project progression

Starting projects seems to be easy. Ideas are dime a dozen, always popping up, ready to pursued. But I find the starting bit easy. It is the follow-through that often saps my will. Even if the pictures are good it can become a struggle to keep turning up, time and again. I know from experience that each time I do, I'll see something new or exciting and get carried away. I'll find that productive, flowing place where the good pictures come from. But showing up can be such a battle. All the fears and doubts come rushing out. The idea is stupid. Nobody wants to see it. Who will care about the pictures? I'll be bothering people who have better things to do. It has been done better before. Over and again these voices in the head turn on the doubt and ridicule. Best solution is to just ignore them and get on with it. Just keep turning up and see what happens. Judge the results and the process when you've got the images in hand, not before. The job is to take the pictures not second guess the results before even turning up.

@Home

I was already composing a post for today about how badly I failed at the reading deprivation. I struggled with it and failed miserably really. Kept reading blogs. Kept browsing the internet. But a funny thing happened while I was trying to avoid forums.

Last night, when I'd normally start reading a book or flicking through a magazine, I found some motivation to try again. Because I'd committed to at least attempting the Artist's Way exercise, I managed to spend time not reading. Instead I started working on the copy of my book that I'd printed out (yes I know, technically still reading, but I was writing too). Then along the way, I found an urge to pick up the camera and start taking some pictures. So I did. I took around 200 pictures of Amanda and I spending a quiet night at home, together. More pictures than I've taken for weeks. More fun than I've had in a while with a the camera, too. Maybe there is something in this exercise after all.

finding the time to be creative

I'm always struggling to find enough time in the day to be creative, around life, work and all those other commitments. I worry about trying to clear large enough chunks of time to go and photograph, or write or even to give proper consideration to a photography book or other reading. Reading and working through 'the artist's way ' one idea has stuck - just be creative in the time you have. It might just be 15 minutes but that's enough to keep things ticking over. You don't need to drag out the tripod and the serious camera. Just make some pictures. Yesterday's series of images of Amanda at the Kure Beach pier are a good example - we only shot for about 5 minutes, but it was fun and kicked off some new ideas in my head.

growth spurts

One doesn't see with one's eyes, one sees with the whole fruit of one's previous experience.

- Aron Klug

Anita describes a familiar lament over on her blog. She expresses dissatisfaction with the images she is currently taking, compared to those in her head. I've had long periods of feeling the way Anita does - my aspirations were well above my abilities. It has been a strange progression over the last 7 years.

Initially I loved so many of the pictures I took, fatally overlooking my lack of technical abilities that I had no understanding of. I was blind to the faults. I'd print them, share them, enter contests and juried shows and be bemused by rejection. After a while, I started producing passably good pictures - still technically flawed, but compositionally competent, satisfying and generally okay. I'd learned enough to see what was wrong with my earliest attempts. I could start seeing glaring flaws like over-sharpening halos and uncontrolled dynamic range. I have several prints around the house from this phase that I still like. They might now be in the laundry, but they are at least still on a visible wall.

Then I went through another growth spurt. I was back again to seeing the glaring flaws in all the pictures I was taking. I couldn't print anything out because by the time it came to printing or framing it, I already was dissappointed in the picture. I learned quite a bit about composition and technical printing in this phase. By the end of it, again quite a few, better, images adorn my walls. That was about 3 years ago.

The more you learn, the less you know

I guess I'm back in another satisfaction vacumm again. There are no photographs on the walls from the last 2 years. My standards might have shifted again, but also the subject matter I'm shooting has moved away from grand landscapes and other forms of easy wall decoration. The images are now lots of people I don't know or maybe more challenging but ultimately satisfying images that don't look so good on the wall. There are a few I've taken that I could think about printing, but even as I type and think about them, I can come up with all the reasons that I'd be dissatisfied with them. There's a book I suppose, but nothing else printed in the last couple of years.

The thing of it is, though, that these periods of dissastisfaction are really where the growth is occuring. If and when you think you are doing good work, then you no doubt are, but you aren't striving for something bigger. The dissappointment and continuing urge to get better shows you know what's wrong and what can be improved. When that moves to the background, and satisfaction sets in, then you've stopped being able to identify the areas for growth, at least for a while. Those plataeus are to be enjoyed, but the struggle up the mountain is where the improvement is really happening, even if you can't see it and want to just give up along the way.

I first encountered this concept of plateaus on the way to learning in the book Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment A worthwhile read. I've also started using the Amazon affiliate program for links to books - feel free to buy through these links and I get a small amount back - or if it offends you, just type the name into your favourite book store and avoid my small attempts at commercialism.

True knowledge comes in knowing that you know nothing

- Socrates

ETA: Great comment from Paulo Bono on this post - well worth a read. It reminds me of the idea that a writer is someone who writes, and a photographer who is someone who takes photographs. If you aren't actually writing or taking the photographs, then you aren't really being a writer or a photographer or whatever sort of -er you aspire to be. Do the work and the rest will take care of itself.

ankle updates

My Ankle has been a bone of contention for almost exactly a year now, since Arun didn't force me to break it playing squash. Finally got something done about it yesterday. Surgery lasted a couple of hours, the bits of bone and scar tissue were pulled out through some wiz-bang wonders of modern gadgetry and arthroscopy. I'm told the ligament was cut off and then re-attached and I'm all splinted and bandaged together now, lying on the couch. I'm finding the vicodin is a lot of fun, but not very conducive to lucid thought. Or any much thought at all really. I keep forgetting things that I've just done, but am generally happy about the whole experience. I have the attention span of a small newt. Just about enough to keep up with Super Mario Galaxy and not much else. Getting up and down from the couch makes me dizzy and all in all it is an interesting experience that I can hopefully not repeat in a hurry. I have just about mastered the flowing, staggering, always half falling way of maneuvering with crutches.

I get the bandages and sutures removed next week, then I get moved into a solid cast for a couple of weeks. After that, a removable boot and lots of physiotherapy (I almost typoed psychotherapy there). Hopefully I can start swimming again in a month or so, get back on a bike by the end of the year and do some running into the cooler months of the start of next year. Longer term aspirations for 2009 and 2010 will probably have to wait until I find out that I can walk and/ or run again. Fingers crossed...

a wake up call

A couple of things to read or listen to. Craig Tanner has updated his Myth of Talent talk and now much more strongly emphasises the need for a strong belief as motivation to developing talent. A lot of this seems to come down to visualising an expected outcome, then moving towards it. Listening to Craig's podcast brought me back to my own experience and how transforming the Next Step workshop proved to be, personally. Emotionally difficult, painful at times but it made a dramatic change to my approach to photography and life in general. Not as life-threatening or dramatic as Craig's own example but I can relate to the shift in belief and world view that he talks about and how it can change your outlook. The discussion on experts at the start of the podcast seems to lean heavily towards the concepts of thin slicing that are discussed in Malcolm Galdwell's book, Blink (The Power of Thinking Without Thinking). The idea that after much training, our unconscious mind can start making the decisions behind the scenes, enabling creativity and intuition, all via the mechanism of learned response and experience. As a result, you have whatever artistic gift or photographic experience that you have as a starting point, but conscious practice, hard work and repeated exposure to ideas and imagery will inform your future work, to a point where it becomes automatic and innate. It just takes hard work and lots of it. You need the passion to drive the hard work and the belief to keep going, but you can get there. The second, related piece is by Neil Gaiman on the ways to find a personal style. Neil is talking about writing style but I think it applies generally. The interesting question is about half way through this blog post, when someone asks how to stop copying other authors when they write; to avoid those influences and develop their own style. The simple answer is You write more or for us, you take more photographs. Eventually, style becomes what you can't help doing. It arrives after long enough practice - I think in part because of the ideas I mentioned earlier - thin slicing and intuition inform your style. It becomes how you see, or how you write or how you take pictures. The bottom line to Neil's post is something I've found myself and mentioned before. Honesty is what style is all about. Being true to your own interests or vision. Taking and sharing the pictures you want to take, not the things you think other people would be interested in. Make the pictures for yourself in a way that you like. Then you'll find your own style. Look inwards for the validation and enjoyment. Maybe other people will like the images, maybe they wont, but you'll have a lot more fun and satisfaction if you honestly follow your own creativity.

dancing about architecture

Listened to an interesting discussion this evening from Jeff Curto, on his Camera Position podcast/blog. Jeff was describing what he considered the contribution of an arts background was to a photographer. I have had a very engineering focused education, with very little exposure to the arts. I've always felt somewhat limited as a result of that, particularly when I venture into what might be considered fine art photography. Often I just don't have the context to even understand work or to talk about it in a sensible way. I don't mean the obfuscated, cliche-ridden world of 'artspeak' but just to be able to find the intersections and shared ideas that can really bring work to life. I often hear people discuss symbolism and archetypes in work and I'm groping towards what that really means and how to use it. Pictures that aren't what the subject is, but what else it is. Matters of colour theory or clever nods and winks back to other work. I've looked at a lot of photography but maybe haven't ventured far enough afield into other areas or types of artistic expression to really get the breadth or depth of knowledge that I'd like to have. Jeff talks about the purpose of an arts background really being about exposure to a lot of ideas and art. Perhaps it could be considered as a guided, focused tour through the history of artistic styles. The study gives you the opportunity to synthesize ideas together in your head. To make connections, to spawn new ideas and perhaps avenues for your own photographic work. To me that is quite a marked contrast to the much more teaching-oriented engineering discipline. There are right and wrong answers, much of the learning is understanding methods and mathematical approaches. Certainly at a deeper level it is also about exposure to and synthesis of ideas and concepts , but there seems to be something different going on with the arts approach. Knowing and experiencing is perhaps more important and there aren't right answers, just ideas. Jeff also touches on another subject that I've kept coming back to in this blog. That's the idea of shooting things that you care about. Finding the things that you love or that you are passionate about and making pictures on, around or about those topics. That seems to be the best way to push deeply enough into an area to have the opportunity to do interesting work. On the flip side, I'm also keenly interested in photographing the things that scare me a bit or that I'm afraid of. Following your fears as well as your passions seems to be a powerful way to make good progress. Really I think that passion and fear are both parts of the same idea of following your strong emotional responses and trying to bring that into your images. I've seen a big improvement in my pictures when I do this and also changes in my own life that reach out into other parts, helping with more than just image making. An upcoming work event will require quite a lot of networking and generally approaching strangers, making a quick impression, talking, making conversation. Used to be that was a particular area that I was uncomfortable with, but the last year or two of portrait photography has helped me develop just those skills. What was a bit of a concern now doesn't really bother me at all. Jeff's discussion can be heard here and there is a follow-up discussion on his blog. Get involved if it interests you.

Still alive

I'm still alive but mostly exhausted by the whole book process. I finally finished soft proofing all of the images for a Blurb version of the book. That took most of Saturday morning, to produce a new version of everything then relink to the soft proofed images. Got it laid out and uploaded to Blurb and a printed version should hopefully be arriving in the next week or so. I'm excited to see the finished version and perhaps more excited just to be done, for now. Other SoFoBoMoers are finishing up around now. I've seen several excellent results popping up. I particularly was taken by Paul Butzi's walk around his home with his dog. The words and pictures flowed together really well and there were a few good insights shared along the way. The other Paul, Paul Lester, also shared a beautiful look around a small glen, close to home. Getting to experience his Taoistic approach to arranging the images was a delight. Looking forward to seeing the other books as and when they arrive. I haven't taken a picture since the last SoFoBoMo shot. Almost have a couple of times but the urgency isn't there for now. I did wake up on Sunday morning with a fully fledged, fully visualised idea in my head that I'd love to follow through on. That hasn't happened before - I can really see the image in my mind's eye. All the details. How I'd like it to be lit, what the colours would be, how it would work. I know the story and what the concept is. It even has scope to be an entire other project - a series of conceptual images. But I'm daunted. Daunted by the thought of trying to put it together. Daunted by the work required to pull it off. Scared it might not be as good as it still is in my mind's eye. Unsure why I'd spend the money required to make it happen, with no general point to doing it. All sounds silly after I've typed it out. Mostly though, I just feel tired of the whole thing for now. I need to recharge. Another indication that that's true: I went to set up the camera to play around with some stroboscopic shooting and I've stripped the tripod thread. So no tripod shooting until I can get that repaired (anyone know what the cost is?). I'll take that as a sign to slow down for now and enjoy some other things. Reflecting on the whole SoFoBoMo effort - I'm amazed at how much I learned, in such a short period of time. Adobe InDesign from scratch, in a few days. The ins and outs of basic typography and layout, enough that I could at least understand all the mistakes I'd made when Holly pointed them out. Enough to have not made many more along the way. Insights I gleaned about how a book should be structured. The front pieces and how they relate. The application of graphic design and the torture of trying to come up with a passable design. The issues around layout of pages and display of images. The struggle to take enough images and then to have enough good ones. The always twisted writing process. How little I enjoy editing what I've written after the first draft. The great sense of shared purpose between all the people participating. The fun and excitement of sharing your book with someone for the first time. It certainly makes me want to do it all again, some time soon. I'm just not sure if I can face up to trying to do another one in May. Going to mull it over for a few more days.

finish line in sight

I don't think I could take four times a year. I'm exhausted by just one attempt. Strung out, tired, burned out and ready to put my camera away for a few weeks. Or at least avoid shooting people for a while.

It has been quite surprisingly intense. I didn't think it would be this tough at the start. Portrait photography always does leave me tired, so I suppose that I shouldn't be too surprised to be exhausted after committing to a book of portraits in a month. It probably didn't help that I was struggling with man flu for the last 3 weeks either. Still, I've been surprised just how much really goes in to doing something like this, passably well. The shooting was only half the battle. Editing, finishing and laying out the pages took just as long. But the good news is - I finished the final layouts last night. It is done. All that is left is some proof reading and checking. I might still tweak some layout pieces and maybe get rid of one spread (I'm around 82 pages/sides - might drop it down to 80 sides, just to round it out). I still have a bit of work to do in creating the final PDF version and then also soft proofing and adjusting for a print version but that is all quite minor. I'm also playing around with using http://www.issuu.com for an online viewable book version. That will be yet another layout that needs to be done with a different number of pages. Then all that is left is the anxiety of showing it to people. Nobody has seen it yet. That changes this evening.

sofobomotypo

I've been learning a bit about typography and layout for SoFoBoMo. There's so much to take in! Over the weekend I read the Non-Designer's Type Book by Robin Williams. The biggest crisis of choice I'm being faced with is the vast variety of fonts I can choose from. I think I'll just have to pick a couple and get on with it. The basics are simple, sans serif for titles and better legibility, serif fonts for larger blocks of text that need to be readable. But there are so many choices! Then there is all the more subtle details; using old-style numbers, kerning, small caps, ligatures, appropriate em dashes and quotes. Adjusting the paragraph and font alignment, hanging punctuation. The way a serif font letter 'a' changes to an enclosed 'a' in the italic version, but the san serif 'a' doesn't change for an italic serif font'a', just slanted. Many of the features that differentiate a layout tool from a word processor. Details that I was never aware of before, but now I see everywhere as I read. This sort of selective revelation has always fascinated me. Growing up I'd never seen a sun dog. Never even knew what one was. It wasn't through lack of opportunity- I spent a lot of time watching clouds float by. A few years ago I read a book about atmosphere and effects. It mentioned sun dogs and I thought they must be some sort of rare, hardly ever seen event. Amazingly, the day after I read the book, I saw one. Then I started seeing them every few weeks. They'd always been there - I just didn't even know to look for them, so I couldn't see them. I think this happens with photography too. Until I was aware enough of sharpening halos and other sharpening side-effects, I couldn't even see them to tell if they were right or wrong. I can look back at early pictures that I thought looked perfectly fine and now see all the issues. I couldn't even see those problems at the time I made them - I wasn't aware. But once you become sensitive to them and aware, then you can start improving on those features. The awareness is the key. The use of rhythm in composition, or layering or other compositional ideas is similar. Before I knew to look for it, I might know an image was more compelling, but couldn't divine why. Once you have the language and awareness to go look for the features, then you can understand what is going on. Only then can you start intentionally using it in your own composition. I now have a much better awareness of typography, that I didn't have before. Hopefully I can apply it to my SoFoBoMo book!

good enough

SoFoBoMo. What seemed like a great idea when it was several months (and fuzzy months at that) away is now starting to loom large. Angst ridden posts about not good enough ideas or concerns about not good enough pictures that haven't yet been taken are popping up on the blogs of the various participants. It seems to be a stressful time to be called Paul in particular. I'm not called Paul, but I am starting to feel that same will it be good enough pressure. I haven't even taken a picture yet and I'm writing off the images as somehow not worthy or the concept too boring for anyone to want to see. Perhaps I'm more concerned that people will actually want to see it, then get disappointed when they do. Fearing the work isn't good enough before the first shot is taken - isn't that where procrastination springs from ? Aren't these the exact feelings that SoFoBoMo is geared to helping us move through ? The deadline is real. The deadline is short - so we'll just have to get on with it regardless. No chances to third or fourth guess the book concept (I'll leave a chance for a first, second guess of it after a few days and images). No real opportunity to find that you don't have enough pictures and need to reshoot for months on end. You've either got the pictures or you don't. If you take them, I'd suggest that they'll be good enough. Good enough should be the motto for SoFoBoMo. Not perfect, not your best work of a lifetime, just good enough. Good enough to pull together and show to people. Good enough to wrap up into a book. On the flip side, it will all have been put together in only a month. You can always use that as the excuse for why it isn't amazing. If it is amazing, then that is even better, but good enough is better than didn't finish, or gave up half way. I'm feeling my own doubts and concerns. This pep talk of a post is aimed more at myself than anyone else. I have to find 35 people. I have to find and ask 35 people. I have to find 35 people, ask them and have them say yes. Then the pictures actually have to be any good. So that probably means asking 70 people, for all the upfront rejection and subsequent rejected pictures! It'll never be good enough. Must be time to write my own angst-ridden blog post about SoFoBoMo and changing my idea. But I'll find the people. They'll say yes. The pictures will work. It'll all be good. SoFoBoMo. It'll be good enough.

International Solo Photography Book Month

Paul Butzi has come up with a really interesting idea over on his Musings on Photography blog. It is early days yet, but the concept of shooting and putting together a book in one month is fascinating. There are plenty of print on demand companies such as Blurb or Lulu that could be an ideal outlet for this kind of project.

In particular, what I like about this challenge is that the time frame is constrained enough that you have a chance of finishing it. Getting to the point of having a published, finished book, with the breathing space of it not having to be 'perfect' means that you might be able to break through the creative block of procrastination and perfectionism that kills ideas. Starting writing a book is a daunting task that can stretch out into the future, so far that it can stop you even before you start. Books are hard. They can consume your life, never quite being good enough or needing tweaked a bit more. The last time I tried this, it took me 10 years to get to 'the end'. So this idea of capping it at a month seems a great introduction to the fun of creating books. There is achievement in the completion, along with all the things you can learn along the way, that you don't ever find out until you actually say 'done'.

From what I've seen, blurb looks like it might be a good place to host or sponsor a project like this - they have the concept of a bookstore that the books could be sold together, perhaps even with them promoting the final results. The goal really isn't to sell a bundle of books, but to commit to actually finishing the project and then achieving that first completed draft, either as a PDF, website or physical book. I'm already brainstorming ideas for mine!

just ask

I'm currently watching a really enjoyable documentary on Keith Carter, from Anthropy Arts. There's a lot of gems in this documentary, including his search for symbolism when shooting and how he got started, staying in New York, going through to collection at MoMA. He comes across as a genuinely pleasant and interested person, with a deep passion for photography and art.

One quote stood out for me, given my current preoccupations with portraiture. Keith is shown shooting in Mexico, working with some people playing basketball. After, he talks a bit about that process:

When I go up to people, I'm always nervous. That never goes away. I figure they are going to tell me no. I mean, why should they give me their time. So I just go and I just do it and I smile and I ask and I get right there. Sometimes they are so startled, they say 'sure' and sometimes they don't.

the amanda project

I've been talking a lot over the last year about the value of projects. A recent vacation to a few national parks seemed like the perfect opportunity to work on something with a consistent theme. For this trip, I picked my wife, Amanda, as the subject. The goal was to take a set of good pictures (around 20) of her that we were both happy with, in the various locations we found ourselves.
I decided to limit it technically too - I just took two lenses with me. I had a 50mm prime and an 85mm prime. The 50mm is one I haven't used much at all and the 85mm has been my go-to portrait lens for the last year. In fact, it's been my go-to lens for almost everything for the last year. I wanted to use the 50mm but put the 85mm in the bag as a fall back position. I tried to shake things up a bit by shooting almost everything with the 50mm. It turns out that about 90% of the shots I took were with the 50mm. Quite a turn around for me.
Now a 50mm and 85mm lens aren't exactly classic lens choices for a trip around national parks like Death Valley and Yosemite. Typically, you'd be thinking about some super wide lenses in the teens range and also a longer telephoto to abstract elements of the landscape. I decided to totally skip those options. I've been to Death Valley before and shot a lot of very wide scenics. I've never been to Yosemite but I've certainly seen a lot of classic landscapes from there. I wasn't going to compete with those images. I didn't even want to bother recreating various Ansel Adams views of the park, in worse light, or David Muench cloned images. Maybe I've finally gotten to the point where I have the courage to look for my own vision rather than copying others. Or I've switched to copying portrait photographers - I guess I'll find out over time. A few people suggested I was mad in taking this approach. That I'd spend the entire week regretting the decision or kicking myself, missing shots of a lifetime with the wrong lenses in my hand. Instead I took shots of my life and my times - I shot what matters to me. More valuable to me than pretty scenics of well-worn subjects. There's a joke that says half dome requires an extra stop of exposure now, than it did when Ansel Adams first took his shots of it, because so many photographers have sucked the light out of it. I contributed a bit, but with a slightly different motivation.
So the Amanda project was born, from an idea from Steve Barth with his excellent series featuring his wife. One week, 800 shots, lots of locations, dramatic changes in lighting, collaborations on clothing choices, hair. Hiking for miles, 4am starts, rain, bear sightings, climbing, driving : all in all a great time for both of us and I think a pretty good collection of images with a consistent theme.
I did cheat a touch on the only 50mm/85mm lens selection aspect - I took along a small, wide-angle, panoramic format point and shoot that I used a couple of times in this collection - but other than that, nearly all 50mm. I think there is one 85mm shot and that's the night image from Las Vegas. By the end of the week I was trying to find fresh ideas, use lighting, new focal lengths. I never actually felt I was missing out on shooting the grand landscapes by not having a wide angle lens. Yosemite is beautiful. Death Valley is amazing. We drank it all up, together, looked at the views, enjoyed the sunrises, sunsets and times in between. I did take a few landscapes and I'll start posting them up later, but I had a much more interesting project to work on, than scenery.
The project focus also pushed me beyond some of the standard portrait shots I'd have taken. I started looking for new angles, compared to how I've been shooting with the 85mm. Normally all I do is fairly tight head/shoulders portraits. The 50mm forced me to step back a bit. Shooting the same subject for an extended period forced me to look for new angles, new body positions, new ways to move. It got me thinking about posing a full person, even when they aren't posing as such, rather than just eliciting an expression. So again I found that pushing a subject area via an assigned project has helped me break new ground. I also pushed my lighting skills a bit, using room lights, rearranging furniture, etc. to light the night time Las Vegas shot. Something I probably wouldn't have done without this assignment in the back of my mind.
Hope you enjoy the results. We had a great time shooting them all. Click on the collage above to go to the set of images. Comments are very welcome.

In the comments, Kate asked: Of the shots in the project montage, were most with the 50mm? Of the 25 shown, 18 were taken with the 50mm lens. 2 were taken with the point and shoot DMC-LX1 and five were shot with the 85mm lens (old habits I guess).

macguffin

We met Ronnie in Yosmite Valley at the overlook out towards the classic Tunnel View/ Inspiration Point view. On a clear day you can see El Capitan and Half Dome, right down the end of the valley. This day however was cloudy and wasn't really a great photo op at the time we were there. I was also much more drawn to the fantastic, colourful outfit and big happy smile that this person presented to the world. So I complimented her on her outfit and really wanted to take her picture. Standing at a viewpoint it is a bit awkward to approach a stranger and ask to take their portrait. So I asked her to take Amanda & my picture, together. She did a great job of it, took our picture, wanted to switch on the flash, composed it well and everything. Then it was simple for me to turn the tables and take her picture, now that the ice had been broken. The picture she took of Amanda and I is the one below. That was the thing that moved us towards me getting the picture above. That was the MacGuffin in this case.

1% inspiration, 99% moving furniture

I like the Arnold Newman quote I have at the end of this blog. Good photography is 1% inspiration and 99% moving furniture. In this case, I took that to heart. The red ottoman seemed like such a great piece to build a shot around. But it just didn't stand out enough in the room. Outside, the (quiet!) road was covered in white crushed granite and seemed to be a perfect backdrop. The parents were thankfully on board with the idea too. (Really the street was very quiet!) We spent a bit of time clearing fallen leaves from the the background and set things up under a bright, cloudy sky which gave really soft, even light. I had the parents jumping around behind my head, rattling keys, clapping and generally trying to attract his attention. I like the mostly bemused expression in this one more than some of the happier shots we got - seems to suit the mood. One thing that's changed in the last year with my photography has been a bit more motivation to follow through on ideas. This is a shot that I might have thought about a year ago, but not even mentioned. It was a whole lot fun, quick, painless and certainly worth making the effort.

austin

A couple from today. Jeff wanted to go and shoot together so we met up in downtown Austin. For a change I picked up my 100mm macro. I don't think I've used that lens for about 6 months now. Forgot how much I enjoy getting up close and personal with a lot of different subjects.

I gave Jeff a vague assignment - to go and shoot yellow - and I walked along and shot orange at the same time. We talked about different approaches, different ways of seeing and generally had a fun time switching from feeling there was nothing to shoot to having too many choices. Getting tuned in to a colour really helped focus and slow us both down.

Along the way I took a few portraits of people around downtown Austin. These two are my favourites. Both these people came up to us, offered advice on the pictures we should take and generally opened themselves up to being subjects - so I took the opportunity when it presented itself! Spent a bit of time with both of them, got them to move into the better light and talked a bit about where they were from and what they were up to. Two totally different sets of expressions but they were both pretty much up front and friendly. Some times its easier to let the subjects come to you, while you are doing something else.

not a portrait photographer

September. It was something like this. Just a few of the people I've photographed this month. I wouldn't say I was a portrait photographer. A year ago I had a real hard time photographing anyone, close friends, even my wife. I have a whole list of blog posts in the archive on fear, avoiding people, spending hours not approaching someone I wanted to photograph. I remember listening to some of Craig Tanner's podcasts from the Radiant Vista about a year ago and starting to make the effort to go a bit out of my comfort zone. Approaching my fears, take the pictures I really wanted to, but was too afraid off. I started a small project shooting some friends and that was a lot of fun. This month I did the 'Next Step' workshop with Craig in Savannah - which has a lot to do with again working through fears. September is almost over and I just realised I've taken pictures of a few people, so I decided to go back and look. I found well over 150 people that I'd taken pictures of in the last 3 weeks. Strangers, close friends, family. Some I spoke to for a few minutes, some we shot for hours, others I didn't even say a word to. So, I'm not a portrait photographer, but here's some of the people I've shot this month.

next step

wow. What a workshop experience. Emotional rollercoaster of a time. Such a great, talented, creative and inspirational group of photographers and Savannah is such a beautiful place too. I'll write more about the workshop when I get home but wanted to share one of many portraits I've taken out here. Such a great week. Meet Harold. I was initially drawn to his bright red hat. We chatted a bit about Jazz and his love of B. B. King. Luckily enough he was happy to let me take his picture. I asked him to step over to just in front of this green awning, in the full sunlight. The quite harsh, direct light really makes the colours pop and his skin glow. I shot a few more as we talked then tried a couple with a similar background in open shade - the colours and mood of the shot in shade just don't work for me as well.

the next step

I'm not a great believer in horoscopes. It seems unlikely in the extreme that a particular paragraph is going to apply to 1/12th of the population, just because the stars said so. However, I do still read them on occasion.

I'm in Savannah, Georgia this week, attending the Radiant Vista 'Next Step' photo workshop. We don't really get started until tonight but I'm here a day early to enjoy some vacation time and see some of Savannah. I picked up a copy of connectSavannah and found this horoscope for Pisces, which did seem quite appropriate.

Hopefully I'll find my mojo this week. I'm excited to find out what we'll be doing! Part of the appeal of the workshop is that I don't really know what challenges Craig is going to throw our way. Savannah is a beautiful city, the people have been really friendly and it seems like a great place to spend some time.