Luminous Landscape Forum
Site & Board Matters => Luminous Landscape Video => Topic started by: Christopher Sanderson on December 08, 2009, 01:00:13 pm
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I have just placed Luminous Landscape Video Journal 19[/i] in the Store
The HD version (720P) is here (http://store.luminous-landscape.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=20&products_id=241)
The smaller SD version is here (http://store.luminous-landscape.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=20&products_id=242)
There is one video in LLVJ-19 that has yet to complete its upload but it will be available within 48 hours.
Enjoy!
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I have just placed Luminous Landscape Video Journal 19[/i] in the Store
The HD version (720P) is here (http://store.luminous-landscape.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=20&products_id=241)
The smaller SD version is here (http://store.luminous-landscape.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=20&products_id=242)
There is one video in LLVJ-19 that has yet to complete its upload but it will be available within 48 hours.
Enjoy!
Just in time for Christmas. Thank you!
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Just in time for Christmas. Thank you!
Yes - thank you.
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Great!
Really looking forward to the Norman Koren interview but also the rest!
Best regards
Erik
Just in time for Christmas. Thank you!
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WuWu !
Now, where did I hide those redemption codes. /ponder. Likley in the 'safe place' you can never find !
Look forward t another installment.
Regards
Mark
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Good stuff indeed!
Eventhough I am a Canon user, I loved the Canon rant! Seems Michael was close to throwing the lens hood away :-)
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I know the Chris don't know the I have video # 19 but I just wash Andrew Collett, and I love it.
So marry Xmas to me.
Thank You
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Really looking forward to the Norman Koren interview but also the rest!
The HD version of the Norman Koren interview is now in place. The SD version should follow in about 12 hours or less.
Chris
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Chris - just wanted to tell you that it did not go unnoticed when your productions started using a shorter opening logo clip a while back....trivial perhaps, but when sitting down and watching several segments at once it really helps those of us gifted w/ less than normal patience!
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Chris - just wanted to tell you that it did not go unnoticed when your productions started using a shorter opening logo clip a while back....trivial perhaps, but when sitting down and watching several segments at once it really helps those of us gifted w/ less than normal patience!
Thanks for noticing and saying so!
BTW the SD version of the Koren interview is now also up - so the beast is complete!
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Quite enjoying this one.
Finally answered the question I've had about Andy Biggs' Skeleton Coast photo. That IS a seal colony down there. (Hard to make out on my print. Really wish I'd bought a bigger one.)
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I have just placed Luminous Landscape Video Journal 19[/i] in the Store
Thanks! Here, have some money for your hard work
I've bought a 720p projector since last VJ was posted, and the HD version is really beautiful (I say from having watched only the intro). Now if time would only speed up a bit while I wait for the next file!
Kjetil
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Michael, Chris, and Company,
Video Journal 19, one of the best. Interesting and relevant topics, knowledgeable engaging guests, and a host that gently guides the conversation through terrain I want to explore. And more, it's beautifully shot in a clean, no tricks style that keeps the conversation in focus. Well done all!
Fear not folks. This one is worth twice the price.
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Michael, Chris, and Company,
Video Journal 19, one of the best. Interesting and relevant topics, knowledgeable engaging guests, and a host that gently guides the conversation through terrain I want to explore. And more, it's beautifully shot in a clean, no tricks style that keeps the conversation in focus. Well done all!
Fear not folks. This one is worth twice the price.
I like all the Namibia shots I had never seen before. What a lovely landscape.
Need to watch the canvas guy (was he wearing a Canadian tuxedo?) interview.
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Need to watch the canvas guy (was he wearing a Canadian tuxedo?) interview.
Yes, in all its Red & White & Black plaid glory!
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The videography in the Namibia segments is excellent! The awesome beauty of the stunning African landscape that Michael and the others are working to capture is very apparent in the HD video. I have never considered going on a photo safari there before, but now...
And, as is always the case in both the tutorials and the VJs, Michael's easy style makes us feel as though we are welcome guests.
The quality of the HD VJs makes it worthwhile getting up at 2 in the morning to download 'em on my satellite connection! Well done, Michael and Chris!
T.
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One of the best video journals
Thank you
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The videography in the Namibia segments is excellent!
Agreed. Made me feel quote homesick, hailing as I do from the country to the southeast of Namibia. Excellent work, and yes, Andy Biggs does pronounce the place names very well!
Mike
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Thank you Chris and Michael and Kudos to all involved, another cracking issue of the LLVJ, production quality was superb.
I really enjoyed the Namibia section, and particularly enjoyed the Andrew Collett interview and seeing his workflow. I have all the LLVJ issues and I find that the sections I've watched the most, repeatedly over and over again are the "practical interviews" related to the business side of photography, and I don't mean the financial part, but the "practice" of it. These are fascinating, and usually expensive as they result in me buying some wonderfully clever tool I didn't know about before watching it!
In particular I recall Bill Atkinson's interview and his explanation of how he prepares prints ( that one was costly, I ended up shipping a Speedmat halfway across the world ) and also Bill's Colour Management section ( lucky I already had much of that! ), Michael's interview regarding his gallery in Toronto and the devices and setup of it ( result : new print viewing lighting ), and now the Andrew Collett interview, which has made me start looking for suppliers of canvas and such. The Ctein and the Clyde Butcher interviews also spring to mind, excellent stuff, more like this please!
Right, I'm ready for the next one now, cmon, chop chop!
Well alright, you can have Christmas off...
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Chris,
Thanks for the good work. This is the first HD Video Journal I have bought, and I see I have been missing great work. I subscribed to the first VJ's back 100 years ago, but got tired of waiting for the CD to come, and the visual quality was merely good. In HD the visuals are now incredible. The downloads better than mail. I bought vj19 as a reward to Micheal, as I have utilized his site for a few years without rewarding him with any revenue. Hey I even bought the color x rite from another site than his after he explained it on the web. So I figured at least he would get some revenue as I learned how to use the checker on his video. And explain he did, very well. Loved the VJ on canvas printing. That's why I bought the VJ this time. But Namibia in HD was quite the bonus. Good music too. By the way, I liked learning more about my definition of stock photographer. He who shoots for himself not art directors. I guess that's a lot of us.
I fear I am now hooked on your HD format. When is the next one?
Best,
Jack
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When is the next one?
Probably Summer/Fall 2010... We have a LOT of new Tutorial material to keep me occupied between now & then.
Thanks to you and the others for all the positive feedback.
Chris
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I loved the namibia and the canvas photographer part. Very well done and very useful information. The last chapter was just odd.
What is the point of an on site color calibration tool for a landscape photographer? Ever since velvia we have strived to produce pleasant, striking, pleasing or whatever color necessary to make an image interesting and to create just the right athmosphere. We never needed colors to match exactly nature's color. This seems to be a tool for fashion shoots were exact color reproduction is needed - or one for geeks who cant enjoy and photograph the woods without a laptop. Sorry, but this was a very stupid presentation of an undoubtfully interesting tool. Particulrly the ending ("I sure never leave home without one") sounded like a third class door- to door sales man).
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Sorry that you found it to be "stupid". The word that I would use is "fun".
Apparently an unfamiliar concept.
Michael
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Ever since velvia we have strived to produce pleasant, striking, pleasing or whatever color necessary to make an image interesting and to create just the right athmosphere. We never needed colors to match exactly nature's color.
Who is this "WE" Kimosabe?
While YOU may not give a whiff for accuracy, it's pretty arrogant to put ALL landscape photographers in the same lumpy group. Sure, to YOU accuracy ain't important...but to some people like Stephen Johnson, accuracy to the original scene is relevant and important. Actually, having an accurate starting point is real useful for those times where the scene or the light is difficult. If you have the time (and there are any questions about the scene) including a Passport (or any other standard reference) makes sense...the fact that you can so easily create a scene-accurate DNG profile in the field was what Michael was stressing. That's not something I would bother with on-site but later in the studio but the example was intended to show how easy it is...
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Sorry that you found it to be "stupid". The word that I would use is "fun".
Apparently an unfamiliar concept.
Michael
Some people consider certain things fun while others think they are a waste of time. Thats life. Still, fun is a familiar concept to me. I have lots of it, just by doing differnt things. I guess you took a offence at the word "stupid", I admit that word might not have been well chosen. I simply wanted to convey (by way of customer feedback) what kind of contents I like to buy and for which contents I would not spend my money in the future. I still think that the tone at the end of the chapter was wrong as it sound all too much like cheap advertisment for this x-rite thing.
All in the hope of embracing the next VJ in full.
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Who is this "WE" Kimosabe?
While YOU may not give a whiff for accuracy, it's pretty arrogant to put ALL landscape photographers in the same lumpy group. Sure, to YOU accuracy ain't important...but to some people like Stephen Johnson, accuracy to the original scene is relevant and important. Actually, having an accurate starting point is real useful for those times where the scene or the light is difficult. If you have the time (and there are any questions about the scene) including a Passport (or any other standard reference) makes sense...the fact that you can so easily create a scene-accurate DNG profile in the field was what Michael was stressing. That's not something I would bother with on-site but later in the studio but the example was intended to show how easy it is...
I do agree with you that a point of reference is valuable. I just dont get why one would take a light and compact Leica on a landscape shoot only to burden oneself with a laptop to check color accuracy on site. Anyways, I was just being provocative because I thought that the last chapter sounded too much like an advertisment, rather than a good technical review.
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I just watched the interview with Norman Koren. It was both interesting and frustrating!
Interesting because it was full of Good Stuff, as usual. Frustrating because it didn't go on for another few hours! It touched on so many topics that could each be easily expanded into an entire VJ. (Including "distortion in tube amps", which brought back many memories from a previous life in recording studios...)
We want more like this! At least, I know that I do...
T.
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Love it so far! THe production quality of 19 and 18 have been far above the rest, thanks guys! These two look REALLY good on the big screen!
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I just watched the interview with Norman Koren. It was both interesting and frustrating!
Interesting because it was full of Good Stuff, as usual. Frustrating because it didn't go on for another few hours! It touched on so many topics that could each be easily expanded into an entire VJ. (Including "distortion in tube amps", which brought back many memories from a previous life in recording studios...)
We want more like this! At least, I know that I do...
T.
Agreed. I kept thinking-ask about dynamic range, but that did not happen. Maybe next time?
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I just dont get why one would take a light and compact Leica on a landscape shoot only to burden oneself with a laptop to check color accuracy on site.
Michael posted a story about that today...I suggest you read why he likes the M9 for landscape...see: A Landscape Photography Experiment (http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/experiment.shtml)
Anyways, I was just being provocative because I thought that the last chapter sounded too much like an advertisment, rather than a good technical review.
You may call it "provocative", others might call it something a bit less polite...
Michael hit upon the idea of using the Passport for special lighting situations-which of course could include landscape photography. The fact that he did in in situ instead of back at home was because he COULD do it and compare the results with the actual lighting environment...
Perhaps if your attitude was adjusted, you might actually learn something (like how to get colors right on location).
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I just dont get why one would take a light and compact Leica on a landscape shoot only to burden oneself with a laptop to check color accuracy on site.
I really think you missed the point.
Michael had the laptop there, balanced on the hood of his car to demonstrate the calibration for the camera and the LLVJ, I should have thought that rather obvious. In a normal situation you wouldn't be lugging the laptop with you... you'd shoot the target and move on, creating the profile when you got back home. X-Rite didn't go to so much trouble to make the Passport light, portable, rugged and compact for on-site use with the intent it must be accompanied by a laptop...
And as for colour accuracy... yes, "we" landscape photographers do sometimes like to be a little "creative" with colour, call it artistic license, but that doesn't mean "we" aren't interested in accurate colour. Far better to have an accurate starting point, and the option of accurate colour, than starting from whichever inaccurate colour balance the particular film or camera white balance has automatically chosen, and no option of accurate colour.
I have the X-Rite Color Checker Passport, and I wouldn't leave home without it either.
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Michael posted a story about that today...I suggest you read why he likes the M9 for landscape...see: A Landscape Photography Experiment (http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/experiment.shtml)
You may call it "provocative", others might call it something a bit less polite...
Michael hit upon the idea of using the Passport for special lighting situations-which of course could include landscape photography. The fact that he did in in situ instead of back at home was because he COULD do it and compare the results with the actual lighting environment...
Perhaps if your attitude was adjusted, you might actually learn something (like how to get colors right on location).
I admit I hit the wrong tone in my first post. Sorry for that, it should not happen again. Anyhow on a more constructive note I like to say that, I did learn how to get colors right because I had the "right" attidude and watched the video to the end before I made up my opinion about it. My conclusion was that I had no use for the tool and that I didnt like the way in which it was presented.
As a general observation I find that the criticism (even constructive) of luminous landscape products ist often ill received, with Michael and yourself jumping at every not-so polite post and rejecting the argument from the outset. Just look at the PODAS discussion. Mr Rockwell was impolite and went to far with his criticim . There were however people who thought that his core point was correct. Yet Michael and yourself could not admit that it was maybe a not so good idea to put those bad shots on the internet with public access.
There is no harm in saying to a critic " Thank you for your opinion, I can see your point, however I am not yet sure whether you are right or wrong, let me wait for more feedback." Or something like that. Speaking of attitude this would be a way of communicating that customer feedback is wanted and will be given consideration. I am not saying that you have to agree with me on my points, its just that I feel negative cristicim is not wanted at all. Coming back to LV 19, while I think most of the praise for journal is well deserved, I think that even a good product has room for improvment and it should be in the producers interest to receive more than just praise.
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No problem with criticism. None at all.
My only concern was with your tone, which you now have amended, so let's all let it go.
Michael
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I thought this was one of the best yet, and I've watched them all. I loved the Namibia segments. What a place and what an outstanding job of showing it to us ... HD certainly enhances things.
While I do enjoy the tutorials, the video journals are my favorite.
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Loved it as usual, all of the segments. Also secretly wished for the one with Normen Koren not to end, as with a background in valve amplifiers as used in the Navy, (and a certifiable geek) it was a blast from the past.
There is only one downside of the LLVJ (down, in a good way). Yet again, it likley resulted in me spending more money !.
I too have never seriously looked at Canvas. Mounting and framing it was a black art, and as I like to produce my own work, that was one reason not to touch it. Also, the perception of Loss of resolution on the hi-res pano's. However, after seeing the Interview with Andrew Collet, it has certainly prompted a renewed interest in exploring it.
That just tipped me over the edge on upgrading the 7800 to a 9880 which I ordered today. (Certainly not the only reason, but the 'straw' as it were).
I used a coupon outstanding from old DVD subscription to buy the SD version. Based on all the comments, Think I'll now have to go buy the HD one as well !
Michael & Chris, Keep up the good work, and look forward to more comming down the line in 2010.
Regards
Mark.
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Just bought this (my first one!) =D, and it's awesome.
Just wanted to ask why you persist in using Canon if they are so annoying to you, Michael? Is there any particular reason you choose them over Nikon or Sony (or anyone else)?
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Just bought this (my first one!) =D, and it's awesome.
Just wanted to ask why you persist in using Canon if they are so annoying to you, Michael? Is there any particular reason you choose them over Nikon or Sony (or anyone else)?
In fact, I don't.
Sonys are now my primary DSLR system. But, I test and long-term use a variety of cameras, so I'm not a representative sample of anything.
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Perhaps if your attitude was adjusted, you might actually learn something (like how to get colors right on location).
Are you this much of an ass in person, or just online?
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Are you this much of an ass in person, or just online?
Yeah, pretty much bud...I tend to call things as I see them and if you don't like it, I suspect you know what you can do with your own fool self, right?
Fact is, I suspect the poster of the messages to which that refers actually _DID_ learn something. Like why Michael used a Leica M9 and how somebody might use a Passport on location. I further suspect he actually may have learned something beyond what YOU may have learned if you are silly enough to have actually asked the question above using your "outside voice"...
So, come on "ckimmerle" wanna dance? A promise to be sure to step on your toes!
:~)
(just wondering, if I'm an ass, what does that make you? Hey, just asking...inquiring minds want to know :~)
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Hi,
Those videos from Namibia are a couple years old. Michael ditched both the Hasselblad and the Canon meanwhile, for Phase One and Sony it seems.
Those videos are about Namibia and I guess that the country is still the same.
Best regards
Erik
In fact, I don't.
Sonys are now my primary DSLR system. But, I test and long-term use a variety of cameras, so I'm not a representative sample of anything.
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Hi,
Those videos from Namibia are a couple years old. Michael ditched both the Hasselblad and the Canon meanwhile, for Phase One and Sony it seems.
Those videos are about Namibia and I guess that the country is still the same.
Best regards
Erik
I forgot about that until the lens fell apart on him. I remember that being mentioned some time ago.
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Hi,
I have feeling that Michael is a bit of gadget freak, so he sometimes is a bit overenthusiastic about some piece of equipment. Please note that he used the laptop on the hood of his car and not on his long walk in the forest.
As we have considerable freedom with manipulating color in Lightroom it may be an advantage to get the colors right before we start manipulating them. He could of course just shoot CCPP at the scene and processed it at home.
Best regards
Erik
I do agree with you that a point of reference is valuable. I just dont get why one would take a light and compact Leica on a landscape shoot only to burden oneself with a laptop to check color accuracy on site. Anyways, I was just being provocative because I thought that the last chapter sounded too much like an advertisment, rather than a good technical review.
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(just wondering, if I'm an ass, what does that make you? Hey, just asking...inquiring minds want to know :~)
You seem quite sensitive for someone who likes to, on a regular basis, denigrate and insult others.
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You seem quite sensitive for someone who likes to, on a regular basis, denigrate and insult others.
Yeah, I'm a withering wall flower all right...
Whatever...
But I notice you didn't bother answering my question. It wasn't a rhetorical question.
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But I notice you didn't bother answering my question. It wasn't a rhetorical question.
Live with it.
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Are you this much of an ass in person, or just online?
LOL. that is funny.
But I met him in Boston,&
he just make people to enjoy their self and learn something,
so enjoy while you can, this year is almost gone for good.
getting mad over computer makes absolutely no sense at all.
Merry Christmas
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Hi!
This is my first post to this forum, although I've read the LL website for a long time.
Let me start by saying that I really like the website! Michael, you and your fellows are doing a great job. Thank you very much!
In the past I always thought that the video journal wasn't worth the money - I just judged that from the short snippets I could see for free. (Man, I was wrong, terribly wrong...)
Then two things occured: I saw the tutorial "From camera to print" at a friend's house and I saw the word "Namibia" in the topic list for the new journal. There are a lot of wonderful places in this country, I've visited it this summer and I'd go back there right now if I had the time and the money!
The tutorial "From camera to print" is just awesome, Jeff is so funny, and the provided information is just lightyears above all "insights" from a lot of other "experts" that are around the worldwideweb.
So I decided to buy the LLVJ 19 and I like it a lot. Even though I haven't had the time to watch every part.
But, ahem, just two things I want to say that I didn't like too much. (Forgive me, I'm German, we tend to criticize just everything...)
1. The "SD" version of the journal is not what most people would call "standard definition video". It only has 360 lines in height, but even wikipedia doesn't mention resolutions below 480 lines for SD video. I understand that you want to sell the HD content... but in my opinion it would be fair either to go above at least 400 - 450 lines or to call it what it is: "640x360" and not "SD"!
2. The sections about Namibia are great. Just one thing I'd like to discuss is the part with the Himba people. I know there are a lot of arguments about "to pay or not to pay" and "to stage or not to stage" when it comes to photographing people and I'd like to add one more: In my opinion you shouldn't have staged the Himbas, I didn't like this part of the video. When I was in Namibia I felt that all the tourists and photographers with their money and their gifts help to destroy the last few communities of these tribes that have been living in peace for hundreds of years. I felt that this was one of a few situations where I didn't want to take any photographs at all when I saw these people on the streets begging for money. You know, it felt like all the photographers around me did this: Elephant - take photo! Leopard - take photo! Himba - take photo! Just like animals :-( I refused to visit one of the Himba villages as a tourist. Instead I gave money to an organsation that supports them with basic healthcare.
Obviously your group (your guide?) has chosen a different approach. A lot of photographers are attracted to do the same and go directly into the Himba villages. This way we are going to destroy what we photograph now. But is this the way we want it?
I hope I've found the right words for my criticism. If some sound wrong, please don't be too harsh with me, because I'm not a native speaker.
Again thank you for your website, Michael, and I hope to visit your gallery some time when I come to Canada again. (Have been to BC in 2006 and loved it.)
Best regards from Germany,
Leo
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Thanks for your comments Leo. I have updated the SD product page of LLVJ-19 (http://store.luminous-landscape.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=20&products_id=242) to detail the SD video as 640 x 360.
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Thanks for your comments Leo. I have updated the SD product page of LLVJ-19 (http://store.luminous-landscape.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=20&products_id=242) to detail the SD video as 640 x 360.
Chris ... one thing to check out if you are using h264 (I think you are) ... While you CAN encode at 640 x 360, I have heard because of the way h264 works, you are best off using a pixel dimension that is divisible by 16 ...
Like 640 x 352.
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Leo,
Thank you for your comments.
We didn't "give" money to the Himba. We traded. We gave them maize, tobacco and sugar and they gave us their time and hospitality. The Himba are nomadic herders and have to trade to get the few things that they need and want that they can't grow or produce themselves.
They had a camp near our lodge and our guide, who knew the tribe and their language, was comfortable bringing us to them so that we could visit. This is quite a bit different than giving a tip to a street beggar so that you can take their photograph. These are very proud people, and we had a great visit with them, as you can see from the video. Everyone had fun.
What you didn't see much of in the video were the kids, who had a ball driving across the sands dunes in the Land Rovers. A unique experience for them, I'm sure.
Michael
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Leo,
Thank you for your comments.
We didn't "give" money to the Himba. We traded. We gave them maize, tobacco and sugar and they gave us their time and hospitality. The Himba are nomadic herders and have to trade to get the few things that they need and want that they can't grow or produce themselves.
They had a camp near our lodge and our guide, who knew the tribe and their language, was comfortable bringing us to them so that we could visit. This is quite a bit different than giving a tip to a street beggar so that you can take their photograph. These are very proud people, and we had a great visit with them, as you can see from the video. Everyone had fun.
What you didn't see much of in the video were the kids, who had a ball driving across the sands dunes in the Land Rovers. A unique experience for them, I'm sure.
Michael
Hi Michael,
thank you for taking the time to reply.
I do know quite a lot about the Himbas because I have a German friend who is married to a Himba woman.
He told me that even those "good" tourists who respect the Himba do have a heavy impact on the way they live. More and more tribes give up their nomadic lives to stay in one place (or at least one small area) to make sure the guides and the tourists can easily find them.
I realized from your video that you did everything to respect the Himbas. I also tried to do that when I was in Namibia. But I'm sad to say that I think you've seen a traditional way of living that is going to vanish very soon. Perhaps there is nothing we can do about it.
The tourists and photographers change their way of living just by visiting them. There are already "show-villages" that are completely staged for the tourists, but a lot of tourists say "I want to see a non-staged village" and hire a guide do lead them deep into Kaokoveld... We were told that there are all kinds of villages in between "totally staged" and "completely natural", but the number of the natural ones keeps lowering.
We visited the bushmen called "San" in the eastern part of Namibia (east of Etosha), and went to a completely staged village ("living museum"). The San there were like actors. We had a strange feeling about that. I'm still not sure if I think it's a good thing, although they now can afford health care and clean drinking water for everyone in their village...
We have also been to Katutura ("township", part of Windhoek). I haven't taken any pictures there, I wanted to talk to the people. Have you been there?
The question I ask myself over and over again is this: We have a responsibility for these people we photograph, but how can we act to be responsible and not to destroy their way of living?
I've traveled alot, but I still don't have an answer. (I also think there is more than just one simple finalanswer.)
I think you, Michael, have far more expirience with this than me, perhaps you can write an article about that? (Or do you have it written already and I haven't found it?) Or perhaps you can discuss that with one of your fellow travellers in the next issue of the VJ?
Best regards
Leo
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It's an interesting point and a tough question.
The Himba village we visited was completely natural and unstaged. I doubt that they people there had seen whites or westerners more than a handful of times in their lives.
Here's a moral dilemma for you, which maybe helps illuminate the problem. You visit a village and find a child who is very ill, maybe close to death. You have a strong antibiotic with you which you know can cure the child in a few days. Do you administer it or not?
If you do you save the child. But, what about the next time someone gets sick in the village? They now know that there are solutions.
A few years ago I was in Tanzania. We visited a Masai village which was a complete fraud, with dances and curios for the tourists. I hated it. A disgusting sham. But the next day we were on a mountain hike and we hired some Masai teenagers as porters and guides. They were dressed in traditional garb (this is what they wore everyday) and looked to be from another time.
One of them spoke a bit of English, and after a long climb we took picture on top of the mountain and then asked him if he had any sort of mailing address, so that we could send him a print.
His reply was that they had no postal service, but we could send a JPG to his Hotmail account!!
It seems that he wants to go to university, and once a month he walks some 20km to the nearest village with an internet cafe to check his mail and stay connected to the outside world.
The overall issues are complex and therefore there is no one answer or right answer.
Michael
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[...]
The Himba village we visited was completely natural and unstaged. I doubt that they people there had seen whites or westerners more than a handful of times in their lives.
[...]
A few years ago I was in Tanzania. We visited a Masai village which was a complete fraud, with dances and curios for the tourists. I hated it. A disgusting sham.
[...]
Michael
Michael,
the two parts of the quote show the problem I wanted to point out. The Masai village surely also was natural and unstaged years ago. But then somebody came and staged them to take photographs, and some kind of change began... Perhaps this now starts in the Himba village you've visited, and in a few years...?
I don't know a solution for this problem. Some say that small groups of respectful photographers are the scouts for mass-tourism! As a passionate travel photographer I'm not happy about this, but maybe it's true. Everybody likes to think of themselves as "good tourists" who never does anything to cause something wrong...
Conclusion for me is that I never ever ask people in foreign countries to stage up for a picture, because I think this might push them to turn away from their traditional lives. But that's just me, and the scene in the VJ when your group asked the Himba to walk on the dunes was the kick for me to write my message here on your forum. I wished you'd discuss this topic in an article or in the VJ, so that every follower of your great work can see that there's more about it than just go out and take pictures, but that every photographer is responsible. I think it's good to give people food for thought in these times when everybody walks around with Iphones and DSLRs taking photos of everybody and everything.
You made a good point with your "dilemma". Without health care a lot of children die within their first years (or even months). This is a sad truth for a lot of countries in Africa and the whole world. So the challenge is to provide health care without destroying the traditions. And where do we fit in as photographers? I think we firstly must come to foreign countries as human beings who want to get in contact with people and then secondly come as photographers. For me this sometimes implies to refrain from taking pictures.
Bottom line: Michael, I don't want to accuse you. I'd just like to see this topic deeply discussed when shootings of native people are shown.
Best regards
Leo
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Michael,
the two parts of the quote show the problem I wanted to point out. The Masai village surely also was natural and unstaged years ago. But then somebody came and staged them to take photographs, and some kind of change began... Perhaps this now starts in the Himba village you've visited, and in a few years...?
I don't know a solution for this problem. Some say that small groups of respectful photographers are the scouts for mass-tourism! As a passionate travel photographer I'm not happy about this, but maybe it's true. Everybody likes to think of themselves as "good tourists" who never does anything to cause something wrong...
Conclusion for me is that I never ever ask people in foreign countries to stage up for a picture, because I think this might push them to turn away from their traditional lives. But that's just me, and the scene in the VJ when your group asked the Himba to walk on the dunes was the kick for me to write my message here on your forum. I wished you'd discuss this topic in an article or in the VJ, so that every follower of your great work can see that there's more about it than just go out and take pictures, but that every photographer is responsible. I think it's good to give people food for thought in these times when everybody walks around with Iphones and DSLRs taking photos of everybody and everything.
You made a good point with your "dilemma". Without health care a lot of children die within their first years (or even months). This is a sad truth for a lot of countries in Africa and the whole world. So the challenge is to provide health care without destroying the traditions. And where do we fit in as photographers? I think we firstly must come to foreign countries as human beings who want to get in contact with people and then secondly come as photographers. For me this sometimes implies to refrain from taking pictures.
Bottom line: Michael, I don't want to accuse you. I'd just like to see this topic deeply discussed when shootings of native people are shown.
Best regards
Leo
Leo, Michael,
A qoute made many many years ago during a television series (in the netherlands) on microscopes, i never forgot since: "once you observe a system, you influence that system". I believe that this in essence is the dilemma, and in the example of Michael strongly amplified, but nevertheless true in any situation where we "observe" by looking and then taking pictures, although in most cases may be not as dramatic as the masai village example.
Jan R. Smit