When Life's Blues Hit, Bust-a-Prime!

[miserere_mei]

Ha ha ha, that's true, Andrew, I'll have to be extra careful.

 

Alisa, aren't there enough children's books about baby birds in the World already? :-)

[joe_jackson4]

Interesting lens... The car and barbed wire shots are real eye-catchers, but my favourite is the pastel-toned flower

shot over on the

PoW thread. And nope, I never thought I'd find myself writing those words... :) But OK, not all flower shots are

created equal, and you really can't argue with a shot where the photorealism of the foreground somehow merges into

some kind of groovy (photo)graphic art.

 

Just out of interest Mis, do you mind sharing a few thoughts with us regarding how you feel your photography has

developed, and/or where you think you'd like it to go in future...? Any particular subjects, themes or visual styles you

feel you'd like to explore...? A completely new challenge, perhaps, or maybe a further development of certain things

you've found interesting in the past...? Any examples would be welcome of course.

[alisa_stieg]

Not with pictures as special as yours!

[miserere_mei]

Sheesh Paul, you don't half ask a lot, do you!? That's more than a few thoughts...

 

I might comply later in the evening when I get home.

 

And not being a flower person myself, I understand your reluctance to like Faded Life. I'm surprised I even took that shot in the first place, but right now I like it a lot.

[joe_jackson4]

Haha, it was just a curious request... You have such a variety of subject matter in your pics - which I appreciate - and I just wondered (out loud, as I often do...) if that was a conscious decision or if it just kinda turns out that way when you go shooting...

[hinman]

Love all the shots especially the little chick with food from Mommy. 400mm f/5.6 mirror lens, now I have something to pay attention to. Thank you for sharing the great pictures. Life strikes us with blues and there are times we stay away from pictures for all kinds of reasons, but when we get back to it, it is all fun and somehow it can help us heal from the blues. It is normal and it works out similarly for me. Having a break is actually good to gather new insights, new thoughts, courage with more daring attempts, and confidence and fascination with the unknown.

 

Life's blues can only make us stronger and more interesting in our next endeavor. When next blue one hits me, I will take your photos into my defense and hide out for newer insights, stories, emotions and wait for the renewed energy to come.

[miserere_mei]

Thanks Hin. I thought you would like the little chick :-) And have I planted an LBA seed in your mind? Don't let me! I got this lens when I got frustrated with not being able to find the Tamron 1.4x TC and I wanted something longer than 300mm. I think it was 1 or 2 days after I got the mirror lens that I managed to buy the TC; Murphy;s Law!

 

If I had already had the TC, I wouldn;t have bought the mirror lens because I would already have 420mm with autofocus. But, the mirror lens is fun and challenging to use, and when I find one at an affordable price, I will buy the Sigma 600mm f/8 CAT, its longer sister.

 

As for the blues, it's not so much not wanting to photograph, but rather not wanting to do anything. That's what worries me.

[miserere_mei]

OK Paul, so here's somewhat of a reply to your question(s) thought out loud.

 

Mike Johnston (I'm a big fan of his photography writing) presented his blog readers with a question earlier this

year: Where do you live?

 

http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2008/03/where-do-you-li.html

 

He maintains that the true mark of an amateur photographer is one who has photographs of all different types in

his portfolio, and some of them might even be OK, or good, but there is no thread that binds them, no common

style or idea. He says portfolios like this are all over Flickr. I guess he must've been looking at mine before

he wrote the article :-) By his definition, I'm the quintessential crappy amateur that will never become truly

good, because I will never specialise.

 

I disagree.

 

Not all of us follow linear logic, and not all of us can accommodate it either. Modern western society is very

much based on linearity; in highschool you're expected to choose subjects that will help you on your career path

in college; when you get there you have to major in a field of your choice which will make you attractive to

future employers. You're expected to know where you want to work when you enter college, otherwise you'll end up

getting a Leisure Studies degree and begging on the corner next to the Starbucks. That's what they tell us.

 

I've never been exclusive, I've always wanted to embrace many things. Photography was one of the arts I wanted to

practice in my teenage years that I couldn't afford to. I played guitar (bought my own guitars and amps), rode

mountain bike (bought my own bikes and equipment), studied martial arts (paid for my classes), and a few other

"hobbies". There was no money, there was no time (I was also expected to get a degree while doing all this).

 

People would ask me what type of music I played, and whether I picked with my fingers or with a pick. I never

understood. I loved the guitar, be it in heavy metal, flamenco, classical or pop. I used a pick when I needed to,

and my fingers when they were required. It was never a case of either/or.

 

Everything I'm passionate about in my life has been that way; people will try to pigeon hole you and lead you

down a certain, strict path, but I want to run amok and see them all.

 

Photography for me is like this. When, after many years of lusting, I finally got a DSLR (which my wife paid for

with money from a teaching stint that she hated) almost a year ago, I finally felt I could say to people "I'm an

amateur photographer". And when I do, people inevitably ask "what type of

photography do you do?", and I tend to reply "the type where I take a picture of stuff". I come across as an

arsehole, but I'm simply tired of pigeon holes. My new favourite answer has a more poetic twist, I say that I

photograph light (so people think I'm a poet or something). And it's true. I like to photograph anything that I

find attractive in any way, and you can see

that in my Flickr page. Add to that the portraits I take (which I don't like posting), and I've practically done it

all. I even did some architectural shots for a friend who works in the field and asked me to. Sure, why not? I

love straight lines and shadows.

 

So Mr Johnston thinks one needs to specialise in order to become good. And you ask me "where you think you'd like

it to go in future...?" Based on Mr Johnston's theory, I will continue to sink into further mediocrity, because I

love photography. Not landscape, nor macro, nor portraits, nor colour, nor B&W, nor street, nor flowers, nor

cats; no,

just...Photography. I want to see it all, I want to do it all.

 

And because I approach everything I do in this way, I am finding it difficult to accommodate the Linear Life

expectations that have been placed upon me.

 

That is the source of my blues, Paul. And that's a sort of answer to your question(s).

[miserere_mei]

Short version: I've always been drawn to abstracts, especially in the city. I don't think I've posted any, but at some point I'll have to bring them all together in one place, as their number grows steadily with time.

[joe_jackson4]

Mis, cheers for taking the time to share your thoughts there... Some of your thoughts very much echo my own,

actually, although my views tend to change with the weather... And it was a good reminder that some (all...?) of

us have chosen not to post certain types of pics, for whatever reason...

 

I'm currently at work but I'll think about what you've said there and respond later. Interesting stuff...

[bob-c]

AMEN!!

[miserere_mei]

Paul, I look forward to your thoughts. From your pics, it seems to me that you have a clear idea of what you want out of your photos, not so much subject matter, as a feeling or vibe. I'd say they all have a common soul, definitely a Wilkins signature. Despite what may have been misinterpreted from my post, I am in no way against this, and when you can take different subject matter and make it all look yours, as you do, then you're "there".

 

Pardon me, but I'll have to resort to another music analogy: Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Ray Charles... They could play just one note, and you'd know it was them without needing any more clues. Everyone plays the same notes, but they were able to make them theirs, and that's what made them great.

 

In this respect, I think you're way closer than I am to "being there".

[joe_jackson4]

Mis, your analogy to music is an interesting one... I've thought about it many, many times in an effort to

understand certain aspects of photography better...

 

In the past, I often used to think of the camera as being like a guitar. I mean, you can think of the guitar as a

tool to make music, and the camera as a tool to makes photographs, yes...? And Lightroom is then like an audio

editing/processing program. And PN is a place where we can all offer our wonderful guitar music to the world...

:) Oh, how

brave we all are to offer our test recordings, practice sessions and original compositions to the public, as we

slowly learn to play our instrument... :) And gear chat is just guitar chat... :) So hey, maybe we're all just

jamming here, but if it sounds good don't knock it... :)

 

It's a interesting enough anology to think about... But hey, let's crank this anology up a bit and take it one

step further... :)

 

Think about a strange world where our eyes were replaced with very special directional ears, and we could somehow

"hear" certain collections of atoms in a similar way to how we "see" them... And that we could focus selectively,

and control the amount of sound hitting the sensor with an audio iris (the "retina" being a microphone in this

case, detecting sound waves, not light)...

 

Now imagine that all "visible" matter reflected, absorbed or emitted sound of various different wavelengths, and

our sonic "eyes" would receive these waves... In this world, our very special brains would allow us to interpret

these received waves, and add "colour", distance information, "brightness" (audio volume) and so on, and thus

offer us a stereoscopic mental image of the scene before us. Cool... :)

 

Our TVs would be replaced by some form of two-dimensional sound display. Our video cameras would be replaced by

directional sound recording equipment, recording two dimensional sound "movies" for later playback on our

widescreen audio TVs... :) Our still cameras would be replaced by...? Well, it's pretty hard to imagine such a

"sound camera", isn't it...? :) We're just not used to the concept of still sound images...

 

If I wanted to play "music" in such a world, perhaps I'd have to play a light-emitting guitar for my

light-sensitive "ears"... :) And if I wanted to paint with sound, I'd paint some nice sound-emitting matter onto

a sonically "clean" canvas... :)

 

Why bother thinking about this, you may ask...? Well, think of the role of the "audio photographer"

(audiographer....?) in that strange world... Is he a musician, making his own controlled sounds by controlling

matter with his hands or mouth or whatever... ? Or is he a recording engineer, with his fancy digital "sound

camera"...? :) Our "audiography" would be our little static sound images of the sonic scenes we'd get to hear

around us. Processed recordings... And hey, your sound images would be cool Mis, and well-recorded and

well-processed too.

 

My own stuff? Well, it is what it is, and goes where it goes, I guess. Most of my pics are primarily intended to

be viewed by a particular person, with the intention of simply showing her things that my camera has recorded,

and that I've subsequently processed. The intention is not always to please, as such... My philosophy is merely

to give her something to look at and some space for her to

think... She does the thinking, and I think about her thoughts, both before and after I press the shutter.

 

Sometimes I try to make the space for some of her thoughts a visual one, within the image. Sometimes I hope it

exists between and around the images too. What she thinks about the pics is far more interesting to me than the

images themselves. If some reasonably good photos (to her mind, mine, or

anyone else's...) come out of this process, it's just a little bonus really. Her thoughts are more interesting

and important to me than the photos themselves, so I just keep snapping stuff to show her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[joe_jackson4]

Hmm, how did I manage to "anology" twice in one sentence...? :) Must be time for bed... Later.

[snik75]

Mis, Paul, thanks for those fascinating posts. Are virtuosos born knowing how to do [art of choice] perfectly? I

think not, rather they work at it more than the rest of us. Perhaps because they have to, given what is known

about the demons of many if not all the great artists. If they relentlessly visit a certain idiom (say Degas and

his dancers) I suspect it is not a ploy or a plan, but a necessity in some way. I feel a deep yearning to create

art, to create beauty, but it takes many forms. One day photography, one day guitar, sometimes scribbling in a

journal. I am an amateur. Reading these posts reminds me that I will almost certainly never be a famous

photographer, just as I long ago realized that I would not be a famous musician. I don't HAVE to be. I take

pictures on my days off, I sometimes play guitar in the evenings (when I am not trying to whip said pictures into

shape) and I try my best to enjoy both. If my wife likes a song, if my in-laws ah over a picture... well, to me

that is success.

 

I am trying to cheer you, Mis, and I have no idea if this is the right way of going about it. But when I look

through your pictures, I think "if I had taken that, just looking at it would make me happy". And in fact, most

of them DID make me happy. I was lucky enough to have my wife convince me a few years ago to explore a

"non-linear" path in life, and I would say, keep wandering. And keep posting, so we can all join you!

 

Thanks for the true pictures and words,

Nick<div></div>

[shots worth sharing]

Oooh, I'm glad I revisited this thread! I loved your riff, Paul (and especially appreciate that there was no

math involved ;~) It's interesting that you photograph for a viewership of one. I know the impulse.

 

And, Mis, I'm totally with you in your eclecticism--but you've probably figured that out by now (as would anyone

after a visit to my portfolio.) Perhaps when I grow up, I'll dedicate myself to photographing toenails or

paperclips but I won't be ready to do that until I've photographed everything else.

[miserere_mei]

Paul, yeah, I got your analogy, and I look forward to reincarnating into one of those creatures. Art must be very interesting on that planet! As is the fact that you create photos for your loved one (I'm assuming it's her); however, don't fool yourself, after all, you participate in this forum and share your photos with us. You might not care what we have to say about them, but I know you want us to look at them, so I would say that your photos are maybe 75% for your loved one, 25% for the rest of the World ;-)

 

And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

[miserere_mei]

Nick, thanks for your post, man. I think we're quite alike. I also have an urge to create, music, images, words... I'm restless if I'm not creating, or thinking about creating. Unfortunately, this has always got in the way of my Real Life. Sometimes I wonder how I made it this far when my heart was so far away from the task at hand. I'd love to hear your version of a non-linear life. Feel free to e-mail me through p-net if you don't wish to share it with the World. I'm currently thinking hard about bending this damn Life line and any ideas or success stories are welcome. I, like you, have an understanding wife, which makes all this current crap worth fighting through.

 

Where was that photo taken?

[miserere_mei]

Dave, leave the toenails to Paul. When you grow up, you'll be photographing woodpeckers on Mars with your portable and compact 2000mm f/1. No need to tell you that I don't find anything wrong with eclecticism, right?

 

By the way, I never noticed your portrait on your profile page until today. Clara did a good job! :-)

[shots worth sharing]

It is a nice photo, isn't it, Mis? Abe's reaction was "Good--now we have your obit pic" ;~)

 

I think of photography as a way of exploring the world and sharing our findings (or in Paul's case, posing questions?) I understand the value of specialization but there's an accompanying risk of myopia.

[miserere_mei]

Abe is SUCH a sweet son. I'm glad he'll be getting the smaller part of the inheritance.

 

"Specialists myopia", there's a new term I'm going to start throwing around. Quite right, Dave!

[shots worth sharing]

Yeah, can you believe that, Mis? He gets that sort of humor from his old man, I think--bad influence.

[joe_jackson4]

"I would say that your photos are maybe 75% for your loved one, 25% for the rest of the World ;-) "

 

Well, I did say "primarily"... :) The ratio varies a bit from time to time, I guess.

[joe_jackson4]

Interesting thoughts, chaps...

 

As photographers, it can sometimes be interesting to ask ourselves (and each other) why we're interested in taking pictures at all. And why we take the type of photos we do... And who we're interested in showing them to. (And why...)

 

The answers to those questions can change as the years go by, of course, and often from one minute to the next. Or maybe we find that there are no real answers, but we keep clicking anyway...? Well, why not...? :)

[snik75]

Mis, that's on Huron Avenue, headed away from Harvard square toward Fresh Pond. A technically poor picture,

but one that reminds me of happy times - my wife and I lived a block from there for a few years before we had

kids, and when our youngest was born.

 

Non-linearity, I may have exaggerated; but despite years of school and residency training, my wife helped me see

that I didn't have to be a doctor any more if I didn't like doing it. After several practice arrangements and settings, I

realized she was on to something. So I quit, interviewed for some teaching jobs, spent some time with my kids,

and ended up in a part-time research gig that allows me a little breathing space for my life. And time to take

pictures! With just enough money to buy cheap second hand lenses I don't really need but like messing around

with. Bust a prime, indeed.

 

I am glad to see photography is helping you feel better.

Nick