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On Photography: Back to the Basics

I’ve only taken two photography classes in my entire life. It isn’t that I don’t value a formal education; it’s just that I learn more quickly on my own. However, I still think back to some of the lessons I learned the first week of Photo 101 at the Brooks Institute. The class was based in black and white film and one of our early assignments was to photograph scenes dominated by shapes, lines, or texture. I think the purpose was to get our minds off of the idea of finding a subject, and get us to focus on good composition. That was years ago, but even today, I look for great light, composition, color, and subject in that order. There is no point in looking for a good subject if you don’t have the light and composition.
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Last week, I mentioned assembling multiple images into a single panoramic image.  After a few people asked me about it, I thought I would elaborate on exactly how to make a panoramic image.  The best way is to use a film camera specifically designed to make panoramic images.  These cameras use 6X17 film instead of 35mm.  However, since most of us don’t have cameras specifically designed for panos, let’s talk about how to make panos with what most of us do have. Read the rest of this entry »

I came across a photographer at an art show this month who had a sign on his booth that read something to the effect of “My images are made using film and traditional darkroom printing.  No computers!”  The message was clear.  There is something wrong with computers.  The subtext was that there was something less honest about digital manipulation techniques compared to traditional analog ones.  Read the rest of this entry »

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A couple of weeks ago, I was photographing in Rocky Mountain National Park and witnessed some disturbing although not surprising behavior.  I spent about an hour moving into position to photograph a grazing elk.  After a few minutes of photographing the elk raised its head in alarm.  I didn’t think I had caused it, and when I looked over my shoulder there were no fewer than five people behind me photographing.  They weren’t there a few minutes earlier so I can only guess that they had seen me and ran up behind me putting both them, the elk, and me in danger.

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