Ty Randall's Photo Blog

Ocean Waves Over Rocks

2009-03-15T12:41:00.005-04:00

An explanation of this photo was requested, so here you go -

This was shot on the New Jersey coast. Right at the Barnegat Lighthouse in Barnegat Lighthouse State Park in fact. There is a walkway leading from the shore up to the lighthouse. I was shooting with my Nikon D70. I set the camera on my Manfrotto tripod about in the middle of the walkway and pointed the camera down at the rocks. When at the lighthouse, I noticed waves occasionally crashing up against the rocks and onto the walkway so I thought I would go down to capture that natural motion. The ocean waves would flow in slowly sometimes and just cover the rocks a little and other times they would come crashing in and completely cover everything. I knew I needed a long exposure for the effect I wanted, which was to show some of the rock, but mostly the swirling water and splashing wave. To get the right effect, I waited until after the sun had set and it was beginning to get dark out.

I shot several, which in this case I think is needed because of the inconsistency of each wave. You can't really set up, take one shot and hope that you got what you needed. I took shots at various shutter speeds and even different angles and different rocks. The large flat rock almost in the center is the one that caught most of my attention. On some waves it would get completely covered so you couldn't see it anymore and on others the water would just slightly wash over it. Between the different shutter speeds used and the different intensity of each wave, I got several different effects.

In this case it was a 2 second exposure with the ISO set at 200 and to extend it that long I needed an aperture of f/24. I obviously didn't need that aperture for the depth of field, only to get the desired shutter speed. The sun set that day at around 5:30pm and this was shot at 7pm with a focal length of 35mm. Somebody commented that they would rather see it in color, but I felt that color was not needed for this image since it would pretty much only be one color. When I do color, I like lots of strong, saturated colors, not just one subtle color. Of course, I'd be happy to print it in color for anyone willing to pay for that and it would be a one of a kind because I wouldn't print it in color myself.

Feel free to comment or check out more of my work on my website or Flickr page, which are both linked on the right side.
Ty Randall

Stolen Art

2009-02-26T13:22:00.007-05:00

Here are my feelings on photographing other pieces of artwork.

There are a few reasons you would do such a thing. One is to document a likeness of an art piece for a catalog or brochure, like if it was in a gallery show. This is usually known and approved by either the artist or their representative.

Another reason might be because you were commissioned to document the work for some other reason, like a private collection, or just to show the artist's work for some reason, like a book. In both cases stated above, the artists name should accompany such photograph to give them credit for the work.

Another reason would be to attempt making the work of art into something different based on your own vision, in other words make it "your own." In this case it would be okay to "steal" the art if it is changed enough from the original. I liken this to a musician performing cover songs. A cover song of another artist that sounds almost if not exactly the same is a copy to show respect and admiration and the writer or performer of the song should be mentioned. A cover song that is interpreted differently and done in a new, unique way, becomes more of the new artist's based on the change of performance. Think Jimi Hendrix's Watchtower, the Grateful Dead's Not Fade Away, Aerosmith's Come Together, and thousands more.

In these samples shown below, I call them "stolen art" because I am not the one that did the original sculpture, I am only the one who photographed the sculpture and changed it to fit my own vision and interpretation. They are not exact documents showing you exactly what the entire sculpture looked like as it sits out on public display for anyone to see (or photograph). They are merely the pieces I was most interested in and wanted to do something with.

I should note that even though I changed the original art to my own interpretation, I would however still be happy to list the sculptors name if I knew it. I cannot currently find my notes of that shoot and I don't remember if the artist was listed on it. I will someday return to the site to check and add that later when I find out.

My point is that I think I have abstracted the original piece and changed it to make it "my own." These are all taken from a Veteran's of Foreign War Memorial on display in Roosevelt Park, Edison, New Jersey. I don't think you need to know the site of the original sculpture to view my interpretations, but I list it because so many people wonder what the heck it is and in case you want to go see it for yourself. It is not against the law to visit a public place like this and take a photograph of it. What you do with that photograph is up to you. Rather than show a more realistic document of the entire sculpture or some sort of reference of scale or other reality based information, I chose to express my interpretation in this way because that's my own personal artistic expression. You are welcome to do it in other ways if you want. I'd be happy to provide you with directions if you would like to try.

As always, feel free to leave feedback and let me know what you think.

Mother and Child Portrait

2009-02-19T01:58:00.007-05:00

I was on assignment in New Jersey. It was Thanksgiving Day and I was shooting at a public dinner for the "less fortunate." It wasn't specifically for homeless people, but there were homeless there. It was also for people who maybe couldn't afford a big Thanksgiving meal, or didn't have the knowledge or time to cook one, or maybe didn't have anyone to spend the holiday with. It was held in a church and lasted for about 6 hours. People were welcome to come at any time, stay as long as they wanted, and eat until they couldn't eat any more. There was even some entertainment of church groups singing.

I actually had fun there talking with different people and took a variety of different pictures, some for the assignment and some for myself. I even had time to sneak a little of the food. I noticed this one lady with her boy at a table and tried to talk to them, but didn't have much luck. I guess they either didn't speak English or didn't really want to talk. I at least got out of them that she was the mother to the little boy. I thought she looked old enough to be the Grandmother, probably because of her body language. She sure didn't appear to have much energy. After watching the boy for a while, I figured she was just exhausted from trying to keep up with him all day long, every day.

The boy did what most boys his age do as soon as he finished eating. He started getting fidgety, then sliding down his chair, then crawling around under the table, then when told to come out, went running around the table and then around the entire room. I watched as he did all this and took a few photos of him running around. When I looked at the mother, she seemed sort of defeated, like she either did not have the energy to chase after the boy or didn't know how to control him. I guess I felt a little sorry for her. I wanted to help her out, but I didn't want to step into territory where I shouldn't have been stepping.

My solution was to see if I could get the kid to stop long enough to pose for a picture with his mother. That would calm him down for a minute and get him close enough to her so she could hang on to him and not let him run around anymore (if she wanted). I caught the boy as he went screaming by the table. I kind of pointed and used gestures to show him that I wanted him to go over to his mother so I could take their picture together. He appeared to agree to it and she seemed grateful for the opportunity also. This is the one and only shot I took of them because she let go of him and he took off to run around some more.

Feel free to comment and leave your opinion about it.

It was taken with a Nikon D70 at a focal length of 42mm because I was right next to them. I used a side mounted flash with the shutter speed of 1/60 of a second and aperture was f/4 because I wasn't interested in having a focused background beyond my subject.

Ty Randall Products in Mays Landing, NJ Borders

2008-11-24T19:37:00.001-05:00

"Put your makeup on Baby, fix your hair up pretty
And meet me tonight in Atlantic City" - Bruce Springsteen

I am happy to announce that Ty Randall photographic products are now available in the fifth retail location at the Borders Books and Music in Mays Landing, New Jersey. Borders is located off exit 12 of the Atlantic City Expressway.

One thing I noticed on my drive down to deliver my postcards and bookmarkers to Mays Landing was when I got below mile 56 on the Garden State Parkway, I started passing signs that were facing backwards. I turned to read what they were and discovered they were signs saying "Wrong Way."

I of course paid closer attention after that to idiots that would be driving up in the wrong direction on the interstate. Maybe those signs are for all the summer tourists that go to the shore and have a little too much to drink before driving home. Shortly after the "wrong way" signs I also started noticing "One Way" signs posted on the side of the parkway. I guess that was in case I didn't notice the traffic moving in the same direction for the last 100 miles.

I had to laugh as I wondered exactly how far south Atlantic City is that people down there are too stupid to tell which direction they were supposed to be driving on the highway. I really wanted to meet some of those dim-wits, because I'm sure they would make a great photographic subject. Unfortunately, I was too sick when I delivered my stuff, so all I did was drop it off and drive right back home again - following the one way signs of course.

Feel free to let anyone else you think may be interested know about this.

Below is a sample of one of my postcards from Margate, New Jersey, which is a stone's throw south of Atlantic City. Lucy the Elephant is a famous New Jersey landmark built as a hotel by a land developer to attract tourists and landowners to the area. Apparently it worked. If you want to read more about Lucy, go to http://www.lucytheelephant.org/.

Photo Comparison - vote

2008-10-29T23:52:00.007-04:00

Below are two images I took recently of the same location, the water falls in Clinton, New Jersey at sunrise. It was a chilly autumn morning so you can see the fog rising from the water while the sun is starting to touch the trees above. I am wondering which you prefer, the vertical shot or the horizontal shot? Feel free to let me know either by commenting here, sending me an email, or a comment on facebook. If you think they both suck, feel free to let me know that also. Feedback and criticism helps one grow and improve.
Thanks.

Ty Randall Products in Bridgewater, NJ

2008-10-26T23:33:00.003-04:00

Just wanted to let you know you can now find Ty Randall Creations products in the Bridgewater, New Jersey Borders Books and Music store. This makes my third Borders location and fourth retail location where my products are available. Like Flemington, the Bridgewater store is currently carrying my postcards and bookmarkers. Until I do more art shows or gallery exhibits, you will have to go to the Watchung (NJ) Borders or the Great Frame Up store in Livingston (NJ) for my hand-made photo cards. See the posting about the Flemington store for a sample.

Ty Randall Products In Flemington, NJ

2008-09-20T20:55:00.005-04:00

Just an announcement that you can now find Ty Randall Creations products in the Flemington New Jersey Borders Books and Music store. They are carrying my local New Jersey postcards and hand-made photo bookmarkers. The Flemington Borders store is currently the third retail location and second Borders store to carry my products - East Brunswick was first, but they closed in January 2008, and Watchung was next.

As you can see from the small sample below, some of my postcards are sort of unique and perhaps a little more unusual than a typical postcard. They may be views of familiar places taken from different perspectives than you are used to seeing or maybe of local scenes you would not expect to see a postcard of.

My bookmarkers are high-quality pieces of an actual photograph. Inspired by Jerry Garcia ties, which use only a portion of the original artwork, I take a portion of my original photograph and create a bookmarker of it. Sometimes I create several different products using the same photograph, sometimes it's a unique piece. I don't really like wearing ties, but I do read a lot, so I thought I would make bookmarkers instead of ties. As these things usually go, you do a few for yourself, you start giving them away to friends, others start requesting them, and before you know it, you're running a small business. You can see the bookmarker samples on my website under the fundraiser section.

The Bunny Hop

2008-05-01T21:14:00.004-04:00

Attached to this are photos of the bunny that lives in our yard. I call him skittles, probably because he's kind of skittish and won't let me near him. Skittish sounded to British, so I went with skittles instead.

Skittles was out in the yard today enjoying some sunshine on a lovely spring day. I just got home from a photo shoot and was planning to mow the lawn next when I spotted him trying to hide from me in the overgrown grass.

I asked if he was trying to hint that I was neglecting my yardly duties. He of course did not answer, but I swear I saw his little bunny nose twitch in reply. "Shut up," I told him, "or I'll take your picture."

Skittles hates to have his picture taken. Every time I see him hopping around, I go running upstairs to grab my camera. I usually stop to attach a zoom lens because I know how skittish he is. By the time I return to take his picture, he's nowhere to be found. "One of these days," I usually yell out to closest bush or tree because I have no idea where Skittles is, but I figure he's probably hiding under there somewhere.

Today however, I happened to have my camera on me since I just returned from a job. I quickly grabbed my Nikon out of the bag, quietly got out of the truck, and walked over as close to him as I could get.

I snapped off one shot and he just returned a cautious look, but didn't run. I took a slow step closer and snapped off another shot. He still didn't run.

I took another step closer and snapped off another shot. I could see it in his eyes. He finally let me take a couple pictures of him, but he was about to bolt out of there if I dared take one step closer.

Like any good bunny-paparazzi photographer would do, I took one more step and quickly snapped off the photo above, which is the last one I got before he took off. The skittish little sucker hopped pretty fast. I went running after him, quickly snapping off a few more shots as he hopped away because you just never know.

I didn't have time to fool with any camera settings so I just shot on automatic. I hate the lack of photographic control, but during quick bunny chasing action I have to trust Nikon more than myself.

The last shot of him sitting before he took off (above) was shot with a shutter speed of 1/50 at f/5.6. The next shot (not shown here) was pretty funny because it shot at a shutter speed of 1/80 so the front of Skittles was in focus, but his hind legs are all blurred out in a circular motion while he was hopping away. It really highlights how fast his legs move.

I took another one that came out too blurry to show - instant delete. Then I got another good shot of a half hop with his front legs up in the air, but his back legs still digging in and not airborne yet.

To my surprise, he stopped after a couple hops. I'm not sure if he stopped for a quick pose, to rest, or just to wait and see if I would still follow him. I figured if he was just going to sit there, I was going to try getting closer again.

As I took another step closer, he said to heck with me and went hopping for cover. I liked the shot below better than the others because it catches him in mid-air with no feet touching. It was shot with a shutter speed of 1/320 at f/5.6, like Nikon could tell I was running after some action. All were a focal length of 120mm because that was the lens I had attached when I got home.

After this last shot, I thanked Skittles for the photo shoot and pretended I didn't see him hiding under the tree. I went inside to unload my gear and put on my lawn mowing shoes while he went to hide. I feel bad about taking away all the ground cover he had, but today's society and local laws demand you keep your lawn more trim than your beard, so I must.

Hope you enjoyed my Skittles the bunny photos. Check back for more photos either here or on my Flickr page.

Ty Randall

Spring Starts

2008-04-15T21:20:00.010-04:00

Spring Steeple, originally uploaded by Ty Randall.

Today was tax day. Somehow I managed to get my taxes done early this year so I had time to go out and shoot a little today. I had a couple shots to do for current projects and then I snuck in a few extra since spring was in the air and the urge for photographing some of it is in me.

I just wanted to show these two examples of what I saw today. The first photograph (Spring Steeple) is of the First Presbyterian Church Steeple, in Cranford, New Jersey. The blooming tree first attracted me and when I noticed a piece of the steeple sticking up behind it, I thought I would frame that in the shot.

I kind of like how the other tree between the steeple and the blooming tree hasn't started blooming yet so you can see the branches and still see the steeple behind it. I'm sure it would look quite different if I came back in 2 weeks.

If you care about such things (although I don't see why you would), the exposure was 400 at f/10 shot with a Nikon D70 and zoom lens focal length of 102mm (153 equivalent on 35mm). I shot it at 400 because I didn't bother pulling out my tripod. It was shot at 3:59pm on 4/15/08.

As soon as I finished the shot, I turned completely around to go back to my truck when I was attracted to something on a building at the other side of the parking lot. I moved in for a closer look and found what turned out to be this second shot.

I call the second photograph, "Building Comb Over" because that's what it looked like to me. There were all these vines attached to this building that haven't started blooming yet, so it looked like a stringing mess that reminded me of those bald guys that comb their hair over their head in some lame attempt to disguise their baldness and end up looking funny because they don't have enough hair to cover the amount of baldness.

As you can see, some things are beginning to bloom here in New Jersey, but not everything yet. Certainly not bald men, which I happen to see way too many of.

As far as the exposure stuff goes for the second shot, I felt it was kind of bland, pale, and had lousy lighting, I may have "tweaked" it a little in photoshop to help, but not much.

When I say I "tweaked" something, that's my way of telling you that I may have done something to it, but either don't remember what I did or don't want to tell you. I purposely don't keep track of such tweaking because the raving artist in me wants to create something unique that has a chance of not being duplicated. If I don't keep track of what I do, I might not remember or know how to do the same thing again, and therefore it would make that piece more unique (and valuable). I mention this more for future reference than explanation for this image.

View larger versions of images on my Flickr page.
Happy Spring.
Ty

Ty's Out-Of-Synch

2008-02-23T23:46:00.004-05:00

Home Run Coming, originally uploaded by Ty Randall.

I call these type photographs "out-of-synch" because they are slightly out of synch with reality. Perhaps for brevity, camera manufacturers have dubbed it "slow synch."

This photograph was done in New Orleans, Louisiana with a Nikon D70 using the built in speedlight flash set to Slow Rear Curtain Synch mode. In this particular image, I wanted to do a shot that would please both the girl's family and myself. That meant a shorter exposure with less camera shake so you could still make out the girl, the bat, and the ball, while still blurring some of it.

In this case it was shot with the very last remaining ambient light left in the day, almost an hour after sunset. I used a 24mm lens with no filter, ISO 200, and exposed for 1/2 second at f/5.6. I watched the pitcher, waited for the ball, and when it got in the frame, I just moved the camera to follow the ball, slightly downward and to the left. You can see the full image on my website.

As with all these type of photographs, I hand-hold them and move the camera during the exposure so it blurs most of the image except for where I point the flash. I do this because it says right in my D70 manual that "use of tripod is recommended to prevent blurring caused by camera shake."

Some photographers might follow that advice, but I'm not one of them. You know that early lesson you learn in photo class or your camera club that says, "first you have to learn the rules before you can break them?" Well, I learned and I break. I actually prefer the overall blurness for my vision. God forbid I get a straight line.

I like how the camera appears to not understand what I'm doing or what it is that I want, so it gives me whatever it can. I love how colors blend when I move the camera so it looks like a painted streak. I move the camera in all different ways and for a variety of times, usually between a half to 4 or 5 seconds, but sometimes longer.

It took a couple tries for this one because the little girl didn't know what I was doing. All she saw was that a flash kept going off and she kept missing the ball. I wanted to get the ball as close to her bat as possible without showing that she missed it. On this shot, she actually connected with the ball so the next shot I took is the one of her running to third base (because she didn't quite know the order to the bases). I'll put that shot at the bottom of this post.

As usual, you can read more details about this on my website at www.TYRANDALL.com.

Girl Runs Through Yard.

Portrait Of Ty Self

2008-02-22T01:27:00.006-05:00

Pinhole Self Portrait, originally uploaded by Ty Randall.

Welcome to the Ty Randall Photography Blog.

I thought I would start off my photo blog with a self-portrait so you could see the real me.

As you can see, I don't like to reveal the real me in perfect focus, which should reveal part of the real me to you.

I wanted to create a photo blog to post some of my photos with a bit of explanation about them. Being a photographer, I don't usually like to talk about my photographs, but my split personality also fancies itself as sort of a writer, so I find myself on occasion wanting, or at least willing to explain a little something about a certain photograph. I do this mostly for the younguns (or "young ones" if you are not from the south) in hopes they might possibly pick up a pointer or two or maybe some inspiration from somewhere. Hey, you never know.

In this particular self-portrait image, it's a photograph of me. I find that it is usually important when you are doing a self-portrait to include a portrait of yourself occasionally. That kind of sounds like a ridiculous statement, but actually I don't think a self-portrait necessarily must contain a picture of yourself. It doesn't necessarily have to be in focus, make sense, or reveal anything like your entire body, but it should at least be a photograph that either includes a piece of you, a piece of something in your life, (which would include a belief, a love, a secret desire, or some other made up stuff), or perhaps even a piece of a piece of your life.

So for example, I can take a photograph of my truck showing my bumper stickers and still consider that a self-portrait because it reveals a lot about me. If you wanted to get real technical about it, you might say every single photograph I take in a way is either a self-portrait or related to a self-portrait since I made all the decisions involved. But I won't get that crazy here.

A self-portrait really depends in how much you want to reveal about yourself in that one particular image. Take for example the image of myself above. In that one image that doesn't show much of me, I am revealing many things such as listed below.

The visual facts that I reveal:
I am male, good-looking, have a little age to me, have at least some dark hair on my head, including facial hair, wear glasses, wear a hat, have a blue shirt, might sometimes wear a button-down shirt over a t-shirt, have a nose, an ear, at least one eye and a half lip.

The inferred assumptions you might make from the photograph:
I probably think I'm somewhat creative, and I just might be.
I might be a photographer or at least know how to use a camera.
I might have some sort of fancy photographic equipment that the average Joe might not have (in this case a pinhole camera).
I might be kind of a "serious photographer" or "artistic photographer."
I'm probably fun to be with, funny, and open-minded.
I like to experiment and try new things, so I must be adventurous.
If I'm that, I'm probably an "out-doorsy" kind of guy and would prefer to go on a hike through the mountains than hang out playing video games in my room. If I'm old enough, I may have been some sort of hippie or radical type.

I could go on, but I think you should get the point by now. If not, the point is that I don't reveal much of myself in this self-portrait, but if you were willing to take the time to look at it, and maybe think about it for a minute, you would see that I actually reveal a lot about myself, which is the point of a portrait.

A portrait should reveal things about the subject and often reveals things about the photographer also. In a self-portrait, you do both. The more portraits you look at of the same person, the more you should be able to find out about them.

Anyone who does self-portraits is going to do them differently. My personal challenge with self-portraits is to slowly reveal a little more, but always leave some out. I do that in hopes that it might be a learning experience for someone.

I don't like to expose myself so much, but I am willing to do it if it helps somebody learn and become a better photographer or better person. That's just how I am and how I hope to be with this blog. I don't really want to talk about my photographs and there are certain things I would rather not reveal, but I will in hopes that maybe someday someone who sees it may possibly learn something, be inspired, or at least have a brief relief from a stressful reality.

I hope you enjoy (and maybe learn). Feel free to give feedback.

Read the entire post on my website at
Ty's Photographic Education.