Monday, March 05, 2007
Friday, March 02, 2007
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Images of the Heart
As photographers, we often describe our photographic experiences n part by the pictures we didn't take. We may have been too slow to get the camera up to our face. Or we may not have had the camera set up correctly for the shot. Or the moment was just too emotionally charged and we just couldn't bring ourselves to 'take the shot.'
But for what ever reason we didn't get the shot, we'll talk about the 'ones that got away.'
Why? Because if they are worth talking about, they had some impact on us. And we all have those shots etched in our brain. The image of the first woman ever ordained in the Southern Baptist Convention hugging a friend and fellow minister after a worship service celebrating that ordination. A truly emotional shot I will not soon forget.
The sunset over Hyco Lake which image I actually took but have since lost the Kodachrome original and to my knowledge no prints remain. That is now relegated to 'got away' status since it only lives in my mind.
Casual images of friends that remain in my mind since I did not have a camera to record them at the time, but will forever keep them in my heart. Our images of those friends I did not take but have seen in the snapshot collections of others. (Forgive me Jim for the one I mostly remember about you.)
These picture are more than lighting. They are the light. They are more than emotionally charged. They are spiritually charged. And thus they are the light. They are woven into the fabric of my being and in part help sustain my life. These are the images that help make me whole.
On my mother's death, I arrived at the hospital just moments before her passing. I believe she waited for my arrival before leaving this world. As I stepped away from the bed after telling her goodbye, her face became lit with the light from outside. She looked as good as she had looked in days. Perhaps weeks. There were no tubes remaining. And through the good graces of some student nurses, the angels of the day, she was clean and well groomed.
When the light struck her face, that image became an image of the heart 'that got away.' I thought "the Lord lift his countenance upon you, and give you peace." That's what it looked like. The Lord was shining on her. I believe she chose the light over the pain of this world. This image of the heart helps make me whole.
An image that reaches 'image of the heart' status is an image that is better left out of the camera. The camera would never do it justice. We would always be disappointed. It's is best it live in our center so we can remember it there. Trying to capture these images any place but our heart, well it just would not weave as well into the fabric of our being.
But for what ever reason we didn't get the shot, we'll talk about the 'ones that got away.'
Why? Because if they are worth talking about, they had some impact on us. And we all have those shots etched in our brain. The image of the first woman ever ordained in the Southern Baptist Convention hugging a friend and fellow minister after a worship service celebrating that ordination. A truly emotional shot I will not soon forget.
The sunset over Hyco Lake which image I actually took but have since lost the Kodachrome original and to my knowledge no prints remain. That is now relegated to 'got away' status since it only lives in my mind.
Casual images of friends that remain in my mind since I did not have a camera to record them at the time, but will forever keep them in my heart. Our images of those friends I did not take but have seen in the snapshot collections of others. (Forgive me Jim for the one I mostly remember about you.)
These picture are more than lighting. They are the light. They are more than emotionally charged. They are spiritually charged. And thus they are the light. They are woven into the fabric of my being and in part help sustain my life. These are the images that help make me whole.
On my mother's death, I arrived at the hospital just moments before her passing. I believe she waited for my arrival before leaving this world. As I stepped away from the bed after telling her goodbye, her face became lit with the light from outside. She looked as good as she had looked in days. Perhaps weeks. There were no tubes remaining. And through the good graces of some student nurses, the angels of the day, she was clean and well groomed.
When the light struck her face, that image became an image of the heart 'that got away.' I thought "the Lord lift his countenance upon you, and give you peace." That's what it looked like. The Lord was shining on her. I believe she chose the light over the pain of this world. This image of the heart helps make me whole.
An image that reaches 'image of the heart' status is an image that is better left out of the camera. The camera would never do it justice. We would always be disappointed. It's is best it live in our center so we can remember it there. Trying to capture these images any place but our heart, well it just would not weave as well into the fabric of our being.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Taking It To the Tube
One thing I look for is inspiration. With my schedule, it's often hard to find the energy, time, and motivation to get out and shoot. It's much to easy to stay with the computer and do other stuff, like massage that photo you've been playing with in Photoshop for over a month just one more time. While it can be a creative enterprise, it is not the same and getting out and trying to capture some of the world around me.
From time to time I need inspiration.
And since I'm visually oriented, I look for visual stimulation/inspiration. More than what you get in a 'how to' video.
I can do that, sometimes, on the web. Reading about other photographer's adventures, projects, and events and seeing the pictures they bring back (or in today's world transmit from some remote location.)
I used to do it from a TV program called "The Canon Safari." It took celebrity photographers to different places to shoot with a professional. If "The Canon Safari" is still around, I haven't found it.
That's why I was excited to see a new program developed by Art Wolfe called Travels to the Edge. The description sounds exactly like what I am looking for....a mix of adventure, great visuals, education (culture, nature, the environment), one well know and excellent photographer, and some technical detail thrown in to the mix. These are the kinds of programs that really get me inspired to get out and shoot. I've already sent mail to WUNC-TV, my local public TV station, asking them to carry the program. This sounds like my kind of thing.
It's also a void in TV that should be filled.
However, it is a high-definition program. Time for that new wide screen TV?
From time to time I need inspiration.
And since I'm visually oriented, I look for visual stimulation/inspiration. More than what you get in a 'how to' video.
I can do that, sometimes, on the web. Reading about other photographer's adventures, projects, and events and seeing the pictures they bring back (or in today's world transmit from some remote location.)
I used to do it from a TV program called "The Canon Safari." It took celebrity photographers to different places to shoot with a professional. If "The Canon Safari" is still around, I haven't found it.
That's why I was excited to see a new program developed by Art Wolfe called Travels to the Edge. The description sounds exactly like what I am looking for....a mix of adventure, great visuals, education (culture, nature, the environment), one well know and excellent photographer, and some technical detail thrown in to the mix. These are the kinds of programs that really get me inspired to get out and shoot. I've already sent mail to WUNC-TV, my local public TV station, asking them to carry the program. This sounds like my kind of thing.
It's also a void in TV that should be filled.
However, it is a high-definition program. Time for that new wide screen TV?
Thursday, June 09, 2005
ANWR
Beside my chair in the den, on the lower level of a mission style end table, you will find a stack of books. Mostly you will find they are photography books. These are not the how to books but the collections of photographs from the files of different photographers. Reading the titles you will find names like Through the Lens and In Focus from National Geographic and America 24/7 and finally a notebook with a few of my shots from the my trek to Yosemite in 2004...my personal portfolio.
These are the inspiration books.
Yesterday I received a book that will join this collection. Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Seasons of Life and Land by Subhankar Banjerjee. I'll not bore you by retelling the story. You can read more about the book on Amazon.
I spent about an hour with the book last night. I've never been to Alaska. I hope to go some day, but even then I'll probably not make the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. And I've heard that photographs do not really do justice the beauty of what you experience in Alaska.
If that is the case, that photographs do not do justice to the land, then my thought after looking at some of Banjerjee's images is....
Why would anyone think it is OK to drill for oil here?
I just don't get it.
These are the inspiration books.
Yesterday I received a book that will join this collection. Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Seasons of Life and Land by Subhankar Banjerjee. I'll not bore you by retelling the story. You can read more about the book on Amazon.
I spent about an hour with the book last night. I've never been to Alaska. I hope to go some day, but even then I'll probably not make the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. And I've heard that photographs do not really do justice the beauty of what you experience in Alaska.
If that is the case, that photographs do not do justice to the land, then my thought after looking at some of Banjerjee's images is....
Why would anyone think it is OK to drill for oil here?
I just don't get it.
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
The Beginning
Once upon a time my friend Jim and I used to have conversations about what we wanted for our lives. To make a long story short, we wanted to create something. With our own hands bring something into being such that we could stand back and say "I created that." In those days we dreamed for creating sports cars, either by building engines, or modifying existing cars to be fantastic touring sedans or race cars. But alas, neither one of us had the skills or finances, or may be even courage to go and do that.
So we took up photography. Me first. Then Jim. We created using light. It was fun, it took us on the road for 'expeditions', and it provided some of the creative outlet that we desired. Eventually, though, for various reasons, we drifted away from taking pictures.
Jim died a few years ago, but I can't help believe that he would have joined me in my return to taking pictures. I'm again filling that creative hole in my life.
But I find there is more than just taking pictures. Light is emotional. Light is an experience or is the reason for some experiences. Light is a pursuit that goes farther than the images I create.
So I'm going to blog...periodically...to move beyond just the images to words. It's primarily for me, but your welcome to share as I explore me. Some of my thought as I make the connection to light and connection to me.
So we took up photography. Me first. Then Jim. We created using light. It was fun, it took us on the road for 'expeditions', and it provided some of the creative outlet that we desired. Eventually, though, for various reasons, we drifted away from taking pictures.
Jim died a few years ago, but I can't help believe that he would have joined me in my return to taking pictures. I'm again filling that creative hole in my life.
But I find there is more than just taking pictures. Light is emotional. Light is an experience or is the reason for some experiences. Light is a pursuit that goes farther than the images I create.
So I'm going to blog...periodically...to move beyond just the images to words. It's primarily for me, but your welcome to share as I explore me. Some of my thought as I make the connection to light and connection to me.
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