Posts Tagged ‘photography’
The Story Behind the Photograph: A Study of Rhythm and Feet No. 6
©2009 Kiffanie Stahle, A Study of Rhythm and Feet No. 6
This image was taken almost a year before this version came about. I took this image of The Polymers at Old Ironsides in Sacramento, California. For the few months prior to this, it had been a running joke between us that I wanted a photograph of their feet.When I first looked at the image, I liked the composition, but knew that it needed something to make it special. Almost a year later, I was riding home from school on my bike, and bam, I saw this processing in my head. I raced home and started working on it. A few hours later, I had processed the raw image to match my mental picture. I love how this image combines the gritty feel of film, with the modern elements of digital photographs.
Biscuits
©2011 Kiffanie Stahle, Biscuits.
I was intending on posting a different image today, but last night I attended the Lightbox SF Mixer at La Boutique. At one point I was having a conversation with Julie Michelle about some of the things that we both were seeking from the local artistic community. I mentioned that I would like a place where I could go and take work for critique. A place where I felt comfortable asking if an image really worked. Or a place that I could take a series to find out if the images worked together in the way I thought they did.
The image above is the type of image that I would take. There is something that I really like about the composition of the image, but for some reason I just don’t think it actually works, regardless of the treatment I give it. Which makes me think that something must be off in the composition. The black and white treatment above is my favorite so far, but I’m still unsure what I think about the image. So, my fellow readers, does it work?
The Story Behind the Photograph: Doggie Love
© 2011 Kiffanie Stahle, Doggie Love.
I frequently get asked for the story behind certain images. Because this is a frequent request, each Monday I have decided to share a story behind one of my favorite photographs. This story, I shared a couple months ago in my monthly newsletter.
I captured this image back in February while I was out shooting in the Haight. Living in San Francisco, I come across so many interesting people walking down the street each day. I often make up stories for the people that I see reguarly and am curious how my stories compare to their real lives.
In a quest to learn more about the people around me, I’ve begun taking a few street portraits. This is something I’ve been wanting to try for more than a year, but up until recently my fear of how people would react has prevented me from starting this process.
This particular morning, while walking to the Haight I decided that I couldn’t go home until I had asked at least 5 people if I could photograph them. This lovely woman was the first person I asked that morning and even though it was her doggie’s feeding time, she graciously allowed me to take a couple photographs of her and her dog and learn a little about them. Her kindness buoyed my courage and allowed me to ask four more strangers if I could photograph them that morning. This photograph is my favorite of that morning, probably in large part to her kindness.
Doggie Love
© 2011 Kiffanie Stahle, Doggie Love.
This image I’ll be featuring at the 200 Yards third show opening at Free Gold Watch this Saturday. The opening will be from 6-10 pm, March 12. The story of this fun street portrait I told in my March monthly newsletter. If you haven’t subscribed yet, please do!
Winter Summer II
©2011 Kiffanie Stahle, Winter Summer II.
Another iPhone capture of things that catch my eye. This time: the gorgeous weather we have been experiencing as of late here in San Francisco. My roommate and I have begun calling it “Winter Summer.” On Sunday, I went for a walk from my house in the Mission up to the Haight to once again try to capture some interesting photos to submit for Round 3 of the 200 Yards project. The weather was perfect and as I was returning home I stumbled across this view, I love how this image perfectly summarizes the good parts of this City: the hills, the weather, Muni, and the old buildings.
Da Wharf
©2011 Kiffanie Stahle, Da Wharf.
Another iPhone capture of things that catch my eye. This time: this building that I found along the Embarcadero wharf the other day. I loved the ladder to nowhere and the pipes along the right hand edge. A little iPhone processing brought out the worn details in the building and I really like this image.
Embarcadero Juxtaposition
©2011 Kiffanie Stahle, Embarcadero Juxtaposition.
Another iPhone capture of things that catch my eye. This time: this juxtaposition of old and new along the Embarcadero. The other day while walking down the Embarcadero I was noticing the layering effect that you get when looking towards downtown. In the distance, there are the shiny glass buildings of SOMA. While across the street there are old brick buildings. At points you also have the stark concrete of the Bay Bridge. At some points (including the one above) you get all three in one frame.
Bel Air
©2011 Kiffanie Stahle, Bel Air.
Another iPhone capture of things that catch my eye. This time: this shiny, vintage Bel Air that I ran across the other day in the Financial District. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a car this shiny and pretty.
Winter Summer
©2011 Kiffanie Stahle, Winter Summer.
Another iPhone capture of things that catch my eye. This time: a little corner of the San Francisco Mission. This week we in San Francisco have experienced one of the about 10 seasons we seem to have in this city, the winter summer. Sorry to all of you that have been bogged down with snow and rain, but this week we’ve had sunny skies and temperatures in the 60s. I went for a walk earlier this week to enjoy this lovely weather and liked how the blue sky contrasted with the yellow of the cross and with the white of the adobe.
Lone Glove
©2011 Kiffanie Stahle, Lone Glove.
Another iPhone capture of things that catch my eye. This time: a photograph that I took a few weeks ago, but somehow got lost in the shuffle. This lone, little glove was sliding around the light rail car last time I was visiting my family in Sacramento.
Golden Hour Reflection
©2011 Kiffanie Stahle, Golden Hour Reflection.
Another iPhone capture of things that catch my eye. This time: a reflection I found the other day while wandering down Market Street during the photographer’s favorite hour AKA “The Golden Hour.”
Vents
©2011 Kiffanie Stahle, Vents.
Another iPhone capture of things that catch my eye. This time: this row of vents along the side of the SF MOMA.
Raygun Gothic Rocketship
©2010 Kiffanie Stahle, Raygun Gothic Rocketship
Another iPhone capture of things that catch my eye. This time: the Raygun Gothic Rocketship that has been installed on the Embarcadero since August. I love the retro-aspect of this sculpture and attempted to emphasize it with my iPhone processing.
Dial
©2011 Kiffanie Stahle, Dial.
This image was taken on the same walk to the SFMOMA as the iPhone photo I posted last week. True to my photographic fascination for old objects, signs are no exception. I loved the colors of this sign (which I admit I have enhanced via photoshop) against the sky. I also find it amusing that the crop I selected resulted in the sign stating “Dial.” As always I enjoy hearing your feedback about new images.
Cracked
©2011 Kiffanie Stahle, Cracked
Another iPhone capture of things that catch my eye. This time: my roommate and I walked from our house to the SFMOMA to check out the Henri-Cartier Bresson exhibit. On our way we decided that we would take pictures along the theme of ‘cracked.’ This odd little plastic thing implanted into concrete was my favorite shot. I like the pop of color in the gray background.
Last Thursday Food/Drink Inspiration
Image from Smitten Kitchen
Over the last few days I’ve been thinking about what my personal, artistic, and professional goals will be for 2011. About a month ago, I started a file of blog posts that I wanted to consider when creating my 2011 projects and goals for my website (including this journal). One of the blog posts I tagged was a post written by my friend Genevieve over on SF Bay Area Etsy Street Team about finding a theme for your blog. This is a topic that I had discussed with her and Shelly during one of my Lightbox SF consultations, but I feel like I’ve never really carried it out to the extent that I should (even though I somehow get mentioned in her post).
For those of you that know me well, you know that I am slightly obsessed with food. While I have always enjoyed cooking and baking, during law school this passion has reached a new level. Cooking has come to be a creative endeavor that I can accomplish everyday. While I may not be able to pick up my SLR for several days at a time, each day I can create something not only delicious and nutritious, but something that challenges me creatively. While I was pondering what my theme for my blog really should be, I was perusing several of the cooking blogs that I frequent thinking about what I was going to cook for dinner. I then decided that maybe this was a component that I should be including in my theme, since cooking is such a central part of my life.
To that end, I’m going to test out if this topic fits in with the theme that I have developed for this year. To start, I’d like to share some of the cooking blogs that I frequent, not only for the recipes but because they have fantastic food photography.
First up is Deb of Smitten Kitchen. She combines beautiful images taken in her small NYC apartment with delicious recipes. While I hardly ever follow a recipe, I usually stick to 95% of Deb’s recipes and I’ve never been disappointed.
Image from The Pioneer Woman Cooks
Of course, no list of food photography blogs would be complete without mentioning Ree from The Pioneer Woman Cooks. To me, this woman’s life is crazy, she lives on a ranch in the middle of Oklahoma, gets up at the crack of dawn, teaches her kids at home, and somehow finds time to cook and create fantastic photo tutorials for all of her recipes. I’m not sure how she does it, but she’s a rock star. If that’s not enough street cred, she went head to head against Bobby Flay cooking Thanksgiving dinner and won.
Finally for baking, I regularly get ideas from Buns in My Oven and My Baking Addiction. Both of these sites I utilize not only as a jumping board for my own creations, but will often utilize their recipes almost in their entirety.
I hope you enjoy this new idea I’m testing out and as always please let me know what you think via comments below or via email.
Finals Week Inspiration
I just wanted to post a couple things that have helped keep me motivated as finals week approaches.
I’m loving these iPhone/iPad wallpapers available from Poolga, of course my two favorites involve an owl and a bike.
Speaking of owls, I keep trying to decide how to mix-and-match this 2011 Owl Calendar from My Owl Barn.
These stirrup socks that fit under boots are on my knitting list as soon as I’m done with finals and making Christmas presents, of course.
After reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer I’ve been wanting to send more letters and these cards are so dang cute.
Finally, I’ve been getting lots of photography inspiration from the Fraction Magazine Holiday Print Sale.
Hope you have a fantastic week!
Old School Bike Seat
©2011 Kiffanie Stahle, Bike Seat.
Every semester I have grand plans of being able to keep up on both my art projects and my schoolwork. And every semester (about a month in) the art projects seem to fall by the wayside and school takes over my life. While I have more free time in my last year of law school than I did my first year, I still have yet to find the right balance of art time and school time. While that is no excuse for not updating the blog, that’s where I’ve been.
Earlier this week, I was avoiding doing some school work and looking through my photography archives. The main reason I started back through the archives was because I am craving a trip to Abbey Country. But in the process I came across this image. I took it when I was out and about shooting for the 200 Yards Show at Heart a few months back. While I ended up settling on another image of the bike for the show, there is something about this image that really resonated with me this week. In playing around with this image, I settled on a browner-tinged single tone image, rather than traditional black and white and like how it turned out. Hopefully, it resonates with you this week as well.
Rattlesnake Grass
©2010 Kiffanie Stahle, Rattlesnake Grass
This image was taken over the summer while on a fantastic camping trip to San Simeon with some good friends. I played around with it a bit and wasn’t sure how I felt about the image. To me, it was a little random, which I thought was representative of California Annual Grasslands, but I wasn’t sure the random-ness created a good image. On the other hand, I really liked the curves of the rattlesnake grasses and the processing technique I used (it reminded me of a photo that had sat out in the sun for the afternoon). However, I wasn’t sure how the viewer would react to the image, because I was mixed about the photo.
At the beginning of July, I joined an online photo community, Weekly Shot. When I heard about Weekly Shot the concept really appealed to me. I was looking for an online photo community, where I could get feedback on my photos but I wanted that feedback to be done in a manner that was less about if they liked me and my style and more based on the image itself. Weekly Shot seemed to fit the bill.
Last week the theme for Weekly Shot was Ground Level. A few weeks back, I decided that I was going to submit images not in the hopes of getting “featured,” but shots that I really wanted feedback on how the image worked. Since this shot fit the theme, I submitted it. The feedback on the shot was mixed, but somehow it got featured. So now I open the shot up to a wider audience. Does it work?
P.S. It’s easy to leave comments on the new theme, just click on the comment link on the line right below the post.
Maytag Washer
©2010 Kiffanie Stahle, Maytag Washer
Another iPhone capture of things that catch my eye. This time: another one of the machines I found at the Sebastopol Gravenstein Apple Fair. This old Maytag washer was well used and I liked the textural component of the “Maytag” label on the side of the machine.
37.751151, -122.420147
©2011 Kiffanie Stahle, 37.751151, -122.420147.
This is the second image that I’ll be featuring at the 200 Yards show opening tonight at Heart (24th and Valencia). The other I posted a few weeks back. If you are in San Francisco please stop by tonight and say hi, or stop by Heart anytime before September 20th and check out the show.
Joni Sternbach
©Joni Sternbach
This week my inspiration post features Joni Sternbach. I first learned of Joni’s work via the 500 Photographers project. What makes Joni’s work unique to me, is the fact that she focuses on methods less commonly used in the digital age. All of the photographs I’ve chosen to feature with this post are part of her SurfLand series and are one-of-a-kind tintypes (thus the reverse lettering). All of the tintypes are made on location with a portable darkroom. To me these methods have a textural component that is impossible to create in the digital darkroom and creates an added layer of interest.
©Joni Sternbach
Joni currently lives in Brooklyn, NY and primarily photographs in areas close to her home. In addition to being a photographer Joni has been an Adjunct Instructor in Photography for more than 20 years and currently teaches wet collodion photography workshops with ICP and the Center for Alternative Photography in New York City.
Joni entered art school as a fine art major, but after dabbling in photography for a year and a half decided to change her major and has been working in the field of photography ever since. After art school she worked as a professional black and white printer and was able to print for Mary Ellen Mark, Dennis Stock, and Danny Lyon.
Joni’s work has evolved over the years. The past ten years Joni has been making landscape-based photographs, capturing landscapes, seascapes, and the human imprint on these areas. She uses both large format film and wet collodion, either as a tintype, ambrotype, or glass negative. Joni works in an intituve way, and doesn’t aim for a specific style. She has found that her more successful photographs have a minimal amount of information, with plenty of space for the eye to travel through the photograph.
The ocean is a huge inspiration for Joni. She has returned regularly to the same locations which has lead her to examine the land and sea juncture, a subject matter in a constant state of transition, with surfers playing a pivotal role. Joni is facinated by both the physical and poetic way that they reside on the seascape. She is inspired by the people that she meets on the beach and photographs and the lifestyle that they choose to live. As a city dweller, the idea of coming to the beach several times a day, sometimes just to look, seems impossible to Joni.
©Joni Sternbach
©Joni Sternbach
I hope that you are also inspired by Joni’s work. Please scoot over to her website to see all of her amazing photographs.
37.754252, -122.421015
©2011 Kiffanie Stahle, 37.754252, -122.421015.
I want to apologize for my absence from the blog, I’ve been busy and have let my posts go to the wayside. While that is a lame excuse, it’s the best that I’ve got.
However, I’m excited to let you all know that the above image as well as another will be featured in the 200 Yards show that opens on August 18th. All the featured images have been taken within 200 yards of the host location (Heart near 24th and Valencia). This project was a challenge for me. The first challenge was the fact that 200 yards is not a large area (about one city block in either direction). The second was a creative process hurdle. While I have shot images on a theme previously, I’ve never been totally happy with the outcome. I’m still trying to figure out the creative process that works for me with themed shoots. Luckily this time around, there were lots of little details, some of my favorite subjects.
Both the images that I’ll be featuring are textural black and whites, because of that I chose a method of printing I’ve been wanting to use for a while, aluminum. I had them printed at Bay Photo, they arrived yesterday and I’m pleased with how they turned out. I’d love it if you would drop by the show and let me know what you think.