the ginkgo blog

The Hyena & Other Men - Nigerian Ghetto Life - Man, dog & baboon in the fight for life and dominance...

A stunning, if not disturbing series of images from Pieter Hugo 'The hyena & Other Men'... Ghetto life in Nigeria

After the jump, there are a lot more images plus thoughts and narrative from Pieter. Be warned, these images I have found to be uncomfortably hypnotic.

 

 

 

 

Formula One photographer, Darren Heath provides the BBC with their photography. Here is just a sample of his stunning work...

Anyone who knows me knows I am a complete petrol head. This afternoon I will be shooting the new Nissan GTR with the single purpose of communicating what this car means to its owner. I am also chomping at the bit for the next race of the F1 season (which has to be the most thrilling for decades), the European GP. I love almost everything about the sport. The exception being the politics - I hate that in everything, not just F1.

But one thing I love above all else in F1 is the photography. There are hundreds of photographers covering each race weekend and the pap sessions in between. But they are in the most all the same.

Darren Heath has been shooting F1 for over 20 years and it doesn't show one little bit. His work continues to be fresh and emotional. So much so that the BBC commission him for their website in the form of the F1 Big Picture.

I like his approach and of course his output. Plus their is always a story. Taken from the BBC, here is one of his latest images with the associated story. Plus links to a bunch more and of course, his site. Even if you're not a petrol head or even a follower of F1. His work is well worthy of a sneaky peek.

"In the world of photographing Formula 1 the composition of a photograph is - as in all forms of the art - king.

"Whilst obvious attention is given to the big-in-the-frame action shot it's often a good idea to shoot a tad loser using the visual stimulus of the surrounding landscape to compose a picture that can have almost equal amounts of drama.

"When framing such a shot it is of paramount importance to have in mind the rule of thirds.

"As all professional lens men should know, the rule states that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections.

"By adhering to this simple yet often ignored technique, rather than simply centring the subject, one's resulting pictures will have more drama, energy and interest.

"With the rule etched in my mind from an early age, I see almost everything through an imaginary grid. This study of Lewis Hamilton perfectly illustrating the rule's fundamentals.

"Seemingly alone at the Hungaroring Hamilton is seen well on his way to McLaren's maiden victory of 2009."

Camera: Canon EOS1DS Mark 3. Lens: 600mm. Exposure: 500th second @ f11

A few more pics after the jump...

Fresh doubts on Capa's famous photo - The Guardian...

It seems a Spanish academic has raised some doubts over the authenticity of Robert Capas 'Falling Soldier' after publishing some recent research.

The following narrated video is from the Guardian newspaper online. Will pop into a new window.

HOME 2009 - A movie by Yann Arthus-Bertrand - And it is simple stunningly beautiful to watch...

Yann Arthus-Bertrand, is without a shadow of a doubt one of the truly great masters in photography. And this film is a treat to watch, if for no other reason than it is visually stunning!

Admittedly, one of the key ingredients that has made his so famous and I am sure quite wealthy was the fact that he focused initially on capturing images that almost no-one ever sees (including pilots). That being the earth from directly above and straight down.

Now that isn't a negative comment - In fact, it is the exact opposite. In my humble opinion, one of the markers that truly differentiates a master from the good is that they portray something original and from a totally unique point of view.

For those that know his work, examples and links to it below, this film is pretty much a high definition, motion version of his stills. With, the addition of an emotive voice over regarding the state of our planet, what we are doing to it and what we need to be looking at doing now to stop the slide into oblivion.

Politics and beliefs aside - It is a truly great watch - even if you durn the volume down, or better still, if you are offended by climate change and green issues so much, choose a language to one you simply do not understand, as the music goes very well with the film.

Personally, I watched it for what it was. Absorbed the beauty of the filming and took/left from the ideology what I wanted.

For anyone who has a passion for imagery of any kind, this is a must see!

Books and movies by Yann Artus Bertrand:

CHASE JARVIS CURRENT: The consequences of creativity... Well worth a watch....

Chase was recently invited to speak to the Art Director's Club of Denver and the ASMP about creativity, and subsequently delivered that keynote two weeks ago. This video is a recording of that talk. Hope it strikes a chord with you as it did with me.

Chase Jarvis CURRENT: The Consequences of Creativity from Chase Jarvis on Vimeo.

Photography blogs... The ulimate rank? If not, why not...

The ultimate ranking of photography blogs or not? If not, what's your top 10 - and why?

Photography  Blogs: The ultimate rank

#	Blog Title						RSS	Site Score
1st	Digital Photography School	246,784	8,640	11,427	349,909	6		100
2nd	Strobist	55,849	n/a	35,446	303,661	6		99.1
3rd	DIYPhotography.net -DIY Photography and Studio Lighting	20,027	54,031	48,007	77,078	5		98.77
4th	The Luminous Landscape - Whats New	n/a	22,843	22,115	203,912	7		97.73
5th	Digital Camera Reviews & Photography Tips	3,608	28,501	35,326	100,614	3		96.95
6th	PopPhoto: Tests & Reviews	n/a	17,700	29,025	510,164	4		96.7
7th	Digital Camera Reviews, Ratings, Tips and Comparisons	827	n/a	n/a	37,977	4		96.46
8th	Chase Jarvis Blog	12,427	n/a	n/a	41,145	6		96.31
9th	1001 Noisy Cameras	2,176	93,658	77,920	54,532	5		96.11
10th	A Photo Editor	n/a	103,266	102,266	54,079	6		95.97
11th	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Killer Tips	n/a	150,837	92,411	60,618	6		95.77
12th	Photography Served Featured Projects	n/a	95,035	109,214	14,458	5		95.7
13th	pro photo life	6,969	257,504	242,415	5,194	4		95.46
14th	Photojojo	n/a	n/a	n/a	22,604	5		95.18
16th	Shoot The Blog	n/a	n/a	n/a	29,321	5		94.88
17th	Photoshop User TV	n/a	250,670	190,703	55,968	6		94.86
18th	TWIPPHOTO.COM	n/a	168,417	245,893	153,545	3		94.7
19th	Pioneer Woman Photography - Ree Drummond	n/a	n/a	n/a	20,451	3		94.69
20th	Joe McNallys Blog	n/a	n/a	n/a	79,570	6		94.63
21st	JMG-Galleries - Jim M. Goldstein Photography	2,594	n/a	n/a	14,490	5		94.56
22nd	Rob Galbraith DPI	n/a	77,640	56,699	154,365	5		94.48
23rd	Photopreneur - Make Money Selling Your Photos	n/a	n/a	111,114	82,553	5		94.39
24th	The Online Photographer	n/a	n/a	n/a	19,129	4		94.31
25th	Beyond Megapixels	4,925	229,455	315,776	18,851	4		94.23
26th	Photography Blog DigitalPixels.net	n/a	126,652	90,365	14,661	4		94.16
27th	Shutter Sisters	n/a	n/a	n/a	18,757	5		94.02
28th	PhotoWalkPro	3,099	n/a	n/a	12,376	4		93.98
29th	LIGHTING ESSENTIALS : For Photographers	n/a	333,198	178,896	16,116	4		93.95
30th	Flickr Blog	n/a	n/a	n/a	23,025,658	8		93.85
31st	Yaniks Photo School	2,101	469,269	186,220	8,917	4		93.82
32nd	Digital Camera Tracker	n/a	69,081	74,179	8,452	3		93.47
33rd	unphotographable	n/a	196,801	514,080	28,191	5		93.14
34th	7 Photography Questions	n/a	282,169	419,307	1,122	5		93.14
35th	Imaging Insider	n/a	144,990	138,621	63,187	5		93.12
36th	PDN Photo of the Day	n/a	62,424	105,666	16,622	4		93.09
37th	Photography For Real Estate	n/a	371,727	105,119	6,938	4		92.93
38th	The Online Photographer	n/a	n/a	651,103	31,376	5		92.75
39th	LetsGoDigital English Edition	n/a	n/a	n/a	39,330	3		92.71
40th	PDNPulse	n/a	86,802	134,031	74,903	6		92.7
41st	Digital Camera Recommendations	n/a	83,739	83,394	5,211	4		92.5
42nd	John Keatley Blog	n/a	n/a	n/a	1,288	4		92.43
43rd	Northlight Images Photography	n/a	n/a	88,418	14,884	4		92.35
44th	Digital Photography Now	n/a	320,469	242,760	86,992	3		92.03
45th	1416??	n/a	n/a	225,420	37,305	5		91.88
46th	whats the jackanory	n/a	529,531	711,222	34,987	5		91.87
47th	Liz Kuball Photography | Blog	n/a	n/a	n/a	26,211	5		91.87
48th	chookooloonks blog	n/a	n/a	n/a	11,777	4		91.74
49th	PixSylated ?? Insights on Digital Photography, Color Managment, Off-Camera Flash...	n/a	514,386	434,132	7,719	4		91.7
50th	Lightroom Blog	n/a	541,681	377,824	17,904	6		91.68

Listing compiled and published by Invesp Consulting - See additional information here

HOME - A movie by Yann Arthus-Bertrand - Beautiful photography becomes stunning cinematography...

I have many of his books - Yann Arthus-Bertrand is undoubtedly a master photographer in the air. The composition, tonality and overall ambience of his work is to put it quite simply - stunning!

To quote...

"In 200,000 years on Earth, humanity has upset the balance of the planet, established by nearly four billion years of evolution. The price to pay is high, but it's too late to be a pessimist: humanity has barely ten years to reverse the trend, become aware of the full extent of its spoliation of the Earth's riches and change its patterns of consumption.

More than a movie, HOME will be a major event all over the globe : for the first time ever, a film will be released on the same day in over 50 countries and on every format : movie theatres, TV, DVD and Internet.

On June 5th we all have a date with the planet !"

http://www.home-2009.com
http://www.ppr.com

The film itself is available on YouTube in it's entirety - In HD too. This is simply the trailer. 

Go and have a good look. Whatever your views on the subject matter, the cinematography alone makes it worth a 'must' watch...

Top advertising photographer shoots the president of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama, point-blank... in black and white of course...

Nadav Kender, received a commission of epic proportions to shoot President Obama and his staff.

Already his work is becoming increasingly sought after by art and photography collectors.

Diane Smyth of the British Journal of Photography meets up with Nadav and Cathy Ryan, director of photography at the New York Times Magazine.

Cathy explained that she was looking for someone who could photograph barack and 52 of his aides and advisors. The thought came to her shortly after Obama won the US presidential election but before he and his team came to power. Initially inspired by Richard Avedon’s Power Portraits shoot a Rolling Stone, where the resulting images will be published in a special issue of the magazine. It was also the first time Rolling Stone had devoted a whole edition to the provider of a single body of work.

“It was amazing,” admits Nadav Kander, the lucky photographer (slight understatement) he got the assignment. “I had to pinch myself”.

To read the article in full,  click here to be taken to be British Journal of photography website.

 “Obama’s people” by Nadav Kander is now on show at the Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery In the UK until 31 August 2009.  visit  the Birmingham museums and Art Gallery website for more information. also to see more of Nadav Kander’s work, go to www.nadavkander.com.

Commercial Photography & Commercial Photographers - Our Hampshire based studios look at a new approach to getting visibility and communicating with potential clients...

   

We have had a fair few e-mails over the last few months from potential clients enquiring what our areas of speciality are within the remit of commercial photography. I can only guess based on the conversations following the e-mails, that our website doesn’t correctly communicate what it is we do, what it is we can do and how we go about it.

In addition, I am assuming, again based on conversations in recent months, that the idea of a “photographer” having many specialities doesn’t really fit with conventional thinking.

Given that we obviously need to revisit the content of our commercial photography division of the website in order to make sure that we are communicating efficiently and effectively what it is we do; and more importantly to communicate that we are a photography house with a number of photographers, each with their own specialities. Rather than being a studio of ‘a’ photographer.

   

    

So as well as updating our website, I am going to be using the blog to help me formulate what exactly it is that we should be communicating and how best to go about it. And to share these learnings.

If you have a spare few minutes and are happy to give us some feedback, it would be much appreciated! You might even get something from the process yourself!

In essence, our commercial photography division and studios cover the following key areas:

Corporate Portraiture

Advertising and Editorial photography

Product photography

Fashion photography (primarily for the retail industry rather than design)

Aerial photography (primarily for the advertising industry)

  

  

Over the coming months, I will be formulating here, within the blog our copy for each of these areas of speciality that we cater for. And of course, details on what we as a collective are, what makes us unique, and most importantly of all, why a prospective client should use as above others.

Now, in the normal run of things, we really should keep all of this confidential until we intend on publishing it. The traditional thinking being, that if we want to have an edge over our competitors, we should really be keeping it to ourselves until the very last minute.

Quite frankly, we think that is actually a load of crap...

   

   

Those of you that know us, know that this is not how we work. If other photographers or studios out there are trying to achieve the same thing, we are more than happy to share our learning and more importantly, the feedback, opinion and comments that our readers provide.

The market out there is sufficiently large for a lot of us doing the same things and to operate in the same space. Equally, prospective clients should be able to see what they’re letting themselves in for when sourcing professional photography services. So, we don’t hide anything - ever. And let our work and reputation secure our contracts. If someone else secures a contract that we have been competing for - Then congratulations to them!

  

  

But!...

In order to show a prospective client what you and your business are made of, you first have to get them to see your work and for them to be able to find out more about what you are, what you do and how you go about it.

And that’s exactly what this series of posts will be about. And hopefully, will be of use to you as it goes on.

So don’t just sit there and read them - participate and then that way we can all get some really useful ideas and help in these very difficult times!

UK based aerial filming and photography professionals that operate around the world - Flying Pictures & Ginkgo Studios partnership - It would seem to be our best kept secret!

Recently, we’ve had quite a few enquiries about our aerial photography and filming services. 

Primarily, asking if we do it. Now this somewhat surprised us as we do quite clearly state on our commercial website that we do and, that we partner with another company, Flying Pictures Ltd to provide the filming services, as not only do we share offices, but they are also unquestionably, the best in the world at what they do. And indeed, the vast majority of Hollywood directors and producers would agree with me, as they use them too.

I guess to a degree it is quite understandable and we don’t have a great deal more aerial-based work on our site. This is largely because under contractual agreements and the type of work that we often carry out when airborne, we simply cannot share it.

So, I’ll definitely now  have to sit down and go through our work and see if I can dig out material that we will be able to share - and where needed seek the  appropriate permissions. As not having the examples of our work on the site must be having an impact on the amount of potential business we are missing.

In the meantime, if you are interested in seeing who we work with for the areal work - Why not take a look at their website. Over the past 25 years Flying Pictures has worked on more than 300 films and dozens of commercials and TV productions - James Bond, Harry Potter, Body of Lies, Blackhawk Down, Mama Mia, Valkyrie - Just a few of the  major works that they have provided all the areal filming for. They are called Flying Pictures - The Areal Professionals, for a very good reason... Go and have a nosy at them.

Or give either of us a call - If you need your media from the air, I can seriously guarantee that you’ll be very hard pushed to find anyone better.

Filming:       01264 861100

Photography: 01264 862202

or talktome@ginkgostudios.com