Challenges ...

[drmatthes]

All the better when your camera/lens represent color so well it smacks you in the face when you look at it... like the Ricoh GR II in positive film JPEG.

R0000235 by Andrew Lossing, on Flickr

I second the county fair environment - though I did have an overzealous "alcohol monitor" notate me to the fair security last time I went for taking from-the-hip shots... she apparently thought I was trying to take 'upskirts' though I'm not sure how I would have done so, there were some short skirts but I was nowhere near close enough to any of them to get compromising angles! That's what happens when you give some people a teeny tiny bit of authority I guess.

LMBFAO 😀 - love that pig!!!

 

[agentlossing]

LMBFAO 😀 - love that pig!!!

Yep, that look just shouts snark!

 

[Retro-Grouch]

"If I do not change than I think Photography is over for Me !"

Helen, I think that sense of urgency is the mark of every true artist. It shows that your work is more than a hobby (though nothing wrong with that!), but is something fundamental to who you are, and comes from the very core of your identity. I believe that one of our imperatives as sentient beings is to grow, to expand, to change. Sometimes that process feels stalled or blocked, and we suffer. Have faith in yourself, and you will find your path!

 

[Yokosuka Mike]

Taking the challenge thing down a notch, and thinking about what I can do, what I can do well and what I can’t do well at all… I think one of my biggest challenges has been waterfalls. In all my years of photography I don’t think I’ve ever taken a picture of a waterfall that I was pleased with. I’ve tried many times, I’ve made photo excursions specifically to waterfalls loaded with lenses, tripods and cameras, only to walk away feeling disappointed. I’ll keep trying and maybe one of these times I’ll make a keeper!

All the best,
Mike

 

[helen.HH]

Big fan of Jane Bown also, Helen. She used a Rolleiflex Automat with 75mm Tessar for earlier images, before eventually sticking with her beloved OMs. I have three of her books and would like more. Her ability to often conjure memorable portraits in the most unpromising of locations (stairwells, even) was as remarkable as her tenure with The Observer. If memory serves, on her passing, she bequeathed her archives to The Ob/Guardian.

Yes am aware of her Life, Cameras, and you are correct about her legacy left to the Papers... Cheers and Thanks ~

 

[helen.HH]

I generally shoot monochrome on film and color on digital. Most of what I take doesn't emphasize color, but there are moments...


2018-03-10 Stage Maple A7II CV Nokton 50-15 DSC07372 4x6 by newst54, on Flickr

really LOVE this photo You posted
The color, the mood, the composition , GRAND !
Thank You ~

 

[helen.HH]

I sometimes find myself looking at one of my pictures and thinking 'That will look better in black and white'. Question is...do I ever think the opposite?

On reflection it seems to me that I rely on black and white to make a colour image more 'interesting'.

This almost sounds like an admission, or a confession or just a realisation that I've had enough of my own b/w images.

I don't think we need to emphasise colour but it is all around us, even on a dull, dark foggy morning in the suburbs...

(Sydney Allard (no relation) made some great cars but that's another story)

hah, know what You mean
I am slowly losing my will to continue the possibility of colour...been using my iphone to test myself...meh

Thanks for your b&w/ Colour thoughts ~

 

[helen.HH]

Black and white is what moves me. My challenge is to continue to try to get it "right".

Yes, Fun shot Akiva
whatever makes One click the shutter and go in pursuit of the Image
Thanks !

 

[helen.HH]

My challenge is to get the time and tranquillity to get out taking a camera with me to shoot.
I never had much of either but recently they both tend to zero

oh dear, not good if You have neither Time or peace of mind
Time to just do it !
Best & Thanks !

 

[helen.HH]

Here ya go Helen, Allard signing posters for students.

Note his "everyday" carry camera at the time in 2011, a Panasonic GF1 with an optical finder. If I recall correctly the lens was either the 14mm f2.5 Lumix (28 equivalent) or the Lumix 20mm f1.7 (40mm equivalent).

I teach photography at a university and many famous photographers have come through our photo school over the years. Most stay for a few days or a week and really enjoy helping students. Arnold Newman came and didn't want to leave, he really had a great time.

Wow, how Fun and Cool is that ~
A sweet moment indeed

Cheers and Thank YOU Larry ~

 

[helen.HH]

Yeah, the last year (photographically) has been less than stellar. I've really only just started trying to shoot street again but find myself on the 50mm again and not getting close for anything when it comes to strangers. But I'm at least doing it again (despite the mediocrity of my work) and it should get better. Hopefully.

Yes we are all trying to climb out of this Tunnel...
Cheers and Best to You !

 

[helen.HH]

helenhill.... if the subject matter moves you as well as the colors...maybe it's time for a reprise? You know.... 'helenhill in the american west'.....it worked for Avedon & Georgia OKeefe....

& if you particularly liked the cowboy images, check out Adam Jahiel, "The Last Cowboy"....B/W long term ranch project. Adam J also has an outstanding sense of composition. Then of course there is the impressive B/W large format work of my friend Jay Dusard "The North American Cowboy, A Portrait."

Here's one from a branding at my friend Charlie's ranch in the southern Alberta foothills.

Great shot !

Yes have suddenly fallen for an 'America' I don't really have access to.

My 'colour' infatuation is waning..possibly due to my iphone, subject matter or a level of some sort of insanity, giggles

oh well

Cheers and Thanks ...really Love that photo

 

[helen.HH]

My challenge? Finding enough spare time to teach myself developing a roll of B&W 120 Film in Caffenol C 😀.

Your challenge, in order to follow the great work of Allard's American portraits might be to do something like August Sander did 100 years ago

https://augustsander.org/


but in COLOR. (In German - just click on any "read more" to see his work).

Enjoy YOUR work!

Film developing is always a somewhat mystical vibe
The magic of whats to come and then it's there
Cool Challenge

Thanks for the Link...such Wonderful photos and a Life graced with following their vision at any cost

 

[helen.HH]

"If I do not change than I think Photography is over for Me !"

Helen, I think that sense of urgency is the mark of every true artist. It shows that your work is more than a hobby (though nothing wrong with that!), but is something fundamental to who you are, and comes from the very core of your identity. I believe that one of our imperatives as sentient beings is to grow, to expand, to change. Sometimes that process feels stalled or blocked, and we suffer. Have faith in yourself, and you will find your path!

The urgency is waning
Other urgencies prevail
Grow, expand, change... am trying, all rather existential
To Divine Love and Light

Cheers and Thanks ~ retro Grouch

 

[Horatio]

My biggest challenge is patience, and waiting for the right moment to make the image. I'm too eager to get something.

 

[Sanders McNew]

Boredom, Grief, Desire to get out of my 'normal' ways of 'seeing';, 'doing'.
Being inspired by other people's work with Colour. Suddenly a new World has emerged.

If I do not change than I think Photography is over for Me !

I get your anxiety. I left photography for a number of years, for reasons that had little to do with photography. But one reason was a feeling that I was in a rut, and I needed to find a way out of the rut.

In my case, I've begun to explore infrared photography. I dabble in color but I think there is a chasm between seeing in color and seeing in black and white. In my case, I am partly colorblind so I do not trust my sense of color to be anything like how others experience color. Infrared has given me another way of seeing, that is not necessarily dependent on the color palette.

Playing around in infrared has fundamentally changed the way I think about composing a frame. I used to avoid putting much of the sky in the frame. Now, the sky is often the most striking element. I never shot wide lenses before. Now, a 25mm suddenly seems ... limiting.

I am always leery of people who make their medium the focus of their work -- people, for example, who shoot tintypes and the content is meh but people look because COME ON it's a tintype! But I have found that breaking some old habits -- giving digital a try, giving wide lenses a try, giving infrared a try -- has led me to new ways of seeing the world, and that in turn has opened my eyes to new subjects to photograph. Or at least new ways to photograph familiar subjects.

It might be that color is a way for you to dig out of your rut. But hang onto the sense that change is overdue. If it's not color, find some other way to open a new door and breathe some fresh air.

Sanders

 

[Rayt]

When people ask me why I shoot b/W I honestly reply it’s because I am not good enough for color, and I go on to explain why.

My current challenge is to learn how to do street photography, with a 21mm lens.

 

[markjwyatt]

...My current challenge is to learn how to do street photography, with a 21mm lens.

Get close.

I tried setting the self timer, letting the camera hang from the strap, setting off the timer then walking into a scene and letting the 90 degree view take care of the cropping. One problem is the camera was not aligned well. Also where I tried (airport- I was bored) light was low, shutter speed slow, so too much blurring, but outdoors (actual street) this should not be an issue.

 

[raydm6]

Get close.

I tried setting the self timer, letting the camera hang from the strap, setting off the timer then walking into a scene and letting the 90 degree view take care of the cropping. One problem is the camera was not aligned well. Also where I tried (airport- I was bored) light was low, shutter speed slow, so too much blurring, but outdoors (actual street) this should not be an issue.

Now that's an interesting technique! 🙂

 

[JeffS7444]

Sometimes I think it's liberating to take "bad" photos and to embrace the chroma noise.