Photography and Arthritis

Jan 262012
 
 January 26, 2012  Posted by Habenero at 10:30 pm Photography , , , , , , , , , , , , ,  No Responses »

I used to think nothing much of hiking out with a 60 lb. pack and an additional 25 lbs of camera gear just to enjoy the great outdoors.  I made it to some fantastic places that few others have gone and only a small number of those had a camera with them.  I would take a couple of prime lenses, several zooms and 2 bodies when I shot film, as that enabled me to shoot nature in all her glory at the scales I found most pleased my eye.  Since my interest was piqued by the macro world,  landscape, seascape, cityscape, any size animal or plant and people, I felt most comfortable being prepared for anything.  I would take backgrounds and studio lights to shoots.  I never thought anything would get in my way or slow me down.  I carried most of the same lenses when I switched over to digital photography.  My interests were still the same, so keeping the ability to choose on the go seemed logical.  About 5 years ago, my knees announced to my body, “ENOUGH ALREADY!!!”

I was about half a mile from “The Wave” hiking out of Paria Canyon when my right knee buckled for no apparent reason.  I sat down for a few minutes, then pressed onwards.  My pace was about half that of the hike in and I had enough water to make it out with no problem, but I knew from the way my knee was feeling that something was not right and getting worse.  By the time I got to the halfway point, both knees were letting me know that they were not going to be kind to me.  Although I had left “The Wave” in what ordinarily would have been plenty of time to be back to the car by sun down, this time it was about an hour after sunset before I managed to reach my truck.  Such was my introduction to the wonderful world of Arthritis!  Each day has been a battle ever since then.

It has forced me to make sacrifices in my approach to photography.  The first to go were my kayak and canoe which I had used for capturing whitewater action.  It was no longer practical to carry either one and I felt as if that was a change I could deal with, besides with a right shoulder that was getting accustomed to being dislocated at least 2 times a year and a left one that had already been rebuilt, they were becoming a bit of a drag.  My knees demanded more.  I sold my heaviest lens.  That was not enough!  I stopped doing most of the glamor shoots, as the lighting equipment was getting too heavy for me to set up, shoot and take down.  Still my knees were not satisfied!  I stopped carrying prime lenses and reduced the number of zooms.  My knees were still angry with me!  I now use a bag that holds either the camera and a lens or the camera and a flash.  It hasn’t helped reduce the pain.

My battle with Arthritis has been fought using everything I could find that had a greater than 50% chance of providing relief and could back up the claim with actual peer-reviewed science.  I do not like pseudoscience.  I tried some of the “remedies that others swear by, but found them useless at improving my symptoms and a drain on my wallet!  The RICE principle (Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation) provided the best outcome early on, but due to the nature of the disease it is not as effective these days.  I have used Acetaminophen, Aspirin, Ibuprofen, Naproxen Sodium and COX2 Inhibitors over time and found them to be wanting in both actual relief and more irritating to my stomach.  I do exercises to keep my range of motion and try to maintain as much strength as possible.  The only medication that has actually provided relief, although only for a 2 month period at a time, has been Synvisc (Hylan G F 20).  Unfortunately it is only given at 6 month intervals, which means that I get to suffer for 8 months out of the year!  At least with Synvisc, I do not need to take pain medication!  The downside of Synvisc is that each time it has worn off, my knees seem to hurt more than they did the week prior to the injection.

Since photography is the art form I used to use to alleviate stress, I find it very stressful these days when I pick up my camera during the 4 month period of pain I am forced to endure.

Choosing Subject Matter

Jan 062010
 
 January 6, 2010  Posted by Habenero at 7:17 pm General Notice, How To, Photography , , , , , , ,  No Responses »

Have you ever thought seriously about what you will or will not photograph.  How do you make the distinction between shooting weddings and shooting events?  If you shoot model portfolios, why won’t you shoot me?  Should you shoot first and ask for a release later?  These are some of the questions I have asked or been asked.  If you want to know what to shoot, all you need to do is look at the things you find interesting and use your camera to tell us who, what, where, or why.

I choose to shoot things I find either interesting, emotionally compelling, or funny.  I started out shooting sports.  I found the challenge of getting the shutter tripped at the peak moment of interest, the contact of the foot with the ball in soccer, the ball leaving the pitchers hand, the kayak at the highest moment of an ender, quite enjoyable.  I later chose to shoot landscapes, and learned to be patient and wait for the clouds to form around the peaks, or the rainbow to appear.  I shot scientific apparatus in use, fires, model rocket launches and just about anything I could get focused on in nature.  I shot cemeteries and dedication ceremonies.  I shoot often with an alien as my subject matter these days (to show that tourism is a universal concept).  What I choose to not shoot are minors, and most holiday style photos.  In short, if it had some sort of personal impact on me, I shot it.

Wedding photography requires the photographer to have good rapport with people that are entrusting him to produce photos that can not be redone at one of the most stressed out days they will be having.  Since early on I decided that I would only produce photographs for my own enjoyment, weddings was not my gig.  Other events on the other hand, often have an element of fun involved, and often have more than one person shooting so you don’t have to worry about missing something significant (like the cake cutting, bouquet toss, or the groom passing out from too much alcohol).

To keep my print portfolio up to date, I often shoot people.  l prefer shooting people that I have asked to shoot.  I do not like to shoot every body that asks me to shoot them.  In other words, if you are asking me to shoot and you are on the list I have of people I want in my portfolio, you will automatically be given a date and time to shoot.  If you aren’t on the list, I will either give you my rate or recommend you shoot with my wife ( a highly skilled photographer with reasonable rates and a much better disposition).  If I have asked you to shoot and you agree but do not show up without a phone call, I will not be asking you to another shoot, but I will quote you a rate if you later ask me.  If you have to cancel a shoot with me and call me, I will be inclined to reschedule.

If I am shooting for a concept I may be able to sell, I try to get a release prior to shooting any photos.  Most of my other shoots, a release is not going to be needed.  Releases do not always mean you are shooting models.  Houses, cars, and pets can also be items for which a release may be necessary.

Have fun and keep shooting!

Different Styles of Photography

Jan 042010
 
 January 4, 2010  Posted by Habenero at 3:15 pm General Notice, Photography , , , , , , , , , , , ,  No Responses »

All photographs are lies of omission.  That is to say  that no single photograph can contain all of the scene’s information due to the limitations of the medium.  Good print makers learn how to make an image appear to be complete.  But I will get into that in a later blog.  Today I would like to define the different types of photography.

Nature photography is an attempt by the photographer to depict the natural world around us.  In theory, the hand of man is not to be evident in the final result.  In practice, the hand of man is often used quite heavily to perform this kind of work.  Often branches are moved out of the way, sometimes via pruning.  Strobes are often used to ensure the elusive target has been rendered motionless enough to remain in focus.  Some nature photographers that shoot insects actually capture the bugs and chill them so they will be sluggish and won’t just fly out of frame.  There are others that rely upon captive animals because an encounter with the creature could be extremely detrimental for the survival of either party.  Serious nature photographers do not shoot domesticated plants or animals (at least not with their camera).

Journalistic photography is the style that most people equate with the adage “a picture is worth a thousand words”.  The photographer is not supposed to do any nonessential manipulation of the image in post production (don’t add smoke, change skin tones or eliminate the village idiot saying hi to his mother from the background).  Preproduction and staging of the photographs in this genre has been known to happen without serious repercussions.  Many of the Brady Civil War Photographs had bodies  moved  to make the frame more dramatically balanced.  On top of that, government leaders rarely miss an opportunity to portray themselves in a positive light.  The aim of the journalistic photographer is to pack as much honesty into the photo as possible.

Landscape photographs are usually either highly manipulated in post process (High Dynamic Range) or the photographer was extremely patient (or just plain lucky).  Light and weather play a large role in making these images of Earth appealing.  Landscape photographers tend to work in the golden hours, shortly before sunrise and about 2 hours after it and the  2 hours before sunset and a bit after that.  During mid day they  scout out locations they would like to shoot, travel to the next shot, or nap.  Although lots of landscape photographers don’t like them, post cards and calendars depend heavily on their services.

Cityscapes are similar to landscapes, but show off the architectural efforts of man.  These shooters often get to shoot at night, as city lights can be more interesting objects than the buildings by themselves.  One big advantage of night photos, the trash doesn’t show up as easily.  The biggest disadvantage of shooting city scenes at night is that the dregs of society like to prey upon distracted people and camera equipment fences easily.  Post processing of cityscapes is often done to make the city look better.

Fashion photography is often thought of by potential models as the high end of modeling.  In reality, fashion models are walking clothes racks being used to show off the apparel.  The main reason tall models are chosen for this work is that on a runway, a tall model’s clothes can be seen from the back of the room.  Odd posing angles are often the result of trying to get as much of a single girl and her outfit in the frame without distorting the shape of the clothes.

Aside from fashion, where tall models rule, all other types of photography has no required body type.  Catalogs and most other kinds of commercial photography use models to show off the product and since no parade is being put on, height does not matter for these kinds of shots.

Environmental photography is not shooting to appease the tree huggers.  It is shooting a person or object in the vicinity of where they are normally found.  Bathrooms, barstools, and casino interiors are not usually involved in these shots, but they are not ruled out.  These shots are often found in brochures and company reports.  Models are often used in these situations if the photograph is going to be used as part of the advertising campaign or equipment manual.  Wedding photography would fall into a subset of environmental photography as the goal is to showcase the happy couple within the area of the event.

Boudoir photography and glamor photography are similar, yet the goal of each is different.  In boudoir the photographer is supposed to be creating a dreamy romantic scene that leads the viewer towards an illusion.  Sex is merely hinted at and not an overt part of the scene.  Glamor can be done on any boudoir set, but boudoir can not be done on every glamor set.  The most important thing to remember about shooting boudoir is that the photograph should reflect anticipation of an intimate occurrence, not the real thing, so implied nudity is preferred for these shots over nudity itself.

Glamor shots are all about desire.   It is the model’s expression that sets the over all tone for a successful glamor shot.  It should elicit a high level of excitement when the shot is viewed.  These are the kinds of shots used for advertising as when you get excited about a the model (or the product) you tend to equate that level of excitement with a reason to buy.  Glamor shots can be done in any attire including lingerie, evening wear, or nude, but the clothing or lack of clothing is not as important as the eye contact the model makes with the camera.  Many photographers forget that it is a come hither look for potential sex that makes these shots work, not the state of dress and definitely not actual sex.

Portraiture is done a lot, and a lot of it is done poorly.  Portraits should instill a sense of who the person is in the photograph.  Many of the ones I see are more like a deer in the headlights look or you can sense the hand trying to get in position to block the camera.  Posing should be done to create the tone of a good portrait.  The pose can be formal or informal, but I am tired of looking at flat lit, red eyed pictures of people with a very cluttered background.  Portraiture will be looked at in more detail in another post.