Photo Personalities

Photography is opportunity. It is an opportunity to capture a moment or a place in time and make that moment our very own. Sometimes those captures amaze. At other times I think I'll delete them from my digital camera because they are flat, overexposed, grey, or quite uninteresting. However with photoshop as a tool, I've learned to be careful about those deletes. They can turn into mysterious captures with awesome personalities.

I live on 120 acres of rolling hills that are beautiful. There are woods, forest beds, streams, meadows, and a small lake. Some might call it a pond. I prefer to have a bigger vision. It is my lake and it is ever changing with weather, seasons, and time of day.

These two photos were in my throw-away pile. The first photo was a dark, grey capture of a cold November afternoon. I snapped the picture simply because the clouds looked interesting over the lake. It was a spontaneous capture that in the moment caught my eye.

For several years the photo sat in a file on my computer. Then I took a class in High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography. I made this photograph into one of my subjects and was amazed at the character I saw emerging from that drab picture. It was as if I discovered the personality within the person. You see the results above. You'll have to let me know what you think.

The second photo was taken on an October morning when really wierd weather changed the colors of the sky and grass and trees to orange. It felt as though a tornado was brewing.

I grabbed my camera, took quite a number of photos, and soon realized the camera was having trouble registering the strange colors in the atmosphere. It acted as if it didn't know how to focus. That was way before I understood how to manage manual focusing. When I think back to what I could have taken that day. Sigh.

All but two or three of those photos I deleted. This one was another picture of the lake only this time it was in the colorful fall. Slightly out of focus and overexposed, it captured me somehow, but I didn't know what to do with it. Much later I took a photo class that taught me how to use filters. There are many filters available through photoshop. I experimented over and over again with this picture and then found a filter called 'accented edges'. Ta-dah!

With that filter, I changed the picture completely. It's probably nothing I will ever sell. However, look at the amazing personality that was waiting to express itself:  vibrant, fun, entertaining, even a bit eccentric. I love it. Best of all, in the process I discovered I could be a bit of an artist myself.

Comments are welcome below. Love to hear from you.

Tell me a story

Way last spring I started this blog. Then it sat because I wasn't sure how to connect it to my photo website. Recently, I've upgraded in Better Photo so that I may now offer photos for sale. In the process - ta-dah - my blog is connected, and that feels really good.

So why did I pick the name Photo Advantage for my blog? That deserves some explanation so that you understand where I am coming from.

Much of my experience with this world of ours is within nature. As a child, I spent summers camping on a lake in the Adirondacks. Our campsite was literally on the edge of a lake so we always had morning, afternoon and evening views of sunrises, loons, storms, water skiiers, canoers, speed boats, seaplanes, and sunsets.

Getting a different perspective, we hiked into the woods, climbed area mountains, identified trees and birds, chopped and carried our own firewood, cooked our meals on a campfire, and yes, dug our own latrine. It was an awesome growing up adventure. And then around age 8, I was gifted my first camera. When I discovered how to capture my memories on film, that was the start of something big. I've taken photos ever since.

As an adult, I've lived near the ocean and now on 120 wooded acres with streams, hillsides, meadows, hiking trails, wild flowers, and a lake. I actually run a children's summer horseback riding camp and live on the grounds. So between nature and children, I always have reason to photograph another glorious memory.

My camera - gift that it was - continued to gift me every time I snapped a photo. My camera - now upgraded to a Nikon - has helped me capture cherished memories and simultaneously communicate my perspective.

I for example love catching a split-second connection between a horse and rider. It may be an eye-to-eye glance that reflects love and trust. Perhaps it is one moment when the rider touches their horse's shoulder as they are 'just being' together. Right then all seems right with the world, and every time I look at that photo, I experience the same peace I felt when first I viewed the finished photo.

My photos will hopefully inspire you as the viewer to feel something. Perhaps a photo will tell a story or inspire you to wonder what transpired prior to the taking of the picture. I love when a photo catches you and for a few minutes you use your imagination to wonder what transpired previously.

In my mind and heart, photos are a gateway to something more. Only you the viewer can say what more there is. It depends on where that photo takes you in your personal treasure trove of memories.

For example, can you look at a photo and say, "You know, I remember when..."? And as you start telling your story, we are mysteriously connected because we empathize with one another. Besides, we all love to share stories.

So photos give me an advantage, just as your photos might give you an advantage. Miracle that they are, our photos keep communications open, introduce perspective, allow for stories, and carry the past into the present so that we may be connected. What a gift! Need I say more?

Comments on this post are welcome. I appreciate your 'hellos', suggestions, applause, and greetings.

From Hobby to Business

One advantage to pursuing photography: it is a soul-searching journey. Photography challenges me to assess my world view and then discover new depth to who I am and how I see life around me. In a strange way, I feel drawn to photographing windows, doors, gates, and bridges as symbols to the adventure facing me, and I wonder about the journey on the other side.

I examine my personal perceptions, viewpoints, opinions, judgements, ideas, and beliefs so that in the field I am open to an expansive variety of photo subjects or topics. I practice, experiment, delete, retake, and embellish, all the while dreaming of the day when someone might actually buy a photo I make.

Years ago I studied in Bogota, Colombia. Training for that semester experience introduced me to a theme that stays with me today: Be Prepared, Expect the Unexpected, and Accept the Unaccepted. Today that framework guides my approach to most situations whether they involve family, my job, friendships, day-to-day issues, or photography.

I know preparation makes sense. It feels like a no-brainer. Just like the gardner preparing for planting, having the right tools and techniques is basic to making the best photo you can make. Even things like getting enough sleep so you have the stamina to pursue your subject is as important as researching your subject ahead of time. The results can be beautiful.

Expecting the unexpected is the fun part of photography. I anticipate the element of surprise and am thrilled when I capture a photo that wasn't planned. In a split second without any time to ponder all the technical settings, I grab my camera and shoot...a laughing child, a rainbow, a bird in flight. That is the ultimate photographic moment. I love those photos. That's it. Done deal. Often the results are rewarding and the resulting photo is a totally pleasant surprise.

Accept the unaccepted. Here is where I am challenged. To see the homeless on city streets and actually photograph them feels intrusive. To encounter a beautiful old building and stop to click a picture seems as if I am trespassing somehow. To meet a person who draws you toward making a photo of them means asking for permission and I get scared they will be offended by my request. Consequently, I am doing that soul-searching I spoke of earlier to make peace with what I call a photographer's mentality and reality.

Come along with me on my journey. That's why I've started this blog. I've taken photo classes and continue to learn as I take more photo classes. I carry my camera with me everywhere just in case a photo moment awaits me.

Now I want to sell my photos and that requires more than just looking in a window. It means opening a new door, stepping inside a gate or walking across a bridge to the business world where photography is more than a hobby. This is a choice I have made that exposes me to people everywhere and demands that I believe in me.