Photography

Greetings from sunny Beverly, Mass: Well the nice weather has finally arrived and not a moment too soon. The last few days have been great. Unfortunately, my Nikon D60 is out for repairs. It should be back within a week, at least that's the company's story. We will see. For those of you looking for good sites with lots of information of photography I suggest: http://www.betterphoto.com/home.asp and http://www.digitalimagecafe.com/critique_gallery.asp. Both are excellent sites with friendly people who will offer constructive criticism as well as how to info. BetterPhoto.com also has several excellent online classes for both novice and experts. I would especially suggest classes taught by Kerry Dragger, http://kerrydrager.com/-/kerrydrager/, or Jim Zuckerman: http://www.corporatefineart.com/-/corporatefineart/. I hope these links work for you. Another excellent site is http://digital-photography-school.com/getting-backgrounds-right. It has great information on composition, background control and removing clutter from your shots. One thing to remember is the rules of composition, though tried and true, may be broken at times and a photograph may still be great. I personally look at them as suggestions.

perspectives

Greetings to all my friends and photo lovers, I am still out trying to get the ultimate shot for my assignment on perspectives. It has been a fun couple of weks between going to a conference in Vegas to shooting localy. I do think I have some decent shots and will upload a few more for your pleasure (or am I only doing this for myself?).

link for Red rock and Terry Fator

Once again trying to figure this link thing out.

http://www.nevadatours.net/?event=offer.detail&offerId=8890&startDate=02/01/2010&endDate=02/28/2010 and the one for Terry Fator's home page ishttp://www.terryfator.com/

Las Vegas

Well you allI just got back fro Las Vegas with my shirt on my back. I Love that Town. Something for everyone. I saw Terry Fator, the winner of America;s Got Talent. He was awesome. has some info on his show. he is currently on the MIRAGE. His site has more biographical info on Terry. I also went to Red Rock Country, Neveda. Awesome are with many hiking and biking trails. There are even tours that go to Ols West Towns and stage gunfights see for more info. I had a great time shooting Vegas and will include a few shots. Some of them were taking fior a challenge on perspectives. Enjoy,

More on BetterPhotography.com

As I stated in today's earlier blog. I am a proud member of the Betterphotography community. The president/owner is JIM Miotke, an awesome photgrapher and worldclass speaker. He is currently traveling the country speaking to photographers about how to become a more successful photographer and be at the top of your game. He is talking about developing clarity through challenges and taking action. For more information see http://www.betterphoto.com/mindset/. Jim also has a new book available at the end or April. One of my photos is in this book entitled BetterPhoto Basics: The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Taking Photos Like a Pro. This site http://www.amazon.com/BetterPhoto-Basics-Absolute-Beginners-Taking/dp/081740502X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269987388&sr=8-1-spell has more info on the book. Please checkout the book, Betterphoto.com and Jim's lecture.

Rain and other rantings

So, Here it is raining yet again in Mass. According to the news this is the rainiest March in 100 years. Flooding every where including local fairgrounds and many homes. There are people who have had their sump-pumps going for sevral days if not weeks. The Mass. National Guard, has been put on alert and the state has applied for federal aid. It has been said that April showers bring May flowers, if so what then does March floods bring? Nothiing but soggy grounds, wet basements and huge financial costs. It also brings emotional costs/ Many people report feeling depressed in dark gloomy weather. ( I am not sure my attempt to inclde links will work). Psychology Information Online reports that as days get shorter some people tend to eat more and report feeling tired and blue. They liken the syndrome to hibernation. Interestingly, the syndrome is reported more in younger people. It is also reported more frquently in women. So, I believe all this rain and dark clouds we have experienced will furthe this affect. Just when the days are getting longer and we are suppose to be able to get outside we are stuck with lousy, damp, bone chilling weather. ( Currently in Boston are the temp is 45 with rain and winds of 35 mph). ok ok ENUFF ABOUT THE Weather! As some of you know I aqm a member of Betterphoto.com, an online photography club ran by JIM MIOTKE. A community whin that club is called masterpiece membership. We recieve monthly challeges to get us out of our comfort zones. One month we were asked to approach strangers and engage them then ask them if we couls take their photograph. Scary stuff! April's assignment is to shoot from different percpectives ethier by varying our viewpoint or choice of lenses. For instance, one could shoot a crowd from atop a building making the people look like ants or just abstact colors. Or maybe use a really wide angle lense and lay on the ground for a worm's eye view of the world. To me this sounds much more fun than approaching people! Now I just need some dry ground.

Humor

Howdy everyone, Hope your early spring is going well. So far we are still somewhat chilly here in Mass. Right now it is sunny but 39 degrees. Some early signs of spring ie tiny white flowers popping up and a few Robbins and finches. I just went out to the local wildlife sanctuary,ipswichriver@massaudubon.org, and took some shots of a few birds and some reflections. I think I shot some chickadees but not sure. I will upload a pic for you. Check out the site http://home.jtan.com/~jack/ckd.html for mor info on chickadees. I title this blog humor, I suppose you are wondering why it is not in the first sentence. No good reason. LOL Did you know humor is good for your heart and mental health? The term actual comes from the greek for humoral medicine. They believed humors or body fluids controlled your health. EB White Says that Humor can be disected like a frog but in the disection they both die. In other words, what one person finds funny may be quite stupid to another. One never knows when humor my strike. I once had an elderly women whose heart rate became quite irregular. Being the ever vigilant nurse, I did a not to light thump on her chest (precordial thunp). She looked up and said, " Oh, Doctor! I have never been hit so hard in my life!" She my not have meant to be funny but to this day I almost pee my pants thinking of it. Any ways enough rambling for now. Take care and keep laughing!

Shooting shadows

So, it is another rainy day here just north of Boston. Not nuch of a day to go outside shooting. Especially as one of my favorote things to shoot is shadows. I think if the essence of photography is "seeing or chasing the light" then seeing shadowds and their potential is the ultimate photography. It can often be the most difficult too. It can be tricky to shoot them in a high contrast situation and still have details in both the shadows and highlights. Another thing to consider is how much of the object casting the shadow needs to be include? Excellent examples of shadow photograph can be found here: http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/dynoGall2.asp?catID=269 One valuable tip is to expose for the highlights as you may be able to bring some detail back from the shadows. Ifr hte highlightsare too burned out( too bright)there is only so much you can do. Does anyone have good tips or photos they would like to share?  Take care and happy shooting!

Graffiti

Hello all, Just heading out on this beautiful day with camera in hand. Never know what I will come back with. I just want to share a few photos of graffiti with you. Did you know that graffiti has been around for thousands of years. Think about it, The initial writings of cavemen was "wall art". An eruption of Mount Vesuvius preserved art from Pompeii, including Latin curse and political satire. In Ephesus, there is graffiti suspected of advertising prostitution. So one can see there is a long history of wall art. In more modern times, circa 1960) Graffiti became the art of political activists and gang members. TAKI 183 became one of the most influential artists. In many cities graffiti is considered illegal and destructive. Large cities have waged massive efforts to clean the art off of trains, subways and buildings. I believe that if these artists would pick up after themselves some of this negative publicity may stop. Here in Beverly, Mass. we have some great examples of graffiti. I have gone out several times to shoot it but have run to run into any of the young artists. I would love to ask them what motivates them to write in the walls. Is there a message behind thier art or is it simply letting of stream and self-expression? I would also like to start a clean-up campaign as there are paint cans everywhere. Anyways, enough ranting for now.

Water and rocks

Greetings and Happy St. Patrick's day to all you Irish folks! I spent about an hour down at Winter Island in Salem Mass this afternoon. What a beautiful afternoon to shoot. I set up my camera with a telephoto lens on tripod and got as close to the water as I dared, I was trying to capture the motion of the water on the rocks. I used a slow shutter speed to try and give the water that almost vev=lvet look the really great photographers get. I was a tad disappointed with the results. I will upload an example or two. If anyone has suggestions please let me know.

Plan for Blog

Greetings fellow artlovers, My plan for this blog is to upload a new photograph weekly and share with you my thoughts as I took it. This should help me be more aware of what I am feeling as I shoot and give me feedback regarding your take on it. I hope to be able to relay my thoughts on the subject, why I chose to shoot it in a special way, and any tech. data that may be helpful. Hopefully this will be a learning experience for all of us. I would love to see any work you all care to share.

Spring

So Spring is here in some places and right around the corner in others. For me I love the early spring light and shoowtinf new flowers. I can not wait to shoot with some new compositional techniques (new to me anyways). I want to shoot low to the ground with my wide angle lense to include the flowers and a pretty background or sky. I aslo want to do tight shots with only a leave or two in focus. Some times these close-ups become moe abstract and less about the flower itself. They can be about color and form. Well,,, here is to Spring.

Photography

Well all, not much happening today with my photography as is very rainy dreary day. May spend some time editing some old shots. I shoot with Nikon D50 or 60 and like nature and architectural shots. Do the occasional abstract as well. I have taken course work with sveral instructors from BetterPhoto.com. One of my photos is included in Jim Miotke's latest book due out the end of March.

This is not the one but it is one of my favorites. I reaaly like the color and lines. To me photography is a great escape. I amy never sell anything but as long as I can shoot photographs that make me happy and get an occasional response from others all is well. We each have an artist within ourselfs and should do the best to express it. All that matters is that you, the individual is happy with your work. Till next time take care and happy creating. John F