Landscape, Nature And Travel Photography

This week I concluded a very personal project, undertaken for my 92 year old grandfather Mac, to scan photos with in 12 cherished family photo albums.  Amazingly some of the photos scanned date back to the early 1900’s. When I first took on this task it seemed to be straight forward… scan a large quantity of images at high resolution for archival purposes and distribute them to family on hard drives. What I didn’t anticipate was the time intensive process helping me see not just the events that were noteworthy to my grandmother and grandfather, but the events that made them who they are.

Mac & Helga 1942

Perhaps its my age and having just had a child, but the ability to devote hours of time to look over images that span decades hit a nerve. Individually many of the photos were just snapshots, but collectively they were history. A history of universal moments including children being born, graduations, grandchildren being born, vacations, relatives now no longer with us, career milestones, etc. that I myself will no doubt document for my family. Photos I viewed and scanned were not just photos, but time capsules.

Mac & Helga ~1986

My grandfather is holding up incredibly well considering his age, but he does struggle with memory lapses of increasing severity. He has always been an inspiration to many in our family, a self made man trained in the military, and it has blown me away that he’s been so eager to have these photos scanned. I’d never have thought he’d be on email at this late stage in his life, but he is and eager to see his photo albums online. His eagerness to view these images online is driven by motivations other than just seeing them on a computer. With failing vision and most importantly a failing memory these photos are a connection to his past that increasingly escapes him and the ability to enlarge photos on a computer make them easier to see.

"Hello Crazy Farm" - Blake 2010

This Thanksgiving will be a special time as I get to deliver a family history to him in a digital format. Not only will he get a chance to revisit time & places past, see his late wife & brothers with these photos, but he’ll also be introduced for the first time to the next generation of our family when he meets his great grandson for the first time. This Thanksgiving has been a long time coming in more ways than one and I’m very excited that it has finally arrived.

From my family to yours have a great and safe Thanksgiving… and don’t take those family photo albums for granted.

Technorati Tags: photography, family, Thanksgiving

This weekend I had the great fortune of attending the World Photography Festival in San Francisco. This was their first year here in town and I’m happy to report they’ll be returning yearly.

This year the big draw was Elliott Erwitt. If you’re unfamiliar with the photographic work of Elliott Erwitt you should start to brush up on it immediately. He’s long been a favorite photographer of mine, who has done some amazing work with Magnum Photos. What solidifies Elliott Erwitt as one of the all time greats is his personal photography projects. Elliott’s personal photography projects highlight his great sense of humor, masterful timing and keen skills as an observer. No matter what your photographic specialty, when you view Elliott’s work you realize how much more you can bring to your own work.

In the video below Elliott Erwitt speaks with Ken Light, who I’ve previously interviewed, discussing a wide variety of topics from his start as a photographer to his time as President of Magnum to his current projects. The big bonus is at the end of the interview when Elliott takes time to talk about many of his most iconic images. Enjoy!

Elliott Erwitt Interview by Ken Light from jmg-galleries on Vimeo.

Elliott Erwitt Interview by Ken Light filmed at SF Camerawork as part of the World Photo Festival San Francisco 2010

Technorati Tags: Elliott Erwitt, Ken Light, worldphoto, World Photography Festival, San Francisco, interview, photography

I can enjoy society in a room; but out of doors, nature is company enough for me.
-William Hazlitt

Click to Enlarge

Blue Heron in Snowstorm - Yosemite National Park

Technorati Tags: photography, nature, wildlife, Yosemite, stock photo

I was this close to titling this post “Nature Photographers Deserving Of A Can of Whoop-Ass”, but I refrained.

Click to Enlarge
Original photo after the jump

Photographers Behaving Badly at Mono Lake (Dramatization by Jim M. Goldstein)

This week much debate has ensued regarding a photograph posted on Facebook of a photographer behaving badly climbing on fragile tufa formations at Mono Lake. G. Dan Mitchell took the lead in the comments of this post regarding the law surrounding these formations, but honestly wouldn’t you think common sense would be enough for most people… and especially a nature photographer?!

The photograph in question was taken by Deryk Baumgärtner. He just observed this and documented it by his account. I believe him, he’s always been a stand-up guy from what I can tell of viewing years of his work posted on various photo forums. What baffles me is this is just one case of photographers behaving badly. Nature photographers of all people should be less caught up on getting the shot and more focused on enjoying nature. If someone is not following proper etiquette while in the field we owe it to them and to others to point out how their behavior is inappropriate. I’ve experienced my share of people behaving badly including: people vomiting on NPS signs, photographers walking dangerously close to wild animals that could easily kill them in a matter of seconds, kids in plain view of their parents ignoring signs and walking on thermal crust at Yellowstone, etc. I’ve even heard of other photographers (Gary Crabbe if I recall correctly) commenting on finding used diapers in the middle of Yosemite’s Cook meadow.

I put it to you what stories do you have of people behaving badly in protected areas? Did you say anything? Did you photograph it?

As promised my original photo after the jump Read more…

Sunlight bleeds through a tear in the sky above Yosemite valley on a late morning last December. A contrast of static & change, light & shadow and terrestrial & celestial… and between it all, life. Nature forever captures my imagination as I see dramatic scenes such as this unfold. Invariably I am entranced with the thought that through the chaos of our world & universe a perfect balance exists for life to exist. Such moments keep me coming back to cherish a paradise so often taken for granted.

Portal - Yosemite National Park

Technorati Tags: Photography, fine art, photo, Yosemite, National Park

This past weekend I burned 1/2 a day digging up past images from a special time in my photographic career. That “special time” being a window of time when I was very serious about learning anything & everything about photography and remotely thinking about trying to do more with it as a profession. I then burned another 1/2 a day preparing those images for a formal copyright submission.

1. Were all of these images from years past technically perfect? No.
2. Were these images post-processed to today’s standards? No
3. Were some of these images of subjects that have some marketability? Yes
4. Were some of these images ever submitted to a photo forum or posted on an old web site? Yes
5. Were these images ever copyrighted? All that had been posted online fortunately

Anthony Tashnick wipes out in the finals of the 2010 Mavericks Surf Contest

For me “Photo No Man’s Land” consists of the years that you immerse yourself in photography thinking that you’ll never do much with what you’re shooting. You are inconsistent in your backups and your copyright filings… if you’re doing that at all.

So let me be the one to tell you whether you’re just learning photography or if you’re a pro. Pay attention to this “No Man’s Land” as it will invariably come back to bite you if you don’t give it the attention it needs…

• Don’t under-estimate your skills or eye for meaningful subjects.
• An image you think has no relevance to anyone will in time.
• An image that is in the earliest portion of your archive will be requested or needed for a project

My most frustrating days are those where I search for photos in this “No Man’s Land”. I end up wasting time searching for my files hoping they were backed up and when found wonder & research to see if I made that all important copyright filing. This past Saturday was the last time I’ll do this as I have now found and filled this gap in my archive. Hopefully my sharing this less than pleasant experience will save you some time in the future. Don’t let your growing wave of photo experience crash over you. Do the right things now so that it instead pushes you forward.

Recommended Reading:
If you’re unfamiliar with Copyrights (U.S. specific) or need a quick refresher I recommend reading:
10 Must Read Copyright Articles for Photographers

Technorati Tags: Photography, Copyright, Best Practices

For your enjoyment a photo of the simple beauty of the desert. While most focus on the iconic dunes of White Sands I’ve grown increasingly fascinated by the islands of life that exist in the meadows between the dunes. A closer look reveals the relationship of the plants to the land and wildlife.  My visit to White Sands inspired a couple articles that were recently published on the Digital Photography School site. Be sure to check them out:

• 5 Tips to Create Graphic Photographs
• 5 Tips to Discover Intimate vs. Grand Landscape & Nature Photography

Also if you have an iPad be sure to check out my White Sands Fine Art photos in my new app ePhotobook White Sands HD. It’s the only way to view my work in high resolution unless you own a print.

White Sands Dune Meadow - White Sands National Monument, New Mexico

Technorati Tags: photography, landscape, nature, White Sands National Monument, New Mexico, fine art, stock photo

If you’re like me you may have been unaware of a rare event taking part here in San Francisco next week. The World Photography Festival is coming to the U.S. for the first time, in and above its tour through London, Shanghai and Sao Paulo. Given the caliber of participants and sessions in the event  I wanted to extend my blog to make you aware of it and extend a discount to attend. If you make it let me know. Perhaps with enough blog readers there we can have a meetup.

World Photography Festival
ONLY ONE WEEK TO GO!

Tickets are selling out fast for the World Photography Festival, San Francisco! Don’t miss the chance to meet other local photographers and take part in workshops, live photo-shoots and talks and much more….

** Limited places left on The Book Workshop, presented by SMITH Design, London and special guest Elliott Erwitt. **

Special price for Jim M. Goldstein’s blog readers : $27 for our 4 days festival pass.

To benefit from the special price, you must buy your ticket online using the following link:
http://www.worldphoto.org/events/events/getdiscount/

And enter the following promo code: SFFEST10

Buy your festival pass online before the opening on 18th of November to guarantee entry. Tickets are selling out fast!

See our Festival Program [pdf] attached.
Melanie Philippe
Marketing Manager

World Photography Organisation
9 Manchester Square
London W1U 3PL

Tel: +44 (0) 207 886 3141
Mob: + 44 (0) 78 41 876 925

Technorati Tags: photography, world photography festival, san francisco