photoflow: instant bliss!

just five days ago, i fell in love. again. (some of my friends find me fickle. what can i say, i just love lots of things!) 

this time, it's a love affair with *instagram* 

i had seen it around the internet, but didn’t really get it, so didn’t look into it. i’m never at the front of the pack when it comes to tekkie things, and usually i’m months if not years behind.

this time, i’ve discovered something toward its debut (instagram launched in october 2010), and it’s so much fun to see it grow. in just the last five days! it’s spreading like wildfire.

so let me share with you what i've found, to make it easier for you to join in the fun! here's the skinny:

instagram is a *free* app for iphone that lets you take pictures and add filters with a tap of your finger (similar to hipstamatic, but simpler) which turn regular photos into magnificent beauties. it also has a "tilt shift" feature which enables you to control depth of field.

the most exciting thing about instagram is its instantaneous sharing possibilities. once you take the picture, you can automatically upload your photo to fb, flickr, twitter and more. and just like fb, you can "friend" people and see their photo streams (they call it "feed") and they can see yours, instantly! these are viewed in the iphone itself, and on third-party websites (the one i use is called webstagram. i also like inkstagram).

as soon as i learned of this new delight, i emailed my friends in france and england to share. my friend manny started instagramming that very day! now i can *see* what her daily, hourly, life is like! 

in fact, i had sent manny a care package with some coconut chai which she loves but can't get over there, and this morning i saw this in my feed by manny:

it warmed my heart to see her enjoying my gift. so instead of emailing her back, i decided to instagram her a photo of my morning coconut chai!

and that is how technology can actually create connection, with someone on the other side of the world!  

here are the links and info i've found which may be helpful:

official instagram site for download: http://instagr.am/

official instagram blog: http://instagr.am/blog/

helpful articles about instagram: http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_18147909?nclick_check=1, http://blog.appboy.com/2010/10/5-things-instagram-got-right-that-others-before-it-couldnt/

webstagram site for viewing instagram photos: http://web.stagram.com/feed/

inkstagram site for viewing instagram photos: http://inkstagram.com/

i'm sure there's much more. maybe i'll see you there! (my username is eyechai)

my very first photography student says ...

I am extremely fortunate for having the opportunity to work with Hillary as my photography coach and mentor. It had been at least 20 years since I had taken a photography lesson so I was starting from the beginning. Hillary's lesson plans were very well thought out, well organized and were catered to fit my camera, my interests, my timeline and my learning pace. I really enjoyed how each lesson was divided into the technical and visual/creative aspects of photography. She was very patient in helping me learn how to use my camera and how to read my manual! I told Hillary in the beginning of our lessons that I wanted to be able to show in my photographs how I view one of those fleeting moments in life, or a beautiful landscape. Through her encouragement, enthusiasm, patience and very talented teaching skills, I am now able to do this and I am so excited every time I take a photograph and it shows my vision! I am still learning and practicing, but because of the lessons I have had so far, I feel that there is a lot of potential for me and my photography. Hillary is an extremely talented photographer and a true artist. She sees so much depth in an image and brings life and emotion to these images. She is also technically strong in the elements of photography. Not every amazing photographer can teach photography. But Hillary is one of those people who also possesses the talent of knowing how to teach others...with patience, kindness, heart, and encouragement. As she continues to pass along her knowledge to others who have a passion for photography, she is passing on a gift of enabling each of us to show everyone how we each uniquely view this incredible world and the people we encounter. I am eternally grateful for her passing on this gift to me and I look forward to many more photography coaching sessions with her! Thank you Hillary!

the benefits of photo coaching

i've been teaching private photography classes lately. here is one of my current favorite portrait techniques.

have your subject sit and look right up into your lens while you stand above. shoot with an extremely narrow depth of field. manually focus on the eyes. make sure you're not focusing on the nose or the ears! 

this perspective is flattering to the subject, while allowing the photographer to include hints of information in the background.

works like a charm. even with me. i happen to be incredibly unphotogenic. it's true and i'm ok with it. it's like having brown eyes. it is just this way. but every once in awhile, someone will make a nice picture of me.

i'm so proud of my student for many things, including this image of yours truly!

 

photoflow: sharing is fun!

so i've been working toward sharing my photography in an etsy shop, and recently have spent much time browsing around etsy photography. i'm looking for a way to jazz * snazz up my pictures. for some reason, all of a sudden they seem boring and bland and plain. so i'm learning how to use textures to make my pictures look old * interesting * layered * rich.  and i'm also looking on etsy for different ways to present my photographs.

and then i found this: 

LOVE gayle's work, and LOVE her presentation: photos mounted on wood blocks.

it just so happens that i had already bought some wood blocks and canvas blocks, and had started trying different techniques for mounting photographs onto them.

promptly i left gayle a message singing the praises of her work. i asked if she'd share her technique for mounting. didn't hear back. 

must admit i was quite disappointed. you see, i LOVE sharing! i don't think artists need to keep secrets from each other, because inevitably, everyone sees and works differently, uniquely ... even if they use the same technique. but not all artists feels that way. and not everyone wants to share their techniques and methods which may have taken them years to learn. it's understandable, i guess. it's just fear. still, i prefer to think of everyone as an ally instead of the competition. which isn't always easy. but which definitely is my highest self in action.

i also said i'd buy a piece from her. and so i did. and in purchasing her photograph on etsy, i wrote this: 

i promised i'd purchase a piece from you so here i am. it will be a treat to have your art in my home.

i'm frequently on the shuttersisters site where so much sharing of information happens ... which is what prompted me to ask you about your mounting process. i hope my asking didn't make you uncomfortable in any way.

keep up the beautiful work!

all the best,

your fan,

hillary

a few days later, the mail came and i received this gorgeous piece from gayle:

and this:

wow! thrilled! to the moon! yippee skippee! jumping for joy! happy dance all around!

not only do i now have a beautiful piece of art. and another method for mounting photos on wood blocks: 3M 77 SPRAY MOUNT. (i've been using gel medium as a glue, applied with a brush, which seems to work fine) ...

but i also have SHARED WITH A FELLOW ARTIST/PHOTOGRAPHER.

i shared my money with her. she shared her arwork with me. she shared a technique with me. and now i've shared our techniques with you. woot!

thank you gayle, for sharing with me!

q: what did you learn on the internet today, honey? 

a: sharing is fun! 

photoflow: texturemania

ok, i may be a little slow ... but i have recently fallen HARD for textures! funny how you can go along just minding your own business doing your thing the way you've always done it and then BAM! and everything changes. 

that's how it had been with me 'n textures.

i've been working on opening up an etsy shop. and my photos looked so boring to me, just sitting there, all plain and normal.

browsing around the photography section of etsy, i found myself pulled over and over again toward photographs with textures. so i decided to learn how to do it myself. 

now really i've just started adding textures, sometimes one, sometimes two, and sometimes even three textures! i have no idea what i'm doing, but am having a ton of fun playing!

all this texture love and learning can be attributed also to the stellar kim klassen whose website is ALL ABOUT TEXTURES. she makes textures, sells textures, offers classes on textures, and even offers free tutorials on how to use textures. she also gives away textures to those on her subscriber list, and i am now one of her lucky and grateful recipients!  

one of my friends said these textured images remind her of "antique white cotton dresses." yes, they take our imaginations back to earlier days: simple and wholesome. 

we use our modern sophisticated digital cameras and computers to bring back their antithesis. we humans are funny!

photoflow: words + pictures

i'm kind of crazy about adding words to photos. i LOVE (whole body shudder) finding the *right* words for a certain image. and the *placement* of the words in the photo, or next to the photo. then choosing the *font*. the *size* and *shape* of the letters. the *color* of the letters. sometimes i even use *more than one font* in the same photo. ooooooo!!!!! ohhhhh! i iove it so. and as i continue with words + photos in my 'wisdom words' series, i love it even more.

i've never had any formal design training. can't even remember when exactly i first picked up the text tool in photoshop. certainly it wasn't when i was a photojournalist. must've been when i started my boutique stock photography agency see jane run. i created my own marketing materials. (heck, i did everything.) and i didn't know how. i just banged around until i figured it out, or figured out who to ask for help. 

i'm still learning where to get great fonts (i've downloaded some at 1001freefonts.com and dafont.com). then i had to learn where to move the downloads on my computer so the fonts would show up in the drop down menu (Library - Fonts folder). i know, pretty basic huh. i really don't know what i'm doing. but i know i LOVE what i'm doing. 

in an e-chat with tracey clark with our fellow picture winter attendees, i asked tracey how she got here in her career. she said something like "i just followed the whims of my passions." wow. and look where she is now: founder of shutter sisters, uber popular e-photo course instructor at big picture classes, writer, photographer, etc etc etc! she is lovely and deserves it all. 

oft times, it's murky waters finding our passions. but this words + picture thing? no bout a dout it, this is my passion. one of em. all mine. purely truly mine. from the core of me mine. not whispering but shouting through my whole body: I LOVE THIS!!!!! 

so i can't NOT do this. and so i begin. and i try. and i learn. and i do. most important, i do.  

i add to wisdom words once a week, sometimes more. creating those pieces is always a completely pleasure-ful creative endeavor. 

being in creative flow is the ultimate place to be, and a few nights ago that's exactly where i was: playing with words and images, the ones you see in this post. 

i'm thinking of adding a new line of greeting cards with words.

someday, i'd like to add more than a few words ... my own words of wisdom. 

would love to hear what you think of the words + photos? words + photos on cards?

i'd appreciate SO MUCH any tips about using the text tool and words + photos design in general. and where do you get great fonts? 

thanks friends!

If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn't need to lug around a camera. 

~Lewis Hine

photoflow: shift happens

my photo of my neighbor's antique pinocchio was featured on shuttersisters "picture winter" gallery a couple days ago. picture winter is an e-photography class offered by shuttersisters founder / photographer & teacher extraordinaire / sweet soul tracey clark.  

i have to say i like this image. there is something so sweet about this little guy ... his feet dangling off the edge of the mantle, his peaceful smile, his arms relaxed but ready to spring into action. he reminds me of little boys, in their own dreamworld but ready to jump up and participate in this world when the time is right.

i also like that i included the pink wood cutout moulding on top. and that i muted the colors a bit.

part of photography is about knowing how to use the camera and lens well enough to get what we want: exposure, focus, depth of field, all the mechanics ... thinking activity. and the other part of photography is all about heart and feelings and intuition ... making photographic choices by feeling them, the way a painter paints and just knows from the heart where to use what color, texture, shape.

with many of my portraits over the years, i often opted for an absolutely plain background, making the subject even more prominent. i've always liked a clean look. but lately i include some context, some background, even if just a little. here, this moulding angles just enough to create some framing, some "place" for the little guy.

and sometimes i get a little (lot!) heavy with the vibrance and saturation sliders in lightroom, making the colors *pop.* but other times, i'm seeing the beauty in subtlety. 

we really are changing all the time. our tastes change, or at least shift, as long as we're still breathing, or depending on our mood. photographs are a great record of our own feelings, over time, or of a specific time. a diary in image form. and sometimes they show us a subtle shift we didn't even know had occurred. like rereading last year's journal pages, we can see how we have evolved and what tendencies remain.

My portraits are more about me than they are about the people I photograph.  ~Richard Avedon

photoflow: first place ... in listening

in november i entered a local photography contest. it was one of those meant-to-be things ... i only found out about it at the last minute because i went to our town hall requesting a building permit and saw the flyer there. 

at the contest kick-off that very evening, everyone had to pick a category out of a hat. i plucked "age" and was hardly thrilled with my category. something about the big 5 - 0 fast approaching ...  

the very first image that popped into mind was my gentleman neighbor's bald head with short white hairs circling his crown. he must be somewhere between 65 and 75 but won't fess up to his age. i ask, cajole, divulge my age over and over again ... but he's not telling! i find this hysterical. a man. an older man. who won't tell his age! 

i asked my neighbor if he was willing to let me photograph the top of his head. he was game. but i kept putting off the actual shoot. 

so many gremlins in my head, shouting: that's a dumb idea! lame! trite!

i wondered if i could shoot it with my favorite lens these days (my 50mm compact macro), really blow out the background and focus on the little white hairs ... but the gremlins returned in full force: lame! 

ok, i'll think of something else. brainstormed and came up with lists of other options, but none really grabbed me. the week got busy. the deadline fast approaching. then the weather turned and the gray, sunless days thwarted my idea of sunlight backlighting his little white hairs. gremlins: awww, forget about it! just blow it off! it's a stupid idea, anyway! don't waste your time!

on the last evening before the deadline, the sun came out. i braved over to my neighbor's. he was available and willing. we shot. we laughed. he gave me a tour of his home and backyard. got to know him a little better. had fun. 

later that evening i kept procrastinating working on the image. i waited until after 11pm facing a midnight deadline. sat down to process the image. gremlins: it's no good! doesn't work! lame! and on and on.

somehow, i mustered the courage to enter my photo just before midnight. 

and it turns out i won!: first place in the age category. featured in the local newspaper. photo hanging at the community center for a month. and $100 worth of gift certificates. 

i'm sharing this not to toot my own horn. don't get me wrong. winning is always fun. but i've been able to watch myself during this whole experience, and i've been able to see that the gremlins in my head are not my true Self. yet i often listen to them because they are LOUD.

i know that the gremlins are nothing but fear. fear raising its voice. shouting. fear trying to keep my little ego safe.

but that fear is suffocating. that fear is limiting. and i do not want to be acting from that place. i want to act from the place that watches the gremlins. the place that is inspired and creative. the place that is everlasting and unchanging. my true Self. 

i know that fear and emotions come and go, like the weather. i know that incessant, uncreative and unthinking "thoughts" are just that: thoughts. and i don't have to listen to them. 

hey gremlins: YOU'RE THE STUPID ONES!

my first place win is a testament to listening to that first image that popped into my mind's eye. my instinct. my inner self knowing exactly what is to be done. what is right for me. trusting my Self. that still small voice that i am nurturing so it can grow more confident and loud, stronger than the gremlins in my head. 

i proudly accept this first place win in honor of listening to my true Self. 

There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs. 

~Ansel Adams

photoflow: handmade thank yous

i like to think i'm quite organized (in spite of my thanksgiving story). but my friend laura (not smize laura, another equally beautiful laura) is super duper organized. she works, moms, loves, runs, and makes it all look easy. up at her house one evening for dinner, i complimented her on her little dish in which she places her salt and pepper shakers. what a great idea! no pesky grains of salt and pepper left on the kitchen counter like at my house. "here," she said, reaching into a cupboard, pulling out an identical little italian plate and placing it in my hands. "i have several, and never use them." wow, gosh, gee, thanks laura!
 
as a thank you, i photographed my shakers on my little italian plate on my kitchen counter. and made it into a thank you card.
and lo and behold ... i found the absolute bestest way to thank someone for something! make a special photo, make it into a card, write "thank you" on it and send. YES!
 
i have since made many thank you cards with my own photos on the front. here's my latest thank you card from thanksgiving ... (which was kind of a snafu but wasn't really.)
people absolutely love a handmade thank you. from a specially made photograph. of the thing they gave you. or of a moment you shared together. or of a specific thing you discussed while together. it's the thought that counts. and the handmade gesture. and effort it took to actually sit down and make something. with these hands. and these eyes.
You don't take a photograph.  You ask, quietly, to borrow it. 
~Author Unknown

photoflow: handmade holiday table placecards

as per the last day's instructions in my picture fall class, i made these photo placecards for thanksgiving. 15 of 'em. and then promptly proceeded NOT to go to that thanksgiving (come back thursday to find out why ... ). so i fedexed all 15 of 'em to their rightful table. and made a few more for the thanksgiving table where i ended up. 

it's so much fun to share photography in our actual, real-time, analog lives (i can't believe i just wrote that. as in, analog life vs digital life? we live in very strange times ... ). so often in this digital age, our photos remain only on our computer screens, or buried in digital folders and drives, deep inside our machines. why not bring out those photos and share them? 

for the end of my picture summer class, i made a photo garland which is still hanging from my living room rafters. 

here are some great ideas for bringing your photos out into the light of day. and this is a great book for more of the same. and here is a photo garland you can drape on your tree! 

how do you share your photos in your life?

I think a photography class should be a requirement in all educational programs because it makes you see the world rather than just look at it. 

~Author Unknown

 


photoflow: my flavor, my picture

we borrow ideas all the time. we see things, "digest" them in our body/mind system, and then they surface in a myriad of ways. usually not as explicitly or directly as this:

in my picture summer e-class, one day our "assignment" was to photograph summer fruit. i noticed a great shot in the group pool by becky, and remembered it. blueberries. that oh so cute and delectable treat. i wanted to borrow becky's idea and make a blueberry photo, too!

as summer wound down and fall arrived, berries were becoming more and more rare in the supermarket. i bought so many baskets of blueberries with the intent of photographing them. but ate them before they had a chance to pose for me! 

finally i did it. i wrangled those berries until i was blue (more like red) in the face ... oh how they roll! i went back to becky's photo to see how many she stacked. how did she get four? maybe there's a mystery toothpick inside that stack of four. otherwise, she has the patience of the gods. my blueberries were rolling and tumbling and scooting all over my counter and onto the floor. i managed three. 

but as you can see, my blueberry shot is totally different than becky's. i love the simplicity of her shot. she called it "zen blueberry." the composition so gentle and flowing. mine is more busy, but maybe that's a reflection of how i felt wrangling blueberries! 

i don't believe there is any such thing as "stealing" ideas. we get ideas from absolutely e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. we encounter. and these things -- sights, sounds, smells, tastes, experiences -- all become a part of who and how we are. our experiences form our particular "flavor." and our flavor comes back out in our photographs (and in everything else we do).

all we can say is a hearty thank you to whoever or whatever inspired us. in this case, thank you becky and thank you blueberries!

even if there is a much more direct link between seeing something and wanting to do the same, there is no such thing as same. impossible. because each one of us is unique. like snowflakes. or blueberries. 

No place is boring, if you've had a good night's sleep and have a pocket full of unexposed film. 

~Robert Adams

photoflow: smize of the soul

so in last week's photoflow, i wrote about portraiture and included my friends who are really open to having their pictures taken. 

on that subject, my beautiful friend (since college) laura falls into the not-so-much category. she's always been a reluctant model and photo subject. 

but i want to share a photo shoot with laura that may have changed all that. we worked it! and came away with some great pictures. but it took some time. 

here's when i first approached laura with my camera. granted she was naked in the hot tub. "oh my god, you are not going to take my picture!":

i talked her into letting me photograph her. "we'll get a great picture, you'll see." but she was not convinced:

and here she is with what most people do in front of a camera, the cheesey smile:

but i wasn't stopping there. 

i was going for the tyra banks “smize” (smile with the eyes) and beyond. tyra coined the phrase on her show “america’s next top model.” i love that show. not for the in-house dramas between the girls. but for the stunning photography by the world's top fashion photographers. and for tyra’s mastery of finding and drawing out each girl’s quirks. tyra helps each girl embrace and reveal her own uniqueness. very empowering.

so i coached laura. and here she is becoming conscious of her face and her eyes and trying to control them. not so great:

i asked laura to open up her eyes more. not working:

then i told her not only to smile with her eyes, but to also open her heart. "remove the armor covering your soul." we were getting somewhere:

then we lost it again. self-consiousness returned. after the openness, she felt too vulnerable, and laughed:

trying to return to openness, but still armored:

come on laura. stay open. not just in the eyes. in the heart. in the soul. let your soul shine through. and boom:

and boom. right there, all of her. completely open:

and boom:

she did it. she not only smiled with her eyes. she smiled with her soul. a gentle smile. an open smile. 

it takes a lot of trust to be able to be this open. to lay down the shield protecting our innermost vulnerable place. when a model or photo subject opens in this way, it makes for great photographs because it touches the viewer in that same place inside of her. 

and it makes for great connection between people, in our day-to-day lives being with people, no camera in sight. open hearts meeting open hearts. soul to soul connection. i'm a human being, vulnerable just like you. try it with your loved ones. try it with the checkout person at the grocery store. open. open. open. saying inwardly "i see you. and i'm letting you see me." 

When you photograph people in colour you photograph their clothes.  But when you photograph people in B&W, you photograph their souls! 

~Ted Grant

~~~~~

when i spoke to laura yesterday about this blog post, reminding her of the photo shoot in the hot tub, she said ... "i trust you. just remember my dad will be seeing it!" 

and here's laura 30 years ago in college, on a backpacking trip in oregon, beautiful then and now:

photoflow: here. i. am.

i have a few girlfriends whom i've photographed for a long time, since our college days. one in particular, meg, has always welcomed my camera. the others, not so much. 

with meg, it was never a case of "i am so beautiful. take a picture of ME!" not that she isn't beautiful. no, it was more of a matter of self acceptance (i yam what i yam), and a (quite rare) willingness to be seen. with or without preparation. no fussing, no "just let me put my makeup on." none of that. just, you want to take my picture? sure. here i am.

and i have a newer friend who is equally comfortable in front of the camera. terri. she, too, is always ready for a shoot. no nos. always YES! here i am!

as a photographer, i appreciate SO MUCH this willingness in people to be photographed. it just makes the photography easier, better, more free.

and more importantly, people's energy of openness feels good to be around, making those around them more open and free, too. open energy begets open energy.

but i completely understand not wanting to be photographed. i've been that way! but i am realizing that it's much more than a surface-thing of not wanting to be photographed. it's so much deeper than that.

so this week in my unravelling e-course, our assignment was to photograph ourselves. the (dreaded) SELF-PORTRAIT. 

self acceptance. willingness to be seen. ok. yes. breathe. letting myself just be. i want that for others, and i want that for myself. to love others just as they are. to love myself just as i am. in photography and in life.

so in that spirit ... here. i. am.

It's weird that photographers spend years or even a whole lifetime, trying to capture moments that added together, don't even amount to a couple of hours. 

~James Lalropui Keivom

photoflow: the faceless portrait

 

hiking an unrenovated, desolate portion of the great wall of china, i made this portrait of my german boyfriend thorsten. i LOVE this photo. have it framed in my kitchen (even though we stopped dating years ago). 

i find this image speaks volumes about thorsten:

1. strong: just look at that frame, that physique, tall and sturdy, those lean tree trunk legs.

2. mountain man: he uses that body to get out in nature and climb high (he also runs long distance and cycles up big hills).

3. intrepid traveller: he loves visiting new places, experiencing new cultures and foods (and has lived in the states over 10 years).

4. off the beaten path: this guy marches to his own drum (has a pierced ear and plays electric guitar).

5. relaxed: his hand reveals his relaxed nature (even though he's very hardworking and ambitious).

that's a lot of information for one photo. and you can't even see his face!

and that is exactly the point: you do not need to show someone's face to show many things about her/him. showing the back may reveal even more than the face. the face can distract us from seeing all the rest there is to see of someone. 

but not everyone agrees on this point. 

i was going to accompany thorsten home to germany for christmas, and considered giving this photo of thorsten to his mother. i hemmed and hawed. not sure she would like a photo of her son without seeing his face. i consulted my dad -- of the parental generation -- who very much appreciated photography. he said, go for it, it's a great photograph. 

so i gave it to thorsten's mom for christmas. she did not get it. no oooos and ahhhhhs. no "great photo," nicht. just a polite thank you. (she didn't get me, either, but that's another story.) 

some people expect to see faces in portraits. but i am reminded to photograph the "rear view" for a change ... to see what else there is to see of someone. 

Often while traveling with a camera we arrive just as the sun slips over the horizon of a moment, too late to expose film, only time enough to expose our hearts. 

~ Minor White

photoflow: fresh perspective

when in need of a fresh perspective ...

give a kid your camera!

on a film production last summer in france and spain, i worked alongside 6 kids ranging from 9-19 (yes, i’m old enough to consider 19-year-olds “kids”). three actors, a set designer, a sound recordist, and a musical director/camera assistant -- these are some talented kids! sometimes they almost outnumbered the adults (we were 6 – 14 adults, depending on the day) on this heavenly film shoot. 

one long day shooting in the middle of a vast hay field in northern spain -- during a lull in the work -- i let 11-year-old beth borrow my camera. didn't pay any attention to what she was shooting. only to find this when i got my camera back:

i love this shot, such a quiet moment captured. and the tilt just adds to the interest, bringing the moment inward, toward nicoletta who usually had to act tough (she played the beautiful villain in the film). beth reminded me that WE CAN TILT HORIZONS with fabulous results!

i was schooled for so long -- both in school and working as a photojournalist -- to get my horizons absolutely straight, perfectly horizontal. in fact, i recently posted a tilted horizon photo on facebook, and one of my former colleagues messaged back to straighten that horizon! but i'm all about breaking the (silly, constricting) rules these days. 

toward the end of the shoot, with so much work behind us, we were in great need of a party. fortunately cinematographer kyle's birthday came at just the right moment. beth's younger brother arty (or was it beth again?) borrowed my camera during a festive dinner at the home of the filmmakers. and this was the result:

seeing in a completely different way than i usually see. and right on ... capturing the jovial moment: playful richard, the distinctly euro-feel of the meal, breadcrumbs and all. maybe it was just that arty -- if it was arty --sat a little lower than i normally sit, so he saw THROUGH the wineglass. whatever. the result reminds me to bend my knees, get lower, or higher, or from the side, or anything other than how i usually see from my 5'9" viewpoint. 

these young people taught me so much that summer. just one of the things they taught me was how so see. with a fresh perspective.

While there is perhaps a province in which the photograph can tell us nothing more than what we see with our own eyes, there is another in which it proves to us how little our eyes permit us to see. 

~Dorothea Lange

photoflow: focusing on the heart

 

only recently did i realize that i could make out-of-focus photographs.  am i the last person on the planet to get this?

maybe i just took too many photography classes. or lingering in the back of my mind is the hell i’d have to pay my photo editor ... if the decisive moment was not TACK SHARP. old habits die hard. i’ve been out of photojournalism for 13 years!

so in july, i took my first out-of-focus-on-purpose photo. then promptly forgot about it.

then just last month, i remembered. i. can. make. a. photograph. out. of. focus. on. purpose.

WOW! the freedom! the freedom to reveal what is in my heart.

i’m learning that i can go both ways ... one part of me wants everything just-so, linear, balanced, orderly, straight, crisp, organized, controlled, and in focus ... HEAD.

and another part of me longs for soft, dreamy, evocative, ambiguous, unclear, hints, gentle, smooth, free, and out of focus ... HEART.

sometimes the crisp, sharp focus feels right. other times i want softness. out of focus on purpose. or even by accident!

and it’s ok, it’s ok to have both, to be both. we are creatures with heart and head. one is not better than the other.

but to be able to express what is in my heart, realizing that i can “break the rules” of photography that have been so ingrained in me? this is freedom.

in experimenting with out-of-focus, i have found that it works better if i front-focus, as in, if i place the focus (since the focus ring needs to go somewhere) in front of the subject – toward me – rather than behind the subject. this brings the focus point out of the frame, while leaving the subject not too out of focus. i have found that when i back-focus (placing the focus behind the subject), and get the right out-of-focusness on the subject, often something in the background stays in focus which is not what i want. i usually want it all to be out of focus, but not too much. too much can create completely indefinable blobs. which could work, too, but that’s not what i’m after these days.

following the freedom path, i would love to hear how you are becoming free, in photography and/or in life?

this one is backfocused (on the water), and i think it works in this case. i am free to break my own rules!

When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs.  When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence. 

~Ansel Adams

photoflow: lens love

using the 50mm/1.4 ... at f/1.6

well well well. it has been about a year since my photography took a huge lunge forward. and it is all because of two marvelous creatures: the 50mm/f1.4 lens and the 50mm/f2.5 compact macro lens. yes it is. 

using the 50mm/1.4 lens ... at f/2.0

i knew i was missing something in my photographs. something in the way i was able -- or more precisely, not able -- to translate what i was seeing into tangible results. 

using the 50mm compact macro ... at f/2.5i saw it in other photographs. a serene beauty in having all but the  smallest piece of the image softly out of focus. shapes. colors. hints of information. dreaminess. 

so last october, i bought the 50mm/f1.4. then in june, i bought the 50mm/f2.5 compact macro.

you see, i used to be a photojournalist, and the pictures i made were all about spreading information. not that photojournalists' photos aren't artistic, they certainly can be. but the widest aperture i used as a photojournalist was f2.8. 

aperture (also known as f-stop) controls depth of field. as in, how much of the photograph is in focus. the smaller the aperture number, the less depth of field ... the less depth of focus. this shallow depth of field allows whatever is in front of or behind the focus-point to become dreamily out of focus. this brings our eye right to the focus-point, while seeing the rest of the image as softer shapes and colors. 

using the 50mm compact macro lens ... at f/2.5

having put photography aside for many, many years, i returned with fresh perspective, less of a photojournalist's hat on.

using the 50mm/1.4 lens ... at f/1.8

and thanks to two very talented photographers, i found the two lenses that i now use almost exclusively: 

50mm/f1.4

via heidi swanson's 101cookbooks, i discovered the 50/1.4. she displays the most dreamy food (and travel!) photography and beautifully written stories to go with each photo. heidi's recipe index of natural, whole foods keeps it real and healthy, just the way i like it. thank you, heidi, for leading me in the right direction both food-wise and photography-wise. and for sharing your photo tips. 

50mm/f2.5 compact macro

via tracey clark's personal site and the fantabulous shutter sisters she started, i found the compact macro. i knew i wanted a macro, and was leaving soon on a trip. i didn't even research the purchase. i saw that tracey used it, so figured it was good enough for me! and i love it. thank you tracey, for being such an inspiration, for your e-classes, for shutter sisters, for your generous ideas, words and images. 

using the 50mm/1.4 lens ... at f/1.4

The photograph itself doesn't interest me.  I want only to capture a minute part of reality. 

         ~Henri Cartier Bresson­