The recently departed Hubert Sumlin with Chester Burnett.
“God bless the Rolling Stones.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uljcbObxSOQ
Paul Motian, 1931-2011
Perhaps you already read this piece: it was posted on the classroom homosote: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/arts/music/jazz-records-inspired-by-paul-motian.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=motian&st=cse
Here is a photographer’s reminiscence: http://www.npr.org/blogs/ablogsupreme/2011/11/23/142680423/dinners-and-drum-music-a-friendship-with-paul-motian?ft=1&f=104014555
An typical excellent performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaY1GVeHqKw
Best of all, a lucid essay (with a bootleg clip): http://dothemath.typepad.com/dtm/the-paradox-of-continuity.html
Underexposure=the devil
This post is not fun, nor is it entertaining: it is about obtaining useable exposures.
When we contrive to admit “the right amount of light” through a shutter, do we believe what our meter recommends (and perhaps interpret that for our purposes)? Or do we get it “wrong?” If the latter, then which is preferable: overexposure or underexposure?
I lean toward overexposure as the lesser of the two evils. The raking angle of sunlight (however dramatic), the short winter days, and the ongoing problem of “artificial” light sources all contribute to empty shadows that we expect to reward with information but do not.
Light sources within the frame and large portions of sky in the picture both conspire to underexpose the rest of the landscape, or the room, or whatever. Point the lens down at the ground to take a meter reading, then use that exposure when you compose the frame.
Some photographers find it useful to “bracket,” to shoot a recommended exposure, then to overexpose and underexpose for insurance. This is a last resort, and one may never get a sense of how to deal with situations that re-occur. A reasonable version of bracketing might be simply to shoot what’s recommended and just one over, for the sake of the shadows (since modern films don’t seem to block up in the highlights as badly as they once did).
Your camera may have some sort of a +/- setting. You can move the indicator to +1/2 or +1 to add a half-stop or a whole stop. Alternately, you can reset the ISO, whether it is set automatically or manually. This can be done either for an entire roll or for just the frames you think need it.
After the exposures have been made, a last resort is to overdevelop the film; usually this means that all the frames on the roll will pick up contrast, for better or worse.
A blawwg post about a blog blogging about blogs
How dry. How geeky. How rife with potential: http://lpvmagazine.com/2011/12/top-photography-websites-of-2011/
Paul Desmond wrote “Take Five.”
On the occasion of Mr. Brubeck’s 91st birthday, a coupla sports radio guys try to suss out composer credits in the Wonderful World of Jazz, and Ted Sirota sets ’em straight: http://www.tedsirota.com/music/espn-radio-jazz-debate
A Slice of Darkroom Life
Here’s a representative sample of a day when everything was clicking on all cylinders: yesterday. Simple and not-so-simple picture ideas are flowing of late. Oh, there is an amount of dust, but the volume of well-exposed negatives, rendered as lively prints–or even, in some cases, as modest work prints–is impressive. In no particular order:
Bianca Adams, Chanelle Biangardi, Michelle Bordenet, Tom Clement, Amanda Dee, Avery Epstein, Nicole Galanti, Emma Haney, Justine Kaszynski, Duyen Le, Brittany Lukowicz, Caroline Mierzejewski, Krista Moore, Corey Nguyen, Palak Shah, Victoria Taylor, and Ashlie Zimmerman.
101 Things…
…to Learn in Art School, by Kit White. Get one copy for yourself, and another with whith to sthuff a sthocking.
Here are 9 of the 101 chapter titles to whet your appetite:
Art is the product of process.
Composition is the foundation of image making.
Art is not self-expression.
“I want to end with something that will baffle me for some time.”
Abstraction comes from the world.
“Conception cannot precede execution.”
For every hour of making, spend an hour looking and thinking.
Time is an essential element in all media.
Meaning does not exist in the singular.
http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=12600
Creative Camerawork 