Luminous Landscape Forum
Site & Board Matters => About This Site => Topic started by: Kevin Raber on August 05, 2018, 10:04:33 pm
-
Wow, we just published a new article with video of Michael Reichmann talking about contrast. Chris Sanderson found this footage recently and assembled a video and short article. It's so nice to see Michael on camera again. I really liked the ending. Take a look at it HERE (https://luminous-landscape.com/contrast-of-luminance-colour-and-more/)
-
Beautiful segment. What I love about Michael is his lack of pomposity, his ability to drive home insights without drawing attention to himself.
-
Chris,
I could watch videos of that type all day long.
Those photographs illustrate just what an amazing, natural photographer Michael was, and why his site held so many people's attention and loyalty.
He came over as having such an easy air about him, with a total lack of affectation. I don't know how much pre-planning went into your conversation that day, but it came over as pretty much normal, person-to-person speech, which must be very hard to accomplish with a camera staring at one.
For myself, I find that the interesting part about photography not my own is that yes, the images are vital to creating the buzz, but after a point, the greater interest becomes in the person making them. A series, continuing from your Jay Maisel shoot, along similar lines, may be difficult to arrange, but far more interesting than cold, impersonal cameras and lenses. They can be seen online all over the place; not so with good interviews... any chance you might go that path?
A very welcome video then, but in the circumstances, also very poignant.
Thanks for all the work you put into the production; I would also love to watch a bio about you! Who knew you had such a wealth of experience behind you?
Rob
-
"A very welcome video then, but in the circumstances, also very poignant."
Indeed it is. Chris, it must have been very difficult for you to put this together. I had a hard time watching it.
-
Thank you Chris for this wonderful vignette of Michael at his gentle best.
I agree with Rob's comments ... the content is excellent - simple but so effective - but the relaxed delivery is almost as important - but for those of us who knew Michael personally - even only slightly as in my case - there is a bitter-sweet quality as well. However I am sure that Michael would have waived that away with a parody comment such as " ah shucks " and rightly focussed our attention back onto the content that he was wanting to convey.
Thanks again Chris - you made my morning.
-
Thanks for the comments! The piece was a pleasure to put together.
Indeed Michael was 'gentle', but he had reason to be less so: the first set of takes was completely ruined by out-of-focus footage. One of the perils of trying to be two places at once!
-
Superb - there is so much to learn from this. I especially appreciated Chris's comments on Michael's powers of vision; Michael could see masterful photographs and capture them so quickly, so effectively, you didn't know what was happening till it was all done. An opportunity like this to see into his mind and learn about envisioning photographs is priceless. Thanks ever so much for finding and producing it.
-
Great video, great to see Michael.
I hate to be a picky fellow, but I do think we should properly consider the term luminosity that is used multiple times in the video.
Luminosity is a measure of the total radiant energy from a body. It has nothing to do with what a human observer perceives but rather describes the total radiant energy, such as watts/second of a source (the surface of a radiating object like a display). In Photoshop, the layer mode called luminosity is not what's happening here (I was told its something like the "Luma" which is an old TV RGB transform).
** Color geeks note **
"Luminance" is a property of an emissive surface or the result of
refection from a surface. It is a measure of the light radiating from
the surface and is expressed in cd/m^2 (candela per meter squared) it
is a function of total luminous flux per unit area on axis with an
observer. It is a photopically corrected unit and as such is not a
measure of energy but of perceived lightness, however it is absolute,
derived from radiometric measurement and does not reference a scene.
50cd/m^2 may be very perceptually bright in one scene and very dark
in another. 50 meters may seem very far to an ant and not very far to
you and me it’s still 50 meters.
"Lightness" is a scaled value relative to the dynamic range of a
system. In the CIE L*a*b* system L is "Lightness." Lightness is the
perception of color without the chromaticity component and is scaled
to a particular media or scene, such as a display, a print, or a real
natural scene. L50 is perceptually halfway between the white and
black of a system. L50 may be 100 cd/m^2 or 1000 cd/m^2 you don’t
know unless you also know luminance of white and black. 50 paces
would be a unit perceptually similar to both an ant and a human.
-
Thank you Andrew. We are now enlightened. ;D
-
Thank you Andrew. We are now enlightened. ;D
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminosity
-
I always wondered whether your total radiant energy was greater than it appeared!
-
Thank you Andrew. We are now enlightened. ;D
Or are we illuminated? :-)
-
I always wondered whether your total radiant energy was greater than it appeared!
Now brightness is the perception of Luminance. Maybe you're suggesting I'm a bright fellow? ;D
-
Without a shadow of doubt
-
P.S. Joking aside, I too have been guilty of this terminological lapse. So Andrew, how do you refer to the L* scale that goes from 1 to 100 in an image editing context?
(Now, would I be asking you this question if I didn't think you were a bright fellow? Or even an Illuminati in the field?
-
Now Chris, once you start confusing the picture with shadows there can be non-linear response - I'd be careful..........
-
So Andrew, how do you refer to the L* scale that goes from 1 to 100 in an image editing context?
If I understand the question properly, I did address that.
-
If I understand the question properly, I did address that.
OK you probably did - reply 7 -"Lightness" ?
-
Very nice indeed, Chris. Inspiring. Makes me want to go shooting. I especially liked the quiet simplicity of the shots you've used as a closing sequence.
I used to write for motorcycle magazines and I frequently complained to the editors that their magazines were more about motorcycles than about motorcycling. I think the same thing applies to most photography sites. They're too much about gear and not enough about photographing.
This story and the Charlie Cramer series are examples of the best content available in the web/photography ecosystem. The more of this the better.
-
Very nice indeed, Chris. Inspiring. Makes me want to go shooting. I especially liked the quiet simplicity of the shots you've used as a closing sequence.
I used to write for motorcycle magazines and I frequently complained to the editors that their magazines were more about motorcycles than about motorcycling. I think the same thing applies to most photography sites. They're too much about gear and not enough about photographing.
This story and the Charlie Cramer series are examples of the best content available in the web/photography ecosystem. The more of this the better.
Indeed; gear can be found in terrible depth all over the web. The need is for more interviews with photographers of note. Even images are in a state of overabundance - how nice it would be to find somewhere that gave grown-up interviews that probed under the surface and actually told us something about the person, male or female.
Art of Photography did some of that, but eventually ran into a contretemps with a sports photographer and decide to pull the particular video interview. Apparently, such videos, whilst gratifying for the website, fail to pull as many punters as do the "competitions" and stuff like that. I suppose people don't so much want to learn anything as see their snaps wearing garlands of flowers and glister.
Everybody can make a snap; I'd rather read a great interview - or watch one - than just see more pix. I have far too many of my own.
-
Chris and Kevin,
Love this video of Chris and Michael. You two made a wonderful team. Your friendship and mutual respect and appreciation really comes through in this piece.
This is a perfect example of the type of video I would like to see much more of in LuLa. Calm, humble, sincere and thoughtful presentation of good work!!!
Warm regards,
Al DaValle
www.davallephotography.com
-
Thanks so much for posting that video. I truly miss Michael’s “chats” as well as his wonderful photos. He is missed.
-
Thanks for this 'new' video Chris. Instructive. Bitter sweet.
-
Thank you Chris for digging out this nugget of enjoyment from the depths of your hard disk for us all, and I can only hope that you keep digging and finding what other things you have for us, completed or otherwise.
I have been wondering (for some time) if you guys didn't ought to put together an in-depth video about Michael, you know like every other great photographer through history has been made of them and their story, such as the Ansel Adams Documentary Film (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ansel-Adams-Documentary-Film-DVD/dp/B00B8X51VQ). Because I would put Michael up there with any of the greats of modern photography, especially his way of teaching and communicating easily with his audience.
So here we are, discussing perhaps the most significant photographer of our age and his passing, yet we have no video homage to him, or his work, or his life.
I would also suggest that if you did do this, that you then make it available on Lula through a donation to the Luminous Endowment.
Oh and can I also suggest, that you make all of the old videos available that Michael and you made, such as "Capture to Print" and any other videos that you have that are now retired, or that you think have been superseded etc, because why not? As I am sure there is still quite an audience that would enjoy this work :)
Dave
-
Chris
Thanks so much for this video and article. Michael's style was entirely engaging, natural, no shadow of self importance, often in fact leaving room for questioning, for humour. I enjoyed the conversation in this video, a conversation between equals, both respecting the other and both having something interesting to contribute. Anyway I'll stop rambling, I miss Michael's presence in Lula very much.
Tony
-
Outstanding, unforgettable & enjoyable. Pure love for photography - and for Michael.
cheers,
Boudewijn Swanenburg
-
Great video Chris, many thanks for sharing this!!!
If you find more vídeos like this in your hard drives, please, edit them, and share them. I always loved how Michael talked about photography and his personal approach to photography. Very inspiring videos.
Regards,
David
-
...I have been wondering (for some time) if you guys didn't ought to put together an in-depth video about Michael, you know like every other great photographer through history has been made of them and their story, such as the Ansel Adams Documentary Film (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ansel-Adams-Documentary-Film-DVD/dp/B00B8X51VQ). Because I would put Michael up there with any of the greats of modern photography, especially his way of teaching and communicating easily with his audience.
So here we are, discussing perhaps the most significant photographer of our age and his passing, yet we have no video homage to him, or his work, or his life.
Dave
A good suggestion Dave and one that I am inclined toward. Thanks!
For those who might wish to contribute either video or audio recording about Michael, his photography, his teaching or his life, please PM or email me. chrissATluminous-landscape.com.
I would prefer you did not post here on the Forum so that I can manage any expectations with care. This would be a long-term project.
Chris S
-
I didn't know that Michael was originally a Brit and born in England. I know you are originally a Brit Chris, but never realised Michael was also.
Here's an old interview (https://www.atarimagazines.com/rom/issue10/canada_atari.php) with Michael that I have just turned up but never seen before and my doesn't he look the proper geek in that photo :)
Dave
-
¡Me gustó mucho esta película!
My wife and I visited San Miguel de Allende for the first time last year in part because I was so taken with the pictures Michael Reichmann always posted after spending his winters there. So it was a real pleasure to discover what was going through his mind while he was shooting.
I’ve learned a lot about the technical aspects of photography from the videos on this site, Chris, but this new opportunity you have offered us to see and hear how such a talented artist went about his craft is even more valuable than the techie stuff. If you have any more caches of Reichmann video to share, by all means do so. And whether you do or not, I suspect I’m not the only subscriber who would be interested in seeing more short documentaries along these lines.
-
If you have any more caches of Reichmann video to share, by all means do so. ................. interested in seeing more short documentaries along these lines.
Yes indeed. 100%.
-
So interesting…
I would honestly admit that I like what touches me better than what moves me
-
Chris,
Thank you for this. I want to add my appreciation for the unique person that Michael was. As others have said, there is something about his demeanor that is winsome in the extreme. I always felt as though he was a friend, though I’d never met him.
His genius was itself “gentle.” But it was profound, too. His passion for the artistry in photography still inspires.
Let me add my support for the video biography.
In the mean time, perhaps in the Founder’s Page should have reference to, and links, to this video, the bloopers video, and other appropriate video content of Michael?
Rand
PS - Let me add my vote to see you in front of the camera more! Me thinks LULA is missing something special by having you always behind it!
-
We have another video we just found that we will publish on Monday made in 2014 about mirrorless cameras. It's Michael at his best.
-
We have another video we just found that we will publish on Monday made in 2014 about mirrorless cameras. It's Michael at his best.
Thats great Kevin. Looking forward to viewing it, many thanks to you and Chris!