Jul
29
2010
First Place Winner!
The winning image in the promo art
May
13
2010
Article in the Santa Ana Examiner!
Stacey Scott of the Santa Ana Examiner interviewed Brad about his contributions to the LACDA exhibition opening this evening. Click here to read more…
Two Towers
May
11
2010
Fine Art Exhibition This Thursday!
Brad's photo in the window of LACDA (far left)
Along with his commercial work, Brad also creates a variety of fine art photography, which has appeared in a number of solo and group
exhibitions. This week is his first time participating in the monthly
Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk (2nd Thursday of each month).
This is a terrific event featuring the downtown galleries, restaurants
and bars, and always draws a good crowd … not to mention a large
variety of food trucks. It should be another beautiful Spring evening
so come out and take a stroll.
Downtown Art Walk
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Galleries open until 9pm or later
A good place to start is along Main Street, between 4th and 5th.
Brad has work appearing in two places. First, a piece was selected in an international competition at LACDA, reception will be from 7-9pm.
Los Angeles Center for Digial Art (lacda)
“Top 40 Juried Competition”
Exhibit: May 13 – June 5, 2010
Reception: May 13, 7-9pm
In conjunction with the Downtown Art Walk
107 West Fifth Street (near 5th and Main)
LA CA 90013
http://lacda.com/exhibits/exhibitshome.html Also, the DVD shop on gallery row would like to feature Brad’s work on their walls, and he hopes to have several pieces hung in time for Thursday as well.
Old Bank DVD
On Fourth (at Main next to Pete’s)
Open til midnight
Hope to see you out Thursday night!
Self Portrait
May
5
2010
NY Times: A Moment in Time
On Sunday, May 2, 2010 at 8am (PST), thousands of photographers simultaneously recorded “A Moment in Time.” Click HERE to read more. The idea is to create an international mosaic, an astonishingly varied gallery of images that are cemented together by the common element of time. Below is Brad’s official entry.
Breakfast in downtown Los Angeles, USA. Sunday, May 2, 2010. 8am.
Apr
27
2010
Winner!
Great news! Just got word that my work won a spot in an international competition, and I’ll have a piece at LACDA at the next downtown artwalk (Thursday, May 13, 7-9pm). Put it on your calendar and join us for another cool night downtown. http://www.lacda-archives.com/lacda/lacda_image_archives/Pages/LACDA_2010_Top_40_Winners.html#5
The Winning Image
Mar
9
2010
Collaboration…
A couple of weeks ago, I spent the evening at my studio with Michel Karman, a master of photographic printing. We were experimenting with some Japanese papers, drinking beer, and really enjoying our collaboration. It’s amazing when someone you admire by reputation becomes such a dear friend.
Brad and Michel in 2007.
Jan
20
2010
Show Off…
At the end of the year, the Julia Dean Photo Workshops hosts their annual “Show Off”, a curated group exhibition open to past and present workshop students. An event like this is always an inspiration to create new work, and as I realized the deadline was upon us, I got the urge to stay up late and play.
I surveyed a variety of raw images I had taken in the past. With personal work, I’ll often shoot, but not have time to review and process the photos. Later, as I dig through the archives, I feel that I should move forward, shoot new work, and not dwell in the past. But a few images did catch my eye, and I spent a couple of evenings processing and printing. Two of the four images I submitted were selected for the show, and I had the special honor that one of my pictures was used as the promotional image for the exhibit.
The exhibition of 60 photographs is still on display at the Julia Dean Photo Workshops space in Venice, CA. The reception was on Friday, December 18, 2009, and the terrific turnout included a number of close friends and acquaintances. A recent client, Rocco Gaglioti, hosts the fashion website http://fashionnewslive.com/, and he brought Issa, a journalist, to interview me about my photography (he also brought makeup artist to the stars Sharon Gault, fun getting to know her!). During the interview I was informed that a woman was buying the picture that was featured on the promos! It’s fantastic to get the support of all those who say they like your work, and yet another level of encouragement when someone purchases your creative work. She’s also interested in buying my other piece, and is weighing what her budget will allow.
As the reception wound down I got to relax with Julia, as well as Chris and Brandon who run things over there. They all said they had a number of inquiries throughout the evening about me and my work, and that certainly keeps your spirits up, and encourages you to keep shooting, playing and experimenting.
I closed the studio for the holidays that day, and the show reception was a great way to wrap up the year. Thank you to Julia and her crew for all their support, and likewise to everyone who encourages me to make new photographs.
- Brad
The Winning Image
Dec
4
2009
New Show!
Greetings All!
I’ve got two new photographs in an upcoming group show, and they selected one of my pictures to use on the promos. Pretty cool! Please join us for the opening reception. Beautiful photographs, wonderful people, a glass of wine, and cool night air at the beach.
‘Show Off’ 2009 – 5-8pm
Friday, December 18
The Julia Dean Gallery presents a juried exhibit of photographs from the third annual student show off.
The Julia Dean Photo Workshops
801 Ocean Front Walk, Suite 8
Venice, CA 90291
310.392.0909
Sep
22
2009
Still Photography in Motion
At the end of June, we received a ’save the date’ note from our friends at Image Mechanics. Coming on August 29th and 30th, they promised, would be ”The first ever conference for professional photographers and filmmakers interested in working with DSLRs and the new RED ONE™ cinema camera to create moving and still imagery.” And hats off to them, because they went from a conversation in June to a full-fledged conference in August.
For those not familiar with the Collision, here’s one of the origins. In short, Canon received a request to add simple video capability to a digital still camera, allowing photojournalists to shoot some video while covering a story. They stepped up and delivered the flagship Canon 5D Mark II. While the request was for video to be displayed on the web, they incorporated full 30 fps high-definition video. In addition, the camera can shoot high-quality footage in relatively low light. But this ‘little addition’ was so much more. Filmmakers discovered a small HD video camera, with low light capabilities and a motion-picture look, that could be had for only $2,700. Now that’s something. Still photographers now have the ability to shoot and capture motion.
On the other side of the tracks, RED Digital Cinema was already producing their high-end digital motion cameras, providing film-resolution capture for under $20,000. Given the raw, hi-res nature of these files, individual frames could be extracted as stills. Videographers and cinematographers could now provide still photographs from their motion work.
While this is exciting and profound, there are also a number of problematic issues in each scenario. In the case of extracting stills from video, still photographs are typically sharply focused, while an individual frame of moving film or video is blurred, creating smooth motion of the subject. Also, photographs for print and other uses are often in a vertical orientation, on a magazine cover for example, while video is in a horizontal orientation. Pulling a vertical frame from a horizontal capture sacrifices a significant percent of available resolution.
Using a still camera to capture motion poses an even greater variety of challenges. Still lenses are not designed to allow a smooth zoom in or out during ‘filming’. Nor are they designed to support a smooth focus that follows a moving subject. The viewfinders are not suited to the needs of the cinematographer. Photographers, used to shooting hand-held, will have trouble holding a steady shot with long lenses. Smooth panning and tilting require the shift from a typical tripod, to a heavier tripod with a fluid head. The shutter does not capture an entire frame at once, but rather scans from the top line to the bottom. This ‘rolling shutter’ can cause distortions as subjects move across the frame. The chip design can also cause a moire effect on fine lines, stripes and patterns. With motion, we typically record audio as well, and this first round of cameras are limited in this area.
As always, this new revolution is a roller coaster of excitement and disappointment. But the ultimate test is in the hands of creative individuals who express themselves using any tools available, presenting stills and motion that move and inspire.
Next we’ll take a quick look at the Collision Conference held here in Los Angeles on August 29th and 30th, 2009. And after that, my unexpected jump into shooting motion at the Perris Auto Speedway.
Aug
28
2009
Julius Shulman
We’ve had quite a period of loss recently with the passing of a broad range of personalities and cultural icons. Last Wednesday, July 15th, we lost Julius Shulman, known for creating signature images of many Modernist works of architecture. He was 98 years old, and remained active his entire life. I was fortunate enough to meet him on two occasions. He was always youthful, animated, energetic, and excited to be sharing his life and experiences. I also had a great meeting with his business partner Juergen Nogai in Palm Springs last year, a talented architectural photographer in his own right.
At 19, Julius enrolled in engineering school at UCLA, and spent the next 7 years in school there, and then at Berkeley, feeling he had no idea what he wanted to do. I also enrolled in engineering school because of a similar interest in things mechanical and electrical, and was never really sure what I wanted to do. Naturally I get a kick out of seeing similarities between my life and the lives of celebrated photographers. For example, Annie Liebovitz moved frequently when she was young, with her father in the Air Force. Ansel Adams had to choose between photography and music, after years of training as a classical pianist.
I likewise moved every 1-3 years (and my dad later retired as a two-star general in the Air Force, quite an accomplishment!). While studying engineering, I was also teaching myself more about music and playing guitar. I took a break to study music full time for two years, then worked and traveled a bit, then returned to school to finish my degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering at UT in Austin. It was certainly a period of investigation and uncertainty.
With one of the longest and most successful careers in photography, one thing that strikes me about Julius is his fated beginning. He dabbled in photography in high school, and even sold photos of the old campus buildings in the bookstore. But he had no idea that photography would play a meaningful role in his life.
At 25, he moved back to Los Angeles. Two weeks later, his sister introduced him to a young man who rented a room from her. Julius tagged along with him to a house he was working on, and he snapped some photos of the unusual home. The man showed the pictures to his boss, Richard Neutra, considered to be one of modernism’s most important architects. Julius said, “Neutra ordered more pictures and had me meet Soriano, who was doing his first house. I became a photographer that day.”
I like his story as a reminder to us all that you never know how things will play out, or which talents and encounters will have a lasting impact on the life that you live. My transition into photography was much later than his, but my step into architectural photography was similarly random. My old friend Mike (we met during my first weeks of college) recommended me for an architectural photography assignment, despite my complete lack of any relevant portfolio. After being told, “We’re not going to hire your friend to take pictures of our buildings,” Mike still got me in the door. Next thing I knew, I was flying to Dallas to photograph 5 large commercial properties, complete with interior, exterior and aerial photographs. It worked out pretty well, and I’ve been shooting around the country for them for the last 6 years.
Our path isn’t always clear, and sometimes we feel we are spinning our wheels. We all face uncertainty and doubt, especially in more creative and artistic pursuits. All we can do is continue to work, seek out inspiration, create, and share the outcome. Julius Shulman took a few pictures and shared them. He did what he enjoyed and started a lifelong journey. Good luck in your adventures, and let us know what you’re creating in your own life.
- Brad
* Quote and facts culled from Mark Edward Harris’ “Conversation with Julius Shulman”, printed in Shulman’s Photographing Architecture and Interiors .