The Third Cut's the Keeper

After putting together The Tidewatcher, putting it up on the website, re-cutting it for length and clarity, letting it sit for a month - then cutting it yet again, I think I can finally say... This is about as good as it's going to get!

Actually, the project was a HUGE learning experience. I discovered that imagery which might make for a great motion picture does not always translate well (or with as much impact) in the form of still photos. Less definitely is more here. And the fact that there is no music, nor sound effects means that the dynamics of a "still-image movie" are much different in the final form than they might be when originally written or imagined. But overall, it is a project I am glad I attempted - and I may try another such 'cinematic project' at some point, who knows.... Stay tuned

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The Light on The Street is...

I love night photography. Something about a photograph made at night embodies the Cinematic. Traditional still portrait photos are shot in airy, well lit studios. Movies have night scenes on location. I want my images to look like movies. For me, that often comes down to creating the look of night, rather than capturing it using only whatever light is available and adjusting the camera accordingly. Over the last few years, I have noticed a number of films where much of the action takes place in a night-scape lit by the orange/amber glow of sodium streetlights. While I had never been a fan of that light in real life, I decided to try my hand at creating the look for a photo project. Since using real sodium streetlights would mean either a very high (and grainy) ISO, or long, long, long shutter speeds, I determined pretty early on that I would be using flash. I will spare you all of the technical details of why using flash to repli...

A Picture is Worth How Much..?

M ost of the entries I have written on this blog consist of me rambling about my latest project, or why “Cinematic Style” photography is the coolest thing in the history of cool things and how the entire planet should be digging it, blah, blah, blah. This one will be a little different. This one is for all of us out there who call ourselves photographers – be it part time, full time, commercial, wedding, or what have you. This one is for all of us in the business. Because the business is changing. Lately I hear more and more about litigious clients, people trying to pit photographers against each other, and stupid schemes to get photographers to work for free. Over and over we see people stealing someone’s photo, cropping out the watermark, and using it for their own purposes; as if that were a perfectly acceptable practice among normal, thinking humans. The photography community is understandably confounded by this and is becoming increasingly (and rightly) vocal abo...

Playing With Dramatic Light

I have this image that keeps recurring in my mind. It involves the cold blue feeling of a dark winter and the glowing orange of a firelight. So far it seems to keep eluding me, although I think this is largely because every attempt I have made to capture this "mood" has been done in a hurry, or in the rain, or some other situation that forced me to run through it rather than walk it out. This shot is one such version. I may need to go back with a slightly different lighting setup and try some more. Perhaps in a different location.

C. M. Franke | Photography

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