Categories
Tag: Urban
Categories
Suburban Winter II
As I am getting back into the swing of things, I am having to cover a lot of old ground. Like pushing my self to be creative, to even pick up the camera. I have lost some of the self confidence I had only a six months ago.
I get a block if I feel like I am going to shoot something that has been done before, like it won’t be real if I am not creating something completely unique. I have to remind my self that it doesn’t matter if someone else has something that looks similar, it is creating that is the point.
Sometimes start to shoot something then I stop and think, “no, that’s dumb”. I am so close, all I have to do is actuate the shutter. But I get a creative block, and I have to remind my self that it doesn’t matter what other people think.
Mostly though what I have to remind my self is to get out and shoot. I will never shoot anything good while just sitting around.
After a busy fall and Christmas season it is time for me to focus on this project again. The last several months I have been so busy that it was about all that I could do to post once per week. Now that I have my time and attention freed up, I want to get back to work improving my eye. To start, I need to remind myself that the photo that works is not always the one I set out to capture.
Categories
Time Capsule
I took this photo in the fall of 1996 for my high school photography class. I think the assignment was “an action photo”. My youngest brother and a neighbor obliged me and this is what I ended up with.
This is the print I turned in for that assignment, the only touching up I have done is removing dust and other spots from the scan. This was shot with a Minolta SR-T 101 @ 50mm and probably Tri-X 400.
Categories
Lights and Lines
In an effort to simplify, one thing that I do not spend a lot of time in is post processing. Of course, I would like to learn to use Lightroom to it’s full capability, but for now, I have enough going on learning to take decent photos. I could spend hours on one photo in post processing (and I have) but since I really have no idea what I am doing, I am never sure that I couldn’t have gotten equivalent results by using the LR presets.
One day I was looking through a book of photos by Henri Cartier-Bresson and I learned that he never processed his own photos. While this is old news to many people, I couldn’t believe that some like HCB could trust half of his creative process to someone else! Then I thought, if he can give up control, why can’t I? So I did, and I haven’t looked back.
After I import my photos, I select all and convert them all to the same B&W preset that comes standard with Lightroom. Then in the grid view I am looking at what I think of as the digital version of a proof sheet, and I can go from there. Sometimes I will experiment with some of the other B&W presets, but for the most part I have one that I like and I stick with that. I will adjust the tone curve a little, maybe some noise reduction if I am shooting at 800, but I try to keep it really simple.
I feel that by placing this additional limitation on myself that I have really freed myself up to be more creative, in addition of course to the amount of time I free up by not parking myself in front of the computer. By shooting with one preset in mind it is like shooting with film, you can’t change mid roll, everything will come out in the end with the same treatment. I also get to know this “film” better the more I shoot this way so I can anticipate the results while I am shooting.
We spent a long weekend in Dallas with my family for Thanksgiving. We visited our favorite stores, hung out around the house and let the dog chase us on longboards.
I also forced myself to face my fear of photographing complete strangers. It is uncomfortable, but in the end I am satisfied with the results.
After several weeks of having little time for photography, it was nice to have the freedom to spend some time with the camera.
Categories
Line and Shadow
