Author: Brian Frank

You Can Roll Me, and Capture Blurry Tumblin’ Dice

Posted on by Brian Frank in Photography

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What you see there is a blurry bunch of dice being dropped from about three feet. What you are supposed to see are clear dice being dropped from about three feet. This is the dilemma facing me in my studio photography class today. The assignment is one of capturing movement using studio lights. Because I’m me, I had to do something a little more challenging than blow bubbles are toss a ball in the air t=for the assignment, but am facing the possibility that I may not get this one. That’s where you come in.

The dice are moving too fast to be captured by the 1/200th shutter speed limit for synching. Short of using a high-speed trigger to which I don’t have access, what are the other options? I have tried to turn all the room lights off, set the camera to bulb, and use the AlienBee triggered lights set the exposure time. The results are the same whether the power is at full strength or lowered to the minimum 1/32 power.

For you studio masters out there, how would you capture something moving that quickly in the studio?

UPDATE: It looks like the Alien Bee B800 simply did not have a flash duration that was short enough. Going to look around the studio and see what else I can find.

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Thank you for your response. ✨

Aftermath of the Steve McCurry Controversy

Posted on by Brian Frank in Photography

Steve McCurry is one of those photographers that the rest of us look at with awe. He creates so many wonderful, beautiful images. Those of us who are mere mortals, couldn’t possibly compete, or can we? Seems like he has been editing his images in post beyond what would be considered an honest representation of the moment.

Peter van Agtmael writes a response to the controversy on Time.com, but instead of addressing the inherent issue with the manipulations, he spends a great deal of time talking about the vernacular used in the criticisms.

With the images that have already discovered to have been manipulated (three so far have been shown to have removed or moved elements) I have no choice but to wonder if other images have been similarly edited. Is this a rare occurrence or a standard operating procedure? How far back do these practices go? Afghan Girl?

The answer offered that he considers his work as “visual storytelling” is underwhelming. At what point did his work transition to a form that does not require basic journalistic honesty as his explanation seems to imply? Did he let the consumers of his work aware that he was no longer going to follow the strict principles of photojournalism?

I’ve never met Mr. McCurry, so I cannot responsibly speculate on the answers to these questions, but I cannot help but think that the curtain has been pulled back from the wonderful Wizard of Oz only to find interns and staffers working away. This is not a new issue, but this is a microcosm of ethical questions revolving around Photoshop usage. Once a photojournalist’s integrity has been brought into question, all of our integrity has been brought into question, and that damage may be irreparable.