Sep 16, 2014 | Field Reports
I’ve always been a HUGE Ami Vitale fan! I really love, love her photography and even more her storytelling. Well, in her latest Newsletter she brings up something that happens all to often. We’ve encountered the same issue many times over the years with our wildlife images. Safeguarding Truth in Photojournalism: Ami Vitale’s Survival Guide is a post you need to read to get an idea of what happens in the real world even with the best intentions. Give it a read and then check out the rest of Ami’s work, you’ll become a fan too!
Sep 15, 2014 | Field Reports
Nikon has just announced the D750 DSLR Camera (along with the 20f1.8!) and will be shipping it next week. I have not seen the D750 yet but just from the features it includes and it’s price point, I don’t know how you could not be at least very interested in it. If you’re looking for the specs, you’ll find them here. Once I have one in my hand, I’ll pass along my thoughts on it.
Sep 12, 2014 | Field Reports
We would come out of the darkroom with our “masterpiece” in the box. We would put the print in the washer and then after a few minutes, grab it from the wash and put the print in the dryer. Then the moment I dreaded with all my soul, the print would come out of the dryer for all my peers to see. It was a brutal but invaluable experience when the comparisons hit the air from print to print, photographer to photographer. Within a heartbeat you might be in the dumper or on top of the heap. At least in your peers minds which might all change when the print hit the rack and the teach would crit them all. My stomach was always in my throat and often, head in my hands as I left class. That was back in 1978 and what’s coming up tonight has me reliving those feelings all over again.
Warbirds and the Men that Flew Them, is a whole new venture for us. Photography has always been about storytelling for us, stories that touched our hearts that we wanted to share with others to move them, you. Doing this with stills and words is kinda, sort of, within my comfort range. And sharing how I go about this process is a passion that I live for. But taking it to a whole new level in The Film with the subject, men I want to honor and machines I adore, I feel like I’m at that dryer again waiting for my print to come out and be judged.
The most insecure people on the planet are photographers and I’m at the front of that list! This comes in large part because if you’re pushing your photography forward like you should be, you’re not in your comfort zone. You’re working without a net and in that process, you can fall. Tonight, I’m putting all my cards on the table by exposing not only the process, not only the final photos, but also a story that is very dear to my heart. And that’s the scariest kind of photography there is!
But here’s the deal, I know we’re going to fly and that’s because of the story itself. The power in our photography always comes from the subject when we identify it and let it reach out and touch others in our photographs. When our photography is true to our subject, then we are merely sharing their world, our photography getting out of the way and just conveying their story. That’s what tonight is all about, letting some of the Greatest Generation and those who honor them, tell their story in their own words. There is no way I will be able to get through the night without getting choked up if for no other reason than being honored to share this story with you. I know that The Film will inspire you and on so many levels. But if I touch the heart of just one of you, if I inspire just one of you to take your photography to the next level to commit to that great subject, then the whole panic, process and passion will be worth it. Remember, we are so much more than f/stops and shutter speeds. When you fill your pixels with passion, YOUR photographs will change the world!
Sep 8, 2014 | Field Reports
Our meeting was by no accident! This is Don Rolf and while he is a WWII vet, our meeting was originally because of the aircraft you see behind him. This ’31 Waco is the exact aircraft Don flew around So California in 1940. In fact, there is a famous photo of Don taking off from the Monrovia Airport (no longer in existence) with Don at the stick. A few weeks ago, my good friend Warren, the owner of the Waco arranged for Don and his son to come to Minot to reunite plan and pilot. With this news, Sharon & I arranged to be there at the same time. I was also arranged that we would make the portrait you see above. This is a real simple click, D810, 24f1.4AFS, Profoto B1 shooting TTL. The setting is a 1929 hangar cleaned out just to make this portrait. With that smile, I really didn’t need any light because at 92, Don lights up the room! The portrait out to be the capture of a very special meeting and moment in many folk’s lives. Because after the portrait, we had the opportunity to talk with Don and record some of his story which included some of his WWII experiences. He was on the frontline at the Battle of the Bulge in a unit guiding in the airstrikes from P-47s.
Don lives in Las Vegas so on Saturday after Photoshop World, we were able to spend some time with him in his home. He was kind enough to sign some prints of his portrait going to his son, Warren and myself. Then we spent time going through a scrapbook from his adventures from WWII. He took time to share with us the famous photo of him in Monrovia and all the medals and citations he had from his time in the Army. And all of this came from photography, the sharing of times gone by and the creating of new memories. Shared in the from of prints, old, faded B&Ws and a new, crisp color, we gather around our memories and share them. We love stories, to tell them and to listen to them. It’s a universal trait that photography is richly a part of.
Sep 8, 2014 | Field Reports
This coming Friday, the 12th at 7PM EST, Wabirds and the Men who Flew Them will have its world release. Many have asked when the next Kelby Class on aviation photography will be coming out. This isn’t it! This is a film and Scott and I will be hosting a live webcast during its premiere. Ya, you could say it’s about air to air photography, but that’s only the means to an end. The film is about how the Texas Flying Legends Museum through their squadron of WWII warbirds honor our vets and inspire future generation. Thankfully, I have a minor role. It’s the vets themselves who I interview on camera and the aircraft that are the stars. To be apart of this event, you need to click on the link and register. What you’re going to see has never been done before but through you, will hopefully be carried on to the next generation.
