When frednewman first became serious about photography, he would go to the photography gallery and spend time looking at the work of the masters. Fred explains why and shares more tips as well as the image of his winning photo and his prize.
How do you describe your style?
My style has always been spontaneous because my early photography was street photography. I feel that has always been the way, even when I set up my camera on a tripod for a landscape.
What inspired you to be a photographer?
My parents were photographers and did professional photography. They met because of photography. In the early 1930’s, my father took a banana boat to Haiti to photograph. He lived in the Bronx and showed his photographs from his trip to Haiti to a camera club in Brooklyn. That is where my parents met. They got married, bought a house and had a small darkroom in the basement. It was in that darkroom that I was first exposed to seeing a print appear in the developer. It was an extremely special moment for me. Both my parents always shared their love of photography with me.
When someone looks at your photos, what do you want them to take away from it?
Having the viewer see what I saw and enjoying the image is extremely gratifying to me. I’m try to communicate same feeling of discovery and excitement when I first saw the image. Have the viewer see what I saw and enjoy viewing the image.
What was your first camera and what do you shoot with today?
I got my first camera when I was 16. It was a twin lens reflex. Shortly after I got an SLR because I really didn’t like the twin lens reflex.
The camera I’m using today is a Leica S2P. I was able to borrow the Leica S2 when I photographed the double rainbow photograph at Monument Valley. I actually purchased the Leica S2P a few years later.
What is it that you love about photography?
Everything - from finding the image, composing it, and making the print look like what I saw in my minds eye.
What has photography done for you?
Photography has made my life better in every way. It has always been a part of my life. As a child my parents always shared their love of photography with me. They were always extremely supportive of my photography. Photography is part of my everyday life.
Do you try to be conceptual or do you prefer to show the feeling behind a photo?
I prefer to show the feeling behind the photographs. It is a very emotional experience, and I try to convey that in my images.
If you had to choose one lens which one would it be and why?
My favorite lens for my Leica S2P is the Leica Summarit-S 35mm f/2.5 ASPH. It is the lens I took the double rainbow at Monument Valley. The camera was set vertically, and I needed to take five separate photographs. I later stitched the five photographs together to make the image. I would call it my go to lens.
What are your 3 tips for others who want to become better photographers?
Go to a museum, the Museum of Modern Art in New York that has a photography gallery. When I first became serious about photography, I would go to the photography gallery and spend time looking at the work of the masters. Also, look at photography books like The Family of Man by Edward Steichen - my first photography book.
Learn how to use your camera. To get the most out of your camera, learn of basics of what shutter speeds and apertures you should be using, depending upon what subject matter you would like to photograph. This way you will know how to set your camera up for subjects like sports, portraits to landscapes.
Learn Photoshop and Lightroom so you are able to make your images look like what you first saw in your minds eye.
Have you received negative feedback from your work? What did you do about it?
I try to learn from all feedback both positive and negative.
Where did you learn to take photos?
I learned photography from watching my parents take photographs to printing the images in the darkroom. My father taught me how to load 35mm film on stainless steel reels and processing my first roll of film.
Raw vs jpg and why?
Raw files. I come from a background of working in a darkroom. Raw files are more like negatives that I printed in the darkroom. I feel I have more control of the image in Lightroom & Photoshop, with RAW files.
What do you carry in your camera bag?
I have 2 camera bags.
One for medium format and one for infrared.
Medium format camera bag:
Leica S2P
Leica Summarit-S 35mm f/2.5 ASPH
Leica Summarit-S 70mm f/2.5 ASPH
Leica APO-Macro-Summarit-S 120mm f/2.5
Leica APO-Elmar 180mm f/3.5
Giottos Carbon Fiber Tripod MT 8260
Arca Swiss C1 Cube Geared Head
Infrared camera bag:
Fuji X-T1 converted to full spectrum
(The UV/IR filter in front of the sensor is removed and replaced with a clear glass - so now camera sensor is sensitive from UV to visible to IR)
B+W 486 Filter (blocks UV & IR so camera sees only visible light)
B+W 403 UV Black (allows only UV light and blacks visible light)
B+W 093 IR Black (block visible light and passes only IR light)
Heliopan RG 665 Infrared Filter (passes visible light from 665nm and above)
Giottos Carbon Fiber Tripod VGR 8265 M2N
Giottos MH 5400 Ball Head
If you could have the gift of a great photographer who would it be and why?
Edward Weston was my favorite photographer from the first time I visited the Museum of Modern Art. Spending a day with him photographing and working in his darkroom, would have been wonderful.
What is the most common mistake you see people making when shooting these days?
Not taking their time to set up the camera and carefully composing the image.
What is your dream location to shoot?
I went to Iceland many years ago on a press trip to photograph Icelandic horses and would love to go back to photograph landscapes.
How do you decide on where to shoot a photo?
When I’m out photographing, I find it takes a while for me to warm up, somewhat like an athlete. Once I start to find images, they just keep coming. Sometimes I feel the images find me.
What is next for you? Any planned adventures with your camera?
My goal is to review images from the past, from when I first started photographing - to my present images - select my film images to be scanned and prepare them for printing. It is very exciting to discover images from my proof sheets when I was using film and my present images when I switched to digital.
I plan to go on photographic trips to new and exciting destinations.
What is your goal with your photography?
To spend as much time as I can photographing new and exciting images. To continue to explore new places to photograph.
