Scenes From A State Fair #2

Another set of images from the Washington State Fair. The similarities between this type of photography and street photography lie in the necessity of being constantly aware of your surroundings.

Things are always happening with such rapidity that if you are not aware and present, always observing, you will see the shot just a second too late.

Rides dotting the landscape provided opportunities to try to capture some sense of the experience. I toyed with the idea of using motion blur to give a sense of motion, but ultimately decided against it and tried instead to find moments of expression from the riders, all the better to give a sense of the experience.

There will likely be a couple more posts on this topic, a few more set more firmly on terra firma.

Photographer: Never Stop Learning

It is 2017 and in these times it benefits a photographer, no matter what their particular niche is, to have a least a basic understanding of the skills and mindset necessary to undertake various types of photography. Being familiar with the skill-sets necessary for the various types of photography from portraiture, to street photography, to product photography does mean trying to be a jack-of-all-trades. The truth is that photography as a discipline often involves needing access to techniques that cross the various photographic disciplines.

I consider myself a fine art photographer, but understand that this incorporates many of the skills of the portrait photographer and the product photographer. There is a lot I can learn from being familiar and studying the lighting techniques of both. Doing so doesn’t dilute my aim, it only makes me a more capable photographer. Photographers are fortunate in that they can learn from a wide variety of artistic disciplines.

Product Photography

The product photographer must be a master of light. In order to present the product in the most effective and engaging way she must know what it takes to light in a way that seems natural, while also evoking a specific mood or atmosphere. What I as a photographer can take away from the tool bag of the portrait photographer is how I can manipulate light to draw attention to or away from elements of my image, and how different types of lighting can change the message of the photograph.

Often the success of product photography lies in the ability to effectively use lighting equipment. Photography is dependent on the efficient use of equipment even at it’s most basic level; using your camera. Using lighting equipment, from the speedlights that most people have seen (wedding photographers, sports photographers, and paparazzi often come to mind), to larger and more powerful studio strobes, can seem daunting. Lighting ratios, power outputs, and all the rest can seem esoteric and mysterious causing many people to shy away from learning these skills. Such an unfortunate thing when artificial lighting can be such a powerful tool in your arsenal!

Portrait Photography

It might seem that portrait photographers have it easier, but they really don’t. In dealing with photographing people there are a lot of different factors to consider;

• Photographing the subject in a way that is technically efficient
• Creating a photographic portrait that is emotionally engaging
• Posing the subject in a manner that is natural (for them) and visually not awkward or tense
• Crafting a portrait that is true to the subject
• Attention to details that can ruin a portrait; hair/clothing out of place, poor background, etc.

This of course is in addition to the considerations of lighting even when shooting in natural light as a poorly or incorrectly lit portrait can mean failure, even if every other aspect of the shot is perfect.

What I as a photographer can learn from the portrait photographer is an attention to detail, knowing how to make sure everything in the photography from the lighting to the posing to the photographer deciding where to stand work toward a harmonious whole. The success of the portrait photographer lies in balancing technical skill with the psychological skill of knowing both what the subject wants and what the viewer will find pleasing.

Furthermore…

These are of course not the only two types of photographers that you can learn something from. There are landscape photographers, street photographers, architectural photographers, lifestyle photographers, the list goes on a while. And that’s a very good thing!

Some of these other disciplines deserve their own articles, but I want to leave you with the recommendation that you look at lots of styles of photography and even better try lots of different styles of photography. You might surprise yourself with how the skills you learn can be applied elsewhere.

The Park No. 6

 

Finally we arrive at the last of the images from my early morning park walk. Had I been possessed of more time that morning I’m sure I could have found other subjects to point my lens toward. As it is I think it was a productive morning.

The Barns – Continued

 

Next Up: Berries

The Park No. 5

 

As a location Fort Steilacoom park attracts a lot of attention from local photographers who use it to stage engagement photos, birth announcements, senior photos, and so on. Can’t really blame them as it’s a good location (it would also make me a hypocrite).

One of the main features is a series of barns that are situated on the park grounds. One has been torn down due to deterioration but the others still stand as well as three silos.

The outer walls of the barn are marked with chalk by all these various photographers (I’ve never done this myself), with the result that taken out of context they become enigmatic ciphers. It’s interesting, to me at least, to take them even further out of context when photographing them for viewers who will likely be unaware of the meanings unless they’ve read this post.

The Barns

 

Next Up: Barns Cont.

The Park No. 4

 

Western State Hospital is one of the two state-run mental hospitals in the state of Washington. When it was first built it had facilities to be self-sufficient including its own farm. A ward was established on a hill near the farm that was known as Hill Ward. Eventually it was destroyed in a fire and never rebuilt. For a number of years local fire and rescue used the remnants of the building, some of the outer walls and remnants of the foundation, to run training. It was also a mecca for dissolute youths and saw more than its fair share of graffiti and trash. Eventually the city tore down the ruin and fashioned it into a memorial retaining the outline of the outer walls of the original facility and erected a memorial stone. Perhaps as you might expect the memorial too has been the recipient of its fair share of graffiti.

Hill Ward Memorial

 

Next Up: The Barns.

Mountain Thunder Coffee Plantation #3

After an unexpected three month hiatus here is the finale of my photostory of Mountain Thunder Coffee Plantation. Even though it has been awhile I hope viewers new and old will enjoy these. Clicking on any image below with link to a larger view.

Mountain Thunder Coffee Plantation #2

Continuing from the previous post about Mountain Thunder Coffee Plantation…

Our guide gave us a full tour of the facilities and how the process goes from the picking of the ripe red coffee bean, to the peeling, to the sorting and drying, and finally the roasting.

Hand-picked beans are driven a short distance and dumped into this bin to begin the process of washing and sorting.

The beans are then laid out in the drying rooms.

Mountain Thunder Coffee Plantation #1

During my stay on the big island of Hawai’i the opportunity presented itself to tour the Mountain Thunder Coffee Plantation. The tour was a very pleasant way to the spend the morning and we had a very friendly and informative tour guide. A special thank you to the family that was on the tour with us and shared the meal they had paid for. Such generosity doesn’t go unappreciated.

Not being a coffee drinker in any serious fashion I was still pretty interested in the process, which is actually rather simpler than I imagined. I do imagine that a plantation like Mountain Thunder works a bit differently than some of the brands that take out national (and international) television adverts and such.

Chickens, dogs, and extremely laid back cats were in abundance.

As it was explained the process of picking the beans require a keen eye and deft fingers. Many workers fly in to the island at times of harvesting.

Before the drying and roasting process the coffee bean is rather unassuming. It also is quite sweet on the tonuge (but shouldn’t be swallowed).

More than coffee grows on the plantation grounds…