Magnum Workshop Day 3/7 - Still Searching

Tuesday. Now I was really feeling that I needed to find a groove and produce some pictures. I knew just how quickly it was going to be Friday.

 

I didn't sleep well on Monday night, thinking of just how I might get a photo story out of this week. Ptown was winding down for the season and I didn't want to shoot the more obvious topics. The Center for Coastal Studies was an intriguing possibility, but the chances of getting together with them while they were so busy were just too low.

 

I knew that I was thinking too hard about it, and needed to pursue something. Stop thinking and start doing. I convinced myself that the best opportunity to go a little deeper was at Rego Automotive. No, it wasn't a flashy story, but Pat was an interesting and talented guy, working hard to make a small business successful in Ptown. Since I didn't really get any photographs to share on Monday, I let Bruno know that I would miss the morning session and go pursue some images at Rego Automotive.

 

I was very pleased to find Pat already hard at work when I showed up, and that he was willing to let me hang around and shoot more pictures. I supplied several images to Pat and his wife, Lacey, to use on their facebook page. I am happy to see them on the Rego Automotive page, and hope they help!

 

Anyway, I spent a few hours hanging out, talking with Pat while he worked, and photographing the course of his business.

 

I left around lunch time, feeling that I had at least pushed a little further into a story. I wasn't sure that I had enough to make a project from, but the experience had been good and in the right direction.

 

In the afternoon, I rode my bike out to the National Seashore to visit Richard Ryder at the Lifesaving museum. Mr. Ryder had answered my email inquiry from before the workshop. There were no special events during my week in Ptown, but he invited me to come and see the regular displays at the museum. I very much enjoyed meeting Richard, and shot some portraits of him in the old station, where his family members had served in generations past.

 

Richard Ryder, Lifesaving Museum Historian

 

There was certainly a good story in Richard's own family history with the station, but the kind of story that's best told by a writer, not a photographer. Pleased to have met Richard, I had to scratch that story off my list as well, and move on.

 

Looking down the beach from the museum, I noticed a caravan of trucks on the beach, and a group of people surf fishing. It was a long walk, but I had to see if I could find something interesting there. The fishermen were all New York City employees - policemen, firemen, sanitation workers. They have been coming to Ptown to fish together for over 30 years.

 

Surf Fishing

 

These guys were super-friendly, and full of stories. I hung around for an hour or so, and shot what I found interesting, which was mainly their personalities. The fishing wasn't productive, at least while I was there. Looking back on it now, this was potentially the "one that got away." If I'd been prepared to spend more time with them, I could have really gotten something good. As it was, I had only my bike and camera, and felt the need to get back to look through my images from earlier in the day and prepare for the next morning's review. If I had it to do over again, I would have done something to ensure that I could reconnect with this group later on. I am sure that their evenings together were as interesting as their days at the beach fishing.

 

When I did get back to review my images, I liked some from Rego Automotive. But, none of them really showed much human emotion or connection between people. I still was not there. At least I had something to show and get feedback on from Bruno the next morning.

 

I did realize how potentially productive the fishing group was, and planned to try to locate them again the next day. I could have helped myself out by getting contact information so that I could ensure success. Lesson learned.

 

On this evening, Bruno Barbey presented his work spanning 50 years in Magnum. So many of his images stuck in my mind, but one of a huge crowd in Poland, umbrellas getting covered in snow, was my favorite.

 

(Click Here) to see this awesome image on Magnum's website.

 

Another thing that really impressed me was Bruno's recent coverage of China. Caroline, Bruno's wife, shared an amazing video of Bruno shooting in the Chinese streets and interacting with the people. It really gave the presentation a different feeling, showing how people enjoyed his presence.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

 

Magnum Workshop Day 2/7 - Monday, First Day in Bruno Barbey's Group

I started Monday morning with a drive to a place I'd read about in Land's End (see Day 1 for a full reference on this book about Ptown), the Beech Forest. I was up before daylight, and drove into the National Seashore to find the place. I ended up hiking in the forest for an hour or so, knowing that I wasn't going to find my photo project for the workshop there, but still quite interested in the place.

 

Morning in the Beech Forest

 

Returning from the forest, I went for coffee at a place in Ptown called Wired Puppy. This ended up being my morning stop every day I was there.

 

I happened to run into Bruno Barbey there, and had a nice chat before starting our workshop at 9:00 AM. I was a little surprised to find that Bruno shoots a Canon DSLR and zoom lens. Bruno and his wife, Caroline, are very nice, extremely creative people, and are interested in the people they meet. It turns out that Caroline is a very gifted videographer.

 

Morning Coffee with Bruno Barbey

 

We began our first workshop day with each student presenting their portfolios. Bruno withheld comment, saying that he'd meet with each of us individually later to discuss them. I never really got the chance to get this feedback since I transferred into David Alan Harvey's group on Wednesday.

 

One statement that Bruno made that I liked very much, and that has stuck with me:

"Photography is a fantastic excuse to meet people."

Bruno Barbey

Viewing Portfolios (fellow student, Peter at top, Bruno Barbey below)

 

Bruno told us that we did not have to work on a project, but I was intent on finding some sort of theme to my week's work. At this point in time, I had no idea what that was. I also knew that a key to my learning would be to go at least one level deeper than just shooting pictures of strangers. Again, I had no idea how I would achieve that. This gave me more than a little anxiety about what was to come.

 

As soon as we broke at about lunch time to allow us to get out and shoot, I went to rent a bicycle for the week. My goal was to leave the car parked for the remainder of the week, which I achieved with only a couple of minor exceptions. Riding back from the bike shop, I stopped at the Ptown wharf, which I knew was a center for activity in the town. Shooting a few pictures, I left not feeling any closer to a real objective for the week.

 

I did stop in at the Center for Coastal Studies (coastalstudies.org), and learned of several interesting potential stories, including restoration of a historic sailing vessel, a fishing net entanglement project (where they go out and untangle turtles, whales, and other non-target sea life from nets), and even biological studies of whale age and bacterial environment using genomic and other technologies. Given more time in Ptown, this is where I would have focused my efforts. As it was, the group was at sea during most of the week, and I just couldn't rely on making contact later in the week. As it turned out, as much as I would have enjoyed it, I'm glad that I didn't rely too much on this one; we never did get to make contact when the boat came back in.

 

Ptown Wharf

 

One idea I'd picked up from Land's End was the transition that Ptown goes through between summer and winter. I saw a few indications of that transition at the wharf, but was unsure about how to proceed with it as a concept.

End of Summer, Ptown

 

I continued to bike around town, including passing by a local auto repair garage (Rego Automotive), where my attention was caught by a 1974 Karmann Ghia, similar to the one I'd first learned to drive in, far ahead of my legal driving age. I went inside and introduced myself to Pat who runs the place. I asked him if I could shoot a few images, which he agreed to. He was working on a lovely 1959 MGA at the time.

 

Pat of Rego Automotive

 

Not sure how to go further, and feeling like I'd probably distracted Pat from his work for long enough, I moved on.

 

It was at this point that I stopped in to visit one of our workshop staff, Angela Russo, who runs a fine art photography studio in Ptown. (Click Here) to visit Angela's website and see some of her amazing color and large format photography. Feeling a little lost for a subject, having a conversation with Angela really helped me to get my head back in the game and keep looking. Angela is one of those few people I've met that I immediately knew I'd make friends with. She's a very special person, and continued to help me throughout the week, even though she wasn't assigned to work with either Bruno or David's groups.

 

Each weekday evening, one of the Magnum mentors gave a public talk and presentation of their work. On Monday, Olivia Arthur presented her work, largely centered around the Middle East and the treatment of women there. While Olivia found trends in the roles of women across the Middle East, she also found very interesting diversity from place to place. For example, she found Saudi Arabia to be culturally entirely apart from the other countries she worked in. In Dubai, she explored the cultural aspects of this rapidly developing country where only 10% of the people are citizens, and 70% are male. Olivia is a master story teller, and currently has two books in progress.

 

I left the workshop late that evening feeling very disconnected and concerned about being able to achieve the goal set out by Bruno Barbey as producing 8-10 presentable images in five days, one of which was now over. We were scheduled to meet at 9:00 each morning to review progress; I felt that I had nothing to show for my first full day of exploring.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

Diversion From Lumix - Pentax MX, Spotmatic Cameras Go To The Car Show!

 

'57 Chevy Wagon, by Reed A. George

Pentax Spotmatic, Pentax 35mm f3.5

Last Saturday, I loaded up my Pentax Spotmatic and MX cameras with iso 200 film, and headed out to meet my friend James McKearney at the annual car show in Leesburg, VA. I also took along some Pentax lenses, the 35mm f3.5 and 105mm f3.5 for the Spotmatic, and a 50mm f1.7 for the MX.

As I've mentioned, this is a repeat event for me, so I was challenged to find something new and interesting to bring back. To start with, I decided to shoot some of the cars as they rolled into town. The shot above attests to the beautiful weather we had, and I think has that classic car and small town feel to it.

Classic Traffic Jam, by Reed A. George

Cobra Corps Arrives, by Reed A. George

How often do you get to see a line of Cobras like that? Not often.

The locals seem to love the show, for example this restaurant crew that came out to see the cars...

Spectator Sport #1, by Reed A. George

Spectator Sport #2, by Reed A. George

... or anything else that may have caught their attention.

This young lady decided to get her nails done on the spot:

Car Shows Mean Different Things To Different People, by Reed A. George

This guy had some on-site repairs to do:

Minor Tweaks? by Reed A. George

I will finish with a few more favorites from the day:

T-bird, by Reed A. George

Small Town Reflections, by Reed A. George

Classic Boots, by Reed A. George

(Click Here) to go to the full set of images on flickr.

 
I thoroughly enjoyed pulling out these two old film cameras for this event. Those Pentax lenses are really something. I even enjoyed waiting to see "how they came out." I hope you enjoyed seeing them.
 

 

All Up In My Grille!, by Reed A. George

 
DMC-365.blogspot.com
 
 
 

More Great Car Shots by littleMT on mu-43.com

 

GTO, by littleMT on mu-43.com

Image Source: http://www.mu-43.com/f42/my-2006-twin-turbo-gto-shot-e-pl1-27130/

I've been on a little diversion with car photography lately. Poster littleMT on mu-43.com has been a great source for me. littleMT posted a few intriguing images of the 2006 GTO shown above.

(Click Here) to see the others on mu-43.com.

You saw a post a while back from the same source:

(Click Here) for littleMT's other work I posted here.

I'm heading out to a car show myself this afternoon (which will be some days old before you read this), after getting a little work done at the office. It is one I've been to before, so I'm struggling to think of ways to do something different with my photography there. The people are always fun. Here's one from 2009:
 
 

Car Show Attendee, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1, Lumix 14-45mm Kit Lens

iso100, f8, 1/125 sec

Here's another, trying to do something a little different:

Jag on Glass, by Reed A. George

Leica M8, Leica 35mm f1.4 Summilux

iso640, f-stop not recorded, 1/250 sec

So, wish me luck. I'm hoping for some inspiration this afternoon. Will report back :).

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

Been Around the Block - Car Photography Is Fun

 

Image Source: http://www.mu-43.com/f88/been-around-block-few-times-27007/

Member littleMT on mu-43.com posted a few pictures of this old beast, taken with an Olympus E-PL1 and Lumix 14mm f2.5 lens.

(Click Here) to see the post.

I am going to a car show this weekend with my friend James McKearney. It's sort of an annual ritual for us, and until two years ago included Dennis Gallus, who has since moved off to Arizona. The old cars don't look like the one above, in general; they're all fixed up and nicer than they were on the showroom in many cases. Again, this is an opportunity for me to combine two interests - cars and photography, with the enjoyment of seeing a friend and fellow photographer.

Dennis - What A Smile, by Reed A. George

Leica M8, Leica 35mm Summilux f1.4, iso 320, 1/60sec (f-stop not recorded)

Last year, I shot exclusively with my Nikomat, given to me by the aforementioned Dennis. I was quite pleased with the results. Here's an example:

Farm Use, by Reed A. George

Nikomat, sepia and additional grain a la Lightroom

I think I'll use something from my camera collection that hasn't been out for a while again this year. I'll have to think about what. I do have a new stock of 120 film that hasn't been touched yet. Maybe the Bronica...

Regardless, I'm looking forward to it.

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 
DMC-365.blogspot.com
 

Specialty Blogs Are Cool - Check Out Micromotorsport

 

Classic Corvette Interior, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1, Leica Summarit 50mm f1.5 (LTM)

iso 100, 1/800sec

When I started this blog, specifically focused on Panasonic Lumix cameras and my uses of them, I was concerned about it being focused on too small of a subject. However, what I read about blogging indicated that it was better to focus tightly, so I gave it a try. While I do write about things other than purely Lumix topics, there is always a connection to my photography interests, which all include Panasonic in some way, or at some time or another.

Anyway, I found this very focused blog, centered on the use of Micro 4/3 cameras to photograph automobiles and automotive events:

http://micromotorsport.wordpress.com/about/

(Click Here) to check it out.

This intersection of Micro 4/3 gear and automobile interests is clearly focused, but I'm sure still draws quite a number of followers. There are excellent examples of car images throughout, a shooting guide, and interesting writing about techniques and equipment. Bravo!

I love to attend car shows, and used to be seen pretty regularly at the Laguna Seca Antique races in Monterey, California, when I lived near there.

(Click Here) for the Laguna Seca website.

Black Cat, by Reed A. George

I hope those of you who are car and Micro 4/3 enthusiasts will enjoy this site. If cars aren't your bag, you may still want to read the shooting guide's information on motion panning - it works for anything in motion.

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 
DMC-365.blogspot.com