As my first day of blogging comes to a close, I'd like to leave you with one last nugget of Science Day tastiness. Ever since the dawn of time, man has been working tirelessly to increase the frame per second that could be captured by a camera. Actually, that's not true at all. Nevertheless, intrepid engineers haven't stopped trying to increase the frame rate to capture those brief moments in time that give us everything from "peak action" in sports to the most interesting scientific applications. So I ask you, how many frames per second do you need?

3fps


5fps


9fps



21fps


60fps


300fps


500fps
Dog shaking off water

I have a theory that I'd like to share with you. No matter what the skill, there is a Michael Jordan of that skill in the world. For example, somewhere there's a Michael Jordan of mopping. He/She can mop faster and better than anyone -- possibly even by leaps and bounds.

Therefore, it follows that there must be a Michael Jordan of ant photography. Possible? Is it possible that I found him?


Photo by Alex Wild

Alex Wild is a biologist at the University of Arizona with a doctorate in entymology. You might know him from his research papers " Taxonomic revision of the ant genus Linepithema (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)" or the sleeper "Observations on larval cannibalism and other behaviors in a captive colony of Amblyopone oregonensis."

On a more serious note, someone has to photograph ants for textbooks, newspapers, magazines, websites, etc. And Alex Wild is your man running both AlexWild.com and Myrmecos.net (the ancient Greek word for "ant"), and before he hopped on a plane to South Africa, he consented to speak with me.

You are a biologist at the University of Arizona. At what point did you get interested in photography?

Like many digital photographers, I started as a hobbyist.  I was already a graduate student in entomology (the study of insects), and I photographed what I liked. So I was taking bug pictures in my back yard with a little digicam. This was several years ago when Nikon was still making those great swivel-body coolpix designs.

The timing was fortuitous for my photography career.  Flickr, Smugmug and the other photo-sharing sites weren?t around at the time, so I had to build my own site to have a place to display my photos.  The thought of licensing the photos hadn?t occurred to me, I was just a bug geek who wanted to put photos on the web. If I had started now instead of 2002, I would have just uploaded my pictures to FlickR and left it at that.  I didn?t realize it then, but having
an independent internet presence would be important.

When did you start licensing your photos? What kind of clients purchase these images?

In 2003, the first year of myrmecos.net, the internet was smaller. The stock agencies hadn?t yet figured out the importance of the internet.  I started getting emails from photo editors who found me through Google and wanted to license my images, a complete surprise, so I scrambled to figure out how to conduct business.

My clients are diverse.  Newspapers use my photos to accompany science
reporting, pest control companies use them for advertisements, science museums
use them in exhibits.  I get a lot of textbooks and field guides as well.


Photo by Alex Wild

Did you determine there was a dearth of high quality ant photographs?

The issue with insect photographs is not that there aren't enough of them. The digital revolution has brought us a whole new generation of prolific insect photographers.  Rather, the issue is that much of the demand for insect photos is for particular species showing particular behaviors. The value comes from the technical information about the subject just as much as the aesthetics of the image, and most people taking insect photos lack the training to recognize what they're shooting, or to know what to shoot.

Entomology is a specialized discipline that requires a fair amount of training, and many of the top-tier of insect photographers- people like Piotr Naskrecki (The Smaller Majority) and Mark Moffett (National Geographic)- are Ph.D. scientists with a string of research publications.  Just as for fashion or sports photography, successful insect photographers need an insider's
knowledge of their field.

How did you determine your licensing prices?

Gosh, I'm still figuring that out.  It's trial and error.  Some clients express surprise at what a bargain they're getting while others tell me they can't meet my rates.  Between the two, one develops a sense of where the market is for a particular kind of use.  For example, newspapers are cash-strapped at the moment and generally have no budget for science images.

At the front of each issue of Seed Magazine is your typical list of contributors, however, instead of using tiny headshots like most magazines, Seed commissions Bernd Shifferdecker to paint a portrait. They are so fabulous as to make you stop and pause and appreciate the craftsmanship of a true artist. And while his output isn't a photograph, there certainly is a photorealistic quality to the images.

He speaks good English too. Danke, Bernd!



Illustrations by Bernd Schifferdecker


Illustrations by Bernd Schifferdecker



Photo by Noah Kalina


You live in Germany. How did Seed magazine find you?

Sagmeister Inc. made the redesign for Seed magazine. They suggested this style for the contributors section.

How do you create a portrait for the magazine?

They send me photos of very different quality and then I try to convert portraits into this style. Sometimes I have to make the illustrations in 2-3 days. I use acrylics to paint them.

The lighting for each portrait looks very similar. how closely do your portraits match the photo?

I use as many details as I can get. The lighting is sometimes too extreme and then I would try to adjust it for the series.

Have you ever noticed that camera gear is expensive? When I think about all the I've spent on gear in my life, my body starts to shake a little like Ricky Martin on crack. There is also the matter of utility -- I don't use those two strip softboxes sitting under my bed...ever. So in attempt to keep cost and utility in mind, I present to you 10 pieces of gear under $50 that you should own...

Lumiquest Pocket Bounce $20



There are a lot of variations of the flash-diffuser (like the Stofen Omni-Bounce or Gary Fong's weird light sphere), and depending on the quality of light you desire, you might find something better suited to your taste. For me, this $20 piece of plastic coated cardboard does pretty damn well. It's diffuse, but still directional, and when I drag my shutter to get a little ambient light going, the pictures look sweet like butter. Sweet butter, that is.

$22.95


Honl Speed Strap



I love the Lumiquest, but I don't like the Velcro stickers you have to stick on the flash. So I was really happy to see that David Honl created a little velco strap to go with his set of flash attachments. Ah, no more stickiness on my flash. That should increase the eBay resale value by a couple bucks. And while you're at it, grab a couple of Honl flash snoots too.

$9.95

Lens Pen



Lenspen makes it, and Nikon OEMs it. I don't really understand the physics behind this thing, but it sure keeps my lenses clean. Apparently carbon is pretty good at cleaning stuff, so why not stick some on a little microfiber nib and market it for a couple bucks. Add a little condensation from my hot breath, and voila, much better than spray on lens cleaner.

$9.95

Leatherman Juice C2
The smallest Leatherman model, appropriately called the "Keychain," doesn't have pliers, and you need pliers. You need them because things have a tendency to get stuck - little tiny things - that you're grubby fingers are too big and weak to move. Oh yeah, gotta have a bottle opener for the after shoot brewskie.

$41

Conspiracy theorists might have reason to be skeptical of a chemical company that appeals to our humanity after selling Napalm to the US Military. But that was then and this is now (and silicone breast implants are back en vogue too). Last year, the Dow Chemical Company introduced "The Human Element" advertising campaign, which was developed by the ad agency Draft FCB.


The campaign has aged well, and more recently I've started to see some of Steve McCurry's (of National Geographic "Afghan Girl" fame) images from southeast Asia being used in various contexts (truth be told, I saw them in Seed Magazine!). Big props to Draft FCB and Dow for pushing magnificent photojournalistic images in their ad campaigns. When people complain about stock photos looking bad, a large part of blame goes to the image buyers for not "pushing" photography further.

Photojournalist-turned-lifestyle photographer, Mark Richards started the Core Memory Project to skillfully photograph old computer equipment. Sounds mundane? In a society that juxtaposes Moore's Law with a disposable mentality, it's cool to see old equipment as art.

Love it? You can get an art print on his website, or buy the book.

Your regularly scheduled host, Rachel "The Glove" Hulin is getting some well-deserved R&R this week, and she foolishly tapped me to fill the void to give you some photo blog crack. But before we get started, let's get a few things straight: Although I'm the CEO/Co-Founder of PhotoShelter, I am not nearly as cool nor as knowledgeable about photos as Rachel. So when I tell you that I've found a really great scenic photographer named Ansel Adams, don't let the tomatoes fly. I'm just trying to impart some photo love upon you.

Today is officially science day here on Shoot! The Blog, and truth be told, I'm a bit of a closet nerd. While I'm not particularly bright, I subscribe to three (count 'em) science magazines: 1) Scientific American, 2) Discover, and most recently 3) Seed Magazine.

Seed is a real departure from the density of most science magazines because of their superior graphic design and art direction, but also because of their mantra of "Science is Culture." They are very interested in science as it relates to humanity, and in that respect, they are hoping to make science more relevant to everyone. I can dig that.

When I hopped on my morning subway commute and opened up the August 2008 issue, I' was happily surprised to see a photo essay by PhotoShelter contributor Noah Kalina, who you might know better as the guy who took a picture of himself for six years. Noah's covered the rather prosaic topic of "Labs at Night." Let's take a little chat.


Social Robotics Laboratory at Yale University. Photo by Noah Kalina.

I love Seed. How the heck did they find you? Was it because of your project to try to shoot every restaurant in NYC?

I got a call from the Art Director Jeffrey Docherty.  He told me he had been following my work on flickr for quite some time, back when he was working at the New York Times Magazine. He wasn't ever able to get me any work there, but when he took over the AD spot at SEED he gave me a ring. I initially did a series of portraits for their March/April issue and then this project came up and he thought I was perfect for it.

I think I need to clear up the "shoot every restaurant in NYC empty" project.  For about 4 years I was the primary photographer for AOL CityGuide, Zagat.com and Eater.com. I also contributed work to every other city guide or magazine you can imagine. I shot a lot of restaurant interiors.  Over 3,000. I always preferred to shoot the spaces empty, and since I have so many of them with that particular look, it seemed like it could have been an actual project. The fact of the matter is it was just my main job.

Momofuku Ko. Photo by Noah Kalina.

That said, my experience shooting empty spaces was probably the reason Jeff thought I was a good fit for this assignment.

This was the last issue Jeff worked on for Seed, he is now the AD at Visionaire. Jeff is awesome. Jeff and I are currently working on a book of my photographs together.:

Since it is a science magazine, let's get a little geeky. The light in the Stanford Linear Accelerator and the Hetzer Laboratory looks really white, whereas I would imagine that sodium vapor lights would be more common. Did you do some crazy white balancing?

The corridor shot that was published is actually a new tunnel that they are building and it is currently under construction. They had those construction type lights running the length of the tunnel. They weren't Sodium Vapor, I think they were just florescent bulbs. So to the eyes, they were white. But yes, I do color correct my photos and probably shifted it a little bluer than it actually appeared.

Photos by Noah Kalina.

Richard Mosse has been one of my favorite photographers for some time now, and I've been waiting for an applicable time to feature his Air Disaster project. Since I'm flying off across the ocean tomorrow (more on this later), it seems appropriate to look at imagery of planes on fire.

Mosse, a recent graduate of the Yale MFA program, shoots both disaster simulations and actual crashes with a view camera. I find the results stunning and otherworldy, and strangely comforting the day before I get on a long flight. I mean, what are the odds I would blog about a plane disaster and then die in a plane disaster? And then if I DID, wouldn't it be fantastic irony?!

Ok, moving on (where's the xanax and white wine when you need it?)


Below are some excerpts from an interview with Mosse from the great bldgblog.


"I spotted my first air disaster simulator on the tarmac at JFK," Mosse wrote. "You can see it yourself next time you fly into that airport. It's an intimidating black oblong structure situated dangerously close to one of the runways. Ever since, I have hunted for air trainers while taxi-ing across each new airport that I've had the chance to fly into."

When I asked him about the actual photographic process - setting himself up near burning, abstract airplanes in order to get the right shot - Mosse replied: "They are extremely difficult to photograph. First the water jets are turned on to douse the fuselage in water. This is in order to stop the metal warping under the intense heat of the flames. Then a pilot light comes on - and the spectacle begins."

"But before you've had a chance to cock your shutter and take the photo," Mosse continued, "it is all finished."

Untitled (Heathrow), air disaster simulator, London, UK, August 2007

At the end of each school year, the International Center of Photography holds a career day for its graduating students to meet editors and buyers in the industry. It's a fantastic way to see and be seen, and PhotoShelter's fabulous Director of Photography Meagan Ziegler-Haynes bravely represented us at the event on Wednesday.

Here's the way it works; each industry professional sits at a table, and a student slides in with their portfolio every half hour or so and tries to impress. It can be nerve-wracking for both entities, as I'm keenly aware-- I've been to this event as a student as well as an editor, and I even organized it for two years while an administrator at ICP.

It's a blast, and sometimes there are lemon squares.


Here's who Meagan encountered at the cool-kids table:



A. Phil Bicker, Creative Director at The FADER
B. Amani Olu from Humble Arts Foundation
C. Stephen Schuster, Director of Photography at Mass Appeal
D. Jon Feinstein from Humble Arts Foundation
E. Katie Constans, Creative Director at TRACE Magazine



I asked Meagan to choose the most impressive student she met so I could feature him or her on the blog, and she enthusiastically nominated Mario Valentino Tozzi. Mario just completed the one-year General Studies program, and shoots a lot of fashion. For his final project he worked to find a connection between fashion and fine art.



Mario is acquainted with a lot of folks in the fashion industry, so he chose to make large format portraits of some of these folks crying.



The idea came about because Mario wanted to humanize these people, who are so often considered glamorous due to the nature of their jobs. I questioned Mario about the similarities between this work and Sam Taylor-Wood's Crying Men and Jill Greenberg's Crying Babies, which was obviously something he'd heard a lot; he said "the purpose of my images is different than the others. I think my casting stands out; you do sort of expect babies to cry."

Touché.

How do you get someone to cry on cue, anyway? Mario says his most effective question is:

How do your parents feel about what you do?

I told Mario that if his photo career doesn't work out, maybe he could replace Barbara Walters. She must be getting tired.

+

We gently and calmly tell our photographers time and again how to correctly keyword and caption their photos, but some bravely persevere and ignore each and every piece of sound advice. Never has this been done to more hilarious effect than by Argentinian photographer Martin Korben; I feel like he has a much better chance of writing a bestselling graphic novel than selling loads of stock.

And that is a compliment! Take a look-- I dare you not to become engrossed.

cover photo of Fugazi by Bob Conrad


You PROBABLY noticed that PhotoShelter kicked serious punk ass in the July 2008 issue of Alternative Press; our photographers were responsible for nearly all of the imagery. The theme? 23 bands who shaped punk. This was a team effort by many PS members, but most notably by Aleksandra Flora-McMillen in sales, and photo editors Amber Sexton and Ashley Macknica.

Let me tell you how it went down.


1. Aleks gets an email from the pe at AP, whom she knew previously from her days at Retna:

April 22, 2008

Hi Aleksandra,
do you know which of the artists below that you have?  keeping in mind that i need images of them during their youth, i.e husker du, black flag and buzzcocks from the early 80's and do you have an ETA? THANK YOU!

BAD BRAINS- BIKINI KILL- BLACK FLAG- BUZZCOCKS- CAP'N JAZZ- CHRISTIE FRONT DRIVE- CRASS- CRO-MAGS- DESCENDENTS- DRIVE LIKE JEHU- EARTH CRISIS- FUEL- FUGAZI- GRADE- HEROIN- HUSKER DU- INTEGRITY- MOSS ICON- OPERATION IVY- THE SCREAMERS- SUNNY DAY REAL ESTATE- UNBROKEN-YOUTH OF TODAY

*Norman Wonderly
Alternative Press Magazine*


2. Aleks goes to Amber Sexton to discuss the imagery. Amber is much cooler than the rest of us and basically partied with all the folks above, so she knows what to do. She goes to longtime contributors Trent Nelson and Innis McAllister to see what they have and is hooked up with Bob Conrad through Theresa Kereakes, who also has rad music imagery in the collection.

3. Photo Editor Ashley Macknica gets into the mix. There are still a few unrepresented bands, so she takes to flickr and finds David Sine. Thank god, or there would be no Drive Like Jehu!

4. The issue is mocked up, and the rest is punk publishing history.


Here's the result:


Fugazi
Photo by Trent Nelson
Earth Crisis
Photo by Trent Nelson



Heroin
Photo by Bob Conrad




Drive Like a Jehu
Photo by David Sine



Other notable PS music folks include Kevin Salk and Jill Furmanovsky.

And she will trump your shemale controversy! In the latest *shocking" fashion industry news, Vivienne Westwood cast her Milan runway show with "real gypsies". From the Telegraph:

"A member of the Milan council criticised the show, saying that she has a 'romantic' image of the Roma that "no longer corresponds to reality'.

The models, dressed as "rough, stylish and hardened" Roma, were part of Ms Westwood's show's theme of 'tolerance'.

Council member Tiziano Maiolo said "I think the designer has a romantic notion about gypsies that is one hundred years out of date."

I don't know what to think about all this business, but I DO know what to think about this image: it is awesome.

Talk about a clever melding! Google and Shorpy! Almost beats bunnies and rainbows. Consider me distracted.



View Larger Map

My Favorite? "Elephant Walk, 1920"

Since we're talking a bit about the marketplace this morning, I thought I'd crib something interesting from the School of Stock blog; we asked several successful stock photographers which images of their sold like hotcakes, and here are their answers:



photo by Andrea Wyner


"A picture of a woman walking on a ledge near some water. I think this has sold a lot because it has a sense of freedom-- it's escapist, she's in a world of her own. It also makes you use your imagination, you don't know exactly what's going on."

- Andrea Wyner



photo by Eric O'Connell


"A picture I took of the Brooklyn Bridge in a blizzard. I literally picked up my hat and camera, clicked one shot, and walked home. It was freezing! It took a few seconds and I've sold it for as much as $10k."

- Eric O'Connell



 
photo by Nancy Ney


 "Just a simple shot of a young woman with corn rows flipping her hair with blue sky behind it - that has sold constantly, like once a month."

- Nancy Ney




photo by Inti St. Clair


"It's actually a picture of myself - I set it all up and had my husband press the button. It's ridiculous, but it's a photo of me in Thailand in a pool with my arms outstretched, and taken from behind. It sells again and again - because the viewer wants to be in the photo. It sells luxury and vacation and relaxation and free time - concepts that appeal to all of us. It's funny because we did the same picture with my husband, and that hasn't sold nearly as much. I think women sell more than men because they are easier to identify with."

- Inti St. Clair



photo by Jon Ragel

"The stuff selling the most for me is super spontaneous 'life is good' youth having fun stuff." - Jon Ragel





ps- see the full article on SOS for many practical stock advices!

I was reading the trusty New Yorker last night, and came across this ad for the Condé Nast store. I knew about the existence of said store, primarily because of that cool limited edition Vignelli subway diagram Men's Vogue was selling a few months ago.

But I didn't realize the trove that was available here. The copy from the ad says:

• Thousands of iconic photographs, classic covers and illustrations from Vanity Fair, Vogue, Gourmet, Golf Digest, and other magazines.

• Customize your archival print with a variety of premium matting and hardwood frames.

So then I went to take a look. I was skeptical, because this seems like a nice way to make a buck from the masses. And Condé Nast is already doing a fair bit of that. But I immediately got lost in the Vogue photography section. Aside from being a store, this place is a nice little research library. There's some amazing stuff in here, including my beloved Toni Frissell. I learned things!

Here are some of my favorites: