I know that a lot of people on this site know how to do light trails but it was a challenge that I set to myself to understand and learn how to do it. I’d read in many photography magazines about this technique and I like how some shots look with this style of photography.
The problem that I have is that I appear to have cotton wool in between my ears and sometimes reading something I am unable to grasp, what to some is an easy technique!! My friend came over tonight and what I thought was a difficult concept he has shown me how easy it is.
I didn’t even know what Bulb setting was, or that I could hold the button down to hold the shutter open for a longer period of time.
I decided not to go into the process of how to take photos of light trails I thought I’d just blog about learning a new skill.
I’ve enclosed a picture, it’s not the best but for my first time I’m really proud of it :o)
So I was reading a blog that was posted by john101477 on December 17th, and it intrigued me to write about what others see in your work. The timing couldn’t have been better. These last three weeks I’ve been working with a local gallery in getting my work displayed. This is my first encounter with the gallery world in displaying my work. The gallery theme changes every three months, which I think is pretty cool. This month is “winter theme”. So I spent several days working on the photos I wanted to include. Fortunately, I ran the photos past the gallery before having them printed. The gallery responded in a way that I was not expecting. They wanted me to change the photo process. Make the photos more “organic”. They wanted me to alter the photos to match what style they liked. Now to me, that doesn’t seem right. I’m selling my art, so therefore I want my work to represent me and my style. Needles to say, I did not continue on with the process. I know it may sound like I’m arrogant about my work… I’m not, really. I just don’t like the idea of someone else telling me how to do my work!
I recently had another experience with a “royalty free” stock photo website. I sell my stuff through them all the time, but the last submission of photos I had them deny quite a few of the photos do to lack of composition. Lack of composition??? What are they talking about??? It was interesting to me because the photos I liked the best were the ones they denied. It just goes to show that beauty is in the eye of the beholder…
So, in the long run… you’re never going to please everyone with your work, which is okay. You don’t have to. The main person that you need to impress is yourself. If you’re taking photos that you don’t like just because others like them, you’re not doing yourself any favors. How will you ever gain the confidence in yourself if you don’t like what you shoot. Instead, shoot photos your way. Your style. Even if it is a little different. Even if it is a little weird. That’s what sets you apart from your competition. I like to shoot children in their element (like playing outside, etc). My “niche” or “style” is a bit darker than usual with “punchy” or “bright” colors. I love that look, and that’s just what I do. People know me for this style and that’s why they hire me. That’s how it should be for you as well. Set yourself apart with your uniqueness and style.
As most of you know I bought a Nikon D90 a few months ago. I hadn’t really gotten the chance to use the video portion of the camera untill Christmas day. here are my notes on the D-movie mode- the video is nice and crisp and while it does shoot slower @ 24fps than most camcorders and even the Canon 5D mark II, I cannot really see any glitches while watching the clip. another down fall is you can only shoot for 5min. although, if you are really trying to shoot sequences to be strung together in post production, it really is not going to be a problem. besides how many people do you know that film for a solid 5 minutes with out changing angles or even changing to another camera? Another issue I had was the lack of auto focus in D-movie mode, it would take some serious getting used to, to be able to focus just right on a moving subject as you will see in the video below. The last issue I have is the mono audio, while this can be changed in post production, it really takes a genious to do.
all in all this is a great camera for just about any situation you get into. is it worth it to spend an extra $1400 on a Canon that solves most of these issues, for general use I would say no. For the professional videographer, probably not, because more than likely you already own a great video camera. although i look forward to seeing Nikon fix these issues with the next model.
I like Art that doesn’t necessarily do what it is expected to do, or that is a little out of the box. Photography would usually be displayed in a 2 dimensional form and even if there are additions to the photograph or layers added to it digitally or manually, it would usually stay 2d. There are several artists who have crossed over to the third dimension for example Gwon Osang
is a Korean artist who photographs hs subject 360 degrees, using hundreds of photos per sculpture, build his subject in 3 dimensions, which is an interesting process, both technically and philosophically - dismantling and then rebuilding something is a slightly different manner.
I just discovered another artist who also thinks a little out of the box, who’s work is very different than Gwon’s because he uses photographs as his building blocks, where as Letha Wilson keeps the photograph the center of her work, expanding on it or emphasising the topic in different ways, often transitioning into 3D.
Both the Appalachian Trail and And So On (California) have the most calming effect on me, making me feel that I am a step away from being in the ocean or wading in a stream.
This tree was photographed by Jim Goldstein in Yosemite, and is very reminiscent of a Menorah, on of the symbols of Hanukkah, and on which the candles are lite for 7 nights. Last night was the first night of Hanukkah, and very rarely, Hanuka will coincide with Christmas this year - which is why I thought this photo was so cool - Christmas and Hanukkah coinciding and the two strongest symbols of the two - the tree and the menorah coinciding to! How cool is that.
Wishing you all Happy Holidays! Drive carefully, eat drink and be merry!
