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Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2007 4:01 am Post subject: Under the Spotlight - Creator
Full Name - Keith Lindsay-Cameron
1) What gear do you use?
Nikon D80.
Nikor 18-70mm kit lens
Sigma 50mm 1:2.8 DG macro lens.
Tamron 70 - 300mm 1:4 - 5.6 LD Tele - Macro (1:2) My beloved trusty Manfrotto 055CLB tripod and equally beloved and trust 488 quick release head.
2 X Nikon Coolpix 5400's and Manfrotto Manfrotto Double Head Support for stereo work.
Studio:
Portaflash 336 VM kit.
Falconeyes SS=150BF studio flash kit.
Manfrotto 314 Background Support Kit, plus black and white paper backdrops.
Soft box.
Reflector.
Snoot.
Barn doors.
Shoot through brolly.
Toshiba laptop to run the whole kit and caboodle.
Miscellaneous:
Tom Tom Go, because I have the navigation skills and direction sense of a stick of rhubarb, actually I think the rhubarb wins.
2) What got you interested in photography?
In the 90's Magic Eye 3d pictures and posters became something of a phenomenon. I was one of those people who couldn't walk away until I had seen this thing, y'know, got it for myself. The first time I saw it, I was blown away. I started buying anything and everything that came out about 3D stuff. But it was a book called SuperStereogram that became my defining moment and a computer graphic by Seiji Yoshimoto which took three years for him to produce called 'Swan Lake'. It was a side by side image of a ballerina which, viewed cross eyed, became 3D, and a big bright light went off in my brain and I realised, 'This could be done photographically'. My first tentative steps were taken with a pair of Fuji Finepix cameras, which were ok, but the resolution and rendering of some greens were not up to scratch and I progressed to the Coolpix cameras. That was it for some while until I was good and hooked and I decided that I just wanted to take pictures whatever, whenever, I just loved it, and bought a Nikon D70, my first 'real' camera. The other deciding factor was a love for megalithic sites and night shooting, I wanted the ability to take the shots I wanted under any light conditions, and a compact just can't deliver that kind of flexibility.
3) Do you have a favourite category of photography and if so, what is it?
Glamour photography is my favourite category of photography. By that I mean clothed glamour photography of attractive women. Nudity doesn't do it for me, a glimpse or a suggestion is everything. That's where the studio is headed, a yet to be realised ambition.
4) What is your most memorable photographic experience to date?
The summer solstice at Avebury in 2005 sticks in my mind as an experience of being there, the atmosphere, the wonder and the sheer anticipation of the dawn. There've been a few like that, but that was a biggie.
5) Do you like to manipulate pictures? Or do you prefer them as a true record of the event? What is your view on Photo manipulation?
Me manipulate pictures? I think all photo manipulators are the devils spawn and should burn in the darkest recesses of hell. Oh alright. Were I to describe myself it would be as an artist first and photographer second. It's all about getting the image I want and I care not how I achieve that. My passion is just imagery, expressing some part of me that demands expression. It's more of an obsession than a mere interest, going as far back as I can remember. Visual imagery is my great big burning passion in life.
6) What, if any, are your photographic ambitions for the future?
To really got to grips with the studio, hire some models, and turn out some glamour work.
Now for Keith's favourite Five -
I've chosen this picture of Avebury under a full moon because it was the first night picture I took that really did it for me, it became one of my spurs to go on, and I still like it to this day.
It was hard to choose a stereo picture because different criteria apply. What decides a great stereo picture isn't necessarily whether it's an award winning shot (though that'd be nice) so much as what happens when you look at it in stereo. I've chosen this one as representative of the magic that happens in a stereo shot.
This is one of two shots that have come about as a direct result of being a member of this site, and why I think this forum is such a fantastic place. Being a part of this forum is a constant inspiration, go anywhere on the site and what you will see and read is encouragement to go further, take risks, stretch yourself, and that's certainly been true for me from day one.
I can't even remember what inspired me to take this shot, though it may have been the recent Mono comp. Maybe someone else will remember, but like the last shot it came about because of this site, stretching my wings, and I am pretty happy with it.
Last and favourite. My Niece Leah who is absolutely stunning, whether she thinks so or not (in all my vast experience of about 0.0000001% of all the women in the world, trying get a woman to admit she looks good is like pulling teeth on a rhino). She has since gone on to get a life, so I am really glad to have some shots of her that I am delighted with.
Many thanks Keith for sharing that with us.
If you'd like to see more of Keiths work, then check out his websites See Here or Here
OK the floors now open, do you have any questions you'd like to ask Keith?
If so post them below. _________________
Interesting stuff Keith...
You are a very active member of this forum, is this the only forum you are involved in? or do other people get the benefit from your photoshop wisdom?!
You also draw a lot of inspiration from this forum, which I think we all do, so do you think being part of this happy little bunch had made you a more active photographer? Where else does your inspiration come from? or where did it come from before Mikes Photography Forum?
I think your choice of photos for this spotlight is excellent and shows the variety of images that can be achieved.
Landscape, stereo (which I still cannot see - but believe what people tell me/post about them), glamour and close up - wonderful stuff.
Looking forward to seeing your reply to Adams question _________________ -----------------------------------------------------
i live so close to this man and we have so many conversations but every time i read anything he has written i learn something new, i feel lucky to have him so close to teach me his knowlege! i do beleive you took that pic for the alphabet challenge! _________________ "i was looking back to see if you were looking back at me, to see me looking back at you"
This is indeed the only Forum I am involved in. A few reasons for that. Firstly, all of the forums I have ever been involved with seem to have been ego based, an awful lot of people with something to prove, and people being 'precious'. There's a lifetimes personal philosophy tied up in this for me, and my 'signature' is a distillation of everything I believe and hold dear. It's easy to say it's a dog eat dog world, harsh, competitive and all that, but that is only true if we believe and behave like that, personally, I choose not to. I like to think of a can of baked beans, all the thousands of people involved to produce a can of beans, each one of them vital to that can sitting in my larder. Personally I think the profit motive is a crock of... whereas, when we work with each other and accept each other and all our marvellous differences, we produce wonders, and this forum proves it. I also don't have the energy to for a whole bunch of Forums, the give and take on this forum feeds me, inspires me, helps me, challenges me and encourages me, why go elsewhere?
I do question how active I am here quite a lot, do I open my gob too much, and I wonder why others aren't able to be more active? Career wise, I am sickness retired, I've had a number of very serious nervous breakdowns, and I haven't really recovered from the last one, so relating to you all is quite important for me. When Simon gave me the nod about Mikes Forum, he said that Mike had started this because he was fed up with other forums and decided to have a go himself and I came in relatively early, liked very much what I saw, got involved and was able to share some of what I've learnt over the years, and it feels good. It's really helped me see that I do have stuff to offer still, at a time in my life when I was feeling very insecure about the future and where I was going and about myself, I really enjoy sharing, doing walkthroughs and stuff, and it helps me grow.
I do draw a great deal of inspiration from the Forum, and being a part of this happy bunch hasn't made me a more active photographer, but it does made me qualitatively look at what I do. I have only had one ambition in life, to be an artist, it's a passion, and a fairly obsessive one at that. It's driven me all my life, so I don't lack motivation, but I do lack focus and the Forum really helps me focus and inspires me reach further and grow. It might seem a lame thing to say, but what drives me is the pursuit of excellence. I seldom achieve it, but it's what spurs me on and there is a great deal of excellance on this site and I don't think I am alone in pursuit of it.
In the Landscape section, pasvorto put the following: "Most people don't like the hosta for some reason. I guess it is another instance of 'to each his own'. I don't know what it is that appeals to me. Maybe the rain, maybe the light, maybe the many shades of green.
If there was a formula, there would be no artists, eh?"
i live so close to this man and we have so many conversations but every time i read anything he has written i learn something new, i feel lucky to have him so close to teach me his knowlege! i do beleive you took that pic for the alphabet challenge!
Thank you Leah. You said to me once that you had always wanted more of your family close, well moving down here and away from London has been the best thing I ever did and all the missions we did after you left school, the talk, the sharing and fun was amazing! Thank you. _________________
Awesome Keith thanks for sharing. And amazing photo's, that stereo one, dave take my word for it, is amazing.
Dave, it really isn't that hard, i don't know what you have been told before, but there are several ways to see the stereo stuff.
1. Put your eyes about 12 inches infront of the screen, Go cross eyed, literally, and imagine that you are focusing on a point about six inches the other side of the computer screen. if this doesn't work,
2. Put your face about 12 inches from the screen, go cross eyed so that the two images cross over, this will become apparent when it happens, hopefully. Then really slowly move your head towards and/or away from the screen without moving your eyes, and the image should slowly come into focus, and hey presto you should see and image, pin sharp but in 3D.
alternatively you could go to keiths web page and he has a tutorial that helps. the second one works best for me. _________________ The sun cannot set,
Because you are not here,
To see it,
The day cannot end,
It can't be right,
That night will come,
Without you.
I'll second that, as Keith as said the reason I started this little forum was for basically for the same experiences that Keith has had (far to many stuck up themselves people who are more interested in themselves and what equipment you have rather than helping).
But I'm sure glad I did when you can get the calibre of people like Keith and all the other members who are more than willing to help others.
What this forum may lack in members it most certainly makes up for in friendliness and helpfulness.
For me I've always loved your Photoshop work Keith because of the way you make it look natural and not over the top and after a few eye straining moments I'm just about able to appreciate your stereo work.
Thanks so much for the amazing comments, I'm a bit blown away here.
You're absolutely right Mike, there's a wonderful range of people here and they're all very different in what they produce. Makes me think of that old saying, 'variety is the spice of life'. _________________
that stereo one, dave take my word for it, is amazing.
Dave, it really isn't that hard, .
Simon, don't want to hijack Keiths spot, but the reason I can't do the stereo thing is because of a very lazy right eye, can't do the blobby coloured 3d things either, but thanks for the input. _________________ -----------------------------------------------------
if i ever get a shot like the first one i'd be happy, love that picture.
I have a questions for you Keith, are there still things that you would like to "do" with your pictures, but aren't able to yet with photoshop? In other words, are there still skills you would like to learn in photoshop?
Thanks Ivo, that picture was what I considered to be my first proper night shot and I was chuffed with it.
Good question, and the answer is yes but I don't know what. I use PS and PSP to the limit of what I know and, of course, I don't know what I don't know. I experiment all the time, read as much as possible, and something will come along that will put my little light on and stretch me that bit further. Oddly enough I did something the other day that I'd never done before with a recent picture of Leah and one from Castle Coombe.
thats amazing keith, what made you do that? _________________ The sun cannot set,
Because you are not here,
To see it,
The day cannot end,
It can't be right,
That night will come,
Without you.
Keith,
Your presence on this forum is a wonderful benefit to us all. Your skills and insights are always informative and eye-opening.
I love your picture of Avebury - why have you been hiding this from us?
One thing I have discovered as I have gotten to know you better is that you nearly always see a deeper meaning in photographs than a simple graphic composition. For you, a photo is truly worth a thousand words and has a story to tell. As a result, you have started to open my eyes so I can perhaps see things from a different perspective.
Perhaps a philosphical question for you -
What does a photograph (photography) mean to you? _________________ see my photography at john.seelbinder.org
good question, i cant wait for the answer but it wont come for a few days because hes away at the mo but i think this will be interesting! _________________ "i was looking back to see if you were looking back at me, to see me looking back at you"
Thanks for letting people know Leah, a day and a half turned into 3 days unexpectedly.
Thanks Simon, I'm not sure what made me do it. I was playing around with some of the new pictures of Leah and also looking at the ones from Castle Coombe and the picture of Leah looking to up and the background one from C. Coome just went ping. Everything from then on was experimental. Having blended them, taking out the background from where Leah's head is kind of suggested itself. She was wearing a blue top and although I was happy with that, trying it in B&W worked even better. _________________
Keith,
Your presence on this forum is a wonderful benefit to us all. Your skills and insights are always informative and eye-opening.
I love your picture of Avebury - why have you been hiding this from us?
One thing I have discovered as I have gotten to know you better is that you nearly always see a deeper meaning in photographs than a simple graphic composition. For you, a photo is truly worth a thousand words and has a story to tell. As a result, you have started to open my eyes so I can perhaps see things from a different perspective.
Perhaps a philosphical question for you -
What does a photograph (photography) mean to you?
Hi John, Thank you so much for your comments, they are deeply appreciated. Having enjoyed some of the craic with you, it's great being a part of this site.
Why haven't I put up the Avebury shot? I guess I have seen it so many times and am so familiar with it, I don't think about it and it wasn't till I was putting the Spotlight together that I connected with it again.
You are right about how I see pictures, they have a unique language that transcends words. Though pros or poetry can also inspire a deeper meaning and experience. Pictures, perhaps coming to our minds through right brain holistic experience and not left brain linear experience, form an answer and we are left to ask the questions, as the reverse of logic, the processing follows the big picture. I can ask what 2 +2 make, and the answer is logical and fixed by the laws of mathematics, but if ask what you make of 4, there is a whole range of things you can do to process it, from simple logistics to spatial awareness and so on. Pictures do something to me that I love and also obsessively desire and seek out. I haven't studied this to achieve it, it's just something I have followed inside, it was there before any of the tentative explanations I've put above. It has also been a process that has been the cause of quite a lot of heart ache in my life, because I have often felt out of kilter with people around me, like, people asking what the meaning of life is. I don't understand the question, because I can't imagine a global, universal meaning to life, if there is a meaning I think it is down to each one of us to discover it for our selves and my answer would never be yours. If there was a universal meaning to life, I think I would have to rebel and go off to find out if it was true, I don't have the mental and emotional equipment to accept a universal answer. Or to take what Pasvorto said again, sorry mate, "If there was a formula, there would be no artists, eh?" Or life, or inspiration, or anything that I hold dear.
What does a photograph mean to me? A photograph, or a picture, is an encapsulated moment in the life both of the artist and the subject, it's an expression of something creative. But it doesn't end there, because it lives on in the viewer and in whatever impact it makes on others. It's incredibly dynamic, more so than words, it is an expression of creative experience.
I don't want to know why Avebury was built, I am quite happy to be awed. I've really tried to keep this short, honest.
Hi Keith, I really love reading your "spotlight", it has been so interesting to read about what motivates you...
Your photos are awesome... I especially love the Avebury pics and the mono shot with the camera in (your?) hand... Great work! Hope to see many more in the future... _________________ A moment of intensive happiness prolongs life by a thousand years.
best "under the spotlight" yet..you are a legend Keith...
flowergirl wrote:
Hi Keith, I really love reading your "spotlight", it has been so interesting to read about what motivates you...
Your photos are awesome... I especially love the Avebury pics and the mono shot with the camera in (your?) hand... Great work! Hope to see many more in the future...
Nice, Unc, very nice. I'm glad I sent you the link and glad that you enjoy being on here. I think I would be right in saying that everyone on here has learnt something from you, whether it be one of your walk through's or just a Q&A. Like Adam said, your a Legend.
Hugs...
Edit: just so newbie's don't think i'm weirder that normal, he's actually my uncle, so I can give him hugs... _________________ The sun cannot set,
Because you are not here,
To see it,
The day cannot end,
It can't be right,
That night will come,
Without you.
In images I see the structure. Is it pin sharp? Is the exposure correct? Is the colour balance and saturation appropriate? Is it a pleasing composition? Does it fit the subject matter? Would I pay for it and hang it on my wall?
Only after meeting those criteria will I look further in most cases.
This goes a long ways towards explaining why I look at some photos and can't for the life of me figure out why they are so popular.
I'll probably never completely see or understand what intrigues you so much in some images, but I'll try. I looked at your Consecration and desecration post, and it took me several minutes of scratching my head. But I think I finally got it with your hint for help It does make a statement. _________________ see my photography at john.seelbinder.org
Thank you very much Brian. This is the first forum I've been on where people encourage each other rather than trying to score points off each other, I love it.
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It does make a statement.