by Noel Bass, Los Angeles Photographer

One of my most shared photos ever is this photo I call “Tattoo Baby”. Tattoo baby has been posted on many sites. Sites that are tattoo enthusiast blogs like to share the complexity of the tattoo. Other photo sharing sites like Pinterest, get mixed responses. Possibly the highest amount of shares come from controversy hungry forums, who feed off of taking a stand on your point of view.

You may have heard this, “there are two sides to every story”. It’s a common term. It’s elementary. A simple metaphor. You’ve used it perhaps. We use it as a reminder to “keep an open mind” before making our ultimate judgement. Courtrooms all around the world employ this basic understanding; try to hear all sides of a story. Courtrooms are the structured way for a society to remember to “keep an open mind”. But do we keep an open mind by nature? It’s up for interpretation.

Tattoo Baby by Noel Bass, Los Angeles Photographer

The above image, “Tattoo Baby” may have signaled some sort of an alert in your brain.

“Why did she tattoo a baby on her breasts?! Is she crazy?”

or

“That’s kind of…um…I’m not sure. It might be beautiful. Is that real?”

Is that real? Therein lies the controversy. Reality versus a concept makes all the difference. It’s the reason you can go to a movie that showcases everything you disagree with. You can watch a movie where the main character uses fourteen different guns to kill a bunch of bad guys. Or a movie where the main lead is a drug dealing gangster who kills people for money and power. That’s insane. If this character was your neighbor, there’d be controversy. But he’s a concept. A character. We “keep an open mind” because it’s that empathetic nature to want to know all sides of a story. If we don’t know “why” someone did something, it eats at us.

“Why did she tattoo a baby on her breasts?”

I took this photo of a friend a few years ago. I put it up on my flickr account, simply titled, “Tattoo Baby”. People who know me, know that I am constantly experimenting with photoshop. So those that saw this image, knew it was merely a conceptual piece. As a concept it bypasses controversy and stays in the realm of interpretation. You are forced to keep an open mind. It can be beautiful if you put your own story on it.

What happened though was that several people began to take the photo and spread it on the internet. Tattoo articles and websites began listing it as real. Controversy-hungry blogs began to spread it. Some people found it beautiful. Very few knew it was photoshop. By the way, all the while this was being spread, I had no clue. I thought it was a simple post on my flickr account, end of story. I was wrong.

The above was taken from an article entitled “Creepy or Cool?” by thebuzz.com. This along with the next comments have all jumped into the pool of controversy because they think it’s reality. No longer a concept, now they are forced to look for a point of view. Since there is no posted side of the story to this photo, the only side to the story they can see is their own opinion. It’s simple really, “She must be crazy.”

Without a story or even my name attached to the photo as it spreads, it’s wide open for controversy. In fact, one blog took the photo and pasted their own credits on it for the attention of controversy. Some people love when the pot gets stirred. Check out how they made sure their website was linked to the photo: Click Here

It doesn’t bother me in the slightest. In fact, it’s interesting to see the organic evolution of what is happening to Tattoo Baby online. We get to see the pulse on a concept as if it was a reality. From all the repostings and comments, the summary seems to be that those who think it’s real, hate it. Those who think it’s merely a concept, like it.

Click this link to see the many postings on various websites: baby

It’s my belief that people are built with the ability to see other’s points of view. It’s called empathy. We are built with certain empathetic impulses. For instance, a baby may be empathetic when seeing another baby cry. Some babies, more than others. In fact, one baby may be so empathetic that he/she begins to cry along out of empathy. On a more mature scale, we can all say we know what it’s like to be hungry. Yet, we may pass by a homeless person asking for change, without much empathy. Your brain renders excuses, “He’ll just use the money for alcohol.”  And most of us can carry on living guiltless, knowing there are millions of people starving at this very moment on our planet. There are factors to this of course. Probably the strongest factor being that we aren’t subjected to seeing famine in our daily lives. But we know it exists. You’ve seen pictures. I can pull stats to shove in your face. But I won’t. This isn’t a guilt article. The message is simply, that there’s a point where we shut off empathy. Our side of the story is all that matters at a certain point.

Two nations go to war, using the same words of inspiration, “Destiny” and “Honor”. Both have a point of view that sways in their favor. They have ruled out empathy at a certain point for each other’s point of view and now they agree to go to war. They agree on disagreeing. They agree that the only answer is to try to destroy the other’s point of view. This is controversy. Controversy is natural. It’s the declaration of lack of empathy. It comes in all sizes. Controversy can come in catastrophic sizes like world wars, or it can be a simple photo.

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For the past two summers, I have taken nearly identical trips to the midwest. Both were to the same Tallgrass Prairie Farm in Iowa, called “The Prairie Flower”. Though, nearly identical trips, these two years could not be more different. The main factor being the 2012 drought. The summer of 2011 was a rich season, with a perfect balance of rainfall and sunshine.  It was quite a shock later to see the same land, during the worst drought in decades. I took 4 individual trips to The Prairie Flower, during 2011 and 2012. Each time I documented pieces of footage of life on the tallgrass prairie. On my last trip, I was able to spend some time capturing interviews with Bev and Dwight Rutter, owners of the tallgrass prairie farm. The end result is this little story about a family and land that are equally generous. Equal in my heart.

I first learned about the tallgrass prairie through a website called WWOOF.org, World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. My original goal was to find volunteer opportunities on Native American reservations. A friend pointed me to WWOOF. After a lot of browsing, I did find a volunteer opportunity on an Native American reservation, but I also came upon a very unique little farm in the middle of Iowa. Every other farm on WWOOF seemed to be centered around the typical organic farming that we think about. Most center around edible vegetation or livestock. The Prairie Flower was growing grass. Yep, grass. I had to know more. After a little research, I discovered that the tallgrass prairie was once America’s dominant landscape. Now only 4% of it remains. We removed something solely unique to our continent, when we removed the tallgrass prairies of America. No other place in this world has what we had.

Pale Purple Coneflower on The Prairie Flower, Noel Bass Photography

We replaced the tallgrass prairie with organized rows of  corn and soy beans. Both of these crops don’t like intruders, so they require pesticides. And because of corporate control and governmental subsidies, what we consider “farming”, is no more. The land is poisoned with chemical fertilizers. The wildlife is killed off. It’s sterile, especially on the eyes. There’s more variety of life in your average home closet. Underneath the surface of all this corn, is tens of thousands of years of roots and nutrients from the once massive tallgrass prairie.

Mono-culture in Iowa, Noel Bass Photography

The tallgrass prairie has a chance at revival. In fact Dwight Rutter argues that if we quit farming today, the tallgrass prairie would begin to rise again without having to plant a single seed. There are signs of this on every mono-crop farm. Corn farmers call them “weeds”. But if you look closely, that “weed” is a native tallgrass prairie plant, deserving of it’s place.

Dragonfly on The Prairie Flower, Noel Bass Photography

Needless to say, I was intrigued by the wwoof opportunity on The Prairie Flower. I set out to Iowa with a camera and a will to get my hands dirty. My first impression was not of the land, but of family. I met up with Dwight and Bev at a parking lot in the nearby town of Spencer, Iowa. After a very quick greeting, Dwight immediately jumped in my truck and said, “Okay, so we’ll just follow her (Bev).” Dwight is Dwight. And Bev is Bev. From the first time you meet them until you leave, they are as the prairie is. The prairie is a prairie. More than we can say for what we are trying to think of as “human”. We say things like, “Hey, I’m human”, when we make an error in judgement or have an accident. Then, at the same time, we can glorify “human”, by calling superiority over other species. What it means to be “human” is not simple to classify because we live in fantasies about our role on this planet. We watch super hero blockbusters and run to theaters to watch stories about human characters who are more like immortal gods. Dwight, Bev, and the tallgrass prairie, are not. They know their role here. It’s simple. Work with the weather. Work with the land and nature. Most of it is labor intensive, though rewarding. Droughts will come. Troubles will follow. That’s life.

Bev and Dwight Rutter on The Prairie Flower, Noel Bass Photography

Going against nature might be “human”. So you thought. It’s not. It’s a lesson we will learn. But that’s not the point of the story. The story of “human” doesn’t find itself in mistakes or god-like triumphs. It finds itself in-between. It’s there in our connections. My last trip to the tallgrass prairie was unique for another reason. I met Alison DeMartino, a volunteer through WWOOF. I was able to see a family accept another individual as effortlessly as a new seed into the farm. That’s how Dwight and Bev operate. They see things naturally. People come into your life, but for the most part, things don’t change. Like seasons on the prairie, they bloom and become colorful. Some seasons, parts of the farm will excel in seed production while other parts may not mature. The clouds will dump rain where they want to. Just as volunteers may fall onto the Prairie Flower. In between, the connections are human. Possibly and ironically, it’s the connection to be less “human” that brings people to the tallgrass prairie. It’s bigger than you. It’s taller than you. It’s more beautiful than you are. But it doesn’t say this when you’re in it. Without speaking it, it says, “welcome home” to a stranger.

Thanks Dwight, Bev, Rutter Family and Friends!

by Noel Bass, Los Angeles Photographer

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It’s Saturday morning in Los Angeles. Outside the weather is absolutely gorgeous. It’s perfect weather for anyone, with an 9-5 office job, to make the most out of their weekend. This is why people flock to LA. It’s the same reason I love being a photographer. I get to work outside. But I’m stuck to a chair today. I’ve got an entire weekend scheduled, hunched over my computer, editing photos and videos, among other computer tasks. I am the modern photographer; A slave to modern software technology and the demand for post-processing and online marketing. I am a “photogra-chair”.

Being a photographer allows me to take my office outside. Many of my shoots are outdoors, which is absolutely wonderful. I appreciate it each time. Honestly, I think of all of you, each time I’m “working” outside soaking up vitamin D. I feel privileged and grateful. My lungs continuously take in larger breaths of air, like you do when you think about someone you love. There’s a grin on my face no different from any of yours each time you get to enjoy a beautiful day. But being a photographer is not all sunshine and the open air, that I’d like it to be. Call me spoiled. Call me what you will. I’m calling myself a “photogra-chair” until I can make every work day a day without my desk chair.

The Prairie Flower in Iowa by Noel Bass, Los Angeles Photographer

My lower back is saying, “Ouch! Shift! Shift!”. My upper back and neck are yelling, “No! Not that way, shift back!” I spent $250 on a desk chair that promised to give me the same grin I get from working outside. Well, that never happened. But I can’t blame the chair as much as computer technology. We are at the mercy of the digital networking movement. All of us know that the new strategy to making your business grow is with online marketing. That involves such things as say… this blog. That’s right. As a photographer, if I want google to put my business ahead of other’s in search listings, I need to write a blog, often. It makes sense. I understand it on many levels. This is the new community in a way. Google can’t see if I am taking part in the community or active at my photography business unless I write blogs about it and update my online existence.

Today, photography editing software has advanced so much that it’s just common vocabulary for someone to say, “photoshop” casually in a sentence. People say, “You can just photoshop that, right?” Well, yes, but most people who don’t use photoshop don’t understand that it requires hours and hours of work to edit images. Before I go too far, I must say that I am not complaining about editing photos. I like the art and technical brilliance of it. The problem is that it requires me to sit down and become a vegetable.

The Pool Table by Noel Bass, Los Angeles Photographer

Still not convinced that I’m not mindlessly venting negativity. Well, I promise. What you are witnessing by reading this blog, is my optimistic push toward something new as I surrender to outsourcing photo editing work. I get calls constantly from companies who want nothing more than to take on my photo editing responsibilities. Infact I have a friend who owns a photo editing company. It’s something that I have always shot down because I can edit photos myself. And I consider myself fairly quick and talented at it.

Meesh’s World by Noel Bass, Los Angeles Photographer

By editing photos myself,  I can charge my clients better rates without having to pay an outside source to take on the time. But, alas, when you add all the other computer related responsibilities that I need to do to run a photography business, enough is enough. That’s right my friends, I’m taking a stand, literally. I’m making 2013 the year that I converted my business away from being a photogra-chair, back to being a photographer. I’m having visuals of myself, a year from now, with perfect posture, successfully claiming that I owe it to my decision to outsource. My lungs will swell again. My laptop and chair will gather dust. You will see more of my footprints outside than anyone else. And when you bump into me, my silly grin will be instantly contagious. It’ll inspire you to throw your chair away. We’ll walk together, now considering “google” and “photoshop” as curse words.

I hope to… I WILL see you outside someday! : )

Written by Noel Bass, Los Angeles Photographer

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For me, one of the most significant discoveries about the effects of old age, came as a small child.  Family visits to my great-grandma’s house were always a lesson. She lived to be 97. I remember many great things about her, without photography or photos. For instance, her smile and her ability to read a children’s book with such conviction. Because of her age, I noticed other things, like her thick glasses or how she sat a lot. Countless hours in one chair. It was baffling as a kid. When she didn’t sit, she used a cane. Over the years, the cane changed shapes. First, it was a standard cane, then a walker. Walkers are like a mobile podium or counter to lean on. Her’s had tennis balls cut in half, placed on the feet, for smoother sliding. Penn, bright green, a trend among 90+ folk. Finally, the wheel chair. There are other things besides walking and sitting. I’d have to say the number one thing that stuck with me though, was her fading memory.

As a kid, I went from “Noel” to then later as a preteen, hearing my name change to, “Who is that one there?”. Yep, that’s a hard lesson in old age, to watch. Someone you love pointing and asking someone else you love, for an introduction. It’s a shocker, no doubt. When it happens each time, it hurts just as bad, until you start to lose memory with her. I started to close out those memories I had of her calling me by my name and showing me love. It didn’t hurt as bad this way. I started to discredit her as “old”. I saw my mom do it too. It was frustrating for my mom. I could see her impatience with having to repeat herself constantly about simple matters. I think it hurts more when someone who was such a strong figure in your life begins to fade as a pillar of support. When that pillar is love and the sharing of memories, it can crush you when it starts to collapse.

Okay, so anyway, that’s enough about my great grandma. This is about photography. Do we love photography more for what it can do to stimulate memory? Or do we use photography more for storytelling? But then why do we love photos of puppies or motorcycles that aren’t ours? Photos aren’t just memories. For most of us, we think and dream daily in visuals. We see a photo and we can imagine beyond it.

Copyright Noel Bass Photography

A photo of the beach can take you there. A photo of you at the beach can take you to that time. A photo of someone else at the beach can make you envious. Envious because you want to be there. Envious because the memory of the last time you went to the beach has faded for the most part. We can’t capture everything forever. Or can we with photography?

Well, we are trying. Take a look at this gadget called Memoto. It’s about the size of a match box. It has a built in camera and drive that captures your life with photos. They call it “life-logging”. Every 30 seconds, it snaps a photo. It’s questionable whether or not any of the photos will be worthy of framing. As for helping human memory, it’s definitely a plus. Do we want to remember everything though? And that’s a lot of images. What are you going to do with them all? Well, that’s for you to decide.

Google has made a pair of glasses, or actually “glass“, that will be released in the near future. The glasses not only capture what you see, they have a small screen inside, so you can read data. It’s google, so you know they aren’t simply going for a gimmick. They are trying to make an invention to boost a human deficiency. What we are learning is video and photography are great, but carrying a camera is not so great…yet. We are spoiled with visual memory ability already placed in our heads. We are however unsatisfied with how long or sharp these memories can last. Are these gadgets a step toward the memory wheel chair? Are these just visual canes or walkers?

Written by Noel Bass, Noel Bass Photography

Contact Noel about his photography services: Contact

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Everyone can admit that we are all on Facebook. If not then linkedin, or Myspace. Or a few of the thousands of social networking platforms. For most professionals, it’d be crazy not to be connected in some way. Both your business and personal life are online. If not now, then you can admit that we are a bit in denial. It is a modern necessity. Even farmers are online. Because of this increase in demand, I am getting more and more calls from people of all professions. People who need a professional looking clean image, that has a bit of their personality to it.

What’s the difference between a social networking headshot and other headshots? The main difference is the connection. Simple, subtle, clean, with hints at personality. Or if your business requires lots of personality, then the scale slides toward character.

Some people ask me to fit it all in one photograph. Meaning: a professional image they can use for business networking, for social networking, to send home to mom, and to use for online dating. This is not a good idea. The concept is reasonable only on a financial level. Beyond that, you want to have your social and business photos separate from your dating.

Online dating photos should reflect your life in candid action.  They should showcase your hobbies. They should reflect what you enjoy about life. For social networking, I have found the best images are simple shots.  A simple look that captures your warmth and character as an individual. All of this without crossing beyond the professionalism of your field.

Contact me about getting your social networking headshot or online dating photos taken.

“The best social networking headshots are simple, yet capture your warmth and character, without crossing beyond the professionalism of your field.”

 Written by Noel Bass, Los Angeles Social Networking Headshot Photographer

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As I begin to set off into learning and experimenting more with cinematography, I am keeping my eyes open for inspiring ideas and techniques. This short film called Choros(Directed by Michael Langan & Terah Maher) is a beautiful 13min visual experimentation that takes the human form into a semi-kaleidoscope of shapes.

Though “Choros” appears to be a modern innovation in cinematography, the idea of  ”chronography” was developed in the late nineteenth century.  Multiple photographs would be taken in rapid succession to study the movement of a given subject. One example of this is Eadweard Muybridge‘s famously filmed horse in motion (1878). It  provided the world with its first taste of motion pictures when the images were displayed on a spinning zoetrope.

“Several years later, the French physicist Etienne-Jules Marey developed a stunning variation of this technique when he captured multiple poses of a subject over time onto a single frame of film, rendering a kind of visual echo. The nature of this process limited the subject matter to that which could be photographed in a black studio using stark lighting, to prevent overexposure of the background when multiple images are layered over one another.” –  Choros offical website.

Written by Noel Bass, Los Angeles Photographer

All images courtesy of Choros Website, by Langan Films

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What would be a better job than becoming your town’s local iphone food photographer? Here’s the scenario:

1) Go to your favorite restaurants.

2) Ask for a window seat. (One that doesn’t allow direct sun contact)

3) Order your favorite dish.

4) When the dish arrives, take out your iphone and look like a geek for the next 2 minutes. Snap a shot at every angle to be safe.

5) Eat and enjoy.

6) Now that you have acquired a nice little portfolio from all your favorite spots, go back to your favorite restaurant and explain that you are a iPhone food photographer. Yep, that’s right…an iPhone food photographer. When they ask, “What the heck is that?”, explain that you only work with your favorite restaurants and that you will photograph their dishes for free. Say, maybe two dishes per visit.

Results: You get free meals at your favorite restaurants and you help them build a better portfolio for their restaurant online. It’s a win-win. It only costs them a meal or two each time and they get great images in return.

I know, it sounds ridiculous. Maybe I’m just a dreamer, but I can see the right person with a good attitude make this a reality. Sitting by a large window that lets in indirect natural light is key to getting nicely balanced iPhone images. Your phone needs sufficient light with a modest amount of contrast to produce hi quality professional looking photos in minutes.

When I get hired to photograph food photography, there are many elements that make this scenario impossible. Usually the restaurant wants to have results fast, so we photograph a large portion of the menu in one day or two. I use high end strobe lighting and use a multiple selection of reflectors and mirrors to highlight specific parts of the dish. This type of effort costs a good amount of money because of the attention to detail.

So when you look at the alternative of a restaurant owner only having to feed his photographer, there’s virtually no gamble.

These images were taken during my lunch with a friend at L’epicerie, a french cafe in Culver City. We took about two minutes to get different angles and then we indulged in the deliciousness!

L’epicerie : 9900 Culver Boulevard, Culver City, CA 90232

Written by Noel Bass, Los Angeles Food Photographer

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One of my good clients has been building his company up on many levels over the years, from technical patents to consumer marketing. He has been the conceptual creator of every stage of his strategy, which is impressive. Even more impressive was his recent decision to let go on complete control of marketing to let a business branding company take over for this next marketing push. That push included a fun day of shooting character portrait photography.

They put together a list of concepts and hired actors for a full day video and photography shoot. I don’t want to go into detail about the product, but it’s main functionality centers around people’s moods.

I love character portrait photography and wish we had more time to really go wild with concepts, but we kept everything to the script laid out by the branding creatives. The actors were great and really receptive to each concept.

I’m posting a few of the shots I took below:

The sensitive muscle.

Rocker dad.

Just you and I.

Twin Maids.

Photo copyright Noel Bass Photography, Los Angeles Portrait Photography.

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Article written by Noel Bass

Everyone who considers themselves a photographer should have a professional photography light meter in their possession. To be clear, an external light meter, rather than the built-in meters on your camera. Light meters are very handy and can give you exact light readings instantly at all different angles. Your camera has a built-in photography light meter, but it doesn’t operate the same as a professional photography light meter, often under-exposing images due to misreading high peaks of light in portions of an image.

I spent $600 for my light meter because I wanted one that would last me a lifetime. Many standard photography light meters still run over $200, which is why many amateurs go without them. But now, nobody with an SLR has an excuse. Check out this very cool invention!

It’s  called the Luxi, and is a small clip on accessory that turns your iPhone into a proper photography light meter.

The Luxi is a small white diffusion dome that works with the Luxi app. The battery for my light meter alone is over $5 and I have to purchase a new one every couple of months. Luxi is patent pending and will retail for $25 when it’s launched.

And, though my photography light meter is intelligent and can store settings, having a light meter app that works with my iPhone means endless possibilities in the future. My wheels are spinning thinking about all the possibilities that this app can bring that my expensive light meter won’t be able to do.

Support the product and pre-order a unit for yourself on Kickstarter for a donation of only of $14.

 

 

 Visit Luxi’s web page:  www.luximeter.com

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