View Single Post
  #63  
Old Posted Nov 30, 2010, 8:39 PM
giovanni sasso's Avatar
giovanni sasso giovanni sasso is offline
furified freestyle
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: philadelphia, pa
Posts: 12,294
giovanni sasso

giovanni sasso
ALLLLLLLLLLLLL RIGHTY. Hey guys. Sorry it took me so long to reply to this. My thanks to Kilgore Trout for the request, and my apologies to HomeInMyShoes for his patience.


What are you shooting with and what would you like to shoot with?
I'm still rocking the canon 5D. It's three years old and treats me mostly well. I shoot in RAW, which I quite like, but I don't like its drawbacks like chromatic aberration, lens vignetting, and severe sensor dust. Still, I'm mostly happy with the results.

On one hand, I would like to upgrade to the latest Mark II (or whatever Canon has newer than that), but I've found since I moved to Portland (a year ago today, incidentally) that I don't get out nearly as much as I used to for photography. I still do occasionally, but I have to prepare and motivate myself to do so. Honestly, the biggest problem for me is how damn heavy the camera gear is. The 5D is a metal body, and I've got four lenses (70-200 L, 24-70 L, fixed 50mm, and an 11-17 Tamron wide), filters for each, two batteries, a remote shutter, a mini-tripod (carrying the big one is an even bigger pain), a pen and notepad, and a pack of Orbit peppermint burst gum.

On the other, since technology advances as quickly as it does, I wouldn't mind having a higher end Canon Elph type point and shoot with a decent lens. Something that fits in my pocket, has a nice zoom, and preferably is waterproof.


If you could sum up your style in one photograph what photo would it be?
Like the others, it's hard to pick just one. But in the interest of doing that, I'll say this one, for the skyline -- with the glint on the building whose construction was my subject of over 5,000 photos -- painted in sunset light, at the peak of fall foliage.



Talk about your inspirations and influences.
Photography wise, I don't have a lot. It's easy to point out the historical best in different genres (Mathew Brady's portraits, Alfred Stieglitz' street scenes, Ansel Adams' nature, Annie Liebovitz' fashion), but it's also easy to say you like the Beatles or Led Zeppelin or Radiohead or Jay-Z. Honestly, I've had a camera since I got a 110 speed camera for my 10th birthday, but I feel like I've only really gotten photography since I went digital in September 2002.

I was already on SSP at that point and had been posting Philly neighborhood tours from 35mm prints/scans, but man, was that a pain. I went digital out of practicality -- instant gratification, save money, save time, save the hassle of scanning, all of which DUH -- and it immediately improved my shooting. Toss in the admitted thrill of posting a new thread every so often with positive response, amongst the other thread-posting folks like Herodotus, Kilgore Trout, ColDayMan, Jive/Gasm, Theodore, volguus, giallo and later Flash, sekkle, MJPhilly, sabotai, etc, and it was easy to try harder, and trying harder made it easy.


Where have you not been that you want to photograph?
Alaska and Hawaii. They're the only two United States I haven't been to, although I'd like to give Rhode Island its fair due. I've only driven through it during rush hour in the rain, and that was no fun. Otherwise, outside the US I would love to get to Shanghai, Prague, Buenos Aires and New Zealand.

Talk about your most popular (in your opinion) photothreads.
Seeing as I took a several year hiatus, it's hard to remember the more popular ones, although I recall my NYC 5 Boro tours to be heavy hitters. It's funny, beyond the obvious like my friends and the Phillies, the thing I miss most about living in Philadelphia is its proximity to New York. One of my favorite things to do was take a 3-day, 5-borough weekend. Put together little series of photos from all five boroughs, even Staten Island.

Talk about your photothreads that didn't get the response you wanted.
Again, I've only posted a small handful of threads since I've been back on SSP, but I thought the one from Wounded Knee, South Dakota might have fared better. What can ya do.

Any tips or personal wisdom you'd like to pass on to others?
SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT. Line your shot up. Use the full frame. Don't cut people's heads or feet off (unless on purpose). Give context. Don't be afraid of Photoshop. Think correcting the perspective will make it a nicer photo? Do it. Think upping the saturation for more color will make it a nicer photo? Do it. Shoot shoot shoot.

Who should we ask these questions of next?
giallo, all the way.
__________________
phillyskyline.commauleofamerica.com
a matter of life and death, just like a etch-a-sketch

Last edited by giovanni sasso; Dec 8, 2010 at 5:19 PM. Reason: "my favorite thing about photography is photography." hurrr.
Reply With Quote