122mm, f4.8, 1/200 sec
It is an interesting challenge to have the subject lit in an interesting way and then hold the frame square to the camera and yet compose the subject properly within the frame. I will have to spend more time on this.
ISO 100, 122mm, f4.8, 1/200 sec