jeff singer photography BLOG

I’m not exactly a celebrity photographer. Not that I wouldn’t want to photograph celebrities, but I just don’t seem to get many calls for celebrity shoots. They say if you want to shoot celebrities you need to already have celebrities in your portfolio. Quite the catch-22. However, the few times I have received a call to photograph a celebrity it seemed to be the same story: “we can’t pay much…. But hey, you’re going to get to photograph <insert b-list celebrity here> and you’ll get photo credit!”

I’m not sure why they think I would accept less money just because I’d be photographing a celebrity. I always want to ask, “would you do your job for 50% less pay just because Janeane Garofalo was in the cube next to you?” Probably not.

I’m always usually willing to work with clients to meet their budgets, but if it comes down to getting a good rate and photographing a nerd in Los Angeles (Seriously, I just did a shoot for Psychology Today… they called and told me they wanted me to photograph a nerd) or a low rate and photographing Brad Pitt, I’ll take the nerd every time.

This week Photoshelter began testing a new print service for limited edition prints. One of my photos was chosen to be in the trial run of the service which will be going on through October 1st.

I recently did a shoot with cyclist Liz Hatch for Bicycling Magazine. Liz was gracious enough to come to San Francisco’s Chinatown for the shoot even though she was in a pretty bad crash about a week before the shoot. She could barely lift her hand to shake mine when we met. And yet despite knowing she was in agony, I asked her to heave her bike onto her shoulder (yeah, the bad one). Without complaint she obliged, although I did feel bad as I watched her struggle to find a comfortable position for the bike…. hey, you’re supposed to suffer for your art, right? Oh wait, it’s me that’s supposed to suffer… right?

Needless to say Liz is a lot tougher than I am and could probably kick my ass even with her injuries.

So far I haven’t made any posts about the technical side of photography, topics like equipment for example. This is actually quite amazing given that I am such a tech/equipment dork. It had to happen eventually so here I am with my first equipment post. And in true tech dork fashion, its a complaint.

I’ve been shooting with the Phase One P25/P25+ for about a year now. Before that I was shooting with a Canon 1DS MkII, which I still have and use for certain shoots. I’ve been mostly happy with the Phase One back, with one major exception: backlit scenes. When shooting into the sun or an artificial light, image detail is lost on a “strip” of the image near the light source. Here is an example:

Here is Phase’s response to the issue:

“the light is hitting the ccd at such a strength that is goes way above and beyond the dynamic range capabilities of the sensor. The anolog electrical signal produced in the pixel is more than it can handle and it gets passed to the next photosite in progression, hence the straight line. A similar thing happens in silver hallide crystals of film with the exception that they pass energy in all directions.”

Not very helpful to someone who likes to shoot with heavy backlight.

The problem I have with the response is, I never experienced this with my Canon 1DSmkII. So, I’ve sent off an email to Leaf to see if their digital backs would exhibit the same problem. I fully expect an email touting how great the Leaf back is and that it will not have the problem. If that is the case I’ll blindly buy the Leaf back and live happily ever after… yeah, right. In reality, if I do get a response saying the Leaf back won’t exhibit the problem I’ll have a Leaf tech come to my studio and prove it does in fact work well in backlit scenes. I’ll keep you posted on the results.

If anyone reading uses a Phase, Leaf, or another MFDB and sees or doesn’t see this problem, let me know.

Unfortunately for my friend Jennifer (hey, this is her second blog entry in a row), she asked me to pick her up from her family’s Christmas to take her home… I say Unfortunately because on the way home, while driving along on the highway, we were greeted by an out of control car… The other car suddenly lost control and veered right into us. I had no time to react beyond a quick (and apparently futile) attempt to avoid the car. I’m not sure what things looked like on the outside, but on the inside we had a long and terrifying ride, most of it upside down. According to a very kind witness who stopped to help, we flipped 3-4 times. I can tell you that whatever was going on, it seemed like it lasted forever.

Thankfully nobody was seriously hurt… But as you can see by the pictures, my car didn’t fare so well. Even the firemen were amazed we just got out and walked away.

Some other nice people, possibly feeling the Christmas spirit, helped by stopping and gathering all of our things that were scattered about the freeway.

Needless to say I feel very grateful that Jennifer and I were not more seriously hurt than we were. After many hours in the ER getting patched up and after a brain scan (with which the doctors could find no conclusive evidence of my having one) they let us leave the hospital. Head and neck pain and some cuts are what we are left with today and hopefully that will pass soon.

Here is the fine print for you lawyers and insurance adjusters out there: (please read in very fast unintelligible legal disclaimer voice) I am in no way stating that we have no permanent life altering injuries. I am not a medical professional and have no way of knowing the true extent of our injuries. I am in no way relinquishing any claims for any damages caused by or because of the wreck. . Odds of winning are 1 in 3,000,000,000. No participation necessary. May cause dizziness, headache or leaky bowels. Offer not valid in Ohio or Maine

I figure i had to say something like that because you know lawyers and insurance people would just jump at the chance to use this entry as an admission of some sort.

Anyway, I hope everyone else had a good (and safe) Christmas… Here is to a great new year.

I’ve never really done nudes before. Once back in school they had us do a nude assignment. The school provided us with models to use for our shoots. My girlfriend at the time refused to let me photograph another woman naked. And yet, at the same time she refused to let me photograph her naked. Knowing that I had to complete the assignment she eventually caved. I guess the thought of me photographing another woman naked left a worse taste in her mouth than posing for the assignment herself.At a workshop I recently attended we were given a model to photograph. Everyone in the workshop proceeded to photograph her naked. Each photographer had a few minutes with the model and they did their thing. With 15 people in the workshop, the poor model was poked and prodded as if she was a piece of cattle on the way to slaughter. It was now my turn. I don’t really like to be watched by a lot of people when I take pictures (if I can help it, which often times, I can’t) so I went last. As I walked up to the model I said to her “Ok, I’m going to ask you to do something really weird.” The model had a horrified look on her face as if I was about to ask her to do something even Larry Flint would blush at. Instead, I set her mind at ease by asking “would you mind putting your clothes back on?” She laughed and obliged my not-so-deviant request. Everyone else in the room thought I was some sort of weirdo for having the naked woman put her clothes back on.So why nudes now? I’m not quite sure… My assistant Emily does nudes, so maybe rather than my style rubbing off on her as is often the case with photographers and their assistants, it is her that is rubbing off on me. Either way, I had been thinking about exploring nude photography for the last few months, so when given the opportunity I decided to give it a shot. And what better opportunity than when my friend, the lovely and beautiful Jennifer, despite her reservations (something about the pictures ending up on the internet… which I assured her would never happen), let me photograph her one chilly morning last week.Jennifer isn’t a model so having her photo taken isn’t exactly a routine event for her… let alone having her photo taken while undressed. Despite feeling a bit uneasy at first, she did a great job and quickly became relaxed in front of the camera.I do realize these aren’t technically nudes since Jen is covered up for the most part. I didn’t really do anything different than what I would do shooting a clothed woman. I guess thats a good place to start until I figure out what it is I want to do. Maybe next time I’ll try something outside my comfort zone. That’s what this personal work stuff is all about after all… trying something new and different.

This is a shout out to my dear friend and assistant Emily Merrill. Emily entered the above picture into APA San Francisco’s Something Personal Exhibition and was notified that not only was she accepted, she has in fact won best image of the show! So suck on that all you big time San Francisco advertising photographers… my assistant can kick your assistant’s ass… and yours for that matter… and mine!Yeah, I had my entry accepted into the exhibition as well, but clearly the truly talented are the ones that get the recognition.Emily, I will be submitting my resume to you ASAP. I hope you will consider me for any assisting positions you may have open. It would be an honor and joy to work for you. And remember, all those times I mocked you in front of the clients and locked you in the car… I was totally kidding! (Why have you stopped returning my calls?)Congratulations Emily I am very proud of you. Can I tell people I discovered you?Here is a shot of Emily I took on a shoot last week. She often makes my life difficult because its next to impossible for the real subject to be as lovely and graceful as Emily is in the setup shots… you try sticking a grumpy business man in her place and comparing the results!

Its been a while since my last entry. I’m hoping I’m providing quality and not just quantity. (although I realize its likely neither) This weeks entry is in honor of Halloween.My friend Deirdre has what I consider to be one of the cutest dogs I’ve ever met. The dog’s name is Dingle (named for the port in Ireland, not the berry). Dingle is a small Hungarian Puli. As some (crazy) people like to do with their animals, Deirdre occasionally dresses Dingle up in strange costumes. Normally I find this practice annoying, but for some reason I enjoy seeing Dingle in her various outfits. Deirdre got the idea that Dingle should be dressed up as a Mexican in a sombrero and poncho for her Christmas cards last year (of course).I wanted a grimy border town feeling for the picture so we headed to a back alley in a not so savory section of The Mission. The alley had exactly the look I wanted, so we set up shop and begin taking pictures. During the shoot, I was approached by a “lady” (there is a reason for the quotes around the word lady). She walked up to me, looking around suspiciously, and asked me if I had any crack. She was asking in a way you would think is only done in movies, as if I or someone near by just might be an undercover cop. I had to let her down by telling her I in fact did not have any crack for her. Disappointed, she walked away. During our little shoot she returned quite a few more times to check back in, just in case my supply had changed. It hadn’t. I’ll give her this much, she was very persistent… or she just didn’t remember having already asked me… I’m not sure which.As we continued taking more pictures of the the siesta-esque Dingle we believe that the woman apparently found what she was after. Not thirty yards from where we were, we noticed her and some of her “colleagues” standing in a circle enjoying what we can only imagine to be what she previously was hoping to purchase from me. It was at this point we thought it would be a good idea to pack up the gear, grab Dingle and move on.Needless to say we were very happy to get out of there not only with what I think is a funny picture of Dingle, but also with our lives. And you’ll be happy to know that Deirdre won “best Christmas card” among her friends and family with the “Dirty Dingle” picture. Maybe I have a future in taking pictures for greeting cards… and with that thought, please excuse me while I go kill myself.I hope everyone has a happy Halloween.

I just read a post over at Michael Surgre’s blog about traveling for work. This is something I think about all the time, but on the opposite side: personal travel. I find it hard to take photographs when I travel for myself. If I go somewhere for a job or a personal project I don’t have this problem. After all, that is why I am there. But if I am in a new location for personal travel I find I don’t take many photos. And I usually feel guilty about it. I feel like “Hey, I’m a photographer, I should be taking pictures!”I was in Prague on a shoot for Eleven Inc. The shoot only lasted a day, but I stayed in Prague for a couple extra days. My flight also took me through Paris, to which I had never been, so of course I stayed a few days in Paris as well. Outside of the photos taken on the shoot, I didn’t take many photographs of either city.Now, if I were sent to Paris or Prague on assignment to photograph the city things would be different. I wouldn’t be in tourist mode. I would be looking for locations, finding the right light in the right spot and going back to these locations at the right time for that light… even if it means getting up at 3am to get to the location and set up. But when I’m in a new place as a tourist, I want to take my time walking around, exploring, eating, seeing, and being a tourist… and I damn sure don’t want to get up at 3am (and in Prague, thanks to some of the client and crew and some Absinthe, we didn’t even get home until after 4am)Sure, on vacation I’ll take some pictures along the way. But to me, I have different mentalities when at a location for a job and at a location for a vacation. I don’t remember who it was, but I read a comment by a travel photographer who, when on personal vacation, doesn’t even take a camera. I don’t think I’d ever go that far because I do like taking pictures (I’d hope so, its what I do after all). But it’s nice to be at a location and not have to worry about getting the great shots and finding the perfect locations and being there at the perfect time.So, if someone wants to send me back to Paris for a job I would be more than happy to photograph the city for you and I won’t need to be a tourist this time. And if someone wants to send me to a city I’ve never been to, I’d happily forgo my personal itinerary to get the perfect shots for you.The photo above is one of the pictures I did take while in Paris.

I just got back from spending a few days in Montana visiting my Dad. I’ve lived in a big city of some type all my life, so visiting a place like Montana was a bit different for me. Nothing but space, space and more space between… well, everything. This is a shot of my dad on his “ranch.”

While exploring an area near near Quake Lake in Montana we came across a boat coming to shore with a few duck hunters. One of them was a young girl who apparently got a couple ducks. Being a city boy I’m not used to seeing blonde girls holding any type of carcass, so I thought it would be a good photo opportunity. The girl obliged and as her family looked on with bewilderment I took some pictures of the girl, her boat and her dog.

The other day I was talking to someone about junk mail and I couldn’t remember the name of Greendimes. I knew I had mentioned it here recently, so I said something like “oh, its on my blog.” Right as I said it, I thought to myself, “how lame does that sound?” I mean really, who the hell am I to have a blog? Who in their right mind would want to read my blog (Hi Mom).Ok, if I constrain my blog to photography then I have some (small) reason to have a blog. I read other photographers blogs all the time and find some of them interesting. They range from the self aggrandizing to the completely pointless to the downright informational. I will say that I’m not that thrilled when “photography” bloggers start talking about non-photography related subjects (no Mr. Photog, I don’t want to know your opinion on the Republican candidates for the 2008 election). Admittedly, I’m somewhat guilty of this myself.Oh well, you know what they say: “opinions are like ass holes, everybody has one.”  Unfortunately, unlike ass holes, people have way too many opinions.I’ll try to keep things on topic… starting tomorrow. Bonus points if you know what the hell the title of this post means.You can stop reading now Mom.

A lot of times I write these blog entries well in advance, just in case I run out of ideas (which is very likely). Sometimes things get pushed back because I want to post something different at the time. So, there may be references in my entries like “last week I…” or “in the current…” which are out of date. This entry is like that. So if you ever read a comment like “Man, that new Bel Biv Divoe album is great” you’ll know it probably wasn’t written recently (and there must have been something wrong with me for liking the BBD album).

It seems like I’ve been inundated with articles about crowd sourcing lately. I know this isn’t a new phenomenon, but for some reason the last few weeks I’ve become more receptive to these stories. First, I was looking through Maxim (I usually only look at it for the girls) and there is an article titled “You Suck” about the crap that You put out there every day (You of course meaning Time Magazine’s Person Of The Year: You) Then, I open up the latest Wired and found an article about newspapers turning to “Citizen Journalists” to bring them the news rather than experienced journalists. Also, a friend of mine had the book “Wikinomics” on his coffee table, which is about the economics of the crowd-sourced online encyclopedia Wikipedia. Finally to complete the cycle I’m standing in line at a book store waiting to buy yet another magazine and I see the book “The Cult of The Amateur: How Today’s Internet Is Killing Our Culture” by Andrew Keen. At that point I decide its a sign so I buy the book.

I think the title of the book says it all. We are flooded daily with media brought to us by amateurs, where once it would have only been professionals. Be it news, reviews, music, video, photography, etc, etc. The biggest gripes the author has are with sites like Wikipedia and the ubiquitous blog where many people get their information and news. Thousands of people writing their opinions and providing information, all possibly with dubious intentions or a complete lack of knowledge of what the truth is. Of course, I do fully grasp the irony of writing a blog entry about a book discussing the pointlessness of such blog entries.

This phenomenon is a problem in the photography world as well. A lot of clients are under both deadline and financial constraints. And, at first glance finding a photographer or image on a site like Flickr or one of the many micro-stock agencies may seem like a cheap and easy solution (of course, it may not be cheaper in the end). But if you need something that is truly unique and will differentiate you from the pack in order to stand out and grab a viewer’s attention I doubt something produced by an amateur will suffice. Digital technologies such as high end digital cameras and Photoshop allow anyone to take a great shot. But to do it consistently and under the time constraints that most photographers are put under is a different thing all together. Putting together a shoot with a large cast, crew and location is also something your typical amateur with a digital camera isn’t likely able to handle. The end result will likely be what they weren’t hoping for.

But hey, I’m just one of a million other bloggers out there thinking my opinion matters. Which, as anyone who knows me can attest to, it doesn’t.

What I listened to last week:
Rolling Stones, Let It Bleed
The Killers, Sam’s Town

What I watched last week:
Californication

What I read last week:
Sunday New York Times
A giant W with far to many ads

Miguel Migs is a San Francisco based DJ I photographed for Remix Magazine. This shot is actually an out-take from the shoot that the magazine didn’t use. The magazine wanted shots of Miguel in his studio, but I knew there was an opportunity to get some great shots of Miguel on the roof of the building where his studio is located.I immediately knew I wanted to get a shot with the sun going down behind the buildings in the distance with Miguel in the foreground. It was too early in the day to get that shot so we got all the indoor studio shots done while waiting for the sun to set. Of course, the indoor shots took a bit longer than expected and when I casually wandered outside to check on the sun I was surprised to see it was already beginning to set behind the buildings.I yelled to Miguel and my assistant Emily to get up to the roof NOW! Emily grabbed my gear and Miguel got up there just in time to get a few shots off before the sun went completely behind the building. Half blind from looking into the sun through my camera it was hard to tell if I got the shot, but I was pretty certain I captured what I was looking for.Any time I do a shoot I’m always looking for the best shot that the client is looking for. But, I’m also on the lookout for shots that I’m interested in. As it turned out, the magazine ran with the shot of Miguel in the studio but also ran some of the rooftop images as well.On a side note, I just read about a service that will stop junk mail… not SPAM, but actual physical junk mail coming to your home. Check it out and sign up. Its only $15 and they will even plant a tree in your honor. The website is GreenDimes.Here are some more pics from the Migs shoot:

I thought I’d post a link to a blog entry I read recently on John Loomis’ Blog about the bidding process and low priced photographers. It was a coincidence he posted about this subject when he did because not a week before his post I was confronted with the same exact problem he writes about and was discussing it with some other photographers. I guess all photographers who value their work and bid on projects accordingly run into this problem all the time. The problem of course being photographers who bid next to nothing for a shoot and give away all their rights to the images.

As a client, I would be worried about hiring the lowest bidder for fear that they don’t really know what they’re getting into. If you’re dealing with a larger production and someone says they can do it for a quarter of what an experienced photographer can do the job , chances are they don’t really understand the complexity of the shoot. Once you’ve hired this photographer, you may not know how badly things are going to turn out until its too late. Not only that, there is usually a reason the low priced photographer is low priced and even if it isn’t a big production you can’t be sure of the quality you will get.

Unfortunately we don’t live in a perfect world and quite often it is the lowest bidder, and thus lowest quality, that is chosen. Not only that, often times “good enough” is good enough as can be seen by the abundance of visual crap we see on a daily basis. I remember not too long ago, after i submitted an estimate for a job I was called by the potential client asking if I could come down in my price. They told me another photographer was significantly lower in price. I asked who the photographer was and looked at his work online. As politely as I could, I let them know why that photographer was so cheap. Clearly they would have been getting a lower quality photograph. The potential client’s response to this was… and I kid you not… “how much would you charge to take a bad photograph?” I laughed and told him I just didn’t think it would work out.

Here is to the clients that want to produce something better than”just good enough.” Thank you!

I’ve never really pursued having my work shown in galleries or exhibits. Its not that I don’t want to show work in galleries, it just hasn’t been my primary focus so far. However, starting on August 6th and running until Augu19th I will have four pieces in a group exehbition at the Space Gallery in San Francisco. The exhibit is being put in by Yelp and The Space Gallery. The theme of the exhibit is Reflections on City Life & Community. There will be an artists reception which is open to the public on August 16th from 7:30pm to 11pm. You can follow the Space Gallery link to find more information.

I was contacted by Southwest Airlines to do a shoot for the in-flight magazine Southwest Spirit. They were doing an article on “Vintage San Francisco” and they wanted it shot in B&W. It sounded like a great project and I was excited to get it. Then the Photo Editor said something I couldn’t believe… she said that it was ok to shoot digitally.

As she was describing the project I was already envisioning how I was going to shoot the project. Getting a request for a B&W shoot is rare enough now days, but a story about Vintage San Francisco that contains primarily architecture and wanting it in B&W is even rarer still. I thought there is no way I’m going to shoot this with a 35mm digital camera! (which was the equipment I had at time) Don’t get me wrong. I’m no “anti-digital” purist. I am a tech nerd through and through (yes, I got the iPhone days within release). Tech was even what I used to do in a past life before photography. I am fully digital, 35mm to Medium Format and Large Format. But if there was ever a project that called for using a large format View Camera and Polaroid Type 55 film, this was it. At the time i didn’t have a View Camera and had never used Type 55 film, but it was something that I’ve always wanted to use. So, I went out and bought the equipment and learned on this shoot. It was great traveling all around the city and looking at places I’ve seen every day in a whole new light.

The Photo Editor loved the results and I think the images were far better than a 35mm digital camera could have produced. I know its not the equipment that makes a photograph, but there is something a little more soulful to taking a picture with a View Camera and Polaroid film. For me, its like the difference between Vinyl and an MP3… sure there are pops and scratches on the vinyl but it gives a different mood and warmth that can’t be matched, even if it is just in my mind.

Anna was thrilled to see herself on my blog. And now, I’m sure she will be even more happy to see that she is here twice while her sister Sara is only her once.

So, I received a call from Anna’s Aunt. Apparently she was distraught at the fact that her sister Sara made my website and blog and she didn’t. So, without further ado, here is the Beautiful Anna.