On antique photography

July 11, 2008


McKennan ParkEarlier this week, Kerrie sent me a link to a set of old photos from McKennan Park, a local park that serves as the landmark anchor and main appreciation factor for homes in our area. It’s the 100th Anniversary of the park this year, and the photos date back to the early beginnings of the park.

They’re old, cracked and sepia toned. They’re lovely, actually. This type of photography is always stirring, the treatment outlasting the images, with even the most awkward looking composition made better by age. They look great because they’ve lasted so long. They’re a visual representation of an abstract thought: history.

These images have weathered everything, both physical and historical. They’ve lasted through dust and The Dust Bowl, through cold and the Cold War. They’re vessels of memories, physical prints of personal achievement.

McKennan ParkOur favorite pictures were those of children swinging. The wooden swing set and period garb are in stark contrast to the post-production digital images we take with our new camera.

And when Kerrie wondered aloud how she thought our swing pictures would look in another hundred years, I got to thinking. Will they age in the same way? Will we ever see anything like these old McKennan pictures ever again?

With the advent of digital photography and sites like Flickr and Photobucket and Shutterfly, more and more people are simply moving their photographs from camera to Web, or at the very least from camera to computer. Fewer people are having their images printed.

Without this, how will pictures age? Without being exposed to the elements, how will we be able to enjoy the treatment of time?

I can add sepia tone to every image I upload. But it’s not the same.

So the question is, are we losing this aspect of photography? Have we eliminated the possibility of age?

Is it actually a good thing?

Tags: On..., Photography, Sioux Falls |

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Blue blue sky

July 7, 2008


It’s official.

(”blue blue sky” from Flickr)

With help from our new Canon XTI, Adobe Lightbox and Flickr, I am officially in love with photography.

Tags: Photography |

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A thousand words from perfection

June 25, 2008


f-stop. Aperture. Lighting. Shutter speed. ISO.

It’s like a whole new language, this photography business, one filled with words that aren’t just difficult to understand – they’re difficult to implement. Concepts that take a second sense, on-the-fly adjustments to create perfect images, color checks and lens switches and do we need a tripod or not oh well let’s just see if we can be steady enough with our hands alone.

And then, just like that, you get a photo with perfect framing and great lighting and a sharp focus and superb depth-of-field. It happens for us at a 5% rate, I’d say – the perfect timing with the perfect settings. It seems so worth it, at that point.

It’s been two weeks since Kerrie and I bought our new toy, the Canon EOS XTi. It’s been fun - options are amazing, which will come as no surprise to those who have switched from a simple point and shoot to a full digital SLR. We can actually set depth of field, play around with lighting and create better pictures. Even pictures taken on auto look better.

But I know it could be more. Let’s just say I can’t quite leave well enough alone.

I already want to buy a different lens (lower aperture, please - f1.2 would be nice, f1.8 would be acceptable). It means I want to play around with filters, even though I don’t know how to use them.

Most importantly, now that we’ve got the most basic of basics down, and now that my Flickr account is filled with several dozen of our own pictures, I want the marginal images – the ones I think are nearly there – to become just as artistic as the classics.

In other words, it’s time to tackle Photoshop processing. And this, my friends, might be the hardest thing I learn with photography.

A semi-successful picture can be made good with increased contrast or a slight vignette; a great picture can become a thing of beauty. But the ins and outs of this post-processing isn’t something that can be learned overnight, a frustrating thing to someone like me who longs to be proficient immediately, to be pumping out “favorite” worthy images on day one, who has no patience for the typical.

It’s this drive that fuels my desire. It doesn’t come often, but when a passion is born so quickly – when an all-encompassing hobbies is taken on, the type that leads to more and more and more, one that adds parts and skills and knowledge on an almost daily basis – it pushes me to become better. It’s what drove me to write. It’s what drove me to read more. And now, it’s what’s driving me to the art of photography.

To capture life. To recreate moments in a way that is truly unforgettable. And to help fuel a creativity that, at times, not even a thousand words can fulfill.

Tags: Photography |

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Trouble a’brewin’

June 20, 2008


Sierra walking

Sierra is just weeks away from taking her first steps. And, for some reason, we’re helping her along - knowing full well that our life will pick up a few gears in terms of chasing her around the house.

Sierra, Devious.

That look in her eye? She knows what’s coming.

Tags: Baby Pictures, Photography, Sierra |

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Finally saying cheese

June 11, 2008


Canon XTIWhen I was 20, shortly after I had switched colleges and landed in St. Cloud, I had a sudden epiphany.

I was going to be a photographer.

I made the announcement to my family while hiking through the Wyoming woods. A birthday gift request, I believe. I wanted a camera. A nice camera – the type of camera with which you could take great pictures.

The truth is I knew nothing about photography. It seemed like a very cool, college thing to do. It was like a club – a group of artists who didn’t need to know how to draw or paint or sculpt. Just frame. And click.

It wasn’t that easy, though. Cameras are expensive. They’re difficult to learn. At the time, Kerrie had a Nikon SLR, and I could never quite figure it out. The equipment wouldn’t make me better – only practice, and through a mix of laziness and low funds for developing film, the epiphany faded. I preferred to live life through my trusty Canon point and shoot, taking decent but one-dimensional pictures, my photos limited by mechanism but not lacking.

When I finally graduated from St. Cloud State University, my father – no doubt remembering my idea – gave me his camera: a Canon EOS 100 Elan with telephoto lens. I was flattered, and honored. But I never really used it. We upgraded the Canon point and shoot to a digital, and Kerrie continued to be the photographer of the house, using her Nikon until it broke.

Through the past several years, I’ve found myself wowed by great photography. Simple pictures. Life, captured with a little skill, an aperture blur, a feat of great framing. I wanted my ordinary pictures to look better. I wanted great pictures to look amazing. And with digital photography entering the market since my last foray, things look so much easier. Cheaper. Better.

So here I am again.

Except for one thing: this time, I acted. We acted, actually – Kerrie and I purchased an early anniversary present to ourselves: a Canon XTI. To get Kerrie back into the swing of an old hobby. And to introduce me to a new one.

I want to think that this will be easier. My mistakes will be seen immediately, allowing me a chance to adjust on the fly. No more will I need to trust my judgment and hope things turned out. Speed and technology. High quality and high quantity.

But I know better.

A great picture isn’t made by a great camera. It’s created by a great eye. By taking the art of the everyday world and bringing it to the forefront, by discovering beauty and framing simple events.

As I’ve learned and, begrudgingly, accepted, buying a better camera will not make me a better photographer.

But it’s a great start. It’s lit a fire under my ass. And I’ll have a whole lot more room to grow.

Say cheese.

Tags: Photography |

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A life, one day at a time

May 30, 2008


A few days ago, I stumbled upon the most amazing site.

Jamie Livingston, an artist, filmmaker and New York City resident, took a Polaroid of his life. Every day. For 20 years.

They’ve been scanned and collected to form a massive art project, and now are located online, at Some Photos of That Day.

A Polaroid A DayAs individuals, we each live every minute of every day of our lives.

And as individuals, we’re the only people who can claim that. Our friends may spend a lot of time with us. Our parents and partners and children may be present nearly every moment of our lives. But no one is there, every minute – hell, even every day – to live your life with you. Just you. You’re the only one.

So to see a day by day account of someone’s life is fascinating. More than that, it’s amazing, to be given such access, to visualize even a small part of every day of a person’s life.

With Jamie Livingston, we see more than just friends and mundane life. We see everything. We see life as it was viewed by Jamie, his accomplishments, his failures. We see him battle cancer. And we see him die.

There is a great write-up on Mental Floss with a good sprinkling of the highlights of the set. Go there first.

Once you’ve taken a look at that, and once you have a good grip of the generalities, start near the end. On May 1st, 1997. His face, spotted with dots; some kind of medical marking for a test.

Then, continue through the end. Until the very end. October 25th, 1997.

I had just turned 18 the day before. My grandparents were celebrating their wedding anniversary. And Jamie Livingston, someone I have never met, someone whose life I only know through 10 years of Polaroids, died.

You can have your “picture a day for four years” memes and YouTube videos. You can have “365 different beards.”

This is more. This is a life. Captured for all of us. As art. And as a symbol of an artist who, through the wonders of captured images, still lives on today.

Tags: Photography, Random Links |

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