Thursday, February 23, 2012

snaps - Peter and Jamie

Jamie

Peter
Today I decided to go for a ride with Jamie and Peter.  As work picks up, I've been trying to do as much as I can on days off.

As always, I had my x100 in my bag, and couldn't resist taking some photos for this blog after seeing the light and locations we were riding by.


I also took some candid stuff throughout our ride.  I've posted some of these "behind the scenes" shots to the life blog, but I thought I'd include them on here to give some context to the main portraits above.


It was a good day.



Oh, and here's a shot of me between two dinosaurs that Jamie snapped.


There's some other news that should be coming soon, so keep checkin back.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

my bike

This quick video was done for me, as a visualization to a question I was asked.  This is why my bike is on my list of prized possessions.


I had some time yesterday afternoon, so I decided to put a camera on a tripod and on my bike and put some visuals to my answer.  It's nothing fancy or planned, just a spur of the moment vid with my voice (which was recorded on a gaming headset...).

You can watch on vimeo in 720p.

Boy do I hate the sound of my own voice.


Monday, February 6, 2012

new blog: life


I have a camera with me about 99% of the time.  Even when I sleep, I keep one beside my bed.


I created a second blog, "life", to have a place to post my documentary work as I shoot it.  

I can split my photographic interest into two main efforts.  The first, which is what the blog you're on now (and my website) focuses on, is portraiture and thought out concepts.  The light/subject/location is more or less planned, and I am in control.  This is my main passion: personalities.


This new blog is a bit harder to explain; it's part photostory, part visual journal and part experiment.  I can contribute the photo documentary influence to Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank, William Klein, James Nachtwey and Vivian Maier (I had to limit myself to 5).  I am constantly inspired by street/photo documentary work.


There's something romantic about shooting the world around you.  I'm looking forward to going through these images in five, ten or even twenty years and seeing how the subject matter, the people I surround myself with, and the places themselves change.  


This is the reason I bought my Fuji X100.  It's probably the favourite in my 3 camera arsenal.  The retro styling, small size, powerful chip, 35mm lens and super silent shutter give it this unassuming quality; no one ever pays attention to it (unless they're photo nerds).


Before I bought the X100, I carried around my small Ricoh KR5 Super 35mm camera) so I find myself shooting the Fuji like I did tri-x.  It's always either 400, 800 or 1600ISO.  It just so happens that the X100 at 1600ISO produces a look I love, which is why I almost always leave it set to that.  


BUT, it's way more about the moments then the gear.  I limit my post work to capture one with just a levels, curves, and black and white adjustments; the files will be kept away from Photoshop at all costs to maintain as much rawness as I can.


So if you're interested, visit the blog at http://thomasdagg.tumblr.com and follow along.