We had a little snow today here in the sunny south. I spent some time walking around in it this afternoon, and here are a few quick picks that I promised Paul. 😉 Looks like we may have another snow day tomorrow, so I may be able to get out and shoot some more. The NWS is forecasting “Freezing Fog” tonight – that could make for an interesting morning!
I mentioned that we had a new house, right? 🙂
I received a number of favorable comments on a similar photo I posted last week and I thought it made for an interesting subject, so I processed another shot from that same location to share as this month’s wallpaper. I thought about using a snow photo, but for some of us, we’re hoping that the little bit of snow we got this past week means that we’re done for the year and that we can get on to spring. We’ll see how that works out, but that is the optimist’s view!
Well here we are, already into the second month of the year. I know I am looking forward to finishing the moving in process at just about the time the weather warms up enough to make getting outside a bit more enjoyable. Here in the south, February can sometimes mean an early spring or it can mean “don’t hold your breath.” I’ve got my hopes on an early transition. We’ll see what happens!
Kathy & I have worked really hard in recent years to strike a balance between planning & preparing for the future and living a full & meaningful life in the present. A concept that we recently came up with was the idea that we should make it a point to “Celebrate Every Day.” It’s probably a product of age and maturity, possibly wisdom, but starting from the loss of my own parents nearly 30 years ago and continuing as recently as the loss of Kathy’s parents last year, we have made a point of evaluating our own priorities in this context. We finally gave it a formal name just recently.
One night last week – Tuesday, in fact – we decided to have one of our more “splurgy” bottles of wine. We often save those for what we might consider special occasions. But in keeping with our “Celebrate Every Day” theme, we decided to open that bottle “because it was Tuesday.” Thus was born the idea of Wine on Tuesdays. Any other day of the week would be appropriate as well. 🙂
I’m not exactly a bandwagon sort of guy, but as I see other photographers post about their favorite photos from the year before I can’t help but think a little bit about my own favorites. I tend not to think of time in orderly chunks like years, but it is sometimes convenient to do so, since things like birthdays, anniversaries and tax returns tend to happen on a pretty regular basis. So, why not a post about favorite photographs from the previous year? Why not, indeed.
Overall I’d have to say that 2013 was a very good year for me and Kathy. I didn’t do a lot photography relative to what I have done in prior years, but I didn’t exactly sell the cameras and take up basketweaving (not that there’s anything wrong with basketweaving). But my time, attention, energy and money was spent on things other than photography. The good thing is that the things that we did spend our time, attention, energy and money on last year are investments in our future, and should ultimately make it easier to do the things we enjoy, like traveling and taking pictures.
Selling a house is not an easy task. Moving is a pain in the butt. Building a house is not for the faint of heart. We not only did all three, but we moved twice and actually sold two houses! Fortunately we only built one. But the one we built is intended to be our “lock and leave” house, allowing us the freedom and flexibility we seek in the next act of our lives. And of course, mixed in among all that work was a little play.
I’m not going to recount my entire life over the last 12 months. Those who care have been around and already know, and those who haven’t been around probably already know as much as they want to know! I’m also not going to try and narrate every photo, although I’ll probably throw in a comment or two along the way. And finally, I’m not trying to keep this to a certain magic number, so we’ll see what we end up with.
Side Notes:
The Light Factory
If you are in the Charlotte area and have an interest in photography, there are two things that I wanted to mention.
Many folks are familiar with The Light Factory, a museum of photography and film that has existed here for many years. TLF is one of a very few organizations in the country that are devoted exclusively to photography and film. Their educational programs have been excellent and their outreach programs have helped a lot of people. I have taught classes for them over the years. In what is probably a sign of our times, near the end of last year the former board decided to close the organization down, citing declining revenues and increased expenses. The staff was let go and the doors were locked. A small group of dedicated members has taken over to move the headquarters and teaching space, which was accomplished in December.
Keep an eye on their website and Facebook page over the next few weeks as they get operations bank in gear. I understand that they are working on a Kickstarter campaign to raise some funds, and in doing so will be offering some interesting rewards for people who donate.
Second Tuesday of the Month Club
A long-time tradition of the Charlotte photographic community is seeing some new life. Joe Ciarlante, a local commercial photographer and educator, has recently taken on the task of revising these meetings. Held fittingly on the second Tuesday of each month, the first such meeting of the resurrected group is this coming Tuesday, January 14 at SparkPoint Studio at 625 Griffith Rd. Suite 105 in Charlotte. Time is 7:00-9:00. This is a great forum to get to know other photographers, get feedback on your work, talk about equipment, or just hang out. Stop by and check it out if you are in the area and have an interest.
Kathy & I spent some time in Charleston, SC a few weekends ago. I took a few photos, and these are a few that show my take on Charleston, although perhaps not what most tourists take photos of. I got a few of those, too. That will be the topic for some future posts. For now, here are a few of my “non-typical” Charleston photos.
I’m still working on Nova Scotia photos…hoping to come up with 12 that are calendar-worthy. Not that I don’t think I can find 12, I just don’t want to find the perfect one after it’s too late!
Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia is a real tourist destination, and for good reason. It’s a beautiful location, has a little history, it’s got a lighthouse, a bunch of boats and a quaint little harbor. The day we were there is was relatively uncrowded and the weather was beautiful. And even in the middle of the day, the light was fantastic.
The biggest challenge for me in photographing a place like this is deciding whether I want people in my shots or not. I like people just fine, but I don’t always want to include them in my photos of a quintessential maritime fishing village! Sometimes I just need to be patient, and other times I just need to accept that there will be people! 🙂
Another thing that works well is to photograph someplace that people are less likely to be, like the edge of a dock. Most people don’t like to spend time in the water in places like this.
And they don’t let people climb the lighthouse, inside or out.
Nobody cares about old boats laying in a field.
I had to wait on this one.
And another one from where the people don’t go.
Generally when I am in the process of taking a photograph, I have a basic idea what it is going to look like when I am finished processing it. When I’m sitting at the computer working on an image, it just sort of “develops itself.” Most of the time the direction I need to go with an becomes pretty clear to me. I open up an image in Lightroom, work on it a bit, and after a few basic tweaks it is pretty much done. Unless I’m going to make a print, there isn’t a whole lot more I do.
This particular photograph has me a little perplexed. I processed it exactly how I expected to. It’s a little more processed than usual, but there’s quite a lot of dynamic range going on here. But for some reason, I just can’t seem to get comfortable with it. There’s nothing really “wrong” with it, in fact a lot of people would probably wish that they had taken it themselves. But for some reason I am struggling with it.
It’s a typical Cowee Mountains Overlook sunset. It’s got a nice sky, detail in the foreground, and there’s a lot going on. Too much, I think. It is a very “busy” image, as opposed to a lot of my photographs that are a bit more simplified. I’ve definitely processed it a lot more than I usually process an image. Maybe that’s it, I’m not sure.
I think the thing that I keep coming back to is that it doesn’t seem like it’s mine. It’s the sort of landscape photograph that I’ve taken for years, but I just can’t seem to connect with this one. No, I didn’t switch memory cards with someone by mistake, but it’s just such a departure from the type of photography I’ve been doing recently that I may just have to spend some time with it to figure it out. In the mean time, it just doesn’t feel like my style, and I find that interesting.
I have received a number of compliments on the photo from my last post and for the same photo that is on this month’s print calendar. This truly is a wonderful photograph, one of my all-time favorites. This is a location I have visited a number of times, at different times of the year and in varying conditions. The particular evening that I made the photograph that became this month’s calendar, I had exceptionally nice light. It only lasted for a few moments, but that light, combined with very still water, made for just the right conditions.
I remembered a similar photograph that I had taken at this same location several years earlier, and went back and pulled it up. While nice in it’s own way, it was a more cloudy afternoon and the light is much more subdued. The lighting was much more subdued, which is what I would typically favor for a lot of the photography I do. It is still a very nice photograph, but not on the same level as the later one.
It is a good example of why we return often to a familiar location. Because you just don’t know what conditions you might encounter.
I’ve written lately about how I feel like I am in a bit of a slump, photographically. Many readers have made comments along the lines of “gee, I’d love to have a slump like that.” But I’ve recently come to realize what I mean by what I’ve written. What I’ve pretty much decided is that doing the kind of photography I like to do requires an investment of time, energy and dedication that, for a number of reasons, I just haven’t been committing to this year. And this applies not just to the shooting, but to the processing and printing parts of the process as well.
As much as I’d like to think I can, I can’t just show up at a place and take meaningful photographs. I can take photographs for sure, and many of them may be good technically. But to create photographs with meaning requires more time. I need to get to a place, get my mind and my heart tuned in to what is happening, and sometimes just sit for a while until I start hearing the voices. “Being open to the gifts” is what my friend Les Saucier likes to say. I can’t just pull the magic out of my camera bag, toss it out there and expect to take meaningful photographs.
Mostly what this requires is an investment of time. Time partly to allow things to happen, but also time to get to a place in plenty of time for whatever is happening. Sunsets are a good example. I can’t just show up at a spot 10 minutes before sunset, pull out the camera and start taking amazing photos. Sometimes the best photos come well before the actual setting of the sun, sometimes as much as an hour before, such as when the sun is moving behind a low-lying layer of clouds and casting sunbeams, or highlighting ridgelines as they recede into the distance. Often by the time the sun sets all the magic is gone. Occasionally, the magic is just beginning at sunset, as the real color begins to appear after the sun has gone below the horizon. But I need time to “tune in,” to see what is happening, and to figure out what to shoot and how to shoot it.
The other way that my photography requires an investment of time is in having plenty of time to enjoy myself. Kathy & I enjoy good meals at nice restaurants, both at home and when we travel. That generally doesn’t involve sitting at an overlook with cold chicken and potato salad. Sometimes it does, but not usually. So in order to do a little bit of both, it’s often necessary to have more than just 24 hours in a place in order to really do it justice and to find that balance between sunset on the Parkway and dinner in Waynesville (or wherever). One of the ways that this year has differed from previous years is that we have been taking more 2-day weekends and fewer 3 or 4-day weekends. This results in less time in a specific place, and I find that this takes time away from everything. I don’t like to feel like the clock is ticking while I am photographing. And the smaller window of opportunity that is dictated by a shorter weekend makes that clock tick like a parade of Harleys going by! With less time, success is more dependent on luck than creativity, and I don’t work so well when I am depending on luck.
So what does this all mean? Well, it means several things. First and foremost, I think it means that I need to do a better job of managing my time so that I have the freedom and flexibility I need to do the kind of photographic work I find most inspiring while also finding time to do the other things I love. Photography and fine dining aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive. Some times of the year they are, so I’ll need to work that out. Sometimes it will mean a nice but late dinner, and sometimes it will mean cold chicken on the Parkway. The other thing it means is possibly traveling less frequently but for longer periods of time. And perhaps staying longer in one place instead of trying to see multiple locations and moving around constantly. I generally shy away from what I refer to as the photographic “death march” and don’t do a lot of good photography while I’m driving down the road. Give me a place to sit and chill for a while and I’m more likely to get inspired.
I’ve done some good work this past year and hope to do some more before it’s done. This year has been a little weird for a lot of reasons, and I’m looking forward to settling back into my usual routine next year. We’ll see where that leads, but I’m hoping it will lead to more fulfilling photography for me, and less of my whining about it to Kathy!
Kathy & I visited Marion, NC this past Saturday during their annual Mountain Glory Festival. This particular festival weekend is the only Saturday that Bruce’s Fabulous Foods, one of our favorite eateries, is open. The are typically a Monday-Friday lunch-only restaurant. We get there as often as we can, but their schedule and ours don’t often overlap.
After our yummy lunch, we spent some time walking Main Street and checking out the vendors and performers. We came across this guy, The Sidewalk Juggler, also known as Kyle Brown, who is a professional juggler. This guy is good!
I think the thing that impressed me the most was the effortlessness with which he performed his act, smiling and joking with his audience all the time. It’s clear that this is someone who truly loves his job. This is evident not just from the constant smile on his face, but also because only love for your profession would inspire someone to work the number of hours that he obviously had to work in order to learn to do what he does.
This is hard work, and about as tough as it can get, I think. Completely dependent on the generosity of others through their tips, his performance truly makes or breaks his livelihood. But talk about a portable skill! This guy can work anyplace where there are people! As I understand it from his Facebook page, his territory is ‘Western North Carolina.’ Check out his page and his YouTube videos.
My photos hardly do him justice, but I managed to capture a few frames that show the passion and concentration that this guy obviously has for his work. I didn’t really appreciate it while I was taking the photos, but later on I thought about it and realized what a dedicated effort someone like this guy has to put into his profession.
