“Ron Galella: "Photography With The Paparazzi Approach"

On Oct. 7, the Centaur will be host to photographer Ron Galella's lecture and slideshow entitled

"Ron Galella: "Photography With The Paparazzi Approach"

He has been dubbed `` the most famous and most controversial celebrity photographer in the world.``

For those of you interested in photojournalism or would like insight into the mind of the paparazzi, this will certainly be worth the look.

The presentation takes place Wed. Oct. 7^th at 12:30pm at the Centaur theatre. Admission is free but you must call ahead to reserve.

In conjunction is "VIVA L'ITALIA", an exhibit of Ron Galella's photographs of Italian and Italian American movie icons from the past 50 years. It runs from October 6 to December 6 in the Centaur Gallery.

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Centaur Theatre Company presents
Ron Galella: "Photography With The Paparazzi Approach"

Wednesday, October 7 at 12:30 PM

Centaur invites you to attend a lecture and slide show presented by Ron Galella - the most famous and most controversial celebrity photographer in the world. This special event is presented in conjunction with "VIVA L'ITALIA" an exhibit of Ron Galella's photographs of Italian and Italian American movie icons from the past 50 years, from October 6 to December 6 in the Centaur Gallery.

Dubbed "Paparazzo Extraordinaire" by Newsweek and "Paparazzi Superstar" by the Miami Herald News, Galella is willing to take great risks to get the perfect shot. He has had two court battles with Jacqueline Onassis—the outcome being that he would be forever barred from photographing her or her children, Caroline and John F. Kennedy, Jr. (John later permitted Ron to photograph him at public events). He has been punched in the jaw by Marlon Brando (a $40,000 punch according to the terms of the out-of-court settlement), nearly killed pursuing Julie Christie along the Pacific Coast Highway, beaten up by Richard Burton's bodyguards before being jailed in Cuernavaca, Mexico, and hosed down by friends of Brigitte Bardot in Saint-Tropez. His iconic prints are displayed permanently on each of the 11 floors at the landmark Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. His work has featured in many published books and has been exhibited in museums and renowned galleries worldwide, including the Museum Of Modern Art in New York, Museum Of Modern Art in San Francisco, Tate Modern and the Helmut Newton Foundation Gallery. He is the mastermind behind the iconic photo of Windblown Jackie (Jacqueline Onassis) which catapulted his career to notoriety!

The slide show will encompass photography from all nine of his books: the upcoming Boxing with the Stars, and current and past books Viva l'Italia!, No Pictures, Warhol by Galella: That's Great!, Disco Years, Ron Galella Exclusive Diary, The Photographs of Ron Galella 1965-1989, Offguard: A Paparazzi Look at the Beautiful People, and Jacqueline.

Lecture to take place at Centaur theatre (453 St. François-Xavier, Old Montreal)

Admission is FREE but reservation is required. Please call the box office to reserve your ticket. (514 288-3161)

TELUS buys Black's for $28 M.

The company I work for for over five years has been acquired by TELUS mobility. The move was done by Telus as a means to gain further expansion of their mobile products, particularly in Ontario, prior to the arrival of new cellular telecom companies.

For those of you wondering, it means exactly what you are thinking; Telus phones will be sold in Black's (Astral) stores across the country. What does this mean for the image of photography stores? Nothing; nothing will change. In my opinion, Black's has always been the boutique photo store rather than specialty retailer.

Is this the right move?
Everyone these days, especially in these economic times, cannot and should try to survive on their own. Companies, especially in photography have been joining forces for years: Pentax with Samsung (now with HOYA), Sony and Minolta, Nikon and Sony, etc...

Is this a good move?
That we will just have to wait and see.

*Disclaimer
The above opinions are solely those of the writer and do no reflect those of TELUS, Black's or Astral.

Back to basics!

Hello to all!

Well I've been quite busy with my own photography business these past weeks. Now that the summer season is over, things have settled enough to start writing again.

Since it is back to school for many of us, many of you are looking to learn photography in a formal way. For those of you who live in the west island part of Montreal, there is one location that offers such teaching.

The DDO centre for the Arts offers a class once a week for 10 weeks.
Details are below. Click title for link.

THE ART OF PHOTOGRAPHY

10 weeks from Sept. 30 to Dec. 2

Wednesday from 7 to 10 p.m.
Teacher: Sheryl Ann Medicoff

This course is designed for everyone who wants to learn how to take a good photograph. You will be introduced to the art of photography while learning how to use your camera better. Students must have their own 35 mm or SLR digital camera with manual option and can either use black and white or colour film. (Not for automatic cameras). No darkroom work is involved. Not included: equipment, materials and printing (approx. $160).

Dollard Res.: $208.82 Others: $225.98

Photo tip: Night Photography

I had a friend e-mail me asking how to do night photography. I thought I would share my tips I gave him here. Night time photography is always as much fun as it it challenging. Here are a few tips to help it along:

• Increase the ISO of the camera gain faster shutter speeds. These may result in digital noise (graininess) but at least you've captured the content clearly.
• IS, VR or SR is only helpful to a certain degree. Since night photography requires exposures well beyond the capability of the stabilizers, it is best to use a tripod for all the shots and to to turn off the IS.
• Shooting on Tv or T mode (shutter priority) helps you to control the amount of light you see in the frame. The longer the shutter is open, the more light enters in.
• Use the timer mode at 2 seconds or a remote. This will avoid any camera shake caused by pressing the shutter button.

Photo Tip: Focus Point & Depth of Field

When choosing a focus point, you are not really choosing a certain point to be in focus but rather an entire plane to be in focus. If say two objects are the same distance from the camera, it won't matter whether you choose one or the other because both will end up in focus.

If the two objects are at different distance from the camera, choose the focus point on the object that is closest to the camera, then adjust the depth-of-field to blur (shallow or small f-stop) or not blur (deep or large f-stop) the object that is behind.

Photograph: Place Ville-Marie

Downtown Montreal at Place Ville-Marie
Featured in the Pentax Photo Gallery

Photo Tip: Compact Cameras for Natural Lighting

If you're trying to take a picture with natural lighting in the evening and it seems a little blurred, try boosting the ISO to a higher number like 400 or 800 instead of leaving it on AUTO ISO. This will make the camera work faster and reduce the amount of blur in your picture.