will_legge

"The analogy to the slashing of the paintings is totally absurd, put your crack pipe down already.

Will, paint can be removed from stone and other porous building materials via power washing and or with the use of chemical cleaners. In addition the owners could have their architects specify graffiti resistant coatings for their buildings."

 

EDMO, a slashed painting can also be repaired. As far a stone, chemical clears are not some miracle, the affect of cleaning can still be seen. And note, the coatings are graffiti "resistant," not graffiti "proof." That can be a big difference. So there is no difference between defacing a painting and defacing a piece of architecture. While both can be repaired, the repair is never as good as the original.

 

As far as the arrogance of the vandal, there again slashing a painting and defacing a building is the same. The act clearly shows contempt for others while having no positive affect except to gratify the ego of the vandal.

I think the slashing a painting analogy is appropriate. Paint can

permantly deface stone for example. The pschological aspect can be

very much equivalent.

 

Graffiti vandals are simply selfish and arrrogant. They believe that

they are an elite who are above everyone. They only have respect for

their own egos.

The Horseman back has mechanical stops. Wind until it stops. Move the silver lock to the left after taking the picture and wind until it stops. Move the winding lever the full distance; moving the lever only partially will result in overlapping frames.

So Kent, you justify vandalism because of the actions of Enron??? I fail to see the connection? Or are you saying some crimes are not worth pursuing? So if someone goes into a museum and slashes a few old masters, the police don't have to bother with it because there are worse crimes they should be dealing with? I thought the police had different sections for dealing with different crimes?

"To me it makes all the difference in the world if the grafitti or the Hummer tagging is done artfully"

 

And which branch of the Art Police is going to decide on that?

Matt, I would not take a free volunteer. First, I don't need one. Hard to do this kind of work in a crowd. Secondly, I don't have the time to give out free leasons. They would need to know what to do from the beginning and at the most that would be organizing travel arrangements, setting up appointments, picking up and dropping of film/prints/essays, maybe setting up equipment, but certainly not shooting. And there is absolutely no reason to teach them to use a camera. Someone who can't do this basic stuff is just causing more work.

 

Your education pays you back by teaching you what you need to know in a short time and allowing you to get your foot in the door. Ben will need to know more than how to use a camera in photojournalism. He needs to know how to research his story and get the facts right. He may have to write the story until he gets in a position to solely devote himself to photography. He will need to craft a good query letter to an editor. He should also study subjects that will help him understand his subject - eg. political science, economics, history, sociology, etc. All of these things he can learn at college. None of this he will get as an assistant (if he can find that position in photojournalism).

 

It is an extremely competitive market and the lack of a degree and skills will work against him when he starts out. If he decides that photography is not his thing and wants to work in editing or publishing, the HS degree is not going to do it.

 

Sure it is possible to become a photographer without a degree, but why make it harder on yourself? Why limit your potential choices because you did not go to college? I college degree is a requirement today as a high-school degree was important 50 years ago. To say it is not important is not facing modern realities.

 

But you obiviously found a college education did not help you find a job in photojournalism. Maybe you can share how you went about it?

Err, Matt? What professional photojournalists use assitants?? Editors generally don't hire 18 year old High School graduates??? I learnt far more in my four years at RIT than I ever did assisting.

The lens that needs a wide-angle filter is dependant on design rather than a specific focal length. Yes, you can use a stop-down ring. Center filters for panoramic cameras have a larger outside filter diameter so other filters can be used.

 

What kind of camera are you using. If it is film and you can open the shutter and aperture without film, you can see if the filter will vignette. Simply look through the corner of the film gate and see if you can see the edge of the filter through the lens.

No lens can compensate for the wide-angle effect - round objects at the edge of the image appear stretched toward the center. To correct for perspective, you need shifts. Most 35mm shift lenses are quite long - 35mm or so. You may consider using that and stitching images together to get what you need. Your best bet is a large-format camera.

P.S. If you want to work in photojournalism, you will need to know how to write well.

RIT has a good program for photojournalism, but no journalism programs. I can't remember the name of the college - University of Missouri (at Columbia) or Columbia College (also in Missouri) - have one of the countries top photojournalist programs as well as one of the best journalism programs. Sorry I can't give the proper name but someone may know. Syracuse University also has a good program, but I would look into the Missouri thing first.

 

A university degree is very important. It will give you far more possiblities than a portfolio alone. You will learn more in four years at a good college than anywhere else.

 

But I would recommend visiting any school and seeing the faculty, facilities, and student work. Each school has their own culture. That is something that can be more important than the courses taught because it sets the tone of what photography is. I went to RIT which has a very practical and techniical approach to photography compared to say Rhode Island School of Design with favors a more intuitive, artistic view. Not that one is better than the other, or that art is ignored at RIT or technique is forgotten at RISD, but these qualities vary in degree (rather than in absolute differences). A few students left RIT simply because thay did not like the culture (and that can be a big waste of time and money).

I believe the Minolta Flash Shoe Adapter FS-1200 will allow you to place the flash on your Mamiya 7, but you will give up most of the automation.

Shooting from the hip = Pictures taken by cool people.

Nice abstract. Like the difference between the textures and shape of

the building and sky/clouds, but yet they have the same color. The

overall composition is not bad. It gives the impression the sky is

the positive space and therefore the subject which is interesting.

 

This is a good start. This subject of yours seems to have a lot of

possibilities. Certainly worth exploring.

About contact light sources

 

When making a contact print it is recommended to focus the enlarger

with a carrier in place. This is so you will get an area with even

illumination.

 

The only advantage with using collimated light from an enlarger is

when contacting in negative sleves where a slight distance between

the film and paper is created, but I doubt this is a significant

issue to worry about especially since the plastic sleeve would also

degrade the contact.

 

The other advantage would be the enlarger light source can be closer

to the film without causing uneven illumination especially when

contacting large large-format negatives. But here again, if you are

just making 8x10 contact proofs and not final prints, it is not worth

worrying about.

The Mamiya 7 is a good camera to travel with. I taken a Mamiya 6 on

two and three month treks. It is light for an MF system. I have had

no problems with the 150mm lens for landscapes. You can take a lot of

good images with the normal lens, but I would suggest another for

more flexiblity. The 150mm is good as well as the other wide-angle

lenses.

 

I would recommend a hand held meter. If you are going to the

mountains a spot meter would be best. But practice before you go. I

like the Minolta Spot Meter F as it is small in easy to use and runs

on one AA battery, but there are other great meters available. Some

meters like the Gossen Luna Pro SBC has a varaiblr-angle adapter

which can be a good alternative - the Gossen SBC is better in low

light.

 

Pack 220 film as you can carry more in an equal space. Have zip-lock

bags or air-tight containers with dying agent for your shot film.

 

I don't want to make this a film versus digital debate, but a scanner

is not the only way to make prints. I run a color darkroom in my tiny

apartment. If I need to digitize an image, I scan a print on a flat-

bed scanner.

I would recommend renting several styles of ma\edium format cameras

and take them for a test drive. The type of camera can hinder or

compliment the way you work and so it is important to get the right

camera.

 

I go into the mountains often and do a lot of treking with my

equipment. I use a Mamiya 6 and a Horseman 6x12. The Horsemen is very

expensive. Both cameras travel well.<div></div>

Yes, it is limiting, but not enough to stop using it. I don't use it for shooting outdoors in bright sunny weather. Not being able to change lenses is more limiting.

 

This is not a poctet camera. Maybe an overcoat pocket camera. But the viewfinder is very nice although it is a little blue.

The UV filter will not degrade your images.

I believe Peter Gowland makes a 4x5 TLR.

Just to add to what has beed said, there are also medium-format view cameras or you can get medium-format roll-film holders for a 4x5 camera.

 

Field, technical, or flat-bed view cameras can also be used (basically they are different names for the same design). I perfer it over a monorail when using it on location - easier to pack and can be more stable. Monorail cameras are good too as they are more flexible, but I find I don't need the bellows draw or extreme movement they have. But if you are going to use wide lenses with a flat-bed camera, make sure it has a drop bed and check on the minimum focal length lens that can be used with the camera or the availabilty of recessed lens boards.

I can't remember the name, but there is a lab in Manchester, NH. They did a 100 rolls of 120 and 220 E-6 for me on one trip. They were good.

 

There used to be a lab in Boston called Boris Color that handled professional processing.

Round the corners of the film slightly. Make sure the reel is dry. I practice with old undeveloped film each time to get the feel of it.

The scanner makes one pass, but takes multiple samples during that time.

I assume they are not camera lenses and you are looking through them rather than at an image on a ground glass. You are seeing a virtual image and that would explain the apparently large depth of field. It is working like a viewfinder on a point and shoot camera.