Postcards from the Creative Journey

970 Technology and Worthiness

Tech is great but we still must decide if the subject is worthy, look for the depth and breadth of the composition and always, always work the edges. Once we make those decisions, we can turn loose the Tech to complete the work of art. It’s a concept I’ve blogged on before and it’s a topic worth remembering. Creating art is the goal. Technology serves the artistic goal. The type, amount, and level of sophistication of the technology used is dependent on the result one wished to achieve.

It is easy to spot art that relies on or depends on technology to achieve its goals because the image just shouts out the name of the functions used in its creation. Drawing attention to the technology is not great art. It might be useful as a technical or learning exercise to find out how the technology works, but if you can tell what and how much technology was used in an image, the tech was overdone.

Sorry about this, folks.

Typepad is having massive problems displaying images on their blogs.

Not having photographs on a photographic blog is really not the way to run a business.

969 Photography Without Limitations, Part II First Published 6/28/2015

When photographic options were limited, we had arbiters of photographic taste that were able to direct the masses to “good” photographs. The arbiters of good taste were capable of rationally explaining why certain photographs were “good” in comparison to others. There were conventions that made discernment of good photography readily identifiable. The reasoning was rational, based on aesthetics of the past and required dedication to craft.

Of course, today things are much, much different. The Web, Instagram, flickr and other social media sites have given the masses the ability to share their photographs and in doing so have redefined photographic aesthetics - democratically. The taste of popular photography has shifted to take into account what is considered a “good” photograph. The “goodness” of a photograph can be determined by the numbers of “thumbs up” given to a particular image. Those that are learning the process and commenting on the work of others with no real experience or qualifications are considered “experts” because they have the temerity to offer their opinions on image sharing sites.

Beginners are learning photographic aesthetics from others that are as equally unqualified as themselves. Possession of a log on ID does not confer upon the owner the privilege of becoming either a learned critic of photographic art or photographic instructor. But, alas, that is the future or photography. Photography is being taught to the masses by those that are not the least bit steeped in an aesthetic, but are more technologically adept at manipulating software, because that’s what photography has become.

968 Commercial Photography Is Really Quite Different

A Photograph with No Commercial Appeal

My approach to photography is most likely practiced by a very small number of people. I wind up doing everything myself. Capture, processing, and distribution of my images on the web are all accomplished by yours truly. The people that truly amaze me are the high-end commercial photographers. I’ve followed Howard Schatz ever since I saw his photo book, Pool Light. His he inventive, creative, and prolific. How does he do it? He’s the photographer. He thinks up projects makes photographs and has people to take care of the production details. Recently, I was introduced to another commercial photographer, Tim Tadder. He functions in pretty much the same way. He’s the instigator and has a staff to bring his ideas from his camera to reality.

I look at these high-end commercial photographers, (I think they are more accurately called image creators) I’m jealous, inspired and a little bit sad I don’t have a staff to take care of all those messy technical details.

967 Photography Without Limitations Part I, First Published 6/21/2015

The fewer choices you have, the easier your life becomes. Waiting on a four year old to decide on their meal at a fast food restaurant illustrates the paralytic response to even a small number of choices. The number of choices facing a photographer today complicates the decisions surrounding the creation of a photograph.

In the ancient past when I learned photography, technical limitations of wet process photography dictated subject matter and print size. Once the shackles of the analog world were broken by digital technology, the restraints in place since the beginning of photographic craft disappeared. Subjects that were not photographable because of technical limitations became fair game. We are no longer limited by print size and color reproduction. The tools available to today’s photographers are the most advanced the craft has ever seen. At least until tomorrow when something new and even better will be invented.

The technological bonds have been shattered and we now have almost unlimited technical alternatives. How do we use them? To be continued…

966 Lessons Learned from Photo Safari XXXVIII

It’s time for the Lessons Learned. Every day is a learning experience and as long as Brooks Jensen and I have been out photographing in the world, we always learn something new, or maybe relearn something we forgot from an earlier Safari. So, here we go:

1. Yes, you can go back. In fact, you should go back to a location. (See Blog # 783  June 3, 2021 Stepping Foot in the River.) In our case it was the Klickitat River and it paid off big time.
2. You never know what you will find in a small town that no one, and I mean no one, has ever photographed.
3. Respond to a situation, capture the images and then worry about what they mean later. When you start discussing your reaction to the situation, you will begin to understand the meaning of the images. This may not happen right away, but hang in there, you will find their meaning.
4. Don’t worry about not being able to find images immediately. It takes some time to warm up to the task at hand. Athletes always warm up before a game. This also applies to photography.
5. Don’t be afraid to drive down a dirt road.
6. Google Earth in satellite view is a great way to plan where to wander about. You can get directions based on visual clues and being a photographer you know how to respond to these visual clues.
7. Google Earth will answer the question, “How can I get to that road at the bottom of that canyon?”
8. Interesting things to photograph are out there, you just have to look for them.
9. It’s tough to concentrate on photography when you are hungry or thirsty. Snacks in the field are important.
10. Look for the interesting, off beat and peculiar. Be prepared to spend some time with these places, and more importantly, spend time with the people in these places. The interesting, off beat and peculiar offer more substantial subjects that the spectacular “one shot” opportunity. Depth is more productive than width.

 

965 Behind the Scenes Effort First Published 2/21/2016

Are you interested in the subject of the photograph or does the making of the photograph excite you? Does it make a difference to you how much work went on behind the scenes of the photograph when it was made? The photograph you see is the result of the photographer’s efforts. It’s quite obvious what went on in front of the camera, but what about what went on behind the camera? Does the work the photographer put into making the physical artifact important to you? Would you go to an exhibition of photographs based on the choice of media or size of the image? Is the artifact the thing you go to see or is the artifact the beginning of a conversation?

If you are there just for the artifact, the discussion seems to be fairly short. Did the artist do a good job? If you are there for the ideas behind the artifact, then the discussion can be never ending. The discussion can branch out to many more.

Only photographers are interested in the journey. Everyone else sees the destination.

964 On That Day I Felt Old

One of the things about attaining a certain age (as we say in the American South) is you are sometimes reminded just how much of the world you have experienced. In short, it’s one of those experiences that remind you of your age. To wit, I received an email from my local photography group. They were excited about,” A presentation on the revival of film with several working examples of iconic 35 mm medium and large format cameras.” Photographers are getting excited about using film cameras – again? I did film for about thirty-five years (because there was no alternative) and I was quite happy to give it all up for the digital realm.

Truth be told, I do have two film cameras. One is an Argus C-44 that was my father’s camera. I also have a Kodak Motormatic 35 mm camera my sister acquired at a yard sale for five dollars. She gave it to me as a prank. At least I’ll be ready when digital cameras go out of style and we go back to film.

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The above image of Minerva's Pool at Yellowstone National Park was created in the late 1970's using a Wista 4x5 field camera. I digitized the negative and with a little bit of Lightroom and Photoshop it looks pretty good. 

963 Too Much To Do First Published on 5/15/2016

Sometimes I will flounder around for a while and not do too much photographically, usually the result of having way too many ideas, dreams and random thoughts. It’s like the old saying, “I have so much to do I can’t get started.” Once I prioritize three or four of these photographic dreams, then I will start to focus on what it takes to get it done. Having a manageable list of things to do is my way of getting motivated to produce some photographs. A catalytic event is usually something concrete with a deadline, like submitting images in response to a call for work. Nothing motivates like a deadline.

962 Last Day and a Wake Up

All good things come to an end and Safari XXXVIII is no exception. We finished this Safari by photographing all day at the Presby Museum in Goldendale. 

We spent a bit of time looking at the details of the museum and had quite a time isolating the most interesting items in the museum. 

I want to thank all my fellow backroomigans for checking out my blog posts during this year’s safari. I do appreciate your interest in my photographic safaris and I will continue to let you know about them as they happen. In the meantime, feel free to continue visiting my blog and website because creativity is a constant process.

961 Falling into Some Luck

We’re on the second to last day of Safari and it’s gone swimmingly well. We were looking for something to fill out the rest of the trip. On almost a lark, we headed for the Presby Museum in downtown Goldendale. When we got into the museum we were impressed with the quality of the contents and how well the contents were displayed. 

We asked for permission to photograph the interior and it was enthusiastically granted. The quid pro quo for permission to photograph freely is to provide images for the museum’s use. They are especially interested in having images of the second and third floor. These images would be used for a computer presentation for people that cannot get to the upper floors.

We spent the rest of the day photographing the first floor of the museum. There are three floors and two annex buildings. 

I have a long record of being able to photograph historical buildings and their content. This is something I can do well and enjoy doing. Having the museum appreciate what we’re doing makes it even more special. Preparation met opportunity and we have a great project.

We’ll be there as soon as the museum opens on Wednesday.

960 And Now for Something Completely Different

We left the isolated, rural high plains of Eastern Washington and headed back to Portland, Oregon’s Japanese Garden. We’ve photographed the Japanese Gardens in Portland and Seattle but we decided to revisit the Portland Garden. 

I have been invited to exhibit my photos from a previous visit to the Garden and I thought that I might be able to fill the inside straight with some additional images. It was a lovely day to visit the garden and I made some images. I don’t know if any of these images will fill my inside straight, but one can never have too many images when planning an exhibition. 

I visited the waterfall late in the day and managed to get enough room beside all the selfie stick wielding tourists to take the traditional tourist photo.

The pure luck event of the afternoon was to be over by the koi pond at feeding time. Colorful chaos reigned as the koi scarfed up the fish food cast upon the waters by the Garden Staff.