Levon Biss:
Capturing the Beautiful Game
Biss downloads directly to his 17-inch PowerBook G4 or makes use of a 60GB iPod as an external hard drive. “It’s great using the iPod”, he says. “I know I’ve got loads of storage space and it saves me time taking cards in and out. Plus it’s an ice-breaker. Going to these remote places where people don’t really expect you and being able to show them pictures immediately on the iPod’s colour screen really overcomes the barrier of suspicion”.
Once the session is over, Biss plugs his iPod into his laptop and downloads the images for automatic back-up. Then, when he has time, he reviews them in more detail in Aperture. He says: “Whether I’m travelling on a bus somewhere or sitting in a café, I can be going through the shots I’ve done as I go along. It’s a pretty easy process, which saves me a lot of time”.
The level of control available within the program means users have more latitude when it comes to getting the image they want. “The amount of detail and control in this program is awesome”, says Biss. “Shooting RAW gives you a lot of leeway with exposure, colour balance, contrast — all that detail. That particularly helps with documentary when you’re shooting, for example, in low light levels. It would be really hard for me to get anything sharp in low light because of the long exposure time, but knowing I can shoot it and work it up in Aperture, gives me the equivalent of another three stops, so I can basically shoot the shot under-exposed, knowing there’ll be no deterioration of image when I get it back into Aperture and push up the exposure. It gives you much more of a chance to get the picture you need”.
But despite the power of the program, Biss finds it functionally very easy to use. “I don’t consider myself the most technical person in the world”, he says. “My priority is creating the actual picture, but I know the tools are there in Aperture should I need them — and they’re simple to use”.
Particularly important for workflow are Aperture’s editing features. Biss says: “If I’m out shooting all day, I end up with quite a lot of imagery. Aperture’s stacking system divides the imagery up into portions set by times — rather than me having to go through and divide things up manually, it does some of that management for me. Then it’s easy for me to go through and rate the shot [using Aperture’s rating system], whereas before I would have had to make a note of file names”.
“Aperture’s stacking system divides the imagery up into portions set by times — rather than me having to go through and divide things up manually, it does some of that management for me.”
There’s still a degree of conflict between the film and digital mediums within the photographic industry. But Biss maintains Aperture is helping to bridge the divide and smooth the transition from old technology to new. He says: “Aperture brings back old-style film photography, but turns it over into the digital realm. Everything you can do with film you can do with digital, it’s just in a different format. The technology doesn’t get in the way. That’s one of the beauties of it; it relates to an old technique and tradition but puts it in a more useful, up-to-date and portable format”.
Biss concludes: “I’ll definitely keep using it; I’d get quite upset if you took it away now. I’ve almost adapted the way I shoot to it — not visually, but in terms of my logistical style. I think Aperture is now a central part of the photographic process”.
