Note: I have been reading peoples comments on images and have confirmed, against all my hopes, that this community is another conglomeration of know-it-all's that actually don't.

How many blurred water shots can one take?

Stop emulating film with digital, shoot the real thing dammit.

If you are going to offer glorious praise for crap work because it makes you feel good, please stop because it cheapens the work that really deserves such credit.

I was hoping this would be a "photography" site, and not a digital manipulation site, but that it is.

I am not bitter, just trying to find where the good and great photographers really are.

Inspire me dammit!


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About Me

I prefer honest images as true to the subject as any photo can be. What I mean is, I like visual recordings of moments in the form of an unpolluted photograph. In general, I use RAW because of the High Dynamic range of the Fuji S3 DSLR. Recordings are slow as molasses, just as RAW workflow is, and even though the S3 shoots high quality jpgs for the "Era" of when the S3 was released, the RAW file conversion can produce an amazing quality to it.

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The camera doesn't make the picture, but choosing and having the right gear for the job sure can't hurt.

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I do miss alot of better moments because of the buffer filling after 3 RAW shots, that drives me nuts at times, but I can't afford a D3, so I am gonna have to make do with what I have.

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This child is most important to me and an absolute joy to photograph. Documenting the learning moments is priceless. I just have to share how cool this child is and hope you enjoy watching her grow, too. She is my niece.

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I really like working on production sets [link] , as the moments, lighting and well just everything is not an everyday thing to experience.

On a rap video shoot once, I had a rapper come up to me after I had be on set for 8 hours and said "Why should I pay you for good quality prints?". I mean, WTF, is their a brain working there, cuz I swear he said he wanted photo prints for free? Much less that I worked the set for free because the MUA invited me (who is also a non-work-reciprocating flake). That sorta put a damper on my pursuit of Hollywood flavored gigs.

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My tool shed consists of: Fuji S3, Nikon N90s, F100.

I use the Fuji S3 for most everything. Even though I work at a lab, film processing still cost money. When I can justify the expense, I use my F100. When loaded with "Pro" film, my exposures look better than my digital. When I am feeling really rich, that it is worth it to skip a few meals, I love to shoot slide film, OMG!!!! Its rendition of the moment captured doesn't get any better.

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I use all media's I can get my hands on to photograph with.

Favorite film (s): Kodak Plus-X 125, T-Max 100 -400 - 3200, Fuji Pro 400H & 800Z, Kodak Portra NC & VC, Kodak EktaChrome (T).

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RIP my NIkkor 35-70mm 2.8 AFD Macro that took a hit. This was my primary lens of choice, but now I shoot with a Nikkor 50mm 1.4 AFD. It takes some getting used to and it is not as versatile, although it is quite sharp and fast.

I also have a Nikkor Kit lens 18-70mm 3.5-5.6 G, which is fairly sharp and I like the wide angle, but the variable stops drive me nuts at times especially when I am shooting in manual.

My other lens is a Sigma 70-300mm 4~5.6 APO Macro because I can't afford a good lens. This is like a band-aid fix and it is hard to use knowing where it is soft, and it is so dark to look through. so I hardly use it unless I know I NEED a tele.

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I have a darkroom at home, the bad is my Vivacom enlarger bit the dust. I have been printing with a C760 Chromega, but the difference in exposure times (from 15 seconds on the VIvacom to sometimes 2 min on the C760) kills me.

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My images are cropped to standard print aspect ratios. This is due in part to the readily available frames in these sizes. Something to consider when doing portraiture, so I find it best to keep it in mind all the time. Custom sizes have their place, but that I keep minimal.

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I am dedicated to using 'lab' corrections only in which to capture and document life. It is my firm belief that corrections beyond the color and contrast, in today's digital world, make it much less photography and much more digital art. It isn't that I can't retouch, I just in general find retouching to be counter productive to my goals (journalism) and contradicting to my principles.

What are "Lab" corrections? Labs in the traditional printing had 4 corrections: C M Y and Density. Curves were built into the paper and film, and at times during developing. Brightness, color bias (correction) and contrast are "Lab" corrections.

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http://jimmydefiant.deviantart.com/

www.jameswbaker.com

http://www.myspace.com/jameswbaker

and now.... http://jameswbakerphotography.blogspot.com/