In a restaurant where they think it is required to make diners listen to some sort of music, I heard My Heroes Have Always Cowboys by Willie Nelson. It occurred to me that MY heroes have always been photographers. Photographers like Joseph Karsh (famous people portraits), Bert Stern (commercial & star portraits), Ansel Adams ( zone system exposure landscapes with an 8 x 10 camera and prints only by contact), Edward Weston (landscapes, still-lifes & portraits), Joe Rosenthal (AP War Correspondent) and the Life & National Geographic staff photographers. These amazing people are what inspired me to get a camera and start making photographs when I was in my teens. After seeing the fantastic photographs posted by many of the regulars here on Ugly Hedgehog, I have been inspired to take camera in hand once again after I became so burned out on Commercial/Industrial photography several years ago. Thank you all for sharing your wonderful photographic talents.

I attend estate sales on a regular basis looking for old camera gear and first edition books. All too often I see boxes of yellowed old photographs of smiling children, portraits and family groups all with happy faces. How sad it is that these treasured keepsakes of the older family members mean nothing to the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. It seems that in today's rush-about world family history means nothing. Fortunately, when my grandparents were still alive, I sat down with them and wrote the names and relationship of each person on the back of the photograph. I then gathered all the prints (and negatives where possible) and scanned and saved to CD. After each set of grandparents passed, no other family member was interested in the photographs. Now, 30 years later, everyone began wistfully wishing they had saved the photographs. Imagine their surprise when they received a full CD of family history photographs and sound recordings of the family members relating their life stories to the tape machine for posterity.

Great Uncle Truely & Granddad's first car.


Steven & Melissa Rogers, Sons Marvin & Dewitt & dog Watch

Probably the best wildlife candid I have ever seen!

I too agree that #1 needs detail in the sky, but is a perfect crop and interesting subject matter. In my opinion, #2 needs to be re-cropped to show the tops of the trees' reflection in the water. Sadly, #3 reminds me of a Rorsarch test. However, you have a winner in #1 and if you can PP some detail into the sky, a STELLAR photograph.

GOOD FOR YOU!! I LOVE large format press cameras. Great for just about anything from macro to portrait & landscape. I have even shot weddings with a 4x5 press camera. Just be sure you have enough film holders to get all the shots you want. An old trick with the holders is on the top side of the slide frame. Notice one side is bright metal, the other painted black. Bright = unexposed, black = exposed so you won't ever get double exposures :-) PLUS you can blow the prints up to 30" x 40" with very little grain degradation.

Yes, I have a background in journalism but always found industrial/commercial photography more lucrative. Even when these photographs were created, none of these people (especially the women) felt that they were in any way deprived. My current contacts in the region report that now they are doubly convinced that they have it much better than we do. My four years spent in the middle east taught me to respect the wonderful diversity of other cultures and developed my love of candid portraits to demonstrate that diversity of a very happy people.

Through a window on the world.


Bazzar tobacco vendor.


Anybody home?

OK, here are three from a few years ago.

Weaving a handmade carpet.


Spinning wool for carpet yarn.


Wiley old man.

Longhorn cattle drive everyday in Fort Worth Stockyards.

Cows ambling down the streeet


Horny


The End(s)

I am a retired professional industrial photographer with 25+ years in the business. However, the love of photography goes back to high school when I found a really nice Leica CIII in a 2nd hand store. About 15 years ago while at a huge aircraft factory I burned out on photography and just walked away. Now photography has become an interest again due to the knock your socks off digital cameras available and being retired and able to do what I want when I want.

My first photograph (of ME)


Self portrait 1975


Early this year

Depends on if it is a studio portrait or a candid portrait. For studio, I used a 4x5 format with a Schnider-Kreuznach f5.6 150mm (just a bit up from normal). For candid photographs (by far my favorite because studio is just too rote) I use a normal to 5x zoom lens such as a 70-300 f4.5-5.6 zoom on my Nikon D5100. However, I used a Hasselblad 140-280mm Variogon f5.6 Zoom Lens‎ on 2-1/4 format because of the limited zooms available.

4 x 5 Studio


2-1/4 Studio (Broken rule of thirds)


35mm Candid Portrait

Thank you. I have several more photographs of the same Iranian girl in the same costume. When I get back home Tuesday I'll post them for you so you can see how beautiful and photogenic she was.[/quote]


As promised............

A foggy day in Estes Park Colorado and Rocky Mountain National Park.

Clouds, Estes Park


Road to the clouds.

Would LOVE to be a part of a webinar on Photoshop...anytime!

AMAZING flower photographs on your flickr site.

Hypnotic ! WAY cool!