Reflection Abstract 80

Check out the interview in BEHIND THE LENS, YOUR LENS

Craig Royal is an award winning visually impaired fine art photographer / digital artist from the Tampa Bay area. One of his photos was awarded the “Best in Show” at the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts Members’ Show recently. We talked with him about his work and his experiences.

Share on Facebook

soft light crocus

“I know I am new, but I feel like the whole world has opened up to me through this group and photography.” This came to BP’s inbox today form one of our members.  The photographer, bbrasley, has chronicled her transition into photography on her blog, Losing Vision Gaining Insight, in her post, Blind Photography. bbrasley write about how this community helped her find a new way to see the world:

With the inspiration of the blindphotographers website, I began to create a digital world where I can see the beauty that I can no longer see in the “real” natural world.

bbrasley goes on to show an example of how she uses Photoshop to find the real image buried in her pictures. The photo about, soft light crocus, was lost in the glare and noise  when she snapped the original digital negative.  Bringing that file into Photoshop and onto her large screen monitor, bbrasley was able to find this wonderful nugget.

Thanks for sharing your story, bbrasley! Please go on to read about Blind Photography at Losing Vision Gaining Insight.

Share on Facebook

Craig Royal

Meet Craig Royal. Craig, a legally blind photographer from Florida, is inaugurating our new monthly series of featured photographers. Each month, Blind Photographers will present a member of our community with images and an interview.

BP:  Tell us a little about yourself.

CR: Being creative has been a major impulse in my life since my teenage years. I earned a BFA in crafts from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1982. I had concentrated in woodworking furniture design. In 1983 I was awarded a professional fellowship from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. From 1983 to 1990 I had exhibited fine woodworking in galleries in the Mid-Atlantic and Pacific Northwest. From 2000 to 2007 I had dabbled in stone and mixed media sculpture.

A Blinding Light 5: On Flickr I have a set titled Visual Impairment Abstracts that attempt to represent my visual impairment. "A Blinding Light 5" is a radial blur of parking lot markings that was achieved with photoshop. By placing the centerpoint in the right place an eye shape will appear and a lens flair is added to represent my white blind spot.

BP: What brought you into photography?

CR: My interest in photography started in 2007. Being frustrated with visual impairment, a lack of patience and poor concentration my creative interests shifted from three dimensions to two dimensions. With photography the results where more immediate and I could rely on the cameras ability to focus instead of relying on my eyes, which was quite liberating.

BP: What equipment and techniques do you use?

CR: I shoot with a Nikon D90 and use Photoshop to edit and manipulate images. In oder to see the computer screen I use a 4x telescope mounted on a frame similar to what surgeons use while operating. I have enough usable vision to use the cameras viewfinder.

BP:What is your visual impairment?

Killing Time To Live In the Moment: "Killing Time To Live In the Moment" is one of my philosophical creations that is a composite of three different images layered together.

CR: I have a congenital form of optic atrophy and have been legally blind since birth. My vision had been 20/200 corrected up until 1992 when a white blind spot developed in the center of the visual field in both eyes. After the blind spot stabilized my vision was, and currently is, 20/400. My peripheral vision is blurred so I miss out on a lot of detail and has an impressionist quality about it. The white blind spot adds a surreal element.

BP: How do you think your images are affected by your eyesight?

Apart from trying to express my visual reality by way of a visual art form my desire to see more of the detail that surrounds me, though it being after the fact, plays a part in my choices of subject matter. Being very nearsighted I am not drawn to landscape photography.

BP: How do you ‘see’ photography’?

CR: Due to my nearsightedness I see photography closeup. On another level it is a visual aide. On a deeper level it satisfies the Muse.

Persona: Water is a favorite subject of mine. Especially reflections on water. I found by shooting at a slow shutter speed the light reflection will expand and take on a three dimensional look. I have a particular location where I stand and take 300 to 400 shots and once uploaded on to the computer I'll go through them to see if anything catches my imagination. "Persona" is an example where the profile of faces are suggested in the reflections. I will manipulate the image if need be in order to make it more obvious.

Craig has a profile here on BP. You can also find him on Flickr.

Share on Facebook

Image by Vince Thacker

The BBC., via its BBC – Pods and Blogs, is again featuring the work of a blind photographer. The February 9, 2010, edition of this podcast talks with British photographer, Vince Thacker.

Though accessibility should be incorporated into all websites, as usual on Pods and Blogs, it’s the things you do that are really interesting. Vince Thacker is a blind photographer. He described how a visual medium fors for him and how he presents his photographs on-line.

Read more at BBC – Pods and Blogs.

Share on Facebook

Alex de Jong

The F-Stop Beyond podcast recently interviewed Alex de Jong, a blind photographer and integral member of the Blind Photographers community. F-Stop Beyond is “the show that started it all. There are already so many podcasts about photography that cover f-stops and Photoshop, business and branding, but host Ron Dawson couldn’t find any that really got into the meat of WHO the photographer IS, rather than HOW he or she shoots.” F-Stop Beyond describes the interview:

“What would you do as a visual artist if you lost the ability to see? How would that affect your life? There often comes a time in a person;s life when he or she is faced with a decision that can have a profound impact on the rest of their life. When life, in all of its ebbs and flows, throws a curve ball you didn’t see coming. Today’s guest had TWO such curve balls. First, he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Then, as a result of that tumor, he lost his eye sight. Alex de Jong is a symbol of how far the human spirit can go when given the right perspective. Alex will share with us how he got into photography, and how he copes with his physical condition. I hope you will be inspired by his tenacity and outlook on life. To find more inspiring photographers who are blind, visit blindphotographers.org.”

You can listen to it here: FSB099: Alex de Jong : F-Stop Beyond: The EXPERIENCE | Original Programming for the Visual Artist or right here:

Share on Facebook

Bruce Hall, untitled 1 & 2, from autism series, 2009 color print 11.25” x 15”

Blind photographers will exhibit at the 19th Annual International
Los Angeles Photographic Art Exposition this month. The Blind Photographers Guild, made up of Pete Eckert, Bruce Hall and Alex de Jong, will exhibit their work January 14 – 17, 2010 in Santa Monica, CA. More details here. This is another exciting opportunity for blind photographers to show their work as well as for the world to see through our eyes. Congratulations to Pete, Bruce and Alex (an integral member of this community) for teaming up on this project.

Alex has generaously shared some of his images from the exhibit:

Share on Facebook

From the article: “Dejong is part of an online community called Blind Photographers, where similarly handicapped shutterbugs share their work and photography tips. Because blindness is variable from person to person, the shooters each develop a different methodology to suit their visual impairment, said Tim O’Brien, a member of the organization and a freelance newspaper photographer for Chapel Hill News.“

We are very excited. The story is leading Wired.com right now and is near the top of the Digg chart.

Share on Facebook

Dogs Romping on Ambleside Beach

Blind Photographer and contributor to this website, Cathy McKie (aka EYZWIDESHUT), has had one of her images featured in the latest Schmap Vancouver travel guide. Her image, Dogs Romping on Ambleside Beash, is one of several images showing Ambleside Park.

As the name suggests, this parkland is a perfect place for a beachside amble or jog. It has views of downtown Vancouver, Stanley Park, and the Lions Gate Bridge. It is a popular meeting place for nature lovers and health buffs. It has a fitness circuit, dog path, bird sanctuary, pitch ‘n’ putt and the Centennial Seawalk. It is also the home of the Ferry Building, a heritage gallery that showcases work by local artisans. During the summer, a vintage steam locomotive, the Royal Hudson, passes through the park twice daily.

The guide is also available in as an iPhone app.

Share on Facebook

Diana 151

What a lovely little lump of plastic. She features a 1/125(ish) shutter speed, a bulb setting, 3 apertures, and zone-focusing. You get 16 4×4 frames on a roll of 120 film. How simple can you get? I love how this camera forces you to be creative through it’s limitations. You never really know what you’re going to get. I’ve only been pleasantly surprised so far. Loading her with slide film for cross processing has yielded some very surreal, dreamy results.

The heavy vignetting and general dreamy look really jives with the way I see the world. It’s easy for me to line up a shot through the small square viewfinder. It’s wonderful as a snapshot camera or as a serious tool for capturing a very specific mood.

For those who are a bit intimidated by film and especially 120: I can’t stress enough how simple this camera is to use. Loading and unloading the film can be a bit cumbersome at first as with any 120 camera. I’ve resorted to zip-ties in order to fasten the camera to my tripod as there is no threaded mount on the camera. I never take this camera anywhere without plenty of black electrical tape to seal up any light leaks (there are plenty!).  

Holga 120WPC (wide pinhole camera)

It’s a box. It has a tiny pinhole. How simple can it get? There’s a large spring-loaded shutter release on the front which has threads for a standard cable-release. A series of posts on the top of the camera, which represent the center and outer bounds of the frame, are used to compose your shot. There’s a small bubble level on top as well but I’ve found it to be basically worthless. Exposures range anywhere from 5 seconds to 15 minutes and beyond. I’ve done a little modification to the area around the pinhole; removed some raised plastic which was creating a hard, uneven vignetting. I also have a couple of 52mm filters (R25, R72) which can I tape over the pinhole opening. You can fit 6, 6×12 shots or 8, 6×9 shots on a 120 roll. I have only ever used the wider 6×12 mask.  

The images from this camera are so interesting to me. It captures 120 degrees which far exceeds the bounds of my vision. This is sort of how my brain interprets what it sees. I find myself “seeing” more than I actually can by piecing together a scene after looking around it for a few seconds. This blending looks to me very similar to the images that come out of the Holga WPC. A little bit of the past, slightly embellished and dreamy.

Once again, this camera is extremely easy to use. The lack of viewfinder leaves a little to chance. I like that. It’s an imperfect system. It requires visualization and patience. I’ll take anywhere from 2-15 minutes to set up a shot. A tripod is a MUST with the long exposure times. Or at the very least a sturdy platform. Once again, BLACK ELECTRICAL TAPE. I tape up all of the seams and latches to avoid light leaks.

Two Different Cameras.

While these two cameras are very different from each other in form they both represent my personal vision quite well. The small square vignetted Diana shots are how I see the immediate external world. The wide, dreamy images from the Holga WPC represent my composite view of what’s in front of me. I enjoy the process of working with the film and negatives from these cameras. It adds a more real and personal feeling to my finished images.

Take a look through my albums for more examples:
Holga 120WPC on flickr
Diana 151 on flickr

Share on Facebook

Coffee Scoop

The scoop we use for our morning coffee is coffee colored. This makes it hard for me to see how much coffee is in the scoop. Instinctively, I tilt the scoop so that the nearest light falls across it rather than directly on it. The cross light brings out the texture of the grounds, which stands out in contrast to the smooth shine of the scoop.

I am too lazy to bend down and peer into the dogs’ water bowl to see how much water remains. The clear water is too hard to make out. Instead, I give the bowl a nudge with my foot. This is not to see if any spills out, though that happens a bit too often. Instead; the nudge causes ripples. With the right angle, I can see these ripples and can tell, more or less, if the dogs need water.

What does this have to do about photography? We all use visual tricks to help us see. What’s so special about these particular tricks? There is nothing unique about these specific tricks. But being visually impaired, I rely more heavily on these types of visual shortcuts. This heavy reliance provides extra, if instinctual, training in the properties of light

Light is the key to photography. An ability to sculpt with light is the most powerful tool in the photographer’s kit. Composition, color, content are all lost without the right light. So good coping skills for low vision are also hard knock lessons in Photography 101.

Am I crazy? Probably.

Share on Facebook