Jack Markham's Blog

a slice of time

jack0137 — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 16:08:23 +0000

Look at the photograph of our cat Keekee playing with a mouse that she caught. It’s a slice of time that you can hold in your hand. The fleeting moment, the fleeting expression that you could miss in the blink of an eye; but that the camera’s eye did not miss. Any yes, this is an example of what Henri Cartier-Bresson calls the decisive moment. It is the essence of still photography.

As you remember the joy of the image.

jack0137 — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 00:41:43 +0000

I’ve been thinking about Thom Hogan’s assertion (bythom.com) that photographers should capture optimal data. Capturing optimal data requires that you endeavor to learn both the craft and science of photography in order to capture the best digital negative that your camera can produce. You do this by making dozens of decisions about the image such as shooting in RAW with optimal camera settings, exposing thoughtfully, choosing your RAW converter carefully. All this and more so that you can produce an image as you remember it. Ansel Adams called this process pre-visualization.

My brother and I recently spent an afternoon together printing using my Epson R2880. It was a wonderful and amazing experience. My brother had made a photograph of a two masted schooner off the coast of Maine. The ship was moored in fog. It’s a beautiful photograph. We each worked post processing the image making the best image we could. The two images had significant differences. My brother, having made the image in his camera, remembered the gray fogginess of the atmosphere and the ship in that soft fog. I, on the other hand, having not had the experience of making the photograph, made an image that was more contrasty and bright looking. We made 13×19 inch prints of my brother’s interpretation of the image.

Still photography allows you to produce an image that evokes the emotional response you had when the shutter clicked. It is the wonder and magic of photography.

Here’s an image that I made a week ago in Door County, Wisconsin just after sunset. The image is as I remember it.

The Fox

jack0137 — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 03:52:25 +0000

As I drove to school today crossing the drumlin field on my way to Highway 41, I happened upon a fox. I take great pleasure in seeing a fox in the fields and so it was this morning that I slowed my car to get a better look at this fox not prancing in a straight line as I usually see them move, but zig-zaging. I soon realized to my utter amazement that the fox was spelling out “It’s a good chemistry day!” in the snow as he moved along. I stopped my car and lowered the window to get a better view. The fox also stopped and for a moment just looked at me with what I swear was with a quizzical look. “Yes!”, I yelled to the fox, “It is a good chemistry day!” And then I said, “I didn’t know foxes could spell.” The fox, in a foxy kind of barky voice, said “I didn’t know humans could read.” And, yes, it really happened.

Printing again.

jack0137 — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 00:53:28 +0000

Today I made a photograph of GhostRider that I like very much. She is a talkative, expressive cat and loves to bounce around on our bed. The main light from a window, reflecting off the bedding, also provided the necessary fill. This photo is special to me not only because I captured something special about GhostRider; but because as soon as I finished the post processing of the image, I printed it. The print is beautiful.

Last summer I purchased an Epson R2880 photo printer. I have been truly amazed at the quality of the prints that I have been getting with this printer. Not since my wet darkroom, now two decades ago, have I been able to make prints that please me. I did not realize how important producing a print was to me and what loss I felt without this joyful part of the photographic process. Today, I got that joy back.

Ever since I have been storing my photographs on hard drives, I have been acutely aware that the now digital negatives will most likely someday be lost. What will remain of my photography is prints.

Memories from the Milwaukee Zoo

jack0137 — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 02:32:45 +0000

Here are some of my memories from a visit to the Milwaukee Zoo on a wonderful day in August, 2009.

Still photography. Still not video.

jack0137 — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 01:50:02 +0000

Think about a memory. What do you see? You see a still image. It’s the way your brain stores memories. Our brains do not store video. Our brains store still images. Still photography produces images the way we remember them. Video produces images the way we see them. Both still photographs and videos can evoke emotions, create moods, and inspire. Both are wonderful. Both are so different from each other.

Today we hear much about the so called convergence of still photography and video. Manufactures of even high-end DSLR cameras feel the need to include video in the still camera, even though to make even modestly good use of this included video, thousands of dollars worth of bulky add-ons need to be bolted to the camera. I shake my head and wonder if still photographers have ever heard of actual video cameras.

I use Nikon DSLR cameras. My D700 gives me images that please me so much. I want Nikon to put all engineering efforts going into the next version of the D700 toward improving the still capabilities of the camera. I do not want resources waisted on including video. But, what I want is not what I will get. And, I do believe, this is a sorry state of affairs.