The Power Of Both Perspectives And Perspective In Photography

N.B   The date for this post is set in the future as blogger puts the most recent post to the top of the page and I want this post to remain at the top so I've had to jiggle the date to circumvent this problem. 

My other blog Out and About documents some of the locations I've visited since commencing photography mid 2011. A work in retrospect.

I believe that photography, like life, is subjective. It is our life perspective which impacts upon our decisions, our relationships, and our actions. This perspective has been moulded from our life experience, and to a great extent the perspective has become ingrained, either knowingly or unknowingly. This life perspective affects our interpretations of both images and words. This life perspective impacts on the photographic perspectives we choose when composing shots. Or is it all really just about creativity and intuition ?

Are these labels fair, or is it simply a dog versus cat perspective?

That's The Way

Finally - someone on Youtube who teaches effectively. Youtube is a wonderful resource for sharing knowledge. Unfortunately, having mastered a skill and being able to explain that mastery are two separate things.  I've found my understanding of focussing modes and how to optimise them on my Canon 70D to be somewhat deficient, so I went in search of some tutoring. Michael The Maven does a magnificent job. As one of the feedback comments on his video states:

"....That right there is how to do a tutorial. No annoying music or time wasting fluff to start the video, clear annunciation, great content, short but informative... Nice job...."

Advice For Fledgling Photographers

A great article is 20 Photography Tips For Beginners by Spencer Cox on PhotographyLife.com. In fact this is a great site for many photography tutorials or articles. And not just for beginners - good tips extend to all levels of expertise. Following is a list of contents.

Another great article was referenced at 500px on tips and tricks for photography beginners by D.L Cade. Nothing earth moving - really just common sense. 

A summary follows. I have any of my additions  in italics.

1. Education First, Gear Second

Famed National Geographic photographer Jim Richardson once said “If you want to be a better photographer, stand in front of more interesting stuff.”

2. Shoot for Yourself, Not Everyone Else

To that end, if you’re shooting for Shares—or likes, or +1s, or comments, or whatever—you're doing it wrong 

3. Limit Yourself on Purpose

Setting limitations on yourself—whether it’s gear or time of day you’re ‘allowed’ to shoot or even limiting yourself to ONLY black-and-white for a month—is one of the best ways to grow. Master one at a time

4. Find Your Niche

You can’t master adventure, travel, street, and wildlife all at once… or possibly ever. It’s always better to go narrow and deep than wide and shallow.

5. Slow Down

Shoot as if you only have 36 photos at your disposal.

Serendipitous Opportunities

Live Blind Photo Critiques -Google + Photographer's Conference

Was alerted to a great video by Stephen Tyler. While I profess no interest whatsoever in entering any commercial competitions I enjoy hearing intelligent critiques. Even if I may not agree with what the judges have to say it can be a great learning experience. A great learning experience frequently generates branch experiences.

Following a lead from one of the evaluations I discovered an art website which explained tangents and how they can be counter productive compositional elements. I love it when a new concept creates connections with life experiences. It validates the new learning to a great extent. When composing or cropping I frequently follow my intuition and like to have a composition 'balanced' to my eye. Generally I have no way of explaining why I prefer one composition above another, it's just a feeling I have. As soon as I'd read about tangents it clarified many of these previous artistic choices.

 

 image source: emptyeasel.com

What became glaringly apparent when perusing many of the additional links on the site was how closely art and photography are linked.  Not a new discovery by any means but continuing validation.
e.g
creative intervals

negative space

indistinct edges

better compositions

American photographer Teri Lou was mentioned in the video and presented by Scott Kelby as a photographer of note who promoted iphoneography and editing apps. She leads tours to the Palouse region in the U.S and certainly has some beautiful shots posted on her website

image source: teriloublog.com

That's Not Fair ( Use)

All's fair in love and war. It seems that has now extended to photography. Richard Prince is making millions out of other people's work and the public are making him even richer by purchasing his work.
One of the challenges with copyright is that most people dont have enough money to sue the perpetrators. And this is why abuse flourishes.

Seriously, who would want to spend thousands of dollars on so called 'transformative images'.

How he explains it


What some people think of it.

Richard Prince Sucks 

Ediitng An Image By Adam Williams

Really appreciated Adam Williams sharing the processing behind his award winning image.

LAYERS AND MASKS FOR BEGINNERS

Posted by Adam Williams Photography on Thursday, 9 July 2015

Demystifying Photoshop

I have searched earnestly for a series of tutorials on Photoshop and have spent literally thousands of hours being led on wild goose chases by people who confuse rather than enlighten. I've purchased courses, subscribed to freebies and devoured YouTube videos but have still not found a series which is both sequential and not either confusing or frustrating. Either they miss out vital steps, digress or jump all over the place. Today it took me a while to track down how to deselect a tool. Not many people who create tutorials know how to dumb it down to the simplest form and this is what learners need. Another frustration with PS is the constant software updates which means that the tutorials are always put of date. Then there's the annoyance of the unpleasant voices many demonstrators possess.

I thought it was worth noting some of the really helpful tuts or links I've uncovered which may be of use to future learners or a method of personal revision. Layers are the basis of the PS program and if you don't have a grip on how they work, you're pretty much sunk.

Vince Opra is so far one of the best at explaining the basics. So much knowledge in one so young.

1.  PHOTOSHOP TUTORIAL FOR BEGINNERS 2022

2.  ALTERNATE PHOTOSHOP BEGINNER TUTORIAL from Learnit Training

( lengthy but worth the watch as the presenter has a pleasant voice and exercise images are provided)

3. PHOTOSHOP LAYERS: A BEGINNERS GUIDE FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS

(Christopher O'Donnell has a great voice and also provides a practice pack of images)

4. PHOTOSHOP TOOLS EXPLAINED  ( easy listening with Josh McDarris)

Hope For Those With Poor Vision

"Those with poor vision" in the title refers to the optically challenged who negotiate their view of the world through not only a viewfinder, but visual aids. There is room in photography for those of all perspectives and skills. Perhaps not enough to sustain everybody financially but that is another story. Adam Williams posted a link today to a great article which claims that razor sharp clarity and technical proficiency are not always enough to create a magnificent image. Written by David duChemin, a world & humanitarian assignment photographer it promotes what the sensible have always known and the pixel peepers should learn.

https://davidduchemin.com/

           

Image Manipulation

Ignacio Palacios has penned an interesting article about Photo Manipulation. 

For me the bottom line is that it is all about choice. If you believe in it, do it, if you don't, don't. But above all respect each person's right to interpret as they see fit. It becomes a whole different ballgame when the debate spills over into the realm of photo journalism where I believe authenticity is paramount.

You Have To Laugh

One of the joys of sharing a mutual passion is the people you meet. Throughout my life I've always been drawn to those who don't take themselves too seriously and who make me laugh. It's got me into a lot of trouble through the years but provided some wonderful moments. Callum Windred, a photo buddy drew my attention to the following article - the real meaning of photographic expressions. by Andy Hutchinson

To all those who take themeselves too seriously, have a read and loosen up.

one example: 

Foreground interest – bits of wood, branches, seaweed, shells and other readily available detritus that a photographer can drag from its actual resting place to a convenient spot just in front of what they’re actually photographing.