My baby girl is 26. Yikes!!!
August 21, 2009
July 22, 2009
Inspiring Blog
Need a good dose of inspiration? Look at as much work by other photographers as you can. When I started out, the only way I could do that was in the library since I hadn't heard of the internet yet. I started at the beginning of the photo section and took out every book one-by-one until I had gone through everything they had.
Now, you can do that from home with the internet. (I can't imagine life without it anymore) There are many sites out there to instruct and inspire and here's one I just discovered thanks to The National Press Photographers Association (NPPA):
It's a documentary photography blog by Geoffrey Hiller called Verve Photo. In it he profiles NPPA member photojournalists and their work. It's a great opportunity to see that there is still quality work being done in spite of the problems facing our industry today.
July 16, 2009
Which Browser?
Anyone who has ever built or run a website or blog (and these days that encompasses a mind-boggling number of people) has or should consider how their site will be viewed. What kind or computer? Which browser will be used? Of course we have no control over that. Every viewer will make their own choices which means each person will see our work differently.
What I didn't realize was just how differently each browser renders photographs. Safari tends to look darker and richer in color than Mozilla Firefox. So a picture that looks intense and colorful on Safari can look washed out and disappointing on Firefox. If I tone for Firefox, it can look too heavy and overdone on Safari. And there are many other browsers to contend with.
What's a photographer to do? It's enough to drive you crazy. In the top 3 as far as I can tell, the most popular browser is Internet Explorer, then Firefox, then Safari. Since Internet Explorer and Firefox look very close, I've been toning with those browsers in mind. Maybe there's a better way, but I haven't found it. I think sometimes my pictures look a little washed out on those browsers because I don't want them to look too extreme on Safari.
It's a balancing act. Take a look. If you have more than one browser on your computer, open this page in all of them and compare the results with these photos I took recently at a friend's house in Ramah, NM.
July 12, 2009
Hummingbird Mystery
I saw a young visitor out my kitchen window this morning. It made my day. She sat in a yucca tree and groomed herself meticulously--long enough for me to run and fetch my camera and fire off 31 frames. Most of the hummingbirds in our yard are the black-chinned variety. This one had a prominent yellow spot on her beak that I hadn't noticed until I was looking closely at the images blown up on my computer.
I was stumped. A hummer with a yellow spot on its beak? Never heard of one. I looked further. She was cleaning her needle-thin beak with her feet.
A few frames later cleared up the mystery. The yellow must have been pollen, now washed away by the bird's hygienic habits. I'm still not sure, but I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that this young female is, indeed, a black-chinned hummingbird.
It's definitely adorable.
July 09, 2009
JAWS
I recently joined an organization called JAWS, which stands for Journalism & Women Symposium. The declaration on their website states: "JAWS supports the professional empowerment and personal growth of women in journalism and works toward a more accurate portrayal of the whole society."
The first local get-together I attended was great. (I call it a get-together because that's precisely what it was, rather than a formal meeting) I found mostly writers--in fact I think I was the only photographer. That's okay, though, because I consider myself a writer as well as photographer. It was wonderful to gather with a group of women in my field and compare notes. Even though the number of female reporters, editors and photographers is growing steadily, we are still not well represented in management. We still face the unique issues that men don't seem to worry about as much, such as juggling childcare with the crazy hours of a journalist, and being taken as seriously as our male counterparts by our bosses and the public. It is refreshing to have a group to talk to frankly about those issues and have them actually UNDERSTAND what I'm talking about.
I am on their mailing list and the latest topic was a call for quotes by female journalists. Here are a couple of my favorites:
“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me.”
--Erma Bombeck
"Networking is a primary way women discover that we are not crazy, the system is."
-– Gloria Steinem
"Women are in a double bind. If we talk like women we are not respected. If we talk like men, we are not liked."
-– Deborah Tannen
"Information is power and without it we can ‘t make the changes that we need in order to balance our work and family lives."
-– Judy Mann
“In journalism, there has always been a tension between getting it first and getting it right”
--Ellen Goodman
June 29, 2009
June 28, 2009
Asleep At The Wheel
I went to an open air concert last night at the Albuquerque Summerfest and photographed "Asleep At The Wheel". It was like old times. Very, very old times.
Years ago, you could find me leaning against the stage at various concerts with my camera, happily recording the visual moments while savoring the musical feast--for as long as I wanted.
These days, an army of security guards stand by your elbow ready to pounce if you override their strict rules of picture-taking. No flash photography. Only shoot from the tiny prescribed area. Only shoot during the first song. Oh, and first you must sign this document agreeing to turn over all rights to your work and your first born child.
I am exaggerating of course, but only a little. Last night, though, there seemed to be no such restrictions and I enjoyed every minute of it.
Ray Benson on lead guitar and vocals was as entertaining as ever...
And even played his guitar backwards...
Jason Roberts, center, played fiddle and vocals and Eddie Rivers, right, played sax and steel guitar...
June 09, 2009
Keyword Inspiration
Our July/August monsoon season seems to have arrived ahead of schedule. Not that we have been getting a lot of rain--especially by my old Kentucky standards--but our typically blue, cloudless skies have seen small storms rolling past periodically each day. For us that translates into cooler afternoons and evening light shows. What rain there is to be dropped, is usually unleashed on the Sandia Mountains within sight of my camera.
I took these pictures during Mother Nature's after dinner entertainment while sitting on our patio. Looking at them I am still awed by what I see. My mind runs through the list of keywords I attached to the metadata. I start with the literal: mountains, weather, wind, clouds, sunset, sky, Southwest, Sandia, storm...
Somehow that seems inadequate. I move on to the more descriptive: alpen glow, pastel, orange, intense, scenic, strength, grandeur, big sky...
Then I unleash my feelings and add a few larger concepts for good measure: Enchantment, dreamy, faith, spirituality, passion, perfection, surreal, vitality, dreams, goals, Zen...
Can't you just see one of these photos on a poster with some inspirational message about reaching for your goals with passion? The point is, if they were languishing in some stock agency with only the literal keywords, the buyer looking for an image to illustrate a concept or inspirational message would never find them.
Awe-inspiring. I never tire of looking at that mountain. I need to come up with more words to describe it.
May 31, 2009
May 30, 2009
Playful Photography
My photos are a result of my relationship with the subject. Sometimes the relationship is fleeting and somewhat one-sided and sometimes protracted and mutual. At times it is contentious and other times, playful.
While in Milan, it was my intention to get back to the Duomo after dinner in time for the best light. But I could see the golden light fading as we approached. I felt deflated and stood in front of the ornate cathedral in frustration, wondering "what do I do now?" That's when a something red to the right of the Duomo caught my eye.
It was "Toy Building N. 1", a futuristic sculpture created by Italo Rota and temporarily installed in the piazza. Okay, this was cool. I love contrasts and this modern, red, odd shape will frame the centuries-old cathedral nicely.
But then the sky darkened and the sculpture lit up and glowed and became the subject.
Then I played with both shapes equally, playing off the contrasts...
That was when I noticed the mirrors in the sculpture and a soundscape surrounded me with indescribable noises that lent a weird sense of disorientation to the scene. At this point I found myself grinning broadly and probably laughed out loud a couple of times.
The night ended as I turned away from the Duomo entirely and took one last shot of the sculpture before tearing myself away.
I love it when I have a playful experience with photography. In those moments I find it very easy to slip into that Zen state where time doesn't exist.
