Peak Action

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on April 9, 2012

©Joe DiMaggio

I had an opportunity to teach at the University of Arizona. It afforded me time in the desert, in the dead of winter to photograph some interesting characters. Here’s a young man taking a short cut. I had no idea he was going to do this. The lesson of the day is to make sure your camera is ready to go. Pre-select shutter speed, aperture, color balance, ISO, type of metering, and exposure compensation. The next part of the equation would be experience and some would say luck, I believe you make your own luck. This photo was taken with a 35 mm camera, a 100mm Macro lens, ISO 50, shutter speed 1/500 f/4, single exposure.

PRE-PRODUCTION, EXPERIENCE, EXECUTION

20×30 Adoramapix

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on April 2, 2012

Over the years I’ve had two major printers. One was Par Excellence in Shreveport Louisiana, the other was Ken Leiberman in New York. There is no doubt Ken was and still is a great printer. If you’re going to have a show at MOMA, or a San Francisco gallery, he may be your choice. Par Excellence is unfortunately out of business. My partner and best friend JoAnne Kalish is a master printer “and one hell of a great photographer,” she produces some impeccable “Giclee” prints to die for. As great as they are they just are not a photographic process per se. Without telling JoAnne, I made 60-20×30’s, and 12-16×20’s. They are awesome and if you would like to come by our Learning Center to look at them, make an appointment and I will gladly show them to you. The key is – the blacks are black, the white are white, and the skin tone is dead on, it does not get any better then that. Info on this photo is, Shutter Speed-1/10 second, Lens-100 mm macro, ISO speed-50 and it was taken on the new Manfrotto carbon fiber tripod 190cxpro3.

Wheeler at MOMA

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on June 10, 2011

I know everyone who attended the photo retreat on Memorial Day weekend- Every person, to a man and a woman all said the same thing. They absolutely loved Dennis Wheeler. The idea of sharing my 30 plus years relationship with Dennis with the students worked out better than I expected. To say Dennis is a master of the arts would be an understatement. He’s a Renaissance man on steroids. Every time I feel a visual block getting ready to bite me on the butt I call Dennis and invite myself to his farm, where he proceeds to motivate me to get off my duff and start producing work. I sat listening to every word that Dennis spoke and watching the faces of the participants and guests at the party. It was a beautiful thing. Here are a couple of comments.

“Thank you for inviting me to the Retreat/Party. It was an enjoyable experience, in which I learned a great deal about photography, creativity and myself. Meeting Dennis Wheeler gave me new insight into questions that remained unanswered until his down to earth, realism in his lecture.

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“The Retreat was a great success on all levels. Hope to see you on June 12, 2011 in Lower Manhattan. All the best.”

~Ralph Mocciola

“A special thank you to Dennis Wheeler for demonstrating that creativity does not stop at 60 – whatever – years old!”

~Linda Pedersen

“It is hard to put into words what this past visit with you has meant. I find the below a step in the process of putting into words what occurred at your home and Learning Center. That said, I look forward to further workshops that explore what the below author suggests, and what Dennis Wheeler demonstrated.”

~David Kenny

“I had a wonderful time, learned a lot, got to exchange ideas with a great group of photographers, had an opportunity to listen and learn from an accomplished artist (Dennis Wheeler)…”

~Ann Raine

“Thank you for a most wonderful day, I think it was better than any of us could have imagined. It was a great experience to sit around and talk about the arts and meet and spend time with Dennis, and to be topped off with some great music with Bobby and the boys. But the best was the hospitality you, Joe and Dylan exhibited by opening your home to us and ensuring that we all had a marvelous day. Thanks again, and look forward to seeing everyone again, real soon.”
~Jeffery Thomas

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