Photography

I really enjoy photography, and I do it for myself.  Not for money, or social media, or even to have the images to keep forever.  I actually just like taking pictures…

I like the way it changes my own perception of a moment…the way I see light differently…time differently…the way it causes me to slow down and look really really carefully.  I like the way it has taught me to see negative space, contrast, color.  I like holding a camera, peering through it, and seeing a different world that was there all along.

That said, I’m also happy to sell you photos, and you can contact me here :)

I grew up with film.  Photography was aperture.  Shutter speed.  Light meters.  And focus like you can’t even imagine!  Unless you can of course :)  It was intuitive to use my left hand as a “table” not just for stability but because it was a natural way to reach the aperture and focus.  All of this set me up with some amazingly good habits that have drastically improved my art.

Which brings me to another point…this is art.  It’s art because I saw so, because I’m trying to make something I experience as beautiful, because I put a lot of sweat and blood and tears into this.

 

Here’s a thing that happens a lot…I show someone a photo I took, and they say “Wow!  You have a great camera!”.  It pisses me off every time.  Like…yeah, I bet Picasso had some pretty sweet paint brushes too.  Or ya know, maybe he didn’t!  Who cares?  Why are we even talking about this?  It’s true that I like my camera, also true I spent a bunch of money on it, and additionally true that I tend to be pretty vocal about how much I like it.

It’s also true that I took the picture, not the bloody camera!

For example A, let’s take a look at this photo I shot with the cheapest smallest Nikon that I could find…

No editing.  That’s exactly how I shot it.

For specimen B I could upload a really awful blurry photo I took by accident with my “good” camera, but you get the idea…

Next up, printing!  I print photos, except some times when I forget.  I like 4×6, single copies, whatever non-glossy happens to be.  It costs me like 15 cents or something…I’m not actually sure but the point is it’s pretty cheap.  I love holding a photo in my hand, showing it to a friend and not having it be on a screen, photos look different when you print them and I think they look better.

Do you print your photos?  Why?  Why not?  If you don’t, then do you wish you did?  I’m actually curious about these things…

And after years of shooting photos I’m slowly slowly slowly learning to shoot video…and it’s weird.  But I like it!  It’s fun, new, exciting, and brings me back to the days when I was trying to figure out how the hell to make a camera go.

So with that…I have a bunch more photos to sort through.  What to keep, what to ditch, which to print…it’s a discipline I’m slow to learn and learning slowly.  And with that…here are a few images to enjoy, cheers!