For my entire photographic life (mostly) I’ve shot RAW files. Certainly when shooting for someone else I’ve always done it – I get more data, more colour, more of pretty much everything, which allowed a degree of laxity when it comes to the edit….
Lately (having just got a new camera a couple of months ago) I decided to try just shooting the JPG files. “It doesn’t matter if the files don’t turn out well”, I thought – let’s just play with the film simulation presets built in.
Turns out, it was a heap more fun than I ever thought it would be.
“Yes yes, I know I can alter the simulations in post, if I shoot RAW”… but that’s not the point. The point is, that it’s ‘FUN’, and I think sometimes we get bogged down so much in the intricacies of photography, that we forget it’s a hobby that we are supposed to be actually having a good time with.
Let’s try not to let the ‘rules’ get in the way…. Sometimes we have to follow them, we have to do what the competition organisers dictate – most times though we don’t…. and that’s when the real fun starts…..
At least that’s what I think….. Frankly, you can’t tell that the picture below is a JPG can you? No…… I thought not….
I’ve recently been reading an article on photography and creativity, and what we do with it. It mentioned a photographer called Stewart Harvey, and his brother who created the original ‘burning man’. In the article Stewart talked about motivations in his photography.
He discusses photographic projects, and how long they can take.
“It took a long time before I (Stewart Harvey) could get out of my own way as a photographer..” This phrase hit me on so many levels, because we tend to think that photography is all about us.. he goes on to say….
“We’re trying to put together an image that we can put in front of people so they can say ‘bravo’ – but until you get past that point, until you realise that photography is about something or someone else, do you start to get into the realm of doing photography that someone else is going to care about, because in the long run, the only person that ever cared about the photography of you and me was us, and in order for other people to care, your photography has to be about something that’s relevant – and relevancy isn’t just the world of art”.
Taking this analogy a bit further, I spent some time considering the things I say when I judge photographic competitions, and what other judges say in turn.
We need to consider what makes a person ‘get’ your photograph and makes them love it. Honestly it’s not the photograph itself, that’s just a part. It’s actually the state of mind of the judge / viewer at the time.
I often say at the end of an evening that the winning picture is honestly a good one, from my point of view – the truth is that on a different evening, or a different time of day, or a different mood, a different picture might come out on top.
Only a couple of nights ago, I listened to a highly respected judge who had been looking at the pictures entered for a few days in advance. They had been marked early, but a comment was made half way through “I’ve marked these, but frankly I’m changing the marks as I work through this evening.”
Were the winning images the ‘bravo’ photographs, or did they send a message to the judge who had to offer comments and scores on the night? I ask this even though one of the comments was “the photographer was very brave to enter this one….”
Whenever someone says something about one of your pictures, and you don’t like it – then that’s a shame, but frankly, it’s not the end of the world.
You should be able to take it on the nose, and deal with it, because photography and art is so personal and subjective. Opinions differ and we should all be prepared to be ‘wrong’.
To say that you ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ something though, isn’t criticism, it’s an opinion, and not critique.
If I take a photo, and like it, it really won’t follow that anyone else will. They may neither appreciate nor understand it at all.
The images I take are sometimes very personal, and I wouldn’t expect anyone else to understand my motivation in taking them at all. This though is a good thing. I’ve done my best with something that interests me, and if someone else doesn’t like it, then that’s the way life is, and I have to live with that.
Remember that just because a person doesn’t like your photograph, it doesn’t mean it’s bad. What you can’t do is let them influence you into doing something that ‘they’ like but you do not. Take suggestions on board yes, have a go at new things, change your image if you must, or if you think it really will help, but don’t change just ‘because’ they said so.
You really don’t have to worry about what other folk think – just enjoy your own work……
I chanced upon this picture when I was walking the beach one day. I can’t even remember quite where it was now. Once I’d seen it though, I just had to get the image before it was lost forever.
The average person would walk on probably, take no notice of what could be considered a bit of rubbish. However, the one who stops and takes notice could be the one who sees things where others would say there is nothing to photograph. They walk on unknowing what they have missed.
It is our job as photographers to see what others don’t, we must learn to be aware of what is around us, and stop saying there is nothing to shoot.
I hear it over and over – there’s nothing here, there’s nothing to take pictures of. Why are we here?
There’s ALWAYS something that you can do, something that will just attract your attention and simply must be shot
This photograph came whilst I was just standing around waiting for my other half. There was just something about the way the guys were sitting, and the colours that caught my eye. Two seconds later it was all over, as the phone text ended, and customers arrived for their sled ride down the hill.
Moral – shoot whilst you are waiting for something else to happen….
Winter is just starting to fade a little. We’ve had snow, ice and blisteringly cold winds. After several weeks of cold weather, we are starting to see the season gradually change. Already I have seen the first snowdrops pushing their heads above ground.
This is now, this is living, this is the earth showing that there is survival after weeks of intense cold, and it makes me feel better for it.
As I write, I listen to the wind in the trees outside the window, I see the blue sky and a few scudding clouds. Horses stroll around the field, chewing on hay put out a few days ago. The trees are still bare, but life is still out there, and the fresh (but still cold) air holds a promise of Spring. All else is quiet, (apart from the breathing of my old dog), and I appreciate the companionship. I enjoy the day (a Tuesday as it happens), and remember that people have to sit in an office, or shop or factory whilst I’m here experiencing this…..
Where I will end up, I don’t know, and really try not to worry about it. My goal is to live life as long as I can, as healthily as I can, and to enjoy my photography.
People say to me that they wish they could witness, or photograph a dawn, or a sunset – and to those able enough to get out – then go and do it. Turn off the television, turn off your computer and do it. Set your alarm for morning, get your camera and go out – NOW. If you want to know what the wind feels like on your face, just go stand outside – even if only for a little while.
Turn off your ‘smart’ phone, and take in the silence – not agonise over the ‘pings’..
I’ve been for a walk in the woods, just me and the dogs. The temperature is cold, the sparrows are infesting the hedgerows, and everything smelt great. I left my phone at home!
In January 2019 (literally just before Covid hit us hard), I bought a new computer…. totally jet propelled, and knocked spots off my old one.
I decided to keep the old one, use it as a second screen for the new one…. turns out good job I did.
Thing is, that I started to use MAC computers back in 2007, and each time I replaced it, I used the migration tool to just copy everything across, and it worked. The ‘new’ machine carried it all, and did it faster, and usually more efficiently. What I discover now, is that you can’t do that for ever.
My latest machine, over the next 12 months got slower and slower – grinding it’s way to life each time I turned it on. Boot up times ran to 5 minutes or more sometimes, and no amount of messing would help. I bought extra software to see if there was malware or anything of that sort on there – but no….. and still the upsets, the unexpected quitting of programmes, and sometimes a refusal to even shut down.
A long talk with the Apple help desk a month or so ago helped enormously. I reinstalled the whole operating system, whilst leaving everything else untouched. It did help, but the boot up time was still far too long.
Exploring the library deep in the system, and I found lots of rubbish – including some dating back to my first MAC – 2007. Not good.
The decision was made that I had to reformat and start again. I knew that I could not do a system restore from Time Machine, as that would just put back all the dross I wanted to get rid of…. so last week, I backed up everything I needed, and did it.
Have to say that the system ran really well. Boot up into safe mode, and you have the option to format the hard drive…. and having done that, you are offered the option to install ‘Big Sur’ from scratch. So, a couple of hours later, and I have an ‘as new’ machine. Great…..
What’s taken the time, is not just reinstalling all the software, but making it run like it did before. In Photoshop, finding all the actions I’d added over the years, then fonts, then sorting the layout. Similar with Lightroom.
Then adding back the catalogue for Lightroom, and making sure all my re-added images could be found.
Then of course there is the extra software I collected over the years. I had a copy of NIK effects – when Google gave it away for free. For some reason, pre-format of machine – it worked perfectly – on the new system not at all…. but this was not the only problem.
On1 gave me real issues. The copy I had was version 9.5, with an upgrade later to version 10. I couldn’t find the download for such an old copy. On1 gave me a link, for me to discover it wouldn’t work with Big Sur, and they said they had no intention of updating such ‘old’ software…. so that ends that then. I’m not buying it again. Thinking it through though, I hardly used it anyway… and it actually still works on the other computer, so all isn’t lost.
Everything else loaded in fine, the plugins I’d bought, or otherwise acquired, all work fine.
Was it worth three days work – yes it was – Firstly, it made me reconsider what I actually wanted from software, what did I REALLY need, and what could be effectively forgotten about. Secondly, the machine boots up nicely in just under 20 seconds…….
All I need to do now is reorder the panels in Photoshop to my liking, check that everything works in Lightroom (no reason that it won’t), and get to play with the new version of NIK effects purchased yesterday.
It’s been a miserable year, with all the stresses of a pandemic, and the worries that ensue. I think I coped pretty well till the second major lockdown, but during that, I’ve got pretty fed up with the restrictions. Life has to go on, and I know that the restrictions are needed. Hopefully by next spring, we will start to see light and Christmas 2021 should be verging on ‘normal’ whatever that turns out to be – the ‘new normal’…. anyway…..
We are plugged into a news cycle all the time – between the internet, TV, radio and podcasts – all the newspapers, magazines, we are somewhat bombarded by all the bad news of the world.
I’m finding that all the news stifles my creative juices, and it’s been hard sometimes to make myself go out and make images… When I’m feeling all tense, sad, argumentative (nothing new there I suppose on the argumentative front!), and generally under the weather – I feel angry at something I have absolutely no control over – and that makes me scared.
What’s the solution?
For me, it’s friends, family and a good support group….. after that, it’s music, books, and good quality television.
I find that if I can get out for a walk with the dogs, alone, or with a friend, I come home feeling much better. A walk with a friend and my camera, some images to process, and play with on a wet day cheers me up immensely.
I was listening to a podcast on photography a few months ago, and a book was mentioned that had nothing to do with image making – it was about a detective called Harry Bosch – my ears pricked up because the detectives’ real name was Hieronymus Bosch – named after the great Dutch Painter who lived in the year 1500. I’d heard of him because of a different podcast where there had been discussion about one of his major works called ‘The Garden of Earthly Delights’ – now, if you’ve not heard of this, then I suggest you give it a look – especially if you like things that are a little off the wall….. anyway, I digress……
I searched online to find the book that had been mentioned, and enjoyed it very much – later I found that there was a TV series too – called ‘Bosch’ which I started to watch, and can’t get enough of……
Harry Bosch enjoys Jazz – (bear with me here), and I spent some time trying to find out what he was listening to in his home. I found a website that had a list of the music, and someone made up a playlist.
With the benefit of Amazon Prime, I was able to get a list of jazz personalities that I’d never heard of, and now have a great list of superb music that I’ve not listened to before.
The upshot is that if I listen to excellent music, read excellent books, and watch excellent programming – talk to excellent friends, and get out for walks and some exercise generally, I WILL feel better – and the more I do it, the better I feel.
So now I’m listening to the Red Garland Trio, Miles Davis, Ry Cooder, Lucinda Williams, Artie Shaw, and Boz Scaggs…. to name but a few……
Listening to things like this (or whatever your predilection for music), reading or watching can lift the spirits, and suddenly today I felt like doing something creative.
When we surround ourselves with excellence, it can promote the same in ourselves.
Photographic Musings......... Or 