∞ Blog ∞
On Photography, Art, And The Creative Life
Welcome to the place affectionately known as my "writings on the walls", where you will find images, thoughts, and discussions on Photography, Art, and The Creative Life... or so I'm told.
The Schizophrenia Of Vertical And Horizontal
I have a bone to pick with the photography industry as a whole. In fact, let me expand that: anyone anywhere, including YouTube pundits, who are forever referring to the vertical and horizontal orientation of images, phones, screens, basically anything we are viewing as being in either “portrait” or “landscape” orientation.
Words matter, and what...
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The Cubist Clock - Or Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?
What to do for inspiration? Where does it come from and how do you harness it, or rather how do you flow down the river where inspiration takes you? Sometimes, your own work can inspire you to create something new. It can be a “seed” of an idea planted in you that finds expression in sometimes unusual ways and methods.
The image above which I ca...
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Iterations & Inspiration
Creating iterations, variations on themes, is a very important practice that serves an artist well. I often tell my students to create several variations on a given image. To go beyond just what may come easy and more deeply explore what an image could become. And I have found that the passage of time is unimportant, that an image originally create...
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What Is Old Is New Again ~ The Legacy Of Polaroid Film
I must admit, I am having a lot of fun revisiting some older Polaroid film images I originally created some 25+ years ago and giving them new life in the digital darkroom, and in some cases creating their final iteration. The above image, titled “Feather, Stone, and Light” after an album and song of the same title by Native American flautist R.Carl...
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Behind-the-Scenes : The Making of “Ikebana”
As a follow-up to my previous post, let me tell you in detail what went into the making of my piece, “Ikebana”, and how meaning was found in its making. There is a thread which runs through Japanese culture, through all of its “arts”, from painting, sculpture, architecture, dance, music, the tea ceremony, and to the martial arts and beyond. That th...
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Ikebana, Photography, and the Art of Meaning
“Ikebana ”
There is a lot to be learned from a study of Japanese arts, all of Japanese culture in fact. Their aesthetic sensibilities touch every aspect of life and inform how they relate to the world around them. Yes, there is much to learned about the Art of Meaning. Photography too, as an art form, can be informed by aesthetic principles deve...
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And Now For Something Completely Different ~ Color Solarization Edition
Richard Avedon’s Portrait of The Beatles 1967 posters set a creative, trippy high-bar standard for the color Solarized image, one that perfectly captured the Fab Four in all their psychedelic glory of the time. These posters immediately became iconic and showed a wonderful use of colors. Avedon, known for his uniquely stylized fashion and portrait...
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The Wonderful, Wacky World of Solarization ~ The Black And White Edition
Welcome to the wonderful and wacky world of solarization, the black and white edition, and how we achieve the effect digitally. But first, a bit of history:
So What Is Solarization?
In a word, solarization is a mistake. It was discovered as an accident in the analog black and white darkroom of American artist/photographer Man Ray in Paris by hi...
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When It Comes To Color Grading, Boy Do I Have A LUT To Say!
When it comes to color grading video or still images, boy do I have a LUT to say! I have written about LUTs in previous posts, but this one goes further into this creative tool, and contains some very exciting news to boot.
So what is a LUT? In simple terms it stands for a “Look Up Table”, which is a file that tells a program that can utilize it...
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I Quit! The End Of An Era
Well, I did it, I quit! I’ve sold my last pro digital camera and lenses and gear, with no intention of ever buying another dSLR. So why have I quit photography? Why have I abandoned the art and craft I have spent a lifetime immersing myself in since high school? Truth be told I quit desiring to be creative with traditional cameras. My long journey...
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Urban Walkabouts & Mobile Photography ~ Part Deux: It’s About the Apps
A few more thoughts and creative tips to add to your inspiration on your urban walkabout. As you can tell from the title, and something not fully discussed in the previous post, it really is all about the apps.
The principles of good photography apply. Before I get to talking about some of my favorite apps, let me say that all the good, long sta...
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I’m on an Urban Walkabout… with an iPhone
So just what is an “Urban Walkabout” and what does it have to do with images and creativity? I’m glad you asked. I refer to myself as being on a walkabout, with an iPhone. It’s become something of a perpetual state with me, and it has both informed and inspired my creativity and image making.
Strictly speaking, most folks associate the term “wal...
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Creative Healing :: Of Horses, Memories And First Loves
I remember the first time I saw her. I remember the first time we spoke. It's said we never forget our first love, the one that first touched us heart and soul. Truest words I know. There are people that come in and out of our life, and there are special ones that leave a mark on our hearts. If we are among the very luckiest people on earth, we get...
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LUT Life Matters More Than You Know
So, you may be asking, what exactly is this “LUT Life” you speak of? I wrote a post introducing the LUT Life idea and why I am so passionate about it almost a year and a half ago, and wanted to talk a bit more on why it matters, perhaps more than most folks realize. My previous post focused primarily on one image and the use of a LUT to “grade” the...
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Welcome To ::THE LAB::
Welcome to::THE LAB:: which is a sort of “new gallery” of creative, experimental works (some in progress) that I am posting as a rotating image gallery that will be updated regularly. And by “updated” I mean images will be posted and quite possibly deleted as we go. I wanted to showcase my creative process in a sort of real-time experience. So if y...
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