by successfulbob | photography, photography - art quote, photography education
Sometimes I head off on a tangent tapping into quotes from painters, writers, poets, coaches and others. Today let’s get back to a quote from a photographer. Former Magnum Photographer Wayne Miller documented war, black families and was a Life Magazine photographer among his other photographic endeavors.
A Time Magazine memorial article when 94 year old Miller passed away in 2013 started this way, “To photograph mankind and explain man to man — that was how legendary photographer Wayne Miller described his decades-long drive to document the myriad subjects gracing his work.”
Here’s the Photo Art Quote from Wayne that caught my attention.
“I think good dreaming is what leads to good photographs.” Wayne Miller
Simple ten word thoughts like these lead me to do some searching to find a way to make my images stronger and a bit different from those that have created before me. I proudly say that i stand on the shoulders of those photographers that have come before me. Without them photography would not be what it is today. When you take strong ideas and then build upon them you come up with stronger images.
What is dreaming? According to Wikipedia, “Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur usually involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep.” An idea to capitalize on your dreams is to work to retain them after the fact is to have a notebook and pen or recorder next to your bed. If you don’t jot down the ideas that come to you in dreams within a few moments of wakening they go out and become part of the ether again.
To my mind photographic dreaming is a culmination of all the information you place in front of your eyes. Movies, books, photographs, impressions from your travels and added to that your imagination mixing all of these elements together. This can also be done while you are awake to have more control. Give yourself permission to day-dream. I know it was probably knocked out of you at an early age with parents and teachers telling you to, “Stop woolgathering!” “Pay attention!” “Day-dreaming is a waste of time…” Now you don’t want to do it all the time, but you do want to let your mind wander and play. Playing is one of the best ways to learn and develop new ideas and concepts.
What do you dream about? Have you found ways to incorporate your dreams into your photography?
Yours in Creative Dreaming, Bob
by successfulbob | photography education, video
This video brought tears to my eyes… In a good way.
See how this artist takes what many of us would think of as a debilitating syndrome and turns it into a way of creative life that will blow you away.
It also made me think quite a bit… Let me know how it affects you.
TED Talks – Ideas Worth Sharing Phil Hansen – Embrace the ShakeYours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | art books, photography, photography books
Reminders.
New ideas.
Insight from another photographer who has excellent skills.
And, some pretty darn nice photography all wrapped up in a beautiful package.
I’m talking about Bruce Barnbaum’s book The Essence of Photography – Seeing and Creativity published by rockynook. Bruce starts with a narrative that in the beginning I felt was a little too ‘I’ centric. But, he was sharing information as he saw and experienced it trough his career and I actually enjoy seeing through his eyes this way.
Bruce’s book cover.
Bruce gives lots of information on creativity and getting out of your own way. Suggestions on how to be a great photographer are there for the picking. This is not light reading but get you gets you to examine your photography and creativity in-depth.
Here’s a quick sample paragraph from the book…
The Importance of Defining Your Expressive Goals
“Sometimes a photographer has an idea of what he wants to accomplish, but he doesn’t really know how to achieve that goal. Mapping out that pathway can be the most difficult part of the process. Prior to that, figuring out exactly what you want to say about about your subject matter – whether it’s the character of the person you want to bring out in a portrait, the forces in nature found in the sandstone walls of a slit canyon, or anything else -can also be challenging. This is where the combination of drawing upon your deepest interests and fully understanding the technical aspects of photography – digital or traditional – gives you the tools you need to accomplish your goals.”
From the rockynook site on what’s inside…
• Defining your own unique rhythm and approach as a photographer
• How to translate the scene in front of you to the final photograph
• The differences and similarities between how an amateur and a professional approach photography
• The differences between realism and abstraction, and the possibilities and limitations of each
• Learning to expand your own seeing and creativity through classes, workshops, and associating with other photographers
• Why the rules of composition should be ignored
• How to follow your passion
• When to listen to the critics and when to ignore them Here’s one particular passage I want to share with you…
Lots of inspiration for creativity. This will be a book I return to for a refresher on an ongoing basis.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – You can get Bruce’s The Essence of Photography on Amazon
by successfulbob | landscape photography, Lumix GX8, panorama, photography
Panorama Photos
I’ll put on my ‘Old Man’ hat here and say, “Back in the day (can you hear the creaky voice??) we had to make notes with a pencil and paper to record what lens was used, and the settings on the camera like Aperture and shutter speed. We knew the ISO ’cause that was on the film.”
OK. you probably already know I’m a fan of the in-camera panoramic format with the Lumix line of cameras. Well I gotta tell ya’ they’ve made it even better. Must be some new math working but you can make your panoramas longer and the stitching is even better than before in the G7 and the GX8.
I’m stoked!
My wife and I went out to dinner tonight and I slipped out for a couple minutes as the scene was unfolding with some nice light. I dialed the GX8 to the pano setting and opened up one stop of exposure compensation to keep the shadows from blocking up since there was so much sky in the image. In Adobe Photoshop I added a Soft Light Layer to gently burn the top ot the sky back in just a bit. Here’s the result.
Red rock view from Sound Bites Grill in Sedona, Arizona at sunset. Camera and lens information below.
One of the best pieces of information we have as photographers today is the metadata secured in the file for all of our images.
This information is accessed in Photoshop by going to File > File Info >Camera Data. This info makes it possible to understand settings and study how to make our images more consistent and to make situations repeatable as we understand more how our camera’s work.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | photographers health, photography education
Spent a lot of time at my desk with my face buried in the computer again today.
But,
I don’t feel tired.
Used to be after a day spent with the LED’s staring back in my face I’d be exhausted. That seems to have been taken care of by my new exercise routine. And, you can do it too!
I started with the Johnson & Johnson 7 Minute Workout downloaded as an APP on my IPad. While it does have a routine that lasts for 7 minutes the reality is you work your way up to doing the set of simple exercises three times in a row with a bit of a warm up and and stretching to finish for a total of about a half hour. **I recommend that you do this each morning. (ease into it a bit at a time)
The 7 minute workout is like having a trainer with you… ** 7 minute workout by johnson & johnson
The other part of the equation is to get up at regular intervals and get the blood moving throughout the day. For this, you need a timer on your computer. Time flies when you work on your images and are in create mode. You can’t depend on your inner clock. Believe me when you start running a timer you will be surprised every time it goes off!
Computer timer software can be found by doing this search and you can find the one that best sui.
I set mine for every half hour. I get up and do something for one minute. Stretch, a few push-ups, jumping jacks, sit ups or a brisk walk to the kitchen for a glass of water. Anything to get the blood pumping and the body away from the computer for a bit.
Makes a huge difference! Ready to try?? Download the J&J link above to your personal device…
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
** I am not a doctor, never even played one on TV. Please check with your health professional before starting any exercise routine.
