Artist and Geek
I signed up for a CreativeLIVE session for this weekend with David duChemin entitled "Vision-Driven Photography." I have to admit that on Friday, I was pretty bored with the thought of sitting through a weekend of online "lecture." I missed Saturday because I was actually out shooting. Imagine that! But I caught most of Sunday's broadcast.
I know myself. I take a lot of stuff in without acknowledgment... I mull it over before I act on, or even acknowledge, what I've heard. And while I can't say that I heard a lot that was earth shaking to me during the time that I did spend with him, there were things that jumped out at me...
- No one resonates with sterile art.
- Art is a reflection of life.
- Be okay with screwing up.
- Be messy, suck, and then grow.
- Wrestle with it, and then create.
- Cookie cutter processes create cookie cutter results.
- Post production is like cooking. You do it to taste.
- It's just photography. We're not curing cancer here.
- Everyone has an opinion on what the right way is to do it.
- If you haven't made me care through your photography, then what's the point?
- Forget what the market wants, create what you want to create.
- I am not trying to tell you this is what it "looked like." I am trying to tell you this is what it "felt like."
I particularly enjoyed his outlook on pro's versus amateurs... Pros can take junk photos. Amateurs can take phenomenal photos. Olympians are not "pros." Are they still "real" athletes? I enjoyed hearing that he does post processing to bring forth the feeling and intention that he had for a photo. He forgets that his auto-focus is off and then shoots a set of out of focus photos. He under-exposes because he's easily distracted by shiny objects.
OMGosh... kinda like a real person that owns a camera, does wonderful things with it, and doesn't have an attitude about being "PRO" behind everything that comes out of his mouth.... what a refreshing bit of fresh air that is...
OMGosh... kinda like a real person that owns a camera, does wonderful things with it, and doesn't have an attitude about being "PRO" behind everything that comes out of his mouth.... what a refreshing bit of fresh air that is...
It's this kind of person that I would love to see what is in their personal collection. What actually moved them to snap the picture, and what they did with it.
4 comments:
I totally get the idea of shoot what moves you. That is key to all it. If it does not move you the photographer it is tough to get someone else to feel moved by it. I also think post is a personal preference. If it helps you tell your story then good. My tendency is keep things simple in post... make the color 'right' etc maybe help draw focus on the subject... but it all comes down to taste and how you as an artist wants to tell a story. My only caveat is don't let tricks get in the way of the composition that made you pick up the camera and take the shot in the first place. Photography really is like any other art form in that way. Finally and most importantly. I take photos because I love it and I am drawn to take more and more beautiful images of nature.
Your work is really wonderful.. Keep on shooting!
PS - It took me a long to be ok with screwing up. Painting in watercolor helped me there. I had to give up control to really enjoy the act of painting.
Thank you for that input, Carl. I guess I agree with you in regards to post processing. I never create a new image out of something that I've taken. I do keep things simple. I guess it's mostly because I just don't have the skill to "create" something out of what I've taken. I'm not a graphic artist *lol* After seeing what David did with his images, I don't feel bad about any type of color/white balance/lighting/dodging/burning I've done to a photo...
Hi
You should feel great about your results. The thing that strikes me most with your images is the great sense of design. It comes from having a great eye. your images always have a strong composition and tell the story so elegantly. Keep up the great work.
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