Photography - Portraits

Hi there!

My great joy as a photographer is to capture the life around us, and to deliver my feelings and thoughts through the photos. Still life, animals or people - we can always show them through our eyes, and through our point of view, and that is a powerful privilege. When we photograph people, especially head portraits,  it is more difficult. When I take a half body portrait or a head shot, I imagine the essence of the subject - how does he feel right now? how was his day? his history, etc. all of these questions help me to decide how would I like to show him to the world, I might be wrong with my assumptions about the subject (e.g the subject could've had a wonderful day, and I by mistake, thought he had a horrible one), but it doesn't matter - It's meant to be this way, the viewer will only see my side of the story, because it is the only truth that exists in my photo. However, I try to tell it through the look in the subject's eyes.

Let me show you some examples :

I was walking on the street of Jaffa, it was evening. Suddenly I stumbled upon a nice little street market, with a lot of art, junk and tourists. I was chatting with one of the stands owners, and I've noticed that someone was unpacking some packages behind him. It wasn't for long until I've noticed that this guy, has a special character. He is a good looking man, who seems to have a lot on his mind, the wrinkles on his face show us that he probably hasn't had an easy life, yet it makes his face more intriguing. The look in his eyes is full of sadness and thoughts about tomorrow. He hasn't had a lot of joy in his life, and the future doesn't look so bright either.
(Again it's all in the eyes of the photographer...)

Buenos Aires, Argentina. In a well located restaurant in the famous "La Boca" neighborhood, I was eating lunch with some friends, enjoying the fresh air, the music and the tango. An old and distinguish man walked towards us, and asked if everything is ok. He was talking with some of the Italian girls and told them, with a satisfied smile, that his parents are also originally from Italy. After he left our table, he continued with his job : shouting at the waiters, giving orders to the tango dancers, and chatting with the clients - running the restaurant just like he did for 30 years. I caught him standing at the entrance, looking to the horizon, contemplating, maybe thinking about his legacy. This man has a lot to handle, his eyes reflect his experience and good nature, his clothes - elegance. I was impressed.

A Brazilian show in Tel Aviv, Israel. A guest singer was invited to perform a song. I was sitting very close to the stage, and could really feel that she is enjoying the moment, her eyes were smiling, full of love. I had to take a picture of her - singing and enjoying the moment, it was so inspiring.

This one is also was captured to remind us the joy of the moment. The girl in the picture looks super happy and feels really good. You don't know if she had a happy, sad or boring life and it doesn't matter. When we look at this picture, we think - she is having a great time, at THIS moment, and so should we. Let's try to enjoy every moment of our life, even if sometimes it's challenging.








Until the next time!

Have a wonderful day.



Btw : You can see more of my work on my fan page on facebook.
          or on my Zazzle store, where you can purchase my art.

More art you can find on my lenses on "Pop Art", "Still Life" and "Abstract" - great art galleries, created by young and talented artists, make sure to check them out!

Photography - Black & White / Monochrome

Hi !

I am not a big fan of black & white photography. The life around us is colorful, so many tones, and shades. We all remember how long we've been waiting for a color TV, PC, cell phone, iPod etc... so why we have to throw the colors away, and to sink to a colorless world?

Well... for me.. I like to use the b&w option almost never, but sometimes I have to, just to make a point, or to send a certain message. This post I'll show you various examples, and the thoughts behind them.

Morning... it's early, and you have to go to work.
You are still tired, but you have to start the daily routine. Brush your teeth, wash your face, shave.
You feel a little worn out, but you do it automatically.

When you look at the picture, you feel a little bit heavy, slow, and tired - The same feelings you experience every working day morning. The b&w gives more emphasis to that feeling.

It was a full moon night, and I was looking for the perfect angle. I managed to take a shot, with a beautiful composition - the moon hanging in the middle of the tree branches. I didn't like it... I wanted to shoot a romantic and magical picture, and all I got was a boring, soulless pic...
I decided to change the setting to a monochrome - purple, and took the pic again. There it was... special, romantic, mysterious feel, almost like a paint.

Tel Aviv, Israel, a regular evening outside the opera house. I was trying my new 50mm lens, shooting the dark streets. Changed the angle, and found an interesting urban scene. I wanted to give it a "New York at the 70's" kind of feel, and the b&w mode astonished me, it gave it an urban cinematic touch! Not bad for a regular boring street in Israel...

This one was definitely meant to bring you an aroma of an old Italian film.
The look in her eyes, the shadows and the yellow tons are helping to deliver the atmosphere.You must agree that this photo wouldn't evoke the same feelings in color.












That's it for now,
Thank you for visiting my blog, I would love to read your comments and suggestions :)

btw:

If you like to see more of my photography and digital art, you are welcome to visit me on Flickr.

If you like to purchase my art, or just want to browse, come and visit my  Zazzle store

For more art articles - visit my Squidoo lenses about Pop Art, Still Life or Abstract



Have a wonderful day :)

Photography - Candid Night Photos

Hi there!

I must confess I love taking pictures of strangers, especially when they are not aware. I like the genuine pose, to catch them in their everyday activity, thinking, arguing, talking, smiling. There is only a quick window of opportunity to catch the perfect pose, if you'll miss it, you may have a picture of the object - but obviously it would not tell the story as you wanted.

I've noticed that candid night shots are much different than the other "clear day and perfect light" pics, not because of the more challenging conditions (you must adjust your camera carefully, use all the light that you find, and do it fast), it is simply different atmosphere, mood, everything looks more intimate, darker and melancholic or at least I get that feeling. In the night conditions, sometimes I sacrifice the quality of the pic for the perfect pose, that tells the story. It doesn't matter to me if the picture is a little bit noisy or a little bit blurry, I just want you to look at the objects and think about their story.

Here are three candid night shots.


This young couple is Jewish orthodox. During a music festival in Safed, Israel, I saw them , hiding from the crowd, under a tree. Usually it's very rare to see an orthodox Jewish couple sitting together in a public place, talking and sharing their feelings, their love. Normally they do that in a well hidden place, when no one can see them. My guess is that they were atheists, and used to do that before. Lucky for me.

The unusual building

On a full moon night, I went to do some urban night photography, mainly architecture. When I placed my camera on the tripod and tried to shoot an unusual building, I saw two girls, talking. One of them seemed to be troubled, I couldn't see them well, because I was too far. I had to take that shot, even though I knew that the results won't be perfect.




After I've cleaned and processed the pic, I've noticed that the emotion in that picture is intense - the sad girl, sharing her feelings, her supporting friend with her worried look... dramatic.

Days of tension. The soldiers were recruited, to watch the border. Everyone left their families, wives, children. They are going to stay here at least a month, live in a bunker, not to see a daylight as long as there are bombing around. I saw that tiny, dirty room, no air, no windows, and it reminded me a prison, a despair. I had to take that shot.  

Thank you for visiting my blog!

You are welcome to leave a comment ! :)

If you have the chance come and visit my "still life" or "pop art" squidoo lenses - for some great artistic items by young and talented artists!

or my Zazzle store  for more of my art, you can actually purchase. 

Pop Art - Those Red Hot Lips

It was another boring night at the local pub. we drank a lot, had nothing to say, and we had absolutely no desire to listen.

"HEY!", she said with a surprising energy, "You told me that you bought a new camera, let's give it a test drive!"
"Now?" , I asked, "It's almost 3 am"
-"Yes! now, you always wanted to make a photo session with me, or at least you said so..."
-"Oh, ok, but let's do it outdoors, there is a nice playground I know, nobody passes there at this hour"
-"YAY ! let's go!"

10 min. after, we found ourselves in an empty playground, taking pictures and laughing like two idiots. She loved the spotlights, to be the center of attention. She posed and posed and posed, quicker than my camera. I couldn't handle the poor light, and her fuzziness, but kept going anyway. I was thinking, I am going away in a few days, and those photos will probably be my only chance to remember her, so I have to do my best.

In between she asked me to focus on her lips - "I think that they are the most beautiful part of my body", she said. I couldn't disagree - though I thought to myself... there are more parts that could draw attention...

When I got home I found that most of my photos were far too dark, I tried to save them. Lucky me, her natural beauty popped right away even in the worst conditions.

This one was my favorite - a little bit off focus, just enough to create the little circles of light (bokeh) on the nails, lipstick and lips.

3 years after, those lips have inspired me to do a pop art piece, more colorful and vivid.

I'll always remember that night, especially because it felt more powerful and significant than it really was...



You can find the lipstick poster and more pop art items at my zazzle store

Make sure to visit my still life and pop art articles - a beautiful photo galleries of some talented artists.


Thanks for visiting , leave a comment if you want, I would love to read it!

Vector Art - Mi Buenos Aires Querido

Hello everyone!

During my travelling in Brazil, I met a lot of people from Argentina, most of them from Buenos Aires. As I kept moving on in Brazil, I realized that I must visit Argentina, have to see another culture, to meet my new friends again in their home base. To be honest I never planed to get out of Brazil, I just wanted to explore the country and to enjoy the experience, to visit Argentina or another South American country, never occurred to me. But in September after some emotional roller coasters I decided to change scenery / people and to cross the border to Argentina.

My first stop was in Cordoba, a 20+ hours bus ride. I was invited by a friend of mine

Orange juice, coffee and media lunas

to spend a week at her place. It was lovely. Every morning I spent some time at the local coffee house, with the neiborhood's elders, it was quite an experience.
I tried to understand their jokes and discussions, while enjoying my rich and traditional breakfast (coffee, orange juice, and 2 media lunas). It was funny and relaxing. Simple, but it felt like a dream (I always loved places like that, where time stands still, and the block's parlaiment is active). They immediately figured out that I am a stranger, but I didn't care. After a few days, the waitresses smiled at me, and the old parliament gave me a nod! I've become a celebrity.


After a week in Cordoba, I felt capable enough to deal with Buenos Aires.
I found a nice hostel in a lively, artistic neighborhood - San Telmo. It was really a great place, every Sunday there was a huge fair. You could hear tango and other music styles everywhere... a lot of home made pastries, memorabilia and junk. I found myself listening to a young tango band, who performed in a little street corner, and attracted a lot of crowd. The singer was so emotional, you could understand him even without speaking the language, and the band... it was a real treat to see them playing, the instruments were practically dancing in their hands.

For me it was a magical moment, and I started to look for more tango shows. Fortunately it was all around me.

In many cafes you can find a lot of tango dancers, who will appreciate your financial contribution to their art at the end of their act.

As I took this photo, I knew that I will use it someday to relive that special tango feel. The original photo was fine, and had the right pose, but it was taken in broad daylight, with some tourists around. I felt like I owe the tango more... and decided to give it the right scenery, magic and lights, using vector art.

And that was the result.

Carlos Gardel (1890-1935) was the most famous Tango singer in Argentina at his time. He found his death in a plane crash, leaving his devastated fans a great musical heritage.
Until today you can find his portraits every where -  painted as a graffiti on the streets, in traditional tango places, cafes, even in some ice cream places.

I also decided to do my version of Carlos Gardel's famous portait using vector art.

I must include a link to my favorite Gardel's tango "volver" and to "mi buenos aires querido" - just to get the feel.

I never planned to visit Argentina - stayed there for 6 months ...   I guess it was OK ;)

That's it for now,  hope you enjoyed it.

I encourage you to leave a comment if you wish.

Have a wonderful day.



btw : if you like to see more of my art take a look at my zazzle store.
        or take a look at my pop art post at squidoo

Photography - Alone Again, Naturally

Hi there!

To feel alone... everybody feels that way now and then.
Sometimes that feeling helps you discover your inner talent, or some hidden energy, that normally wouldn't be revealed. It gives you some edge, your mind is more creative, you have the urge to do something, anything! and that gives you more artistic drive.

"A Lonely Streetlight" by IBadishi

As for me, I had a lot of spare time, during my travelling. I met some wonderful people, but many times I found myself walking alone, feeling a bit lonely, and wondering what to do.


I remember myself visiting Porto Alegre, the capital of the Rio Grande do Sul state in Brazil. I had arrived especially to visit a good friend of mine, after a long 12 hours bus journey. Everything was perfect, she picked me up from my hostel and gave me a city tour, it was a beautiful Sunday morning. To be honest the city is not a very touristic one, but while we were walking together, I pointed to myself to come back and sit by their huge river (which was the main attraction in the city - for me, anyway).

After a nice and joyful day and night, I began to explore the city alone. As I mentioned before, there weren't many touristic things to do or to see, and therefore not many tourists to meet...
I won't lie, sometimes I found myself thinking, what am I doing here? why do I waste my time in this place? but nevertheless I always stayed at least a week in such a major city.

I began to discover some hidden gems, such as the nice bakery 5 min from my hostel. Every morning I sat there, relaxed, with my cappuccino and my pastry, watching the students running and forming a queue in front of the bakery, making noise, chatting and laughing, enjoying their 10 min. break. I loved it!

And as I promised to myself before, I went back to visit the old river, on a cold windy day. Nobody was there, beside an old gentleman who sold some mulled wine. That hot alcoholic drink, in that winter day, was PERFECT! I thanked him, and sat by the river, with the wine on one hand and a cigarette on the other. My mind wandered while I was gazing at the whispering giant - the huge river. I was thinking, yeah I am here alone but it is not so bad, you can find the beauty in it, it was so comforting to find the strength in me...

While I was sitting there I have noticed a beautiful tree log, floating there, elegantly. I was thinking, well... this log reminds me of me right now! it is by itself, floating quietly, relaxed. I might as well take a picture of it, to remind me that moment.  and I did , I loved the result.

"Silence" by IBadishi

Sometimes to be alone is not so bad, sometimes it makes you grow as a human being, and appreciate the little things in life.

See you soon on my next post.

btw :

You can find a poster of "Silence", "A Lonely Streetlight" and other photos on my zazzle store
or
To read my lens about Pop Art - lot's of cool designs there!

Photography - Live Shows, Some Tips

Hello everyone.

A few days ago I read an article about photography and photo filters. In that article we learned how to use the filters to improve an existing fairly good picture, to a great one. In other words, to make a lemonade from the lemons that our camera produced.

I thought to myself, in which of my photos over the years, I didn't have to use a "heavy artillery" as filters or complex photoshop techniques? and the answer popped immediately - in live shows!

As for me, I love music since I was a child. I played the trumpet, played in some bands and orchestras all over the country and over seas. I will always remember the excitement that I had while I entered the stage. The lights, the red curtains or the smoke. And come to think about that, that setting will always look good on photos!

So what do we have here..   an ambiance, a good light, a theme, some props, an energy from the crowd, and many more... all we have to do is to click!  right?

Wrong! although we have some great conditions to have a perfect picture, we must follow some simple rules.

Turn Off The Flash!  

Personally, I hate to use a flash when I'm taking pictures. It ruins the natural light, and doesn't produce the same atmosphere, nor even represents the scenery well. don't get me wrong, sometimes the flash is really needed, and if your purpose is just to take a picture of your friends, or just to have fun with the camera it is ok. But It seems to me that many people use it automatically, even professionals, and though you may see every wrinkle on the object's face, you will lose the atmosphere completely. So my humble advice is just to save the flash for the real hard cases.

In a show, we have the setting, the colorful lights, the energy, so PLEASE, accept that gift, turn off the flash and show the world what your eyes have really seen. You may have to play a little bit with the f-stop (lower numbers), or the shutter speed (slower), but it's totally worth it!

you'll be the judge                    
                                           

as seen on demais music blog

It's the same singer - Maria Rita , the same stage, the same show.  But you can easily think that the left picture was taken at a junior high prom, while the other one gives us the real deal  - colors, lights, and magic. and to be clear, I am not talking about the composition, just the flash factor.

Let's see another example.

This picture was taken on street theater festival. With the flash on, we can see a heavy use of make up, and we can't see anything special or magical about that image. We can obviously see the object clearly, we don't miss any detail and as a common facebook photo it serves well.

But if we will turn off the flash, we will see that :

and that     

A completely different image. We can actually see the golden tones, the make up fits well, and the whole image looks much more romantic, and dreamy...   All that without any effort.

A Little Editing Will Do

When you have such great components in your photos, all you have to do is to tweak and adjust some little things. To make your photo a little bit more appealing and interesting, you should crop sometimes, play a little bit with the saturation, maybe to sharpen every now and then. But that's it ! suitable for beginners as well as lazy people (as me).

Here are 2 examples

The original photo

A little crop to the right and a tiny desaturation - and you're good to go!

The original photo

A little bit of crop, brightness/contrast and a sharpen filter
 and the result is much more dramatic.

Feel The Groove!

This is the best tip I can give.

You can have the best looking picture, with the best composition, but it is worth nothing with out the feel!

You have to feel the music, spot the expressions of your objects, try to visualize what would be their next step and shoot! A good picture will throw you back to the moment, you will relive the concert again, the sounds, the sweat - everything!

Here some examples,

. 

Well, as you all understand I really think that live shows can give you a lot of great photo opportunities, without a big post production hustle. I hope my advises will help you in your next shooting session !

Thanks for your time, see you soon!

Idan.


Btw: if you like to see more of my work, you can take a look (and even purchase if you'd like to)