in a fragile world.
A strong spirit transcends rules.
Prince
Some images just remind me of moments in time even when they have nothing to do with the events.
I’ve been thinking about Prince this week-end after his unexpected passing; another loss to the music industry in a year already racking up some big losses.
I am saddened by the loss of his artistry.
Purple rain, purple rain…
whose work are you inspired by?
A photographic portrait is a picture of someone who knows he is being photographed, and what he does with this knowledge is as much a part of the photograph as what he’s wearing or how he looks.
Richard Avedon
Why don’t you take pictures of people?
I sometimes get criticized, and perhaps that’s too strong of a word, maybe admonished is better, for not photographing people but that just isn’t where my passion lies. I find it challenging to break through the veneers that most of us wear and lose patience with the process of trying to capture that. Put a dog in front of me though and time stands still.
I find this a little ironic considering how much I admire the work of Richard Avedon and how his minimalist style always managed to reveal so much character.
I think an important part of growing as an artist is not just learning the technical skills behind it but figuring out what really moves you. I like to look at other art forms in addition to photography and see which ones resonate with me and why.
This information can begin to affect your shooting style.
This information can be taken and developed into something of your own.
There is a distinction to be made between outright copying a style and making it your own. Derivative work, changing just one or two things like perhaps the color or a slight perspective change, does not make it your own; I think one needs to consciously go beyond that.
I tend to shoot more black and white than I do color but occasionally when I find myself drawn to color it is usually because there is something in that scene that reminds me of that wonderful painter, Wolf Kahn. I fell in love with his landscapes the moment that I saw the first one.
Alfred Stieglitz, will always be my first love. His painterly style of photography inspires me to this day.
Michael Kenna’s photography has such simplicity and clarity to it. It reminds me to pay attention to composition first and foremost.
Photography today has changed so much in that now almost everyone is walking around with a camera and we are inundated with imagery. Now more than ever I think it is important to ruthlessly edit our own work and be more conscious of how and why we are taking a photograph.
Is there someone who inspires you? I would love to hear who that is and why…
who have hit a rough patch.
Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.
Mary Elizabeth Frye
out shooting in the harsh sunlight.
There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself; for what we see is what we are.
Ernst Haas
I admit to getting a bit of perverse enjoyment out of strolling along, tripod in hand, in the heat of the day with sun overhead.
I see the looks and can almost hear the thoughts…poor girl, she doesn’t know that this is the worst possible light to shoot under. Hasn’t she heard about the golden hour?
But when I start to lose that glorious low angle light of winter I switch it up and pull out the infrared; and for that the light could not be better!
Composition is very critical in these shots and that is something that I am always playing with. I use a hoya filter, not a converted camera to capture these shots so they do require some planning. Most of them are shot with exposures of around 30 seconds.
These shots capture the light that is not visible to us: it is the near infrared. I always shoot in raw, although jpeg may be a little easier to edit especially when starting out.
Focus is a bit of a challenge as it is not the same as visible light. I focus and compose without the filter and then adjust the focus after attaching the filter. Likewise white balance is tricky and I create profiles to use in Lightroom for the imported raw infrared files. These profiles create a good starting point with more room for adjustment.
Lastly there are options for creating “false color” by swapping color channels but for me more often the beauty of infrared lies in the black and white conversion.
Ultimately this is about keeping your options open and seizing each opportunity to photograph.
Develop some skills to cover all light conditions. That way when you have the time to shoot, it won’t require that you wait for the perfect light.
it's (almost always) about the water... 