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HELLO DARKNESS MY OLD FRIEND
This still life, designed to recall the “cold war” feel of the tape recorder and other props, was shot in a completely darkened room, and lit with sweeps and stabs of light from a handheld LED, used to...
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JUST ENOUGH
By MICHAEL PERKINS PHOTOGRAPHERS SPEND HALF THEIR LIVES TRYING TO PUT AS MUCH INFORMATION INTO THEIR IMAGES AS POSSIBLE, and the other half trying to remove as much as practicable. Both efforts are in...
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GOING (GENTLY) OFF-ROAD
By MICHAEL PERKINS WHEN YOU’RE BEHIND THE WHEEL, SOME PHOTOGRAPHS NAG THEIR WAY INTO YOUR CAMERA. They will not be denied, and they will not be silenced, fairly glowing at you from the sides of roads,...
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DARKNESS AS SCULPTOR
A dead end? Not once the sun goes down. 1/10 sec., f/3.5, ISO 500, 18mm By MICHAEL PERKINS IN DAYLIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY, THE DEFAULT ACTION TENDS TO BE TO SHOW EVERYTHING. Shadows in day scenes are a kind...
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IN STEICHEN’S SHADOW
“Le Regiment Plastique”. Shot in a dark room and light-painted from the top edge of the composition. 5 seconds, f/5.6, ISO 100, 35mm. By MICHAEL PERKINS I’VE POSTED SEVERAL PIECES HERE ON...
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NOT WHAT I CAME FOR, BUT…
By MICHAEL PERKINS ANYONE WHO’S MADE A ROAD TRIP CAN TELL YOU THAT THE DESTINATION IS OFTEN FAR LESS ENJOYABLE THAN THE JOURNEY, a truth that also applies to photography. The best things result from...
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THE JOURNEY OF BECOMING
By MICHAEL PERKINS ONCE MAN LEARNED TO SLICE A PATH THROUGH THE DARK WITH ANY KIND OF LIGHT, a romance with mystery began that photographers carry ever forward. Darkness and light can never be...
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ANATOMY OF A BOTCH
This murky mess is barely tolerable in monochrome. 1/25 sec., f/3.5, ISO 1250, 18mm. By MICHAEL PERKINS THERE SHOULD BE A MIRROR-IMAGE, “NEGATIVE” COOKBOOK FOR EVERY REGULAR ONE PUBLISHED, since there...
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FREEZING GOODBYE
1/125 sec., f/5.6, ISO 100, 35mm. By MICHAEL PERKINS PHOTOGRAPHERS HAVE A CERTAIN LOVE FOR LIVING AT THE EXTREMES, in seeing how far we can stretch the limits of light, or at least our ability to...
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WORKING THE BLINDS
I love this building, but the real star of this image is light; where it hides, bounces, conceals, and reveals. By MICHAEL PERKINS ONE OF THE MOST CHALLENGING ASPECTS OF URBAN PHOTOGRAPHY, versus...
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A TRICK OF THE LIGHT
By MICHAEL PERKINS PHOTOGRAPHERS WHO TRACK THE SUN AS IT TRAVELS EAST TO WEST over the vast expanse of the Grand Canyon have made amazing images of the way light changes contours, shadows, even the...
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UNKNOWN KNOWNS
Everyone is visible, yet no one is known. Faceless crowds serve as shapes and props in a composition. By MICHAEL PERKINS WE OFTEN WRITE IN THESE PAGES ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY’S UNIQUE ABILITY to either...
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OF TATTOOS AND STENCILS
By MICHAEL PERKINS IN CITIES, ONLY A SMALL PORTION OF THE DAY’S NATURAL LIGHT actually makes it all the way to the street unbroken. You can almost think about it like rain, in that it drips, slithers,...
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COMPOSING ON THE RUN
An instinctual snap: sunset light on a forest path. And that’s that….or is it? My wife enters the frame a second later. By MICHAEL PERKINS LOTS OF OUR BEST PHOTOGRAPHS ARE, EXCUSE THE EXPRESSION, snap...
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COMFORT FOOD (AND LIGHT)
By MICHAEL PERKINS SINGLE–SOURCE LIGHT IS ALMOST ALWAYS USED, IN PHOTOGRAPHY, with the aim of calling attention to something other than itself. Typically the light’s origination point is hidden or...
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UNPLANNED ITINERARIES
Up Wafted The Gold, 2018 By MICHAEL PERKINS CHOICES ARE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN TIME AND OPPORTUNITY MEET. The more one has the chance to see, coupled with the leisure to explore or appreciate the value of...
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