Getting To Know Your Skyscraperpage Photographers

[flar]

I've got no passport either. Thanks for listing your influences.

[mr.John]

I have a question for mr.John - I think this picture from your Montreal Noir thread is one of the best I've seen on this forum - and wouldn't look out of place alongside some of the pictures by the two photographers mentioned above. What were you aiming for when you took the picture? Were you just concentrating on the patterns made by people's breath, or were you taking a people shot, and realised the patterns after you took it?

thanks for your kind words, as far as the picture you mentioned goes the smoke you see is mostly from a wood burning BBQ pit, my aim was to use backlighting to create dramatic sihouettes being in the middle of winter you get the added bonus of breath (smoke vapor)

heres a couple of examples of backlighting+smoke = dramatic sihouettes





heres a couple attempts of Mr. John trying to recreate the Salgado look(as if)







and here's a few shots of people acting goofy

[Bedhead]

^^^ Cool, thanks!

[LSyd]

are they LARPing?

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[Aleks]

what an awesome thread. i love reading about photographers and their inspirations.

[hammersklavier]

This thread's gotten pretty quiet lately...

[ue]

Is KOTH not doing the interview or something like that?

[HomeInMyShoes]

Not sure. I sent a followup PM recently to check if they want to pass which anyone is free to do.

[Kingofthehill]

Kingofthehill
Hi guys! I'd like to offer my apologies for the delayed response; I had answered these some time ago, but left town for the weekend, only to forget the send them in upon returning.

Anyways,


Here's the questions:
What are you shooting with and what would you like to shoot with?
I shoot with a Canon 40D, and 2 lenses: the 17-40mm f/4L, and 85mm f/1.8, with both being Canon. Generally speaking, I'm quite happy with the results from this set-up, though I'd definitely like to get my hands on a 5D Mk.II; shoots wider, offers better depth of field, and nighttime performance, is far more robust. And of course, I’d eventually like to swap my 85mm for a 135mm f/2.0L. That said, I'm not complaining…not yet, anyways. I'm just now learning to fully master this several-trick pony.

Talk about your inspirations and influences.
While I don’t have many influences or inspirations in the form of “real-life” photographers (i.e, well-known and celebrated ones), I do find plenty of inspiration from my photographer friends on Flickr and my hometown and city of Los Angeles, of which serves as a canvass of sort for my meanderings. I do a lot of reading, so I think that gives me a mental context and image of what I want and don’t want to shoot.

Where have you not been that you want to photograph?
Everywhere! With the exception of dangerous places such as Somalia, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and places hostile to photographers, like Eritrea, I’d like to try and see as many places as possible. Unsurprisingly, there are some that I want to see more than others and among those are: My European “3” of Berlin, London, and Paris (of which will try and visit this summer); Laos, Vietnam, Cuba, Colombia, blah blah, etc. This might be a bad question, since I could probably go on forever about the places I’d like to visit, haha. On the domestic front, I’d like to make it out to Philly and Montréal sometime in the near future.

Talk about your most popular (in your opinion) photothreads.
Aww, man. There’s been a couple. The “Keeping it real in LA” series has been a huge success, as it being on its 10th installment will vouch. Additionally, the threads comprised of my photos from my most recent vacations (Buenos Aires, Chicago, NYC, and Peru) all have been fairly popular. Based on my observations, people seem to be most intrigued by my people shots. Don’t know why that’s the case, but it certainly shows through in comments in my threads. Personally, I try to keep my photographs "fair and balanced" (ha!), by incorporating not only architecture, people, and the streets, but including elements of my personal life, such as food and friends.

Talk about your photothreads that didn't get the response you wanted.
Really, aside from maybe some old threads (i.e a few years ago), I’m quite happy with the overall reception and response I’ve gotten on my numerous photo threads. The majority of my recent threads seem to have in excess of 3 pages and average several thousand views. Although my most recent threads have been rather disappointing in terms of responses, but I think that’s site-wide; there must been a downturn of sorts going on. However, I did think my Lima thread would get more responses, if only because of its relative obscurity and splendid architecture. Sadly, there does still seem to be a bias held towards non-American city threads.

Any tips or personal wisdom you'd like to pass on to others?
I’d just like for people to concentrate on what they do best, instead of trying to please everybody by doing little bit of everything. By doing that, you ultimately end up not being particularly strong in any one area. Also, don’t let people discourage or tell you not to keep doing what it is that pleases you. Lastly, I wish people would stop being so damn hard on themselves. It’s not at cool, and you’ll be sure to have plenty of people who will dislike your work (out of jealous/contempt) regardless.

Who should we ask these questions of next?
Sabotai. He definitely has the “eye,” and is one of the few people I know who can simultaneously pull off people AND architecture shots. I know from in-person that to some extent, my work was initially influential, but now he really seems to have hit the ground running with his unique style.

[flar]

Originally Posted by Kingofthehill

Based on my observations, people seem to be most intrigued by my people shots. Don’t know why that’s the case, but it certainly shows through in comments in my threads.

Your people shots are top notch. People naturally like to look at other people, and you have to include some people shots if you really want to capture the essence of a place. People make the city.

[ue]

^Yeah, without people, a city seems dead and sterilized. You, KOTH were one of the people on SSP that inspired me to try more people-type shots. I'm sure you've influenced many more on this site, Flickr, etc.

[LSyd]

i think you would have fun in many places in Iraq with your people shots.

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[HomeInMyShoes]

Sabotai

What are you shooting with and what would you like to shoot with?

Right now, I'm shooting with a Nikon D90, armed with several fast primes(85 1.4, 35 1.8, 50 1.8), an ultrawide(Tokina 11-16 2.8) and the Sigma 70-200 2.8. I'll probably jump on the next D300 replacement, but I'm also interested in the smaller live view cameras, such as the GF1 as a compliment to my Nikon kit.

If you could sum up your style in one photograph what photo would it be?

For me, it's really impossible to pick any one photo to sum up my style. I've shot so many photos of so many things that it's hard to pick just one. Here's a photo I took about 5 years ago that I was especially enamoured with.


Talk about your inspirations and influences.

A lot of my inspiration comes from seeing other people's photos on flickr. If you take a look through my favorites, you can see a lot of what I really enjoy looking at. http://www.flickr.com/photos/sabotai/favorites/

Also, each one of those forum members already interviewed have inspired me!

Where have you not been that you want to photograph?

Anywhere, really! If anyone wants to sponsor a trip somewhere, let me know!

Talk about your most popular (in your opinion) photothreads.

While it didn't have the most responses, I thought this thread really summed up the city I currently live in, maybe better than any of my other threads.
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=173315


Talk about your photothreads that didn't get the response you wanted.

It took a while for my NOLA threads to get many responses. One of them sat for a few weeks with only 4 responses.

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=166947
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=166861
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=166756


Any tips or personal wisdom you'd like to pass on to others?

One of the most important things a photographer can know is how to use his camera in full manual. Learn how to shoot manual and your photos will get better and better.


Who should we ask these questions of next?

How about flash? He takes great photos that are always on point. I believe someone used the word "clarity" to describe his photos and I couldn't agree more.

[flar]

^^Great photo

Nice fast set of lenses you have too.

[ue]

Wow that is a good image. Very nice!

[diskojoe]

very interesting thread hims. definitely all favorites of mine here on ssp.

i had a question for KOTH.

how do you get all the great portraits? Sabotai said you had quite a way with people. what kind of advice would you offer others to relax people into letting you take their pictures like that?

[HomeInMyShoes]

Flash

What are you shooting with and what would you like to shoot with?

Current cameras and lenses:
Canon 1Ds Mark III
Canon 5D Mark II
Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L
Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II Tilt-Shift
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8
Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L

I'd like to one day venture into digital medium format or do more helicopter aerials.


If you could sum up your style in one photograph what photo would it be?

It's hard to pick one, but ideally I like to combine skylines and a one of a kind element (lightning, rainbow, etc):



Doing this is rarely possible, so if I don't have the time or opportunities to wait for something like that to happen, I love the "flattened depth" of scenes like this:




Talk about your inspirations and influences.

Downtown Pittsburgh was/is my inspiration. I remember my Dad taking me to the top of US Steel tower as a kid sometime in the late 80s and thinking how special it was. If I didn't grow up close to Pittsburgh, I'm not sure I would of had the interest in cities and their skylines.

When I joined SSP in 2003, being able to share my photos and getting positive responses was definitely encouraging.


Where have you not been that you want to photograph?

West Coast- San Francisco particularly.

Talk about your most popular (in your opinion) photothreads.

The bigger, more admired cities like New York and Chicago get the most attention, I think. I had 9 days to capture NYC in 2007 for my most popular thread. I wish I could always visit for longer durations and devote more time to maximize the diversity of photographs.


Talk about your photothreads that didn't get the response you wanted.

Sometimes the Pittsburgh ones don't get a whole lot of attention. I don't post as much as before on SSP so sometimes I think they might be overlooked.

I'm always trying to cram in as much as possible when I go back home to PA, so I'm not always satisfied with what I can photograph.


Any tips or personal wisdom you'd like to pass on to others?

If you are shooting with an SLR, get the best lenses you can afford. They will stay around longer than the camera bodies.


Who should we ask these questions of next?

I'm always envious of KCGridlock's helicopter aerials around the US.

[peanut gallery]

Yes and yes! Those are two amazing shots and show why I love your photos so much, especially the Pittsburgh threads. Please come out to SF! The results would be amazing.

[flar]

We've come to expect interesting images with absolutely top-notch technical proficiency from Flash. Definitely one of the very best photographers posting on SSP.

[Doady]

Is that it? I enjoy reading these.