• Plants,  snow,  trees

    Motivation (or lack of)

    February 22, 2012
    Tree Trunk

    Most artist will tell you that their ability to inspire themselves was the key to their success. Well I have plenty of inspiration but I’m lacking in “motivation”, which is preventing me from moving forward with those inspirations. I’ve little motivation lately. I hardly take the camera out for walks and when I do it’s for short walks. I could blame the cold but that will not suffice. Just not motivated.

    Motivation is what causes us to act, whether it is getting a glass of water to reduce thirst or reading a book to gain knowledge. They say there are three major components to motivation: activation, persistence and intensity. Activation is something gets us started. Persistence is the continued effort required. Intensity is staying focused through its completion.

    Motivation can be activated in several ways. It can be caused by the influence of others, such as a shooting session with another photographer. Making a list of projects. Searching for new places for images. Shoot a different venue such as portraits rather than macros, or macro rather than portraits. Work on storytelling. Being invited to try a project such as Earl’s calendar. Or working new software for creating books such as Paul.

    Something had to be done to get me moving. So, I decided to take a cold walk without my camera. I bundled up against he cold and took the treacherous walk as the melted snow was now turning to black ice. Without my camera I was seeing a lot of potential images. There was a lone Canadian goose just sitting on the ice, no other birds around him. It was so out of the ordinary I suspect the bird may be ill or wounded. The next thing to catch my attention were the cattails along the edge of the lake. The stalks are standing tall while in stark contrast their snow laden flat bladed leaves bend heavily downward. And then there were the rabbit tracks in the snow. They were telling of scampering feet looking for cover. Between the edge of the lake and sidewalk I discovered feathers that told of the demise of a bird. I wondered if death came from the powerful claws of a hawk or owl. This exercise was new to me, and it seemed to do the trick. What steps do you take for motivation?

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  • landscape,  snow

    As the Round Earth Rolls

    December 10, 2011
    Snowdrifts

    “This grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never all dried at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and gloaming, on seas and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls.” – John of the Mountains by John Muir

    Muir was a naturalist, author, and early advocate for the preservation of wilderness in the United States. He loved the natural world and spent a great deal of time living in nature, which is something much of our western culture does not experience. He started out as a student of nature through detailed observation, “to study the inventions of God.” When you read about him or in his writing you will come to understand that he lived each day fully, staying present to the world around him. His way of living was not shared by everyone as he mentioned about his fellow Californians, “The love of Nature among Californians is desperately moderate; consuming enthusiasm is almost wholly unknown.” I think many people enjoy looking at images, still or video, of nature but so few of us venture into that world so close to us. His writings, as well as others, is another reason I will leave my warm bed to spend time in the cold or rain or heat. It’s not so much about the image as just being there “as the round earth rolls.”

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  • frost,  landscape,  Plants,  snow

    Unnoticed

    December 8, 2011
    Frost Covered Grass

    On December 8, 1941, Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared: “Yesterday, December 7, 1941 – (is) a date which will live in infamy.” He was referring to the Japanese surprise attack on the American fleet at Pearl Harbor, the attack that catapulted the United States into the Second World War. As momentous as the attack on Pearl Harbor was, December 7, 1941 was also the date of another event of no less consequence for mankind. The first transports set out for the first extermination camp, Chelmno, which began its murderous operations the following day, December 8.

    There are some who will brave the cold to see this hoar frost covered grass. And, some will not experience this frost covered grass but be reading an article about Tebow’s latest win. Interesting how some events receive a lot of attention while others go by almost unnoticed.

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  • landscape,  snow

    A Cold Morning

    December 6, 2011
    Snowdrifts

    “Life is about turning up. The more you get yourself out there, whether you wake up at 5:00 a.m. to pouring rain or not, the more you’re likely to experience the wonderful happenings that are going on all around you. Sometimes the most interesting visual phenomena occur when you least expect it. Other times, you think you’re getting something amazing and the photographs turn out to be boring and predictable. So I think that’s why, a long time ago, I consciously tried to let go of artist’s angst, and instead just hope for the best and enjoy it. I love the journey as much as the destination. If I wasn’t a photographer, I’d still be a traveler.” – Michael Kenna

    The temperature in my car registered -3 degrees (F) this morning, much colder than my bed. My toes are still cold. Stay warm!

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  • landscape,  mountains,  Plants,  snow,  trees

    Snow Along the Front Range

    April 21, 2011
    Snow Along the Front Range

    We must protect the forests for our children, grandchildren and children yet to be born. We must protect the forests for those who can’t speak for themselves such as the birds, animals, fish and trees.
    — Qwatsinas (Hereditary Chief Edward Moody), Nuxalk Nation

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  • landscape,  snow

    Simplicity

    January 17, 2011
    Simplicity

    As I have practiced it, photography produces pleasure by simplicity, I see something special and show it to the camera. A picture is produced. The moment is held until someone sees it. Then it is theirs. Photography, alone of the arts, seems perfected to serve the desire humans have for a moment — this very moment — to stay. – Sam Abell, Stay This Moment : The Photographs of Sam Abell by Sam Abell

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  • landscape,  quotes,  snow

    Shadows Cast

    January 15, 2011
    Cold Shadows

    A photographer must be prepared to catch and hold on to those elements which give distinction to the subject or lend it atmosphere. They are often momentary, chance-sent things: a gleam of light on water, a trail of smoke from a passing train, a cat crossing a threshold, the shadows cast by a setting sun. Sometimes they are a matter of luck; the photographer could not expect or hope for them. Sometimes they are a matter of patience, waiting for an effect to be repeated that he has seen and lost or for one that he anticipates. Leaving out of question the deliberately posed or arranged photograph, it is usually some incidental detail that heightens the effect of a picture – stressing a pattern, deepening the sense of atmosphere. But the photographer must be able to recognize instantly such effects.

    Bill Brandt – “Camera in London”, The Focal Press, London 1948, p. 16

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