BDSM PHOTOGRAPHY - Part 1
I guess I'm not showing a lot of photos here. Thanks to our right-wing fear mongers I have taken down the galleries of my work on the website (just do a google search for "2257" and you'll see why -- even though I am not a pornographer this ridiculous legislation views me as one). But I have a passion for taking pictures - especially pictures of men in bondage. My specialty is capturing images "in the moment" especially pics that are not prepared or staged.
Many people ask me how I do it. Most think it is a fantastic camera that creates good pictures. That notion is crap. A good photographer learns his tools (his cameras) and uses whatever features, and especially limitations, to his advantage.
My medium is digital. I have given up film because I live for instant gratification. I want to see that low resolution image in the LCD to confirm that I was in the ballpark. I want control. I not into the argument of film vs. digital -- I was (I guess still am) a very good photographer in 35MM -- but I would rather have a fight with my inkjet printer than face-to-face with a lab technician as to why "taupe has a green tinge"!
So here's part one (hopefully of many)
1. PHOTOGRAPHS VS. SNAPSHOTS
I take photographs. It may involve whipping out a camera but that shutter button does not get pressed for no reason. It may happen in a fraction of a second but each picture is composed and the subject framed not by moving the subject, but by moving the camera and waiting for the moment.
A well composed image is DYNAMIC. It draws your eyes to the subject matter. It has a character (like soft, vivid, brash, dark, etc.). It is something to be studied, something to dig into, and something to love or hate - but a reaction in a viewer is key.
A snapshot, to me, is what my mother did so very well (and truly lovingly) by arranging all the kids around the birthday cake and announcing "Say cheese!" It's what most of the Japanese tourists do when at museums or monuments. Snapshots have their place -- but, in my opinion, don't work in a dungeon! The days of the Kodak Instamatic were awesome - no focusing, no threading, and instant response to the shutter.
A photograph, on the other hand, is what a photojournalist takes. I know this will fly in the face of many art critics and photo-historians, but a photograph should not take the place of a still-life painting. Paintings are staged. A photographer knows his camera like he knows his own dick! He understands exposure, ISO speed, shutter lag, focus lag, depth-of-field, and all these technical things -- but they become automatic and intuitive and don't get in the way. Fiddling with settings probably means losing your shot. The time is spent finding the moment .
Admittedly, I take snapshots, too :-)
Many people ask me how I do it. Most think it is a fantastic camera that creates good pictures. That notion is crap. A good photographer learns his tools (his cameras) and uses whatever features, and especially limitations, to his advantage.
My medium is digital. I have given up film because I live for instant gratification. I want to see that low resolution image in the LCD to confirm that I was in the ballpark. I want control. I not into the argument of film vs. digital -- I was (I guess still am) a very good photographer in 35MM -- but I would rather have a fight with my inkjet printer than face-to-face with a lab technician as to why "taupe has a green tinge"!
So here's part one (hopefully of many)
1. PHOTOGRAPHS VS. SNAPSHOTS
I take photographs. It may involve whipping out a camera but that shutter button does not get pressed for no reason. It may happen in a fraction of a second but each picture is composed and the subject framed not by moving the subject, but by moving the camera and waiting for the moment.
A well composed image is DYNAMIC. It draws your eyes to the subject matter. It has a character (like soft, vivid, brash, dark, etc.). It is something to be studied, something to dig into, and something to love or hate - but a reaction in a viewer is key.
A snapshot, to me, is what my mother did so very well (and truly lovingly) by arranging all the kids around the birthday cake and announcing "Say cheese!" It's what most of the Japanese tourists do when at museums or monuments. Snapshots have their place -- but, in my opinion, don't work in a dungeon! The days of the Kodak Instamatic were awesome - no focusing, no threading, and instant response to the shutter.
A photograph, on the other hand, is what a photojournalist takes. I know this will fly in the face of many art critics and photo-historians, but a photograph should not take the place of a still-life painting. Paintings are staged. A photographer knows his camera like he knows his own dick! He understands exposure, ISO speed, shutter lag, focus lag, depth-of-field, and all these technical things -- but they become automatic and intuitive and don't get in the way. Fiddling with settings probably means losing your shot. The time is spent finding the moment .
Admittedly, I take snapshots, too :-)
posted by Lthrbound at 12:20 AM
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