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Muse

July 6, 2010

 

According to the dictionary the meaning of the word “muse” is as follows:

Muse n.

1. Greek Mythology  Any of the nine daughters of Mnemosyne and Zeus, each of whom presided over a different art or science.

2. muse

a. A guiding spirit.

b. A source of inspiration.

3. muse  A poet.

Check out definition (2.b.) above. This definition of the word ‘muse’ is probably the one most photographers relate to and it’s definitely the one I’ve been able to relate to lately.

I’ve realised that I’ve been shooting the same person over and over to the point of exclusivity lately. Of course, the fact that she’s gorgeous and always near must have something to do with it.

What’s fascinating is the change I’ve come to see in both myself and the model when you work together over prolonged periods. I’m sure this is nothing new to more seasoned photographers, but it’s new to me, and I like it.

I look through the shoots and random shots I have of her and you can see the difference. In the earlier shots you can see the timidness, the inexperience, the uncomfortable poses, whereas in the later shots, you see a confidence, a rapport and chemistry that makes such a difference in the shots. I’m not sure how to explain it, but the natural look, the un-posed look that I crave so much seems to come more naturally now.

I’ve noticed that we’ve arrived at a level of understanding that’s taken time to develop. It’s a comfort and trust level that’s been earned. She now instinctively knows what I’m looking for in a shot, what I’m trying to show. She understands that I don’t want her to pose and she gets this without me having to tell her over and over. She knows I’m looking for that natural candid look. With just a few words I can let her know what I’m trying to achieve or what’s not quite right with the shot and she’ll know what to do. I don’t need to spend a bunch of extra time trying to explain myself in numerous ways to finally have the penny drop. She just gets it as soon as she sees me reaching for the camera.

Let’s put aside the gorgeous eyes, the infectious smile, that beautiful hair and all the other things that give me inspiration and a craving to want to shoot her more and more. All the things that make her my muse, my source of inspiration. This understanding that develops over time just rocks!

However, there’s another side to this coin. Is shooting the one model exclusively doing more harm than good? I realize she inspires me, I appreciate the qualities I mentioned above in addition to convenience, accessibility, and her willingness to stand in front of my lens with little or no complaining. But what does this mean in regards to my photography? Am I limiting my development? Is photographing the one subject for a longer period of time more detrimental than beneficial? Is variety really the spice of life when it comes to this stuff?

What I’ve come to realise is that there are definitely more advantages than disadvantages. The relationship and rapport you begin to develop with a subject over time far outweighs any lack of variety in regards to shooting different people.

Although it is limiting in regards to the development of a varied portfolio that shows you’ve worked with various models and have the ability to work with different people, I think it’s more of an in-depth study of both the model you are working with and of your own style and aesthetics. Finding your own style and aesthetics is one of those long-term goals and if maintaining the same model while changing all the other variables helps me get closer to understanding my own style, then so be it.

So consider this a warning. You’re gonna be seeing a lot more of her whether you like it or not! That doesn’t mean I’m not going to shoot anything or anyone else, but it does mean I’m going to keep shooting her ’til my finger bleeds and see where it takes me.

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Posted in: Photo, Photography

Keeping Promises

June 29, 2010

We’re back from Nelson Bay and it was a very relaxing little weekend away before she leaves (even saw some whales along the coast on their migration South). You see, she’s flying of to Europe for a month tomorrow to visit family and friends and for the past three months she’s been asking me for prints to give to her parents and I’ve been promising left, right and center that I’ll make some for her. Apparently, her parents don’t have many photos of her once she grew up and left the nest (this is gonna be a treat for them).

Last nigth I felt like I was back in high school or uni and doing an all-night-er to get an assignment done. I kept promising and leaving it until the next night, and the next night to get this done and finally ran out of nights. So, being a man of my word and not being one to ever break a promise, I stayed up late last night and did a quick edit of the 6000 or so images to come up with around 50 to print for her today.

I haven’t done much to the images other than a slight exposure or white balance adjustment here and there, and maybe a smidgen of straightening or cropping on some. They’re basically straight out of the camera. Here are three to start with, more to come soon. The first one’s a favorite.

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Posted in: Family & Friends, Photo, Photography

Photo or Image

June 17, 2010

I was having a coffee and writing a blog post when I realised a little something that’s been bugging me lately. It’s in relation to terminology and how we refer to the photographs we take. I know this isn’t some big thing and you’re probably thinking to yourself, at the end of the day who really gives a shit. I was just thinking about it while writing the blog and thought I’d bring it up to see if anyone else has an opinion.

On all the photography blogs I follow I’ve seen the use of image and photo interchanged as equals. The way I see it, the word photo is a shortening of photograph, which is probably the more appropriate term to use while writing about photographs and photography. The word image on the other hand contains a notion of imagination that photo just doesn’t seem to capture.

Do we tend to relate journalistic or news photography which tends to be more factual to the word photo, and more creative or artistic photographs to the word image because of the notion that there is more imagination involved?

According to the dictionary (dictionary.reference.com) the meaning are as follows:

im·age –noun

1. a physical likeness or representation of a person, animal, or thing, photographed, painted, sculptured, or otherwise made visible. 2. an optical counterpart or appearance of an object, as is produced by reflection from a mirror, refraction by a lens, or the passage of luminous rays through a small aperture and their reception on a surface. 3. a mental representation; idea; conception.

pho·to –noun

1. photograph. 2. Informal . photo finish. Origin: 1855–60; shortened form of photograph.

Based on the definitions above, it seems that they are in a way interchangeable. The definition of image seems to be a bit more interesting though. What do you think?

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Posted in: Photography

Stopped Procrastinating

June 17, 2010

Last night I finally finished. All software has been updated, Lightroom’s been upgraded to version 3 and Photoshop to CS5, monitors have been re-calibrated, main hard drive have been cleaned, defragmented and cloned and data has been backed up and verified. What does all this mean? It means my days of procrastinating are behind me and I can’t think of any other reason not to sit down behind the desk and start the big edit.

I have almost 6000 shots to edit, sort and process and I can’t wait to see what little gems I’m going to find amongst them. Looking forward to sharing them with you so stay tuned!

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Posted in: News & Updates, Photography

Use It or Lose It

June 11, 2010

I’ve noticed a little habit I have. I don’t know whether it’s good or bad. It has to do with getting used to something to the point of neglect of other things. Let me give you an example. I bought a jacket the other week. Since I bought it, I seem to be wearing it all the time. I’ve been neglecting my other jackets. Same goes for a new pair of jeans I got. I don’t know whether it’s because I can’t be bothered or because it’s the novelty of something new, but it’s happening.

How does this relate to my photography? Well, for the past few months and for all of the 5814 of images in my backlog to edit and process, I’ve only used one lens. My Nikon 50mm f1.4D has been stuck on my camera for the past I don’t know how long. I have other lenses, I’ve used those lenses, I like those lenses, but I haven’t been using those lenses. The 50mm is the cheapest and simplest lens I have. It’s not like it’s got some whizbang thingy the other lenses don’t have. However, the low light capabilities, the depth of field control, the light weight and the speed of the lens just seems to let me do more with less. It seems to produce the kind of images that I want to create as well.

Maybe it’s that nostalgic part of my DNA taking me back to my teenage years when I first started using my dad’s Nikon FE (which I still have) with the one 50mm lens it had and the photos I used to create back then. I don’t think it’s laziness since I lug the other lenses around with me on a shoot. They just never seem to make it out of the bag. I think it’s a habitual / comfort thing with a dash of nostalgia and creative aspiration thrown in.

There are two reasons why I think I need to change it around a bit and get out of this zone I seem to have gotten stuck in. One is for the sake of creativity provided by the different lenses and the other is based on the old saying, “if you don’t get it out and use it, you might lose it.” I believe if a piece of equipment whether it be a knife, a tool, a rifle, a camera or a lens isn’t used periodically, it will start to deteriorate and the last thing I want is for all that equipment to start to deteriorate in any way.

Hope you all have a great weekend (it’s Friday here in Australia so we get a head start).

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Posted in: Gear & Gadgets, Photography