The Show Me Podcast

Show Me Podcast Episode 3.4: Astrophotography from Weather to Editing with Bryan Haile

Moab Landscape and Astrophotographer Bryan Haile and I sit down and discuss the nuances of Milky Way photography. We cover weather, gear, lighting, single frames versus stacks, and star trails. Then we discuss editing techniques as well as composing a great image.

 

Here are the show notes:

2:36 Bryan talks about astrophotography and landscape photography and how the weather affects both of them

3:58 Bryan talks about how they prepare to get out in the desert and shoot flashlights, tech gear and all that stuff

5:17 Bryan also talks about the right gear to use when taking shots as a photographer especially in astrophotography

6:52 Bryan talks about lighting in photography and how to get the right light while taking the photos

7:53 Bryan talks about StarStax, how to use it, stacking images and if he’d recommend photographers to use it

8:58 Bryan talks about stacking of images and the difference that it has from single imaging and what he would recommend

9:43 Geoff and Bryan talks about Starry Landscapes Stacker, what it is and how they use it to make photos

11:30 Bryan talks about why he does the star trails photos and also shares some of the areas that are designated as the Dark Sky Park

12:48 Bryan talks about the light from Moab which is blowing up and how it is impacting the dark sky

13:43 Bryan talks about some of the ways that he uses in editing after capturing his images that makes his images look spectacular

16:19 Bryan also talks about how he got into astrophotography since he was a night photographer at first and talks about Tom and others who he does photography with

19:11 Bryan talks about pre-visualization in photography, what it is and why it is important in this field

21:08 Bryan also talks about landscape and nightscape photography and how the composition of these two can be the same

22:09 Bryan talks about the shot that he dreams about and would be thrilled to take it and how he plans on taking it

Episode 3:3: Hard Truths About Racism in Photography with Dallas Logan

Episode 3.3 of the Show Me Podcast features LA-based fashion photographer Dallas Logan in a frank conversation about racial bias in photography. Dallas and Geoff discuss racism in fashion photography including recent controversies surrounding Vogue magazine covers of Simon Biles, Kamala Harris, and Amanda Gorman. Then the two dive deeper, discussing bias in hiring, the challenges black photographers face with their portfolios, and even the way some photographers initially interpret light. The two wrap with conversations about what progress looks like and mentorship.

Dallas is a well-known and sought-after fashion photographer whose works have been published by GQ and People and numerous brands. Show notes follow.

Show Notes

1:27 Dallas share a little bit of history about his life and how and why he decided to be a professional photographer

3:21 Dallas talks about his company Light is Light and the reasons behind its creation and how it serves its customers

6:25 Dallas talks about race and the rolling controversy that seems to happen with fashion magazines and covers particularly when they feature black models photographed by a white person

10:32 Dallas also talks about the challenges that comes with being a photographer who is all concerned about the race

12:44 Dallas and Geoff talk about the importance of knowing your subject really well as a photographer to really come out with the best shots even with limited time

13:59 Dallas explains if the opportunities of black photographers are getting better and how they are progressing

17:14 Dallas and Geoff talk about diversity in relation to photographers getting a particular job and how it's impacting black photographers today

20:03 Dallas talks about how black photographers are more questioned about their expertise than the white photographers and what needs to be done

22:10 Dallas shares what he thinks the progress in photography should look like and what photographers like Geoff should do to make a difference

24:12 Dallas talks about the importance of developing other people and mentoring them in the right direction and where he got that sense of developing others from

28:36 Dallas talks about how Clubhouse helped him get the chance to meet up with a lot of diverse talented photographers out there in the world

30:05 Dallas talks about his book, Light is Light and also talks about how people can get it and get a better understanding about photography

Episode 3.2: Clubhouse - Should You Care?

 

Clubhouse is the new social network of the day, dominating headlines and activating photography conversations. Many photographers and people, in general, want to know if there is actual value for them on Clubhouse. DC Area Model, Photographer and Studio Owner Dakota Lee joins me for an active discussion about how Clubhouse is changing the photography conversation.

 

Conversations on the podcast include:

1) Clubhouse: What is it for non-users?

2) Why we like it and the value we see in it.
3) Reset of the online photography conversation from gear to art.

4) There is a high volume of female photographers on Clubhouse (which is great!)

5) Our astrophotography workshop in June

 

Give Show Me Podcast Episode 3.2 a listen. Full show notes are below!

 

1:06 Dakota shares a little background of herself and her journey of becoming a photography entrepreneur 

2:17 Dakota and Geoff talk about the Clubhouse app and explains what it is in details and if they’d recommend it to someone else 

4:41 Dakota also explains why she loves the Clubhouse app, why she joined and also shares the values that she’s getting from it 

5:45 Geoff explains why it was a good year for Clubhouse to launch and also what values he is getting from it 

9:03 Dakota and Geoff talk about the influencers on Clubhouse and things that people should avoid on Clubhouse 

11:26 Dakota and Geoff talk about if they have Clubhouse strategy and also Geoff talks about the Punk club that he started in Clubhouse 

13:50 Dakota talks about how she works with Clubhouse as a networking platform and how she plans on using it more 

16:07 Dakota and Geoff talk about how Clubhouse can be used as a community that helps you achieve your goals 

19:05 Dakota shares her thoughts on what she think about the communities in the Clubhouse and if they are important 

20:40 Dakota explains if Clubhouse changed her perspective on photography industry at all, her general feel about participating in it and if conversations are better because of it or not 

24:29 Dakota talks about representation and how this is happening in the Clubhouse and how diverse the app is and the importance of that 

27:14 Geoff talks about the punk photography group that he formed in the Clubhouse and how they are going to do it

28:27 Dakota and Geoff also talk about the feeling of creating a room in the Clubhouse and being invited in one as a co-host and how they start a conversation in the room 

29:51 Dakota talks about astrophotography, what it is and what made her decide to run an astrophotography workshop

Show Me Podcast Episode 3.1: Documenting a Most Unusual Presidential Transition

Transition Editor and Focus on the Story Founder Joe Newman joined me for a fascinating conversation about curating the work of a team of street photographers (including me) who documented the 2020 election. We discussed the unusual transition of power including the Million MAGA March and Proud Boys rallies, the Capitol Insurrection, and the Biden Transition.

 

Like my own solo photo book NotMyPresident: Five Years of Resisting Trump, Joe is publishing the work of dozens of photographers in his photo book called, "Transition" which is on Kickstarter until Saturday morning. The book can only be bought in this matter and will not be available for public sale afterwards. Visit Joe's site focusonthestory.com for more details.

Episode 2.12: A Virtual Visit to Havana

Continuing our COVID 19 series of virtual visits to fun lands or ideal destinations, this episode of the Show Me Podcast takes visitors to the gorgeous exotic lands of Havana, Cuba. The podcast discusses:

• The beautiful cityscape
• Portraits of Cuban citizens
• Decay and dilapidation of Havana buildings
• Street scenes illustrating the culture of Havana
• The vibrant classic cars that are ever-present in Cuba

Images discussed were taken during visit to Havana four years ago with six other fellow photographers. The trip was extremely memorable, revealing an incredible beautiful culture.

A video, photo gallery, and photo essay/transcript of the episode are available via ShowMePodcast.com.

Episode 2.11: Four Years of Trump Protest Photos

Welcome to Show Me Podcast Episode 2.11: Four Years of Trump Protest Photos. For the past four years, I have been photojournaling protests against Donald Trump and his Administration.

The recent Black Lives Matter protests brought a new wave of photos, so many so that it caused me to look at the entire album. With the election coming up it seemed like a good idea to review this project and look to overarching themes.

From basic civil rights to democratic principles, the same themes kept appearing over and over again in the protests. They were:

• Racism
• Immigration
• Gender equality
• LGBTQ rights 
• Science and facts 
• The right to earn 
• Freedom of expression

See the photos in the podcast or below, or just listen to the podcast to hear about those protest trends, the major issues that define the Trump presidency.

 

In addition, to commemorate this podcast I created the above "Cancel the Trump Reality Show" protest poster. 

 You can download it for free here, or order a print here.

Please share this episode/photo essay with your friends. Most importantly register and vote.

Episode 2.10: A Virtual Tour of Olympic National Park

This Memorial Day weekend, please let me take you through a virtual tour of Olympic National Park. So many of us have lost trips and planned vacations to the coronavirus quarantines, and are now just re-emerging into our local neighborhoods. To make things easier, I hope to take you to the magical place I feel in love with last year, Olympic National Park.

This Show Me video podcast and associated transcript/photo essay takes you from the south of the park in the Lake Quinault region all the way to the ocean and then to the north, where we will visit Hurricane Ridge. The podcast will show you 40 photos over 20 minutes.

Before I begin, a little back story… In April 2019 I toured Olympic National Park over five days and four nights. The goal was to build an Instagram guide for Aramark’s Nation’s Vacation group of lodges in Olympic National Park. Thank you to the Nation’s Vacation team for letting me share some of those photos taken on that trip with everyone.

I hope you enjoy the journey. A Full Transcript with photos is available on geofflivingston.com.

Episode 2.9: Photographing Rock Shows with Jason Miller

London-based Rock and Roll photographer Jason Miller visited to discuss shooting rock and roll shows.  He broke down how he goes about it, and how crazy it is to shoot a show in ten minutes flat.

Our conversation began with a discussion of an incredible photo from The Clash, which was featured on their seminal album London Calling, shot by Pennie Smith (who didn't want to publish the image). Then we discussed a punk rock photo by the legendary New York photographer Godlis.

Once we got into Jason's photographer, we had a wide variety of shows to discuss, including:

• The Dropkick Murphys
• Backyard Babies
• Wildhearts
• Morrissey
• Sinead O'Conner

You can find Jason via his site rocknrollcocktail.com (and don't miss his books there) as well as on Instagram (and everywhere else as @jasonmillerca). A full transcript is on the showmepodcast.com site. You may also want to check out Episode 2.7: Rock's Greatest Photos!

Thanks for listening to the Show Me Podcast with Geoff Livingston. More shows, sponsorship and donation information are available at ShowMePodcast.com

 

Episode 2.8: My Creative Journey through Mourning and the Coronavirus

Early in the morning on March 2, the Fairfax County police banged on my door to inform me my mother had died. This began a surreal journey through sudden death and mourning, immediately followed by the global change and devastation caused by the coronavirus. This is my story, as told through the camera.

At first, my photography was stunted and limited, but then it quickly evolved to become an expressive device. From sadness to gloom to documentation and finally the hope of a new spring, this very personal podcast and associated photographs document my creative journey.

Episode 2.7: Rock's Greatest Photos? We Discuss

Local rock photographer Rachel Lange and bassist Brett Pocorobba join me for an active conversation about rock (and rap)'s most iconic photos. Musicians include John Lennon (by Annie Leibowitz), Janet Jackson (x2), Lady Gaga, Johnny Cash, Metallica's Jason Newsted, Michael Jackson, NWA, Prince, Queen, Taylor Swift, U2 and Arch Enemy.

After more than 30 minutes of photos we thought we had just grazed the surface, and felt that perhaps genre-specific shows were in order. Listen to the episode and let us know what you think the best rock and roll photos are, and who should be included in our next episode!