Notes for photographers: Time spent Tweeting is time lost for photographing.
Time spent retouching is time lost photographing. Time spent researching equipment is time lost for photographing.
Time spent measuring performance is time lost for photographing.
Time spent talking about gear is time lost for talking to subjects.
Fall in love with your subject. Then you have a reason to photograph. Fall in love with the process of photographing and you're short changing your subject.
Use alternative processes if they are really what your vision is all about. Learning lots of alternative processes? You're just bored. See: Fall in love with your subject.
Two thumbs up for my friend AM (anonymity requested). I saw his book last week and was stunned at how good his interior architectural work and wide angle landscape work is. Rare for me to like photos without people. AM pulled it off well. Also told me he uses HDR......I didn't believe it. He uses it in the service of his vision and not the other way around. And he does it with such a skillful approach I couldn't see his hands on the button. Here's a link: http://www.mostlyfotos.com/ And here's a shortcut to the architectural stuff I liked: http://www.mostlyfotos.com/search/label/Architecture
AM changed my jaded perspective on HDR. I no longer think that all of it looks like Technicolor Vomit. And I'm also amazed that the stuff I liked so much was shot on a Sony Nex-5 with a 16mm lens... Great Job.
Not all HDR looks like Technicolor Vomit. Only 99% of it. Like any technique, it can be used well, with subtlety and discretion. It just usually isn't, because people who can't shoot think HDR will somehow turn their crappy pictures into good ones.
ReplyDeleteJust went to the person's sites that you linked. His work is amazing but he sure wants to be anonymous. Loved his interior stuff. First rate.
ReplyDeleteGood looking stuff. And I'd imagine carrying around a tripod would be much easier that lighting those huge scenes.
ReplyDeleteHaving dabbled with several alt processes (cyanotype, Vandyke, platinum) I've dealt with the decision of weather or not to show edges in the final print. While the edges tell the viewer that "This was handmade.", to me I feel that the image alone should carry the work. So they're cropped out with the matting. Others feel that the process is the piece. But what do I know, I sign the verso too.
Kirk, thank you very much for your kind words. It's always wonderful to have people look at one's work and It's such an incredible honor to have such a accomplished photographer compliment one's work.
ReplyDeleteI know I have a lot to learn and improve on. My portraits are still in the developmental phase. By looking at your wonderful portraits and practicing, I will will hone my skill and hopefully, someday, develop my own voice.
The HDR looks very nice, atmtx. I like it. Always looking for a way to stretch those things myself. I've had a fair amount of luck trying Enfuse/enblend in Lightroom, just doing blends (not hdr).
ReplyDeleteOnce the image became digital Pandora's box was opened. The door was opened to explore and create new ways to process the photograph. This really is nothing new. Artists have always found a new brush stoke to use as the masters of the day look on in horror.
ReplyDeleteLeica is a silly name for a girl.
ReplyDeleteTime spent making this blog was time lost for photographing.
ReplyDeleteJohn, And time reading this blog and commenting on it.....
ReplyDeleteThanks for pointing out atmtx work, it is quite lovely, a real treat!
ReplyDeleteRegarding HDR: I've been using HDR for quite some time and I've never gone for the 'vomit' look. HDR is simply a way to work around limitations of the sensor. As with any technique, it can be used or abused and whether an application is abuse or art is really in the eye of the beholder. Glad you're coming around to this view. :)
Incidentally, I've used HDR almost exclusively on architecture shots ...
Losing time is one of my favorite occupations. Imagine if I never lost any time at all!
ReplyDeleteWhat a waste of a life that would be.