5 Movies Every Photographer Should See

I visited this site the other day called 10 movies every photographer should see (http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/ten-movies.shtml)and it sparked my interest. Although I had never seen any of the movies listed, I understood what the writer was saying about movies that make you want to have a camera in your hands and take pictures immediately after watching them. So this made me start thinking about movies that inspire me and I came up with my own list of movies that I deemed worthy. My list only consists of 5 movies, but they all inspire me for different reasons. So here goes...
5. The Wizard of Oz
This is a classic that reminds me of the basics of film photography and how much things have changed over the years. The contrast of black and white film and the creative, bright colors in this movie make me appreciate both forms of photography that I love. Black and white photography is simple and shows the contrast of darks and lights. Color on the other hand shows the true vibrance of the portrait and seems to bring it to life for the viewer. This movie has always been a favorite of mine, but just recently I was able to appreciate the signifcance of it's technical beauty.
4. Memento
Very similar to The Wizard of Oz, this movies tells two completely different stories, one in black and white and one in color. The section of the movie that is in black and white begins from the end of the movie and works to the middle. The section of the movie that is in color starts from the beginning of the movie and works to the middle. The part of this movie that truly inspires me is the "end" or the middle where the story stops and all the pieces come together and the black and white picture fades into color. This movie reminds me of the beauty of the artwork of photography and how if one takes the time one can bring interesting features to any photo. It also reminds me of how much fun it is to work in the dark room with film to distort the picture and add color to make it look completely different from the original.
3. Moulin Rouge
This movie is full of bright and viberant colors, costumes, and characters that amiably portray the life at the Moulin Rouge in the 1900's. The use of color and light in this movie severly reflects the mood of each scene and how this time is portrayed for the viewer. The difference in light settings reminds me of the different moods one can create in photography by adding or subtracting light. This important aspect can make or break a photo and a film for that instance. This movie makes me want to take pictures with drastic lighting to create emotionally different photos.
2. Mona Lisa Smile
I think the reason that this movie inspires me is because it is about a teacher who tries to get her students to truly consider and appreciate art. I feel the same way about film photography. I feel like I am constantly trying to take amazing photos to show other that film photography is not a dying art and that it should be truly appreciated. Much like the main character, I do not expect everyone to understand my obsession with photography, but what I do expect is that they consider is and maybe even learn to appreciate it.
1.Frida
For me this is the most inspiring movie as an artist and as a photographer. Frida Kahlo was a revolutionary artist who had to work hard to get her art recognized. She was known for her portraits and her use of magical realism. The struggle that this artist endured and the creativity that lived within her is truly inspiring for any artist. I am especially impressed by this movie because of it's use of still life pictures in its scenes. The director of this movie used still portraits of Kahlo's work to transition into different, important scenes in the movie which made both the film and the artwork very emotional. What Frida did with her artwork, I hope to do with my photography- I want people to feel emotion about film photography.

Digital Causes Job Loss!!!!

Earlier this week I discovered that about 176 out of 300 Picture People Photography studios have been closed due to the competition of a new studio called Portrait Innovations. Just by chance this studio happens to be a complete clone of Picture People brand and style for half the price. And why half the price you may ask? Because they started out digital. This company took the idea of the one hour portrait and did it better. Instead of having to wait one hour for thier portraits, customers are able to see them immediately and the cost is comparable to Wal-Mart prices. When I learned that nearly half the employees from our studios left for the Portrait Innovations company I was astounded. Not only have we lost business, customers, and brand identity to this company-we have also lost some of our most amazing photographers. And why not? This company is doing well, putting one of the leading one hour studio's at a loss of 176 locations is no small feat. As for now, the Glenbrook Picture People is safe until Portrait Innovations moves to Fort Wayne and then we will have to hold on to our britches! Although I am astounded by the number of stores we have closed recently, I took a look at their site and I can't say that I'm surprised. They have great photography at a good cost. I may be forced- and I do emphasize FORCED- to go digital if this company continues to hinder our business.
http://www.portraitinnovations.com/index.html

A Few Quick Tips

I found this website while searching for more information about film photography and how to use it daily. In my studio the light settings, f stop, and aperture are set just for a studio setting. Also doing independent photography on the side I have often found myself in need of a good site that gives me helpful tips. I like this site because it has helped me with film choice and light settings which are not in a controlled environment. It also gives a basic rundown on different types of film, which film speed that should be used in certain situations and various techniques and themes to base photograpy off of. This is a great site to discuss techniques and get suggestions from fellow film photographers. If you have questions about manual settings and what camera to use, this is the place to go. All in all...it makes me smile.
http://www.betterphoto.com/QnACat.asp?catID=217

Instant Gratification

I am Senior Assistant Manager at the Picture People photography studio in Fort Wayne. Upon dealing with customers on a daily basis I have decided that the largest issue facing the annihilation of film photography is the need for instant gratification. Just about every day I have customers asking me why they can't see thier portraits immediately after the sitting, why they can't get thier photos on a disk to print off at home and "when will your studio finally be digital?". I have been a manager at this studio for three years and with the exception of minor machine complications our portraits are out and ready to view in about an hour. There is no other studio in Fort Wayne with this kind of quality photo turn over and yet it is still not good enough for my customers. I often wonder what the rush is, why do we in our fast paced society let instant gratification run our lives? This often bothers me because I see the appreciation and need for film photography dwindle more and more as our society deems it necessary to have everything within an instant.

On the other hand, The Picture People will soon be going digital-at least before the end of this year. Although I have protested digital for a long time I am hoping that this will reduce the amount of customer stress in my job. Once we go digital instant gratification will be securely in place and I will have a new set of demanding questions from my customers on a daily basis. I do not think that going digital will make my job less stressful, but maybe it will give my customers what they are looking for-and fast too!

I have included a link to the Picture People that shows many of the different products and photography that we have to offer. And yes, all items take about 2-3 weeks to process-try to have more patience than my easily angered customers! http://www.picturepeople.com/

Flicker of Hope

This website, http://www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/, which is the homepage for the National Media Museum brings a smile to my face and a flicker of hope to the ever dimming world of film photography. It is the hope that film photography will not die. This museum is known for recognizing all forms of media, with a special section reserved for film photography. It is good to know that the medium that I work with on a daily basis in both work and school, will be remembered even though the new digital trend is arising. With special workshops included in the museums itinerary, I am happy to report that youth throughout the area are learning the joys of film photography. Aperture, f-stop and other manual tools are being learned daily and will hopefully live through this museum. Dark rooms will be filled with young minds who are eager to work directly with the meduim and they will learn to appreciate this artform. My hope is that youths along with adults will see that film photography is a beautiful art, not to be taken for granted because of the amount of time that must be dedicated to it. Hopefully, with the help of this museum and it's instruction, the art of film photography will live on in those who are willing to see beyond the hip new technology of digital and appreciate film photography for it's simple beauty.

Don't Believe The Hype!

And yet again I find myself at a loss with those who no longer apprectiate the value of a good ole film portrait. This website(http://www.dlynnwaldron.com/digitalcameras.html) created by an obvious amateur photographer proudly boasts about the superior quality of digital photography. I was appalled by the lists upon lists of reasons why one should go digital, and list by list I saw the light of film photography grow dimmer and dimmer. Not only does this site completely ignore film photography all together, it claims that film is NOT the way to go. This article even goes to the extreme of stating that film has no comparitive latitude. The research on this topic seems to be completely one sided, the one side being pro digital. D'Lynn almost intentionally leaves out all of the promising and rewarding features about film photography, taking digital for the victor. I mean, who would want to actually buy film, compose a portrait, and then personally develop the beautiful images that one has worked so hard to create? Why even try to be personal with your medium of choice at all when it is so much easier to download the picture into photoshop and touch it up anyway? D'Lynn, my friend, take a minute to actually look at and appreciate film photography. Everything is not about how fast and how cheap one can get things done. In a day and age where technology is moving at mach speed and it's easy to jump on the band wagon I have one word of advice-DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE!

The New Health Kick

I have to admit that, while I do believe that digital photography is quickly deteriorating the appreciation for film photography, it does have some amazing benefits. Ever since I read the article about digital mamograms I have been intruiged by improvement of the quality of life because of digital technology. I still stand strong on the artistic stand that digital is ruining film photography artwork, but I am stepping away from this standpoint to explore other digital advancements. As I do more research I am finding that digital has been the latest "health kick" as far as detecting health problems. The most recent article that I have read was publishe in December 2006 in the "Telemedicine Journal & E-Health" magazine. This article talked about the difference between film and digital in the detection of glaucoma. The results were amazing, stating that digital allowed doctors to detect damage in the optic nerve 3-4 months sooner than film. The ability to see damage immediately and compare it on a computer screen to other evaluations of the optic nerve has given doctors the ability to detect glaucoma much sooner. This detection then allows doctors to start treating patients sooner than with film exams. So, considering the advancements in the medical field due to digital photography, I have to admit that I am pro digital-strictly for medical purposes.