I spent six hours today trying to shoot product shots of a perfume bottle and then the processing machine ate half my film after I broke down the set. Then I came home and found a bill for a really really really large amount of money because my crappy student health insurance apparently DOESN'T COVER MEDICAL TESTS TO FIND OUT WHY YOU ARE IN ACUTE ABDOMINAL PAIN. Apparently I'm not going to die of cancer or appendicitis and my ovary did not actually explode back in July, it just felt like it. This did not, however, prevent them from charging an ungodly amount of money to find that out, nor did it mean anything to the insurance company, who enjoyed leaving me on hold for 45 minutes and then hanging up on me, twice, before finally informing me that I'm stupid and should have read my policy more thoroughly before experiencing an alleged "mysterious pain". Did I mention I'm having a really, really bad day? Anyway.
I'm trying to make myself feel better by looking at stuff for inspiration and working on my notebook. Some finds:
Eric Meyer wins my personal award for best Burning Man photos ever. The best lit ones, anyway. I looked at his bio and he went to Art Center. There is hope! Right?
Renee Rhyner represents some of my favorite photographers, notably Fredrik Brodén and Brent Humphreys. The navigation on the website leaves a lot to be desired, but there are some interesting images to be found.
Snapcity by emilie wilson valentine has always been one of my favorite photo sites. She hasn't updated it in years I think but the fact that she was able to post these interesting, intimate little snaps of her life regularly for over two years is pretty impressive. I used to carry my camera around with me everywhere, before I got spoiled on large format. I haven't printed off a 35mm negative in a really, really long time. I wonder if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
English illustrator Joe Magee was fired from his weekly gig at the ultraconservative Daily Telegraph for putting messages like "Thatcher Fucked Us" in braille in his illustrations. He's my hero today.
I think I feel a little better now, kinda.
Posted by kia at October 24, 2002 09:28 PMKia, I have to second your remarks about Eric Meyer. His portraits are definitely the best Burningman photos I have seen.
As an amateur, I am forced to ask a naive question: where does his light come from? A reflecting device? A battery powered light? Some kind of a diffused strobe flash?
Very nice.
Posted by: bug on October 25, 2002 10:11 AMalso, see his "sterotypes" section.
Posted by: rob on October 27, 2002 06:03 PMYeah, he's overpowering daylight with a strobe head, probably one of them spiffy cordless strobe packs. But I guess you'd have to ask him to be sure..
The general idea is you get the person's face in the shade and direct in a new light from another angle to make it look like it was studio lit.
Posted by: kia on October 29, 2002 11:53 PM