Light Painting in Japanese Shrine - Guest Author Allexandroff on DIY Photography Blog

Image Source: http://www.diyphotography.net/show-light-painting-photo-fushimi-inari-shrine-kyoto-japan/

 

A guest author, who goes by the name Allexandroff, has posted both the results and his process for shooting light painting shots at a famous Japanese shrine.

 

(Click Here) to read about it on diyphotography.net.

 

This makes me think about my next visit to Japan. I always enjoy visiting Japan, and have several favorite places that are a short walk from where I stay in Tokyo. However, I find that the familiarity makes it challenging to get exciting images there. Maybe next time I'll try some night shots, and maybe even some light painting. It could add a new dimension to how I think about photographing these places.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

Signs of Autumn

I went out for a hike with my lovely wife, and with my Nikon FM2N and Micro-Nikkor 60mm f2.8 lens. We went to a local nature preserve, which is unfortunately only open on weekends. But, at least we could get in. In the past, it had been closed to visitors completely, due to lack of volunteers to staff it.

 

Autumn is fully underway here in Virginia. Here are a couple of shots I made on Walgreens 200 speed film (processed at The Darkroom) that I think signify the fall season pretty well.

Milkweed Gone to Seed, by Reed A. George

 

 

Golden Afternoon, by Reed A. George

 

Haven't tried The Darkroom yet? (Click Here) to give them a try. You'll be pleased with their professional and fast film processing.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

Cropping and Composition - Just an Exercise

I saw this scene outside my window today.

 

I thought it presented an interesting opportunity to try cropping in multiple ways. So, I shot it with my iPad and proceeded to play around, cropping into various configurations based on the window pane lines.

 

My first try was this, based solely on my gut feeling of what may look best:

 

Then, I tried others:

 

 

I realized at this point that the bright sky detracted from most compositions. Then, I decided to try some vertical crops.

 

 

 

This one turned out to be my favorite. I added a few touches in Snapseed, including a white frame, and this is what resulted:

 

Not a masterpiece, by any means, it did help me to think about cropping and composition. At first, the little bit of my house that shows in the picture seemed like a distraction; I would not have picked a composition that included it. In the end, it turned out to be the best subset of the original picture to show.

 

If nothing else, this reminds me that my first inclination on how to compose a scene may not be the best. It's worth playing around and trying different compositions.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

Lessons from the Forest - My Upcoming Exhibition

I spent some time yesterday printing and preparing for my upcoming photography exhibit, as part of the "Coffee and Critique Exposed: The Exhibit," to be hosted at Glen Echo Park, Maryland, from November 21, 2014 - January 5, 2015.

 

I've been working on a set of photographs related to my meditation practice. I've put together five prints for the show, printed on matte paper. I'm using Epson matte paper at the moment, but may experiment with some other papers before the exhibit hangs on November 13.

 

One thing I learned from the Magnum Days workshop with David Alan Harvey is to make short slideshows of my work, as part of the editing process. Here's one that I made and posted on youtube for this exhibit:

 

 

Lessons from the Forest, by Reed A. George

 

All five images were shot on 4x5 film. The first and final shots were made with a Graflex Speed Graphic, the others with a pinhole camera. I have a lot more to do on this project, but the goal of this series was to share something of the state of mind that I achieve in meditation, and particularly in walking meditation.

 

I hope you find it interesting!

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

 

Reductionism in Photography, as Covered by Theme

Reduction, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7, 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 Series II Kit Lens

iso 200, f9, 1/60 sec.

 

I read an interesting post on the blog Theme, about reductionism in photography. It considers the act of boiling down everything that we see, hear, and think to a simple concept. In photography, that translates to reducing composition to the absolute minimum.

 

(Click Here) to read the post about reductionism on the Theme blog.

 

Personally, I'm not sure where the intersection is between reductionism and simplicity. Many photographic texts and teachers stress simplicity in photographic composition. I don't really work that way. I have been told that some of my images have too much clutter, are not simple to understand. In general, I don't mind this, if the image still transmits a message. I don't want my images to be so simple as to be obvious or shallow.

 

The picture above is a rare example of simplicity (or is it reductionism?) for me. I took this one in Provincetown, Massachussetts when I was there for a workshop. To me, it represents a special quality to the light that I experienced there. It also reminds me of the simple yet completely satisfactory room that I stayed in while I was there. Of course, no other viewer will have the benefit of that experience.

 

It was the light that caught my eye, not the subject. I love how the light coming through the holes in the strainer is golden; I didn't set that up in any way. It's just the way it was.

 

Anyway, I'm sure that I can benefit from considering reductionism in my photographic work. I will do that, without losing some of the complexity that I feel when I make a picture. There's something to learn from each and every person's approach to photography and art.

 

But, I still don't really know if reductionism and simplicity are the same concept.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

Fifty Years of Nikon

Camera images from nikonusa.com

 

I am turning 50 years old in December, just two months away. I'm not too hung up on age, but 50 is a big one. Half a century.

 

I just pulled the trigger on the purchase of a Nikon DF (sold refurbished direct from Nikon). I thought long and hard about that investment, since I already have attention deficit problems with my existing cameras, and like to focus on particular cameras, at least for some period of time. But, the DF is just too attractive for a photographer like me. Familiar controls, real knobs instead of (or in addition to) menus, married with amazing digital sensor technology, and the ability to use any of my Nikkor lenses to boot.

 

So, I'm thinking that I may pair up my new DF with a camera that was around and in use when I was born, my Nikon F film SLR with plain prism. I don't know exactly what the project will be yet, but it will take advantage of fifty years of Nikon SLR technology, in my 50th year of life.

 

Stay tuned!

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

Quotes, Thoughts on Photography

"Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst."

Henri Cartier Bresson

 

I've been feeling a little low on inspiration lately. Maybe it's the winter coming on.

 

 

Anyway, when I feel this way, one thing I like to do is refer back to photographs by the masters. Today, I looked for quotes instead of pictures.

 

(Click Here) for 70 inspirational quotes on PetaPixel.

 

I chose the HCB quote above, since I have recently realized how many near-misses and just plain useless images I'm storing on my hard drives. I try to be careful in my shooting, rather than essentially taking videos and picking frames later on. That said, I need to be ever more careful. It's all worth it when I get a shot I love. But, being careful and taking fewer pictures actually leads to more keepers, at least for me.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com