Photo Tutor

Is Photography Art?

    So why do we take photographs?  Why paint or sculpt?  Why create at all.  Is photography art?  Can we even say that something electronically created is art?  It's probably been less than a year since I last heard the comment that photography is not art.  All the work is done by a mechanical device, what kind of craft is there to that?  Click and all the work is done.  What is there to learning technique, perspective, the mixing colors, and expressing a mood.  Where is the create part of creativity.  Click and all the work is done for you.  One twenty-fifth of a second and it's done; pretty easy.  If photography is art then everyone with a camera is an artist.
     When I first started photographing I was attempting to show what I thought was beautiful.  For years and years I was simply recording what I considered beautiful.  In those years I learned what works and what doesn't within the limitations of the camera and film.  I learned what makes a quality photograph.  I learned how to take beautiful pictures of beautiful things.  But from the beginning I photographed because I had to.  I was feeling as an artist, a need to express in a way I could understand.  I studied music in college but never thought it was a way for me to express myself.  Anything I played was a struggle and it didn't feel real.  I knew someday someone would find out I was a fraud .  So I gave it up.  Photography was different.  I felt it was working for me.  As I got better I was no longer just recording beautiful things I was recording myself.  Like a song that brings back memories of a feeling, a photograph of mine brings me back to the beauty I experienced when I was there.  Because I understood my craft I was able to make quality images of what I experienced.  It didn't matter that I got rejection letters of my submissions to magazines.  I was doing what I needed to do.  An artist doesn't create for others, he or she creates for his or her own need to.  The late Joseph Campbell said, "to follow your bliss."  An artist creates because it is part of their bliss.  For those who lack even a little bliss this sounds absurd.  Those people don't have art in their homes, have

Art In Life

    Every morning when we open our eyes we create our reality.  We awake with all the possibilities of a world we can create anew.  Consider the story of Chuang Tsu who awoke from a dream of being a butterfly.  He was not sure if he was Chuang Tsu dreaming of being a butterfly or a butterfly now dreaming he was Chuang Tsu.  With all the possibilities we can create, more often than not, we create the same reality we have always created because we are afraid of anything different or uncomfortable.   Art is for those who have a driving need to create and express a reality they have.   For many though, the need to express their reality through some medium may not be important or they may feel unqualified to do so.  In these troubling times it's difficult to find value in ascetics when other parts of our life demand more attentions.  But, even so, in some way, we all participate in self expression of some kind.  To cultivate creativity is much more important in troubling times.

Photography Ideas

 Last week on my way into Billings traveling 70 mph I saw what I thought was a photograph.  I was even compelled enough to turn around to get another look to see if it was indeed something worth recording.  Someone had plowed their field and the snow had not melted in the bottoms of the rows.  These created dark and light patterns in the field that I thought were interesting.
     It made me think of all the times I see an image and, even though I may even have my camera with me, I keep driving.  Photography helps us see.  Diane Arbus said, “I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn’t photograph them.” 
     In our busy lives we are always looking but, very often, we are not seeing.  At least we are not actively seeing.  Most of the time we are in our head and it decides what we see.  Our mind is filtering out every moment's reality and replaying some distant memory it has become familiar with.  When we put the camera up to our eye we begin leave a mind full of thoughts and come to start seeing selectively.  The viewfinder limits our would to just what we want.
     It is said that a beginner photographer will use a wide angle lens to get the most into their photograph.  As they begin to understand what interests them they start using longer and longer lenses to then start to isolate their subject.  Even when they switch back to a wide angle lens they still are very specific in what is included in their photograph.  You can often tell how developed an artist is

I Love Photoshop But Sometimes It Hurts Me

 Photoshop is synonymous with photo processing software for image enhancement and manipulation.  Talk to any photographer that uses it and they will sing its praises.  Even though I work with it every day and have four or five thick books on how it works I know just a small portion of the program.   Trying to sift through the mass of information and learn some important basics is frustrating to anyone who is first exposed to it. 

What are the important basics?  Where do I begin?

     One of the most important processes to learn in Photoshop is nondestructive adjustments.  As with all that we love, sometimes if we are not careful we will get hurt.  As the Photoshop program improves destructive adjustments are being improved or eliminated.  If you don’t have Photoshop and have opted for free image software like Picasa or The Gimp, realize they are free because they do not support nondestructive processing.  Everything you do in these programs progressively damages your digital image.  To an untrained eye they may not be that noticeable but when the histogram is

Rapelje Elevators

 

Welcome Spring.  It has been a loooong winter for us in Red Lodge and any sign of Spring in this neck of the woods has us filled with joy.  We love the winters here but sometimes it just doesn't know when enough is enough!  Just now daffodils and tulips are blooming even though some parts of the country are in the upper 90's.

Me and Tracy like to get away from the gallery once in a while and just drive~ somewhere, anywhere, it doesn't really matter.  We decided to head to Molt and Rapelje Montana to take in the (sights).

What's so strikingly beautiful about this part of the world is the quality of the space around you.  Small towns with very few houses, but lots of silos, and grain elevators and lots of space in between.  The kind of space that makes you feel everything is alright because we can breathe here.  It's quiet except for the birds chattering and the creaking of the old windmills churning with each slight gust of wind.  It's very healing to visit these places where everything feels connected, worn, and comfortable and try to capture those feelings through my photographs.

It amazes me to this day how excited I feel to still take a photograph even though I have been doing it for many decades. Each outing feels fresh and new and there's always something new to discover. 

This image is one I took of one of the elevators in Rapelje.  The weathered wood was so beautiful and the composition of the geometric shapes in the image really caught my eye.

It  doesn't matter where you live there is ALWAYS beauty just waiting to be discovered by your camera and shared with others.  Just get out there and start looking. 

So It's Time To Buy A New Camera

    As the weather becomes more comfortable to venture outdoors, the grass is green, and the flowers are blossoming everywhere, some of us are starting to get the photo bug.  If our current camera is not quite up to our expectations or we lag behind in the technology it might be time to think of upgrading.  With so many different types of cameras, features, and prices how can one know that they are getting what they want and need?
     The first question to ask yourself is what kind of pictures do I like to take?  If you currently use your cell phone and are satisfied with it then stop reading.  If you don’t see yourself having the time or desire to learn much about photography and your images consist of snapshots then most point and shoot cameras that were made in the last few years will be fine.  Try to get one with a built in flash, which will help in low light situations, and one that will take a short movie, for recording stupid things your teenager does that you can use against them later.  These cameras usually take excellent photographs but the file format (jpeg) used to record the images doesn’t process well with image software.  Also remember that they are made to take average types of images.  You probably won’t be able to safely zoom up close to that grizzly in the park or focus as close to that flower as you like.  These cameras may have limited options for creativity but everything is set up to safeguard against most camera shooting mistakes and for general shooting they produce excellent images.  These cameras cost $150-$350 and, for the price, are way better than anything made five years ago.
     If the lag time in shooting with point and shoot cameras is starting to bug you and you have started taking your camera off “auto” to gain more control over your images then a digital single lens reflex (DSLR) camera might be your choice.  These cameras have removable lenses so you can use