Photography And Video: The Single Source Of Light

Posted on February 22, 2012 by valentinetti

The way humans are used to seeing other humans, and all the other things in the world around them, is with those people and things lighted by a single source of light: the sun. One of the first, if not the first, thing we do is to identify the source of the light on the thing we are looking at. It’s so natural we don’t even know we are doing it. This is one of the main things that makes lighting a challenge, because we feel it should be a natural talent we’re born with.

When a painter looks at a canvas or a sketchbook and then up at the subject the first question they try to answer is where is the principle source of light coming from? It’s a primary skill they must learn: where is the light coming from? what effect does it have on the subject? Viewing paintings in a gallery, or photographs in a book, or images on a movie screen, our eyes instinctively find the source of light and follow it to the subject.

We so expect the single source of light to be true that we may find arguments like this one to be silly. But without the ability to manipulate light the photographer or video maker is handicapped. The first step in being able to manipulate light is training yourself to see it. The second handicap is to make several lights, placed in different locations on a set, or bounced in by reflectors, appear to be a single source of light. Failing that, not be able to create the illusion of a single source of light, your believability is damaged. Viewers know something is wrong. Most likely they won’t be able to tell what’s wrong or why it’s wrong but they will know it’s wrong. That isn’t a fault in your audience. It’s up to you to look purposefully at the light and what it’s doing. It hard to tell what’s wrong with the lighting when all the lights are turned on. Always start a set with only the Key Light turned on. Then each time you turn on another light you’ll be able to see it effect.

Here are 3 Key Things To Avoid:

Flat lighting. Light falling directly on the subject, like the sun coming over your shoulder. Use extra lighting or reflectors to soften the shadow but never use them to remove the shadow completely. You’re already working in 2D and flat lighting will only make it worse.

In close-ups, don’t have more than one light window That point of light that shows up in the eye from the light source. There should be only one.

There’s nothing that casts more than one shadow, except for bad lighting.

Of course with light windows and multiple shadows if they are not in the frame, visible in the shot, does it matter? You’ll probably  get by with it but you have to be on the look-out for their effect on what is in the frame. You’ll be surprised what you see when you look, really look.

This article and several others are available for purchase from SMASHWORDS in the booklet Photography And Video: Thinking About Light. It is also available for free by subscribing to this site. Look to the upper left and you will see the form.

 

Thanks for listening.

 

 

 

 


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Fred Amram Author Of The Reluctant Grown-up: A Writer Speaks

Posted on February 20, 2012 by valentinetti

I’ve had people tell me they are between books, looking for something new to read; a new author, a new genre. There are more writers than ever before: More good writers, more not so good writers. The choices of things to read are enormous. The purpose of interviewing a writer is to give you, the reader, a chance to hear from the writer directly, to hear the writer’s own voice.

 

 

Fred Amram left a successful career in academia to write fiction and creative nonfiction – to write without footnotes. Now he hopes to become a successful author and inventor.

 

 

If you could change one thing about the world what would it be?  I’d invent a “respect diversity” pill.

What pet peeve do you have about other people?  Self-centeredness. Each person seems to think that the world revolves around him or her.

Is there any occasion when it’s OK to lie?  No. However, there are many ways to cast the truth.

What’s the name and focus of your story?  “The Reluctant Grown-up” is a memoir story that tells of repeated Gestapo visits to my home during my youth.
Who is the audience for this? Although Jews, already knowledgeable about the Holocaust, tend to read this type of personal story, I’d like my work to appeal to a wider audience as good literature as well as an argument against genocide in all its forms.
Is this part of a series?  “The Reluctant Grown-up” is one in a series of stories that, I hope, will become a memoir of life under the Nazis, escape and then adapting to a new language and culture in a new country. Some of the episodes from my early life have been published in Whistling Shade, Prick of the Spindle, Turtle River Press, Jewish Chronicle, The American Jewish World and an anthology of stories by Holocaust Survivors called Marking Humanity.
What surprising things did you learn while writing this article?  Often, when re-reading one of my stories, I cry. Apparently there are still unresolved feelings underneath my professional veneer.
How has your upbringing influenced your writing? While I’m not religious, Jewish culture (Yiddishkeit) was always part of my life. It pervades my thinking and writing. I also have the remnants of a Yiddish voice that impacts the rhythm of my prose.

Do you prefer fermented or distilled? When you and I first met in 1969 we both preferred Scotch, Scotch and more Scotch. Now a good glass of wine or two is all this old man can take.

Do you have a special routine you go through before you begin writing?
I often play a simple computer game for about five or ten minutes to clear the outside world from my brain. Then I can focus.

Describe your protagonist physically and emotionally and describe the challenges the protagonist needs to overcome and the motivation for overcoming them.
The protagonist in a memoir is usually the author. In this case the author is an old man looking back and re-examining years as a Jewish youth in Nazi Germany and then coming to America needing to learn a new culture. The impact of the European Holocaust is intensified by the anti-Semitism experienced in New York City.

Describe your antagonist physically and emotionally, and talk about motivation.
The villain is hate experienced in American classrooms and on the streets of New York City. The motivation for any racial or religious hate is self-centeredness. “I’m the center of the universe. My people are the center of the universe. My beliefs are the correct beliefs and others are both wrong and evil.”
Quote a passage from your book that you love.  My favorite room in the apartment was Papa’s storage room. Perfectly white walls with perfectly white shelves showed off bolts of fabric in every imaginable color and texture. I loved the colors from pastel pink to glowing red, from aqua to royal blue, from lemon yellow to grass green. Sometimes Papa let me stand on his ladder so that I could feel the different textures: wool and silk, cotton and linen. He explained “quality” by discussing the different weaves. He suggested which fabric would make a fine woman’s skirt, which would make a man’s dress shirt and which should be used as a dish towel.
Elaborate on the meaning of the passage.  The colors contrast to the black and gray of the Gestapo uniform. The colors contrast to the stark story. The colors represent the beauty lost in our lives.

Discuss your philosophy of writing.  I believe that writers should write. Let ideas, words, images flow from the fingers. Then edit, edit, edit. First one barfs. Then one cleans up. Separate the two.

This story is available free. You can read “The Reluctant Grown-up” at Hippocampus Magazine.
Similarly, you may read some of Fred’s other stories about the Holocaust by visiting his web page.
That’s the interview. Thanks for listening.

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The Taker by Alma Katsu: Jodi Webb Reviews

Posted on February 17, 2012 by valentinetti

 

The Taker

Author: Alma Katsu

Hardcover: 448 pages (also available in Paperback and Kindle format)

Publisher: Gallery Books (September 6, 2011)

 

Synopsis:

The Taker starts out as your “poor girl loves rich guy, rich guy must marry who his family wants story” — set in Maine during the 1800s. Poor girl, Lanny, eventually leaves her tiny rustic town for the bright lights of Boston. What she finds is a household where people live forever, as long as they bow to the wishes of their cruel master. And her master wants her to lure that rich boy, Jonathon, into their twisted household.

We learn the story of Lanny’s life as she tells it to Luke, a doctor in her old hometown in modern time. Lanny ended up in Luke’s emergency room, Jonathon ended up in his morgue, and Lanny needed someone to tell all her secrets.

Review:

This is not the type of story I normally read. I say that every time I read a paranormal/fantasy type book but I do keep reading them! Just want you to know that, since I’m not widely read in this genre I may not be the best judge, but…

WOW! I was immediately drawn in by the pictures Katsu paints of the characters. She makes them intriguing, not revealing everything but just enough that you want to know more. Each character is a puzzle. Are they truly good, good hiding evil motives, evil, evil hiding good motives? You’ll find yourself weighing each word of dialogue and description wondering, “What does this REALLY mean?”

Although I pride myself on not “jumping ahead” I found myself doing just that to find out what a particular character did. I just couldn’t wait!

Just when you think you’ve finally got a sense of the unusual household Lanny ends up in you’re thrown a curve ball. The master wanting Jonathon isn’t just to add another plaything to his world…he has special plans for Jonathon. Just when you thought the people in this book couldn’t get more evil!

And the fact that the book keeps switching back the modern times and Lanny’s problems just ups the tension. Will she live though the horrible history she told just to be arrested by some rural deputy? Is what she telling the truth? Does she want Luke for some evil purpose? What about Luke? Surely he isn’t the only purely good person in the book? When and how will his evil side be revealed?

I found this book addictive. I really wanted to see how things finally turned out. The writing was strong and compelling. Put it on your TBR list.

As a Blog Tour Organizer for WOW-Women on Writing, Jodi Webb’s inbox is crammed everyday with information about newly released books. Jodi wanted to tell the world about all these fabulous books — even the ones that didn’t do book tours — so she started Words by Webb for her book reviews. What started as an occasional post snowballed as she began reviewing for 1776 Productions and publishers, promoters and literary friends began contacting her about reading their books. She’s even drawn her children into the fun – all three enjoy reading the books she reviews and two have even posted reviews. Although she spends her nights reading, Jodi spends her days as a freelance writer, writing instructor, and wanna-be novelist.

 

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The Dream Book Versus The Internet: A Personal View

Posted on February 15, 2012 by valentinetti

Once upon a time there was something called the Sears And Roebuck Catalog. It was like the catalogs you now get by the thousands in the mail around the holidays. The difference is the ones you get now are like shopping in a specialty store and the Sears And Roebuck Catalog was like shopping in a general store: That’s General Store, with a capital G and a capital S. The kind you see in western movies, with their shelves stuffed with everything imaginable. Sears Roebuck and Co was founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in the late 19th century. The first Sears catalog was published in 1888. By 1894, it had grown to 322 pages. They had car parts and cars (1905–1915 by Lincoln Motor Car Works), tools and underwear, motorbikes and tableware, shoes, socks, potting soil, perfume, eyeliner, sewing machines and fabrics. Unlike the general store the catalog had its prices plainly stated and it quickly became a preferred method of shopping for Americans. It came out once or twice a year and was favorite reading all over the country. It was popularly called The Dream Book.

People would page through with no specific destination in mind, pausing on a page here and there, then looking off momentarily into space before resuming. From this, people became familiar with where certain things were and then could do a more focused search when necessary. At different times it could be found in any and all the rooms of the house. People had favorite sections: woman’s underwear was a favorite of young boys. The catalog had a table of contents but it was rarely used. Browsing was the preferred method of examination, the table of contents was a mostly ignored back-up. The Sears And Roebuck Catalog has disappeared, along with it the J.C. Penney’s catalog. Montgomery Ward has vanished from sight and almost from memory, catalog, lock, stock and barrel.

Now we have the internet. Anybody can have a catalog. Anybody can sell anything. There are manufacturers of every imaginable product willing to help. For example there are clothing manufacturers who will brand out their merchandise to your store name. If you don’t already have a store they will set one up for you. They will do the custom screen printing or embroidery and ship it. You just need to put your store name on your website, tell them what you want your mark-up to be and presto, you’re a retailer.

The internet is a great thing but I’ve never heard internet browsing or internet shopping referred to as a Dream of any kind. That could be because you’re not really browsing products, you’re scanning the table of contents. There’s no alphabetical listing or index. What the internet search engines have managed to do it to sell the table of contents to the highest bidder. Now, to shop by browsing becomes a chore, a back and forth between items and search, without any clear flow. The things the internet does best are the things it did first, back when it was called the World Wide Web; email, chat and all their variations. In short, connecting people to each other. For shopping, I miss the Dream Book.

Have any thoughts? Do you remember the book? Please comment below.

Joseph Valentinetti is a writer a poet and video maker. He is also the administrator of JV Radio Pictures.

 

 

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Tony Piazza Author Of Anything Short Of Murder: A Writer Speaks

Posted on February 13, 2012 by valentinetti

I’ve had people tell me they are between books, looking for something new to read; a new author, a new genre. There are more writers than ever before: More good writers, more not so good writers. The choices of things to read are enormous. The purpose of interviewing a writer is to give you, the reader, a chance to hear from the writer directly, to hear the writer’s own voice.

 

 

Tony Piazza was employed in the film industry during the 1970’s as an actor and stand-in. Later he earned a degree in Biology and worked in scientific research. He now dedicates his time to writing.

How about these questions Tony? What is the most overrated virtue?

I’d say, “Patience”, because it never comes easy, even with the best of intentions.

What is the one thing other people always seem to get wrong about you?  Because I was an only child, I was spoiled. Nothing is further from the truth, as those who know me will attest to. My mother came from a family of twelve, and she raised me as if I had 11 siblings.

If you could change one thing about the world what would it be?  I would change the negative attitude that prevails amongst society. Why can’t good news sell newspapers?

What pet peeve do you have about other people? That they feel that they have to be perfect to be liked- there is nothing wrong with being you.

Is there any occasion when it’s OK to lie? Not in my book- unless, I’m writing a mystery or spy novel, and then all my characters lie.

What is your philosophy of writing?  I always write a story that I would buy if I were a reader trying to make a selection. In order for my books to be interesting to others, they must first be interesting to me. I also never write with profit in mind. My one aim is to entertain. If I get it right, and receive a positive response from my readers, then that is payment enough.

What’s the name and genre of you book?  The title of my novel is, “Anything Short of Murder”. It is a classic murder mystery set in the Hollywood of the 1930’s.

Who is the audience for this book?  In general, mystery lovers; especially those who enjoyed the type of hardboiled detective thrillers that were written in the 1930’s and 1940’s. It is in essence a tip of the hat to such writers as Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett.

It did not start off with a sequel in mind, but since its release I have received numerous requests from its fans to do one, and so I am in the process of doing one now. I have about a quarter of it done.

Describe your protagonist physically and emotionally and describe the challenges the protagonist needs to overcome and the motivation for overcoming them.  Tom Logan is in his thirties; handsome in a rugged sort of way; and usually one to come out on top when fisticuffs are involved.  He is wary of life, but covers that with a sense of humor. He is thoroughly moral, and a believer in justice. In fact it was this honesty that had got him thrown off the L.A. police force and forced him into private practice as a gumshoe in Hollywoodland.

Describe your antagonist physically and emotionally, and talk about motivation.  That will be a little difficult to answer because this is a mystery, and the name of the game is to guess whodunit. If I describe the villain then readers would cry foul. Believe me when I say that there are plenty of characters with various motivations for killing the victim. The question is which one will act upon it. And the way I weaved the story, I guarantee that it will keep the reader guessing to the very end.

Quote a passage from your book that you love.

I was getting a quick bite at one of those high profile delis on Hollywood boulevard; you know, one of those places reputed to cater to the stars. Of course, the only star I ever saw go into this joint was usually attached to the uniform of a beat cop. Anyhow, I was biting into my pastrami, sitting in my usual spot at the counter, when a rather slinky blonde cozies up to my side and whispers something rather encouraging in my ear. It isn’t what you think, but something equally tempting; she offered me fifty dollars in cash. A commodity I have recently been short of. I responded, “Lady, if it’s anything short of murder, I might be interested.”

Elaborate on the meaning of the passage.  This is not Ibsen, so elaborating on the meaning of this passage would be, for a lack of a better term, meaningless. However, it does set the tone for the rest of the novel which lends itself heavily towards nostalgia. This was written for those that enjoy watching Bogie and Bacall, or Nick and Nora Charles. This is more Peter Gunn than Peer Gynt.

What surprising things did you learn while writing this book?  Quite frankly, writing the book was the easy part; promoting it has been time consuming and difficult. Although it has created new experiences which I have been enjoying, such as doing radio interviews…one ran an hour and a half, and was live!

How has your upbringing influenced you writing?  If it wasn’t for my parents, especially my mother, I don’t think I would be talking to you as a published author. She impressed upon me the value of reading and since that one summer many years ago, when she borrowed some books and sat down with me, I haven’t stop reading. The extra time that she sacrificed awakened a love for books that has never deserted me. And of course with anything you love, the next logical step is to produce that same entertainment for others to enjoy.

Where do you live and how does that influence your writing?  I live with my wife on the beautiful, California Central Coast. It is an area populated by artists and writers. I belong to two writing organizations, Sisters in Crime, and SLO NightWriters, which are located here, so needless to say, I get plenty of motivation. And it is a quiet area, and that more than anything else is conducive to the writing process. It helps me focus.

Do you prefer fermented or distilled?  I like to think that my writing is 100 proof. Nothing distilled or watered down about it.

If you have a career outside of writing how does it fit into your life as a writer?  I use all my experiences in life as a framework for my stories and characters. For example, in “Anything Short of Murder” I’d surrounded Logan with characters of a “type” that I’d worked with during my career in the film industry. They may not be specific individuals, but composites of those I’d known. I also drew upon the technical knowledge that I had amassed spending my time daily on the film set.  I have a stand alone adventure novel being published this March, “The Curse of the Crimson Dragon.” The story takes place on the Hawaiian Islands. The locations used in the novel were areas I have spent time on. Having walked the walk helps bring realism to your novels.

Do you have a special routine you go through before you begin writing?  No special routine, just a goal of 2,500 words or more. This is what I set per chapter, and I usually accomplish that in a day.

Anything Short of Murder                                       ISBN: 978-160844-931-6

Websites: www.anythingshortofmurder.com

Also available from Barnes & Noble and Amazon websites

Price: $14.99

 

 

That’s the interview. Thanks for listening.

 

 

 

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Diary of a Small Fish by Pete Morin — Stephen Gallup Reviews

Posted on February 9, 2012 by valentinetti

Diary Of A Small Fish. This was a very enjoyable read, and I felt that I was in the hands of an excellent storyteller. The view into the lives of patrician Bostonians felt entirely authentic. (I don’t claim to know the first thing about that sphere of existence, but the author clearly makes good use of his own experiences and expertise to bring it to life.)

Paul Forté, the narrator, seems to know what he’s talking about when he observes of his peers, “they were the fourth generation in a culture where the spoils of government were harvested like potatoes … [ good people who were ] paid a good salary to do work that was unnecessary or even counterproductive.” There’s no evidence that Forté himself is guilty of that. On the contrary, he seems very conscientious about his responsibilities. But then, as he points out many times, he’s a “small fish” in that crowd. Probably because of his insignificance, he becomes a handy scapegoat for an ambitious politician who’s seeking credit for weeding out corruption.

Yes, in playing golf and schmoozing with lobbyists while holding elected office, Forté probably committed an ethics violation. Having personally dealt with rather more existential challenges, I might have had little sympathy for his problem. However, I felt completely on board with him because of the unjustified viciousness, scope, and hyprocricy of the legal attack, and the vividness of the scene in which he is arrested and processed through the court. This is as close as I ever want to get to that experience! And I doubt he’s more deserving of it than would be anyone randomly selected from the general population. (Now, among today’s governing elite, I can easily think of a great many who truly need to be locked up for the public good, but that’s a rant for another day.)

The dialog in this story is pitch-perfect and most of the characters entirely believable. I got a charge out of the Chinese family eating after hours in their restaurant when Forté barged in on them. (That’s a sphere of life I understand rather better.) Sidney, the worldly-wise old codger in the retirement home, reminded me strongly of my own father, and I appreciated that.

For me, the drawbacks to the book were few. There are a lot of characters, and occasionally I had a little trouble remembering who everyone was when names were reintroduced. Also (I admit to being a broken record about this), there are a fair number of little errors, of the your vs you’re variety. As publishing moves away from the dying corporations that held sway for so long, we must remember to stay on top of the chores copy editors used to handle for us.

All in all, the book is a worthy accomplishment. I was entertained, moved, even educated. I expect it to do well.

Stephen Gallup is the author of a memoir, What About the Boy: A Father’s Pledge to His Disabled Son. He has an eclectic interest in books and authors, and reviews books as part of his passion for the written word. He blogs at fatherspledge.com.


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K.S. Brooks Author Of Night Undone: A Writer Speaks

Posted on February 6, 2012 by valentinetti

I’ve had people tell me they are between books, looking for something new to read; a new author, a new genre. There are more writers than ever before: More good writers, more not so good writers. The choices of things to read are enormous. The purpose of interviewing a writer is to give you, the reader, a chance to hear from the writer directly, to hear the writer’s own voice.

K. S. Brooks is an award-winning novelist, photographer and poet.  She is author of the Agent Night suspense series as well as the Mr. Pish series of educational children’s books.

Let’s warm up a little with these questions.

What is the most overrated virtue?  I guess I’d have to say charity because even when I stand on the street corner with my “will write for food” sign, I haven’t gotten any.

What is the one thing other people always seem to get wrong about you?  Everyone tells me how “social” I am when I in fact prefer hiding in my cave writing away.

If you could change one thing about the world what would it be?  I would make the world more peaceful.

What pet peeve do you have about other people?  I can’t stand a lack of common courtesy.

Is there any occasion when it’s OK to lie?   I would be lying if I didn’t say yes.

What is your philosophy of writing?  I live to write.

What’s the name and genre of you book?  Night Undone is my most recent novel which is a suspense/drama/romance.

Who is the audience for this book?  People who read…anyone who enjoys a complex character-driven drama, with suspense and romance should like it.

Is this book part of a series? If so is it a sequel or a prequel? Name the other already published books?  Night Undone is the second book in the Agent Night “Cover Me” Series.  The Kiss of Night is the first book in that series, and the bridge to my other series featuring Agent Night – the Agent Night Adventure Series which includes my first novel Lust for Danger.

Describe your protagonist physically and emotionally and describe the challenges the protagonist needs to overcome and the motivation for overcoming them.  Special Agent Kathrin Night is physically and mentally strong and independent.  Decades of training and field work have served to bury any kind of emotional/social needs.  So when she is sidelined from her career as an anti-terrorist agent by an injury incurred in the line of duty, her world is turned upside down.  Add to that being saddled with a partner, and psychotherapy, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for chaos in her otherwise linear world.

Quote a passage from your book that you love.

The sun bounced off Kathrin’s dark amber irises and the shimmering highlights of gold and copper in her brown hair. One year had passed since her near death encounter, clinging to a cliff-side in Afghanistan. It was the cruelest irony of all that the career of the world’s top rated antiterrorist operative had come to an end while pursuing a terrorist-murdering vigilante known in the media as the “Thorn Killer.” That day often haunted her. She wondered exactly how long it would take to stop reliving the sensation of falling from the cliff, grabbing onto the ledge, and slamming her left ankle into the rock wall, shattering it.

What surprising things did you learn while writing this book?  I realized that I still have an idealistic approach to my plots and that I really need to look at things more like “what’s the worst thing that could happen in this situation?”.  Luckily my research trips were extremely enlightening and that’s what made me realize that I was approaching the plot with far too much naïveté.

How has your upbringing influenced you writing?  I was raised on books – my mother reading them to me, writing and drawing them myself – it’s always been a part of my life.  I think Kipling gave me a very strong sense of justice and morals.  Many people don’t realize how “deep” the Jungle Book actually is.  They only remember dancing bears and talking tigers.  But there is a lesson there about greed and right and wrong.  Those have always stayed with me.

Where do you live and how does that influence your writing?  I live in the wilderness of northeastern Washington State.  It’s an incredibly fantastic place to be a writer – being so close to nature.  I believe harmony is so important to writers.  There’s lots of that here.

Do you prefer fermented or distilled?  I prefer shaken, not stirred.

If you have a career outside of writing how does it fit into your life as a writer?  I’m also co-administrator at Indies Unlimited which is in my field, but includes more management than writing.  I’m finding that interacting with so many Indie Authors empowers me and energizes me as a writer.

Do you have a special routine you go through before you begin writing?  I probably do, but I’m probably oblivious to it.  I only know that during my fiction writing, I can get into a trance-like mindset.

Where can we find your books? At Amazon and most other online retailers.  All my novels are available in print and a wide variety of e-book formats, thanks to my wonderful publisher, Cambridge Books.

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Night Undone      ISBN: 978-1613860076

Price:  $18.95 paperback, $6.50 ebook on Kindle and Nook.

 

 

That’s the interview. Thanks for listening.

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