Discovery Shuttle. Canon 5D Mark II, 1/8000, f/5.6, ISO 800.

There were many great locations to shoot this event.  However, I decided not to go into DC.  If Discovery was going to fly over the National Mall as planned, I would be shooting up at the belly of the 747.  Besides, my contact at the Smithsonian could not get me on a rooftop, citing security concerns.  Blech.

Instead, I thought shooting from across the Potomac River on a high vantage point in Arlington would provide better opportunities to capture the shuttle’s profile.  Gravelly Point, a park along the Potomac and near the Washington-Reagan National Airport, was too low.  The Iwo Jima Memorial and the Netherlands Carillon Tower provided some height and very iconic views of the National Mall, which would have included the Lincoln and Washington Monuments and the Capitol.  However, it was a mob scene.  Parking would have been a bitch.  Plus, only media had access to the tower’s height.

Ultimately, I decided to go to Long Bridge Park, a new park in Arlington that provided a heightened platform with 360 degree views of the airport, Pentagon, Potomac, and the Washington Monument.  Since not many people were aware of this new park, I correctly assumed that it would be relatively empty.  About 50 people were there.  Only half of them had cameras.  Some shot video with their smartphones.   While there was some vegetation blocking some of the lower views, I tried to use it to my advantage, working them into the frame to create some unique compositions.

I did not bring much gear.  In my bag I had my Canon 5D Mark II with 3 lenses.  I ended up only using my 70-300mm.  To ensure sharp shots, I also brought a tripod, which I quickly set aside, realizing that it would only slow me down.

Instead, I just shot between 1/6400 and 1/8000 of a second, using shutter-priority.  To keep my aperture wide open, I pumped up my ISO between 800 and 1600.  I didn’t want to get much higher than that to avoid any grain.  Since the light conditions varied when shooting towards the east, north, and west, and level and up into the sky, so did my aperture values.  While most of my shots were between f/5.6 and f/8, some went as high as f/14.  Since I was focusing on the shuttle, and perhaps some of the iconic landmarks that would have been about the same distance from me, I wasn’t so concerned with depth of field.

After 30-40 minutes of watching Discovery make a few loops around the DC area, I had taken close to 300 images.  I immediately went home, found my best nine, touched them up, and uploaded them to Facebook and to my website.  I can’t believe the immediate response that I received!  I hope you enjoy them too.

Hello, my name is Jason Schlosberg.  And I have an addiction to photography.

Photography is like crack cocaine.

Yes, I feel incomplete without a camera nearby.  I get the jitters if I am unable to capture a beautiful scene because I left my trusty Canon at home.  While vacations are primarily to enjoy family time, my wife, Donna, notices that I’m on edge if I’m asked to leave my camera in the hotel room.  She believes sunsets should be reserved for romantic coupling.  I can’t say I blame her, but sometimes addictions make one think irrationally.

Great photographic opportunities are fleeting.  In landscape photography, the lighting and other conditions change within moments, never to be captured again.  The greatest outdoor photographers spend hours, if not days, in the same location, waiting for the perfect composition of sky and light.  Patience is a key ingredient to capture an image sufficiently powerful to take the edge off of the addiction.

The addiction is felt more clearly with the added variables of urban and life scenes.  Cars pass by, people move, incidents occur, all within a blink of an eye.  Sometimes I wish I had a camera surgically inserted in my optic nerve so I would never have to leave my camera behind.

While these are all of the conscious reasons for my addiction, I have had another reason that I don’t usually talk about.  It’s about memories.  Professional photographers usually talk about the scene, the moment, and the capture.  The hokey idea about capturing memories is something reserved for amateurs with their point-and-shoots taking pictures of their kids without concern of f-stop, shutter speed, ISO, lighting conditions, or even negative space.

Me and Jim in Ketchikan, Alaska.

In my personal life, there aren’t many people in my family that take pictures at every event.  That’s probably because I’m already there, DSLR and additional lighting equipment in tow, sometimes at the expense of annoying certain relatives who think it’s “too much.”

Everyone has their own personal reasons for wanting to capture memories.  For me, I think it has been somewhat unconscious until recently.  I never really knew my grandparents.  My maternal grandfather died before I was born and both my grandmothers died when I was about 2 years old.  My paternal grandfather passed when I was 7 years old.  While I do remember him, my memories are dim and sparse.  While there are a few pictures of these people in some albums, it just hasn’t been enough.

When my daughter was born, one of my biggest fears was that she would not know her grandparents.  In fact, we have even second-guessed our own decision to not having children until we were in our mid-thirties.  Very recently, my father-in-law, Jim Lombardo, passed away.  My daughter is only 7 months old.

Flexing our muscles at Donna and my wedding.

Jim was a wonderful father-in-law.  We had similar off-color senses of humor.  He had a big heart and was always offering support and a helping hand without being asked.  He grew up in Manhattan near the Brooklyn Bridge, so I sometimes called him the Prince of the Lower East Side.  Not because he acted like royalty, but to the contrary.  He was a mensch, which is a Yiddish word describing someone as a person with integrity and honor, sometimes misinterpreted into English as a “prince.”  When I got Donna’s engagement ring, I went to Jim to ask for his blessing, telling him it would be an honor to call him my father-in-law.  He told me that he already considered me part of the family.

After Jim passed, I started looking for photographs.  I found quite a few and put some up on my personal Facebook account to share with family and friends.  I included photos of our trips to Aruba and Alaska and at family events.  One of my favorites is of him and me posing like muscle men while wearing tuxedos at my wedding.  There is also a shot of Jim with my brother-in-law, Dominick, and my daughter.  It was the last time we spent with him at home before he went to the hospital.

When I posted that last one, Dominick immediately made it his profile picture.  He also wrote, “All these captured moments are thanks to my brother in law who never put down his camera – thank you, Jason.”

James Lombardo, Dominick Lombardo, Jocelyn Schlosberg.

Since Jim’s death, I have experienced significant waves of emotion.  Once again my eyes welled up with Dominick’s appreciation and with my own realization that part of my motivation for photography is to capture memories for moments just like this.  It didn’t matter that the lighting was harsh or that I took the photo with my video camera, which produced somewhat noisy, low-res photos.  I captured a moment of Jim, Dom, and Jocelyn all looking happy and within each others arms.  My addiction was suddenly justified.

Seattle Fountain
1/1000, f/4.0, ISO 200	1/30, f/22, ISO 200

But my fascination and love of photography brought me back to science. In an earlier post, Zen and the Art of Photography, I discussed how a good photographer embraces both the artful and technical sides of the craft. Well, what’s more Zen (and Taoist) than running water?

Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, 1/8, f/45, ISO 100.

To control the capture of running water’s visual beauty, a photographer should be well-acquainted with some basic laws of physics. By controlling water with our cameras, we can become like Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea.

When taking a photo, light passes through the shutter and smacks up against your camera’s sensor. In “olden times,” the light would hit film, which due to its chemical properties would react to the varieties of light to create the negative. In any event, if the light moves, it would streak against the sensor (or film), resulting in a blurry image. That’s why, to avoid blur, it is important to ensure a fast shutter speed and to use a tripod.

In the case of running water, however, you may want that blur either to get a sense of motion or to achieve that beautiful, soft, ethereal whiteness we all know and love. To do so, slow down your shutter speed. Try a thirtieth (1/30) or even a quarter (1/4) second. Live dangerously and try a few seconds. Experiment to get your best effect. Factors such as water speed and quantity, as well as the available light, will impact the optimal shutter speed choice.

At the top of this post, there are two shots of running water with the exact same composition. However, the one with the crisper water was shot at 1/1000 of a second and the one with the softer flow was taken at 1/30 of a second. When taking these, I had to compensate for the light by changing the aperture and making sure that the focus was on the flowers, which served as an immobile foreground element. This was where aperture priority mode certainly came in handy. While both speeds provide pleasant results, note the emotional and visual differences.

Great Falls, Virginia
1/30, f/45, ISO 800.	.5, f/20, ISO 1600

But here’s the rub. Once you slow down your shutter speed, everything in the picture, including the surrounding elements, chance being blurred. To avoid this possibility, use a tripod. And unless it’s waterproof, keep it out of the water to avoid lasting damage.

Crystal City Water Park, Arlington, Virginia. 1/8, f/20, ISO 100.

But what if there is too much light? If there is, keeping the shutter open long enough to get your optimal level of water softness may actually result in an overexposed image. Not only will the water be blown out, but so will much else of the photo. The most popular solution is to shrink your aperture. This is what I did in the first pictures above. However, that would probably take away your control over the depth of field, a problem with larger landscape images. A more creative solution is to use one or more neutral density filters to decrease the amount of light that enters your camera. You can always use darker filters or just put a bunch on top of each other to experiment.

So, to sum up, here are some tips:

• Set a slow shutter speed.
• Shrink the aperture, or just use aperture priority mode.
• Use a tripod.
• Consider using an ND filter.
• Focus on something not moving.
• Stay dry!

Family of giraffes, Kruger National Park, South Africa

Now, don’t get me wrong. The zoo is a wonderful place. It brings to our urban centers a piece of the natural world many people, especially children, would not have access to. The impact of this awareness is incalculable. As a result, we become more sensitive to environmental issues plaguing various species and the earth itself. Zoos have done for wildlife what Ansel Adams had done for our land.

But zoos also reinforce the false-dichotonomy between something that is “out there,” and somehow “not us.”  In one of my favorite books, Ishmael, Daniel Quinn clearly identifies a false division that says there’s “the environment,” and then there’s “us humans” living in the environment (and somehow not a part of it).

In any event, to see a lion in a cage, or an elephant walking in circles, saddens me.  While they may be unknowingly sacrificing for the good of their respective species by providing awareness to us humans, I sense they know that this is not their natural habitat.  They should be roaming the savanna seeking sustenance and migrating with their prides and herds.

Photography in a zoo is boring.  Even when animals are kept in cageless areas, it is difficult to get a natural beauty shot.  You are forced to shoot from one location and the habitat is either limited or looks too fake.  While zoo signage points you to the monkey area, you never know what lurks around the corner while on safari.  I get a heightened sense of awe and inspiration when watching animals in the “wild.”  To serendipitously come across a lion, hyena, or kudu is a real treat.  The beauty of the natural surroundings also provides for some exquisite photography.  As a landscape photographer, I tend to shoot the veldt, which may just happen to have some exotic animals in the composition.  Zoos can’t provide these opportunities.  My heart soars in Africa.

Many cite cost as a deterrent to go on safari.  This is certainly a legitimate concern.  However, if possible, I believe each person should make an attempt to go at least once in his or her lifetime.  For those who just have no interest in going, they’re just plain crazy. Don’t relegate it to an ephemeral bucket list.  Throw out the bucket. Live the list.

In addition to South Africa’s Kruger National Park, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of other destinations.  You can go to Masai Mara and the Serengeti to watch the great migrations in Kenya and Tanzania, to the Sossusvlei in Namibia for a desert safari, and to the hidden gems of the lesser explored Gabon wilderness.  Perhaps I will see you out there?  To learn more about Africa’s various safari destinations, here’s a good start.

While steel wool photography appears to have an underground following, I’ve combined it with flash photography to introduce models into the composition.  First I’ll explain the artificial light set-up that I used to light up my friend Mike.  Then I’ll tell you how I got the sparks.

Lighting Set-Up

The lighting set-up, à la strobist, is very simple.  I used my Canon Speedlite 580EX II Flash and shot through a Westcott 2001 43in. Optical White Satin Collapsible Umbrella at a 45 degree angle from the model on camera right.  I used the silver bounce (Collapsible Reflector Disc -42″ Diameter – Silver/Gold) on the left to make sure the other side of Mike’s face was lit up and that his hood didn’t create too many shadows.  I had him dressed in black, because I knew this was going to be a long exposure and I wanted to minimize any blur.  I also wanted to use him as an assistant to light more fires later in other shots not using flashes and didn’t want him showing up at all.

Behind Mike to the right, I used my Canon Speedlite 420EX Flash in a Westcott 2219 Mini Apollo Softbox Kit.  This was to make him stand out a bit from the background by adding some light to the rim of his hood and top of his shoulders.  In this photo, I am not sure whether it actually worked, probably because I was forced to put it a bit back (and too far from Mike) in order to keep it safely afar from the sparks.

My Canon EOS 5D Mark II, sitting on my Gitzo basalt tripod, communicated with the Canon Speedlite 580EX II Flash

Artificial lighting set-up for above photo.

using a pair of Pocket Wizard II Transceivers, the gold standard in wireless flash photography.  The 580EX II in turn communicated with my 420EX through Canon’s own master/slave wireless capabilities.  While there was a surprising bit of a flash delay, it wasn’t a problem here since I was shooting with long exposures.  I couldn’t hook my 420EX to another Pocket Wizard because the flash does not have a PC jack.  What I should have done was brought my other 580 EX II.  But we live and learn.

Other photography equipment used include a Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM Lens, B+W Filter 77mm Clear UV Haze with Multi-Resistant Coating (010M),  tripod, remote trigger, 3 light stands, 2 umbrella adapters, and a boom to hold the bounce/reflector.

Let the Sparks Fall Where They May

Before you start the shoot, you will need to go shopping.  I found everything at a dollar store and my neighborhood Home Depot.

• Steel wool.  While I got mine at Home Depot, Amazon.comalso has some for sale.  Be sure to get one that has grades 0-0000.  Don’t get anything grade 1 or higher, since it won’t light on fire right.  I prefer Homax Products #106080 8PK #0000 Steel Wool Pad.  They’re cheap (less than $4 a bag), so get a lot.
• Whisk.  Get a whisk (or 3) that has a loop at the handle end.  Don’t waste your money at Bed, Bath & Beyond.  Theirs are around $10 each and don’t even have hooks on them.  I got mine at the local dollar store.
• Dog leash.  You will be using this to hook to and swing around the whisk.  Make sure it feels comfortable in your hand and that you can get a smooth circular swing with it.  I would not use a chain, unless somehow insulated, since you will need to carefully stop the swinging leash while the steel wool may still be burning.
• Igniter.  While you can use a 9-volt battery to light the steel wool by rubbing them together, I find that it slows down the process, which becomes a pain when you’re racing against the shutter.  I suggest a lighter, preferably one of the jet flame kinds.
• Flashlights.  Since I was using a model, I just used a flashlight on him to better focus my camera.  However, if you are not using a model, you may want to bring an LED light to place near your subject area in order to focus before shooting.  LED lights and flashlights also make great tools for light painting.
• Black clothing.  While Mike is wearing black at my stylish option, it is mandatory that the “flame thrower” also wear all black to avoid showing up in the shot.  By moving around in the dark with a slow shutter speed, this will help the flame thrower remain invisible in the resulting shot.  Wearing a black hoodie with long sleeves and a pair of black pants does the trick and also protects your skin.
• Safety equipment.  Bring a portable fire extinguisher, just in case.  Also bring a bucket to add water to so you can extinguish the steel wool (and bring a gallon or two of water if your shooting location does not have a water source).  The bucket also acts as a handy carrier for the aforementioned spark-making equipment.  In addition to protective clothing, also consider gloves and goggles.  You may also want to consider a spray bottle to spritz your model and yourself before the shot just in case any fiery steel wool escapes.

Once you have all of your equipment, be sure to pick a safe location.  Do not shoot near dry grass or wood structures that would catch on fire.  I personally prefer shooting near brick, stone, and asphalt locations.  Not only are they safer, but the sparks bounce nicely.  The images in this post were taken in DC’s old boilermaker shop, which is currently undergoing construction to be converted into retail space.  Other ideas include over pools and other water reservoirs.  The beach is also fun.  Some photographers shoot on open roads, but that can be dangerous, especially at night, and on wet grass, but that just looks a bit cheesy IMHO.

After you place your equipment, set up your camera functions.  For the shot above, I set the following: ISO 200, f/5.0, 30 seconds.  I also took some shots between 8 and 25 seconds.  Even though the flash freezes the model, Mike had to remain extremely still to avoid any ghosting or additional blur.  He did an incredible job in this really long exposure.  It’s a miracle that our best shot was at 30 seconds, which was necessary since I needed the extra time to run into the shot after the flash set off and to light the steel wool.  Let’s just say that there were a lot of outtakes.

When you are set up at your location, attach the leash to, and stuff some steel wool into, the whisk.  I recommend stretching out the steel wool a bit to poke through the various whisk wires.  Doing so will allow more air flow and will better prevent the flaming steel wool from escaping and flying somewhere you don’t want it to land.

In this shot, I stood outside the frame to avoid being in it went the flash went off.  I remotely triggered the camera and got into place.  Here, I stood behind Mike (back-to-back) and crouched a bit below his shoulder.  While I tried to line my feet up so his would block mine from the camera, I wasn’t that successful.  In the end, however, I was able to Photoshop out my feet using the clone and spot healing tools.

After getting into place, light the steel wool on fire, and start swinging the leash in a circular motion.  When the shutter closes and the steel wool continues to burn, even if the sparks stop, take another shot.  You will still get some cool effects.

When your steel wool burns out, douse and extinguish the still-hot remaining amount and the whisk in the water bucket. Refill. Relight. Repeat. Enjoy while hot.

NegativeSpace has been alerted that the segment should feature YouTube’s finest videos, including the Battle at Kruger. Interviewed by Dateline producer John Costello, Battle at Kruger filmmakers Buzz Budzinski and Jason Schlosberg should appear on the program. Find out more how this amazing video, including the Christian the Lion video, has redefined the importance of user generated footage in the media landscape.

A worldwide phenomenon, the Battle at Kruger has received almost 63 million views on YouTube, won the coveted YouTube best eyewitness video award, and has won the hearts and minds of people all over the world. It has already been the subject of a National Geographic documentary and has been featured on ABC, MSNBC, Animal Planet, and a number of Japanese television shows.

Check your local listings.

PRESS RELEASE

NBC’s Dateline to Feature Battle at Kruger 

Popular Viral Video Has Legs

WASHINGTON, DC – August 21, 2011 – Viral video grows up to network
television.  Continuing to amaze the world, the Battle at Kruger—a safari
video capturing an epic fight between a pride of lions, a herd of buffalo,
and a crocodile—has been licensed by NegativeSpace Media to NBC News for
the March 13, 2011, episode of its premiere news show, Dateline.

“We are thrilled to be working with NBC,” says Jason Schlosberg, owner of
NegativeSpace Media and Battle at Kruger photographer.  “The Battle at
Kruger has got legs.  Its staying power and endless possibilities for
application has made us excited about its future in mass media.”

NBC News contacted NegativeSpace Media, expressing interest in licensing
the footage for Dateline.  Producer John Costello interviewed Mr.
Schlosberg and his business partner and videographer David “Buzz” Budzinski
in a Manhattan studio.  

Schlosberg and Budzinski were also sent by National Geographic back to
South Africa to film a documentary about the footage.  They have also
licensed the Battle at Kruger to ABC, Animal Planet, and to other media
outlets around the world.  At time of publication, the video has amassed
nearly 63 million views on YouTube alone.

Questions and video and photo licensing requests should be made to Jason
Schlosberg at NegativeSpace Media, (202) 550-8260, jason@negativespace.com.

On a Palm Sunday years ago, I was walking the streets of New Orleans with my camera and Donna, the woman who would later become my wife. It was my early days of photography and I was shooting film with my traditional Canon Rebel. As we were walking through the French Quarter, we passed a man on the sidewalk who caught my eye.

Standing about 6 feet tall, he had salt and pepper dreadlocks, tattoos all over his face and arms, and earlobes so stretched from ear gauges that they split in two. He smelled like week-old smoked hemp. I could barely see his blue eyes behind his squinting. I knew I had to photograph him.

Donna was quite surprised that without warning I approached him and asked if I could take his photograph.

He was initially reluctant, but said that he would do so if he could take a picture with Donna, who was standing innocently by my side with palms in her hand.  He would also oblige for a few dollars, so I handed him some and started snapping away. He was quite comfortable in front the camera, posing with a bit of a swagger and a slight smile revealing pride in either being a worthy photographic subject or in the fact that he just scored some easy scratch from a silly tourist.

After a few minutes, he quickly seemed to have had his fill of his brief solo modeling career and grabbed Donna, put his arm around her, squeezed her shoulder tight, and smiled for the camera. Donna, red-faced with embarrassment and the man’s pungent smell, laughed nervously as I took a few more shots. He leaned down to kiss her on the cheek for a few more shots.

Here comes the tongue!

Afterwards, he bid us goodbye and walked away along the sidewalk. I told Donna how good a sport she was and apologized for having her go through that. I teasingly asked how it felt for him to kiss her on the cheek. She looked at me shocked of my ignorance and exclaimed, “Are you kidding me?! He tried to shove his tongue down my throat!”

I usually suggested the Casio Exilim, which is what I’ve bought my wife. I used to think Casio only made calculator watches in the 1980s.  However, I’ve been somewhat impressed with their point-and-shoot cameras. Most of the Exilim models are small, easy to use, and have a bunch of useful features. Most importantly, unlike most point-and-shoots, they have very little shutter lag between shots. You don’t have to wait for Godot until the next shot is available. They are sold everywhere.  Costco appears to have the best deals.

But I never committed the sin by purchasing a point-and-shoot for myself. I take my photography too seriously and would not lower myself to using such Neanderthal tools. Even the Casio Exilim did not have the complete feature set that I sought. Where is the delicate controlled balance between shutter speed and aperture

Jocelyn Rose at 6 weeks, photographed with Nikon Coolpix P7000

size to ensure the best tonality, exposure, and bokeh? Where is selective focus, burst mode, and RAW? I couldn’t see myself saying out loud, “Me push this button. Oooohhh, pictuurrre.”

While the camera manufacturers had started a few years ago bridging the amateur-professional gap by developing more powerful point-and-shoot cameras, I merely watched from the sidelines in oblique interest. However, as a new dad, I am now committed to traveling even lighter and photographing more dexterously (i.e., one-handed).

So I began my search. I wanted to find the most robust point-and-shoot on the market. But I also wanted something small enough to fit in my pocket and more affordable than a DSLR.  Since the camera’s major subject would be my newborn daughter, I wanted it to also include video capabilities.

The Panasonic LX5, Canon G12, and Nikon Coolpix P7000 moved quickly to the top of my list. They each met my minimum requirements and had received numerous positive reviews.  Although they are just point-and-shoots, I was happy to find that these cameras allowed for manual, aperture-priority and shutter-priority modes.  It appeared that these point-and-shoot modes are starting to include many of the same capabilities of DSLRs, albeit a much less power and without the ability swap interchangeable lenses.  Considering my purposes, however, such things are not necessary.

The LX5 was noticeably smaller and lighter, but it’s zoom was inferior to its competitors. I realized that zoom also matters, since I would no longer be swapping lenses. So, I decided to look more closely at the Canon and Nikon options by doing what all other tech junkies do when shopping: create a comparison chart.

To make the decision easier, I also listed the factors in the order of my relative interest. It quickly became apparent that the Nikon Coolpix P7000 would be my point-and-shoot camera of choice. With my brand-loyalty and bias towards Canon, I was still torn, but the facts are the facts.  I couldn’t even convince myself to buy the G12 due to the faster burst rate, which would be helpful to photograph a running child, since the speed difference was marginal.

So, I held my breath and pressed “Add to Cart,” finding the camera at my doorstop a few days later.

After taking the camera out of the box, I immediately felt that the camera, although light, was strong. Camera operation, though its buttons and on-screen menus, are all easily accessible and intuitive. While the 10.1 megapixels may be overkill for this type of camera, I am happy that I can take RAW photos when I need to so I can perform more magic in post-processing with Lightroom. The camera also works well in low-light situations. While Nikon advertises that the camera can perform in macro mode as close as .8″ from the subject, I have been unable to come even close to that. The 720p HD video works with a turn of a knob and the press of a button and generates very clear, smooth, and crisp footage. Unlike some DSLRs with video capability (e.g., my Canon 5D Mark II), it has the added benefit of allowing me to autofocus and zoom while recording.

Beforehand, I would use my Canon 5D Mark II, propped with an external flash and a Lightsphere, to get gorgeous photos of my newborn daughter.  However, to capture that fleeting smile, or squishy wake-up face, I would have to dig into my bag, put the flash and light diffuser on, and then find out that it was too late too shoot.  I could have left the camera out and put together, but that would make living room clutter and create marital disharmony.

Now, the Nikon Coolpix P7000 can sit easily and neatly  on the coffee table and the diaper bag.  Its presence is also much less offensive to my wife, who has even found herself leaving her Casio Exilim behind and playing with my new toy.   While I still intend to use my Canon 5D Mark II DSLR as my primary workhorse, the Nikon Coolpix P7000 would be used for more on-the-fly photography when my hands are otherwise full with baby bottles, diaper bags, and pacifiers.  So far, it has been invaluable.

Cool rider, Flatirons, Boulder, Colorado. Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EF-L 17-40mm, 1/50, 18, ISO 100.

There’s a great book from the ’70s called Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.  The author, Robert Pirsig, purportedly knew nothing about such engineering, but used the storyline to promote a rather insightful philosophy: that to enjoy something fully, you must embrace its classical and romantic attributes.  In other words, appreciate the creative and technical side of everyone.  Become an artistic accountant.

Using the motorcycle as a metaphor, the narrator–who takes a 17-day journey from Minnesota to California with his son and others–describes a romantic as one who lives “in the moment,” just enjoying the ride by experiencing the speed on the open road with the wind blowing in his hair.  He hopes for the best while choosing not to learn how to maintain his expensive new motorcycle.  The romantic faces problems frustrated, turning to others, such as professional mechanics, for assistance.

The classic person, however, seeks to learn the intricacies of the bike’s mechanics.  Paying attention to detail, he is continually focused on the situation.  He is enthralled by how the pieces fit and work together, causing the machine to go vroom.  While his motorcycle may be older, he is usually able to diagnose and repair it himself through the use of rational problem solving skills.  In contrast to the romantic, he is less likely to live Zen-like, in the moment and just let it go.

Initially, the narrator represents the classic view while one of his friends is the ultimate romantic.  By the book’s conclusion, he understands that it is necessary to understand both viewpoints.  While a romantic might find motorcycle maintenance dehumanizing, dull, tedious, ugly, and repulsive, he should see the beauty of technology with maintenance necessary “to achieve an inner peace of mind.”  The classic should seek to enjoy the motorcycle as a pleasurable pastime.  Either way, one should embrace a perception that includes the rational and romantic, including the basics of science, reason, and technology and all “irrational” sources of wisdom and understanding such as creativity and intuition.

This philosophy equally applies to photography.  Unlike most other art forms, photography makes use of modern technology to achieve its end.  To truly embrace photography, and to reach one’s full potential as a photographer, one must pay attention to the beauty of the subject and the mechanics of the camera and the physics of light.

On the romantic side, one must understand the beauty of the subject and the art of composition.  The decisions made by a romantic photographer include how to choose and frame a subject, when capture a moment, and which compositional elements should be included or avoided.  Whether a subject should smile or be in motion.  Whether to use warm sunlight or cool tungsten light.  Bird’s-eye or worm’s-eye view.  Being impetuous, the romantic photographer will take photographs as the moment suits.  To a purely romantic photographer, it doesn’t matter what camera he or she uses, since it is what is within the viewfinder (or LCD) that matters.

Photographing the surreal, Lower Antelope Canyon, Page, Arizona. Canon 5D, 36mm, 1/10, 5.0, ISO 100, -2/3 exp. comp.

The classical photographer tends to be more of a techie, obsessed with figuring out how the camera works to achieve the best sharpness, tonality, and exposure.  He or she may learn more about the film or sensor to see how they react to light or be more interested in f-stops and shutter speeds, ISOs and white balance.  More focused and patient, the classical photographer may wait to the proper time of day to achieve the best photographic conditions.  Eventually, a classic photographer may become more of a gadget hound, hording accessories to accomplish various photographic tasks such as a tripod remote trigger to maintain sharpness.

Clearly, either type of photographer would be stunted from reaching her greatest potential.  The pure romantic shutterbug may capture interesting subject matter, but possibly at the cost of blurred or underexposed images.  The classical photographer, while able to create crisp, clean, perfectly exposed photographs, would more likely have results void of compositional interest.

While combining romantic and classical traits should help solve this disparity, doing so takes practice and time.  Some people may be born with both skills, but others may be more right- or left-brained.  Thus, challenge yourself to hone your weaknesses and see through the other lens.

Jocelyn Rose Schlosberg. Born March 16, 2011.

Born on March 16th at 3:14 PM, and weighing in at 6 lbs 13 ounces, and 19.5″ long, she has immediately brought joy to our lives.  Mom, Dad and Jocelyn are all doing well.

When provided advice (solicited or unsolicited), I am often greeted with the promise that my life will never be the same.  I have welcomed that belief and am looking forward to raising our beautiful daughter.

While my energies will now be focused primarily on Jocelyn, my photography will undoubtedly be influenced.  The time and energy I have usually focused on the imaging process will have to evolve to make room for the more important interest of fatherhood.  To paraphrase a line from one of my favorite ’80s films, she will be my greatest invention.  Points to anyone who can name the flick.

That said, however, I will make every reasonable attempt to continue making images and adding to this blog.  Do not be surprised to read posts concerning photographing children and balancing photography with fatherhood.  By the way, does anyone recommend a camera bag that also doubles as a diaper bag?