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Archive for the ‘photography’ Category

A Group Photo for Teach For America’s Alumni Magazine, One Day

In digital art, location shooting, photography on October 12, 2010 at 11:41 am

Oakland, CA Alumni, for Teach For America’s One Way Magazine

On a recent shoot, I had the joy to meet a number of Teach for America alumni.  It was a group photo for the current issue of the organization’s alumni magazine and a fun project.  The subjects are people who’ve had a unique and positive impact on Oakland’s education system.  I worked with the New York-based art team to select a location that best communicated themes from the written piece, “A Slow Steady Revolution.”  I used student desks to illustrate the work of our subjects and a roof-top perspective to portray Oakland’s “urban-ness” in a bright, contemporary rendering the city doesn’t often receive.

[more after the jump..] Read the rest of this entry »

On Location with the Hasselblad H4D-40

In equipment, location shooting, photography on October 1, 2010 at 11:48 pm

The Hasselblad H4D-40, Medium Format DSLR, Part 2

My first encounter with medium format digital photography was during an MFA class, “Advanced Digital Capture”.  The camera, a Hasselblad H1 with a Leaf digital back, was a complex machine, capable of creating big image files, but only with patience, practice, and a bit of professional training.  The back operated tethered to a computer and operation was most comfortably a two-person job.

Since those days, much has changed in the digital medium format world.  Hasselblad shook up the industry in September 2006 by closing out Leaf and everyone else with the All-Proprietary H3D.  Partnered with the scanner & digital back company Imacon, Hasselblad began creating cameras that operated as a unified machine: lens, back, and camera body.  The formula has been refined with the H3DII and now the H4D line of camera/back combinations and the current camera is a joy to use, in the studio or on location.

[more after the jump..] Read the rest of this entry »

Full Throttle 645, The Hasselblad H4D-40

In equipment, photography on September 19, 2010 at 8:32 pm

The Hasselblad H4D-40, Medium Format DSLR

Hasselblad’s “H” series is very arguably the finest family of cameras in the world, offering a robust line of camera bodies, lenses, digital and film backs, viewfinders, and accessories.  The Swedish company has hurdled into the digital age with a full line of lenses, cameras, and software that work in harmony to produce stunningly large and clear image files.  Through 5 generations of camera bodies, the H series has evolved in subtle reworkings, refining a modern camera built on solid 645 heritage.  Introduced in February 2010, this 40 MP iteration falls in line with Hasselblad’s 3 current camera offerings.  Together with the H4D-50 and H4D-60, photographers can select the Hassy that produces the most appropriate file size, sensors being the noticeable difference between the three.

[more after the jump..] Read the rest of this entry »

First Impressions, Hasselblad H4D-40

In equipment, photography on September 10, 2010 at 11:33 pm

The Hasselblad H4D-40, First Impressions

This is not an impressive photo, especially not as an opener for a series of entries on an impressive a camera.  What is impressive is that this is not a photo at all, but a 100% crop from a capture with this new beast-of-a-camera from Hasselblad.  To the proven controls, ergonomics, and lenses of the established H series, the H4D-40 adds an impressive new auto focus system and a new sensor.

I look forward to spending good time with the camera and sharing my experience, including a couple upcoming editorial portrait shoots.  This is an impressive camera.

Here’s the photo from which the above has been cropped:

[more after the jump..] Read the rest of this entry »

Urban Portrait Shoot, Rev. Harry Williams, Author, Minister, & Street Evangelist

In location shooting, photography on September 5, 2010 at 2:44 pm

Rev. Harry Williams, Minister at Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland, CA
and author of  Straight Outta East Oakland.

Rev. Harry is a unique figure in the infamous neighborhood of East Oakland.  He’s a saint, and has made a profession of working to improve lives in the impoverished community.  He’s a minister at Oakland’s Allen Temple Baptist Church and has written a compelling tale of life and hope in Deep East Oakland.  I really enjoyed meeting him and collaborating for these images.  The first shot, especially, is one that captures both the roughness and spirituality that run throughout the community.  I think successful life here places great need on a firm foundation.

[one more image after the jump..] Read the rest of this entry »

Image Quality and the Hasselblad H3DII-31

In equipment, photography on August 26, 2010 at 1:02 am

The Hasselblad H3DII-31

When compared to more nimble 35mm cameras there are certain compromises to shooting a big 645 DSLR.  It often operates more slowly, with less flexibility of exposure and focus, and – in most cases – it’s more cumbersome.  Is the added complexity and added cost worth it?  Do the trade-offs pay off once the files hit the hard drives and big TIFFs go to print?

Why race a Station Wagon and a Super Car?

I’ve been thinking through questions like these for a few weeks now and have a number of images from parallel shooting with a Nikon D3 and Hasselblad H3DII-31.  It’s a very interesting comparison, I think.  In some respects, it’s an unfair comparison.  The Nikon is half the cost and a fraction of the resolution.  The D3, though, is my primary working camera, and it’s been interesting to analyze the benefits of upgrading to medium format.

It would be interesting, also, to conduct similar comparisons with a Nikon D3X or a Sony A900 or a Canon 5DII or 1DS-III.  All of those have more MP than my D3, which is certainly a factor in image quality.  They all, however, have significantly less resolution than the H3DII-31, which is the humblest camera in the Hasselblad lineup.  Some of them, also, are not substantially less expensive than the now discounted H3DII-31.  So, whether with a D3X or D700, the comparison will be unfair.  If this were Car & Driver, I’d be comparing a Ferrari super car to a BMW sporty station wagon.  Similarly, there are times when a wagon is nice and when a super car is impractical; the question is: when is the compromise worth it? Read the rest of this entry »

On Location with the Hasselblad H3DII-31

In equipment, location shooting, photography on August 20, 2010 at 4:27 pm

It would be fair to consider this beast of a digital camera most at home in a photography studio, and perhaps not a natural choice for an editorial-style location portrait shoot.  As primarily a location shooter, though, I wanted to run a test in the vain of my usual work.  What is it like in the field?  Are the resulting files of sufficiently higher quality to justify the expense over a 35mm system?  Is it more complicated or difficult to use than my usual Nikon D3?  I’m hoping this entry might be of use to people with similar questions.  It was certainly an interesting experience for me!

First, the Hasselblad is a bigger, heavier camera than the D3 (which is saying something).  It’s not taller or wider, but certainly feels bigger.  Its lenses are huge, smooth metal tubes with clean, minimalist controls and markings.  It’s a hefty, robust camera, not something that feels frail or out of place in the field.  Ergonomically, it’s a joy to use, especially once you get used to a few traits unique to Hasselblad, like its purely electronic interface and its simplified, computer-like menu system.

THIS ENTRY – along with the rest of my blog – HAS MOVED TO A NEW HOME, PHOTO ARTS MONTHLY.  It’s bigger a better, and definitely worth a visit.

YOU CAN READ THE REST OF THE ENTRY HERE:

http://photoartsmonthly.com/blog/2010/08/20/on-location-with-the-hasselblad-h3dii-31/

 

Thank you!

Matt

Portrait Shoot, Rudy de Vos, Music Director at Christ Our Light Cathedral, Oakland, CA

In location shooting, photography on August 17, 2010 at 6:12 pm

Rudy de Vos, Music Director at Christ Our Light Cathedral, Oakland CA

A joy of photography is the people you meet.  Rudy is an inspiring musician working for Oakland’s beautiful new Cathedral on the salty shores of Lake Merritt.  He’s an eloquent master of the organ, and a soft-spoken man with an ambitious vision for the artistic future of our city.  He is new to his role, but is certain to be an influential figure in Oakland and in the greater Catholic Church.

Says Rudy: “Beauty is for everyone, regardless of social standing or level of education.  I always remind myself of the quote of the composer Franz Liszt: ‘The artist should not step upon the platform as the accused would appear before his judges, but as a true witness of beauty.’”

Photographed in Oakland, August 11, 2010,

Equipment used: Hasselblad H3DII-31, 80mm f2.8 and 28mm f4 HCD lenses Read the rest of this entry »

Entry-Level Digital Medium Format and the $10k Hasselblad H3DII-31

In digital workflow, equipment, photography on August 12, 2010 at 3:21 am

The Mighty Hassleblad H3DII-31

[I want to offer a Huge thanks to Keeble & Shuchat in Palo Alto and Hasselblad genius Randy Hoffman for loaning my studio this camera and a couple lenses.  Be sure to stop by if you happen to be in the Palo Alto area, it's an awesome camera store!]

Once, long ago, the folks at Nikon announced the much anticipated high-resolution version of the flagship Nikon D3, the 24 MP Nikon D3X.  The D3 is an awesome camera with perhaps only lower-than-average resolution preventing it from being the ultimate all-around professional camera.  The D3X might have been the answer for many photographers, but for the un-anticipated $8,000 price tag.

Meanwhile, buy-in pricing to the ethereal ranks of Medium Format Digital has been sneaking down to within near-competition of high-end 35 mm cameras like the D3X.  The newly-released (in Japan, at least) Pentax 645D deserves credit for shaking up the market with a roughly $10,000 price tag.  Shortly after the announcement, Mamiya and Hasselblad, the only two medium format manufacturers to  have miraculously weathered the digital revolution, both announced offerings in the neighborhood of $10,000: the Mamiya DM22 and this Hasselblad H3DII-31.

[more after the jump..]

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Online Proofing with Zenfolio

In digital workflow, marketing on August 6, 2010 at 1:03 pm

Zenfolio, Online Print/Proof/Download Service, www.zenfolio.com

I spent a good deal of time, both in paid experiments and 30-day trials, searching for the right online service for my studio’s Client Interface Page.  I have pretty specific needs and very high expectations, and Zenfolio was the first service that really worked for me.  I think it is slick and professional, flexible, and easy to use.  My client page has been up and running for more than a year now and has served me and my clients well.

First some features I enjoy about the Zenfolio experience:

-It integrates with Adobe Lightroom, allowing direct creation of folders and galleries and uploading from Lighroom’s Export dialog.

-It allows me to use my studio logo, choose fonts and colors, set my own URL, and add any links I’d like, all of which amount to a site that can integrate nicely in my overall Web presence.

[more after the jump..]

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