Here’s my photoblog shot for today.
This is my best friend of all time, Chris. He goes out with me shooting and has his own photoblog. He and I would go around shooting old film cameras back when we were in high school and he’s now getting back into the art after many many years of being away from photography. Here’s a few shots of his I like, but go check out more on his photoblog, add him on facebook (Belfire Photographics), and your bookmark list.
Hey all – I’m on Tumblr now!
It’s mostly a mirrored site of my photoblog but I’m sure I’ll slowly be using it more as I am growing quite fond of the site and community. So if you’re on Tumblr follow me and maybe give me a little shout out or something because I don’t know anyone!! Recommendations for the photographer category would be rad too.. wink wink!
Here are today’s photoblog shots. Waiting at the trax station in South Salt Lake. Came by once and this guy was sitting there waiting. Came by an hour or two later, he was still sitting there waiting.
It’s a long story, but I’ve known Ambrosia for a lot of years. Mostly communicating online randomly here and there about photography or bad dirty jokes via the latest Google products.
To those of us who tend to hide behind hyperfocal distances and Photoshop filters, we need to learn to feel and speak (visually) with greater passion and less reliance on our tools. Perhaps an ongoing personal project that involves the simplest of tools – an old manual camera, one lens, and some black and white film would be helpful. Give the geek a personal retreat and some time to learn to express himself with the simplest of equipment. Don’t have simple gear? Set your digital SLR to manual, use one lens, and shoot JPG. And no Photoshop. As painful as this low-tech exercise can be for the natural technician, it serves a greater purpose: to help you see past the words and grammar of the visual language and find a story worth telling.
I think it’s amazing how photography has changed over the years.. even recent years. 95% of photography is now based on photoshop skills. Images are altered drastically to the point where the original capture is completely different from the final product. In some cases complete opposite. I’m not against photoshop but I do think there is a fine line where photographer ends and digital artist begins, and most people that call themselves photographers should really be called photo manipulators or digital artists. I use photoshop like everyone else but I’m slowly trying to get myself away from it more and more. Get to the point where I start to see the art and capture it, instead of adjusting photoshop layers until I feel I’ve created something to call art.
I’ve been thinking about my way of shooting and am going to continue to try to become more like an artist where I see things, plan it out, and actually take time to capture an image instead of randomly shooting 600 photos and hoping I get 2-3 good ones that are usable. I go out shooting street art at least once a week and most times I can get away with doing some shooting in manual, but I’m going to try to be more strict with myself and shooting the majority of my things in full manual mode and possibly black and white only.
To the rest of the photographers out there, I encourage you to do the same. Learn more about the art, your camera, and light. Step away from photoshop and lazy automatic modes. Become a photographer again.
Here are two shots today that will appear on my photoblog. Simple signs from the train displaying Salt Lake City when entering downtown. The second one is looking out my window and seeing the reflection of the sign from behind me. The first one is up right now and the other will appear later today. I might have days where I post multiple photos now. Also, I might post more shots from the same shoot here on my blog that won’t appear on the photoblog, so hopefully you’re checking here too.
