Validating Your Vision?

It is important for artists to take risks and put their work “out there” in some form. I haven’t pursued gallery exhibitions or had shows of my work very often because my time as a single parent/entrepreneur is very limited…but every once in a while I enter a competition to seek validation from others that my way of seeing the world is appreciated. This week, this image of a bleeding heart, grown in my garden, received a first place award in the plants category. I also took first place in the people category for an image of a homeless man which I posted to this site a few weeks ago.

Many photographers see the world at a level of detail that others often don’t comprehend. Beauty is everywhere…and I collect evidence of beauty and, in the case of the homeless man, evidence of sadness that stirs me. I can’t turn on the wipers in the car until I photograph the droplet patterns on my windshield. I can’t shovel the snow until I first take a picture of its soft drifts. At times, it is hard to STOP seeing these details and get about the business of life. But seeing is what I bring to the world and it is why I love my job as a photographer and graphic designer.

Pattern and Color

While working at my home office, I spied this cardinal sitting in a tangle of branches and vines across my backyard. The bird is a great distance away and I didn’t have a long enough lens and tripod handy to make this a full frame bird shot. But several things help this image work: the monochromatic tangle, the contrasting red and attention to the rule of thirds. We can’t always use the 400mm with telextender and sit in a bird blind, but there is still enough right with the image to make it pleasing.

Seeing the Abstract

We received close to four feet of snow last week here in the Philadelphia area. It is hard not to be visually inspired by such an event. But it WAS hard to venture out into the stuff because of the endless shoveling and the ridiculous thigh-high depth of the snow.

I was looking for patterns and abstractions, not just the obvious piles of snow on top of everything. The above shot was one of my favorite captures. The early morning light made for strong shadows. The sunlight created sparkles. The wind created dune-like patterns. The natural world is a vast canvas and those with the eyes to see can hardly find enough time to capture it all.

Contrast and texture

No photo outing is complete if I don’t end up on my belly photographing something! I loved the collision of texture and shape in this water garden image.

Waterlilies

I loved the architectural reflection in this water garden in Kennett Square, PA. The mid-day light was less than ideal for shooting, but I liked the non-polarized, silvery effect of the water.

Breaking the Rules

I was playing with what a photographer friend of mine calls “swipes” where you move the camera while you are shooting. Most photographers are firmly of the mindset that you want a rock solid camera when shooting. I usually use a tripod or if I shoot hand held, I hold my breath when I depress the shutter to prevent any movement from blurring my images. But the whole point of swipes is to move the camera and see what happens. I call this image, “Falling out of the Tree,” because I imagine this is what it would look like on the way down. What I like about playing with the technique is throwing rules out the window.

Bluebird in Flight

This is not a technically great photo, but being able to catch this tiny bluebird in flight was just a thrill! I was hired to do some photography at a park in Chester County, PA, and had arrived ahead of my client so I could walk the trail when I spotted this bird. There is nothing more satisfying to me than to be outdoors and encounter wildlife.

Who cares?

This blog isn’t just about pretty pictures…it is a means of self understanding. I wish that I could understand what it is that makes me NEED to shoot things like this. I was walking down the street in New Hope, PA, and saw this fern poking out of the fence. I actually ran back to the car to get my camera. It is a “so what” kind of image, but I frequently get caught up in the beauty of tiny everyday scenes like this that most people care nothing about. What is it that makes some people see thousands of scenes like this every day, and others look at you strangely when they see you photographing on the street and they can’t figure out what it is you are shooting?

Beauty in Imperfection

I love this little moth. I was in Amherst, Massachusetts at a photo conference and ventured out to photograph with friends. We stopped in a strip mall with gorgeous flower beds. Never content with the “big picture,” I had my mental macro lens on as I walked around looking for something to shoot. When I spied this little moth, I began to photograph him and he posed patiently.

Many photographers strive for perfection when photographing flowers and I confess to often being one of those people. I noticed the missing antenna on the moth, but I loved the interaction I was able to have at a very intimate level with this creature. I drew a small crowd of friends who took over shooting my scene. This is both a drawback and a joy of shooting with friends. No shot is yours alone, but you learn to see differently from each other.

Water lilies

Flowers and garden landscapes are one of my favorite photographic subjects. This water lily shot was taken at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania.