abandoned school………… but not lonely

August 21, 2013

Life is pretty wonderful at least mine has been so far yea there has been plenty of praise and blame in my life gains and loss but that is just the way life is. i don’t want to brag about because if i get snug something comes along a smacks me upside my head to get my attention.

these golden years i ask myself, walking up lying in bed taking inventory feeling new pains every day, oh that’s new ‘hello there’. maybe i should start giving them names as i did with my mental states that arose because pushing them away wasn’t working so i thought might as well get intimate with them. that seems to give them less power over me and they become less interested in bothering me.

i haven’t been doing much shooting everything seems to be the same old everything. i got tired of my lighting and no one seemed interested in working with me. had two different maternity women contact me/us to shoot some belly pics but never heard from them again. wtf

i always peruse craigslist looking for opportunities which are getting slimmer every day, but sometimes gold shows up. it’s just not polished and shiny, but if one is open one can scrape off the dross and find the jewel. so it’s been this week  i answered and adv for a bondage photographer that was a little off my speciality but i do dark pretty good so what the hell.

we talked and what he wanted it seemed interesting but you never know with craigslist people have been killed using that forum. there have been people whom i just didn’t feel right about so never followed up. he does have a portfolio on musecube where i stated but left them.

mark we will call him is an urban explorer working in underground environments and abandoned buildings. huh that’s something different for me can’t bring a lot of lights with me there.  so we agreed to meet uptown and i pack a camera along with an off camera flash, my Yongnuo flash triggers which are one of the biggest bargains i have, thanks david hobby from the strobist for the suggestion and  some spare batteries and off i went.

this is what i saw when i got there

scaffolding

hi mark this is the scaffolding you want me to climb? think you can do it? i am not sure. i’ll climb up first and show you how.

now mark wasn’t carrying a 20 lb backpack but all 6’3 of  him went up fine and i followed with all my 5’7 frame.  it’s right on a busy street  and we had to watch out for cops but i made up thinking now i probably won’t do that location again.

first walk up the crossbars then scoot over the horizontal one pull yourself up one foot on the building  reach up and pull yourself onto top. got it? sure

it’s an abandoned school and pretty dark on the ground floor. walking up the internal staircase was a challenge, flash light is another thing to bring along, oh stupid i’ve got one on my phone. we made it up to one of the top floors mark assured me he’d been in all the rooms and the floors were safe. best to be very watchful were you stepped lots of fallen debris all over.

he began to undress as we talked about the shot he had envisioned, you go up there on another landing, which i had to walk up a fallen flat wrought iron railing. before i did that i set up my 580 flash and wireless receiver on the landing below wrapped with blackwrap leaning on debrie pied on the floor.

here is our shooting area

shooting area

shooting area

my perch is up one landing.  this is a first one without flash firing

nude kneeling

nude kneeling

nude male tied to banister posts

nude male tied to banister posts

so now the lower flash starts to work not sure why it didn’t in the beginning but oh well.

nude on staircase

nude on staircase

i am sort of working in the dark as far as exposure or can you say guessing? the led display on the back of my camera wasn’t much help. seeing the bottoms of marks feet covered with ash really picked up the light. but i was beginning to feel relaxed and making pictures. so now i can move around from my perch,

i am a ninja photographer.

nude male on stairwell

nude male on stairwell

i love this shot with the sun light in frame left and through broken window mixed with strobe. so now time to move strobe and me back to my perch.

nude suspended

nude suspended

nude standing

nude standing

now with all the broken glass underneath our feet i’ve always wanted to do a broken window shot so here it is.

nude hanging

nude hanging

on our way up here well past this hallway which i fell in love with the lighting so down we went.

nude in hallway door

nude in hallway door

while mark wanted to show me this desk which he jumped upon and we did a couple of shots there using natural light from broken window

nude male on child's desk

nude male on child’s desk

but out of the corner of my eye i saw this other wall

hanging

hanging

hand

hand

then it was time to head home. peering over railing in search of the fuzz, none over we go.

mary was upset with me going off somewhere that was dangerous without her knowing where i was going and she was right, suppose something happen to us? now i am going to make sure she knows where i am. i am such a kid.

i was surprised not to find any crack vile’s broken on the floor but what crack head would climb that scaffolding to get high, just some dummy photographer.

jene

Lenses most needing repair and their cost

August 14, 2013

LensRentals Lists The Lenses Most Often Needing Repairs

Over time, your lenses are going to start back focusing, become loose with age, and possibly jamming all together. This is all part of the maintenance of things, and will eventually happen, especially if it’s a lens that gets a lot of use. However, it’s nice to know which lenses have the biggest amount of failures, and lens rental giant LensRentals has finally given us that list.

Using weeks to failure as a guide, LensRentals has composited a list of lenses that fail most often in their inventory. Perhaps it’s no surprised, but budget lens brand Rokinon heads the lineup with four lenses, their 35mm leading with a pathetic 8 weeks average to repair. Other notable mentions are the much loved Tamron 17-50mm VC, Nikon 14-24mm, and the Bigma Sigma 50-500mm OS.

Broken Lenses Study LensRentals Lists The Lenses Most Often Needing Repairs

Perhaps the most surprising results from this study shows that virtually every lens brand of the 70-200mm lens has a high rate of repairs needed. While the focal range is among the favorite for zoom lenses, it also comes with a lot of problems it seems.

Also mentioned in the article is the turnaround time. Canon has their impressive 5 day turnaround, leading the pack, with Fuji, Tamron and Sigma close behind. Nikon is behind the race, averaging around 23 days, and Olympus slowing coming in at a 40 day average.

daysrpr LensRentals Lists The Lenses Most Often Needing Repairs cost2 LensRentals Lists The Lenses Most Often Needing Repairs

Virtually every lens at LensRentals needs repair within 2 years of each other, many needing repairs annually. Is this because we’re beating up our rental gear, or that these lenses aren’t built like the tanks we claim them to be?

The highest repaired camera body last year? The Nikon D800, with an average of 65 weeks per repair.

For a full list and a further breakdown, check out LensRentals blog on the issue.

thanks to http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/

jene youtt

artist/writer Residency in Paris, could this be you?

August 9, 2013

 

Winter Term of the Georgia Fee Residency will take place January-February, 2014 at the same location as our Summer residency in a beautiful apartment in the historic Montparnasse neighborhood. Applications for the Winter term of the Georgia Fee Artist/Writer Residency are currently being accepted until August 16th.

The Georgia Fee Artist in Residence will receive two months of lodging in an apartment in the 14th arrondissement, travel to and from Paris and a monthly stipend for living expenses.

 See below for more details.

 The Georgia Fee Artist/Writer Residency has been established in memory of ArtSlant’s Founder who passed away December 8th, 2012. Georgia was dedicated to supporting and investing in young artists and writers, and she had a deep connection with the city of Paris. This residency, which offers artists and writers the opportunity to create work in Paris, has been created in Georgia’s memory.

The goal of the Georgia Fee Artist/Writer Residency in Paris is to support and invest in emerging artists and writers, to provide an opportunity for them to advance their work and explore and engage with the cultural landscape of Paris, to encourage experimentation, and to increase exposure of their work to an international audience.

The Residency is open to visual artists of all mediums, art writers and critics, 24 years or older. Recent graduates are especially encouraged to apply. The selection will be made based on the merit of past work and the potential for future success, the ability to independently develop new work, and the proposed project’s relevance to the city of Paris.

Recipients will be required to maintain a blog, which will be posted on ArtSlant.

The Georgia Fee Artist/Writer Residency in Paris provides the recipient with lodging for 2 months in an apartment in the 14th arrondissement, travel to and from Paris, and a stipend to be used for studio space, materials, and other costs.

Submission guidelines

Candidates must submit:

  • A professional CV
  • A statement of intent
  • 2 references
  • A $25 administrative fee
  • All submissions must be made through the candidate’s ArtSlant profile. Artists can upload images of their work onto their profile slideshow for consideration, while writers can add samples of their writing as reader reviews on ArtSlant, or onto their profile blog.

(For information on how to start your free ArtSlant profile, visit our guide here ; Building your professional profile How to edit your profile, add blogs and images ; How to enter a review ; More FAQ’s available here)

For Frequently Asked Questions on eligibility, submission guidelines and materials, please check here.

Question can be directed to residency@artslant.com

Donations to the Georgia Fee Artist | Writer Residency can be here.

GoPro’s killer new video is about sharing, not just surfing

August 6, 2013

 photos for Instagram, too By David Griner
surfer’s super-selfie

For years, GoPro has been synonymous with helmet-cam footage of skydiving, 
surfing, heli-skiing and other extreme activities that most of us prefer 
to enjoy by proxy while browsing YouTube and eating a cruller.

But as the technology and innovation behind the camera have evolved, so too has the company’s marketing strategy. And you don’t have to look any further than this new ad for the GoPro smartphone app to see how a once-quirky outdoor gadget has become a leading millennial lifestyle brand.

The two-minute clip, shot entirely on a GoPro HD Hero3 camera in the Mentawai Islands of Indonesia, features three popular pro surfers—Alana Blanchard, Lakey Peterson and Camille Brady—not only recording their day on the waves but sharing stills from the Hero3 directly to Instagram right from the beach. Instead of a tool for creating raw first-person video footage, GoPro is portrayed as the key to taking a super-selfie.

Justin Wilkenfeld, GoPro’s director of lifestyle marketing, tells Adweek that these features showcase how the brand has kept pace with modern life. Outdoors enthusiasts don’t just want to capture their experiences, they want to share them as quickly as possible. The brand’s WiFi-enabled Hero3 and smartphone app, both of which launched last year, have helped make immediate sharing a reality.

“It was a bit of a frustration that you had to go back to your computer to download that footage,” Wilkenfeld says. “There’s something lost there because we are so real-time these days.”

http://bcove.me/gvikqy7b

While the ad shows off GoPro’s newest features, it also harkens back in some ways to the brand’s early days. Before it was known for helmet-mounted cameras, GoPro was a wrist-mounted camera that surfer (and recent billionaire) Nicholas Woodman created to take 35mm photos of himself and friends.

Now, the camera has come full circle, with GoPro becoming known as a source for some of Instagram’s most interesting photos, not just a tool for extreme YouTube clips.

“In the world of social media, you don’t have to take two minutes or five minutes out of your time to watch the full video and get immersed in that moment. You can just take snapshots,” Wilkenfeld says. “That’s kinda the way of the world now—short-attention-span theater.”

Meanwhile, GoPro is also trying to reach beyond its core audience of extreme athletes by highlighting the camera’s versatility as a tool for capturing any kind of experience, not just crazy outdoor adventures.

“It’s been a progression for us,” Wilkenfeld says. “We definitely started in action sports, extreme sports, but we found that if you follow that line of passion, the average person is passionate about the moments in their life, too. That might be playing with their kids. We do try to embrace the broad community and the lifestyle those people try to live, regardless of what it is.”

This ad, like all the brand’s videos, was shot and produced entirely by the GoPro staff without any agency assistance. The soundtrack is “Riptide” by Australian singer-songwriter

via ADWEEK

jene youtt


Opportunities for Artist in New York

August 1, 2013
    Twitter Facebook
LMCC’s 2014 Manhattan Arts Grants
Application Now Live! Connecting artists and audiences from Inwood to The Battery
MANHATTAN: ART HAPPENS HEREWe are currently experiencing technical difficulties with our website — apologies for any inconvenience. Please find relevant grant information on our Facebook Event Page. If you have any questions, please call our office 212-219-9401.LMCC offers direct financial support to artists and to arts and community organizations to share the experience of the arts with audiences on stages, in exhibition halls, classrooms, recreation rooms, public spaces, and unexpected locations across Manhattan. Each year we distribute approximately $500,000 to support hundreds of performing, literary, media and visual arts projects. We are now accepting applications for projects taking place in 2014.Visit our grant pages to read our application guidelines and join us for information sessions throughout the summer. RSVP here.

“Being an emerging artist, the MCAF grant legitimized the project for the artists involved. It brought me to a new a level of professionalism with my company, because I was able to support a group of artists for the time they spent with me. This grant has given me the confidence to continue finding more funding opportunities for my future projects to help achieve my true vision.” —Jesca Prudencio,  LMCC Grant Recipient

Maureen Fleming
Manhattan Community Arts Fund
(MCAF) Deadline: September 17, 2013 
City-funded grants of up to $5,000 for arts projects by individual artists and small nonprofit organizations in Manhattan.For more information, please visit our Facebook Event Page.

Young People’s Chorus, Credit: Stephanie Berger
The Fund for Creative Communities
(The Fund) Deadline: September 17, 2013
State-funded grants of up to $5,000 to artist-community partnerships and nonprofit organizations for arts projects that benefit Manhattan audiences.For more information, please visit our Facebook Event Page.

Apollo Theater and PS 154, Credit: LaRoche
Creative Curricula Deadline: October 15, 2013 
Grants of up to $5,000 to teaching artists and arts organizations for in-school partnerships with Manhattan public schools to offer arts-education and integrated arts-in-education projects.For more information, please visit our Facebook Event Page.

LMCC Workshop
Information SessionsInformation sessions for MCAF, The Fund, and Creative Curricula are offered each summer in locations across Manhattan for artists, collectives, and nonprofit organizations interested in applying to our grant programs. Sessions include a review of the programs and useful information to help applicants put their best foot forward.MCAF & The Fund
10 sessions offered through Sept 4
For full schedule and to RSVP – click here.
Attendance at an information session is required for first-time and returning applicants who have not attended in 2010 or later.Creative Curricula
3 sessions offered through Sept 19
For full schedule and to RSVP – click here.

Attendance at an information session is required for first-time and returning applicants who have not attended in 2012 or later.
   
Learn more about LMCC’s grants, professional development workshops, artist residencies, and public programming at lmcc.net.LMCC’s Manhattan Community Arts Grants are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; and Wells Fargo.
Make your mark on culture by supporting LMCC! Your gift will allow us continue to fulfill our mission to serve artists and arts audiences Downtown and throughout Manhattan’s diverse communities. To make a donation online, click here. To view a full list of LMCC’s supporters, click here.Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, has been a leading voice for arts and culture Downtown and throughout New York City for 40 years, producing cultural events and promoting the arts through grants, services, advocacy, and cultural development programs.

Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
125 Maiden Lane, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10038
T: 212.219.9401
F: 212.219.2058

fake nature photograph goes viral or stupid pet stories

July 26, 2013

by

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

Bert Stern died: RIP

July 9, 2013

R.I.P. Bert Stern

bert_marilyn

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.

bert_martini

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

_MG_7787 copy

aaron draper

_MG_7788 copy

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

_MG_7666 copy

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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.

_MG_7755 copythe banana

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’

_MG_7613 copy

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

_MG_7888 copy

not everyone agrees with me but some do

_MG_7915 copy

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

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

_MG_7704 copy

_MG_7703 copy

_MG_7959 copy

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

the end

jene youtt

working with a new model, or what can we both learn from this experience?

June 2, 2013

working with new models is always interesting in you never know what you’re going to have walk through the door. i’ve written about this before that people might bring with them unusual attitudes and sometimes not. it’s always a pleasure to be pleasantly surprised by an open attitude , which i try and have about any shoot but i am only a part of the creative process.

so this posting is about this session with Mike. after many changes to times and dates prior to shoot mike walked into studio. 1/2 late. too many aspiring models etc think the world revolves around them, a problem of youth. i am just too old to be treated that way. he just caught me before i went about my days business thinking he was just another ‘no show’. seems when you’re doing someone a favor by shooting for their portfolio it’s not like a job to them. especially people new to the business of modeling, yes it is a business at least for some.

it’s about respect. seems a problem these days flooding this country, a complete lack of starting with our political leaders all the way down to our school children.

Mike

Mike

mike is a bodybuilder/weightlifter trying to learn how to be a model on model mayhem. i liked his beginning portfolio and contacted him, he was looking for headshots and full body. as we talked about the shoot he informed me he didn’t need the headshots as he had already did a session with someone else. ok with me but i did what i wanted because he was so interesting. he grew up in france and has a gentle demeanour about him. despite the modeling name of Black Chaos which is a bit off putting. i don’t need anymore chaos in my life it’s pretty full now.

_MG_6926

but as we began talking things loosened up. he’s from france which gives him a totally different outlook on life.  he’s very gentle i guess a gentle giant. so i began turning on lights my normal 3 light setup. nothing special no time for that now. two grid side lights, one on each side and an overhead/back shoveled unit. i don’t have much studio height nor more room than allows a 9′ roll of noseam.

_MG_6964

there i s a gridded strip softbox overhead on camera axises for soft front fill with a modeling light on.

_MG_6993

i used a chair as a prop to give him something to work with, it  sometimes helps, in a way distracts and gives them something to do with their hands. good place to sit down and rest for either the model or a tired tog._MG_7023a

‘oh what have i gotten myself into.’

but not really. this session didn’t last too long maybe just over an hour because i had to go to a ‘go see’ explaining to mike what ‘go sees’ are and how common it is in the business to be asked to attend one. i asked another female model is she would come over yesterday. never heard from her, must have gone shopping or something more important.

_MG_7036

mike has very deep set eyes, also very tired when he showed up. so what i tried to do here on these portraits was to add my 580 flash with a 40 degree grid holding it over the camera under or to the side. it didn’t seem to work here but i had both hands full had i the time i would have set the 580 on a stand but i was in a hurry thinking i could do it. oh well

i do like the way the session turned out. i am not a beauty photographer nor do i claim to be one and i usually get something i like out of the session that i like. seeing the images mike was all excited and wanted them all unedited. i deleted the really bad ones while i was setting the lighting & f stops.

here is the lighting setup

lighting diagram

he wants to come back for more so we will see if that happens. i’ve learned to get what i want on the first session as people don’t always do what they say they will.

i did get a chance after the shoot to test my LG4X remote from White Lightning to save me having to set the intensity with a ladder. moving along with life.

so it is for this sunday morning hope you enjoy

jene

The Most Elegant Anti-Creative Cloud Response Yet!!!

May 21, 2013

tell adobe as i did i won’t use their products anymore, i am sure someone will come up with a replacement for Photoshop soon

Damn Ugly Photography's avatarDamn Ugly Photography

I just LOVE this…

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