My favorite thing to ask myself is- why am I doing this? What provokes me to stay up all night for a sunrise? Why do I shoot late at night in downtown D.C., repeatedly making ill-advised decisions about my safety? Where's the payoff for me, the shooter? To be honest, I don't have a concise answer. My shooting has no overarching goal. I could care less about being "artistic". My guess is that I like to be outside. I love the therapy of creating. For better or worse, I always prefer to do something myself. Car is broken? I'll learn to fix it. Need a new computer? I would rather build my own.
Want a picture of the moon rising over the bay? Then grab a camera and figure it out.
I am a native Washingtonian with an appetite for useless information and hobbies that let me tinker. I picked up my first serious camera last year and decided it was time to put my free time into something that other people found dignifying (as opposed to modifying cars, being a computer nerd, reading medical literature in my free time, and watching 80's action movies). I have a problem in that my curiosity is never satisfied; so yes, I will pick up a camera on a whim and suddenly go nuts with it for as long as it takes. I studied English, Philosophy, and Environmental Science at the University of Wisconsin and graduated in 2008... so naturally it would follow that I am currently enrolled in a Pre-Med program at the University of Maryland (I promise that one wasn't on a whim).
As for my shooting I love deep vibrant colors. The subject matter always takes a backseat when I see a set of colors before me that just pop. I hope to never become a hipster photographer (complete with B/W film camera, some weird hat from the thrift store, and a portfolio stacked with random portraits of alarmed strangers on the street). I am a shameless postcard style photographer and have no reservations about it. There is only one reason why I have a website- to share the astonishing beauty in our world that we walk past every day, and to inspire others to do the same. I'm not trying to be clever, I'm not trying to make a statement, and I'm especially not trying to be different! But if something I have shot has made you feel a certain way... Thank You for taking the time to share that with me.
About the pictures…
Some of you have been curious about my gear and how I get my photos to look the way they do. I’ve already had tons of people ask me about Photoshop use, HDR (High Dynamic Range), cropping etc… You may be surprised to know that:
1. There are probably only 2-3 pictures on this site that have had any Photoshop/manipulation done to them AT ALL (aside from watermarking)! Of these 2 or 3 the manipulation would have been used to tone down harsh lighting that could not be altered on the field. None of the pictures have been modified heavily, played with, or altered to the point where they were even moderately different from what came out of the camera.
2. There are only 1 or 2 landscape pictures on the site that have received any cropping because they needed to be straightened. Pictures of people or my dog Henry may be cropped as optimal framing cannot always be achieved with a moving subject. For the vast MAJORITY, these are all exactly as they came out of the camera. I’m not against cropping, but if you crop then you can’t print as big. I like to print big and get the shot the way I want it the first time.
3. I do not layer or use HDR for any of my pictures. For people unfamiliar with HDR, it usually involves taking multiple pictures of the same scene and layering them on top of each other to allow for certain effects/exposures. I understand the appeal in HDR, but I would much rather be out shooting more pictures instead of playing on my computer.
So why do some of my pictures have wild colors?
The time of day and subject matter have the greatest impact on saturation. I love to shoot at dawn, dusk, and late at night when colors tend to get a little more interesting. My least favorite time of day to shoot is noon. Lots of sun means lots of blown out highlights and washed out colors.
For landscapes, I set my camera to have higher than baseline color saturation and contrast. Many professional landscape photographers use color transparency film which can actually be much more saturated than most of my work; adjusting my cameras this way in the field simply makes it easier for me to get the colors that landscape shots demand.
I also am a big fan of long exposures (having the camera soak up light for a long period of time). Doing this can have several effects on the image, these include: richer colors, accentuating certain colors that are not as noticeable when viewed with your eye, and blurring of motion. Sometimes a very dark scene requires the camera to soak up light for many minutes to obtain a bright enough image.
My style often necessitates using the camera to view nature in a way our eyes cannot. This does not make my pictures any less real. Every creature on Earth has a different way of "seeing", and this inevitably makes the world look a lot different depending on what instrument you are using. A camera is just another "creature" viewing the world as it sees it. 30 minute exposures at night create scenes that our eyes simply cannot reproduce. Nature still provided the light though, and the camera has the amazing ability to soak up that light for hours and hours. There is not a decent photographer on Earth that should ever tell you the art of photography is a craft of creating facsimiles. When I take a picture, I set the camera to record it as I think the camera can record it best. There's really no right or wrong here.
If you think I'm just getting these results through photoshop- I challenge you to come out and shoot with me. I love having company!
What kind of gear do I use?
I use various Nikon digital SLR cameras, a Panasonic LX3 (amazing pocket camera), an Olympus om-2n 35mm, and various lenses for the SLRs. For films I usually use Kodak Ektar 100, Fuji Velvia, Fuji Sensia 400, Fuji Provia, Kodak Tri-X, Kodak Gold from CVS (haha i really do), and Kodak BW 400CN. All film is scanned on an Epson scanner.
What image file type do I shoot in?
Almost always JPEG. I’ve tried and tried to process RAW files and blow them up huge in prints, but I have never achieved a noticeably more detailed or better exposed picture from a RAW file over a JPEG. I used to pull my hair out over this as everyone raves about RAW use. Honestly I do not see the point in shooting RAW unless one is constantly botching exposures and needing to visit the digital darkroom to save shoots due to user error. It could just be ignorance on my part, but the whole RAW workflow simply does not appeal to me. Plus, I enjoy my camera making decisions for me (in camera sharpening, color saturation, built in distortion correction). I’m lazy and I have no problem letting Nikon and Panasonic send my pictures through algorithms if it means I can shoot more and use Photoshop less.
As for my shooting I love deep vibrant colors. The subject matter always takes a backseat when I see a set of colors before me that just pop. I hope to never become a hipster photographer (complete with B/W film camera, some weird hat from the thrift store, and a portfolio stacked with random portraits of alarmed strangers on the street). I am a shameless postcard style photographer and have no reservations about it. There is only one reason why I have a website- to share the astonishing beauty in our world that we walk past every day, and to inspire others to do the same. I'm not trying to be clever, I'm not trying to make a statement, and I'm especially not trying to be different! But if something I have shot has made you feel a certain way... Thank You for taking the time to share that with me.
About the pictures…
Some of you have been curious about my gear and how I get my photos to look the way they do. I’ve already had tons of people ask me about Photoshop use, HDR (High Dynamic Range), cropping etc… You may be surprised to know that:
1. There are probably only 2-3 pictures on this site that have had any Photoshop/manipulation done to them AT ALL (aside from watermarking)! Of these 2 or 3 the manipulation would have been used to tone down harsh lighting that could not be altered on the field. None of the pictures have been modified heavily, played with, or altered to the point where they were even moderately different from what came out of the camera.
2. There are only 1 or 2 landscape pictures on the site that have received any cropping because they needed to be straightened. Pictures of people or my dog Henry may be cropped as optimal framing cannot always be achieved with a moving subject. For the vast MAJORITY, these are all exactly as they came out of the camera. I’m not against cropping, but if you crop then you can’t print as big. I like to print big and get the shot the way I want it the first time.
3. I do not layer or use HDR for any of my pictures. For people unfamiliar with HDR, it usually involves taking multiple pictures of the same scene and layering them on top of each other to allow for certain effects/exposures. I understand the appeal in HDR, but I would much rather be out shooting more pictures instead of playing on my computer.
So why do some of my pictures have wild colors?
The time of day and subject matter have the greatest impact on saturation. I love to shoot at dawn, dusk, and late at night when colors tend to get a little more interesting. My least favorite time of day to shoot is noon. Lots of sun means lots of blown out highlights and washed out colors.
For landscapes, I set my camera to have higher than baseline color saturation and contrast. Many professional landscape photographers use color transparency film which can actually be much more saturated than most of my work; adjusting my cameras this way in the field simply makes it easier for me to get the colors that landscape shots demand.
I also am a big fan of long exposures (having the camera soak up light for a long period of time). Doing this can have several effects on the image, these include: richer colors, accentuating certain colors that are not as noticeable when viewed with your eye, and blurring of motion. Sometimes a very dark scene requires the camera to soak up light for many minutes to obtain a bright enough image.
My style often necessitates using the camera to view nature in a way our eyes cannot. This does not make my pictures any less real. Every creature on Earth has a different way of "seeing", and this inevitably makes the world look a lot different depending on what instrument you are using. A camera is just another "creature" viewing the world as it sees it. 30 minute exposures at night create scenes that our eyes simply cannot reproduce. Nature still provided the light though, and the camera has the amazing ability to soak up that light for hours and hours. There is not a decent photographer on Earth that should ever tell you the art of photography is a craft of creating facsimiles. When I take a picture, I set the camera to record it as I think the camera can record it best. There's really no right or wrong here.
If you think I'm just getting these results through photoshop- I challenge you to come out and shoot with me. I love having company!
What kind of gear do I use?
I use various Nikon digital SLR cameras, a Panasonic LX3 (amazing pocket camera), an Olympus om-2n 35mm, and various lenses for the SLRs. For films I usually use Kodak Ektar 100, Fuji Velvia, Fuji Sensia 400, Fuji Provia, Kodak Tri-X, Kodak Gold from CVS (haha i really do), and Kodak BW 400CN. All film is scanned on an Epson scanner.
What image file type do I shoot in?
Almost always JPEG. I’ve tried and tried to process RAW files and blow them up huge in prints, but I have never achieved a noticeably more detailed or better exposed picture from a RAW file over a JPEG. I used to pull my hair out over this as everyone raves about RAW use. Honestly I do not see the point in shooting RAW unless one is constantly botching exposures and needing to visit the digital darkroom to save shoots due to user error. It could just be ignorance on my part, but the whole RAW workflow simply does not appeal to me. Plus, I enjoy my camera making decisions for me (in camera sharpening, color saturation, built in distortion correction). I’m lazy and I have no problem letting Nikon and Panasonic send my pictures through algorithms if it means I can shoot more and use Photoshop less.
Copyright Matthew Taglieri 2011. All Rights Reserved
