karen maze photoblog

I’ve been really into this Diana Lens I picked up recently. I got a 38mm lens and a Nikon mount, so I could put it on my Nikon D700 DSLR - and it is so much fun. Sure, it isn’t really Lomography, but it gives me the flexibility I’m used to, with an added element of fun.

There are many different Lomography cameras. The Diana lens, as you might expect, is usually found on a Diana camera, which is a medium format film camera made almost entirely of plastic - that includes the lens. Here’s Tuna with his special edition Tokyo Rising Diana:

Tuna and his Tokyo Rising Diana

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This photograph was taken while on the LA Cultural Photo Tour on 2/28/2010. A lucky few of us was invited by the Los Angeles CVB (LA Inc.) to be tourists in our own town, atop a double decker bus, no less.  The program was part of Discover Arts Los Angeles, which continues through April 30.

I’ll be posting more about the photo tour later in the week. For now, my favorite photo of the day…

-km

Just a quick post today, folks. Lots going on! This is a shot that I made on a recent trip to downtown Los Angeles. The Nickel Diner opened in 2008. I haven’t been inside yet, but I will be going soon. The food looks good enough to shoot…then eat (cue stomach growl).

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and Examiner.com!

-km

I call them Casual Kitchen Shots. These photos are from the times when I’m in the kitchen and the food seems to say “shoot me!” During the early part of the day, I get light that works pretty well for some quick food shots. They’re all natural light. Sometimes I throw  a fill card in to brighten up the front.

I’m nearing the end of my 2nd round of the 21-day-diet. Maybe that’s why food is so much on my mind!

Baked Apples with Cinnamon

Strawberry Tops, Knife, and Cutting Board

Waiting for Oatmeal

On the right, a typical Cantaloupe. On the left, a giant grapefruit.

Pee Wee Potatoes

-km

February 24, 2010

A few recent photos, taken after a rain storm cleared. Los Angeles always looks its best after a good rain.

Don’t forget to check your Los Angeles Photo Forecast. It has all the best photo events scheduled for the next few days. Click on Subscribe!

Sidewalk, downtown Los Angeles

Puddling Around

Ground Cloud

Wall Crow

Last weekend, the two of us drove out to Joshua Tree. We’ve been talking about doing a “Painting With Light” project out there for a long time. If you’re not familiar with the technique, during a long exposure, you use a light source (usually a flashlight, strobe or speedlite) to add to the ambient exposure. You really get the feeling of “painting” when you use a flashlight, because you end up applying using a brushing motion to add light more to certain areas than others, according to your artistic license. It’s a really fun technique - and one I hadn’t done since taking photography classes at Santa Monica College about 8 years ago. We learned a lot on our first outing…

• We”ll be bringing additional flashlights on our next trip. As it was, only one of us could be painting.
• Also, a stop watch. Or just a watch…our “One-one-thousand, two-one-thousand” method of counting out the exposure length was woefully inaccurate, as the EXIF data later revealed.
• Gloves. It gets colder than you think out there.

The results of our efforts are below. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as we enjoyed taking them. I can’t wait to get out there again soon.

We chose the exposure we wanted for the moonlight and sky, then selectively painted in the foreground with our flashlight. Some post production in Adobe Lightroom.

This was a much longer exposure than the photo above - almost 6 minutes. Just a kiss from the flashlight during the exposure adds extra detail in the tree.

Nothing fancy here. A straightforward silhouette against the desert sky.

It's hard to resist that desert sky.

Thanks for reading. Don’t forget to subscribe for future updates. Follow me on Twitter.

-km

What is it about the middle of the night that makes me want to work so hard? I sat down at the computer around 9PM last night, thinking I’d do a few things until 10 or 11. A couple of demands for attention from the cat notwithstanding, I was still staring at the screen, ready to do more at 4AM.

What kept me up so late last night was an update to my website. I’ll be honest, I’m not in love with my website. I think it serves me well enough for now, but does it say to me “I’m so KAREN MAZE”? No. As I continue to home in on what exactly I want it to do for me, I like being able to do it myself. But those days are going to come to an end.  Outsourcing it is looking more and more like a good idea. But not yet…not just yet. Please check it out by clicking here or on the photo below. Be sure to check out the Recent Work page. It is brand new, has selected images from New Zealand, my day with Poptart and Brent, and more.

On New Year’s Eve I posted my first article on Examiner.com. I am the new Los Angeles Neighborhood Photography Examiner. I applied on a bit of a whim and mostly out of curiosity, but now that I’ve dipped my toe into the Examiner.com pool, it feels just right. It’s caused me to think more about the Los Angeles photo community more than ever before. It inspires me to get out and talk to people (I can be a bit shy sometimes!) and having a forum for their stories adds a new layer of interest. I’ll be covering photo-related events, gallery openings, museum exhibits, interviewing local photographers of all types, and more. If you have something you’d like me to write about, comment below or send me an email: karen[at]karenmaze[dot]com.

Like all of you, I’ve been touched by the ongoing suffering of the earthquake victims in Haiti, and by the frustration of so many people who want so badly to help, but are held up by a lack of infrastructure and the sheer mass of the devastation. If you’d like to make a donation, you can do so through these websites:

Red Cross

iTunes

Clinton Bush Haiti Fund

Whichever method you choose (I used iTunes), please make sure it’s a trustworthy organization. It’s lamentable that there are people out there who take advantage at times like these, but there’s no denying their existence.

I am going to get out and take some pics now. The rain has stopped and the tornado warning (!) is over. It wasn’t for my area of LA, but STILL! Los Angeles is never more beautiful than after a rain storm. We’re getting four of them this week (2 down, 2 to go), so there should be some incredible vistas out there.

By the way, my Examiner.com income is based on the traffic my page receives - so click away, won’t you? I’ll strive to write content you’ll find interesting and indispensable, so I hope you’ll head over there now and click on “Subscribe”. And by all means, tell your friends.

Happy shooting, y’all!

-km

“It isn’t what a picture is of, it is what it is about.” - John Szarkowski

Thanks to Eric Chuang of  Pixfeed LA for posting this quote today.

In this age of globalization, the world is smaller and more accessible than ever. Information rains down all day long. It’s interesting then, that even today people find nothing more gratifying than going local. Maybe it’s because even in this age of 24-hour non-stop niche news, it can still be hard to find information about that coffee shop or hair dresser on the corner, never mind photos of them. At its worst, globalization means homogenization and impersonalization. Could it be that those local vendors and personalities represent the last stand of individuality? Whatever the case, this desire for the unique and personal has helped to feed the trend to buy, support, and go local. It’s a powerful idea, and the fact that it persists in today’s global culture is reassuring and inspiring.

Why not go local with your photography? Document your city, your neighborhood, and your block. Choose a theme. It could be anything! Make it personal to you, and specific. The possibilities are endless. Give yourself time to explore the theme. You’ll know when you’re done.

Your checklist: A camera, lens, fresh batteries, memory card/film, and passion for your subject. Don’t get hung up on equipment. Keep it simple and use what you’ve got or can borrow. Some days you might have to ‘force’ inspiration. But don’t despair, because that’s when commitment to your project and your craft kicks in. Inspiration will come. The crucial thing is to keep shooting.

Most importantly, forget everything you have been told about what makes a good photo and shoot from the heart. You just might touch somebody else’s.

A selection of images from my ongoing study of Aerialists and TSNY LA in particular.

-km

I took a break from editing New Zealand photos to work on my next holiday project: Valentine’s Day. It’s just the beginning, but you might see these pop up in the Etsy Store in a couple of months.

Meredith Vieira interviewed Brian Dennis with Nubs on The Today Show on November 2, 2009. The interview begins and ends with a shot of the book - with my photo of Nubs on the cover! The book is entitled “Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine & a Miracle”. Click here to see the clip on MSNBC.com.

Meredith Vieira interviews Brian Dennis with Nubs on the Today Show.

For more info on the book, please visit www.thestoryofnubs.com.