Welcome to my contemplative side . . .

The Light of Tuscany -

"The light in Tuscany has a different quality then it does here." I want to dispel the myth that somehow the light in places like Tuscany, Italy has a certain quality not found here in the states. Light is light no matter where you are. That early morning ethereal golden light we photographers like to chase can be found in places all across America. The difference when we travel abroad to places such as Tuscany is we are viewing it with a fresh perspective. Every photographic moment is a new experience. In every corner of America at the right time of day, there can be beautiful 'Tuscan light' to enhance your photographic subjects.  This image was captured at sunrise on a ranch in New Mexico.  I encourage you to start looking with a renewed vision and passion for the beautiful 'Tuscan light' on your photographic adventures.

Simplify, Simplify -

This profound statement by Henry David Thoreau holds true in photography as it does in life. I have always found that the best images, including my own, follow this axiom. You should really strive for simplicity in your photographs. I have seen too many photographs that were on the cusp of greatness only to be undermined by too many details in the image that robbed the photograph of good, clean composition. Always remember what Thoreau said, “Life is frittered away by too many details,” and so is a photograph. Present your strongest statement photographically speaking in the simplest terms. Do not let a potentially great image get “frittered away” by too many unrelated details. A good photograph needs rhythm and harmony, not chaos in the image. This is why my favorite ‘walk about’ lens is a Nikon 70-300. It forces me to compose tight and it helps me to reduce the extraneous or superfluous and concentrate on the essential elements.

Van Gogh and Paint Brushes -

Great photography rests on a simple premise, great seeing.  Or as Edward Weston so eloquently said, “Good composition is the strongest way of seeing.”  How true!  It never is about the camera or lenses.  They are just a means to an end.  The end is how you use those tools in response to the world around you.  When was the last time you were at a museum looking at a Van Gogh painting and said to yourself, “I wonder what brush he used for that painting?"  Of course not!  Who cares what brush or brushes he used.  The most important question is why the painting or the photograph made you feel the way it did.  What was the emotional response and why?  Instead, the most vexing question is what kind of camera or lens was used.  Unfortunately, too many photographers have not freed themselves from the technical side of photography.  The art got lost in a sea of lenses, f-stops, shutter speeds, bit depth, Photoshop and so much more.  The equipment is only a means to an end.  Let your vision and art come to the surface and keep technique grounded where it belongs.  If you keep on riding the waves of technique you will never get to splash in the art of photography.  It really doesn’t matter what lens or what f stop you used.  What really matters are that you felt emotionally stimulated enough to capture with a camera your view of the world and present it on your own unique canvas . . . free yourself.

The True Profession of an Artist -

For some reason, while watching the last glow of a crimson-orange sunset the other evening I remembered a book I read during college which made me think of the artist’s personal journey we all take.  The book was Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse.  It centers on the spiritual journey of an Indian man during the time of Buddha.  While the book is an enlighten read, there was a particular quote on the back cover by Hesse that has captivated me all these years, “The true profession of man is to find his way to himself.”  It would be years later that I would come to fully understand the meaning of that profound statement for me as an artist.  While I have been influenced by many great artists over the years, I realized I was the one who had to cut my own path on that long journey of enlightenment that leads to artistic self expression. To paraphrase Hesse as it relates to the modern day artist, “The true profession of an artist/photographer is to find their way to their art.  It is certainly permissible to be influenced by other great artists/photographers during your personal journey, just make sure while on your personal journey you stay true to your own artistic vision and style.  Be an originator not a duplicator, a creator who sees the world with a fresh, renewed vision.  Like Siddhartha, find your own way to yourself and your art.  I encourage you to go out into the world as a photographer and develop your own style, and have the assertiveness to define and defend your own unique brand of photography.  If you do this, you will ultimately find your own way to your craft and become a contributor to the world of photographic images with which all that implies.  May your journey be grand!

Reflected Light –

Reflected light can be a beautiful, soft, enveloping light and I love using it in my photography.  Reflected light occurs when light from a dominate light source, such as the sun, reflects on an object before it strikes the subject you wish to photograph.  When light is being redirected from an adjacent wall that transformed light will tend to be soft and diffused.  Also, your subject will be influenced by the color of the wall the light is reflecting from.    Reflected light can take on a hard, specular quality if the object the light strikes is shiny metal or steel.  I prefer that special diffused quality of light that bathes the subject with a soft radiant glow.  I look for the appropriate surface that will create this affect.  The image below is a favorite of mine exploiting only reflected light as the dominate light source.  It was created shortly after sunrise near Canyon Road in Santa Fe.  The orange-reddish sunlight was striking an adjacent adobe building which resulted in an exquisite, ethereal light which helped to define and express the weathered appearance of the door and window.  This subject would have a completely different quality and feel if lit by direct sunlight.  I made several exposures on transparency film and within a few minutes the magical light was gone and it was time to move on.

Free Yourself . . . One Lens at a Time -

The next time you go out shooting, take one lens with you and only one lens.  I will often do this to free myself from the technical weight that so often pins us down and can interfere with our artistic expression during that fleeting moment.  You will be amazed how liberating this can be without being weighted down with all those lenses you thought you needed and the burden of which lens to use.  I find one lens is a wonderful way to lighten myself both physically and mentally.  My very steps seem lighter.  I am free to spend more time embracing those elusive ‘enchanted moments’.  Gone are the emotional disruptions such as what lens to use.  I have by practice, refined my choices and as a result simplified the creative process.  There is a wonderful, spontaneous artistic freedom that happens as a result.

The Man Who Walked Through Time –

I recently re-read a book by Colin Fletcher that I read many years ago titled, “The Man Who Walked Through Time.”  In 1963 Colin Fletcher was the first man known to have walked the length of the Grand Canyon, below the rim.  He completed this journey in two months time, alone.  The book is a fascinating read of one man’s spiritual odyssey as he walks through a ‘chasm of time’.  There is a wonderful quote that I would like to share with you.  It is my hope that you too will find the wisdom of what he writes, and be able in some way to apply it to your own life.  “There is a powerful human compulsion to leave things tied up in neat little bundles.  But every journey except your last has an open end.  And any journey of value is above all a chapter in a personal odyssey.  Its end is not so much a goal attained as another point in a continuing process.  And the important thing at the end of a journey – or a book – is to keep moving forward, refreshed, with as little pause as possible”.

Just Like a Painter –

Just like a good painter, a photographer must assert control over what goes on his/her digital canvas.  Our tools may be different but the quest for saying something meaningful is the same.  As artist, we must present it in the most efficient manner possible.  Like a painter, we photographers have to also find the nuances of light, the drama or serenity of color and the myriad gestures of life that culminate in the ‘enchanted moments’.  Learn to become an in-camera artist.  Use your artistic vision to isolate the essential elements that relate to the theme of the image you are trying to create.  As an artist, you must become obsessed with the details.  Remember, you alone are responsible for everything on your digital canvas.  Just because our initial digital canvas is much smaller that a painter’s canvas, that does not mean we should be any less critical with its content.  Don’t forget that our little digital sensors may eventually become large fine art prints.  I would encourage you to visit as many museums and art galleries as possible and study the great master painters like Rembrandt, Van Goth, Vermeer, Michelangelo, etc.  Generally speaking, you won’t find those overly bright spots of light in the far corners or unrelated content in their paintings that plague too many photographs.  Though your sensor is small, let you vision be large.  Start seeing all those unrelated elements in-camera that melt away good composition.  Become a painter of light and color with your camera and create images on your digital canvas that will make people stand in awe of your fine art prints.

Let it Rain, Let it Rain –

You can always find images to create no matter where you are or what time of day it might be.  It is all about fine tuning your focus, adjusting your perspective, and seeing the possibilities.  I made this abstract image after a heavy rainstorm from our master bedroom.  This particular window always affords a beautiful framed view our pasture and live oak trees.  Just before leaving the room, I noticed this wonderful picture that nature had created for me.  The rain soaked window screen and soft, muted colors added mystery and intrigue to the out-of-focus live oak trees.  I have looked out this window many times, but it has never appeared to me quite the way it did that rainy afternoon.  There are pictures waiting to be photographed with our cameras, all we have to do is find them.

All We Are Saying Is Give Peace A Chance –

 This past Saturday (June 11, 2011) I was on assignment photographing the Traveling Vietnam Wall.  “The Wall is an 80% replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D. C.  The Wall stretches over 380 ft long from end to end and contains all 58,253 names.”  I have also photographed the original Memorial in Washington D.C. several years ago.  But what I did not expect was to feel the rising emotions I did while capturing the event.  Whether a replica or the original Wall, all those names of fallen soldiers come to life for me.  I thought in my moment of silence, they were somebody’s spouse, father, son, cousin, or friend.  I felt my eyes start to water looking at all those names that gave their lives when unexpectedly I heard the poignant words of John Lennon singing, “All we are saying is give peace a chance.” 

I was suddenly brought back to reality when I noticed a person slowly walking close by.  It turned out to be a Vietnam Veteran who was looking for some of his fallen comrades.  When he found the fallen soldiers he served with in Vietnam he started to cry.  I immediately pulled back to allow him some space and not interrupt his grieving with my camera in his face.  As photographers, you have to know when you can photograph and when you should pull back.  As it turned out, I was able to capture a memorable image from a different perspective and allow this Veteran his moment.  It does not have to be, “get the photo at all cost.”  We should strive to be sensitive, compassionate photographers who instinctively sense a time to photograph and perhaps a time not to.  That image of a lone Vietnam Veteran feeling the pain of war all those years ago that Texas morning will be burned in my memory for years to come, and so will the words of John Lennon.  

Move Your Feet -

Early in my career I used fixed focal length lenses exclusively as zoom lenses did not have the equivalent sharpness and speed (light gathering ability) of a good prime lens.  As a result, you learned to frame the world (in your mind’s eye) with a particular focal length lens.  If you wanted to change your frame of reference you merely ‘moved your feet’ to get the right framing and perspective.  It trained you to instinctively know which lens to grab from your camera bag for the look you wanted before you even brought the camera to your eye.  The world took on a 50mm or 105mm point of view.  It is much the same as a pro golfer who instinctively knows what club they need to use before they line up their next shot.  After years of playing the game, they have developed an automatized frame of reference for what club is needed for the ball to travel the appropriate distance and trajectory.  The process has become reflexive and instantaneous.  So it was with photographers who used fixed focal length lenses for many years on their assignments. 

Over time, zooms came into vogue because of their increased sharpness and added flexibility, and for some reason photographers forgot to move their feet.  They became what I call frozen zoomer’s.  I can’t tell you how many times I see zoomer’s standing like statues at events and never move their feet to change their frame of reference or perspective.  They miss another important tool at their disposal when shooting-their feet.  I think a better approach is to zoom to the focal length you want and then move forward or backward for the desired perspective.  Yes, I too love my zoom lenses and sometimes you can’t physically move because you might disturb the subject or an obstruction is in your pathway.  But in most situations you can.  And I encourage you to use this approach when shooting.  It will help you to automatically pre-visualize your shot with a particular focal length lens and facilitate how the subject or scene will look in your mind’s eye before you shoot.  It is interesting to note that a prime 50mm lens is only five steps away from becoming a 100mm lens and a 70mm lens is about 14 steps from being the equivalent framing of a 300mm lens (notwithstanding a change in perspective).  Zooms are great tools to have in your lens kit.  Just don’t forget to think with your head and zoom with your feet for greater compositional and perspective control.

Mozart, Thoreau, and Frost –

There have been many times photographers will ask me, “Where do you get your inspiration from?’  I really love this question because it tells me as an artist; they too are looking for pathways to inspire their creative soul.  Every artist/photographer needs to take the time to re-energize their artistic soul.  An artist’s soul can sometimes lose its way or simply die of needed creative thirst if unattended to.  As with the body, so too the soul needs the right food of inspiration to keep it moving forward.

There are many wellsprings we as artists can tap into to help revitalize and rekindle our pool of creativity.  For me, I will often submerge myself in other art forms besides photography such as: literature, poetry, music, and painting.  I move out of the realm of photography to be inspired by other forms of art which has always taken me on a new path of discovery and enlightenment.

I regularly listen to Mozart in the quiet of early morning when life is new and awakening.  His music always awakens any artistic slumbering in my soul.  Mozart’s music is truly food for the artist’s soul!  I love his Clarinet Concerto K. 622, especially the second movement. When I listen to that piece of music, I feel a sense of overall wellbeing and tranquility; my world is transposed and peaceful again.  I never tire of listening to that concerto.  One of my favorite poets is Robert Frost.  Many of his naturalistic poems take me to a place of wonderment and enchantment.  I too feel the magic and serenity of a winter’s night in his poem, Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening.  I am whisked to another place in my memory and new thoughts emerge and become crystallized.  And of course, I would be remiss if I did not mention the writings of Henry David Thoreau, who has always been a continuous source of inspiration and contemplation for me over the years.  Whenever I read Thoreau, I always feel wiser than I did before.  I am forever reminded to step to my own music and live a life fulfilled.  Or as Thoreau so eloquently put it, “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.  Live the life you have imagined.”

Nourish your artistic soul and imagination with different forms of art and let that inspiration be a positive flame for the world to see.

Photo Wandering –

Over the years, I have come to realize that a key to my enjoyment of photography was the ability to wander freely with my camera and allow the images to come to me.  In fact, some of my personal favorite fine art images were capture in this fashion.  It really amounts to leaving your thought patterns behind and photographing without any preconceived photo ideas or direction.  As photographers, we tend to stick to familiar photo subjects and routines which overtime can dull the artistic soul.  As artists, I think we should be continually refreshed by exposing ourselves to new ideas and impressions.  Creativity feeds on the not yet, the unexpected.  I find the best way to do this is to untie those neat little bundles that are our life and embrace the mystery and adventure that awaits us.  We need to get off our beaten paths and dance at times in the world of serendipity.  Let your shooting be a process of discovery!  As photographers, we should let go of the control and limits we impose on ourselves and take the time to wander freely (in body and mind) with our cameras.  From experience I can promise you the rewards are great, the possibilities endless.   

Isolate the Essential Elements –

The photograph below is an example using this concept which resulted in a positive outcome.  As a photographer, it should become an intuitive response when you are photographing.  The image below was created during one of my many sojourns to New Mexico.  While I was photographing, I noticed an intriguing shop window filled with a myriad of colorful items.  Upon entering I was visually treated to an abundance of antiques, colorful painted furniture, and rustic odds & ends.  The walls were painted in saturated colors of blues, greens, oranges, and yellows.  For a color photographer, it was a voyeur’s paradise!  Almost immediately, I was attracted to the bold design of a weathered blue rocking chair which was near an intensely colored red-orange wall.  While I could have chosen to include the entire rocking chair and some of its surroundings, I chose to concentrate instead on design, shape, and color by isolating the essential elements of the subject.  As a result, it created a much stronger composition than would otherwise have been possible.  As an artist/photographer you should always be asking yourself, “What is the essence of the image I wish to photograph?”  Then proceed to isolate the essential elements that will result in the strongest composition.  For me, it was the simplicity of the repeating blue diagonal lines and the intense color of the adjacent wall that brought it home for me.

Make your strongest compositional statement by isolating the essential elements that help to simplify the subject.  Learn to say more with less!