Eight Is Enough
By Robert Lachman
Shooting photographs with the Lomo Oktomat 35 mm film camera with eight built-in lenses is always special. It's very cool, you get eight exposures in two seconds on 35mm film. You never know what you'll get like these photos of Neil Patrick Harris (from "Doogie Hower, M.D." and " How I Met Your Mother") taken on a hotel balcony in Los Angeles. Always a fun experience. The camera cost about $40.
You just never know! Will the film advance though the camera, will all eight exposures fire and plus there's no control over focus, exposure or color shift when you move from sunlight to shadow. Your film choice it the main variable, why not try cross processing, shooting some color slide film and processing in color negative developer (C-41).
There is a simple question: Why would anyone go to all this trouble and expense when you could easily make this happen with your digital camera and Photoshop? It would be quicker, fast, cheaper and more predictable.
You could pick any of your eight favorite photographs from the frames from the camera's motordrive and combine them. But, it would be wrong. Here's the reason: Photojournalism. Or, you could do it for the the love of film and the art involved. Photojournalists are never allowed to use Photoshop to
create an image. This definately means more work, time and expense for the photographer. Anytime you're shooting with an experimental process it's always best to back it up with a conventional digital photography. It's funny thinking digital is your conventional backup because many of us grew up shooting film. Do I ever want to go back to shooting film on a regular basis or miss it? No.The camera must be cool because it was even featured on the GIZMODO blog, "Lomo is known for unique cameras, like the fisheye camera and now this eight lens camera. We have seen a four-lens camera in the past that did a little pop art effect, but the Oktomat from LOMO is the real deal. This $40 camera has eight lenses that takes eight photos in 2.5 seconds. "It's a hell of a lot better than buying a $1,000 DSLR and giant memory card for burst photo taking," according to Travis Hudson. (I might argue with Travis. I think using a motordrive is a more effective way to capture action of any kind).
Check out my new Eight is Enough gallery.
More around the internet:
Photographer Scott Kelby uses the calender in iPhoto to display his photos on his post in a very creative way which I would expect from Scott.
For some very nice how-to studio tutorial check out Jim Talkington's Pro Photo Life website. He does some nice lighting setups for products and portraits.
Make sure you check out photographer, Jason Lee photos of his two kids. Some of the best work I've ever seen. I need to borrow a phrase from Mac OS Ken, Lee's photos "ROCK." You can also check out his pics on Flickr. Also, check out his wedding photos, they are excellent. This tip from the Strobist website.
Also take a look at the Ugliest Dog gallery on the LA Times website.
My typical podcast day. Two Mac OS Ken podcasts back to back on the way to LA. Nosillacast on the way to Westwood. Second half of Nosillacast on the way to Culver City. MacReviewCast on the way home.
Time to do laundry. I thought famous photographers didn't have to do their own laundry. I guess I'm not famous. I doubt Scott Kelby does.
Photographing Karsh
Photography by Robert Lachman
After clicking on my usually 20 to 40 technology or photography websites, I learned about a new one dedicated to Yousuf Karsh thanks to Rob Haggart's, A Photo Editor site. I photographed Karsh in 1988 for my photo column in the Los Angeles Times about his upcoming exhibit in Costa Mesa. What an assignment, photographing the most prolific and well-known portrait photographers in the World. He was so kind and friendly making the shoot go as simple as possible. Karsh died in 2002 and will be featured in a series of Canadian stamps to honor the 100th anniversary of his birth. For more information about Karsh and the stamps check out Canada Post. It seemed to me the perfect time to search through my piles of forgotten black-and-white prints and negatives to find my portraits of Yousuf Karsh.
By ROBERT LACHMAN (From 1988)
One of the problems with being a legend is that oftentimes you're not around to enjoy your celebrated status. Yousuf Karsh is the exception. He has not only outlived many of the rich and famous he has captured through his photography, but still keeps a busy work schedule as he nears his 80th birthday on Dec. 23.
Karsh, rated by most as second only to Ansel Adams, has maintained the enthusiasm for his work when most half his age have burned out. His portraits of such luminaries as Winston Churchill, Ernest Hemingway, Albert Einstein, Pablo Picasso and many others have earned Karsh a spot in photographic history.
"Everything in this world I have seen and photographed has given me a thrill and satisfaction," Karsh said. "It's hard work but the aesthetic satisfaction I get from it makes it worth it." Karsh was in Costa Mesa last week to attend a reception in his honor at the Susan Spiritus Gallery. He was also in town to shoot a portrait of one of Orange County's rich and famous, although he declined to say who it was.
"I don't limit my photography to the famous," he said. "I have photographed the steel mill industry, the automotive industry, farmers and all types of the non-famous." However, it's his work with some of the shapers of world opinion that has earned him his reputation. One of the keys to Karsh's success is that he spends a lot of time learning about and getting to know his subject.
Karsh explained that each subject has a unique personality. "You don't have to ask Hemingway about his great safari in Africa because you see evidence of it all around you in his home. If you read one of his books, you realize you are in the presence of a very strong personality." 
"You have to have a respect and appreciation of their talent, their role in life, their contribution to the world," he said. "I am at ease regardless of whom I'm with. My contribution as a photographer is that I don't give them any problems. At the same time you have done a great service to humanity and hopefully contributed something for posterity."
Karsh shoots most of his pictures with an 8-by-10-inch view camera. He can get the right shot in just two tries but he usually takes as many as 12. Even at a dozen, it is much fewer than many photographers today whose pictures on a photo shoot can reach into the hundreds.
"Some of my best pictures have been the result of two or three shots," he said. "I wish I could do that every day but it is not always possible to bring that much energy to bear (from the subjects). When I photograph someone, they give me as much time as I need."
Karsh is also very particular about the background in his pictures, although he seldom decides what it will be until meeting the person. "The person has nothing to do (with choosing the background) in my photographs," he said. "When I am there it is my responsibility. You don't ask these people how they would like to be photographed because if you do, you are already lost. That's why you approach them with self-confidence, but you must also not approach anyone unless you know what you want."
Karsh was born in Armenia and his family moved to Canada when he was 16. Shortly thereafter he got a job in his uncle's photo studio before serving an apprenticeship in Boston. At 23, he moved to Ottawa, which is where he now lives.
It wasn't until December, 1941, when Churchill came to Ottawa that Karsh shot the picture that would soon change the photographer's life. His reputation as a portrait photographer skyrocketed after that as he gained international acclaim.
Karsh has several people who help him with his photography, including a technician who has worked for him for 37 years. While he no longer does his own printing, he does carefully supervise it along with the developing of his negatives. He checks every print before it leaves his lab. "I get the print I want," he said.
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