Great joy and fulfillment

When I look at the image above I feel great joy. It takes me back eleven years to when my son Wesley and I were working on the original America From 500 Feet. We were in the Palouse Region of Southeastern Washington State. One late afternoon the winds were very calm and we flew out over this gorgeous rolling hill, farm country in our little ultra light and captured some beautiful light. Just before the sun went down I looked down and saw this wonderful pattern and one click later it was preserved forever in my memory bank of fantastic moments.

Life is like that, at a moments notice we find ourselves bathed in a great instant of joyful feelings. Yesterday was like that for me. Starting with late Thursday afternoon when Matt Kloskowski was kind enough to ask me to be his guest on The Grid, and ending with the taping of my new class for Kelby Training, and some quality time with R.C. Concepcion. What a day and a half.

I took some vacation time from Nikon to come down and do my latest class, Learning to See Photographically, and to work on the new website where this blog will reside soon. Today I will work with R.C. , (What a great guy – warm and inviting as the sun), on the new billfortney.com site.

The Class: My newest class is a teaching program I’ve been working on for forty two years! I thought a long time ago, “If you had to share the most important things you’ve learned in your long career in an a hour and a half, what would you teach about?” This class is it. In simple terms,
photography is divided into two parts, the art and the craft. The craft is the technical issues, like exposure, white balance, getting sharp images, what lenses to use, etc, etc. The art is about what we decide to photograph and how we approach that subject, what kind of light, composition, etc.
This class is more about the aesthetics or art of photography. It is my belief that photography, today, is much less difficult in terms of technical issues. The modern digital camera has helped remove much of the mystery and chance of technical failure. I think the beginning photographer today blasts through the technical learning phase much faster than we did in the film era.
The fact that today’s cameras give us instant feedback, means we see and correct our technical issues much faster. Another major factor is the huge number of excellent classes, books, and on line training opportunities, all of which, greatly aid the learning process.

The art however is the same learning process that it has always been with one exception, today because of the wealth of photography that can be viewed both online and in numerous excellent publications, the exposure to quality, inspiring work is greater than ever before. In the new class
I attempt to share some of the key concepts that I think are vital to developing a photographic eye.
While I certainly believe that some people are by their very nature more artistic in their vision than others, I do believe that this kind of vision can also be learned. Learning to See Photographically
attempts to help the serious photographer organize a plan to learn to see in a more graphic way. recognize great light, and know when to apply the most basic principles to any given photographic situation.

Photography has brought great joy into my life and I take great joy in sharing it with others. One of the greatest joys of photography for me is the wonderful people it has brought into my life that I would have never known had it not been for our joint love for capturing images. My Kelby Media family are among some of those great blessings that have come my way, from Adam and the production folks, to Scott, Matt, RC, and Larry, to Kathy Siler and all the office support staff, to a person they have all treated me like a member of the family, a family that I’m, by-the-way, proud to be a member of.

This all comes from a loving Heavenly Father who taught us, if we seek Him first, He will add all this unto us. Not just all our needs, but also the desire of our hearts. The desire of my heart is to fulfill the much mentioned quote on this blog, “Something to do, someone to love, and something to look forward to……” In my Kelby Media family, I’ve got all of that in spades.

Thanks my friends for a great couple of days, and thank you father for giving me so much to enjoy,
love, and so much to look forward too. Another great group of friends will arrive in New England in two weeks, and the blessings will continue………

A much blessed,

pilgrim

*Note: The New England Trip wit Matt Kloskowski, Jim Begly,and my self, plus a stellar support staff is coming up October 8th through the 16th. We have had a few last minute cancellations so
if anyone out their can make fast, last minute arrangements, in their schedule, we could accommodate you. Anyone interested should contact me ASAP at billfortney@earthlink.net

*Photo Note: Nikon F100 film camera, Nikkor 50-135 f 3.5 zoom, Kodak 100 ES film.