Tag: Colorado

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Experimental Places

Building Blocks

I often struggle to find confidence with photography. I am afraid that if I shoot something  similar to what someone else has shot that I have failed because I did not create something that has not been created before.

Or I feel like ‘I don’t have an eye for anything’ right now. I was encouraged the week with something I read by Zach Arias on his blog Ask Me Anything About Photography. It is all about focusing on the fundamentals; I took what he said and ran with it.

Photographing lines seems really basic but it is something that I need to do right now.

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Fauna Flora People Places Vehicles Weather

Connection

This week was a struggle for me to find any sort of photographic inspiration. Waiting until nearly the last minute, I finally forced myself out the door, falling back on “just shoot something”. It almost seems like the cyclist in the foreground is looking for a connection, maybe based on a common interest. But in reality, I am pretty sure she is just trying to figure out what I am pointing my camera at.

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Places Vehicles

Things Left Undone

You know how you get excited about a new project? You get started, then distracted, and pretty soon you are worse off than before you began.

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Flora Places Weather

Focus

One thing I really like about my LX3 is the manual focusing. There is a “focus” button on top to do an auto-focus over-ride which can help make manual focusing faster. But what is even better is an on screen DoF scale. The focus range changes with aperture and focal length to make hyperfocal focusing quick and easy.

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Places

Different

If you are judging art, then you are missing the point.

I can’t remember where I read this, but it really helped me to understand some things about art, and to change the way I view it.

I value constructive criticism because I want to be a better photographer. But I am not sure there is a lot of value in comments like “it’s too light/dark/yellow”. What are you supposed to say to that? “Uh, thanks?”

Modern art is baffling to me. I stand in the gallery looking at what seems like graph paper painted onto canvas, and think “I don’t get it”.

Once I decided there is nothing “to get” I discovered how much I can learn from other artists, even art that is not photography, just by looking at what they have made.

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Flora People Places

La Plata

Categories
Flora

Clarity

It is hard to stay focused in a consumer oriented world. This week I struggled a lot with wanting things I do not have, so I had to remind myself that it’s okay not to have those things. Especially if it has to do with technology, which will likely be out dated in six months. The best way to clear your mind: use what you do have.

Categories
People Places

Waiting

If you are a perfectionist like me, you are waiting for everything to come together, all at once, and in good order. But the light is never just right, there are too many people in the way, I don’t know how to run a blog, I’m afraid I will be embarrassed. If you are like me, you suffer from ‘paralysis of analysis’ and can never get started.

I came across an article by Matt Mullenweg  a couple months ago; it’s what really pushed me over the edge to actually publishing my photography and taking this seriously (again). My current goal is to post a recent photo once a week. It’s a lot of work, but what I keep coming back to is the idea that I have to post something; it doesn’t matter if it’s exactly what I want, it just has to be there.

This way I learn from my mistakes. The other way I don’t make mistakes because I don’t do anything. “If you’re not embarrassed when you ship your first version you waited too long.” So I guess it’s okay to be embarrassed.

Categories
People

Emotion!

How do you distinguish between a photo that is good, and one you have an emotional attachment to? When you take a picture there is a feeling, or a thought, an idea you are trying to capture. Or a story you are trying to tell. When it’s time to sort your pictures, how do you set aside “how you felt at the time” so you can make an objective decision? Maybe you felt a certain way when you captured the image, or maybe someone or something in the photo is important to you. Is it necessary to make the distinction? Does it matter how “good” a photo is if it has meaning to you? Or is something lost when you have to explain a photo, shouldn’t a photo explain itself?

Categories
Fauna

Blending In

Sometimes we try too hard. I think that is because we think we have something to prove. Or maybe it is that we are insecure in our ability to create. Instead of trying to do something great, do something simple. If you lack inspiration, grab your camera and take a picture of anything. And, while it is important to see the subject from different angles, it is surprising how often your first take is the one that makes the most sense.