your guide to everything photo go beyond · the late alfred eisenstaedt of life magazine. he shot...

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YOUR GUIDE TO EVERYTHING PHOTO

WORDS OF WISDOMFROM THE FATHER OFCANADIAN PHOTOJOURNALISM

MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR TRAVEL OPPORTUNITIES

MORETHAN ONE

5 CAMERA FUNCTIONS FOR MORE PERSONAL IMAGES

USEA SERIESTO TELL

A BIGGERSTORY

CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE

FINDINGINSPIRATION OUTSIDE THE BIG CITIES

GOBEYOND- THE SINGLE IMAGE- THE POSTCARD SHOT - THE BIG CITIES

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YOUR GUIDE TO EVERYTHING PHOTODECEMBER / JANUARY 2020

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CONTENTS

EXPOSURE 4 CONTRIBUTORS 6 EDITORIAL 8 THIS AND THAT 18 THE COMMUNITY 66 THE VAULT

VISION BEHIND THE IMAGE

20 VIKTORIA HAACK

WISDOM, WIT AND OTHER TIDBITS

22 TED GRANTRecently named a member of the Order of Canada, Ted Grant is considered the grandfather of Canadian photojournalism. During his career, he’s photographed everyone from world political leaders to Olympic athletes to Albertan cowboys.

26 BEST OF PHOTO CLUBS

30 FAR FROM THE CENTRE BY LAURENCE BUTET-ROCH

WITHOUT THE FRAME

38 MORE THAN ONE BY DAVID DUCHEMIN

Our stories—our visual experiences—are often told more completely in a series of photographs or a small body of work, allowing several images to do what one image can’t.

SHOWTIME

40 SUMMER DREAMS

TECHNIQUE 42 THE FLEETING MASTERPIECE BY PATRICK LA ROQUE

48 NEUTRAL-DENSITY FILTERS DEMYSTIFIED BY DANIEL DUPONT

Neutral-density filters are a great addition to your photographic “toolbox.” Here Daniel Dupont explains what they do and how to use them.

FAQ

52 A SHORT Q&A BY JEAN-FRANÇOIS LANDRY

There are certain photography-related questions that come up again and again. Here are the answers to a few so that at least these won’t be the ones keeping you up at night.

THE FLEETING MASTERPIECETravelling is an incredible jolt to the system for anyone, but for photographers, it’s

like drinking an elixir of awakening. We owe it to ourselves to make the most of the opportunity and go beyond the postcard shot.

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FAR FROM THE CENTREFrom the Magdalen Islands in the east to Spirit River further west, some photographers are finding work and inspiration away from

the country’s major cities.

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PHOTO LIFE JUNE/JULY 2016VOLUME 41, NUMBER 4 COVER PHOTO

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VISION WISDOM, WIT AND OTHER TIDBITS

EXCERPTS FROM OUR INTERVIEW WITH

TED GRANTRecently named a member of the Order of Canada, Ted Grant is considered the father of Canadian photojournalism. He’s photographed everyone from world political leaders to Olympic athletes to Albertan cowboys, and more than 300,000 of his photographs are in the Ted Grant Collection at Library and Archives Canada and the National Gallery. Here at Photo Life, we always love talking with Dr. Ted, so we were thrilled when he took the time to answer our questions!

FIRST CAMERA?I received my first camera on my 20th birthday. This was my first birthday—May 27, 1950—after I was married to my now departed wife, Irene, of 64 years. She gave me an Argus A2 35-mm film camera. I still have it, and there’s a roll of film in it that I have tried for years to muster the strength of heart to remove and develop. Some day?

WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GREW UP?A medical doctor, a WWII fighter pilot or, as my dad was, an 18-wheel transport truck driver.

WHY A CAREER IN PHOTOGRAPHY?The fascination of capturing magical moments of life while on assignments about the world—it was a natural evolution!

MOST PIVOTALCAREER EXPERIENCE?My first published front-page photo in the Ottawa Citizen newspaper on September 17, 1951. It was a stock car in a race. Reading the

credit line, “Photo—Ted Grant,” was the magical moment that started the most incredible life one could possibly have.

MOST ADMIREDPHOTOGRAPHER?The late Alfred Eisenstaedt of Life magazine. He shot quiet moments without any fanfare. He just went about his clicking, successfully covering the assignment. His reaction time to the moment was admirable.

THE “PHOTO THATGOT AWAY”?Photographing Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II with an empty camera!

FAVOURITE CAMERA-AND-LENS COMBINATION?That’s a tough call because what I’m shooting determines the “favourite of the day.” If I’m shooting sports I usually use a 280 mm f/2.8. However, the sport determines which is the favourite or “best of the moment.” And that can be anything from a 15 mm to an 800 mm. If I’m quietly

documenting on a walkabout or looking for a moment, it would be a Leica M Digital and the incredi-ble Leica Noctilux 50 mm f/1.0.

I rarely use auxiliary lights or flash, as both are forbidden in my world and manner of shooting. If you can see the subject, you can shoot it! Years of recognizing and using available light, in a similar fashion to the lighting seen in paintings by Rembrandt, define my pictures. His light was candles, lanterns and available window light. He predominantly “painted from the shadow side.” Similarly I shoot from the shadow side.

BEST ADVICE?K.I.S.S. (“Keep it simple stupid!”) Don’t get all tied up in photographic jargon. Learn solid basics and work with them. The rest will come as you shoot and shoot, and shoot a hundred times more.

Give yourself assignments. For example, do a shoot at sunrise. Get out at least an hour before the sun comes up in your neighbourhood. Go to a local park, industrial area, or the waterfront—wherever! Watch the light-level effects and the colour, and shoot things that become interesting as the light levels change. As the levels change, the look of subjects changes.

The neat thing about today is digital. You can shoot and take images to study later, and it doesn’t cost a thing, as compared to the days of film and 36-frame rolls. The more you shoot, the better you become, and the cost effectiveness of digital makes this more tangible.

Reading the credit line, “Photo—Ted Grant,” was the magi-cal moment that started the most incredible life one could possibly have.



WISDOM, WIT AND OTHER TIDBITS VISION

MOST RANDOM THING IN YOUR PHOTO BAG?Thompson black raisins. I get hungry, and squirrels love them.

WHAT’S YOUR SISYPHEAN STRUGGLE?Developing 500 rolls of film and making contact sheets! Thank goodness we don’t have that chore any longer!

FAVOURITE CITYTO PHOTOGRAPH?Paris!

EARLY RISEROR NIGHT OWL?Early riser and watch the world in front of you come alive!

CURRENT FAVOURITE PHOTO (OF YOUR OWN PHOTOS)?A photo taken (a sort of selfie before they became the photo of today) on my 76th birthday, flying upside down at 3000 ft. in a P-51 Mustang WWII American fighter plane over Olympia, Washington. I felt like a young lad of 18 years in aerial combat and not 76

in reality! Incredible! Just have to love the moments!

WEIRDESTPHOTO EXPERIENCE?First assignment in the operating room during an open-heart operation on a 13-year-old boy. The first time looking into the chest cavity with the beating heart!

WHAT SUPERPOWER WOULD YOU CHOOSE?The ability to cure human beings from dying when they need not!

Don’t get all tied up in photographic jargon. Learn solid basics and work with them.

© TED GRANT


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VISION WISDOM, WIT AND OTHER TIDBITS

SOMETHING YOUNEVER DO?Smoke, and never have!

SOMETHING YOUALWAYS DO?Sit on the back deck, where it is quiet and relaxing late in the day, and enjoy a fine single-malt scotch, attempting to turn the world off, eyes closed, feet up and in as re-laxed of a mode as I can create.

SOMETHING YOU WOULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY?Throughout my career I’d have saved and invested far more income than we ever did.

YOUR TAKE ON INSTAGRAM?In the hands of a competent user, it’s amazing—both the quality captured and transmitted.

BEST TIP FOR TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY?Have a great travel agent to plan your trips, make reservations, and get you out of a hellhole of a location, if necessary.

HOW DO YOU DEALWITH CRITICISM?Stay calm even if you wish to ring the critics’ neck! Maybe, just maybe, their opinion is right. Why? Simply because we become so close to our exposures, we can become immune to a perceived negative comment! Look at the image again in relation to the critique…maybe they’re right.

HOW DO YOU CARRY YOUR PHOTO GEAR?A shoulder bag with three camera bodies and several lenses that fits under the plane seat in front. Extra long lenses in special cases are checked.

Save them back to perfect health. My dear Irene would be first on the list!

WHAT’S A NORMALDAY FOR YOU?Up at 7 a.m. Eat a banana while taking meds and a coffee. Odd mornings: Grand Marnier French toast and scrambled eggs. These are the basic morning starts that keep one reasonably mobile and active at the sweet age of 87! Then I check the computer and away we go! Other than that, a couple of hard-boiled eggs.

HOW DO YOU BALANCE YOUR PERSONAL LIFE AND WORK LIFE?Again, K.I.S.S. Keep it as simple as possible and relaxing when I can. Pedal to the metal when I have to. The secret to staying an elder and not becoming an old man!

FAVOURITE MEAL?Japanese. Sushi, sake, etc.

WHAT ARE YOUREADING NOW?My biography! Author Thelma Fayle’s book, Ted Grant: Sixty Years of Legendary Photojournalism. True! As I just haven’t had the time until recently.

Prime Minister Pierre Elliott

Trudeau sliding down stair railing,

1968. I knew he was behind me

somewhere as I headed down the

stairs. I heard laughter and turned

around, and there he was heading

towards me. I clicked, and that was

it. All the other media had run out-

side the hotel and couldn’t get back

inside for a picture. The lesson?

Don’t always ride with the media

pack! Leica M and 35-mm lens.© T

ED

GR

AN

T



WISDOM, WIT AND OTHER TIDBITS VISION

SOMETHING YOUNEVER DO?Smoke, and never have!

SOMETHING YOUALWAYS DO?Sit on the back deck, where it is quiet and relaxing late in the day, and enjoy a fine single-malt scotch, attempting to turn the world off, eyes closed, feet up and in as re-laxed of a mode as I can create.

SOMETHING YOU WOULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY?Throughout my career I’d have saved and invested far more income than we ever did.

YOUR TAKE ON INSTAGRAM?In the hands of a competent user, it’s amazing—both the quality captured and transmitted.

BEST TIP FOR TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY?Have a great travel agent to plan your trips, make reservations, and get you out of a hellhole of a location, if necessary.

HOW DO YOU DEALWITH CRITICISM?Stay calm even if you wish to ring the critics’ neck! Maybe, just maybe, their opinion is right. Why? Simply because we become so close to our exposures, we can become immune to a perceived negative comment! Look at the image again in relation to the critique…maybe they’re right.

HOW DO YOU CARRY YOUR PHOTO GEAR?A shoulder bag with three camera bodies and several lenses that fits under the plane seat in front. Extra long lenses in special cases are checked.

YOUR WORKFLOW?I receive an assignment. I go to the location wherever that may be. I cover the event and return home in a few hours, days or weeks. Later: complete edit and make prints when required. Now that the photographer is the sole holder of copyright, all the images are stored for future orders.

WHAT EXCITES YOU MOST ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY?Just being a photographer, somewhere in the world or the next province, shooting the event! You just have to love every exciting moment!

WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU?These days? Enjoying the magnificent memories of the past 65 years of a life. A life more

incredible than the wildest love affair one could imagine!

YOUR HOPES FOR PHOTOGRAPHY’S FUTURE?I suppose in my case, at the wonderful age of 87, that it continues to function as it is at the moment, and that it improves for independent photographers.

ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE?I can’t imagine working in an office doing the same thing day after day. I’ve had the privilege of travelling the world over and back a dozen times. Being a photographer has allowed me to be paid to travel and do what I love, instead of paying to travel. Oh my, it was a time so fantastic! I loved it!

Look at the image again in relation to the critique…maybe they’re right.

Madame Vanier, wife

of Governor General

Georges Vanier,

dropped her purse

during a visit by

Israeli Prime Minister

David Ben-Gurion to

Government House

in Ottawa. The prime

minister made a dive

for a polite retrieval.

© TED GRANT


your guide to everything photo go beyond · the late alfred eisenstaedt of life magazine. he shot...

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