" From Their View "...Nikolay Semyonov

From South Russia, Nikolay Semyonov emerges on the art scene after a career as a teacher. His love of art lead him into photography. With a knowledge in Photoshop, he leans more towards Corel in his current work.

 

1) rr snow: RAILROAD SNOW. shot a few years ago when the first snow of the year started falling. the idea was to snow the mood of the moment;

2)1040477: SCHOOL HOLIDAYS. corel painter brushes (pallet knives, sargent brush, layering etc) on a photo of the local school on an early winter morning. gradation from warm to cold colors and the play of light were the two most luring things here;

3) 1060500: TIMUR. My  elder grandson
looking for how to get behind the door of a building in the neighboring public park. He has a syndrome and, when shooting him, I often stop to think if he'll ever be able to find a way for him in life. Processed in corel painter (surface texture adjustment, noise etc).


In fact, I use a lot of tools and a few processing techniques, depending on the image. I started with photoshop way back to the late 90s' but very soon corel painter became my Nomer Odin (#1 in Russian) software.

I've been a member of a few domestic and international sites, e.g. Redbubble (about 1,000 works), where you can find my portfolio at :

http://www.redbubble.com/people/snik?ref=account-nav-dropdown

"From Their View"...Bernard Kessler...

The two photographs, Silent Space #3 
and #5 are in my book published by Blurb, SILENT SPACES, devoted to the exploration on the extraordinary in the ordinary.


 Simple photographs of things in otherwise empty space.  They are stark. without visible flamboyance, but filled with a sense of transcendental meaning that takes us beyond the visual surface.


 It is my experience that each and every thing we can see can be communicated with beyond the surface.  It is as though we are at the edge of a pond.  When we move from the edge’s surface into the depths our understanding of the pond increases.  The pond becomes more complete, more interesting, communicating its essence.

My experience over the 75 years I have been photographing is that the essence of the subject is not merely what I am seeing, but instead communicates from a different dimension,
a welcome, mysterious comfort.

A columnist reviewing SILENT SPACES suggested the content as an example of the art philosopher, Arthur Dante of Columbia University book, THE TRANSFIGURATION OF THE COMMONPLACE.  Not an easy read as I searched for an explanation. It is a scholarly document exploring, analyzing, diagnosing the process but no "how tos." 
I have  been introduced to many possible explanations.  It has been an interesting exploration ranging from the spiritual beliefs of Native American Indians to Quantum Mechanics, via Werner Heisenbergs’s  UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE.

Evidence of what happens is clearer than how.
So be it.
more of Bernard's work ...http://www.flickr.com/photos/zennature ... 

" From Their View ".. .Renata Ratajczyk

  views of women from our group at Fine Art Photographers: 

 ____________________________
Renata Ratajczyk: finds her inspiration from Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen"

 excerpt from her blog

"...Think about how beautiful the world often looks in winter.  The fresh white snow makes it also looking more peaceful, ethereal and encourages people to rest and reflect.  This time of the year can also be very good time to create new things and to dream about the future.  Winter is also sometimes playful and creates conditions favorable for many activities not possible to do during warmer months when the snow is absent.  That’s why particularity many children and sports enthusiast love it.  Because of winter’s playful nature, I have chosen to depict my Winter Queen as more joyful personality. "

more of her work

From Their View : Corrado D'Angelo...

This week, Corrado D'Angelo shares his work and his own words.

" Two images from a larger portfolio (8 images) dedicated to a particular shop in my town, Turin, north of Italy. Its name was "Inferno" (Hell) and they sold strange garments for "strange" people (punk, dark, and so on). Really far from my gendre, but one rainy day I was strolling under the arcades of the town center with my camera and saw the girl arranging the shop's window with the heart.

I lifted my camera and shot: a short smile between us and I left. Few days ago I returned with the print of the photo and gave it to her. Well, so I started to work on the shop, on the girl and their clients, so different from me. I came back 5 or 6 times and found that "different" does not necessarily means even "dangerous".
My aim in photography is to tell stories and emotions, through images that are both pleasant for the eyes and moving for the hearth.
All images are hand printed by me, with a light final selenium tone: shot by Nikon F70, TMax 400 roll. "

More on me (and the whole portfolio) at: www.corradodangelo.com.

"From Their View"...Paul King

From his profile Paul King states, he is a student of Fine Art Grimsby Institute whose studio practice work is Photography. " Such is the power of education, doors open and close until you find the path to what really interests you. In my case it was returning to something I have been involved in for many years."

 " These images are part of a wider body of work for use as part of my Fine Art Practice degree coursework.  I would like my audience to consider more deeply the environment in which they find themselves, recognizing the beauty of small (relative to the overall size) details.  I am drawn to structure and form, repeating patterns and interplays between juxtaposed elements.


  All my images are digital and are shot using RAW format files.  I used to use Photoshop for post-production editing, but now virtually all images are processed exclusively in Lightroom 5.  From this peer review process I would like to get a cross-section of comments in which people, in their opinion, can tell me what works, what does not work, and why.  I am less interested in reviewers using other photographers work, as a comparison tool, because then they do not describe their own feelings towards my work."

Welcoming comments....

John Minnicks : The Liberator Camera

In this electronic gizmo, " fits in your pocket " era, John Minnicks reaches into the past to revamp a classic film camera into an art piece that is getting quite a following.

What he wanted was a hand-held 4X5 camera, with some style, with a look…

So he started with the Graflex cameras. The only problem was they wouldn’t accept the 7” F:2.5 lens. The lens with the 3-D look, (the fastest 4X5) that could focus from 3’ to infinity…  {The AERO-EKTAR lenses were used for aerial reconnaissance spy photography in World War II!}

Minnicks modified them to accept the lens by machining the camera. He makes custom-designed bellows, a new mirror-bright screen and a Graflock back, which will accept any 4X5 Polaroid back and roll film backs. 

The lens board has a Tilt & Swing enabling
selective focus. The live image is 4X5 landscape, the short back focus of the lens and the precision size of the body to achieve infinity. Shutter speeds generally range from 1/500-1/30 sec.+ time exp.

Each camera body is unique and special, a bit different because each part is individually designed to suit the camera.



That amazing look is matched with the images achieved with the camera: a hand-held 4X5 with full control of the image.

image by ...©Bernard Testemale

John enjoys working with each client to design his or her personal and unique camera.

( on the right Dave Burnett )

image...©Bernard Testemale

Each one uses different materials and finishes: leathers, exotic leathers, metal finishes, choices of bellows and hood materials…


Prices depend on materials used: lenses, body and parts/materials.
 A basic black leather runs about $3600.00, the Woodies run $6,000.  Due to the amount of custom work and attention to detail and specially machined parts, he can only build a few a year. ( woodies )  -  (Weather conditions affect finishes as well.)




For more information, contact us at:   johnminnicks@gmail.com   203-247-3833

"From Their View " Mark Kulaga...Sergio Duarte

Mark Kulaga:

Scissor Wings was created from a pair of scissors I have had for over 30 years, and inspired by a friend whom told me once to run with scissors so I did, and then I gave them wings.   The technique used I call photosculpture, and each of my pieces can and will one day be fabricated.  At this point they are only available on canvas with Giclée process.  

The next piece is "Stairs" and was an image taken by one of my doctor's offices when I was quite sick.
For more on my work, please visit:
http://koogz.net
http://facebook.com/artofkoogz
http://koogz.see.me

____________________________________________________________________________________

Sergio Duarte:

The first photo ( 20120527-Guimaraes-07p&bq72dpix600.jpg ), was taken in a Art center in Guimarães city in the north of Portugal.The light caught my attention due to the light foggy day, and the lines textures were have given me a special atmosphere that I tried to capture.

The second ( 20130406-Elementos-01a72dpix600.jpg ), belongs to the same series I'm working on - series that I called "Elements" - which concerns architectural or engineering details. These one was taken in the access stairs of a public swimming. The detail that caught my attention was the small plant that was becoming to grow in the middle of those big concrete stairs and his resilience.
 
http://www.sduarte.net/

http://sergioduarte.photoshelter.com/gallery/Elementos-Arquitetura-e-Engenharia/G0000yXorHX0GvBg/C0000kybB0Jn5SfU
 

From Their View...Peter Treiber,,"Ethereal Luminescence"

My primary goal as a photographer is to make beautiful images, but to make that beauty both dynamic and fascinating. The union between the motion we live in and still photography which captures that motion seems to be the place where this “dynamic beauty” fuses. This series, “Ethereal Luminescence”, is a study of color abstraction, light and motion in the popular and active places where we find pleasure and exhilaration.


Technical notes: All of these photographs were made with a high resolution digital camera as single exposures with a technique, created by me, which I call camera painting. Only very minimum color corrections and cropping were made during post production. More of this work here and here.

Peter Treiber Photography
ph: 610.867.3303 fx: 610.867.6607
Email:  peter@ptphoto.com
Web Site         cell: 610.554.0337
Publisher of the book Inside Bethlehem Steel
Member: ASMP  American Society of Media Photographers
Art Center Portfolio     Behance Portfolio    AdWeek Portfolio
Print sales:GlowArtworks       OCDesignerSource

From Their View "Dream Walking".....David Aschkenas

 

" A couple of years ago there seemed to be an ongoing debate about what "look" only film could produce, as opposed to anything digital.  I decided to rework a group of photos from the last 30 years, done in virtually every format from 4 x 5 view camera color and b & w film, 2, 1/4 film, 35mm neg and chrome film, polaroid SX 70 film
and finally digital imagery, to give them and interesting cohesive look that you could not tell what image was made with what film or technique.  Of course all of this was done digitally.

I don't anyone could determine what the original was made from in terms of format or material."

Link to other DREAM WALKING photos here



Link to web site here

http://www.daschkenasphoto.com

" From Their View " 3...Paolo Nigris, Robertas Kanys

Paolo Nigris:

I am doing photography for more then 30 years after being lucky enough to spend time with Ansel Adams and the "Friends of Photography" group long time ago in Carmel, CA.

My main job, is designing software for hospitals, but all my free time, and more..., goes to photography.

I am the process of publishing a book on the water towers in New York City.
 (http://paolonigris.com/blog/)

The two images submitted are one from Zurich and the Limmat River (Switzerland)  - Nikon D600, 

 

This one taken at the New Delhi Train Station (India) - Nikon D90.

 For more on my work:


www.paolonigris.com

http://paolonigris.500px.com/#/0




Robertas Kanys:

These are B&W reminiscence, copies of hand made prints by scanned its.
 I took that  photo in 1985 -1987, cameras: Pentacon six TL(6X6), FED-3 (35mm)
           

" Mr. Nobody "













                                                                                                                                     "The Dustbin"

 " The Universe and Dustbin "

 I like to work with one or several photos...

" From Their View " 2...George L.Smyth, Peter Gorwin, Jim Barnard

The second in our series open for discussion:

George L. Smyth:

At one time Braddock was a city of over 20,000 people, but the collapse of the steel industry and infusion of crack cocaine reduced it to a little over 2,000 inhabitants. However, this is not a place that has given up. A strong mayor and the determination of the people are starting to pay off, though there is a very long road ahead.

The Braddock Project - Part 1 is the beginning of a project where I will visit the city twice a year over the next decade to document the resurgence. This is a baseline that will tell us where it has been. Indeed, a number of these places no longer exist, as the city works its way back.

These images are scans of prints created through the Bromoil process, a labor intensive, time consuming procedure where the silver is removed from a traditionally created darkroom print and replaced with lithographic ink by striking its surface with a stiff, ink charged brush. It adds an ethereal atmosphere to the scene, allowing the viewer to enter and understand the image on their own.

For more images from this project visit www.GeorgeSmyth.com
HandMade Photographic Images: GLSmyth.com
The Dividend Reinvestment Resource Center: DRiPInvesting.org
Blog: GLSmyth.wordpress.comct please visit GeorgeSmyth.com

 Peter Gorwin:

 

a) The Birdbath in My Garden:
Photographed with a medium format 4x5, wide angle pinhole camera.
I took it using b&w film. I've printed it using a hybrid process, a Pictorico OHP
transparency generated from an Epson 2200 internegative, and then a Van Dyke.
The negative has also been scanned, and digitally printed using fine art paper.
It was captured several years ago while my wife and I lived in Southern California.
No need to explain anything about it further.

b) Cat and Her Shadow, Istanbul, Turkey 2007:
Captured with a Nikon D2X while on a trip to Istanbul in 2007 using a good
14 mm Nikkor 2.8 lens. The lens accentuated the the s-curve of the feral cat and her discovered shadow
while she was cradled in the the arc of the cobblestones. (I assume it was a "she," but I have
no way of knowing.)

It was shot in RAW color and brought to b&w through manipulation of the channels.
I then digitally sepia toned it. As usual for me, it would be printed on flat, natural rag.

I sometimes photograph animals when they reveal a certain intelligence, a certain awareness in the moment that I'm fortunate enough to capture.  Animals, however, are not a subject that I gravitate to often, just when I see what I just described. I'm very interested in saying things simply with my photos, but I hope what I aim to say with an image isn't that simple.
www.petergorwin.com

Jim Barnard:

The work and pleasure of my photography is discovering some particular beauty of a person, place or object, and then showing that beauty in play with the wondrous and sensual qualities of light.

In these portraits I used only natural light (and a white card) to illuminate the natural beauty of my subjects.

To see more of my work,  http://www.JimBarnardPhotography.com

" From Their View " 1, John Voss,Walt Stricklin,H.William Lewis

This is the first of this series open for discussion via the comments below.

Fine Art Photographers introduces 

John Voss:

The lone tree by the lake is a subject I've returned to in different seasons and times of day.  This was taken at sunrise.  The rood in the field with sunlight was pure serendipity.  I had also photographed the cross before, but without much drama or interest.  As I passed this field one morning, though, the fog, the sun, and the cross composed themselves for me, and I merely had to press the shutter!  For more of my work, you may visit www.johnvossphotography.blogspot.com. 

It's not a website with selected images, but rather an ongoing presentation of images more or less when I make them.  

Thank you for looking. 

Walt Stricklin:

Country Churches, is autobiographical project and  exploring rural churches was ingrained in me from growing up the son of a country preacher. Never seeing eye-to-eye with my father’s orthodoxy, I did discover in the quiet simplicity of these churches a truer meaning of faith.

Rambling through the back roads of the rural south brought up feelings I had not expected. There is something special about these church buildings—they have a sense of community and comfort in their architectures that grounds the soul in the common sense that went into their construction.

I try to capture the universal “Us” in everyday situations, connecting the viewer to our shared experiences. I believe our environment shapes us as much as we shape our surroundings and I want my images to celebrate the common characteristics of places and people and how they all fit together.”

http://www.waltstricklin.com

H.William Lewis:

Almost every morning and evening I take our dogs out for their walks. It had been raining in the night and I was looking for something to photograph that would show the after effects of the rain. I was struck by this leaf and the way the water droplets were arranged large and small. I converted the color raw image to black and white. 

Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ35 in raw + jpg using the following setting: F/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO 100, Exposure Comp -.7, 27mm focal length,
The raw image was processed in Photoshop CS6 and converted to black and with with either Topaz Black & White or Nik Silver Effects 1.0.
 

http://www.naturephotographybyhwilliam.com

http://www.hwilliam.wordpress.com

" On View " Images and Comments

" On View "

By submitting images to the fine-art-photographers.blogspot.com you agree and understand the following:

Send material to my email address matthew@matthewpace.com.
**Please do not direct me to your site where I can find your work.** 

By submitting material to this blog, you grant permission to post  your material and warrant that you are the sole owner of its copyright  

HOW:
1-2 images jpg. 72ppi no more than 600 pixels on the long side with your metadata embedded, a with a brief paragraph on either technique, what it's about, reason, your feelings on it etc. You may place a watermark © notice on your image or printed under it .
Either head or close your post withYour name and your URL as a link (if you wish) or a for more on my work www.ghjgjhgj….

1) Have patience, LinkedIn only allows me to email this group once a week to make a new announcement to all the membership. I will try to post 2-3 photographers a week, over a weekend in the order they come to me. Yours may be # 75…. don't get upset if it takes a while to see your work.

2) This isn't a contest. We all come from different walks in photography sharing the same interest and love.  


CAUTION :
NUDES…..I am no prude but the blog is open for the public to view and it does have a certain criteria. We can argue all about the morals, religion, justice, what the Pope and aunt Hida thinks in the Group but the blog is different and not the right place for me to challenge rules. Let' s not start a march on the establishment. There are fine art nudes,studies and then naked pictures. You can make your artist statement or info with a link to where they are ON YOUR SITE… fair enough for this subject only.

AWARNESS:

Any image on any site can be copied, but at a low res how far can you go with it? If you're that concerned, keep them home. Neither I nor Blogspot will be held liable for some nerd who wants to make a screen saver, or show it in his book report . If you have a unique way of protection let us all know, please.


COMMENTS:
Know and accept that comments good and bad can be made by others, maybe even by outside persons who read this blog. This blog is public, the Group is not.
Let's discuss the work but not go for a dissertation. Try to keep comments brief and to the point. A few words or sentences can do it best.  You can add more thought in another comment.

Please spare us all from a simple "Like"  as a comment. That serves nothing. Mom "likes " what I do… so what…Tell us why you like it or not, how you see it, how you relate to it, how you feel about it . Point out something that might open our eyes and bring an image to another level might not be standing on. Make good constructive comments.

Making a good comment is not as easy as you think , be understanding of those who try, realize photographers are better visuals than wordsmiths. We're interested in what you say, just be considerate on how you say it.

If you don't expect comments, don't send material. Refer to the person in your comment and his image.There may be more than one photographer in a post. Questions may be asked about the work or technique, however some techniques may not necessarily be divulged, the photographer's call . Stay on topic. Talk about their work not yours. Any critique should be solely on the work not the person.

Don't defend your work by answering a comment you don't agree with… "..I couldn't stand in a better place…it was raining that day…I didn't have enough time, my wife wanting to go shopping.." Better to say, " I chose to make it dark for a more somber feeling" not  "Push the brightness button on your monitor dummy.."

Being passionate is fine but keep it civil and professional . There's a difference between " Joe I think your shadows are murky, punch up the black " and Joe that looks like crap, my grandmother shoots better than that "  Remember your comment is solely your opinion even if it's based on all the diplomas, ribbons and awards you received. Critics were wrong about VanGogh and so were the buyers.

Do not send any commercial ventures, offers, sales, recruitment, subscriptions etc. of any kind, no  take my course, join my expedition or Buy My Prints crap. You can post that in the group under Promotions.

One last thing… let's not argue, let's share, learn, enjoy each other's company and move forward.

good shooting
matthew pace

When Nudes aren't Naked

What does a photographer do when he takes some time off ? This one goes to view other photography and with a title like " Naked Before the Lens" I couldn't resist. Showing at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, this exhibit draws a timeline in the progression of nude photography from the 1800s to the 1900s. 

Leaning more on works done from its beginnings rather than today's, one can see the struggle an artist had with censorship and what the public was willing to openly accept. With nude subjects paintings were just paintings an art representation, but photography was real life with real people, engaging the viewer as a witness to a graphic world that existed rather than a painted one. Maybe it was this reality that made it disturbing enough in the era to make models hide their faces in one form or another and photographers to title early works as " an artist study" rather than feature them as art nude for own sake. The photographs from that time period mimic classic paintings and sculptures rather than today's images that stand alone as fine art nudes. Finding a ulterior reason for their existence they were shown as anatomy or figure studies etc. that equate to not too long ago when some men said.." I buy this for the articles"  when that brown paper wrapped magazine shows up in the mailbox.



This very early 1860 photograph by Nadar was taken to help the painter Jean-Leon Derome depict his painting of Phryne before the Areopagus.




Eugene Durieu made this as part of many studies for Eugene Delacroix's paintings








Rather than for a painting, this one,by Oscar Gustav Rejlander, is influenced and taken from paintings by Raphael,Titian,Rubens and others.



As the show progresses, we start to see nude photography evolve. No longer done for other artists, faces revealed, among other things, engagement with the subject becomes more direct. 

Brassai's "Introductions  at Suzy's"… is a favorite of mine, a glimpse to a place where fantasies take place including being there for those who wondered what was inside. While this is nude, it borderlines naked, a raw, candid with that "you shouldn't be there feel" yet you have to keep staring. It moves me differently than the nude studies shown prior.      

The show was well done as usual with the Met, except for the glitzy sign NAKED that looked more like a triple x marque. I felt it deserved something better, but that just me.  
I felt that where the show missed were nudes in the present. We have come a long way of what is acceptable since early photography with extremism at both ends, and hopefully to a better visual understanding  between nude and naked.

Phoneography ..part two

My brother has an auto body shop and a tool chest taller than me. I asked him why he needed two drawers of screwdrivers to which he replied that each one does a different job. At my level of mechanics, I have only two. On his level, he has them and calls on each to do a  different job. 

Photography has become that way too. At one time only the large format to today's ever growing selection of camera types, we achieve different looks with different approaches that each one delivers.  Some help to direct our vision, some change our tactics and some free us. Large formats bring us to those pensive moments, a slower attention to detail and deliberate compostions... 35 to speed of subjects and our reactions with variety of views, plastic cameras to whimsical haphazard moments sometimes happy accidents. Like my brother's screwdrivers, each does a different job and often, with it in hand we search and focus for just those. 

Ahumada Enrique sees his path with "Menage a Trois" or the square of three...


which turned not only into a series but an App for the Iphone/Ipad that creates its layout design.

In his words..." this is a series is a result of an extreme sense of joy that I experience in the magic alignment of three elements: my eye, my Iphone camera, and my subjects"

Smart phones seem to have a spontaneity and public acceptance that other formats don't. In a crowd, on the street, in buildings, lifting a smart phone doesn't draw the attention that lifting your 35mm does. It has become almost unnoticed, a normal, unquestioned part of today's life, allowing reaction without hesitation to what we see. In view of all that is happening on the global changes in governments and movements, it has become a strong tool that through its freedom of visual capture, changes the world like no other camera before it. In time as it continues to develop, it becomes its own art form and in the world of electronic media, internet, Ipads, Smarter phones and whatever else comes, takes its place as a tool for advertising.