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Young At Heart; Praise And They Will Prosper
By Joe Farace • July, 2004
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Jordan
Farmer from Washington state is 16 years old and aspires
to become a professional photographer. He’s been
making images for “a year,” but you would
never know it when you see
his website.
© 2004 Jordan Farmer, All Rights Reserved
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“Praise youth and it
will prosper.”—Irish proverb
For many photographers, especially
young ones, it seems like the most difficult challenge they face is
getting published. Maybe not? One of the things I like best about Web
Profiles is that it gives me a chance to introduce new, young photographers
to Shutterbug readers. This month, I’d like you to meet Jordan
Farmer…
He’s Not Horsing
Around
Jordan Farmer from Washington state is 16 years old and aspires to become
a professional photographer. He told me that he’s been making
images for “a year,” but you would never know it when you
visit his website (http://jordanfstop.com/).
Inside, the clean interface contains About, Gallery, Contact, Prints,
and Links sections. His Gallery contains eight different collections
covering all kinds of genres from Portraits to Scenics to, yes, Horses.
Since there’s a clever horse portrait providing the leitmotif
on his homepage, I figured Farmer had some affinity for these four-hoofed
steeds…and he does as you can see by the color and monochrome
photographs in this collection.
Some of the images in the Gallery are what you would expect from a kid
new to photography, while others show a fearlessness that young people,
who haven’t already been taught the “correct way”
to make images, are still free to express themselves. The best of these
photographs show a flare for whimsy and interesting compositional choices.
The Misc collection, a.k.a. Artsy, has a great image of a traffic circle
made at night and other images that show me how much Farmer loves photography
because he schlepped there at night to make an image that took some
time and thought. There’s also a Street collection showing photographs
of actual streets, and among Farmer’s many explorations, in this
and each and every one of his collections, you will find little jewels.
While more experienced photographers have already made some of these
images, put yourself in Farmer’s place and imagine the wonder
of discovery that lies before him. I wish him the best.
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Phil
Weston’s website is the essence of what a 21st century
photography studio’s site should be. It has style,
but most importantly shows that he’s creative and
contemporary.
© 2003 Weston Imaging Group, All Rights Reserved
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With A Name Like Weston,
It Better Be Good
If in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance you find the
“very model of a modern major general,” then Phil Weston’s
website (www.westonimaging.com)
is the very essence of what a 21st century photography studio’s
site should be. It has style enough, but most importantly shows he’s
creative and contemporary…and did I mention versatile? The images
on the site are a mixture of Weston’s and his associate Heather
Zahner’s work, but no matter who’s behind the camera the technical
and aesthetic levels are of the highest quality. The Our Photography section
shows an eclectic combination of commercial, architectural, and portrait
imagery woven into the tapestry of the site design. So many of the images
are excellent on so many levels that picking a favorite is difficult,
but Weston’s monochrome image of a woman holding a child, as seen
from the back, is as good as illustrative photography gets, despite my
simplistic description.
Want some techno gee-whiz? Go to the Immersive Media section for some
amazing QuickTime VR (Virtual Reality) images and movies. You’ll
need a free QuickTime plug-in for your browser, which most Mac OS users
already have but Windows users can download one from Weston’s site.
There are few, if any, captions and the thumbnails could charitably be
called “tiny,” while the large images
could be larger. But this is a small criticism for one of the best looking
and functional sites that I’ve visited this year.
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Chuck
Haney is a free-lance photographer based in Whitefish, Montana,
who has put together a warm, attractive, and inviting website
that showcases his stunning landscape and nature imagery.
© 2004 chuckhaney.com, All Rights Reserved
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The Best Nature Photography
On The Web
Chuck Haney is a free-lance photographer based in Whitefish, Montana,
and has put together a warm, attractive, and inviting website (www.chuckhaney.com)
highlighting his stock, commercial, and editorial photography. For all
those skeptics that think getting a coffee-table book published is impossible,
think again. In the Books section, you will see five books that Haney
has produced, some with long-time collaborator and fellow Montanan John
Reddy. I have a copy of Haney and Reddy’s (now out of print) Wild
and Beautiful Montana, but a sequel is now available. These are stunning
books filled with beautiful landscape photography of the Big Sky Country
that have been lovingly printed, yet these lavish books cost less than
$30 each. Take a look at some of these breathtaking images in the Stock
Images or Prints sections.
After selecting a collection, they’re opened in a separate window
with scrolling thumbnails at the bottom of the screen. The images are
rich, deeply saturated in color; if they don’t pop off your screen,
it’s time to get a new monitor. Whether Haney is photographing farm
buildings, as seen in “Beauty in Agriculture,” or making “Digital
fun & Panoramas,” the images in both these collections will
help you rethink your ideas of the West and what nature photography can
be. (I’ll give you a hint, it ain’t just a picture made “outdoors.”)
If you want a print, Haney will be glad to make a state of the art print
from his library of 55,000 images at most reasonable prices. It may be
a cliché to say it, but I’m going to anyway: Haney is a poet
with a camera and his website will take you down some country roads to
see America as it really is. Thanks for the guided tour, Haney.
Don’t Be Bashful
If you want to recommend your own or a friend’s website for an appearance
in this department, please e-mail the URL to joe@joefarace.com.
Be sure to visit my sites at: www.joefarace.com
and www.joefaraceshootscars.com.
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