November 15, 2020

 

The Abandonment Of The RM Photographer
 

Great photography is intense immersion into the interior or exterior scene with a rush of adrenaline that opens your eyes to the possibilities present, which one you choose is up to your emotions on that particular day, your self-awareness and a deep connection with the emerging subject finally showing parts of itself, details opening, becoming possibilities as mother nature helps you with your visual creations.

Once we entered the digital era of taking photos not making photos then the photography universe broke apart. The ease of use of these digital cameras, auto exposure, built in filters, auto focus in the camera bodies allowed everyone the potential of making a good image. To take images and get good results was now only a lucky accident away but soon with a little practice the making of great images was possible.

But this new automated technology undermined the professional photographers way of life by cheapening the cost of taking images for now instead of sending your film to a lab to have processed all you needed to do was dump your memory card onto your laptop and edit and submit to whoever was interested. It doesn’t matter in today’s climate of over saturated image creation whether you are a professional or an amateur, it is the image that counts and really always has been that way.

And what photo agency you are with, Rights Managed or Royalty Free either way your sales are diminishing yearly as I write this for with the overwhelming amount of images being taken and uploaded to stock selling sites the buyers have basically an infinite amount of choices to choose from and all the choices are being sold for pennies on the dollar.

What a great return to the photographers working hard to spend money traveling and making images that reflect their inner nature to see one of their images being sold for peanuts.

And let’s face it Rights Managed image creations are over and done with. Why would anyone want to send in RM imagery when no buyer will even look at them? Getty Images my agent for decades has eliminated RM imagery from its photo site and like all the other big Photo Agencies goes strictly with RF.

With so many images uploaded around the world every second how can a photographer earn a living from his craft. You can’t and you won’t, those days are gone forever.

Those billions of new photographers out there just snapping away and through luck and timing creating images that could compete with the old school professional photographer is the culprit for the evaporation of any worthy sales.

Once this explosion of image snap shots grew exponentially the professional photographer was an old relic of the past era when artists felt their talents in connecting with the deep internal revelations of purpose seeking more than just an image but a masterpiece by creating something from their inner intuitive force, by seeking images that others couldn’t take and these photographers roamed the world in making images of unbelievable beauty no matter what the cost to them mentally and physically.

When film became obsolete you no longer had to worry about processing costs it changed photography forever now everything is done in camera with memory cards and then uploaded to computers and then submitted. Now everyone is a potential photographer and this undercuts the professional photographers ability to make a living by selling his images to news papers, magazines, art galleries, etc., and submitting these classic images to the photographer’s photo agencies.

Back in the day all agencies were rights managed and usage of their photographers  images was regulated and sold for a specific purpose and priced accordingly, the photographer received 50% of the sale. Then came Royalty Free and this undermined the chances for a RM photographer to make a living created images. 

Now everyone is a photographer and the billions and billions of images taken hourly, daily, monthly overwhelms the senses of the viewer and photography is seen not as an art form anymore but a product like lettuce, a hobby, a means to take images of your life and post them on social media to get likes and to be seen by others!

And also why not send my images to a photo-agency they are paying me pennies on the dollar but it feels good to get my image bought for peanuts.

By allowing your images to be reduced to cheap products on sale at grocery store prices you have undermined the natural flow of reasonable pricing and allowed the buyers to dictate to the photo agency the price they demand no matter how hard you fought to create the image you are now at the mercy of the buyer and the photo agency that makes their money on volume pricing that creates a billboard ad of look at our lower valued pricing and this they claim is a new model, a win win situation for the agency and the photographer bull shit!

This will demean the image and the photographer’s talent by accepting anyone calling themselves a shooter and any image they submit that is almost in focus and has detail in some shadows areas and highlight areas and this is the new outlook of what photography is becoming. It no longer is an art form with intense purpose through the image creator efforts to make the image but now anything goes as long as the agencies
can take advantage of the new photographers and at the same time say bye bye to the old guard of image creators that know that stock photo business is now a dollar store bonanza of selling peoples lives away by pricing photographs for peanuts.

Who cares about the aging photographers that made their livelihood through creating beautiful landscapes, portraits, underwater images, mountain climbing and more. 

There is no honesty and integrity now in photography, a once creative art form!

In the past your goal of image creation could be a slow process with your subject revealing itself to you in parcels as you get more familiar with the details becoming realized and the scene begins to dictate to you your inner vision its possibilities, at this stage the photographer doesn’t push his intuition toward any detail but allows his consciousness to let go of his narrow thoughts and just flow with the landscape before you until you have that fluidity of sight and reflection that allows you to see beyond the details of the physical space before you and opens your vision to encompass the reflection in your mind of a unique presentation of nature no one else has made. Your visual foundation is special and only you can see through the infinite details of a scene to create your inner cohesive image vocabulary.

In order to become your truth, your purpose you must merge with your individual self and not the socialites commonality of the herd instincts. Don’t be fooled into following the crowd, that is a dead end, your photographic vision is to understand the complexity of your physical nature present fighting in a vacuum of mental conformity unwilling to free themselves from the tyranny of fear, accepting their narrow vision as the truth unable to break free from the easy manipulation of redundant behavior and false gods.

These milestones of seeing beyond the surface glitter and not to be duped into ignoring the plain details that when composed properly succeeds with a new vision and better still a vision that you have recognized and explored with full understanding and precision once the scene presented itself from the clutter of details trying to misguide you to their commonality.

There are times when you find that your one subject is immersed in the infinity of details and it begins to hinder your ability to relax and go with the flow of your selected, potential scene. You are present but stifled and you need to just step back and allow the scene to formulate a new series of details that intrigue your artistic talents and by relaxing and letting the scene settle itself in your eyes you begin to unravel your frustrations and begin to see the composition that will become your inner vision externalized.

Your new found subject suddenly opens your emotions and gives you a necessary foundation of details, light and composition that will compliment your patience by capturing this unique landscape.

Photography even in a crowd is an isolating journey.  Each of us have our own path to take. The question you must asked yourself is do you have enough self-awareness to free yourself from the bonds of the addicting cliche, societies need for redundant snap shots without depth or persuasion, all of us meek sheep without a unique voice.  

With the explosive conformity of images created for social media overwhelming our senses, reducing photography to a cliche without purpose, just ego’s trying to be seen but what good photographers need to do is just keep on trucking creating images that mean something more than pennies on the dollar.

November 7, 2020

 

Photography Is Your Bridge To Inner Awareness

A good image is like finding a needle in a hay stack. You can hike for hours and still in that time not find an image you feel is with shooting.

Eventually with perseverance you will finally see the light opening your visual inner door and the composition you were looking for in its natural beauty has been waiting for you to finally see.

You were determined to find images that represented your interior insight to mother nature. In order to create great imagery you must immerse yourself in nature with respect and awe!

Your image must not be over manipulated, that will ruin the natural beauty we all need to be part of.   

The captivity of elusive imagery, your number one goal, the abrupt tiredness when hunting that perfect landscape in beautiful light.  

There are many barriers to creating great images but you must steel yourself to endure the ups and downs, the frustrations and blown exposures and keep hunting for those perfect moments.

Whether it is sports, people, abstract expressions of inner consciousness and mother nature you must let go of the conditioned response to external vision. You must seek through your own eyes the beauty you feel present in and not a past image scene in a photo book that you want to imitate.  

Light is never stagnant it is constantly chaining and you must always follow the light in your unique vision to capture the essence of your inner world externalized.

What does authenticity mean in todays image creations? Really nothing at all with all the copycat landscapes being photographed, we have given up on seeking an original, personal image and now click and run to the next subject to exploit without showing our own unique perspective.

You must feel the excitement of discovery when you enter a scene and feel that this place is calling you to just be present and wait as the light changes in infinite directions, to the small details, to overwhelming magnificent landscapes and your subjects move forward with potential then retreat as you narrow down the details being given you through earth’s natural beauty and your sense of what is important to your inner artistic vision.

It can be overwhelming to begin recognizing your own inner world of perceptions. Seeing for the first time subjects that mean more than just snap shots but a representation of your passion, a revelation of your wholeness of reality, inner and outer coalescing into a visual image of perfection.

To be present in vision and deep awareness of your surroundings is a gift given to all but most don’t listen to their intuitive inner voice that would allow them to perceive the outer beauty inside themselves.

We are corralled in our human skin to follow the leader don’t rock the boat do what you are told keep your head down and don’t make waves all these ways of defining you done to control your restless visions to remain stagnate in your own revelation of yourself in time.

The culprit in your narrow beliefs, your narrow vision and hate of change is your intellect that wants everyone to be on the same page doing the same repetitive actions over and over again without the freedom of thought and freedom of expression.

Our system of power has always been to keep the population under strict ways of feeling and seeing this paradise called earth. And controlling your mind, your thoughts was the easiest way to keep ones vision under the rule of strict repetitive dullness, make a living so others will profit, to keep one from experiencing the joy of freedom of your internal senses becoming alive and aware of the external worlds potential of energized caring about others and your own expressions of your inner world whether it is through a lens now open to all nature’s beauty and ugliness or in painting, writing and speaking your own unique truth.

Release your mental stereotypes you have been conditioned to believe in, think about your unique eyesight opening up to the explosion of details, light, composition, your inner instincts quickly become alert to the changing light and as the landscape reveals itself, you anticipate the composition that will bring your connection with the external world to a new visual exclamation of this paradise we live in.

 

 

September 19, 2020 

Are You Present In Making Images   

Is the ability to capture a scene, or a person in a scene with artistic talent and then have the images history represented in a book and then as you age your memory reminisces about the time that image was made as you recollect every detail including why you choose that particular angle? 

We fear time and yet we allow our fear to be controlled by a physical distance that our minds perceive when we travel between objects in our physical space. Without image purpose you can walk through the greatest landscapes and not see the beauty before you. 

If truth be known we are always at a distance from our outer goals and the distance we travel we never reach our destination. But isn’t life a journey and in that journey who wants it to end by accomplishing all your visual goals in one life time. Take chances, embark on your own originality, your unique perspective. Don’t run through life, keep a steady pace and listen to your inner voice to live life in awareness and not blindly by the overwhelming intrusion in our lives by social media and corporate power.   

Or is there something else going on that attracts someone to photography?  You the photographer have a certain power, an ability to document the world in all its horrors and pleasures. 

This ability to take from the physicality of existence, another piece of a puzzle, creating an original image, an expression that can’t be duplicated, but can be admired through your lifetime, is just one of the powers in photography’s addictive nature.   

It is a means to describe the world through your own personal vision whether it is snap shots of a scene or an in depth study of a person or place, a subject that you are attracted to and want to be immersed in because it has a meaningful potential for yourself and you hope others. 

This feeds your ego and any image no matter the content brings to the image taker a since of power over the external world.  We are trapped physically in this reality but a photograph takes from the scene a conduit to self praise and awareness. A photograph conquers the infinite details overwhelming the person behind the camera, by reducing your visual sense to a fragment of the scene that caught your eye and the hunt is on for you to capture it not with your physical abilities but with your ability to reproduce a duplicate of the scene that caught your eye through the technology of the camera. Your creation is your red badge of courage, a symbol of your inner world materialized. 

This gives one a sense of freedom and control over his selected scene either in nature or city life, and doesn’t allow oneself to be intimated by over studying a scene that would tie up much of your time to untangle an image that could possible reflect an outer representation of your inner being. This is what a good photographer demands, his time is precious especially when one is creating an image, a voice for the subject presented. 

But because the majority of people take pictures as a means of enhancing memories they are not immersing themselves in the scene looking for that special detail, that composition that reflects their inner artistic expression.  

What is it that demands we take pictures of our lives, is it a means to document ourselves, our family, our friends, our lifestyle, our reflections, our exterior importance, are we so full of our ego's manipulations that we are addicted to taking a picture of anything just to showboat our external facade that we were there? We were there but were we present in our inner unique perspective? Or did we lose interest in the external world because the intellect we have trained like pavlov’s dog doesn't care about your connection with the physical space surrounding you, that is calling you to see deeper beyond the narrow myth of human conformity and become an individual with your own unique insights.  

We seek to become the stereotypical reflection in the cameras eye rather than becoming our inner truth through a unique inner vision of the reality we think is always stable. It is anything but stable and is always changing and creates in the photographer a vital significance that needs exploring without prejudice, for if we want to create great images we must be open in our minds eye to seek all the subjects that instill in us a universal acceptance of man in nature, your inner world through external expression.  

 A photograph is a message to ourselves that we were present in the photograph even though we were't seen. But our presence is insinuated by the image that we created.  We can describe the image through the lens that framed the picture. Proof is our recollection of the events that led up to scene being captured. The details visualized to create a cohesive composition.  

Can we really state we were there taking the photograph from a picture that doesn’t expose your presence in the scene? Or a least a symbol that is your unique signature. 

Photography is more than just being present behind the viewer. Photography is interacting with your subject, it is immersing yourself into the scene looking for artifacts in the physical space that you are connecting with, that intense will to find in the infinity of life a moment that can reflect a universal awareness of nature’s beauty and human dignity. 

You have the intuitive senses opening the locked doors we all feel guilty of, hiding our talents, afraid of criticism and having your images misunderstood. 

You must ignore the external jealousies by those that want to tear down your art because they are trapped in the mud of life where they have nothing to become for they are what they hate, their awareness of the world through someone else’s unique perceptions. 

You must bond with your instinctive understanding of the scene and look for a subject that is a reflection of your inner being.  

If the only proof that you were there and did take the picture is the picture itself then we are relying on a statement from you about the picture but in reality we have no proof you took the image.  We listen to you because you used words that depicted the scene and suggested your presence behind the camera but we still have no means of truly saying you took that picture. 

What a good photograph does is give us a sense of the photographers presence and his creative perspective. 

A good photograph has a deep connection with the subject presented and the inner eye looking through the view finder. We must be present in the scene through our ability to identify with the contours and imaginative visual elements that will eventually make up the foundation for an image you will make. 

We can claim to have seen the landscape on a surface level and our picture represented a general feeling of being there but does it really constitute a connection that has to be made for the image to have a personal insightful relationship with your intuitive expression.   

An image without seeking a true connection with the scene presented is not a necessary confirmation that you were the photographer present when the image was taken. You were not present for the subject but quickly clicked the shutter to capture a souvenir of the scene without being mentally aware, and immersed in the scene before you clicked the shutter button. 

You were a tourist not seeking a relationship with the scene but only a physical representation of where you were that would enable you to brag about the beauty surrounding your snap shot and the beauty that was present just outside your visual frame of sight. 

Just being physically there and not interacting on a deeper level stifles your ability to create a connection and thus an image that exposes your inner sight in a visible presence. We all can get surface reflections off any subject without immersing ourselves deeper into the very presence of their true characteristics that connect with us on a personal level.     

It is like viewing a photo album, your presence in the picture creates an illusion of you being present, when in fact you ignored the natural landscape by turning your back on nature and facing the camera instead of being immersed in the beauty of nature that surrounded you, ignoring the true inner scene to please someone else that didn't want to document the scene in its entirety but to be narrowly selective, just focusing on the human element, ignoring the beauty present by turning away from the image you should have made.  

Your physical appearance outside the scene doesn't constitute a relationship with the scene. Being connected to the scene is more important than being in your present mindset, opening up your visual senses to the external relationship with your inner visual sense which was trying to give you a new view of the landscape and wanting you to feel and see the meaning behind the scene through your vision and not a copy of someone else’s. 

If you can have a focused attention on the scene before you with a perceptive concentration and awareness of the scene you now can immerse yourself in the beauty present without faltering and moving away from the connection made. 

We are all guilty of the run and gun approach to many creative skills.  We are in a hurry to get somewhere and we can't spend the needed time to study the scene and delve deeper into its potential.  Instead we take a couple quick snaps shots and off we go to the next tourist attraction.   

 

 

September 8, 2020

Photography Notes:

Even though the photography industry is breaking apart we must keep our professional standards when making great images and our mission of being present in a great landscape totally immersed in mother nature. 

What the photo industry giants have done is poison the water, making it virtually impossible to make a decent living through creating images that used to be sold for good wages.

Because of the greed of the of the photo agencies trying to compete and claim they are the top agency, come join us, which is a farce in itself, because they have lowered the standards of images being submitted and the worse deal for photographers not being paid a decent amount for their hard earned efforts by eliminating Rights Managed and going with the poverty income of Royalty Free. 

Now this is only for us peons that don’t have the financial backing of the photo agencies glorified editors, to travel with their crew to create images that are beginning to look like all the other cliche images we see in the billions each and every day. Where is the originality of the past stock photographers? The answer is they couldn’t survive doing something they loved for pennies on the dollar. Who in their right mind would want to spend thousands of dollars traveling to exotic places and then after submitting their original intuitive, insightful images find out that their images are being sold for bargain basement prices. How is that supposed to inspire anyone to go out and make more images for that agency when they have bills to pay and mouths to feed and they can’t do it for peanuts? 

But do the super egotistical Goliath’s, the editors of Royalty Free care about the people making them a living. I doubt it for their intellect has shrunk as their big heads have become huge as if they know anything about hard earned image creation.

And besides there are so many shooters now in this world giving their images away basically for free that the pros are doomed and can’t compete in that low ball arena with the agencies reaping the benefits of  signed contracts that allow them basically to sell the photographer’s photos for anything they want while the photographer gets to eat peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

And the young photographers don’t really care they  just want to see their images in print no matter how bad their images were sold for. 

Nowadays everyone is a photographer with billions of images being created on a daily basis.

In this lowering of professional standards we need to maintain our professionalism our insightfulness in creating great images no matter how competitive it is to get any good image sold for a decent price.

We must never lower our integrity and cut corners in order to get an image sold. 

Nowadays everyone wants to just take snap shots with their phone and then send the images to the agency just to see if anything sells, and to be honest when you add up your costs to get the image made your travel time, gas, equipment, not to mention foreign countries, you could be talking about thousands of dollars of out of pocket expenses and for what, your first sale was worth less than a buck!  This is an insult to all photographers, it is highway robbery as the agencies makes billions and you reap the benefit of pennies. These agencies should be ashamed of themselves for the scam they are running on the photographer. I wouldn’t be surprised if these mega agencies lower the payment again soon to 90% for the agency and 10% for the newcomers that came into to the stock photo game too late to know  previously how the agency and the photographers worked together. They respected each other and they respected the photographer’s hard earned work they created and the photographer respected the photo agencies honesty and the sales force that made the selling of imagery their responsibility that allowed more time for the photographers to keep traveling and shooting. The sale split in the beginning of stock was 50/50 so the photographer and the agency both got equal pay for the great work they both had done.

Now photographers feel that shysters rule the photography Industry and all these men of avarice want is money and they could care less about the photographers out there sacrificing their lives and livelihood trying to create images that sell. The problem is that the stock photo industry is a losing bet. We now have so called free agencies giving your image creations away for free. Free for the photographers perspective his ego thinking that free is better than nothing, but the agency makes a profit off the images for how could they stay in business.  Someone always makes money at the expense of us photographer peons.

And on social media you have viewers stealing your work and selling them as their own. 

Once a price has been reduced to its lowest possibility you can never bring the price back up to a living wage. For all intents and purposes stock photography is dead. There is no possible way to make a decent living wage when the agency you work for screws you with pennies on the dollar sales.

September 4, 2020

Photography is having the courage to look your subject in the eye, sincerely, honestly knowing your own insecurities and yet communicating your determination by expressing your connection with the subject that eases confrontation and opens up the potential for an image creation that expresses not only your subject’s beauty but your own inner style.

Photography is having passion for creating something that stimulates your inner realizations. It is evolving into your own visual awareness of what you want to externalize.

Your empathy and honesty links oneself with your subject and in those moments of truth, in that slippery time, just for a split second, you are immersed in the infinite universe and you see an expression revealed in beautiful light and you press down on the shutter to create your image.

What is your game plan when you come upon a unique scene are you calm or are you so overwhelmed by mother nature that you end up taking pics of everything and anything without studying the landscape in front of you and familiarizing yourself with your inner vision?

What stands out in the scene that begins to draw you towards it? What is the subject telling you about itself and what details begin to register with you as a natural flowing composition presents itself?

Deep breaths release the tension mounting as you want to start right away snapping photos because you have a lot of other icons you want to take pics of today. First slow down, if you don’t take the time to relate to the subject then your images will be dull, uncomposed, touristy snap shots.

We all have the ability to create works of art. What determines your abilities to create your vision is your unique perspective?

Determination, your steady forward progress, learning the intricacies of exposure, lenses and composition.

Your subject is patiently waiting as you begin to immerse yourself in the scene waiting for the light and shadows to deepen, taking your time to explore and discover a perspective that is original.

What elements in the present scene do you relate to? You are not their to manipulate the scene but express through your skills the beauty that surrounds this present moment.

Nothing remains the same and as a photographer you must be aware of the changes happening right in front of you as you assemble your composition, your camera angle, allowing the light to emphasize your inner resolution, your choice where to make the image from.

By ignoring time and focusing on the scene in front of you, you are connecting with external forces and your inner intuitive vision to will the image into being.

Compositional purpose is your instinctive originality, your unique personality, your novel perspective.

In the past you have tried a lot of technical stuff as if this will automatically create a beautiful image. You must ignore the intellect trying to disperse your energy with ideas that are beginning to jumble your focus and concentration. Take a chance try a different avenue of expression by opening your mind to a natural flow of seeing through your own unique imagination and no one else’s.

Enjoy the beauty before you which is trying to connect with you on a deeper level giving you an awareness you never had before, a true means of making an original photograph through your burgeoning ability to see beyond the standard path of redundant snap shots.

A great image like a great line in poetry takes focused intent and a means to arrange the details of the scene being created with your truth and a strong sense of wonder at the descriptive details of nature that make up the ingredients that make a so, so scene into a great image for you and your viewer.

Photography is seeing the dignity in a moment forever past yet renewed in an ever changing light and experience through the image creation.

Life is continuous motion, a never ending illusion of external time in space.
But when we make an image time freezes and we can view our past moments through photography, for isn’t that the addiction of cameras to stop time and our aging process and make us immortal. Beauty is not in the eye of the beholder but the creator of the image viewed.

August 16, 2020

Photography now is not for the faint of heart. Where it once was a brotherhood of respect for the photographers working to make great images for the stock photo agency it now has turned its back on the very artists that made the agency successful. And lets face it, it is now all about money for the investors at Getty, ShutterStock and Alamy! So while the photographers sweat in exhaustion to create good imagery the agencies lower the financial return for the image creators. This puts an unfair burden on the photographers that need to make a living to pay their personal bills and to continue to go out and make unique imagery that will sell.

It is the same story all through the American economy.
Money flows up the ladder to the powerful never down. The money men have turned their backs on the photographer giving them peanuts on the dollar for their hard earned efforts while the photo agency sucks up billions in revenue off our hard earned talent.

Once agencies introduced RF imagery it was only a matter of time before Rights Managed imagery was abandoned. We have entered the fast paced life of our future economy. Where people don’t look for the beauty that surrounds them, the beauty that is being destroyed from pollution and new buildings exploding across our country and the world so the wealthy can look down on the masses and feel themselves above the peons scrambling to make a decent wage to survive. These ego’s of unrelenting greed, the new gods of avarice.

We must keep a focus on new ways to make a living from our unique perspective. Our ability to see in an ordinary scene something that catches our eye and in that moment of realization the drab scene becomes alive with possibilities and you become immersed in the scene tuning out all the distractions that surround you and you are focused on details that illuminate your intuition and your composition will be endlessly discussed but you see the entirety of your personal vision as your subject was taking shape and being created.

All image creation can be interpret differently from the photographers point of view that is what makes photography so important. We see through our own private vision and what works for one creator might not work for another. It is called art and art is always open to discussion and personal interpretation that is what sustains the artist, his creation being looked at,
studied and analysed.

We must not feel that every image we take will be perfect. And It will automatically reveal to the viewer what your unique vision was. Each of us have our own unique qualities of perceiving the external world, our own intuitive force that alerts us to seek a certain train of thought, a photographic idea we are drawn to. Contemplating your subject is the starting point of experimentation before you hit on the composition that reflects your inner mode of seeing the subject with fresh eyes.

When we seek perfection we end up with mediocre images. But when we go with the flow, have an open mind to just look over a scene without trying to fit the landscape into a standard copy of someone else’s published image we are allowing our imagination to guide us to our true potential, we have made our beauty where it didn’t exist.

July 23, 2020

Photography

How do you express externally your inner vision?

Each image created is part of an overall journey toward your inner discovery your inner self demanding to be seen.

There are many barriers to creating great images but you must steel yourself to endure the ups and downs, the frustrations and blown exposures and keep hunting for those perfect moments.

To create great images you must be involved with your subject, studying the nuances that can make or break a classic image.

Your subject needs to be respected and you need to be intuitively aware of your relationship with the subject and have a deep personal respect for the subject you are creating in a photograph.

Before you can create any image you need to be aware of the landscape you are viewing. Whether it is a person, animal or scenic you need to be present, intensely aware of potential compositions that will enhance your subject and bring out in the landscape your personal vision.

This means knowing the subject and the terrain in such a away that it becomes second nature to approach your subject from a certain direction with confidence and empathy of spirit and a willingness to spend the time exploring this unique view, your unique presence in a landscape speaking to your intuitive nature.

The important approach is not to waste time flitting here and there taking snap shots that tell us nothing of your relationship with the subject before you.

Use your time wisely forget about your past and your future thoughts and just be present in your now, each moment goes by so quickly for those that rush through life thinking they are accomplishing something of importance when in fact most of us get worn down as we age and feel the pains of regret for not exploring our intuitive interests more fully that would have taken us into our future lives with a greater understanding of ourselves and our beautiful surroundings on this isolated planet more fully and not with an indifference of spirit, a cold impersonal outlook toward others and our own personal life.

When you begin to meld your thoughts into the landscape and feel the terrain with your visual senses heightened with awareness a detail is seen and then another detail and the puzzle that was fragmented before you is now coming together to become an expression of your inner landscape externalized.

Western thought is built around intellect, functionality and profit. Eastern thought is more introverted and focused in contemplation and reaching toward a new becoming. Western thought is controlled as always by the intellects redundant nature, a nature of order and selective focus, a consciousness easily exploited by powerful forces of monied interests.

Our elites have an addiction of greed not to be intimidated by our external nature but to control it, harness its power for profit from it and ultimately destroy mother earth.

Western thinking wants physical things and wants them now. This in turn also spreads in to everyday life and especially photography. We are in constant hurry mode running from one thing to another without taking the time to immerse oneself in the landscape of self and nature. Our minds are blinded by anything that shines but this isn’t getting to know your subject, this is capturing something quickly, without purpose, treating our existence as if we had no existence outside our working lives. We are caged animals exploited by the powers propaganda of a fear based existence.

All great image makers look at the scene and study the important details of the scene that they want to include to get the viewer of his image to stop and really look at the subject, studying the movement of the visual dynamics, levels of creating and eliminating details that interfere with the vision behind the photographers intuitive perceptions.

As the light gets better and the suns beauty shines over the scene in front of us we find ourselves living in a wonderland of possibilities that will push our intuition to find a perspective that will be your trademark.

A great photograph shows the viewer an insight into the photographer’s purpose by through his composition. A personal relationship with the subject that respects the subject and allows the viewer to also appreciate in the image the play of light, composition and exposure.

Your personal relationship with the subject is an acceptance of the scene and your intent is to create an image that keeps the viewers eye from roaming through the image frame trying to see the center of interest in the details and failing exits and turns the page.

June 1, 2020

Photography Is A Job Done Dirt Cheap

The photographer gives his/her all to create a wonderful image and then to be told that your image you have worked so hard to create will have to go into their Royalty Free files because we have given up on profits for the photographer  from our Rights Managed imagery that once protected photographers with a contract that limited usage and charged a much greater royalty for the image creator. 

What a systematic destruction of a living wage for the photographers, an undermining of good business practices by not sharing the income with the very people that made your agency profitable. 

Stock photo agencies in the past were in partnership with their photographers. There were meetings and advice given but not a narrow perspective on the world but a vision of wonder for any image, back in the day, was an expression of the mindful photographer and the image uniqueness was always welcome.

Now the agencies want to fit the image creators in little slots, to define them as this or that kind of a photographer. How pathetic, if you give someone the go ahead to create from their heart then you have opened the talent door wide open.

But it seems the agencies now want to be an assembly line of dull repetitive photos with no depth or meat on them.  Shallow minds more interested in their titles than on the truth of a photographers hard earned vision.

Now everything revolves around profits not the actual means of profit which is great photographs. 

All the photographers efforts are undermined when they get their first deposit and find themselves stunned at the peanuts the agency is sharing.

But the photo agency does very well because they take 85% of any sale and the photographer gets 15% of a low priced bundling of his imagery with others, a give away to corporations that are demanding cheaper and more cheaper payouts every year. For you see the creator is the pawn in this game of greed, they are the ones doing the hard work and getting less and less for their efforts.

Now think about this, that image you submitted took you days of hiking to locate that perfect landscape and then have the patience to wait for that magic light that created a wonderland of color and beauty in nature. Now you have been told that your image isn’t worth peanuts and you feel betrayed by an agency that seemed honest and worked for the photographers benefit.

Photography is no longer an art form it has become a commodity for the rich to exploit the photographers that are new to this new business model. It is appropriately called screw the artist creating the image in order to pay investors their fair share of sitting on their asses buying and selling people’s livelihood!

Royalty Free imagery is the biggest con game in photographic history. The agency that started this destructive business transaction had no intention of allowing the producers of the images, the photographers to take more than the investors.

And as each year passed both in Rights Managed imagery and Royalty Free images the dollar split between agency and photographer began to slide downward. What a great scam they played, claiming they were protecting the rights of the photographer and his imagery and at the same time allowing

the buyers to exploit the give away of imagery for less and less forcing the old-time photographers to leave this bad business arrangement. The newbies that were coming up as the old guard  photographers business model was being shredded enjoyed just seeing their images published and liked by others. For them this was a hobby and they didn’t have any idea what their images were really worth and they didn’t care. But as the years past even these once amateur photographers realized they were being screwed by the photo agencies but couldn’t stop the fast paste slide into the poor house. 

Photography was a means to express something personal in a visual articulation of your feeling toward your subject. We all seek to express our inner world to the external reality of cruelty.  And just maybe our image creation would help some people realize the beauty of this planet earth and the inhabitants. Photography has always been about influencing popular beliefs and opening the eyes of people to the real issues needing correction.

But in the long run it was a scam to entice photographers to bring their original imagery into an agency from children, landscapes, sports, older folks in their 80’s… What the agency was doing was demanding more and more imagery so they could unload the agency to the three big photo agency conglomerates leaving their photographers in a precarious situation for the new agency could care less about them all they wanted was more images to sell cheap and in volume.  Bundle the images into a sweet deal for the businesses and also a sweet deal for the agency. What does the photographer get, well next to nothing? The creator of the sale, his image, is just a dupe allowing these photo agencies to exploit the very source of their wealth.  What a business arrangement you supply us with the product and we will give you almost nothing in return. Welcome to the new rodeo of stock photography. How long can you stay in the saddle and not be thrown for a loop as you hit the ground and your agency still steps all over your ability to make a decent living.

What a trill the new photographer has when his images are accepted by the RF agency and he sees a grand future coming and he is proud to be part of it. And even after his first sales for pennies on the dollar he still believes that he can make a decent living by shooting stock images. And he buys the latest and greatest lenses, camera bodies, tripods, memory cards, filters and he is now set to journey into the realm of price shock photography, and it is not for the faint of heart. 

It is hard to believe that these mega agencies can be so manipulated to destroy the income of the very people that made them successful, so cowardly to succumb to money, to worship cash, over their photographers, as the new god of power, the investor class that demands profits over the image creators time and effort making them wealthy.

What a con game these agencies are playing on their stock photo shooters or should I say “fools on the hill!” Why even make images to sell for they all end up in the same bed, cheap prices for cheap labor!

What is your motivation to make imagery? If it is money, I hate to tell you this but your chances of making a living at stock photography is pretty slim nowadays. There is just too many people taking images and giving them away for free. 

If however, you have that inner compulsion, that intuitive need to create something of value for yourself and others then I applaud you! You are of the old guard of photographers that have to keep making images no matter what the cost. It is part of our nature since childhood, the need to express our feelings through a lens. To immerse ourselves into the subject becoming part of the scene as we focus on details that when combined with others will tell a beautiful or ugly story that had to be told.  

Photography of the past was an art form but now photography is a cliche a redundant expression of dull ideas copied from the handbook of agencies telling the photographers what to shoot.  The main theme for the stock photo agency now as in the past is smiling faces and food. But now you have no authenticity of character because they all look posed and out of place, a studio set up rather than an honest and open get together of friends, not models. 

Photography is a means of expressing a deep inner emotion, a battle with nature to study and take your time exploring the possibilities of the landscape that reflects something within you.

What has been created is your inner expression externalized for the world to see? And you would like to think that your time and effort in making the image is worth more than just a 10 cent sale!

May 31, 2020

Photography is a lost art doomed now to become just another expression of the mundane world without depth of character. Our love of life is dwindling with each new revelation of pollution, wars, crime, rape, murder as the 1% continues to put profits over human beings and mother earth. 

Photography is no longer about intervention in the cruelty of life by documenting the horrid conditions of people, slaves to the criminals and the rulers of countries. 

The photojournalist used her instincts to put herself in a precarious deadly situation in order to tell the world, is this who we are, is this the best we can rise too by showing us the brutality of violence of wars against the poor and the abandoned people with no voices to yell to their rulers why have you murdered us and the answer was profits.   

We are just stick figures without an underlining intent or motivation to really perceive the world as it is and then try and make changes that are necessary for this planet and people to survive.

The cameras can think for you. Every photo taken is a replica of someones earlier work. Originality is no longer necessary for what is original when we can just make it up and photoshop the image to represent a lie or even better yet a crime.

Just think of it you will not have to make an effort to create images of your family anymore, those insightful moments that tested your patience in order to capture that one moment of your son’s first birthday party, trying to blow out the candles on his cake with such a proud expression on his face, to the cheers of your family and friends.

Now you can host a birthday party, a dinner party for your friends or an impromptu get together with business partners and all the documentation of the event you need is just a flip-a-switch away, your own in-house and office surveillance cameras hidden in every room strategically placed behind framed prints that once marked you as a photographer now take images of the festivities.

This is done automatically without a personal intuitive purpose, now just set the quantity of images you need taken and let the technology do the work for you. How simple is that? I know what you’re thinking, what about when I am out and about on the town or having a quiet moment with a friend how do I get pictures of that. I don’t want to stop anything and ask for people to pose, I just want pictures taken pronto and the images sent back to my home computer so later I can see myself and others and know I looked good and they looked ok but I need to be discreet. No one must know I am stealing photos of them. You never know when they might come in handy. And no I am not a spy or pervert just cautious when it comes to get togethers. 

Welcome to the new world of scheduling your very own photo shoot. Not with lights and assistants but hidden cameras installed for your night out or your night in. Just call ‘sneaky photos’ we have cameras set up everywhere, just let us know where the event will be held and voila, your covered no flashes distracting your get-together and our prices are reasonable and we do ask for a little hush money to keep the media quiet from investigating privacy issues.

Instead of thinking about the person you are interacting with you will be thinking about how you look and act towards the hidden camera. You can't wait to see what pics this mechanical beast took of your little foray.

And once the party is over you won't live your life through conscious memories of that day but will have to look at your life through the eyes of an objective device that has no feeling toward you or your purpose, a surveillance camera in your own house. What a brilliant idea for those that don’t have time to think before they take a photo, now something else can do your thinking for you. Just kick back and lose site of your own unique personal vision and let a mechanical device do the job for you, or who has the time to create images and then download those images and edit those images and caption those images and color correct those images and spot those images, that is just too much work for the new man and woman in this world of ego’s and image status, facades of speciality when in fact all prominent change has been worn in high fashion, a spectacle enjoined by the wealthy put on in centuries before we were even born and then are suddenly regurgitated again as new in a cycle of a copycat existence with originality of spirit ignored and demeaned. 

So don’t fret why not have all that taken care of by the hidden cameras documenting your life for you, so you can relax and just ignore others for your own pleasure of ego.

We are living lies and we are helpless in our inability to take charge of our own feelings through the force of the photographic experience by allowing technology to worm its way into creating an easy way not to take your own visualized images through pictures taken not only by camera implants in rooms and homes but also the automatic cameras now a days that have auto exposure, auto focus, auto wind, auto color corrections, and the best part about it you don’t have to think or spend time seeing the beauty of people or of nature but you will feel secure in allowing a mechanical device to do the thinking for you. Lets not call it photography, lets call it instantaneous visualization of surface nonsense, these images don’t do anything for your creative heart and your personal unique visual expression but just a quick documentation to let others know that that is me, me, me see where I was and what I was doing, Look At Me People!! here I am and here I was. 

This selfish existence we live in is now an automated system of a collective intellect telling us what is good and what is bad and what we can’t do and what we are allowed to do! Freedom of our intuitive self is being undermined by technology and the incessant eating away of our mental and physical worth as human beings as the powers that be experiment in controlling our lives through redundant copycatted experiences, the latest fads that distract us from the real truth the absolute control over our lives through social media and military madness. Your had held devices are a means of psychic manipulation and it works as an ankle monitor so they know exactly where you are at all times. And then the ads show up, buy this, buy that, everything is on sale, even your personal life is a mirage of individuality.

We have already crossed over the line, becoming impotent, lackadaisical representations of the status quo and when anything of importance happens to spur us into our real selves again and act in unison with others as a unified powerful force expressing the outrageous control of our lives by the elites that own our government and control the population through key words that ring true to the bullying minds of racists to do their bidding through propaganda that is coherent misdirection, we the people buckle and retreat in self pity for who are we to fight the corporate monsters of avarice and think first and read between their words of lies and exaggerated truths that they have invented to protect their monopoly of control over us.

If only people would let go of their external facade and just be present in their own moments with a camera or without one but just be open to the infinite universe of unique experiences for what it holds in front of you is a life journey worth taking.

Instead you have substituted, that which can give you insight into your life and others by immersing yourself in your perceptive intuition of a scene, your courage, and replaced it with a narrow understanding of empathy for others, only those that have the same hate and bigotry you do, your selfish anger at loss of your self worth and then projected onto others, your anger and blame and you have convinced yourself that other people are taking something away from you when in fact you have been duped by the powerful forces of greed by using words that incite in you hatred toward an enemy that is an illusion, a bad movie script.

When violence around the world is escalating along with poverty and wars how are human beings supposed to act. Human beings will naturally sacrifice everything to save their family’s from poverty and death. The rich oligarchs are the ones that have put this planet in peril and they are the ones manipulating these racists thugs to do their dirty work for them. And they act just like Pavlov's dog looking to jump for their treats toward self annihilation by blaming innocent people for the corruption in politics and in corporate businesses. 

“The Fool On The Hill” how can people be so blind to the fact that they are being manipulated to hate others when the true hate comes from the elite’s wealth and the military industrial complex.  

We are objects being placed outside our visual consciousness diverted by the media as products to sell hate and hair cream to. 

This will continue your growing awareness of the existential reality of your own non-existence. We have experienced existentialism on a massive scale throughout our individual lives and we will reap the benefits of being alone in a dark foreboding blackness by the increasing fear of others, hate, violence, greed, manipulations etc... and in order for you to feel superior and “real” you will be told you have to dominate the human species with promises of an illusion of power that only exists if we allow them to continue their crimes of disillusionment. 

We are living this today. The continuing reality of people as objects, a narrowing of the mind's perception of individuality between independence and the herd mentality. The wealthy see themselves as 'Titans of the old Roman Empire of profit'.

The way to beat existentialism is to open your mind to the new possibilities of triumph over self indulgence.

Social Media controls the information that is fed to us in diluted form in order to pacify the masses in corralled thinking, one answer fits all their con games.

Are we strong enough, determined enough to finally realize that a good life exists for those that can move away from the automated formula's of the wealthy and begin again to use their own mental capabilities to explore their own inner directions with confidence in their purpose?

We all carry our own albatross around our necks that deny us our hopeful vision at some quality in a person or a nature scene that is new and original not for profit but the sharing of a personal  idea.

Technology as it becomes more and more invasive will demand more and more power from the masses. The ultimate goal of technology is to do the thinking for us. Any questions you may have can be instantaneously answered not by your own individual study of the facts but by a wordy cliche that answers nothing but siting the meekest of sources. These sources are owned by the corporate wealth paid to use attacks on anything that will undermine their quarterly profits.

As life becomes more and more complicated humans do not want to have to think for themselves that is too much pressure on an already stressful work environment and home life. So we look for words and actions that can pull us along with the flow of times cruel endings whereby we don’t do much in the way of helping others by look away and we then allow ourselves to feel better for doing nothing.  

Why be an independent thinker that can put stress on your delicate skin and confuse an already stunted mind.

As we distract ourselves more and more by words and ideas that are at best trivial, our conversations become more repetitive. An accumulation of junkyard thoughts that have as much purpose as a devout atheist becoming pope. 

We allow our minds to take the least path of resistance and this leads down the path of fascism which the united states is severely in the grip of right now this very second.

Photography is creating a newness to the visual scene. Not a cliche of another’s hard work.

But now in this streamed lined repetitive necessity of the herded instinct we seek an assembly line of casual, meaningless imagery that doesn’t excite or instill in the viewer anything at all but ordinary feelings of a lost existence, people deprived of their individuality now seek the comfort of conformity within the workings of their constructed lives of ignorance or false hope. 

Nowadays new imagery with an intuitive truth has a limited value, a passing fad of human folly and violent aggression. The powers that be insist on violence to regurgitate the simple minds inability to think out of the box he is confined in. By ignoring the path toward deliverance and independence these men of greed intrude and control all our feelings by a misrepresentation of truth for their own deadly profits.

When you create a worthy image from your subjective intuition you have transgressed the formality of controlled thoughts and have entered into a world of anarchy.

The only meaningful subjects for prints nowadays is hollywood glamour. And the tidbits of truth that make us jealous of the perfect hair, the perfect eye, the perfect nose and body. Exterior perfection hides a shallow interior an interior conformed to live in material dependency.

Native American Pow Wow at Day Break Cultural Center, Dicovery Park Seattle, Washington State

March 21, 2020

I am startled by the light, how it curves around my subject and is upon me with subtle warmth. My chosen subject is illuminated in pure wondrous revelation.  

Just a few minutes ago the landscape was dull without a pure foundation of details struggling to be represented until the sunlight broke through the clouds. This was the final ingredient that elevated my chosen subject before me into art.

My intuition ignored the intellects preconceived construct of the scene before me. 

I sensed the possibilities of mother nature and her ability to change light on a whim and this particular subject demanded that I wait and set up my equipment to capture the beautiful light being revealed over the scene toward sunset.

Without patience we tend to ignore the primary subject and go for the easy snap shot so we can move on gliding on a surface facade without depth and originality.

Photography is our means to extend our lives. Photographs tell our story and allows us the ability to remain alive for our families and buyers of our work. For our image creation is our means of an after death resurrection.

The importance of creating a legacy of images is a freeing of oneself to just live your life as best you can and let others see and discuss your work after you are gone. 

But what is happening now in the photo industry is the commodifying of images as a product like ground meat. And the proliferation of images in the market place reduces the respect images once had in the hey day of what I call the iconic expression, the truth of our lives through the integrity of the photographers work. 

Especially when there is an over saturation of image cliches and redundant images being taken.

Photographers once had the respect of the people but now are seen as glory seekers taking images of anyone and anything just to capture something without a purpose or a cause just for chance of making some money.

Photographers are creating an epidemic of run and shoot photography.  A carless attitude toward the creation of great imagery. In order to make important imagery you first must become entwined with your subject, studying the details and the composition that will best express your connection with your subject. And give the viewer a sense of being present when the image was made.

Without a personal vision that is unique and visually powerful you will become part of the shoot anything club and call it a good days work. 

Being self-centered just exasperates the loss of momentum in understanding the patience that is required just to make one exposure.

The new generation of photographers are seen as worker ants as they roam this world seeking images without purpose, just snap shots of details they hope will sell for pennies. 

These mega agencies couldn't care less about their photographers. Why should they care for there are 100s of millions of shooters that give their images away for free and the ones that hook up with an agency gets virtually nothing for their efforts? But for new photographers it is an ego trip just to see your image taken in by the agency and then to receive in your bank account virtually nothing. You are not going to be able to make a living on your images like you could beginning in the 1980s and ending in 2008, when the economy collapsed.

Anyone can take snap-shots but these won’t pay your bills. 

I better qualify this by saying that the condition of photography as an art form is dying. Everybody is a photographer and everyone has access to photo agencies gobbling up images just to sell them for peanuts. Why would anyone want to supply their images to a photo agency that takes 80% of your efforts without demanding from their buyers a higher price for their photographers time and efforts?

Because once again it is not the image, the image is not that important, it is the volume of image sales that makes a difference. Lets get real for a moment, if you don't know you're being suckered by putting your images in the mega agencies as RF then wakeup! Any agencies that spouts off about how you will get your return through volume sales, run for hills. The agency will make their profits and you the lowly photographer will be the ones that lose in the transaction. They will gain because 80% of any sale will be theirs and tell me how many times will your image will sell that even come close to equaling what the mega stock houses receive for every sale.

Stock sales are lowering the quality of images being created. Anyone now is a shooter with the ability to submit their work to the mega stock houses is free.

Simply put the photo agencies now don’t really care about the photographers, only the images they create,

which will be sold for less than a candy bar.

Some photographers know how to create and sell stock images and do make a good living submitting their work but they are the few amongst the millions 

of shooters taking snap shots of anything and submitting these run and gun images to the mega agencies and getting really nothing in return.

We need to separate our image making from the control of the super agencies. We must create unique images with purpose. Exploring the outer world and reflecting on what we feel and see and bringing our vision forward, realized through our photography. 

I will be creating photography books and putting these online. This isn’t new but at least it moves me away from the photo agencies that have lost all respect for the people that make them billions. To them we are just workers on the conveyer belt line putting our photography efforts in small boxes that are later sold with coupons at the stock house grocery outlet.