Saturday, May 2, 2009

Firewood anyone?

Click to enlarge
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This week's theme for Thematic Photographic over at Carmi's place is musical. While I have dozens of shots of musicians performing, including some I really love, I don't publish photographs of others without their express permission so they will have to continue to languish away in my archives in silence. (Not exactly. In fact I've uploaded most of them to some private online albums available to the performers and members of our folk music community here in Israel, but I don't feel right publishing them indiscriminately on my blog.)
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Disclaimer aside, that left me with a few shots of either members of my own family, or else instruments set down on the sidelines. The original shot of these banjos was too golden for my taste thanks to some weird lighting inside the performance tent, and the highlights were a bit blown, so I started playing around and ended up with the stylized shot (enlarge to get the full effect) you see above. I kind of like it, it's got a sort of gritty feel that appeals to me.
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If you're wondering about the title, I should be commended for not sharing any of the 4,762 banjo jokes which immediately sprang to mind when I pulled up this shot...
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18 comments:

Jientje said...

It's amazing sometimes what little photoshopping fun can do!! I love it!

RivkA with a capital A said...

I don't know any banjo jokes....

amanda guthrie said...

like this in black and white great composition for this weeks theme.

Mojo said...

I've rescued many an image by converting it to mono. It's often a better choice anyway. In this case I'd obviously have to see the original to say for sure, but I like how it worked out for sure!

On the subject of to publish or not to publish I sort of have the opposite view. My reasoning is that if you're performing in public you assume a certain risk that you're going to be photographed and that said photos will be published in one outlet or another. And there's the acid test for whether or not it's a "public performance" or not. the photos from my son's recital recently were certainly shot in a public building, but even a large recital (which this wasn't) isn't likely to appear in the Greensboro News & Record, so the only shots I used are ones where the performers aren't identifiable. Including one of my own son (this week's Round Robin Photo). In other words, if this shot were likely to turn up in a newspaper I don't have a problem publishing it in a journalistic setting. Now if I were going to use it for commercial purposes -- on Redbubble or Etsy for example -- I'd feel differently about it. But in that case, I'd want to share whatever revenue came from it -- because I'd like to think I'd be extended the same courtesy.

Now photos of people who aren't performing in a public venue -- like my Photo Hunt subjects this week -- I decide on their publish-ability by deciding whether or not they could be picked out of a lineup from the photo. If you can't recognize them I don't worry about it. If there's a doubt I'll try an alternate crop or burning in a shadow that removes the doubt or simply won't use it without permission. It's limiting, but it beats the liability of doing it the other way.

Robin said...

I understand what you're saying, and agree to an extent, but these are small venues of and for our fairly self-contained community, rather than a "real" public venue, and the performers are all people I either know or have at least a passing acquaintance with, so I'd feel odd publishing them without their permission :).

At a more public venue of performers who are themselves figures in the mainstream public eye I'd feel differently I suspect.

Robin said...

Actually, I don't just suspect, I know - since I did in fact publish photographs of the bands who performed at Forest Jam last year. Somehow that just feels different, and a lot more public.

Phyllis Sommer said...

i agree with you, robin, i'm pretty careful about other people's faces...although i bet if you asked them they might like the publicity! could be a new gig for you (pun intended, i think)

Glennis said...

Banjo jokes are like accordion jokes, only funnier.

No wait. Banjo jokes are like bassoon jokes, only funnier.

Uh. wait a minute. Banjo jokes are like saxophone jokes...

RivkA with a capital A said...

clearly, I am not "in the know"....

I don't know ANY musical instrument jokes....

Robin said...

You're not hanging around with the right people then RivkA - you need to come to Jacob's Ladder one year!

RivkA with a capital A said...

I know!

I have wanted to attend Jacob's Ladder for years! Unfortunately, the combination of my husband not being into camping and the festival being on Shabbat has made it not so realistic.

I keep thinking that I'll "run away" with some friends, but I haven't had the energy (or the courage) to do that yet....

Daryl said...

Fabulous shot ... music at rest

Robin said...

They've gone to 3 days this year - it starts this Thursday afternoon, and you don't need to buy a ticket for the whole thing ;-).

RivkA with a capital A said...

This Thursday?!?!

There is no way I could get it together that fast!! (not to mention I have chemo on Thursday!)

*sigh*

Maybe next year....

Robin said...

Next year then - it's a date :).

Libby's Library said...

"You can pick your banjo and you can pick your nose but you can't wipe your banjo on your pants."

(You can Google anything!;-)

RivkA with a capital A said...

Can you remind me a month ahead of time?

Robin said...

Absolutely.