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Below are the three most recent Here's a Thought . . . commentaries
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1
HT2669 - Photographic Artwork |
Isn't that an odd term? Do we refer to painting as "oil on canvas artwork?" Or sculpture as "carved marble artwork?" Is poetry referred to as "verbal artwork?" Do we use the term photographic artwork because not all photographs are artwork? Or is it that it's somehow important to specify the medium when we refer to artwork made by a human using a camera? Why not just call it artwork and be done with it? Why the extra adjective? |
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HT2670 - The Dangers of Surrendering Control |
Software and AI are also providing us with tremendous tools. At the same time, there is a risk of allowing them to make aesthetic decisions for us. This is not good. For example, the new "Assisted Culling" tool in Lightroom is designed to replace our human judgment about our failures. I want to look at my failures because that's how I learn. |
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HT2671 - Flung to the Far Unknown |
Sending our artwork out into the world can be a dicey proposition. We lose control of its fate. Who knows if it will survive or where it will survive. (Maybe it all ends up in the Twiloid Zone. We will likely never know.) To us, once it is gone, it is almost as though it never existed. It resides in us only as a memory — like all other experiences in our life, as a building block to who we have become. Is it more important that we create art or the art life? |
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HT2672 - Decor Photography and Art Photography |
The other day I completed a beautiful photograph. Seriously, simply gorgeous. A stunning landscape, magical light, vibrant colors, engaging composition — so wonderful that it took my breath away. I like it; I'm proud of it; I immediately framed it and hung it in a prestigious location here at home. I struggle, however to call it Art. |
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HT2673 - The Invisible That Is Right In Front of Us |
Why is it so difficult to make a personally expressive image in Yosemite? Why do we keep photographing sunsets ad nauseam? Why can't we see the yogurt from the fridge when it's on the counter next to us? Believe it or not, the answer to all these questions is the same. |
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HT2674 - Is It Enough to Be Technically Good? |
I remember a time when producing a technically accomplished photograph was enough to earn applause. I have many. I would now be embarrassed to show them. I now know they are empty of art but undeniably sharp with beautiful tones. Here in the digital age it has become increasingly obvious that technical prowess is a given, still important, but not much of an accomplishment. |
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HT2675 - Photograph as Memory Trigger |
A friend recently lamented that she was going through her lifetime of pictures and questioning why she ought to keep all the vacation images of landscapes and trees. She raises a good point. Why should/would any of us be interested in these personal mementos? Her question demonstrates the defining line of demarcation between photography as a memory trigger and photography as an art medium — the intended audience. |
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| HT2676 - Within the First Half Dozen |
I watched a fascinating interview of Sting by Rick Beato on YouTube. Sting said that he loses interest in a song if there isn't a surprise in the first eight bars. I think I can say the same about photography. If I look at a photographic project and don't see something new, unexpected, a mystery or a question, something surprising, or that grabs me in the first half dozen images, my attention wanes. There is a lesson here about image selection and sequencing. Or perhaps an admission about my attention span. |
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| HT2677 - Obviously, This Is Not Good |
Has this ever happened to you? I was watching a YouTube tutorial on a software feature when the speaker showed a "before" and "after" version of an image they were using for demonstration. They showed the before image and said, "Obviously, this is not good." To my eye, it was great! In fact, the before image was much better than the supposedly improved after image. This is a big problem with software tutorials — they always tell us how but almost never tell us why! |
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| HT2678 - Limiting Your Choices |
| You are serious about your photography, so you probably have a pretty reasonable kit of gear that covers almost anything you might want to shoot. Great. But what if you only had one camera, one lens, and that's it? Would you not be able to do photography at all? Would your photographic career grind to a halt? How silly. Of course you would do photography, just with the limited gear that you have. In truth, you might be more creative and more productive within these limitations. |
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| HT2679 - Treatment Based on the Project |
Not too long ago, if you'd asked me what kind of photographer I was, I'd have said black and white—that's literally all I did back then. But digital processing changed the game, and now I'm making color images too. So you'd think it's just a choice, right? Pick one or the other. But here's the thing—that mindset totally locks you in. You start thinking every image has to be either b/w or color, never both. Turns out that's a pretty limiting way to look at it. I've got tons of examples of shots that absolutely work in both b/w and color depending on what the project needs. |
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12
| HT2680 - The Rain on Our Parade |
I received an email from an important gallery that was offering a number of reasonably well-known Ansel Adams images for sale. Most of them were priced at $6,800. The most recognizable name in fine art photography, images that have been frequently published and collectible, and that is their fair market value? Am I wrong in stating that the market for fine art photography sucks? |
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| HT2681 - Making Art Is Picking and Choosing |
Nothing damages a project so thoroughly as trying to say too much. It's far better to say a small thing well rather than a huge thing poorly. This is a good idea to keep in mind when defining your project boundaries. Here are two examples. |
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HT2682 - No One Cares How Hard You Worked |
Of course you worked hard to make that wonderful photograph! It takes time, energy, money, effort, and even sacrifice to make a photograph. Unfortunately, none of our struggles are important to others as they look at the results of our blood, sweat, and tears. Whenever I hear a photographer drone on about how hard they had to work at it, the more it sounds like whining. |
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HT2683 - Criteria For Choosing a Camera |
What is the most important thing you look for when choosing a camera? Megapixels? Price? Ergonomics? Features? Portability? Weight? Brand? What if I were to suggest that you first choose the lens(es) and then the camera that can use those lenses? Even weirder than that, I once chose my cameras based on the LCD screen! |
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HT2684 - Feeling Futile |
I don't know an artist who doesn't feel, from time to time, a touch of futility. An image fails to live up to our wishes. We look at that stack of unsold photographs diligently stored in our closets. Rejection from publication — this could be a lengthy list, indeed. It's at these times when I try to remember why I do photography: for the experience, not the results. In this regard, photography is more a hedonistic relation to life than it is a means of manufacture. |
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HT2685 - I Was |
There is a component to being a fine art photographer that is rooted in personal testament. Every photograph says, in part, "I was here, I existed, this is what I saw, this was important to me." The opposite is to attempt to be invisibly objective and let the subject speak for itself. I suppose both approaches are valid, but there is no question that the former requires a larger sense of ego. I have to confess that when I create art without ego seems to me to be illustration rather than artistic expression. |
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HT2686 - How We Want to See the World |
In their candid moments, most any landscape photographer will admit that most of the world is not very photogenic. That's why we run off to the exotic locations of extraordinary beauty to make our photographs. We'll drive mile after boring mile to get to that national park scene or that overlook of majestic wonder. Why? Could it be that we photograph what we wish the world to be rather than the world as we find it all around us? |
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HT2687 - You Must Have a Really Good Camera |
How do these kinds of notions become so wide spread? If I owned a Steinway, would that make me an accomplished pianist? Would a fancier fountain pen make me a better novelist? Of course not. But then we often think a better camera might be the answer to improving our photographs — perpetuating the myth that the tool makes the image. If not a new camera, what should we do to improve our art? Answer: Finish more projects and study the history of art. |
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HT2688 - Outside the Box |
We've all heard that age-old maxim about creativity and "thinking outside the box." We are supposed to hear this exhortation relative to our unconscious habits. I would propose that the box we are supposed to get outside of is the camera itself. When I find myself thinking I've made a nice photograph, I know I need to let go of photography and remember that art is about LIFE, not our chosen medium of expression. |
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