The portrait is one of the most demanding of all photographic tasks. We are asked to capture the character of a person in the brief, fleeting moment it takes to make an exposure. Painters seem to have the advantage, being able to take hours or days to render their impressions. They can block out forms and fill in the light and shadow as they see fit. What do we have to contend...
In this issue we ask our contributors to pose their thoughts about the future of photography, at least looking forward a year. As is their wont, each has a particular revelation, wish, or projection based upon their sense of optimism (or lack of it) and field of expertise. You'll read echoes of nostalgia for film photography, thoughts on what needs to change to make things...
In this issue we feature images from the last roll of Kodachrome film ever processed. Steve McCurry’s work has always been admirable, but here the photographs have a special poignancy because they will be irrevocably tied to the end of an era in photography. These iconic images now reside in the Eastman House in Rochester, a fitting setting for them among the daguerreotypes, albumen prints, kallitypes, and other images created by processes that have become part of history. True, you can emulate the “look” of these processes with software, and even recreate some of the old paper print processes using custom-mix chemicals and old formulae, but I doubt very much that anyone is going to attempt to set up the massive machinery and chemical soups required to allow Kodachrome to be processed ever again.
This issue is dedicated to lighting with reviews, how-to articles, and roundups of gear, all intended to get you thinking about the best way to illuminate your subject. At the most basic level exposure is about aperture and shutter speed--that's how light is controlled. But it is in shaping light, using modifiers for existing light and various types of bulbs, controlled...
Every photo you take with a digital camera is RGB but that hasn’t stopped anyone from exploring the rich field of black-and-white imagery. True, a few years back the “conversion” to black and white was not so simple. You had to explore Channels or desaturate the image to create the foundation file, which left you with a fairly good black-and-white rendition, but something that...
I remember a story Fred Picker once told about showing his portfolio to a curator at a museum in New England. Fred photographed in the British Isles, near his home in Vermont and places far and wide, and trained his eye and lens on natural forms and man-made totems in nature. His favorite photographer was Paul Strand, though his photo collection ranged as far as his travels. In any case, in goes Fred to this curator, who quickly breezes through the images and dismisses the lot, saying, “We don’t need any more rocks and trees.”
I grew up in a black-and-white photographic world. Sure there was color and plenty of it, but what attracted my eye were the black-and-white pictorials in Life magazine, black-and-white movies like The Third Man and the film noir B-flicks, and the amazing work that came out of the FSA and that of Weston, Evans, and Siskind. When I began photography “seriously” I couldn’t imagine shooting in color, except for the rent-paying jobs, or not being the one who processed and printed my own work.
More pro photographers than you might imagine have been forged by the fire of the wedding photography trade. There is little to compare with the challenges of that combination of business and shooting knowledge and skill required. A typical wedding day can include portraits, still life, posing, lighting, exposure, photojournalism, classic groups, action, low-light, night, and even candle-lit...
This issue contains our annual new products report in which we look at a number of product groupings and discuss what's been introduced in each in the last few months. The main inspiration for this flood of products comes from our attending America's largest photo/imaging trade show, known as PMA (Photo Marketing Association). Our staff and a host of our contributing...
The news that Kodak is opting out of the silver black and white paper business should not have come as much of a shock, given the company's recent emphasis and direction. But it was a bit of a wake-up call. According to a Kodak spokesperson, the company has been seeing declines in sales of their silver product line for years and could no longer justify staying in that...
First off, the staff of Shutterbug wishes the very best for you and yours during the coming year. We thank you for your continued support, ideas and images, and look forward to another great year in 2012.
In this issue we feature the TIPA Awards for products in 40 different categories and I thought you might like to know how the finalists were chosen. TIPA, the Technical Image Press Association, is composed of representatives from photographic magazines around the world, editors, who go through the process of first nominating products by a Technical Committee and then voting on what they consider the best or most innovative products in their respective categories. Editors are from pro, advanced amateur, and amateur photo magazines, including those from Australia, Canada, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States, from which Shutterbug is the sole member.
Every year editors from photo magazines around the world gather to pick what they consider the top photo and imaging products of the year. This is no easy task, for the most part, as there are literally hundreds of products that could vie for the award in each category, and in fact each year there are some new categories that did not exist a few years ago.
Those who practice the craft have come to a fork in the road, having to decide whether they will enter into a new form of expression or find merit in and stick with the former route. Well, as Yogi Berra once said, "When you see a fork in the road, take it!" But...
In this issue we offer a host of camera reports covering a wide variety of models and camera types, and this gives me a good opportunity to discuss the forms our camera tests take—lab tests and what I call “anecdotal” reports. In most cases we limit a model to one type of test, except when we feel that it rates a second look and that there’s more to add by using both approaches. We also make a decision about lab or field tests when we feel overwhelmed by new cameras coming our way, and simply don’t have the space each month to cover every one of them. Plus, we offer tests that never see the pages of the magazine that can be found under the Image Tech section of our website at www.shutterbug.com.
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