If you’ve seen one skyline photo, you’ve seen them all. They’re always taken from the west in Franklinton and they feature the same buildings in the same lineup. But an artful eye and some tech-driven photo manipulation can transform Downtown photos into something unique.
Last week, some photography by Seth Moherman (you may remember him as the filmmaker who produced the documentary on The LeVeque Tower) caught my eye on Facebook, and I was immediately interested in sharing them and learning more about his photography work.
I spoke to Seth via email for a quick Q&A. The photo gallery is down below:
Q: How long have you been into photography?
A: It was my older sister who first introduced me to photography when I was a sophomore at Ohio State. That would have been around 1996 or so. Damn, that was a long time ago. She bought me my first Nikon 35mm film camera. Which I eventually broke, bought another one and then finally switched to digital slrs sometime around 2003 when Nikon rolled out its first “reasonably” priced dslr, the D70. I think the body alone was $1,400. And that was a 6 megapixel sensor. Which is nothing compared to what I shoot on now, a Canon 5D Mark II, whose raw files are 21 megapixels.
After getting my first film camera, I took a few black and white classes at OSU and decided I liked it. Photography is what led me to tv/video production. I think that process went something like this:
a) Two and half years into going to OSU, still undecided as a major, was no longer allowed to enroll in classes until I picked a major.
b) Got accepted to the school of architecture. Realized I did not like it enough for the massive time commitment that architecture school requires, quit the program.
c) Tried computer and information science as a major, decided it was super boring after taking intro to programming classes, dropped that as a major.
d) Heard OSU had a small tv/video production, thought, “Well, I like photography, maybe I would like tv/video production…”
e) Starting producing documentaries and lived happily ever after, or something along those lines.
Q: The photos you recently took of Downtown and Franklinton that we’re featuring are examples of high dynamic range imaging (HDR) which is a method where multiple photos taken with different light exposure levels are merged to display a wider contrast range making for very vivid photos. What got you interested in experimenting with HDR?
A: I was initially interested in shooting HDR photography because I’m a resolution snob. I like the idea of having as much information as possible. The amount of information lost from the human eye to the captured image is immense. In film photography, there was always the goal (for me at least) of having as much subtle detail as possible. That’s why I always liked to shoot with low iso films. I was always trying to capture everything I could see with my eye on film (or digital sensor).
Don’t get me wrong, I definitely like super-grainy, high contrast film, but the tonal range of Kodak T-max, or Ilford Delta 100 film is beautiful. One of the classes I took in college was a medium format photography class. We used 4″ x 5″ cameras. you know, where the negative is 4″ x 5″. Stunning. I loved that class. That’s why really old photography, like Ansel Adams stuff never gets old. So much detail, so much information in each image.
So when I started reading about the HDR stuff, it was a natural progression to start to experiment with it. Though I will admit that I am still trying to determine my opinion on it. Sure, you get a lot more detail and tonal range, but the images can start to look a little unnatural. I always strive keep the amount of adjustment on my images to a minimum. I have a process of what I consider acceptable image adjustment, based somewhat off of professional photojournalistic standards.
So my opinion is still out on the subject, but its hard not to like some of the images that HDR produces.
Q: What drew you to shooting in these Downtown and Franklinton locations, and why shoot them at night?
A: I am always a sucker for high contrast lighting situations. Real bright brights and the blackest blacks. And shooting night scenes in the city create that. There’s usually only one or two super intense light sources filling a large area. And the street lights always have this eery, surreal glow to them. It creates this otherworldly feel that is in stark contrast to the nature photography that I often do. I’ve been striving to capture that feel ever since I started shooting.
After living in urban parts of Washington, DC and then Brooklyn, these kind of areas always pull me in. I think its why I wanted to have my office in 400 West Rich in Franklinton. I like the desolate, gritty, urban feel. I often work late nights at my office so I’m always walking or driving around the area looking at the lights and shadows. So shooting around East Franklinton and Downtown has been rolling around in the back of my head for awhile now. I just had to go out and start shooting.
Click any of Seth’s photos below to enlarge:
