Tag: photography

Group Activity

Personally, I find too many group activities overwhelming.  Too many people.  Too much stimulus.  Too much to distract from the focus of the group.  Certainly, lots can be learned from seeing what others do, but too much can also be lost in the mix.  I am a definite introvert, and while I like people, I prefer them in small doses . . . unless its a despotic situation, and I am the despot!

Anyway, one thing rather nice about the internet is the fact you can belong to some kind of group activity, but not be overwhelmed with others.  I like a number of flickr groups for this reason – photographers with similar interests, occasional comments, groups with a focal theme and good postings.  These are groups I can check in with, and check out of, and no one gets hurt feelings.

Fugue 4

One I am finding particularly enjoyable is “Our Daily Challenge, 2” – the second group formed as an offshoot of the first.  Highly original and creative photos emerge from a daily challenge.  Themes for the day have included Distorted, Runs or Running, Hidden, and so on.  What the photographer does can be staged, spontaneous, an impetus and go out and shoot something familiar but with a different skew. This puts a creative push behind photography.

Today’s theme is Distorted.  I could putz with software and create special effects, I could destroy something and have a distorted item to snap.  Instead, I have a zoom lens that creeps.  It moves along and can be rather frustrating.  But this is what made my theme for Distorted – the blur from the creep.  So I simply moved the lens in-and-out, using a small f/stop to have a longer exposure.  I was very, very pleased with the results.  (No, I am not the first person in the world to do this.)  The pleasure lies in the pattern repetition, somewhat recognizable in some of the pictures, and hinted at in others:  Fugue.

An Afternoon in Thought

With sensing a bit of accomplishment in the field of photography, it is beginning to take a place for me in the world of creativity.  I am beginning to see what I could not see before.  This ability to relate to photography pools it into other arts, specifically, painting.  Consequently, I am re-reading about and re-evaluating the works of Georgia O’Keeffe, and as an extrapolation, the life and works of Ansel Adams, both whom I admire as artists.

Georgia O’Keeffe – Blue & Green Music – 1921

Their creative viewpoints resonate with my own.  While I doubt I shall ever meet their productivity, or creativity, I can appreciate their work as individuals.  What interests them interests me – looking at landscapes, parts of things, plants.  The natural world in color and in black and white, both lush and sensuous, and stark and contrasting.

Ansel Adams – Church, Taos Pueblo – 1942

In particular, I like the fact they do not put people in their works.  I cannot think of a single painting by O’Keeffe in which there is a person; few photographs by Adams include individuals.  And that is not to say I do not enjoy images of people, but it is more likely I am not going to go out of my way to pursue then.  People like Kirk Tuck and Vivian Maier are wonderful photographers, both of whom photograph people.  Kirk works often in his studio, but also does street portraiture; Maier, on the other hand, was a street photographer at its finest.

I may at some point venture out to take pictures of the random person, but for now, the textures and colors of the world around me intrigue me enough to focus on them.  And perhaps I shall begin painting again – my period of apprenticeship in photography may be ending.

Redemption in Black and White

There is the joke that every photograph becomes “art” if it is in black and white.  The joke exists for a reason – a lot of pictures that are boring in color become much more interesting in black and white, taking on a new life.

Even though I am a magpie, and am continually drawn to bright colors, the fact is, in art, colors can often confuse me and distract me when I try to work with them.  Paintings end in disaster because of a lack of self-control, and nowadays, a lack of experience and skill.

Maybe that is why I keep coming back to sumi-e – there are not the decisions to make about color, but only gradation and loading the brush.

When I think about what I like in black and white photography, it varies.  One thing which I love in B&W is its graphic nature.  In contrasty pictures, lines can make the eye wander in and out in ways color does not.

Color is subtle, and more luxurious.  Soft B&W, with long scale and low contrast, is akin to color because it is more dreamy, and requires more emotional investment.

I like the drama of contrasts which, for me, is the same as a loud noise – startling, awakening, even traumatic.

Discernment

Well . . . I think I am past the point where every picture I take has to be trotted out and uploaded.  Yesterday the Photo Troupe went out to the beach behind the Ventura Marina, late in the afternoon (3:30 pm to be specific), parked itself at a jetty, and got to work.  I took gobs of photos, but only a few were any good, or worth editing.  Some pictures I edited in different ways, from subtle color movement, to dramatic HDR, and finally black and white.  My main focus was composition of ocean and rocks; for the birds, I just ran around chasing them with a long lens.

My first attempts at really long exposures on water, using an ND10 filter, ended with my camera toppling into the sand – luckily not the ocean! – and getting a lot of sand on the filter.  The filter was saved, set aside, gently brushed off, and cleaned with lens cleaner.  However, the one picture I did get, while not particularly dramatic in contrast with the roughness of the rocks and the smoothness of the sea, was worth saving.  The lens I used was the Tokina 11-16mm, which is wonderful for taking dramatic shots – but hard to use with refinement, simply because it is so wide.

One thing I totally forgot was I can change my iso settings on the Nikon!  It does a really good jobs at high iso, so as the sun went down, I pushed the iso from the 100 I used earlier in the day, to 1600 toward sunset, and using a Tamron 70-300mm lens at that – but it was a grrr moment that made me remember that, when all my pictures were horribly dark.

Although I live in Southern California, the coast is damp and chilly, oftentimes very windy.  The salt air clings to everything, and I end up feeling sticky and damp, even if I am not.  All of us were shivery, with fingers capable of doing very little.  Luckily, there is a rather nice cafe that serves excellent hot chocolate, so we ended up there before returning to our lives elsewhere.

Emergence from Winter

There is a beautiful botanical garden nearby.  Originally slated for a development, it was found to be unusable for housing.  The owner donated it to the city – so I am told.  What has happened since is just wonderful, and continues becoming more wonderful!  Not only does it continue to expand, adding different sections, but is always a work-in-progress, from volunteers, and from the changing of the seasons.

Yesterday, after reading and knitting for a few hours in the afternoon, I realized it was Saturday.  (I’ve been in a fog with a melt-down, jury duty, and catching up with things at work that didn’t get done during the two days I was gone.)  Suddenly, I just wanted to get out of the house, and go see some plants and take some pictures.  Of course, my favorite place to go is the gardens!

Spring cleaning has been done in the gardens – undergrowth pulled out and removed so new plants can grow.  I was not disappointed.  The matilija poppies are just beginning to emerge their new growth for spring.  Hummingbird sage is in full bloom.  Other salvia plants are sending out buds.  The redbud is in flower, with brilliant red and pink blossoms amongst heart-shaped leaves.  Bulbs, such as narcissus, are making themselves visible and easily found with their sweet fragrances.  Amaryllis, too, are emerging.  Bees are busy in the lavendar; fruit trees are beginning to renew their cycles.

The evenings, though lengthening, are still early.  Sunset is about 6:30 p.m.  The sun was lower in the sky, and tilting through the leaves and branches, backlighting everything from the west.  People like me were wandering around, just enjoying a stroll, taking pictures, enjoying an outing with family and friends.

This is the time of year when last year lingers in old leaves on trees, and fallen leaves providing nutrition for future growth.

Never ending . . .