A New Blog

Even though the look is similar, I am starting a whole new approach to this blog.
I have just moved to the Big Apple - land of stress, smog, traffic, people, people and more people - but I love it!
So this blog is going to be about my thoughts and impressions of this land of concrete.
Titled "Notes From NY", I'm going to try to discover - through words and photographs - what makes it tick.
So stay tuned!!

Discovering

A beautiful, warm day.
Sun shining and a glass of ice water in front of me.
This is why I love taking my camera with me everywhere.
You never know what you are going to discover.

Learning to See All Over Again

There are times when I'm taking photos that all I see are patterns and design elements. Everything is abstract - squares, circles, patterns, shapes, textures. This use to drive me crazy, partially because I didn't understand or know how to utilize it. This past weekend Kate and I were walking on the Mall in DC. We decided to cut through the Hirshhorn Museum. A building I have always loved, not only for the art inside, but for the design of the building itself. But I've never really looked at it the way I did yesterday. One thing I think photographers fail to do is to look everywhere, and not just straight ahead. Looking up, down and even behind can result is some amazing sights. Being able to comparing shapes (the back of a chair compared to the roof design) or how angles and lines find similarities in different objects (lines of a table compared to the lines of a building) really make for some fantastic images.


What's really amazing is when I start seeing other peoples art in a scene. I feel like I am seeing what they saw - design, light, patterns, shapes. Edward Hopper came to mind when I saw the scene in the photo below. It's not exactly like his work, but it does remind me of his sense of design and how he composed his paintings. I just couldn't resist taking it. It helped me in learning to see all over again.

Taking Stock

Taking stock in myself. This is something I’ve wanted to do for a while now. I have had images with JupiterImages, but since they were bought by Getty I took my images off their site. Call me crazy, but it was a matter of principle.

When things are slow I don’t like to sit and pout. I search for things to shoot. This is what I love about photography. It keeps me active, searching, thinking – it keeps me alive. Because of this I am now having resurgence in photographing for stock. Being able to capture a mood, an expression or a moment is what photography is all about, and that is what I want to show in my stock images.

Stay tuned for a new web site and a stock site featuring images from New York City.

Patience

Notes on a page have always been something that has eluded me. I remember when I was in seventh grade, my music teacher ask me to read some notes written on the board. I told her I couldn’t; I didn’t know how - I had never been taught. “Haven’t you taken music before?” “Yes” I said. “Everyone can read music!” she screamed.
After that I never had the patience to learn. But then again I was never given a reason to. This hasn’t stopped my love for listening to music. The variety of notes and they way a musician can intertwine them to make a song amazes me. I really wish I could play an instrument and be creative in that way. I wish I was taught the patience to learn.

Knowing is something that has to be taught and not expected. Patience is something that is learned – some are born with it, but most have to be taught.

Patience is what photography has taught me. I’ve had great teachers who instilled a sense of love and yearning for that perfect moment. Waiting for what Henri Cartier-Bresson called the “decisive moment” gives me a thrill that is hard to explain. It isn’t necessarily about capturing the moment – it’s about the search for that moment. I guess it would be something like what a musician experiences when he or she hits the notes just the way they had expected. Or trying something new and experiencing a tingling in the body that says you are on to something special.

This is what I love about photography. It gives me a reason to search and learn. It helps me feed the curiosity I have about everything around me. Notes on a sheet of paper are once again interesting. I still have no idea what they mean or say, but I now have the patience to learn.

Tunnel Vision

I was speaking with Kate the other day about the photo industry. We chatted about the economy and how photographers are dealing with the slow down. Now there are times when it is completely frustrating to talk about the photo business with someone who doesn’t know much about what we do. And other times it can be quite enlightening. Let me explain: I am the type of person who always looks towards the future - the glass is Always half full. I believe in what I do and think I am a good photographer who will someday make it (what ever that means…that’s a discussion for another post). Anyway, I have a vision of where I want to be and how I'm going to get there. The only problem is that I tend to get tunnel vision. And this is where Kate comes in. I rarely look from side to side to see what other options might be out there. I've learned that success is not a straight line. There are detours, road blocks, hazards and forks, all of which need to be thought about, discussed and sometimes taken. We need to see these as opportunities, not as hindrances. I've found that keeping my eyes looking straight only endangers where I am going.
Focusing on the future is a good thing – having tunnel vision while you do it is not. This is the enlightenment you can get from listening to others.

Never Be Content

This past Thursday our local APA chapter here in DC had their monthly Brown Bag event. This month’s topic was about change and how we as photographers can, and should, adapt to the economic crisis we are in. One of the last questions asked was about our source of inspiration. Some said looking at other photographer’s work. Others mentioned playing an instrument to clear the mind. I think these are all great ways to find inspiration and to jostle the creative mind. For me it’s many things, but three come to mind right away.

There are certain blogs that I like to read (not consistently, but often). One of the best is Rob Haggart’s A Photo Editor. It’s full of interviews, photos, news and tidbits that other blogs just don’t have.

A web site full of "ideas worth spreading" is TED. This is brilliant site full of inspirational speakers who talk about subjects that help feed the creative mind. Most of the talks last 18-20 minutes and afterwards you feel inspired, motivated, influenced, encouraged and enthused about the future and what it holds. One of my favorites is a talk by JJ Abrams about his "Mystery Box" (see it here). TED’s latest batch of speakers just came online. Elizabeth Gilbert, author of “Eat, Pray, Love”, speaks about the concept of being a “genius” and how we have ruined it (see it here). It’s a fascinating journey through the mind of a creative person and her thoughts on genius - who has it, how we manage it, and how we can connect with our own geniuses.

Finally I love to watch movies, especially the real arty ones. I can watch a good movie over and over again. I get inspired not by the writing or action scenes, but by the use of angles and light and how scenes are composed.

All of these have helped me realize that creating is an evolving exercise - one where we should never be completely satisfied or content. Once I am content then life seems to loose some of its meaning.
Live to Create and Create to Live. Never Be Content

Keep It Moving

Sometimes change is a difficult thing to handle. I know of a few photographers who have decided not to embrace the fact that we have to change our way of thinking and their work will suffer because of it. During this economic downturn it is, now more than ever, essential to have a plan that can guide you and help you understand where you have been and where you are going. Why some don’t get this I couldn’t tell you.

I’m trying to take advantage of the downturn – shooting more, calling clients (both new and existing), setting my yearly promotional schedule, visiting New York City at least once per month and creating a realistic budget. Thinking positively is essential for my survival. Without it I feel I will just shrivel up and fad away. For me the glass is Always half full. Be proactive – Be positive – Look at the future and see how bright it is.
This is what APA/DC is trying to instill. Our latest Brown Bag events are geared towards the Business of Change where the focus will be on how to adapt and survive. This is one of the most essential skills photographers now need.

Here is one of my favorite quotes from Will Rogers:
“Even if you’re on the right track you’ll get run over if you just sit there”

Once we stop changing and adapting to our environment we cease to exist.
We have to “Keep it Moving” even in bad times.

As Time Goes By

It’s slow for most of us right now, but I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing. It gives us time to reflect on what has been, as well as what the future holds. During these “down” times I really try to take advantage of looking at other photographer’s work, reviewing what I have shot and most importantly planning out a course of action for the future – planning self-assignments, reworking the portfolio, etc…
Time is something not to be wasted. With the economy the way it is we can't sit back and get depressed, feeling sorry for ourselves and not knowing from where the next assignment will come. We have to understand that all of this is in our control, not out of it. We have the ability to change our course of action, to turn time in our favor so that it starts working for us and not against us.

Time can be a funny thing. It can either go by in a flash or take forever getting to that magical 5 o’clock hour (when it’s “okay” to have a drink). By dividing up the day with assignments, time starts to work in our favor. It all starts to look more manageable.

What we really need to understand is that no one really knows what time it is (yes I know a song by Chicago - sorry). For example look at the above photo of the clock. It is a famous clock on the corner of 5th and Broadway in NYC. The Flatiron Building is in the background. I shot this about two weeks ago on a visit with my photo friends Renee Comet and Randy Santos. It was in the afternoon around 1:30 pm. What I’ve recently noticed is that the clock doesn’t work. Now, to me, that’s strange. A beautiful ornate clock in a very public place has stopped and no one notices. Or maybe they do and they don’t care, or know what to do about it. We are so obsessed with time, but yet no one really notices it until it matters. How many times have we sat at the end of the day wondering where all the time had gone, why we didn’t get more done? Planning what we do is crucial to success. My new year’s resolution is to have a better control of my time. Write more on this blog, create more self-assignments, take more photos.

And “As Time Goes By” I will be a better photographer.

Like Music Written on the Paper

During the photo shoot with the dancers I wanted to try some movement shots, which turned out not to be as easy as it looks. The timing had to be right, focus had to be predetermined and I had to make sure all the light in the studio were kept to a bare minimum. We have a lot of white walls in the studio so I wanted to paint the walls black, but was advised against that by Tina Williams (studio mate and fellow photographer) because it would have been much too difficult to keep the tone consistent. So I hung two large black curtains instead. Which was much easier and less messy. Here are a few images I took of Jenelle jumping. I kept the same theme as before (see my last post) - having them do unnatural, or un-dancer like, jumps. We had a lot of fun, but I think they got a little tired after the 10th jump.

These set of images are the reason I wanted to photograph the dancers (see below).
I wanted to show their movement but not have them frozen in time. The idea came from a recent photo shoot of art work. One of the pieces had colored lights behind them, giving off a glow. I asked the artist to hold up one of the lights and move from side to side. This was the perfect way to show the flowing movements of the dancers. So I hooked them up with lights and asked them to perform their favorite jumps, turns, twists or anything they wanted.
The first is a dancer jumping without a strobe, just showing the movement. She was doing the Baryshnikov jump. The second is her doing the same jump but with the strobe. The grace in which the light moves through the air reminds me of looking at music on the paper without hearing the sound. This is what the jump really looks like - the subtle hand movement, the position of the legs - all in perfect symmetry.