Pam Martin

FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER: Pam Martin


Fini
This was the first time I had that "wow" feeling when I saw it on my computer. The light was perfect and the details so interesting. Of course adding texture really made it special.


Fleece as white as snow
This is so tactile I want to touch it. I especially like the bits of straw making it look so organic.

1 Tell us a little about yourself

My "real life" didn't start until I picked up a camera and discovered the magic of photography. Up to that time I had various careers in the medical field and interior design, but never felt I was being true to my artistic nature.
In March of 2010 I read an article in the New York Times about D. Sharon Pruit (Pink Sherbet Photography) uploading some photos taken with a $99 Kodak digital camera to Flickr.and receiving a contract with Getty Images. I immediately joined Flickr, uploaded some images and was determined to become a "Getty Artist". To my delight on January 6, 2011 Getty invited me to enroll with them and selected 6 of my images.

2: How long have you been involved in photography?

I've always loved to look at beautiful images, but didn't own a camera until 2003. One day I was channel surfing and landed on a documentary film called "The Roots of California Photography: The Monterey Legacy", and when I saw the work of Brett Weston I literally fell in love. I was given a used Canon G1 and just started pushing the buttons and reading the manual. It became clear I needed some hands-on training so I took a class at the local community college and learned how to develop film and make prints which gave me a good foundation.

3: Equipment you use?

Canon 60D camera
My walk-around lens is a Canon compact macro 50mm 2.5
Canon 50mm 1.4
Canon zoom 55-250mm 4-5.6 IS
Canon zoom 17-85mm 4-5.6 IS USM
Lensbaby 2.0

4 Who or what inspires you?

My father, who was what was call in the 1950's a commercial artist, but who's true passion was abstract expressionism. Our home was filled with his paintings, and I know I learned about composition and color just from being exposed to it daily.

Paul Grand and Jill Ferry who constantly inspire me with their stunning images. Their Flypaper Textures have helped transform my rather ordinary images into something quite unique.

Brett and Edward Weston
Georgia O'Keefe
Film Noir

5: Preferred subject matter?

Up close and personal portraits of people, animals, flowers.

6: Name one thing you haven't caught with the camera that you REALLY want to capture.

Sand dunes in the early morning light.

7 If you weren't a photographer would you have another artistic pursuit? If so what?

Photography is my true passion and I can't think of anything else I'd rather do.

8: Do you have any advice for someone just starting their photography journey?

Know how to use your equipment. Understand composition and exposure. Even when you're uninspired, shoot something; magic happens all the time. Above all have fun!


9: Plans for the future?

My son and his wife are expecting twins in October so I think it will be great fun to photograph the two of them together. I also want to use my Lensbaby more. I love shallow depth of field for close-up shots and Lensbaby can give some very interesting blur for wider angle shots.

10: In one word, describe your photography

Soulful

Vin60

FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER: Vin60


This tree has been for a while a preferred subject of mine: how it changed with seasons, weather, light and how I could change it by my photography!


The fascination of urban atmospheres, light, darkness, motion. A blend I like to experiment with and surely not yet exhausted.


1: How long have you been involved in photography?

I remember myself with my own camera in hand as a kid.
My first Reflex was a Yashica FX-3 that I equipped with all sort of gears
and used to experiment any kind of technique: from macrophotography to astronomy.
Later was the time of Minolta and Nikon (whose lents are still part of my today's gear suite)
and a long period of "NatGeo" style shots inspired by the many travels I did.

Despite being a technology fan, I was not an early taker of digital photography.
Eventually the power of millions of pixels combined with digital editing convinced me
to drop slides, filters and complex lab processing in favor of DSLR and Photoshop that opened the doors
to more creative forms of photographic art.


2: Equipment you use?

A Nikon D70 camera equipped with

Nikkor 35mm f1.8
Sigma 10-20 f4
Nikkor 28-105 f3.5 "macro"
Nikkor 70-300 f4

filters of various nature (less and less used), Manfrotto tripods;
without forgetting my faithful every-day companion Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 28-300â


3: Mac or PC?

Mac


4: What inspires you?

Mostly Nature, in her diversified, sometimes extreme, manifestations.
Then light, how things transform has light changes, how they emerge from or melt into the darkness.
Finally technology: which is for me a real source of inspiration as the main, multiform tool to
represent reality and transform it into "art".


5: Preferred subject matter?


Nature, in her extreme manifestations
People, in their urban environment
Human artifacts, seen from a different perspective


6: Name one thing you haven't caught with the camera that you REALLY want to capture.

Aurora borealis: always astonished when I see images of those great magic lights of the north.


7: When in doubt about your art, who do you confide in?

When in doubt, publish! Then I wait for the comments of my friends on Flickr.
Their photostreams, the pools of various groups are often a source of comparison to gauge my own judgement which, at the end,
is the main driver of my art.


8: Qualifications/training in anything? ie: Photoshop

Never taken a course in photography.
I read a lot and now I often look at tutorials published on the web. Still, as ever, experimentation, try and fail, is my primarily guide to learning.


9: Plans for the future?

I'm now in a sort of "reflexion" period. On one side there is a number of techniques and workflows I master that could be improved. I do not like to lock myself in a given "style" though. So I'm seeking for new sources of inspirations, in terms of subjects as well as processes. Surely looking forward to some new travels and to revisit the old ones, taking the time to scan and reprocess the tons of slides that sit since years in a closet.
On the gear side maybe a D7000, a high luminosity tele, surely new software which I expect to boost me in a new era of exploration and experimentation.


10: In one word, describe your photography.

Eclectic