Photographers

f11 Magazine – Christine Wilson

Photographers, Photography

If you don’t already subscribe to f11 Magazine, I would highly recommend it. Each issue features interviews with, along with portfolios of, three diverse photographers. Issue are free to either view online or download as PDFs. The September issue is now out and I wanted to share the work of one of the photographers featured.

Christine Wilson is a self-taught photographer based out of Melbourne, Australia. Her photos are well composed and I love the fact that the work featured here is shot with crop-sensor cameras. So much time is spent today among people on photography sites going on and on about full-frame versus crop-sensor, or mirrored versus mirrorless, that it’s nice to be reminded that none of that really matters. You can find more of Christine’s work here.

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Fan Ho (1931 – 2016)

Asia, Photographers, Photography

Have learned that the photography world has lost a true master: Fan Ho. Born in Shanghai in 1931, he first delved into photography at the age of 14, when his father gave him a Rolleiflex twin-lens camera. After moving to Hong Kong in 1949, he began taking photographs of the streets and alleys of old Central Hong Kong, and of other markets and street stalls in the Hong Kong of the time. His creative output in the 1950s and 1960s included what are now recognized as some of Hong Kong’s most iconic photographic images. Between 1958 and 1965, he was eight times named one of the Top Ten Photographers of the World by the Photographic Society of America. (Taken from The Story of Fan Ho.)

Her Study, 1963

“Her Study” by Fan Ho (1963)

I highly recommend his book Hong Kong Yesterday, which was the first in a trilogy of titles that also includes The Living Theatre and Hong Kong Memoir. All titles are available through modernbook.

A good sampling of his work can be found here: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2014/aug/20/fan-ho-hong-kong-street-photography-in-pictures

 

f11 Magazine – Ernst Christen

Photographers, Photography

If you don’t already subscribe to f11 Magazine, I would highly recommend it. Each issue features interviews with, along with portfolios of, three diverse photographers. Issue are free to either view online or download as PDFs. In the June 2016 issue, I am struck by the panoramic work of Ernst Christen (website).

Christen’s collection “Divine Projections” is composed of panoramic photos taken inside some of Europe’s most beautiful churches. For each shot, 26 photos are taken with a Nikon D800 and 20mm f/1.8 lens and stitched together in post. This technical approach provides viewers with what Christen hopes will be “a brief moment of concentrated tranquility.” I, for one, love the imperfect symmetry found in many of these when one looks carefully.

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Circular Fisheye Project: Origins

Fisheye, Photographers, Photography

Two things happened the end of last year that laid the course for a photo project of mine this year. First was reading Andrew Gibson’s Square: The Digital Photographer’s Guide to the Square Format. While I have on occasion cropped an image to a square format, I had never really thought about composing a square shot or contemplated the types of images that would work best in a square format.

square
Second, I came across Geir Jordahl’s circular photos of China, shot with a vintage 180-degree fisheye lens, manufactured in the 1970s. I found these photos stunning and they got me thinking about what could be shot in this format, which also happened to relate to some of my thoughts on shooting within a square frame.

As a lover of wide angle photography, the thought of going to the extreme of a circular fisheye lens intrigued me. While there are several less expensive makes out there, I decided to give the Sigma 8mm f/3.5 lens a try as I have been a fan of Sigma for quite some time. I attached it to my Nikon Df and started exploring.

df_fisheye

The first challenge I encountered was the sun. I live in Southern California where it is sunny most days of the year. With this lens, if the sun is visible, either your shadow will be in the shot or the sun will be and how it will flare is unknown until after the shot is taken. Even on cloudy days I need to be careful to not include my feet within this lens’ 180-degree angle of view.

With a focal length of only 8mm, I also need to be very close to get the shot. So close, in fact, that what may have caught my eye is no longer visible. It has been a learning curve to be sure and I am still learning what works and what does not. Existing circular elements are definite pluses, as are straight lines that can be bent within the frame.

origins
Now that I’ve been playing with this lens for around six months, I feel I am ready to start showing the results. Look for some Circular Fisheye Project posts in the coming weeks.

f11 Magazine – Roger Arnall

Photographers, Photography

If you don’t already subscribe to f11 Magazine, I would highly recommend it. Each issue features interviews with, along with portfolios of, three diverse photographers. Issue are free to either view online or download as PDFs. I’m a little slow in getting to this month’s issue and wanted to share the work of one of the photographers featured in the May 2016 issue.

Roger Arnall returned to photography after retirement as a mechanical engineer and his series “Human Creations” reveals both interests. There is an attention to detail in these photos that I find refreshing. As he writes on his webpage, “I am drawn to the idea of making images that embrace abstraction, ambiguity, minimalism and a strong graphic design. My images generally seek to move beyond simply documenting a particular subject. They seek to challenge and invite viewers to make their own interpretation.”

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