Photography is a great avocation. I am happiest when I have my camera around my neck. Learn to see the light in ways others can't and it will make a lot of difference in how that image is going to turn out in the end.
It is all about exploring and experimenting. Look for interesting subject, unusual light and shoot from a different angle even if that means going down on my knees for a different perspective. I am reminded of what I learned in one of my photography class - that when one first arrives at a location, to not snap way but rather spend time surveying the place for unique angle, interesting light - sizing and soaking up the image in your head....before you click that shutter.
Wrote an article a little while back on how to get started in photography if one has a limited budget. The article is here and at Helium if you wish to read more.
Today is one of those days when my mind is blank, figuratively speaking. I jumped out of bed this morning wanting to make today a productive one but it has been slow. This always happens when my schedule is turned upside down due to something I can't control - "external circumstances". - the rain and lots of it this past week in western Washington. There was so much rain for 3 days and I mean steady rain for 72 hours, ponds appeared all around the apartment. It was as if we had a monsoon rain that refused to go away. We had planned to drive south to the Bay Area yesterday evening but a 20 mile stretch of I-5 between Olympia and Portland was shut down late Wednesday due to heavy flooding. It had only just re-opened Thursday evening. Needless to say it is congested as traffic had backed up while people waited out the storm. Our schedule would only permit that we drive during the weekend so we decided that instead of turning the 12 hour journey into a 16 hour one, we shall make the trip next weekend instead.
I am so ready for sunshine, can't wait to go out to the coast in California to do some photography. I also have a Programming class at Stanford that is starting Tuesday which I will have to skip and I hate skipping class. The cold in the Pacific Northwest does not bother me as much as the rain and overcast sky. The gloomy weather does take much getting used to.
Now some happy thoughts: Photo downloads at the start of the year has picked up, hopefully that is a sign of what 2009 will bring. I could be overly optimistic here given the depressed economic climate. I was able to pen down a rather long list of topics for my articles while sitting in a Starbucks last week. The story of the children's book I plan to write is taking shape- finally. I can't wait to learn some studio lighting techniques, that will be the best investment I ever make.
If you are an aspiring photographer, and you are researching for a good way to showcase your work. A photo blog is a good way to start. As for tips on how to get started on your photo blog, take a look at the book by Catherine Jamieson. It was my very first book on blogging and definitely has some good ideas on how to approach your blog project. The book also has some great photography as well. It is a book I refer to a lot and it is well worth the read.
Create Your Own Photo Blog by Catherine Jamieson
"Whether you seek to showcase a professional portfolio or just want your family across the continent to see the pictures from the reunion, you can do it with a photo blog. Catherine Jamieson, whose award-winning blog, Utata, has a legion of fans, gives you all the tools you need in this richly illustrated, full-color guide. She translates Web lingo, walks you through setting up your blog, and provides professional tips on composing, shooting, and editing your photos. Jamieson even helps jumpstart your creativity with 100 photo ideas to get you shooting."
To learn how to create a sticky blog, check out my article at AC: the link can be found Here
On the subject of light and lighting techniques. If you are curious how the pro's set up their lighting for still life and special effect photography, you will find the book by Roger Hicks and Frances Schultz fascinating to read. Never would I have thought that that is what pros did to achieve a certain result. Whether it is experimenting with single light source, black bounce, deliberate camera movement to create blur or the use of unique background materials, it is like the sky is the limit. Dare to experiment is the secret and with digital camera, the learning just got a whole lot easier.
Still Life and Special Effects Photography by Roger Hicks and Frances Schultz
"Every picture featured in "Still Life and Special Effects Photography" is accompanied by a description of how the lighting was achieved, while clear illustrations showing each lighting set-up help readers achieve the same effect. The first section is dedicated to shooting conventional still-life subjects (such as food, product shots and natural flora), and the second to the more challenging field of special-effect photography (montage, multiexposure, mirrors and props, constructing simple room sets, etc). Now available new in paperback, this should be an indispensable book for anyone who would like to discover the secrets behind other photographer's successful images."
Photography is about seeing the light, the way the Grand Masters see it and it is what separates the great legends from the rest of us. Light or the lack there of is what stops us dead in our track and makes us take two steps back and take a lingering look at a photograph hanging on a wall. To me, colors are just a facade - the "extras". Peel away the colors, if a photograph is truly special, the light that grabs our attention initially should still be there.
I am convinced if the modern day photographer can master the subject of light and use light to convey her message just the way she intends it to, she truly has a special gift. It is that gift I so wish for, it is my only goal in the quest to be a better photographer. So very often, we snap away without spending time to compose the image, to think of the message and why we are there in the first place. We hope by snapping a few dozen shots of the same scene, one will turn out good enough and our effort will not be in vain. That is where we are all mistaken. The most valuable lesson I learned from my photography teacher was a sentence she uttered one day in class: "Timeless photos are composed, and they are often a result of a great deal of planning and thinking, in setting up the shot and the placement of light." Ask any accomplished photographer and they will tell you this cannot be more true.
The more I do photography, the more I realize I need to go back and re-learn the basics. I told myself that until I can wrap my head completely around the subject of light, I have barely just begun. That is the story of photography - It is simply a story of light and light is all around. Can you see it?
Each of Adams 40 photographs presented here is accompanied by an engaging narrative that explores the technical and aesthetic problems presented by the subject and includes reminiscences of the places and people involved."
Ansel Adam (1902-1984) made over 40,000 photographs. His mastery on the subject and his medium are well chronicled in three much sought after books: "The Camera", and "The Negative" and "The Print"
and Roger Hicks on 
