Cold winter days are our special time to bond, and I hope you are in the comapny of family and friends as we all prepare to celebrate the birth of our Savior!
Merry Christmas!
Blessings,
the pilgrim
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This entry was posted on Friday, December 20th, 2019 at 1:29 pm
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I was reading Scott Kelby’s blog a few days ago and found a wonderful article by Chris Orwig. Chris is a professor of photography at Brooks Institute, one of the most prestigous photography schools in America. His article was on Authentic Portraits and it really struck a cord with me.
I don’t know how you are, but I need cosntant challenges, new things to study and attempt to master. I love people, my family, freinds and perfect strangers I meet in the couse of just living! I’ve alwasy wanted to be able to captutre them in truly authentic ways, this article and the purchase of his wonderful book Authentic Portraits has lit a fire under me.
As a photographer I want to always learn more and get better at the craft and this is an area I really want to work on. As a Christian, I want to share God’s love and be a blessing to others for his glory. I’ve mad some portraits that I think really reveal the person, but I want ot get a lot better at connecting with people, being more authentic myself and find the authenticity in others, and hopefuly capture it!
I’m sharing this because I may approach you someday and ask you to let me try to make an authentic portrait of you!!! I will with my family and, well you’re my friends!
Here are a few of my favorite efforts over the years, I hope, I can add your portrait to this collection.
Catherine and B.J.
Catherine in Ballet performance.
Catherine on a outing with dad.
David Middleton
Unknown fiddle player in Smokies.
Mike Ellison
Bill Pekala
Wes and Abigail
Scott and Wes their last photograph together.
Len Jr and his father Len Rue III
Scott and Ben.
The late great Hugh Morton and friend.
Legendary nature photographer John Shaw
Catherine and B.J. again.
Jack in the field at Five Guys!
Sherelene and my 50th anniversary shot (self portrait)
Well, I’m going to work on doing a lot more, you may be next!
Blessings,
the pilgrim
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This entry was posted on Saturday, December 14th, 2019 at 9:50 pm
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Well maybe we can, but it is going to get a lot harder! The advent of the smart phone, social media and bus travel companies have all conspired to change our world of field photography.
From the top; Sunrise from Sunset Point in Bryce Canyon N.P. has become crowded beyond belief, The Navajo Nation has just closed ther photo tours, (use of tripods), to Upper Antelope Slot Canyon, Lower will be next!!! If you decide to shoot a sunrise at Schwabacher’s Landing in Grand Tetons National Park, be prepared to share the experience with 200 of your new “close” friends!
At Wormsloe State Park in Savannah GA they have placed white fences along the Spanish Oaks, imagine that shot!!!! Do I even need to talk about the crowds at Mesa Arch in Canyonpands N.P., well, just one example, last Christmas morning there were over 200 shooters in the space that could only handle 12 to get this shot!!! Arches is still doable, but it is getting so crowded they are considering establishing a shuttle system!
The Palouse has always been a great place to shoot but unfortunately because of the behavior of some workshop leaders and groups the owners of many farms are restricting access, it’s a shame and something our community needs to accept responsibility for. The truck above was moved to prevent photographers from coming on their property, used to be fine!
Going up on Cadillac Mountain for a sunrise used to be a great experience, no longer, the crowds are so bad that the park rangers block the road, to the top, as soon as the parking lot is full. If you happen to be there, you get the pleasure of shooting a scene with 300 hundred folks in the foreground.
I took a group to North Window and Turret Arch in Arches N.P. and 10 minutes before sunrise, a bus load of vistors from China arrived, fortunately they didn’t get to North Window until my folks got their shots, but only by a few minutes, could have ended differently!
I could go on, but you already know this yourself. So what are we to do???
- Find some new places to shoot! How many of you have been to the Great Smoky Mountains, or the Badlands, maybe you could try Capital Reef, (yes, I lead workshops to all these places, what a coincidence). There are many more, do some research, may I suggest Photograph America Newsletter!
2. Maybe we need to make sure our behavior in the field will never cause the next group to not be welcome!
3. Consider expanding your shooting list, take up Americana, and maybe people or street photography, travel might be fun too and most great small towns don’t require a permit to shoot photographs, this is starting actually sound like fun!
Folks, things change, they always have and always will, lets learn to think on our feet and make a new plan, we can do it, I know we can!
Blessings,
the pilgrim
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This entry was posted on Thursday, December 12th, 2019 at 6:57 pm
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Why do photographers own several “different” camera bodies all that use the same lens system? First let me say, if you own just one model, or a pair of the same cameras and that meets your needs, good for you, great choice!
If you are a generalist shooting mostly nature, landscape, travel and close-up work and you shoot Fujifilm cameras a pair of X-T3s or X-H1s would make a ton of sense! In fact for those areas that is exactly what I shoot.
For people, family and light travel I love the X-Pro series. I have an X-Pro 2, (pictured above), and I’m awaiting the arrival of my X-Pro 3. The unique dual viewfinder system of of X-Pro series is wonderful for seeing what is happening outside the picture area, allowing you to anticipate movement for those decisive moment shots!
Rangefinder style cameras do not appeal to everyone, but to those that enjoy them and can work well with them, they are very satisfying to work with! I have one small bag that stays set up for two X-Pro bodies and the Fujicrons ( 16mm, 23mm, 35mm, and the 50mm plus the fabulous 90mm ).
These are the lenses that, for me, work perfectly or these kinds of images and subject matter. From the reports I’ve read on the X-Pro 3, I can’t wait to get mine! When I do I promise to give it a full review!
Blessings,
The pilgrim
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This entry was posted on Sunday, December 8th, 2019 at 6:40 pm
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