Soon It Will Be Too Late

Time, this unparalleled parameter in life, is our ally and enemy simultaneously, but how we react to it is a decision that we make by ourselves based on so many factors. Two weeks ago, I was in the middle of reading an article, and right in front of me, this leaf fell off from the body of its plant onto the ground. I was witnessing the first moments of this leaf on the verge of its deterioration by Time, and it was obvious that in some days it would lose all of its glory. So, I started to photograph this beautiful and fresh leaf, wanting to see how Time was going to insult this once-living plant. My intention was to make a series of well-structured images to show how Time impacts the decay of everything. But after seven days, something changed and stopped me from doing the rest of the shooting and forced me to comprehend that soon it would be too late.

See the images of day 1 and Day 6 below.

The Fall - Day One

Day One - Detail

The Fall - Day Six

Day 6 - Detail

I took the shot on day six, put the leaf away, and waited for tomorrow to shoot the next step. But on the seventh day, something unexpected happened. The leaf didn’t decay gradually but instead completely lost its shape, color, softness and the whole life in less than 24 hours. It was absolutely unrecognizable and put me in a situation that I would not have guessed might happen. So, I held it in my hand, forget about making the images and thought: we take life for granted; we don’t understand that soon everything might collapse if we don’t take care of ourselves, our souls, our bodies, and minds. We need to take care of ourselves. If we don't care, we collapse before we even imagine it.

The Fall - Day Seven

Day Seven - Detail

This unprecedented change was a sharp reminder of the fragility of our remaining life and the unpredictable nature of Time. It made me realize that the gradual progression I was expecting is not guaranteed. In life, transformations can happen suddenly and without warning, and we must be prepared for these shifts. This experience was a ring bell that we must remain flexible and adaptable, cherishing every moment and nurturing ourselves continuously. The lesson from the leaf is clear: to truly appreciate and make the most of our time, we must live with awareness and intention, understanding that soon can indeed become too late.

MAKE YOUR OWN CHANCE

A Question That Must Be Searched For

‎‏I had this image with all of its details and others like this in my mind for many years but Budget or other issues were amongst the reasons that I couldn’t make it happen. To recreate this scene :

I would need a skilled dancer, a dress, a fog machine to simulate the foggy atmosphere, I would also need access to a location with buildings that allowed me to make it happen. The budget would depend on the costs for the model, Dress, Fog machine rental, A crane, Location fees. Additionally, I might needed to secure permits to shoot in my desired location, especially if it involves public space or significant heights. But this is not the end, The obstacles could include getting permission from the city to shoot on location, ensuring safety for the model as I wanted to float her in the air and check the weather to do it in a cloudy day. As you can imagine the list goes on. But now I have #ai. A tool that is limitless with no borders and boundaries, it allows me to dream and to make anything that I have in my mind without any concern. Of course, in the process, craftsmanship and skills that rely on human intelligence and experience are eliminated, I know that. Skills that take years to acquire and become proficient in. But what good is a skill if it cannot be executed? This is a question that must be searched for an answer.

MAKE YOUR OWN CHANCE

Can You Describe It For Me ?

“Can you describe it for me?".

It is a question that we hear all the time when we are in a situation where others are not present, and we try to explain an idea, a place, an artwork, or the materials used to create something. Each individual has their unique approach to describing things. Some may talk about the feeling of a specific place, while others may focus on the mood, elements, colors, and more. Now, artificial intelligence has the ability to talk to us.

Yes, now the #ai can READ a photograph, and tell us how it looks, what colors and compositions are present, what the ratio is, who made the image, what type of light the artist might have used, what materials are present in the dress, or what type of pattern is used in that specific image. I find this fascinating because #ai is describing things to me that I never thought of or heard of before. I have learned about artists and places that I had no previous knowledge of. This learning process is extraordinary. Let me know What are your thoughts on this?

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Leverage the power of AI while preserving your vision

Let me give you a perspective on how the power of #ai can change the game in terms of image-making and see the potential benefits and drawbacks that come with it. Imagine you are a portrait photographer, you know creating an image needs significant amount of time, effort, and money. As an example for this image, You need to hire : two talents, a makeup artist, a costume designer, a hair stylist,a car, lighting equipment, and necessary permits plus your knowledge as an expert. So the expenses can quickly add up to several thousand dollars. Yet with the advent of #ai, the financial burden can be greatly reduced, enabling you to create your art without thinking about a budget. Now in the dark side this newfound accessibility, it also means that others may now produce strong images without extensive knowledge or experience, making it more challenging to differentiate yourself in this new era of image making.

The key question then becomes, how can you leverage the power of AI while preserving your unique artistic vision and style, to create images that truly stand out from the rest?

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Limitless Possibilities

Almost 20 years ago, when I first began my journey in photography, I captured everything I laid my eyes on. Being a self-taught photographer, I had no one to turn to for guidance, I was all alone with my books and that frustrating “dial-up” internet and my sole desire was to create images. Whether it was a candid street shot, portrait, landscape, or a documentary photograph. I didn’t care what others might think about my images and simply pursued my passion for capturing moments in time. This trial and error fueled by experimentation and also knowledge gradually led me towards craftsmanship. Now, experiencing the #ai world I have the same sense of curiosity. I relish the opportunity to explore and experiment again, and even sometimes to be surprised by the creations of a machine that is beyond my control and then I try to challenge, I push myself to assert control over the AI, to make it to follow my lead. This is a journey of limitless possibilities, where creation knows no bounds.

Make your Own Chance

From Words To The Birth Of An Image

A while ago I had a little chat with one of my friends about how #ai can affect the art world and what are the different aspects and possibilities to use this tool in the best possible way. Right in the middle of our talk he mentioned a very brief story for a commercial shoot and while I was sitting behind my computer I thought what if I bring the story to life with more details in a cinematic form instead of a commercial shoot and exactly on that moment I gave birth to an image in a way that is far greater than any other tool. Now the power of image making is in a different level.

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AI Close Up Shot VS AI Medium Shot

Here I am going to share an experience with you. Based on what I experienced in different makings the #ai is trying to be very accurate to make a real portrait when you ask for a close up shot. But instead when it comes to make a medium shot it doesn’t have the accuracy to give you a proper face with all the details. These two images have the same prompt with the same details but the only thing that has changed here is the type of the shot from a close up to a medium shot.

This is a Close Up shot

This one is a Medium Shot

As you can see in the second image the face is distorted. Although I have to add in some medium shot images, the images are acceptable and fine but in general it needs to get better to have the proper result.

MAKE YOUR OWN CHANCE

The Future Of Photography - Machine Learning , AI and Beyond

Darius Himes and I had this Instagram live conversation about AI and Photography.

MAKE YOUR OWN CHANCE.

Challenge to Explore the Power of AI

One of things that I am really interested is to having a challenge to explore the capabilities of #ai applications in creating highly detailed images and to see how far they can go in terms of making an image with every request that I write. I have to say the right solution is not here yet as the #ai can do an amazing job in one prompt and fall short in the others. One of my favorite artists of all time is Crewdson and here I challenged #ai to see if I can make a strong image with the details that I want.

Let me know what you think.

MAKE YOUR OWN CHANCE.

AI , New Doors To Unlock

As an artist it is a must for you to explore, to learn, to try, to do mistakes. You will change and evolve in time and that’s how you grow. If you ever see the Marvel movies you probably know Tony Stark and his AI assistant Jarvis. Jarvis is the absolute power of using #ai who controls by his creator which he finally comes to life as character called Vision. This story is a great example of what #ai can do and believe me it will happen sooner or later. We're on the beginning of a new era where anything might be possible by #ai and that's becoming a part of our everyday lives.

In the art world, specifically photography, AI has opened up new doors to unlock our creativity. Although we're still exploring the full potential of #ai image-making, we've already seen some amazing results.

Everyone who knows me closely they are completely aware how I am interested to use different tools and experience them in my field and now I am doing this experience with different platforms like Midjourney and Dall-E … From today beside my other images I would like to share my AI experiences with you guys. From portraits to landscapes, from forms, colors to street shots or fashion shoots.

I just want to experience it and talking about it and see how we can move in this path.

Let me know what you think and I will share more.

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Hasseblad X2D-100C, An Impeccable Camera

New Hasselblad camera, An undeniable tool for photographers and artists is here to help us again to move forward in our artistic direction. This is one of the best Medium Format Cameras in the world which delivers an outstanding quality with 100MP sensor with superb design and great features in the world of medium formats and it was a great pleasure for me to be involved in this fantastic worldwide project to introduce it to the world.

Let’s tale a look at some samples with their 1:1 ratio.

BEYOND. Hasselblad X2D-100 , Lens: XCD 2,5/55V

1:1 Ratio

PAUSING NEW YORK. Hasselblad X2D-100C , Lens: XCD 3,5-4,5/35-75

1:1 Ratio

STRANGER. Hasselblad X2D-100C , Lens: XCD 3,5-4,5/35-75

1:1 Ratio.

"Every photographer knows about the Hasselblad brand, whether they're an amateur, enthusiast, or professional because the history of photography is on the shoulders of Hasselblad. For me, it's an investment in my career, to move to the next level. It's always important to have the right tools in the right moments to make great photographs."

For further information and complete features of this amazing camera please check the official Hasselblad’s website which you can find anything about X2D and the new lenses.

MAKE YOUR OWN CHANCE.

A Day With Hasselblad XCD 35-75mm in NYC.

A SUPERB LENS

A week ago I had a chance to test one of the New Hasselblad lenses in X series family. This is the lens that every Hasselblad user was waiting for as it is the first zoom lens in X series and I believe Hasselblad did a great job to make this lens an exceptional quality and performance.

So, let’s see some photographs as I explain how was my experience with this compact zoom lens.

I have to admit from the moment that I attached the lens into my X1D Mark II mount, I felt, this is a MUST lens that every Hasselblad owner should put it on their bag, it was versatile, handy with a reasonable weight. It provides you a superb sharp image which you can use it on your Fine Art, Street, Landscape or even Portrait photography.

The image above is just a snapshot to show how the color, light, texture, shadows, highlights and the tone is equal to what we see with our own eyes. Now imagine with the quality of this lens and the sensor of X1D Mark II in terms of making a superb high quality images, you can unleash your creativity in any form and enjoy watching it with the highest details.

As shown here the image below is zoom to 1:1 to show the actual pixels and it is a result of a standard post processing in Camera Raw such as lens correction and crop. As you notice the details are extremely sharp with outstanding quality.

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One of the other reasons that I enjoyed shooting with XCD 35-75mm was its ability to produce the same quality equal to a prime lens. With its fast focus and multiple focal lengths from wide angle to a normal zoom, Now it can expand your options in different locations without carrying extra lenses. This might look very normal and nothing special about other camera brands or even the Hasselblad H series but in X systems, this is what we needed and now you don’t want to miss it, Specially when you experience such quality.

I have to say I was a little skeptical about how this lens can perform when you need a fast autofocus. I am not sure what type of photographer you are but this lens didn’t disappoint me every time I needed it. The XCD 35-75mm delivered quick autofocus in different situations and I was absolutely happy with the result.

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As a photographer when you want to invest on a lens or a camera you always try to explore different aspect of that equipment, So taking pictures at dark was one of the other reasons that I wanted to do to make sure this lens performs superbly and quick as well.

I decided to not use the tripod, instead I shot at three different ISO settings 1600, 3200 and 25600 to see how the results will be. Also, I tried to shoot at the spots that was mixed with different lights, colors and harsh shadows.

ISO 1600 - Shutter Speed 1/60 @F:4.8 - Handheld.

The image above is zoom to 1:1 to show the actual pixels.

ISO 3200 - Shutter Speed 1/125 @F:4.5 - Handheld.

The image above is zoom to 1:1 to show the actual pixels.

ISO 25600 - Shutter Speed 1/500 @F:3.5 - Handheld.

The image above is zoom to 1:1 to show the actual pixels.

As a photographer it is crucial to have trust in the tools you invest because they are the bridge to bring your creativity and imagination into life and I can say both Hasselblad X1D Mark II and XCD 35-75mm Lens did a phenomenon job to produce a brilliant image.

Finally, The last thing that I want to discuss is the price of this lens which might seem a very expensive equipment and you might ask is it worth to invest on it ? Honestly, I can admit it might be an out of budget equipment and I am completely aware there are different aspects to answer this concern, but let me keep it simple and answer it in a simple form, Although I know you might have your own reasons to reject mine.

When you want to make a bold move and go to the next level of your career, you need to pay for it and invest in it. It can be an investment on your education, equipments, your business or even moving to a different location for the next chapter of your professional career.

I believe the most crucial question that you should ask can be like this,

" Is it the right moment for me to move to the NEXT LEVEL?" The honest answer to this question based on the situation you are is the key to put your mind at ease and remember a risk at the right moment with knowledge, consistency, hard work and being smart on any matter can help you to move in a place that you deserve.

I am sure when you find out, You will decide what is best for you.

STAY SAFE EVERYONE.

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MAKE YOUR OWN CHANCE

The Creative Process

Everybody who know me since the past 15 to 20 years, is completely aware that there is always a name in my classes, workshops and talks that I keep mentioning him, The one and only John Paul Caponigro. He is not just an artist but also a great teacher, speaker and researcher. On those beginning years of my journey in the world of photography as an independent photographer which the path was not that clear, his guidance through his books, DVD’s, and his website played a crucial role on my works as an artist. More importantly watching his photographs and the way he contemplate to make his pictures gave me an unbelievable confident to express what I was carrying in my soul and thoughts. His guidance on how to think out of the box, how to express yourself in your art works and how to think as a creative person has always a huge impact on so many photographers out there. Also, watching and listening to his talks on how light, forms and colors are undeniable elements in our pictures always fascinates me.

John’s attitude and his method was always amongst those very few people who gave me courage to continue my path as a photographer, even when I felt alone in this trajectory.

Now I am honored to say after all these years I have the opportunity to talk with John. And now he is one of guests on my weekly live talks. So, join me for an exciting discussion on my Instagram’s live about the creative process with renowned Artist/Photographer , John Paul Caponigro.

Mark your calendar for Wednesday, May 20th at 12:30 PM. The talk will be on my Instagram personal page (nightblueman).

See you soon.

MAKE YOUR OWN CHANCE

Moving Towards A New Normal

As a freelance Artist/Photographer, Covid-19 had a huge impact in my life and turned my living and career into a very tough position. I am sure the other freelancers in so many fields have the same state with different experiences. But in this tough time while everyone struggles to find a sustainability in their everyday life … I am hearing that people say:

" WHEN WE GET BACK TO NORMAL LIFE ? "

We dont get back to normal life, We dont get back to an ordinary life that we once knew. WE WILL MOVE TOWARDS A NEW NORMAL, A NEW ORDINARY, A NEW WAY OF CONNECTION, THOUGHTS, RESPONSIBILITY, MAKING, LIVING and etc. We need to change our life style, we should be more responsible. Covid-19 showed us how the world is so small. A one person can get sick in this part of the world and in just 10 hours of flight a new community will be in danger in just a day.

 And believe me I am writing this with heavy heart , Covid is an alarm to tell us what is the possible decision to thinking about spending our money?, Who we should look up to?, Who is important to follow and how you should support them. How we treat Mother EARTH, The Nature, The Animals, The Lands.

LOOK and look carefully, The people all around the world in these past years, supported so many garbage celebrities, undeserved and licentious athletes, actors, singers and … The list can go on and on.

WE SHOULD RECONSIDER THAT HOW WE CARE AND PAY A TEACHER, A WORKER, A JANITOR, A NURSE, A FARMER, DRIVER, ARTIST, ENGINEER, DOCTOR, JOURNALIST, CASHIER, RANGER, REPORTER, SCIENTIST AND THE LIST CONTINUES …

I am not here to tell you, how you should live, but I am here to warn you to be wise, to be responsible, to think twice about the world around you. We should wake up and ask again, WHAT WE ARE GOING TO DO FOR NOW AND FUTURE ?

DO NOT MAKE FOOLS RICH … DO NOT ELECT UNDESERVED INDIVIDUALS, THEY WONT HELP YOU WHEN YOU NEED THEM , THEY JUST PRAY FOR YOU IN THEIR MANSIONS …

SOLIDARITY IS NOT SPONTANEOUS, IT NEEDS A NEW CHALLENGE, A NEW SACRIFICE, A NEW STRENTGH, AND TRUST ME WE CAN GAIN IT BY MOVING TO A NEW NORMAL,

A NORMAL THAT CAN CHANGE THE WORLD.

STAY SAFE

MAKE YOUR OWN CHANCE