Dandelions Close-up

Dandelions Close-up
Dandelions In Black And White

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Obsolescence

Humor is always good in a image.  When we were staying at at one of many RV parks we found this old Phone Booth discarded along a path.  Change happens if you like it or not.



City Images

January 30, 2011


I enjoy shooting skylines.  Years ago I took my family on a ten year off and on road trip along the West Coast.  We purchased an RV and sold our home and went RVing full time.  What was great about the RV life was that we could stay in one location for longer periods of time, exploring the out of the way places and had the ability to wait out bad light.  Here are just a few of my favorite City images.















Sense of Wonder

When you are used to making good money from shooting stock and then you see that income steadily decline quickly over the last few years what becomes the motivation to keep on shooting through the time, expense and effort of creating good images.  And sometimes the great image.  

Minor White once said, " innocence of eye has a quality of its own.  It means to see as a child sees, with freshness and acknowledgment of the wonder, it also means to see as an adult sees who has gone full circle and once again sees as a child-- with freshness and an even deeper sense of wonder".  

I guess the question becomes are you a photographer who has to express your inner self through images or were you shooting because the money was good and it was a job.  I have to shoot, so no matter what I am doing working full time, part time I will still create images.  Also, I am looking at the Masters of Photography again and through their inspiration, I am trying to shoot more personal images that will bring back that sense of wonder.  I miss that.  






Sunday, January 16, 2011

Anticipation

January 15, 2011


Shooting digital takes some of the old anticipation away from the end results of your photographic efforts.  It becomes to me a work flow instead of a revelation of purpose.  There was always that anxiety (in a good way) of going to the lab and picking up your film and then laying it on the lightbox to see if you captured your inner landscape on the film.  Now you pretty much know what you got.  You can make composition adjustments, exposure corrections etc.. right there on the spot by looking at your monitor.  The problem with this is that there is a break in the relationship your building with your subject.  Looking at the monitor becomes the extension of your workflow instead of concentrating on your scene that is before you.  If you look to often then you have missed the purpose I feel of making your unique images.  Your images need to reflect your own style and you can't be observing your subject finding that angle, light and composition that expresses your subject if you constantly look at the monitor.   I look at the monitor to see if I am in the ballpark and then concentrate on the subject reading the light and bracketing accordingly.  Yes there are times when that draw to look at the monitor is very strong and I succumb to its power.