Laura Hale

X4 Assignment

November 2014

I attended the talk of Mr. Erik Bishoff and his work in architecture. He started off his speech with a general overview of who he was and what he did as a photographer. It was made very clear that although he was inspired to do photography on architecture that only half of his business was in that field. It seems that depending on the subject of photography you want to pursue, it comes down to location, location, location. Eugene is not a prime place to photograph architecture. Mr. Bishoff makes up for this fact by photographing other things i.e. weddings, profiles etc etc. Like most jobs it seems the key is flexibility and patience. Not only in where you’re willing to work, but how you’re willing to work and to always have a back up plan if the client wants something but won’t allow you to work the best route to the goal.

He also mentioned that if you have flexibility with your client to take advantage of it as much as you can, for example a client wanted a specific time for their home to be photographed, however he scouted the area out at different times of the day to see how it looked in the different lights and brought forth a product that the client was much happier with. However you also get people that only want things done a certain way but are not aesthetically appealing. Mr. Bishoff stated that having a bank of pictures to perhaps edit in (ie the sky) and skills in the editing program of your choice are crucial for these kinds of shots. This is also where HDR comes in handy if you are not allowed to shoot at the time of day that you want. Mostly because it takes three different aspects of pictures with different information.

Another skill he mentioned and showed was that of stitching. You can take a photo and have it be beautiful but then it doesn’t work in a magazine because it’s set landscape instead of portrait or vice versa. Being able to stitch your photos into different variations offers flexibility and therefore more photos bought by potential clients.

If you’re interested in shooting architecture apparently it’s in your best interest to get yourself a tilt-shift lens as it makes the view of a massive building more accurate to the eye as opposed to the curved lens the regular cameras have. You can also really change the focus up if you need the camera to make emphasis on one thing as opposed to another.

Mr. Bishoff’s work was very impressive and his inside knowledge the most helpful on how to deal with different types of people in the business. I found that to be more useful than his talk about the relatively rare tilt-shift lens. Most of the technical things he spoke of had already been gone over in class and he was just putting it all into a one-hour crash course.

By: Shane Boss

On November 7, I attended the Lane Arts First Friday Artwalk in downtown Eugene for my professional practices assignment.  First Friday Art Walk happens on the evening of the first Friday of each month, and each time there are a different variety of local galleries on display showcasing a wide range of artwork.  There were five galleries participating ranging in paintings, sculptures, jewelry and clothing on display.

The first stop was at Jacobs Gallery at the downtown Hult Center.  The Eugene International Film Festival helped present the event for this gallery and on display were nearly a hundred years of work from the southern region of Willamette Valley.  There were a lot of old film posters and newspaper clippings on display as well as a window from the house that was used in Animal House from 1978 starring John Belushi.

The next stop was Vistra Framing & Gallery located at 160 E. Broadway.  Local cartoonist, Jan Eliot, was on site answering questions and talking about her work and her journey as a cartoonist getting her cartoons printed on the newspaper.  Also on display were several paintings, mosaic pieces and jewelry made by local artists such as, Shanna Tumbly, Janet Biles, Diane Lewis and Lynn Patterson from around the city.  I did an art review on a mosaic piece called “Exuberance” for my color theory class here at Lane this past summer.  It is a very interesting piece that is rich in colors.  It is a collaboration of a lot of various different images hidden within all the pieces.  I talked to Lynn at the artwalk and she said that the music she listens to while creating her pieces is her motivation and inspiration.

The third stop on the Artwalk was a gallery called Out on a Limb.  A guest artists named Mary Oleri had her pencil drawings on display and answering questions for everybody.  Other art was also for sale such as wood tables made of naturally shaped tree trunks and branches.  Embedded in them were stones and rocks.  It was very interesting furniture.  There were also several wicker chairs and cutting boards for sale.  The gallery was very ‘wood’ oriented.

The fourth stop was the Oregon Art Supply located at 1020 Pearl.  On site was local artist Gabriella Soraci (who use to teach art at Lane) and she was painting with acrylic paints.  Most of her work as of lately is mainly flowers or cupcakes.  She graduated from U of O and mixes all her own colors using primary colors.

The last stop was Harlequin Beads and Jewelry located at 1027 Willamette.  Two artists were featured were clothing artist Kristi Holaas and jewelry artist, Thomas Sauve.  Each of them had their work on display.  Kristi creates all her own designs and patterns knitted with beads.  Thomas Sauve is from Maui and has been designing jewelry for over 40 years.  Thomas has created jewelry for music and movie artists such as Cary Grant and Carol Lawrence.

Overall it was a fun experience and I recommend the First Friday Artwalk to anyone interested in art, or anyone who wants an interesting event to attend for Professional Practice.  A lot of galleries will have free snacks and wine for everyone who attends.

By: EJ Olson

Architecture, Tilt Shift Photography and an Ever-Changing Industry

     On Thursday, November 13th, at Lane CC, I attended a lecture by Erik Bishoff, a professional photographer residing in here in Eugene. As a former architect, Bishoff has a particular affinity for architectural photography (although he specializes in a variety of forms). The main focus of the lecture was Tilt Shift photography, and how using one of these lenses is not only effective but essential for architectural and landscape photography. However, Bishoff started off the lecture by showing us his portfolio and talking about his journey to becoming a professional.

     Bishoff received his BFA in photography in 2005, and a Masters of Architecture in 2008. After bouncing around and working for multiple firms in his first few years, he decided to turn his passion into a full time gig: his love of photography and his knowledge of and expertise in the field of architecture made it an easy transition. He emphasized, though, that even though he’s able to make a living taking pictures, he’s unable to specialize specifically in architectural photography. The industry is always changing, and clients needs are always evolving. He’s worked with dozens of companies, and even more individuals. He made sure to stress that, if one wants to make it in the industry, you must be versatile. Not only must your skill set match what it is you want to do, but you must expand that to include things such as wedding and portrait photography. In this industry, in this economy, it’s almost impossible to narrow your focus and spend all your time with one format—it’s imperative that you are a jack of all trades if you want to ensure a steady stream of work for yourself.

As for the gear itself, he went in depth on the use of tilt shift lenses. He showed multiple examples of how he has personally used and applied the tilt-shift principle in a professional setting. First, its a crucial tool when shooting architecture and landscape photos. The camera is unable to do precisely what our eyes do, so this lens helps by both tilting and shifting up and down to compensate for the angle of the camera and depth of the subject to maintain a realistic perspective. Tilt-shift lenses also have a much wider FOV, so you’re able to capture more of the scene without vignetting and without losing pixel integrity. One intriguing utility was when using the lens to catch multiple shots, stitching them together and creating a panorama shot, whether vertical or horizontal.

Bishoff went on to give us a few examples of when he had to use Photoshop to edit photos in a crucial manner. He emphasized that, while it’s imperative that a photographer must master his craft so that you’re always able to capture the best shot possible, one must also be proficient with tools like Photoshop and Lightroom. He showed us a few instances where he had to edit out a vehicle or some other inadvertent item in the frame. It was also interesting to hear that it’s important to have a nice backlog of stock photo shots, in case you’ve got to replace the sky in a particular scene.

Some interesting gear he showcased included a bubble level that mounts on top of your camera, helping you to get your camera straight. The CamRanger is a tool used to wirelessly transmit what your camera sees directly to an ipad or HDTV. This can be particularly useful when working with clients on-site.

Overall, this was an interesting and informative presentation. Not only did I discover and learn about a some new technology and gear, I also got some insight on what it is to work in the field of photography and media arts.