Robert Farber Studio

The 1st 2026 edition of our Members Only Forum! We will discuss results of our Featured Assignment - Shoot Digital with the Personality of Film - and distribute the Rewards for Most Creative Assignment, Best Comment/Critique, and the Signature Style Reward, all thanks to our Featured Sponsor this month

About the Assignment:

About 85% of the images in Robert's archive are shot on film. With the onset of digital photography he had to adapt his moody and painterly signature style, using grainy film, to the world of digital.

What Robert found when shooting digital is the importance of filters - polarizing, diffusion, and neutral density - to emulate film, and are inferior to any post-production effects or Photoshop.

Similar to the introduction of digital cameras, AI now poses a challenge to photographers because it has brought a "hyper-digital" look and feel to images.

This Assignment is meant to challenge you to bring the personality of film (including but not reserved to film grain) using a digital camera. We also welcome the use of AI generated images to help capture a "film look".

When using a digital camera we recommend you use Tiffen filters (specifically polarizing, diffusion, and neutral density) as well as in-camera adjustments. The image must be created only with your camera NOT by using your computer with software plugins to manipulate the image.

Please, NO Photoshop, or very very limited use of Photoshop and post-production effects.​

Photoshop may be used to the same extent you would use the darkroom to adjust exposure, contrast, or minimal color adjustment, but not to manipulate the photo.

*This challenging assignment will make you aware that you are a photographer first, and not a post-production editor.*

Please RSVP so we can have a head count before the event.

More information at FarberStudio.com

"The silence of the woods" by

From out Featured Assignment Capture the Seasonal Mood

"An early morning snow fall in the mountains in Yellowstone. You can hear the tress whining as the wind and snow hit them.There is no one around. The wildlife is bedded down. I am alone and feel like the last person on Earth and I am in heaven with mother nature."

Grey Wolf in Snow, Yellowstone, 2010 by

"In 1995 Wolves were re-introduced into Yellowstone National Park (WY/MT). In 2010 I visited and found a beautiful wildlife refuge at one of the Park's entrances. Made of all glass windows, certain wolves that did not do well in the wild for one reason or another lived out there lives in this sprawling refuge. I spent the entire day there photographing them. At one point, it began to snow. Not fazed in the least, this Grey Wolf stood motionless as the snow began to fall. I, on the other hand, was freezing and soon thereafter ended my day."

Join the Farber Interactive Coaching Center and participate in our monthly Feature Assignments where top assignments and critiques are rewarded by our sponsors.

https://www.farberstudio.com/

“Don Pegler - Artist/Animator” by Karen Hirsh FICC Photos of the Month for “Environmental Portraits”

Inspired by Arnold Newman

“Here is a fun environmental portrait that I made of Don Pegler who was my colleague and friend at FCB Advertising Agency in Chicago. He had a great sense of humor and a lot of talent. He was responsible for creating the famous RAID bugs during the 80's and 90's for S.C. Johnson's advertising campaigns. To celebrate him, FCB created Don Pegler's Corner, an exhibit of his work on one of the floors of the agency. He was also honored by the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago in 2015 when they held an exhibition, "A Salute to Advertising's Greatest Icons." Other advertising icons included in the exhibit were Tony the Tiger, Morris the Cat, Snap Crackle and Pop, the Pillsbury Doughboy and Ronald McDonald.

In addition to the renowned RAID bugs, Pegler also created caricatures of executives as well as realistic portraits of employees for corporate gifts. We acted as a team. I would make black and white portraits in my photo studio, which he used as the basis for his sketches. These sketches were very cherished mementos.

For this picture, I photographed Don in his office I was so lucky that the RAID bugs were hanging out that day! 😀”

Join the Farber Interactive Coaching Center and participate in our Featured Assignments, Cocktails w/ Critiques and Auditorium programs.

Robert guides our Members to elevate their photographic career to new creative and financial heights.

FarberStudio.com

“Early Lessons” by Enid FICC Photos of the Month for “Environmental Portraits”

Inspired by Arnold Newman

“There was a neighborhood in Atlanta while I lived there in the late 70's up until the mid 80's, that had been there way before my time and tenure there. It was called "Cabbagetown". A very famous area just south of the city center, that was referred to as "Little Appalachia". The residents there were dirt poor. While driving through there one day, I saw this girl playing near her parents who were perched on a metal bench. I parked in front of the house and began to chat with them. The girl was sweeping the cracked stone pavement in front of their home. I engaged her and she posed for me with that broom, that couldn't possibly solve the dirt in their yard, nor the poverty that they endured. She was learning very early about how life is not exactly fair. Today the neighborhood is a very tony and expensive enclave, no longer affordable for the poor.”

Join the Farber Interactive Coaching Center and participate in our Featured Assignments, Cocktails w/ Critiques and Auditorium programs.

Robert guides our Members to elevate their photographic career to new creative and financial heights.

FarberStudio.com

“Nature and a natural beauty” by Russ V FICC Photos of the Month for “Environmental Portraits”

Inspired by

“The model and a good friend is Maria. She is from York, North Yorkshire, England. This park meadow reminded her of her granddad's farm, where she used to run and play as a child. Wearing a simple white dress reminded her of the dress she had as a child. Her pose is one where she was taking a deep breath, thinking about her granddad.”

Join the Farber Interactive Coaching Center and participate in our Featured Assignments, Cocktails w/ Critiques and Auditorium programs.

Robert guides our Members to elevate their photographic career to new creative and financial heights.

FarberStudio.com

“The Crossing” by Enid - FICC Photos of the Month for “Environmental Portraits”

Inspired by Arnold Newman

“The immigrant, the bridge and the possibilities that lie on the other side. When I first moved from Manhattan to the community on the other side of the George Washington Bridge in 2021, I discovered the place above the structure that offers an unparalleled view of the greatest city. I was there during the dusk and asked this man to pose. I noticed the strain on his face and it made me think of how many people dream of living on the "other side" of the border. This border too. That man, happens to be my man…”

Join the Farber Interactive Coaching Center and participate in our Featured Assignments, Cocktails w/ Critiques and Auditorium programs.

Robert guides our Members to elevate their photographic career to new creative and financial heights.

FarberStudio.com

One of the most important photographers of the 20th century, Arnold Newman is known for his portraits of major cultural figures, such as Pablo Picasso, Aaron Copeland, Salvador Dali, Marilyn Monroe, Georgia O'Keeffe, Igor Stravinsky, President John F. Kennedy, Andy Warhol, Leonard Bernstein, and dozens of other major cultural figures of the 20th century.

Arnold discusses his early years as a photographer - some images he shot on the very first day he began using a camera are now in museums - and his eventual move to NYC to capture some of the most influential artists alive at that time in their studies. He also details his famous meeting portrait shooting with the N**i war criminal Alfred Krupp, as well as his equally famous portrait of Igor Stravinsky.

See the who's who of Arnold Newman's portraits and Robert's other Conversations with Famous Photographers: https://www.farberstudio.com/interview-archive

https://youtu.be/1BFzc8hrZO8

Arnold Newman on his Most Famous Portraits - in Conversation w/ Robert Farber - April 2020 Robert Farber's Conversations with Famous Photographers: https://www.farberstudio.com/interview-archiveOne of the most important photographers of the 20th ce...

Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Eddie Adams opens up with Robert about the capturing of his famous image of the Vietnamese general shooting a prisoner which, according to the New York Times, "changed the course of the Vietnam war".

Adams also speaks about his time duck hunting with Fidel Castro, photographing Pope John Paul II, his difficulty in breaking free from the label of "war photographer", and much more.

© Estate of Eddie Adams Dolph Briscoe Center for American History,The University of Texas at Austin; © The Associated Press

Eddie Adams in Conversation w/ Robert Farber - NYC 1999 Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Eddie Adams opens up with Robert about the capturing of his famous image of the Vietnamese general shooting a prisoner wh...

Join us July 21st for the Auditorium event with "What Makes a N*de Image Stand Out"

RSVP here: https://www.farberstudio.com/event-details/auditorium-004-what-makes-a-n-de-image-stand-out?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAacyXOLqIC4SWdaRtNl7bt5-uNIZ_TzMnsTj0BqUPdsO0tN0lewJ8sVuEeC2HA_aem_TIKN1d4-ktJDWo7fKuO8Sg

Robert Farber has published 15 fine art books over his 50 year career, and 8 of those books are exclusively of fine art n**es, which began with his very first book "Images of Woman" published in 1976.

Thanks to the suggestion of one of our FICC Members Russ Verbosky Robert will discuss what makes a n**e image unique and enter into the realm of "fine art."

In addition, Robert will detail his battles with censorship because of his n**e photography, and how to bring respectability and museum quality to photographing n**es.

Go to https://www.farberstudio.com/ to RSVP to receive the Zoom link, and become an FICC Member if you have not signed up already.