Jörg Colberg has a great post where people have used “Tourist-Spot-Defense” in the referenced article at PDN on a photographer was challenged as suspect to copying another’s work because of similarities. I read through the pt1 & pt2 and I had to really think about some of the comments posted which prompted Jörg’s post. He made great points about the of reality copying the works of others. I want to carry some of his points a bit further.[singlepic id=835 w=320 h=240 mode=watermark float=right] (more…)
From the Blog
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I just spent the last three days attending the Pro Photo Expo, which is held by the California Professional Photographers association in Pasadena. I thought the experience was great investment of time; especially since it was my first as a working photographer.
The line-up of notable speakers of technique in lighting, posing, and composition was great to say the least. I do have to say, technique is taught and learned every day, yet it will only improve the technical structure of a creation. It was the teaching on artistic methods and creating confidence that I specifically want to talk about.
The thoughts and ideas directly and indirectly conveyed by Kalen Henderson and Arthur Rainville took an approach of furthering the person. (more…)
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I began to write a lot of back story as it would be called by writers, but I have decide to spare those that read this.
There are a lot of people within the photography industry that speculate as to the well being and future of what they do. I will say this, and most is just a gut feeling with no factual foundation. Well that is not completely true. I do have some boring information that could consume several pages. The photgraphy industry will struggle along as does the economy. It will survive. However There are those that don’t value the profession because they have a camerea in their phone……
There are consumers who go by point and shoot camera, the slim ones and fat ones that have the lenses that pop out towards the subject of their efforts. There are even point and shoot camers that could be confused with what the average person would think is a professional camera. Now don’t get me wrong point and shoot cameras can take some really fantastic photos in capable hands. I have numerous photos on my website that it took with a Nikon S80. You can’t tell which one they are until you actually print them. On the web most will have a picture show up around 120 dpi for a decent image. It is not the full resolution of anwhere from 240 to 400 dpi or even more depending the the camera.
The point of this is that a professional photographer has the skill sets to produce high quality images with the best composition possible, with the best ligthing possible. They know how to manipulate a camera to acheive these results. There is an intrinsic value to the knowledge of the professsional that has been educated at a college or mentored by a long time successful pro. There job will be secured for the years to come.
There is another reason that I put in a blup on twitter that is true “Art is about what the mind sees and what the eyes can’t see“. Photographers are artists in every way. Some can take a plate of food and make it so appetizing that you want to go out and but it. There are those that shoot weddings and make the day a fairey tale story, and people like me that will capture moments that will never be repeated in my lifetime or yours.
I shoot portraits and weddings, but my passion is landscapes. I have been shooting sunsets lately. Everyday this week has been different, some similarities, but then again the sunset we not even close.
The value of the professional photographer is in the knowledge that has been learned from the time he or she pick up their first camera. The experience gained from every under or over exposure. The pastience to setup to amke sure the light is right or for that matter to wait for the right light. to wait until the motment is revealed through the eyes of creativity. The bad angle, how the subject was placed in the frame, the lack of focus, bad backgrounds, everything that makes up a photograph.
So value what the professional can do for you. some are new, some are old and there are many inbetween that create art with the press of a shutter release.
I will be honest, I have met photographers that were not good at what they did. The gals that did my sons wedding had everyone facing into the sun, eyes squinting, watery, frowns, and such that very few photos turned out and never to be recapture again. I fault them for not know how to shoot in venue that had many options, to create and capture the special moment that is only once in a life time.
So go ahead and be critcal if you want but not everyone is a photographer by trade.
Several days ago, I was reading about copyright infringement and it really put me into a negative mindset. I don’t like having in a negative mindset so I cranked up some tunes and began mapping out a local trip I want to do soon. This leads me to why I am writing.[singlepic id=741 w=320 h=240 float=]
I think about being a photographer and the enjoyment the job brings. I was pondering what people think the job is like. I imagine they might think a few of the following things, which I think, are misperceptions.
The first is that it is a glamorous job. Maybe for some photographers, it may be glamorous if they work in the fashion or advertizing industries. I am not sure since I don’t do either.
Being a photographer is easy; you just push a button after you frame things up. I don’t think so. How many people know how much light the moon puts out on average, what the set up would be for a shot with the moon in the background? What shutter speed, aperture, Film speed ASA (ISO for digital folk).[singlepic id=608 w=320 h=240 float=]
I am not sure how things unfold for other photographers but this is a sample of one day for me to shoot a sunrise in Joshua Tree National Park. I woke at 2am sunrise is around 4:45 am it’s a 2-hour drive to the location I want to shoot. I drive downing a couple cups of good ole Starbucks coffee. Make a pit stop.
I arrive at smoke tree wash, which gives a view of the Eagle Mountains to the east. I trek through the desert a little bit it’s now dawn, which is about a half an hour give or take before sunrise for those that don’t know. Set of the tripod pull out the camera, take some low light shots to see if the humidity in the air is going to create too much haze to shoot without a filter then I decide which filter I’m going to use.
Any way I set up. I look around at other areas to survey the various structures surrounding me. I look at the light cast at dawn and it usually reveals most locations that will feel the morning’s first direct sunlight. Will a hill, tree, mountain, valley, outbuilding be a potential subject. Sometime only time will tell. It’s is about 20 minutes before sunrise and there are clouds in the distance, they are turning color. I have learned through some meter readings what the illuminations is going to be like for various colors. I take one or two shots and maybe make a minor adjustment. I rarely use a meter since the light changes so quickly.
[singlepic id=672 w=600 h=240 float=]I am fortunate as I look through the viewfinder, there is a band of clouds on the horizon and you can see them well in low light, they are going to make for an interesting sunrise. I patiently wait and double check everything, exposure and the scenes I want to get. I haven’t shot in the western Colorado Desert before so the experience is new. It seems like it is getting hazy out. Hmmm okay maybe some adjustments’ with filters not sure which way I am going to go. I’ll play it by ear besides; it will only take a second to put a filter on.
The colors begin to change from the dark blues to lighter shades; the vibrant colors begin to show. I shoot checking behind me if there is something spectacular that I might be missing. Not so far though. The sun comes up and progresses through the clouds, the thinner ones almost seem to melt away. Except for a several long stubborn bands that seem to hold it, back. It’s completely above the horizon now and the haze is gone. The heat burns into my skin; there isn’t a chill in the air anymore.
I shoot for about 15 minutes, the changes in colors are gone, and the sun is well above the mountains to the east now. Hmm is say to self what now, it 2 hours back for less than thirty minute this morning, it seems lack luster, but it’s not. I have been here since I was a kind so I explore the park, not much different from the Sonora desert other than the saguaros are well to the east. Cholla’s, Ocotillos, sage, creosote, and even a few snakes too.
Guys are out trying to learn how to free climb with a safety rope. I wasn’t really interest and was looking for the nature stuff more than people. Then I came across the granite monstrosities. There they were, as if God had tossed them across the desert floor like they were odd shaped marbles. Ah ha, I spent the next 6 hours shooting; it’s only in the 80’s. I check my map and decide to stop at a parking area and do a little exploring. I take the backpack, tripod, and two bottles of water.[singlepic id=676 w=320 h=240 float=]
I take off on what I estimate to be about a three-mile trip. Cool an eagle and a lot of boulders the size of medium sized office buildings. One looks like an alien with a really big head and little body. There are some interesting shots but the light is ugh harsh, shadows are almost non-existent now since the sun is high. I decide to head back but I am going to take another trail that parallels to original trail. I run across some dead oaks, Manzanita, and then some small cactus are still flowering.
I am hiking down a wash now and realize that I am on the north side of a small chain of hills about three to four feet high and they have to be a haven for rattle snakes and other creepy crawlies. I really don’t want to run across. I hike about another 20 minutes and I know the SUV has got to be on the other side about now. I am out of water and I really don’t want to climb nor scramble through rocks. However, if I keep going I am going to be taking a risk of becoming dehydrated and that is not going to happen.
Up I go, then down I go and about a mile back to the car, I pound a quart of water, and get the gear stowed away. Ugh, Now I am hungry so I eat and watch other people trek off into the desert. I looked at the map again and if I had headed on about another three-quarters of a mile before I had turned around I would have ended up at my next destination, Skull Rock.
Well I can ramble on about going out into the wild, looking around and shooting what I see, but it has changed a lot since then. The focus has changed; I definitely see things much different. There about a thousand places in the Joshua Tree NP that I want to shoot and it would take about two or three weeks to do it, camping getting up early. Hitting the Golden hours each day and keeping an eye out for what others don’t see. It’s the art, the passion for art that makes me do it, the camera for me is the tool, and the print is the medium for the expression of what I see.[singlepic id=721 w=320 h=240 float=]
I see some of the most spectacular sunsets in the world here in California, almost every day there are the conditions for one kind or another. Clouds, haze, windy clear skies to where you can’t see the dust suspended very well. I have been from Southeast Asia to the Middle East. I have seen sunset for a lot of places in-between. I think the second closest for sunsets is any desert. Tucson Arizona had a sunset where the sky was tangerine orange from horizon to horizon, and it was gone in the moment it took to go get my camera.
I have gone on long enough, I have I think even lost focus on what I started to say. Being a photographer is not easy work, to haul around anywhere from a few pound of gear to 30 lbs, and that include water, and food and extra stuff. More often than not, I end up in a wilderness areas. I learned while I was in the Air Force to be prepared. You may not need some things but if you have it you will get home, maybe not today but you will get home, and that is why the pack is not just a few pounds.
It is still the passion that takes a man to places that people don’t get to go, to take a portrait for a wedding, a couple after they have been married for a few years and in each instance creates a piece of art. I don’t know how much more to tell you , other than I left out the time that a photographers eyes scrutinize every frame for the qualities he is looking for in each one he exposed. That is not the exciting part to some but it is where the artist in the photographer finalizes his creating. In his later years, Ansel Adams use to spend about 60 percent of his time in the darkroom creating the masterpieces that we see today.[singlepic id=762 w=320 h=240 float=]
I have some final words for you. Being a photographer, is it this something that you want to do, or you can appreciate? Do you understand that not everyone can do it? I can’t nor do I have the desire to be a firefighter. It is not my gift or passion. So granted you may have a nifty little point and shoot cameras or bigger. You may take nice family photos that capture some fun memories, but do the photos look like a piece of art. I ask are you willing to use the care to create something more that what you see in the dime store album. If not don’t quit your day job because this isn’t for you. What you do is not for me.
I hope you have enjoyed the sights along this journey of words.