More talk about vision

I have seriously neglected this blog for far too long. In part this has been caused by  a lot to do with my "other life" but a good portion of it does come from a struggle to produce anything meaningful with my photographs.

This past Friday I received an email from Pixelated Image blog that is written by David DuChemin. David has written another ebook called "The Vision Driven Photographer". I immediately downloaded the book so I could read it later that night. As I made my way through the short book, several concepts kind of solidified in my mind and helped me view how I take photographs. One of the main themes is that we all have vision whether we know it or not. Vision is a factor of who we are and what we believe or hold valuable. Our photographic vision comes out of our personal vision; they are tied together. Intent is important - without intent David says we are left with "accidental photography". An appropriate term for far too many of my photographs. the book goes on to say that vision is important because it helps our images express what we want to say.

If you are serious about your photography, I can highly recommend Davids ebook and the books that Craft and Vision have published on photography.

The book has a number of photographic exercises and I will begin practicing them in the coming weeks. I will share the results here, for better or worse. What does't kill me is supposed to make me stronger, right?

Struggling

I read a blog post today from David DuChemin from the Pixelated Image Blog about struggling with making meaningful photographs. This post is a must read for all photographers who have ever struggled to make a photograph, and this means all photographers. This post really resonated with me today, not so much because I am really struggling hard right now but becasue I often do. I go into many photo shoots just wondering if I can make a decent frame. The post on Davids site doesn't offer any magic remedies, or solutions to the problem other than to decide to get out of bed and go shoot again the next day. I was struck with how closely that mimics life in general. Sometimes the best we can do is get up and get going again.

I find it helps to go back and look at work from a year ago, or even 5 years ago. When I do this, I generally find my photographs are getting better. I also find it extrememly hepful to have others look at my photos and critique them. That is a big reason why I wanted to start this blog. I wanted to put my photographs on display; good, bad, or ugly.

Here is a photograph I took last week at a youth outreach, when I posted this photograph on Facebook, it got a very strong positive response from a friend of mine from High School. She saw it and it touched her. She is working at a large Youth Outreach in Sacramento tonight and the timing was right for her to see this photo. My point is that if I would have stayed home in the AC rather than going to shoot these pictures, this one never would have been made and it was a positive influence for someone. Don't be afraid to go shoot and do not worry about how the photos are going to come out, practice and trust that your practice will continue to pay off.

Shot with a Nikon D300 and 70 - 300mm VR lens.

STORM Outreach

I had the prvilege of shooting photos of a local outreach called STORM. The event was put on by the youth in our church and drew several hundred people from the community. There were three bands, a professional skate team, and a free BBQ. I can't wait for the next one in about six months.

Photowalk

Evening Photowalk

Once again, photographers in Yuba City will be going on a photowalk. What is a photowalk you might ask., First of all, it is not my original idea but rather one I have adopted from Scott Kelby, Jeff Revell and others who promote the idea of photographers getting together to walk an area of their city and shoot photos. I have found this forum to be a great way to learn to see photographs before you even pick up the camera. Every time I have done this, I have seen things in a slightly different way which is what this is about. If you are in the area, join us on Sunday the 19th at 4:00 pm, location is TBD.

The Boys of Fall

Huskies in control

Even though the weather is still warm, the days are getting noticeably shorter and as school resumes, so does Football season. Not having played, I didn't catch the fever quite as strong as some but this year as my son starts High School Football, I find myself getting excited for gametime each week. With two wins so far, the team is a lot of fun to watch. Here are a few shots of "The Boys of Fall".

Huskies - Ready for battle
Click on image to see it larger

Regrouping

 

Experimentation

Last week I was shooting photos at a football team fundraiser and after shooting numerous snapshots that will be great in a scrapbook, I wanted to do something more creative. The conditions weren't great for great photos, the light was pretty harsh and the players were standing between me and the sun. I stopped the lens way down hoping for a sun flare but what I got was a much slower shutter speed . I was also getting some nice looking silhouettes. I had not been thinking about the shutter speed but when I did, I realized I could do some interesting things with a blur effect.

I remember reading Joe McNalley book talking about shooting airplanes in the middle of the day, high noon, low contrast, and no shadows to speak of. He shot a photo of an F-22 that is a really spectacular shot, even when conditions were not right.

So, I shot what I could at the time. Let me know what you think.

Getting busy with portraits

It is time once again for football to start, back to school shopping, shorter days, and one of my favorite things to shoot as a photographer; senior portraits. While I have enjoyed every portrait I have ever taken, seniors are especially fun. These are portrait subjects at the top of their game and ready to take on the world, what fun!

I have several senior sessions scheduled and will post some of the results as they come in. In the meantime, I have pulled some recent portraits, some seniors and some engagement and some childrens portraits.

I would love to work with you to make portraits you will be proud to display and will capture an important time in your lives. Please contact me and we can discuss your needs.

Thanks for looking,

Ed