Magazine also wins another APEX Award of Excellence for Personality Profile category.

For the sixth year in a row, Communications Concepts has honored PhotoMedia magazine with its APEX Grand Award for Best Magapaper or Newspaper (larger than standard-size magazine, for-profit, small office).

The 2008 APEX Grand Award was for PhotoMedia’s Fall 2007 overall publication, which featured photojournalism. The magazine also received another APEX Award of Excellence in the Personality Profile category for the Fall 2007 profile feature on Los Angeles photographer David Hume Kennerly.

This year’s APEX judges’ had these comments about PhotoMedia (as published on the APEX Awards web site): “Not just another pretty face, this superbly designed magapaper covers the subject of professional photography with world-class photo spreads reinforced with exceptionally well-written feature articles.” (more…)

“Height photographer” Peter B. Kaplan hangs just below the red light on top of the Empire State Building’s antenna, roughly 150 feet higher than the roof of the 105th floor. For more dizzying images from Kaplan’s lofty repertoire, click here.

To view all of our Summer 2008 issue, click here.

Cover photo: Copyright © Peter Kaplan

Lofty recollections from the inventor of “height photography.”

By Randy Woods & Peter Kaplan

Situated 746 feet above the waters of San Francisco Bay on May 24, 1987, photographer Peter B. Kaplan was fulfilling his lifelong dream of capturing majestic images from atop one of the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge.

	Seen through Kaplan’s 600mm lens and 1.25 tele-extender, more than 800,000 people crowd onto the Golden Gate Bridge during its 50th anniversary celebration. While Kaplan was up on the towers, his wife, Sharon, pregnant with their daughter, Ricki Liberty, was on a press platform in the middle of the throng. Copyright © Peter Kaplan

At the same time, however, he thought he was about to get a bird’s-eye view of one of the world’s greatest catastrophes.

The event was the 50th anniversary celebration of the 1.7-mile-long icon. Kaplan, who had practically invented an entire genre of photography — shooting images from tall structures, which he termed “height photography” — recently had been named the official photographer of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Event organizers had predicted that large crowds would take part in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to stroll across the closed roadway. However, instead of the expected few tens of thousands of bridge-walkers, in excess of 800,000 people showed up, Kaplan says.

At dawn, the eager crowds quickly overwhelmed the barricades and surged toward the middle from both directions. Soon the mass of humanity met in the center of the span and found that they could go no further. For a few hours, Kaplan took some jaw-dropping images of the roadway below, packed cheek to jowl with revelers. Dozens of injuries were reported. Some people fainted.

All of this may have looked like a minor embarrassment for the event planners but, up on the towers, an ironworker who was assigned to escort Kaplan — a person well versed in the behaviors of bridges under stress — noticed some troubling signs. (more…)

By Eric Rudolph

It’s one thing to take a photograph,” says nature expert John Fielder, “but it is another thing, entirely, to sell it.”

	Colorado’s Mount Yale glows at sunset. Fielder had seen this alpine lake inlet earlier that same day and had “presupposed the composition,” he says, “knowing from experience that film contrast would make the reflection conspicuous.” Copyright © John Fielder

Colorado specialist Fielder excels at both of these difficult challenges. He’s a seasoned and hardworking large-format nature and landscape photographer who runs a multifaceted business selling his work. He’s strategically built this enterprise, which includes photographic books and calendars, corporate and consumer print sales (via his own galleries) and stock, over the past 27 years.

If scaling the two figurative mountains of making and selling nature photos weren’t enough (along with all the actual mountain climbing he does), Fielder has attained this significant photographic success while barely ever leaving his home state.

It helps that his home state happens to be the majestic and varied natural wonder called Colorado (see his work at johnfielder.com).

He’s published 39 photography books since 1982 featuring photographs that he’s taken within the 103,717 square miles of the Centennial State. He also has built a well respected photographic workshop business that offers classroom sessions and field shoots around his favorite locations in Colorado, as well as a six-day July excursion to Glacier Bay, Alaska. When he has time to visit one of his two galleries in the state, he usually gives free slide-show lectures for both kids and adults. (more…)

By P. J. Heller

Eddie Soloway wants his nature and landscape photography to be more than just beautiful images with bright blue skies and crisp details that stretch for miles into the distance.

“I will always work on those classic landscapes,” Soloway says. “But what really drives me is this search for how I can show the essence of different natural communities in a way that really cuts to the heart of what they’re about.”

	A sugar maple forest in autumn provided the color for one of Soloway’s “Forest Abstracts” images. This series of photos, he adds, “took a new turn when I let the abstraction be created by wind and water movement.” Copyright © Eddie Soloway

Soloway’s goal is to get away from shooting an overall location and concentrate on getting to the essence of the scene.

“I’m thinking less about the particular ‘here is the place’ and thinking much more about what it’s like to sit in a dark summer hardwood forest, what it’s like to be in the forest at night in a windy storm, and trying to come in and capture that more universally,” he explains.

That approach is what helps set Soloway’s images apart from those of his peers, popularizing his work at galleries and shows and making him a sought-after instructor at photography workshops around the country. In 1998, he was the first recipient of the Excellence in Photographic Teaching Award presented by the Santa Fe Center for Visual Arts. (more…)

Rosanne Olson’s new book on female body image.

By Randy Woods

Sharing innermost thoughts with others can leave one feeling exposed, vulnerable — naked, even. These feelings can be even more intense when the subject is the person’s own body. But the catharsis can also make a person stronger and more confident.

	Bea, 95 Copyright © Rosanne Olson

This theme was made literal in a recent project by Seattle fine-art and commercial photographer Rosanne Olson. Her first book, “This Is Who I Am,” released in April 2008, is a collection of black-and-white nude studies of women — none of whom are professional models — from all ages, races, body types and walks of life. Juxtaposed with each photo are the stories of each woman as they courageously discuss their bodies with unflinching honesty.

The genesis of the project came from a woman Olson had met who had been diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer. The woman had developed a new appreciation for her fragile body and wanted Olson to take a nude photograph of her as a memento before her surgery.

Olson, who had had a career in nuclear medicine during her early 20s, had seen many cancer patients go through a similar transformation because of their illnesses. She wanted to see if other women could have this same kind of revelation about themselves while they were still healthy. (more…)

By Randy Woods

After spending a large part of his career in Southeast Asia, photojournalist Richard Vogel thought he had seen every type of Buddha statue as he covered various religious shrines and festivals for the Associated Press.

	Copyright © Richard Vogel

Until he saw this one in 1996.

While on a two-year stint in Thailand, Vogel came across this uncharacteristic Buddha representation in a well-hidden part of Bangkok. “I had no idea what that Buddha statue looked like and was very surprised when I saw it,” he recalls. “It had these giant feet, which was very unusual, and people were praying and putting gold leaf on it.”

Vogel, who prefers to be “as a fly on the wall,” snapped this quiet image of a man praying at the Buddha’s heel and left him undisturbed. Later, Vogel transmitted the image to the AP wire, where it was sent worldwide.

Today, Vogel is an AP assignment editor living in Los Angeles. Previously, he had spent 10 years living in Vietnam and three years in Cambodia, providing news and feature photography. He has also worked for Reuters and Gamma Press Images, and his work has appeared in publications such as Time,Newsweek, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Sunday Times (London) and the International Herald Tribune.

Currently, Vogel is archiving nearly 20 years of his material from Asia and hopes to put together a retrospective book in the near future.

For more of his work, visit richardvogel.com.

Load up, strap on and test out the newest, most innovative photo/laptop bags on the market.

By Richard A. Huston

My backpack collection started simply enough; a JanSport backpack for carrying my college tomes to and from the library. When I took a class in photography, I bought an SLR and a holster in which to carry it. Each additional piece of equipment brought a new, larger pack into my life. I soon had a backpack for professional shoots (when all the lenses come along), a pack for day trips and a rolling carry-on pack for air travel.

	Left to right: Kata DR467, LowePro Fastpack 250, Mountainsmith Borealis AT.

Then I brought home my first laptop, which justifiably needed its own collection of messenger bags and backpacks. Soon my closet began to resemble a backpack museum — a clear indication that a pack fulfilling multiple needs was in order.

Backpacks are a necessity for the digital age. Photographers need a convenient, stylish and safe way to transport a growing assortment of cameras, lenses, flashes, laptops, cell phones, GPS systems and mp3 players — and let’s not forget the accompanying cables and chargers. For years, backpacks were made for either school, travel, laptop or photo-specific needs. The modern photographer, however, wants all four of these needs to be met, requiring a convergence of designs. (more…)

The ability to make your own coffee-table book is now within reach with today’s digital tools.

By Richard McEnery

At one time or another, every photographer, professional, serious amateur or hobbyist has dreamt of having work published in a beautiful coffee-table book. Seeing your images pop off the printed page in an elegant, professionally created photo book is just a major rush. Many wedding and portrait photographers I talk to still get a thrill when they see their client reverently turning the pages of a just-finished album.

	This book of photos by Seattle’s Greg Probst (digitalrailroad.net/gregp) was made by Embassy Pro Books, which uses the affordable HP Indigo seven-color printer. Copyright © Greg Probst

For most of us, though, creating a book is still on the list of “things I will do someday.” In today’s digital age, most photographers don’t even have a printed portfolio; the majority of images are presented on CDs, DVDs, jump drives and other digital media. But many editors still want to see how images look on the printed page. Sure, we can create beautiful prints and spend several hundred dollars buying page holders and frosted acrylic portfolio covers, but it’s just not the same as having a printed, bound book to show off.

Well, what if I told you that you can now design your own photo book and have it custom printed with the quality that used to be available only through offset printing? Yes, that day has arrived. (more…)

	Paul Strand’s “Rebecca,” a photograph of his wife, sold for $645,800 at the Sotheby’s auction. Copyright © Aperture Foundation Inc., Paul Strand Archive/Sotheby’s

Sotheby’s Reports Record Photo Sales

Sotheby’s reported record bids for its photography sales in New York on April 7 and 8. All three auctions on the block during the two-day period exceeded estimates, for a total of more than $17.3 million.

Twenty-five artists were represented in the works at auction, including record-setting sales for Diane Arbus, Paul Strand and Edward Weston. According to Denise Bethel, director of Sotheby’s photographs department, only 26 of 300 lots did not sell.

The April 7 evening sale of the Quillan Collection of 19th and 20th century photographs spotlighted 68 unique images dating from 1847 to 1985. The collection had been assembled by private dealer Jill Quasha for the Quillan Co. and raked in more than $8.9 million, well above the $7 million high-end estimate. Strand’s “Rebecca” and Weston’s “Nude” were included in the sales.

On April 8, another collection, “Edward Weston’s Gifts to His Sister and Other Photographs,” containing more than 40 images by Weston and nine by his son Brett, achieved sales in excess of $1.5 million, topping the $1.4 million estimate. The third auction, which had several owners, garnered $6.8 million, beating the initial $5.6 million estimate. (more…)