Its been a while

Its been a while since I last submitted a blog, shame on me, but life has just been really busy. I have been entering a lot of International comps & now have accreditation from FIAP & PSA. I am also an accredited judge for PSNZ. I have been running a lot of workshops this year with great success. Just now I am a bit on the crook side with a lung infection that has floored me, no energy, no appetite, well i could lose a bit of weight.
The last workshop was at Otematata sheep station where we captured the shearing in progress,  a lot of fun ha by all & I have another one coming up first weekend in October.
What is photography about well it s about vision without vision why do we take or make images.

It's natural to look at an image & re experience that moment. If we judge the image to be successful on that basis only, we've forgotten that the people looking at this image have no such memory. They can only be guided by the clues you give in your image.

Imagination equals Inspiration

Does it or Doesnt it. I ask myself this often. Recently my imagination is producing images that I dont think I have the skill set to produce yet, this is a good thing. The stronger we allow our imagination to work the easier it will be to use when we need it? I have been coming up with ideas about 10 different ones a day that get quite indepth with the thinking, loving it it is so much fun to let your brain take control & come up with stuff. It is all about the child within being let to run free & have fun. Try it just let loose, let your sub concious take over & see what happens.

Been busy

Been busy, life has been hectic over the last couple of weeks. I was getting stuff ready for my second workshop over on the coast.Another great weekend with 4 very patient sponges. They sucked the knowledge right out of me & I loved it. I come away exhausted but satisfied. I feel I have helped each one to another level of understanding. It doesnt matter if it is how to capture an image, how to think about taking your images or post processing it is all important. I love sharing my knowledge, over the last 5 years it has grown by leaps & bounds as I have found various past & present masters to study & learn from. I think it is important to find a style you like especially when you start & study how this image maker came to the understanding to produce such fine work. Sometimes even they dont know all they know is they love what they do & so do you?

As you grow within your photography your style willchange & so wil lyour likes & dislikes of others work. I think it is important for you to be active in searching out other good  or even great photographers work. The bottom image may in time to come become the basis of a composite it has alot of potential.

Moment of capture

Moment of capture can make or break the impact of an image. That nano second too soon, or too late you miss it, you have to get it dead right. How do we do this, do we go spray & pray or do we become part of the situation & try & read what is going to happen next. Couple of weeks ago I went to the Methven rodeo. I set myself the task of only taking single images at F2.8 & try & capture the moment, I think I succeded. It doesn't matter if you are going to photograph a wedding, a landscape, a flower or a portrait of a beautiful person, you have to capture that defining moment that tells the story, captures the gesture for the viewer to enjoy. Like all skills you have to practice, get yourself involved photographing dance competitions is a great way to do this, it is challenging, both with light or lack of it capturing the moves that are impressive to capture. I have photographed the ChCh ceroc Champs the last two years & this year would have been my best series of images. Go out & practice, but only perfect practice will give you the results you need.

The moment we abandon the so-called rules of the purists. & allow ourselves to as an example ,blend multiple images to do what our optics or shutter could not, we take our craft a little closer to the possibility of being art-a story that transcends the means by which it is told, something that makes us feel something, see the world a little differently or experience something in a two dimensions that we've never experienced in three.

We need to listen to our own voice the more you do this the stronger it gets, Vision is something that lies within all of us. We all possess the ability to be creative. Whether we pursue this creative instinct is a matter of personal choice  There is a rewarding warmth that comforts the soul once you have been inspired & then create something tangible that can be shared with others.

If the horse is dead get off.

If the horse is dead get off. So what are you talking about, well lets think about this statement in regards to Photography. If it is not working then try something different, are your images not doing well in the competitions you enter, why, is it they are just not good enough for the competition you are entering or do you need to look at the finishing, are you getting all the information out of your image. Most of the time the images that do well are just that 2% more finished, better post processing, better colour management, or tell a better story than yours. Are we trying to make our images too technically perfect & losing the story, the emotion that is there. Technique should never get in the way of your voice, never.Do not focus on Technique for the sake of technique but discover what it means to see rather than to merely look. Once you discover that technique is merely a detail, you will be free to create images that will change the world of the people who view it.
These are same image, I have added my creative self into them.

What is Failure

What is Failure, is there really such a thing. In art or more specifically Photography, we should not look at a bad image as a failure, rather a learning curve. At the start the learning curve is pretty big & has a huge curve in it.But as time goes on the curve gets smaller but trust me it is still there. We should look at the images that dont work for us as a means to progress, we should study these images & work out why they dont work ,what is it that I have done that doesn't make this work, or more the point what do I have to do to get it right.
I do this all the time when one of my new images gets rejected in a competition, what ,why & where have I gone wrong with this image, is it the detail, is it the story, is it just crap? even though I think it is great, am I too emotionally connected to the image to see the trees for the woods. This is where your friends, peers, or what ever you want to call them come into it, someone who is not emotionally involved with you is generally less bias. Send the image to them ,what do you think be honest, remember you might not like what you hear so be prepared for criticism.

On Sunday I went to the Methven rodeo, I watch young men & Women compete against mother natures creation, horses & Bulls, they fell off.One guy got dragged around the arena by a horse, do you think he sees this as being a failure, I dont think so he will use this experience to hone his skills a little more to be a little better or if he is too badly hurt he may feel it is time to hang up his spurs, but he will pass on his knowledge to the younger one's. So as we learn new ways of doing thing pass it on & people will pass it back?