Category — photography

Perhaps you may have wondered this question yourself.

As I’ve gained some technical competence in the area of photography I have been, of late, trying to answer for myself the question “what kind of photography do you want to do?”  This question was recently asked of me by my godfather, a well-established photographer for about as long as I’ve been alive, and someone whose work fundamentally instilled in me a love of the photographic form.  When he asked me this question a couple months ago, I didn’t have a ready response.

Perhaps now I can begin to answer his question.

In all sincerity, I don’t enjoy doing general portraiture for its own sake.  This includes families, events, and weddings.  I loove good photography of almost any nature, but I’ve tried these forms on for size, and found that none of them capture  my heart.  I suspect that the best way forward in regard to such forms may be to combine talents with my wife, who is an excellent director, with an excellent eye for composition and an amazing ability to be with people.  Together, to specialize in wedding photography, would bring much more enjoyment to such endeavors.

For myself, what I do enjoy (and this is something that has never changed since I was quite young) is the beauty of the female form.  Every young boy at some point has probably said, in safe company, that they wanted to be a Playboy photographer when they grow up.  I did.  From what I understand, it is almost a rite of passage.  While I do not aspire to actually take pictures for that magazine, I do appreciate well-composed and executed photography of the female form.  As an old friend of mine related to me that his mother once said, “There is nothing more beautiful than a beautiful woman.”

Two of my favourite photographers on Flickr happen to be beautiful women who, with some regularity, take incredible photographs using as their model their own selves.  They also happen to be two of the most popular photographers on Flickr (to see the following links, you’ll need to take a moment and sign up!), and their reputation is moving quickly into other parts of the world.

My favourite (and first encountered) of these two is the Icelandic beauty Rebekka Gudleifsdottir.  She is a highly creative photographer who I would say is at her best when she combines sublime landscapes with figures in the foreground.  These might take the form of wild Icelandic horses, or human models, including herself.  If you’ve never seen her work before, it’s not too late to hop on the bandwagon.  She’s got a lot of devout followers!  Again, you’ll have to sign up for Flickr to see them.  (Don’t worry — it’s free, and totally worthwhile!)

The second of my favourites (and she is no runner-up) is Carmen Gonzales, of the Netherlands.  Another Flickr celebrity (Flilebrity?), Carmen evokes a beatiful, dreamlike experience in her imagery, in which she oftentimes prominently figures.  She is also quite effective both in her use of other models and in creating otherworldly landscapes.  She recently posted an absolutely killer photo which represents the latter.

I’ve invoked both of these photographers primarily as exemplars in the way they express the beauty and intricacy of their own selves in their photography.  If I were a woman as photogenically gorgeous as these two, I’d be set,  But, alas, I’m a 40-year-old man who has (momentarily) fallen out of shape in the wake of raising two children.  It’s a shitty excuse, but it is what it is.  And while I am eager to get myself “cut” again I am, for the moment, generally uninterested in taking pictures of myself.

I love beautiful pictures of beautiful women.  Thankfully, perhaps, I am able to see beauty past the superficial level.  It is in fact difficult for me, with any level of scrutiny, to see much real beauty beyond where it exists only superficially.

As the grown-up (?) version of a child who inherited some portion of Puritanical mores, it’s far too easy for me to see this as a bad thing.  At the same time, however, it is a worthwhile challeng for me to even pursue my stated the claim that I would love to do nothing more with my photography than take gorgeous photographs of beautiful women.  What bliss!

This is something I’ve only just begin to explore and is, ironically, difficult territory for me to navigate.  We shall see how it goes…

I hope it goes well.

I finally went through the pictures I took for Molly’s wedding on April 26th (my 40th birthday). I have to say I’m not very happy with the results, overall, despite using Av mode on some last-second advice, and not having a bracketed flash. It would have been better for me if I had come into the occasion with full forewarning that I was to be the professional photograher.

I selected the best shots from the batch and of those, some are of acceptable quality, for sure, but the gig was kind of last-minute (her Mom’s friend Brooke was supposed to do the photography but apparently forgot het equipment), and it was my 40th birthday, after all.

I had some issues with my camera (after getting a lens repaired), issues centered around having the camera lock me out of taking a shot in manual mode when I thought (and was accustomed to) being able to snap the shot despite the camera’s mind about it. I chalk it up to focus lock, since the metering couldn’t (and shouldn’t) have been the culprit when shooting in manual mode. Anyway, I’m happy I got some decent shots. It’s just that some of the ones I really liked were inexplicably out-of-focus… Oh, well.

I had the opportunity to take some family portraits this afternoon for a nice family from my kids’ school who bought my services at a school auction, which despite an unexpected and unusually overcast sky went well until the wind kicked up all ot once and ended up knocking my brolley into the hot tub next to which it was positioned. Thanks to the fast reflexes of the husband, my flash unit was saved from immersion but, from that point, the wind remained constant and strong. Despite my foresight in obtaining a couple 20-pound sandbags to keep the stand in place, the umbrella was overpowered. At least it didn’t invert, and I have nothing but praises for my 45″ Photoflex brolley. A lesson in location photography with umbrellas learned, is all I can say. I doubt soft-boxes would have fared any better. I haven’t reviewed the shots I did get yet, but based on the in-camera review, I have hopes that they will turn out at least tolerable.

Technical aspects aside, I did learn that their beautiful, adopted daughter was originally from an area of China a few hours out of harm’s way from the areas devastated by the earthquakes earlier this week. I’ve been following the NPR broadcasts which are, incredibly and by coincidence (?), on location. Between that and Myanmar, it’s been a lot to digest, and I feel so deeply for the people who have been affected. I can’t halp but contemplate the possibility of, with my family and in my location, living through a disaster of such incredible proportions. You want to be prepared and ready, but the truth is, if and when such an event comes to pass, even the best of plans will probably be rendered impotent. My heart and hopes go out to those affected and their families. I can’t really even conceive of their experience except perhaps in the depths of my recurrent post-apocalyptic dreams….