Monthly Archives: March 2014

Well tomorrow morning when Sherelene leaves for work, I’m headed to White, Georgia and  Old Car City, and I couldn’t be any more excited if it was going to be Christmas morning!  Do I love shooting old rusty cars and trucks that much?  All most, but the real excitement is the great time I know we are going to have!  Anytime Jim Begley and I get to run a workshop together it is a reason for me to celebrate, I love my brother to death, and it is a joy working with him, and one of my best friends in the world will be there, Nick Coury!   If that were not enough, one night Carl Turner will grace us with his presence for dinner, and several other dear friends have promised to pop in to fellowship.  Now we have a wonderful group of students from around the country and three students from Liberty University coming down from Lynchburg with our great friend and photography buddy Tim Isaacson and his son Silas!  The fellowship is going to be epic!

 

Adding to the personal excitement is that I just took Tony’s seminar and picked up so many great ideas, to try and share with the group.  One last thing, my Fuji 56mm f 1.2 lens arrived and Nick is bringing it to me there!  Wow, can’t wait to shoot that lens and share the images this coming week.

 

Please stay tuned and I will share the things happening in Old Car City!

 

Thank you Lord, I’m so blessed!

 

Blessings

 

the pilgrim

 

Over the weekend I went up to Erlanger, Kentucky for Tony Sweet’s Creative Photography Seminar, and wow what a great shooter he is!  I’ve known Tony for many years, actually when we first met he was a drummer, a really good one too, in a jazz band. He worked with us in the Great American Photography Weekends and then he really blossomed into the great artist he is today.  In my estimation Tony residers in the rarefied atmosphere of the Art Wolfe’s and Freeman Patterson’s of our craft.  One part great shooter and two parts real artist!  Tony’s work is a magical combination of tight, wonderful technique, and an open ended and embracing art!

 

I really enjoyed what Tony shared and it was a good review, and I picked up some novel new ways to look at common photographic problems, all in all, a day very well spent.  Tony had assembled a nice group of photographers and I knew several so it was a kind of a homecoming for me as well, it was great to see some old friend again.  Tony and I had time to visit and catch-up on a very old friendship, which I enjoyed very much!  I can highly recommend Tony‘s classes, seminars, and his excellent books!  You can learn more at:  http://tonysweet.com/

 

Thanks Tony, for a very nice day with you, and your followers!

 

Well it’s just one more day until Jim and I head to Old Car City, I will keep you posted from there, can’t wait, love that place!!!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

Thanks to Tom Fielder for making the image above of Tony and I together!

 

One of the most pleasing attributes of the new equipment I’m shooting is the quality of the monochrome images that come straight out of the camera!  I started my career as a newspaper photojournalist and of course shot black and white film and made prints for the paper.  I came to really enjoyed seeing and imaging in monochrome!  Tones, and the graphic qualities of the image are much more important in monochrome.   Color can become the main point of photograph that has great color, but monochrome must rely on other qualities of the image, and it is a good teacher!

 

Let me share a few black and white/monochrome images that I hope will prove the point!

 

 

In each image the central points design, lines, shapes, and tones, some of these may have been successful as color shots, but the design made each a strong monochrome composition.  Below is one more monochrome conversion, and then the original color shot below it, yes sometimes color screams look at me!!!

 

………and now, ready for it?

 

 

Teach yourself to see more effectively by playing with the medium!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

 

On a flight last year going somewhere, who knows where, in the Southwest Airlines flight seat back was an issue of their magazine and on the cover was a young man wearing  T-shirt that said “Because I said I would”.  Watch the video at the link below and I will continue the story!

 

http://becauseisaidiwould.com/about/

 

Today I wear the wrist band that has the same quote, I even have a t-shirt with this quote.  What Alex Sheen started is a wonderful non-profit that encourages people to do what we should all do, display integirty!  Alex tells a wonderful story about his deceased father and how he proposed to honor his father by giving to others the one things his father gave to him, keeping his word.

 

Now just think for a few minutes how much better our world would be if we only kept our word. It would be so much better if we didn’t make promises at all if we were not going to stand behind them.  Make your word your bond, make it something worth giving.  My faith teaches me that that was how Jesus was, He never promised anything He did not fulfill!

 

I carry the Promise cards and use them, I wouldn’t be much of a friend if I didn’t recommend that you give it a try.  Not for me, but for the Man that has never broken a promise!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim