Jared Fein

Exploration #17: “Measurement”

February 8^th 2022 - 7.00 p.m. to 9.00 p.m.

Submission Deadline: Images due by midnight February 6^th 2022

There are many aspects of daily life that are easily missed and yet are seldom the subject of photographic exploration.  Every day, many times of day, we use, depend upon, or refer to, methods and tools of measurement that are important or even critical to our actions, our health, and our interaction with others.

You can’t effectively, monitor your health, cook your dinner, repair things, drive anywhere, design, dress for the day’s weather or create anything without referring to measurements and/or calculations in some form. Measurement is an essential aspect of making good photographic images as well (intensity, distance, colour etc.), The core aspects of this exploration should be graphic simplicity and enjoyment of the process of creating solutions to express the simple essence of measurement.

Time, weight, length, volume, angle, speed, area, pressure, rotation, light intensity, colour, force, flow, temperature, and density, are just a few of the possibilities.  Earthquakes, hurricanes, radiation, asteroid impacts, and astronomical distance are a little more difficult - but even they are measurable.

Select just one or two ideas to research and explore and keep your images simple using strong composition and design principles.  Submit up to three images in either colour or black and white in .jpg format to robin@imaginacorporation.com.

Photo credit : Robin King

Exploration #16: “The Industrial Age”

January 11^th 2022 - 7.00 p.m. to 9.00 p.m.

Submission Deadline: Images due by midnight January 9th

Exploration sessions are designed to challenge participants to confront new concepts, new subjects and new ways of see the world around us. Our environment is changing rapidly and so we often miss the opportunity to record aspects of work and occupations that have disappeared or may well disappear soon.  Yesterday’s occupations and methods of production have given way to entirely new pressures on life and particularly on work as we have known it. But what about the past? What do we remember and what can we record before it is lost?

This Exploration focuses on industrial production - not a very common subject for photographers and yet an important one with all the challenges and pressure of climate change, demographics, transportation and economics.  What to photograph for this topic? Older factories and industrial spaces, workers, assembly lines, tools in action, inner workings of old machines, industrial technology, images that reflect the age of industrial life and manufacture.

Submission should be of photographs taken for this project avoiding cliché subjects such as rusty cars, old trains, etc. that do not reflect the processes of industrial production. Existing portfolio images should be used for reference, exposition or inspiration.

A limit of three different images per submission (either colour or black and white) in .jpg format.

Exploration #15 “The Aesthetics of Bokeh”

November 8^th – 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Submission deadline – Images due by midnight November 6th

Bokeh is an English word that is a translation of the Japanese word for blur - but it is not just blur – it generally refers to specular out-of-focus highlights and specular reflections. Bokeh can be a complement to your image, but it can also be a distraction.

The Bokeh effect is created using a fast aperture (low f-number: e.g. f1.8) and most often using a 50 mm or 85 mm lens, although other focal lengths can create the effect. It depends on the particular design of the lens, the specific aperture, the distance of the lens to the subject and the distance of the background elements behind the subject.

In this exploration the task is to research and experiment bokeh and create images that illustrate the effect in different situations. It can be in your personal space, studio or outside (nighttime is especially good).

A limit of three different images per submission (colour or black and white) in .jpg format

A useful reference is: Understanding Bokeh by Todd Vorenkamp

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/tips-and-solutions/understanding-bokeh

Photo credit:  Robin King

Exploration #14: “Suburban Life: Past and Present” 

October 13th – 7pm to 9pm                                                                    

DEADLINE - Images due by midnight October 11th

Most often, we emphasize taking photographs that are dynamic, unique and have high impact and creative expression. Less often, we use our cameras to record the day-to-day events and the people in our neighborhoods.  An important alternative to more traditional street photography, the genre of suburban imagery is seldom a specific subject for exploration except, perhaps, in online social media. It is seldom the subject of dedicated and focussed photographic investigation.

Suburbia, planned communities and the subject of urban sprawl around the world are often portrayed in popular media as boring, bland, depressing and sometimes even soul crushing. And yet, underneath there is a hidden treasure of age, gender, and cultural diversity in both rich and poor suburban environments where stories of interesting people, their lives, their values, and their daily events are overlooked and unrecorded.

This Exploration is about finding opportunities for elaboration, sharing and discussion. It will not involve the technical aspects of the images, rather it will be about sharing experiences and our observations of suburban life through each participant’s portfolio of images over the years.

A limit of three different images per submission (either colour or black and white) in .jpg format.

Please review Important background research for samples of style and content that can be found at:  https://billowens.com/photographs/suburbia-c

Exploration #13: “Paint, pigment, and powder”  

Wednesday September 8th - 7pm to 9pm

DEADLINE - Images due by midnight September 6th

The subject of this exploration is paint, pigment and powder: three highly flexible media that yield an extremely wide range of ways to express dynamic colour relationships. Each medium is available in a wide variety of forms that can be used in combination with numerous techniques and applied in diverse ways.

The challenge is to create a dynamic photograph that uses one or more of these three (either alone or in combination) using different application techniques and on a variety of surfaces. Only physical materials and not digital paint filters should be used to make it look “painterly” and please, no found object clichés such as graffiti, cracked paint, rusty cars etc.

Sometimes we all face the challenge of coming up with creative ideas.  Developing a multitude of ideas increases the possibility of identifying a few that spark our imagination and can lead to new and exciting directions in our work.

During the introduction to this Exploration on August 10^th, we used a matrix technique to develop one thousand possible ideas as potential solutions to this Exploration and as a springboard for creative investigation. I hope you tuned in to the session, but if not, contact Robin for a sample matrix of one thousand possible solutions.

Of course, you may also take an intuitive approach - as long as it’s within the general guidelines of the Exploration. Have fun, experiment!

A limit of three colour/monochrome images per submission in .jpg format.

Picture Credit:  Robin King

Spring Challenge 2022 Themes

1.  Shadow Photography (any subject)

2.  Go outside and capture a winter storm

3.  Express yourself:  Tell us something about what excites you about your work or a favourite hobby.

More information to follow.

Photo Credit:  Michael Osborne