Guest Post

Guest Post: Luiz Paulo.

Guest Post, Inspiration

I am pleased to present four new images this year from a dear friend, and outstanding photographer, Luiz Paulo.

I must confess, I have an affinity for Luiz‘s photography because we share similar sensibilities when it comes to our subject matter:  Luiz photographs his daughter (family), and he captures the capricious and simultaneously important elements of daily existence (Life’s Little Moments).

On a technical note, this time Luiz treats us with complex explorations in composition and a rare (for him) infusion of colour.

Finally, I am very excited to announce that Luiz will be featured in an upcoming issue of Leica Fotographie International, where many of his images are already prominently displayed online .

Please help me, then, in welcoming him once again to this site.

—Peter.

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[If you would like to see more of Luiz‘s work, please visit previous posts on this site here, here, here, and here.]

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Luiz 1

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Luiz 2

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Luiz 3

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Luiz 4

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Plustek 120 and Silverfast: Mark’s settings for dust removal.

Film, Guest Post, Q&A, Scanner - Plustek 120, Teaching point

I recently reported on the Plustek 120 scanner for scanning B&W film.

After reading about my positive experience with the Plustek 120, my friend Mark purchased one.  Mark, being a Master in film processing, develops both B&W and colour film.  While using the colour film dust removal feature of the Silverfast sofware, he initially found things weren’t working.   However, a few quick changes in Silverfast solved the problem.

Mark writes:

“I appear to have a fix for the problem… It seems that there is a setting under [Silverfast’s] “Preferences > Special > Maximum Offset for iSRD alignment” that is “Maxed Out” by default. I have decreased my value to 50 (from a default of 70) and decreased the detection threshold to 2 (in the iSRD Dialogue) and the resulting correction is PERFECT, with no alterations in the underlying grain structure of the resulting scan…I hereby declare this to be a FINE scanner…“

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Thank you for this information Mark.

—Peter.

Guest Post: Hugues Faye (Part 3 of 3).

Guest Post, Inspiration

Editor’s Note:

You may recognize well known Leica aficionado and previously Featured Photographer Ashwin Rao in this set.   Ashwin was generous enough to allow his image to be posted as part of this series.  (Thank you A.R.!)

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Once again, I am deeply indebted to Mr. Hugues Faye for sharing his images on Prosophos.com.

(Dear Hugues, your photography is almost surpassed by your humility.  You are an inspiration.)

With great respect,

—Peter.

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Please also see these previous posts featuring Hugues‘ work:

Featured Photographer:  Hughf

Guest Post: Hugues Faye (Part 1).

Guest Post: Hugues Faye (Part 2).

Guest Post: Hugues Faye (Part 1 of 3).

Guest Post, Inspiration

Editor’s Note:

Hugues Faye is both a dear friend and an inspirational photographer whom I greatly admire.  In fact, Hugues was the first featured photographer on Prosophos.com, and I am fortunate — once again — to be hosting his work.

—Peter.

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Hugues Faye writes:

“Dear Peter ,

I take the initiative to write to you!  I had in the past, a great pleasure and a great honor to be represented on your website… the same site that was always for me a real source of inspiration and air a large bowl fresh in my day!

So today, a great desire fills my whole being, to share you (and for those who will be brought also look) of these images, which represent many of my little walks on Sunday Paris!

I have short, but one last thing!  I am pleased to have crossed your path… because many things have changed in my life since…

Thank you very much Peter, for everything “bad” that you give yourself, as a presenter of quality and generosity every day on your beautiful site!

The images you’ll find are made using a Leica Monochrom and 50mm Noct 0.95, 50mm Summicron and 35mm Summilux fle…

PS:  I had a great pleasure and an honor to meet a great man and a great photographer and his fiancee… I called our dear Ashwin and “J”!
Little nod to them as well –

Best regards.

Hugues”

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Guest Post: Luiz Paulo (Part 2).

Guest Post, Inspiration

Editor’s Note: 

This set of images, called “Projections“, represents the second part of Luiz Paulo‘s Guest Post  (Part 1 may be found here).   Regarding the image “Two Little Jaguars“, the back-story is quite touching and was provided by Luiz in a personal communication:

“The funny is that “two little jaguars” (in Portuguese “duas oncinhas”) was my daughter’s idea — she realized the shadows of drops on her face and asked to me to photograph her so she would seem like her puppet, all that while waiting for my garage door to open, in a short time! Amazing how the children are…”

—Luiz Paulo

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“Camouflage”:

camouflage

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Duas Oncinhas:

duas-oncinhas

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“Freedom”:

freedom

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“Offset”:

offset

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Once again, thank you Luiz for your wonderful images.

—Peter.

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More of Luiz’s work may be viewed here.

Please also re-visit Luiz’s previous work on this site.

Guest Post: Luiz Paulo.

Guest Post, Inspiration, Life's Little Moments

Editor’s Note:  I have a great affinity for Luiz‘s work.  He skillfully captures his Muse — his daughter — in the midst of what I like to call Life’s Little Moments, and he does it with great sensitivity.  Luiz is a true artist and I feel privileged to present his work here today.

—Peter.

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Luiz Paulo writes:

“May I collaborate with your blog and your “little” and precious community (I guess not so little as you’ve stated).

During my brief and so wanted moments that I can spend with my daughter (as you know she doesn’t live with me) I try to capture what I see and feel. Sometimes I’m lucky enough to the get one moment, a record, that will left into my hearth.

In the last few months I could take some photos that, just by chance, can somehow be as part of a series:

Lines and frames. Not a really novelty. But it just what is… Lines and frames…

Hope you enjoy them!

Thank you so much for the honour!! — again. 🙂 “

—Luiz Paulo

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“Turn Around”:

01-turned-around

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“Old Friend”:

02-old-friend

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“No Name 1”:

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“No Name 2”:

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“Looking at Me 1”:

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“Looking at Me 2”:

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“Jump”:

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Thank you Luiz, for allowing me to share these images on Prosophos.com.

—Peter.

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More of Luiz’s work may be viewed here.

Please also re-visit Luiz’s previous work on this site.

 

Guest Post: M240, M9 sample images.

Guest Post, Inspiration, Leica M Type 240, Q&A, Teaching point

A reader, Marc H., has provided the sample images below.

[Please note:  This is not a scientifically rigorous comparison.  Marc has generously provided these for your benefit.  Any disrespectful comments will automatically be deleted.]

Marc writes:

“While I still had both bodies (M9 and M240), I took a walk around Frankfurt and shot random stuff, just to see how they both render and how the color translates. I set both to the same ISO values,  f stop, white balance is auto.  The pics themselves are nothing special, but interesting to see how they render.  Both used 50mm asph lenses. “

Here are Marc’s samples

(please click on the image to view at MAXIMUM size)

Comparison 1:

M9 vs M240 - 1

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Comparison 2:

M9 vs M240 - 2

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Thank you Marc, for providing these.

—Peter.

Guest Post: Andrew Gemmell.

Guest Post, Inspiration, Leica 50mm Summilux ASPH f/1.4, Leica M Monochrom (CCD Lives!)

EDITOR’S NOTE:

Those of you who frequent Prosophos will know Andrew Gemmell from his numerous contributions to the daily discussions on this site; he always offers an encouraging word and is the consummate gentlemen.  However, what you may not know is that Andrew actually photographs! 🙂

Mr. Gemmell recently went on a whirlwind vacation and came back with a few images.  No — strike that — he came back with a series of incredible images.  Given the sheer number of them, I could have put together a Featured Photographer piece for him, but I had to remind myself that this series represents the output from a single vacation.  I can only imagine what a future Featured Photographer post would look like…

I am fortunate to be hosting these images – thank you Andrew.

—Peter.

P.S.  I’d also like to thank Mark Ewanchuk — he knows why.

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Andrew Gemmell writes:

“Hi Peter,

My wife and I have always enjoyed traveling. It was something we had always committed to when we married and traveling with our three daughters was always going to be on the agenda. Fortunately, we have been lucky enough to fulfill a major part of those dreams and we have just spent 5 weeks traveling the globe. Dubai, Rome, overland up to Stuttgart (via Venice, Lake Como and Schwangau in Germany). We spent a week in Paris, four days in London and finished our trip via NY!

Tiring is a word which comes to mind! Although exhausting…..it was incredible. To share an adventure like this with my daughters is something which will never be taken away now. To spend time out of the daily routine, talk about different cultures, the food and of course the history. To help them learn made this such a special trip.

Along for the ride was also a camera I have become very attached to, the Leica Monochrome. I took along a 50mm Summilux ASPH 1.4 and the 24mm Elmar 3.8 (definitely a keeper for me). It’s the only camera I have now after making a commitment to learn about using a rangefinder and also exploring the world of black & white only photography.

Although the photography was secondary to the experience, it is part of my life. Photography is about expression and all I aim to do is express myself and the subject in a meaningful way.

I hope you enjoy them.

—Andrew Gemmell

P.S.  There are number of people who have influenced me. Yes, you in a big way. Your passion for this camera and style of shooting had me very intrigued. Of course the results speak for themselves, albeit it’s more about the passion of photography and the things you love which produce the results, not the camera.

Many people you have posted here, Hugues (love your work Hugues!!), Jason Howe, Ashwin and especially Kristian Dowling (his story telling ability and skill is to me incredible and an enormous influence). Thank you for sharing their work as it has a direct effect on me personally and how I approach this wonderful hobby we all love!”

 

Images courtesy of Andrew Gemmell.

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AG1-lakegardaboat

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AG3-romereflections

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Thank you again Andrew for sharing these wonderful images!

—Peter.

Featured Photographer: Tibor Budai.

Film, Guest Post, Inspiration

Tibor Budai

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“What I want is to capture the natural, something quirky, insignificant or ordinary in the eyes of everyone, but something that eventually becomes emotional or surreal once transcribed to a photo.”

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Tibor Budai

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About.

35 yrs old, originally from Budapest, Hungary.  Moved to Switzerland as a child, where he currently resides.  Works for Philip Morris.

Cameras and lenses.

“A Leica M7 with my 35mm Zeiss Biogon. I also have a Nikon FM2 as a backup solution in case my main camera breaks down!”

What’s important.

“We only live once, but if you play it right it is enough. ”

Interesting fact.

“I was in the army in Switzerland, and security was at a maximum during the 9/11 era.  Part of my duties included patrolling the US embassy and many others in the capital of Bern. Nowadays, I much prefer to patrol the streets with a camera hanging around my neck rather than a machine gun.”

 

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Today I am very pleased to present the work of Tibor Budai, whose photography I’ve enjoyed for several years.

Mr. Budai has an uncanny ability to “see”, and a gift for pressing the camera shutter at precisely the most interesting/poignant moment.

His seemingly quirky compositions belie a masterful photographer at work, whose intelligence is both playful and incisive.  Moreover, he accomplishes all of this within the challenging medium of film.

Simply put, Tibor is one of the purest photographers I know, and I admire his talents tremendously.
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Q&A with Tibor.

What motivated (and still motivates) you to pick up a camera?

“The motivation for me is to record an instant which will disappear forever as quickly as it has appeared, just a moment ago.  It’s my life’s passion I think, discovered late, but as we say: “better late then never!” I just love taking pictures with the imagination process that begins soon after having taken it and this same process continuing on until the film development, with the gradual excitement going with it. And I simply like to look and appreciate the result of the successful photos after all the effort made. ”

 

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What do your images “say” about you?

“We say that pictures reflect one’s personality. Perhaps this is true. What I want is to capture the natural, something quirky, insignificant or ordinary in the eyes of everyone, but something that eventually becomes emotional or surreal once transcribed to a photo.  To say the least, this is not an obvious thing to do!“

 

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How have you evolved as a photographer/artist over the years?

“[I’ve evolved] a lot if I look back when I started 3-4 years ago.  I’ve learned from others’ work in forums or social media, and turning the pages of grand master’s photo books countless times, over and over again .”

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Any further comments about your work you’d like to share?

“I started doing mostly street photography. But now I tend to run some personal projects. I think change can bring benefits especially when one feels that particular subjects may have been overdone. It also allows me to come back to previous subjects, but with a different refreshed perspective. ”

 

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Images courtesy of Tibor Budai.

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Once again, I wish to convey my gratitude to Tibor for participating in this series.

If you’d like to see more of his work, please visit Tibor’s website here.

—Peter.

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Past Featured Photographers on Prosophos.com include:

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Guest Post: Afghan Family Life in the 1960s.

Film, Guest Post, Inspiration

Earlier this week, Gullalai Salimi forwarded these photographs to me.  They were taken by her late father, back when Gullalai was a child growing up in Afghanistan.  Afghan society was more tolerant in the 1960s, and so the country she knew 50 years ago bears little resemblance to the modern-day incarnation.

With her permission, I digitally scanned Gullalai‘s original film photographs and decided to post the images here because I thought they may be of general interest to the viewership of this site.

—Peter.

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Afghanistan 1

Afghanistan 2

Afghanistan 3

Featured Photographer: Bijan.

Guest Post, Inspiration

Bijan

↑Photo (c) Nick Bilton.

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“I fell in love with making photographs because I wanted a time machine.  A beautiful way to visit my memories.”

—Bijan.–

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Bijan

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About.

44 years old, lives outside of Boston with his wife and three kids. A venture capitalist at Spark Capital where he invests primarily in early stage consumer internet companies. Has become quite passionate about photography over the last few years.  It all started with the iPhone 4, the first “nice” camera that he brought with him everywhere.

Cameras and lenses.

Leica: M240, M9-P, M3.  Nikon: D800.  Apple: iPhone5.  Fuji: Fujifilm Instax 210 (“so much fun!”).

What’s important.

“My family and work are the most important things in my life.  And in that order.  I fell in love with making photographs because I wanted a time machine.  A beautiful way to visit my memories. ”

Interesting fact.

“My peripheral vision is shot in my left eye.  I guess all I need is my right eye for my camera 🙂 .”

 

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Today I am very pleased to present the work of fellow photo enthusiast Bijan.  I came across Bijan’s website last year and casually started scrolling through his images, reading his posts, and listening to the linked-to music.  About an hour later, having immersed myself in this wonderful multi-sensorial experience, I wondered where the time had gone.

In Bijan‘s work there is certainly ample evidence of a man that loves his family, work, and his life.  Through the eyes of a poet we view a world which is beautiful and inspiring — and sometimes bitter-sweet.  Although Bijan has acquired the technical skills to capture life’s events in a form worthy of display in the pages of some polished periodical , his work exudes something that no glitzy magazine can ever get quite right: authenticity.   Perhaps this, more than anything, is the gift he shares with us.

Please help me, therefore, in welcoming Bijan.

—Peter.

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[If you wish to get the full “multi-sensorial experience”, please visit Bijan’s website.]

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Q&A with Bijan.

What motivated (and still motivates) you to pick up a camera?

“I take my camera everywhere with me. It’s rare that I’m not chasing the light somewhere. I love making photographs of my family (it’s one of the things which led me to your fine website Prosophos).  I love exploring new places with my camera. I love taking photographs of my friends.  I picked up my first rangefinder system two years ago and I can say with certainty it has changed my life and how I see things.”

 

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What do your images “say” about you?

“I hope they say that these photographs are from someone that cares about his friends, family, work, photography and surroundings.  And that he’s trying to improve in all of those areas. It’s a work in progress, across the board.“

 

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How have you evolved as a photographer/artist over the years?

“I’m paying attention.  That’s the most important thing I’ve learned since I started using my Leica. I’m embarrassed to admit but I used to walk around the city staring at my mobile phone, checking email. Head down, staring at the screen.  Now I have my head up, phone in my pocket, and I’m paying attention.  I’m chasing the light.  I’m looking at smiles and all the beautiful things all around me.”

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Any further comments about your work you’d like to share?

“Thank you so much for inviting me to share my photographs on your blog.  It has helped inspire me and dared me to try new things, in new ways.”

 

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Images courtesy of Bijan.

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b-first snow

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b-Sam Cambridge

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b-Bay Bridge at night

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b-Ellie Vermont

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b-James Winthrop WA

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b-Florida sunrise

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b-Gas Works Park - Seattle

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b-Under the Golden Gate Bridge

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b-Lands End SF

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b-Mt Davidson SF sunrise

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b-Sophia ballerina

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A sincere thank you again to Bijan.

—Peter.

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[Previously Featured Photographers may be found here.]

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Featured Photographer: Kristian Dowling.

Guest Post, Inspiration, Q&A

Kristian

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“Photography has always been many things to me.  Love, passion, hobby, stress relief and freedom – but mostly a competition within myself to get better and better.”

—Kristian Dowling.

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Kristian Dowling

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About.

34 years old.  Worked as a Getty Images staff photographer, working in news, sports and entertainment.  Moved on to Freelance working with Associated Press, MTV, Fox, Capitol/EMI Records and Katy Perry.

Cameras and lenses.

Leica M(240), M Monochrom, Leica M9-P, Nokton 35/1.2.  Nikon D4, D800E, D600, 24-70, 70-200, 85/1.4G.  Profoto, Speedlight and LED lighting kits.

What’s important.

“As an individual, the photography experience is most important.  The images come second, because when I’m gone, the experience in life is more meaningful to me than the pictures I leave behind.”

Interesting fact.

“What got me started in photography at age 16, was being fired from KFC, pushing me to work in photographic retail, and thus eventually pursuing a photography career.  I was also Australian, National Karate Champion a few years in a row and ranked 4th in the World Karate Championships.  Karate gave me the determination and discipline needed to go as far as I have in Photography.”

 

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Today, I am very excited to feature the work of Kristian Dowling, whose photographic exploits involve the biggest names in entertainment, fashion, and sports.   He is the consummate professional, known for his ability to “deliver”, under all manner of circumstances.  Continually sought after for his ability to create memorable and inspirational images, he is rightfully admired by his clients and colleagues alike.

Recently, Kristian decided to eschew the fast-lane life of Los Angeles, where he was working as a celebrity photographer, and headed back to his roots in Melbourne, Australia.

Now, when not on assignment, Kristian is busy teaching fellow photo enthusiasts about “Seeing the Light”, via his photographic workshops, personalised coaching sessions, and contributions in various photographic fora.

As if his formidable photographic talents and unwavering dedication weren’t enough, Kristian is also a genuine, affable, and generous soul.

(Short story…)

When I contacted Mr. Dowling last month and asked him if he wouldn’t mind being a Featured Photographer on Prosophos.com, Kristian — despite his many accomplishments, stature, and busy schedule — responded within 24 hrs, writing:

“I’m happy [to help]…just let me know what you need…”

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—Peter.

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Q&A with Kristian Dowling.

What motivated (and still motivates) you to pick up a camera?

“The desire to improve and explore.  Exploration using the photographic medium relates not only to exploring the world, but testing myself to see how well I can translate what I see into photographic imagery.  Photography has always been many things to me.  Love, passion, hobby, stress relief and freedom – but mostly a competition within myself to get better and better.  Thankfully, there are no limits with photography, so my journey will continue until the day I leave this Earth.  These days I’m focused on helping others, and passing on the knowledge I’ve collected over the years.  I coach individuals and groups through my photographic training and really enjoy seeing my students improve and achieve their goals.  It means a lot to me to see the development of others through my coaching, and I’m finding that I am just as excited seeing my students progress, as seeing myself improve.  It’s been a big career change for me since leaving my career behind in Hollywood, but it’s a lot of fun and certainly more rewarding.”

 

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What do your images “say” about you?

“There are probably many things photographers hope their images say about them.  To me, the most important thing I want to convey through my images is ‘dedication’.  By this I mean dedication to my subjects, my effort, my planning, my results, and my own self-improvement.  Most photographers focus on one main area and style with their photography, but with me, I enjoy so much about photography that it’s not a priority for me to have a style to be distinguished by.  I’m not saying it’s not important to have my work be uniquely different, but with so many photographers out their doing great new things, I don’t feel the need to focus on one style just to be different.  I do what I like and try my best to do it at the highest, most consistent level.  There’s also a sense of achievement when you’re confident enough to be able to shoot a variety of different styles, assignments and subjects, and that’s what I thrive on.  I also strive to get my pictures 100% right out of camera, which is certainly a high goal but one I must set in order to keep improving.  It’s very important to me to get my images right out of camera, the traditional way, like I did when I shot film.  I don’t believe in shooting with post processing as a fall back option when I can do most of it at the time of exposure.  It’s much more rewarding taking a picture successfully, without the need to post-processing corrections…. not to mention, time saving 😉 “

 

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How have you evolved as a photographer/artist over the years?

“Over the years I have evolved as a photographer at a rapid pace.  The 1st stage of my evolution started with photography books, and being inspired by amazing photographers like Steve McCurry, Alex Webb, Sebastião Salgado, Jesse Marlow, Richard Avedon, Jeanloup Sieff and many others.  The 2nd stage began with my first major employment with Getty Images only 9 months after starting photography as a profession.  In this industry, this kind of start is unheard of.  I was fortunate that Getty saw potential in me and took a gamble by making me a staff photographer working at the highest editorial level.  It was an honor but a huge challenge.  I was already quite a technically sound photographer, but a lot of weight goes into experience – which I was lacking.  Very quickly I was working alongside some of the world’s top editorial photographers as the world’s largest events, including the Commonwealth Games, New York Fashion Week, Cannes Film Festival, Beijing Olympics and many more.  Not only was I working there, but often as the official photographers with a great deal of pressure placed upon my shoulders, and the shoulders of our team.  At the time I was fortunate that the amazing photographers I was working with were happy to help me, and train me in a team environment focused on achieving the absolute best results possible.  It was this interaction with other photographers that has influenced me the most.  The 3rd stage of my evolution is where I am right now – exploration of myself with the freedom of not being tied down by employment and clients.  It kind of feels like starting photography all over again, but I’m excited by the possibilities and welcome the challenges ahead.”

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Any further comments about your work you’d like to share?

“My advice to aspiring photographers all focused on image quality is to not forget to enjoy the experience and not get all caught up in the trap of analyzing their images at pixel level sharpness.  I used to be online all the time focusing on what sensors and lenses will provide maximum picture quality, forgetting that it’s not the camera taking the picture, it’s me.  Cameras (modern ones) are designed to provide great ‘image’ quality, but the ‘picture’ quality comes down to the photographer – and IMHO, the photography experience is most important.  The images come second….”

 

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Images courtesy Kristian Dowling.

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Katy Perry "California Dreams Tour 2011" - Fort Lauderdale

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Muay Thai Kickboxing Camp Brings Hope To Thai Orphans

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Kristian 8

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Hugh Hefner

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Arielle Kebbel - Portraits

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A big thank you once again to Mr. Kristian Dowling.

—Peter.

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[Previously Featured Photographers may be found here.]

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