20 September 2009
Wonder Bread
25/09/09 21:05 Filed in: Photography | Theory
Having only moved to Buffalo in January of 2007, I’m still discovering little gems of the city. Perhaps I should keep these gems to myself, as I just drove by the Fillmore Ave Projects and noticed it’s fenced off and getting a facelift from some conglomerate that will either start construction or just keep a fence around it.
Upon the request of my pal Mark Warner I headed to the Walden Ave/Genessee St. district of Buffalo the other day while I was out shooing. It seems like an obvious idea, but it’s one of those things that you don’t think about. It’s easy to go to the major landmarks in a city, but it takes patience wandering around unfamiliar neighborhoods, sometimes sketchy, to find that shot.
For example: The Wonder Bread Factory. Had I not been recommended to visit the Walden/Genessee district, I wouldn’t have found this gem of a building:
From the little research I found on the building, it appears it was neglected since 2003. The Wonder Bread Factory employed just under 150 people and different bakeries working out of it while it was operational. For a time, and possibly even still, part of the building was used for storage for recycled electronics. I do have a call into the real estate brokerage to see if I can get a tour of the vacant building.
The point of this is there are many gems out there, especially in Buffalo. As creatives, we nee to be on the look out and go to areas we normally wouldn’t to find an atmosphere that is different to us. Too often we get comfortable and photograph the same buildings or the same models and thus get in a creative rut. We need to push ourselves to find different subject matter. I’m as guilty as the rest.
-Nb
Upon the request of my pal Mark Warner I headed to the Walden Ave/Genessee St. district of Buffalo the other day while I was out shooing. It seems like an obvious idea, but it’s one of those things that you don’t think about. It’s easy to go to the major landmarks in a city, but it takes patience wandering around unfamiliar neighborhoods, sometimes sketchy, to find that shot.
For example: The Wonder Bread Factory. Had I not been recommended to visit the Walden/Genessee district, I wouldn’t have found this gem of a building:
From the little research I found on the building, it appears it was neglected since 2003. The Wonder Bread Factory employed just under 150 people and different bakeries working out of it while it was operational. For a time, and possibly even still, part of the building was used for storage for recycled electronics. I do have a call into the real estate brokerage to see if I can get a tour of the vacant building.
The point of this is there are many gems out there, especially in Buffalo. As creatives, we nee to be on the look out and go to areas we normally wouldn’t to find an atmosphere that is different to us. Too often we get comfortable and photograph the same buildings or the same models and thus get in a creative rut. We need to push ourselves to find different subject matter. I’m as guilty as the rest.
-Nb
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Central Terminal: One
23/09/09 17:30 Filed in: Photography
First and foremost, apologies for not updating over the last two days, I have been swamped with redesigning a website and finishing up two video promos. I could have updated earlier today but I wanted to go out and shoot to have something fresh to show. I took a pilgrimage to Central Terminal again to explore a little bit. One of these days I’m going to be stalked by the girls from The Shining and never make it out.
I love the Central Terminal. I know efforts are underway to restore portions of it, however I’d like it to remain as is; but who am I to make such a request. My goal is to photograph the platform area’s as much as I can. I know some people who frequent my site likely know people who work with the Central Terminal Restoration Corp. and will likely show them. While the main building has no trespassing signage, which I respect, the further platforms to not. Therefore I did not break any rules to take the following pictures. In the future I will coordinate to photograph the main building, like others have, but I hopefully will be able to put my spin on it.
The remaining platforms have seen quite a bit of activity over the years, in fact I’m confident people were there within the last 6 months as there was garbage from a recent Tim Horton’s promotion. The platforms are quite the photogenic spot. Portions are dilapidated, well most of it is actually, as well as over grown with fresh greenery. From a photographic/cinemagraphic standpoint the platforms are great because you get a real opportunity to play with a really great depth of field. The general platform area is also a good place to work on technique; I brought no tripod with me as to not draw attention and because there’s a significant lack of light I was shooting with a shutter speed between 1/8 - 1/30sec with a wide open aperture, thus it was a good chance to work on low shutter speed grip and technique.
One theme I noticed on the platforms were since that said: Watch Those Labels. At first I thought nothing of it, but they were reoccurring so much that it became slightly eerie. What labels should I be looking out for I thought at one point. I guess I find it so intriguing because it is very clear that the Terminal platforms were simply abandoned one day.
I could talk for hours about my opinions and theories about Central Terminal and society, but for now I’ll let the pictures speak for me:
I love the Central Terminal. I know efforts are underway to restore portions of it, however I’d like it to remain as is; but who am I to make such a request. My goal is to photograph the platform area’s as much as I can. I know some people who frequent my site likely know people who work with the Central Terminal Restoration Corp. and will likely show them. While the main building has no trespassing signage, which I respect, the further platforms to not. Therefore I did not break any rules to take the following pictures. In the future I will coordinate to photograph the main building, like others have, but I hopefully will be able to put my spin on it.
The remaining platforms have seen quite a bit of activity over the years, in fact I’m confident people were there within the last 6 months as there was garbage from a recent Tim Horton’s promotion. The platforms are quite the photogenic spot. Portions are dilapidated, well most of it is actually, as well as over grown with fresh greenery. From a photographic/cinemagraphic standpoint the platforms are great because you get a real opportunity to play with a really great depth of field. The general platform area is also a good place to work on technique; I brought no tripod with me as to not draw attention and because there’s a significant lack of light I was shooting with a shutter speed between 1/8 - 1/30sec with a wide open aperture, thus it was a good chance to work on low shutter speed grip and technique.
One theme I noticed on the platforms were since that said: Watch Those Labels. At first I thought nothing of it, but they were reoccurring so much that it became slightly eerie. What labels should I be looking out for I thought at one point. I guess I find it so intriguing because it is very clear that the Terminal platforms were simply abandoned one day.
I could talk for hours about my opinions and theories about Central Terminal and society, but for now I’ll let the pictures speak for me:
LehrerDance
21/09/09 06:38 Filed in: Video
LehrerDance is a non-profit dance company based out of Buffalo, NY. They’re the one client that keeps me busy the most. It’s somewhat like Robert Duvall’s character in the Godfather; “I have a special practice, I handle one client.” Except my work is relatively legal. LehrerDance is a company that emerged from the brilliant mind of Jon Lehrer in the summer of 2007. Jon is a former associate director of a little dance company called Giordano Jazz Dance, based out of Chicago. By little I mean they are one of the largest Jazz companies in the world. Jon moved back to Buffalo in winter 06/07 and quickly formed his troupe together with dancers from all around the country. He picked me up to be his Director of Visual Media, encompassing photography/video/web and all that jazz.
I had been working on a new promo for 2009 as the last one we cut together was in early 2008. We had a show recently at Artpark and we had our intern shoot some close up footage with a consumer level Sony Handycam. I’ll admit I wasn’t impressed with the Handycam until I fiddled with it between pieces because our intern commented on the poor quality. I will admit for a consumer level camera there’s a lot of manual features that can make the video look pretty solid, the only problem is they are not readily accessible (all menu based options). That being said below is the video I cut together for LehrerDance:
There are a few clips that have a little to much noise for my taste but, again, for consumer level you have to expect a little of that. Encoded using H.264, heck of a codec if you ask me. Edited using Final Cut Pro 7, and only one motion graphic was made in Motion because FCP’s text editor and I were not getting along.
You’ll likely see more LehrerDance work up here shortly since, as I said: “I have a special practice, I handle one client.” - The Godfather.
I had been working on a new promo for 2009 as the last one we cut together was in early 2008. We had a show recently at Artpark and we had our intern shoot some close up footage with a consumer level Sony Handycam. I’ll admit I wasn’t impressed with the Handycam until I fiddled with it between pieces because our intern commented on the poor quality. I will admit for a consumer level camera there’s a lot of manual features that can make the video look pretty solid, the only problem is they are not readily accessible (all menu based options). That being said below is the video I cut together for LehrerDance:
LehrerDance 09 Promo from Nathan Benson on Vimeo.
There are a few clips that have a little to much noise for my taste but, again, for consumer level you have to expect a little of that. Encoded using H.264, heck of a codec if you ask me. Edited using Final Cut Pro 7, and only one motion graphic was made in Motion because FCP’s text editor and I were not getting along.
You’ll likely see more LehrerDance work up here shortly since, as I said: “I have a special practice, I handle one client.” - The Godfather.
Sabres
20/09/09 12:41 Filed in: Photography
I’ll preface this with the following: Every time I go to a Sabres game they lose. Every time. I’ve been to five games in two years and they have lost all five. That being said, this time I brought my camera gear with me to document the game. I was surprised and delighted to know that HSBC arena has a relatively lax photography policy for Sabers. If you have a pretty decent lens, such as a 300mm on up. We were sitting in section 109, so we weren’t that far away. My problem was my lens wasn’t very fast focusing, but that’s no excuse. Perhaps I’m just too slow. Regardless, not too many shots from the game, but a couple decent ones, I guess I need to go to more and get a press pass.
Gallery can be found here.
Gallery can be found here.
