Brick Shed Re-imagined
This is the product of my revisiting a color photo found in my Martinsburg set (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wvmikep/4694700224/in/set-72157624264209740/) from a different creative point of view.
I Am A Photographer…
No, this is not a post about how great I think I am or how great I think anyone should think I am. What this is, however, is about a step I learned some of us need to take to keep our personal growth moving forward.
Back in 2007, I decided to take up photography. It was something I had been interested in for quite some time, yet never had the means, background, training, or guts, frankly, to jump in. I took an introductory class through my local adult & community education program and bought myself my first DSLR. I learned a good deal about light, exposure, depth of field, etc. and managed to be the only one to stick it out in the class for the duration.
At that time, I was using my camera as a rigid tool creating literal representations of the world around me. I was learning about composition, yet you couldn't catch me cropping my photos or daring to let the colors stray from the absolute and literal. Having worked in the technical field for so many years, I was finding it hard to break from the world of ones and zeroes.
Eventually, I would purchase a decent lens (Canon 24-105mm f/4 USM L) and get over my silly aversion to cropping. I was still learning what I could about composition and was getting out and shooting when I could. With a work schedule that prevented me from taking real classes, including those I'd still love to take just down the road at Shepherd University, this has largely been a self-taught affair.
With that said, I did receive some critical feedback from a then-friend & professional photographer from Frederick, MD. We've since parted ways in less than friendly terms, but that won't prevent me from giving credit where it's due. He (for now, let's just call him "Frederick") is very talented and the advice I did receive was sound. However, in one way, he did hold me back. While he got his work displayed in various shows and galleries, he never once suggested I get involved with the local arts organizations in my area. In our last conversation, he claimed I don't think about exposure-related EXIF data because, as he put it, he's a professional photographer and I'm not.
No, I'm not a professional photographer. If I tried to use my photography to put food on my table, I'd quickly starve. However, at that time I had decided to take a risk and join ArtBerkeley and the Berkeley Arts Council. I even dared to go as far as submit a few of my photos for inclusion in a local art exhibit that ran for the month of October at the Berkeley County Offices. By joining these organizations, I've met great people and learned to embrace photography as a literal expression of the world around me, but as an expression of how I see the world around me.
I'd like to think I've grown the most in the last three months. I still aspire to produce images that can be classified by others as fine art. That's my goal and I'll continue to do what I can to learn and grow as needed to get there for as long as it takes. If there's one thing I've learned in the past few weeks, it's that I need to stop selling myself short. As I take the art of photography ever more seriously, if I want others to take my art seriously, I need to learn to take myself seriously (but not too much, of course). No longer should I call myself a "photography buff" or any of the other variations of the self-minimizing label.
Yes, I am an amateur photographer. Being called an amateur photographer is in no way an insult, no matter how "Frederick" spins it. Yet, when it's all said and done, I am a photographer.
I welcome constructive criticism. I'll be featuring select images on this site. Feel free to comment here or where you can see my complete portfolio: SmugMug or flickr.
Kick-starting Creativity
We've all had those moments where, creatively, we hit a wall. We're thinking about this one slide and no matter how hard we try, we either have difficulty thinking of a design that works or everything we come up with just isn't good enough.
Well, one of my passions is photography and the only way I can get better is by actually getting out there and getting practice. The problem is, I hit that wall where I couldn't think of where to go or what to shoot. I've hit Harper's Ferry and the C&O Canal so many times, I couldn't think of anything original to focus on. Cities, be they Washington, DC, or any of the much smaller versions in the area aren't of any interest to me (I'm a rural kind of person). I was in a rut, but I really, really wanted to get out there shooting. I just needed to get my creative juices flowing again.
Apple On the Snow
Thanks to a trip up into the wintry north to see family, I learned that what I needed was a change of scenery. Getting away from the everyday forced me into a fresh and new view of the world around me. Compositions started forming in my mind again. One morning while up there, right as the sun was coming up, I went out in the sub-zero air to take some photos. I didn't have to go very far, either. Heck, I didn't even have to leave my aunt & uncle's property to get some material.
Later that day, as I was going through my photos, my aunt commented how she always felt she had a beautiful home, but never quite saw it the way I had captured it. At that point, I knew the change of scenery not only helped, but was exactly what I needed.
Granted, a 12-hour trip by car and train isn't always practical or necessary. On the contrary, we can probably achieve the same results by taking a walk to some place we've never been or haven't been to in quite a while. If it's an area you normally see from within a car, travel it by foot. Force yourself into unfamiliar territory, or at least an out of the ordinary situation. Force your mind's eye to view, digest, and perhaps interpret the world around you in a fresh and new way.
DIY Stock Photography
Have you run into a situation where you need a photo for a slide and you either can't find one that works and looks just right on services such as iStockPhoto or for a shot like this, you can't justify paying for a photo of some Sharpies? You can try the Creative Commons route at flickr, but even then it's a crap-shoot whether you'll find something worthy of being included among your slides.
Well, a lot of us presenting slide design bloggers have suggested using your own photos in place of stock photos when you can. Not only can it be cheaper, but you're guaranteed to be the first to use that particular photo.
I faced this particular issue recently when working on a personal project of mine. I needed two different photos: 1) Sharpies and 2) Tools that can support the message "layout." Nothing good was coming up on iStockPhoto and frankly, for at least the photo of Sharpies, I just couldn't bring myself to spend the $3 for it. Nothing of use was coming up on my http://www.behold.cc search either. So, what could I do? Well, there are a couple do it yourself options.
DIY Studio Lighting
In the ShutterTalk article, "Putting Together a Budget DIY Lighting System," they show you how for about $75, you can assemble a decent on-the-cheap lighting system to help you photograph items indoors. It's something I definitely intend to assemble at some point, especially when I don't have reliable weather to make use of the cheapest lighting around: the sun.
A Solution For the Really Cheap
Sharpies
However, on this occasion, I didn't have the time or the $75 (I really need to replace my 5-year old computer). What I did have was a $15 white board that I use for my brainstorming and slide design work. A white sheet would have been better, but I'm working with what I've got.
I also had a clear day with plenty of sun. It was 10 AM, so the lighting was awfully harsh and taking the shot within two hours of sunrise or sunset would have been better, but with the winter sun as low as it is this time of the year, I thought I could get away with it.
Tools
I set up my white board on my driveway and arranged my subjects on the white board with the composition I was looking for and with the sun to my side. For those who may not know, I chose to have the sun at my side so I can get the shadows I need to give my photos a feel of some depth and not something that feels flat.
I took my shots, cleaned them up a bit in Photoshop and got myself the slide images I was looking for for a grand total of $0. If you don't count the fact that I already owned the white board, then the cost for this set up was $15 for the white board or $19 for some white sheets at Walmart.
If you use your own photography, then you can avoid appearing unoriginal. For as little as $15 or $75, you can give yourself the tools you need to help you get the shot you've been looking for.
