Landscape Photography

Summary:

For this episode of FotoTV Tech, Marc Ludwig has invited Shutterstock CEO Adam Riggs to discuss the stock photography platform and current trend of Microstock photography, as well as the future of Shutterstock photography. Riggs explains that Microstock photography is an offshoot of traditional stock photography.

Shutterstock sources their images almost exclusively via the Internet, from a wide range of photographers from amateurs, hobbyists, semi-professional and professional photographers, who are willing to sell there images at a very low rate, but at a very high volume per image. “The Microstock industry offers a wider variety of images, making it easier for the photographers to sell many of their images and easier for clients to find the right image”, Riggs says. There are a few guidelines that Riggs mentions which are important when trying to be a successful Shutterstock photographer.

Most important is to submit images that have broad appeal. Images that can have many meanings or interpretations usually sell well and clients from many different industries find practical usage for such images. Riggs recommends using an SLR digital camera as cameras and camera equipment is so advanced and inexpensive that almost anyone can afford it and produce quality stock imagery.

As for the future, Riggs sees the stock film footage trend growing the most, being very useful for graphic designers and interactive artists. Shutterstock Footage offers royalty-free video content with a library of over 145,000 video clips.

Summary:

Helmut Plamper, who has lived in Tuscany for about four years has invited FotoTV along to view some of the most beautiful scenic spots in and around Tuscany.

The photo-tour begins in majestic Montefelonico, which is near Montepulciano. Of particular interest here is the Hotel La Costa, which Plamper calls the “Photo Hotel,” because of its convenient location and the amazing panorama that can be photographed directly from the hotel window by good visibility.

Plamper explains that the wonderful landscape colors, tones of brown and green, not only result from the soil quality, but also from the artists of Tuscany. “They are artists that cultivate the fields with their tractors,” he quips. “And when the soil has been freshly plowed you see the dark soil, which results marvelously, in what the Americans term, “Pattern Shots.” You can’t find this great aspect anywhere as good as here in Tuscany.”

Tuscany has an abundance to offer, with its many photogenic scenes, and rolling landscape. Some of the other notable tour stops included, but were not limited to, Crete Senesi, Val Dorccia, Belvedere, and San Quirico.

On the road, San Quirico to Pienza, there is the admired Chapel Daveta Leta; it is a popular photo motif in Tuscany. Most impressive in the area are the many newly planted cypress trees. Plamper explains that a couple of decades prior there was a mass number of cypress tree deaths, due to a type of tree canker disease. And in the meantime many cypress trees have been reforested in an attempt to resurrect the original scene of Tuscany, to ensure magnificent cypress tree scenery that the people of Tuscany and photo-enthusiasts alike, love so well.

Plamper gives useful information on traveling to and from Tuscany, as well as insider tips, and ideal times to photograph specific areas and locations there, around the year.

Summary:

In this film, Fred Picker gives us comprehensive insight to his photographic prints from his four previous films on FotoTV; “photographing the wall, photographing the fence, photographing the sculptures, and photographing the river”. All four films and the corresponding prints are meticulously evaluated, along with tips and helpful commentary from Picker. He discusses each print and how he treated it and therefore, why he chose it.

His valuable technical information regarding tonal value, composition, cropping, development time, shapes and forms, aperture and all other relevant terms in his photography and printing are wonderfully reviewed. Picker wraps up this series beautifully with the necessary information not only regarding photography itself, but the mastery of photographic printing.

This film brings a harmonious closure to an exciting and unique film series courtesy of Calumet Photographic Inc. USA. Internationally celebrated photographer, Fred Picker will be long remembered for his photographic work.

Picker’s wide, sweeping wilderness landscapes and intimate studies of natural forms have been held up alongside the work of Ansel Adams, Paul Strand and Edward Weston. Picker was involved in the manufacture of 4 x 5 and 8 x 10 large format field cameras. And his filters, camera designs, tripods and other photographic aids are still considered indispensable tools of the trade by photographers.

He taught a highly successful photography class known as "The Zone VI Workshop," and authored a book by the same name that has become recognized as the golden standard of photographic instruction. His uncanny sense of "photographer's intuition” and his passion for the art was a unique combination. Always opinionated and oft times controversial, his dedication to large format photography was unsurpassed.

Many called Picker’s straightforward approach to the relationship between the "scene" and the final print, pure genius. But Picker himself had a more grounded approach to encouraging his students and other photographers. Picker will always be known for saying, "If you want to know what happens with this or that, don't ask me ... test it." That phrase was simple, but it made perfect sense to the many who have followed his wise advice. With a love for the photographic art form, his contributions to photography as an educator, equipment designer/manufacturer, writer and artist, Picker was a true Pioneer that improved the field of photography.

Picker once wrote, on the occasion of Ansel Adams’s passing away, to "lift a glass to him, he would appreciate that". That’s Picker: always thoughtful, always caring. Fred Picker, 1927 - 2002 *Special thanks to Calumet Photographic USA for making this film available to FotoTV

Summary:

In this film, Fred Picker photographs the sculptress Judith Brown on location at her home and Atelier. Brown’s unique way in creating her art form is quite interesting for Picker, and a good way to capture the essence of her work and person. Her sculptures are made from such peculiar and ingenious items such as, twisted steel, mangled metal, automobile rims, license plates, roof ventilators, and even a front end of a Volkswagen Bug.

The location is Vermont and Picker describes it at as a place like no other seen by him before, with sprawling gardens sprouting statues of metal and steel. For a novice or professional, this is definitely a stark scene of contrast worth beholding.

As Picker notes in this film” It is his job as a photographer to do what feels strong and right, otherwise he won’t do it well.” Once again Picker creates subtle portraits of juxtaposed images of brash objects, together in a flowing and iconic portrait sitting of Judith Brown. Picker believes the first picture in such a portrait sitting is usually the best. And he was right. He places Brown in elegant, almost regal poses, amidst all those steel statues. We are enchanted by the results, as Picker humbly explains the logic behind his passion and what excites him.

Technically accurate, Picker gives us even more insight to what equipment and methods he uses. For instance, the 210 mm lens, turned slightly on its vertical access has a very effective outcome for Picker. These are the quiet tips one could only learn from a master.

Internationally celebrated photographer, Fred Picker will be long remembered for his photographic work. Picker’s wide, sweeping wilderness landscapes and intimate studies of natural forms have been held up alongside the work of Ansel Adams, Paul Strand and Edward Weston.

Picker was involved in the manufacture of 4 x 5 and 8 x 10 large format field cameras. And his filters, camera designs, tripods and other photographic aids are still considered indispensable tools of the trade by photographers. He taught a highly successful photography class known as "The Zone VI Workshop," and authored a book by the same name that has become recognized as the golden standard of photographic instruction.

His uncanny sense of "photographer's intuition” and his passion for the art was a unique combination. Always opinionated and oft times controversial, his dedication to large format photography was unsurpassed. Many called Picker’s straightforward approach to the relationship between the "scene" and the final print, pure genius. But Picker himself had a more grounded approach to encouraging his students and other photographers. Picker will always be known for saying, "If you want to know what happens with this or that, don't ask me ... test it." That phrase was simple, but it made perfect sense to the many who have followed his wise advice.

With a love for the photographic art form, his contributions to photography as an educator, equipment designer/manufacturer, writer and artist, Picker was a true Pioneer that improved the field of photography.

Picker once wrote, on the occasion of Ansel Adams’s passing away, to "lift a glass to him, he would appreciate that". That’s Picker: always thoughtful, always caring.

Fred Picker, 1927 - 2002

*Special thanks to Calumet Photographic USA for making this film available to FotoTV