stephengelbphotographer

2010-05-05T04:16:00.001-07:00

2010-05-04T20:17:00.000-07:00

Moving.

sorry blogger, tumblr is a lot easier linkable and more fun.. so im now at

sgelb.tumblr.com

today some pics

2010-04-15T16:07:00.001-07:00

This guy was just there on the street..

and of course, the infamous wall of graflex..

Whew I have been busy....

2010-04-14T14:48:00.001-07:00

So last week I was back in good ol' Alta, Utah to shoot for the Land trust, Historical Society and the Community Arts Association for their annual Alta Gala. Ski bums being as much fun as possible, provided some great subject matter and material... It was all in all an excellent 6 days which included seeing some great friends and some amazing shredding about 80" of new snow inbounds.. I even got interlodged for 36 hours at the world famous alta lodge.. (thanks mimi!)

Heres 2 pics during the storm and 1 the morning they finally lifted the interlodge restrictions..

Below are a few selected images from the shoot..

Variety Portraits part 2

2010-03-30T06:29:00.000-07:00

Here's some more of the portraits from Variety. These were all done on Polaroid's 665

I really enjoyed making this series. It was a bit of an experience.. photographing people on their way to work was really interesting. Some people were into it, others not so much it was really cool to capture new yorkers as they were, in that moment, getting ready to head out and face their day...

check out the rest of the series and larger images here: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000902347820&ref=nf#!/album.php?aid=9111&id=106180332746790&ref=mf

Variety Portraits part 1

2010-03-17T18:37:00.000-07:00

heres a few images from a recent portrait shoot I did at the variety coffee shop in williamsburg brooklyn. This shop sits at graham ave and conselyea ave. and when I lived in the hood, I was there a lot, not only do they have kick ass coffee but rad boardgames, friendly staff (kyle) and very tasty breakfast treats...

the clientele is about as awesome as the place itself, young people on the edge of whats up in the creative world, so I thought, what better place for a portrait series. I shot a lot of portraits, I think close to 30 which is part of a larger marketing push here in nyc and for my printed portfolio..

to see all 11 portraits, please visit this gallery on facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/album.php?aid=405778&id=619095187&ref=mf

there is more to come and I hope if you are here now, you will stay tuned for more!!!

I hope you enjoy.....

Clay or Clay

2009-12-12T20:07:00.000-08:00

Clay Patrick Mcbride asked me to come take his portrait,

naturally, I obliged, without question, hes been a great mentor and person to learn from.

heres a few outtakes from the fun time we had shooting...

clay is a man of huge talent and great images. check out his site here: www.claypatrickmcbride.com hes shot things I only dream about shooting at this point in my career.

Print show on the 22nd at ALTA ski area

2009-12-03T07:18:00.000-08:00

I'm having a prints show at ALTA ski resort on the 22nd of december.

Please have a look at the ALTA gallery on my website and drop by if you will be in the neighborhood!

Im excited, I leave tomorrow for a 6 day drive across the US with time in nebraska, wyoming, colorado and the badlands. Really excited for that, and of course, skiing when I get to utah!

2009-11-18T08:02:00.001-08:00

Ive shot a TON of new work over the last few weeks.

much of it can be seen at stephengelb.com

heres a sample

new black and white portfolio

this month I also had 7 images published (albeit small) in Powder magazine

stoked!

looking forward to winter

lazy blogger

2009-11-04T05:22:00.000-08:00

wow. I love shooting pictures.. but I guess my style isnt focused enough.. this is the constant crit I get.. so I will have to choose, do I show:

digital sharpness

or graflex film images (which I love taking and making)

yesterday I went out shooting in the city.. I ended up shooting some folks and a sweet panorama as well as a nice portrait on the roof of the met museum after seeing the robert frank show.. it was somewhat inspiring. some of the images I really loved. as usual, I disliked all the art babble the curators had put with the images.. about his "juxtapositions" and "style of pointing the viewer from one image to the next with subtle cues" cmon really? somtimes the art world just drives me up the wall. however the exhibit was great... really great. there was one image of bankers on a small street on bishopsgate which was especially amazing.. I enjoyed this image more than anything in the americans series. i took some shots of his work.. as a reference for inspiration and composition.

couple of fun street images from just walking around the elves were out of control yesterday:

Some New Portraits

2009-10-22T06:35:00.000-07:00

I have been in NYC for 2 months and no assignments. I have spent some time and some dough working on my book and the portraiture section in particular.

below are some recent (like 2 weeks) highlights

I love taking pictures.. I just wish there could be more budget and some new subjects..

2009-10-22T06:33:00.000-07:00

Wow I do love polaroid.

I ran across this amazing video on amy steins blog..

even gives loading instructions!

Park Shooting

2009-09-23T12:30:00.000-07:00

Couple lookie loos from the other day in the park. These were both taken using the magic cooke series XII probably the coolest lens ever made. incredibly sharp stopped down, magic wide open!

Salt Flats, southern california timing association

2009-08-17T06:16:00.000-07:00

so I went out to the salt flats on friday to do some shooting at the end of speed week.

people were incredibly friendly and it was really cool to see all those cars and speed cycles. a friend told me he did 401mph out there.. thats pretty incredible.. most cars burn alcohol mix. the salt always provides a fantastic enviornment for shooting.

2009-08-14T14:02:00.000-07:00

my camera.

this is a beautiful graflex 3x4 super D and really an absolute joy to shoot with.

it has a 1930s cooke f/2.9 lens and a modern graflock back allowing me to shoot 4x5 sheet film or 6x9 on 120.

this is a great camera for so many reasons. mostly because it allows me the larger 4x5 format with the ease of the handheld SLR and also the use of the beautiful cooke lens.

more polaroid 690

2009-08-08T20:53:00.001-07:00

so I guess since these are all from state st. thats the name of the series. we have a total of 17 images ( i think) all shot on state st in SLC, Utah with polaroid 690 film and the polaroid 420 camera with plastic lens.

enjoy.

2009-08-02T13:05:00.000-07:00

I am about to send out another editorial email promo. I put up a jpeg of that. I hope you like it.

ok so I have been shooting a lot of polaroid lately. I went out and shot a pack of 690yesterday. I got some things I really love. I think content wise, I have hit the nail on the head. here they are for your enjoyment. cyan and flat and nice deep black points. yum yum.

gaper day

2009-07-02T23:32:00.001-07:00

i love alta ski area. the snow, the hate, the fun, and gaper day.

this portrait is of some skiier friends of mine on gaper day. 1 of probably 30?

more to come.. im going to spend tomorrow retouching them and getting a little proposal ready.. muhahahaha..

Instant film, polaroid. one of my most very favorite things

2009-06-28T12:46:00.002-07:00

I just love the smell of it I guess. the other day I went snapping with 2 packs of FP-100C and this is what I got:
I did a little post process and added a little vignette.. lovely right? I havent shot like this in a long time, just walking around and trying to enjoy it. makes me want to shoot some 8x10 polaroids, which I think I am going to do very soon. all of signs/buildings in salt lake city. I'm thinking about an exhibition of the originals as one of a kinds for 2000$ each.

Base jumping (Buildings, Antennae, Structures/Spans, Earth)

2009-06-25T22:35:00.001-07:00

was a fun day and an interesting subject.

2009-06-20T15:42:00.001-07:00

a portrait and a landscape.

sometimes I wonder what I am doing. I love making images but sometimes making it pay is tough. Im getting more and more broke and debating a restaurant or bar job to keep going. I wish I had unlimited resources to just make images. I so need help on the business end of things.

Im planning a portraiture mailer this week. I have some of the logo/branding done and I shot some lit portraits this week too.

sg

Review Santa fe

2009-06-10T06:04:00.000-07:00

Just back from Review Santa Fe. What an incredible experience with a lot of incredible photographers. I was a volunteer, which meant I was able to meet a lot of the reviewers face to face, as well as the photographers and get some reviews. Most of all, it was inspiring to see the work at the top end of fine art photography world, meet some important gallerists and critics. I feel it gave me a lot of insight into a world I know nothing about but have been fascinated with since I was a young man. It really helped me pull back from my current work and take some perspective.. Last on my way home I sat with rob haggart from aphotoeditor.com for a few hours as well..

Couple of the highlights for me:

Curtis Wehrfritz: www.fluidrive.ca fantastic daguerrotypes

claire beckett's www.clairebeckett.com series on iraqi training camps in the USA. beautifully shot and very poignant work for our time:

S. Billie Mandile www.billiemandle.com incredible work documenting catholic confessionals. really amazing work on many different levels

Kerry Mansfield www.kerrymanfield.com again a fantastic body of work, beautifully presented and executed.

Ben Lowy www.benlowy.com great work from iraq.. inspiring, I tried not to like it and failed.

Damion Berger www.damionberger.com I really enjoyed his RSVP series.. classic photography

2009-05-03T07:48:00.000-07:00

a little sneak peek of new work..

new site, new images coming.. check the digital panorama..

2009-05-02T17:14:00.001-07:00

wow, I am working my arse off trying to get this new site ready for launch. im supposed to go to ny photo festival as well as the review at CENTER as well..

things are hectic.. I bid a few jobs recently as well.

2009-04-26T22:29:00.000-07:00

hello, been a while blogspace.. im working on a new website, and a new portfolio of images and some new jobs.. been such a busy few weeks...

heres a teaser.. hope u like it..

2009-04-12T17:12:00.000-07:00

I ran across these two gents the other day while driving around downtown slc. they were gracious enough to allow me to take their picture and I think they will make a fantastic addition to my portfolio of portraiture. they were interested and relaxed as i took out my 5D mk II.

ive been working hard on my alta portraits and also on my general portfolio of work. This time I will be printing a 100 image book. split between portraits and industrial/landscape images and my zoo series. I think its going to be a hit (fingers crossed) in ny at the end of the month.

SG

Alta Spec Ad

2009-03-31T08:24:00.000-07:00

I made up this image as a spec for alta, maybe for next year.. we'll see..

Im off to see mccann this morning with a book and some prints..

Slam Poets

2009-03-29T23:36:00.000-07:00

Well.. I finished up the alta job and there has been a lot of powder skiing since then. I have been a total slacker on the blog front, but today I have a little something to post about. I shot a "slam poet" for city weekly last week and I was so impressed with the emotions in his face I had to make a portrait series of several other slam poets. I shot in total 9 poets and after the first edit I have 105 portraits.. more editing to come sadly. i shot with 5d mk II f/1.7 1/60 with a 1000W continuous light against a black photog cloth.

I threw up 4 images for you. these are gonna look different in the portfolio later on..

alta portrait series

2009-03-06T16:41:00.001-08:00

well the shoot up at alta went very well. We got 11 portraits all in about 2 hours tops.

I put up a few of the portraits I had time to scan in.. these were super low res still in plastic scans.

2009-03-01T21:20:00.000-08:00

I always love and image like this. 3 opened and loaded boxes of tri-x. Im shooting 15 portraits on my deardorff 8x10 tuesday and wednesday of this week for alta ski resorts 70th anniversary season. The folks at alta have been very awesome to me and were so kind as to commission me to do some work for them.. I am excited about it. Excited that people still love film photography. the allure and the beauty of connecting with a subject and the finished product.

today I had 10 models over for TFCD work for my book.. I shot some on digital and some with my RB series D graflex camera. I think i am in love with it.. (since i have no girlfriend I might as well name my camera bertha and love it!!) i shot 20 sheets of tech pan and VPS and I am really excited to see the results. I have a very specific retouching idea in mind for these images and I am really excited to see the results. all in all it was a fun day and I met some cool local salt lake people!

2009-02-27T21:47:00.000-08:00

im just back from nyc after a week of meetings with photo editors and art directors..

what an exhausting time. I think I saw 4 editors, got through to kathy ryan at the nyt, 5 art directors and one awesome representative.

I spent roughly 3 days shooting and I ended up with around 30 different portraits for my book. I shot 28 sheets of 4x5 and took several hundred digital images. armed with new work and some great direction and feedback from the meetings, my portfolio is about to undergo another overhaul!!!

I also did some shooting at a friends metal shop in brooklyn.. I wanted to put this up for folks to have a look at. its a film image taken as 3 4x5's. I ended up with something closer to a 4x10 panorama.. I love it.

I have been on an ebay buying spree as of late:

my acquisitions:

Graflex Series D reflex in 8/10 condition. working shutter, nice clean lens
wollensak 15 inch tele lens for the series D or speed graphic
2 grafmatic backs
some polaroid 559 and 55

what a lucky photographer I am.. !

2009-02-19T12:29:00.001-08:00

i still have a cold, but Im in good ol nyc. love it here!!!! had some soup for lunch, had agreat meeting at an agency this am, got more meetings for tomorrow!

couple of quick stills from yesterday..

2009-02-14T20:36:00.000-08:00

what a fun day shooting on friday.. even though I missed epic snow up at alta..

heres some stills from the shoot. helping a liftie get his first 8x10 experience.. I bet it wont be his last!!!!

2009-02-13T12:46:00.001-08:00

Today spent the morning assisting and shooting for matthew turley on a job for SKI magazine with 4 skiiers.. was a great time. we shot some 8x10, 4x5 and digital too.

tired and spent, getting errands and work taken care of...

another landscape pic

2009-02-11T21:10:00.000-08:00

a lot of people talk about digital photography. I dont believe the hype. not one bit.

below is a jpeg of a 4x5 scan. on my 24" imac I can blow the little train car up to fullscreen. its sharp as a tack. the depth of a transparency is incredible, especially when it comes to retouching, processing or adjustments.. the image is deep like an ocean. Digital images seem to have limits.. canon sensor images seem to be much deeper than nikon in my opinion, thats why I use canon digital exclusively.... match the canon CMOS with good glass and you are 75% to what you can get with 4x5 film.

Ive seen something similar in details with a p64 back from phase one. but at really big enlargements its all pixelated. its got a long way to go. I also love shooting large format film because it makes me pause, think and reflect.

granted, Ill never shoot 35mm film again.. its just too much of a pain in A#$

anyways, I hope y'all enjoyed todays blog post

heres some prelim portfolio images from so utah

2009-02-10T23:04:00.001-08:00

heres 2 images from a recent trip to southern utah.. amazing place.. feels like mars

its been nuking up at alta for 3 straight days.. as you can see.. we finally got the goods after a week of high pressure!!! yee haw!!!!!

2009-02-06T05:12:00.000-08:00

More shooting landscape yesterday. I fired off about 8 type 55 polaroids and I think 12 4x5s. I gotta stop this!

Im picking up my scanner later on this morning, which will allow me to start scanning through a big pile of negs. sweet!

2009-02-04T22:15:00.000-08:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/05/theater/05ceas.html?_r=1&re

well. I got published in the New York Times today. Marc Sam in a big controversy over his awesome show Blanche survives Katrina in a FEMA trailer named desire. If you are in NYC between now and March 15th check it out: http://blanchesurviveskatrina.com/

pretty cool I guess!!!

2009-02-04T12:26:00.000-08:00

heres some digitals from yesterday.. what a long day. Im pretty excited to pick up the film later today. I shot some awesome things yesterday for my landscapes book.

valley o the goblins.

2009-02-03T20:57:00.000-08:00

Ok, I am still nursing a bruised rib. it hurts. when i laugh, sneeze, get up, sit down and cough. it sucks.

regardless, I went to southern utah and goblin valley today. I went bananas. I shot around 10GB of digital images, plus around 30 sheets of 4x5 and 4 rolls of 120 via my lovely rolleiflex 2.8D. I'm going to go back through soon on a trip to the san juans and taos, NM.

I also shot around 8 polaroids. In disgust. I have one semi image and 7 ruined shots of type 59. something is either whacked with my processor/holder or the film. I am going to divulge myself of what I have sitting around via ebay tomorrow, Im tired of shooting it and ruining it, its better off with someone who knows what they are doing with the stuff... Sorry Ed land, the stuff is beautiful, but I am not the guy to be shooting it!

on another note, I got an email from a very beautiful young girl I met at a concert about doing a TF* shoot. she has a really rare youthful beauty so it will be a great shoot.

anyways, I am crushed after getting up at 5am and driving around all day.. some images tomorrow.

2009-01-31T19:37:00.000-08:00

heres a few of another model who came over to test with me.. she had great eyes and super pouty lips.. all in all i was pleased with the results! thanks katie!

heres something from a shoot from a few weeks ago

2009-01-28T21:00:00.000-08:00

heres a few shots of the lovely melissa...

ever so patient and an excellent subject!

both images shot with the deardorff 8x10 view camera.

2009-01-28T09:53:00.001-08:00

heres some awesome shots from a little nightime shoot I did with my good buddies bob o and bontonomous.

there was a big inversion and a ton of fog/smog.. the results were spoooky!!!!

holy crap

2009-01-27T18:14:00.001-08:00

I have a blog for photography.. images and a link from my site to come soon...