Friday, August 28, 2009

Great Oregon Steamup 2009

As I work with the 1080p video capability of the Canon 5D MkII, I begin to see some interesting possibilities. The image quality is quite outstanding. A friend says that standard definition video (640x480) gives you a sense of how something is shaped. He says that 1080p gives you the texture of the thing. I couldn't agree more.





I have been editing videos using Sony's Movie Studio Platinum Plus. It's a nice application that allows me to create 1440x1080 digital cinema materials. The capabilities of the software suite is pretty good. The only thing I would like (without having to pay more for it, of course) would be additional blend options for merging video track 2 onto video track 1.

Each year in Brooks, Oregon a group of steam powered farmers haul out their great collections of equipment to share with the public. These events are held over two weekends; the last weekend in July and the first weekend in August.

This year I spent time with the steampowered tractors. They are awesome good fun. Next year I should spend a little time in the steampowered sawmill sheds. That thing is definitely not something a person should try to recreate at home. LOL!!!

Anyways, until then, here is a short video of one of the earlier tractor designed engines.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Photography

Portland Photographers' Forum
Newsletter


...

This Month's Meeting: Wednesday, August 19, 7:00 p.m.
Guest Speaker: Christopher Perez
Alternative Histories
alt histories "Ideas for my large multi-year photographic image projects arrive when least expected," Chris Perez says."As I read various novels by Jules Verne, Tom Robbins, Ian Banks, Terry Pratchett, and Susanna Clark I could almost see what images from Alternative Histories might look like. In similar time, I worked with Tribal Fusion bellydancers to see where I might be able to take a related idea. Talking with NagaSita (one of my models) I learned that there are active communities of people engaged in the pursuit of Alternative History ideas of Tribal Fusion, Noir Victorian Gothic, and Steampunk. These styles are based on the idea that we live not in a uni-verse, but rather, in a vast multi-verse of time coincident Alternative Realities, just like the novels I was reading."

"My photographic project swiftly incorporated these ideas and extended them to include the thought of how image might look as they pass through a "seam" between the various multi-verses. There would be hints familiar to us, such as graphic design elements from 1880 Paris, France. Images would be stressed and somewhat distorted due to the pressures placed on them as they passed through a "seam". Clothing styles could be emblematic, in the case of Steampunk, of what might happen if oil never replaced steam."

"This is how my overly active, geeky, complex mind works. This is how my Steampunk, Tribal Fusion, and Noir Victorian Gothic series of images came into being."


Bogville - Malachi

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Photography

Someone provided a very nice calculation of the number of potential photographic art collectors about a decade before I ran a similar calculation. The difference between my calculation and this author is that I assumed all art and came up with a figure of a most 300,000 potential buyers in the USA. The author's calculation of 10,000 collectors of photographic art seems about right.

Without going into details, I feel the collector market for photography is indeed rather small. With a large number of artists vying for print sales, it puts pressure on photographers who work in the area of collectible photography.

No matter how you view it or what you believe, its important to understand the forces in play.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Flickr

There is a rather unique way of finding images on Flickr. It is provided by FivePrime and is called Hive Mind.

I have started to use this as a means of finding the very best examples of a subject, style, or tool.

Here are links to semi-random subjects. Each page is sorted by Flickr's "Interstingness" property.

qtpfsgui - an Open Source HDR application

texture layers - a technique of image manipulation that I particularly like

Canon 5D MkII - a look at "interestingness" from the point of view of specific camera equipment

This is a brilliant way of swiftly reviewing the very best work to be found across the Flickr universe. If you ever wonder what the state of the art is, just take a look using this image filtering tool. You might be utterly and pleasantly shocked, just as I am.

Friday, July 31, 2009

News!!!

I received the following email and am very excited by the opportunity.

Dear Christopher, Thank you for your interest in Photo Life. We would like to publish one of your images in our "Spotlight" column... Thanks Christopher... Kind regards, Xavier

Friday, July 17, 2009

Railroad

My work through the Center for Fine Art Photography has been posted.

The Juror did not select me for any additional rewards. I feel inclusion of my work along side fourteen other artists is reward enough.

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Flickr

Here's a quick way to find one's own Flickr Images that made it to Explore.

It turns out that one of my images made it to #29!!! I'm amazed and, of course, quite happy.

Victorian Age of Steam

Friday, June 26, 2009

Ideas and how my images tend to evolve...

As I advance in years my photographic images are tending toward complexity. I used to feel that zen-like images of simplicity and austerity were a style I could explore for a very long time. Alas, after many trips to south India, I find that I love color, texture, line as well as detail. While not the only source of change, India has had a huge influence on me.



After reading a rather fun series of books about alternative histories, I thought it might be worth a photographic exploration of the topic. I started with Tribalism as expressed by bellydancers. Then I tried my hand at Steampunk. This video is of an image created out of one such photo-session.

The model is NagaSita. She is a local dancer and theatrical arts talent. The processing was performed in the PhotoShop Open Source equivalent called the Gimp. The evolution of the image clearly expresses the changes in how I felt as I worked the image to completion.

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

India

Such inspiration - if ever there was a body of work that I wanted to create, it would look like this

India

Stunning use of a Canon 5D MkII and 1080p digital cinema

Wasteland from Bombay Flying Club on Vimeo.

Monday, May 18, 2009

News!!!

The Center for Fine Art Photography
400 North College Avenue
Fort Collins, CO 80524

970.224.1010
May 18, 2009
Dear Christopher,

Congratulations! Your portfolio has been accepted for the Portfolio ShowCase Volume 3: Book and Online Exhibition at The Center for Fine Art Photography. Juror, Stella Kramer had the difficult task of selecting just 15 photographers from nearly 250 artists for this unique exhibition.

To view the portfolios that were selected, please visit the Center's website at www.c4fap.org. You will find the selected images and the information form under Jury Results in the bottom left corner of the Center's home page. Please complete and return the form provided.

Once again, congratulations on being selected for this exhibition.

Sincerely,



Azarie Furlong
Exhibitions Manager



Hamidah Glasgow
Executive Director

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Portland

News Flash! My Steampunk work will be shown thru the month of October at Paradox Cafe in Sellwood. Yea!!