I have been activly entering juried compatitions with my black and white darkroom prints for a little while now. Recently I had two of my prints accepted into the Eye of The Camera show at the Lakewood museum in Colorado. It was a great time at the opening and a real eye opener to see what some of the other prints looked like on the wall. I have to say the traditional BW photos were fantastic. The best traditional black and white print  winner was a platnum print. It was outstanding.

When you enter a show like this you only get one of two answers; your in or your not. The downside is you don't get any feedback in either case. If you are looking for feed back on your work you should look for a portfolio review event. Like so many art disciplines good photography is subjective, and each gallery/show has its own motivations when choosing the peices for the show. I don't envy those judges who have to choose 100 prints out of 1,500 + submissions. That has to be hard.

Back Lit Dandy and 1956; Fiber, darkroom prints exhibited at the Lakewood Museum

The thing a juried show can do for a photographer is a couple of things.

Having your work seen by the juror:
Even if you don't have your work selected the juror may like your work very much but it just doesn't meet the shows requirements. If you see a juror for a show that you know you want your work in front of it's a great way to get it there. You never know when a juror will think back on some work they have seen for other purposes.

Artistic Credibility:
Collectors, galleries and museums (fine artists clients) want to know that an artist is committed to continuing their work. Entering shows and being selected in a few shows a commitment that the artist has to producing more work and pushing for it to be seen by others. It also shows that an artist has achieved a certain level of quality in their work that it can be shown with the best of the best.

Marketing:
Shows are also a great excuse for sending out a marketing email, facebook post or postcard etc. Even if no one you know goes to the opening because the show is out of state, doesn't mean they don't want to hear about it. Shout it from the mountain tops and keeps it in the forefront of people’s minds.

I hope my thoughts have helped and keep submitting to the call for entries! Don't give up and stick to your vision. You will get better and better each time.

There are events in the photographic industry that are unique only to photography. It's called a portfolio review. It's a process in which a qualified person will take a look at your portfolio and give you feedback on the work. Portfolio reviews will differ from one review to the next. Some will have several reviewers’ across the photographic spectrum. From photo editors, gallery curators, photo consultants, or even other photographers and other reviews may only be one reviewer at a gallery. Most of the reviews will cost some money. Some will be pricey at around $600 and others will be much more reasonable or if you’re lucky, free.

A portfolio review is great exercise in examining your work and getting a fresh perspective on it. I have seen all sorts of portfolios at reviews. From black and white fine art photographs, tin types, platinum and digital pigment. I have seen photographers bring in their portfolio on an iPad but I would not recommend using any sort of digital display for a portfolio review. It's all about the print at the reviews. If you do one, make the best prints you can. The best presentation to show off to a reviewer is a bare, loose print. Stack them in a nice presentation box and off you go. The whole reason for a portfolio review is to get feedback and meet people in the industry. Often you will get very differing opinions between reviewers but that's okay.

Darkroom fiber prints drying after split toning.

I see reviews as a way to improve my work, meet great people in the industry and as a personal way to market my name and work. I submit to competitions a lot too but unlike competitions you will get feedback and ideas about your work that you never when entering a competition. My last review was with the curator of a local gallery here in Denver. Gallery NRC is a great little space and Neil gave me some of the best advice I have received in a review. I will post more on Gallery NRC in the future.

I posted this on my older version of this blog and it gets a lot of traffic so I guess its helping a lot of folks. I thought I would repost it on the new blog platform so it keeps the film goodness going.

Disclaimer: This is not a scientific test, my results may be different than yours and results may vary.

I have ordered some of the new Kodak Portra 400 film and can't wait to give it a spin. I have seen some posts on a few other blogs that have shown how wide the exposure latitude of the new film is. You can see some good examples over at Twin Lens Life. They are some great film shooters in the Riverside area. I have also seen a test of Fuji X-tra 400 consumer film that showed how much exposure latitude it has over at Figital Revolution. All films are different and behave differently, that's the beauty of film. Knowing what you want to get right out of the camera and knowing what film will get you there instead of working for hours in photoshop to get there is a great way to work.

For my example I chose to shoot with some Kodak Ultramax 400. It's easy to get your hands on and I figure that if someone wanted to start shooting film for the first time, or go back to it for kicks, they would be likely to pick some of this up and start shooting. It breaks down to about $2.50 a roll, not expensive and easy on the wallet.

What I did on my first roll is to expose the first frame at 50 iso and then move each frame after that up one stop, all the way to 6400 iso. I did this so I could find the "sweet spot" to set my iso on my camera. You might be saying "But the box says 400 iso, don't you set it at 400?". The short answer is maybe. Just because the box speed says 400 doesn't mean that you get the best results at 400. In the other examples from Twin Lens Life and Figital Revolution you can see that the films performed really well at just about all speeds. That's right, you can shoot those films like you can with digital and move the iso around! The Kodak Ultramax however, doesn't perform so great at 400 or higher (again these are my results, yours may be different). You can see my examples below.

All shot with a Nikon F4 and 50mm F 1.4 lens. 1 hour minilab at walgreens.

As you might be able to see 400 iso is about the max this film can shoot at. It seems that the film starts to flatten out in contrast and the grain starts to get bigger at 400 iso. If a person didn't know this and was excited to "try film" and shot this at box speed they might be a bit disappointed and think that all film looks like this. Now that I know how this film behaves with my shooting style and camera system I will be shooting this film at 100 iso not 400. The grain structure, color saturation and the blacks seem to be real nice at 100 iso and it still gives me about 2 stops + or - for error and I will still get a nice exposure. If you want to get into shooting film and you chose this film just for "testing it out" you would probably be better off setting your iso at 100 or 200 to start out. I think you will like your photographs more and it wouldn't discourage you from shooting some more.           

It's been way too long since my last post. I have been busy of course, but that't not why I haven't posted on the blog lately.I have been working on a re-design of my website. This re-desing coinsides with my new creative direction with my photography. My photographic passion lies in true Black & White photography. Images captured on films, printed in the darkroom on silver fiber paper.

The new site has my fine art photographs available to purchase by request, but I am also going to do something a little different than the normal portfolio site. I want to do some interviews of photographers, galleries, currators and others in the photo biz. I will also post tips on making great black and white images from film and digital processes. I have a few things to finnish up on the site but it will be 100% complete in a few days. I hope you like the new site!

I had the privilege of photographing Ali and Mikes wedding in a beautiful garden ceremony with their closest family and friends. What a beautiful couple, so happy and relaxed on their wedding day, and so in love with each other. What a fantastic day at the Greenbrier Inn just north of Boulder. It was a joy to work with the whole crew that put together a perfect day for Ali and Mike.  The weather was perfect, the people were great and the light! Wow, the light that day was amazing.

The dedicated people who made this day a perfect one!

Wedding Photography: Derek Lofgreen / Event Planning: Jolene Langnes / Venue: Greenbrier Inn

I was able to get out to the paintball field again for the kickoff of the Blitz Chanpionship Series tournament. It was a great time watching the aciton and shooting a few points. Team Anomaly was there taking 2nd for the day in their division. I have to say, of all the sporting events I shoot, paintball is the most fun.

Nikon F4, sigma 70-300, Fuji ProH 400

Where is home for you?

RH: I currently live in Lehi, Utah, a smaller town near the Salt Lake Valley. While spending the majority of my life here I have lived many places and done a fair amount of travel. Even with all that I keep finding myself here because of the beauty and ruggedness of the desert.

When did you start making photographs?

RH: I remember the day. I was 4. My mother was working in her studio being a commercial and portrait photographer, handed me a polorid land camera, black and white, and said go make something with this. I still have some of the images I made that day and I have to say it freaks me out a bit that there are significant parallels to my work today.

Do you have any formal training in Photography?

RH: I have had the benefit of being taught by 3 generations of my family as well as some of the better known photographers and artists for many years. I love taking and giving workshops and having get-togethers with peers, mentors, and students. No matter how many classes I have attended I am constantly amazed at what I can learn. I  an’t recommend enough to others to take some of the resources they spend on equipment and supplies to use it to take a class, any class.

Where do you find inspiration for your photography?

RH: I find inspiration by creation. The more I work the more I see. I have a very hard time sitting about coming up with the next great idea for an image. In fact, I don’t think it’s within me to do so, but when I am out making images I get in a rhythm and the more I work, the more I see.

Why do you choose to photograph in black and white?

RH: The images I create are intended to evoke memory. I want the images to bring back in a rush of emotion the memories of others. Not necessarily those the image itself may represent but I memories that come from the light and texture of the image.

I know you are a large format photographer for the most part, why do you like to use the large format over another format?

RH: Really I feel most at home with an 8x10 view camera. I am happy to use what ever camera I have but in terms of efficiency, we, my camera and I, just seem to fit together. I do find myself using many 19th century processes to bring my images to closure and as with many the older processes are contact only -- can not be enlarged -- I need a negative of respectable size in order to create a decent size print.

What is your biggest challenge when making your work?

RH: Time is the most difficult resource to find. I know of few artists who can support themselves with their art alone. I think those who do find that the pressures of creation have a price to be paid. I may not like a day job compared to my art, but I prefer my art not as a day job.

Do you like to plan where and what you are going to photograph before you go out into the field? Do you do any pre visualization in your capture process?

RH: I will head out to a particular place but I want what I find to surprise me. I find, by the way, it’s not always a nice surprise. I will find there will be something there for me to see. I can see it when I’m there, and I go to the same place over and over to find something different every time I am there. As to pre-visualization, I find that I have developed an eye for the processes I use. I can get an idea of how an image might look through a particular process simply because I have used that process for so many years. I may have an idea upon creation of an image but I am not bound to it in the darkroom.

What excites you most about your work?

RH: Seeing the finished product, something framed. I really dont like the digital capture as I think too many think that once it shows on a computer screen it is a finished image. I couldn’t disagree more. I believe a large part of the value of an image is to see it in ones hands, the art piece itself. Printed in a method respectful of the image. Something in my hands, that’s what excites me.

What do you have planned for the future of your work?

RH: I hope to see it grow in beauty and virtuosity. It’s so much more challenging to create and even more so to create something of beauty. That is the challenge.

Do you have any advice for anyone that wants to start photographing in black and white or large format?

RH: Find your voice. If it leads you to large format, then so be it. Don’t force it. Create so much work that it can’t be ignored. Creation of images to their full fruition, that is the act of art.

It's been a while since I have posted on my blog. One of the big reasons for me not posting much is I get tons of spam posts. What a drag. It takes me an hour just to sift through them before I make a post and by that time I am just sapped and don't really feel like posting anything. So, one day i said "forget it, there has to be a better way". There was. I needed to upgrade.

Nikon F4, Nikkor 35-135mm, Kodak Tri-X 400

So this is it! The upgraded lofgreenimages blog. It has a new look to it too. I have been working on my website of black and white photographs too. I hope to have interviews, tips and announcements of new work here on the blog. Keep coming back or better yet get the feed or subscribe to my emails to get the latest from me.