Ken (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} shadowplay2) wrote,@ 2006-05-24 12:12:00 |
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three
I'm so tired of seeing bad photography. So tired of seeing people who buy a digital camera and think they're an instant expert because they can see the image on the LCD (which by the way, bears little resemblance to the final product on a much larger monitor), and don't care to learn. And I'm tired of small-time pro photographers who are technically competent but have no imagination... assembly lines with a camera. These guys don't mess with me, or with anyone else who has been around a while, in fact they're mostly nice enough guys in person. But I do often hear them putting down beginners or anyone not doing things exactly their way, including people who have a lot more passion for their art and just need a little experience.
So here's the first batch of work that I do like. I was going to say there's no particular order to this, but that's not really true. I've placed a technical virtuoso first, to show what's possible. Beyond that, it's geographic. One east, one west, one in between. Maybe I'll follow up with more, and later I'll go out and look for more inspirational work. Nominations accepted.
Mostly, these guys don't really need the plug. They're well known within certain circles. Later I'll try to plug lesser known lights.
1. Steve Vaccariello, New York - Top of the food chain fashion shooter. Look past the top models and celebrities that you might recognize, look past the magazine tear sheets. Look at the flawless exposure, the unconventional but solid lighting, the exquisite composition. Think you don't need to use a light meter with your nifty new auto-DSLR? Can you do this consistently? Maybe you should think again. Actually at least some of this is shot on medium format film, but he uses the appropriate tool for each project.
2. K Leo, Chicago - The only one of these three who I know personally. Gormanesque in the sense that he uses deep shadows without detail as a compositional tool... technically breaking the rules, but this is one of those cases where you've got to understand the rules before you can successfully break them. The strength here, in my opinion, is the way he captures a sense of mystery, provokes emotion from his models. It always helps when both the photographer and the model really want to be there, come out of the shoot having had fun.
3. Reno Larson - Wildman of the west, slightly surreal images but fun. No point in me trying to explain this, better to go look. I'm guessing people either love his work or hate it. [edit: I've had to change the link, because his former personal site is apparently no longer working. No idea why. So this now goes to a 2003 e-zine article]
Is this worth doing more of? Is anyone getting anything out of this?
I'm so tired of seeing bad photography. So tired of seeing people who buy a digital camera and think they're an instant expert because they can see the image on the LCD (which by the way, bears little resemblance to the final product on a much larger monitor), and don't care to learn. And I'm tired of small-time pro photographers who are technically competent but have no imagination... assembly lines with a camera. These guys don't mess with me, or with anyone else who has been around a while, in fact they're mostly nice enough guys in person. But I do often hear them putting down beginners or anyone not doing things exactly their way, including people who have a lot more passion for their art and just need a little experience.
So here's the first batch of work that I do like. I was going to say there's no particular order to this, but that's not really true. I've placed a technical virtuoso first, to show what's possible. Beyond that, it's geographic. One east, one west, one in between. Maybe I'll follow up with more, and later I'll go out and look for more inspirational work. Nominations accepted.
Mostly, these guys don't really need the plug. They're well known within certain circles. Later I'll try to plug lesser known lights.
1. Steve Vaccariello, New York - Top of the food chain fashion shooter. Look past the top models and celebrities that you might recognize, look past the magazine tear sheets. Look at the flawless exposure, the unconventional but solid lighting, the exquisite composition. Think you don't need to use a light meter with your nifty new auto-DSLR? Can you do this consistently? Maybe you should think again. Actually at least some of this is shot on medium format film, but he uses the appropriate tool for each project.
2. K Leo, Chicago - The only one of these three who I know personally. Gormanesque in the sense that he uses deep shadows without detail as a compositional tool... technically breaking the rules, but this is one of those cases where you've got to understand the rules before you can successfully break them. The strength here, in my opinion, is the way he captures a sense of mystery, provokes emotion from his models. It always helps when both the photographer and the model really want to be there, come out of the shoot having had fun.
3. Reno Larson - Wildman of the west, slightly surreal images but fun. No point in me trying to explain this, better to go look. I'm guessing people either love his work or hate it. [edit: I've had to change the link, because his former personal site is apparently no longer working. No idea why. So this now goes to a 2003 e-zine article]
Is this worth doing more of? Is anyone getting anything out of this?
