June 06, 2007

Maine Workshop Day 4

Day four and in class early (8am I think). I again brought in everything I shot the day before, pining them to the board. Another classmate followed suit, making cheap color copies at the local Kinko’s. To be fair, he was from out of town and didn't know where he could get high quality prints. I print everything on my Epson 7600 on Ilford Pearl (semi gloss) paper. Class has been starting at 8am and finishing up after 7pm, needless to say I didn't have much time to color correct my work. I did a general edit to get rid of the obviously bad shots and did it twice more to find the best shot of the subject at hand. My point of the last two sentences is that Pearl or semi gloss paper is very forgiving and often hides imperfections that I had to gloss over due to lack of time. Glossy shows every last detail with nowhere to hide.

The Rem Koolhaas-designed campus center at IIT, Chicago. This was shot with my Tilt shift 24mm with two shots.

With a positive review and critique from classmates and Norm, I was happy we spent some quality time reviewing my work. As a fellow classmate remarked about Norman, "He has a way of looking at your work and can right away tell you what you need to do to raise the level to a place he thinks is acceptable." All and all, I think Norm was happy I took the time to print my shots as well as that I was more than a young punk trying to be a photographer, but a photographer that could learn allot from someone like himself as well as he could learning something about shooting architecture in Chicago from me. Norm and I have a lot in common. One of the biggest differences is he still enjoys and shoots mainly in film. I won't have anything to do with film as I've been let down twice in my career with Kodak and Ilford laying me off due to the decline of film sales. The things we do have in common are we mainly shoot with the same lens (TS 24mm) and also Norm uses Canon products and we have one of the same camera's (5D). We both enjoy shooting Architecture and landscapes. On more than one occasion where most of the class was shooting away like crazy, Norm would only stand, survey the area and take one shot. Knowing in his mind where the shot was before he took it. I as well don't go out and go nuts with my camera. I'm carefully calculated and like to believe I can see the shot before pulling out my camera to take it. I often won't pull out my camera till I can see a shot worth taking. This is also applied to my commercial work in Landscapes and Architecture. Providing full coverage with less shots means more to the client than 100's of substandard shots. Pick your angle, compose the frame and take the shot.

IIT's library designed by Mies Van Der Rohe

Today was the big day that I finally had my portfolio review by Norm and the class. This week was busy as all hell, so I didn't have a chance to print my portfolio. This of course was a huge mistake and I knew this going in. I figured I would like to hear what people think about my website and as well when it comes to my professional Landscape Architecture work, It's all lined out on the same page and easy to view. Ok, so we open up my website and for starters the resolution of the laptop we were using didn't match the overhead projector. So every page could not be seen full size and we constantly had to scroll around to see the work. I can't tell you how frustrating this was and it made it difficult to see my creative architecture work. Norm was in standard digital portfolio mode and had very little constructive advice and it was in my mind a complete waste of time. Lets stay positive, the class did make a few comments that they felt my work was consistent and solid as well as the site was well designed and laid out. I was happy to hear it and that made it worth it. But the lesson here was to never show your digital portfolio to an old traditional photographer. They look at you as if you are insulting them by not printing your work. Hey, its the year 2006, not 1952...we view things digitally now...saving us time, effort and money by not printing a bunch of photos we may never use, frame, or sell as a print.

The only Mies Van Der Rohe church in the world. Very simple box with only the brick walls holding up the structure.

A shot from behind the alter where the Jesus magic is stored. Seems to be in disarray and in need of restoration.

Norm & JJ setting up their shots in at the back of the church.

Breaking out, getting on our way, we headed to the IIT campus here on the south side of Chicago. This is a campus that Mies Van Der Rohe designed and taught young architects the art of pushing the envelope with less rather than more with an attitude. We spent lots of time walking around the campus shooting Mies work. We were given access to the Mies Church, campus center and into a student housing center to shoot the campus center from above. The Marketing manager made this possible and was very helpful making sure no one stopped us from shooting. I can't tell you how often we are shooed out of a location in Chicago. After 911, everyone is paranoid that you're going to take a photo and make plot to take down a building. In most cases, people can ask you not take a photo, but they can't stop you. Its more persistence of a mall cop that scares people off. Me? I know my rights and I know that you can't stop someone from taking a picture of any structure that is viewable in a public space.

Back on track, we spend the day shooting Mies's work and the student center. The student center is extremely impressive inside and out. We could have spend hours on the interior alone (and we did). I spend more time outside than in as I knew the campus and took a walk around to see what I could find. Most the people in the class have never been in Chicago, so they tended to only go where they were directed. This gave me a small unique advantage when I brought my prints in the next day. Talking with Norm, he gave me some insight as to using at 1.4 canon extender with a TS 24mm to give you a 33mm shot when the 24mm was a bit too wide. In some locations you want to zoom in with the TS 24mm and you can't change your location by moving closer to the subject. The canon 1.4 extender does the job quite nicely. As well we talked about circular polarized graduated filters. Norm tends to use them anytime he's shooting with blue skies and architecture. You can attached them right to your lens by screwing it onto the lens. You can then turn the lens to insure the darker part is going to be in the sky rather then on the ground. What do they do? They tend to make the photo sharper and the skies really deep blue and dramatic clouds (if any in the sky). Adds quite a bit of texture to your shot.

The shot where I couldn't move closer to the subject and could have used a 1.4 extender knocking it down to a 33mm. Norm used his with his TS 24mm. This shot was cropped to cut out the information that I didn't want in the photo to focus more on the subject.

The kids of IIT often construct public art just out side the library showing off the strength & flexibility of the materials as art over functionality.

Posted by Robert R Gigliotti at 12:45 PM | Comments (0)

May 31, 2007

Maine Workshop, day 3

Ok, so we're at day three and still no portfolio review. Their were 12 people in the class and we've been going over about 3 or 4 a day. It seems to be standard operating procedure to only spend 10 minutes on anyone's work that is brought in digitally or from a web site. But if you bring in a printed body of work, then Norm will spend 30 minutes and if you're really good, 45 min to an hour!! Seeing this trend of the pleasure of viewing printed work on a desk or pinned to a board I took it upon myself to print my work from the past two days and pin them to the board for review. At the time I wasn't ready to print my digital portfolio, but I must admit I now see the importance of doing so. Photos really look different and in some cases viewing them digital can be a let down. Yes, computers have brilliant colors and a capacity of viewing them in the millions of colors. But when you print your work something different than what you saw on screen jumps out at you and makes you think more about the work you did to get that image on paper. I've sometimes been blow away from seeing a print on screen then printing to see an better photo than I was expecting.

Rookery building interior designed by Frank Lloyd Wright

Today was planned quite well and after a some constructive criticism form the group and Norm we looked at other work from the class. Everyone seemed positive about my wide angle shots, even Norm. I have always been attracted to the wide angle perspective with film and photos. I did have to compose two shots with my TS-24mm. As well I had to do more than just shift left and right, but because of the large amount of space in the room at the Rookery building (wide shot below) I would have needed to tilt my camera up causing distortion in the perspective of the shot. Instead I shifted and rised to get the coverage I needed, then with out moving the tilt and rise settings on the lens I simply rotated it around to the right side and locked the lens in the same place and took the second shot. If the tilt or rise was even one increment off it would not match up correctly and the distortion would be corrected differently in each photo. This shot was set up on a tripod with the use of a level attached to where the flash would go if I needed it.

Rookery building interior designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Click on the photo to see the full size version.

I made an effort to spend more time with Norm shooting today as time is limited on a one to one basis. When it comes to using the TS-24mm I'm not a pro yet, but Norm is. So I asked many questions and now feel I have a much better understanding of the lens than I did before meeting Norm. For those of you who have one, its not an easy lens to master. Click here to see my notes and review on the TS-24mm.

We also spent some time inside the Harold Washington Library, but full access was not granted and I was only able to get a shot of the hall way, below. On the top floor they have an amazing room that holds banquets and larger meetings. Its an atrium with views of the sky architecture outside. A great shot would be taken in the morning as the afternoon light creates many distracting shadows.

When we left the library I grabbed a quick shot of the federal plaza with the reflection of the Mies Van Der Rowe building and sun on the statue on the plaza. You have to be quick when shooting on any Federal grounds. After 911 they don't take kindly to cameras on Federal property.

I also took Norm to the spot JJ showed me the day before of two of Chicago's oldest buildings contrasted by the El and new architecture. It's right there at the county jail. I also took a shot of Norm waiting for me to finish.

I felt that this composition was better than the shoot from Tuesday.

Norm waiting for me

Posted by Robert R Gigliotti at 04:33 PM | Comments (0)

May 20, 2007

Maine Workshop, day 2

Day two was another day of portfolio review in the morning that dragged on a bit longer than necessary (about 1pm) for a few classmates and not long enough for others. Mine was yet to be reviewed again and would have to wait till tomorrow. We did however spend time reviewing work shot from Monday. We used an over head and I must admit it was difficult at times to compare and contrast to other works with out the ability to look at all photos at once on a table or board.

The old train station on the south side

Old and new architecture

Setting out to shoot for the day, no one really knew what was going on. We all separated and did our own thing. A few of us from Chicago decided to take a particular path avoiding some of the tourist traps that we've been to over and over again recruiting a few of the none locals in the process. We avoided Millineum Park (it’s amazing, but I've shot it many times) and headed out to river walk towards the lake and into Streeter villa. The day was hot and we walked quite a bit. I was frustrated by the lack of organization with the Maine workshop. They had mentioned they would get the group into multiple locations to shoot interiors around the city. This was not to happen today to our dismay. The shots of the day were a bit rushed and by time we go to an area of my interest I was so tired that I didn't spend the time necessary to compose a great shot. As well the weather was not ideal. Mostly overcast and look very white. I decided to do all my shots in black and white and see what turned up. JJ, one of the Chicago Locals shared the art of sneaking into parking garages around the city to get a unique view of the city. As well he was kind enough to give us access to his roof deck on the south side. You can check out some of JJ's work here..

The view from the south side

After returning home for the night I decided to print my work from the past two days to see if I could then get Norman and the class to review my work. I have an Epson 7600 with a Rip, so getting the photos processed was pretty easy. I printed everything at 8x12, the natural aspect ration of the camera, rather than 8x10, loosing 2 inches of the photo. For more information about how much you loose on what prints size, check out my website with a list of common sizes and the loss after cropping.

Repetitive detail

Posted by Robert R Gigliotti at 03:04 PM | Comments (0)

May 15, 2007

Maine Workshop, day 1

In a previous entry I wrote of further education with photography. What I did this year for my further education as a professional photographer was attend the Maine workshop that travels around the country with noted photographers teaching the workshops. In Chicago this year the workshops hosted an architecturural workshop. Its one of their "travel workshops" and was hosted and taught by Norman McGrath, a noted and well accomplished architectural photographer, born in Ireland and has been living and working for years in New York.

Norm in Chicago

In my next five entry's I'll be writing and sharing what we did on a day to day basis (if I can remember it all). I'll only be covering the five days we actually shot and not the opening reception or closing reception (food was pretty good and free!) You'll hear my opinions highs and lows of the six day course with Norman Mcgrath.

The Chicago River looking East.

Ok, first off I'm a member of ASMP (American society of media Photographers) and they send me notifications from time to time of events happening in and around Chicago. This includes deals you can get as a member. A $200 discount was one of the deals and one big reason (other than it was hosted in Chicago) why I chose to attend the workshop.

So, I'm a guy that got a good deal of photography work though an on-line portfolio and using a computer to show work in client meetings. The first thing we did on Monday was look over people's portfolio's, some on-line, others from a usb drive and most were printed images. I can't even tell you the lack of response to anyone that showed digital slides from not only Norman, but the rest of the group (there were 11 of us). Norman would spend 10 minuets or less critiquing peoples work that was on-line and a few of those who brought printed work, up to an hour. It was ridiculous in my mind and it should have been made clear to everyone in the class to bring a printed portfolio if you want Norman to give feedback. Norman went on and on over a few peoples work that it took nearly three days to see everyone's work. We typically viewed portfolios in the morning and looked at what other people shot then by lunch went out to shoot.

So its still Monday and My Landscape portfolio (I was going to use my usb drive) and my architectural portfolio (I was going to use my website) had not been seen. At this point and after all the negative feedback from those who showed work digitally, I was starting to get nervous.

We had a guide that came in from the Archicatural foundation of Chicago to give us a guided tour of the city. I have to admit, I was not excited about this as I've done these tours and I've spent many hours walking around the city taking photos. Besides, who wants to walk around for more than 5 hours with a group of 12? No matter, we pressed on and I made the best of it. Grabbing a conversation about photography here and there with Norman and other classmates on composing a particular shot or some of the challenges of other shots. I took a shot on the river of Norman and another down the river that I quite liked. The shots of the day are above and below.

One of many unique bridge houses over the river

Marina City & reflection from a dry reflection pool.

The Chicago Cultural Center

Posted by Robert R Gigliotti at 03:27 PM | Comments (0)