I am fully aware I do not get out for many nature and landscape images as I have in years past. Maybe, just a season in my life? I can’t point to one specific reason but here are few excuses I’ve used; sloth, age, lack of desire, need a better camera or lens, I’m not good enough, too far to drive or a few other excuses I can conjure up in my mind. Now that I’ve written that it’s obvious I need to have a talk with myself because none of those excuses are true. Gratefully, I’m not beating on myself about this and still taking images focused more on street and documentary.
I read somewhere about an exercise where we needed to focus on seeing subjects within 15 feet of our bed. So on a rainy day it seemed as good a day as any and we had nice diffused light. There was more to see but three images is enough to bore you.
Dresser Drawer Handles
This exercise could also be an ongoing project. Just thinking, yes I know that’s dangerous, that maybe setting aside one day a month or a week and look around my room to see what presents itself.
The X-E1 is my first camera with an EVF (electronic viewfinder). My first impression was: slow. (Notice I said was.) DPReview uses the word “laggy” in their review. I’ll call it slow. At first this bothered me as I’m use to having a DSLR camera in my hand where I can pull the camera up to my eye as I turn it on. Once it’s at my eye I can shoot immediately. This is not true of the EVF or LCD on the X-E1. I must wait a second or two for them to settle in. As I’ve gained more familiarity with the camera I’ve come to appreciate this. It has shown me a trait of looking through the viewfinder too quickly. Now, when I’m turning on the camera and raising it up to my eye I’m taking more time. This allows me to continue to look at the whole scene and not just what the viewfinder allows. So, even though the EVF is slower than an optical viewfinder it may help me be a better observer and to anticipate a scene about to appear.
I’ve been using a G12 for a couple of years now for my travels. It has an optical viewfinder but I use the LCD 99% of the time.This was mainly due to the usefulness of the information I was able to use on the LCD that was not in the viewfinder. The electronic viewfinder on this X-E1 will display the same shooting information as it shows on the LCD. Cool! I’ve also come to check out the exposure compensation meter on the lower left corner of the viewfinder as moving the exposure compensation dial on top is quite easy to move.
Who are those strange characters in the above image? Using your imaginations you can see some of our blogging friends, or yourself, hiding behind the goggles. 🙂
Too often putting inspirations into action fails to happen. Quieting the other voices suggesting I avoid taking action on inspirations is my challenge. Fear, laziness, busyness and comparing suggest I do something else. I’m moving away from the worry that some people will consider another photographer to be better at this than me. My photography is a personal way to express what I feel whether that is a sunrise, architecture, a bunny or a portrait. As I drove by this church I noticed a new sculpture garden with a new sculpture. I had an inspiration. So, I turned around and pulled into the parking lot. I like what I found.
Looking into our archives is a great way to see the direction our photography is moving. I feel my craft, pre visualization, and post processing are always improving and in some cases much better. So, whatever gut feeling or intuition prompted me to frame and press my shutter button for this image back in 2005 is still working today. Some of my older images speak to me just as some of my present work. What I think I see in my present work is more personal enjoyment and maybe a higher keeper ratio. One from the archives.
I had someone ask me if I wrote down my thoughts and feelings at the time I take my images. My answer was no, but that’s a good question to ponder. I’m not sure I go through such a process. I’m just moving along with my gut and intuition. I watch the light, the shadows, texture, color and of course the craft part of the exposure. We need a good exposure to help us communicate what we are seeing. But, I’ve never written down any thoughts or feelings at the time of exposure. So, I’ll ask you the same question, “Do any of you take notes at the time of exposure?”
