B&H Photography Podcast

It’s macro week at the Explora blog and you’ll find many helpful articles and videos about the tools, techniques, and practitioners of macro photography. On the podcast, however, we go deeper than macro, like 1000x deeper—our conversation is with geologist, gemologist, and microscopist Nathan Renfro, of the Gemological Institute of America. Renfro is a renowned photomicrographer, and his images of the interiors of gems, with their unique inclusions and imperfect perfections, are stunning color abstractions of the natural world. With Renfro we speak about the art, craft, and science of photomicrography—using microscopes to make photos, and how he documents the inner life of a stone. Renfro got his start in gemology thanks to the collection of rocks and gems his grandfather, a miner from North Carolina, left to him. From this collection a fascination grew, ultimately taking him to G.I.A. as a protégé of John Koivula, noted gemologist and author of the Photo Atlas of Gems series. Renfro himself has become one of the leading image makers in his field, and we discuss the tools and techniques he uses to create his work, including fiber optic lighting, focus stacking, and Differential Interference Contrast. We also discuss the surprisingly simple cameras that he uses, as well as the adapters, filters, and apps that enable his wonderful creations. We ask about the advantages that mirrorless photography holds for his craft, about the commercial and scientific applications of his work, and how traditional photography with a standard zoom lens has improved his understanding of composition and color, thus benefitting his photomicrography. Join us for this exploration deep into microverses, which are as complex and unique as any place on earth or beyond. Guest: Nathan Renfro Photograph © Nathan Renfro Today’s episode of the B&H Photography Podcast was produced using Audio-Technica Microphones.

On this week’s episode of the B&H Photography Podcast, we focus on the work of photographer Todd Webb and, specifically, the series of images he created in Africa in 1958, while on assignment for the United Nations. We are joined by Betsy Evans Hunt, the Executive Director of the Todd Webb Archive, and by Aimée Bessire and Erin Hyde Nolan, coauthors of the new book, Todd Webb in Africa—Outside the Frame. With our guests, we discuss the photographic career of Todd Webb, including his work in New York and Paris in the 1940s and 1950s, and the founding and mission of the Todd Webb Archive. Our primary topic, however, is the rediscovery (in a steamer trunk) and eventual archiving and publishing of Webb’s photographs taken in several African nations over the course of a multi-month assignment organized by the United Nations. The images are notable not only for their fateful recovery but for their large and medium format color composition and intelligent eye; they tell a vibrant story of Africa at a moment between colonization and independence. With authors Bessire and Nolan, we discuss the making of their book, which is both a photography book of unique vision and a multifaceted study of the images themselves, with essays and interviews providing historical context and cultural and artistic analysis. Join us for this conversation on the work of an overlooked 20th century master photographer and on a sweeping series of color photos that sat unseen for almost 60 years.    Guests: Betsy Evans Hunt, Aimée Bessire, and Erin Hyde Nolan Photograph © Todd Webb

When you have had as momentous a year as our guest, photographer Misan Harriman, had in 2020, you should shout it from the rooftops. However, on this episode of the B&H Photography Podcast, Harriman offers us nothing but humility and gratitude for the work he has done, including creating the September 2020 cover photographs for British Vogue and the powerful images he made at Black Lives Matter marches in London. Harriman left us inspired, and we are happy to share this conversation, supported by Leica Camera. Sweet drops like, “Our ancestors are whispering to us every time we press the shutter” and “…there’s no small talk in black and white” are the icing on the cake of a wonderful conversation about his work and workflow. Harriman reflects on his love for image making but also speaks about coming to photography relatively late in life and maintaining confidence despite “imposter syndrome.” He advises photographing what you know and love before you dip your toe in deeper waters. We also talk about keeping your head above those deep waters when you are offered incredibly important assignments, such as the triple gatefold cover with twenty portraits for British Vogue, the first cover photograph by a black man in that magazine’s history. With Harriman we also discuss portrait work and minimizing technical distractions to focus on the “exchange of humanity.” This concept serves for portraits taken remotely as well, as his noted portrait of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex demonstrates. Remote photography apps are mentioned, as is his workflow during BLM protests, including a dogged devotion to black and white and using up to five cameras with longer prime lenses for intimacy and safety. Harriman provides us with much to consider, from thoughts on why we should photograph to how to economize using L-mount gear. Join us for this engaging episode and please leave us a comment below. Guest: Misan Harriman Photograph © Misan Harriman  

On today’s episode of the B&H Photography Podcast, we welcome back to the program B&H Senior Sales Trainer Kevin Rickert to discuss the latest cameras and lenses released over the past few months. For today’s episode, we have the support of Audio-Technica and are using its BP40 Large Diaphragm Dynamic Broadcast Microphone. We start with Sony’s new flagship camera, the Alpha A1 Mirrorless Digital Camera, and discuss its impressive features as well some of the new lenses Sony has introduced, including the Sony FE 50mm f/1.2 GM Lens. We also talk about the new FUJIFILM GFX 100S Medium Format Mirrorless Camera and the FUJIFILM X-E4 Mirrorless Camera.   The rest of the episode is dedicated to lenses and a quick look back at some camera releases from late 2020. We mention the incredible new Leica M-mount 35mm f/2 lens and the 28mm f/2 SL lens, a trio of limited edition lenses from Pentax, including the tiny 43mm f/1.9 lens, a 15mm Sunstar lens from NiSi, and several others. Cameras from late last year that get a mention are the Nikon Z6 II, the Olympus OM-D E-M10 III, and the Canon PowerShot ZOOM. Join us for this informative chat and start thinking about your spring and summer photography plans! Guest: Kevin Rickert Editor’s Note : Since this podcast was recorded, both Sigma and Pentax have announced new cameras. Both are substantial updates to existing models, Pentax announced the new APS-C flagship Pentax-K-3 Mark III DSLR and Sigma has introduced the modular fp L Mirrorless Digital Camera. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts

This episode was first published in January 2018. The Canon sweepstakes mentioned in the episode has long since ended and is no longer valid. For some photographers, the phrase “run and gun” has a negative connotation, but when you’re Norman Reedus, that description takes on a much cooler meaning, one that is accurate to his style and a compliment to his ability to “sense a moment.” Reedus, most recognized for his acting work on the television series, “The Walking Dead” and “Ride with Norman Reedus,” is first and always an artist: a sculptor, a director, and author of the photography books, “The Sun’s Coming Up… Like a Big Bald Head” and his latest, “Portraits from the Woods,” which is a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the making of “The Walking Dead.” Both books are available at Big Bald Gallery.  With the travel demands of working on films and television, Reedus’s photography becomes a way to engage with his locations and document his adventures but, through the eyes of an artist, his work is more than just famous locales and behind the scenes fun. He brings a personal vision, humorous and dark, to images he captures and does so with an experimenter’s touch, using a variety of cameras and styles. We talk with Reedus about his start in photography, his stylistic approaches, gear choices, and what he has learned from his time in front of a camera that helps with his work behind one. However, with a guest like Reedus—generous with his time and tales—you let the conversation flow, and we also discuss his series “Ride,” the influence of Laurie Anderson, fan selfies, his love of horror films, and a range of other topics. While recording this episode, the Tom Waits line, “I like beautiful melodies telling me terrible things,” kept popping into my head. I’m not sure this line best reflects Reedus’s work, but I am sure there is a Tom Waits line that does. This episode was a real treat for us at the B&H Photography Podcast, and we hope you feel the same in the listening. Guest: Norman Reedus Photograph © Norman Reedus

What is street photography? Is it an urban exercise? Is it black-and-white or color? Is it collaborative or solitary? Can it be an intimate portrait or a long-term project? These are some of the questions we ask of our guest on today’s episode of the B&H Photography Podcast. And Gulnara Samoilova does not take the bait. Samoilova is interested in expanding street photography, not limiting it with a definition. To her, and as is represented beautifully by the new book she edited, street photography is all of the above, it can happen anywhere, and it is simply “unplanned photos taken in public places.” In addition to be being an editor and curator and the founder of the @womenstreetphotographers Instagram feed, Samoilova is an accomplished photographer herself, and we spend the first half of the show talking street photo practices and how she uses verbal and nonverbal communication to interact with subjects, how she holds the camera, and how a location may affect the style of a photo. She also mentions that she has been a FUJIFILM X shooter for some time. In the second half of the show, we focus on Women Street Photographers, the new book edited by Samoilova and which profiles one hundred street photographers from around the world, and we find out how this book was edited and produced and about some of the photographers included. Join us for this insightful discussion. Guest: Gulnara Samoilova Photograph © Gulnara Samoilova

Eye-catching and grotesque are words not often placed together, but those descriptors are part of the charm and beauty in the still life and food photography of Emma Ressel. Ressel joins us on this episode of the B&H Photography Podcast to discuss her practice, which takes inspiration from, among other things, Dutch Master paintings and her own upbringing in Maine. We talk with Ressel about the evolution of her style and its attempt to balance the two related genres. In her fine art photography, food is a way to address the topics of death, time, and decay and her commercial photography of food, wine, and still life has been commissioned by New York Magazine, Refinery29, and other publications and clients. Ressel works with both a 4 x 5" Toya medium format film camera and with a Nikon DSLR, and we find out why she chooses which system for each project. We also talk about her varied lighting choices and how she came to food photography not knowing much about professional workflows and food stylists and how that may have helped define her look. She is very hands-on with her work, and we discuss sourcing items as diverse as coral snakes and pig’s heads. We also consider issues of waste and overconsumption and how her work deals with those ideas within a commercial context that uses food for purposes not directly related to human sustenance. Ressel also tells us about an inspiring artists residency in which she tackled the subject of decaying whale carcasses. This is a well-rounded conversation, at ease with the technical issues of using a view camera, literary inspiration, and walking the fine line between commercial food photography and pushing the genre to uncomfortable new places. Join us for a listen and have a look at Ressel’s Artfare page to see her larger prints. Guest: Emma Ressel Photograph © Emma Ressel

This is the second episode of the B&H Photography Podcast produced with the collaboration of Leica Camera, and we are pleased to welcome photographer Stella Johnson to the show.  It is the “in-between moments of life” that Johnson describes as the subject of her work; work that includes books and documentary series made in Cameroon, Greece, Nicaragua, and Mexico. In this easy-going conversation, we discuss the nature of her long-term projects, and the motivations that return her to the same places year after year. We also talk about composing with rangefinder cameras, being at the eye-level of your subject, and the weeks that go by without making pictures and the verbal and non-verbal communication necessary when you are invited as a photographer into a community or home, as Johnson has been. For her personal documentary work, Johnson has relied on Leica M cameras and a 35mm focal length lens. We discuss this focal distance in terms of a personal comfort zone and one that even felt safer during pandemic time. She keeps her settings simple and concentrates on composition and the moment; she tends to find light and locations that she likes and wait for the images. Because Johnson’s compositions are so strong in black-and-white and her color work is minimal and adroit, we ask for her thoughts on how to work with both formats and if a fluidity between them is easy. Finally, in searching for a definition of documentary photography, we mulled over the effect of time, of returning to locations and subjects, of its distinction from photojournalism, as seeing “what life is like” and the stories of “just daily life.”  Guest: Stella Johnson Photograph © Stella Johnson

On today’s episode of the B&H Photography Podcast, we welcome wedding and portrait photographer Kesha Lambert. We are excited to speak with Lambert about her approach to wedding photography on today’s show, but she is also speaking at the upcoming 4th annual Depth of Field Portrait, Wedding, and Event Photography Conference, which is a free virtual event to be held on March 7 – 8, 2021. The conference is hosted by B&H Photo and sponsored by Sony, Nikon, Canon, Godox and HP/NVIDIA, and others. The work of Kesha Lambert stands out for its ability to be both joyous and intimate. She deftly uses color and composition, as well as experience and intuition to tell unique and universal wedding-day stories. Did I mention that Lambert is also a lawyer, mom to three boys, a member of the Wedding Photojournalist Association, and a Sony Artisan of Imagery? In our conversation, we discuss her business, intrapersonal, and photography skills to get a sense of how she runs her successful studio.   Her website is a lesson in design and good business practices, and we discuss cameras and lenses, getting ahead of client expectations, contracts, and subjects as diverse as lighting kits and keeping large wedding parties focused and in frame. Join us for this insightful and enjoyable chat and register for Depth of Field 2021. Guest: Kesha Lambert Photograph © Kesha Lambert

Live event and concert photography have obviously been drastically impacted by the global pandemic and related shutdowns. Let’s give a shout-out to all the photographers, musicians, technicians, and crew who have struggled with the loss of that part of their income and craft, but also make time on the B&H Photography Podcast to talk about concert photography as we inch toward a hopeful return to live music and art performances. Today’s guest is Christie Goodwin, a premiere concert and music photographer. She has been the tour photographer for the likes of Taylor Swift and Usher and has shot in venues around the world. She is also the house photographer for the famed Royal Albert Hall in London. Her work is impeccable, and a quick glance at her website features some of the most recognized faces in contemporary music today. With Goodwin we speak on a range of topics, including her goals as a concert photographer based on the needs of the artist, the management team, the venue, or the fans. We also talk about life on tour, the trust necessary to work with musicians, shooting techniques learned from experience, and how she lets a concert “speak to her” as she decides her photographic approach. We also talk briefly about her Canon DSLR cameras and lenses, and about her side hustle, creating conceptual images for book covers, and how this primarily mirrorless endeavor is the yin to her concert photography yang. Join us for this insightful and practical conversation. Guest: Christie Goodwin Photograph: Christie Goodwin