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What’s In The Art? [Reposted]

So, we spend a lot of time on such matters as reviews, Canon cameras, the search for a wide-lens camera, Indianapolis events like our Expo tomorrow, but today I’d like to take a moment to go a different direction. To address this field from a different view.

““The creative act lasts but a brief moment, a lightning instant of give-and-take, just long enough for you to level the camera and to trap the fleeting prey in your little box.””

That’s a quote from the legendary Henri Cartier-Bresson. If you don’t know who that is, you really owe it to yourself–as a photographer–to look him up. That’s also my one favorite quote about photography. Coming from a background of painting and design, where you start with nothing and end with someting, I’ve always viewed photography as a medium more of recording and interpretation than one of creating. I think Cartier-Bresson’s quote captures that when he admits that the only time a photographer is an artist is when he decides to capture the moment.

So, your turn. What’s your favorite photo quote? Why? I’m going to follow this thread, so please leave your response in the comments and I’ll respond back.

This field is more than equipment, it’s what the equipment does. Let’s have a dialog about that for once.



Roberts Adding New “photoGooru” Learning Section

photoGooru: Robert's New Extended Learning Service

photoGooru: Robert's New Extended Learning Service

Indianapolis, June 24, 2009 – The world of modern digital photography is one with a dizzying array of new and forever changing technologies, techniques, and jargon, which can prove daunting for the new, casual, or even experienced photographer trying to make their way through the maze of information. This confusion is only compounded by the fact that the internet is forced to become the main repository for this information, and so many conflicting and incorrect or inaccurate bits of information exist online that many new photographer’s will be taught and spread disinformation without even realizing it.

To that end, Roberts is starting work on its new “photoGooru” division of its revamped online help department, where we will post articles, essays, and other white papers where we try to tackle the different aspects of modern photography in easy-to-read terms, and attempt to dispel common misunderstandings about the technology in use today.

Focusing initially on topics concerning technical equipment, Roberts hopes to expand its photoGooru service to cover camera history, software and processing techniques, and guides on photographic composition and understanding exposure.

“The modern world of photography is increasingly complex, spanning no longer hundreds of years of exposure tricks, but requiring a proficient knowledge of increasingly interconnected electronic systems to excel in the field,” says Roberts’ web manager and photoGooru development head Derek Martin, “and that means the best service we can provide for our customers is no longer to provide all the right equipment at the right prices, but to also be the ones providing understandable, accurate, and relevant information about that same equipment, and the field as a whole.”

Roberts expects to have photoGooru live by the end of June and expects to see continued expansion of the project throughout the summer.



Portable Portfolios

I am increasingly fond of the idea of a paperless portfolio. Nevermind the technical reasons prints are still better (more reliable color accuracy, better dynamic range, smoother tonality), LCDs have gotten competent enough as a whole to be useful enough, and most photos will look considerably snappier on a good LCD than on a good print, if you ask me. I have a new PMP (portable media player, for those of you not in-the-know) on its way, and I’ve already exported a collection of pictures to load it up with in case I need to show off some work on the spur of a moment. Sure, the resolution isn’t the best, but t’s got a nice shiny screen that gives the contrast a bump and ends with things not looking entirely accurate, but certainly “poppy” enough for your average viewer.

That’s a Zune, the smaller screen of iPods might work less well for this. The iPhone and the iPod Touch, though, would make sharp little portfolios, and I bet in this business there’re already quite a few of you in possession of those.

And, when you need something more than just a little screen, there’s always the Digital Foci Photo Album, which got some attention way back when it was announced and which I have finally had a moment to play with myself.

My thoughts?

read more



Post 301: Our Fearless Leader

OK everyone, this is the 301st post to Roberts Raw! and we’re celebrating this completely and utterly coincidental, meaningless milemarker by giving you all a special treat: the last Spring Expo 2009 Raw Footage clip. But, that’s not what’s special. No siree, it’s special because this s the first time in Roberts history we get to have a video presence from our fearless leader, owner, and friend– Bruce Pallman — broadcast throughout the inter-tubes. In a world where traditional, brick-and-mortar family camera shops like Roberts are being put to the wall, and where smaller online outfits like Roberts Imaging are facing more and more challenges, Bruce has had the skills, compassion, and savvy necessary to not only keep us in the game but to keep getting us farther ahead in it.

And, even beyond that, he gave me a job. In my field, even. So, it goes without saying that I love the man. And, now, here he is:



Raw Footage: Leica Comes A-Expo-in’

Starting to run out of these quick interviews, finally. This one is with Matt, the nice gentleman who reps Leica for us. This was the first time I’d held one of their M8s (which I noticed Audrey Tautou toting in Chanel No 5′s new TV spot. Class act, all around.) Sucker’s a brick. A big, black, brass brick. It also made me nervous as heck to hold, but then again I still think dropping 900 bucks on a lens is a chunk of change. Lenses are beauties, though.

OK, enough jabber, on to the video:



Raw Footage: Spring Expo cont, Canon 10-22mm

OK, given that we have the new Canon rebates, and Canon Days is this weekend, it seems to finally be the right time to post this quickie from Expo 2009. Amanda’s back once more and this time she’s talking about Canon’s 10-22mm, an ultra-wide angle (UWA) beastie covering about 16mm-35mm for you Rebel and xxD users. And hey! It’s one of the lenses with Instant Savings, so add one to your kit and keep $50 in your grubby little pockets. Go ahead, save money, we don’t mind.



Size matters? / Daddy’s got a brand-new bag.

I should preface by saying that I love our used department. Given that they’re also the lighting department. And bags. They handle a lot downstairs and I like to chat with them when I’m making my way back from our warehouse.

They are also some mad-hat haters. I for one am pretty thrilled that my e-410 can, with an adapter, mount a manual focus 50 1.8 from the OM system or Nikon or EOS and have an equivalent 100mm 1.8. Mr. Proctor quipped that he could achieve the same result by cropping his images by 50%. My retort was that my cropped sensor still has all its pixels…and he shot back with the higher pixel density = more noise argument. I weakened, fell back on “control your lighting” and was trampled under the powerful tag-team assault of from Rich’s “I like shooting at ISO 3200 and having it look like 1600″ and Scott’s “why don’t you just draw a picture” jab at my fumbling “I’ll fix it in post!”

My Shooting-Fu is yet weak in its reliance on fixing things like white balance, exposure recovery, and cropping in post, and I must yet tremble before the masters who complete mathy-like equations involving focal length, aperture, apples, oranges, and jalapenos while panning their manual focus lenses without even thinking about it. I am currently more concerned about composition and the more squishy notion of a photograph’s “feel” than being technically perfect right from the camera (because, you know, there’s no on-board firmware making decisions about color balance, contrast, etc).

So have fun with the below:

Where my new Crumpler bags were hellishly in need of some white balancing I went back and used the handy one-touch WB function and shot it again. Mostly to keep playing with the new gallery function Mr. Martin has implemented in the blog.

See you Thursday, folks.



Cameras See In The Dark

So, I have to admit, I’m sad the race for ISO expansion has so far only gone up. Sure, now my camera can see better in the dark than I can, but it’s only solution for the day is faster shutter speeds. Like, the best of the Olympus digital cameras (which is, of course, were my expertise lies) go up to 1/8000 second shutter, which is very groovy. Especially for stopping time. I think you can freeze a bullet at that shutter.

Where this sucks is: what if I don’t want to freeze time? What if it’s dead noon and I want to shoot a fountain and have it come out as the smooth, sensuous blurs of motion and not the dizzying, distracting matrix of time-frozen droplets?

If I had ISO 50, or ISO 25, this would be easier. Turn the gain down on the sensor and it needs to have more light hit it for a proper exposure. That also increases shutter time, which would give me flowing water. It all makes so much sense!

Until such time as I get expanded ISOs down in the double digits and not quadruple and quintuple digits, it’s a good thing people still make neutral density filters. Me, I’m looking at a good, wholesome ND8 (for a full three more stops slower on the exposure end).

Contractually, I now have to say “Olympus lens filter Indianapolis”, which is a bit awkward, but if you do happen to need a filter for an Olympus lens whilst in Indiapolis, it couldn’t be truer.



Spring Expo 2009: Crumpler

As Mr Henry across the room is enjoying his just-arrived today 6 Million Dollar Home (the Black / Gunmetal / Lime Green variant, for those of you sporting too much curiosity [and which we don't stock but will happily special order for you]), as well as a couple Headaitch totes, I figure now’s probably the right time to break out the shortest and… strangest… Expo interview we did. It’s… no, you know what? Just watch:



Spring Expo 2009: Tamron 18-270

More from the floor, this time Tamron’s rather popular 18-270mm ultra-zoom lens. Seriously, 15x zoom. Now, I’ve talked in the past about the compromises inherent in a zoom lens that goes from wide to super-tele, but this doesn’t purport to be a pro lens that delivers the absolute best image quality ever in every condition. What it does do is save you a whole lot of swapping–covering about 27-405mm equivalent, and image stabilized too–which for some shooters is worth more. I applaud its ambition, and from the charts I’ve seen it performs just as well as any lens in its quality grade. And that’s really kinda boffo.




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