Jeff Curto's Camera Position

Camera Position 70 : Go With the Gestalt (part 2)

Jeff Curto — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 07:56:15 +0000

Part two of our examination of the concepts of Gestalt in composition. Gestalt is a psychology of visual communication that helps explain how the mind works to make sense of the visual world. This episode talks about “Similarity” and “Proximity.”

Photographs by Jeff Curto (click for a larger view)

Camera Position 69 : Go With the Gestalt (part 1)

Jeff Curto — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 05:08:43 +0000

We examine the concepts of Gestalt as they relates to composition. Gestalt is a psychology of visual communication that helps explain how the mind works to make sense of the visual world. This episode talks about “Closure” and “Continuance.”

Photographs by Jeff Curto

Podcast of PhotoPlus Expo Presentation Posted

Jeff Curto — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 20:36:53 +0000

I’ve posted both the Enhanced and Audio-Only podcasts of my presentation on Podcasting and Digital Storytelling from PhotoPlus Expo last week. The content is semi-off-topic for Camera Position, so I’m just pointing to it from this blog post. If you’re interested in podcasting or making slide shows from your photographs, you might want to check it out.

Jeff’s a guest on One Minute How To

Jeff Curto — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 14:36:58 +0000

Just a quick post to report that George over at the One Minute How To podcast invited me to participate in his fun show, where people explain how to do something in 60 seconds.

Mine was “How To Publish Your Project In A Book”

Check it out here:

Jeff’s One Minute How To

Camera Position 68 : Zoom With Your Feet!

Jeff Curto — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 15:35:57 +0000

Zoom with your feet! Zoom lenses can interfere with the creative process by letting you get lazy with where you’re positioning your camera. Switching to a “prime” lens of a single focal length can help your composition and your thought process. We also look at “The Poor Man’s Tripod” - a simple device for helping to steady your camera.

Photographs by Jeff Curto (click for larger versions)

Poor Man’s Tripod

Camera Position 67 : The Mind as Camera

Jeff Curto — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 07:48:59 +0000

Photographers must love the act of photographing; the mechanics of making a picture. But, before that, they have to love the simple act of seeing the world around them. Some pictures are best made without a camera.

Lunch - Still Life with Tomato & Basil Salad - Photograph by Jeff Curto

“The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.”
- Dorothea Lange

” I am always mentally photographing everything as practice.”
-Minor White

Camera Position 66 : Memory and the Photograph

Jeff Curto — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:13:19 +0000

Human memory is a curious thing; sometimes it’s spot-on perfect, other times it’s altered by the passage of time. Photographs are a way that we can extend or enhance our memories and this episode is about a way that my memory was both rewarded and tested in the Italian mountain village of Scanno.

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Camera Position 65 : What Are You Lookin’ At? How do you Know?

Jeff Curto — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 07:40:15 +0000

Photography is about doing, but it’s also about thinking… looking, seeing, appreciating. It’s possible to learn more about photography just by doing it, but it’s a lot easier when you pay attention to how others do it. This episode of Camera Position discusses the ideas of connoisseurship; the art of how we come to know what’s good. Looking at, studying and collecting photographs that you love is a part of learning photography.

Marion Post-Wolcott - Biscuit lady, a member of Wilkins family making biscuits on corn-husking day, North Carolina, 1939

Links for this episode:

Camera Position 64 : Old Tools

Jeff Curto — Fri, 16 May 2008 07:43:49 +0000

Those of us who work with traditional photographic tools sometimes wonder… will those things disappear in the face of the digital revolution? Will we be stuck in the middle of an island with no way to produce images? We consider those ideas in this episode.

Links for this episode:

B&H Photo - Great source for photo supplies
Bostick & Sullivan - materials for handcrafted photography
Freestyle Photo - Keepers of the old-school flame
Pinhole Resource - It doesn’t get any more simple than this

Camera Position 63 : Beauty and Background

Jeff Curto — Wed, 07 May 2008 06:09:25 +0000

What is an “arts background”? Whether we know it or not, I think we all have one. Having a background in creativity is about synthesizing things that we already know and combining them with new things that we learn to come up with wholly new ideas.

Venice, Sunrise - Photograph by Jeff Curto
(click for a larger view)

Camera Position 62 : Is Beauty Enough?

Jeff Curto — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 08:25:12 +0000

Is beauty enough in a photograph? It’s an odd concept in photography, especially in today’s visual world where so many photographers seem to ignore it. Or… are they ignoring it? We take a look.

Santo Stefano di Sessanio, Abruzzo, 2007
Photograph by Jeff Curto
(click to enlarge)

Links for this Episode:

Robert Adams’ Beauty in Photography @ Amazon.com
Alec Soth’s contemporary “landscape” photography
Derek Henderson’s The Terrible Boredom of Paradise
Camera Position #49 - “Know Thy Subject”
- Terry Bowyer’s comment
- Jeff’s response to Terry
Ted Byrne’s essay in response to this podcast at his Imagefiction blog

The Camera in The Cathedral: Camera Position goes Historical

Jeff Curto — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 01:31:03 +0000

The Camera in The Cathedral: A Brief History of Photography of the Natural World

In a bit of “podcast cross-pollination,” I’m presenting an episode of my history of photography podcast here on Camera Position. If you’ve heard the Photo History podcast of this same topic, you’ve heard this podcast, but for those Camera Position listeners who don’t listen to the Photo History podcast, I thought this topic might prove useful to you.

From the very beginning of the medium, photographers have wanted to portray their sense of wonder and awe in the face of the natural world through the camera’s lens, often offering up nature as the Great American Cathedral. This romantic tradition continues, but the mid-20th century saw a change in the way photographers looked at the world around them; a change that altered the face of photography

By looking at photographs from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, we’ll explore the ways photographers have recorded and interpreted nature with the camera.

Mayslake Nature Study and Photography Club - Oakbrook, IL
The Machine in the Garden Revisited - American Environmentalism and Photographic Aesthetics (PDF) - an article by Deborah Bright
Handout for this podcast episode
Slides for this podcast episode

Camera Position 61 : Summer Peaches on a Winter’s Day

Jeff Curto — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 03:14:08 +0000

A cold winter’s day prompted me to work on a warm-day photograph, then to make a cold-day photograph. Also, we celebrate Camera Position’s 2nd birthday and talk briefly about the Photocast Network and the Focus Ring podcast.

Peach, Toscana, 2007 & Snow Apple, 2008; Photographs by Jeff Curto
(click images for larger views)

Links for this episode:

Camera Position 60 : Back to Basics - Composition

Jeff Curto — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 04:16:21 +0000

Camera Position goes back to basics with an overview of the essentials of photographic composition, including the Rule of Thirds, Leading Lines, Framing and Balance. Also, a mention of the work of photographer Ron Diorio.

Tractored Out - photograph by Dorothea Lange

Links for this episode:

Slides for this episode of Camera Position
Camera Position on iTunes - Leave a comment!
Ron Diorio’s website
Ron at the Peter Hay Halpert Gallery, NYC
Giuseppe Cavallo on Flickr - Thanks for the show idea, Giuseppe!

Podcasting & Digital Storytelling at PhotoPlus Expo

Jeff Curto — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 21:17:15 +0000

I’ve just posted the audio and presentation slides of the session I did a few weeks ago at PhotoPlus Expo in New York.

The presentation was about how to create podcasts and other “digital storytelling” pieces and covers software, hardware and workflow for multimedia projects. At a little over 2 hours, it’s longer than a typical Camera Position podcast, so I’m not presenting it as one, but rather linking to the presentation’s web page, which contains a variety of resources that include the presentation slides, the presentation audio and links to a wide variety of resources.

Take a look….

Camera Position 59 : Evidence of Hands on Stone

Jeff Curto — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 06:39:21 +0000

After an insanely busy fall, I’m back in front of the podcast mic, talking about photography. In this episode of Camera Position, we go to the Midwest Society of Photographic Education conference in Flint, Michigan, where I presented a 40 minute talk about my photographs of Italy. This episode of camera position is that presentation, including its visuals, The Italian Portfolio: Evidence of Hands on Stone.

Links for this episode:

Camera Position 58 - Pictures of an Exhibition

Jeff Curto — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 08:12:35 +0000

Getting your work out there… how do you do it? We take a look at some responses to an exhibition I just had at the University of La Verne in California and see how that might fit into how you can show your work.

Irene Carlson Gallery of Photography - University of La Verne, La Verne California

Photographs by Dale Dellinger (left) and Paul Viapiano (center and right)

Click images for a larger view

Perugia, Umbria, 1999

Photograph by Jeff Curto - click image for a larger view

Links for this podcast:

Camera Position 57 : Photographer’s Bookshelf #4

Jeff Curto — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 08:46:49 +0000

Can you become a selfless photographer and reach a state of Zen with your camera? Fourth in an irregular series of “books for photographers’ bookshelves” is Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel, where Herrigel’s works towards the “perfect shot.” Replace “bow” with “camera,” “arrow” with “shutter” and “target” with “photograph” and you have a wonderful little book about how to stop thinking and start making.

Left: Old cover art for book Zen in the Art of Archery

Center: Windowsill Daydreaming - Photograph by Zenmaster Photographer Minor White

Right: New cover art for book Zen in the Art of Archery

Zen in the Art of Archery @ Amazon.com

Dirk Rossler’s Megaperls weblog - Thanks for your comment, Dirk!

Camera Position 56 : The Parable of the Sheep

Jeff Curto — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 07:29:46 +0000

Abruzzo Sheep - Photograph by Jeff Curto
(click for a larger view)

Photographers should always use the right tool for the job, right? But what if you’re stuck with the wrong tool in the right situation? You just wing it, that’s what, and sometimes something interesting happens. That was the case with me this summer when I was stuck with my 4×5 camera in a situation that really demanded a smaller, more mobile machine. Lemonade out of lemons? Lamb chops out of… wait… no… bad analogy…

Camera Position 55 : Does Size Matter?

Jeff Curto — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 07:01:17 +0000

Montepulciano, Toscana, 1998 - Photograph by Jeff Curto

Yes, it’s the age old question… does size matter? Does the size of the prints we make change how we view the images? Have you ever made a large print of your work? Here’s an image that I recently had The Print Lab print to a very large size for me.

In the podcast, I also talk about a new exhibition I have at the University of LaVerne in LaVerne, CA, and about a new series of History of Photography Podcasts, and about a new episode of the Focus Ring podcast

Camera Position 54 : Photograph like a Child

Jeff Curto — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 15:22:50 +0000

Summer’s lazy days put me in the mind of childhood and a recent encounter with some ideas by Pablo Picasso and some photographs by French photographer Jacques Henri Lartigue (1894-1986) made me think about how important a childlike sense of wonder is to photographers.

Picasso said:

“All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” - Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso - Two Women on the Beach

Lartigue started taking photos when he was 6, his subject matter being primarily his own life and the people and activities in it. So, as a child he photographed his friends and family at play – running and jumping, racing wheeled soap boxes, building kites, etc.

Photographs by Jacques Henri Lartigue

Jacques Henri Lartigue at Masters of Photography

Camera Position 53 : Realizing the Image

Jeff Curto — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 00:37:56 +0000

An image isn’t finished until it starts to feel like what you saw. Here is a brief look at the way I approached the post-production (what we used to call “darkroom work”) of this recent image from Gubbio, a marvelously medieval town in northern Umbria, Italy. The differences are subtle, but the idea is to more accurately capture the feeling and mood of the time of exposure.

For a great overview of how to create outstanding prints of your own images (even in the digital age!) check out Ansel Adams’ The Print.

Gubbio, Umbria, 2007 - Photograph by Jeff Curto
click image for a larger view

Camera Position 52 : Tossing Your Preconceptions

Jeff Curto — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 23:02:51 +0000

Preconceived notions about what you’re going to photograph can keep you from finding good images that you may have missed. This episode of Camera Position examines how I nearly fell into that trap in Gubbio, a beautiful town in Italy’s Umbria province.

Images of La Festa Dei Ceri, Gubbio, Umbria by Jeff Curto

click images for larger views

Camera Position 51 : Travel Gear

Jeff Curto — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 20:56:11 +0000

Traveling with a camera involves planning. A lot of folks have asked me about traveling with the large format camera, and in this episode of Camera Postiion, I detail the gear that I take on the road.

Links for this podcast:

Camera Position 50 : Messages From Your Website

Jeff Curto — Wed, 16 May 2007 14:32:37 +0000

What does your website say about who you are as a photographer? Does your site clearly define your goals or do you use your site’s pages as a dumping ground for every photograph you’ve ever made?

In this episode of Camera Position, I look at the way in which web pages can tell us whether our photographs - and what we tell the world about them- are on-target or missing the mark.

In addition to Kenna and Blackmon’s websites linked above, here are some other web resources for this podcast:

PDN Online - Photo District News’ website
PDN Photo Annual - The list of PDN’s “best of the best” for this year
Jeff’s Website - My website’s homepage
Evidence of Hands on Stone - My domain that points to my main project

Camera Position 49 : Know Thy Subject

Jeff Curto — Mon, 07 May 2007 07:37:42 +0000

In order to make photographs that are meaningful, it really helps to know your subject in intimate detail. In this episode, I talk about subject research, and about how knowing your subject can be one of the best paths to good photographs.

Gubbio, Umbria - Photograph by Jeff Curto

Links for this episode:

Alec Soth - Photographs
Alec Soth - Blog post about project titles
Peter Murray - Architecture of the Italian Renaissance @ Amazon
George Sullivan - Not Built in a Day @ Amazon

Camera Position 48 : Getting “Unstuck”

Jeff Curto — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 22:13:31 +0000

What do you do when you get “stuck” photographically? Here are a few ideas about how to find your way out of “Photographer’s Block,” with some references to how other photographers handle the problem.

Photograph by Jeff Curto (left) and David Quigg (right)

Photograph by Suzanne Szucs (left) and Nicholas Nixon (right)

Click images and links above for more…

Camera Position 47 : Focus/Defocus/Refocus

Jeff Curto — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 07:52:15 +0000

In this episode, I talk about shallow depth of field as a creative tool and its use by several photographers who are using it in inventive and interesting ways. I also look at how focusing yourself on a project can help you be more creative.

Photographs by Jeff Curto - Jeff Curto’s Website

Photographs by Keith Carter - Keith Carter’s Website

Photographs by Keith Loutit - Keith Loutit’s Website

Other resources for this Podcast:

Lensbabies
Miklos Gaal
Toni Hafkenscheid
An interesting review of Toni Hafkenscheid’s work when it was shown at the AKA Gallery in Saskatoon. At what point is trickery legitimate?

Podcasting from SPE

Jeff Curto — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 23:42:19 +0000

I’m in Miami Florida at the annual Society for Photographic Education (SPE) conference.

I was on the presenter slate this year with a presentation entitled “Teaching Your Students, Teaching the World: Podcasting in Photographic Education.”

On this webpage, you’ll find a host of resources for creating podcasts.

Also on that page, I’ve posted a podcast of my presentation.

Camera Position 46 : Passion & Profession

Jeff Curto — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 19:39:08 +0000

This episode of Camera Position is about combining passion with profession. We need to photograph what we love, but we also can’t lead an insular life; we need to be out there, casting our lines into the river of photographic experiences.

This week, March 15 to 18, is the Society for Photographic Education conference in Miami, FL. If you live near Miami, you really should consider attending this event. There are day passes available for non-members of the organization and it’s a great way to meet a large number of like-minded folks, see some fabulous photography and hear some inspirational and interesting speakers.

If you do happen to come, please stop by the presentation I’ll be giving on Friday morning entitled “Teaching Your Students, Teaching The World: Podcasting In Photographic Education” where I’ll be talking about the “hows and whys” of Podcasting, attempting to get more of my teaching colleagues involved in this exciting medium.

I’ll be podcasting the presentation, of course, so stay tuned for that in the next week or so.

A Podcast Listener, courtesty of Paul Strand

If you can’t make it to the conference, you may be interested in attending an excellent seminar (which is open to the general public) to be presented on Sunday March 18 from 1 to 5 by the noted photo marketing expert Mary Virginia Swanson. Entitled “FINDING YOUR AUDIENCE: An Introduction to Marketing your Photographs,” Mary Virginia will be talking about how to place your work in front of people who will be able to help get you more visibility.

Mary Virgina Swanson working with a photographer

Regardless of these opportunities, a quote by photographer Ralph Steiner reminds us that it’s important to photograph what matters:

Photograph by Ralph Steiner

“Eventually I discovered for myself the utterly simple prescription for creativity; be intensly yourself. Don’t try to be outstanding; don’t try to be a success;don’t try to do pictures for others to look at- just please yourself.”

-Ralph Steiner, A Point of View

Camera Position 45 : Back in the Zone

Jeff Curto — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 08:48:31 +0000

In this second part of the Zone System overview, we look at a few more specifics about how the Zone System works and is implemented. Don’t forget to download the PDF handouts!

Click any image below for a larger view.

The first part of the Zone System overview was in Camera Position #43

Download part 1 of the PDF handout (part 2 below)