The Pixels in Pete's World

Seek out faces that are lit interestingly, it’s not so hard. You eyes will recognize this purely out of instinct because our eyes are attracted to contrast.

More than any other time during the year, graduations count as the top photo opportunity in our lives.

It’s a joyous milestone, after all, and no one ever objects to being photographed in that setting.

I’ve photographed many, many graduations over the years.

While I was the newspaper, some editor decided every single high school graduation had to be covered.

So, I’ve had to double up a few times, meaning hurriedly shoot one graduation then drive to the next high school, all the while making deadline.

Most of the time, the reporters will have their idea of who they want me to photograph, but I usually try for something spontaneous and  fun instead just a posed portrait of the graduate they are writing about.

If a compromise can’t be reached, I’ll do the portrait  but I’ll always look for something else.

Graduation stories always seem to work better when the picture on the cover is interesting,

(Keep in mind, when I am sent to cover a graduation, I’m not photographing every graduate receiving their diploma) Continue reading Better graduation pictures

Beat up and ready to fit to be burned but it’s a great disguise of a camera bag. No one wants to come close to it.

Torn, worn but this bag has been with me a while and it has good karma.

I’ve put it off for as long as I can friends.

It’s time for a new camera bag.

This one has seen better days.

It wasn’t until I recently found these pictures that I realized how long I’ve had these Domke bags-1989!

And that God knows how long ago it was that I bought them.

The BW photo is an actual print I scanned. On the back is the year “1989″ and it was signed : John Kleinman, a longtime Riverside photographer.

I’m not sure why these Domke bags were so popular amongst news photographers.

The designer of the bag Jim  Domke must have struck it rich.

From a strictly utilitarian point of view, it didn’t exactly have a lot of padding to product your gear.

Nor was it waterproof.

Human nature being what it is, it sort of became the badge of news photographers.

Continue reading Retiring an old workhorse of a camera bag

Jodi Newton was photographed with a Canon 40D with a 50mm lens. Two lights were used: an 800Ws White Lightning monolight and an Octodome fitted Canon 600EX-RT

bou●doir |ˈbo͞oˌdwär|
Typically shot in a photographer’s studio or luxury hotel suites, it has become fashionable to create a set of sensual or sexually suggestive images of women (and occasionally men and couples) in “boudoir style”. The most common manifestation of contemporary boudoir photography is to take variations of candid and posed photographs of the subject partly clothed or in lingerie. Nudity is more often implied than explicit.

Boudoir is not just a strange-looking sounding word, it also can have  an element of salaciousness attached to it.

Just ask any straight guy who owns a camera who has a jealous significant other.

The GWC (guy with camera) stigma is very hard to shake especially for guys who are serious about their photography.

Countless movies portraying perverts using cameras along with sex offenders as a seduction devices of young girls hasn’t helped.

Continue reading Boudoir photography

Staffer Al Podgorski’s gesturing with his thumbs poses with a few of his fellow photographers from the Chicago Sun-Times.

Earlier this week I read that very sad news that the Chicago Sun-Times let their staff of 28 or so photographers go.

It was shocking.

Even though the writing has been on the wall for at least 8 to 10 years, I was shocked by the suddenness and finality of the decision.

There was not even a hint of perhaps cutting back the staff, it was one day they had 28, the next, they were all gone,

Pulitzer Prize winner and all. Continue reading Can the iPhone replace staff photographers?