Growing up in South Florida made a deep impression on me. Memories of palm trees, pink hotels, art deco and modernism are vivid in my mind from my those years. My mother was a terrible artist, but she was a successful writer and led me to the craft at a young age. I always liked feature articles and my favorite book was the World Book (called an encyclopedia now). I’d turn it’s glossy pages, looking at all of the pictures from around the world. I longed to go just about everywhere. My photography tool of choice was a Poloroid Land Camera (the kind that produces instant pictures). It was bulky, odd looking but did a great job at giving you images in a minute or two. My interests back then were meteorology, journalism and art.
Many years went by before photography came into my life. During that time I got a degree in meteorology, went storm chasing and on cloud seeding projects (I was a cloud observer, shooting clouds before and after seeding runs). Then I taught school, then, at the ripe age of 35, I decided to take up art. I found a perfect program at the Inter-Arts Center in San Francisco State University that was started by a Coppola (Nicholas’ father)—a truly unique experiences that taught me how to meld all the disciplines together to create art. I learned that art is everywhere. I studied multimedia and video production, producing a short story of my mother’s, which had won all kinds of awards and was put in the Best College Stores of 1963. I learned how to compose a frame and how to do such things as compose over-the-shoulder, long, and close-up shots and sequence them into emotional and political narratives. Finally, I learned how to use a video toaster to make text on video. I fell in love with that and then took a class on text and image. After I graduated with a master’s from SFSU. I had gone to school at night while working as a California public school teacher. I taught everything with many opportunities to try experimental art that I had learned in my classes with my young students.
When I left the Bay Area’s El Nino weather all I wanted was the sun, so I moved to Palm Springs. I wanted to write. The last time I had gotten published was in jr. high school newspaper. I wanted to see my words in print again. I took up “picking” (like on the TV show American Pickers) and wrote about the things I found travelling around the country. On those trips I started photographing old motel signs, a task with which I became totally obsessed.
I wrote my first article as my house filled up with Samsonite suitcases, Melmac dishes, poodle knick-knacks and California pottery. After prowling around for local area newspapers, looking for an editor that would take my work, the article was picked up by the Palm Springs alternative newspaper. It was the cover story. The editor came to my house and shot pictures of my “pickings.” I watched. The article appeared as a cover story with a blown up image of a pink poodle I had collected on the cover. I bought a new camera, printer and frames from a thrift stores and started a business making and selling mid-century motel signs for a local consignment shop in Palm Springs owned by two guys who did nothing but advise me that my work sold and to make more. At the time mid-century modern was all the rage and the real estate business was booming.
I also had started travelling around the world, snapping images of all kinds of things ranging from street scenes to close-ups of vintage radios, not to mention hundreds of signs. My goal was to create scenes emblematic of my youth. I created a huge collection of photographs from all around the world, all on 35 mm film (images, which I’m still scanning today). I also wanted to be an author and get a book published, any kind of book, really. I was no technical wizard, but did have an eye and a partner with a better one who taught me how to frame a compelling image.
My images continued to sell, getting snapped up by “B” celebrities and others who could afford expensive mid-century modern second homes. I contacted agents all over the country to buy the novel had written. Somehow or another I got in touch with a technical book literary agency who needed a writer to write about fine art photography—a how-to book from shooting the image to printing, framing and selling it. I told the agency, I was just the man. One short year later, my first book Digital Art Photography for Dummies (Wiley) came out.
Then it all went bust. The housing market collapsed and my photography business went down. No one was buying anything. I began to shoot more and more and moved on to digital because writing the book required that I know the cameras of the future. It was 2004. I went to Paris where I bought a Canon Rebel to shoot for the book. To make money, I became an online professor first teaching teachers, then went on to teach writing.
A few years later after tirelessly (and unsuccessfully) looking for a publisher of my novel at the same time as writing (and photographing) features for several Southern California newspapers and magazines. I took the part of columnist for two papers and one magazine, writing congregational profiles (still amazed that I did that) to profiles of locals and travel articles. Then the newspaper business went bust.
I soon gave that up and went back to the technical book literary agency to get more work. They loved the Wiley book and got me a deal to create a book about how to photograph San Francisco. I went there frequently climbing scenic hills, seeking the best vistas from which to shoot. After all, I had lived there for years. As a bike rider and hiker, I knew every part of the city from the seedy (yet fascinating) Tenderloin to Fishermen’s Wharf. That book was published and then some. I went on to write one photography book after another, coming up with unique niches that weren’t covered by the big shots.
My books, "Digital Art Photography for Dummies" and three books in the "Quick and Easy Secrets" photography book series describes the process from taking the picture to printing and framing it.
In my book, "New Image Frontiers--Defining the Future of Photography," I interviewed top world engineers, photographers and gallery owners seeking to find answers to sensor research, new camera models (including the new mirrorless line manufactured by a number of companies), and sought an answer the proverbial question: "How does a photographer get his work into a gallery?"
When I’m with a camera, my energy level and well-being turns magical. I’m on the hunt shape, form, color and kitsch, which I seek out like a police dog in customs.
To be sure, my eyes are wide open. I often put my lens cap to the side of my camera gripped in the palm of my hand, using it as a brace to stop camera shake. I sprint with my head turning in all directions, up and down. I make sure to stop completely to take a shot.
Focus, Focus, Focus
Photography needs to be simply fun--the part of my professional life that gives me nothing but pleasure. This craft along with art are one of the greatest loves of my life.
It gives me an opportunity to constantly make mistakes and learn by them, finding out that some of my assumptions about light, camera settings and composition are masterful new techniques and others utter duds, an incentive to learn new technicalities when the old don’t work any more. For example, of late I’ve paid much more attention to my auto focus settings (one-shot, al-servio and all that) and apertures, creating sharper pictures while moving or of moving objects. I shoot far more shots in manual mode and manual focus.
My advice to new photographers is that there are two avenues to seek out a little extra money (or a lot, depending upon the time you have to put into it) and have your work published—work with your heart or head. You can use both, but if your head leans toward technicalities, you’re bound to miss shots of things you love. Also, take risks and be yourself. No one ever feels good shooting images of things they don’t like. I’m not fond of studio portrait photography. It comes down to focus, focus, focus—in everything from the shot itself to the message you want to bring fourth. Finally, set your goal so that people are eager to view your image for an extended length of time. Note, also that none of this happens overnight for the majority of people.
Don't Reinvent the Wheel
My style fortified itself after writing and researching about master photographers of the twentieth century. My motto is "don't reinvent the wheel." I pondered each and every one of the photographers’ works and lives that I related to and wrote about, seeking to first emulate, then develop their ideas. I’m moved most by the woman who were the photography greats of that era—Helen Levitt, Lisette Model and Tina Modotti , although I can’t pinpoint the exact reason why—yet, another thing I haven’t figured out. They took risks, travelled to places where people don’t usually go, introduced people to new cultures and ways of life by creating visual art that is entertaining to look at—an escape from the ordinary.
Today, I strive to shoot images that juxtapose textual and visual elements, which play with your mind and emotions. I believe that this enables me to capture magical moments and produce images with impact like those on my blog textandimagephotography.com.
I used to care a lot about the weather, hoping that it’s good, but no more. If it’s cloudy, I set my camera AEB (Auto Exposure Bracketing) so I can process the cloudy-day shots into HDR later, making these types of days mysterious--even scary (see image of Dracula’s Castle).
Finally, the technical stuff. I make shooting as simple as possible, usually carrying only my camera around my neck. It’s big and heavy enough as it is. I’ve come to learn to clean my lens often, which I’ve learned is a good thing. Now I carry disposable wipes in my pocket.
If I’m doing dusk/dawn/night shots or landscapes I drag a tripod around with me—a Velbon El Carmangne 530—which I find more than adequate for my needs. It’s no fun, but I think of it as getting a little additional exercise, sometimes carrying around that thing for hours on end.
Since I delve into digital art and HDR, I frequently use Photoshop CS 5 and Photomatix during post-processing, sometimes spending hours on one image.
The Future
I am contemplating buying a graphics program like Adobe Illustrator to continue my work on integrating text and image. I’ve got my sights on Barbara Kruger type works, of course with my own political spin. I also am planning my next book, which is surely to be on fine art photography.
I plan on putting more effort into my website and four photography blogs: matthewbamberg.com retrosignblog.com, digitaltravelerblog.com, palmspringsdailyphoto.com the new WordPress blog textandimagephotography.com
flowers photos
