Friday, October 28, 2011

Happy Halloween - 2011

This year's Halloween shot comes from the creepy doll girl at Clockworks Cafe...

20111022-_dsc3521-edit-edit

For those of you that missed last year's shot... meet my youngest daughter...

Halloween_13_of_34

Happy Halloween - 2011

This year's Halloween shot comes from the creepy doll girl at Clockworks Cafe...

20111022-_dsc3521-edit-edit

For those of you that missed last year's shot... meet my youngest daughter...

Halloween_13_of_34

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Don't Suck - Collaborate

Pa221172-edit

I attended a Kevin Kubota workshop last fall and the one thing from that workshop that stuck with me above all others was Doug Gordon telling me, as I was dancing with the group, "Sir, you need to get out more." By the way Doug, I am. Thank you.

 

The other thing that stuck with me was Kevin Kubota telling us, "You can't create in a vacuum unless you want to suck." That quote had the biggest impact on me and has shaped so much of who I have become as a artist over the last year.

 

The power of collaboration is truly immeasurable, but I am going to try and quantify at least a few aspects of its power. But before I do that I want to talk a little bit about how I have collaborating since that workshop.

20111016-_dsc3502

The photography club I help run hosted a HUGE Help Portrait event. This included working with 30+ volunteer photographers, post processors, makeup artists, hair stylist, catering and a local hosting facility. Talk about collaboration.

 

I opened a studio downtown with four other photographers and a makeup artist. We hosted a few events, one huge event and several smaller events involving makeup artists, photographers, models and pets.

 

I signed up and took a photogrpaher's version of The Artist Way in which we as a group were shown in a gallery, each with two pieces.

20111016-_dsc3438-edit

I have assisted numerous photographers on selecting and producing their final products for showing.

 

As a result my own art has developed, grown and matured. I have developed, grown and matured. I see things differently. I approach things differently. I shoot differently. I write differently. I communicate differently. I am a different artist. I am a different person. In just one year I have completely transformed my approach to art and it all started with Kevin's little quote, "You can't create in a vacuum unless you want to suck."

 

The year hasn't been without its hard knocks. I have pissed off, scared off and even lost some friends as a result of this growth. I lost my studio partnership due to financial hardships.

 

The power of collaboration resides in the sharing of knowledge, ideas and shared experimentation. Everyone, regardless of skill level, has something to teach us. By opening ourselves up to this concept we are opening the doors to letting everyone's personal wikis flood our own with new ingenious ideas. 

 

It is amazing watching the likes of Kevin and Doug work together. I always thought to myself, these guys know everything. But in watching them interact and watching them work off each other I was amazed that while each of them have their own distinct styles, each was able, and more importantly willing to use the suggestion of the other to get some stunning results.

20111016-_dsc3398-edit

Ego is one of the things that can get in the way of knowledge transfer. In my collaborations I found it really easy to check the ego at the door because I happen to be my own worst critic. Most people are nicer in their feedback of my work than I am. But ego can be problematic. If we have a "I can do it myself" or "Don't help, I want this to be mine" attitude then we close the doors to what is possible outside of our own little creative silo. Another way ego can be problematic is when we have the mindset of "I am better than he/she, therefore he/she doesn't have anything to teach me." Simply put... Ego sucks.

 

I am in the process of finding a small group of like minded people to work with, create with and grow with. This group would meet monthly and devise and execute creative projects together. The group would also provide honest feedback on each other's work. I would prefer to work with other arists who, like me, work in multiple mediums - Visual, Written, Audible and Sensory art. Anyone interested?

Don't Suck - Collaborate

Pa221172-edit

I attended a Kevin Kubota workshop last fall and the one thing from that workshop that stuck with me above all others was Doug Gordon telling me, as I was dancing with the group, "Sir, you need to get out more." By the way Doug, I am. Thank you.

 

The other thing that stuck with me was Kevin Kubota telling us, "You can't create in a vacuum unless you want to suck." That quote had the biggest impact on me and has shaped so much of who I have become as a artist over the last year.

 

The power of collaboration is truly immeasurable, but I am going to try and quantify at least a few aspects of its power. But before I do that I want to talk a little bit about how I have collaborating since that workshop.

20111016-_dsc3502

The photography club I help run hosted a HUGE Help Portrait event. This included working with 30+ volunteer photographers, post processors, makeup artists, hair stylist, catering and a local hosting facility. Talk about collaboration.

 

I opened a studio downtown with four other photographers and a makeup artist. We hosted a few events, one huge event and several smaller events involving makeup artists, photographers, models and pets.

 

I signed up and took a photogrpaher's version of The Artist Way in which we as a group were shown in a gallery, each with two pieces.

20111016-_dsc3438-edit

I have assisted numerous photographers on selecting and producing their final products for showing.

 

As a result my own art has developed, grown and matured. I have developed, grown and matured. I see things differently. I approach things differently. I shoot differently. I write differently. I communicate differently. I am a different artist. I am a different person. In just one year I have completely transformed my approach to art and it all started with Kevin's little quote, "You can't create in a vacuum unless you want to suck."

 

The year hasn't been without its hard knocks. I have pissed off, scared off and even lost some friends as a result of this growth. I lost my studio partnership due to financial hardships.

 

The power of collaboration resides in the sharing of knowledge, ideas and shared experimentation. Everyone, regardless of skill level, has something to teach us. By opening ourselves up to this concept we are opening the doors to letting everyone's personal wikis flood our own with new ingenious ideas. 

 

It is amazing watching the likes of Kevin and Doug work together. I always thought to myself, these guys know everything. But in watching them interact and watching them work off each other I was amazed that while each of them have their own distinct styles, each was able, and more importantly willing to use the suggestion of the other to get some stunning results.

20111016-_dsc3398-edit

Ego is one of the things that can get in the way of knowledge transfer. In my collaborations I found it really easy to check the ego at the door because I happen to be my own worst critic. Most people are nicer in their feedback of my work than I am. But ego can be problematic. If we have a "I can do it myself" or "Don't help, I want this to be mine" attitude then we close the doors to what is possible outside of our own little creative silo. Another way ego can be problematic is when we have the mindset of "I am better than he/she, therefore he/she doesn't have anything to teach me." Simply put... Ego sucks.

 

I am in the process of finding a small group of like minded people to work with, create with and grow with. This group would meet monthly and devise and execute creative projects together. The group would also provide honest feedback on each other's work. I would prefer to work with other arists who, like me, work in multiple mediums - Visual, Written, Audible and Sensory art. Anyone interested?

Saturday, October 22, 2011

A Day at the Park

Last weekend I was giving the opportunity to give back a community. Not my community, but a community none-the-less. I rode with Michael Conkey, of http://www.nine22.com/, Chris David of http://peoplephotos.biz/ and Nathan Smith of http://www.smithfineart.com/ to Bend, Oregon to shoot at Kevin Kubota's annual Photos in the Park event. He blogged about it at http://www.kevinkubotablog.com/kubota-blog/2011/10/17/275-families-photographed-in-one-day.html.

This was our second trip out there and this year was no different than the last other than we had a few more families come through this year. I know I can't wait to come back and do it again. It is a positive experience for everyone and a great opportunity to help Kevin give back to his community.

Thanks Kevin for the invite. I look forward to seeing you again next year.

A Day at the Park

Last weekend I was giving the opportunity to give back a community. Not my community, but a community none-the-less. I rode with Michael Conkey, of http://www.nine22.com/, Chris David of http://peoplephotos.biz/ and Nathan Smith of http://www.smithfineart.com/ to Bend, Oregon to shoot at Kevin Kubota's annual Photos in the Park event. He blogged about it at http://www.kevinkubotablog.com/kubota-blog/2011/10/17/275-families-photographed-in-one-day.html.

This was our second trip out there and this year was no different than the last other than we had a few more families come through this year. I know I can't wait to come back and do it again. It is a positive experience for everyone and a great opportunity to help Kevin give back to his community.

Thanks Kevin for the invite. I look forward to seeing you again next year.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Natural Love

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Nature loves to be photographed and loves to be in black and white.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Ten Myths About Skynet

So what does Skynet have to do with photography? Some of you might be asking, "What is 

Skynet?" I shudder at the thought of that. If you don't know what Skynet is, let me give 

you quick update. 

 

Skynet is the fictional supercomputer that becomes self-aware and launches armaggedon 

against humans in the Terminator movies. The storyline evolves around Skynet sending a 

machine, a Terminator T-800, back in time to kill the woman who would become the mother of 

the man who would destroy Skynet. Now go watch the following movies, The Terminator, T2 - 

Judgement Day and Terminator Salvation. You can freely skip number three, although 

entertaining, it is not a requirement to gain perspective. Avoid the T.V. show at all 

costs... it's like Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Melrose Place; sure it sounds cool, but 

it wasn't and isn't.

 

Many people think that automation of their workflow is the best way to go, even at times 

to the cost of creating inferior work. So I wanted to address this with an analogy of the 

evil computer system known as Skynet, mainly because I am a fan.

So here goes: 

 

Myth #1: Computers can out perform humans, faster and more efficient. 

 

Response #1: While the answer to this is yes they can, a machine can't think. A computer is 

truly a garbage in, garbage out system. It doesn't analyze a photo or know what mood or 

feeling the photo conveys. The computer requires instruction and guidance. Without that 

guidance what goes in as a nice image can come out as crap and in most cases even crappier 

if the image was crap to begin with. 

 

In the case of Skynet... Skynet's downfall has been its single objective; kill the human 

resistance by killing John Conner. So as soon as a machine had its sights on John Conner, 

or in the case of the original movie, his mother (kill the mother before the son is born 

and you kill the boy paradigme), the machine got tunnel vision. The machine could not see 

the bigger picture, just the main objective.

 

In the same frame of thought, an action in Photoshop may make part of an image look good, 

but trust me when I say a skin softening filter applied to eyes is not appealing. You need 

to take your time, analyze and interact with the computer to get the image right.

 

Myth #2: Computers can solve any problem.

 

Response #2: While it is true that a computer can solve Pi to the zillionth place, a 

computer will never make a bad photographer better. No amount of layers, filters, actions 

or presets will fix bad composition, lack-luster subjects, and poor light without 

completely changing the entire image.

 

In the case of Skynet... Skynet thought it could eliminate the threat John Conner by 

sending a T-800 back in time to kill his mother. That was an aweful plan. Skynet did not 

consider that they had already sent a T-800 back in time and the T-800 wasn't successful 

otherwise John Conner would have never been born and they wouldn't need to try to send 

anther T-800 back in time. In T-2 they did the same thing, they sent another machine back 

in time, this time the shape-shifting T-1000, with the same result because Skynet failed to 

learn from the first event that if you consider sending something back in time and nothing 

in the present changes, chances are it is because it failed. They repeated it in the third 

movie... with the same result. What Skynet was doing was educating John Conner as to what 

his role was going be in the future, enhancing the man he would become.

 

In the same frame of thought, get as much right in camera the first time because you can't 

go back in time to fix it. While you can enhance it with a machine, the machine won't fix 

fundamental issues.

 

Myth #3: Machines are the single biggest danger facing mankind.

 

Response #3: This is not true at all. While it is true that a computer making a decision is 

making the decision based on logic, and without humanity or a concious, the fact of the 

matter is that it is humans that have proved time and again to be the most dangerous force 

facing mankind. Listen closely; It is decisions people make and don't make that leads to 

disaster.

 

In the case of Skynet... Skynet deemed mankind to be its single biggest threat so it set 

forth to eliminate it. So who made Skynet? Who taught Skynet that mankind was the threat? 

Yup mankind did. Through our actions and inactions.

 

Okay so how does this relate to photography? Simple. Use the computer as a tool and stop 

being the tool being used by the computer. We are our own worst enemies when it comes to 

using technology. Take the time to make the image yourself and use technology as a tool to 

get you there and not as a crutch to carry you.