It’s amazing how one idea, or even one image, can send you spiraling down a new path. It requires courage to take the first step, persistence to continue the journey, and an open mind to what comes next. You think you are heading in one direction, and suddenly you find yourself staring at something else.
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Whack-a-mole
I’ve been playing with my food lately. My photography is typically of the found variety. Outdoors, natural light, wander around, see what I find. But lately, as we all shelter in place, I’ve been experimenting with created images. The world does not need another food blog. Certainly not from me. But what if I could create a recipe in a single image? What would that look like? How might I do that?
Read MoreWho you gonna trust?
I’ve been thinking about how we judge our work, and how we let the judgments of others cloud our own. And whether that is good or bad or somewhere in between. While I have no problem rejecting a compliment on an image I didn’t think was all that special (silently, of course), I find it very hard to reject a negative critique of an image I love. Why is that? Why is it so easy to say no to praise and yes to criticism?
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It's a Snap
I am a collector. You might say I’m a packrat. For as long as I can remember, I have had a hard time throwing things away. One day I noticed I was collecting things with my camera. Once I started noticing what I notice, that caused me to notice more. Maybe you want to be a packrat too.
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On Frustration
I’ve been pretty frustrated lately. I’ve gone to shooting locations and left feeling uninspired. I’ve dug into unedited images and become overwhelmed deciding what to do with them. This week in particular, I’ve been frustrated trying to get mailchimp and squarespace to play nice together. I want to pull my hair out and scream.
But then I stop to remind myself that frustration is a good thing.
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Fill me up
I’ve always been attracted to abandoned buildings. Peeling paint, rusting signs, broken windows and anachronistic architecture never fail to draw me in. Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of boarded up gas stations. Maybe it’s a sign of the times, or maybe I’m just noticing them more.
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Best? of 2020
I don’t really like “Best of” lists. I mean how, really, do you define “best”? Best for what, best to who? I prefer “most meaningful.” Memorable might be another way to think about it. Whatever adjective you choose, what it comes down to is that some images are more important to you than others. And it’s not necessarily because that was the “best” photo you took last year.
So rather than trying to pick the 10 “best” images out of the ~13,794 I took last year, I just tried to pick one meaningful / memorable / important image I made each month.
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13,794
13,794. That’s how many times Lightroom tells me I clicked the shutter last year. Thirteen thousand seven hundred and ninety-four. Who does that? Me, I guess. Even accounting for bracketing, HDRs, panoramas, virtual copies and other things that add to the count, that is a LOT of pictures. You would think there might be a few keepers in there. Thankfully, to my eye at least, there were.
Taking them was the easy part.
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Blast off! Shore Acres State Park, Oregon, December
Starting Over
2020 did not turn out how I planned. I don’t expect 2021 will either. If 2020 has taught us anything, it is that nothing is permanent. The things you think will last might be gone tomorrow. The time to act is now.
So I am starting this blog.
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