I really really like the first one. it feels so cold.
Oh the memories of Taiwan. The one with the two kids is the best picture.
I agree.
I really like 1, 3, 5, 6 and that one of the little girl you just posted. The first one reminds me of a Jandek album cover for some reason. Three's really neat because it's kind of snapshotty, but, ya know, some shots are but they're still fine photographs. I like how each person gains more movement from left to right. The sixth picture and the one of the little girl are my favorites, I'd really like to take osme pictures like that myself.
I'm impressed you know who Jandek is.
Now that JimmyGator has given in, it's unanimous. Xixax fully endorses I Love a Magician.
Back to Pete's pictures, then.
the last one is brilliant. i love the little boy in the background.
are a couple of those taken with a Holga?
aren't you IN the third picture, Pete?
yep, put the camera on the ground on an angle, turned out the timer, then three of us counted back from 15 and jumped off the asphalt roller thing. and no, all those pictures were taken with an older canon slr camera.
Quote from: I Love a Magician on January 15, 2006, 03:04:15 PMThe first one reminds me of a Jandek album cover for some reason.
Yeah, I think so too. I really like that first one, the one of the kids, but I really like the last one too.
very good photos.
i particularly love the first one as well.
i like the last one. i had it as my desktop background for a few days but just replaced it with a really cool ralph steadman sketch.
i like a bunch of the black and white ones, because they make me feel like diane arbus is still alive.
funny you mention arbus, 'cause when I was in Taiwan, I took like dozens of pictures of retarded people--my grandfather runs/ owns a school for retarded people. but I dunno, I have not developed any of them yet and I don't know when is the next time I'll be able to access the dark room, if ever again. I don't like arbus though, I think she's too obvious. I like Garry Winnagrand quite a lot.
i guess it's okay to refer to the mentally challenged as "retarded people" in taiwan?
:yabbse-grin:
actually, funny you mentioned that, 'cause a while ago I posted this video of my graduation on this here xixax. In the video I went up there for my diploma, pranced, and performed this pratfall that had my buddy who was taping laughing really hard and in the video he was laughing and he said "you're a retard." I went back to Taiwan and showed the staff there the video, forgetting about the comment in the end and it was really awkward 'cause everyone was laughing until the guy said that, and the teachers all just kinda fell kinda silent then politely said things like "aw that was funny" or something. But I do have some really really good retard stories, probably as good as the Ferrally Brothers' stories.
The umbrella photo was the only one to get my attention, the others... not so much. The color's nice in the little girl photo. Can't explain the why or the why not at this moment, however.
:( I am at work.
I do really like the b&w ones you previously showed quite a bit. :bravo:
These remind me that I don't really miss Taiwan (I lived there for 4 years. You know, for kicks).
You take pictures of children really well. You must be really sneaky. Why are they all wearing USA shirts?
yeah I'm having troubles with colors for some reason. I think the biggest problem is I can't really visualize what the colored photos will look like. then the other problem is that I can't develop them personally. some of the ones that I like end up being liked only by me, because they lack the visual depth and stuff. for example, I thought the temple photo would look good because only the lion was in focus and everything else was moving, but it was hard for the lion to stick out. same thing with the daymarket picture...if I could burn and dodge, I'd make the two farmers in the middle of the picture stick out.
anyways I'm just whining I guess. thanks for the words. and matt, taiwan really is fun. and the two girls are sisters.
Quote from: pete on July 05, 2006, 12:33:36 PM
and matt, taiwan really is fun. and the two girls are sisters.
Yeah I'm sure it'd be cool to go back and visit someday. I think it's just not fun for a kid. The whole 4 years felt like a blur of smog, motorcycles, and school uniforms. I also never got to go to the movies because they're all fire hazards and have no safety escape, or so my parents said.
the one of the girl is great.
Read your own advice to Reinhold about changing your shooting height instead of tilting up or down towards whatever you're shooting. A few of those pictures are just balancing right on that thin line between photograph and snapshot, and a little more thought about the angle at which you're shooting would help push them over to the right side.
The kid in front of the yellow wall, especially... that's so close to being a really good photograph, it's almost frustrating to look at.
you're right. here's to vowing that my next rolls will be more conscious.
I like this one a lot:
The colors are gorgeous.
But is there a reason you consistently shoot with a slightly canted angle?
The backlighting in the third one is rather unfortunate as it obscures the face of, who I'm sure, is one cool dude.
I like these better. :)
I dunno, I started tilting the camera a while ago, just so I could cut off things in the shot or to fit something else in, I have like a really good friend who also does that a lot too. Also I'm a big fan of Winnogrand.
the background lighting was kinda intentional though, I guess you can't tell :(, but I was trying to make him just like an outline or something.
Anybody else have any more criticism? I need to get back into shape.
Quote from: pete on July 14, 2006, 03:53:47 AM
I need to get back into shape.
Quote from: Pubrick on October 03, 2005, 03:20:08 AM
combination of cardio and weights.
run 30mins (aim for 10km) one day and hav a 2hr gym session the next.
I like the fourth one a lot.
I love you giving the paparazzi a taste of their own medicine.
Anyways, you always have really great pics to look at.
the best picture is the one of the girls in short skirts on the corner. there's a lot of movement, a lot of character, and a lot of room for interpretation. there's so much going on here, i kind of love it. the other stuff doesn't really compare to your other work. i'm not so much affected by a picture of a bird on a lamppost or a single car in a parking lot unless it's captured in a way that i've never seen it before, you know? i am partial to pictures of humanity, and you're very good at capturing little moments in busy cities. hope to see more from you soon, petey boy.
Quote from: bonanzataz on November 28, 2006, 02:53:34 AM
the other stuff doesn't really compare to your other work. i'm not so much affected by a picture of a bird on a lamppost or a single car in a parking lot unless it's captured in a way that i've never seen it before, you know?
i agree with bonz. i would also like to add one more to his list of pics that are least effective.. pics taken as you fall over.
I really like these pictures. The one with the baby is just perfect.
transvestite on the phone and dogs on a bean bag, i love it. all that's missing is a piece of bacon taped to the wall.
I like your pictures quite a bit.
Was that last one a happy accident? Cause it is strikingly good
Quote from: squints on January 22, 2007, 08:58:54 PM
Was that last one a happy accident? Cause it is strikingly good
Agreed. Reminds me of this guy:
yeah. I was bummed out about the picture but my friend Forest told me he really liked it, he said that about a bunch of blurry pictures I've put up here.
Black and white makes some nice pictures :yabbse-grin:
Is that Forrest?
Quote from: pete on October 31, 2007, 01:28:56 AM
nobody comments on my photos anymore :(
in the last batch of 3, you forgot to take pictures of anything, so there wasn't much to say..
new batch:
impossible to not like the first two.
also like the Taiwan Drift, and handsome girl modelling agency.
the final two pics, with the ransacked house, feel like the beginning of a series. still works as a two-parter.
easier to comment when you actually take pictures of something. :yabbse-thumbup:
Quote from: pete on October 31, 2007, 01:28:56 AM
nobody comments on my photos anymore :(
too much headroom.
This last batch it seems the colors washed out in quite a few. However, your eye for snapshot composition is quite something. Also, in the really dark shot (circus?) the grain is a bit distracting. This is just nitpicking and maybe irrelevant to your purpose, but as it's all I can really comment on, I figured I'd put it out there.
I don't know if you're auto-exposuring or whatever, but in general it might help to bracket shots. That is, shoot the same shot a few times, once at the recommended exposure in your camera's light meter, and then one stop both above and below that exposure. You're bound to get the "correct" exposure then. But since your shots are so snapshot-y, it might be ridiculous to try for this. Speaking of which, I love the energy your photos all capture (with a few quieter exceptions). There's always a lot going on, if not explicitly (people moving quickly) then implicitly (such as the destroyed house). It's something pretty special to be able to capture that consistently, and as well as you do. I'm too slow a photographer to even try. All in all, good work as usual.
I do agree with P on the other shots. Abstraction and Modernist photography have come and gone, and in the end I think everyone decided that photography is not painting.
the last batch all came from this one roll which was probably a slower stock rated at a faster ISO. I didn't develop my color photos so I'm not sure. Also, a lot of these shots only happened once, so my bracketed images captured a lot of less interesting moments, I do bracket though, and it always feels like cash burning. I don't auto expose, and I've let go plenty of beautiful moments because of the slowness of my fingers. I enjoy cinematography much more for this reason.
Quote from: pete on November 01, 2007, 04:54:42 AM
the last batch all came from this one roll which was probably a slower stock rated at a faster ISO. I didn't develop my color photos so I'm not sure. Also, a lot of these shots only happened once, so my bracketed images captured a lot of less interesting moments, I do bracket though, and it always feels like cash burning. I don't auto expose, and I've let go plenty of beautiful moments because of the slowness of my fingers. I enjoy cinematography much more for this reason.
I know what you mean. In any shot you're not preparing from the ground up it's impossible to bracket and capture the same image each time. It's not necessarily for that reason but I don't do snapshot photography anymore, really. It'd be fucking impossible now as I've recently "upgraded" to medium format (the Pentax 67II I'm using is just too heavy to shoot without a tripod).
Of course, you could try using a tripod and take your time if you decide to keep with this outdoor route. I myself prefer your street photography.
Dang! Tons of great street photography, and illustration. Soo-poib!
God, really pretty.
but why just kids? do you work with children all day?
I did.
until he got fired for taking pictures of them all the time..
hahaha
excellent work man
Yeah, those are amazing. What camera are you using?
He's not using a camera anymore, he's using his fucking soul.
This last batch contains some of your best work.
wow thanks!
I grew to be a lot more sensitive to lights in the last year, but my photoshop/lightroom skills are still sloppy. I use a Canon 60D. Been doing a lot of food photography.
It's funny, the cliche is that food always looks gross when photographed, unless you're using a studio or artificial food. How do you make the food look good, generally?
I don't know? I can't imagine any digital photo looking good fallen off the truck - I don't shoot the raw images that way and no pro I know does that either. The trick is to make it look natural and I've often found myself working on a photo for hours and then becoming completely deflated when I reference the photos of my friends. I don't use lightroom though, and I think my photoshop skill thus far still lacks the fine touch. I'm confident with my skills filming food, but photos require a degree of finesse I'm still seeking:
here are two of my friends/sometime collaborators: Eric's site (http://www.ericwolfinger.com), Sara's site (http://www.sararemington.com).
here are some sample images from a cookbook I'm shooting. I shot it in Taiwan on a scouting/research trip, so there was no resources or stylist - just a girl and me in the markets and restaurants and kitchens. I need to develop some skills STAT to make up for the lack of resources.
missing the nuances. but I'll get there I hope!
from NYE