Dominique James, The Photographer

This is a sweeping view of lower Manhattan's skyline.

This photo that I took shows the grand and sweeping view of a major portion of the Lower Manhattan in New York City. It also shows a little bit of Jersey City in New Jersey, the Hudson River, and at a distance, a tiny view of the iconic Statue of Liberty and the historic Ellis Island.

Download now for free (from this link) the high-resolution JPEG image file (11.41 MB) of the Lower Manhattan Skyline of New York City. You have full, non-exclusive, and perpetual license to the use of this image. The usage license is unrestricted and unlimited in any way for educational, commercial, personal and all other purposes. Please feel free to use, modify, crop, edit, alter, resize, and/or combine this image with graphic designs, objects, materials, other photos, and all other elements. There is no restrictions, limitations or conditions on the download and use of this image. Get this image now and tell others about it.

[Photographed by Dominique James. To get and collect fine art photo prints, visit  the Dominique James Zatista Store. For more information, send email to dominiquejames@mac.com.]

This is the Doppler Radar on top of the Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, New York City.

This picture that I took is an image of the Doppler Radar situated at the top of the Rockefeller Center in midtown Manhattan of New York City. Not too many tourists or visitors look at it and take notice when they go to the Top of the Rock. I can’t say I blame them. Only the most die-hard of weather enthusiasts would probably be really interested to see or look at this. This Doppler Radar has to compete, unfairly, with the magnificent and awe-inspiring 360-degree view of NYC’s downtown and uptown areas.

Download now for free (from this link) the high-resolution JPEG image file (9.90 MB) of the Rockefeller Center Doppler Radar in New York City. You have full, non-exclusive, and perpetual license to the use of this image. The usage license is unrestricted and unlimited in any way for educational, commercial, personal and all other purposes. Please feel free to use, modify, crop, edit, alter, resize, and/or combine this image with graphic designs, objects, materials, other photos, and all other elements. There is no restrictions, limitations or conditions on the download and use of this image. Get this image now and tell others about it.

[Photographed by Dominique James. To get and collect fine art photo prints, visit the Dominique James Zatista Store. For more information, send email to dominiquejames@mac.com.]

BY DOMINIQUE JAMES

On Facebook, my friend Danny recently asked me a couple of interesting questions that I believe needs to be answered.

Here are Danny’s two questions: “Dominique, what in heaven’s name are Hipstmatic Prints? Where in the moon do you get them?”

For sure, these are interesting questions that I cannot ignore. These must be answered properly. And so, I aimed to answer in full and with clarity here.

This is my response to those two questions:

Danny, “Hipstamatic Prints” is the title of my digital photo albums here and here where I post daily all sorts of mostly artistically-inspired B&W photos on my Facebook. (By the way, I also have a similar online photo album on Facebook called “Pixelpipe Photos” here.)

Anyway, of course the matter of “artistic merit” is largely subjective, depending on each of the picture and also on who’s looking, among other things, but hopefully you’ll find a few that will prick your fancy.

Anyway, these photos have all been shot using the camera of my iPhone 4 (I’ve gone through all of the iPhone models since it became available) with an app (or application) called Hipstamatic.

The album’s name is not my own choosing. It is the album name automatically created by Hipstamatic when I linked (and authorized) this app to post to my Facebook all photos that I deem worthy or interesting of sharing. By linking, these pictures that I share are automatically and directly posted from the Hipstamatic app in the iPhone 4 to Facebook (either through WiFi if available or through the regular AT&T cellular network).

Hipstamatic, as you can imagine, is one of the most popular iPhone photography apps where images that has been shot are processed using different types of “films,” “lenses,” and even “flashes.” The combination of these films, lenses, and flashes creates enchanting, almost sometimes, otherworldly or unreal images that looks quite different but still familiar and the same from actual real objects or scenes we see that has been photographed. My objective is to show these objects or scenes or even people in a different but still familiar way. I thought it’s an interesting thing to do and a lot of my Facebook friends seem to “Like” it very much

I’ve been shooting all sorts of iPhone photos for more than 2 years now, and I’m happy to share them day after day here on Facebook with appreciative friends like you. If you like the photos, please press “Like.” And also feel free to comment. I read, and sometimes reply, to comments posted. In fact, I’ve had a great many thought-provoking, funny, interesting, serious, joking conversations with friends from all over the world on Facebook through these photos.

If you are interested, there are many fantastic resources available online about Hipstamatic, and also on iPhone photography in general.

For starters, more information about the Hipstamatic app, can be found here -http://hipstamatic.com/the_app.html.

Or, you can also check this out – http://hipstamatic.com/.

And then there’s this that you might find interesting – http://community.hipstamatic.com/.

Wikipedia, of course, has something on it too – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hipstamatic.

Then there’s a whole, thriving group about it on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/hipstamatic.

And not to be outdone, on Flickr as well – http://www.flickr.com/groups/hipstamatic/.

Then, there’s this controversial thing about a seasoned war photographer who recently won a major international award with nothing more than a Hipstamatic to create the pictures – http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/finding-the-right-tool-to-tell-a-war-story/.

And this is how and why he did it – http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/11/through-my-eye-not-hipstamatics/.

So that, Danny, in heaven’s name, is what my album “Hipstamatic Prints” and the Hipstamatic app is all about.

And where in the moon did you ask to actually get them? That’s a very good questions because, well, you can actually buy online a real limited edition, signed and numbered fine art photographer’s photographic print (that comes with a certificate of authenticity) from here – http://www.zatista.com/store/index/Dominique-James.

These frameable fine art photographic prints are available from as low as $49 each to as high as $10,000 each (shipping and handling not included). As you can see, whatever your budget, there’s one that’s suitable for you. And, you can choose from almost a hundred available fine art photographs. And the collection is growing.

You can frame and decorate your homes and offices with these awesome (if I may say so myself) fine art photographic prints.

These fine art prints, like any other fine art such as paintings and sculptures in museums and art galleries, are not only a beauty to behold, cherish and covet, but they do appreciate in value over time which makes them a very good and stable financial investment.

Anyway, Danny, thanks for asking. And feel free to ask more questions any time. It’s good to keep “conversations” like this going.

"On Golden Pond," a fine art photograph by Dominique James featured in Zatista.

DOMINIQUE JAMES

Every now and then, as I sometimes foray aimlessly into the endless wilderness that is the Internet, I stumble upon gems that serves to enrich my experience as a photographer and as a visual artist. I’m sure my experience is not unique.

What with the incredible wealth of information all around, it is hard to imagine anyone in today’s world living a sustained creative life in a vacuum. However, I can still say that the way I go through the morass of materials, the meandering path that I take, the serendipitous nature of my discoveries, the mental coagulation that takes place and whenever things fall into place, are all uniquely mine.

Creativity, like most everything in life, must be nourished and nurtured in order to grow. And what with the Internet’s big pipes, among other things, we are mercilessly subjected by the strong currents of great swirling forces of creative influences all around us—all the time. There’s almost no way of turning it off.

About the only reasonable thing we can do with the deluge of information is to allow ourselves to open up to the countless bits that scurry along and pluck upon those which we feel matters the most. It’s almost like picking the pieces of huge puzzles floating aimlessly all around in a huge vat of information pool.

So, we build our lives today by bits and bytes, actually just like for the most of our past, but in a more intensely interesting way than ever before.

[Note: To view some interesting results of the visual, and sometimes philosophical, mish-mash of such “influences,” visit the Dominique James online gallery of fine art photographs over at Zatista. Thank you.]

Sisig, one of the Filipino-themed all-time favorite specialty dishes served at the newly opened Side Grill Restaurant in Jersey City, New Jersey.

DOMINIQUE JAMES

When I was starting out as a professional photographer, my young and impressionable mind was blown away the very first time I heard that photographers[1] use mashed potatoes when photographing ice cream. It was a lightning bolt of a revelation! It totally made sense to me since the structure and consistency are visually the same, and mashed potatoes never melts—not even under very hot lights.

For good or bad, this bit of handy knowledge became part and parcel of helpful and useful things that I carry in my head, as if some kind of cardinal or even Biblical truth, a manna from heaven. Since then, the way I look at photographs of food, and even my relationship with food, has forever changed.

I don’t remember the name of the first person who told me about using mashed potatoes for an ice cream. Through the years, as if a mantra, this nugget of wisdom would be repeated to me often enough by all and sundry, many of whom were not even photographers. Surprisingly, hard as I try to recall, the one true master of food photography himself, Mark Floro[2], never ever mentioned this to me, not even once in any of our many conversations[3]. In any case, outside of the rarified domain of food photography, does anyone really care to know what a photograph of an ice cream is really made of as long as it looks deliciously real?

As my career progressed, and though my expertise, interest and focus leaned towards portraiture and fashion, I was lucky enough to have been entrusted with taking pictures of food for commercial campaigns of several fastfood chains and fine dining restaurants[4]. In almost all of these shoots, except for a trick or two here and there, I actually photographed real, edible food. Even the one time I took pictures of Ilustrado Restaurant’s[5] famous gourmet Sampaguita ice cream, we used the real thing[6], not mashed potatoes.

Still, even with a number of professional food shooting experience tucked into my increasingly widening belt (all from eating), I still somehow cannot help but doubt the authenticity of sumptuous-looking dishes photographed by others that I see in ads. In my skepticism, I even try to discern fakery whenever I look at pictures of food, but alas, none to successfully. Perhaps the idea of delicious dishes is too overpowering on an empty stomach?

I was once teased (or dared? or challenged?) by someone who is well aware of my terrible, terrible love of photography. If I had to choose one over the other, which would I prefer: photographing food or eating them? What a torturous question! This is one of the few questions that actually stopped me in my tracks and take the time to answer. I just hope no one ever thinks of torturing and embarrassing any of the Ms. Universe beauty pageant finalists in the Q&A portion with a question like this. To me at least, this is one of a deep probing that ranks high up with all the other questions on the mystical nature of humanity and the universe.[7]

At first, of course, taking the high road, I desperately wanted to answer that I enjoy photographing them more than eating them. After all, I consider myself to be an artiste; and artistic expression is what I live and die for, by culinary standards or not. I mean, choosing to photograph food rather than eat them seems like the right kind of answer—the one that judges of the Ms. Universe competition would certainly think as the right answer.

That’s the “intellectual” side of me rationalizing the whole deal. But then, who am I kidding? I mean, I’m really more concerned with what I put in my mouth than taking pictures of them. If I might confess one thing right here, I actually never bother taking pictures of food (no matter how incredible the presentation) before I eat them. I always end up giving in to the base instinct of my human nature, which, after all, is universal, and therefore, relevant to everyone. I eat them! So, the fact remains, I like eating more than photographing food.

But hey, once in a while, I get the chance to actually do both. Here’s the thing: I get to eat the food after the shoot! Most of it, anyway. For me, that is what’s actually fun about photographing food—taking pictures of it, and then eating it. What could possibly be better?[8]

I recently photographed the dishes being served by a newly opened Filipino restaurant in Jersey City, New Jersey, called Side Grill. Located right smack in the middle of West Side Avenue, where many of the half-a-million Filipinos living in that area are clustered tightly into a community, Side Grill serves some of the most awesome all-time favorite and all-time popular Filipino dishes originating from the different regions of the Philippines. Chef Herman Villadolid kept plating one exquisite dish after another which, in the end, resulted in an awesome culinary snapshot of the authentic Filipino cuisine. The pictures, taken as a whole, represented almost all of the major typical Filipino culinary experience not only in the Philippines, but of all Filipinos whichever corner of the globe they happen to work, or live, or be.

The thing about Filipino food is that it is truly comforting. Each dish has a distinct signature taste that is familiar to the palette. As Filipinos, we know how it should taste like, even as we compare and reference it to how we remember the taste from countless others that we’ve no doubt tasted in the past. We judge a particular food against the taste of how our parents, grandparents, or cousins, aunts and uncles cook it, based on the family’s heirloom recipe, or we compare its taste against that of a favorite cafeteria, fastfood, or turo-turo[9] restaurant. We compare it to our own cooking. And we form snap judgement, whether it is good or not. But none too harshly, I would suppose, because we still eat it, no matter how terrible we think it tastes. There is a sense of comfort to eating the familiar that it’s almost a solemn communion. It beckons to us, it calls us, it makes us, all at once, taste home.

[Note: The food photography project for Side Grill’s first major promotional campaign was done with Dennis Altobar, Together, we’ve photographed on location almost 50 mouth-watering dishes within the span of a week. We’ve also photographed Side Grill’s restaurant interior and exterior during the day, and at night time. Many of the pictures are now featured in Side Grill’s beautiful and elegant website, serving as a counterpoint to the fantastic logo designed by Mark Gonzales[10]. Some of the food photographs are individually featured as the main visual element of full-color posters and all other collateral promo materials designed by the creative artists of The Studio. These posters and promo materials has been professionally printed by Marisse Panlilio[11] of MPGrafx.]

[1] Together with an army of hardworking food stylists who collaborate with them on commercial food photography.
[2] I used to sneak in Mark Floro’s food photography workshops next door every moment whenever I’d get bored from the nude photography workshops I used to conduct at the Philippine Center for Creative Imaging.
[3] We were probably too preoccupied with talking about so many other topics of mutual interest to have time to actually talk about something like food photography!
[4] I’ve done food photography for Alfredo’s Steakhouse, Illustrado Restaurant, T.G.I.F., among others.
[5] Ilustrado Restaurant is located in the historic district of Intramuros in Manila.
[6] Never mind if it kept melting and we had to do it over and over again!
[7] Ok, that’s hyperbole right there, but it is what it is to me.
[8] I can think of one, but never mind.
[9] The word “turo-turo” means “to point at.” This is a kind of restaurant where you simply point out to the attending server which dishes you’d like to order.
[10] You can view the works of Mark Gonzales at his website www.smallzinc.com and you can email him at me@smallzinc.com.
[11] Marisse Panlilio can be reached at marisse@mpgrafx.com.

A Tale Of Two Buildings: A side-by-side comparison of two photo images of two different buildings to show its striking similarities, as well as differences.

DOMINIQUE JAMES

“Great minds think alike!”

No doubt, it is a positive and uplifting truism, one that is said out aloud and a lot—mostly as unbridled expression of happy coincidences in moments that warrants it. Simple and direct, it is a phrase that aptly punctuates, with a significant exclamation point, many of life’s suddenly joyous eventualities.

However, woe unto us mortals, because unfortunately, no one actually remembers or knows from whom and from where that oft-quoted phrase originally came from. Lost in the mist of time is the definitive identity of the one wise man who first uttered it. In a sense, the very idea in itself, has become public domain[1]. There has been a number of brave attempts at mindful attribution, but in these days of the wild and wooly Internet, such can be deemed half-hearted and none too credible. So, reliably, whenever it comes up, it is best generally attributed to none other than “Anon.”[2]

I bring up this fascinating phrase because it was what immediately came to mind, perhaps as a matter of rightful inspiration, when not too long ago I was absently browsing the Internet, that I saw, for the first time, a picture that struck a deepest essence of my core[3].

It was a picture of a building.

I’ve seen countless pictures of buildings, some ornate, some historic, some, well, looks like—a buildings, or not. This picture of the building I saw was quite simple. But what struck me with this particular photo was that it looked almost the same as the picture of a building I recently photographed[4]. It’s not exactly the same, as you can see in the photo above, but despite the obvious differences in angle, theme, point-of-view, color, treatment, among others, I couldn’t help but be struck by its somewhat uncanny and essential similarity.

As such, I find it fascinating. To me at least, it’s a marvel of coincidence. I mean, how often can such a thing happen? Having been a professional photographer for more than 25 years, and I have photographed all sorts of things, and I actually can’t remember when was the last time something like this has happened.

The image I photographed (on the left) was for a commercial assignment, the facade of a newly named Filipino restaurant in Jersey City, New Jersey, called “Side Grill.”[5] Using an ultrawide, full-frame lens, I photographed it right in the front corner of the restaurant’s facade, in the middle of winter, as the last of the day’s light was about to be enveloped by darkness. The image was post-processed on Apple’s Aperture 3 and Adobe Photoshop CS5. The image that looks oddly and strangely similar (on the left), is a fine art photo taken by another photographer whom I personally do not know[6], with an iPhone’s camera that showed a similar angle and composition, but of a different building, in a different location, and post-processed in an entirely different way.

When confronted with two or more similar-looking photographs, it is but natural to make immediate comparisons and judgements. That seems to be the natural tendency, at least when looking at comparable pictures. And, I can understand and see why viewers might quickly decide which one they like best. But, I just want to make sure and say that I’m not showing these photos side-by-side because I am asking for you to decide which photo you like best, other than to share with you its striking similarity, perhaps in the same way that I first saw it when I did.

If you think about it, it actually doesn’t make sense to decide if one is better than the other. That kind of judgement, to say the least, is subjective. Not only is it notoriously dependent on the individual eye of the beholder (acting naturally as its own curator), but we also have to take into consideration the circumstances and the primary purpose with which the photograph was taken. In all and in particular cases, enveloped in a properly defined context, one will always be suitably better than the other.

In any case, it is not every day that I come across an amazing serendipity such as this. I’m happy I came across the other photographer’s picture, and I don’t mind discovering more similarities among my work[7] with that of others.

And so, just to paraphrase the line, “great minds think alike,” at this point I’m inclined to say that “great minds visualize alike!”

Note: I’ve had the delightful pleasure of photographing Side Grill’s delicious food for their first major promotional campaign. The entire shoot project was done and completed with a collaborator, Dennis Altobar. Together, we’ve photographed (on site) almost 50 mouth-watering dishes prepared by noted Filipino chef, Herman Villadolid, within the span of a week. (And that was quite a treat!) We’ve also photographed Side Grill’s restaurant interior and exterior during the day, and at night time. Many of the pictures are now featured in Side Grill’s beautiful and elegant website, serving as a counterpoint to the fantastic logo designed by Mark Gonzales[8]. Some of the food photographs are individually featured as the main visual element of full-color posters and all other collateral promo materials designed by the creative artists of The Studio. These posters and promo materials has been professionally printed by Marisse Panlilio[9] of MPGrafx.

Chopsuey, one of the fabulous signature dishes from the new Side Grill Restaurant in Jersey City, New Jersey, photographed by Dominique James and Dennis Altobar.

BY DOMINIQUE JAMES

“When we no longer have good cooking in the world, we will have no literature, nor high and sharp intelligence, nor friendly gatherings, nor social harmony.” – Marie-Antoine Caréme, Chef (1784-1833)

The population of the Filipino community in Jersey City, New Jersey, has steadily grown through the years. The latest count estimates more than half-a-million who now takes up both permanent and long-term residence there. And from all indications, the population is expected to rise in the years to come.

A very good (and quite visible) indication of this growth can be seen in the steady increase of Filipino-owned establishments in the area. Stores, groceries, restaurants, among others, run mostly by enterprising Filipinos, pop up alongside all other small businesses serving the community.

One such new and exciting venture is Side Grill.

Side Grill, located at West Side Avenue and which opened just three months ago, is a contemporary Filipino restaurant serving many of the most popular and well-loved dishes from almost all major regions of their homeland, The Philippines. There are already a number of well-established Filipino and Asian-themed restaurants lining up West Side Avenue. But Side Grill, as the newest addition, is yet another visible Filipino “food culture” stamp on the area.

While Side Grill is decidedly and authentically Filipino, serving an amazing breadth and depth of selections featuring mostly all-time favorite dishes and catering primarily to the Filipino palette (a taste of home, so to speak), this is not to say that they are exclusively serving the Filipino clientele. As a matter of fact, since Side Grill threw its doors open, the restaurant has enjoyed very supportive patronage from Americans and a curious mix of people hailing from various nationalities. At any time, it is not unusual to see Americans and people of different nationalities share and partake meals with Filipinos. This is quite an unexpected but very welcome development since the Filipino cuisine, which is mostly an exotic fusion of Western and Oriental influences, has yet to enjoy as much popularity as other Asian cuisines, particularly that of the Thai, Japanese and Chinese cuisines.

So, what draws all sorts of people to Side Grill? The delicious food prepared by chef Herman Villadolid and his all-Filipino kitchen staff? The beautiful and colorful ambience of the dining area? The trademark and almost-patented happy and warm welcoming smiles of the Filipinos?

Most likely, it’s a magical combination of all of the above.

[Note: I’ve had the delightful pleasure of photographing Side Grill’s delicious food for their first major promotional campaign. This photo shoot project was done with Dennis Altobar. Together, we’ve photographed almost 50 mouth-watering dishes within the span of a week all on location. We’ve also photographed Side Grill’s restaurant interior and exterior during the day, and at night time. Many of the pictures are now featured in Side Grill’s beautiful and elegant website, serving as a counterpoint to the fantastic logo designed by Mark Gonzales. Some of the food photographs are individually featured as the main visual element of full-color posters and all other collateral promo materials designed by the creative artists of The Studio. These posters and promo materials has been professionally printed by Marisse Panlilio of MPGrafx.]

BY DOMINIQUE JAMES

A seemingly strange string of letters makes up the title of this blog post. If you’re a professional photographer, you probably have an idea what it means. If not, allow me tell you.

B and H, the first two letters in the sequence, stand for the name of a photo and video equipment store. Being a non-chain store, it is located only in New York City, which represents the next three letters. And it is the biggest in the United States of America, which brings us the final three in the string of letters. I could have added a W at the end, for it is also perhaps the most well-known in the entire world.

Sure, there are other B&Hs out there—an airline service, a publishing group, a music service, a brand of cigarette, a railroad company. But for our purposes, we refer to B&H as B&H Photo Video.

B&H started out in 1973 as a storefront shop selling film on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It is run by Herman Schreiber and his wife, Blimie, which pretty much explains what B&H stands for. Quickly outgrowing its space, it moved to a large loft on West 17th Street, in an area that was known in the 70s as the Photo District. Catering to the needs of neighborhood artists, the store expanded to sell film equipment and other photo products.

In 1997, B&H moved to its present 9th Avenue and 34th Street location. By October 30, 2007, it had opened the floor above the ground level sales floor, bringing the total to 70,000 square feet of sales space. Products such as pro lighting, binoculars and scopes, video, audio, darkroom, film, as well as home and portable entertainment are all on the first floor. On the second floor are analog and digital photography equipment, computers, printers, scanners and related accessories. With more than 235,000 products in stock, it’s almost certain that if a doodad exists, it can be bought at B&H.

B&H has more than 1,500 employees. On average, they serve an average of 11,000 to 12,000 in-store customers per day. In addition, B&H conducts a considerable amount of business on the Internet. In 35 years, B&H has grown into a “superstore.” With knowledgeable sales professionals and the installed  mechanical labyrinth to magically bring you each and every item you ask for wherever you happen to be in the store, B&H is the gadgeteer’s equivalent of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.

B&H is so firmly established that it’s almost fair to say no self-respecting professional photographer (or professional videographer for that matter) from anywhere in the world has not heard of it. In fact, it is likely the world’s top photographers and videographers, at one point or another, have bought stuff from the B&H store, or at least ordered online.

When I moved to the city three years ago, I knew for sure I’d visit B&H soon enough—just to check things out. To me, it was an “attraction.” Of course, it doesn’t quite compare to the grandness of The Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty, but to a professional photographer such as myself, it’s one those not-to-be-missed places.

The first time I stepped inside B&H, I was somewhat overwhelmed and bewildered. I didn’t understand the store’s layout, directional signs, waypoints, and the many personnel stationed all over. But it soon enough made sense—these were all guides that had been carefully setup to orient where you were and direct where you should go.

As I settled into the city, I began to visit there to do something more purposeful: buy stuff. I can imagine that many cards like mine have thinned a millimeter from being constantly swiped at B&H’s checkout counters, more than at any other establishment in New York. Visa would be justifiably happy.

Everyone’s B&H experience is encapsulated between two points: an expectant beginning at the entrance door with Pedro, the cheery greeter who ushers one and all into the store; and a happy ending at the exit door with the smiling Sheila, who hands out survey coupons, and Alfonso, who expertly shows the proper way out.. In between, of course, is the heart and soul of the B&H experience, the encounters with the Davids, Solomons, and Jacobs at every nook and cranny of the two-floor selling area. This carefully controlled piece of Manhattan real estate hums with efficient commerce under a veneer of genuine, professional friendliness.

Lately, I have been hanging out at B&H—almost every day these past two months, more than I ever did at any other place in the entire amazing city of New York¹. Just check out my recent check-ins at Foursquare². And I don’t even work there! So there, that’s all there is to the string of letters that serves as this week’s blog title.

But wouldn’t you like to know why I’ve been spending a lot of time at B&H? I mean, how often do I (or anyone for that matter) really need to go there? Sure, I’ve been buying stuff, only because no one can remain impervious to the temptation on display. But shopping is not the only reason that I go there day to day. That’s the story I wanted to tell you.

Tucked in an area on the 2nd floor is a compact space called Event Space. It’s actually almost so inconspicuous that many people who go to B&H may not even notice it. I’ve been going there for photography lectures, seminars, and workshops, conducted by some of the most talented pros from around the world.

The B&H Event Space, launched in November of 2007, is a learning environment designed to educate, inspire, and cultivate a community of like-minded individuals who aspire to be great at what they love to do. By offering workshops and lectures in photography (and also video and pro audio), their mission is to help those in the community achieve their goals. David Brommer and Jennifer Diamond are two of its central figures. They are supported by a team of photo, video and audio experts: Allan Weitz, Andrew P. Byrd, Casey Krugman, Gabriel Biderman, Jason Friedman, Joey Quintero, and Larry Cohen.

Finding the right speakers to conduct talks at B&H is important. In many instances, they directly reach out to those whom they want to speak at the Event Space. “We find photographers on blogs or other industry websites, and will contact them if we like their work. Other times, we find speakers through recommendations,” Diamond said.

“The qualifications that we look for in a speaker are: first and foremost, quality of work; secondly, it’s important that the photographer has good public speaking skills. If the photographer is an instructor, that is a very good quality to have because it’s a strong indicator that they speak well. The usual concerns when getting speakers are scheduling—deciding what day is most appropriate for them to speak.”

The B&H Event Space also partners with major manufacturers in the imaging industry and academic institutions in the arts to produce a wide range of workshops and seminars, covering a vast spectrum of topics.

“There are times where speakers are sponsored by manufacturers, in which case the company chooses the speaker,” Diamond said. “Not all speakers are sponsored by companies, only about 10 percent are. Sometimes speakers will ask us to help find them sponsorship, and this can be very challenging. It’s really the responsibility of the speaker to find their own sponsorship. If we can assist, we will at times but it doesn’t always work out. It’s challenging to find sponsorship, especially in this economy.”

In addition, B&H “Mavens,” employees who are experts on a specific topic, teach classes in the Event Space. On Sundays, high-profile and emerging photographers, as well as industry professionals, deliver inspirational lectures about their work and spin their personal tales of success. “We like to have more artistic lectures on Sundays,” Diamond says.

The very first speaker at the Event Space was Mike Corrado from Nikon. It was a D300 and D300s product launch. Since then, the Event Space has hosted a number of prominent speakers including Brian Storm, Vincent Laforet, Joyce Tenneson, Joe McNally, and John Paul Caponigro. (Oh, by the way, just like everyone else, most of the speakers often shop before and after their lectures, sometimes spending thousands of dollars.)

The most requested topics are on software, mainly Photoshop and other editing tools like Adobe’s Lightroom and Apple’s Aperture. Lighting seminars and travel photography are also very popular.

The sessions that were the most memorable, Diamond says, were the Lensbaby photo safari through Times Square, Real Exposures with Harvey Stein, The Women Photography Panel, the f295 symposium, Sarah Small’s lecture, and David Brommer’s Composition class.

The best-attended session of all time was Joe McNally’s lecture—92 people!

All the sessions at the B&H Event Space are free. “We believe in providing free education to the public so that everyone has an equal chance to learn and benefit from the service we are providing,” Jennifer Diamond says. “We are not interested in gaining a profit from our events, but we realize that attendees who visit our Event Space may be inclined to shop once they are inside the store.”

The B&H Event Space can comfortably sit around 60 people at a time. Reservations to any of the events can be made online.

I found out about the Event Space during my first visit. I’d attended a couple of sessions before. Then two months ago, I decided to check it out again. Like a sudden addiction, I ended up attending most of the scheduled events, all within the span of 8 consecutive weeks. I sat for 2-hour stretches at a time, listening to different speakers: Peter Turnley, Katrin Eismann, Tim Grey, Adam Barker, Jim Vecchi, Will Crockett, Kareem Black, Andrew Gruber, Kerrick James, Jem Schofield, David Guy Maynard, Marc Silber, Allan Weitz, Rudy Winston, Quest Couch, Amy Kosh, Rick Berk, Victor Ha, Lili Almog, and Lindsay Adler.

Sitting in these sessions, I also got to know some of the other regular attendees. There’s Tina, the professional pet photographer who taps extensive notes into her netbook PC, There’s Meryll, who always asks questions about matters that are unclear. There’s Emmanuel, who listens attentively, absorbing everything like a sponge. And then there’s Jim who records the sessions with his Flip Mino.

After each of the 2-hour sessions, I invariably hang around the store a bit, wandering here and there, and almost always deciding which of the thousands and thousands of items on display I will  buy next. If you hang out in B&H long enough and often enough like I did, you’ll soon come to one inescapable realization—you want to buy everything.

But the B&H Event Space experience doesn’t end when the session ends. In fact, the lectures, workshops and seminars are just the beginning. The B&H Event Space is turning out to be a hub for a small but growing community. Beyond sitting in the sessions and receiving pro-level instruction and inspiration, anyone who might be interested can get involved in other ways.

For instance, you can sign up on their Facebook and Twitter pages to keep abreast of the goings-on, including additional unscheduled sessions, pop quizzes with special prizes, and many other surprise goodies. You can join and contribute photos in their Flickr group. On iTunes, you can download podcasts of some of their recorded sessions. And, here’s something that very few people know about—you can become one of the B&H Infinitists by joining the Infinity Photographic Society’s monthly gathering.

With all this, no wonder Sergey Brin, president and co-founder of Google, said that B&H is his favorite camera store. And yes, if it isn’t obvious yet, it’s mine too.

THE ART OF IPHONE PHOTOGRAPHY: I’m happy to share with you this good news—my book, The Art of iPhone Photography, (Rocky Nook) will be available soon. You can now pre-order this book online from Amazon. Do check it out! Thanks.

ONE MORE THING: As a way of saying thank you to the readers of The Pictorialist blog, I’m giving away a free high-resolution, full-color image of the Statue of Liberty. You can download this professionally photographed 7.57 MB JPEG image file now for free on my Flickr gallery. Just click here. You can do whatever you want to do with this photo, no restrictions and no strings attached. You can use this picture for personal, educational, commercial or any other purposes. This is the first of many more free images I’m going to be giving away. To keep up to date, follow me on Facebook and on Twitter. Also, check out and bookmark my blog here. Thanks!

Notes:

¹The other places in New York where I spend a lot of time are museums and art galleries.

²Foursquare is a social networking software application that allows you to “check-in” and broadcast your location in real time using mobile devices such as an iPhone.

[About the author: Dominique James is a New York-based professional photographer. You can contact Dominique James through email or visit his fine art photography website Zatista. For more information, please click here.]

The Statue Of Liberty

BY DOMINIQUE JAMES

The Statue of Liberty is a universal symbol of freedom. It is a beacon of hope to countless people from all over the world—including myself. When I moved to New York three years ago, it was one of the first things I wanted to see. But as I went about my new life, I would only be afforded, from time to time, a very distant glimpse of her. It wasn’t until recently that I finally got the chance to see her up close. She is every bit as magnificent and as inspiring as I thought her to be.

Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about Lady Liberty:

“The Statue of Liberty (French: Statue de la Liberté), officially titled Liberty Enlightening the World (French: la Liberté éclairant le monde), dedicated on October 28, 1886, is a monument commemorating the centennial of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence, given to the United States by the people of France to represent the friendship between the two countries established during the American Revolution. It represents a woman wearing a stola, a radiant crown and sandals, trampling a broken chain, carrying a torch in her raised right hand and a tabula ansata, where the date of the Declaration of Independence JULY IV MDCCLXXVI is inscribed, in her left arm. Standing on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, it welcomes visitors, immigrants, and returning Americans traveling by ship. Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi sculpted the statue and obtained a U.S. patent for its structure. Maurice Koechlin—chief engineer of Gustave Eiffel’s engineering company and designer of the Eiffel Tower—engineered the internal structure. The pedestal was designed by architect Richard Morris Hunt. Eugène Viollet-le-Duc was responsible for the choice of copper in the statue’s construction, and for the adoption of the repoussé technique, where a malleable metal is hammered on the reverse side. The statue is made of a sheathing of pure copper, hung on a framework of steel (originally puddled iron) with the exception of the flame of the torch, which is coated in gold leaf (originally made of copper and later altered to hold glass panes). It stands atop a rectangular stonework pedestal with a foundation in the shape of an irregular eleven-pointed star. The statue is 151 ft (46 m) tall, but with the pedestal and foundation, it is 305 ft (93 m) tall. The Statue of Liberty is one of the most recognizable symbols in the world, and of the United States. For many years it was one of the first glimpses of the United States for millions of immigrants and visitors after ocean voyages from around the world.”

On my visit to Liberty Island, I took many pictures of Lady Liberty. I didn’t really know what to do with all the pictures I shot, until I thought it makes perfect sense to just give one away for free.

So, as a way of saying thank you to the readers and followers of this blog, I’m giving away a free high-quality, high-resolution, full-color image of the Statue of Liberty. This is the first time that I am giving away a professionally-created photograph. You can download this high quality, un-watermarked picture in full 7. 57 MB JPEG image file right now from my Flickr gallery. Just click here and download the largest file size available. You can do whatever you want to do with this photo. I impose no restriction whatsoever. As they say, you can get it with “no strings attached.” You can use this picture for whatever purpose—personal, educational, and even commercial. It’s nice if you can credit me as the photographer, and if you can provide a link, but that’s something I’m not requiring you to do. This is the first of many more free images I’m planning to give away. To find out when I’ll be giving the next free photo image, follow me on Facebook or Twitter. And, if you want to check out what other kind of free images I might be giving away, visit my fine art photo print collection over at Zatista.

Thanks, and do tell all your friends to come over and download this professional quality Statue of Liberty photo image file for free!

BY DOMINIQUE JAMES

[Monday, January 4, 2009  | Thanks to Zatista for featuring me as their first Artist Of The Day for 2010!]

This exquisitely crafted original fine art photographic artist print, showing a grand view of Manhattan from Liberty Island, is from my exclusive 15-image New York Platinum Collection. The photographs in this set have been digitally toned using a special and unique artistic Platinum post-production process. Each is printed on a thick archival fiber-based paper. All of these valuable limited-edition artist prints which are available for the first time are signed and numbered, and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity. To purchase this and other fine art photographic prints, please visit Zatista.