Tag: learning

2010-07-20

We are almost there: 24 July is the day of Scott Kelby’s third annual Worldwide Photowalk, and little Temple, Texas is joining thousands of cities worldwide in this massive, yet personal, event. If you are in the Temple area and are open, you simply must give it some thought; the more the merrier.

I have missed the first two Worldwide Photowalks because I was bouncing around the wrong place in the wrong country to be able to meet up with one of the several photowalks around my parts of China and Thailand. Now, I am stationary here in Temple as the walk comes around a third time and I am elated to be able to join in the fun.

2010-06-15

Merely writing that title before I begin writing makes me worry this will become a soapbox post. Or is that monologue-in-waiting just a defense mechanism welling up to cover my deeper insecurities about whether I am attempting to sell out my own vision to money or notoriety? Translated: am I letting my attempt for extra cash for new gear or my pagerank on Google edge out the reason I shoot in the first place?

A friend recently asked me in an e-mail: “interesting to see something of what you are up to [in photography] … though I recognise that the photos don’t represent life per se.” Meaning, I have striven for many years not only to capture life around me, but to dig deeper to try to find moments which can be captured which show us a glimpse of reality, Truth, and beauty. And when I say “beauty”, I do not mean simply a pretty picture; I mean beauty which points to something much more “real”, much larger. Maybe that is the beauty of a kiss, or better yet, the beauty of the ten thousandth kiss between a couple now battling together against cancer.

Whoa, there. Pull back on those reins big fella. I need to get back to the original question of selling out. Yet I still feel it is helpful (if only for myself) to define again why I do photography before I try to decide what selling out would even look like in my case. How would I recognize it if I were letting go of my vision or style just for cash or fame?

2009-10-28
Theres the REAL photographer!
"Ooo, there's the REAL photographer!"

That is not false humility. It seems with every passing “serious job” I do, I realize how far I have to go. Sure, I took some pretty shots, but there were so many shots that I looked at and thought, “Hmph, that one was almost good.”

2009-07-30
The Cops Are On My Ceiling
The Cops Are On My Ceiling

What is a camera obscura? I did not find out till too long ago myself. If you do not know, just go Google it if you want more answer than this: if you black out a room and allow light in through a small hole, you will have a live, color, (upside down and backwards,) movie of life outside displayed inside your room. It is like a giant eyeball or like you are inside your camera.

2009-06-05

I heard a snippet of this quote yesterday from photographer Duane Michals, and liked it so much, I found it online and will share it here.

“The best part of us is not what we see, it’s what we feel. We are what we see, we are not what we look at. We are not our eyeballs, we’re our mind. People believe their eyeballs, and they’re totally wrong. … That’s why I consider most photographs extremely boring–just like Muzak: inoffensive, charming, another waterfall, another sunset. This time, colors have been added to protect the innocent. It’s just boring. But that whole arena of one’s experience–grief, loneliness–how do you photograph lust? I mean, how do you deal with these things? This is what you are, not what you see. It’s all sitting up here. I could do all my work sitting in my room. I don’t have to go anywhere.”

2009-06-02

“Anyone can cook, but only the fearless can be great” (Ratatouille). Today, I received an e-mail update with a great photo summing up the whole story. It really was a top-quality photo, even though an accident. Of course, maybe that is what makes it so great. It has that Lartigue effect (a not-yet-13-year-old Parisian boy who took some incredible photos).

The update came from some friends in China whose young daughter had just successfully undergone heart surgery this morning. Obviously, that is scary, a lot of emotions are involved, and words alone are usually all we get through e-mail updates from friends. Ok, maybe we get some snapshot. This too was a snapshot, but a powerful one. Photography can be so incredibly powerful, if wielded well.

2009-05-23

After the past three or four days, I feel like I did sitting in the school principal’s office, waiting for the imminent whipping. It is in those times that you would do anything to avoid what is coming, and it is not so much the physical beating as much as it is the emotional tension of having to look your bad decision in the face.

My current humbling experience all started a few days ago with a wonderful meal and talk with a photographer friend of mine. It was not him, but just watching some of the videos he has produced recently really reminded me what a two-bit punk hack I am. It was not the technique, but how he captured the power of the story.

Then today, I shot a very “ok” family portrait session. That is “ok”, as in, I do not want to say more of what I really think. The harsh sunlight made things tough, not only for lighting, but for the quickly wilting subjects. Excuses aside, though, I really want to know what happened. How do I improve? What can I learn here?

2009-05-11

A few days ago, I put up a tweet referring to my article here about my new photographic journey (the focusing on telling stories thing). Of course, I was too brief, because it is Twitter after all, but it started a strange series of replies that brought up another topic entirely, one worth thinking through here, in case it might be of benefit to any of you.

Cooper Strange I feel like I am starting a whole new photographic journey. WHY do I shoot? http://bit.ly/klT7Y

****** I feel like I am starting a whole new photographic journey. WHY do I shoot? (via @CooperStrange) Whatever makes you smile and feel satisfied