musings

photo of the day – the wonder of christmas

photo of the day – the wonder of christmas

There’s nothing quite like Christmas through the eyes of a child. My friend Matt Connors did a wonderful post on his blog

© Fred Herzog

jackpot!

It’s understandable if you haven’t heard of Fred Herzog. He is now 81 years old and it was only five years ago his work began to find acclaim.

fragments

fragments

Back in May, I was in Toronto for the Magnum Workshop and I found myself against the wall struggling to find a few more images

a question of colour

a question of colour

For some time now I’ve been contemplating how I feel about black and white images and more specifically why I am attracted to black and white photography.

dog with a stone

dog with a stone

Lately I’ve become obsessed. It started when I saw a tweet about a certain website where photographers can pay $7.95 for another photographer to do an image critique.

september influences

september influences

Since moving from Africa to North America a number of years ago, I learned to really appreciate September. When I lived on the prairies,

something borrowed

something borrowed

More images from my night walk around Port Townsend! If you followed us during ART, you know food is a big part of the PT experience

photo of the day – home sweet home

photo of the day – home sweet home

Here’s another image from my day with Ellie Ericson. Steveston is a former fishing village close to where I live

Why This?

Why This?

I realize this post on the Artist Round Table is long overdue as some of you have been waiting patiently to hear what I had to say about the whole experience. Truth is I just wasn’t ready

photo of the day – the big wheel

photo of the day – the big wheel

I love bicycles. When I saw this one leaning against the wall, I knew I needed to photograph it. As I head to Toronto

election day

election day

It doesn’t matter which way you vote; just go out and vote today!

sketches

sketches

Back in February, my friends Dave, David, and I attended a workshop called “The Passionate Photographer” led by Steve Simon. I haven’t blogged about the workshop at all,

pay-it-forward

pay-it-forward

Yesterday I started a new job. Third one in six months. Hopefully the drama of the last few months will be just a distant memory

photo of the day – the cape cleare

photo of the day – the cape cleare

Port Townsend has a couple of working harbors in town and I often go there to shoot when I’m in town. By the way, the food down there is pretty good too

the inspector

the inspector

A whole new chapter has begun at the Chronicles, well two chapters really. This weekend I became the proud owner of a previously loved

when two become one

when two become one

Happy Valentine’s Day!

back in the garden

back in the garden

A couple of weekends ago I attended a lecture by Freeman Patterson called “Gardening with What You Have“. It was loosely based on the idea that the best place to see and make photographs is wherever you are

dancing in the minefields

dancing in the minefields

So let’s go dancing in the minefields Let’s go sailing in the storms Oh let’s go dancing in the minefields And kicking down the doors Oh let’s go dancing in the minefields And sailing in the storms Oh this is harder than we dreamed But I believe that’s what the promise is for ~andrew peterson [...]

©Marc Sing Key

the family business

It’s been quiet here since the New Year but only because I’ve been very busy and really haven’t had time to blog. One of the main reasons is

blogging: just being me

blogging: just being me

From time to time people email me asking questions about my blog and now is as good a time as any to share some of my thoughts on blogging and what’s worked for me.

gentleness and respect

gentleness and respect

The post today is probably going to be scattered as it’s one of those posts where I need to bring together a bunch of things flowing through my brain

dreaming

dreaming

Sorry about my absence from the blog over the last two weeks. About three months ago I learnt that my position was to be eliminated in restructuring exercise

jam to spread

jam to spread

LITTLE WORLD When I quit this mortal shore, And mosey ’round the earth no more, Don’t weep, don’t sigh, don’t sob; I may have found a better job.

writing with photographs

writing with photographs

Yesterday memories of my time at Shamper’s Bluff (seen above) came flooding back as I listened to an interview Freeman Patterson

to be creative

to be creative

You don’t have to be creative to be creative ~Paul Arden Last weekend I visited the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. I’m rather ashamed to say that it was my first visit there

one way to make better photographs and it doesn’t involve a camera

one way to make better photographs and it doesn’t involve a camera

With apologies to “you know who” for today’s title but this one has been playing in my head for a long time and after my weekend with Ray Ketcham, I think it’s time to put it out there.

the summer of cartier-bresson

the summer of cartier-bresson

It’s been almost two weeks since my visit to the Henri Cartier-Bresson exhibit at The Art Institute of Chicago and I am still processing the experience and probably will be for a while.

photo of the day

photo of the day

Believe it or not, I’ve never owned a bicycle. Sad but true. Growing up, I think my parents worried I would run away from home

creativity winners announced!

creativity winners announced!

“Once upon a time, when we were very young, every moment of our day and every item and event within it were novel.

don’t draw on the wall

don’t draw on the wall

There’s less than a week to go before the “10 ways to kill creativity” contest ends on Friday August 6. We’ve noticed that there aren’t that many entries and it has me asking my favourite question: “Why?”

“stop daydreaming” and 10 other things that killed creativity

“stop daydreaming” and 10 other things that killed creativity

Friday’s blog post on mistakes generated more conversation than I expected. It made me think about the things we’ve been told that slowly killed the natural tendency we have to express ourselves creatively. 

point of view

point of view

First, a thank you to Stuart Sipahigil for his guest post as part of my series on celebrating success. What a great story to motivate us to push through our doubts on the way to living our dream.

in defence of steve mccurry

in defence of steve mccurry

Let me preface this by saying Steve McCurry doesn’t need me to defend to him; this is more a defence of the idea behind the work he is about to embark on

photo of the day

photo of the day

I’d like to thank Mark Olwick for sharing the story of his recent success. If you follow Mark over on his own blog, you will know that he writes very thoughtful pieces from the heart.

reflections on success

reflections on success

Last week I only did one post. It wasn’t because I was deliberating over some insurmountable obstacle on this artistic journey; it’s because I’ve actually been very busy. Life is a funny thing.

the prodigal daughter

the prodigal daughter

“Your life is a paradigm of the process of being an artist, a witness and record to the way time and circumstance, event and emotion, courage and fear surround the making of art.

lunch part 3

lunch part 3

“Whatever you’ve been in your life, you will bring it to your work. You cannot help but be who you are and who you’ve been.”  ~Jay Maisel~

sometimes one word is worth a photograph

sometimes one word is worth a photograph

If you don’t like this photograph, please keep it to yourself. Forgive me for that but I just cannot bear to hear anything negative about this one because I love everything about this image. Everything. From beginning to end.

rethinking learning

rethinking learning

At the risk of stirring the pot rather than the paint, here goes. My last post and the responses to it left me at a loss for words. And I don’t mean in the traditional sense that what was said was bad; none of it was. It was all good.

just another manic monday

just another manic monday

It’s a holiday Monday here in my part of the world but it doesn’t feel like it at all. I had planned a leisurely fun post for earlier today and now it’s afternoon and I still have a million things I’d like to do.

a little bit of heart

a little bit of heart

Much has been written about how to find your vision as an artist and as a photographer but you won’t find any advice about it here. There are more sage visionmasters than I could ever profess to be but what I am is a student of those masters.

lead me not into temptation

lead me not into temptation

Yesterday Nikon announced their new 200-400mm f4 ED VRII lens. It is a professional lens

now what?

now what?

Several months ago I was in Ottawa to relaunch our Action Learning program in which I facilitate two groups to help solve problems or resolve issues. In this process participants are not allowed to give advice only to ask questions. 

the photographer’s value proposition

the photographer’s value proposition

At the risk of wading knee-deep into the debate on the professional photographer’s shrinking market, I wanted to share my thoughts as someone who does not make any money from photography.

where angels fear to tread

where angels fear to tread

A couple of months ago I was on the PPSOP Forum reading a post where someone was seeking feedback on their image. Although the names have been changed to protect the parties, the exact conversation went like this.

how we see ourselves

how we see ourselves

Yesterday I discussed an image that was recognized with a third place award by World Press Photo and later disqualified because it did not follow the rules which did not allow cloning. A link I included showed both the rather ordinary original RAW image and the final processed image that was submitted. I was curious to know [...]

making memories

making memories

Memories of Sugar Bush 2008 Several unrelated things happened this past week that gave me pause to think about why we should take photographs. And I do mean take photographs in the conventional sense rather than make photographs.

defining moments

defining moments

Most, if not all, photographers know about Henri Cartier-Bresson’s “decisive moment”. To loosely paraphrase, it’s a fleeting slice of time when as a photographer, your eye and camera are synchronized by intuition to capture something that once it passes, is forever lost.

a stranger’s just a friend you do not know

a stranger’s just a friend you do not know

Date: October 5, 2009 From: Ryan Snider Subject: Krista meet Sabrina Message: You two will be sharing a tent on the January photo safari (2 beds) and should feel free to email one another…I think you two will get along really well!

expectation

expectation

Since my return from Kenya a few days ago I’ve been reconnecting with friends and family on Twitter, Facebook, and in person. It’s been a warm welcome home and everyone has expressed excitement at the prospect of seeing the images and hearing my stories. While I am very touched by the interest and enthusiasm, this has made today’s post particularly [...]

an elephant never forgets

an elephant never forgets

Learning happens through planned activities but also more serendipitously and not always so pleasantly. I was of two minds whether or not to write about happened over the past 24 hours but as this is a blog about the chronicles of learning, I couldn’t not write about it. At the very least you might have a good laugh [...]

fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly

fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly

There’s a poll over at John Batdorff’s blog today asking if people would still take pictures even if no-one ever saw them. It comes as no surprise to me that 100% of respondents said that they would. In the wonderful words of Oscar Hammerstein II from the musical Showboat “fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly”

passion and sanity

passion and sanity

what the squirrel saw van dusen gardens, vancouver According to the Chinese horoscope, those born in the Year of the Horse are known for their passionate nature but beware if you should have a daughter born in the Year of the Fire Horse for their unbridled passions will be multiplied many times over and bring [...]

follow your heart

follow your heart

Whether or not we’d like to admit it, our families have a strong influence on us. I was once told that the things deep in our psyche can go back five generations and that by knowing and understanding them, we can better know and understand ourselves. And while I myself haven’t explored this in any [...]

venturing off the shore

venturing off the shore

swept away silver falls state park, oregon On the weekend I realized I’ve reached a new point in my photographic journey. Our group was at Silver Falls State Park in Oregon shooting the Falls from the creek. On the way down it was wet and Robyn, one of the participants, slipped and slid a few feet but she was fine. [...]

when a door is not a door

when a door is not a door

I wonder finn slough, richmond, bc Finn Slough, just 15 minutes from my home, was settled in the early 1900′s by Finnish fishermen who came to Canada to escape poverty and apparent repression in Finland. They lived in float houses, net sheds, or even on their boats while they worked to establish their new lives. 

the value of “evaluation”

the value of “evaluation”

out on a limb st martins, new brunswick Getting a critique on your images can be a scary process especially when you’re in a room full of strangers. However I found myself geniunely looking forward to this part of the workshop each day when we would submit three images for evaluation by Andre and Freeman. [...]

already there

already there

mmmmmaccha momento coffee, vancouver 141 posts and one year later, I am celebrating the first anniversary of my blog! When I first started out on this adventure it was just to share my photos with family and friends. Somewhere along the way it morphed into what it is today–a blog about my journey to learn [...]

a multitude of sins

a multitude of sins

swirl queen elizabeth park, vancouver I wanted to find a way to share some of the bloopers from my weekend workshop and still preserve my dignity. The more I thought about it, the more I realized it just wasn’t going to be pretty unless Photoshop was involved. Digital manipulation has become part of photography whether [...]

truth and lies

truth and lies

fine feather steveston, bc One of the most interesting instructive moments of this past weekend with Bryan Peterson took place at the Britannia Heritage Shipyard in Steveston. He spoke about the controversy over Robert Capa’s photo “The Falling Soldier” and how a picture is one big lie filled with truths. Those of you who are [...]

one crazy ride

one crazy ride

urban cowboy downtown vancouver, bc   I’ve just finished up my weekend workshop with Bryan Peterson and my head is really full. Needless to say it was a crazy ride these past few days waking up before the crack of dawn to catch the morning light and going until late into the night. Friday evening [...]

countdown

countdown

No. 5 seattle, washington   I get so excited when I think of the prospect of three unadulterated days of photography. The last time I did this was back in February in Tampa, Florida when I met my photog friends Sue and Ron for the first time and we played together for three days. Before [...]

the life in between

the life in between

lily pond van dusen garden, vancouver Today I participated one of the rituals of life–a funeral. It was a beautiful service punctuated by a teary-eyed solo by the deceased’s son-in-law and a heartfelt eulogy by her grand-daughter. Mrs. Hentzen was a teacher and through her vocation she had an influence on a great many people [...]

free fall

free fall

free fall van dusen garden, vancouver This past week I had a bit of a free fall, a sudden, sharp decrease in the quantity of time I normally reserve for learning photography. Last year all my ducks were in a row. I changed jobs resulting in a work-life balance I hadn’t had in the previous [...]

in the company of giants

in the company of giants

david and me “within the frame” book launch party, vancouver 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 [...]

leaders and followers

leaders and followers

Last night I tweeted a link on 80+ photographers to follow on Twitter and a couple of hours later @MattBrandon replied that he was hurt his name wasn’t on the list. He was only joking of course and promptly responded by creating his own “Follow Wednesday” list that included only me and @GavinGough. What’s funny [...]

out of the mouths of babes

out of the mouths of babes

poppies van dusen gardens, vancouver In three simple words uttered by a child is something I’ve only just begun to understand and fully appreciate: the “why” we take photographs. David Sanger’s recent entry on his blog titled “Authenticity” explains this well. Photographers should seek to make images that mean something and our images should reflect [...]

sneak peak

sneak peak

marilyn and rebecca Because summer is just around the corner and my friend Rebecca is getting married next month, I decided to have a bit of fun and take a Weddings photography course. That’s Rebecca in the photo above which was taken yesterday when she went for her final dress fitting. We had a blast [...]

reflections

reflections

miner’s bay mayne island, bc There is the old adage that a picture’s worth a thousand words but great photographers often have wonderful stories beyond their images and once in a while, they share them with the rest of the world. In each of these stories are pearls of wisdom some of which I thought [...]

life is a highway

life is a highway

dave howlett by braden hanna This past week I was in Ottawa attending our annual staff meetings where Dave Howlett was our keynote speaker. If you have never heard Dave speak, you should find a way to attend his “Knocking Down Silos” presentation. You won’t regret it. His philosophy is simple yet powerful and when [...]

in the beginning

in the beginning

class trip sodwana bay, south africa As a person learning this craft, I like to read about the journey other photographers have taken. Invariably their stories always include something about where it all started for them. In some cases it was a long road with many bumps and detours along the way and in others, [...]

news news

news news

It’s been a while since I did a news news posting so time to catch up with everyone on a few things. Two more days until I leave for Japan–sugoi! It has been 15 years since I was last in Japan so it will be interesting to see how much it has changed. Of course [...]

"Resistance" is evil

"Resistance" is evil

now that’s what I’m talking about! vancouver Resistance, according to Steven Pressfield is very clever and dastedly evil and will take on other forms to stop us from achieving the life we should be living. Pressfield is the author of The War of Art, a book introduced to me by Pixelated Image’s David duChemin. Thursday [...]

missed takes

missed takes

I just finished viewing a short interview with Joe McNally on the newly revamped Vancouver Photoworkshops website. One thing Joe said resonated with me and that was the notion of mistakes. Look up the word “mistake” and you’ll typically see it defined as “a wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention“. I [...]

getting to know you

getting to know you

Getting to know you, Getting to know all about you. Getting to like you, Getting to hope you like me. Getting to know you, Putting it my way, But nicely, You are precisely, My cup of tea. ~ anna, from the king and i ~ Some random events came together today and I think they [...]

around the block

around the block

hemlock chalet hemlock, bc The planets were aligned, and not so nicely I might add. I’ve had a case of writer’s block for more than a week which is why you’ve only seen photos posted with very little narrative. Coincidently I am also having a case of photographer’s block. As I shared with my friend [...]

learning my lines

learning my lines

sabrina’s beach clearwater, florida Line is considered by photographers as one of the most important building blocks of visual imagery. Expressed through length, character, orientation, thickness and in relation to other lines, this fundamental element is visible through its tone and colour and because of the area each side of the line. A line of [...]

birds of a feather

birds of a feather

egret’s wing homosassa springs, florida Right now I am enjoying the last few hours of beautiful Tampa weather before I have to head back into the cold. This has been an absolutely fabulous weekend, topped off yesterday with our visit to Homosassa Springs where virtually every species of animal and bird found in Florida can [...]

from yvr to tpa

from yvr to tpa

original image processed in photomatix Julieanne Kost based on her book Window Seat. This wonderful collection of images reminded me of when, as a child, I used to fly into JHB (Johannesburg, South Africa) and see all the swimming pools below. I can’t remember when I changed my mind and started to choose the aisle [...]

patience, perseverance and passion

patience, perseverance and passion

contemplation van dusen gardens, vancouver It is commonplace to think about making changes at the beginning of the year and although I am not one for making New Year’s resolutions, I do believe that to succeed at anything, we need to periodically stop and contemplate if we are heading in the right direction. Just the [...]

lesson learned

lesson learned

At first I was going to title this posting “photo of the day” but then I thought readers might not see the humour in it for there is no photo here so instead I called it “lesson learned”. Like many of the best lessons in life, there is usually a missed opportunity, a sprinkling of [...]

abstract thinking

abstract thinking

That morning there was a beautiful sunrise but with no landscape in sight I fired off a few shots of the aircraft and then I started to play around with different points of view. What I landed up with was a group of abstract images based on colour. These types of images don’t appeal to [...]

destinations and journeys

destinations and journeys

Flying into Ottawa today I read a magazine article about what inspires photographers. The tagline was “finding your own photo style is a journey, not a destination”. For some time now I have been living with the realization that my life has been more about destinations than the journeys. My new love of photography and [...]