Well, It’s a double feature for me this month. My Facebook profile images are at the top of Janine Warner‘s article, appearing this month (March 2014) on Photoshop user magazine and on layersmagazine.com.
The article titled “Attracting Friends with a Fabulous Facebook Design” came out a couple of weeks ago, You can read it here.
I was very happy to hear from Janine Warner when she contacted me. Janine told me she wanted to feature some versions of my Facebook profile, as her main example in a few publications, to show how professional photographers can use their Facebook profile.
I hardly ever give myself a tap on the shoulder, but It’s always fun to hear other people’s appreciation of what I do. Here are a few excerpts from my messaging with Janine, in her own words:
…” My co-author and I are writing to you because we think your Facebook page design is awesome/fabulous/makes us jealous, and we want to feature you in a new book that we are writing”…
…” to showcase your profile as a shining example of all that is good, true and right about the social web… or at least a great example of a Facebook design.”
…” With your permission, we’ll publish a screenshot of the Cover design area of your profile in full color and use it to call more attention to the wonderful work that you’ve done”…
…” Well, you are certainly a great example. I was just checking again and we actually used two shots of your covers to show that a photographer like you can change images regularly to showcase your talent. Thanks for being such a great example”…
…” You’re welcome to say you’ll be featured in “Social Media Design For Dummies”, and you can throw in that we think you’re very talented!”…
Janine Warner’s best-selling books and videos about the Internet have won her an international following and earned her speaking and consulting engagements around the world. She’s the creator of DigitalFamily.com, an interactive design, and training agency that offers web and mobile design, content strategy, and … more…
This adorable Japanese Chin dog named Reilly (meaning: Courageous, valiant) is a little buddy of mine. Reilly is one of the most adorable toy dogs I’ve met, He’s sweet, playful and we’re always happy when we meet and play.
Looking at Japanese Chins at play, made me think they are bred to look like little furry dragons.
I love taking this little pup’s pictures. I find Reilly’s little face to be very expressive. it seems to me he likes to pose for the camera and he’s doing it with patience and grace. This digital work captures his persona very well, the image of a poet reflecting as he gazes towards the horizon. I gave him a painterly treatment to enhance the texture of his beautiful soft fur.
While shooting portraits of her mom, this sweet 5-year-old wanted some camera attention. As soon as her Mom left to change for the next set, I asked her to come up to the set and pretend she’s Mommy, she knew exactly what to do.
After a few smiles at the camera she was drawn into the computer and didn’t mind the camera anymore.
Climbing trees and playing outdoors were my favorite activities when I was this kid’s age, My fascination with computers started when I was well into my 20’s. For the last 10 years, I build and keep up all my computers and love doing that.
I didn’t find computers very practical for myself until Photoshop 3 came out. Looking at these images made me think whose childhood is more fulfilling, the tree climbers or the tech kids? I don’t have an answer for that.
Each piece of Photography equipment I had my hands on through the years, had its own character, feel and purpose. It helped grow my curiosity, as well as better understand and refine my practice.
Before laying down the photography equipment I’ve experienced with, here’s a little runt, I would like to stress that I’m completely out of the “brands war”, and here’s why, If you’re shooting a sports event in the park, a model, or a product in the studio; I believe that creating an effective image is mostly influenced by your vision of the subject and your experience, that’s helping you to determine when the setup is ideal and it’s the right moment to make the exposure.
The lens is the most important piece of hardware that will influence the image, and selecting the right lens (focal length, aperture) for a shoot, will influence the image much more than the brand you decide to go with.
If you think one brand or another is “the one to rule them all”, it’s O.K. by me, but that’s not going to determine the artistic value of your image, nor make it more interesting.
Inspiring images can be achieved regardless of the brand used and instead of investing energy in being passionately loyal to brands, I find that being passionately loyal to creating new things, makes much more sense.
I find arguments by Canon Vs. Nikon fans and Mac Vs. Windows users the most redundant. The accumulated time people spend arguing about which brand name is superior to another, could be used to create something that could bring joy or convey an idea and maybe even change the world, (maybe…=).
If you want to be purely technical, a transparency sheet that was exposed using a large format camera, one that was made almost a hundred years ago, have a far better potential to create an awe-inspiring image if only because of its physics, so? you can still make an absolute bore with an 8×10 view camera or make a wonderful one using a “camera obscura” (pinhole camera) or even your smartphone.
After getting this out-of-the-way, here we go,
My first owned camera was Braun’s Nizo, a used super 8 camera I received for my 12th birthday, I really wanted it. it didn’t have sound but it had variable speeds as well as a time-lapse, single frame and a standard flash sync socket, I loved animation and used it for stop motion animation, which helped my interest in photography bud.
Braun Nizo S56
At 15 I went to an art school, majoring in photography, and received my first SLR, it was a Fujica with a screw-on lens, most other kids had a Canon or Nikon, I liked having a unique camera and not having to go with the flow.
Fujica st705
When I was about 20, the Fujica was stolen from my best friend’s house, I replaced it with a Nikkormat that I still remember as having one of the best light meters I’ve seen and was making great exposures if you paid attention to the needle.
1965 Nikkormat FS
At 23 I joined a commercial photographer’s studio, that’s where I learned how to manipulate the Sinar P2, I did work with large formats at school, but being an assistant to such a talented and capable guy really revealed to me the full potential of large format cameras and professional lighting equipment, like Broncolor power packs and advanced lighting control methods.
Sinar P2
When I opened my studio, I used a borrowed 4×5 Toyo at first and about a year after I bought the Sinar F2 which is the lighter and more mobile version of the P2.
Sinar f2
Sinar f2
As a photographer assistant, I used the Minolta flash meter.
Minolta Auto Meter IV F
I later purchased a Gossen meter for myself.
Gossen Variosix F
While working as an assistant, a great opportunity came to me, a businessman who loved cameras and came to the studio for a visit, told me he bought a new Nikon with a couple of lenses but felt it’s too much for him, he sold me his set for a very good price, wanting to support a young artist. I still have that body though I’ve not used it for a very long time. I still use all my manual Nikon lenses.
Nikon F3
As a photo assistant, I operated the Hasselblad C500.
Hasselblad C500
for my studio, I bought the Mamiya RB67. I love the square 6 by 6 c”m medium format and great optics of the Hasselblad and I love the 6 by 7 c”m format of the Mamiya and its great optics, both are very good. medium format has a beautiful depth of field.
Mamiya RB67
When moving to digital, I learned that the Nikon system started to use non-standard attachments to be able to do some elementary things like attaching a shutter release cable or a sync cord and was very finicky about which old Nikon lenses it’s compatible with, my protest was getting a Fuji body and it was an easy decision for me, given it was much more compatible with a variety of Nikon equipment I already had, then the new digital Nikon bodies, go figure.
Fuji FinePix S2
Currently, my main body is a Nikon D90. using the right lenses makes this camera a very versatile Instrument. It fits most of my projects.
For every camera I’ve used after turning professional, I had at least 3 lenses, a wide, a normal and a telephoto.
These days I’m using “Alien Bees” as my lighting system, I really like it. I’m using it with chimera softboxes and other light modifying methods.
I may add the full lenses and lighting equipment I’ve experienced with, at a later date.
Other then my photo equipment, I find the Wacom tablet to be an essential part of my setup, I find it impossible to be accurate and flowing with that little brick known as a computer mouse. I tried many other tablets makes and find Wacom to be reliable and far superior to all the other tablets I’ve tried. That’s about the only tool I have that can make me a bit preachy.
I have recently joined the Adobe cloud and I’m not looking back. The Adobe cloud is a subscription plan that allows me to work with all of Adobe’s products!
Since I’ve expended to video, Photoshop, Lightroom, and Dreamweaver were not enough. I needed a professional video and sound editing software and since Adobe Cloud allows me to work with any and all of their software, I now added Premier, After Effects and Audition to my arsenal, as well as other production software and services, If you make your living from design, photography or video production, the cloud is the best productivity “tool belt” you can have.
A cheerfully colored silly little band, this Lil’ hoedown Abner windup toy from 1945 was assembled from a few sources since there are not many complete sets available. I didn’t want to neglect the backside of the piano because it’s pretty sweet and has Oleman Mose drawn on it (quite pleaz!), so I decided to compose it in the background, toning it down so it will not overwhelm the main subject.
