On Saturday I

On Saturday I had a wonderful day photographing a very talented young model. We asked her to cry & she did, now that is talent. I spent alot of the time taking my time & watching through my lens as this talented model done her stuff. My mind would instantly tell me that is B&W or  that's a colour one for sure. I have over 300 images to go through so here is a couple of one for you to look at.

Next we may discuss the importance of the Zone system in B&W where Zone 0 is Black & Zone 10 is pure white, with different levels of chromatic greyscale between these.

If it doesn't excite you

Today's Blog is a short poem by Jay Maisel a wonderfully gifted photographer;


 If it doesn't excite you
the thing that you see
then why in the world
would it excite me?

Something we should think about?

Today I found out that I am too get printed in the world renowned magazine B&W this justifies my love of B&W & that I must be doing something right as this is the most prestigous fine art magazine in the world, my opinion only?

Interpret the photograph by questions it raises

Interpret the photograph by questions it raises. Let your interpretation be guided by questions the photograph seems to pose. Conversely, ask questions about the photograph that the photographer seems to have ignored. What is excluded in the photograph? What does the photographer take for granted? These questions do not direct you to ask the photographer- ask about the photograph itself, and provide your answers since you are the interpreter.

Describe what you see

Describe what you see,To  describe a photograph to a group when everyone can see the image may seem silly: we tend to believe that everyone can see what we see ,so we feel awkward in describing what we perceive to be obvious. But what is apparent to you might be overlooked by others. If a group of 20 photographers describe a photograph each will attend to different aspects of the image, with different points of emphasis & varying degrees of enthusiasm?

If photographs are to tell or imply a story

If photographs are to tell or imply a story, they must be about something. Truth, justice, love, or the lack of these things, or the search for these things, are strong universal themes. Loneliness, betrayal, our tendency to self destruct, death. resurrection, the bond of family- all these are strong themes. And the more universal the theme you echo in your image, the more powerful it will be & the broader the audience. If you're thinking that this is little too deep for your style of photography, what about themes like harmony, balance or beauty ?

What about the old versus the new or the past versus the present?

As you look at the image

As you look at the image, think about what aspect of it you like as well as what you might like to change.Whenever you are analysing any of your images & find yourself saying, "I hate this image". before you delete it consider this it is not the image you do not like, it is the aspect of the image that you do not like. When you decided to take the image or more important you where taken by the image, something compelled you to press the shutter. In that moment you liked the image. Hopefully if you didn't like it you wouldn't have taken it would you?.So instead of abandoning the image, take a moment or two & analyse its individual components.

An article I read by Vincent Versace, though you might like, hopefully make you think a little more.

There is no such thing as the innocent eye, there certainly isn't an innocent camera.

More from yesterday

Some photographers are unaware of their intent when they photograph. Jerry Uelsmann, for example, works very intuitively & spontaneously:"I don't have an agenda when i begin. I'm trying to create something that's visually stimulating, exciting, that has never been done before but has some visual cohesiveness for me,has it's own life.
Many photographers allow room for their subconscious in their work & unintended meanings that it may add to their work, Sandy Skoglund, for example say's that"one  of the most captivating aspects of the way I work is the subterranean content & consciousness that kinds of leaks out, that I don't intend when I'm making art.

Another paragraph from Terry Barrett's book Criticizing photographs