Mike Wiesman Photography

Circle Crop?

Awhile ago on the PDN Photo of the Day they featured Photographer Deborah Luster. It got me to thinking, a circle crop.

What are you thoughts about this circle view-finder?

It brings a entirely new point of view to photography. It makes me think that I am in a submarine looking thought the porthole at the world around me. I am not negatively influenced, nor positively. I simply find it intriguing and engaging. So much so that I have gone thorough a lot of my images and cropped them circular.

Problem being that in our day-in-age, the circle crop is iconically ruined by the “sports button” that soccer-moms wear to proudly boast that their child is playing on the school sporting team. I played sports in high school, they are great for students that have the talents and can succeed in it, but it’s strange how my mind signifies the circle crop back to a sports button reference.

Perhaps this is where my infatuation with the fish-eye lens comes from? What ever the effect, it surly draws all the attention to the center of the photograph. But wow, it also does soo much more, I just cannot put my tongue on it. Let discuss this and figure out what it is about this circle crop that is so addicting!

-Mw

Enjoying the Process of Photography, and Life

We are living in a society that instantly gives us feedback and interacts and spreads like wildfire. We also have adapted that the “success” of the photograph  is how many comments we have socially received. The more the better is what social media is telling us, the most twitter followers, the most published photographs, Google Analytics, and of course Facebook fans and friends. I too am guilty of getting caught up in the social success of a shoot, and often have forgotten where my true passion for photography came from. The Process.

The creative process, the planning, the composition, the challenge of a tough exposure, building a set, your gear not working properly (or not working at all), the really late nights, the early mornings, all the blogs and web sites that have taught you along your way,  and don’t forget the people that we work with along with way. These are the elements of The Process. A process that we enjoy so much that sometimes we tend to over look it. We have to take a step back, and look at the overall, picture. (pun intended) All the little things that go into photography, or any art, is what many of us enjoy the most. The story behind the photograph is sometimes the best part.

Don’t be afraid to shoot new things. Chances are that if you feel uncomfortable shooting them, you have little experience in that subject matter. With experience comes confidence; also part of the process. Unbuckle yourself from your shooting seatbelt and get out there and make pictures. Have fun with it, enjoy making your story. Keep some notes if you like. But there is one thing you should do, share your story.

My Favorite and Most Memorable Photos of 2010

Compiling and condensing 25,000+ photographs can be a bit time consuming if you know what I mean. Thank God they have programs like Aperture, Adobe Bridge and Lightroom to help make this process much more efficient. Needless to say, 2010 brought an interesting beginning and a sad ending for me. The loss of my father, along with quite a few friends that I have known throughout my life had a lasting impact on me that will never be forgotten. It is through us that the departed continue to live on. Here’s a majority of what I shot in 2010, not everything, but a really great summery. Great times, great memories, and even greater stories to tell from each and everyone of the pictures below. I did although have to leave out a few select shots due to them not being published yet, I’ll make sure to let you know when those release! Other than that, enjoy a little recap of 2010. Thank-you to everyone who I have worked with as well, without you, there wouldn’t be these pictures.

Sunday Coffee Links 1-30-2011

• David E Jackson is the Monthly Guest on Glyn Dewis’ Photography Blog. Some great reading from a photographer that’s CRUSHIN’ IT right here in Wisconsin. Glyn and David go through an extensive Q&A session that I think everyone can take something away from.
• Big announcement this week from two of the best in the industry, Joe McNally and David Hobby have teamed up with a load of sponsors to launch a 29-city tour titled, Flash Bus Tour ’11. You will for sure see me as the Madison Wisconsin tour stop. Tickets go on sale tomorrow morning.
• My favorite test-shot web site is back up and running with a new look, light-test.com. Submit your test shots daily for a chance to be featured!
• Ever hear of a 80-Megapixel camera? Well, it’s here. Phase One Announces a new medium format camera back. (at 80-Megapixels I don’t know if that quailfies as medium format?)
• The PDN Faces Photo Contest deadline is approaching quickly. If you don’t plan on entering, at least take a look through the entries for a rundown of some pretty awesome photography.
• Just for the fun of it, here are 20 fun shots of Lizards.
• As Still and Video have started to overlap in digital production, some photographers turning into videographers find it hard to work with art directors fearing that they will have to give up creative control. Jeff Newton, a Phoenix based photographer, was hired by FOX to shoot a national campaign…with one exception; he would have to work with a director of photography instead of shooting it all on his own. Jeff decided to take it as a learning experience, and says he’s glad he did. Check out the article and videos here.
• Ever wonder what someone would use 500,000 ladybugs for? No? Me either, until now. Ed Zipco used them for a fashion shoot. I’ve include the video below.

Better Gear, Better Photos? Not Always the Case.

Photography has so many unique little groups & niches, styles, do-it-yourself(ers), vintage camera gurus, film & expired film addicts, big-lensed wildlife photogs, sports…..the list is ultimately endless. But there IS one category that even you will find yourself getting caught in. The Gear. And I mean, why not? Every photography magazine you pick up these days has ample reason to give you lens-envy, along with the mentality that if you had all this fancy gear, your photography is going to instantly improve and before you know it you will be on the sidelines shooting the next cover of Sports Illustrated, if not making some pocket change on the side at your kid’s soccer games.

Making great pictures isn’t about the gear at all. It’s more about knowing the gear that you already have, and putting it to work to produce the results that you envision. I too find myself caught in the gear battle. Saying things like, “If I only had that 200mm f2 that Nikon just released,” and “I wish that I had this lens because then I could shoot this.” I often am embarrassed to show my camera bag off because of the age of my lenses……..and that I don’t have a dreamy Nikon D3s or D3x glowing when I open it. But I am OK with that. It was not easy, and yes it is much like  a running race….it’s a 90% mental battle. Again, it’s NOT about the gear that you have.

Not to down-talk professional level gear…….there are many reasons that it is pro-level gear and I will get into that on another post in the future. But pro gear is the best because as professionals, we demand the most out of our gear, and have to count on it.

My trusty MF Nikkor 5omm f:1.4 – Not only is it old, it’s also one of my most used lenses,  it’s also manual focus. Some of you might even refer to it as “Old School.”

The portrait of Dean above was shot at 1/125th sec @ f1.4 with the 50mm. What I have discovered as my most efficient way of shooting with my MF lenses is that I will often set the lens to the closest focal length and actually physically move my body  either closer to or further away to my subject to achieve what focus I want. Instead of turning the focus ring on the lens barrel, this is my way of focusing, it also allows me more time to interact and talk with my subject. It transforms the process of auto-focus, which requires nothing more than picking a AF-spot and hitting a button – into a compositional melody and dance that connects me with making the image that I see. I have entire control and am in complete harmony with my images being captured with the camera. I would not have it any other way.

The above image was shot with a MF 14mm f3.5 fish-eye. (Captured on a DX sensor camera, so the fish-eye effect is not as magnified as usual.)

This hood-ornament on the Chevy was taken with a MF 105mm f2.5 @ 1/8000 sec f2.5. An old lens that anyone can pick up on eBay around $100. Again setting the focus-ring at the closest focal distance and moving closer to or further away as my way of focusing.

This city bokeh shot above was taken with the 50mm lens described above at 1/160s @ f2.8. Again, it’s not about what gear you have, it’s about capturing what you see and doing it with your personal style, touch, and eye. I cannot stress that enough.

I will add that Nikon users will find that most of the older lenses are able to mount on the new digital bodies. Obviously the AF won’t work and you will have to shoot in “M” mode, but to a pleasant surprise the exposure meter still works with most lenses. How wonderful is that?! Canon folks cannot say the same, Canon has changed their lens mount more than a few times so the compatibility with lens and body isn’t as happy as Nikon. So go dig up Grandpa’s and Dad’s old lenses and have some fun with your photography!

-mw

Sunday (Packer Celebration) Links 1-23-11

Go Pack!

-mw

Dana Erlandson

Wisconsin singer/songwriter, Dana Erlandson, has been working the mid-western music scene for two and half decades. A very talented musician, an antique guitar collector-fixer-upper and a wealth of musical knowledge, as well as being a down to earth nice guy, Erlandson approached me to get some new promo shots. I greatly obliged knowing that it would be a great time get to know him a little better and share some stories. He’s also been on my list of friends to add to my ongoing “Friends” project. (More to come on that in mid-2011).

This was a pretty simple setup, a 24″ Lastolite Ezybox HotShoe Softbox with a SB-900 on remote channel A, with a SB-600 as a kicker on channel B. I used a SB-800 on my camera as a master to control them separately. Shutter speed was around 1/60th-1/80th to let some of the ambient fill in the background. Now that I think of it, I also had the SB-800 putting out a 1/128th power as a on-axis fill, of course with the diffusion dome attached.

After working upstairs on a few shots we moved to another location to shoot a few more environmental portraits of Dana in his “workshop”. Here I wanted to make sure that I got some detail in the background, so I used a shutter speed around 1/30th-1/60th with the speedlights firing on Rear-sync to assure that if there was any movement, it would get burned-in crisp at the end of the exposure. I Some people ask why I shoot so slow, I don’t know, I guess it’s my style. I tell them that it’s just way I have always done things. Plus I like to use the lowest ISO that I can.

Thanks for the shoot Dana!

-mw

Sunday Coffee Links 1-16-2011

I have had a lot positive feedback so far from the past few weeks of Sunday Coffee Links that I have put together. Thanks to those who have followed along. It’s one of my more time consuming posts that I put together so it’s good to get some feedback on it. Feedback in mind, I would like to hear a bit about what it is that you are interested in? What makes your creative juices flow? What are you surfing the web for and what keeps you distracted when you just can’t stay away from photography? That being said, here’s this weeks links;

• Sigma released a 85mm f1.4EX DG HSM lens that rivals Nikon and Canon name brand lenses. Check out PDN’s Product Review and it might just save you $500!
• Remember Huck Finn? I sure do, but I don’t remember the characters in the book ever looking like this! Great photography by Kent Marcus and a great BTS video too! (He also lost some equipment to the river thanks to a wind that kicked up out of nowhere. — not cool, but something that many of us can relate to.)
• A blog that I have started to follow, The Sartorialist threw me a total spin the other day with this post. Got me thinking about how many things like this go unnoticed in our lives. There is also a neat video about how he works.
• A day in the life of a Paintball Photographer. There’s a niche of photography that I never thought of!
• How does one turn a water-stained plain white hall into a photo studio? Watch and read how David Hobby makes something out of nothing and turns a Nikon SB-800 into a laser.
• Last but not least, Jared Polin. FroKnowsPhoto.com. Photographers of all skill levels should check him out. From product reviews, to behind the scenes videos, contests and tutorials, Polin is sharing his passion for photography with the world and his form of communication is addicting.

Walkabout in the Snow

Yesterday we were the lucky recipient of a fresh snowfall here in the midwest. I took a break from compiling my “Best of 2010″ collection to let my mind absorb the world as it is. (Something that I have learned is vital to a creative like myself.) Bundled up from the elements and my Nikon in my hand, I found a few pictures that were just waiting to be taken. After going through them while warming up with a cup of java, I thought to myself, “If I didn’t take these pictures today, these moments would have gone unnoticed for the rest of time.” We as photographers have a very important role in life. Please share your comments.