The Joy of Light
“Light makes photography. Admire it. Love it. But, above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography.”
I have always felt that photography, in the right hands, is an artform. However, sometimes it is hard to tell when, and how, the craft of photography can become an art and whether a particular image meets that criteria. I have often thought a lot about this in my own photography. And that is the subject of this Blog: how do I find the Art in Photography and how do I know when I have found it?
I hope you find my thoughts on the subject entertaining and, occasionally, informative.
You will notice that I have not included a way for you to directly engage in comments or argument about my comments. I don’t want to be in the position of having to police comments or censor people views or way of expressing themselves. I am too old for that. However, if you wish to engage with me directly go over to the “Contact Me” page and drop me a line. I try to answer all of the comments I receive and If I find feedback that helps me develop my own thinking I will write about it here.
75 Years Ago
Photography, like writing, has the ability to be many things. And one of those things is as a keeper of memory. It can record facts like no other medium. And in some cases, like music, it can recall people and places along with powerful associated emotions. But one...
Whose Art is It Anyway?
Every so often I feel like shooting a roll of film. I know it is an affliction that seems mad to many but I enjoy it. It is always fun and it takes me back to my early days in photography. Now, black and white film does not suit every subject and one must chose...
My Second Camera
This is not my Dad's Yashica "A" I talk about here but one I have acquired recently and cleaned up.I am standing between my Aunt Katherine and Uncle Harold at the Honolulu airport in Hawaii in 1958 and in my hands I am holding my Dad's Yashica "A".I was in high school...
Thoughts on a Photograph
I want to talk about a picture. Not any picture but one of those special pictures. Every so often I come across one that catches my eye and gives me pleasure. It is not enough to glace at it. I want to stare at it, think about it, experience the feelings it evokes. I...
Photographing the Dance
Motion is captured in the gossamer fabric flowing around the dancers while music can be heard in the beauty of the form. The woman seems to be floating on the wind. Dance is movement set to music. Those two things, movement and music are essential to the activity....
Shooting the A35 F
The A35 F, like the other Canonets, is a solid little camera. All black and shiny, around your neck it is real photographic "Jewellery". When I write about a camera I live with it for a few days. I only write about one that I have, so the first thing I do is...
You have to Adapt
Continuing on with the subject of using my FD lenses on my DSLR's, I acquired an FD to EOS adapter with the internal lens that allowed focus to infinity but I had never really taken the time to assess it. From what I was reading these things were not without their...
The New Sure Shot
The Canon New Sure Shot (known internationally as the AF35M II or in Japan as the Autoboy 2) was the third camera in Canon's long running Sure Shot series of "Point and Shoot" consumer film cameras. I have just finished writing about it and you can get the technical...
Still Life
Learning to be a photographer is not as easy as it may appear. Learning to find your own photographic voice is harder still, and, very elusive. A whole industry has grown up around the concept of teaching you to be a great photographer. But, is it something you can...
The Art is in the Print
I do not actually make many prints. Out of thousands of photographs I will create maybe one or two prints. For me, the making of the print is a special thing and I put much effort into it. This is the creation of the Art. I have said before in these pages that, for...
Consider the Pencil
Consider the pencil. Worth five cents it is a common item found in every home. And yet, in the right hands, it can be used to create beautiful images. Pencil sketches can rise, unquestionably, to the realm of art. Many of the greatest artists made sketches with...
Art is Difficult
the Obvious is not always Obvious Some things that we should have always known take a long time to reveal themselves. What should be obvious is not always so. For example, today I decided to take an hour and visit a park in Surrey I know of to...
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