“Last Look Photography,” an art exhibit by historic structures photographer Rob Tucher of Glen Gardner, is now on display at Asbury Coffee Mill at 432 Old Main Street in Asbury, through Jan. 31, 2024.
The exhibit, which opened earlier this month, draws from Tucher’s 40-year career of photographic documentation as he captured views of many historic buildings, bridges and other structures throughout the U.S. before their demolition or renovation. The photographs in the exhibit may be purchased.
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It’s that time of year when we learn the color of the year for 2024. Which color was chosen, and why does it matter to photographers?
Early December is an important time for Pantone, the worldwide standard for color communication, as they announce their flagship color of the year for 2024. Last year’s shade was PANTONE 18-1750 Viva Magenta and was chosen in part as an unconventional shade for an unconventional time. For 2024, however, Pantone 13-1023 Peach Fuzz has been given the crown and is described as being subtly sensual with the ability to communicate a message of caring and sharing, community, and collaboration.
If you’re not too familiar with Peach Fuzz as a color, think of a warm pink with yellow undertones, and you’ll almost be there. While I do that appreciate announcements of this kind can feel like a publicity stunt to generate sales or divert attention to a particular company, Pantone really does their homework when trying to decide which shade should be given the spotlight for the forthcoming year. By consulting with creative industries, from entertainment to fashion, to interiors and design, predictions are made on which shade will be important in the coming 12 months. For photographers that work in those industries, just knowing what the particular color of the year can only help you to earn some extra brownie points with the various creatives and clients you are trying to impress.
If you are a photographer who likes to keep up to date with current trends, this announcement is a good chance for you to embrace the color and work it into future photoshoots, various marketing materials, or even your online branding. You may also prefer to avoid the color completely if you’d rather not appear to look like you are a photographer who follows fashions gratuitously. Either way, you now know why peachy pinky tones are likely to become more dominant on the likes of social media in 2024.
What do you make of Peach Fuzz as the new color of the year? Will you be using it in your next shoot? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
As a passionate wildlife photographer, Ajith K Jose finally realised his dream of capturing the endangered grey-crowned crane. At around a metre in size and with a wingspan of two metres, this majestic bird is a giant.
“For me, capturing the essence of the grey-crowned crane became an obsession. Countless hours were spent observing their behaviour, learning their patterns and gaining their trust. After numerous failed attempts and missed opportunities, I was able to nail this shot,” says Ajith. His tireless pursuit of the perfect shot was fuelled by his unwavering passion, patience and perseverance.
“This close-up portrait showcases every intricate detail of the bird’s majestic head and the mesmerising movement of its head crest,” he says. As the population of this species is decreasing, it is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List.
“Beyond the sheer visual delight, I like to give a powerful reminder of the importance of wildlife conservation,” says Ajith. “The grey-crowned crane, like many other species, faces numerous challenges in a rapidly changing world. Habitat loss, climate change and illegal wildlife trade all threaten its existence.”
Ajith captured the bird in the Al Marmoom Desert Conservation Reserve in Dubai, the first unfenced nature reserve to be created in the United Arab Emirates. As well as the grey-crowned crane, the reserve is also home to a further 18 endangered species. Al Marmoom is spread over 40 hectares, meaning it takes up around 10 per cent of the emirate’s total land area. Additionally, it boasts 10km2 of lakes, including the man-made desert wetlands, Al Qudra Lakes.
Ajith K Jose is a skilled and passionate wildlife photographer who has dedicated his career to capturing the beauty and complexity of the natural world. Based in both Kerala and Dubai, he travels to locations in search of rare and endangered species, showcasing the incredible diversity of life on our planet. Through his photographs, Ajith hopes to raise awareness about the pressing need to protect and conserve threatened wildlife.
Camera: Canon EOS 90D
Lens: Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM
Aperture: f/8
Shutter speed: 1/3000 sec
ISO: 640
Focal length: 600mm
There is arguably no force of nature stronger or more terrifying than an F5 tornado. Years ago, one photographer inadvertently came face to face with one, and he had his camera ready. Here is his incredible story.
Coming to you from Blake Naftel, this video narrates the experiences of George Davis, a photographer who unwittingly captured a pivotal moment in history. On April 3, 1956, as he returned from a photo assignment, the photographer noticed ominous weather conditions. With his Speed Graphic camera by his side, he witnessed the formation of a tornado funnel. Positioned against his house for stability, he began documenting the event, not initially sure of the tornado’s direction but prepared to seek shelter if necessary. His collection of images, taken approximately every minute, offers a rare, sequential view of the tornado’s path.
This experience was the photographer’s first encounter with a tornado, despite being familiar with images of such phenomena. The intensity of the moment was heightened by the realization of the tornado’s rarity and potential devastation. He quickly understood the significance of what he was capturing.
In a race against time, the photographer chose to use his Speed Graphic camera, regretting his inability to retrieve his 16mm color film camera. Despite this, he successfully captured stunning images of the tornado, a feat he attributes to quick thinking and a lack of time for fear. The storm would go on to kill 18 and injure 333 as the last F5 or EF5 tornado in Michigan history.
After the event, understanding the rarity and potential impact of his photographs, he processed the images with a friend at the Grand Rapids Herald. These photos were later disseminated nationwide through the AP and UPI wire services, marking his first work to receive such widespread attention.
Reflecting on the day, Davis recalls the absence of any weather warnings and his serendipitous presence at the right time and place to document the tornado. This event marked a significant point in his career, not only for the public recognition it brought but also for the profound respect it instilled in him for nature’s power.
The video serves as a testament to the importance of being in the right place at the right time, equipped with the right tools and the presence of mind to capture history as it unfolds.
ROME — Amateur photographer Nelson Rudiak was presented with a 17th Annual Black and White Spider Award. The local shutterbug received an honorable mention award in the Americana category for a photo he took in Maine.
Rudiak, who is retired and lives in Rome with his wife, and has a deep love for photography and music.
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TRAVERSE CITY — Beryl Striewski didn’t start her career out shooting pictures of food. A commercial photographer since 1987, she specialized in people — portraits and individuals in their work environment — while living and working in Houston, Texas.
When she and her husband relocated to the Traverse City area in 2008, she thought she’d continue on that path. But a recession was on and Striewski found that particular well to be pretty dry. Taking a little time off, she began experimenting with capturing images of food and discovered she not only had the talent for it, but enjoyed the genre. She built a website featuring those photos and it’s been her specialty since. It’s also what led her to become the photographer for “The New Netflix Cookbook / 70 Recipes from Your TV to Your Table,” for which she doubled as the cook who actually prepared all of the recipes to be photographed.
Striewsky says her first food client was the Grand Traverse Pie Company.
“I had presented myself as an established food photographer, but at that point I was brand new,” she says. “They tried me based on my website … and said they wanted me to shoot 38 pies. So before I showed up the next week, I bought a bunch of pies — how do you shoot a pie?
“I learned in that week before I showed up there about plating a pie and what was the right angle, what kind of accoutrements could be around the pie and things like that. I will always pull out a little piece of fresh fruit, like if it’s a cherry pie, I make sure there’s a nice, big luscious cherry at the point of the pie. That kind of launched it.”
Striewski also loved that food was easier to manage as a photo subject than, say, a busy person who might be hard to schedule or a challenge to coach.
“Food is so much more simple,” she says. “It doesn’t move, and I love the design element of plates and flatware, cloth, fabrics, backgrounds.
“And I do a lot of the shooting at home. I have a very large dining room that gets converted into a studio when I need it to be a studio and I also utilize the kitchen. If I’m working with a chef, I go to their place.”
The Grand Traverse Resort and Spa eventually hired her, too, as did several area wineries and Cherry Republic, the latter for whom she’s done catalog shoots. Meanwhile, she began working with Carol Bobolts, a Michigan resident with her own firm named Red Herring Design who had relocated from New York to be based in Alpena. Bobolts continues to have employees and clients around the country, and first began hiring Striewski to shoot photos for an artisanal cheese magazine her company was designing called Culture.
“I think I worked with Beryl the first time when we did a holiday issue that had … cookies all made with cheese,” Bobolts recalls. “She’s amazing and so easy to work with.”
It also helped that if Bobolts wanted to be on-site for a photo shoot, it wasn’t that far for her to go from Alpena to Traverse City.
“I’ve just been working with her whenever I can,” she says, noting she’s subsequently hired Striewski for a variety of other cheese-related assignments.
When a publisher approached Bobolts to take on the Netflix-branded cookbook project, she turned to Striewski. The budget wasn’t large enough to cover extras like someone to prepare the recipes and a stylist, so Striewski, who likes to cook, did all of that herself. There are about 70 recipes tied in with various Netflix shows in the book, with about 35 including pictures.
That meant Striewski had to prepare such dishes as Queer Eye Guacamole Cups, Squid Game Steak Toasts, Santa Clarita Diet The Undead Meat Loaf, The Queen’s Gambit Checkerboard Cake, Narcos Michelada Chili Cocktail, Money Heist Melon & Royal Mint of Spain Salad and Midnight Mass Bleeding Angel Cake. She started around the end of 2022 and wrapped up shooting in February. The book debuted in October.
One recipe Striewski found to be pretty simple was a Stranger Things triple-decker waffle sundae made with Eggo waffles, whipped cream and M&Ms. Some were intricate and more complicated, she says, like that checkerboard cake.
“At first glance when I first learned I was going to have to do a checkerboard cake, I kind of freaked out,” Striewski says.
So she googled videos for how-to ideas and it turned out to be easy enough for a home cook to handle.
“It’s a real straightforward recipe taking a Sara Lee pound cake — a chocolate version and yellow version,” she says. “I couldn’t find a chocolate pound cake so I made one, but it was very simple and the instructions were really good. The recipe is easy to follow, you’re cutting it and how to piece things together. Then you use like a chocolate ganache frosting to hold everything together and it came out really nice.”
A hamburger cake prepared in the fashion of the “Is It Cake?” game show that’s all about putting chefs to the test to make a cake that is hard to distinguish from the genuine article was also a challenge.
“(The recipe) isn’t like something you see in the show that’s indistinguishable from a real hamburger,” Striewski says. “It’s not that fine-tuned.”
One of her favorites was the zombie meatloaf.
“It’s a really easy recipe to put together, and it’s healthy,” she says. “I used prosciutto to make a skin on the outside of the meatloaf and used sliced onions for eyeballs and crooked teeth. I posted it on Instagram because I thought it was so cute, and it came out really nice.”
Striewski stresses that she’s not a trained chef, but a decent home cook.
“I could manage all of these recipes,” she says. “And to my benefit, there’s a few drink recipes in there, so that really helped too.”
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The art of long exposure magically transforms mundane scenes into captivating visual narratives. Shared in a carousel Instagram post by @meme.ig, these mesmerising photographs, taken by anonymous photographers worldwide, unveil the fixed paths of aircraft takeoffs, resembling roads to the sky.
Long exposure photography, which is iconic because of its long shutter speeds, skillfully captures the aircraft’s trajectory in a single frame, turning it into a radiant trail against the night sky.
The images show a fusion of the aircraft’s navigation lights, landing lights, and runway illumination, forming a luminous ribbon suspended against the night’s darkness.
The Instagram community showered the images with praise, with one user expressing, “Looks like a utopian future,” another noting, “Damn, that’s impressive,” and a third appreciating the innovative way to track routes.
Some internet users, however, took a more philosophical approach, suggesting that the images symbolize humanity’s quest to explore the boundless expanse above. Currently, the images have amassed over 300 thousand likes on Instagram, accompanied by hundreds of comments commending the photographer’s skill.
While this is a notable example of long-exposure photography, there have been significant achievements in the past that showcase the prowess of this technique, rendering it a lucrative option for aspiring photographers. Even smartphones have begun to incorporate long-exposure photography options, opening up new possibilities for experimental photography. This particular case serves as just one illustration of long-exposure photography, with numerous other instances found in music videos where this technique is frequently employed.
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