Learning from Jack Graham
I’m thankful for many things; My Lord and Savior Jesus, a wonderful wife and family, truly great friends, a better career than I deserve and health even at 79! One of the greatest blessings has been my friendship and brotherhood with Jack Graham! Many of you know Jack as a wonderful photographer, a great teacher and workshop leader and talented musician and music historian to boot! Working with Jack over the past decade has improved me as a photographer and I hope as a man! Let me use Jack’s images to illustrate 5 things I’ve learned from him! I have learned a great deal more than five, but these are some of the most important!
1. Wait for it, and be ready when it happens! This image that Jack made in Iceland is one of my favorites and he did what he teaches us, he got ready and was able to capture things at the right moment! He also was using equipment we can all afford and proving you can make great images with simple gear! The Fujfilm X-T1 with the 18-55 “kit” lens!
2. Slow Down!!!!!! Wait for the right light, it is the difference between a good shot and an incredible shot! I think you will agree, this worth the wait!
3. Take the time to look for graphics, after all, it is photoGRAPHIC! This is what happens when you “Slow Down” and really see what’s around you!
4. Find your inner peace! I often marvel at how Jack becomes part of the landscape he is wanting to capture, there is a calmness about his relationship with nature! I’ve shot this scene several times, but never this good!
5. Let it come to you! The act of observing is most successful when you calm your spirit and let the light and the subjects speak to you! I have always felt this is one of Jack’s most hauntingly beautiful images, this kind of imaage finds you!
Thanks Jack for sharing your passion for photography and life with me, it’s been a great ride! I hope more is to come!
Blessings,
the pilgrim
This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 19th, 2025 at 9:28 pm
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What an honor! For those reading these comments…
Please know that I’ll accept these kudos
( is that a word… no one ever taught
me spelling!)
However…
Let’s
Set the records straight by…
and in the spirit of keeping it simple
No BillFortney….
No Jack Graham
I know you all
Know what II mean!
Lionel ya Bill
JG
It’s all true (the blog entry) everyone that has ever known Jack well, knows he is all that and more!
Me? I’m just a wandering pilgrim!
God love the beautiful friendship shared between the two of you! God bless you both!
God places great people in out lives!
Amazing how you brought up the word about being at peace with the images…when viewing them. It must be amazing to get one’s mind calm enough to be at peace in the moment of making it AND the viewing.
All good points, my friend. I noted something else and that is the shot of Christine Falls from below. How many people drive by, pull off to take the upper shot but not try to walk down the stairs to get another view? Maybe the takeaway is that sometimes we have to work at looking at things from another perspective. And slow down.
Last year I went to shoot a well-known but overrated and, as it turned out, difficult to photograph waterfall in Portugal. On the way back I saw off the road a secluded waterfall in the fog that was incredibly photogenic. To quote Charlie Brown, “It wasn’t a bad day after all.”