I guess the higher you want to go, the greater the obstacles.

I guess the higher you want to go, the greater the obstacles.
Originally uploaded by James_at_Slack

I'm on holiday just now and an opportunity (in between chores) to try to take my photography to the next level, if you get my meaning. Well tonight I hit the all too familiar feeling of 'Oh My God, I know nothing! I have SO much to learn! I so suck at this photography lark!' For example, I want to learn more about light and using flash, so, the best place to go would be strobist.com which I duly went to and very quickly realised how much I need to get, to learn, to do, to read, to watch, etc. etc. One website seems to lead you hundreds of others - where do you start? where do you stop? Argh! The wealth of info on the web is, on one hand just so fantastic and helpful, but on the other it can be almost paralysing.

Time - there just isn't enough of it.
Advice - there is just too much going around. Some scare you - "Your pictures should stop me dead in my tracks, everytime." An Art dealer/buyer. "You should take pictures of things no one else has taken"!!

And what have I NOT done today? Yip, taken a picture. I think that is what I should focus on more. (excuse the pun)

Any views on my grumble?

Last few weeks!

Last few weeks!
Originally uploaded by James_at_Slack

My first solo exhibition finishes at the end of July so if you're in the area and can get along to Millers (which has a restaurant, gifts, deli, books, clothing etc.) I would be delighted. I'm looking for some comments on the exhibition too, good and bad! Go to www.jamesdyasdavidson.com for more.

Thomas Carlyle by Julia Margaret Cameron

Thomas Carlyle by Julia Margaret Cameron
Originally uploaded by James_at_Slack

I went to Aberdeen Art Gallery to see the exhibition of photographs by Roger Fenton and Julia Margaret Cameron yesterday and was, yet again, taken by this one of Thomas Carlyle. It is a very blurry, out of focus shot but it has an impact and resonates, especially if you know something about Carlyle. Anyway, this is my contribution to blurry photographs in respect to these pioneering Victorian photographers.
There is also a room full of George Washington Wilson photographs of the royals at Balmoral with nothing better to do than to dress up and recreate scenes from mythology or the Bible and summon Wilson, by telegram, to get himself over to Balmoral and take a few pictures. Fascinating.

You have 4 weeks off work - what would you do to improve your photography?

If you had the following 4 weeks off work, what would you do to move your photography to the next level?
I intend to know every nook and cranny of my camera and all the other pieces of equipment I've bought recently; to take the shots that have, until now only existed in my head; to study more art and photographers; to complete a project that will, yet again take me into an area I'm not familiar with; do more portraits; understand light and flash better; and last but perhaps most importantly of all, take photographs, be creative and fun.

Inspiration - Part 2

Inspiration - Part 2

In his article, ‘A Long Way from Home’, former computer scientist Hin Chua remembers how, looking back on his life before photography, he can’t recall much. His memory hazy and indistinct because the routine of his daily life passed in a blur, seemingly without acknowledgement or event. Finally, like many others (and in an attempt to get over a girl), he had to slow down and examine his environment carefully, to ‘finally appreciate the idiosyncratic beauty around me which would capriciously reveal itself from time to time. I gradually learned to perceive and comprehend the innate dynamics and tension within a scene that, whether an ephemeral moment passing in a blink of an eye or an elaborately sustained drama, the end result had a far longer period of gestation.’ He found that this new appreciation of his environment cured his apathy and inertia and instead, ‘the very act of venturing forth and engaging with the world could not help but present new opportunities.’

He admires photographers who have a ‘sensitivity to the chaotic forces and unpredictability found in the world.’

He compares photography to jazz and quotes Charles Harbutt, who wrote, ‘ photographic design is more related to jazz than to formal, classical composition. It is a spontaneous, instinctive, even subconscious act, not rigidly thought out. Yet the final print must have both form and content wedded with a certain inevitability.’

Although Hin was speaking specifically about street photography, I think the process of taking time to be in, and to know your environment, whatever that might be, to be sensitive to the beauty and uniqueness of what is all around us, will pay dividends. For sure, I have done this often and come back with little or nothing to show for it because my environment is predominately rural, but when I keep going back to familiar places, I look at a different spot or the same spot and see something different or notice change. Whereas Hin may get changing characters in his street photography, I get changing weather, clouds, light and colours. What I don’t do enough of is being in my environment at different times of the day to make the most of these changing factors. Before sunrise and after sunset will be my next ingredient in the mix.

As regards, the Harbutt quote above, I’m not so sure I agree as there are some stunning ‘composed’ photographs out there, for example, the work of David La Chapelle or Annie Leibovitz. It’s just another ‘genre’ of photography which we can be inspired by or not. I seem to be inspired by both - the composed, planned and staged shot as well as the ‘decisive moment’, street shot. I don’t have the time nor the skill to do the planned shot but I would love to do more street photography - difficult in rural Aberdeenshire!


These notes I made after reading ‘Inspiration’ in ‘Publication’, a biannual periodical produced by street photographers for street photographers (of which I am not one!). (Nick Turpin Publishing)

Inspiration - Part 1

Inspiration - Part 1

In his article ‘The One Eyed God of Photography can be whatever I want her to be’, David Gibson recalls, as a student of photography, pouring over photography books and absorbing as many different styles as possible. This instinct and desire to take and look at photographs has never really left him. But slowly he abandoned what inspired him and drifted into what he wanted to take. Drifted into his style. We are awash with images now. Sites like Flickr are both humbling and unsettling, Gibson feels. Inspiration should be all around us now surely? But we still lose our way and feel uninspired.
Some photographers lose their passion and lose their confidence which, Gibson reckons, we should take solace from. He also considers Cartier-Bresson’s lack of progression over his career - but then he had an unerring eye when he began!
Reaching his pinnacle in 1958 with the publication of The Americans, Robert Frank spent the rest of his career trying to escape this legacy. He didn’t want to repeat himself. His success became a burden.
Like Diane Arbus’ work for me, Gibson suggest that great photographs make one say ‘Yes!’ ‘Yes, this is my direction. Yes, this is what I want to do.’ Gibson wonders if, ‘..inspiration from one’s own work should never exceed the inspiration gained from seeing the work of others? Our own work should satisfy us only to the point of seeking more inspiration.’ I have no worries there then, that’s for sure. Mostly I feel humbled and inadequate, but at the same time inspired to do better when I look at the work of other photographers. Gibson mention photographers who embrace their demons or doubts to find ways forward. In a child like way, we should continue to investigate, to try different things, plunge into the unknown with enthusiasm and curiosity. ‘Inspiration is innocence reshaped’ - Gibson
We can, and should, find inspiration from anywhere and in any form , not just photography. Inspiration may not be able to be used directly. A song can make you feel a certain way but you may not be able to take that feeling further in photography. ‘Sometimes inspiration can just restore optimism’ according to Gibson. He concludes, ‘Inspiration cannot be taken for granted - you have to meet it half-way.’
My summary from this is to keep going back to the photography books and keep on researching others, keep feeding your inspiration, keep learning, keep trying and above all keep living life.

To be continued.

These notes I made after reading ‘Inspiration’ in ‘Publication’, a biannual periodical produced by street photographers for street photographers (of which I am not one!). (Nick Turpin Publishing)

What do you do with creative block?

Dummy
Originally uploaded by James_at_Slack

After reading the blog, iso50 I decided to summarise what was thought by some to ‘unblock’ creative block. So here, in no particular order are ideas to get your creativity flowing again.

Playing music, often ambient, instrumental music. Some just want to dance
Play a musical instrument
Read books or magazines for inspiration, preferably in a bookstore or library
Listen to podcasts of inspiring people
Take a break from your work and just watch and listen to the world around you
Housework, gardening, DIY, cooking, tidying up, long showers
Go for walks, cycle or run in nature if possible and think
Watch movies
Go to galleries, museums, etc and see the work of others and aim to be as good
Look back at your scrapbook of ideas, pictures, drawings and add more
Draw, sketch. Do it quickly, spontaneous
Try to hang out with friends with similar interests
Travel
Do things that keep you happy and positive as that can be where creativity comes from
Exercise both sides of the brain, not just the creative side. So do some maths, read a difficult piece of literature

So, many are obvious but clearly they work. The key seems to be get your brain to do nothing or something else. Keep your mind active.

I’m not sure if I’m in a creative rut or I’m just moving on to the next stage of my photography. I feel like I’m trying to catch up with all the years I couldn’t and didn’t do anything with my photography. The upshot of this feeling is that I tend to focus on photography and nothing else, neglecting my guitar, movies, books, museums, galleries, socialising, etc. And there, friends, is my solution to becoming more creative with photography - spend less time on it!

What type of photographer are you?

It is only when you start thinking about WHY you are taking a photograph that you begin to question what kind of photographer you are.

Don’t all photographers go through an initial period when they just take what they think will be received as good photos, only to discover that it has all been done before and done better? I know I have. Praise for some of my pictures has come my way (and I am grateful for it and been encouraged by it) but I know that many of my shots are clichéd, bland and generally do the job.
Once that reality had been grasped, I am now thinking more about why I’m taking the shot. Many attractive and pleasing to the eye scenes have come my way, but I find myself thinking, “I’ve taken something like this before – why do it again? What is the point of the photograph? What am I taking to the shot?” So I am actually taking less pictures which I’m not sure is a good thing or a bad thing. Time to do some reading and thinking.

Having read ‘The Photograph as Contemporary Art’ by Charlotte Cotton, seven approaches to photography become clear:

1. The photographer devises strategies, performances and happenings especially for the camera. The picture has been preconceived.
2. The photographer tells a story in a single picture. Props, gestures, settings, etc. have been used. Again a preconceived shot.
3. Photographic aesthetic is the criteria. There is a distinct lack of visual drama or hyperbole; the subject is paramount.
4. The photographer presents the ordinary and the bland. The subject matter at its most oblique.
5. The photographer’s personal and emotional stories; the diary of human intimacy. The pictures can often look casual, amateur and have a ‘family snap’ feel.
6. The documentary and ‘aftermath’ photography recording the political and human upheaval and isolation.
7. The photographer mimics other visual genres and revives historical photographic techniques.

This recent shot of mine is one a small few that I had preconceived in my mind:




My initial thoughts are that, at the moment, I seem to be a combination of numbers 3, 4 and 6 with hints of 5. What is interesting though, is that I tend to enjoy looking at photographers in the 1,2 and 6!

Can you think about your photography too much?

At the moment I feel like I am thinking too much about, 'will my camera and lens do what it is supposed to do?', 'have I got the right combination of aperture, speed and ISO?', ' am I using the correct lens for this shot?', 'will it be in focus?', 'I hope there is no dust on the sensor'. I know - I worry too much, but problems associated with these issues have been happening to me a bit too much recently. I never had as much problems with focusing with the D50 as I have with the D300. Anyway, I hope I can get back to a point where I just go out and concentrate on the shot. Is the technology getting too complicated and technical issues causing more worries?
After I get on top of these issues and take some shots, I then compare what I do with my shots with others, mostly on Flickr, but yesterday I looked through the Editor's choice in the Digital Camera Photographer of the Year (http://poty2009.dcmag.co.uk/)and concluded that I just don't take enough time over the post processing bit. Thing is, I don't want to spend hours with PS and end up with the unreal look of some of the shots, especially some of the HDR crap I you see. That said, many of the finalist's shots of the POTY look over processed and cliched. (BTW - I did enter some pictures to this competition and one shot came to the attention of the Editor:




and I was asked to submit a HiRes version and supply some more info on me, so yeh, maybe I am envious of those who got through, but I can voice my opinions.)Of course, some shots were just plain outstanding.

So my point is? Well, I think there are so many photographers out there doing such great work, not only in digital, highly processed work, but also in little processed digital and film work, that I have to quickly get on top of technical issues (it's hard work James, 'Just Do It'!)and return to taking photographs which tell a story from the interests and passions I have. Be inspired and study others and never stop learning.

I am so determined to prove to myself that I can be creative and show that creativity through photography.

Out of my comfort zone again

I suppose my 'comfort zone' is in the middle of an Aberdeenshire glen shooting abandoned communities or clachans. Well, over the last few weeks I have done 2 weddings, a traditional singing festival, horses and last Friday, a fashion show.

It all adds to the steep learning curve. I played around with my settings at home tonight because I was convinced the camera wasn't doing what it should have done on Friday night. On Friday I had the D300 with the SB600 flash on. I put the camera on Shutter priority to keep the speed at 1/80s (50mm lens, 400ISO) and I thought the camera would control the aperture to suit. However the aperture stayed at f1.8 which is very dodgy as the DOF is narrow making focusing an issue and it tends to blow highlights. Tonight I reproduced the settings and the set up and the camera changed the aperture to suit which means it detected very low light in the hall and kept the aperture open. Our eyes are amazing because I thought it was well lit but obviously not. Maybe I should have put the ISO up but the noise I hate. I'm sure a more experienced photographer can tell me what I did wrong. Essentially, I haven't quite got to grips with getting a correct exposure using flash in a dimmly lit room which also has spotlights working. NO, to be truthful, I haven't quite got to grips with getting a correct exposure using flash!

The great thing is, I learnt a bit more about photography on Friday night.

Ironically, my favourite shots taken without the flash:





And one taken with the flash but inside the small changing room:



Love to hear any comments or any advice.

Back to Earth with a bump.

Is it ego, is it vanity or is it just naive stupidity? Over the past 4 years I have been trying to get back up to speed (and go faster, much faster!)on the techniques and technicalities of photography as well as just get back into being creative after years of enforced neglect. Over this period I have been lucky and fortunate enough to get support and encouragement, as well as praise, from a variety of people. So, naturally, you feel as if you must be getting somewhere and must be alright at this photography lark. Then you go and attempt a couple of weddings, enter a couple of competitions, take photos outside your 'comfort zone' (my case - horses) and be part of an exhibition. It's then that you come back down to earth with a bump:



The wedding shots I am generally happy with but boy do I have a greater respect for wedding photographers - you have soooo much to think about and perform 'live'. Then I foolishly thought you could nip up to a town, take a prize winning photo for a calender competition and beat the people who live there and have 100's of shots! Pillock. But worse than that, I didn't even get a look in - no runner up or highly commended mention - nothing. I prostituted myself too by taking a calender shot (shame on me):



I loved being with the horses and I don't care what others think of those shots because I had a great experience:



I participated alongside others from the local camera club to put on an exhibition as part of NEOS (Google it). There was an impressive eclectic mix of photos. I sold - none. We ran a wee competition asking visitors to pick their favourite shot - I came nowhere near the winners. It was stiff competition that's for sure!

So what do I make of all of this? Yes, I spent some of this weekend thinking I must be crap at photography but, and this is important to me, all that it did was make me want to push myself even further and faster. Everything I have done over the last two months has moved me forward. Before the exhibition I never printed my photos(to my wife's annoyance)nor had I mounted pictures either. I also got a reminder of why you should NEVER try to judge your audience (or indeed the judges!) - just be yourself.

I have learned an awful lot, not only about photography, but about myself. It's good to have a hobby don't you think?

My experience as a wedding photographer

This summer I had the opportunity to photograph two weddings. There is one thing to be said about taking wedding photos - it is exhausting, especially when you are there from when the bride is getting her hair done to the last Auld Lang Syne. However, it is a steep learning curve. Using flash almost constantly is unusual for me and I had to always remember that 1/250s was the fastest flash sync speed (well it isn't really in the D300 but we'll leave that just now) and when the sun kept popping in and out of the clouds, I had to think aperture, NOT speed. At the same time I had to remember about the correct poses and watching out for clothing flaws. For the second wedding I was also using a lens I had never used before (Tamron 18-270mm – Nikon user avoid this lens) and wasn't sure where its 'sweet spot' is. Sharpness seems fine but fuzzy at the edge of some shots and some annoying chromatic aberration, which the dpreview said was very good. I will need to get to know it a bit more.



That said, I think I've got one or two more unusual shots which I hope will post process well. When I finally deliver their wedding photographs, I hope I have given them a decent record of their special day. I learnt a lot those days and I was so grateful for the opportunity to be their photographer. At times I made mistakes or struggled to understand why the exposure wasn't quite correct (lots of whites and blacks in suits/dresses together with sunshine/clouds and using flash); sometimes the lens wasn't as good as I hoped; sometimes it came together and I captured a moment and it didn't matter if the shot wasn't technically perfect. It was a great experience all in all and I don't know why I thought I would instantly be a great wedding photographer when I had never done anything like it before but I suppose I did think I would be good at it. Truth is, there is so much to be in control of - not only the camera and all of the technical stuff, but the poses, the clothes, hair, expressions, making sure all the important people/events were taken, and so on.

Finding a 'voice'

I was responding a Flickr photographer's great 'essay' underneath the photo 'Klimt's Island. I was so in tune with what he said that I didn't want to just slap down some instant comment. In fact, he put down in words exactly what I'm going through at the moment, namely, trying to find a 'voice' to my photography.

I have days when I think I may just have something with my photography and there are days when I feel I am just another bland, boring photographer making up the numbers. I have felt like that with other things I have tried in my life but the difference with photography is that I have not, and will not, abandon it as I have done with other pursuits. Inside me there is a feeling that I have something creative to offer and I'm convinced it is via photography.

However, the days, weeks, months and years roll on and that 'voice' has still to appear. OK, many shots have been blogged, used, and explored and, probably like many other Flickr users, Getty are interested in 26 of my shots . This month a CD of a well respected traditional fiddler will use 4 of my photographs, hopefully a book will be published soon with one of my shots on the cover, weddings have been done and a music festival will be shot by me. So, I'm not crap at photography obviously, but where is 'me' in these photographs?

When Rob said - "but the more I try to explore who I am and how that relates to my work, the more confused I become. I know it sounds rather self-centred, but to understand and further my photography I need to understand and further myself" - I thought, "Yes! somebody else going through this." I have read in many places that the best advice successful photographers give to aspiring photographers is to LIVE LIFE. Go to the theatre, opera, dance, movies, museums, concerts, read literature, etc. Also, have a passion or passions in your life - what really interests you? who areyou? These last questions are more difficult to answer than you think I feel. As Rob said, the elusive ‘I’ shows an alarming tendency to disappear when we try to examine it. I often look at other photographers I admire, or even some I don't even know, and I see work I am very impressed with but don't try to copy or emulate them. I just absorb it. Often they are city scenes and/or have people in them - two things I am short of up here in rural Aberdeenshire.

Add to this, the mess my head gets into when I think too much about the technical aspects of photography which I'm still fumbling to grasp. There is so much to learn and so little time to learn it. I now have enough knowledge to now that a particular shot could be improved with a different lens/filter/lighting and it kind of puts me off taking it! whereas in the past I would have given it my best shot. Recently my new D300 had to go and get fixed/calibrated and I was so happy taking my old D50 and 'snapping' away without giving a damn about technical concerns.

One aspect of photography Rob didn't talk about was 'networking' with other photographers, I live in rural Aberdeenshire and 99% of the time I am on my own taking shots. I don't have a network of photographers I could tap into and share ideas (or see what I will never do!) I think this might help me find a 'voice' so I am going to try to work on this somehow. What do you think? Do you network with other photographers (or artists for that matter) and does it help find 'you' in your work? I started this photography blog but failed to keep it up to date (how often have we heard that?) and I am in the process of setting up a website (truth be told, I can't be bothered with it but I will persevere). I need to get my work out there and my name known I guess if I wan't to see if I can cut it.

Shoot your passion

In an earlier blog I was commenting on advice given to aspiring photographers by successful photographers. The gist of which was - photograph things you are passionate about and hopefully some fine pictures will emerge. I think they are right. I decided to spend some of my Easter break reading up on deserted glens in the North-East of Scotland - something I've been interested in for years. I have given myself the challenge of finding these abandoned and deserted glens and trying to take visually pleasing pictures. Many of these deserted glens only have a pile of stones as evidence of the remains of houses, so photographing these 'piles of granite' and making them interesting was a challenge.

On one or two days I was blessed with vivid and intense light and dramatic skies which helped greatly. Every now and then there would be a whole house still standing like the shot above of a place called Ardoch. “They call it the ‘Metropolean o’ the Waterside’. What they meant was that it was Glen Gairn’s metropolis; where they said ‘fowk had a’thing amang themselves’. This was Ardoch, one of the biggest clachans on Gairnside, whose fourteen fire-houses (houses with chimneys) lay on the lower slopes of Mammie Hill, looking down to where the River Gairn sweeps towards the River Dee.” The Land of the Lost by Robert Smith.

I really enjoyed mixing hobbies like this - reading local history, walking or cycling in Scotland and taking photographs. But what gave me even more pleasure was how much others on Flickr enjoyed the pictures. My views, comments and favs increased and that led to a few shots getting into Explore. Yeh, some might say it's pathetic to care about such stuff, but I would far rather I got many responses than none at all.

So I plan sticking to this 'passion' for local history of cleared glens and photographing as many interesting ruins as possible.

Anybody else experience such 'win-win' situations?