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Guest stnami

By Guest stnami
in Digital Forum

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hankg

hankg

Posted
Posted
Sony,Canon and Panasonic are in a position to strike, what about Nikon and others?

 

JVC seems to be the only other player with the current HD (1080 pixel) camcorders. I think Sony and Canon dominate. Anything higher resolution then HD tv would be aimed at cinema and like the Red One likely to be a lot bigger and more expensive.

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hankg

hankg

Posted
Posted

 

 

A good short summary of the state of the art in portable HD tv digicams. If you are printing on newsprint you can go to full page tabloid no problem, if it's going into the glossy magazine section somewhere between 4x6 and 6x9 inches is the upward limit for decent quality depending on subject matter. Still a long way from your average digital still pocket cam.

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StS

StS

Posted
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Maybe its just me but I never got the hang on filming.

 

Photos are for me about keeping a moment and trying to get a good one.

 

What I recognize is most people use video as a wide angle in space and time to get 'everything' stored at 'any time'. As Guy pointed out the editing will be the tricky thing. As a consequence all of my attemps in video-filming turned out boring results.

 

Additionally, to make film work, it needs a story-plot, when in photography the story ideally is concentrated in one moment. However, with video one is competing against film studios having decades of experience in making a plot work (and they turn up with a poor one in 90% nevertheless - spending millions on special effects and saving some 100k or whatever it takes to pay a good playwright to write an interesting story). If I'm filming the birthday of an aunt, I miss the dramatic kick like exposing her past as public enemy #1 or convincing her to blow up the neighbourhood to make up for the lack of a story. I'm not Bruckheimer ('why settle with one explosion if one can have two?').

 

In photography less is more. In filming more seems to be more. In all four dimensions, effect and budget.

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smokysun

smokysun

Posted
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it's partly a matter of decisions. when do you like to make them: before, during, or after.

 

if before, then it's set-up, drama, fashion.

 

if during, it's what we know as street photography, or a matter of this moment as a surprise freeze.

 

if after, it's photoshop, moving toward painting.

 

and what is the function of the still, as opposed to 'moving' pictures?

 

for me the function of the still has always been meditative, ie. stopping our crazy auto-pilot lives.

 

while the pictures in motion grab us by the hand and take us thru the ups and downs to oz.

 

both break our circle of thoughts. is the result the same?

 

and as for personality in a photo, where does it come from?

 

helmut newton vs. gary winogrand vs. the cinematographer

 

frankly, i agree with the story theory. any photograph, from wherever it comes, holds our attention because of an implied story. it goes back to sitting around the teller in the cave. (or plato's shadows on the wall).

 

homer vs. tolstoy. and the character of the voice makes a difference.

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StS

StS

Posted
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Good point - maybe a combination, moving pictures and standing ones, the latter to emphasize. The best of both worlds?

 

I guess an artist can't afford to be conservative, else we would still be stuck with cave paintings.

 

A craftsman usually is conservative. However I guess there are not much people any more learning how to make wooden wheel spokes...

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hankg

hankg

Posted
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Here is a very effective example of still images and audio.

 

Washington's Lone Needle Exchange Program | The New York Times

 

It is in ways more powerful then a video might have been as you are presented with one powerful image from what would have been a stream of thousands. The visual focus and relation to the audio can be presented in a manner very different from video.

 

I have an audio track that I am preparing now that was recorded when I made these shots:

 

Hank Graber : Photographs

Hank Graber : Photographs

Hank Graber : Photographs

Hank Graber : Photographs

 

It adds context in the subjects own voice. The new digital disc recorders are small and pretty amazing.

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hankg

hankg

Posted
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The shots were taken in a town called Esperanza in the central valley of the Dominican Republic. The town has a lot of Haitians who emigrated there to cut cane. There is now a large free trade zone and the factories are providing a better living then did the cane cutting. There are a lot of Haitian Vodou shamans (called locally in spanish 'brujos' (witches) ) in the town. They act as sort of a combination doctor, lawyer, psychatrist and priest.

 

The individual portraits are of 2 brujos in their consulting rooms. Don Elias is the head of an extended family that lives in a large compound. The musicians were playing in the courtyard outside of Don Elias consulting room. Last I spoke to someone from Esperanza I understand that Dona Tata is on the lam from the local law and is no longer around.

 

They are all shot on film ( this was a few years ago). The camera was a Plaubel 6x7 rangefinder and one of them (Don Elias) was shot on an Alpa with a 55 Rodenstock lens and a 6x9 back, Ecktachrome E100G slide film. I used Broncolor Mobil strobes on all shots.

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carstenw

carstenw

Posted
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Thanks for the detailed explanation.

 

I poked around on your site, but didn't find what I was looking for, so I will ask you directly instead: are these a personal project, or professional work? I find them very compelling, and am curious if they were ever published anywhere.

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hankg

hankg

Posted
Posted
Thanks for the detailed explanation.

 

I poked around on your site, but didn't find what I was looking for, so I will ask you directly instead: are these a personal project, or professional work? I find them very compelling, and am curious if they were ever published anywhere.

 

Just about everything on my site is personal stuff. Some serious, some family snapshots. This was the beginning of a project that I might continue one day. West African religions exist very much close to there original form in Vodou (from Benin-Ghana) and Santeria (from the Yoruba of Nigeria). The colors of the various deities and rites are visually incredible. In New York (where I grew up), Miami (where I live now) and in the Caribbean and Brazil these are still very much living religions. I have'nt even scanned most of the images yet. So it's a long way from publication.

 

I am working on a commercial site now for the paying work. That should be up in a couple of weeks. But that will mostly be product ads, portraits, etc., I'm not a photo journalist or documentary photographer by trade. This is more typical of what I get paid to do:

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smokysun

smokysun

Posted
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wonderful pictures, hank.

 

and i'm sure you know le jetee

 

Amazon.com: La Jetee/Sans Soleil (Criterion Collection): DVD: Alexandra Stewart,Riyoko Ikeda,Florence Delay,Arielle Dombasle,Charlotte Kerr,Jean Négroni,Hélène Chatelain,Davos Hanich,Jacques Ledoux,André Heinrich,Jacques Branchu,Pierre Joffroy,Étienn

 

a film made totally of b&w stills and voice-over with one moving moment (you have to be watching for it). so pleased it's coming out on dvd in late june. for any photographer a genuine, guaranteed pleasure.

 

wayne

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smokysun

smokysun

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when imants starts a discussion, i always start by disagreeing. but then life throws up moments to prove him right. here are two pictures from the county fair last friday. one would obviously have been better from a high def video. on the other hand, there's a thrill and satisfaction from having pushed the button at the right moment. i suppose it's the art of the sniper vs. the machine gun nest.

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Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

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hankg

hankg

Posted
Posted
wonderful pictures, hank.

 

and i'm sure you know le jetee

 

Amazon.com: La Jetee/Sans Soleil (Criterion Collection): DVD: Alexandra Stewart,Riyoko Ikeda,Florence Delay,Arielle Dombasle,Charlotte Kerr,Jean Négroni,Hélène Chatelain,Davos Hanich,Jacques Ledoux,André Heinrich,Jacques Branchu,Pierre Joffroy,Étienn

 

a film made totally of b&w stills and voice-over with one moving moment (you have to be watching for it). so pleased it's coming out on dvd in late june. for any photographer a genuine, guaranteed pleasure.

 

wayne

 

I have not seen it. Thanks for the heads up -I will make sure to see it- it sounds really interesting.

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Guest stnami

Guest stnami

Posted
Posted

...........gotta love it when the tiger's tail get pulled, used to do it to my cat when I was a kid. Not sure if I understand your point Wayne but It could be because I finished my kitchen, .................................... ha!... saved me from wasting it on a M8.............now I can buy a vc.............

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