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2013-06-18 23:59:24 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

I've mixed up images, about half from digital and half from negatives.  Can you tell which is which?  Just use the comment to say whether you think it's digital or film.  I'll keep an eye on it and tell which is which in a few days.

2013-06-18 23:52:30 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

2013-06-18 17:39:20 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

East River Panoramic (56 images)
Read the backstory at:{Photo Bllog) 
http://www.beckermanphoto.com/blog/east-river-night-pano/
stuff that went wrong, adn then went right.

2013-06-18 17:28:05 (2 comments, 4 reshares, 126 +1s)

East River Night - from my PhotoBlog:
http://www.beckermanphoto.com/blog/east-river-night-pano/
stuff that went wrong, and then went right.

2013-06-17 18:30:58 (1 comments, 5 reshares, 174 +1s)

*Clock - Grand Central Station - Information Desk"
Simple composite of three images stitched together so that it can be printed very large.

Available as print or file at: http://www.beckermanphoto.com/grand-central-clock-color-composite.html

2013-06-16 18:45:05 (13 comments, 21 reshares, 259 +1s)

Turtle Pond, Early Morning
#compositephotography  of 18 images stitched together with Kolor APG.

2013-06-10 16:23:06 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 16 +1s)

2013-06-08 03:04:22 (11 comments, 17 reshares, 247 +1s)

Dawn - East Side (composite of 56 images)

I cut it down to work on it.  The original files in 16-bit was over 1 TB in size.

2013-06-07 18:23:45 (6 comments, 12 reshares, 188 +1s)

Frozen Rear Car Window
Just a snap returning from the coffee shop at night.

2013-06-07 16:27:21 (12 comments, 29 reshares, 264 +1s)

Tulips on Park Avenue Giga Pano of 56 images; cropped and interpolated to smaller size; impossible to work at full size without crashing the mac.

More concerning the #gigapan  on new Business of Photography Page: 

https://plus.google.com/b/106214516435885990183/106214516435885990183/posts

2013-06-07 17:10:35 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 15 +1s)

I'm working on  new page: About the Photography Business
Still not sure how people join this other than including this page in one of their circles:  https://plus.google.com/u/0/106214516435885990183/posts

*I had to write a harsh introduction since lots of people just used as a place to post their "pretty shots" or shots of their dogs or kids or to sell stuff, etc."

I'm guessing that it would have been better to do in a group, but a page offers a bunch of stuff that isn't that easy to do in a group.

The idea is to try and stick to the Business of Photography as much as possible - but of course there will be Photography Tutorials about new things as well.  If I could figure out how to change the title I would change it to "Photo Business & Techniques"

One of the cool things about the new page is that you can set itup... more »

2013-06-05 08:57:22 (7 comments, 10 reshares, 181 +1s)

FDR Highway & East River
View Camera (Wista) 1995

How many of you have used a view camera / or know what one looks like and why it's still useful

My few years with the view camera were among the most enjoyable years for me as far as equipment goes.  I am continuously tempted to go back top to it go back them - if those digital backs were cheaper... Wonder what films they still make in 4x5.  Have to look it up.

I do know that the 4x5 digital backs are way expensive.  That I do know.

That Toyo was heavy - but a nice camera.  Studying the B&H website is a nice way to kill some time.

DB

2013-06-03 20:48:17 (6 comments, 4 reshares, 18 +1s)

It had to happen.

2013-06-03 20:18:13 (5 comments, 4 reshares, 112 +1s)

Diver & Parachute Jump 2005
From MattWeberPhotos.com (print store by Matt Weber)  Several decades of high quality street photography. #streetphotographers  

2013-06-03 16:36:55 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 18 +1s)

2013-06-03 16:26:16 (12 comments, 1 reshares, 52 +1s)

You Caption It 
First three with most likes at end of June gets 50% discount in the store.

2013-06-03 11:57:02 (1 comments, 2 reshares, 46 +1s)

You Caption It (contest)
A long time ago, there was a comic strip in the Village Voice called, "As Heard on the Street" - something like that.  Nowadays with cell everythings everywhere - this is a little too easy.  But the idea of adding your own captions to photos - brings out the funniest ideas.  Make sure to like the good ones - I'll send out a full-size high resolution file of the one that gets the most likes by the end of June.

2013-06-03 10:57:44 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 53 +1s)

You Caption It

There used to be a comic strip in the Village Voice called something like, or maybe exactly like: "Actually Overheard on the Street."


In today's cell-everything world, this would be pretty easy to recreate - but that's sort of where I got the idea for the You Caption It!

This short was on the subway on way out to Mermaid Day Parade - maybe 10 plus years ago .  It's medium format with Mamiya 6.  The Mamiya 6 and the RolleiTLR are  (were) the two medium format cameras that suited my shooting personality (very slow and very fast) best.  If you know either of those cameras you can figure out was mostly for very fast.

2013-06-02 16:56:01 (4 comments, 10 reshares, 153 +1s)

*Chess by Moonlight - Carl Schurz Park (upper east side, New York)

Visit: http://www.beckermanphoto.com/chess-by-moonlight-schurz-park.html

Just walking around in the playground in Karl Schurz Park around 11 pm. My friend Bobby was with me, also looking for “a good shot.” As soon as I saw these two guys playing a board game – it struck me that chess was the perfect game to shoot at night as there was vey little movement on the part of these players.

And then there was the moon in the background. So I watched and thought about the f-stop and shutter speed. I believe the shutter speed was in the one “minute range. This was back in 1995, and is still one of my favorite shots.

2013-06-02 02:54:41 (3 comments, 1 reshares, 12 +1s)

People's Faces
Anyone every notice that it's difficult to sell pictures that contain the faces of people, or at last people that aren't celebrities or nude?  I sell about 1000 pictures of New York landmarks for every photo that involves unknown fully-clothed people no matter how good the shot.

I've always found that odd as one of the first thing a child learns is how to recognize individuals by their faces.  

The only explanation I've come up with is that people want mementos, either of places that they've been or want to visit; or celebrities that they idolize.  And yet - everyone tells me how popular street photography is these days, which oftne involves shots of strangers.

Studio portraits, or wedding shots - don't count according to this rule as the people are known to each other - or in the case of headshots, they servea ... more »

2013-06-02 00:43:27 (5 comments, 15 reshares, 221 +1s)

Dawn - Goldensbridge, Westchester, lake

Media: medium format,Film, black and white,
During the summers, I spent a few weeks at a little rural town called Goldensbridge (in Westchester New York). I was always fascinated by the the fact that there was was always a low lying mist on the nearby lake; and there was almost always fishers. I was shooting wqith a Rollei TLR medium format camera at the time. This was probably the best of that summer’s shooting.

From Photo Store: http://www.beckermanphoto.com/dawn-fishing-photo.html

2013-06-03 11:51:26 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 26 +1s)

Why does this shot show up first in the album? No idea.  Okay - I think I've got it now.  Going to redo this this album and try and save the comments.

2013-06-01 15:43:53 (17 comments, 0 reshares, 11 +1s)

Oh I should look this up somewhere - but you can tell me this in a second I'm sure.  Or point me to the right help section on working with photo albums.  On my last post, for example - the spilled milk shot - I added it to my album You Caption It.  I then looked around for a way to make it the cover shot.  I couldn't figure out how.  I can move things around with the organize button.  But although I put that spilled milk shot into the Caption It album - I couldn't figure out a) why when I shared it - it didn't share the album (though I'm sure I could share the album now) but mostly how to make it the cover?  I made it the first image in the album but that didn't work.  I clicked on the More Dropdown... no luck.  Just give me a hint :)

2013-06-01 15:18:43 (14 comments, 3 reshares, 84 +1s)

You Caption It
This took place in the Wall Street area around 2000.  It was actually shot with a medium format camera which was unusual for me as far as street photography went (Mamiya 6).  

I did have my own ideas for the caption, Don't Cry Over It!; Panic on Wall Street... but I'm sure you can come up with something better.  It's iced-coffee (btw) that had just been dropped by the woman in black coat.

2013-06-01 07:06:25 (30 comments, 62 reshares, 534 +1s)

Central Park Planet 
(composite giga image) 10K pixels x 10k pixels. Created with Kolor APG Giga Pan software (which I really do love).

2013-05-31 20:45:48 (1 comments, 6 reshares, 100 +1s)

Let It Snow (lost music)
“Let it snow…” can just be made out, and it is in 4:4 time; key of “G”

http://www.beckermanphoto.com/lost-sheet-music.html

2013-05-31 13:18:01 (4 comments, 9 reshares, 141 +1s)

Chapter 5 in which I find that I have to go back to the past to show the present and talk about my mother - Sara)

#memoirdlb   (Use tag to find other chapters)

When I read memoirs or autobiographies, this is generally the chapter or chapters that I skip.  It seems as I read through what I've got so far, I've given you the bun without the hamburger.  Yes, this is the part I've put off because you really don't want to jump back to grandparents and all that unless it's relevant and well – you don't want to make private lives public.  

But it turns out, that you can't – well let's just say that you should feel free to skim over this chapter because I'm going to talk about two major rocks that were tossed in the family lake that have ripples right down through the generations.

I am using real names, and I'm not sosure th... more »

2013-05-30 15:12:32 (5 comments, 8 reshares, 131 +1s)

Memoirs of a Photographer (Chapter 4)
Use #memoirdlb  to find other chapters.

Before I dropped out of grad film school, guess what - I dropped out of college.  I had one semester left at the SUNY at Buffalo.  I just couldn't see any purpose in having the diploma, and I always wanted to be somewhere else.

And so, I dropped out.  I had no money (as usual) and decided to hitch back to New York from Buffalo.  If you don't know the state, Buffalo is about as far from the Bronx as you can get and still be in New York. 

It was a cold gloomy day, typical for a Buffalo winter.  I had my things in a duffel bag.  No computers or cell phones back then. Just clothes and a few books.

I got a ride to the Thruway pretty fast and a few rides further I was near Oswego and then my luck gave out and as it got dark, I was shivering on the side of the mainhighway... more »

2013-05-28 20:01:28 (3 comments, 4 reshares, 63 +1s)

Memoirs - Chapter 3
You can use the hashtag #memoirdlb  to find the other chapters if you don't see them.

The truth about creators of art is that no matter what anyone says, they pretty much are self-motivated and it's something they have to do.
I've sat in poetry writing groups at college. I've been to film reviews in film school. And I've been involved with creating things, most of my life, and most of the time displaying them.

And the truth about creators of art is that no matter what anyone says, they pretty much are self-motivated and it's something they have to do.

Why do they have to do it? 

That's where it gets tricky.Maybe they'll find a gene someday that forces people to become artists. It's not an intelligent thing to do. The phrase "starving artist" didn't appear from thin air.
more »

2013-05-25 00:57:24 (8 comments, 18 reshares, 237 +1s)

New York Hemisphere
Another version of the pano of Poets Walk.  

2013-05-25 00:47:07 (10 comments, 15 reshares, 249 +1s)

Not a manipulation - but from a simple reflection in store window (right) on 42nd street.  Simply seen.

2013-05-24 02:16:58 (9 comments, 6 reshares, 102 +1s)

I have so many of these "You Caption It" images that I'm slowly organize them into one album.  Have fun.  At some point I'll finish up the album and then pick some of the funniest captions to show.

2013-05-23 18:38:22 (17 comments, 3 reshares, 93 +1s)

You Caption It

2013-05-22 23:36:57 (5 comments, 3 reshares, 135 +1s)

New York thru Central Park Panorama
Another of the huge giga images I've been doing lately.  This file is 31,000 pixels x 7,636 pixels without any interpolation.  What in the world I'm going to do with these huge files, I haven't figured out yet.

These are the only images I've done so far that really do need to be in a museum or a gallery to be appreciated.  I can look at them at 100% in PS - but these are files I'd really love to print and be able to stand back a few feet from.

Oh, in case you're wondering, this was shot from somewhere in Poets Walk - and it covers three views, east, south, and west.

2013-05-22 02:02:56 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 12 +1s)

Photographer's Memoir  Chapter 2 #memoirdlb

I get to work in a PR firm and more
Link to Chapter 1: https://plus.google.com/u/0/116247667398036716276/posts/Y4Jes81QMLV
[In previous chapter, I had left grad. film school to carried sandbags for low-budget feature films; worked my way up to focus puller and then lighting director; quit that to write scripts; sold one feature film; had the star die before production began; ran out of money; and found myself as a secretary at a large public relations firm in New York]
At that time,  it was unusual for a guy to be a secretary.  And although you might think that it was fun, it wasn't.  Secretaries, and administrative assistants, were the slaves of the organization.  I was at a the PR Firm - and one of my jobs (this is after finishing school at NYU MFA) and working on film sets, was to get coffee for whoeverneede... more »

2013-05-22 02:01:54 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 19 +1s)

Memoirs of a Photographer Part I #memoirdlb    #photographer

(I've written five sections so far.  How much of it has to do with photography - that remains to be seen.  But I am under the impression that most of what makes things interesting to an artist of any sort goes back to his / her childhood).

David is not living up to his potential.  My parents had to read that on almost all my report cards in public school.

In fact, that was true and one of the reasons I have almost no memories of my early school life.  I remember trying to get to a seat that was near a window so I could look out, even if it was just at a courtyard.

If I were in school today, I would be put on behavior-changing drugs.  It is also true, that once in a while would shoot up for no reason that anyone could fathom.  For example, in High School, I failed the Frenchstatewi... more »

2013-05-20 15:25:51 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 100 +1s)

From a series of shots...  photographers always love smoke... esp. in New York.

2013-05-17 22:58:44 (11 comments, 10 reshares, 149 +1s)

Images created with Giga Pan head and Kolor APG software.  In short, most of these images are composites of from 30 to 60 separate images stitched together.

2013-05-14 20:38:24 (4 comments, 4 reshares, 150 +1s)

Free Show Coney Island
#streetphotography  

2013-05-14 20:26:11 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 22 +1s)

I'm certain this means something - but what exactly - I can't say.
Babes and Marathon

2013-05-14 20:20:26 (2 comments, 3 reshares, 45 +1s)

But for some - the streets were really paved with gold... (see below)
Central Park

2013-05-14 20:13:29 (8 comments, 10 reshares, 117 +1s)

When immigrants arrived at the end of the 19th century, many believed that the streets were paved with gold.  They were in for a big surprise.

Fifth Avenue - Streets of Gold

2013-05-13 14:48:33 (5 comments, 6 reshares, 136 +1s)

#marseille #provence

2013-05-11 00:01:37 (5 comments, 6 reshares, 89 +1s)

The Future is Here

2013-05-10 23:13:27 (7 comments, 4 reshares, 95 +1s)

You Say Hello and I Say Goodbye
Do you think they were meeting - or saying goodbye?  
(btw shot with infrared film, not that it really matters)

2013-05-09 00:49:10 (23 comments, 3 reshares, 96 +1s)

Whistle While You Walk
What instrument is that?  Too big for a trumpet.  Too small for any sort of string instrument I can think of.  French Horn?  Don't they usually have a big curve in the box? Too small for a baritone horn.  

I'm stumped.

Anyway, if I'm with street photographers, I shoot street shots.  If I'm alone, I do the composite shots.  But I'm sure happy he was whistling.  Couldn't hear what he was whistling because they were blowing up things for the Second Avenue Subway.

2013-05-08 16:29:11 (17 comments, 17 reshares, 246 +1s)

Central Park Cherry Blossoms (composite of 50 images)

The fun thing with an image this size (original is roughly 10,000 pixels by 14,000 pixels) is to look at the detail at 100% view.  It of course fails to allow anything like that on the net - but let's just say that every blossom is crisp and sharp and could make an image of it's own.

The toughest part of the shooting was waiting for people to stop lying down under the falling blossoms.  It's true, that may have made a good picture, but they didn't lie still for a composite shot.

http://www.beckermanphoto.com/central-park-cherry-blossoms-composite.html

2013-05-06 15:56:37 (7 comments, 2 reshares, 39 +1s)

A Political Smile - Mayor Bloomberg

Shot at a Halloween Parade in Queens a few years ago.  There is a sort of mask that politicians wear that is more evident or at least more practiced than the masks the rest of us wear.

2013-05-06 14:56:03 (6 comments, 4 reshares, 107 +1s)

Pershing Square Composite
Here's one that I don't like much - but why should I only post the shots that I  like?   Here's an example of a composite (20-something images)  that only works in spots.  Pershing Square arch is nicely backlit, and I do like the lights in the building on right - but those damned vans in foreground... ugh... and the curve that I couldn't straighten out... ugh... I do like that square building in front of the Chrysler Building.  Anyway - it's easy enough to get back to this area and do it again.  

Next time, even though it's a composite (or pano) you can do away with the curve if you shoot with a longer lens (I was using a 20mm) which also means shooting a lot more images - and project it with the Plannar selection in APG...

After all - most of photography consists of failures.

2013-05-04 14:06:20 (3 comments, 4 reshares, 34 +1s)

An ancient article that seems to hold up.