Emerald Bay Photography News and Updates

Great article in the New York Times today. Renowned photojournalist David Burnett explains why he prefers lugging around a 55-year-old 4-by-5-inch Graflex Speed Graphic camera to his Canon 20D digital SLR.

On the screen was a wide overhead picture of a John Kerry rally last fall in Madison, Wis., which Mr. Burnett shot with a Canon 20D digital camera, the same camera used by thousands of other professionals around the world. Not surprisingly, the picture looks like thousands of others that were shipped around the globe during the campaign.

The colors are bright. Every part of the image is crisp, so crisp that just picking the minuscule figure of Mr. Kerry out of the huge crowd takes a "Where's Waldo?" moment.

And then Mr. Burnett flipped to a photograph taken seconds later with the ancient Speed Graphic. Suddenly, the image took on a luminescent depth. The center of the image, with Mr. Kerry, was clear. Yet soon the crowd along the edges began to float into softer focus on translucent planes of color.

The effect is to direct the viewer's eye to Mr. Kerry while also conveying the scale and intensity of the crowd. In accomplishing both at the same time, the old-fashioned photograph communicates a rich sense of meaning that the digital file does not.

The digital picture pretends to display raw reality. The analog picture is a visualization of human memory.

Alert photographers might also remember the image David Burnett took of Al Gore on the campaign-trail that won him a "Eyes of History" award. It was taken with a $15 plastic Holga camera.

Labels: photography, photography gear

Photographers who have been in the business for many more moons than me will placidly smile at me for this post, for they know the feeling (and they're sooo over it) - making that very first cover.

But - it's still exciting for me. Especially if the cover is for a classy publication like Bend Living - or more precisely, the "High Desert Home" section of the June 2005 edition of Bend Living.



Shooting the house of painter Rika Peterson has been a real pleasure in more than one way - after the exhaustive selection of log and arts-and-crafts homes I've shot over the past years, Rika's clean white walls (adorned with those fabulous paintings), the straight lines, and modern furniture was like a much-needed rejuvination for my own artistic eye.

Above all though it was a challenge. Shooting a home that gets away with very little detail decoration - all the while wrestling two young, energetic Great Danes roughly the size of your average circus pony into sitting still on a sofa - was a lot harder than it sounded at first. Getting those colors (and especially the white of the walls) just right, was a whole other can of worms.

But even without the reward of the cover, the experience itself was well worth it.
For I got to work with a fantastic photo editor who chose all my favorite images (thanks, Tiffany!), I gained a new friend in Rika - *and* the hearts of Mick Jagger and Andy Warhol, the two very large, very slobbery dogs Rika calls her own.

Labels: architectural photographer Bend Oregon, photography

Another image from my Vienna file - Hofreitschule (Royal Riding School):



The interesting thing about this image is not necessarily the fact that these stunning and famous Lippizaner Stallions are being worked in what must be the world's most lavish riding hall - but how difficult it was to actually *obtain* the image.

Because you see - the facility has a strict no-photo policy. And by "strict" those Austrians really mean *strict* (the word "Nazi" creeps to mind, but I won't go there...). During the entire workout presentation, they had guards with sinister faces circulating among the crowd, yelling at you if they even sensed you were thinking about using that camera that hung around your neck. They even threatened to kick you out of the building altogether if they caught you in the act.

They claimed that the flashes of (those mostly all-automatic consumer) cameras made the horses nervous and irritable - and while I actually don't dispute that, they could have just had a no-flash policy instead of a no-photo policy. (The fact that the adjoining gift store was loaded with pretty postcards and picture books of the building and the horses probably had absolutely nothing to do with their policy either ...). After all, my 10D took a perfectly good image without flash and an almost silent shutter...

Astonishingly (and this explains the very presence of the guards), at almost any given moment during the entire 2-hour presentation, you could hear the faint clicks of shutters - mixed in with the blasting tune of Mozart's music - and see the flashes. At this point, I have to sheepishly admit to ganging up with my travel companions in keeping one eye on the guards, while we took turns sneaking our cameras out of the bag, taking a shot, and then instantly dropping it back into the bag or under the shirt.

Why? Because you see - we humans are weak. The breathtaking beauty of the hall, combined with those stunning horses doing flabbergasting things we never thought a horse could do (except in Disney movies), is simply too much for the mere mortal tourist with his camera - it simply has to be recorded. For all eternity. And of course for your friends at home to see. We are even willing to take the risk of a confrontation with one of the meanest guards anywhere just to satisfy one of our most basic urges: the irresistible need to click away.

Labels: oregon stock photography, photography, travel, travel photographer

Yes, I suffer the fate of every freelance photographer - trying to balance work life (shooting assignments, stock, and charity gigs) with the fun life (stuff I really want to shoot, but never have the time to).

For almost 9 months now, a file has been simmering away on my hard drive. It's been whispering to me "Open me! Work on me!", but I've been ignoring it, opting to focus on the work life. Lately however, that file's call has been getting louder, and I've decided to harness a few minutes every day to work on and post its pictures.

They are from my trip to Europe last September. The old world is so rich on eyecandy, so overwhelming - that you come back, your visual cortex brimming and singing with imagery. It takes a while to digest them, and the same went for that file. But I think I'm ready now.

So here's the first of what I hope will be a daily installment of fresh images from that file:



Prater, Vienna - Funride, blurred. Handshot @ F 6.7, 1/4 sec.

Vienna is famous for many things. But one of the only ones you should go to at night is the Prater - that's when the one of the oldest amusement parks in the world really comes alive. With almost 150 rides and a huge Ferris Wheel, it's an exhilirating experience, both visual and tactile.

Labels: oregon stock photography, photography, travel, travel photographer

Just happened upon this random image today and thought I'd post it:


Statue of a couple embracing, Schoenbrunn Castle, Vienna, Austria

Notably in this image is how damaging the environmental effects of chafing rain, triggered by the immense industrial and vehicle exhaust in Europe, are to the ancient and delicate outdoor artwork sprinkled all over the Old World.

This marble statue must have been gleaming white only half a century ago. Now, the black streaks tell of poisened rain and upclose, one can see the brittle surface slowly eroding away.

What a shame.

Labels: oregon stock photography, photography, travel, travel photographer

Today, I'd like to address an issue that a lot of freelance photographers face: The task of buying individual health insurance.

Like so many of my peers, I want health insurance, but cannot afford the premiums even my husbands employer wants from me (something like 250 bucks a month). So I've been on the lookout for good, affordable health insurance by a reputable company for a while now.

A few months back, a fellow freelancer warmly recommended Pacific Source, an Oregon-based company with terrific rates and a very high consumer satisfaction rating. I instantly downloaded their lenghty application, filled it out and sent it in. 3 weeks later, I get a letter of rejection.

Now, I'm one of those blessedly healthy individual who doesn't see the point of going to the doc unless something seriously traumatic happens (like I'm suddendly missing a limb, or the like - for which I *do* would like to be insured though). But apparently the fact that I was honest and told Pacific about a rotator cuff injury I sustained (and healed out) last winter while shoveling snow, was enough for them to turn me down. I was bummed.

Suddenly though, my mailbox filled with ads for health insurance for the self-employed. I didn't bother to take a closer look, until today, when a lady named Sally Hite called me and wanted to set up a meeting to "customize a quote" for me. I indulged her for a bit, telling her about my Pacific Source experience (she didn't seem to concerned with my rotator cuff problem), trying to glean as much info as possible from her through her hard sales pitch about the company she represented . She told me she worked with/for Mega Life & Health Insurance, but upon requesting she'd send me some information about the company prior to the meeting, she told me she'd rather not send anything because "most consumers don't understand the information anyway, and I'd rather not get you confused". Aha. I'm an idiot. News to me. But hey. She fussed even when I asked for a website URL.

So while still on the phone, I pulled up the company's website - where I found no information of any use, except the impression that for a national insurance company, they sure didn't splurge on web design costs. I finally hung up, and smelling the rotting fish from a mile away, went looking online for more information on the company.

Of course what I found was less than encouraging:
The Texas Dept. of Insurance had a lengthy profile of the company, complete with a history of fines Mega had incurred in the past years for "market conduct".
Selfemployedweb.com had an interesting article on deceptive practices some health insurance companies employed to get people to sign up - with Mega Life and its parent company, UICI, highlighted as an example for just such practices.

And then there was this interesting note in the article, saying how insurance companies employed associations and other similar groups to help them sell insurance. That's when I remembered that Sally had mentioned that I would need to sign up with the NASE (National Association for the Self-Employed) to be eligible for her insurance. And looky here - the NASE wants $96 just for their basic membership, with "benefits" that seem only a thinly-veiled list of companies that just love to market to the self-employed.

Add to that this fascinating thread in the Google Answers forum - and I swiftly cancelled my appointment with Sally. This little gem from a PR Newswire report in particular did it for me: Since late 2002, UICI has been beset by lawsuits alleging the company sold insurance policies through business associations without properly revealing close links to those organizations. The associations, including the National Association for the Self-Employed and the Alliance for Affordable Services, were managed by executives with direct ties to UICI.

So the moral of this rather lengthy post? Fellow freelancers out there beware - there are insurance companies on the loose with less than stellar morals, trying to take advantage of you. If you can, instead sign up with the AMSP, and get insurance through them. Of course the hang-up here is that their conditions specify you to need "three or more consecutive years of substantial publication experience" and you need two ASMP members to sponsor your application...

I'm not quite there yet, so I'm still looking for insurance. If any alert readers come up with any bright ideas, email me or post in the comments.

Labels: photographer advocacy, photography