For awhile now, I have been playing with the idea of minimalist images. This means sticking with the black and white, monochrome images but using less to compose an image with. An old friend named Brandon helped create a unique emulation of the old Kodak T-Max film as a preset in Lightroom. The idea being I would recreate the film look in my images.
This image was made in White Sands, New Mexico in February 2019.
Click the link to read up on the DAM progress
A year ago, it feels like eternity now, I visited California again; this time through Route 66. I took this photograph in Joshua Tree. I never really got around to processing those images except for a few. Like most of my images they’re stuck in digital storage. I’ve been taking advantage of the pandemic to organize these images and eventually post-process and print them. It’s a small way to distract myself and a big step in organizing the archives. I need more opportunities for landscape photography capture and apply what I’ve been reading up on.
“The world today doesn’t make sense, so why should I paint pictures that do?” – Pablo Picasso
I like this idea and maybe need to rethink some of my photography.
I just got back from a quick road trip and took almost all my camera gear in one backpack. It was fun but exhausting.
The simplicity of the iPhone camera brings back the same happiness and exploration that made me love photography. I rediscovered the joy of every day life and documented it. Even the mundane. The camera’s limitations force me to focus fully on the subject I am shooting. That child-like wonder wakes up and the mind opens to the possibilities.
I get to discover new surroundings and re-discover the familiar. How did I miss that before? Snap.
The phone can fit into tighter spaces better than a DSLR because of its size. No worries here about apertures, ISO or shutter speeds. Shooting from the hip is possible as opposed to holding up a camera to your face all the time. Brilliant.
Adding some unique character to the photos through a wide variety of apps helps as well. It is fun to play with settings and adjust color, light, shadows and more all without losing the original image. These adjustments can alter the mood or expression as needed. It can be crisp and digitally perfect or go old-school analog photography. Mobile photography has massive creative potential compared to traditional photography.
While we are experiencing a world-wide contagion and the weather is pleasant, it is good for me to get out, remind myself to look for new perspectives and remember the creativity and joy of mobile photography.
The window that is
While working from the home office I’ve had the chance to shoot squirrels. They were just as curious about me as I was of them.
I take a lot of photos of my daughter. She was born with a camera documenting everything like I was the paparazzi.
There are so many pictures of her throughout the years it is difficult which ones to choose for prints or in a yearbook. I’m trying to balance what photos are important to me and what photos she will treasure. What will she remember when she looks back at them? Oh sure, the exasperation at dad for asking her to pose or document her is real enough now, but will she look back with gratitude?
This makes no difference to me since I am unlikely to change my ways and keep snapping every chance I get.
When the time comes, I want those family photo albums that my mother has curated over the years. As an active child, my young life was a blur. Those photos will help anchor my memories. I can only hope that my daughter will feel the same way.
Perhaps this was clearer and more helpful than my earlier post.
2020-03-06
C: Pentax K1000
F: 35mm ISO 200 MotoFoto color expired 2002
L: 50mm
She is creative, talented and good at everything she tries. She inspires me like no one else.
Thanks to the Wuhan virus (COVID-19), I’ll be working from home between 7-45 days. I thought I’d document the start of this with a Polaroid black and white 600 film.
