FOCUSED

FOCUSED dispatch | Robert Caplin

Chip Litherland — Thu, 31 May 2012 17:42:02 +0000

Eds note: Robert Caplin is everywhere: Exclusive access to the Biebs (If you’re not a teenage girl, that’s Justin Bieber). Running the successful photo blog The Photo Brigade. Being just a kick-ass photographer and traveling the globe doing what he does best. He generously took the time to chat about his rolling with celebrities and what it was like to photograph one of today’s biggest names in the world of pop with one of the FOCUSED cameras – Lady Gaga.

And, yes, Robert, your frame is in focus.

1. Your work from The New York Times really transformed you into a really spectacular celebrity photographer. Can you talk a bit about the challenges of that world vs. editorial? How do you balance that work with the travel and journalism you do?

Well thanks for the compliment. It was both the New York Times and Los Angeles Times that propelled me into celebrity photography. Having completed college internships at both publications, I was able to apprentice beside some amazing photographers on celebrity shoots. Portrait shoots, especially those with celebrities, are extremely different than your average editorial news or feature shoot which are strictly documentary. I love shooting both styles and I’ll often try to shoot a some natural light documentarty-style portraits with celebrities when I have the chance. Fortunately for me I live in NYC, a major hub for celebrities, so I don’t usually have to travel far from home to get this type of portraiture work.

I realized at a young age that my dream is to travel and meet interesting people, so photography is such a perfect career for me as it affords me all these opportunities. I’ve also realized that in order to get to where I wanted to be in my career I need to pay my dues, make great connections, and find alternate ways of funding my passion for travel. Which means along with shooting the glamorous gigs, I shot the less-glamorous assignments as well…I’ve shot (and still shoot) weddings, bar mitzvahs, and other events which helps fund the travel and lifestyle I have. Whenever I travel I’m always reaching out to editors who I have a relationship with to let them know where I’m going or what I’m doing. Sometimes they’ll have a assignment, a specific request, or simply an idea so I can make licensable photos while I’m away.

So I’d it’s a balancing act of networking, pitching ideas, diversifying sources of income, and having a little business savvy that allows me to do what I love: traveling, interacting with interesting people, and simply taking pictures for a living…I couldn’t be luckier and wouldn’t change it for the world!

2. Obviously, the Justin Bieber gig got you some following – especially with the Twitter crowd. Can you describe how that happened off a single editorial gig and what that touring was like as a photographer around that chaos?

I’ve been freelancing with the New York Times ever since my internship in 2005. Often I’ll get last-minute assignments in New York and that was the case when I was called one late afternoon to photograph Justin Bieber at a music festival at Madison Square Garden that same night. Long story short, after the assignment I put together a prototype book with the help of my fabulous designer Laia Prats (http://LaiaPrats.com), and proposed a Justin Bieber book project to his management (at the TODAY Show) and a number of publishing houses. That took a few months of hustle and luck, but at the TODAY Show I was told to meet up with Justin and company in Nassau, Bahamas a few days later where he was performing at the Atlantis Resort and subsequently I spent the next 6-months by his side touring North America. It was a one-of-a-kind experience for sure, jumping from city to city tagging along with the newest and hottest pop icon around. It was crazy too, lot’s of screaming girls and cool celebrities every day. I could only equate it to what I’d imagine The Beatles went through in their hay day. The thing I love about my job is that I simply get to experience whatever’s happening around me by way of documenting it. While there was a lot of “go” time, there was still a lot of bussing from city to city which afforded me time to edit and sleep. Touring is a fun lifestyle, but it can take it’s toll on your sleep, expose you to changing weather, making it easy to get sick. Also, it can take a toll on your personal life because you are constantly caught up in the gipsy lifestyle, but lucky for me, my wife came on tour with me as my editor, which kept me slightly sane!

3. You’re use to having a very limited time to make photos of celebs. How do you come up with photos that make you happy when someone gives you 2 minutes of their time?

That’s true…often times my interaction with celebrities is very short. In those instances I’ll try to arrive early and scope out the location to see how many portrait situations I can find in the area. Then I’ll take test shots with an assistant (if I have one) or my just my hand to get the proper technical exposure so when the celebrity arrives I can quickly bang out their portrait in various locations. I first started doing these celebrity portraits when I was an intern at the Los Angeles Times and time element stressed me out a bit. The more that I’ve shot, though, I’ve found that I have to just go into the shoot and be confident that something will turn out….and 99% of the time I’m happy with my results.

4. What drew you to FOCUSED? Fearful of the one click or did you embrace it?

I’d heard about FOCUSED through the social networks and thought it was certainly a fun idea. I was both fearful and intrigued by the “one click”. I learned to shoot on film back in high school and my freshman year of college, but I was the first in my college to go digital. At the time I was heckled by some of the students and professors, but I found that I was able to shoot much more and evaluate my work much quicker than those shooting film, so it was a real plus for me. Anytime I pick up a film camera I’m nervous because I don’t get the instant gratification of knowing how the image came out. So when Chip sent me the FOCUSED camera, I was definitely nervous because it was an unfamiliar camera and I only had one chance to expose, focus, and hopefully capture something interesting for the project.

5. I know you took the FOCUSED camera into a situation that was really risky, lighting and content wise – talk about the challenge of working with the camera with the challenge of having to wait for the right moment to take your one frame.

I’ve been fortunate to be the house photographer for the International Emmy’s in NYC for the past 4 years and this past year I knew Lady Gaga was going to be a surprise presenter, so I let Chip know I had something going on that would make for an interesting FOCUSED frame. I wasn’t sure what sort of access I’d have with Gaga, so I carried the camera around my neck as a 3rd camera while I was doing my job. My hopes were that I would find myself in a situation where she would be in a particular position with consistent light for at least a moment so I could gauge and predict the exposure as much as possible. Also, it would give me time to feel confident I’d gotten my focus sharp. Remember this is a manual camera, so no auto focus. I met up with Gaga and company backstage just before she was to enter the awards ceremony. Since we were in poor light, constantly moving, and her security detail was giving me a difficult time, I decided I should wait until she took the stage where I knew there’d be adequate light for the film inside the camera. Again, I’m so used to using digital where I can change my film speed between frames. After I made a few shots of her at the podium with my other cameras, I felt confident enough that I could snag a quick shot….so I got as close as possible with my access (halfway up the stage) and snapped the frame. Click…and it was over. A bit anti-climactic I must say….I just hope the picture is in focus!

6. Any advice for the FOCUSED photographers in line after you – or do what them to sweat?

Well, for those of you who regularly shoot film or have had experience with manual cameras in the past, this should probably be easy. For folks like myself who began photography in the late 90′s or after, using cameras with fancy auto focus, it might be a bit more difficult. I had just bought a Leica a few weeks before I shot this FOCUSED frame, so I had a little practice shooting with an all-manual camera. If you’re able to practice manually focusing with another camera in advance, I’d recommend it. Also, depending the subject matter, it might make sense to take test shots with a digital camera using the same film speed, focal length, and settings as the FOCUSED camera, though this might be considered cheating… Overall, the process is a bit nerve racking, but don’t sweat it too much. I have a feeling once we see the film strips, there will be many soft or poorly exposed frames! C’est la vie!

…and as an added bonus, here’s a frame Robert made after handing the kit off to VII stud, Ashley Gilbertson.

FOCUSED dispatch | Brad Mangin

Chip Litherland — Sat, 12 May 2012 14:41:27 +0000

Photos © Jean Fruth

Eds Note:

Brad Mangin is baseball photography. That’s it. He breathes it. Lives it. Owns it. If you’ve seen a kick-ass baseball photo over a double-truck in a magazine lately, I’d gamble it’s his. It was truly a pleasure to have him make a frame while on assignment for Sports Illustrated at the San Francisco Giants home opener.

The FOCUSED cameras are criss-crossing the globe – albeit slowly – from one eye to the next of photojournalists who inspire me daily. Being able to hear these back stories and vignettes of their time with their one click is really one of the best things about this project. There will be more and more of these dispatches as the project rolls on, so check back soon!

•

From Brad:

When I first heard about Chip’s great idea of the “FOCUSED” project I thought it was a great idea. I was quite humbled last year when Chip asked me to participate in his mission: “…to rely more on our senses than technology.” I would be shooting ONE FRAME on the same roll of film as photographers like Ami Vitale, Sam Abell, William Albert Allard, Vincent Laforet, Christopher Morris, and Jack Gruber. These amazing photographers have traveled all over the world shooting the biggest stories of our time. All I do is go to baseball games. Hopefully I would be able to squeeze the shutter at the right moment when my time came.

The big day for me was coming quickly as April Fool’s Day was celebrated all over Facebook. I had just returned from covering spring training in Arizona and was preparing to begin my coverage of Major League Baseball’s regular season. The best day for me to make my one frame would be Friday, April 13, 2012. It was the San Francisco Giants home opener. They were hosting the Pittsburgh Pirates on a sunny afternoon at one of the prettiest ballparks in the big leagues.

I nervously read Chip’s directions that came with the camera the day before my big shoot. I then packed the chrome Nikon FE body with an old 35mm 2.8 Nikkor lens attached to it into my Think Tank rolling case. The Nikon film camera seemed very out of placed cuddled next to my regular assortment of Canon digital cameras and lenses ranging from a 15mm 2.8 to a 400mm 2.8.

Opening Day is one of my favorite days of the year, and this one was very special as torrential rain the night before gave way to sunshine and white puffy clouds as I arrived at AT&T Park at 9am. I was on assignment for Sports Illustrated, but all I could think about was the one frame I needed to make with my Nikon. Being at the park 4 1/2 hours before first pitch only heightened my anxiety. The funny thing is I killed time early in the morning shooting pictures around the ballpark with my iPhone 4s so I could make Instagrams out of them. What a span of technology I would be shooting with today- everything from an old film camera to the latest cell phone technology.

After the pre-game ceremonies ended I got situated with all my gear in one of my favorite photo positions in San Francisco. I was in the low inside first base spot. This is a great angle looking up the third base line. I am sitting in a trench below the field, putting my camera at ground level. From here you do not get the traditional long lens batting pictures, etc. From here I am able to shoot with my 70-200 as much as I am with my 400.

As the game moved along I knew what my picture would be. The light kept getting better and better as I waited for Giants superstar catcher Buster Posey go come to the plate to hit late in the game. Posey missed almost all of last season with a broken foot and the fan-favorite was making his first regular season appearance in front of his adoring fans. Posey was part of the story of this Opening Day and he would be the subject of my one frame.

At 3:03pm PDT Posey stepped into the batter’s box to face Pirates right hander James McDonald. I set me Nikon for an exposure of 1/500 at F: 11 for the 400 ASA Fuji color neg film. The 35mm lens gave me a beautiful pictorial view of Posey hitting with plenty of blue sky and white clouds above. The squishy feel of the shutter button as I depressed it with my finger to make my exposure was startling. I had not tripped a shutter like this in so long. Before I realized what was happening I had clicked the shutter. DONE. That was it! Frame number seven on the 36-exposure roll of film.

The Giants went on to beat the Pirates 5-0. It was a glorious day at the ballpark. The new season was underway, and the nerves surrounding my one frame had vanished. I can’t wait to see what everyone shoots on this roll of film. What a fun project FOCUSED is. The end result will be a fascinating look at the world around us as seen from photographers around the globe. One frame at a time. I bet mine is the only one from a ballpark!

For more of Brad’s work, please visit http://manginphotography.com/.

FOCUSED dispatch | Ami Vitale

Chip Litherland — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:00:14 +0000

Eds note: FOCUSED has blessed me with many things: inspiration. excitement. passion. stress. happiness. All this multiplied as a result of hearing the stories from around the globe of the cameras being put to use. One thing I could have never predicted was that one little idea from a napkin would put me in contact with photographers I’ve looked up to and admired for so long, but never met. Nor did I ever expect them to share all those feelings with me. Ami Vitale is one of those photographers. Her work is absolutely beautiful, and I’m thrilled to have her be a part of FOCUSED.

An almost 9,000 mile and $200 airmail trip to India was the first stop for the first FOCUSED camera (a Pentax K1000), where Ami was on assignment. She wrote me from the field this note and a photo of her receiving a friendship bracelet after spending the day with Subita and teaching her all about photography. This one interaction with a complete stranger says so much about our field and why we do what we do.

You won’t see her single frame (yet), but you will soon. Patience is a virtue.

•

FROM AMI:

Subita Devi is 13 years old and during the Pushkar camel fair in India. I was not the only one taking her picture. Around us, there were hundreds of digital cameras, some cheap, many expensive firing away.

I spent a couple of days with Subita and her family. At no time were we alone, and even when before dawn broke, we huddled around a fire, at least a half dozen people were looking at her only through their lens. The only time any of them acknowledged me was to ask me a technical question, like what ISO would work best in the stingy light. They assumed, perhaps because I was there for a while, that I was a professional.

Later, Subita would tell me how de-humanizing the impact of eager tourists and their cameras were on her. Made her feel like an animal is how she put it to me. No one even said “namaste” to her. Those who surrounded her were after only one thing – what they considered a great shot. It was a hunt, she was simply the prize.

The era of film had a lot to teach us photographers; about approaching people slowly, and the importance of building trust, and crafting a story even as you fire the shutter. Limited by the number of shots, we waited to get deeper into the story before blowing our film. And we were not defined as much by one amazing, accidental image, but rather the tapestry of a great and complex story we could illuminate.

If some of the people who surrounded Subita had taken the time to spend even a few hours with her, learning a bit more about her life, they would have had a story and not just an image. There are of course huge advantages to using a digital camera. It can help you tell a story better and I too switched to my digital camera after I made this single film image. Many of the photos I subsequently took were stronger than the single film shot. But the important thing to remember is that anyone can take a picture, but it takes a good storyteller to be a great photographer.

And that always takes time.

FOCUSED dispatch | Sol Neelman

Chip Litherland — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 02:43:02 +0000

Photo © Erika Schultz

Eds note: I’ve asked some of the first FOCUSED photographers to document their time with the camera. A dear friend and amazing photographer, Sol Neelman (above, after making his frame), fresh off a stellar book release of his life project documenting Weird Sports, which is being currently being featured in such random – albeit perfect – publications such as Penthouse, The Huffington Post, and Wired is up first with his dispatch from Portland. Yes, he shoots with Lucha Mask and cape all the time. Make sure you purchase a copy of his book and help keep the weirdness alive – and help him pay for a new mask. That thing has got to be a bit smelly by now.

You won’t see his single frame (yet) as the roll is currently criss-crossing the Pacific Northwest, but you will soon. Every story I hear makes me smile as these cameras move across the world – I can’t wait to see the result myself.

FROM SOL:

I had the extreme honor and privilege – and daunting challenge - the other day to be one of the first photographers to contribute to Chip’s FOCUSED Project.

Aside from only getting one shot at making a photo, my challenge was figuring what my topic would be. Not surprising to those that know me, I chose a weird sporting event: Xtreme Pencil Fighting in Seattle.

I think it’s safe to say Ami Vitale won’t be copying me on that.

Before the Thursday show, I signed a few advance copies of my book on Weird Sports with Brandy Rettig (aka Rettig to Rumble aka The Yellow Dragon aka Fan Girl).

Brandy wrote the foreword to my book, about why she loves and performs in weird sports. She killed it.

I first met Brandy back in 2005 while shooting Roller Derby, my very first weird sport. The picture I made of her stretching out backstage, above, is one of my personal favorites. Not just because I love the photo, but also for what it represents. Photographing derby marked the time when this frustrated newspaper shooter was reminded how to take photographs for himself again. Better late than never, eh?

Thursday night, she was about to perform in a pencil fight. With the FOCUSED camera case arriving the day before, stars aligned up nicely.

My gear: a Nikon FE with a beat-up 35mm f2.8 lens & a 36-exposure roll of 400 ISO Fujifilm.

The first time I shot Xtreme Pencil Fighting back in March, I made over 2k images. I kept 1,417 selects. Stunningly, 2 made Mike’s final edit of my book and even paired off each other nicely in the sequencing.

On Thursday, I had to make just one frame that mattered. Have I mentioned that yet?

Since I don’t know what picture I’m trying to make when I’m attending a weird sport, you can bet your bottom dollar I had even less of an idea of what I wanted to photograph with my single frame. If possible, something quirky and funny surrounding a moment.

Cartier Bresson coined the term “The Decisive Moment.” Bruce Ely calls my photography style “The Decisive Motor Drive.” In fact, I own the domain www.decisivemotordrive.com.

I think you can get a sense of how I normally approach a photo op. It involves finding a rhythm and taking chances and putting myself in a position to be lucky. And a wallet stuffed with CF cards.

My subconscious is often working unapproved overtime as is. But leading up to this moment, I had three (yes, 3) anxiety dreams about taking this photo.

The most vivid dream involved me shooting a basketball game before my scheduled weird sport. A one-eyed basketball player got ejected on the road. The home fans jeered him viscously as he was led off the court. I stood on a chair, quickly grabbed the film camera and I took the frame.

F*ck, I said to myself in the dream. I didn’t mean to, not there, not then, even though in my dream it was a solid frame. On top of it, I overexposed the frame by a stop.

Yo Chip, when’s the group therapy session for FOCUSED photogs?

One of my favorite people, Erika Schultz, graciously agreed to photograph me photographing with Chip’s camera for this here blog entry.

I have ridiculously talented friends, like Erika. I can’t begin to tell you how important and wonderful it is to have shared this book project with those friends. Erika was shooting alongside me at Gas Works Park in 2008 during Cardboard Tube Fighting. My favorite frame from that day made the book.

Because of the lighting, color and energy level of the pencil fighters, I decided to simply sit in front of the stage and wait for my moment. Once Brandy’s turn came up, I realized then I wanted to make my photo of her. It felt personally important on so many levels. More than anyone else I can think of, she represents what weird sports is about. And if you doubt me, read her foreword, yo.

The only other time I saw The Yellow Dragon pencil fight, she lost quickly and was done for the night. I remembered that and wanted to make sure I got the best possible frame as soon as I could.

I took my frame of Brandy at 11:07 p.m. My exposure was 1/30 sec at f2.8. Working the entire pencil fighting scene for over a half-hour felt like an eternity.

After I took the frame, I advanced the roll – like back in the days – and looked at Erika, who hadn’t realized I had pressed the shutter.

“Shit. I did it,” I told her, completely stunned. And we both started laughing nervously and hugged.

I remember Bruce several months ago, when he heard I’d be involved with FOCUSED, asking me if I was nervous to shoot just a single frame. I shrugged it off. No sweat. I’ll be fine.

But as the time got closer to making my photo, I realized that I wanted to kick ass with my frame. To prove that I could excel without a motor drive, that I knew a good moment when I saw it. I also wanted to properly represent the joy I have photographing weird sports.

Perhaps most importantly, I didn’t want to let Chip down. This is his baby.

Of course, I passed on plenty of moments beforehand. And there were way too many afterwards. But it was cool. I experienced something special. And just like back in the days, I won’t know how it turned out until that roll is souped by a bored high school lab tech at Walmart.

After midnight, I hit the road back to Portlandia so that Beth Nakamura would have the camera in time for her top secret morning assignment.

Before I left the case on her front porch around 3:30 a.m., I grabbed the journal Chip provided. I think I wrote that I hoped I didn’t mess it up. But that I also really appreciated the journey to making my frame. It made me think in so many ways, and it became more personal than I could have ever imagined.

track the FOCUSED cameras!

Chip Litherland — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 20:23:18 +0000

Just added a cool new feature to the site, where you can now track the pathways, mileage, and destination at any given point over the next year of the project! Very exciting to know that even on launch there is thousands of miles of travel already covered.

CHECK THE MAP HERE

The 50mm kit (see the kit being packed up by yours truly below) will be launching this weekend so keep coming back to see where all five kits are in the world and who has them. We’ll be featuring the photographer or photographers at each stop via this map, so stay tuned for that as well. You’ll see photos and video of photographers in the field using the camera and how they approach the challenge of only have one click of the shutter to make a telling image.

Thank you again for all of your support of FOCUSED – and remember tax-deductible donations can still be made via Fractured Atlas. For anything over $50 you will get a shirt and added to the postcard list!

bon voyage FOCUSED cameras…

Chip Litherland — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 02:03:42 +0000

This week, the first five FOCUSED cameras are beginning their journeys across the globe with the final camera departing Monday, October 31st. The first camera kit – each one different (above with a k1000 and 28mm f/2.8 lens) – is travelling approximately 8350 miles to Delhi, India, and into the hands of one of the first photographers. Any guesses?

I personally want to extend a huge thank you to everyone who donated to FOCUSED IndieGoGo campaign. The campaign raised over $4000 to help purchase the remaining supplies and get this this exciting project off the ground. You are part of FOCUSED and I can’t thank you enough. Perks will be sent out soon, and tax-deductible donations can still be made via Fractured Atlas…here.

Walking into the FedEx storefront today, I paused and peered one last time into the kit. Seeing the cameras tucked away and ready to head out into the world was a wonderful moment. Scary. Exciting. Inspiring.

Bon voyage.

FOCUSED in The New Yorker!

Chip Litherland — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 01:44:51 +0000

Check out FOCUSED in the always inspiring The New Yorker Photo Booth blog! It has a wonderful story about the project, but more importantly has a great selection of photos and discusion about the decisive moment from 11 of the 200 photographers participating in FOCUSED including Scott Strazzante, Ami Vitale, Richard Koci Hernandez, Melissa Lyttle, Matt Eich, Susana Raab, Carolyn Drake, Andres Gonzalez, Lisa Krantz, Benjamin Lowy, and Tomas Van Houtryve.

Many thank you’s to editor Elissa Curtis for the wonderful piece…

FOCUSED on Wired.com!

Chip Litherland — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:43:44 +0000

FOCUSED is featured over at Wired on popular Raw File blog! Many thanks to Jakob Schiller for the story/interview. Go check it out…here.

the FOCUSED camera kits

Chip Litherland — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 01:29:48 +0000

How about a little sneak peak at the kits that will be travelling the world to the 200 photojournalists participating in FOCUSED? There will be at least five kits heading out to everywhere and anywhere from the White House press pool to the Super Bowl to a warzone in Afghanistan to a neighborhood in New York.

Each kit will contain the same items (clockwise from top left) packed in foam in a hard case:

Vintage 35mm SLR camera body – heavily gaffer-taped, preloaded with ISO 200 film
A choice of 24mm, 35mm, or 50mm lens – manual focus
Small notebook with rules for project and bank pages for photographer journal entires, specs, or quotes – pages will be scanned and presented online
Emergency roll of ISO 200 film
Camera strap

Once a photographer take his/her single click, they will mail it on to next to repeat the process. One camera and one roll of film has the potential to travel thousands of miles – all to document under a second of life. Total. Pretty amazing.

Remember, we have under two weeks left in the campaign on IndieGogo – donations are tax-deductible, so help make FOCUSED happen today! Here.

the FOCUSED shirt

Chip Litherland — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 17:46:13 +0000

Just got back the artwork for the FOCUSED shirt! The art was hand-drawn by the wonderfully talented Lauren Nassef – make sure you check her site out. Lovely work. These are going to be available exclusively on grey (not 18%) in S, L, M, XL for our $50 + donors for FOCUSED on IndieGoGo for the next month for our crowd-funding campaign.

Remember for your $50 + tax deductible donation you get the shirt, added to the exclusive postcard mailing list, listing on the site, and sticker. Donate more and you still get it – plus some other really amazing perks like limited edition prints and contact sheets.

Show FOCUSED some love today and look fly while doing it.