Photographer type

© Sherman Charles
I ran across this list on one of the photoblogs. Thought it would be interesting to fill it out for myself.

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color: yes
black & white: yes

film: no, but wouldn’t mind
digital: yes

available light: when available
lit: when called for
heavily lit: no
over lit: not intentional

large format: no, would be sweet though
medium format: no
35mm: yes
holga/junk: no

shoots men: yes
shoots women: strangely mostly
shoots children: no

studio: no
location: yes

portrait: yes
photojournalist: suck at
fashion: no, but would try
beauty: no, but would try
still life: sometimes
fine art: dabbling
advertising: no, but aiming
outdoor: anytime
automotive: no
food: no
interior: no, but aiming for
sports: no
conceptual: no

travel and leisure-e: no but interested
urban: no
gritty: no
nike: no
high production value: no
low production value: yes
slick: no
raw : yes
grainy : no
saturated : no
captured moment: yes, aim for it
americana: no
weird: not really
stark: no
quirky: no
props: no
lyrical: ??
painterly: maybe
high contrast: sometimes, if it fits
naked: semi but working on it
cool: no
off moment: aim for it
awkward: no, but aim for it
muted color: no
crunchy (super sharp): no, don’t like
great casting: no
tight: no
landscape: yes, mainly seascape
action :no
sets: no
real people : prefer
models : rarely, good ones, never
trashy : no
heroin chic : no
vintage :no

gimmicky: no
kitschy: ?
Lord-of-the-Rings-y (overly digitally processed so people look like video game characters): no, don’t like

Platonish: no

natural: yes
fussy: no
unstyled: yes
overstyled: no
spontaneous: yes, aim for
sluggish: no
energetic: yes
vibrant: sometimes
clever: probably not

cinematic : possibly
snapshotty (as opposed to snap-shoddy): no
faux-testino: no

film noir: yes and me like

square: no

street: suck at

bad: sometimes

awful: rarely I hope
lame: no

man hands: think I have slender fingers

can shoot anything: my way
haute-shit : no

See local

© Rachel Mackow

I went to a local photography gallery in Hopewell, NJ [http://www.gallery14.com] this past weekend to see some work by a few local photographers. While there I grabbed a postcard off a stack lying on a small corner table. The front cover was a beautiful black and white photograph of a forest setting. Wonderful, image titled – “Black cohosh in Fog”. Flipping the card over I learned that it was taken in The Sourland Mountain Reserve in Somerset county. A short 10 minute drive from my house. That evening I logged on to the photographer’s website to view the rest of the portfolio from that series. I was really amazed. I have hiked through the Sourlands often, and always thought it would be an interesting place to photograph but never go around to it. Also I never decided on the approach that I would take. I must say that I was very inspired by what the photographer, Rachel Mackow, had done.

So the moral of this story is to see local. Look around you. Some of us sit around wishing we could travel to exotic locations, and photograph interesting places and people. We may find ourselves very surprised at what lies right around our corner. Develop your creativity to be inspired by the commonplace and find the stories that are right underneath your nose.

The eyes

© Sherman Charles

I took this photograph two summer ago. I love her eyes.