Photography is a costly and challenging hobby. It can be easy to feel the need to defend the choice to become a photographer. However, a new video from Casually Explained goes in a different direction, and instead of defending photography, humorously attacks it at every turn.

Illustrated with hilariously “bad” drawings and some rather nice photos, Casually Explained takes viewers through a so-called history of photography and breaks down different popular genres of photography, performing a lovingly crafted roast of each.

Casually Explained’s trademark humor is on full display here, which means making fun of everything and everyone. However, seasoned photographers should find plenty to relate to and, hopefully, many reasons to laugh.

“The biggest decision you could make is the jump from a phone camera to a DSLR or film SLR camera. This is because of two major factors. Firstly, you can swap the lenses on these bad boys, meaning you never have to worry about where to waste your next paycheck,” jokes Casually Explained. “And just as importantly, they have a much, much bigger sensor.” While the video is a joke overall, numerous bits of helpful information are sprinkled throughout.

“The reason the sensor is so important is because a big sensor makes your photos ‘Look more professional.’ This is the industry term for a photo of anything with a blurry background, or the kids in 10 years will think was made with Midjourney,” Casually Explained continues.

In one of the best jokes of the entire video, Casually Explained points out that many beginner photographers inevitably start wondering how to make money with their photography skills.

“What’s the best way to make money as a photographer? And as most veterans in the industry know, the best way to make money in photography is by selling your equipment,” Casually Explained jokes, perhaps hitting way too close to home for some.

From there, the video looks at different popular photographic genres, including macro photography, which “unintuitively is taking pictures of things that are really small,” while micro photography is taking pictures of things that are “really, really small.”

The video presents a diverse range of photography “genres” one after the next, including wide-angle, tilt-shift, wildlife, high-dynamic range, infrared, disposable camera, paparazzi, portrait, wedding, sports photography, and more.

“If you ever decide to become a professional photographer and get your first paid photoshoot, you might panic that the client might not like your photos. But don’t worry, there’s no way that the client could dislike your photos because you left your SD card at home in your laptop,” Casually Explained says.

“Now, this going to suck for the first wedding you ruin, but once you’ve moved cities to avoid those people, from now on, you’ll make sure to always have 16 memory cards from years past that you’ve thrown away even though most of them could barely hold a Mario Party save file. This compulsive hoarding also applies to batteries, second and third cameras, tripods, flashes, laptops, and literally yourself, which is why almost all pro photographers have an assistant photography, just in case they themselves have a heart attack during a shoot and disappoint a client.”

Casually Explained has many more excellent and hilarious videos on YouTube. Casually Explained also sells branded merchandise on its website.

Image credits: Featured image is a screenshot from Casually Explained

Perhaps one of the more challenging aspects of running a professional photography business is that you have to deal with all clients yourself, including those who might be looking to take advantage of you. It pays to be aware of some of the red flags these clients will frequently show before you get involved with them in order to save yourself a lot of headaches down the road. This great video essay features an experienced commercial photographer discussing some of the most common things to watch out for. 

Coming to you from Scott Choucino of Tin House Studio, this important video essay discusses some of the common red flags to watch out for in potential clients. One I found particularly interesting is someone who complains about a lot of past photographers. It never occurred to me, but I have had a few clients with whom our communications started out in such a fashion, and sure enough, they ended up being some of the most difficult I had to work with. Sure, there are absolutely photographer who are deserving of criticism, but on the other hand, if someone finds everyone they work with difficult and opens the conversation with it, they might be the real problem. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Choucino.

French fine art photographer Réhahn is well known for his excellent documentary and travel photography. However, he has embarked on a new project with an incredible style, Impressionist Photography.

Starting a New Project

Although Réhahn has traveled to more than 30 countries and now lives in Vietnam. However, while he calls Vietnam home, he recently returned to France to reconnect with his roots in the Honfleur region of France, known as the birthplace of the Impressionist art movement in the 19th century.

In 2020 and 2021, Réhahn was hot off the heels of finishing a nearly decade-long project, Precious Heritage Museum. In that project, he tells the stories of 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam through fine art photography.

However, while looking for his next big project, the pandemic began, which limited Réhahn’s travel. Undeterred, he began to dig into the artistic history of his home and found that he connected deeply to Impressionism and its philosophy.

Impressionism’s Origins and Réhahn’s Style

Impression was a 19th-century art movement developed in France characterized by thin and visible brush strokes and an emphasis on accurately depicting natural light.

Because of their modern fame, it is easy to view Impressionists like Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Edgar Degas, and many more, as having painted within a rich artistic tradition. However, that is not the case. Impressionists fought tooth and nail — and paintbrush — against strict and rigid academic-style art.

Even the name “Impressionism” initially reflected the movement’s tentative and disrespected place within the art world. The term “Impressionism” was pulled from a critical review of Monet’s 1872 work, Impressionism, Sunrise, where French art critic Louis Leroy wrote, “A preliminary drawing for a wallpaper pattern is more finished than this seascape.”

The early Impressionism movement was closely tied to the French countryside and how sunlight interacted with the rolling hills, fields, and riverbanks.

“Réhahn sought to reimagine the initial influences of the Impressionists, but in a contemporary way. Light is an essential tool for all photographers, finding a way to use it in a completely original style was the challenge,” Réhahn’s website explains. “Refusing to use filters or any other artifice for the retouching of his images, he decided to use nature itself to give his work an impressionistic aspect which, under the right conditions, can almost appear to have the texture of paint. The use of reflections (a constant source of inspiration for Monet), the distortion of a scene through the heat of a fire, or even through drops of falling rain, are necessary effects for the creation of these artistic works. They also use the bright complimentary colors and pastoral scenes that filled the oeuvres of painters such as Van Gogh and Pissaro.”

Impressionist Photographic Styles and Techniques

Réhahn relies heavily upon reflections and heat to create paint-like texture in his images. He makes minor adjustments during post-processing, primarily to contrast and clarity, and never superimposes images on each other or creates composites. Everything is created in camera in a single frame.

This approach means that timing is of utmost importance, like with almost any type of photograph.

“Shooting through heat distortion is all about timing. Heat shimmer only occurs for a short period of time when the air is hot enough to change the density of the air and its ability to refract light,” Réhahn tells PetaPixel. “The ratio for the heat photos is one good one out of 40 or 50 photos. I’m still experimenting.”

When it comes to water and reflections, there needs to be just enough movement in the water to bend reflections and provide the desired texture and distortion, but not so much movement that it is impossible to see the subject’s form in the reflection.

“Lighting is also crucial because the play of the sunlight on the water is what gives a crispness to the colors and dimension to the final piece,” Réhahn says.

The Pace of Photography and Painting is Different

Even though early Impressionists were criticized for their relatively fast-paced approach, each painting still took a lot of time to build, layer by layer. Given that Réhahn is working within the constraints of a single frame, how does he replicate the look of a layered painting with a photo?

“This is actually a question that I get asked a lot — how can painting and photography be equal art forms when a photo can be captured in an instant, and painting takes so much time? The answer is that photography is a process that starts long before the click of the camera. In the same way that an Olympic diver trains for years before the few seconds that they through the air and into the pool that the audience sees during a competition, finding the techniques for Impressionist photography and figuring out the right angles, lighting, timing, etc. is actually an extremely time-consuming process. I think of the light, subject, colors, and distortion as layers that are similar to the building up of paint that is the painter’s medium,” Réhahn explains.

From the outside looking in, it may seem like any one photo is created quickly, which is technically accurate from an exposure perspective, creating each image builds upon a vast amount of experience and practice.

While a shutter press and image may take a fraction of a second to capture, everything that went into making that image what it is born of skill, talent, and experience developed over many years.

The Role of Japonisme

Japonisme, a French term, refers to Japanese art and design’s influence on numerous Western European artists in the 19th century. Happening contemporaneously with the birth of Impressionism, Japonisme introduced Japanese influence to Europe as the trade routes between Europe and Asia expanded.

While the influence of Japonisme is evident across a diverse range of fields, including architecture, ceramics, and even gardening, it is most immediately noticeable within traditional forms of art. For example, Van Gogh was heavily influenced by Japanese woodblock prints, Ukiyo-e. Famous Impressionist Edgar Degas was inspired as well.

As for Réhahn, many of his Impressionist photos include concepts from Japonisme, including Cloudkeeper. In this case, the influence is apparent in the “flat washes of color across large parts of the composition,” which Réhahn notes is common among Van Gogh’s work.

Japonisme also affected other styles of art beyond Impressionism. Réhahn’s photos, Carmine, Royal, and Imperial are also influenced by Japonisme but do not feature typical Impressionist style attributes.

The ‘Rule’ of Thirds

On Réhahn’s website, he discusses how someone can learn and understand a compositional rule very quickly, but it takes years to learn how to break it. He specifically singles out the rule of thirds.

“In general, I think the rule of thirds is a great place to start, but one shouldn’t depend on it for every photo. What I find interesting about the rule of 3rds is that it is a relatively recent invention. The term was coined in the late 18th century by the painter John Thomas Smith but was only considered to be a technique rather than a ‘rule’ back then. Thousands of years of art history had passed before the term was created,” Réhahn explains.

He approaches his compositions on a case-by-case basis. “I tend to set up my compositions based on the concept I want to convey, rather than by standardized techniques.” He continues, “Furthermore, I find it interesting that painters from Japan and across Asia often broke the rule, as did many of the Impressionists. I tend to focus more on things like perspective, verticalism, and cropping than on trying to place my images on a grid. For example, you can see a bird’s eye view in the photo Golden Fields. This perspective was often seen in Japanese block prints in the 19th century and before. It also breaks the rule of thirds. The photo Life Trace is asymmetrical, with the subject in the top third of the composition and a great expanse of yellow field below. I find that the verticalism created by the path in this photo is more important to the final scene than the idea that our eyes are focusing on points on a grid.”

Réhahn Channels History

“I have always been an avid reader. If there is something in the world that I’m trying to comprehend, I tend to go back into history and literature to understand how people might have dealt with a similar situation in the past,” Réhahn says. “The same goes for art history. I think that we can learn so much about ourselves by looking at the past.”

He returns to the idea that the modern view of Impressionism is very different from the experience that the pioneers of the movement had in the 19th century. They were “actually revolutionaries,” Réhahn explains.

The pastoral scenes that people like Monet and Degas painted were motivated by a fight against industrialization. The techniques used by Impressionist painters were a rebellion themselves, fighting against the rigor of traditional art education at the time.

Artistic elites were telling people not just what was good or bad but what even counted as art in the first place.

That said, while Réhahn hopes to pay artistic homage to the artists and movements that inspire him, he sets out to chart new territory.

“My work is often inspired by specific artists, art movements, or styles, but since I approach my work differently it changes the final result. I think of it like chemistry. You add ingredients together and come up with something entirely different from what you started with. It’s all part of the experiment,” Réhahn explains. By exploring the work of artists before him, Réhahn hopes to respect the past while creating something new.

Travel and Art

“This might sound a bit cliché, but travel really did open up my eyes to the world. When people travel, they tend to look at things differently. Colors seem brighter, scenes appear to be more poignant because of their newness. This is why there is so much literature written about travel and adventure. And the same goes for fine art,” Réhahn explains.

He is inspired by meeting people, hearing their stories, and learning about new cultures and history. “The more I travel, the more connected I feel to all of humanity,” he says.

Where to See Réhahn’s Photography

Réhahn’s work is on exhibit now in Honfleur, France, until the end of the year.

It is a special region for Réhahn. Not only is it an area where he spent considerable time as a child, but it is also the birthplace of Impressionism.

Honfleur’s mayor even compared Réhahn’s work to those of Monet and Eugene Boudin. “I wouldn’t go that far,” Réhahn admits. “But it’s certainly incredible to look out at the same harbor that these artists painted two centuries ago and to simply take in the light.”

Image credits: All images © Réhahn. More of his work is available on his website.

Eugene Goldfield’s Penumbra Photographs is a glorious step back in time. The artist’s gallery of splendid vintage prints offers a kaleidoscopic view of a world gone by. Goldfield focuses solely on vintage prints, which are photographs that were printed within five years after the negative was made.

Goldfield has a treasure trove of some 1,000 sepia and black-and-white 19th and 20th century photographs. Without full color to distract, the viewer’s eye focuses on the beauty of the range of tones; deep blacks, delicate grays, various creams, reddish browns, and whites, depending on the type and age of the photograph.

The range of subject matter is vast, and yet, when potential clients walk into the Edgartown gallery, Goldfield can locate a request within moments — or, quietly leave those alone who wish to simply browse and see what strikes them. His requirement when acquiring something for his inventory is that it be unique and pique his interest. “I enjoy sharing my collecting habits and eye,” Goldfield says. “There’s a real thrill factor for me in terms of discerning what I choose to have each summer, and I hope that’s imparted.”

Goldfield is an educator at heart, who shares his wealth of knowledge about the history of photography, artists, and techniques. This increased my understanding and appreciation of the photographs, and made viewing them a memorable experience.

One of the unique prints that immediately caught my eye was the mesmerizing “Maids in the Air,” taken in the Alcazar Ballhaus in Hamburg, Germany, in 1930. In this arresting anonymous work, the viewer looks up at five trapeze artists in a coordinated move, where they reach outward with only one hand and foot on their suspended ladders. Shot with a flash, their bodies light up, creating a starburst-like composition against the dark of the ceiling and elaborate chandelier.

There are photos that feature exotic locations, such as Fred Hardie’s 1870 “Berber Entertainers, Tangiers,” that world travelers wanted as remembrances from their adventures. Also at the gallery is Robert Haas’s 1937 soft-focus night shot of Beethoven’s house, mysteriously lit by a nearby streetlamp. There is also Edwin Hale Lincoln’s 1914 extreme close-up of three wildflowers, with their deep dark leaves and bright white flowers standing at attention, beautifully filling the picture’s frame.

Joseph Janvier Woodward’s 1870s photomicrographs of diatoms (algae) are especially intriguing. The works were made as both artistic and scientific investigations. Woodward, who was a surgeon who assisted with Abraham Lincoln’s and John Wilkes Booth’s autopsies, was among the first to study the beautiful structures of diatoms in minute detail.

Max Zobel’s 1940s print of a worker holding a riveting gun over his shoulder is arresting, as it puts the viewer within inches of the subject’s stare. His weathered face, enigmatic expression, and filthy work shirt reminded me of Lewis Hine’s photography of the appalling child labor conditions of early 20th century America. In fact, Goldfield tells me, Zobel and Hine would show their work together.

Goldfield’s journey to photography began when he attended the Boston Museum School (now known as the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University). Because of the chaos resulting from student strikes and an unstructured environment during the 1970s, he recalls, “That made me gravitate to the print study room at the Museum of Fine Arts, and the curators were extremely generous. One was also well-versed in photography … I’d go over to the Fogg at Harvard, and got immersed in studying the prints, and did some printmaking myself, as well as studying photographic history.”

In the 1980s, Goldfield and his wife moved to Connecticut, where Goldfield worked for a high-end photography dealer and learned about the history and business of photography. “Through him,” Goldfield says, “I met a lot of curators from around the country, and major collectors.”

Goldfield started Penumbra Photographs in 1992, having come to the Island with his wife, who used to vacation here with college roommates.

“It was an interesting place to try opening the gallery, because of the wide breadth of people who visit the Vineyard,” Goldfield says. “You just don’t know who is going to walk in. I feel beholden to educating the public, and I enjoy doing that … I get very receptive people from a wide array of backgrounds.”

Goldfield continues, “I can happily say that even if people don’t buy a print, it’s not a disappointment … I get a lot of pleasure from people being thrilled about learning about photography, both historically and aesthetically. That’s still the excitement for me after 31 years.”

Penumbra Photographs, 12 Summer St., Edgartown. Summer hours: 11 am to 6 pm, closed Mondays.

A set photographer’s job can be daunting.

On a movie shoot, there are hundreds of people trying to make a film, and just one tasked with capturing images from how it actually gets made. That difficulty is compounded by the fact that the photographer is usually pretty low on the director and crew’s priority list during production.

But on the set of his sci-fi epic Dune, director Denis Villeneuve treated set photographer Chiabella James like she was as much a part of the creative process as anyone else, which James told Polygon is a huge part of why the photos from the shoot turned out so stunning and captured the tone of the movie so well. Hundreds of those photos are visible in the gorgeous book Dune Part One: The Photography, recently published by James.

For James, the entire process started with one outstanding meeting with Villeneuve, which she said was “awe-inspiring.”

“I felt like we closed the door to the office, and he opened the door to his world for me,” James told Polygon in an interview over Google Meet. “And listening to Denis talk about what was so important to him, I came away from that meeting really understanding the importance of the landscape.”

But actually capturing those incredible landscapes, like the Wadi Rum desert in Jordan, wasn’t easy. In this case, it meant battling the elements to really capture each and every one of the movie’s elaborate sets and locations.

“You’re hiking up the rock and you think, Yeah, OK, all right, this is gonna be A Day,” James says, mimicking her on-set exhaustion in her voice. “Then you see that the next set is all the way up there. And the only way out there is a climbing rope. And you’re thinking, I don’t know how I’m gonna do that. I’m already melting, and my cameras are melting and my lens is crunching from the grit and the sand. And I don’t know how to do this. And yet you do it because you want to see, you want to get there, you want to be part of that.”

Of course, the desert offered plenty of grueling conditions even when James wasn’t climbing up cliffs. The heat wreaked havoc on the photographer’s cameras, causing them to power down and overheat, sometimes after just one photo. To save her equipment, James often had to find shade wherever she could, including simply ducking behind other people on set to get her cameras out of the sun for a moment or two.

But all of that seems to have been well worth it. The book is full of gorgeous shots of the sets, locations, and actors, bringing the world of Dune even more to life. It manages to capture exactly the same spirit and mood as the movie, a difficult goal that James says she aims for on every movie she works on. Once again, James credits this to the planning time she got with Villeneuve and his approach to the movie.

She says his willingness to involve her in the process and vision of Dune early on distinguished it from other shoots she’s worked on. She describes Villeneuve showing her concept art from the film that included tiny figures set against the massive desert, which she says gave her room to do things very differently.

“It gave me the freedom to not worry about an actor’s face,” James says. “Normally for me on most movies, [if you] shoot this big landscape with a teeny-tiny actor that you can’t see their face, [it] doesn’t get used. It makes a pretty picture but nobody uses it. Whereas this time around, that was important. And that gave me the freedom to shoot with that vision, which for me was great because I love that kind of photography.”

It all shows in the gorgeous end products — both the book and the movie — and James says it all traces back to that first meeting.

“That original meeting with Denis was probably one of the most awe-inspiring director meetings I’ve ever had before a job,” she says. “[It] felt like I was preparing for an entire film made up of stills and photographs.”