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The photographer that has had an impact on me as a photographer is Jay Maisel. I like the way he captures his photos. His pictures have natural lighting and this is the theme within his work that is most important to me. He doesn’t use fancy equipment or fancy cameras or complex lighting for his work. He uses the sun or whatever lighting in the environment he is in to capture photographs. The lighting he uses works out perfectly for the outcome of each photo he takes. His photographs tend to have the lighting either behind him or above him to create a shadow.
[raindrops] This particular photograph that Jay Maisel took is of particular importance to me because he focused on the window with the rain and not the bridge or vehicles in the background. He could have easily focused on the background but that would have been to plain and boring. The window with the rain is more interesting because it captures rain as it falls unto a window at a fast pace. I like how the photo captures the texture of the raindrops on the window rather than the objects in the background. Most photographers that I have seen won’t take photos inside vehicles because the window tends to distort the image they are trying to capture. Instead of focusing how the window would distort the photo he focused on the window and had a really good outcome. This photo is important to me because it is something that is so simple. It shows that not everything that is simple can’t be interesting.
[clock] I like that he uses the clock as a silhouette. I find it very interesting that what is outside of the window doesn’t seem to be as important as the shape of the window and the clocks seems closer because of the size.
[sky] The sky doesn’t have the sun in the photograph but you can tell the time of the day by just understanding the light and the color. The light of the sun set changes the sky and the plane is really clear even though it is moving. this photo shows exactly where the sun is without it actually being in the picture. The clouds that are further away from the sun are a bit darker than the ones that are closer to it so it shows distance too.
Using natural lighting seems more realistic than using lighting in a studio. It has a natural affect and shows more real colors than artificial studio lighting. Some interior lighting changes the color a person sees, but the natural lighting doesn’t tend to change the color on an object as much. If I see a picture of a person inside compared to outside I see much more difference.
Angles cause different effects. Shadows look different, shape changes with the angles, and people can perceive the object differently. If something is plain but the angle is changed the perspective changes and it maybe makes it more interesting.
[prism] Here Maisel uses artificial light to make a mirror effect. Multiple colors give a much different feeling. You can make colors darker with color light opposed to lighter light. Seeing this picture inspires me to experiment with interior light.
Jay Maisel is a very interesting and inspiring photographer because he doesn’t stick to one particular stereotype of taking pictures of people, nature, animals but he has a variety of these. They feel like everyday life and less than particular subjects. His pictures seem spontaneous and show action. A lot of the buildings he takes focus on the lighting of the sun, reflections, and sunsets.
Also I had to remove the images you posted because Mr Maisel really does not like when people share his photographs. He has been known to take legal action against people… But don’t worry, I know which photos you’re referring to and we can learn from his works.
Thank you.
Thanks for submitting your assignment.
Jay Maisel is a really interesting guy and a great photographer so you’ve made a really excellent choice here. Jay Maisel is a generalist in photography and you can learn a great deal from his works.
Check out this video about him:
Here are a couple more videos:
Jay is absolutely right about the notion of light gesture and color. However being able to get to the point where you can photograph all three well takes a great deal of practice and time.
And this is the exact idea behind this lesson, to set you on the path of being inspired to continue going with your photography as long as possible.
Jay’s raindrops photo is a typical example of the idea that there is literally always a way to make something appear more interesting that it actually is using photography. And sometimes it’s a bit counterintuitive. In this case the rain is more interesting than anything else going on here.
In the clock photograph there are several frames within a frame. This is a very handy tool to keep in your belt and a great way to augment your photographs. Always be on the lookout for frames you can use inside the frame of your image. What’s more, they don’t have to be rectangular or the same shape as your camera’s aspect ratio as is the case here.
In the sky image you can see an example of minimalism and elegant simplicity. Again this is another tool to keep on your photo toolset if you will. If the interesting element is the sky shoot the sky and add a little plane and remove everything else. As you said, you don’t even need to see the sun or anything else to know what is going on.
Natural light also happens to be my preferred method of shooting as well.
In fact as you have seen in the videos I’ve listed here this is how Jay Maisel prefers to see the world as well. He likes to keep things honest and showcase them as they are. To be fair though there is a time and a place for strobes/speedlites/artificial light but it’s not my thing either.
An interesting side note about Jay Maisel is that he once bought a building for very little money decades ago and recently sold it for 10s of millions recently. Amazing! Here is a video of the amazing building.
Also I would recommend you purchase some of his books and study his works.
Overall you’ve done a fine job here and I hope you continue to explore the other masters of photography and keep inspired.
See you on the next assignment!
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