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keith_laban

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Posts posted by keith_laban

    On composition - again

    in The History & Philosophy of Photography

    Posted

    <a href="http://www.keithlaban.co.uk">Keith Laban Photography</a><p>My wife is an art therapist working with people with a learning disability. Art therapists do not make qualitative judgements on client's skills, they are not art teachers and the level of skill is not their primary concern. However as an 'outsider' I'm often overwhelmed by the creativity and self-expression displayed by her clients and by their seemingly natural, sympathetic and untutored flair for composition.

    Art photography's new generation

    in The History & Philosophy of Photography

    Posted

    <a href="http://www.keithlaban.co.uk">Keith Laban Photography</a><p>Gloria, probably my fault for using terms such as "more power to their elbow" which might not translate too well "on that side of the pond" ;-)<p>Seriously, it ain't what they use that matters, it's whether they succeed and I've yet to see any evidence <i>"that the journey from fumbling amateur to pro (financially successful) photographer"</i> is any quicker or easier using a cameraphone or dSLR.

    Art photography's new generation

    in The History & Philosophy of Photography

    Posted

    <a href="http://www.keithlaban.co.uk">Keith Laban Photography</a><p><i>"I have really been struggling with this digital camera issue, and I've even seriously considered giving up photography because it seems everything is going toward digital."<p>"I have seen every photographer friend I know "go digital" in the past four years. I watched them leap to internet fame and become instantly famous because they were able to improve their images by leaps and bounds, some of them, literally overnight - literally."</i><p>Gloria, I'm not sure I understand your struggle. If your friends are able to improve their images overnight using digital capture then more power to their elbow. Perhaps the dSLR or cameraphone requires less of a learning curve than a view camera and film and relies less on the technical expertise of the user, but the success of any image is largely dependent upon the insight of the image maker. Digital capture, like film, is merely a medium.

    Should I buy the ArcBody Hasselblad?

    in Large Format

    Posted

    <a href="http://www.keithlaban.co.uk">Keith Laban Photography</a><p>Magda<p>Is the ArcBody the perfect camera for the architectural shooter? No. Is the ArcBody ideal for someone who wants a ludicrously compact and lightweight wide-angle camera that also has a reasonable range of movements, reflex viewing, helical focussing and prefers the square format? Probably.<p>I use my ArcBody as a go anywhere wide-angle complement to my 500 series cameras. It's particularly useful for landscape/nature when used with tilt for controlling DOF and for architecture when used with rise to correct perspective. 28mm of rise is very useful for correcting converging verticals and is the equivalent of half an image height. 15mm of tilt is probably all you would ever need to control DOF in landscape.<p>Is the ArcBody the perfect camera for my needs? Yes. Is the ArcBody the perfect camera for your needs? Magda, I'm afraid only you can answer that.

    My Web Site - navigation, searchability, impact . . . .

    in Business of Photography

    Posted

    <a href="http://www.keithlaban.co.uk">Keith Laban Photography</a><p>Carl<p>Many congratulations on getting your site up and running. Having commented on your work in the past I won't make further comment here other than to say that I admire your choice of images.<p>Several points in no particular order.<p>For some reason there seems to be an intermittent problem with the image show loading on the home page and I sometimes have to refresh to trigger the show.<p>I'm not clear on the purpose of the "Zoom Image" facility when viewing the portfolios. As an example, clicking on the first image (not thumbnail) in the Pianos portfolio results in an enlarged image of 620x460. Subsequently, clicking on the Zoom Image results in a smaller image of 600x401. I expected the Zoom Image to load a larger rather than smaller image.<p>Upload times using a fast connection are good.<p>I like your presentation of thumbnails and the slideshow.<p>A few thoughts on the overall design.<p>I believe the strength of your work often lies in graphic simplicity. With this in mind I can't help feeling that the presentation is tending to clash with this quality rather than complement it. I'm not convinced by the image window overlaying the constant background image and feel the two are fighting for attention and wonder if you need the background image at all. Perhaps less is more.<p>I know from experience that a website is never perfect and never finished, it's an evolutionary process. It's good to see you now have a web presence and hope that it brings you the success you deserve.<p>Best, Keith.

    Posting Removed!

    in PhotoNet Site Help

    Posted

    Peter has been around here for years. His contributions to this site have been valuable and his style entertaining. In the past I've encouraged people to subscribe but frankly in Peter's case I couldn't give a toss; it's just good to see him posting again.

    Photo.net subscriptions

    in PhotoNet Site Help

    Posted

    I'm sure I'm not alone in believing that photo.net is the best general photographic resource and community on the Internet. I can understand there is a reluctance to insist on payment of subscriptions after the trial period and that it could be seen as an option with a fair degree of risk, but perhaps it's ultimately the option that would solve the site's ongoing financial woes.

     

    Increased advertising would probably deter people from subscribing unless it's turned off for subscribers, in which case it could be seen as a good reason to subscribe.

    Keywords

    in PhotoNet Site Help

    Posted

    <i>"But if I can't find forms of advertising that are acceptable, or more people subscribe, or I can increase the subscription fee by about a factor of three, then I'm going to have to shut down the site"</i><p>I'm sure I'm not alone in believing that photo.net is the best general photographic resource and community on the Internet. I can understand there is a reluctance to insist on payment of subscriptions after the trial period and that it could be seen as an option with a fair degree of risk, but perhaps it's ultimately the option that would solve the site's ongoing financial woes.<p>Increased advertising would probably deter people from subscribing unless it's turned off for subscribers, in which case it could be seen as a good reason to subscribe.

    Which stock agency would you choose?

    in Business of Photography

    Posted

    <a href="http://www.keithlaban.co.uk">Keith Laban Photography</a><p><i>"So I am guessing thats where you pull you money from correct just passing out the site as much as possible?"</i><p>Sorry Josh, probably me being a little thick as usual but I'm not sure what you mean.<p>Stock agencies are dying off like flies and the rest are being bought by the likes of Getty and Corbis. Stock has always been a difficult market and it's not getting any easier. The photographers cut and fees in general are on a downwards spiral, not helped by royalty free marketing which frankly does photographers and photography no favours at all.<p>Sorry if I sound rather negative about stock, but believe me I'm not alone.

    OT Lots of website questions if you can bear it.

    in Leica and Rangefinders

    Posted

    <a href="http://www.keithlaban.co.uk">Keith Laban Photography</a><p>Trevor<p>Four years ago I asked a very similar set of questions. At the time the only things I did on a computer were to play Solitaire and browse photo.net. I had no idea that HTML even existed. However like you I knew I wanted a website. I wanted to design and build it myself and had a picture in my mind of how I wanted it to look. The trouble is I didn't have a clue where to start. Then a friend introduced me to Dreamweaver.<p>The reality is that you won't need Dreamweaver though I'd thoroughly recommend it. There are far cheaper options out there, even free options. If you don't want to learn HTML you will need a WYSIWYG web editor. The moment I started using the web editor I was hooked. I spent several weeks playing with it and having fun. The trouble is there were so many different options it became confusing. In the end I sat down with pen and paper and using the little I had learnt simply mapped out how I wanted the site to look and function. I then bought a book on Dreamweaver and went to work. There were many hours of frustration, I turned my back on it many a time and I lost count of how many times I told my wife that I'd given up on the whole idea.<p> Then several months later I had my site ;-) I'll admit I was bloody proud, not so much of the website but more of the fact that I'd persevered and achieved my goal.<p>Trevor, get yourself a web editor and set to work. There'll be times you wished you hadn't but in the end you'll have your own unique website designed to compliment your own work. Let me know if you need any help with specifics, I'd be only too pleased to help if it's within my limited knowledge.<p>I'm delighted that you liked my website and I'm looking forward to seeing your own.<p>Best, Keith<p>PS. You'll eventually need a reasonable host. I don't use them myself but take a peek at <a href="http://www.1and1.co.uk">www.1and1.co.uk</a> I believe that some of their web hosting packages include Dreamweaver software! The domain name is part of the package.
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