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Chase Jarvis Blog

Life, Death, and Dinner in 1968Today

The year was 1968. My uncle was killed in Vietnam, and this was the camera that he carried into war.

But this isn't a sad story, nor is it the end of a story, it's a sort of a cool new beginning--not for my uncle Rick unfortunately, but it is for this little camera.

Enter stage right: Seattle’s largest cultural festival, Bumbershoot. Hundreds of bands, theater, performance, food, it’s a 3 day festival in September. Very cool. Enter stage left: my good friend, renowned food guru Michael Hebb (he’s my partner in our www.songsforeatinganddrinking.com project). Hebb was an artist in residence at this festival, and he chose to do what he does so well - host open dinners for 50 people to share, discuss, and revive ideas. The topic for this series of dinners?...the ideas behind arguably the most revolutionary year in US history (and certainly a huge year worldwide), 1968. And to this dinner, guests were required to bring something to share - a story, a poem, memory, an artifact - from or about 1968 in exchange for this meal that he would prepare. From Hebb:

greetings - you are here at one pot at bumbershoot so that i can feed you - but also so that i can get something from you - the basic request is one of r

Cameras Made From Real Human SkullsToday

If you follow me on Twitter, you likly already saw this from my morning tweet, but I couldn't resist posting it here as well. It's just too unbelievable not to share. This photo (left) is of a functioning 4x5 camera made from aluminum, titanium, brass, silver, gem stones and a genuine 150-year-old human skull.

Seriously.

It seems that the maker of these camera, photographer Wayne Martin Belger is a complete purist and only willing to make his cameras specifically for each photo project in which he engages:

"I don't see how I would be able to connect with my subject and produce what I want using something made in Germany or Japan. I don't even own a camera that wasn't made by me."I initially wanted to write Belger off, but after looking at a few interesting pictures and reading more about him, I couldn't. While it's not at all my style--or anyone's style that I know--from a philosophical perspective he makes an interesting point about this and his other pinhole/skull cameras:

"With pinhole, the same air that touches my models ca

Top Videos and Posts for 2008December 31 2008

What a year it has been. Thanks so much for spending your precious time here. I'm grateful for the level of engagement from this community and I'm continually invigorated by the power of sharing stories, ideas, and information online. Winding down 2008, here's a quick look back at some popular behind-the-scenes videos and other posts that had some interesting traction:

Chase Jarvis RAW: Advance Testing the Nikon D90
I was lucky to be the first photographer to work with the Nikon D90, the world's first dSLR that captured both stills and HD video. This behind the scenes vid showed what that experience was like, kicked off an interesting discussion about where cameras are going, and inspired my pal Vince to make the hit "Reverie" once Canon's video dSLR finally came home to roost.


Chase Jarvis RAW: Kung Fu (Featuring Superfad)
Highlighting how both stills and video come together in high-end advertising, this behind the scenes vid illustrated my working for superstar motion gurus Superfad to shoot stills that mimicked their beautifully created motion work.



Chase Jarvis TECH: Photo Shoot in 180 Seconds
This vid highlighted every aspect of a typical commercial advertising shoot, and features the lovely ladies of the PGA. From creative concept to production and delivery, this is a front to back, soup to nuts, photo shoot in 3 minutes.


Two more videos and a handful of other top posts from 2008 after the jump. Click the 'continue reading' link below...

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Chase Jarvis TECH: High Speed Photography
Unknown to most photographers, freezing ultra high speed action is more a function of strobe speed/duration than shutter speed. This video uses photo gear, knives, and exploding water balloons to show you how to do this on your own.



Chase Jarvis RAW: Seattle Flickr Roundup Redux
A followup to the first large scale meetup of its kind that we created in January, this second event from summer was the underground photography community on steroids. With help from the community, we organized a hundred aspiring photographers to have access to professional equipment, 25 models, 4 stylists, wardrobe, breakdance crews, S&M mistresses, skate and bmx ramps and a 30,000 square foot studio. I was hung over the next day ;)

5 Tips For Making Great iPhone PhotosDecember 28 2008

My iPhone has been like crack to me since the day one on the market, June 3, 2007. Most of us iPhone users make regular and swift use of the impressive 'Net, email, and location-based tools, but as a professional creative I'm always using the built-in camera to grab snaps of anything that catches my eye for ideas, inspiration, and such. In fact--in case you didn't know--I post daily mobile iPhone snaps to my Facebook page and my Twitter account for fun (friend/follow if you're interested.)

That said, I dunno if it's been the pile of comments I've received from those sources, the numerous ranting requests via email, or the hilarious fact that someone actually started a Facebook group called "Chase Jarvis Shoots Better Pics with His iPhone Than I Could With a Hasselblad", but I figured--since people have grumbled to me about such challenges and since grabbing snapshots is a part of my daily creative routine for staying fresh and inspired--that it would be good fun to post a quick 'how to' checklist for making great iPhone picture

After PhotographyDecember 19 2008

People once said, "Digital sucks, I'm sticking with film." People once said, "I'll create a library of images (stock? almost forgot it existed...), retire young and live off my royalties." People once said, "The sky (cloud?) is falling." People (me) have said, "This is the most interesting time in history to be a photographer." It's a known fact that more photographs are being used, licensed, sold today than ever before in history. Some photographers are thriving, growing, and emerging. Others are dying.

All these messages and more can make it difficult, exciting, or confusing, or worse--all three at the same time--to formulate opinions on what it means to be a photographer.

The following seems to add to this messaging. Fred Ritchin, an NYU photography professor, just kicked out a new book titled, After Photography, which explores the democratization and manipulation of photography via digital cameras and computers. (Buy it here.