Night News

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I just got back from an amazingly intense week at the Maine Media Workshops where I took a Master Printing (darkroom) class with George Tice. Every night I passed this railroad station and each night there was something different to shoot. This exposure was 2 days after the full moon and was an 8 minute exposure at f/11 with my favorite night camera, the Mamiya C220.

Last chance to catch my newly revised seminar “The Fine Art of the Long Exposure” at B&H’s Event’s Space today from 3-5pm! This is my third time speaking and I have done a 75% revamp of the talk focusing more on Night Photography techniques and Day for Night imagery!
One of the best Night Photography Books has just come out, check out Jill Waterman’s book Night and Low-Light Photography: Professional Techniques from Experts for Artistic and Commercial Success. She collects some of the top Night Photographers in the country who offers some great insights, inspiring imagery, and tips on the how to capture the night light.
Finally, the coolest Night Photography Workshop ever still has spots left! If you enjoy abandoned junkyards with tons of classic 50’s and 70’s cars then Troy Paiva & Joe Reifer’s Pearsonville Junkyard Night Photography/Light Painting Workshop is a must. It takes place over the Full Moon Weekend from October 11-12 in Ridgecrest California. For more details click here.

Photowalk, Sleepless, and I’m Published!

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Scott Kelby is hosting a Worldwide Photo Walk to celebrate the release of the Lightroom 2.0, probably the best image editing software out there. These Walks are taking place all over the world on August 23rd and I will be leading one in NYC! The Photo Walks are a social photography event to get you out from in front of your computer and behind your camera with a group of like minded folk. Each walk is limited to 50 people, my walk will take us over the Brooklyn Bridge where amazing views of the city and for now, the NYC waterfalls, surround you. We will then meander around DUMBO and end the adventure at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory where we can share our work and have a scoop or three! The Photo Walks are 2 hours long and if you don’t see one in your city why not sign up and lead one? All the images will be uploaded and judged by Scott Kelby, with the winning image earning the photographer thousands of dollars in cool prizes! Again space is limited; so click here to sign up and find out more info on Brooklyn Bridge walk.

The International Guild of Pinhole Photographers just released Dark Chambers Volume 2, which features 3 of my images in it! These beautiful textured fine art books are each hand stamped and the produced in England. The name Dark Chamber originates from the Latin, Camera Obscura. This latest volume is over 175 pages and features 200+ inspiring pinhole images by 28 artists from all over the world. The book will be limited and produced in a small run. Dark Chamber volume 2 costs approximately $25 plus shipping and can be ordered from the Urban Fox Press website. or by contacting them directly at info@urbanfoxpress.com.

Also pictured is our newly decorated living room. The coffee table is an amazing wedding gift from my brotherman/groomsman, Angus. He created, crated, and accompanied this work of art out to us in April and assembled it in our house… now that’s what we call service! It features a hidden compartment which flips and reveals a ready to play cribbage board! Anyone game? Behind the table is Nancy’s chaise lounge that she has been transporting across the country for 10 years. 3 years ago she finally reupholstered the chaise with the luscious blue velvet fabric. Prior to the chaise, that same blue velvet covered Sandy on the Frozen Hudson seen below.

Pictured on the wall above the table and chaise is “Sleepless” by France Scully Osterman. Nancy and I fell in love with this image at the f/295 exhibit in Pittsburgh. It was a gift for Nancy for her Birthday and our 2 year anniversary. Sleepless is a 44×50 waxed salt print and was limited to a production of nine. This image is beautifully printed using the 150+ year collodion process. This gives it a lush and tonal depth that you can’t keep your eyes off.

Our Gallery Living Room in Brooklyn is open to the public by appointment only, and you better brush up on your cribbage game!

Matt Hill and the 69th St Transfer Bridge at Night

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photo by: matt hill
photo by: gabriel biderman

You know when you meet someone and right away it seems like you have been friends for years??
Are you sure we haven’t met before? You’re waiting for the deja vu to happen as you’ve chosen the same paths but were maybe a few steps to the left or to the right.
I knew I liked Matt Hill the first time we met a year ago, but when we finally sat down for some damn good bbq at Dinosaur before a night shoot, it all fell into place. In between bites of scrumpdiddlyumptious brisket and chicken that we washed down with dark beer, we bonded. Matt and I are both Photo Industry dudes who share a strong passion for being creative, especially at night. Matt had already blown both Nancy and I away with his Cut Paper Art, which starts out as a blank piece of white paper that he slices into amazing voyages of creativity. It is truly a complete process of discovery for him and yet very accessible for us. You can check him out “in action” here. His website showcases his weekly cut paper art journeys as well as his “On Creativity” podcasts in which he interviews other artists regarding their creative process. For some of us, it comes naturally, others struggle for inspiration. However, listening to Matt’s podcasts On Creativity have made me think and focus more on my photography; the patterns, the inspirations, and the desire that fuels me.
So after feeding our stomachs with bbq and souls with good conversation, we took our tripods and cameras out for a nightshoot. We started out at Ulysses S. Grant’s tomb at Riverside Park on the Upper West Side and then worked our way down to the familiar 69th St Transfer Bridge. Everything was fairly accessible on this May full moon and we had to stop ourselves from shooting by 1am. Matt got some pretty amazing B&W images using his Mamiya 7 camera with the beautiful 43mm lens. I really like the B&W image featured here, the movement of the clouds on top and the calm reflections of the water on the bottom of the image bring a moving calmness to the image.
I was using a Baby Graflex 2×3 camera for the first time at night and had film backs loaded up with color and black and white. My Baby G camera is a miniature version, using medium format film, of the famous Graflex Press cameras that Weegee and all the newsies used back in the 30’s-60’s.
These beautifully utilitarian cameras use 4×5 film and have very basic swing and tilt movements. The baby Graflex uses 6×7 and 6×9 medium format backs and mine is custom fit with an amazingly fast and sharp Rodenstock 90mm 2.8 lens. I hadn’t used it for a while and I was worried about focusing the camera in the dark of the night. In order to selectively focus with this camera you look through the graflok back, which is a 6×9 piece of glass surrounded by a pop up hood. I brought a loupe along to aid in viewing but I didn’t really need it. All I needed to do was use a bright flashlight to light up the area I wanted to focus on and then switch out the glass back for a b&w or color film back and voila! Image created! I was also using my ricoh grd which produced my winning picture of the night featured here, and a Voigtlander Bessa R with a 60 year old leica lens. Matt and I were also testing out our latest gear acquisitions, our Induro carbon fiber c214 tripods with the dm01 ballheads. Though not as silky smooth as a Gitzo, I do highly recommend the Induro line, which offers great value for the price. I especially like the DM01 ballhead, which is rated to hold 17lbs and is very simple and smooth to use.
To see more of Matt’s photos from the nightshoot click here
And more of mine can be seen here
See you in the night!

Night News

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[audio:corona park.mp3]

I’m happy to announce that three of my images were selected for the online exhibit The Nocturnes 2008, curated by the landscapist, Mark Hobson. If you dabble in night photography or are out there every full moon, chances are that you have heard of the nocturnes website. Spearheaded by Tim Baskerville, the nocturnes is an invaluable resource for all your night photography questions. I have constantly referred to the resources page to find great tips for shooting in the dark and I really enjoy building my book collection around the favorite books/desert island texts, compiled by Andy Frazer.
This image of the New York State Pavilion from the the 1964-65 World’s Fair at Corona Park is a fairly new image of mine that is featured in the Nocturnes 2008 exhibit. You’ll notice that there is an audio clip attached. Press play and you can hear the night sounds that surrounded me while I was exposing for 3-4 minutes between LaGuardia’s airplanes flying back and forth. Night photography is all about capturing the moments of time and given the lengthy amount of time that you are exposing for, I couldn’t help but notice the sounds that surround us at night. Whether it be the crashing of the ocean waves or in this case the chirping of the still taut wires of the Pavilion pinging above the constant hum of the highway. Since February, I have been using a Sony PCM-D50 portable audio recorder to record interesting sounds that accompany the night. Look for more examples here soon…

B&H’s Event Space has invited me back to speak on “The Art of the Long Exposure” on July 23rd. My talk/slide show presentation focuses on pinhole and night photography and the creative vision and unseen beauty that lay between 8 seconds and 8 hours of exposure. The first presentation 2 months ago was sold out plus I have added some new material. To sign up or find out more information click here and then click on July 23rd. Hope to see you there!

Good friend and Uber Night Photographer, Joe Reifer, recently returned from a fantastical night journey through an immense salvage yard of abandoned cars in the Mojave Desert. You can start the journey here, but make sure you also visit his three galleries worth of images. His gentle use of light inside several classic cars and choice of shooting directly into the moon take these surreal images to a whole other level of night photography.

Anniversaries

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Today marks the 2nd anniversary of marriage to my lovely Nancy. I’ve only known her 1/4 of her life but can’t wait to reach the halfway mark! We were married under an arbor and when I came upon this one right outside the Woodstock area I knew I had to capture it. I used a combination of a zone plate and pinhole to take this image. My Zero Image 4×5 camera comes with a turret of 3 zone plates and 3 pinholes I can choose from for exposing. By combining the two “lenses” I was able to get the “glow” from the zone plate while retaining the sharpness of the framework with the pinhole. How much did I pre-visualize? Well a pinhole camera has no viewfinder but I’m used to “seeing” with this camera. I shot low to the ground and towards the sun and knew there would be flare, but the red and green light pouring forth is the most beautiful light I could have asked for.
Happy anniversary Nancy!

June 24th is also Nancy’s 1st anniversary of turning 40. Yes, she did put all her eggs in one basket but she’s a summer solstice baby and we both have strong feelings about midsummer eve. We celebrated the longest day of the year not at a baseball park, but in Upstate New York close to where we were married. During the summer solstice the sun appears to stand still facing the Northern Hemisphere. It’s a powerful day for telling the future as well as discovering true love, which we both are lucky to have. So the second picture featured is a reflection of Nancy taking the plunge! I know they say 40 is the new 30 but in Nancy’s case I’d have to say it’s the new 25! Happy Birthday my muse! You continue to inspire and understand me like no other. Let the summer good times begin!