Inspiration from LensWork #75

Yesterday I went through my LensWork #75 Extended DVD and found lots of inspiration within. I've mentioned LensWork before and it continues to be one of my favorite and useful photography publications. The Extended DVD has the benefit of delivering LOTS of images, audio, and video interviews, and other goodies. I never fail to find something useful and relevant to my work. The highlight of the issue was an interview with Bruce Barnbaum, who is a very well known fine art photographer in Washnigton. The portfolio shows Barnbaum's latest exhibition called Stone and contrasts the natural and built environments. It is fantastic. There is also a video interview (32 mins) that is enlightening. What is good about the videos is that you get to see and hear the artist, which adds to our ability to relate to the artist's work. Also on Barnbaum's web site there is an excellent essay on digital photography, a must read for everyone.

The other very interesting portfolio was by Larry Blackwood entitled Elevations: Grain Elevators. This was my kind of stuff, details of these huge structures in Montana. There are several grain elevators in Montréal near the Old Port that I pass each time I ride my bike to Ile Notre Dame (the Formula 1 track). I've contemplated photographing them and now I am highly motivated to do so.

One last item, a very valuable interview with Bill Jay, whom I would have never know about should it not be for Lenswork. Bill Jay is one if not the most prolific photographer of photographers. He is also an author and educator. His web site contains hundreds of downloadable essays and also scans of the magazine Album. Very significant reading for anyone interested in both contemporary and the history of photography. He is very critical of the current state of fine art photography today.

Diana's book pics

My daughter Diana is writing two books on fashion and technology. I have been doing some shots for some of the projects. It would be great if I could be in NYC with her, it's hard to do these things remotely. Diana is working hard and I can't imagine having her schedule, with a full time job, and writing two books (I mean these are real books, one of them is 336 pages). My life is easy compared to hers. Product photography is a whole other field which I can claim no experience. We were just using the natural light in the dining room.

 

A most incredible photographer

Visit the website of Vincent Laforet http://laforetvisuals.com/main.php and you will experience the most incredible imagery imaginable. Vincent is with the NY Times and as most of you already know, has won almost every conceivable award in photojournalism. I was blown away. Thanks Dany for the reference. You will probably recognize some of his classic images. The one of the Superdome in the Katrina aftermath is haunting. Check it out.

Passion, choices, success

Today I had lunch with a co-worker and friend, Dany Flageole who is a motor sports photographer and webmaster/owner of www.flagworld.com. Dany's passion is racing, and he is devoted to this sport. His photography reflects that, and you can find him almost every weekend at the track, doing what he does best, capturing images of motor sports. His week is spent editing and writing (apart from his 40 hr day job as a software QA specialist). So you can say Dany is not only passionate but completely consumed by his interest. This is the kind of dedication that you need to reach a level of success in any endeavor. There are choices to make. I'm sure there are a lot of movies and TV shows that Dany does not see. But he makes these choices. It is always inspirational for me to talk to and see people who excel at their work. It is a testiment to the capabilities of the human spirit. My pet peeve is to listen to people how they can't do this or that because of this or that. So what's the point of making excuses for yourself? If you understand what people do in order to achieve what they are, then one can begin to chart a personal course of action.

My point to all this is that there are inspirational examples of excellence all around us. In fact almost everyone has their own version of this story. As we grow as artists, we need to make decisions everyday. Whether these decisions support your artistic endeavor or not, you consciously plot your own course for what you are and will be. I will apply this thinking to my everyday activity to guide my choices...now let's see, when are the American Idol re-runs going to be on?

Finding inspiration today

Each day I try to find some inspiration for my photography. Last night I listened to Nancy Rotenberg's "Let Your Light Shine" DVDs that I purchased at the NANPA Summit. I love Nancy's calm voice and gently encouragement. Although I have seen some of the material before at her NANPA Keynote and her workshop, I received a refresher on what she felt we needed to pay attention to when living our creative life.  Nancy's website: http://www.naturaltapestries.com/index.html Today I visited the site of Gary Crabbe who was one of my portfolio reviewers at NANPA. Gary is a long term professional and very talented artist who covers California extensively. His Yosemite and California coastal images are incredible. Gary worked for many years for Galen Rowell. Gary offered me a lot of encouragement and advice during my review and he is a really fun person to be around. Check out his work, subscribe to his newsletter, and read his blog: http://www.enlightphoto.com/home.html You can learn a lot about keyword tagging from his gallery...he knows his stuff because that's what he did for Galen.

Dorian pulled a book from our libray that is out of print but very appropriate to the type of photography I do. "By Nature's Design" by Pat Murphy provides images and explanations for all of the patterns and textures you find in nature. It's good to get the scientific explanation for what we see. You can get this used on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0811803295/sr=8-1/qid=1207073377/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&qid=1207073377&sr=8-1&seller=

I also updated my Photographers for Freedom blog with a final entry for the Topcats and the Disestablishment Ceremony we attended last week. http://photographersforfreedom.wordpress.com/ (see entry dated March 27)

Link your way to information

It’s interesting to track how your research into a topic can lead to more information and opportunities. In a copy of the ASMP magazine that I got at the PDN Summit, there was an article on managing your business by Leslie Burns-Dell’Acqua with a link to her site, http://www.burnsautoparts.com/BAPsite/Index.html . Strange name for a site on photography business consulting, but while I was there I found a wealth of information and free articles on the business of photography. Interestingly enough I opted in to be on Leslie’s email list by sending an email. She contacted me and asked for more info about me. This was a VERY clever way of getting to know everyone, kinda like qualifying a lead. I sent her my pbase and Photographers for Freedom links, then she responded with some interest in the PFF concept. Good for me. I ended up with some good advice from Leslie on promoting the PFF program, and am motivated to go out and do it. I then went to Leslie’s blog and started reading it. She had a link to a presentation given at the TED conference on success. http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/70 Good stuff. Now that I found the TED site, there is a ton of stuff here that can be useful to creative types. So it goes on and on.

In the shadow of giants

Today I was going through the book Regarding the Land by Robert Glenn Ketchum (http://www.robertglennketchum.com/). I was fortunate enough to meet Robert at the NANPA Summit in Palm Springs and he was autographing his books. Looking at his career and work I sit completely dumbfounded and numb. There are some people who found their calling early, and exercised their talents to the max. I look at myself as a photographer and am completely intimidated by some of these people. I am inspired but I also begin to question my own directions and accomplishments in life and career. Not that I have anything to complain about, but it leads to an interesting self-evaluation. Sometimes my goals as a photographer wanna-be change, depending on where I think I am in life. Many times the spirit of my younger years takes over, and I envision great things in the future. Other times my aspirations are more modest, as I savor the enjoyments of just being able to express myself through my camera, to whatever limited audience I manage to muster. Ultimately we have to satisfy ourselves in the balance of what we have to do and what we feel we must do. We can't change our past, we can only decide what we can do now, at this very moment. It's good to receive motivation to push farther, higher, and harder towards our goals. It's also good to just give thanks for who and what we are right now.

So Robert, today I thank you for your book and sharing your creative view of the world.

FCCJ South Gallery - Made of Steel

At noon I went to see the Brooks Jenson exhibit on Made of Steel. It was a very moving and inspiring exhibition. Of course Brooks is one of my favorite authors and I am a devoted subscriber to LensWork and his podcasts. His project was very similar to the one I am working on for the farm, and maybe that is why I was able to relate to it so much. Brooks is one of those really creative individuals who is so multi-talented. I'm sorry that I missed his reception...he actually came to Jacksonville for the gallery opening and I missed it! I needed to be in Grand Rapids MI for business. So what is this telling me?  

For a full PDF view of this collection go to: http://www.brooksjensenarts.com/made_of_steel/MOSlong.pdf

Learning from LensWork

This is my first entry into this blog. At least for now. I carry a small notebook around that I scribble to-dos and daily notes, and decided this would be a much better way to document my journey and share it with others. There is a very cool publication I receive, it is called LensWork http://www.lenswork.com/ and is available in printed form or in an extended edition on CD. What's quite remarkable about this and other publications is that you can start linking from any article and find vast amounts of information. This is what makes the Web so wonderful but also manages to chew up a lot of time and sleep. I'll be documenting a few very pertinant links to sites that I have found from this publication that are inspiring and useful to me.

In LensWork extended #70, Brooks Jenson (the publisher) interviewed Mary Virginia Swanson, who is quite famous as a resource for fine art photographers who are marketing their work. I immediately went to her site and her blog http://www.mvswanson.com/ and ordered her book The Business of Photography. I think anyone who is interested in selling their fine art photography should read this book and visit this site. I'll have more to say on the book as I make my way through it.