CALIBER

“Photography is more than a hobby, it’s a passion. It keeps me sane. It helps me see the little things around me rather than just the rush of The City.”

I don’t remember exactly how I met photographer Jeremy Brooks; but I assume it was through Flickr. Since meeting him, I’ve RSS’d his feed and gone shooting with him a few times around The City.

Fascinated by his photographic consistency, I emailed Jeremy one day and asked him a few questions…

“Wordy” by Jeremy Brooks

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Talk about your chosen image? When was it taken? Where? Why did you take it? What did you think of your image once processed?

This image was taken in San Francisco’s Chinatown. It is one of my personal favorite photos to date. Neon signs are one of my favorite subjects, and capturing them before they disappear has become a long- term project for me. This particular sign has a lot of appeal to me because it shows the workmanship and attention to detail that went in to vintage neon signs. It no longer lights up, but most of the neon tubing is still intact. I wanted to capture the detail in this old sign, showing the beauty that still exists through the decay.

Walk us through your current camera gear and workflow.

I’m currently shooting with a Canon 5D Mark II. My lenses are the 50mm f/1.4 and the 100mm f/2.8 macro; I generally shoot with the 100mm. I process photos on a first generation MacBook Pro using Aperture. I do about half of my black and white conversions using Silver Efex Pro from Nik Software. Currently, I have about 4,500 images waiting to be processed.

I’ve detailed my geotagging and Aperture workflows on my blog.

Are you working on any current projects? Talk about those.

I’m always working on my collection of neon signs. I am also participating in the photo challenge projects, and I have started shooting for the $2 Portrait Project. I will probably start a new project to shoot during 2010, but have not chosen anything specific yet.

Tell us about a memorable instance where having your camera made an impact of what you were experiencing.

On a trip to Spain and France, I was shooting with a Panasonic FX3. During the trip, I broke the screen on the back of the camera. I shot most of the trip with no viewfinder. This forced me to really think about what I was shooting, concentrating on the subject, not the viewfinder. In turn, this helped me to appreciate my surroundings. Without that broken camera, I would have missed some details that I still remember vividly. The results were positive; not every shot was what I expected, but that was not a bad thing. In fact, one of the photographs from the trip ended up on a magazine cover. It’s not all about the gear.

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What would be your dream destination for photographic purposes?

As far as a dream destination, it’s difficult to pick just one….but if I had to, I would say New York City. I could spend a very long time shooting New York. It has a vibrancy and energy that are begging to be captured. And, of course, there’s a lot of neon!

What photographers past and present lend inspiration to you?

Some of the photographers that inspire me the most are the people that shoot because they love it. I would have to put Thomas Hawk at the top of that list. His posts inspired me to pick up a camera again and start shooting every day. I would also include local photographers Joe Reifer, Troy Paiva, Steve Rotman, Karen Strolia, and the entire crew at Caliber. Their styles have had a real influence on the way I look at the world around me.

In the famous masters category, Bresson, Dorothea Lange, and Avedon come to mind.

If you could spend a day with any photographer living or dead, who would it be and why?

To spend a day with? Bruce Gilden. I really admire his fearless shooting style, and the images he captures are truly amazing.

Who is a photographer we should all know more about and why?

A photographer you should know more about? Andrew Moore. He has a great eye, and his photography is just getting better and better.

Tell us something about yourself that few people know about.

I still have the camera I learned to shoot with when I was a kid, a Minolta Auto Wide rangefinder that belonged to my dad, who got it from his dad.

Thank, Jeremy!

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