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Post by officialben on Jul 4, 2006 13:52:59 GMT -5
As far as artists like Monet are concerned, I think they're in a totally different ball game. They can experience the moment and then interpret and convey that moment the way they see fit. It is a lot easier for Monet to create a beautiful clouded sky that you could just eat up because it's so beautiful. A photographer has to be there and take what he can get. Once that moment is gone, he can't reattain it. I guess a good theme for a photographer would be carpe diem. There's no reinterpretation. So I'd have to disagree with what you said about them working faster. I think that true talent in a painter lies in his or her vision, the mind. Knowing what you want to show. To be able to sit on a hill and watch the sky for an hour, go home and paint it in a windowless room. That's the beauty of their art. They make it.
My art is just the opposite. I do find myself waiting too long sometimes. But I try not to wait for something I think I want anymore. I try to wait for what feels real. Or, on the other hand, anything that seems so unreal. It's just a feeling you get when you connect with your subject. Their movement just starts to sync with yours and all of the sudden the shutter is flying. Sometimes there is so much movement and action, that you don't have time to know if it's what you want. I give myself enough time to test-shoot and correct exposure, then I don't review my pictures until the action is over. Sometimes it's a half an hour before I can go back and see what I've done. That's the best. That's when you know you weren't thinking about your camera, you were just being in the moment.
I don't really do a lot of still life stuff. It's not that I hate it or anything, I just haven't gotten into it that much. I would like to, though. I don't compartmentalize myself to any one or two styles. I want to do everything. That's why I basically take any job that I'm offered. I've got two family portrait gigs, a job with JPL, a set photography job, and even a book cover gig that I just accepted a couple days ago. My true true passion is set photography, though.
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Post by Mexican Coke on Jul 4, 2006 14:32:00 GMT -5
What I should have said when I mentioned Monet was that he wanted his mind to work like a camera and a camera doesn't have a mind. He wanted to capture moment, impressions and paint what he saw, as is without the consciouness of his mind to intervene and restrict him in anyway. He pushed himself to work quickly in order to not let his mind govern him and try and correct what he saw.
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Post by officialben on Jul 5, 2006 3:24:20 GMT -5
Then I'd agree with you in the case of this artist, if, by the "consciousness of his mind" you're referring to logic and specification, which I'm sure you are. One thing I wasn't aware of was how much work he did in the moment. And that's my own fault. **Runs downstairs and finds Monet coffee table book** (yes, I do have a Monet coffee table book) Edit: Oh yeah, and as a result of not trying to wait for a moment I think I want, I blew through 3 gigs of memory photographing my 4th of July. I need to buy more memory cards  |
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Post by Mexican Coke on Jul 5, 2006 5:25:19 GMT -5
Right you are. I have many books on him and other artists. My coffee table would buckle under the weight of them all.
Impressionism and the other "isms" to grow out of it are more complicated than you think. I was really astounded while reading how complex Seurat's work was based on color thoery. Is your July 4th your next project? That's cool. Hope you had a good one.
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Post by officialben on Jul 5, 2006 13:26:06 GMT -5
My 4th was actually kind of a bust. I spent my day with some close friends of the family and shot some photos there. Unfortunately, I was ill-prepaired for the fireworks. Magic Mountain always puts on a huge display and I wanted to get it, but I never planned out a good place to watch it, so I wound up in a really crappy spot just so I could get something. I'll find something better next year, though. I was so far away, I was pretty much sitting at an effective 300mm lens the whole time w/ high ISO speeds. Needless to say, I was very unhappy.
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Post by Mexican Coke on Jul 5, 2006 17:11:59 GMT -5
OK, I didn't understand any of that lingo, but I feel your pain. Mine was rather crummy too. I live in Texas, and it rains on the 4th? Don't get me started on the fireworks.
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Post by officialben on Jul 6, 2006 17:40:50 GMT -5
Newly Updated! I've got plenty of neat photos from my 4th of July, along with an impromptu night shoot just last night. I like 'em.  Click Here! |
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Post by Mexican Coke on Jul 6, 2006 18:08:48 GMT -5
NICE PICS!
But....I am rather photographically ignorant. What was your goal in this project or was it just for fun? I don't know what kind of questions to ask....school me, please.
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Post by officialben on Jul 6, 2006 18:31:36 GMT -5
My goal was to take good photos. Hahaha.
But really, I wanted to take some night shots. Nights can be so lonely. That grocery story, then cafe, town center. They're all lonely areas in the middle of the night. I'm going to do more night stuff... And some sunrise stuff, too. This was but the first nocturnal photographic venture. I'm so so so bummed. I pulled out my 14mm lens last night and realized that the focusing ring had been busted. I was so pissed off, but luckily, my friends brought me back up and we had an awesome and fruitful evening. Now I've gotta take this lens to a shop and see what the damage will be. Ugh.
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Post by Mexican Coke on Jul 6, 2006 18:44:51 GMT -5
Of course you were trying to take good pics. But what makes a photo good?
I had a feeling you were going for that lonely night deal, like the ones with people looking out the window, it seems very Hopper like, but in photography. Is it really hard to take good ones with the light levels being different? Does that add to the mood, is it something you try to change or manipulate?
Sorry to hear about your focusing ring, I know cameras are pricey. I hope you have more productive outings! And was that you in town center?
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Post by officialben on Jul 6, 2006 20:39:32 GMT -5
What makes a good photo? Gosh. I could list off a number of technical aspects that will produce a proper photograph... But I don't think that's what makes a good photo. A good photo makes you want to be part of the world the photographer has captured. You want to talk to the person in the portrait, ask questions and spend a day picking their brain... "Why were you smiling in that photo?" I think a good photo is one that you can see, and go back to countless times just to look at, for what reason? Who cares. It could be anything at all. The way a girls hair is flowing as she turns, the innocent eyes of a small child, the cool color of a midtown street at sunrise, the symetry found in architecture...
I think every single photo has it's own way of being a good photo. When you see it, you know, it tells you why you love it. I think that's a cool way of thinking about it. And above all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. People have complimented me to no end on photographs that I absolutely despise. It's a completely relative matter.
Okay, phew, anyways...
Night photography (though my experience is limited) is so much fun. Using available light is the key. I never ever use my flash (that might be because the built in flash on my camera sucks). Grabbing on to that available light and giving it to your subject. Separating it from the background. Directing the viewer's attention. Manipulating their thought proccess. You can do some awesome stuff with that. It didn't turn out like I thought it would, but the photo in the town center used a light being emitted from a planter in the sidewalk (and no, that's not me).
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Post by officialben on Jul 11, 2006 5:09:50 GMT -5
Hey hey hey! New stuff guys! Lemme know what you think! What you love, what you hate, everything!
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Post by Mexican Coke on Jul 13, 2006 2:47:28 GMT -5
You really have been clicking away! I really like how your experimenting with night photography and manipulating light. It really gives the picture more of a mood.
Who is Micah? You use him in a lot of your work. I really like the bumpy wall, its intiguing.
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Post by Casey D on Jul 13, 2006 11:33:19 GMT -5
very nice work as usual ben
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Post by officialben on Jul 16, 2006 3:39:32 GMT -5
Hey thanks guys. Micah is one of my best friends. We were both '02 highschool graduates. He's got a really creative mind so it's easy for us to bounce ideas off each other and get in that "zone" where the inspiration flows, ya know?
Anyway, I just got back from my camping trip and I have like 40 new and awesome photos that you should definitely check out! If you check the link choose the "Let's Get Campy!" set (a little tip of the hat to a mock-GAP commercial by Geico).
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