in the company of giants

david and me

The title of today’s post comes courtesy of the big guy himself, David duChemin. A few months ago David was on a list of top ten photographers along with Gavin Gough He tweeted to me: “in the company of giants..always nice to be among people you love and respect“. That comment stuck with me and I was reminded of it in a recent post on the Pixelated Image blog where David wrote about reaching out to the people who inspire us. Lucky for me, I happen to live in the same city as David and was honoured to attend last Saturday’s launch party for his book Within the Frame.

WTF is destined to become a classic, and just like Bryan Peterson’s Understanding Exposure, it will be part of every new photographer’s learning library. The book has been reviewed as a “how to” but also a “why to”–a geek meets artist paradigm–to use David’s words. Having read the book I would whole-heartedly agree, however I would like to add a slightly different interpretation to the dialogue. For me the “how to” is more than the technical information such as what lens or aperture to use; it is also about a way of being as a photographer. WTF covers this well because it is a personal sharing by someone who lives by this creed. As I am just beginning the pursuit of my photographic vision and understanding what that actually means, I’ve been reflecting on why this is important to me. I’ve come to the conclusion that the satisfaction will come not only from the achievement of that vision but also the way in which it comes to be. I will have an opportunity to work on this when I travel to Kenya on a socially responsible photographic safari with David in January 2010. Turns out that we will be using WTF as a foundation for our journey while there.

One last thing…I picked up a signed copy of Within the Frame at the launch party and I’m excited to announce that it will be the very first giveaway on my blog. There are two ways to throw your hat into the ring: leave a comment on this or any other posting on my blog between now and June 30th or follow me on Twitter. I’ll randomly select one lucky winner at the end of the month so stay tuned!

Update: The lucky winner is @jefflynchphoto from Sugar Land, Texas. Your signed copy of WTF is on the way to you. Congratulations! I look forward to tweeting with you on Twitter.