Archive for July, 2013

fake nature photograph goes viral or stupid pet stories

July 26, 2013

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Photographer admits to faking “lava photographer on fire” image that went viral.

Over the last few weeks, a seemingly incredible image of a photographer standing on a lava flow with his feet and tripod in flames has gone viral. It quickly spread around the Internet as evidence of a photographer’s apparent extreme dedication to his craft, but also because many accused it of being a fraud or faked with Photoshop. Now the photographer behind the image has admitted it’s not a case of spontaneous combustion, but says his intent was never to deceive.

The image was taken by photographer Kawika Singson of Hawaii, posing on top of a lava flow. The viral image made the rounds insanely quickly, first through social media, and then on to major news networks. A big part of the image’s popularity was the debate about if the image was faked or not — because while lava can get hot enough to cause spontaneous combustion, the photo certainly doesn’t look like it’s in a hot enough state for that. Not to mention, Singson isn’t wearing gear appropriate for dealing with that sort of heat in the shot.

Now, in telephone interviews with the likes of CNN and CBS, Singson has confessed that the image was staged. While the flames were very real, it wasn’t a case of his tripod and shoes spontaneously combusting because of the intense heat. In truth, Singson  used accelerant on both and got a friend to take the photo, simply because he thought it would look interesting and “It’s just something I wanted for my Facebook cover photo.”

The photo is incredibly cool, and has catapulted Singson to unexpected fame. It has also, doubtless, caused a boom for his photography business. Here’s just hoping this doesn’t lead to a trend of photographers setting themselves on fire trying to be the next viral star.

i just can’t believe some peoples level of intelligence by believing this trick photography as being even close to real. maybe people have gotten dumber as i’ve gotten older but maybe i don’t get it. people are always looking for something special and different. oh well i’ve not posted anything or done anything myself here so i’ll add my silly post here.

now for serious stuff we’ve been planning for our next adventure, Russia.woo hoo. Hermitage and Puskin museums here we come.

hear that NSA we are going to soak up some of the worlds finest art. our travel dates probably too late to meet edward snowden in moscow airport and wish him well.

i believe he did the right thing exposing the NSA policy of illegal open phone data gathering and our government is way off base and punitive in it’s actions. it just makes my stomach turn.

Jene Youtt

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Bert Stern died: RIP

July 9, 2013

R.I.P. Bert Stern

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Bert Stern was one of the first photographers whose work turned me on to photography. His ‘Last Sitting’ of Marilyn Monroe made him famous, but even as a kid, I can remember being drawn to his images in magazines. Advertising and editorial pages in the 60′s and 70′s were plastered with his work. His portfolio could be used to illustrate just about everything you see on “Mad Men”. Later, when I become more and more involved in photography, I learned who he was. I bought a book of his early work that I have to this day. Looking at the photographs in that book brought back all those memories of my early childhood and like a lightbulb going off over my head, it was then I knew I was meant to be a photographer. For me, he defined what a photographer was all about. He was single-minded in his passion for creating memorable imagery. His work transcended commercial photography…he was seen as a cultural hero…a straight-up Rock Star. And for more than a decade he was the most sought-out guy in the business. But the excess, copious amounts of drugs, alcohol and failed relationships took its toll and he quite literally burned out and disappeared from the business. He resurfaced in the late 80′s as a kinder, gentler, Bert, but the World had changed and the days of jetting off to Egypt to shoot a martini glass in the sand were long gone…

Bert died Tuesday. June 27, 2013 he was 83.

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why do dancers dance?

July 3, 2013

this is the question but on a more personal level why do i photograph them? i am at an age when most people begin to slow down yet i am still very much up for the chase. not to say other togs retire to a photographic rocking chair somewhere, i know photographer Jay Maisel is close to 82 and still wanders the streets of NY daily looking for images.

erick hawkins danced well into his 80’s and his wife martha graham who danced until she turned 76 who would still be dancing except for crippling pain of arthritis. as betty davis said ‘getting old isn’t for sissies.’ so why do we do what we do?

for love, is the best thing i can think of.

so i cruise craigslist looking for photography opportunities and came across Banana Peels adv. looking for dance photographers which i answered. my response rate isn’t that great but that’s ok the ones who do respond are cool. Banana peel is doing a residency in philadelphia at White Pines Productions at the  Mohican Outdoor Center.

so they are looking for someone to help them document a fund raising party. kim called me, gee i don’t do events, ‘but we like your out of focus images’ she said. i was in. it’s always good to help out other people especially a whole company of them. the venue university settlement house on the lower side is a lovely place. good performance space well equipped with lighting.

kim almquist

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aaron draper

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they met me describing what they were looking to accomplish that night saying, ‘sorry  we didn’t have enough money to hire a lighting tech so we are going to use the fluorescents lighting’ ugh. having worked the room before i knew it was pretty well equipped so i looked around finding an etc obsession light controller. no problem just turn the switch and boom lights. saved by my lighting designer training. they wanted a bright party light, no problem, bright party lighting.

we ran some rehearsals while i and another tog took some shots without an audience.  the company

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along with friends and guest._MG_7331 copy

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i really enjoyed myself, the people were friendly and pleasant very much like a party.this peel fund raiser is a mixed company of dancers young, older and somewhere in between, i was the oldest i am sure but it didn’t seen to matter we all had a good time. i was exhausted when i got home, oh well.

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it’s really hard even though i have a program knowing what the names of each dance is and who is performing it, my apology.  i’ve yet to sit down with kim and aaron to view what i shot. but this couple performed in rehearsal and it touched something in me. i had to do something special for this piece._MG_7593 copy

‘life and death and the space in between’

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so i lit the piece, actually just moved some dimmer handles around of what there was in the air hopefully adding to the mood of this dance. _MG_7828 copy

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but of course i don’t get hired to work for free because of my straight photography

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not everyone agrees with me but some do

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it was a thrill just seeing this performance and hopefully helping present it.

but there is more, it’s not called fuzzypictures for nothing.

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why do anything?  it’s just not easy to lay down and die.

the end

jene youtt

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