As a child I was fascinated by my father’s old cameras and darkroom equipment gathering dust in a basement closet. They were mechanical puzzles I was driven to secretly disassemble to understand their workings.
I remember as if yesterday, my profound fear as finely-interwoven lens aperture blades came apart in my botched surgical exploration, and the rush of relief as I finally managed to reassemble them.
I was intrigued by the pictures my father had developed and printed. His abandoned hobby seemed like magic. Perhaps my interest in photography has a genetic underpinning.
It’s become cliché to say photographs freeze moments in time and we tend to forget how they freeze subjects in space. A photograph flattens our four-dimensional world of space-time into a flat, two-dimensional shortcut. Navigating this compression is where I try to find photographic art.
I try to find interesting light in ordinary places where it escapes attention. My interests are eclectic and changing – from landscapes to urban, to people and portraiture. I like buildings.
Lightroom /post processing
In the film age, technically-oriented photographers like Ansel Adams fine-tuned the dynamic range of an image by adjusting film-exposure and negative processing time. Later, in the darkroom, they used dodging and burning to make local adjustments.
As a novice tech-nerd I experimented a bit with these techniques before I really appreciated the right kind of shots for which to use them. I didn’t find darkroom work very rewarding; I became frustrated by the time and effort needed.
Modern digital post-processing techniques parallel those of film, and require similar skill and patience – but much of the arduous calculation and pre-planning has been eliminated, and ‘retakes’ are more easily reversible.
Much of my work begins after I’ve clicked the shutter. But there are limits to post-processing magic; the image must be fundamentally sound to begin with.
I try to achieve good tonality and color with global adjustments. I try to avoid the overuse of local adjustments that can too easily spoil the dynamics of an image.
I’ve served as an Adobe Community Professional, part of a support team Adobe calls “creative experts around the world… extremely knowledgeable about one or more of our applications.” I am also an Adobe Lightroom trainer and have technical expertise in several web-design applications. I designed and built this website.
Photographer for hire.
I am available to take creative, artistic photographs of you, your family, friends, pets, home, business, possessions, or anything else in the world. Senior portraits a specialty.
Additionally, you may purchase any image you see on my site. I print images using acid-free materials; under reasonable conditions they will retain color and tone for a lifetime.
Contact me: info@joelfriedmanphotography.com