The Obligatory Sunset
Monday July 14, 2008 • Photography
Sometimes living in the desert had its advantages.
I Missed It
Friday July 11, 2008 • Photography
It rained here this morning, a rare event in Scottsdale, Arizona. I grabbed my camera before I left the house, thinking about taking pictures for this site, taking pictures of the iPhone line if we go today, taking pictures for the sheer joy of taking them.
Walking down the ramp to work I saw some mushrooms under a tree that had just sprouted as a result of the new moisture. I almost — almost — stopped to take a picture. But I didn’t. I thought I could do it later.
Going out for lunch, camera in hand, I found the mushrooms dead and looking like totally unremarkable dead leaves. That moment, that life, is lost forever now.
I should have taken the picture when I had the chance.
Photography Introduction
Monday July 7, 2008 • Photography
Don’t be fooled by the title, this isn’t Photography 101. Instead, this post is meant to explain how I perceive photography, and give you a glimpse into the type of entries that will fall under this heading.
For me, photography is about capturing essence. It might be the essence of a moment, a scene, a person, an object, or an idea. It can be anything, it doesn’t really matter. I find the hunt to capture the essence very provocative.
History
Here’s the oldest photo I have in my library, a photo of my dog, Bulma.
There’s all kinds of things wrong with that photo from a technical standpoint. The framing, the angle. Don’t even get me started on the lighting. But, at the same time, it captures the essence of my dog at that moment in time.
Her ears, her eyes. I can probably see more of it than anyone else can because she’s my Bulma, and I know her. My experiences breathe a certain life into the photo that’s not present for other people. What I want to do is capture as much of that life, that feeling as possible, so when others look at a photo they don’t need any experience with the subject to give the photo weight.
Another photo from way back when:
This is one of my first attempts at artistic photography. I was living in an apartment (the door on the right), and one of my friends mentioned that, in the glaringly stark environment, the plant our neighbors put out was a striking contrast.
Ooh! Essence! Camera!
A lot was still lost, but getting better.
Next, what blog would be complete without a picture of the author’s cat?
This one’s much more recent. I’ve learned a lot more about lighting and apertures and ISO and a host of other things, but those things in and of themselves don’t matter. They’re just signposts along the road leading to the essence.
From a recent trip to Jerome:
Hopefully, looking at that, you can almost smell the dusty old office. If you can, I’m on the right track.
Next Time
Those are some photos from my past, but most of the Photography section will be dedicated to the future. Recent photos, thoughts, and developments. And hopefully less puns than in the last sentence. Something from the archives might creep in every now and then, of course, but mostly this will be about the journey, not the road already traveled.
Note: Future posts will have higher resolution images. This post didn’t for two reasons: 1. some of the older images are barely scaled down as it is and 2. I haven’t yet figured out exactly how I want to deal with large images in a content area 400 pixels wide.