Style and Vision

I have been working with photography for many years and during that time I have experimented with many styles and techniques along the way.  It seems as frequently as equipment and processes change so does the latest trend of the "in look style" of images we see.  It is easy as a starting photographer to chase all these trends and find yourself creating a group of images that lack a common vision or theme.  I have found myself over the years falling into the trap of wanting to be current in my look and chase after the latest trendy look in photography.   A photographic image should revel something about the subject and very little about the technique that was used to create it.  Many images I view recently have more to say about the process than about the subject.  Our processing tools today can be overwhelming with then numerous choices we have to alter our final image.  It is easy to over work an image and end up with an image that is clearly over processed.  I choose to work in black and white because it is an abstract image form and gives me more creative freedom to fulfill my vision I might have of a particular scene.  When working in color there is much more of a restriction as to how far you can take an image with processing.  The simple fact that we see in color requires that a color photograph must stay within a certain state of believability to be acceptable.  When a color image is over processed and the colors are super saturated we immediately dismiss the image as being Photoshopped and it is not a true representation of the scene.  I see many wonderful landscape locations that appear this way on the internet.  In making this image I was experiencing a sleepless night and decide to step out back and make a photograph of the beautiful night sky.  The milky way is not in this hemisphere at this time of year and the star pattern was not dramatic.  I still liked the scene and in making this image I wanted to express the stillness of the night. Whatever you chose to photograph learn to make images that are about the subject and less about the process you used to create it.  It is how we develop a style and a vision with our photography.

Street Buddies in Cuba

I enjoy street photography but it can be a challenge to deal with the fast working style that it requires.  Most of my photography deals with landscapes where I am usually in a quiet setting working with my camera on a tripod.  When I travel and find myself in a busy city with plenty of action it can be difficult to switch from my nature photography to action.  The digital camera has made it a bit more difficult with the many settings of the camera that has to be considered.  It seems that the newer cameras are over engineered for the simple act of making an image.  I preferred the mechanical camera of the film years that required very little programming to go out an take photographs.  I could focus on the subject and much less on the use of the camera.  With each camera upgrade I now spend countless hours learning and programming the camera to function in a certain way for a particular style of photography I choose to do.  Keeping all these settings in my memory for fast recall can be difficult especially if haven't used my camera in awhile. I have found myself writing down the various custom setting on a card that I carry along in my camera bag so I can remember how I programmed the camera for use.  I am certain that this is probably not a problem for the younger photographer that has only worked with digital equipment.  While in Cuba I came across many interesting street scenes and it was a very fast pace type of photography.  I always find it rewarding to be able to wonder around aimlessly in a city and see what subject matter is around the next corner.

Father and Son

I made this image back in 2009 in central Mexico.  I was a film photographer at the time but had just purchased a small point and shoot digital camera.  We were in a rural mountain town wondering around and I found my way into an old church in the center of town.  In the back of the church there were people that lived in a small room that apparently had no home.  I spend some time there and made a few images but the people were quiet and subdued.  Just for a few moments I was in their daily world and felt the struggle of their existence.  Whenever I start to feel self pity and grumble I look back at some of these images and realized how blessed my life has been.  The human condition varies  all over the world and sometimes it is easy to forget that most of the world lives with far less than myself.  Being grateful for what you have should begin with the start of every new day. 

First Image of the New Year

I went out photographing on New Years day hoping to do some wading around in some mangroves.  It was an overcast day with no wind to deal with.  I grabbed my hip boots and camera gear went out to a salt marsh area on the Indian River.  As I explored the area I found that the low tide had drained some of the areas I was interested in photographing.  I decided it was best to return another day and started looking for other subject matter to photograph.  As I made my way back to my truck I saw this palm frond tucked back in group of palms and it had a wonderful glow to it.  I setup my tripod and and configured the best possible composition to display radiance of the palm.  After I processed the image I was quiet pleased with the results and it removed any disappointment I had of not being able to photograph in the mangroves that day. 

Cedar Key, Fl.

We were in Cedar Key, Fl. last week, a place we enjoy going to eat some fresh seafood.  The winter months there are usually foggy and the heavy fog can be around the entire day.  We stayed in a small motel right near the bay that had a great view of the water.  One morning I was sitting there with a cup of coffee waiting for the fog to lift so I could go photographing.  As the fog moved around I noticed a sail boat on the bay with all of it's sails up.  I quickly grabbed my camera and went down towards the water.  Much to my surprise when I got to the location to photograph, the sails were down on the boat.  I was a bit discouraged because the scene had changed and wasn't what I saw from the motel moments before.  I went ahead and made a few exposures and still enjoyed the changing atmosphere of this foggy morning.  In my years of photography I am always amazed with how quickly a scene can change.  Many wonderful images never got made because of the fast changing light, but they live in my memory.  The craft of photography is like many other disciplines in life.  It takes consistent practice to maintain a creative eye and to handle the equipment with little thought.

Pemaquid Point, Me.

We recently spent some time in the state of Maine.  We chose late fall for our trip knowing that the tourist season would be over and we could have all the wonderful lobster dinners to ourselves. The irregular coastline of Maine with it's many back bays sometimes looks more a land of lakes than a ocean shoreline.  One place that I like to photograph is at Pemaquid Point.  This is the location of the Pemaquid lighthouse that sits on the rugged rock shoreline.  I am fascinated with the shapes and contours of the rocky coast in this area.  I made this image long after sunset with very little available light left for photography.  I often prefer this soft light to bring out the details that would normally be lost in the bright sunshine.  The reflective light from the open sky makes the white boulder glow against the darker surrounding rock.  

Time in New England

It has been a while since my last post.  I have found that life situations can arise and has a way of taking us in directions we hadn't planned on.  My photography has seen some success in the past few months. Some of my work is being published in a couple of fine magazines this month.  I have won a couple of photography contests that had very substantial cash and equipment awards.  All these things are rewarding, but being out making new images is the most satisfying for me.  It is nice to have your work recognized and appreciated but the process of creating is the thing that touches my inter being.  The times that I am distracted and unfocused are the most difficult for me.  I feel that precious time is wasted on meaningless and mundane task that yield little returns.  This is probably faulty thinking on my part because if you are applying yourself to something it is still a step forward.  I recently made a two week trip to Maine.  The weather was perfect for vacationers but terrible for photography.  The sky was cloudless the entire time I was there, and being around the ocean with a blank sky can pose a challenge.  I found myself shifting my expectations from scenic ocean views to architectural and abstract compositions.  This image of a church roof reminds me of a photographer I use to study when I was starting out with photography.  His name was Fred Picker and he lived in the Northeast and made many fine black and white images of New England clapboard buildings and churches.  His style and informative writings had an influence to my early work and it was rewarding to revisit some of the things that helped shape my early years with photography.