Introspective Image Talk
A lot of the work I make is rather casual. I keep my camera with me everywhere I. go, so many of the photographs are really just images of things that I find amusing, interesting, or just worth remembering. I do my best to make a decent image, but that is the limit. Here are seven images. I’ll do a little more to explain my process, thoughts, or theories for each.
The squirrels of Boston Common are “friendly” to put it kindly. To put it honestly, I’d go so far as to say they are a bit too bold for my taste. I should not be approached by a squirrel in search of food. These animals are fed so regularly by the public that they have somehow been wrongfully convinced to not only trust us, but pursue us in search of food.
These images were all made with the Nikon Z7II and a 24-70mm f2.8 lens. In my shooting, I try to get the “flattest” image I can. I want detail in the highlights and shadows to work with later. I come from a traditional background printing in the darkroom, so a flat starting point is a great place to work from.
In my post-production, I have been working with digital split grading. Rather than making many global edits, I do all of my work using the brush tool to adjust specific areas of the image. The split grading applies mostly to my contrast in this image. The squirrel is visually dominant because there is greater contrast in the values of the squirrel than anywhere else in the image. The squirrel is not brighter, just bolder. The key here is subtlety.
I adjusted this image in similar ways to the previous, but the results are much more obvious here. As I said, subtlety is the key here. I reduced contrast in the grass and increased it in the shadows of the squirrel and arm. Although I stand by this technique and even some of the application here, I certainly took it too far. The ground never looks like that. My aim is artistic accuracy, but accuracy nonetheless. I am not upset with this image, but I would not hang my hat on it.
These squirrels are simply much too comfortable with the human presence. The damage our feeding has done to the behavior and hierarchy of the local Boston squirrel population is devastating to say the very least. Enough of the squirrels.
I take great inspiration from the work of the great photographer Elliott Erwitt. He was an incredibly observant man with a distinct eye for humor and detail. Many of my images are just observations I found either funny or maybe even a bit satirical.
This image was made along the outside of Boston Common near the start of Newbury Street. The shops on this particular block include Tiffany, Cartier, Rolex, Richard Mille, etc. If it costs more than a car and weighs less than a cheeseburger, you’ll find it on this block. The businesses invest a great deal in their seasonal decorations. New plants to mark the occasion, new lights, new signs, and evidently, fresh dog piss.
I suppose if you can go anywhere, you may as well go where it’s nice.
I am interested in simple identifiers. Boston is riddled with parks and grass, but I’ve only seen these signs in Boston Common. I consider this a simple identifier. It’s not a “Boston Common” directory in Helvetica Bold, but it tells a local exactly where the image was made. An image of Russo’s Seafood could tell any Savannah local that they were almost to Moodright’s in the same fashion.
This image was made with direct flash. Since the passing of Martin Parr, I’ve grown much more attached to my flash. He was a brilliant documentary photographer, one of the only notable color photographers I keep in my close memory. In post, I try to remove the vignette that the flash creates when used at close range. I appreciate the light and flatness that flash creates, but I’ve never been a big fan of vignette, especially when the image is graphic to me.
What a statement for Beacon Hill. If I read the sign correctly, these pajamas were real silk. There they were, left swaying in the wind unattended, and 25% off! The colors were beautiful and they contrasted so elegantly against the brick of the building, the green of the needles.
This is what I carry the flash for. This image would look so flat without that extra central light. The weather was overcast and gloomy to begin with, and we stood on the shadowed side of the street. I’d never have even considered this image without my flash. I believe that is the purpose of certain tools. My flash gives me ideas and also the ability to carry them out. I try to carry only what I will actually use, and to always stay light.
I find my artistry in black and white work. A pure blue sky will appear dark like this when metering for an extremely bright highlight. The white bark of this tree was almost glowing from the sunlight, leaving the blue sky close to black. There is nothing interesting about this image or composition, but I’ve always appreciated the way the sky will darken under these circumstances.
There were almost no adjustments made to this image.
My beautiful wife. Every image of her is graced. Need I say more?
I don’t always think deeply about the content of my images, but I do always thoroughly consider how I want the image to look. Many people find an interesting subject and fire away. I find my best images come when I see the subject and ask myself how I want to show it. I ask myself where I want the image to live.