Featured #24: Richard Douglas Gledhill
What did you want to become in the childhood? When I was a child I wanted to be an artist. I remember taking home stories that I had written and drawings that I had passionately done in class. I remember the feeling of peace that came over me when I would create and I don’t think that has changed to this day.
Your story with photography. I bought my first dslr camera in college and fell in love with photography ever since. Now I shoot primarily film and that started because I was always trying to get film looks with my photos and I got really close but I still was off. One day it came to me that I should just shoot film to get my pictures to look like film stocks were used. No brainer, right?!
What do you want to achieve? I don’t really know what I want to achieve to be honest. I mean, I want to be famous and known worldwide for my work but I don’t know if that is at the top of my list. I guess I want to achive the ability to empower others with my gift. I think that directly correlates with what I think the the greatest power of photography is. Photographs have this power to raise emotions out of us, perhaps emotions we have not felt in a long time. If I can consistently do that as an artist I feel that would be my greatest achievement.
Where do you think the wisdom and instinct for good photograph comes from? I feel that a photograph is a play between luck (being in the right place at the right time) and talent (knowing your camera, framing, lighting etc.) The best photographs are a dance between these attributes.
Your camera bag. At all times when I shoot I have a medium format camera and a 35mm camera. I am also carrying film, lens cleaning supplies and my trusty Lumu Light meter!
Highlight one great experience of your life. I would say one of the greatest experiences in my life was sitting down at a coffee shop and showing my work to one of my favorite photographers (Kym Ventola) and hearing the encouraging things she had to say about my work. That definitely sparked a fire in my heart to pursue photography with full force. If that didn’t happen I don’t think I would be shooting today if it wasn’t for that conversation.
Do you have any kind of obsession? My obsession with film is probably my most notable obsession in terms of photography. It’s romantic. I am smitten for film. The way it looks and the tone it has compared to digital photographs. There is just something about it that I can’t explain.
If you could give one final advice to fellow photographers, what would it be? Never stop shooting. You get better with practice and constantly being put out of your comfort zone. Reach out to all of your favorite photographers and try to snag a mentor. Having a mentor who has way more experience than you is probably one of the best things you can do for your career.
Links! My website is www.richarddouglas.co and my instagram handle is @iamricharddouglas
Peter Essick and Ansel Adams: The mountains that made a man
Today, we are proud to open the Ansel Adams contest. Meet the grand jury, National Geographic photographer Peter Essick.
His photographs move beyond mere documentation to reveal, through careful composition, both natural places and the human impact of development on the land.
Some of his favorite and most rewarding stories have been on inner Japan, the American wilderness, the carbon cycle, global...
Videomaker reviews Lumu
“We have to be fair here. A light meter that provides convenient and accurate readings for $149? We were skeptical. Another iOS app for video production? We rolled our eyes. But it worked. It worked really well.”
Check the whole review at: http://www.videomaker.com/article/17641-lumu-light-meter-review
Featured #23: Adam Eronen Piper
Short personal intro. I’m a photographic artist. I’m not sure if I fit into any box, but I know which boxes I don’t fit into. I like to find curiosities, naturally occurring still lives, and attempt to give the unremarkable a little attention. Sometimes I imagine myself as a pioneering explorer completely stuck in the dark, not knowing which direction to go, only knowing that I have to keep pushing forward somewhere new. Caveman with a camera if you will.
Your story with photography. I shot my first film on a family holiday in Wales when I was 16. My Dad bought me a camera for my birthday and I had absolutely no interest in it at the time. I enjoyed drawing and making things by hand but I didn’t see the value in capturing something outside of my imagination. I shot it anyway. Developed it at a lab when I got home and I was hooked immediately. I’d never felt like I could express my understanding of the world around me with more clarity. It was like finally cracking a good recipe for dinner and sharing it with your friends. 5 years of study and many cameras later, my life now revolves around photography.
The craziest thing you ever did? Standing in 4 foot of snow for 6 hours at -38C waiting for the Moon to set so I could take pictures of star trails that I never developed because I lost the roll of film.
What is your goal? I wanted to develop my own style from the start. I didn’t want to just photocopy my favourite images. I wanted to take all the things I loved about their images and remaster them like a crazy remix you downloaded of that indie band you used to love.
Where do you think the wisdom and instinct for good photograph comes from? Good photography comes from being able to see things everyone else forgot to see. I always take the challenge of travelling to a visually desolate area and finding the photo, because there is always hiding somewhere. Having an imagination for how things arrived to being is also a big part of it. How did that chair end up upside down with only 3 legs left? Maybe there is a photographic narrative to be created.
In your camera bag. I usually carry one camera and lens, cable release, tripod bits, film, spare battery, army knife, mini screw drivers, and, of course, Lumu. I normally only take out a fixed standard lens so that I can visualise the crop of the image as I look around for images. I shoot in bursts of a few weeks or so at a time taking maybe 10-20 rolls of film with me in my bag. Then I develop and edit them in the following weeks. I try to maintain this rotation so that undeveloped films don’t build up. But there is still time between taking the photo and editing it so I am not affected by how good I thought it might have been when I took it, and how bad it actually turned out.
Highlight one experience of your life. I find it hard to sit back and be proud of something. I just keep staring at the unfinished things, the things I couldn’t quite get right. When I’m too old or weak to drag a camera out with me, that’s when I can reflect on my life. For now, nothing is ever quite good enough for me, as my family always say.
Do you have any kind of obsession? I have an obsession with simplification. Less of everything (except food, I love food). Less cameras, less lenses, less editing, less clutter, purer mind, more room to breath and create. Yes, I am one of those people who has a place for everything, in straight lines, all perpendicular to everything else.
If you could give one advice to fellow photographers… Shoot film. It’s difficult sometimes but you learn so much. If you already shoot film, shoot colour, develop it yourself, move to a bigger format, make a darkroom and print your stuff. Whatever you do, just don’t make it easy for yourself, you will get bored.
Where can people see your work? www.adamjpiper.com
Make 2015 your best year yet
It’s gonna take a while. It’s normal to take a while. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.
Featured #22: Zack Arp
What do you wanted to become in the childhood?
I’ve always been into music and even studied classical percussion and songwriting all through college. I’ve played piano, drums, and sang since an early age and thought I would be a professional musician while growing up. It wasn’t until two years ago that I finally picked up a camera and I’ve been transitioning more and more into photography ever since.
Your personal story. I did buy a camera out of high school, but never used it until my junior year of college, when a friend asked me to take some headshots. Soon, I was taking headshots for all of my friends around school and I quickly realized how much I loved shooting portraits. Someone recommended to try shooting weddings, and I was able to build a wedding photography business during my last year of college, which is now what I do full time.
What’s been your greatest accomplishment as a photographer so far? About three months ago I started shooting film after being inspired by the work of Jose Villa, and I immediately fell in love with it. The aesthetic, the involvement, the cost, and the anticipation all play a large role in why I choose to shoot film for all of my work, now both wedding and commercial. I’d say shooting film has been my greatest achievement so far, as it’s allowed me to better hone my craft in general, as well as to produce fine art imagery that I can now base my career off of.
If you could give one piece of advice to fellow photographers, what would it be? Don’t worry about the details, worry about how much you love photography. If you really love taking pictures, then go out and shoot. Everything else will come with time, so don’t stress about what camera to get or how much better that other guy is than you.
What do you carry around in your camera bag? I travel quite a bit, so my bag is always changing, but the constants are always my Lumu, my Contax 645 and as much film as possible. I love shooting Fuji 400H (if there’s enough light) as well as Portra 800. I also have two Canon 5D mark iii’s and the 35 1.4L, 50 1.2L, 85 1.2L, 100 2.8L, and the 135 2.0L.
Shooting with the same camera (my Contax) and the same film stocks allows me to create a similar aesthetic whether I’m shooting a wedding in St. Lucia during July or doing commercial work in Berlin in winter.
A year behind us
A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.
This is one of the very first photographs, created with the Lumu light meter prototype, almost two years ago:
Our mission was to help you express yourself. To give you a companion and find your own creative light.
In July 2013, we Kickstarted our idea. More than 2400 people joined our journey, helping us to reach 1200% of the original goal.
...Swap your camera
Lumu being a part of the DigitalRev #DRTVCameraSwap project.
Take a look at the video and whole project:
The final results:
Featured #21: Riley Joseph
Personal intro. My name is Riley and I am a photographer & a gentleman. I live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with my wife and cockapoo puppy. Living in a bustling city within expansive prairies with the mighty Rocky Mountains within an hour drive is awesome but I have taken that for granted for far too long.
I love exploring. Whether it is in the city, the country, the mountains or in a building I...
Featured #20: Jason Brewer
Personal intro. I’m a 40 year old husband and father of a 17 month old Son. I work fulltime as Software Developer/Systems Analyst in the suburbs of Milwaukee, WI and when I have free time I split it between learning about Photography and doing it. I’m also a student with NYIP (New York Institute of Photography).
What did you want to become in the childhood? Too many things to be honest. Photographer was in there as I always liked to take pictures. Once I grew up though I ended up doing many different things from factory work as a welder, grocery bagger, fast food, Emergency Medical Technician, Soldier in the Army, and my current job as a Software Developer/Systems Analyst. However through all of that I always had a camera and always took pictures but it wasn’t until recently that I started to take photography more seriously to improve my skill in it.
Your personal story with photography. I’ve always like documenting life with pictures. Especially the mundane everyday things in life that others may take for granted. Over the years I never followed or been inspired by anyone else. It wasn’t until recently that I’ve started to follow other photographers to be inspired by their work or even personality.
I shoot both Digital and Film. I do not prefer one over the other as they both have their positives and negatives. I like the honesty of film to teach and remind me that I am on a journey and not to rush when capturing an image. I like the ease of digital for when I am asked to take pictures for someone to see the results right away and make corrections as my skill and confidence improves.
Honestly I do not feel that I’m a creative photographer. I just try to focus on what has always been there in front of everyone and capture it so it can be remembered in a meaningful way. If I look at something and it stands out to me I try to capture it in the way I see it.
What’s been your greatest accomplishment as a photographer so far? Honestly, it is having the folks at Lumu notice my images and ask me to do this interview.
The favorite photograph you took? That is a hard one to answer.
I think one would be the image of my Son sitting with my Grandmother that raised me in the summers. He is only 8 months in it but she is 92. Ii is a favorite because it is an image of two people that are very special to me.
The other is an image from a local county fair where two women are talking in front of a food vendor with all this bold bright signage stating the food he has for sale. I like it because it is an image of everyday life where I’m from in the summer with all the county fairs that take place around my home.
What do you want to achieve? I would like to just capture things to have them remembered. It’s great to have my work noticed but that is not the end goal for me. It would be nice to make photography a full time profession but we will see what the future holds.
What do you think is the greatest power of photography? To inspire people and move them into action.
What’s in your camera bag? And how it affects your process? I switch off between my Film Camera (Canon AE- 1 with kit 50mm lens) and Digital Camera (Canon 60D with 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm Primes). It’s hard to carry much gear with a 17 month old and all the things you need for him. I tend to shoot with one lens most of the time due to this as well. This being the 35mm on my 60D and the 50m on the AE-1.
Featured #19: Rachid de Wind
Personal Intro Hi my name is Rachid de Wind, born and raised on Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles. For the past 4 years I’ve been living in the Netherlands. I’m a 28 year old portrait and fine-art portrait photographer and I shoot film.
Story As a child I never really thought much about photography. We never really owned a camera back then if I can remember correctly, we used to buy disposable...