“The creative act lasts but a brief moment, a lightning instant of give-and-take, just long enough for you to level the camera and to trap the fleeting prey in your little box.”
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Scarves
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Scarves -
The Act of Photography
“You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.”
Ansel Adams -
Finding Ourselves
St. Agnes Church in Rockville Center “Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” Thomas Merton
I’m on a 4-day trip and sitting my hotel room. It’s quiet. I like these times. These are times when I read or journal, check emails or read a few blogs. After finding the above quote it has perked my interest to write.
For me the past year has been focused around art. Most of the books I’ve read all pertain to some form of art: writing, painting, photography, sculpting, etc. I’m not sure how much I considered my photography as art but because of all the reading I’ve done, and looking closely at how I work at photography, my views are changing. Photography is my paint brush for expressing my vision, my creativity and how I see the world around me. I’m learning to listen to the voice within me to create images pleasing to me and even write posts about my photography. As I’m listening to the muse, as Pressfield suggests, I’m finding out new things about myself and seeing the world with a fresher vision. I press the shutter button on my camera for my need to express myself. And, to express myself I need to know more about myself.
Here are some of the books I’ve enjoyed reading lately:
- The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
- Art and Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland
- Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
- Linchpin by Seth Godin
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Images that move us…
Daddy Longlegs Who needs an expensive DSLR camera, three lens, eight camera bags, three filters, and a carbon tripod? 🙂 Why not pull the cell phone out of our pocket, take the photo, tweak it a bit in the iphone PS app, upload it to your blog and viola, the days post is done.
Yes, I’ve done that because I’m a photographer and when a scene presents itself we need to take the photo. This may work in a pinch but there is something about the process involved in working a scene that the above scenario falls short. I’m only talking for myself but I need the experience of looking through the viewfinder, envisioning, composing, waiting and then pressing the shutter. A photographer takes photos because they have to, just as writers write. We work through our process to create the images that move us.
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It’s about the light…
Light “Each of us touches many lives as we go through our days. It might not be a visible connection, but a ripple that we create with what we say and do which will, as it reverberates ever outward, affect others in unseen and unintentional ways.” Faye White
How true Faye’s words are. I smile as I think of those who have touched my life. There is no doubt my family and friends have all helped in guiding and directing my journey to this point in time. I also feel this community of photographers I have met via the internet also has touched my life in many ways. Solid critiquing will always help us in a creative craft.
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Paying Attention
Flowers We may notice  amazing details during the course of a day but we rarely let ourselves stop and really pay attention. As a photographer learns to stop and take notice, we have the opportunity to make people notice, make people pay attention.
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Side-by-side
Side-by-side Spent some time at the mall shopping for a new pair of running/walking shoes. After parking the car and walking up to the mall I noticed the symmetry of these cones against the green background. Not sure why I’m being drawn to so many objects that I normally have just walked past a few years ago.