Post Archive - The Image Flow

Call For Entry: Community Juried Photography Exhibition

March 28, 2022 No Comments

Building on the success of our juried exhibitions for Alternative Process Photography, we’re pleased to announce our very first juried photography contest welcoming all capture methods and processes. Under the theme of Community, the competition is open to professional and amateur photographers globally. For this call, we invite artists to rethink and redefine the concept of community – photograph it as you see it or wish it to be seen. Architecture, candid, documentary, fashion, portraiture, still life, and urbanism are just a few examples of possible subjects. Selected images will be exhibited at The Image Flow’s new space in downtown

Jeffrey Martz: Loma Alta

March 27, 2022 No Comments

December 2021 – April 2022 Closing Reception*: Saturday, April 9, 2022, from 7–9PM *masks are strongly recommended, but not required. “Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon? Tell me, what is it you plan to do With your one wild and precious life?” – The Summer Day final lines, Mary Oliver For the past many months, I have been escaping into the Loma Alta open space above my house on near-daily climbs, camera in hand. I have been lost in its fog, sweaty in its sunlight, wet from its rain, and dusty from its dryness. I have befriended

Potential Space: A Serious Look at Child’s Play & Am I Not Light. © Nancy Richards Farese & Bob Farese

Nancy Richards Farese & Bob Farese: Lecture & Book Signing

March 24, 2022 No Comments

Photographers Nancy Richards Farese and Bob Farese will present their respective new books Potential Space: A Serious Look at Child’s Play and Am I Not Light. Thursday, April 21, 2022, from 7–8:30PM Free *masks are strongly recommended, but not required. We’re thrilled to have an extraordinary duo, Nancy Richards Farese and Bob Farese, in our studio next month for their book signings. Each capture wildly different mediums—Nancy, a perspective on children’s play, which she documented through her philanthropic travels, and Bob, a doctor and research scientist with an impressionistic eye for visual storytelling. Nancy has worked extensively with international

Elementor #50529

January 11, 2022 No Comments

Ellen Sanford: New Terrain

April 29, 2021 No Comments

February 2020 – July 2021 Opening Reception: Saturday, February 1, 2020, from 7–9PM As I explore the natural world through my camera, I find that my photography has strong parallels to my vocation as a psychotherapist. One art is aligned with the other. As a therapist I support my clients as they navigate the vicissitudes of experience, and as a photographer I bring a similar sense of respect as I capture the astonishing variations of life and interconnectedness in the natural world. I love looking at the familiar in new ways, and using my imagination to disrupt “normal”… and to

"Great Lakes", 2020. Hand-painted watercolor over van Dyke. © Eben Ostby

5th Annual Alternative Process Photography Exhibition

March 2, 2021 No Comments

Juried by: Niniane Kelley, Brian Taylor, Ed Carey & The Image Flow March 15 – May 28, 2021 The Image Flow proudly presents our 5th Annual Alternative Process Photography Exhibition, a juried exhibition featuring 42 artists working with a wide variety of historical and analog photographic printing processes. Bromoils, Carbon transfers, Chemigrams, Cyanotypes, Gum Bichromate, Lithographic prints, Lumens, Mordançages, Photo Intaglio and Photogravure, Platinum Palladium, Salt prints, van Dyke prints, and Wet Plate Collodions (along with many multiple-process works) are all represented in this show. Each image is often one of a kind due to the nature of

Keith Haring: Photography by Stuart Schwartz

January 25, 2021 No Comments

January 25 – March 5, 2021 The Image Flow proudly presents Out of the Archive, an exhibition featuring the artist Keith Haring as photographed by Stuart Schwartz. Keith Haring uniquely bridged the gap between the art world and the streets with his graffiti drawings made in public spaces throughout New York City. Rising to prominence in the early 1980s, Keith developed a distinct pop-graffiti aesthetic that centered on fluid, bold outlines often against a dense, rhythmic blend of imagery. In his drawings and murals, he explored themes of exploitation, drug abuse, and rising fears of the nuclear holocaust

Abandoned Photography. Photo © Randy Lee Walker

Randy Lee Walker: Abandoned Photography

September 30, 2020 No Comments

October 1 – November 30, 2020 The Image Flow proudly presents Abandoned Photography, a solo exhibition featuring the abandoned work of photographer Randy Lee Walker. …Randy had studied fine art photography at the San Francisco Art Institute. He had done black & white printing for the well-known San Francisco photographer Imogene Cunningham as many Art Institute photography students would do. City College had given me a more technical and less creative education with broad skills and studio experience, but little of how to make my images personal and find a unique vision. Randy thought about the art first

Adobe Lightroom Classic Banner ©Marina Weishupt

Lightroom and Photoshop Tutorials

September 21, 2020 No Comments

Now you can easily find our collection of short video tutorials for Lightroom and Photoshop all in one place. Lightroom Tutorials How to Edit Black and White Photos in Lightroom Classic Black and White editing in Lightroom is more than just switching to monochrome. The reality is you can get much better images by using tools such as B&W Mix to enhance your black and white images beyond a basic monochrome process. Watch our short video tutorial for our definitive guide to editing black and white photos in Lightroom Classic. For video transcription go to our full blog: How to

Dodge and Burn in Photoshop

June 22, 2020 No Comments

Watch our short video tutorial for how to dodge and burn in Photoshop using Curve Adjustment Layers and Masking.

Replacing a Sky in Photoshop

May 14, 2020 No Comments

Hi, my name is Nathan Lomas, Today I’m going to show you one method of replacing a sky using Adobe Photoshop. Lightroom – Open as Layers in Photoshop Alright, so here I am in Lightroom, and I have two images, and I want to drop this more dramatic sky into this image. I have them in a Collection here just so they’re easy to find, and I now I need to select both of them. I’m going to go up to Edit, Select All (or you could use Command A / ⌘A). Now that they are selected I’m going

Basic-Retouching-08-spot-healing-brush-tool

How to Remove an Object in Photoshop

May 5, 2020 No Comments

Watch our short video tutorial or read on for our guide to basic photo retouching in Photoshop and how to remove an object in Photoshop. *Video transcription provided below* Hi, my name is Nathan Lomas, Today I’m going to give you an introduction to basic retouching in Adobe Photoshop. So here I am in Adobe Lightroom Classic. I have an image that I would like to do a little bit of retouching on. I’ve just done some basic adjustments to it and I’m going to go ahead now and hit Photo from the top, Edit in, and Edit in Photoshop

Lightroom Edit in Photoshop Settings

April 14, 2020 No Comments

Watch our short video tutorial or read on for our guide to setting your Lightroom Classic preferences for editing Lightroom photos in Photoshop. *Video transcription provided below* Hi, I’m Nathan Lomas, Today we’re going to be discussing sending an image from Adobe Lightroom Classic to Photoshop using the optimal settings. Sometimes you may have an image that needs further work beyond what Lightroom can do. Whether that’s in-depth retouching, specific masking, or other things that need to be done in Photoshop. The problem is we need to make sure that the image is set up to move to Photoshop in

Lightroom Cropping and Image Resolution

March 31, 2020 No Comments

*Video transcription provided below* A common question we get here at The Image Flow is—How big can I print my photo? The answer to that question is always different, but it will most certainly always comes down to image resolution or dpi for printing photos. Watch our short video tutorial or read on for our guide to understanding resolution for printing and Cropping in Lightroom Classic. Hi, I’m Nathan Lomas, Today we’re going to be discussing determining optimal print size in Adobe Photoshop as well as cropping for specific print ratios. Cropping in Lightroom Here I am in Lightroom with

How to Edit Black and White Photos in Lightroom Classic

March 25, 2020 No Comments

*Video transcription provided below* Hi, I’m Nathan Lomas, Today we’re going to discuss converting an image to Black and White in Adobe Lightroom Classic. Right now, I am in Adobe Lightroom Classic with an image that I would like to turn Black and White. I’ve already done a few basic adjustments to get better tonality and get a little more contrast into my image. Lightroom Black and White — Using the Adobe Monochrome Profile Next, I’m going to go to under the Basic Panel in Lightroom in the Develop Module. Here we find our Profile Selector, and I’m going to

Photography Studio Equipment: Getting Started with Studio Lighting Setup

March 3, 2020 No Comments

Photographer Stuart Schwartz gives photography tips for a home photo studio setup with suggestions for photography lighting equipment for beginners. Whether you’re getting started with still life photography or looking to set up the perfect studio portrait lighting this guide to photography studio equipment will help you get a great basic photography studio setup with minimal fuss. Read on for my recommendations on studio lighting equipment, light modifiers, basic photography grip, and the camera accessories most useful for your studio lighting setup. As an Adobe Affiliate Partner, Amazon Associate, and Blurb Affiliate Partner, The Image Flow earns from qualifying purchases. In

2019 Group Exhibition

January 29, 2020 No Comments

February 1 – September 15, 2020 Opening Reception: Saturday, February 1, 2020, from 7–9 PM This year’s group photography exhibition showcases student photographs from The Image Flow’s most popular workshops of 2019. From Photography Basics to our hands-on Tintype Workshop— this collection provides a unique chance to see the world from the perspective of a diverse set of photographers. Some of the images were the result of specific assignments, but most are from what we like to refer to as “self-directed projects”. Projects where we as instructors guide and push our students to see more, observe more and realize

Our Oaxaca. Photos © Tim Porter & Lori Barra

Lori Barra & Tim Porter: Our Oaxaca

January 3, 2020 No Comments

October 18, 2019 – January 24, 2020 Artists’ Reception: November 9, 2019, from 7–9PM The Image Flow proudly presents Our Oaxaca, a two-person exhibition featuring the work of Lori Barra and Tim Porter both Marin County photographers documenting children and families in Oaxaca, Mexico. All of the proceeds raised during this exhibition will go directly to the families photographed in Oaxaca, Mexico. Limited edition prints will be available for sale, and additional donations will be gratefully accepted. Exhibition Statement Mary Ellen Mark brought us together at a workshop in Oaxaca, Mexico. Through her we became friends. Because

The Masters of Photography: 2019 Lecture Series with Jeffrey Martz

December 10, 2019 No Comments

Photographer and art historian Jeffrey Martz continues his inspiring lecture series The Masters of Photography at The Image Flow. You are invited to join photographer and art historian Jeffrey Martz for an evening talk and presentation celebrating the life and work of some of the most influential practitioners in the history of photography. This photography lecture series The Masters of Photography will use the best possible reproductions and an interactive format and is intended for both the newcomer and the curious expert looking to contribute. Save the dates and we’ll see you there! Henri Cartier-Bresson Thursday, October 24,

In Conversation with Photographers Tim Porter & Lori Barra

December 1, 2019 No Comments

Thursday, November 14, 2019, from 7–8PM All of the proceeds raised during this event and exhibition will go directly to the families photographed in Oaxaca, Mexico. Limited edition prints will be available for sale, and additional donations will be gratefully accepted. Join us for a conversation with Marin County photographers Tim Porter and Lori Barra as they discuss their work documenting children and families in Oaxaca, Mexico. In this evening event, Tim and Lori will tell stories and show photography in conjunction with their joint exhibition Our Oaxaca. Inspired by their friend and mentor Mary Ellen Mark,

The Masters of Photography: Diane Arbus

November 2, 2019 No Comments

Diane Arbus CANCELLED Diane Arbus worked to normalize marginalized groups and highlight the importance of proper representation of all people through her photography. Arbus photographed her subjects in familiar settings—their homes, on the street, in the workplace, in the park—to bring these people into lives we understood. By befriending, not objectifying, her subjects she was able to capture their vulnerable and true psychological selves. The Masters of Photography Lecture Series You are invited to join photographer and art historian Jeffrey Martz for an evening talk and presentation celebrating the life and work of some of the most influential practitioners in

Masters of Photography: 2019 Lecture Series with Jeffrey Martz. Photo © Richard Avedon

The Masters of Photography: Richard Avedon

October 20, 2019 No Comments

Richard Avedon Thursday, December 19, 2019, from 7–8PM American photographer Richard Avedon was best known for his work in the fashion world and for his minimalist portraits. He shot for Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue, demanding that his models convey emotion and movement, a departure from the norm of motionless fashion photography. From the 1960s on, Avedon was also dedicated to extended portraiture projects exploring cultural, political, and personal concerns. The Masters of Photography Lecture Series You are invited to join photographer and art historian Jeffrey Martz for an evening talk and presentation celebrating the life and work of some of

Light in the Dark: Gum Bichromate Printing Explored

October 15, 2019 No Comments

by Francis Baker As I am preparing to teach another Gum Bichromate Workshop at The Image Flow, I think of one topic I did not delve too deeply into the first time around. This is the importance of black to the multi-color gum bichromate print. How to Make a Gum Print I start my gum bichromate printing process with three color-separated negatives: one for cyan, one for magenta and one for yellow. With these three colors, the patient printer can achieve the beautiful color depth of tri color gum bichromate printing. It is usual for me to print a minimum

The Masters of Photography: Henri Cartier-Bresson

October 10, 2019 No Comments

Henri Cartier-Bresson Thursday, October 24, 2019, from 7–8PM French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson was considered a master of candid photography. He pioneered the genre of street photography, and viewed photography as capturing a decisive moment. Cartier-Bresson was one of the founding members of Magnum Photos in 1947, along with Robert Capa, David Seymour, William Vandivert and George Rodger. The Masters of Photography Lecture Series You are invited to join photographer and art historian Jeffrey Martz for an evening talk and presentation celebrating the life and work of some of the most influential practitioners in the history of photography. This photography lecture

Chromaluxe metal prints–benefits of printing on metal

September 24, 2019 No Comments

You may be curious about the metal prints you’ve seen in magazines, restaurants, and on your friends’ walls. They’re currently trending and popular among photographers, artists, and interior designers for a clean, modern presentation of photography. Prints on metal are a perfect solution for anyone who would like an alternative to printing on traditional paper or canvas. But be warned—not all metal prints are created equal. Read on for a detailed look at the many benefits of printing on metal and why high-definition Chromaluxe Metal prints are the only metal prints that meet our seal of approval. Beautiful Color &

Empowering Youth Through Photography

August 18, 2019 No Comments

Guest blogger Constance Chu shares her thoughts on empowering her students through the art of photography. Learning photography in an after-school workshop is not only fun, it can also be an empowering experience for kids. Often, when we think back to our childhoods, one thing that stands out is how powerful the experience of anxiety can be whether social, intellectual, or creative. As a young person, one learns the etiquette of social behavior and slowly gains intellectual and creative confidence through years of life experience often involving trial and error. Despite these unavoidable growing pains, I’ve found that learning photography

"Wild Oats, Big Sur, CA" and "Mother Goat, Big Sur, CA" Photos © Lucy Goodhart

Stillness and the Creative Process: Awaken Your Creativity Through Mindfulness

July 30, 2019 No Comments

Awaken your creativity with Lucy Goodhart, our guest blogger, as she gives tips on sustaining your creative practice through mindfulness photography exercises. Lucy will be teaching our Mindfulness in Photography workshop this fall and sharing even more useful tips for slowing down and opening up to the wisdom of the natural world. Away, away, from men and towns, To the wild wood and the downs— To the silent wilderness Where the soul need not repress Its music, lest it should not find An echo in another’s mind, While the touch of Nature’s art Harmonizes heart to heart. -From The Invitation

4th Annual Alternative Process Photography Exhibition

July 14, 2019 No Comments

Juried by: Ann M. Jastrab, Christina Z. Anderson, Unai San Martin, and The Image Flow July 27 – October 11, 2019 The Image Flow proudly presents our 4th Annual Alternative Process Photography Exhibition, a juried exhibition featuring 52 artists working with a wide variety of historical and analog photographic printing processes. Albumen prints, Ambrotypes, Bromoils, Chromoskedasic silver prints, Cyanotypes, Emulsion lifts & transfers, Gum Bichromate, Lumens, Mordançages, Photo Intaglio and Photogravure, Platinum Palladium, Salt prints, and Wet Plate Collodions (along with many multiple-process works) are all represented in this show. Each image is often one of a kind due

How to Photograph Fireworks: Our Ultimate Guide

July 1, 2019 No Comments

Our ultimate guide to photographing fireworks. The fourth of July is a perfect time to test your skills as a photographer and see how well you can take control of your camera with shooting fireworks displays. Nighttime fireworks photography is a form of night photography and comes with its own tricks of the trade. In this post, we’ll give you all the details on what photography equipment to pack in your kit, how to scout your location, best camera settings for fireworks, and how to best capture fireworks from a professional perspective. Quick Tips for Firework Photography Looking for short

2019 AIR Program Recipients

June 25, 2019 No Comments

Congratulations to The Image Flow’s 2019 Artist in Residence Program recipients: Arielle Rebek and Gretchen LeMaistre. The Image Flow recently held our second annual call for entry to our Artist in Residence Program, with the goal of providing our equipment and resources to assist photographic artists with the creation of their personal work. With this year’s AIR Program, we are proud to show our continued support to the photography community as a whole. Having received many outstanding applications again this year, the selection process was difficult, to say the least. The quality, media choices, and concepts presented by the wide

Nancy Richards Farese Event and Lecture at The Image Flow

Nancy Richards Farese Lecture: Social Documentary Photography

April 23, 2019 No Comments

Open Wide: Harnessing Children’s Play as a Tool for Peace Thursday, May 16, 2019, from 7–8PM Free Nancy Richards Farese is a social entrepreneur, photographer, and academic, thinking about the role of images and social change. Open Wide: Harnessing Children’s Play as a Tool for Peace is a social documentary photography project covering 14 countries over 4 years, which looks at culture through the lens of children’s play—what do games and toys tell us about gender, resources, education, and traditions? The project is done largely in conjunction with social organizations such as CARE.org and the UNHCR. Metaphorically, it refers

Focus On Visibility: Artist in Residence Exhibition

March 12, 2019 No Comments

March 30 – May 24, 2019 Opening Reception: March 30, 2019, from 7–9PM The Image Flow proudly presents Focus On Visibility: Artist in Residence Exhibition, a two-person exhibition featuring the work of Francis Baker and Sarah Rose Weitzman both California artists working with historical and analog photographic processes. Francis Baker’s large scale original artworks are created using the historical gum bichromate process. Each image is one-of-a-kind due to the nature of working with gum bichromate printing—mixing emulsions, coating panels by hand, and hand-embellishing each piece. Francis’ work focuses on issues of social injustice and inequity and brings visibility to

Convert Your Negatives and Slides to Digital Images

March 5, 2019 No Comments

Protect your photos from the ravages of time, and preserve & archive your family’s past and present. Reasons to Digitize The only objects in your home that are irreplaceable are artwork and your family photos, videos, and other documents. If you are determined to protect your photographs from the ravages of time, there is (in my opinion) only one way to do this. Digitize slides, negatives, prints, and any paper documents that have meaning to you as soon as possible. You’ll have peace of mind having a digital copy, and the added benefit of simplifying physical storage since hard drives

Cyanotypes: Photography’s Blue Period

January 29, 2019 No Comments

This is Max Kellenberger and Niniane Kelley taking over The Image Flow blog! As we prepare for the third iteration of our cyanotype workshop Intro to Cyanotype Printing at The Image Flow, we want to share more about ourselves and our workshop. The next course will be May 17–19, 2019. No previous darkroom experience is required, as cyanotype materials are a fantastic entry point to learning about alternative printing methods; however, even more advanced printers will benefit from the course if they want to refine their technique or experiment with toning. Our small class size allows us to work hands-on

James Clift: Theaters Off Market

January 9, 2019 No Comments

January – December 2019 The open spaces and sidewalks of downtown San Francisco are the stage. The architectural grandeur of its buildings frame the set. Amidst the congestion and chaos, unknowing characters step into the spotlight, into my scene. – James Clift Taken just off Market Street in SOMA and downtown San Francisco between 2016–2018, select images from James Clift’s street photography series Theaters Off Market will be on display on the back wall at The Image Flow beginning January 19.

2018 Group Exhibition

January 8, 2019 No Comments

January 19 – March 22, 2019 Opening Reception: January 19, 2019, from 7–9PM This year’s group exhibition showcases student photographs from some of The Image Flow’s most popular workshops of 2018. From Photo Essentials (Photography Basics) to Platinum over Pigment Printing — this collection provides a unique chance to see the world from the perspective of a diverse set of photographers. Some of the images were the result of specific assignments, but most are from what I like to refer to as “self-directed projects”. Projects where we as instructors guide and push our students to see more, observe more and realize

An Interview with Environmental Portraiture Photographer Lori Barra

December 21, 2018 No Comments

Here at The Image Flow, we have some pretty amazing clients that we work with on a regular basis. From artists and educators to humanitarians and scientists, people come to us from many different paths, all connected by a love for photography. In an effort to share some of these clients’ inspiring stories and backgrounds, we’ve started to interview some of these fascinating people to help spread their stories and inspirations. In this interview, Lori Barra speaks about her work as a humanitarian, her mentor Mary Ellen Mark, and the importance of connecting with your photography subject. Can you tell

Street Portrait Photography: A Guide to Capturing the Streets

October 23, 2018 No Comments

Photographer Stuart Schwartz gives photography tips for shooting street portrait photography with a sense of place and personal identity. For me, street portrait photography is more than simply taking a headshot of someone on the street. It should have the spontaneity of urban photography while also capturing the essence of the person or the moment. My goal with these types of street shots is to have enough information in the photograph to give the viewer both a sense of place and a sense of personal identity. A few important aspects to creating outstanding street portraits are getting intimate with your

Emotional Resonance in Photography: Greta Carlstrom Transcends Identity

October 16, 2018 No Comments

Of all the eras and styles in the medium’s history, art historian and photographer Jeffrey Martz is most drawn to the 19^th-century amateur pictorial photographers such as Lewis Carroll, Clementina (Lady Hawarden), and Julia Margaret Cameron.
“An amateur photographer was a clearly-defined category of maker in the 19^th century, someone who pursued photography seriously but not professionally. They weren’t in a studio trying to please a client, and because of this, they were free to make the best possible pictures in whatever style they wished. They did their work literally for the Latin root of the word—amore—or love,” Jeffery explained.

An Inside Look at a Private Group Photography Workshop

October 10, 2018 No Comments

Once in a while, we receive a special request for photography instruction tailored to a specific group, or perhaps a location. And sometimes, we get a request for both, allowing us the opportunity to create a truly unique experience for students of photography in a fascinating place. It all started with a phone call from the Director of the design department at Healthline. The conversation was quick and to the point; Keith wanted to know if someone at The Image Flow would be able to provide some fundamental photography instruction to fifteen of the company’s employees during a team

Architectural Marvels in Jaipur, India

September 18, 2018 No Comments

Greta Carlstrom: BEYOND

August 9, 2018 No Comments

September 15 – December 21, 2018 Opening Reception: Saturday, September 15, 2018, from 7–9PM “In the social jungle of human existence, there is no feeling of being alive without a sense of identity.” – Erik Erikson The Image Flow proudly presents BEYOND, a solo exhibition featuring the work of California photographer Greta Carlstrom. Beyond the obvious, navigating identity, I’m an explorer creating images from deep within my psyche. My work attempts to capture the invisible edges of my imagination. Exploring imagery that is abstract, emotional, and mysterious, these photographs are filled with feelings and thoughts from my subconscious. BEYOND is a

3rd Annual Alternative Process Photography Exhibition

June 27, 2018 No Comments

Juried by Daniel W. Coburn, Ed Carey, Glen R. Serbin & The Image Flow July 14 – September 7, 2018 Opening Reception: Saturday, July 14, 7–9PM The Image Flow proudly presents our 3rd Annual Alternative Process Photography Exhibition, a juried exhibition featuring 37 artists working with a wide variety of historical and analog photographic printing processes. Ambrotype, chemigram, cyanotype, daguerreotype, emulsion lift, gum bichromate, mordançage, photogravure, platinum/palladium, salt, tintype, and Van Dyke brown (along with many multiple-process works) are all represented in this show. Each image is often one of a kind due to the nature of working

History of Photography Lecture Series, Part 5

June 26, 2018 No Comments

Part 5: The Art of Photography July 26, 2018, from 7–8PM The impulse to create beauty finds new expression in the camera. Academically-trained professionals and avant-garde amateurs push photography into the realm of fine art. A debate stirs around the artistic efficacy of machine-made imagery and the role of its operator. By the end of the century art itself will never be the same. Join photographer and art historian Jeffrey Martz for an evening of high definition imagery and discussion featuring the works of Henry Peach Robinson, Julia Margaret-Cameron, Peter Henry Emerson, and many more. A History of Photography Lecture

2018 AIR Program Recipients

June 25, 2018 No Comments

Congratulations to The Image Flow’s 2018 Artist in Residence Program recipients: Francis Baker and Sarah Rose Weitzman. As you may already know, The Image Flow recently held a call for submissions to our brand new Artist in Residence program, with the goal of providing our equipment and resources to assist a photographic artist with the creation of their personal work. With the institution of this program, we are proud to show our continued support to the photography community as a whole. Having received a great many outstanding applicants with some incredibly original work, the selection process was difficult, to say

History of Photography Lecture Series, Part 4

June 12, 2018 No Comments

Part 4: The Documents of Photography, Pt. 2 June 21, 2018, from 7–8PM The romantic imperative and a public eager for the truth of the camera image drive documentary photographers to all parts of the globe. From the mysterious orient to the bleak wilderness of the American West, photography in the 19th-century simultaneously reinforces and shapes our concept of otherness. Back home, social concerns compel pioneering eyewitness photographers into the streets to record the truth of their times. Join photographer and art historian Jeffrey Martz as we take a journey alongside pioneers Francis Frith, John Thomson, Jacob Riis, and many others. Our

History of Photography: Lecture Series with Jeffrey Martz

June 7, 2018 No Comments

Photographer and art historian Jeffrey Martz returns to The Image Flow to offer his updated History of Photography Series. A History of Photography Lecture Series You are invited to join photographer and art historian Jeffrey Martz for a tour through the history of photography. In this series, we will explore the origins, the pioneers, the journeys, the documents, and the art of a medium that revolutionized human communication. Using the best possible reproductions we will see the technologies, practitioners, and key works that made photography central to the story of the world. The series is intended for both the newcomer

Charles Versaggi: March for Our Lives

April 3, 2018 No Comments

Photography Tips for Teen Program in Cuba–2018

March 22, 2018 No Comments

Kerik Kouklis: From the Ends of the Earth

March 21, 2018 No Comments

April 7 – June 29, 2018 Opening Reception: Saturday, April 7, 2018, from 7–9PM The Image Flow proudly presents From the Ends of the Earth, a solo exhibition featuring the work of California photographer Kerik Kouklis. From the Ends of the Earth includes 46 hand-made photographic prints from Kerik’s recent travels to Iceland, Scotland, the Galapagos, Mongolia, and California, his home. My job is to deliver the message, the mood, the thought, the emotion. The image is the starting place, and printmaking is the language. I make all my prints in my own darkroom, using hands-on processes — wet plate collodion, platinum/palladium,

A Photogenic Journey in Paradise with Top Photographer-Guides–2018

March 19, 2018 No Comments

Jeffrey Martz: Faster but Slower

January 17, 2018 No Comments

February 17 – March 30, 2018 Opening Reception: Saturday, February 17, 2018, from 7–9PM “I want you to play that again, only this time make it faster, but slower.” – Martin Hannett, to the members of Joy Division, during the recording of Unknown Pleasures, 1977 In the spring of 2017, I sat in the passenger seat of my father-in-law’s car, camera in hand, watching Willamette Valley riverscapes scroll past my window. As the light was storm-perfect, my impulse was to ask for photography pull-overs. There were so many fine subjects that I mentally had our touring company stopping every

Jim Hughes: Americana Photography

January 15, 2018 No Comments

January 13 – November 7, 2018 Select images of Jim Hughes’ Americana photography are on display at The Image Flow. Life is made up of moments and moments pass quickly — capturing them is what I do. From Dubai to Shanghai, I travel the world to create enduring images for clients such as HP, AT&T, GE, Exxon, Levi’s, United Airlines, and Coca-Cola. Whether working in the back streets of New Delhi or on Wall Street, my technical experience combined with my ability to work well with people brings ideas and concepts to life. I specialize in lifestyle advertising and have found

For the Love of Photography: Jeffrey Martz on the Amateur Spirit

January 9, 2018 No Comments

Self-Taught Teen Explores Identity Through Film Photography

December 4, 2017 No Comments

Arthur Wechsler discovered photography at an early age. His grandfather was a photographer in the Korean War and Arthur had one of his old cameras sitting in his room “forever.”
“One day, I think a year before he passed away, I asked for a camera, and he got me one for Christmas. I was 11 or 12 at the time,” Arthur said.

2017 Group Exhibition

November 9, 2017 No Comments

January 13 – February 9, 2018 Opening Reception: January 13, 2018, from 7–9PM This year’s group exhibition showcases student photographs from some of The Image Flow’s most popular workshops of 2017. From Photo Essentials to Conceptual Photography to Destination Workshops, this collection provides a unique chance to see the world from the perspective of a diverse set of photographers. Some of the images were the result of specific assignments, but most are from what I like to refer to as “self-directed projects”. Projects where we as instructors guide and push our students to see more, observe more and realize

Lecture by Pulitzer Prize-winning documentary photographer Deanne Fitzmaurice

November 9, 2017 No Comments

The Heart of the Story: Using photography to create a visually compelling, meaningful and engaging narrative story. Thursday, December 7, 2017, from 7–8PM Free Where is the tipping point in turning a no into a yes, when people let you into their lives to tell their stories? Deanne Fitzmaurice, Pulitzer Prize-winning documentary photographer, will share her thought process behind her Pulitzer winning project and talk about building rapport with the people she photographs from an injured Iraqi boy to Warriors star Steph Curry. She will discuss her imagery and show how she creates meaningful stories to affect social change.

Between the Lines of Illustration & Photography: Meet Anton Belov

October 3, 2017 No Comments

You may have noticed a new face at The Flow over the past several months. Meet Anton Belov: His official title is Production Assistant, and in his time here, he’s proven to be a valuable member of our small team.
A recent graduate of California College of the Arts with a BFA in Illustration and a freelance graphic designer, Anton Belov has been doing a little bit of everything at The Image Flow, from printing photographs to designing fliers to being available for the next task, whatever it might be. When he is not at The Flow, he can be found freelancing for a number of clients such as Stanford Children’s Health, Saint Mary’s College of California, or the Paramount.
“Recently I’ve been gravitating toward illustration, moving away from graphic design and becoming more interested in the image-making part design, rather than shapes and text,” he said.

Non-Stop Action at Our Slow Food Workshop in Umbria

September 19, 2017 No Comments

Jeff Zaruba and I arrived in Umbria a few days before the workshop began to scout locations with our Italian assistant Lorenzo. Those first couple of days were busy, but they were nothing compared to the non-stop action once the workshop began.
We had 10 students in the group and one of the students brought along his wife. On our first day of shooting, we went to a bed and breakfast we’d scouted a year ago. The location is extremely picturesque and Eleanora was all ready for us: The kitchen was set up for us to shoot while she prepared lunch, and she’d planned a wonderful menu.

2nd Annual Alternative Process Photography Exhibition

August 23, 2017 No Comments

Juried by Max Kellenberger, Mark Nelson & The Image Flow September 9 – November 22, 2017 Opening Reception: Saturday, September 9, 7–9PM The Image Flow proudly presents our 2nd Annual Alternative Process Photography Exhibition, a juried exhibition featuring 40 artists working with a wide variety of historical and analog photographic printing processes. Ambrotype, bromoil transfer, color carbon, chemigram, cyanotype, gum bichromate, kallitype, mordançage, photogravure, platinum, and tintype / wet plate collodion processes (along with many multiple-process works) are all represented in this show. Each image is often one of a kind due to the nature of working with these

Reflect & Engage Digital Photography Exhibition

May 24, 2017 No Comments

June 3 – August 25, 2017 Opening Reception: Saturday, June 3, 7–9PM The Image Flow proudly presents Reflect & Engage, a group exhibition featuring 36 artists examining themes of identity and engagement through digital photography. The images in this exhibition are activated through the multidisciplinary pursuits and values of the artists who created them. These artists are not just photographers. They are sociologists and humanitarians, non-profit directors and journalists, environmental activists and defenders of peace. They are world travelers exploring the connection between ourselves, our immediate communities, and our larger global society. Reflect & Engage is curated from nearly

Fading Traditions: Papua New Guinea in Color

May 2, 2017 No Comments

Photographer Fran Meckler is passionate about her social documentary work—she’s visited more than 70 countries over her career. Her latest images were made during a two-week trip to Papua New Guinea where she documented in vivid color the changing landscape, the lives of many different tribes and what is still left of tribal life in the 21^st century, and the mystery of that very foreign culture.
In a new exhibition at the World Affairs Council in San Francisco, Fran will show 25 images from the trip, printed by The Image Flow.

Rory Earnshaw: Spectrums of Solitude

March 6, 2017 No Comments

March 9 – May 26, 2017 Artist Reception: Saturday, March 18, 2017, from 7–9PM The Image Flow proudly presents Spectrums of Solitude, a solo exhibition featuring the work of Bay Area-based photographer Rory Earnshaw. Spectrums of Solitude spans over four decades and includes 44 diligently processed, hand-made darkroom prints. Rory’s small-scale, intimate prints in this exhibition explore the quiet, minimalist beauty of an empty urban landscape. Shooting only with film and often with a large-format camera, he takes advantage of the slow and deliberate process of classic silver gelatin darkroom printing and toning. When I’m out shooting personal work

The Ins & Outs of Photographing Auto Racing

February 13, 2017 No Comments

Dennis Gray was introduced to photography right about the same time his father started sneaking him into the Stockton sport races in the trunk of his car—he was 14. “I got a Nikon F, one of the first ones they made in 1959, and at the same time, my father bought a go-kart that he and I raced. We were both gear heads,” recalled Dennis. “He snuck me into the races so he didn’t have to pay the $2 entry fee.”

Pei Ketron: iPhone Photography

February 2, 2017 No Comments

February – June 2017

2016 Group Exhibition

February 2, 2017 No Comments

December 2016 – February 2017

The Positive Side of Abnormal: Washington, DC, Women’s March

January 28, 2017 1 Comment

Social documentary photographer Nancy Richards Farese on the Women’s March in Washington, DC, and what it means for the future of democracy.

Pei Ketron Lecture on Instagram Success

January 25, 2017 No Comments

Instagram sensation Pei Ketron on her unconventional road to photographic success. Tuesday, February 7, 2017, from 7–8PM Free Pei Ketron is a San Francisco-based photographer who has followed an unconventional road to photographic success. After more than ten years of slowly building a photography business as a side job while working as a public school teacher, her career exploded when social media, specifically Instagram, became huge. She now has over 830K followers on Instagram. Suddenly, Pei was able to leave her day job and found herself getting paid to travel the world and take photographs for major brands and dream

Old Maps Reborn Into Digital Life

January 4, 2017 2 Comments

Michael Jennings and Cecilia Malaguti are the couple behind Neatline Maps, a vintage and rare map dealer in the San Francisco Bay Area. They came to The Image Flow to make a digital archive of their collection—which consists currently of over 300 maps—both for their online store, and as a way to preserve the maps and the stories they represent. The reproductions are being made with TIF’s medium format Hasselblad, which offers extreme resolution and sharpness.
Michael and Cecelia became interested in maps through their training as archaeologists—Michael works for the nonprofit Center for Digital Archaeology in Marin. They started out collecting a few maps they particularly enjoyed, but a year ago, they decided to turn their hobby into a business.

Stephen Johnson Lecture: Digital National Park Project

December 17, 2016 No Comments

Canon has named Stephen Johnson one of their Explorers of Light and sponsors speaking engagements with him around the country! Thanks to Canon, Stephen will be talking at The Image Flow about his recent project on the National Parks With a New Eye: Photography Changed Forever. Thursday, March 2, 2017, from 7–8PM Free Stephen Johnson walks us through his travels to over 50 national parks and the ideas, tools, inspiration, and means of accomplishing his massive five-year project, With a New Eye: Photography Forever Changed. The bleeding edge of technology has left its marks on Stephen, and left us all

Getting to the Heart of Slow Food in Umbria

October 18, 2016 3 Comments

Stuart Schwartz recently spent three days with his family in Umbria, Italy, as part of a scouting trip for a new workshop next summer focused on the Slow Food movement and the local Italian lifestyle.
“My goal is to create a workshop in which we’ll create an accurate portrait of Umbria—the people, lifestyle, landscape, and architecture—but also get an intimate experience of what it’s like to actually live in Umbria, if even for only a short time,” writes Stuart.

Gallery Presents Tribute to Iconic SF Photographer Ken Graves

September 26, 2016 No Comments

Photographer and collage artist Ken Graves is best known for his black-and-white street photography of San Francisco at the transition from the 1960s to the 1970s. Graves passed away earlier this year at the age of 74, leaving behind a legacy of more than 50 years of work. Almost two dozen pieces are part of SFMOMA’s permanent collection, and now the Anglim Gilbert Gallery in San Francisco has put together a new exhibition, The Home Front, to pay tribute to this great California artist.

Chasing Stars: Don Whitebread’s Night Photography

August 27, 2016 No Comments

Don Whitebread owns a decent telescope but admits he’s not much of an astronomer. He bought the telescope to do astrophotography, and then realized it didn’t give him the opportunity to play with time in the way he’d imagined.
“The work I’m doing, I feel like I’m capturing a particular moment. It’s a long moment, but still, it’s a moment in time when these stars happen to line up with this foreground and it creates a composition,” he said.
The work he’s referring to is part of an ongoing collection called Starlight. He shoots mostly with a medium-format Hasselblad and black and white film—digital cameras don’t allow for the type of exposure he’s after. Each exposure requires an exposure of around an hour and a half. The result is a glimpse of thousands of stars moving across the night sky.

TIF Kids Workshops Guide Students to Self Discovery

August 23, 2016 No Comments

It’s been a busy summer at The Image Flow with two sessions of our Summer Photo Camp for Kids and the Angel Island Summer Photo Excursion. All of these kids photography workshops are geared toward middle school-aged shooters, one of my favorite ages to teach because they’re able to handle more challenging concepts and assignments and they learn so fast.
The goals of the workshops are simple: Teach kids how to use their camera on manual mode and how to do basic post-processing in Lightroom—I find that even my intermediate students benefit from the review and practice of using their cameras with the exercises I give them. In the Angel Island workshop, which is made up primarily of students that already have some photography experience, we do some work with Photoshop as well.

Photography Brings Hope to Camp Hope

August 19, 2016 No Comments

Jeff Greenwald, an Oakland-based photojournalist, author, and founder of the nonprofit Ethical Traveler, has been photographing in Nepal since 1979. He first visited Camp Hope, one of Kathmandu’s most progressive earthquake refugee camps, in the fall of 2005.
“One of the kids—a very smart and completely charming 10-year-old girl named Laxmi Sherpa—asked to borrow my camera … such a request would normally give me pause. But Laxmi had impressed me with her honesty and sense of responsibility—so I handed it over,” said Jeff.
That afternoon was the beginning of his project with Looking Glass Photo. The idea was simple: Provide cameras to the children Camp Hope and teach them how to document their daily lives.

First Annual Alternative Process Photography Exhibition

August 15, 2016 No Comments

September – December 2016

James Clift on “Assignment Discipline” in Intermediate Photography

August 9, 2016 3 Comments

Balancing your photographic pursuits with the ups and downs of daily life can be a difficult task. Keeping pace with a photography series requires not only dedication but also a clear direction to ensure building success. Here, workshop student James Clift talks about how creative assignments with concrete deadlines can help expand the horizons of the intermediate photographer.

Liz Caroli: Chasing the Light

July 26, 2016 No Comments

Liz Caroli is a recently retired teacher with a newfound passion for photography, but looking at her photographs, you might think she’s been shooting for a very long time. However, she bought her first “real camera” barely three years ago. She credits her rapidly improving skills behind the camera to hard work and the excellent teaching skills of the instructors at The Image Flow.
Her first initial impetus to pursue photography came during a trip to Belize. On a side trip to Half Moon Caye National Monument, Liz snapped a few shots of a flock of birds flying overhead.

Masters of Photography Lecture Series, Harry Callahan

July 4, 2016 No Comments

Harry Callahan Thursday, July 21, 2016, from 7–8PM Private, self-taught, and committed to the amateur spirit, Harry Callahan is a central figure in the practice of subjective photography in mid-century America. His five-decade-long career encompassed a wide-ranging, experimental, and restless approach that resulted in some of the most original images of the 20th century. Masters of Photography Lecture Series You are invited to join photographer and art historian Jeffrey Martz for an evening celebrating the life and work of the most influential practitioners in the history of photography. This new photography lecture series Masters in Photography will use the best

7 Tips for Building and Sharing a Professional Photography Portfolio

June 28, 2016 3 Comments

As a commercial photographer, workshop instructor, and owner of The Image Flow, Stuart Schwartz is no stranger to the portfolio review—and he’s sat on both sides of the table. Here he offers his tips for building your portfolio for success. First and foremost, there is nothing more impressive than a printed portfolio.
Periodic portfolio reviews are an essential part of any serious photographer’s game plan. They’re a great opportunity to get your work literally under the noses of the right people. But before you submit your work to a professional portfolio review, you’ll want to be sure your portfolio is in the best shape possible.
How does one begin creating a successful artist’s portfolio? The information I will share with you here will be useful to anyone working in fine art or commercial photography, illustration, or art, and who would like to present their work in a professional manner to potential clients, friends, and colleagues.
To be successful, an artist must have a vision, must master the technical skills required in their chosen medium, and have a basic understanding of the art business.

Mark Citret Lecture: Parallel Landscapes

June 20, 2016 No Comments

Join architectural and landscape photographer Mark Citret and book designer Gudrun Thielemann to learn about the process of creating and designing the new fine art photography book Parallel Landscapes. Thursday, September 8, 2016, at 7PM Mark Citret’s new book Parallel Landscapes is a collection of 47 beautiful photographs of the landscape of his dreams: a massive construction site in southwest San Francisco. The images chosen for the book were distilled from more than 100 photographs taken between 1990 and 1993, a project that Mark says constitutes the finest body of work he’s produced in five decades as a photographer. During

Masters of Photography Lecture Series, Bill Brandt

June 3, 2016 No Comments

Bill Brandt Wednesday, June 22, 2016, from 7–8PM Widely considered the greatest British photographer of the 20th century, Bill Brandt is a central figure in the development of photographic modernism. Brandt’s wide-ranging lens was equally masterful in the fields of photojournalism, portraiture, landscape photography, and the nude. His rich, five-decade-long career continues to inspire, challenge, and influence photography to this day. Masters of Photography Lecture Series You are invited to join photographer and art historian Jeffrey Martz for an evening celebrating the life and work of the most influential practitioners in the history of photography. This new photography lecture series

The Story Behind the Ice Images on the Wall at The Image Flow

May 10, 2016 2 Comments

Scott Orazem studied photography at the Art Center College of Design in California. He spent fifteen years shooting fashion in Los Angeles before launching a second career in creative direction and brand strategy. Now, Scott is exploring the personal side of his photography with a focus on patterns, textures, and scales found in nature.

Big Red, Jay Ruland, Withering Roses, exploration of age and age issues, pictures of flowers, flower photography

Jay Ruland on the Beauty of Growing Old

April 26, 2016 1 Comment

After 25 years in the workforce, Jay Ruland decided to go back to school and, not surprisingly, found himself surrounded by 20-somethings. While he says he was welcomed by his junior contemporaries, he was struck by the way they perceive the world; that is, the things they found to be beautiful also tended to be as young as they were. As a 50-something, Jay says the aging process is beautiful in itself, and the desire to show that is the basis for his Withering Roses floral photography series, which will be featured in his new solo exhibition at The Image Flow As the Allure Fades opening on May 14.
“The younger students sort of had a bias toward things in society that are young and pretty, and we’re taught through the media that younger is better. But if you look closer in nature, things that are getting older are still beautiful and the process itself is a beautiful process,” says Jay.
He chose to work with roses because they are a societal symbol for beauty, something you’d give on a first date or use to decorate your house, but also because they can communicate ideas, from the number you give to the color, and transgress cultural barriers.

The Artifice of Photography

April 19, 2016 No Comments

It is no secret that the medium of photography has become increasingly complicated by the advent of the digital age. Nearly every image we encounter—from advertising and billboards to packaging and fine art—receives some level of digital treatment before arriving in our periphery. Altered images have become so commonplace that they are no longer questioned.
Knowing this, why then is there a persisting notion of photography as a mechanism of truth? It seems to exist as a residual concept of the photograph as something objective and substantiated by its relationship to reality.
But what we perceive to be real is malleable and shifting. This is where my personal interests in photography seem to manifest, in a space where artists are free to toy with the artifice that is inherent to photographs. Through individual choices regarding process, presentation, and content, the following are a few contemporary photographic artists that tread the boundaries of illusion and reality.

Masters of Photography Lecture Series, Eugène Atget

April 15, 2016 No Comments

Eugène Atget Thursday, May 5, 2016, from 7–8PM Practically unknown during his lifetime and practicing an archaic working method, Eugène Atget is the central figure bridging the documentary world of the 19th century and the straight photography world of the 20th. His resolute commitment to visual facts mingles with a perfect understanding of light and space to create images that are both objective and poetic. This enigmatic man dies unknown yet goes on to inspire some of the greatest careers in the history of the medium. Masters of Photography Lecture Series You are invited to join photographer and art historian

Don’t Miss Annie Leibovitz’s “Women” at the Presidio Through April 17

April 11, 2016 No Comments

Annie Leibovitz, a San Francisco Art Institute alum, began her famed career as a photojournalist for Rolling Stone in the early 1970s. Over the past 40 years, she has created some of the most stunning and most controversial photographs of her day. Her new exhibition Women: New Portraits now on display at the Presidio’s Building 649 at Chrissy Field features portraits of some the world’s most influential women, from ballerina Misty Copeland to anthropologist Jane Goodall to Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg.

5 Tips for Taking Amazing Photographs at Night

April 7, 2016 No Comments

Fine art photographer Hendrik Paul is best known for his surreal black and white landscapes of the Marin Headlands, but he also likes to venture out at night to take ethereal images in both urban and rural settings.
Here our most accomplished night shooter shares his tips for night photography, from the best equipment to use to the best time to shoot, so you can start taking beautiful photos at night!

How to Be a Better Photographer in 4 Easy Steps

March 28, 2016 No Comments

Our favorite kids instructor Constance Chu gives us four tips for young photographers (and you too) on how to be better at photography. She says, getting good at photography is just like anything else: To be good, you’ve got to work at it.
While she won’t guarantee you fame and fortune in photography, she says becoming a better photographer is not as daunting a task as it may sometimes seem—and it will also be a lot of fun!

Catherine Karnow Lecture: The Creative Eye

March 24, 2016 No Comments

Behind the Scenes for National Geographic in Switzerland April 27, 2016, from 7–8PM Free How do you land in a foreign country and capture compelling images while planning an entire photo shoot on your own—in just ten days? Come hear National Geographic photographer Catherine Karnow talk about her creative process while she regales us with stunning images and exciting anecdotes from her recent assignment in Switzerland to shoot a major ad campaign for National Geographic. Catherine will tell us how it’s done: the pitfalls, the mishaps, the anxiety, the joy, and her ultimate success. This is sure to be an

9 Iconic Cameras Every Photographer Should Know

March 22, 2016 1 Comment

Photography has come a long way since the daguerreotype. While the first 100 years focused on perfecting the chemical process, the next 100 years focused on popularizing it. Read on to discover nine of history’s most iconic cameras, and how they influenced photography.

Eugène Atget, Quai d'Anjou, 6h du matin, 1924

Masters of Photography: Lecture Series with Jeffrey Martz

March 21, 2016 No Comments

Photographer and art historian Jeffrey Martz continues his inspiring lecture series Masters of Photography in a free event at The Image Flow. You are invited to join photographer and art historian Jeffrey Martz for an evening celebrating the life and work of the most influential practitioners in the history of photography. This new photography lecture series Masters in Photography will use the best possible reproductions and an interactive format and is intended for both the newcomer and the curious expert looking to contribute to the discussion. Stay tuned for subsequent dates to be announced shortly. See you there! Eugène Atget

Lundy Canyon, 1993, 4x5 platinum/palladium print. Photo © Kerik Kouklis. Best paper for platinum/palladium printing

The Best Paper for Platinum/Palladium Printing

March 15, 2016 2 Comments

Photographers who work with the historic, hand-made or otherwise alternative printing processes know that a good print requires a good paper. Each process has different requirements for what makes a “good” paper, and those of platinum/palladium printing are among the strictest.
It’s been almost 30 years since Kerik Kouklis made his first platinum/palladium print, and in that time, he says there’s never been such a selection of new and improved papers coming onto the market at the same time.
Here, in his own words, Kerik reveals the best of the best from long-time industry stalwarts Hahnemühle, Legion Paper, and Arches.

Penny Wolin Lecture: Descendants of Light

March 14, 2016 No Comments

Photographer Penny Wolin will present her new book, Descendants of Light: American Photographers of Jewish Ancestry, in a lecture and book signing at The Image Flow. Wednesday, April 20, 2016 at 7PM. Free. Award-winning photographer and author Penny Wolin traveled across the country for more than six years for her most recent book Descendants of Light: American Photographers of Jewish Ancestry. Penny photographed and interviewed more than 70 of the most important Jewish photographers in history. Some of the most iconic photographs of the 20th century were made by Jewish photographers: Philippe Halsman’s portrait of Albert Einstein, Herb Ritts’s portrait

Photographing Cuba: Beyond Expectations

March 8, 2016 No Comments

The Image Flow is back from our second (perhaps annual) workshops in Cuba. There were new experiences, old friends, and of course a night at the Tropicana. The group came home exhilarated and stimulated and with a portfolio of work even beyond our own expectations. Stuart Schwartz fills us in.
We wanted to build on the success of our first photography workshop in Cuba in April 2015, and this past February organized two more back to back, Cuba: Behind Closed Doors and The Havana Highway: Rum, Cars & Cigars. It was particularly satisfying to us as organizers that all six participants from last April signed up again, and we added to that some great new faces, including two old friends of mine who joined us all the way from Switzerland.
Both sessions turned out to be just ideal, from student participation to the variety of shooting opportunities. Of course there were glitches, as there will be when organizing a group of people—especially in Cuba—but it’s a testament to both our local guides Ramses and Alex and the go-with-the-flow attitude of the group that no matter what came up, we made the best of it. Ramses Batista, a renowned photographer in his own right, was our man on the ground; he’d make a call, and all of a sudden we were in a private apartment shooting portraits of a fascinating individual. Often, those little glitches served to make our experience even more authentic and unique.

Top 10 Instagram Accounts to Follow by Bay Area Photographers

February 22, 2016 2 Comments

Need some #inspiration? Here are our 10 favorite Instagram accounts from Bay Area photographers (and one SoCal) that we follow—and why you should too.

Photo Retouching Expert Chrysta Giffen is Passionate About Digital Images

February 9, 2016 No Comments

If you read magazines or watch TV (or have landed at SFO recently) you’ve seen Chrysta Giffen’s work. With more than 12 years in the photography industry, she’s one of the most sought-after digital retouchers in the business. Her extensive client list includes Nike, Disney, and Sephora; Bravo TV, Discovery Channel, and Showtime; New York Magazine, Wired, and Men’s Vogue; and a certain giant albino python—just to name a few.

Library of Congress Exhibition

February 1, 2016 No Comments

February – May 2016

Gary Yost: The Beauty of Fiji Can Make You Cry

January 25, 2016 No Comments

Marin County, CA-based filmmaker Gary Yost is best known for his short film The Invisible Peak about a project to restore the West Peak of Mount Tamalpais to its natural state. The film was shown in numerous film festivals to acclaim and awards. Most recently, Gary was invited to the Fijian island of Vanua Levu by Gavin de Becker, founder of the Naqaqa Giving Foundation to film the indigenous people of that island.

7 Inspiring Photography Subjects Near California’s Salton Sea

January 13, 2016 No Comments

Ted Orland is one of The Image Flow’s favorite wandering photographers, with a love of photography and life that is truly infectious.
He began his career as a young graphic artist working for famed designer Charles Eames and later served as photographer Ansel Adams’s assistant. Now a celebrated landscape photographer himself, Ted’s portfolio spans classical black and white photography, hand-colored photographs, and one-of-a-kind multi-image panoramas. He also co-authored the best-selling artists’ survival guide book Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking.
This spring, Ted will lead a new landscape and travel photography workshop to California’s Salton Sea and Joshua Tree National Park along with Brian Taylor, artistic director of the Center for Photographic Art.
In his own words, Ted shares seven of his favorite photography subjects throughout in this unique region of California.